masken Reviews

Edges of the Lord (2001)

"Edges of the lord", a lesson in the history of oppression

[7/10 · 18 February 2002]

"Edges of the lord" is a low-budget World War II drama about an intelligent young Jewish boy, geniusly portrayed by Haley Joel Osment, who is seperated from his parents in the very beginning of the film by the Nazis, invading Poland. The boy is sent, kicking and screaming, to relatives living in a captured village far from the larger communities. There he integrates with the family under hard prohibition from revealing that he is a Jew. He bonds especially with the youngest son of his host family, the imaginative and charismatic Tolo, who is played to excellence by newcomer Liam Hess, and his older brother Vladek (Richard Banel). As the plot moves forward we see the Nazi oppression of the Polish farmers and one of many faces of war: betrail and looting of prisoners of war, even by the Polish locals. Osment's character is, for the first time, demanded to go to church, read Christian psalms and hide his Jewish origin. The local priest, played by Willem Dafoe, offers him an alternative by schooling him separately and letting him perform the Christian traditions as a sole appearance. The story is full of moral choices and dilemmas that gets you thinking about, although not very sympathetic, for the characters' situations in life. This movie has shown me nothing more than what I have already seen. Many outstanding performers are fighting the edgeless script and make the film worth seeing. Perhaps expectations were set to high, but I would only be able to give this interesting flop a 7 for really good acting and an interesting theme.

Tiempos de azúcar (2001)

Two people in love during a whole life, forever separated, coming back to life again: personal comments of the film

[7/10 · 12 November 2001]

I've almost never seen a film so strong in its character as "Tiempos de Azúcar". This is a love story unlike any other about two people growing up together with entirely different passions and an unexplainable attraction for one another. The story would not be very interesting in itself if it wasn't for the excellence of the actors and the direction, a combination that reached for our hearts in the movie theatre in a way that brought out tears of passion. At the same time of being a romantic drama the picture gives the audience a fascinating lesson in 20th century Spanish history, as it stretches out during about 40 years from the death of Franco to the celluar phone culture of modern Western society. In the beginning of the film we see the two characters as they were, the two 10-year-old Spanish villagers grow up together. The boy without a father, trying to support his mother by working hard in the family bakery that he loves and his best and only friend, the little girl next door who's always trying to divert his attention from work to common pleasure. The young boy's, and eventually man's, dedication to his job in the bakery is explained by his needs for a safe and stabile world, stronger after the death of his mother. At the same time his childhood friend fights the dictator regime, takes a scolarship and enjoys a rich social life thanks to her indoubtable charm and beautiful appearence. Although she makes several attempts to create something other than mere friendship between them he won't let it go that far, even though many of his his old friends repetedly urge the young, kind workaholic to marry. After a few years, when his female soulmate finds someone else to share her life with, he realises that time has grown regretably short... The movie continues with the development of the little fishing village to the tourism capital of the Spanish westcoast, Benidorm, and portraits the male main character's whole life from birth to the eventual, dramatic, death. As a romantic drama it's a very good portrait of two people in a cultural environment that can seem very fascinatingly exotic for a child of the Western movie society. Still, it isn't very inventive and the movie is of course a lot worse than the book itself. To really get entangled with it the way I have takes some interest in Mediterranian culture and Spanish history. But anyway, due to excellent performances and art value this is a movie that really represents a beginning of a breakthrough in European regional film.