One week later, I'm back. Here are my reviews for the foreign films Nine Queens from Argentina and The Day I Became a Woman from Iran. I still have a lot to work on. See you soon.
The Day I Became a Woman
Review by Jon Waterman
***1/2
This Iranian film tells the story of three women in three different sections. The first part focuses on Hava whose ninth birthday means she is officially a woman now. She’s supposed to stay home and help with preparations, but all she wants to do is play with her friend that is suddenly considered (by her grandmother) too immature for her. Next we follow Ahoo as she rides her bicycle in a race. Various family members and friends come along and try to convince her to stop riding and go back to her husband. Lastly, Hoora’s story is told. She is an old woman that goes on a large shopping spree to by a house worth of appliances: something she’s never had before.
First time director/writer (dialogue) Marzieh Meshkini does an astonishing job on this film. We are instantly on the side of each of the three leads and instantly captivated by what’s going on. The cinematography, story and acting are all great. The camera work is fantastic. It combines well-composed static shots with very nice moving shots. The ride-away shot at the end of Ahoo’s story was very long and very powerful. The film is powerful, yet sparse.
There’s no lighting that I could really find. Most of the film is shot outside along a beach setting. The indoor shots are shot naturally at the mall while Hoora spends her money. Even when she gets the stuff for her house, it’s all placed on the beach. Now, this isn’t to say that the lighting doesn’t enter into the film. It does. In fact, the first sequence relies on it. Hava is allowed to go out and play until noon. She’s given a stick to watch the shadow of the sun. The continuity and consistency in this sequence is much better than most American films would care to produce.
Marzieh wrote the dialogue, but didn’t have much to write. The movie is not afraid to go silent. There are long sequences without dialogue or music. In fact, I don’t recall hearing any music at all, even though it was there (by Ahmad Reza Darvish). Either way, both are relatively minimal which makes the movie both daring and more effective. You know to pay attention when people speak. They don’t just rattle off about whatever for two hours. It all has a purpose.
I recommend seeing this if given the opportunity. It is powerful and emotional and not in a men are scum way. There are a lot of sweet moments like when Hava shares her candy with her friend through a window. The movie is strong, empowering to women, intelligent and technically very well made.
+++++++++
Nine Queens
Review by Jon Waterman
***
After a chance meeting, Marcos the old pro and Juan the charming young newbie come together to work for the day. The two conmen start off slow, but then get a call to pull a major deal. They combine forces and techniques to try to sell a forged set of valuable stamps called “The Nine Queens” to a wealthy collector. Soon, what should have turned out to be a simple deal increasingly becomes more complex as the time to execute the sale dwindles.
Written by Fabián Bielinsky (also his directorial debut), this Argentinean film shows a clever structure. Just when you think the story has nowhere to go or is in danger of slowing down to a tortoise’s pace, a new obstacle comes along. The conflicts presented, for the most part, avoid clichés. It’s pretty rare to find a movie where one of the problems conmen come across is having to sell his sisters body in order to sell a sheet of stamps.
Despite the unforeseen twists, there are some more predictable moves that come along with this type of movie. There’s always the issue of are they just trying to con each other. For the longest time, it seemed as though this were not the case. I would have preferred it to stay that way. All these con guy movies think they’re so clever when it’s about the conman getting conned, when really it’s just repeating everything the genre has already produced. Is this film different? Yes. Because it avoids that for a long time and the ending truly is unpredictable. I thoroughly enjoyed the way this film came together. Very smart.
I have a little bit of a problem in the writing in that it tries too hard to be funny sometimes. It’s ok to want to put a few jokes in, but it doesn’t have to be a laugh fest. Concentrate on the strengths, because the humor was predictable. Luckily, this doesn’t detract from the picture or the enjoyment.
The acting is pretty good. I don’t really have much to say about it other than each character played their part. There’s not a lot of depth to any of them, but the lines are delivered naturally and smoothly. The camera work is functional and relatively basic. It starts to get fancier near the end and although that was appreciated, it seemed out of place and inconsistent.
If you have the opportunity to see Nine Queens, then I’d say go ahead and do so, because who knows what the American version (“Criminal”) will be like. Besides, it’s a fun, solid movie from a different country and you can’t go wrong with that.
The Day I Became a Woman
Review by Jon Waterman
***1/2
This Iranian film tells the story of three women in three different sections. The first part focuses on Hava whose ninth birthday means she is officially a woman now. She’s supposed to stay home and help with preparations, but all she wants to do is play with her friend that is suddenly considered (by her grandmother) too immature for her. Next we follow Ahoo as she rides her bicycle in a race. Various family members and friends come along and try to convince her to stop riding and go back to her husband. Lastly, Hoora’s story is told. She is an old woman that goes on a large shopping spree to by a house worth of appliances: something she’s never had before.
First time director/writer (dialogue) Marzieh Meshkini does an astonishing job on this film. We are instantly on the side of each of the three leads and instantly captivated by what’s going on. The cinematography, story and acting are all great. The camera work is fantastic. It combines well-composed static shots with very nice moving shots. The ride-away shot at the end of Ahoo’s story was very long and very powerful. The film is powerful, yet sparse.
There’s no lighting that I could really find. Most of the film is shot outside along a beach setting. The indoor shots are shot naturally at the mall while Hoora spends her money. Even when she gets the stuff for her house, it’s all placed on the beach. Now, this isn’t to say that the lighting doesn’t enter into the film. It does. In fact, the first sequence relies on it. Hava is allowed to go out and play until noon. She’s given a stick to watch the shadow of the sun. The continuity and consistency in this sequence is much better than most American films would care to produce.
Marzieh wrote the dialogue, but didn’t have much to write. The movie is not afraid to go silent. There are long sequences without dialogue or music. In fact, I don’t recall hearing any music at all, even though it was there (by Ahmad Reza Darvish). Either way, both are relatively minimal which makes the movie both daring and more effective. You know to pay attention when people speak. They don’t just rattle off about whatever for two hours. It all has a purpose.
I recommend seeing this if given the opportunity. It is powerful and emotional and not in a men are scum way. There are a lot of sweet moments like when Hava shares her candy with her friend through a window. The movie is strong, empowering to women, intelligent and technically very well made.
+++++++++
Nine Queens
Review by Jon Waterman
***
After a chance meeting, Marcos the old pro and Juan the charming young newbie come together to work for the day. The two conmen start off slow, but then get a call to pull a major deal. They combine forces and techniques to try to sell a forged set of valuable stamps called “The Nine Queens” to a wealthy collector. Soon, what should have turned out to be a simple deal increasingly becomes more complex as the time to execute the sale dwindles.
Written by Fabián Bielinsky (also his directorial debut), this Argentinean film shows a clever structure. Just when you think the story has nowhere to go or is in danger of slowing down to a tortoise’s pace, a new obstacle comes along. The conflicts presented, for the most part, avoid clichés. It’s pretty rare to find a movie where one of the problems conmen come across is having to sell his sisters body in order to sell a sheet of stamps.
Despite the unforeseen twists, there are some more predictable moves that come along with this type of movie. There’s always the issue of are they just trying to con each other. For the longest time, it seemed as though this were not the case. I would have preferred it to stay that way. All these con guy movies think they’re so clever when it’s about the conman getting conned, when really it’s just repeating everything the genre has already produced. Is this film different? Yes. Because it avoids that for a long time and the ending truly is unpredictable. I thoroughly enjoyed the way this film came together. Very smart.
I have a little bit of a problem in the writing in that it tries too hard to be funny sometimes. It’s ok to want to put a few jokes in, but it doesn’t have to be a laugh fest. Concentrate on the strengths, because the humor was predictable. Luckily, this doesn’t detract from the picture or the enjoyment.
The acting is pretty good. I don’t really have much to say about it other than each character played their part. There’s not a lot of depth to any of them, but the lines are delivered naturally and smoothly. The camera work is functional and relatively basic. It starts to get fancier near the end and although that was appreciated, it seemed out of place and inconsistent.
If you have the opportunity to see Nine Queens, then I’d say go ahead and do so, because who knows what the American version (“Criminal”) will be like. Besides, it’s a fun, solid movie from a different country and you can’t go wrong with that.
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