Sunday, June 19, 2011

8 Femmes (2002)

8 Femmes (8 Women) is a theatrical comedy, a musical french drama directed by François Ozon. I've seen it today and had so much fun while watching it. As it's evident from its title, there are nothing but eight women acting in the movie (and a man whom we can see just his back).  These eight women are coming together for a Christmas of 1950s and the fun, suspicious murder mystery starts :)
Catherine Deneuve (Gaby - the victim's wife)
François Ozon takes a mysterious Hitchcockian story and enriches it with a great show of delightful acting and theatrical comedy. A rich husband is murdered! A snow storm has closed the roads and they are stucked in a big cottage. The killer is one of them! They are trying to find out who did it.
Fanny Ardant (Pierrette - the victim's sister)
This movie has everything. What does it have ? It has a over-pretentious cast of famous french actresses: Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart and Danielle Darrieux. What else ? Drama, comedy, singing&dancing, lots of suspense&suspicion, murder, betrayal, lies, sexuality, lesbianism, seduction, elegance...
Emmanuelle Béart (Louise - the new chambermaid)
8 Femmes is a hilarious suspense movie with comedy and drama tones and the legendary, faboulous french actresses. Definitely deserves to be spent 2 hours of your weekend, so prepare your popcorn and settle down on your couch :)
Danielle Darrieux (Mamy - the mother of Gaby and Augustine)
Firmine Richard (Madame Chanel - the cook)
Isabelle Huppert (Augustine - Gaby's sister)
Virginie Ledoyen (Suzon - the victim's eldest daughter)
Ludivine Sagnier (Catherine - the victim's youngest daughter)
   

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Love in Another Language (2009)

This time I’m going to make a review of a recent Turkish movie “Love in Another Language” (Başka Dilde Aşk). I enjoyed very much watching this film in terms of its natural performances and its unusual story. Love in Another Language is the first long footage of director Ilksen Başarir. She also wrote the story of the film together with the leading actor Mert Fırat.
The story is based on a relationship as it can be deducted from its name. However, this story is a little different then usual. I’m so happy to see that some people touch sensitive subjects of the society. I think, especially in a country like Turkey, where there are more than 3 million physically disabled people (the exact number is not even known), handling the delicate subjects in an attentive way will raise the awareness of the society. In this sense, I really appreciate the movie.
The story is centered on a relationship of a newly-met couple Onur (Mert Fırat) and Zeynep (Saadet Işıl Aksoy). Onur is deaf. When Zeynep discovers it, first she hesitates for a second and then jumps into his arms saying that she found the perfect man – one who cannot talk back. But, later on, she asks herself “Without talking, I wonder if we can communicate…”.
The fact that Zeynep works as a call center employee is another irony of the movie. While she struggles communicating with people on the phone who can express themselves by talking, the movie shows us that a person who cannot hear and talk will listen better and express himself better without talking…In this movie, the psychology of deafness is handled in a poetic love story.
The movie got lots of national and international awards. The young actors are performing their roles spotlessly. The story is served without exageration, the shots are given in a minimalist way with a modern, exciting romance story. And I fell in love with another movie...