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Ame agaru (1999)
Quiet beauty
Director Takashi Koizumi made a beautiful movie in the best Kurosawa tradition, about the relationship between a samurai and his surroundings. These surroundings are both in the personal sphere and in the natural sphere. The story quietly unfolds, about this particular samurai and his wife, temporarily staying in a tavern because of the ever falling rain. He teaches the folks in the tavern how to enjoy life. Then he gets an offer from a Lord to become a teacher at the court in swordfighting. But other swordteachers conspire against him and he doesn't get the job. The result is that his wife understands him better and after the rain has stopped, they travel on as a very happy couple through and in harmony with the beautiful countryside. This movie teaches us about simplicity and about being pleased with the things around oneself.
Guarda il cielo: Stella, Sonia, Silvia (2000)
Three stories about trying
Three stories in one movie, each story in a different timeperiod, with the same characters in each episode. Stories revolve around the theme of working women, trying to balance their working life with their familylife and the seemingly impossibilities. Stories have been told before in better ways. Nothing new, no new viewpoints, just middle of the road fare.
Pane e tulipani (2000)
Sudden adventures and new love
Pane e Tulipani is about a woman, who lives the ordinary life of the middle-of-the-road Italian housewife, with a stereotypical Italian husband, always talking, macho, etc. The family is on a daytrip by bus, when the wife suddenly discovers that the bus has left without her. There she is, standing alone in a restaurant along the motorway. She then decides to go home alone, asking passing drivers to take her with them. On the road she decides to do something adventurous and go for one day to Venice, a city she's never been to. She hires a room in a pension and then finds that she loves to be alone, without family. She gets a job and a room to stay, in the house of a lonely waiter (with a terrible secret, it seems). She discovers the joys of life and love, makes new friends, and starts all over again. This movie is full of joy, color, fun. It's alive and bubbling and deserves to be seen by the great masses. The characters are exceptionally well played and the plot is full of surprises and laughs. See it if it's near you!!!
Tout va bien, on s'en va (2000)
Three sisters and their lost father
Movie about three differing sisters, the oldest one a ballet teacher, who's never had any success and the youngest an aspiring concert pianist, living in poor housing conditions. The middle sister has made it, she's financially secure and helps the other sisters with money. Their lives are a little boring, just routine. Then suddenly, up pops their father. This man, played by Piccoli, left his family years ago, without leaving a message and an address. This return invokes different reactions in the sisters and places their own relation under stress. They react with hate, rejection and it confronts them with their youth. It proves that their father is slowly losing his memory and he wants to meet his daughters before he's lost his mind completely. The subject of this movie is not surprising and the story develops in a natural way. So in the end, it's all a bit tedious. It's nice to see Miou Miou again though.
Sexo por compasión (2000)
How to give love....
This is the story of a drab and gray Mexican village, where life is boring. The main character is a wife, who mourns the unexpected leave of her husband. She learns that he left her because maybe she is a person without sins. So she wants to do terrible sins in the hope that her husband may return. Adultery proves to be one of the most terrible sins. Thus, she decides to sleep with other men. But miraculously, she helps the sad men who visit her. After sleeping with her, they find new energy in life and the dreary village comes to life again. At this point in the movie, the colour returns to the movie too. In the beginning the movie was shot in gray-colors, but now it turns to glorious colors. The movie is done as a comedy with plenty of laughs and funny situations, but there's a serious undertone of breaking through the macho-culture of Mexico. I found the movie very enjoyable and lighthearted. Recommended.