"Walk on Water" by Eytan Fox

"Walk on Water" by Eytan Fox is a fantastic movie from 2006. This film stars Lior Ashkenazi and Knut Berger. The story begins following Eyal (Lior Ashkenazi) on a mission of assassination. Upon arriving back in Israel, he is set to another mission: To befriend the grandson of a Nazi war criminal, find where he is hiding, and kill him. Eyal also finds his wife had committed suicide because she could not deal with the fact she was wife to a murderer.

Eyal accepts the mission and meets Axel (Knut Berger) the grandson of the Nazi who is visiting his sister in Israel. Eyal pretends to be his tour guide. He takes Axel all around Israel while trying to get Axel to open up. The problem is that Eyal wont open up either so it becomes difficult for Axel to do the same.

The two eventually connect when they are alone together. Axel reveals he knows about his grandfather's past, but is under the idea that he passed away a long time ago. Eyal tells Axel about his wife. It is not too long after that they bond and learn to trust each other.



That trust is shaken when Eyal begins to suspect Axel is a homosexual. He starts to distance himself from Axel, especially when his suspicions are affirmed when Axel picks up a young Arabic man. Not at all happy with his surroundings, Eyal confronts his boss about it. They tell him to stay the course because the mission is more important then personal feelings.



Eyal brings Axel to the airport when it is time for Axel to leave. Axel tries to convince Eyal to visit him at some point, but Eyal swears he will never go to Germany. Fearing he has lost Eyal as a friend, Axel says his goodbyes but gives Eyal the address any way.



Upon spying on a conversation between Axel and his sister, Eyal finds out that the grandfather is still alive and his parents know where he is. Push came to shove and Eyal sucked up his pride and went to Germany to see Axel. While there Eyal begins to open his mind to Axel's lifestyle and warms up to him all over again. Axel insists that Eyal should stay with him and is parents at their house for Axel's father's birthday.



The grandfather shows up, very old and near death. Axel stumbles into Eyal's room and discovers all the documents on Eyal's mission. During the night, Eyal goes to kill the grandfather while he slept, but couldn't bring himself to kill again. Axel, hating his grandfather for his crimes, does it for Eyal.



The theme of this movie is to always have an open mind. Eyal was driven by hate and duty and was never open to the idea maybe he still had life to experience. He finally let go of his old life and moved on.



Of all of the films I have seen in this class, this one is my favorite. The acting, plot, and direction was one of the best I have seen in one production in a long time.

"Central Station" by Walter Salles

"Central Station" by Walter Salles is a film from 1998. The film stars Fernanda Montenegro as an older woman who works at a station in Rio de Janeiro writing letters for illiterate people. One woman is using Dora (Fernanda Montenegro) to send letters to a man who fathered her nine year old son. Eventually this woman dies in a car accident and Dora takes it on herself to bring the boy, Josue, on a trip to find his father.

Dora and Josue do not get along. They constantly fight and make fun of each other. Dora clearly does not know how to be a good guardian. On the bus the initial time, she has an open bottle of alcohol with her when she falls asleep and Josue gets it. He becomes intoxicated on the bus.



By the first stop, Dora tries to ditch the boy. But Josue, though he doesn't like Dora, feels like he must stick with her and doesn't stay on the bus. Dora decides she will take Josue to his father, but the next problem is she has no more money. They do the best they can together to figure out a way to get there.



At a diner, a truck driver befriends Dora when he sees Josue eyeing his food. As a religious man he takes bitter on them and offers to drive them. Sparks start going between Dora and the truck driver. At one of the stops, Dora flirts with him. He takes it as she is acting like tramp. When Dora goes to freshen up, he leaves them. Now they have the same problem as before, but at least closer to their destination.



They mange to hitchhike and make it. They learn upon arrival that Josue's father was not there anymore. Stranded, Josue gets an idea to make money: Dora writes letters for those who want to write to the Saint they were praising during a festival. They make enough money to buy new clothes and a place to sleep.



Word of where the father moved to reaches them and they venture off together to find him. They arrive, yet again, to find he had left there as well. Josue soon learns that he has two half brothers. Dora decides the best thing to do is to leave him with his brothers so he can have a life with someone who is his family.



The theme of this story is you may never know who you bond with. Dora picked up a random boy and, doing the right thing, trued to reunite him with his father. Though they did not get along at first, they soon connected and were the best people for each other.



This is an excellent film. Once you grasp the plot and the characters you take off when them on their journey. The chemistry between Dora and Josue was fantastic, as well as the plot never dragged. Who wouldn't watch this film and love it?

"Dreams" by Akira Kurosawa

"Dreams" by Akira Kurosawa was released in 1990. This film really is essentially eight short films rolled up into one big acid trip. From beginning to end you really have no idea what is happening and the more you try to make sense of it the more your brain tends to lead you into insanity.

The first dream is about a little boy who is told not to go into the woods when two weathers are occurring at the same time. A.K.A. sun showers. That's when some people known as "foxes" have a wedding that is fatal if you witness it. He goes anyway and is caught. It ends when he has to go face them for his punishment.



In the second dream, the same little boy finds the spirits of peach trees that are really sad because humans came by and cut them all down. The music is really nice, and the visual is intriguing of the spirits.





The third dream is about a group of men who get lost in the mountains during a winter storm and eventually are saved by some higher power when a nice warm camp appears out of nowhere,



By the fourth one they all seem to go down hill. A man wonders into a tunnel to find himself face to face with the men he was in charge of during war time. As it turns out he is responsible for their deaths. He tries to make peace but the spirits are too confused.



"Crows" is the name of the fifth one which involved a man traveling through Vincent Van Gogh's paintings. The man ends up having a bonding talk with Van Gogh who is played by Martin Scorsese.



In the sixth one it starts to become unbearable to watch. A nuclear power plant blows up and everyone panics over the radiation coming to get everyone. It kind of segways into the seventh one about the demons as a result of the explosion and how they are all in turmoil for the rest of time.



The eighth one is about a village of people who are entirely connected with nature. It seems to be like a communistic community except that they share nature instead of possessions.



The major themes of this movie are to be good to the environment and be nice to your fellow man. The themes were not subtle at all and were very, for lake of better words, spelled out for you. Even the dumbest of the dumb understood it.



I don't think words exist in the English Language for why I truly detest this film. Not only was it near impossible to follow, but audio for certain "dreams" really made me want to sew my eyes closed. I really am convinced my IQ dropped several points when I walked out of class that day.

Shanghai Triad by Zhang Yimou

"Shanghai Triad" by Zhang Yimou is a fantastic film from 1999. Li Gong stars as the mistress of a crime lord in Shanghai, China during the 1930's. A young man, Shuisheng, (Wang Xiaoxiao) is a relative of the a major crime family and pulled from his life in the country side to city life as he is assigned to be the new personal assistant to the boss's mistress. Shuisheng is awed and very overwhelmed when he realizes the life and danger he is now involved in.

Xiao (Li Gong) is your typical diva with her head very up in the clouds. She is the main singer at a prominent nightclub run by the boss. As Shuisheng soon learns, the happy life Xiao pretends to have unwinds to reveal how unhappy Xiao is, and that she is having an affair.



The drugs being trafficked soon start trouble as a gang leader decides to declare war. The boss is convinced that one of his men is not loyal to him and does not know who to trust. One night, the house is broken into by the rival gang where a small massacre occurs. To stay safe, the boss takes Xiao, Shuisheng, and a few trusted others out into the country to lay low until the heat as come down.



While out in the country a mother and daughter befriend Xiao and she slowly becomes less of a snot and soon grows fond of the little girl when Xiao learns she can sing and bonds with her over it.



By the end of the film the boss realizes who the traitor is and that is was the man Xiao was having an affair with. After all is revealed the boss takes the man and Xiao out into and open area while it is pouring rain. The traitor gives his little "villain" speech and is walked off. Then the boss announces that Xiao was just as un loyal for the affair and was to be executed for her crime as well. Like that was enough, the mother of the daughter was to be killed since she knew far too much because of Xiao getting to close to her.



The next day the boss takes the little girl with him as they depart the island. The little girl is unaware of her mother and Xiao's fate. The movie ends with the uncertainty of what will happen.....



The theme of the movie is don't judge a book by its cover. Xiao learns that you cannot just see life as you think it is or play by your own rules. Life has a way of showing you that you are not as right as you think you are.



I thought this film was excellent. It does have a slow beginning but it picks up and holds your attention up tot eh very end. The actors didn't have too much energy but they still got the lines across, and Li Gong filled the screen with her beautiful presence.

"Eat Drink Man Woman" by Ang Lee

"Eat Drink Man Woman" by Ang Lee was released in Taiwan in 1994. The film stars Sihung Lung, Yu-Wen Wang, and Chien-Lien Wu. A senior chef, Chu (Sihung Lung), lives with his 3 unwed daughters and finds his world is turned upside down when each of the daughters have shocking news. Every Sunday night they have a family dinner and talk about their personal lives, well to an extent.

The eldest daughter, Jia-Jen, is a chemistry teacher. She is a devote Christian and refuses to settle down with just anyone. Her friends constantly try to fix her up with local bachelors, but she just wont seem to budge. Things turn around when a new bad-boy works at the school. He does his best to impress her with his athletic skill. Unknown to her that it is just a prank by her students, she begins getting love letters and considers her feelings for the new teacher. She, by the end, elopes with him.

Jia-Chien, the middle daughter, works for an airline. She decides it is time to move out of her house and live on her own. She buys an apartment in a brand new building. She later learns that the area the building is on was condemned because of toxic waste and it was all a scam. The man running the scam ran off with all the money. Eventually she gets a promotion to be an executive in Europe for the expansion of the company. However, a former lover holds her back from going.

The youngest, Jia-Ning, is a student that also happens to be working at a fast-food establishment. She acts like your typical drama concerned child and plays games with her, if you want to call him that, boyfriend's heart. She, by the end of the movie gets pregnant and the family goes into an uproar over who the father is.

The theme of the movie is, without a doubt, family. Aside from all the wonderful food that is cooked throughout the entire movie, it all comes down love between blood. With all of the ups and downs they still love each other and come together. It proves that everyone has a "dysfunctional" family, but that is really what makes any family functional. Another theme would be how some parents like to keep their children close. I know that in Asia it is typical that children stay home, but I believe there is a undertone that Chu does not wont to let go of his "little girls."



Ang Lee has definitely done a spectacular job with this film. From beginning to end I was very entranced. Once you understand which is which and the main purpose of their plots, you find yourself laughing and getting teary-eyed. It is the kind of film I think would make a great TV series and would recommend it for anyone.

"The Unkown Woman" by Guiseppe Tornatore

"The Unknown Woman" by Guiseppe Tornatore is an Italian film released in 2006. This remarkable film is about a former prostitute who believes she has tracked down one of the many children she was forced to give away by her pimp. Kseniya Rappoport stars in this film. Irena (Rappoport) is a Ukrainian woman who plans on doing what ever it takes to become the maid and nanny to an Italian family she believes adopted her daughter.  In the beginning of film you see Irena's past haunt her as nightmares while she tracks the current maid of the Adacher family. 

Irena befriends the maid and attempts to learn all she can about how she can impress the family.  She steals the maid's keys and makes copies of them so she can break into the house and learn even more. Eventually she steals their garbage and figure out what kind of food they like and learn how to make it.  Irena eventually trips the maid when she is going down the stairs, killing her.  She then takes the maids place in the household.

More and more flashbacks occur revealing more about Irena. The graphic rape scene replays several times.  Irena does her best to befriend the daughter, Tea, but her attitude is one that Irena does her best to break through. Eventually Tea likes Irena and they begin to bond. Tea is taught by Irena how to defend herself if she is ever knocked down. Irena learns of a secret place where Valeria, Tea's mother, keeps the safe.  One night when Valeria and her husband, Donato, go out, Irena attempts to break into the safe to find the adoption records.

Valeria begins to become very suspicious of Irena. Eventually Valeria fires Irena. One night when Irena's pimp (the man she thought she killed) comes back, Valeria visits Irena to discover Irena found the adoption papers and realizes Irena believes Tea is her daughter.  Believing Valeria to be a risk, Irena's pimp sabotages Valeria's car and frames Irena for it.

Irena finally kills the pimp, but is arrested for Valeria's murder. The truth comes out about why Irena was working for the Adacher family and that she killed her former pimp. She is given a plea bargain for the pimp's murder. When Irena is released years later, Tea is there waiting for her.

The theme of this movie is fighting for something you truly love. Irena had so many children she had to give up and when she found out where one of them was, she risked everything just to get to know her daughter.

I would recommend this film for anyone who likes dramas and somewhat unforeseen twists. Director Guiseppe Tornatore brings a tear jerker of a film that will have you going through several boxes of tissues by the credits.

"Blue" by Krzysztof Kieslowski

The award winning French film "Blue" is for first of a trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski.  This film shows how the wife of an acclaimed composer deals with his death after a car accident claims his and her child's life.  Julie, played by Juliette Binoche, must figure out how to move on with her life.  She eventually tries to sell her home and exiles herself to Paris where she lives completely independent and in solitude.  Turning to self destructive behavior, Julie sleeps with a man she knows has feelings for her not long after her husband's death, and kicks him out the next day. During the film she tries to destroy the incomplete music her husband was working on for a celebration of the European countries uniting.

Those who care about Julie do the best they can to snap her out of how she is acting. Once Julie has finally hit rock-bottom, she begins to realize what her behavior is doing do herself and to those are still alive.  Julie learns that her house was never sold and the music she had ordered to be destroyed was kept hidden by the lady who was looking after the music incase Julie ever decided she changed her mind.

She eventually gets her act together and attempts to finish the music her dead husband was working on before the accident. The man she had slept with earlier in the film offers to help her write it and confesses he was in love with her, and the one night stand they had made him fall even more in love with her. By the end, Julie feels free of her former life and begins a new path for a new life once the music is at last completed.

The theme of this film is freedom.  It is all about how Julie was being dragged down by her old life and eventually did what she could to break free of the oppression and begin a new life. There are actually different attempts for freedom in this film. First Julie swears off everything she knew and tries to live alone away from material and personal commitments.  Eventually this becomes an oppression all on its own. Julie realizes this and at lasts allows her soulless body to return to life and start again when she completes her husband's work and begins a new life.

For those of us who have trouble sleeping at night, I would have to say that this is one form of a sleeping aid that does not need a prescription.  The film was so slow moving I had far too much trouble paying attention to it. The music was only good part and even that was something I would only make someone listen to if I was torturing them. How much do you have to pay to get a terrible movie like this an award?