best of the fest

I want to finish the review of films I saw this year... i know its almost time for the next film festival, but what can you do... this is what happens when procrastination personified writes blogs

anyway, the best movie i saw this year is definitely Iran's Border Cafe (cafe transit, Dir Kambozia Partovi). its a story of Reyhan, a woman, a widow, a mother of two. death of her husband means a loss of financial security for her, like it is for so many women around the world. solution for her problem comes in form of her brother in law Naseer, who generously offers to take responsibility of her and her two girls ... by marrying her...
this suits everyone, the society, the religion, the family including the Naseer's wife....
except Reyhan...
she expresses her gratefulness and states that she cannot take so much generosity from him
this shocks all ... after all he is the man, the bread earner, the caregiver, when he makes decision, he must be right.
People try to make her see her stupidity of her decision, Naseer offers to built her separate establishment ( and he goes on building one in fact) to ensure her privacy and space
Reyhan thanks him and says all these wont be necessary
to support her family she reopens her husband's border cafe ... beautifully decorated and ready with sumptuous meals, it soon becomes the most popular and successful restaurant in the border area... Naseer who also owns a restaurant first tries to convince her how dangerous it is for a woman to run business, and then she manages to convince the society and family how shameful and outrageous it is for the family and society...
but Border Cafe becomes more and more popular leaving other restaurant almost out of business. she also meets people through ... a Russian girl, whom becomes like a daughter to her... a Greek man,who falls in love with her...
getting desperate the brother-in law files a case against her saying she is not the rightful owner of her husband's property, the clerics side with Naseer,
seeing this Reyhan leaves the border cafe. and when Naseer expected Reyhan finally give in...

he see her walking towards his restaurant ... and renting another restaurant next to Naseer's and starting business again...

'men struggle, women resist'

the film is a beautiful portrayal of women's resistance ... and her victory

FILM FEST THIS YEAR

thought i would write down a bit of precis-cum-review of the movies seen in this years film fest. the first one i have seen is from switzerland, language french, director fredevic Choffat

REAL LIFE IS ELSEWHERE/La vraie vie est allieurs

which at some level looked like a critical analysis of one night stands, two women and one man embarks on their own separate journeys to separate destinations. one an academic looking forward to defend her project in Marseilles, helps a man in the train who, as he says, have lost his purse and other papers... another girl shifting her home to a Naples gets relentlessly annoyed by the lonely guard...another man gets stuck in a platform as he misses the last train to Berlin to meet his girlfriend and his newborn boy, meets the free spirited bohemian. they all go through different experiences, ending up liking their respective companies in various ways and in various degrees only to resume their regular (unreal?) lives from the next day. the actors were really natural, and i don't know what it is with trains and romance, it keeps on coming back to movies, thinking of nayak (the hero, satyajit ray.

the second one i saw this years in one of the few showcase movies from China, director Quing Hong,

SHANGHAI DREAMS

gives a glimpse of unbearable repression in rural China, specially for young girls. on the one hand they are exposed to the western culture which they are helplessly prone to imitate. on the other there is a strict ban on bell bottoms and Bony M. their predicament is worsened by their parents desperate attempts to leave the village to look for a better life in Shanghai, putting on hold their present as a consequence. all leading to terrible tragedy to young Quinghong's life. very touching tale...the movie felt a little longish, but it brought out the slow built up of pressure and tension.