In the Gloaming (1997)

The directorial debut of the late Christopher Reeve is a made-for-cable movie about the effects of AIDS on a family. Danny (Robert Sean Leonard) returns home to his parents to be with them in the final days of his battle against AIDS. The stress of the situation brings out the tensions and anxieties that the family members have been quietly bearing for years. Danny's mother (Glenn Close) grows closer to her son through the tragedy. His father (David Strathairn) struggles with the reality of his son's life and illness.



Also starring Whoopi Goldberg and Bridget Fonda, IN THE GLOAMING is a simplistic film that is precisely directed to perfection that it won't waste a second of your time. All scenes in this one-hour piece are equally important; and Glenn Close and Robert Sean Leonard's performances make it more than just another AIDS-related family film.

Save Me (2007)

A deft exploration of the controversial ex-gay movement, the story follows Mark (Chad Allen), a drug-addicted young man who overdoses and finds himself at the mercy of his disapproving family. Their solution to Mark's problems is to check him into a Christian run ministry overseen by Gayle (Judith Light), who believes she can help cure young men of their 'gay affliction' through spiritual guidance. At first, Mark resists the efforts of Gayle and her loving husband Ted (Stephen Lang), but soon finds solace and brotherhood with several of the members, including Scott (Robert Gant), who is battling family demons of his own. When Mark and Scott begin to find their friendship developing into an unexpected romance, both are forced to confront the new attitudes they're beginning to accept, and Gayle finds the values she holds as an absolute truth to be threatened.



I have mixed feelings about the story of the film probably because of the presence of religion but I was immensely affected by its lead charaters as the actors' fine portrayal of the roles made the film worth watching from beginning to end.

Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (1981) Pixote, the Law of the Weakest

Pixote (Fernando Ramos da Silva) foi abandonado por seus pais e rouba para viver nas ruas. Ele já esteve internado em reformatórios e isto só ajudou na sua "educação", pois conviveu com todo o tipo de criminoso e jovens delinqüentes que seguem o mesmo caminho. Ele sobrevive se tornando um pequeno traficante de drogas, cafetão e assassino, mesmo tendo apenas onze anos.

Pixote (Fernando Ramos da Silva) was abandoned by his parents and steals to survive. He has been sent to a reformatory where he actually learned all the bad things from his fellow delinquents and criminals. After getting out of the reformatory, he joined his gang-mates in drug trafficking, pimping and even murder. Worst of all -- he is only eleven years old.

(In PORTUGUESE with ENGLISH sub-titles)



PIXOTE: A LEI DO MAIS FRACO is a brilliant offer from Brazil filmed in a quasi-documentary style showing one of the worst scenarios any humankind can experience, that is, living below the poverty line. Indeed, a terrifying truth that serves a very important purpose and that is to see how our poor brothers suffer, not only in Brazil but in the rest of the world. A must see, most definitely!

Un Fils (2003)

Selim, un jeune homme à la dérive, est un prostitué travesti qui cherche désespérément à retrouver l'amour de son père. Omar son père vit à l'abri du chagrin, incapable de faire le deuil de la mort de sa femme. Père et fils se cotoîent sans jamais réellement communiquer...

Selim (Mohamed Hicham), a young man adrift, is a transvestite prostitute who desperately seeks to regain the love of his father. Omar (Grai Hammou), his father, lives in a secluded life of grief, unable to recover after the death of his wife. Father and son stand side by side but they pass silently without ever really connecting...

UN FILS (titled A SON internationally) is simple yet very impressive film about one's longing to love and be loved by his own father. Thought provoking... unfortunately it only runs slightly less than an hour.

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Spelen of Sterven (1990)

Een introverte vijftien-jarige schooljongen (Kees) is intelligent, ingetogen, gevoelig en een buitenbeentje. Hij wordt belachelijk gemaakt (verbaal en fysiek) op een jongens-school door klasgenoten en zelfs leerkrachten. Vooral tijdens gym moeten de stoere jongens uit de klas hem hebben. Zijn ontwakende seksuele interesse gaat uit naar jongens, en met name naar de fraai atletische klasgenoot Charel, de grootste bullebak van de klas.

Fifteen-year old school boy Kees (Geert Hunaerts) is introvert, intelligent, gentle, sensitive maverick, but physically and verbally ridiculed by his mindlessly cocky classmates and even insensitive teachers especially during gym class where his physical weakness is mercilessly abused to make him a defenceless laughing stock in front of his smirking peers. He is sexually interested in boys and in particular to his handsome athletic classmate Charel (Tjebbo Gerritsma) who is the biggest bully in his class.

SPELEN OF STERVEN which literally translates to "Games or Death" and titled TO PLAY OR TO DIE in English is a psychological teenage film (quite long for a short and too short to be classified as full-length) from the Netherlands based from an eponymous book. The acting department is remarkably compelling and the characters are appealing.

(Subtitled in ENGLISH)

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Klass (2007)

See lugu on eelkõige aust ja väärikusest. Üks 16 aastane normaalne poiss satub juhuse tahtel olukorda, kus ta astub klassi äbariku kaitseks välja. Hiljem kui sellelt normaalselt poisilt küsitakse, miks ta nii tegi, ei saa ta enam oma eelmist tegu valeks tunnistada ja peab jätkama äbariku kaitsmist. See aga tähendab talle teiste nn. normaalsete noortega vastandumist. Ta tõugatakse välja noorte mikroühiskonnast ja ta kaotab ka oma tüdruku. Kõik seepärast, et ta ei oska taganeda. Sellises olukorras saab endisest normaalsest poisist peaaegu vastu tahtmist äbariku sõber. Sellest hetkest on loo põhiküsimus ülekohtus. Kui palju lubab inimese väärikus kannatada ülekohust. Ja mis hetkel muutub vastuhakk ise vägivallaks?

First of all, it’s a story about dignity. There‘s a misunderstanding in the beginning. A regular 16-year old guy, Kaspar (Vallo Kirs), stands up for the looser of the class, Joosep (Pärt Uusberg). As I said, it was an accident, a mistake, but later, when everybody asks why he did so, Kaspar will not admit that it was a mistake. Instead, he claims his independence from the rule of the most popular guy in the class, Anders (Lauri Pedaja). This is the beginning of a war where teenagers no longer see where mischievous bullying ends and a crime begins. Would you give up your girl and your life in order to save your dignity?

KLASS (THE CLASS, internationally) certainly has a lot of flaws but such are needed to make the film as horrifying and violent and realistic as possible and I could imagine how horrifying the incidents could be if they are really existent... well, I am referring to the way incidents are presented in the film. Great acting from the three lads and this Estonian feature got my full attention.

(In ESTONIAN with ENGLISH subtitles)

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Hitlerjunge Salomon (1990)

Salomon Perel (Marco Hofschneider), oder Sally, wie ihn seine Freunde nennen, verlebt eine glückliche Kindheit. Doch diese bricht ganz unverhofft zusammen, als er eines Tages zum Direktor seiner Schule bestellt wird, der ihm einen Zettel in die Hand drückt und sagt: „Und jetzt raus. Juden haben an unserer Schule nichts mehr zu suchen„. Seine abenteuerliche Odyssee führt ihn zunächst in das polnische Lodz, wo er in den Wirren der Besetzung von seiner Familie getrennt wird. Alleine schlägt sich Sally nach Russland durch, wo er von einer deutschen Patrouille aufgegriffen wird. Geistesgegenwärtig rettet er sich mit der Behauptung ein von den Bolschewicken verschleppter „Volksdeutscher„ zu sein vor dem sicheren Tod. Unter dem Namen Joseph Periel tritt er in den Dienst der Wehrmacht ein, wo er schon bald zum Günstling der Vorgesetzten und Musterschüler der Hitlerjugend-Akademie wird. Bis zum Kriegsende hält er das Versteckspiel durch.

Salomon Perel (Marco Hofschneider), or Sally, as his friends call him, has a happy childhood but this overturns quite unexpectedly, when his schooled director hands him a note pressing hard to his palms and saying, "Out you go... there’s no place for Jews in this institution!” His adventurous Odyssey leads him at first in the Polish Lodz where he is separated from his family out of the confusion of the occupation. All alone, Sally fights through to Russia where he is taken up by a German patrol. With his wit, he alertly escapes death row with the assertion that he is a pure German bred kidnapped by the Bolsheviks. Under the name Joseph Periel he enters into the service of the armed forces where he soon becomes an instant favourite of the superiors and a model student of Hitler Youth Academy. Until the end of the war and his own battle, he only wishes that his true identity remains hidden.

Based on a true story, HITLERJUNGE SALOMON or better known as EUROPA EUROPA is a story of luck, wit and survival. Having outlived the web of obstacles and its consequences, it’s a genuine miracle that the lead character breathes the air longer than life. Brilliantly directed and acted, no doubt the film gained high acclaim and recognition internationally contrary to the reception received from its own soil... but I certainly understand. A MUST SEE!

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Bōizu Rabu - ボーイズ ラブ (2006)

平凡な毎日を送る雑誌編集者・間宮諦信(小谷嘉一)が、偶然取材で出逢った人気高校生モデル・如月のえる(斎藤工)。態度こそ乱暴なものの、のえるが描いた海のイラストに強く惹かれた間宮は、取材後食事を共にし意気投合するが、そのレストランのトイレで、のえるは性急に間宮の身体を求め出す。翌朝、編集部にのえるの事務所から「担当者が無礼を働いた。謝罪に来い」との電話が入る。のえるの家に謝罪に行く間宮だったが、そこで見たものは薄汚い男と交わるのえるの姿だった…。

Just doing his job, magazine editor Taishin Mamiya (Yoshikazu Kotani) interviews high school model Noeru Kisaragi (Takumi Saito). Despite Noeru's bad attitude, an enchanting picture of the ocean he draws leads Mamiya to invite him out for dinner afterwards. They connect at the restaurant, but while in the toilet there Noeru solicits Mamiya sexually. The next morning, Noeru's office calls the magazine office where Mamiya works. "Your editor was rude. Have him come and apologize." When Mamiya goes to Noeru's house to deliver the apology, he sees Noeru with a dirty-looking man. Mamiya is shocked to discover at that moment that his interest in Noeru goes beyond article research -- he truly wants to know more about him.

ボーイズ ラブ (BOYS LOVE, internationally) is a very absorbing dramatic feature from Japan despite some flaws which are actually tolerable. What I really like about the film are the great quotations they used to put emphasis on particular scenarios. The result was so successful that a sequel is actually in the making (if not finished yet) retaining the character of Mamiya. I keep my fingers crossed that I get copy of the sequel the moment it becomes available.

(In JAPANESE with ENGLISH subtitles)

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Historias del Kronen (1995)

Carlos (Juan Diego Botto) es un joven estudiante que apenas ha cumplido los 21 años. Seco cuando quiere, simpático cuando le da la gana, le encanta provocar y transgredir. Al atardecer, como cada día, Carlos sale de su casa para reunirse con sus amigos en el Kronen, el bar que frecuentan. Es verano, Carlos está de vacaciones. Vive de noche. Cualquier situación puede llevarse un poco más lejos. Ningún límite es admitido, ninguna barrera aceptada. Y cada vez más, una aventura se encadena con otra como si se tratara de una noche continuada. En medio, la oscura voluntad de vivir cada instante como si fuera el último. Sin embargo, algo de lo que ocurre sitúa a Carlos y a su cuadrilla frente a una realidad que han intentado ignorar hasta ese momento.

21-year old Carlos (Juan Diego Botto) is a young student who is nice or annoying as he likes, enjoys provoking and transgressing. In the night he goes to Kronen where he meets his friends in the bars. Every situation can be taken a little farther. There are no limits, no accepted barriers. And more each time, each adventure is chained to the next, as if it were a continuous night. And, amongst that, the obscure will of living every minute as if it were the last one. Nevertheless, something happens that will put Carlos and his friends against a reality they have been trying to ignore until the last moment.

HISTORIAS DEL KRONEN is classified as fiction but amazingly all the incidents in this film from Spain had occurred in reality especially in my own real world. It's a film that I could really relate to and I know that there are quite a number of people out there who would be feeling exactly the same.

(In SPANISH only)

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Into The Wild (2007)

This film is based on a true-to-life story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), an actual student-athlete at Emory University, as told by his sympathetic sister Carine (Jena Malone). In response to his materialistic, manipulative, and domineering parents Billie & Walt (Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt, respectively), McCandless destroys all of his credit cards and identification documents, donates $24,000 (nearly his entire savings) to Oxfam, and sets out on a cross-country drive in his well-used but reliable economy car towards his ultimate goal: to live alone and off the land in Alaska. Along the way, leaves his automobile in the course of a flash flood, to hitchhike his way there after burning the remainder of his dwindling cash supply. Taking an unintentionally circuitous route, he encounters Rainey (Brian H. Dierker) & Jan Burres (Catherine Keener), Wayne Weterberg (Vince Vaughn), Tracy Tatro (Kristen Stewart), Kevin (Zach Galifianakis), Ron Franz (Hal Holbrook) and many other unconventional individuals on his itinerary as he purposefully trudges onward to his final destination, arriving in the wilds of Alaska nearly two years after his initial departure. He starts living in a "Magic Bus" serving as a shelter for people walking in the area (though in the film there is nobody else). Resourceful, McCandless finds joy in living off the land, and begins to write a book of his adventures. Unfortunately, as the spring thaw arrives, he is cut off from civilization by waterways. As his food supply lessens, he resorts to eating plants. Although he consults a brought-along book about the edibility of plants, he confuses an edible and a poisonous kind, which weakens him. While he survives the poison, he is unable to find animals to hunt and he slowly starves to death. As he dies, he continues to write, detailing his painful demise as a dramatic denouement to his autobiography.

When I have watched it on the big screen last year, I was so amazed about the life Christopher McCandless had chosen. I got so puzzled because in today’s existence, all I see are people who want nothing else but power and wealth. I might have exaggerated but I know that given the chance, everybody would want to have both in their hands. So the question is… was he really for real? I have to admit though that he has given me some inspiration. The DVD is out now and I say that INTO THE WILD is definitely a MUST BUY!

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