Movies

Lauded by critics as one of the best and most memorable films that showcase the life of organized crime, it blends Drama, Action, Serious Humor and Suspense in a masterpiece that does not fail to disappoint, even for those who are not fans of the genre. Critics in IMDB (The Internet Movie Database (various)) branded it as flawless and perfect, praising its magnificent cinematography as well as its interesting plot.

Adapted from a novel and screenplay by Mario Puzo of the same name, the film was launched in 1972 and was directed by Francis Ford Copolla. The film stars veteran such as Marlon Brando as the titular main character, Don Vito Corleone, Al Pacino as his son and decorated WWII hero Michael Corleone, Robert Duvall as the Corleones right hand man Tom Hagen, and others.

The story focuses on the life and times of the Corleone family, one of the main Italian mobs that control most of New Yorks criminal operations, as well as the influence of various politicians and judges within the city. Headed by the highly charismatic and highly influential Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), their family keeps its power and dominance through gambling rings, women and doing favors for various friends of the family. The Corleone family, however, is put to the test when a member of a rival family wants to start a business selling drugs within the city. As the old ways of the Corleone family clash with the modernist ideas of the rival families, the fate of the family now falls on the hands of the Dons hesitant and somewhat reluctant son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino).

The film makes a wondrous and splendid recreation of the gritty times of organized crime in the 1940s, and this is no mean feat in terms of production. Every scene is fleshed out and the script noticeably well - written and well - executed. Tensions in the movie are well - plotted, and the performance of the actors is remarkable and well - refined. No signs of mindless violence here, as the action scenes are limited but well enough to keep the story interesting and the film contained in doing what it had set out to do.

The films self - containment is based on the films engaging message The importance of family and loyalty. Certain films over the years have tackled the theme for years after The Godfather, with examples such as Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995), and even crossing towards Mafia - themed TV series such as Gungrave (2003) and The Sopranos (1999). But none of them could come close to the emotional portrayal of the subject in The Godfather, where traditions and family laws are much important than blood and family ties.

There are 3 scenes that show just how well - portrayed the main theme is throughout the film.

The theme radiates well enough in the very first part of the movie where one of the Corleones, Connie, was wed to Carlo Rizzi. Here, the idea of tradition and respect for the Don and his family is well established, from the way others would come and pay respects to him and his daughter, to the way they would ask for his wisdom and guidance. Bonaseras moving speech and (beg) for vengeance in the first few minutes is an example of this, as well as the Dons influence over Johnny Fontane, a famous actor and singer. An example where family ties is portrayed as something that matters within the wedding is the scene where the Don was insistent on having his family together for a family autograph, to which he expresses this by saying Were not taking a picture without Michael. (Brandon and Pacino)

Another major part in the film that promotes the theme is on the acts of vengeance towards other families in the scenes following Don Corleones failed assassination. The family was portrayed to be in disarray, and the Dons sons were seen to be having different opinions on the matter. Tom Hagen, the familys right hand man, wants to forgo the assassins deal as to prevent further bloodshed. But the elder son, Sonny Corleone, wanted to take revenge by declaring war over the rival family that was responsible. In the end, it was Michaels drive to take vengeance and upbringing the honor to their family the key that drove them to retribution. This decision has unforeseen consequences however, as the war escalated, Michael was forced into hiding in Sicily, and Sonny was murdered (Brandon and Pacino).

While the first and second major parts discuss the emphasis on blood relations and family ties, there is a major part in the movie that talks of a third nature of family that is portrayed to transcend the two, and that is family traditions. With the acts of vengeance put to a halt and the Corleones are backed to the wall in favor of the other major families entry into the narcotics business, Michael Corleone eventually overcomes his reluctance in taking over and starts a chain of events that puts every family rival to their deaths. The purpose of this was not just for power, but for keeping up with the family creed of leaving the narcotics business untouched. The tension on the scene is heavily emphasized as the killings were well - synchronized with Michael taking vows at the altar on his godsons baptism.

To finalize, the three major scenes shown above are just a mere example and emphasis to how the concept of family is well  portrayed in the film. However, it is these three major scenes that show how the movie skillfully executes the story in a calculating and natural way that would make it seem real, and would grip movie-goers as they explore just how beautiful but melancholic family life is in the underworld business as well as in realistic situations.

To finalize, the three major scenes shown above are just a mere example and emphasis to how the concept of family is well  portrayed in the film. However, it is these three major scenes that show how the movie skillfully executes the story in a calculating and natural way that would make it seem real, and would grip movie-goers as they explore just how beautiful but melancholic family life is in the underworld business as well as in realistic situations. And as the film portrays sadly, there is no such thing as a quiet life nor escape when it comes to being a member of the family.

Personally, the movie is a great experience. And while I personally find that the movie could use more depth in portraying criminal business in a fashion similar to Goodfellas or Gungrave, where the film lacks, it makes up with its superior characterizations, character development, level of detail, and mood setting. That is to say, this is NOT your typical gangster flick laden with action and gunfire that pops up in the screen similar to gunfests like The Matrix trilogy, nor is this about the grim and brutal reality of a mobsters business. No, this movie treats the mob as it should be in the first place a family governed by rules, traditions, and even honor, despite their systems being heinously different from the legal norm.

The Fall a movie released in May 2008 is set in the 1920s in a hospital in Los Angeles where an injured stuntman Roy begins to tell another patient - a little girl Alexandria with a broken arm, a fantasy story about 5 mythical heroes. He mesmerizes her with the fanciful story that takes her far away from the hospital melancholy and transports her into foreign landscapes of her imagination. To keep the girl interested in the story he interlaces it with her family and people she likes from the hospital. Although Roy develops a friendship with Alexandria, he has an ulterior motive. Through the tales he gains her trust and tricks her into stealing morphine from the hospital pharmacy so that he can attempt suicide.

The Fall is directed by Tarsem Singh, who also directed The Cell, another visually stunning movie. There are plenty of amazing things about the movie, but most of the times it is weird for the sake of it. Nothing is ever given explanation or intensity, so it seems comical like the Italian explosives expert who for some reason is dressed in a Chinese robe and hat. Its also oddly violent.  The tone of the movie in general is awkward and shuttling between playful and morose. It is a waste because the acting is terrific for the most part. The young Untaru and Pace both give terrific performances.

The movie took part in the following Film festivals Toronto International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Sitges International Festival of Fantastic and Horror Cinema, Jakarta International Film Festival, Istanbul Film Festival, Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Maui Film Festival and Biografilm Festival.

Tarsem Singh largely financed the film with his own funds, because he wanted to make the film according to his own vision, and paid members of the cast and crew on an equal basis rather than the typical Hollywood way. The marketing strategy for the movie was not great. Roadside Attractions couldnt create a decent marketing strategy for the film, due to which it could not reach out to a wider audience. Also, the scathing reviews at the Toronto International Film festival resulted in the movie not being sold for distribution.

In conclusion The Fall would be a favorite for some people due to the dazzling imagery and brief moments of humor but it is still not enough to distract you from the dull narrative. It ultimately disappoints because you can see what this movie could have been but cannot excuse it for what it finally became. In spite the above and the fact that it drowned out at the summer box office by films that are bigger, louder, and far less interesting, its bound to find a more appreciative audience in the years and decades to come.

The Orphanage is a film produced by Guillermo del Toro along side a first time director, Juan Anotonio Bayona is a ghost film shot in the beautiful coastal areas of Spain. The film focuses on the character of Laura, played by Beln Rueda who once was an orphan herself. Laura together with her husband, Carlos, portrayed by Fernando Cayo, and their son Simon, played by the cute little boy, Roger Prncep stayed in a big, towering colonial mansion which was the orphanage in which Laura was part of before.

Laura and Carlos intend to turn their mansion into a home for children with special needs. This was most probably because of their only son being lonely and was getting too involved with his imaginary friends named Watson and Pepe. At some point in the film, Laura went for a stroll with her son, Simon to the beach, Laura brought her son to the cave she once knew and let him wander inside for awhile. When she went inside to check up on him, she was surprised to see that Simon was talking to a new invisible friend named Tomas. Simon even asked her mother if they could take Tomas home in which she had no reply. During their walk back to their home, Simon was dropping shells along the way in which he said was for his friend Tomas to follow. Things started to get weird and creepy from then on.

Simon started finding out information about him dying soon because of the HIV virus and that he was an adopted child. According to Simon, this was told to him by his 5 invisible friends. Things were getting from bad to worse, when Simon disappeared during the opening of the home for children with special needs. This was also the time when the ghost of Tomas first appeared. The ghost was wearing a mask made out of an old brown sack and an orphanage uniform in which Laura too wore back in the days when she was still in the orphanage. The character of Tomas was quite creepy.

Simons disappearance was made known throughout the region with pictures of the little boy posted on almost every street post. Search turned out empty for days, then months. But creepy sounds were never absent from their houses during these time.

Frustration is kicking Laura that she had to turn to spiritual mediums to find out whether her son was still alive. During the visit of the mediums in her house, they heard the kids from the orphanage before and their tragic story started to unfold. The five kids who were also Simons invisible friends were murdered by a character named Benigna, who was the keeper in the orphanage and also the mother of Tomas. She poisoned the five kids during one of the meals, which was the result of their deaths. This was done a week after the departure of Laura from the said orphanage. Tomas on the other hand was accidentally killed by the five kids by luring him into the cave near the beach using seashells as a follow path. Inside the cave, the kids removed his mask, revealing his deformed face. The kids ran upon seeing the face, Tomas was left in shame for what happened. He was caught up with the rising tides where he drowned and died. The police and inspectors decided that this was no murder for it was only childs play that caused the death of Tomas. This was the reason why she did the murder of the kids. The five kids whom were poisoned were buried inside the coal storage outside the house.

The medium explains that she is near death that is why she is able to communicate with the dead, the same thing was happening for Simon before his disappearance. He was near death due to his illness, making him able to interact with the dead. This was not believed by Carlos and the inspector who was invited by Carlos himself. They thought that the mediums were just fakes and are only after their money. Laura on the other hand believed and when Carlos decided to move out of the house and just move on with their lives, Laura asked for two days to be alone in the house for her to completely finish what she need to do.

When she was finally alone, she started turning the mansion back to its old look and started calling out the ghosts of the children by a game. When the ghosts started appearing, they lead her to a door that leads to a basement. It was quite hidden and was therefore difficult to find. There she finds the body of Simon with a sack mask on his face, and the puzzle was starting to materialize when she realized that she played a role in the death of her adopted son. She accidentally blocked the door with metal poles when trying to look for Simon during the opening party of the home for children with special needs. She also realized that all the noise she heard at night after Simon went missing were Simon trying to get out of the room.

Realizing her fault, she started taking in all of Simons medication where she overdosed and died with the companionship of the kids and her son, Simon in her arms. He wished her to stay and to take care of the orphans which she willingly obliged. The next scene was the tombstones of Laura, Simon and the kids in which Carlos was dropping a flower onto. After that, the scene takes us back to the house where Carlos finds a pendant or medallion of St. Anthony which he gave to Laura on the floor. The wind blows and the door of the room were the orphans stayed opened. Carlos just smiled.

Overall, the film was quite ok, not your typical ghost films, it has a few surprise scenes it also has a simple yet good twists. The storyline was quite confusing at first but its understandable. What made this film interesting is that thriller scenes are not exaggerated. The movie earns it scares, never faking us out with quick cuts or sudden noises, but settling into our bones and chilling us in a way weve forgotten was possible (Rich, K. 2008).  It gave the viewers the natural thrill of the scenes and its simplicity, even the props used.

There are many haunted house movies that made viewers scream. This movie was able to deliver the messages of haunted house movies gloomy, creepy, and mysterious. The Orphanage is a creepy haunted house movie that places Spain on the map as the new masters of horror and suspense (Pejkovic, M.R. 2008). The gloomy effect from the beginning was forgotten when the ending with Carlos, smiling and relieved made it a feel good atmosphere. This film shows the devotion of a mother towards her son whether it be your own or adopted. A good film all in all.

Ingmar Bergman s The Seventh Seal is a film that explores the themes of transgression, abjection and the very faith of mortal men during dark times. Questions of faith among those who are meant to hold Christianity high, degraded conditions of despair, suicide, disease and the horrors of war are among a few of the examples of abjection and transgression which appear throughout the film.

In The Seventh Seal, the knight Antonius Block and his squire, Jons, return home to Sweden from ten years of horrible fighting in the crusades to find their country ravaged by plague. In the throes of a crisis of faith, Antonius encounters Death. Unprepared to die, Block challenges Death to game of chess in order to buy time to find answers about God and faith. In particular, he is concerned that his pursuit of a life of faith in God has caused him to abandon his wife in order to commit and to witness the horrors of the crusades only to return to a land infested by a horrifying disease.

Intellectually, the conflict of the film is set up when Antonius and Jons arrive at a church where an artist is painting the dance of death. Antonius seeks counsel of a priest in the confessional, stating,  My life has been a futile pursuit, a wandering, a great deal of talk without meaning.  He goes on to give away his strategy to defeat Death in their chess game, only to realize that there was no priest to take his confession. Rather, he finds not only that he has given his confession to Death, but that he has given away his strategy to his very opponent. Meanwhile, Jons converses with the painter while creating a painting of his own, a self-portrait. He presents it and says,  This is squire Jons-world. He grins at Death, mocks the Lord, laughs at himself and leers at the girls. His world is a Jons-world, believable only to himself, ridiculous to all including himself, meaningless to Heaven and of no interest to Hell.

Jons transgressive attitude toward faith and disregard for the taboo of rejecting faith at such a time appears to allow him freedom from the same duty that Block feels towards Christian faith as well as a sense of humor, albeit a dark one, about the horrors of the scenes through which they travel. On the other hand, Block states later, in a picnic with a group of actors whom they encounter, that he considers his faith a burden of unrequited devotion. This same scene is one of few if not the only scene in which he finds any respite from the horrors that surround him, his struggle with faith and battle with mortality. He says,  I ll carry this memory between my hands as if it were a bowl filled to the brim with fresh milk And it will be an adequate sign-it will be enough for me.

Following this scene, the knight and his company encounter a monk who has set a young girl to be burned at the stake as a witch. Though all are appalled at the scene, they see she is too close to death to be saved. Antonius asks her to summon the Devil so that he may ask him of God. In an ambiguous moment, she states that she has, but the Devil is invisible to Block.

A sub-plot involving Jons and the very priest, Raval, who sent the knight and his squire on the pious journey that led Block to abandon his wife and endure so many horrors, expands the breadth of issues at hand. Early in the film, Jons finds Raval raping and robbing a young girl. Jons is quick to threaten to wound him if they ever again meet as he rescues the girl from his grips. Jons goes on to make good on this promise when he finds him humiliating an actor who has joined their company. Later the group encounter him in a forest. At this point, Raval has been struck with the plague.  He stumbles upon Blocks, Jons and company and begs them for water. The very young woman whom Raval had raped leaps to his aid, however, Jons holds her back. He tells her, remorselessly, it s meaningless.

In the final scene, the group meets their end. Antonius pleads with God desperately for his mercy. Jons  girl has a much different reaction. She kneels before Death with a smile, saying,  it is finished.  So, throughout the film, the character of God is ever-present throughout the film, but only in the minds of the characters of the story. Ultimately, it is God s silence that speaks most throughout the journey. The reality of their lives exists, through good and through bad, through the corporeal reality they encounter, as well as the human thoughts and emotions they experience. Much of this reality is expressed through abject conditions of plague, despair and warfare. The lone moment of joy which offsets the overall atmosphere of the movie is not spiritual in a Christian sense, but a moment of Earthly pleasure.

Whats Eating Gilbert Grape was filmed in 1993 in Texas and was directed by Lasse Hallstrom. It is a critically-acclaimed film that featured family values. It is a story about a family living in the fictional town of Endora consisting of a morbidly obese mother, Bonnie her two sons, Gilbert and Arnie and two daughters, Amy and Ellen. Following the death of her husband, Bonnie had done very little and resorted to eating which caused her physical state. She never goes out and prefers to stay within the confines of their home doing very little activities. Gilbert, on the other hand, is busy taking care of his brother, Arnie, who happens to be mentally-challenged. He is also the one in charge in making the necessary repairs in their old farmhouse. The two girls, Amy and Ellen, are the ones in charge of the household chores and cooking.

The Grape family, just like any other family, have their own issues and concerns. Bonnies life, for instance, had been greatly affected by the death of her husband. What used to be a beautiful woman has turned into a dysfunctional mother who lost control of everything  her motherhood, social life, strength, confidence and even her disposition to handle her familys conflicts. Although she loves her children very dearly, she had neglected her responsibility of serving and providing for her children, particularly Arnie, who has a disability. Gilbert serves as the familys stronghold. His affection for Arnie is unconditional and had crossed all barriers. He also keeps the family together despite peoples judgements with regards to his family and the ridicule that his mother gets from their town. Gilbert is the Grape familys protector.

In the story, many conflicts are presented to the audience. Arnies disability and his habit of climbing up the towns water tower when he is left unsupervised had been major conflicts in the story. This had caused trouble for the family. Although Gilbert almost always manages to fix everything, their family cannot escape certain consequences and peoples judgements towards them. Still, he is capable of communicating efficiently with Arnie and strives to make him obey and listen.

When Arnie was arrested following an incident wherein he went up the water tower causing a commotion to build in their town, Bonnie had to endure the ridicule she had gotten from the townspeople when she went out of their house for the first time in years to take her son from the police station. The scene clearly expressed how a mother is capable of doing everything in order to save her child. Bonnie had faced the odds and bore the gawking, laughing, picture-taking and pointing she got from the townspeople just to get to his son.

Gilbert, who made it a point to protect his brother, had shown the qualities of a responsible and loving older brother. He portrays strength of character while maintaining his sensitivity. His involvement with a woman took a great deal of his attention causing him to commit several shortcomings towards Arnie. At some point, Gilberts neglect had caused a great impact on Arnies behaviour. Still, his brotherly love and pure concern for Arnie always leads him back to him regardless of how severe their conflicts had been at some point.

Arnie, despite being a mentally-challenged boy, is characterized by a fun-loving and playful nature. He is capable of winning the hearts of the audience not only for his affectionate character and confidence in himself but also for his pure innocence. Although his disability causes a lot of conflicts within their family and even in their town, he manages to rise above it all because he is loved and cared for by his siblings and mother. Gilbert always comes to the rescue.

Bonnie longs to live just to see Arnie reach the age of eighteen. Sure enough, she got her wish and died following Arnies eighteenth birthday. The weakness of her character ended in a quiet death. This in turn challenged the strength of Gilberts character. Rather than giving his mother a decent and dignified funeral, he chose to burn down their farmhouse with his mothers lifeless body in it to spare her mothers memory from ridicule and judgements. He doubted the townspeople would pay his mother a bit of last respect. Instead of giving them something to make fun of, he just did what he thought would serve his family best. He had good intentions but it did not anyhow give their mother the honour she deserves despite of her shortcomings.

Just as Bonnie had been weak in dealing with her husbands death, Gilbert had demonstrated weakness also in facing the death of his mother. He managed to escape from the responsibility of serving his mother for the last time and from having to face the people of Endora regarding his mothers silent death.

Just like Gilberts family in this film, all families from all walks of life have their own issues, conflicts and secrets. Even in real life, families sometimes have to live with ridicule and judgements brought about by other people. However, it is the manner and attitude in facing these odds that truly matters. Just as Bonnie bravely faced the gawking and pointing of the townspeople when she went after her son in the police and just as Gilbert did his best to convince Arnie to go down the water tower to save him from trouble, every person has the right to defend and protect his or her family. It is more than just a choice it is an obligation and a responsibility.

What Gilbert did towards the end of the film is debateable whether it is right or wrong. He wanted to spare the death and remains of his mother from being ridiculed. However, he failed to give her honour for the last time. And if he chose to give her mother a decent funeral, it would mean having to endure other peoples responses. Gilbert failed to see what might have been because of what he chose to do in the end. Still, his dedication to care for Arnie even after their mothers death somehow justified his character and principles.

Mediterraneo is a catching comedy about how war has altered the lives of eight soldiersironically, they have not even put their guns into good use.

The story starts with the introduction of each of the characters who seemed like they were going on a war.  They were aboard a ship that had to take them to an island in the Aegean.  They arrived at the island, searched the village for any inhabitantsthey found not a single souland set up camp.  A few days later, they found out that they were not alone on the island, and that there were actually inhabitants in the area.

The lone priest told them they that hid because they thought they were Germans, and that they were going to take them away.  Previously, anyhow, the Germans took their young men and they had yet to return, which explains why the people were composed mainly of women and children, and a sprinkling of old men.

The soldiers learned to fit in with the crowd they helped the people, played outdoor games with them, and joined in their festivities, eventually becoming less uptight about the war.  Three years have passed, and they did not have a single idea of what was happening across the sea.  Their only radio was broken when one of the soldiers got into a fit of rage after his mule was accidentally shot.  There were no boats in the island, and their ship was long ago destroyed by an enemy fleet.  Their guns were taken from them by a deceitful Turk.  In other words, they had no means of contacting or getting news from Italy.

In the span of three years, they have gone through a lot Lieutenant Montini was able to finish painting the frescoes in the church Sergeant Lo Russo became less uptight with everything they were and were not supposed to do, like mingle with the people and one of the privates, Farina, has seen the love of his life in a prostitute named Vassilissa whom he had married.  The brothers Libero and Felice have found a threesome in the form of a shepherdess, and Noventathe Deserter, as they call himeventually found a way out of the island via a hidden boat.  Strazzabosco, the one who destroyed their radio in a fit, found a new mule to love.

They eventually were able to learn of the developments of the war from a pilot whose engine stalled and who had to land on their island.  The pilot told them that a lot had happened former enemies were now friends, and previous friends were now enemies.  All the while, they were protecting the island from any British attacks, when the Brits were actually their friends.
The war ended, and Italy was said to be regenerating from the ruins.  They all wanted to go home, excluding Farina who has decided to stay with his new wife Vassilissa.  The Brits escorted them home.

The story ends in a melodramatic reunion of Farina, Montini and Lo Russo, now old men.

Social Issues
There are several social issues laid down in the movie.  These proved to be critical in the understanding of war and life two different concepts rolled into a rather ironic adaptation.

Drafting of soldiers.  The men on the island were taken away from their families by the Germans.  The men were taken home when the war ended, but by their quantity, Id assume that they were the only ones left.

Prostitution.  Vasilissa is a prostitute, someone whose mother, grandmother, and even sister had the same profession.  He told Farina that she was a prostitute since it was logical.   The movie did not tell us if there were anymore prostitutes apart from her, but since it was a small island, we could assume that she was the only one.

Language barrier.  When the soldiers finally met the villagers, they had a hard time communicating with them.  It was a manifestation of a difference in culture.  Fortunately, Montini could understand a little Greek, and the priest Italian, too.

Religion.  There was only one priest on the island, an old man who asked Lieutenant Montini to paint the frescoes.

Gay rights.  Although this is just a passing realm in the film (where Colosanti told Lo Russo that he loves him) and not really a major one, but in 1991 the world is still conservative that a gay relationship is still a taboo.

Peace.  After the war, peace came of course.  But for the soldiers, peace came during the war, since they were cut-offphysically and emotionallyfrom the harsh realities of WWII. The soldiers found peace on the island and soon wanted to become part of it.

War.   War is complicated.  It is not something you can just describe in one or two sentences.  When the pilot informed them that the war was over, he mentioned that friends became enemies and vice versa.  That is how complicated it is.  They were lucky they were assigned to a far-off island and never had to experience it all.

Technicals
Of course, movies are meant to take you into the world of the film.  Mediterraneo made use of several perspective shots, low angle for emphasis, high angle for a birds eye view, and eye level, like we were into the conversation of the people.  Every angle gave the audience the chance to fit into several perspectives, be it of the soldiers, Vassilissas, or the childrens.

The lighting was appropriate too.  They used enough lighting for the night scenes (their smoking session with the Turk) and day scenes.  They were able to capture not only the actor and his speech, but also the texture and the feeling of the situation.  Since it was hot on the island, they shot arid places and waving atmospheres you can feel the heat and humidity even when inside an air-conditioned room.

The music, though purely instrumental, gave life to the scene it underscores.  A soft, easy music can be heard while Noventa thought about his wife upbeat during the celebration of Farina and Vassilissas wedding, and dark and ominous when the Munaron brothers were looking for a possible intruder while at their post.

Critically Acclaimed
The movie won six out of nine nominations from four different award-giving bodies.  In 1991, the film received Best Editing, Best Film, Best Sound, and was nominated for Best Director, Best Producer, and Best Screenplay at the David di Donatello Awards.

In 1992, it has won the Silver Ribbon from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists for Best Director the Audience Award at the Palm Springs International Festival and an Oscar at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

In a review of the film, Berardinelli (1992) said that the film is not worthy of the award since its plot is lacking in complexity.  He notes, however, that the characters in the story are the ones that made the movie bearable to watch the changes in their personalities, especially of Lo Russo, were manifestations that one can change if also given a change in the environment.  These changes, he said, is evidence of the tranquility of the island working its magic on them.

Moreover, Berardinelli argued that the film had no significant contribution to the genre of war films.  In fact he even said that it only scratches the surface of too many issues.  The film did not delve deep into a specific social issue, but introduced a whole bunch without making an effort to expound them as per the audiences interaction.  Overall, he said that the movie is fun and too light, but is far from landmark effort.

Canby (1992) of the New York Times said the movie was a deliberately charming comedy and a sentimental movie.  He compared it with a Broadway musical, saying that it carries with it a characteristic of having a carefully calculated simulated innocence.  He agrees with Bererdinelli with the lightness of the film, claiming that it is not oppressive since it knows just how far it can go.  Moreover, he likes the portrayal of the roles of the soldiers.

Conclusion
I liked the movie.  I tried not to read any synopsis before watching it, so I will not be spoiled I thought it was one of those hardcore films about war, but I was wrong.  It was the complete opposite.  I felt the beauty of the island, like it embodies the peacefulness that the director wants to portray in the movie.  The island, said to be out-of-the-way, can be likened to a refuge in times of war, with the tranquility of the ocean separating them from the hostilities abroad.

The characters were a collection of misfits clumsy soldiers who (when I was still thinking it was a gory war movie) would end up dead with accidental shooting.  I loved how they seemed to complement the personality of the others Lo Russos bossiness over Montinis leniency, Noventas hope of going back to his loved ones and Farinas newfound love in a prostitute, of all people.  The film connotes that it is actually possible for people to change, and that change is inevitable.  Change happened in their three-year vacation as the war ended.

The review of the movies Y Tu Mama Tambien and Fish Tank are commonly describes as a very brave and sexy film, or a very exciting erotic film and all of these comments are due to its bold and real description of lust, sex, and eroticism. However, the point in these movies is that they are both real allegories of what is happening in society, and that these movies are brave enough to show scenes that will surely serve as an eye opener to unheard narratives in society, or to giving audiences another way of looking at the ruling social order. This essay will then aim to look and study at how these movies have in fact bravely showed unheard societal realities, in a very artistic way. Unheard social realities pertains to the harsh realities in society which established institutions does not want to acknowledge, or fears to accept this includes corruption, indifference to poverty, or the failures of the welfare state.

Being one of the required movies, I chose the film Y Tu Mama Tambien because of its interesting depiction of Mexican society. Aside from the fact that it is commonly known as a very exciting and comedic erotic movie, the fact about Y Tu Mama Tambien is that it is one of the most artistic political allegories (Edelstein, n.p.) of Mexico. Take note that the first scenes itself shows a very interesting piece of reality the casualness of the youths quest for sexual gratification wherein the main character Tenoch and his friend actually became very aggressive and casual at the same time in looking for girls while being stoned, just after their eternal and sexually energized vow of eternal fidelity to their partners leaving for Europe not to fuck any Europeans (Edelstein n.p.). However, the more interesting part of the movie in this case is the unnoticed but important twist of Mexican politics in the movie Tenoch being a son of a filthy rich powerful politician of the ruling PRI party in Mexico, and his friend which belongs to the poorer classes, and has a sister picketing along with a stream of university left wing activists.

This is also the case in the movie Fish Tank with a battered girl living in public housing projects, molested by her father and abused by her mother, and alienated with friends while seducing a new found savior. Then the more interesting part comes along in Y Tu Mama Tambien, the main characters meeting in a lavish dinner at the presidential palace, meeting a Spanish acquaintance and teasing her into a made up beach called Heavens Mouth, (Edelstein n.p.) and while gratifying their quest for sexual gratification and lust, ignoring facts of life along the road such as the rural poor, bloody working immigrants, and left wing activists catering to the poor. This is a very clear representation of present day Mexico meaningless promises of heaven by the government to its citizens while gratifying themselves with corruption, landlord dominated countryside landscape, and total disregard for the Mexican masses, with the radical left their only remaining hope. Such technique is also used in Fish tank, with the full description of sex, which serves as a medium for the audience to look at the realities of first world, British ghetto, and of public housing (Stevens n.p.). Aside from the fact that sex scenes between Mia and Connor shows no inhibition whatsoever, so are the scenes where Mia is groped by tension regarding the abuse of her father, of calling her sister a cunt, of using the ghetto and rap culture as a means of escape, and of the grim realities of public housing environs (Stevens n.p.). This movie only shows how experiences of harsh realities actually determine commonly misunderstood alternative cultures, as well as the role of established institutions in it.