"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, especially when the man is a serial killer and the timid mouse soon turns out to be even more psychotic than he is".
To me, this movie really points to what a powerful (and devastating) effect an ideology can have on a simpler minded folk. I admit it is a bit biased as it is a Polish-made and it recounts historical events (1939) as seen primarily from a polish perspective (which made it controversial), but I think there is plenty of blame to go around on both sides (actually on all 4 sides). It is a good history reminder.
I tried to watch it on Youtube, but it is one of those where you have to sign up, otherwise the only version is in Polish? Did you see it at the cinema or online?
My Polish pal recounted stories of her family's near past, and they are scarred beyond belief as a family.. something their newer generations will probably help fade during their lifetimes. I will send my pal the link and attempt to watch it myself, but I am not a fan of heartstrings being pulled, so I will try not to get mad and persevere through it.
I also found it hard to watch at times, and maybe that's because I'm predominantly Polish by blood. The older I get, however, the more I am bothered by such graphic recreations of wanton cruelty and the gore of innocents. Especially when it portrays real groups of people and still-present political entities. I'm wary of the emotional strings being pulled in such a film. Still, I find Wolyn (Volhynia), both the film and the historical event, to have important, even timely, examples to learn from. I would say they pushed it too far in some places, although it is hard to judge what people need to see and what they don't. I also find it a little too real to be able to rate as a film, but thank you for sharing it here.
Realive (Proyecto Lazaro), (2016) - A young man with a terminal brain cancer decides to cryogenically preserve himself in order to be revived by the future medicine. After he is successfully revived in the future, he begins to question his life, and life in general, and whether he made the right choice. The idea for the movie is very interesting, and there are some good questions raised by it, but I do wish they flushed some of these ideas out a bit more. Though I believe the movie did make its point (and the end was good). 7/10
[I suppose hypothetically, it's possible to commit suicide in order to live and also in order to die]
Fearless (1993) - A bit older, but along the same lines. A man gets a second chance in life by surviving an airplane crash. He's good at helping other survivors but has difficulty readjusting back to his old life himself. It's a really well done psychological drama, and gives a good insight into someone who's going through a PTSD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm5jBa4LzxQ [I think the trailer is a little bit misleading as it just shows the euphoria part of his traumatic response] If you like dramas, this movie will take for you a ride. 10/10
A great, low-budget independent thriller 8.5/10. Their budget was $30,000 and they made every penny count.
Into The Forest (2015) Someone got paid for writing this script and actors chose to be in it...LOLZ! 1/10 for sheer comedic idiocy.
The Girl With All The Gifts (2016) 7.5/10 A different take on the zombie phenomena that was quite enjoyable.
Documentary about the Communist regime working inside the USA government and calling themselves Democratic Socialists. 8/10
Manifesto. An artfully done overview of different contemporary art viewpoints. This movie is a visual treat. Good acting too. 8.5/10
The Square. Another art-related indie film. This one is a social satire, essentially pointing at people’s/society’s hypocrisy. (What happened to the square?) This movie is a little bit longer and less streamlined (plot-wise), so a bit of patience is needed, but it has a number of well-done ironic scenes, some of which are subtle (as with street beggars) and some quite powerful, as the noted “jungle” scene with Terry Notary. Okay for one time viewing. 6/10
This British drama tells the story of how an author created much loved children’s tales through interactions with his young son. The film aims to balance child-like wonder and imagination with the sadness and uncertainty of wartime and family tensions, and it gives an unusual biographical glimpse into the relationship of author, Alan Alexander Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) to his young son, Christopher Robin.
The film is as much about the negative consequences of stardom as it is about family and social disharmony. Teddy bears are soft and cuddly, the film says, but celebrity status has teeth that can hurt. This is a film that explores movingly the clash between reality and childhood innocence. In addressing that clash, Christopher Robin later describes his father as “climbing on my infant shoulders....(leaving) me with nothing but the empty fame of being his son”.
A Jungian-based short animated film about the collective shadow aspect of the West. Well-done and quite relevant.
"The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge." - Jung.
“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is…if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.” - Jung.
“Filling the conscious mind with ideal conceptions is a characteristic of Western theosophy, but not the confrontation with the shadow and the world of darkness. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” - Jung.
“An individual’s shadow is invariably bound up with the collective shadow of his group, and as he digests his own evil, a fragment of the collective evil is invariably co-digested at the same time.” -Erich Neumann.
You made it through the entire 13 minutes, Pandabear? Tried to watch it, only made it two minutes in.