Flight Plan * * * *
The local video store was totally out of these (and they had at least 100 copies)for the first week it was released. I saw the previews, a woman on a flight loses her daughter. I couldn't see how they could make this into a feature film. WOW, was I wrong. Jodi Foster seems to pick these intense story lines. This begins in Berlin, a bereaved wife claiming her husbands body at the funeral home to return New York for burial. She is a "propulsion" engineer, designing jet engines for the new super jet liners that will be in our future. It is one of these 450 passenger liners that will carry her, her 6yr old daughter and her husband's coffin home to New York. Once aboard, she decides to take advantage of some empty seats in the rear of the plane to get some sleep. She wakes up a couple hours later, and her daughter is gone. She enlists the help of the flight attendants, but something is terribly wrong.... her daughter is not on the manifest, there is no record of her boarding... What is real, did we see the daughter or was it her imagination?
This is a nailbiting, intense plot with twists and turns that will pull you in like a roller coaster. Two words....SEE IT!
the Edukators * * ½
The Edukators is a German film about the new generation in Deutchland who is making a stand against social inequality. The film opens with a wealthy family returning to their extravagant home to find their furniture stacked up and a letter warning their days of wealth are numbered. Their home invasion was accomplished by 2 friends, Jan and Peter who call themselves "the Edukators" and their motive is not to steal but to gain publicity for their cause. Jan's girlfriend, Jule, works as a waitress and is clearly miserable. We learn as she is evicted from her apartment that she is 94,000 in debt. She was an uninsured motorist who crashed her car into a $100,000 Mercedes, which she now must repay the car's wealthy owner. She has managed to repay $6,000 but with her tiny income, cannot see a future without debt. Will the Edukators have a lesson for her indenturer?
The dust cover claimed "tense, evocative and emotional, one of the smartest thrillers of the year.... It also calls this a comedy. I usually dont want my comedies to be tense, evocative and emotional. There are many social messages delivered by characters who seem to be struggling to find their own place in the world. And like many people who believe they have a righteous mission, they miss their own culpability. Does the end ever justify the means?
This fictional story parallels the very real situation in Germany with a rising wealthy class who are enjoying record untaxed profits while the working class is experiencing a continued decline in their net wage ratio. While the plot line is unusual and unpredictable, I expected a bit more.
Millions * * *
I watched this film on the recommendation of a customer in the video store who was standing next to me when I picked it up. I hadn't heard anything about it, so that was sufficient endorsement to have a look. The picture on the front has a scrubed faced boy that made me think it was perhaps some of the "christian" oriented films that have popped up at the store in the past year. In fact though, this is an English film about a dad and his two sons who move from the city to a new housing development the suburbs. The youngest of the brothers makes a fort with the moving boxes in the back of the property near the train tracks. He is very spiritually focused for an 8 year old lad, and frequently has conversations with Saints and other religious figures. No wonder he believes it is God sent when a suitcase filled with cash drops out of the sky onto his fort. It is lighthearted fare, fit for family viewing...even Mormons! (Official Christian reviews rate it "better than most" but "irreverent.")
offical Christian Review
The Constant Gardener * * * *
I prefer Indy and Foreign films, but occasionally a Hollywood release gets enough chatter that I have a look. This was well worth it. From the opening scene to the closing credits I was transported out of my living room and into the story written by John le Carré and brought to the screen by Jeffery Caine and Fernando Meirelles. It is a complex tale of British diplomats, capitalist conspiracy, and lust, not 3 words you usually find in the same sentence. Ralph Fiennes is convincing as Justin Quayle, a mild mannered representative of her majesty's government with a passion for gardening. He meets Tessa (Rachael Weisz) during a lecture in London he is giving as a favor for the writer who could not deliver it himself. She is a fiery girl who clearly wants to challenge whatever is wrong with the world. When he asks her to join him for a cup of coffee I had to smile recalling that was a euphemism in London for something quite different. We learn he is being transferred to Africa, and the infatuated Tessa asks to go along "as your lover, your mistress, or your wife...."
You must learn the rest on your own, as the story is woven through flashbacks and present time. I will leave you with one word....Riveting!
Schultze gets the Blues * * *
This is a 2003 German film that recently found it's way to my local video store. It is a different film than I usually find, very plain on the surface, yet incredibly complex at the same time. It tells a simple story in a very understated way and the overall effect is quite powerful.
Schultze is a recently retired miner, a hard working man that now finds a lot of time on his hands and not much else. His mother is in a nursing home with dementia, his only family his mates from work who like to share a glass of beer when they get the chance. The imagery in this film is stark and dramatic. The long pauses tempt you to reach for the fast foward button, but they create the emptiness you will understand about Schultze's life. His only bright spot is his accordion, and his membership in the local music club which is celebrating their 50th anniversary. This year they offer a special prize, an expense paid trip to Texas. The club received an invitation from their "sister city" to send one person to their annual German-American festival. The winner will be selected at their Anniversary concert, "may we put you down for your usual polka Schultze?"
As the story slowly unfolds, you may begin to see the threads that weave this beautiful tapestry. Or they may be so subtle that they go past you like a line on the sidewalk that you step over everyday. In the end, you will hopefully get the message about going out and finding happiness wherever you can.
