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In American movie theatres we always see the big Hollywood movies. But if we want to watch the Indie movies we have to go to the little IFC movie theatre or the local
independent movie theater.
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Baaria'
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Most of the times little productions, even if they are great movies, do not find an audience and they end up on the shelf of the video store, if they are lucky, or directly on the shelves of the big Libraries. If the movie is foreign then most likely it will not get screened in US, unless it is a masterpiece or it is made by a very famous foreign director.
The only way to get some visibility for a foreign movie it is to get an Oscar nomination (foreign language section), and even then this movies rarely will get a wide distribution in American theatres.
For this reason I want to dedicate this blog to a couple foreigner movies that are receiving great lode outside the US. Probably these movie will receive an Oscar nomination because they have been submitted to the Academy by their countries of origin, but definitely will receive some buzz because of their artistic value and the stories that they tell. |
The first movie is the Italian “Baaria'” directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The movie is a sentimental autobiographical tribute to Bagheria (Baaria) the hometown of the director and his family. Tornatore in this movie tell us the story of the three generations of the Torrenuova family (sounds almost like Tornatore) , blending fifty years of Italian history and politics, showing how life is always a circle no matter what is the calendar year.
The music by Ennio Morricone and the beautiful Sicilian’s landscapes will capture the audience in the most emotional moments of the movie.
According to most of the reviews, Tornatore with “Baaria'” repeats the magical atmosphere already seen in his past works like “Cinema Paradiso”, “Malena” and “L’Uomo delle Stelle”.
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Ricardo Darin (left) & Abel Ayala
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The second movie is the Spaniard “El Baile de la Victoria” (The Dancer and the Thief) by director Fernando Trueba. This is the first non-documentary movie made by Trueba in seven years. Shot in Santiago, and based on the novel of Antonio Skarmeta (Il Postino), the director tells the story of Nico Vergara Grey and Angel, who are freed from prison, because of a general pardon; Nico is trying to reconnect with his family and Angel is dreaming to become a gangster.
Trueba’s movie is totally different from his Oscar winner “Belle Époque” but blends brilliantly crime, love and social drama in the post-Pinochet Chile.
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These are two movies are worth the thickets, therefore look for them in your local Independent movie theatres and do not wait for the Oscar buzz, if they get the nomination.
If you do not find them, I encourage to go to see an independent or a foreign movie once in a while, it can be a way to contribute to the development of the arts and artists.
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thanks leonardo. I still rate Pan's Labyrinth as one of my favorite all time movies. A perfect blend of fantasy and historical/political/thriller.
I don;t see enough independant movies but both of these seem very interesting.
maybe we could have some occasional Forum artistico movie theatre dance shows.
OOHH that reminds me I just saw Morphoses a couple of weeks ago. so I will blog a review of that now!