First day of Love and Anarchy film festival over! Three movies. Three completely different movies. Half an hour between each movie. My mind is pretty mushed up right now.
This post may include spoilers regarding some of the festival movies, be warned!
Living (2022)
I love Bill Nighy! There is just something about him that is really special. His expressions. Probably the roles he is cast to.
"Living" is a heart warming story of a man (Bill Nighy) who is given six months to live due to cancer. Realizing he has lived his life sitting at an office, wasting both his time and opportunity, he finds the chance to do some good before leaving the world.
I don't think there was a single mean character in this film. Which is probably why it was so heart warming, even the the son and his wife, who initially felt mean towards the cancer doomed father, eventually seemed that they had been distanced by the coldness of the father, rather than being mean themselves.
This film wont leave you sad after watching it.
Rebel (2022)
Do you feel disconnected from the brutalities of the world? Are you failing to understand what it is like to be engulfed by war? Are you generally wanting to stick knives into your heart in a dark room (ie movie theater)?
Then you've come to the right place. "Rebel" tells the story of a Belgian muslim family who gets engulfed in the Syrian conflict. Bad choices, being in the wrong place at the wrong time and a society that doesn't care, leads to two brothers and their mother being swallowed by ISIS. And like all war in the world, this film does not have a happy ending. There are no happy endings in war outside of Hollywood films. This is why you need to see this film, this is why history needs to be taught.
As films go, this was probably the hardest thing to watch for a long time. It was useless telling myself it's just a film. This stuff happens all the time, in Syria, in Ukraine, in areas of conflict all around the world. Somewhat confusingly the film had dance scenes. They didn't take away any of the pain in the story.
Polite Society (2023)
After spending half an hour after the previous film sulking in dark corners, pondering whether humanity should actually be given a chance, thankfully my next film set things straight back into happy land. Forget the war and the ugliness of humanity, welcome kung-fu with a bollywood touch!
"Polite Society" tells of two sisters, one arranged to marriage, one intent on stopping it. Well, not completely arranged, the other sister actually has fallen in love and wants to marry. Our wannabe martial arts enthusiast little sister smells foul play, and the truth is weirder than anyone would guess. Lots of fighting, cool moves and humour ensues, ending with a standing ovation at the cinema. And this film does have a happy ending, of course.
Really recommend this film if it comes near you, you wont be disappointed :)
Next two films on Wednesday, tomorrow is Näpit irti! day.
#hiff #films #movies #british #syria #ukraine #war #humanity #kungfu #bollywood
