Change Your Image
MooreaMaguire
Reviews
Petals of a Rose (2022)
Beautiful portrayal of a woman struggling with dissociative identity disorder
This is a sensitive depiction of a woman struggling with dissociative identity disorder. On Valentines Day, she prepares dinner for her boyfriend, and we meet her different parts. Instead portraying her as a crazy side character, this story is told from _her_ perspective. It made me think of the series Casa de las Flores, which, while otherwise entertaining, features an unrealistic, harmful portrayal of a character who appears to have the same condition. Many thanks to the filmmaker for educating us all. His love for his mother (on which this short film is based) and his mother's love for him resonate.
Darwin's Nightmare (2004)
weak, disappointing
My mom and I went to see this film because my brother is serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in the same region in which it's set. Halfway through the film, I decided that given its failure to measure up to what it pretends to accomplish, the title is pretentious. The subject it deals with could have made for an excellent documentary, but because of its poor execution, it left me far less educated about the issue than I had hoped to become. I agree with laura-jane from Canada ("Powerful Message but Lacks Focus."). I also agree with the user who commented that this filmmaker's narration-free style is the opposite of that of Michael Moore, but I don't agree that it presents varying points of view and invites the viewer to decide for him- or herself. I do agree with one user's comment that "a lesson is better learned when we draw the conclusions ourselves"; however, our conclusions can't be anything but poorly founded if we are presented with little relevant information from which to draw them.
The main points of the documentary seemed to be that 1) The African people who live near Lake Victoria are very poor and suffer greatly. 2) The introduction of perch to Lake Victoria, inflicted by Europeans, ruined its ecosystem. 3) The communities surrounding Lake Victoria are financially dependent on the perch economy.
The best things I can say about the film is that it attempted to relate the perspectives of the average people in sub-Saharan Africa, which, unfortunately, is an anomaly among films, and that it attempted to portray poverty as the result of a dysfunctional economic system rather than a universal, inevitable phenomenon. I liked the irony it captured in the massive amount of fish leaving the country in the face of a famine. I appreciated the portrayal of how out of touch the U.N. team assigned to the region was with the people. Like almost all documentaries that don't have the word "women" in the title, this film fails to do a good job representing women's voices -- the majority of the talking done in interviews is that of men.
Maybe I need to watch the film a second time in order to catch some key points I might have missed, but I failed to detect Sauper's theory of the relationship between the introduction of perch to Lake Victoria and the unjust living conditions for Africans living near the lake. Furthermore, I could be wrong, but it struck me that Sauper could do well to improve his interview skills. Not only did the questions he asked and the responses he included seem to be arbitrary, but he seemed to have a real knack for making interviewees awkward and uncomfortable.
The most compelling development in the film is the suggestion that the exportation of perch now functions to mask the importation of arms and that the real economy screwing over Tanzanians is that of war, not fishing. Sadly, Sauper shies away from conducting a thorough expose of the idea (or at least extending the interview with the reporter who seemed to know what he was talking about in regards to the weapons importation) and cops out with a "decide for yourself" approach.
If Darwin's Nightmare was meant to dispel the myth that first world exploitation of the third world gives them "a chance for a better life," it didn't do a good job of it. If it was meant to depict how the weapons manufacturing industry in the U.S. and Europe is responsible for much armed conflict around the world, it didn't do a good job of it. If it was meant to portray what drives people to prostitution, it didn't do a good job of it. If it was meant to cast light on the inability of the U.N. to carry out its mission, it didn't do a good job of it. If it was meant to say that meager income Tanzanians earn from the perch isn't worth the human cost of tinkering with mother nature to create a profitable product, it didn't do a good job of it. If it was meant to imply that Tanzania would be much better off had Europeans never come, it didn't do a good job of it.
Dorian Blues (2004)
sweet, comedic sketch of American masculinity that captures many of the intricacies of coming out
The film captures some of the experiences that can be part of people's coming out: arrival at the point where you just don't care what other people think of you anymore; falling for the first mature gay person you meet who treats you as a human being (his therapist); temporarily going back into the closet, only to change your mind; the internalized homophobia of going out of your way to appear straight; sleeping with someone you're not terribly attracted to just because they're the only person you know of who's available and gay; the interactive relationship between the honesty that impels you to come out as gay and the honesty in other compartments of your life; family members not wanting to listen to you or to take your sexual orientation seriously (his dad); family members wanting you to hide and deny your sexual orientation (his brother); family members initially freaking out but gradually changing their attitude (his brother); family members wanting to have a relationship with you but trying to avoid the gay part of your life (his brother); the fact that coming out is a long process that keeps coming back to you, not a confession that lasts as long as it takes you to tell people you're gay.
The 3-dimensional characters were Dorian, his brother, his first boyfriend, his dad (though exaggerated in the service of satire), and his oblivious and out-of-the-loop mom (who shatters this characterization at the end, revealing her wisdom). Dorian is not sexually objectified or portrayed as innocent. Rather, his character is developed as that of a smart-assed but courageous, realistically awkward adolescent boy.
Another theme was the overlap between being different and being gay. Looking at the film summary and user comments (most of which I agree with), some people seem to have misinterpreted, in my opinion, what this film says about being gay. It is one boy's coming out story, not every gay man's coming out story. Not all gay people were always different. Likewise, not all high school students who deviate from normality are gay. Another phenomenon in the user comments was the idea that just because this was a good film, the actors and director are going to rise to fame. News flash: there are many, many talented and hard-working actors and directors who never get a big break.
Straight people (99% of whom I've observed to be ignorant of the myriad issues LGBT people go through in coming out and the fact that these issues are caused by our heterosexist, homophobic culture) should see this movie.
Dorian Blues doesn't stray from Hollywood's typical portrayal of a gay coming out story of a white, middle class boy who likes dancing and isn't good at sports (not to mention that one of its two black characters is absurdly dehumanized for a cheap plot advancement), nor does it overcome Hollywood's aversion to three-dimensional female roles, but it doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't.
Furthermore, its portrayal of the preciousness of sibling relationships despite gaps in understanding motivated me to write a letter to my brother.
More than anything, its message is of the harmfulness of our rules for how men should be. We often think of women as being the ones who are short-shifted by gender roles, but this film shows how they hurt all of us.
The Spanish-subtitled version is called "El Secreto de Dorian."
Lilja 4-ever (2002)
a moving depiction of the mental enslavement of a trafficked child
I was reluctant to see this film because I thought it would just leave me depressed and angry. I thought that since I was already aware of the sexual exploitation of children, I wouldn't gain anything from it. I was persuaded to see it by remarks I read by people who work with trafficked women and declared it very realistic. I also found it interesting that after its opening in Stockholm, the women reviewers raved about it and the men reviewers disparaged it.
Having seen the film, I think it was incredibly well done. What I liked most was its portrayal of the ways Lilja fights back while being enslaved and its depiction of how the experience of being forced to grow up fast slowly smothers her childlike spirit. People who are offended by the film's negative portrayal of men aren't taking into account that Moodysson shows Lilya being treated badly by women characters as well.
I like that Moodysson chose to set the film in Europe. It's easy for Westerners to criticize the abuse of women in countries we treat as inferior; what we often fail to see is what we allow to happen in our own countries. Moodysson answers the question, "How could this happen?"
Unlike many films about prostitutes, Lilja 4-ever doesn't sexually objectify Lilya. Rather, it conveys that Lilja sells her body in order to avoid starving, and that she is tricked into going to Stockholm. It shows how the world turns her from determined and proactive to passive and impotent. Moodysson attempts to portray the story from Lilja's point of view and, in my opinion, succeeds.
ECPAT International (www.ecpat.net) is one organization fighting the sexual exploitation of children.
The Spanish-subtitle version is called "Alas de la Vida."
Read Jane Liu's comment -- it gives you a different take and is worth your time.
Saving Face (2004)
One of my favorite romantic comedies
I adored this film and I hope Alice Wu writes and directs many more. It's full of original laughs, mini plot-twists, and poignant, well-written, well-acted scenes. The intergenerational and internal conflict is real to life. The pace is fast enough so that i didn't get bored but slow enough so that it didn't seem like Wu was trying to cram way too much into 90 minutes. The characters are endearing and three-dimensional. It's not overdone, not cheesy. This is one of the most widely distributed lesbian films in the past few years, which makes me especially glad that it's so well done. I liked the depiction of Wil's relationship with her mother so much that I watched it twice, the second time with my mom (and I'm not normally one to see a film twice).
A mi madre le gustan las mujeres (2002)
Not a lesbian film
Having seen many films by and about lesbians, and having heard many real-life stories of how families deal with middle-aged women's first relationship with a woman, I recommend skipping A Mi Madre Le Gustan Las Mujeres. I laughed a few times, and there were a couple of sweet moments, but they hardly made it worth seeing. The conflict was all either unrealistic or reminiscent of scenes in hundreds of other movies. For its entertainment, the film relies on tired plot twists. The three daughters devise a plan, their plan backfires; they change their mind and devise a new plan that is the opposite of the first plan
The only character development is that of the middle daughter, Elvira, who is pathetic, desperate, and annoying. The other characters are flat and recycled. Disappointingly, the characters of the mother and her girlfriend, which could have made for an interesting film, were completely undeveloped, which just perpetuates the invisibility of lesbianism in cinema. There are no sex scenes between women in the film; in fact, the mother and her girlfriend don't show any affection, yet we're supposed to believe they're in love with each other. I had to force myself to watch the entire film and not walk out of the theatre before it ended. Unfortunately, the ending was as predictable as the rest of the film.
Late Bloomers (a light comedy-drama), Lianna (Canadian, made in the 80s), Losing Chase (with Helen Mirren), and Aimee & Jaguar (a true story, set in Nazi Germany) are much better films depicting a mother acting on an attraction to another woman.