Augure

Posted on May 28, 2024 by wordpressgrethe

Augure is an amazing movie that does not look like any other movie. Augure shows a life full of rituals, magical realism, love and violence in the collectivist society of Congo. And it succeeds to bring in the individual perspective and choices.

I read several reviews after seeing the movie Augure, directed by former rapper Baloji. Reviewers clearly struggle to comment on a movie that does not play by their – western – rules.
* ‘the beautiful-looking vignettes sometimes don’t quite merge into one coherent story with one clear message’ (Filmtotaal)
* ‘a ragged, open, unfinished character’ (Filmkrant)
* ‘Baloji’s full-length debut floats gently around in a wonderful bath of magical realism, but we were not really overwhelmed by emotions’. (De Morgen)

I disagree with the reviewers and found Augure really something else. An innovative movie with a strong message: a major contribution to the world of movies. The suspense was quite heavy for me from the first minutes. I really did wonder what would follow and if I could hold it to the end of the movie. Augure starts with scenes that other movies end with. Luckily, I stayed.

The scenery and images are spectacular. As the reviewers did remark, colours, costumes, music, landscape, fairy tale, art and tradition, all of that is part of the story. A Belgian Congolese returns to his homeland to see if he can connect with his family and introduce his Belgian wife. ‘He told me it would be different’, she said, ‘but I did not understand how different’. Her strong point is that she looses grip from the very beginning of her arrival in Congo and lives with it. Her openness gives her connections.

Scenery in Congo is not just beautiful. There are many cruel aspects, violence, murder, rape and different kinds of exclusion: a more than average terrible phenomenon in a collectivist society. What the reviewers see as ‘ragged’ and not ‘coherent’, are the different perspectives of protagonists. They have to relate to the positive and negative aspects of that vibrant society and they do make their choices. Following their steps is very interesting. Sometimes these steps have many observers (the list of figurants in this movie is long). They are silently watching and give way to the individual path. It accentuates the meaning of individual expression within collectivism. The reviewer above who was not ‘really overwhelmed with emotions’ must have missed the possibility to relate to the protagonists’s soul.

After an intrusive and alienating start of the movie, seeing through the daily jungle of events becomes more and more clear. The viewer is left with the question how he himself lives now, and how he himself would live in the magical and hard reality of Congo. Go watch Augure if you dare to and if you feel ready to let go.

You may also like:
The movie ‘Un divan à Tunis‘
The movie ‘Shoplifters‘

Un Divan à Tunis – being human

Posted on July 11, 2020 by wordpressgrethe

Un Divan à Tunis is a great movie that combines fun with food for thought. Selma moves from Paris to Tunis where she was born because Paris has many psychologists and Tunis has none. She wants to be meaningful in her job and Tunisians need her. But… issues occur from unexpected angles…

Tunisia won my heart after I went there to give diversity trainings in several companies. The Dutch are called ‘direct’ in their communication style but hey, nothing beats the Tunisians in their directness. Un Divan à Tunis is certainly no exception to that: on the level of society, there is secretive behaviour but not in the interpersonal contacts. Relations develop in an unexpected way, as well as the plot. This movie is a joy to watch, you won’t be bored!

Selma is a psychoanalist who decides to start a practice in Tunis. In Paris, people can find psychological help at every corner of the street but in Tunis, it is new. Family members think she is crazy to want this, and they think her customers might be crazy too – so they do not want her to have the divan at the rooftop of their house but Selma insists and becomes successful at a short notice. However, life is not that easy for her.

Un Divan à Tunis shows step by step the complexity of Tunisian society. How the Jews are a common ennemy, even though some know nothing about Jews at all. How homosexuality and transgenderism are oppressed at the level of society – and might be accepted at individual level. How a man and a woman cannot be in the same room because it is against morals. Nevertheless Un Divan à Tunis shows several moments where this rule is broken, not because of sexuality but, very interesting, because they help each other, because they want to interact, listen, communicate, show empathy. Being human in this movie is stronger than all the societal rules.

This strong wish to be human, whatever societal problems occur, is what I remember from my visits to Tunisia. It can also be found is this great documentary Danny in Arabistan – Tunisia (in Dutch). I highly recommend Un Divan à Tunis, because it is a funny movie that gives good food for thought while you laugh.

Shoplifters: movie about purity

Posted on January 19, 2019 by wordpressgrethe

Shoplifters is a movie about purity of characters and personalities. I didn’t know I like Japanese movies but now I know. Shoplifters is a wonderful work of art. If you do not know whether you like Japanese movies, go there – because you do like them. You certainly like Shoplifters.

Shoplifters starts with the ‘finding’ of a little girl, a 4 or 5 year old kid that is suffering from violence in her family. She is happy to go with her finders and live in their place. It is an environment of love and respect. In her new family, people are careful in handling each other’s feelings. Her new grandmother takes care of her food and clothing. A boy, maybe 8 or 10 years old, is there to do games with her, to show her around in her new world and indeed… to teach her how to work in shoplifting.

Nobody in the little girl’s new family is really family – as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that every family member has its own history – and its own grief and failure. Very strong in this movie are the images shown: feelings are not explained but filmed. The emotion derives from what you see. With shortcoming and weakness comes nevertheless a transcendent purity. The characters are not perfect but very honest and absolutely fair in their behaviour; much more than in the world of the average.

When the movie ends, it is the little girl that pays the price. The officials find her and bring her back to her original family, where she was treated badly. She is unhappy and very lonely in the end of the movie. She pays the price of the general myth that a girl needs her mother and that she is best off in her ‘own’ family, much better than in a family of shoplifters. Japanese society is ruthless towards kids in order to uphold the myth of nice families who are the cornerstone of society. It has a certain, idealist, perception of a family and is blind towards the true meaning families can have. Is that only Japanese society or also yours?

Go see this movie. It is something completely else. Uncomparable to other movies. A combination of art, beauty, emotion, societal relevance, love and excellent story-telling.

You may also like the blogs about these movies:
Dheepan
Banana pancakes and the children of the sticky rice

De inspirator: innemende en rake film

Posted on September 14, 2018 by wordpressgrethe

Een pareltje is het, deze in elk geval voor mij onbekende film De Inspirator die ik bij toeval tegenkwam in de filmagenda van het onvolprezen Amsterdamse Ketelhuis. Slechts een dag zou de film vertoond worden. Terwijl ik met toenemend plezier naar de film keek, verwonderde ik me daar steeds meer over. Waarom verdient deze film geen uitgebreidere presentatie en publiek?

Hoofdpersoon Gijs Schippers zet een buitengewoon rake schets neer van een bewogen managementgoeroe op het terrein van organisatieverandering, transities noemt hij het ook, en leiderschap. Zijn type is vanaf het eerste moment herkenbaar zonder dat het een karikatuur wordt.
Sowieso zit De Inspirator goed in elkaar. Je verveelt je geen moment, hier is een buitengewoon goede scenarioschrijver aan het werk geweest. Het verhaal zit vol verrassende wendingen en humoristische details – hoewel ik zoals wel vaker merkte dat ik erg moest lachen terwijl niemand in de zaal leek mee te lachen. Over wat grappig is. kun je van mening verschillen, dat is duidelijk.
Twee mensen die een bestaande relatie hebben, onderhouden samen een geheime relatie: de managementgoeroe Gijs zelf en zijn vriendin Judith. Hun partners blijven onderbelicht tot in het laatste deel van de film: dan krijgen zij plotseling vorm en kleur. Daarmee veranderen de verhoudingen en ontstaat er een diepgaander verhaal dan in het begin van de film als de partners slechts bijzaak lijken te zijn.
Je zou kunnen beweren dat De Inspirator gaat over zingeving. Of over de vraag wat je nu eigenlijk wilt in de spanning tussen carrière en liefdesleven. Of over het jezelf verliezen in succes of in de schaduw van succes. Eigenlijk doet dat er niet toe. De film is goed genoeg om er elke toeschouwer zijn eigen verhaal en betekenis in te laten vinden. En een geweldig leuke ervaring te krijgen.

Nergens heb ik kunnen opsporen waarom deze film is gemaakt en wat de makers beweegt; intrigerend want het is toch veel tijd en energie die men eraan besteedt en het lijkt alsof ze veel creativiteit moesten ontplooien om alles voor elkaar te krijgen. Hoe dan ook wil ik hier wel kwijt: goed gedaan! Het is een verrijking voor de Nederlandse film. De Inspirator verdient meer vertoningen en als je in de buurt bent van zo’n voorstelling: zeker gaan kijken.

Trailer De Inspirator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocv1VA9ZvmM

Other blogs about movies you might like:
Turist and the myth of heroism
Visages villages: the brilliance of the normal
The Van Waveren Tapes make you shiver

Visages villages: brilliance of the normal

Posted on December 11, 2017 by wordpressgrethe

In the film Visages Villages two outstanding artists, 88 year old filmmaker Agnès Varda and 33 year old photographer JR, show the brilliance of the normal in a way that has not been done before. In JR’s van that is equiped to produce on-the-spot photo posters they cross villages and a harbour in search of people to photograph – and spots to present them on. The effect of their method is outstanding from the point of view ‘art and creativity’ and most moving for the individuals that are touched by their initiative.

The woman ‘who was just a server in the restaurant’ becomes – through her poster on the wall of a house – the most photographed woman of the village; the wives of the tough men working in the harbour are drawn out of the shadow into the light, both vulnerable and strong; the only inhabitant left in mine workers houses, almost forgotten by the world, becomes a monument of resistance; and so on. What is absolutely unique about this road movie that could also be called a road documentary, is the normality shown in its full brilliance. It shows that normality can be infinitely more interesting and great than the special.

While creating all this, the dynamics between Agnès Varda and JR in and outside JR’s van follow their own road, interesting in itself. These people that differ so much in age find common ground in ambition, personal traits and mutual respect. From a vivid wheelchair run through Musée du Louvre in Paris to sharing sadness and perspectives on life: it forms one breathtaking story for the spectators.
Visages Villages seems to be composed out of many different elements without too much connection. Yet this film shows you life like it is and life seated still sit in your cinema chair, long after the subtitles have gone; thoughtful, amazed, and happy.

Prix Festival de Cannes: L’œil d’or pour Meilleure Film Documentaire

Trailer Visages Villages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlQ104-3XYs

Other reviews
* https://vaguevisages.com/2017/05/20/cannes-film-festival-review-agnes-varda-and-jrs-visages-villages/
* https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/faces-places-visages-villages-cannes-review/5118156.article
* https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/19/visages-villages-review-agnes-varda-jr-documentary-cannes-2017

Blogs about movies you might be interested in:
Quand on a 17 ans
Loin des hommes
Kurtulus son durak

Kedi: movie about cats or humans?

Posted on August 7, 2017 by wordpressgrethe

kedi

The camera in the movie Kedi (Turkish for ‘cat’) follows many cats that walk in the streets of Istanbul/Turkey from the point of view these cats have of the city. This offers a great insight in their experiences. Overall in this movie, the camerawork is very special. Istanbul as a city and the inhabitants of Istanbul – especially the cat-loving inhabitants – are shown with warmth and beauty. Just the camerawork in itself makes the movie Kedi worth a visit.
But there is more to say. The core story shows us how cats conquer the people’s hearts. The cats choose who can love and feed them. And the people warmly respond to that wish. It is wonderful to see the different characters of the cats: from a clever thief to the psychopath of the neighbourhood, from the curious cat in the bag of organic tea at the market to the gentleman who never enters the place where he gets his food, but who simply scratches the window outside whenever he is hungry. The humans adapt to the cats; not the opposite. For cat lovers, watching Kedi is heaven!
And there is more to it. For those who love psychology and/or philosophy, Kedi has a lot to offer. People explain their relationships with the cats and come up with surprising remarks about what the cats mean for them: from finding money with the help of a cat to experiencing therapy by helping the cats. And what about these comments on the world:
– ‘cats absorb your redundant energy, just like earth does’
and:
– ‘cats know about God, dogs don’t. Dogs think that humans are God but cats know that humans are an instrument in the hand of God to feed them’.
Just two examples, there are many more.
One last thing I liked a lot and that made me think is a remark made about freedom. I have written about cats in Istanbul in 2012. The perspective that humans should not take cats inside to keep them there because in doing so, they will make cats forget how to be a cat, is new for me. This movie Kedi clearly shows what is meant with this perspective. Freedom is everything, even when it comes with disadvantages.
Maybe you don’t agree. Well, all I can say is: go see it yourself. There’s a lot more in Kedi then I can show here and you will not regret. Enjoy!

In Dutch cinemas from 24 August 2017
More info and a trailer at http://www.cinemadelicatessen.nl/film/kedi/

Other movies you may like:
Kurtulus son durak
Naziha’s spring (by Gülsah Dogan)

De jacht op mijn vader / the hunt for my father

Posted on May 7, 2017 by wordpressgrethe

De jacht op mijn vader: The hunt for my father is a very interesting documentary made by Gülsah Dogan. It is the second movie that I see from her and again I think her work is outstanding in many aspects.
In this documentary Gülsah Dogan follows the author Karin Amatmoekrim who is looking for her father Eric Lie in Suriname. Karin wants to write a book about her father; her mother left the country when she was still a baby and went to the Netherlands, apparently because she was not the only woman for Eric Lie. He as a famous Taekwondo champion and good looking man was popular among women. Thus Karin grew up without father far away, in the Netherlands and it is Gülsah’s quality to show the underlying feelings not by words, but in images. It is difficult not to feel some irritations during this documentary: in the title it is about the ‘hunt for her father’, however it is possible to conclude that it is more about the author herself than about the father.
The story takes place in the beautiful tropic context of Surinam and unfolds in interesting scenes and surprising pictures of the nature: from a cockridge defending itself against ants to trips on the river Marowijne.
Gülsah Dogan has produced another masterpiece after the outstanding documentary Naziha’s Spring. You can see it (in Dutch under the title De jacht op mijn vader) Thursday 11 May 2017 at 22.55h on NPO2. Let’s hope Gülsah Dogan’s work will be translated in the future because it is special what she makes.

A link describing the documentary (in Dutch):
https://www.waterkant.net/suriname/2017/05/06/documentaire-jacht-op-vader-11-mei-op-npo2/

Blogs about documentaries you might also like:
The Van Waveren Tapes
Banana pancakes and the children of the sticky rice
Taxi Teheran

Quand on a 17 ans

Posted on May 10, 2016 by wordpressgrethe

quand on a 17 ans

Another one of these great French movies: Quand on a 17 ans (being 17). French art means that the story is multilayered; the story does not run from one action to the other but shows the diversity of events happening in just a few people’s lifes in a mountain village high in the Pyrenees.
That setting is great, absolutely well chosen and beautifully exploited. You’ll see the nature of high mountains in different seasons. The very best scenery is at night, in the snow white mountains and the moon shining, when one of the main characters takes a bath in a lake reflecting the peak and the trees.
The main story in Quand on a 17 ans is about two young guys who seem to hate each other, but guess what at the end of the movie… 🙂 in that sense it is a quite romantic movie where ‘tout va bien qui finit bien’. The road to that good ending has enough complexity in it to keep the spectator interested. Apart from that, there is life in the movie and death and all human weaknesses and anxieties as they can be lived, even high up in the mountains. Quand on a 17 ans is worth watching!

Blogs about French movies:
Loin des hommes
Visages villages

Dheepan: an outstanding movie about refugees

Posted on September 16, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

dheepan movie

Dheepan is somehow a ‘neutral’ movie about refugees as it concerns refugees from Sri Lanka; I worked with many of them in the ’90ties but today we concentrate on other regions as every reader knows. Technically this choice in the movie creates a healthy distance to emotions in actuality. And practically, it makes no difference.
Refugees run for a reason, most often a quite serious one. And yes, they are surrounded by luck-seekers, criminals who have other reasons to flee and economic migrants. Making the difference between one and the other is an ideal but in practice not very easy. However the movie is not about asylum policies and dilemmas, it is about how people flee and become a refugee and how they experience the country in which they arrive.
In this movie, the Sri Lanka refugees find a house and a job in the banlieu of Paris, in one of the worst banlieus – I think the movie maker even wanted to point out that the refugees run from a war to end up in another one. It is as much a complaint against the ‘drugs in banlieu’ situation as about the refugee situation. Specifically, the total lack of law enforcement (no police or authorities at all) surprises the public.
I think the movie is brilliant in the way it depicts the refugees. I recognized every emotion, both in daily life and in the history of violence and resistence that refugees from war and conflict areas bring with them – not as a choice but as a fact. My experience with that is both friendship and work and I found the movie Dheepa shiveringly realistic and very strong in the way of showing the emotional side.
As a former French teacher, I regretted that the refugees end up in England – to their satisfaction – and not somewhere else in France, a country I love. This is, of course, a biased view 🙂 Anyway the movie ends well, which in a world of problems is nice and more encouraging to go and watch the movie than the opposite.
What surprised me is that nowadays every discussion and debate in the Netherlands is about refugees but we were only 8 spectators: 8! in a large cinema. Sometimes I wonder how much indepth knowledge people want about reality – I see loads of over-emotional people and few people able to handle the complexity that comes with refugee issues. Let’s face reality even when it is not simple. Go watch the Dheepan movie, warmly recommended!

Other blogs about refugees:
500.000 Syrian refugees in Gaziantep
Lore, a movie that silences the public

Banana pancakes and the children of the sticky rice

Posted on July 18, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Banana pancakes and the children of the sticky rice is a great documentary about two guys, or maybe an entire village in Laos in a period of starting tourism. The place is still ‘all natural’ and the first tourists arriving, mainly backpackers from France, Belgium and the Netherlands, are startled by the purity of the place. The village develops in many aspects and the two guys that are particularly followed in this documentary try to improve their life by offering touristic services. The road they go is so interesting!
The tourists themselves are also quite interesting, some of their conversations are recorded. They have their opinions about life in the village and how it develops and it does not seem to match a lot with the culture and desires of the villagers themselves. Although very sympathic, there was also a note of arrogance in their song.
From the point of view ‘image taking’ the documentary has quite some ‘vague’ moments, maybe nice as a hobby for the filmer but for spectators not always attractive I thought. Fortunately, many good and sharp moments offer enough compensation 😉 So go see this documentary now because usually this kind of movies do not stay long in the cinemas. More info: https://www.facebook.com/laosdocumentary

Other movies with a strong cultural side I wrote about that you might like:
Kedi
Dheepan

Taxi Teheran

Posted on June 27, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Taxi Teheran

How to make a movie that is only playing in a taxi and does not bore any minute? Taxi Teheran is a succesfull try-out of that concept although not by free choice alone. Jafar Panahi, maker of the movie and also its main character has a history of struggling with censure and oppression in his country Iran. He is not allowed to make movies during 20 years and this movie, Taxi Teheran, was made secretly and smuggled out of the country.
The movie is very funny with many surprising moments, and it has a groundtune of sadness underneath. As such, it is very Iranian: Iranians usually are well developed, social, bright and full of life, they know how to make the best out of difficult circumstances. But that does not mean that they do not feel the difficult circumstances, especially the oppression.
In Taxi Teheran we see a wonderful mix of people entering and leaving Jafar Panahi’s taxi. Even the concept ‘taxi’ in Teheran is different from other countries and that in itself creates unexpected situations. Taxi Teheran shows a lot of interesting interaction between a variety of inhabitants of Teheran. And it gives some great insights in the well developed double face of Iran, in survival and creativity against the odds.

Other movies I wrote blogs about and that you might like:
Banana pancakes and the childres of the sticky rice
Visages villages

Loin des hommes

Posted on March 29, 2015 by wordpressgrethe

Loin des hommes

I was withholding my breath all the time while watching this movie: Loin des hommes. Algeria 1954, the colonial war or freedom war or however you want to call it, is about to begin. A teacher who’s school is in the middle of nowhere in the Atlas mountains gets involved. He is not looking for that but fate is looking for him. He ends up in several unexpected half war half peace situations. The mountains in the middle of nowhere are much more populated than you’d think: they are full of life, love and fights. Both the rebels and the French find their way over the invisible mountain paths. Will he have to give up his dream, to teach the children how to read? The teacher is also confronted with issues of culture, religion and identity. His parents were from Andalusia, he himself has always lived in Algeria and now others see him as French. There is so much actuality in this movie, it is not just a historical picture. And there is lots of deep warm friendship from man to man in this movie, too. The pictures are stunning. Go there, if you want to see something different!

You can find interesting books about Algeria in this blog and in this blog.

You might also like this blog: When inclusiveness met apartheid

Grethe van Geffen

culture and diversity

Category Archives: Movies and documentaries