My library had a foreign film display when I went by recently. Of course, I couldn’t resist.
THAT MAGNIFICENT CAKE (2018) is a strange Dutch/French stop-motion film in which the Belgian King Leopold’s lust for a piece of the African “cake” leads both Belgians and Africans to tragic ends — my goodness, it’s symbolic and allegorical! But it didn’t work for me. “You’ve got to be careful where you put your feet.”
DHEEPAN (2015) is a Sri Lankan who becomes a refugee in France by agreeing to pose as a family with an unrelated woman and “her” child. Settling into an apartment complex they have to adjust to the stresses of the arrangement, the usual refugee traumas and then an erupting gang war adding to their PTSD. This was grim enough I’m astonished the family came out to a happy ending, but the film worked for me. “Everyone burns down schools.”
COURT (2014) is one of those films that show some things are universal. The story of a left-wing street poet hauled into court on trumped-up charges, backed up by lying witnesses, could easily take place in the U.S. or the U.K. and probably multiple other countries. Although I’m not sure most U.S. films would be as scathing toward the prosecutor who at one point strains the law to justify charging the man under WMD laws. While the ending lost me (not that it’s bad, I think I missed something and couldn’t figure out the point), this was overall a solid film.“There is one song by the accused that encourages manhole workers to commit suicide.”
#SFWApro. All rights to image remain with current holder.
Fraser Sherman's Blog 