CinemaFunk

Accidental Heroism

Another hidden gem recently discovered, thanks to random discussions on a few film podcasts that I listen to. George Washington offers a telling story from deep in the trenches, about love, about death.

The title character (Donald Holden) must tread lightly, as his skull did not fusion in infantile development like his peers. George's ailment prevents him from getting his head wet, and must even wear a helmet when he plans on playing with friends. Some rough-housing leads to an accidental death of a friend, in a well-timed, well-edited scene sparks a close group of friends to hide the body.

Now fearing punishment, the group recedes, or so they try. George has unexpectedly become an unlikely hero in the town, after jumping into a pool to save a friend. George's heroism put his own mortality on the surface of the water. The group who witnessed the death earlier have begun to mourn their friend in such poetic ways, while townees share their theories on the disappearance.

The unconventional and unconditional love of a mother.

Mother is one of many films that have trumped Hollywood in providing original stories to audiences. With a dark, ethereal aura that sprinkles dark comedy gracefully over the film's crime drama plot, this film is a gem that should be promoted alongside the bulk of South Korea's best cinematic exports.

Mother begins with Mother (and will be referred to as Mother) (Kim Hye-ja) dancing in a field, as if there is not a minute kilogram of weight on her shoulders. The next scene we see the same Mother chopping spices, finding her song, Do-joon (Won Bin) being almost run over, and runs to his rescue, yet he is fine, unharmed, slightly embarrassed by her coddling.

Do-joon is a shy, easily manipulated, and somewhat handicapped young twenty-something who has become the prime suspect in the death of a young high school girl. He is tricked into signing a confession and at most, may find himself serving time in a hospital for mentally-ill. Do-joon's Mother refuses to believe that her child could ever perform such an at and chooses to find the killer herself.

The Master Has Returned

Despite being one of the most prolific and most awarded filmmakers in American film history, Francis Ford Coppola has only produced two films in the first decade of the new millennium. Few filmmakers have the ability to fully fund their own works, and Coppola's self-financed Tetro is the type of film that would never be made inside the modern studio system, or at least not with such artistic control.

Bennie Tetrocini (Alden Ehrenreich) has decided to seek out his lost older brother, Tetro (Vincent Gallo), who has left the family years earlier, promising to reunite with Bennie. Tetro is a playwright who has set aside his masterwork and fled to a new life in Argentina with his girlfriend Miranda (Carmen Maura). Bennie's unexpected visit begins to re-open many of Tetro's past wounds as family secrets and betrayals reveal themselves.

The importance of The Runaways is lost in this film.

The Runaways begins with Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) dreaming of being a Bowie-like clone and Joan Jett bluntly (Kristen Stewart) approaches record producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) to help assist her in forming an all-female rock group. As Currie joins the band to complete the formation and with a little help from Fowley, the group is finely polished into a marketable gimmick.

After paying their dues locally, the band begins to tour, and later find themselves touring Japan. As with all rags-to-riches rock 'n roll stories, drug addiction, jealousy, and business create enough tension to tear the band apart.

There was obviously something very important about The Runaways, particularly during the time in which they arose to fame, yet this film captures none of that. The only link between the band and their importance as cultural figures was within the dialogue of Fowley—who is the only one who understands how to push the gimmick to glory. Director and scriptwriter Floria Sigismondi took the typical rock 'n roll story and instead of showing the true cultural changes that the band had induced into popular music.