Desert Dancer

First Hit:  Poignant in time, a bit melodramatic, but overall a beautiful story.

Based on a true story of Afshin Ghaffarian (Reece Ritchie) an Iranian young man that wants to dance.

Dancing is illegal in Iran and the morality police will beat and jail you if you are caught. He goes to school at a school called “Saba” the one place he can be creative along with his fellow students. Upon going to the University in Tehran he joins up with others who defy the government. They start a small dance company and he’s also joined by Elaheh (Freida Pinto) whose mother was a dancer before the revolution. Her mother never danced again and numbed herself with drugs just as her daughter is doing.

The scenes of the students and the general public marching in support of a challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,  were intensely palpable. Watching the protests of a rigged election was even more important in that this was what happened. Afshin gets caught in one of these protests, is identified as a dancer and during a beating becomes an escaped fugitive.

Ending up in Paris, he makes his mark and stands up for himself. The best scenes in the film are Elaheh’s routine when she first encounters the dance group’s makeshift studio, the desert performance, and Afshin’s Paris performance.

Ritchie was very good at times and at others seemed too western in behaviors and feel to have been born and raised in Iran. Pinto was really strong and I felt her performance was the best of the group. Her sadness of her life felt very real. Makram Khoury as Mehdi his teacher at Saba school was excellent. Jon Croker wrote a good screenplay. Richard Raymond did a good job of creating some of the intenseness of the time in Iran and some of the shots in their practice studio were very effective.

Overall:  Although this isn’t a great film, it is a wonderful story.

Red Army

First Hit:  Very strong film about the Soviet’s system for developing their famed “Red Army” national hockey team.

Elegance and dance like are words to describe the way the Soviet national hockey team played hockey. Watching them skate in a hockey game was beautiful. Their weaving pattern was amazing.

This was very different than the smash brutish game as played in the USA and Canada. This film focuses on Slava Fetisov a defensemen for this team. He discusses how they were coached and developed to be the world’s premier hockey team.

The filmmaker mixes political discussion, old stills, old film and current interviews with the famed team members. The mirroring of their teams progression and the changing of the political climate when the country changed from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic – USSR to Russia under Gorbachev.

The regimentation of their practicing and isolation created a level of brainwashing which rears its head as Fetisov speaks. The unfortunate circumstances by which they kept him in Russia was typical. He eventually (along with his teammates) comes to the west, make some money and then after his hockey career is over, becomes the Minister of Sports under Putin.

Fetisov was interesting to watch as he suppressed emotions and feelings when certain subjects were broached. Seeing him watch footage of the USA college team beat his team (Miracle on Ice) at the Olympics in their heyday was difficult. Gabe Polsky wrote and directed this amazing documentary.

Overall:  This film directly reflected the times and the USSR during the 60s – 80s.

American Sniper

First Hit:  An extremely well-crafted film.

Killing in war is sometimes justified by the beliefs of a country and its people.

Settling into this film, one has to set aside any beliefs (especially political) about right or wrong because this film is about how one man processes killing other humans when he believes what he is doing is right and is doing it for his country.

This story is about Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) an SEAL sniper who did 4 tours in the middle-east and is credited with over 160 kills. He became "The Legend". Kyle is married to Taya (Sienna Miller) and in-between the first 3 tours she becomes pregnant with a son and daughter, whom Chris loves dearly. Kyle is very controlled and is tightly wound. Around home he is quiet and distant. With the guys in Iraq he’s fearless and engaged.

The pacing of the scenes along with the setups were very strong. The decision making of whether to take a shot we’re well measured and reflected in the actor, screenplay and director. Visually it was a very strong and the edits only added to the action as it transpired.

Cooper was extraordinary in all ways. His controlled looks and measured actions were reflective of someone who had a lot of built up stresses. Miller was very good in her portrayal of a loving wife who wanted her husband back. Jason Hall wrote a wonderful screenplay. Clint Eastwood showed why he is a very strong, precise, and effective director in bringing this story to life.

Overall:  It is an excellent film.

Selma

First Hit:  Not as engaging as I had hoped.

The Selma, Alabama march was a seminal moment in our nation’s history.

The film follows Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo) through the process, thoughts and actions leading to the successful decision by President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to push an equal vote for all while King led a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama securing the rights for blacks to vote.

Although I loved the story and remember it fondly, the portrayal of this story was only good at times. I thought there were long moments of waiting and indecision by the director which created a slowness in this film that wasn’t needed.

To set up the issue, the film begins with Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey) trying to register to vote. The voter registrar clerk, finds ways to reject Cooper’s form. The point is the unreasonableness of the registrar’s office against blacks.

The film spends a little time with King being at home with his family. Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) is strong willed, supportive of her husband, and also keeps the family together with her strength. There are a number of historical characters in this film from Andrew Young (Andre Holland), Presidential Advisor Lee White (Giovanni Ribisi) to Gov. George Wallace (Tim Roth) which give a fair amount of context to the story – especially Wallace.

Pacing of this film was methodically slow and, to me, it made this film much longer (by 20 – 30 minutes) than needed.

Oyelowo was good as King, but I never felt moved by the documented speeches as spoken by David. Wilkinson was good as LBJ, however I’m wondering about the dialogue used to represent him. For some reason it didn’t ring true with the same person who pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Winfrey was solid as Cooper, however in two of the closing still pictures, she seemed to be the focal point by being in the center – seemed a bit egotistical. Ejogo, as Coretta, provided the strongest acting of the bunch. Holland was good as the young Andrew Young. Ribisi was OK as White. Roth was powerful as Wallace. Paul Webb wrote a good script, but needed some trimming. Ava DuVernay directed this film which had pacing problems. However, the look and feel of the time was wonderfully represented.

Overall:  I was disappointed in the result of this film.

Unbroken

First Hit:  Unfortunately this film only focused on his suffering.

In many ways the story of Louis Zamperini’s life is too big and expansive for the screen.

This left Angelina Jolie with having to make a choice of what to present. She chose to share little of his joys and more on how he suffered. The major part of this film takes place while he is a prisoner of the Japanese in a POW camp located in Japan.

The punishment dished out Corporal/Sergeant Watanabe (the “bird” as prisoners called him) was relentless. He feigned niceness and respect from time to time, and then would turn around and punish Louis in horrible ways. The way this film was shot, broad vistas when in the plane or on the life raft to microscopic views of the torture. This isn’t to say that what Louis endured was brave beyond compare and therefore this is a major part of his life.

However, in the end, I was relieved that the film was over and very happy to read the post-closing credits and pictures of him, smiling and joyful – something that didn’t exist much, if at all, in the film.

Jack O’Connell as Louis was very good, but I felt as if something was missing within him that would make the story more real. Domhnall Gleeson as Pilot Phil was good as his friend and fellow survivor. Takamasa Ishihara was very good as Watanabe and provided a sick view of a torturer. Joel and Ethan Coen wrote this script, which was effective but very dark and one-sided towards gruesome punishment. Jolie’s direction was very pointed to the pain Zamperini suffered to the point of overload. Where was the man who was joyfully smiling at the end of the film.

Overall:  I felt that this film showed only a partial view of an amazing man.