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jeremyochsgonzales
Reviews
Wakolda (2013)
More Creepy than Scary but still good
Last weekend my husband and I went to see the movie "The German Doctor". The film is set in Argentina in the early 1960's and is based on true events. I am both a film buff and a history buff so the film was right up my alley.
After World War 2 there were many Nazi war criminals that fled to South America to escape prosecution for their crimes against humanity. One of them was Josef Mengele, who had done human experimentation at Auschwitz during the holocaust and was known as the "angel of death".
In the film an Argentine family is traveling to the Patagonia region of Argentina to reopen a family hotel. As they travel they meet a German doctor who befriends them. Although the father of the family is never really keen on the doctor the mother and daughter do take a liking to him. Once the family reaches their destination it is clear there is something not quite right about the doctor. The daughter was born prematurely and has always been the smallest girl her age. The doctor promises that growth hormones that have been used on cows could help the girl catch up to her peers. Is he trying to help or his he just experimenting on this poor Argentine girl for the sake of experimenting?
What is interesting about the film is seeing the close relationship between Argentina and Germany. I already know about the Nazi's that escaped there after World War 2 but I hadn't really thought about the connection during or before the war. That connection becomes obvious early in the film when the mother is talking about how she went to the German school in Patagonia when she was a child. She is looking at some old pictures and in the background is the Nazi flag. It was a shocking image but it made sense. When somebody takes a foreign language class the classroom usually has flags and pictures of countries that speak that language. Why would a German school in Argentina in the 1930s or 1940s be any different? It also made me really understand that there had to already be Nazi sympathizers in Argentina during the Holocaust who would have been willing to help the Nazi's escape after the war.
The acting is good and I enjoyed the film switching back and forth from Spanish to German. I thought the movie would be an intense thriller but in the end the film was more creepy than scary. Still, it was a good film worth seeing. I think it is important for Americans to understand the history of other parts of the world. The film has gotten a very limited release so if it isn't in theater near you be sure to check it out on video.
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Divergent (2014)
Good Story with Bad Casting
On Monday night I finally saw "Divergent". To write a review of this movie is kind of complicated. How can one separate the story from the performances? Well, I'll try.
I'll start with the positive. I like the story. The world that is created in "Divergent" is different enough from other dystopian stories to stand on its own. I think like all dystopian tales there is a certain amount of realism taken to the extreme in this story. In the world of "Divergent" people are divided into factions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the Intelligent. I found this interesting. At the end of the day isn't our society divided into various factions? Aren't the jobs we go to everyday kind of assigning us to one of these roles?
In the world of "Divergent" sixteen year olds take a test which is supposed to tell them what faction they belong in (in a way isn't this kind of like the sorting hat in Harry Potter?), but when it comes time to choose each person can choose what faction they want to spend the rest of their life in. Most children end up in the faction that they are born into. Once again isn't this like the world we live in. We go to school from ages 5 to 18 and that is supposed to tell us where we are supposed to go in life, we are given the choice to decide where we are going to spend our lives but at the end of the day don't most people end up following the path of their parents and their parents before them and their parents before them?
What is interesting in "Divergent" is that the main character Beatrice, later known as Tris, fails to fall into any faction based on her test, hence the name divergence. It seems that in the world of "Divergent" people who are individuals and don't fit into a box are a treat. Why does sound familiar? For all of our emphasis on individually doesn't our society today reward those who conform? Aren't people who look, act, dress and most of all think differently seen as a threat? Doesn't it freak the status quo out when people choose not to get married or have kids or work a nine to five job?
After Beatrice tests as Divergent she is forced to pick a faction without the guidance of the test. She picks Dauntless because she always looked up to them when she was growing up. As the story progresses we get to see her initiation into Dauntless. It is basically like basic training and if you don't make the cut you end up factionless. Once again there is a parallel to our world. Aren't the factionless supposed to be like our homeless? The story is kind of saying that if you don't follow what is expected of you will end up on the fringes of society; left without a home and an identity. What I can't decide is if the story is reinforcing this message or challenging it?
I liked seeing the challenges that Tris has to face to become a member of Dauntless. I was also left wondering what the challenges would be for the young men and women who ended up choosing a different faction. Sure it's thrilling to see the tests of the brave but I would also like to see the tests of the selfless, the peaceful, the honest and the intelligent.
The conflict of the story comes with a grab for power. In the world of "Divergent" Abnegation runs the government. However, there is talk of corruption among that faction and Erudite, the intelligent, looks to be making a move to take over the government with the help of a brainwashed Dauntless.
Again, I found the story interesting. However, I was left wondering if the story was anti-intellectual. After all it's the evil Erudite who make a play for power.
I found the ending of the movie to be a little sloppy but I have enough interest in seeing what will happen next that I'll see the sequel.
Now the not so good things...
Prior to this movie I had only Shailene Woodley in "The Decedents". While I didn't think that she gave a bad performance in that movie I couldn't understand why there was (forced) Oscar buzz around her. She didn't do anything special. I was even less impressed with her in this movie. I like that these YA franchises are giving young women the lead roles but you need a truly powerful and charismatic actress to carry a film like "Divergent" and Shailene Woodley is not it. She is a very plain looking actress, not ugly by any means but not beautiful, but she doesn't compensate for that plainness with any real charisma or acting talent. She was far too passive to play Tris.
Theo James so bland, devoid of talent, charisma and good looks that I was left wishing I had Liam Hemsworth on screen.
Speaking of Kate Winslet she is fine in her very small role. She doesn't over play it which is nice. I like placidity in which she plays the villain; it's a much more interesting route to take than scenery chewing.
Throughout the movie I pondered who would have been a best casting choice to play Tris. Late in the movie I realized the answer was in the movie itself. The perfect Tris would have been Ashley Judd twenty years ago. Judd's role is very small but she is given a couple moments where she shines and makes Woodley look small in her shadow.