Saturday, October 11, 2008

Airport babblings

So here I am sitting in Amsterdam Airport, travelling to Iran once again, and realizing I'm a true internet addict since I'm willing to pay 12 freakin' Euros for 90 minutes of wireless internet!

Amsterdam airport is nice and big and has lots of seating which makes it a heaven compared to Frankfurt airport. but I don't really feel like writing about the airport. let's talk movies, shall we? :D

I watched Gomorrah and 3 women as my last two movies in the film festival. Well, Gomorrah totally disappointed me! I probably didn't get the point of teh movie, but to me it was long, boring, and ...well, pointless! maybe if the movie wasn't so long and the show wasn't so late I would have enjoyed it more, but anyway not a favorite at all!

As for 3 women, I liked the story, although there were some serious logical goofs in it, and the acting wasn't exactly the best. The film is about a workoholic, successful woman who somehow loses her young daughter and her mother in one day. As she searches to find them she starts to learn more about them and herself. A lot of emphasis is placed on the value of history and ancient artifacts of Iran (especially Persian carpets), even if sometimes it seems forced. In the end I think we see that they are all bound together not just by blood, but by this history, the land, and the life itself. I recommend seeing this movie, do not expect too much from it, but it's worth watching once.

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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

something to think about

along the line of me becoming so spiritual and forgiving (!) (read previous post), I have been thinking about something that the yoga instructor in my class mentioned the other day:

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

She had learnt this from her teacher, I'm sure it's a very famous saying but don't know who said it in the first place. Anyway, the point is: pain does not have to bring suffering, if we chose to act upon it and bring something positive out of it ( i know, i know, a lot more easily said than done). Instead of hurting, we can try to deal with pain consciously, something I personally never do. I usually suffer for a long time, and then run away from pain, and try to let it go away without me noticing. It never does though, it'll just go hide somewhere and when you least expect it, will come back to torture you.

Hmmm, I have to think about this process more carefully, who knows, maybe one day I too will be able to stop suffering consciously.

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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I had an epiphany:

hating people is so much harder than loving them! you have to keep reminding yourself that you hate their guts and it takes way too much energy. Not sure if it's worth it unless it comes naturally to you!

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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Movies, movies, movies

VIFF is back once again and I'm enjoying it so far. I've watched only 3 movies so far, and here they are:

Waltz with Bashir: it was an Israeli animated documentary of the massacre in Sabra and Shatila and was absolutely amazing! It was strong and interesting and kind of reminded me of Persepolis in a remote way (Persepolis is still better in my opinion though). The main character of the movie actually is the director himself and the movie is his quest to remember what happened in the massacre, when he was a 19 year old soldier in the Israeli forces present in Lebanon. It's disturbing but not too exaggerated in my opinion. A must-see for you serious animation lovers.

three monkeys: This Turkish movie was unfortunately not as interesting to me as I had hoped. Three monkeys is a reference to a proverb that says: "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" and basically tells the story of a family that decides to close their eyes on the truth and stick together in a very messy situation. Don't get me wrong, it's not a sweet tale of family love, it's actually very dark and dramatic and kind of depressing with no background music and not a lot of dialogue. I could see why some people might actually like it, the cinematography was very good and acting was good too... but I didn't exactly love the plot. anyway, this is not a good choice if you get easily bored, I was ready to enjoy the movie but fell asleep during the first 15 minutes!!!

And last but definitely not least is the song of sparrows: Majid Majidi has once again created a story about real people with real connections that's moving but sweet at the same time. He tells the story of a guy who tries to be a part of the big cruel world of a big city, but realizes that his happiness lies in his own small community. The love between a father and his children is pictured beautifully. I had expected to see a very sad movie, but although there were some sad moments, the movie was filled with hope and optimism. I think Majidi would be a perfect nemesis to Von-Trier in that regard! :) everyone should watch this movie, it deserves all the good reviews it's got!

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