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Kamran09
I read books
I listen to music
The genres I'm most interested in are Science Fiction, History, and Animation. I watch many films from around the world and take special attention to African and Middle Eastern cinema.
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Seen in 2022
Reviews
Saturday Night Live: Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry (2022)
Brilliant performance from Willem Defoe who has always given a good performance
When Willem Defoe made a surprise appearance in the last week's episode I knew this one was going to be something worth watching and it made that episode feel all the more mediocre.
Defoe brings a magnetism and dynamic that few current actor's can manage. My personal highlight was the hilarious skit towards the end where he is presented as an author of "blowing yourself" instead of "knowing yourself".
I also enjoyed his fun monologue (keep forgetting he is from Wisconsin).
I give this episode a 9/10.
Travel Songs (1981)
Wasted Potential
A film so unnoteworthy even Wikipedia makes no mention of it.
Hotel Jugoslavija (2017)
Flawed Documentary with a clichéd view of Yugoslavia
The story of the documentary sounds interesting but unfortunately the documentary has many disabling flaws that. The interviews were a highlight but many of them could of been edited and added to make a more cohesive narrative. Many confusing elements are added with little explanation. There is a scene taken from a recent action film (in English though I did not recognise it)clearly showcasing the hotel but with little context and no explanation.
The documentary also goes through a clichéd explanation of the communist Teto era of Yugoslavia with no nuance.
The director repeatedly refers to his childhood visiting the country and staying at the hotel but in such a way that it becomes little more than trivia which apparently is the foundation of this documentary!
Overall I wish it focused more on the history of the hotel and what the people think about it. Many of the shots of the abandoned hotel I quite enjoyed but do locals view it as a derelict site of a history they would rather forget or as an important landmark that should be restored to its former glory. I wouldn't know.
Maki'la (2018)
A film to watch from the Congo
For some reason the film festival here did not have the version with English subtitles so we were shown the version with the French subtitles. So I did not understand much of the dialogue. Despite this the central elements of the plot were easy to distinguish a credit to great performances of the actors.
This is certainly a welcome film from a country that has a somewhat under appreciated cinema scene.
Zin'naariyâ! (2015)
Colour
Truly a film that creates a sight for the eyes with its wonderful settings and colourful aesthetics. The characters are equally diverse particularly the main lead. Images from this film will stick in my mind long after I viewed it.
I quite enjoyed this film, I only feel the film could of been more radical than what was made.
And the editing on the ending was priceless!
Medan vi lever (2016)
Plot is plodding and so are the characters.
The story moves along slowly and after the abrupt end it seemed that it didn't really move along at all. .
Many of the characters lack development and seems to fit common pastiches; the African mother who berates her son for his lack of a 'real' job and her son the mixed-race kid with a burgeoning rap career. The only interesting character is Sekou who shines in a film that should of used him more.
Disappointed to say the least
A Short Vision (1956)
Lacks emotional involvement
The film is simply not as emotionally involved as the famous animated films from Japan are (i.e. Grave of the Fireflies and Barefoot Gen). Interesting for a glance at 50's animation but not for an informative viewing of the usage of atomic bombs.
A Ilha dos Cães (2017)
Island of Dogs
A fascinating jaunt through a part of Africa unfortunately rarely put on film.
The flag of Portugal is replaced with that of Angola on top of a fort on the titular island of dogs - a summary of sorts of the subject of the film. Though essentially none of the characters are characters merely analogies to large subsets of the population the film gives us some breathtaking imagery and violent scenes of dogs attacking various evil-doers, Portuguese and Angolan.
Comboio de Sal e Açúcar (2016)
Train of Soldiers and Civilians
Saw this film at the African Film Festival here in Bayreuth.
The film focuses on a group of passengers and soldiers taking a train journey through war torn Mozambique in the 80's. Among the passengers are many women who are buying salt and sugar from areas where they are cheap and selling them where they are rare commodities - this is where the title comes from.
Interspersed with short guerrilla style tactics the film builds tension throughout as well as between the soldiers and passengers and this is where much of the drama actually occurs. One never knows when the next act of violence will occur and who it will come from. Other scenes include a gruesome impaled head as a warning sign, a woman giving birth during a fire fight, and the corpse of an enemy commander being strapped to the front of the train while village children through stones at it.
This is certainly a film worth watching minus some pacing issues. A worthy contender for the Academy Award!
Pygmies: The Children of the Jungle (2011)
Failure In Translation
I was quite looking forward to watching this documentary due to its subject matter but shortly after starting the film it becomes apparent that this would not satiate my interest in this subject.
The narration of this documentary is incessant and gives the viewer no time to contemplate the images on screen - which by themselves are not at all that unique or shot in an intriguing manner.
Poor narration aside the content of the narration is incredibly droll and incredibly patronising towards the "subjects" of this film. No Central African (or "native" as the narrator names them) is ever interviewed or indeed talks for the film a major misfire in any modern documentary film.
This is merely another film about a white who goes to Africa and makes a film about it with mixed in pseudo-philosophy about how these people are 'closer to God'.
Thank God it was only 50 minutes