At the Movies Cubed

The last three films I've seen have all been winners, true gems, a paragon of perfection each in its own genre. More than entertainment, they each earn what is in my mind the highest of accolades, a sentence that reads: seeing this movie will change your outlook; it will change your life; it will change you. for the better.

Young@Heart
I was attracted to this for all the wrong reasons: the knitted guitar in the advert caught my eye (in the film, nobody knits, much less knits a guitar), and it was opening night, filmmaker to be in attendance. I thought it might be fun; I was afraid it would be too cute. Well, yes, it's fun, but it's serious, too. And, no, I wouldn't call it cute. Not at all. What it is: real. stereotype defying. unblinking. creative. inspiring. death defying. true. And fun, oh my goodness, is it fun! The DVD to be available later this year promises even more. Believe me, you will want more. If you'll be in the Boston area on June 20th, you can even catch the group in concert at 8 pm at the Somerville Theater in Somerville, MA. Tickets available right here.

The Counterfeiters (Die Falscher)
Do not go to be entertained; this is not entertainment. Holocausts, alas, continue in various parts of world to this day, but the one we all mean when we say The Holocaust you would think would have been poked and prodded and examined from every possible viewpoint by now to the point of exhaustion. Still, as happened with me during the infamous "events of 9/11", when yet again the horror is shown, I must watch it again and again and yet again. Tired of it? Nay, rather, for my taste you cannot repeat it enough times. And so of course I had to betake myself to see this Austrian retelling of the role Jewish prisoners played in Germany's attempt to destroy Allied countries' economies by counterfeiting their currencies. So you think you know going in what the story will be. Yes, it will be that. It will also be other ... and it will be more. And if you learn, later, which character is the person who wrote the memoir the film is based on, you will have something to always wonder about. What's true? What's right? Is the hero the person you think it is? Are there ever heroes, really? Well? My advice: steel yourself; see the film.

Before The Rains
A heartbreaking story in a lush and lovely environment. Sajani, lovely, married, works as a servant in the home of Moores, a handsome, powerful, married Englishman in India just before the end of the Raj. They indulge in an illicit love affair that ends ... it is inevitable ... in tragedy. But this is not just a morality tale by any means; read Sajani as a stand-in for India itself, read India as a stand-in for any occupied country you could ever name, and admiration for the art of "fiction" grows. At least it did for me.

The friend who recommended "Before The Rains" to me commented that she didn't "think there was a frivolous anything in that movie!" Amen. And ditto for all three.