Omar by Hany Abu-Assad, 2013

With his girlfriend, Nadia, living on the other side of an Israeli-built boundary wall, young Palestinian Omar regularly scales it to visit her. But he faces even greater obstacles after a lethal confrontation with an Israeli soldier.

I haven't seen Paradise Now which is his masterpiece, but it would seem that Omar is from the same stream, and definitely quite a unique and somehow beautiful love story, although with a depressing and violent surrounding. It feels, like in Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette's Inch'Allah, that it is more and more impossible to know really who started the violence, is it Palestinian men who killed an random Israeli soldier, is it the Israeli soldiers arresting randomly Omar on the side of the road and threatening him, or the wall surrounding and splitting Palestine in so many pieces they have to climb the wall to see their childhood best friends. The viewpoint is so individual and personal that the war seems absurd, the violence pointless and the resistance inevitable as well as impossible. Omar is in the middle of it, somehow with dreams that contradict his actions, his love for the sister of his leader, his day to day life in a bakery, his savings to buy a house and his survival as an oppressed Palestinian, trying to join the resistance. The story revolves so tightly around the intertwined love story and politics that it is impossible to break them apart, which is what makes the movie unique. And of course, the cinematography and the actors are simply amazing.

with Adam Bakri, Iyad Hoorani, Samer Bisharat, Leem Lubani, Waleed Zuaiter (The Visitor)

Watch Omar Trailer:

The Congress by Ari Folman, 2013

More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, an aging actress (Robin Wright, playing a version of herself) decides to take her final job: preserving her digital likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal brokered by her loyal, longtime agent (Harvey Keitel) and the head of Miramount Studios (Danny Huston), her alias will be controlled by the studio, and will star in any film they want with no restrictions. In return, she receives healthy compensation so she can care for her ailing son and her digitized character will stay forever young. Twenty years later, under the creative vision of the studio's head animator (Jon Hamm), Wright's digital double rises to immortal stardom. With her contract expiring, she is invited to take part in "The Congress" convention as she makes her comeback straight into the world of future fantasy cinema.

Robin Wright "At" the Congress makes a lot of sense after five seconds of the movie. Which initially felt like a weird way of putting it in the poster. She (a version of herself) is the center of the story, picking up from her past career and creating an alternate reality where she would be of the downside of her career, with very beautiful personal moments, evolving into science fiction scenario (which reminded me somehow of SimOne), where the reality isn't very far from fiction, to a world that transition to animation in a radical psychedelic way (this time reminding me of the world of Philémon, considered one of the most poetic and original bande dessinée series of all time, see picture below). The movie around that time becomes a little long, but somehow the journey makes the twist even more relevant. It is quite a story to tell the truth. Then I have one question that seems to not be of the matter in the movie, but who are the people controlling all the mess (trying not to spoil the movie)? All the alternatives seem to have lost any kind of power... Perhaps I should read the book from which the story is inspired, The Futurological Congress by Stanisław Lem (who wrote Solaris) to get answers...


Philémon - Le Voyage de l'incrédule by Fred

with Robin Wright (Forrest Gump, (House of Cards, Breaking and Entering, The Conspirator, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball, Adore), Paul Giamatti (12 Years a Slave, Saving Mr. Banks, Cosmopolis, Duplicity, Barney's Version, Deconstructing Harry), Jon Hamm (Friends with Kids, Bridesmaids, The Town, Mad Men), Danny Huston (Hitchcock, You Don't Know Jack, Robin Hood, The Conspirator, X-men Origins: Wolverine), Harvey Keitel, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sami Gayle, Michael Stahl-David
From the director of Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir)

Watch trailer:

The Secrets (Ha Sadot) by Avi Nesher, 2007 (R)

with Fanny Ardant, Ania Bukstein, Rivka Michaeli, Michal Shtamler, Adir Miller, Guri Alfi, Alma Zak, Tiki Dayan, Dana Ivgy, Talli Oren, Sefi Rivlin

At an all-female seminary in the Israeli holy city of Safed, brilliant Naomi (Ania Bukstein) befriends rebellious Michelle (Michal Shtamler), but their friendship is tested when they meet a sickly Frenchwoman named Anouk (Fanny Ardant) who needs their help. Risking expulsion, Naomi and Michelle embark on a journey of self-discovery as they secretly study kabbalistic texts, learning cleansing rituals that will aid the mysterious Anouk.

It has been a while that I found a movie that could tell me a story of courage. And cowardice. This movie is the Orthodox Jew version of Iranian movie "Circumstance". There are differences, such as the story, the context, the identity, the journey... but at the end of the day, it is for the same reason that they get together, love, and follow the same path in the relationship. It is touching, powerful, the two girls are beautiful, Ania Buckstein is astonishing in her performance. The only negative point, and that might be only in case you speak French, is Fanny Ardant's lines, they are like heavy quotes, no one speaks like that, it looks so overdone, overdramatic, really fake. And I love Fanny Ardant... This time was too much. Anyway, besides the failure of incorporating French language, the movie is absolutely touching.

Watch Trailer:

The Debt by John Madden, 2010 (R)

with Helen Mirren (RED, The Queen), Sam Worthington (Somersault, Avatar), Jessica Chastain (The Help, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter), Jesper Christensen (Melancholia), Marton Csokas (Dream House), Ciarán Hinds (Margot at the Wedding), Tom Wilkinson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Michael Clayton, Duplicity, The Ghost Writer, The Conspirator), Romi Aboulafia, Melinda Korcsog
From the director of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"

Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren) is a former Mossad intelligence agent forced to relive her 1965 pursuit of a notorious Nazi war criminal when the bold and dangerous fugitive is thought to have reemerged 30 years later in the Ukraine. Director John Madden's redo of Assaf Bernstein's 2007 Israeli suspense piece also features Jessica Chastain as the young Rachel Singer, along with Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson and Ciarán Hinds.

I have been wanting to watch this movie for ever. When it came out in France, I couldn't see it, and then it took forever to come out in the US. I still didn't see it. So yesterday, I finally saw it. It is really good, the suspense in superb, the acting really perfect, with two generations of excellent actors playing the believably same characters. The story is interesting, although it doesn't go too deep in the scars of history. The little they do has such a strong meaning that perhaps spreading too much information on the post-WW2 or the war itself. Its point of view is also interesting politically since it is well viewed to trial Nazis after the war, but not to deal with turned-bad kidnappings, and no country wants their hands dirty. The manipulating crazy doctor of Birkenau is played to the edge by the amazing Jesper Christensen. A long time since I saw an intelligent movie. Now I have to watch the original from 2007 by Assaf Bernstein...

Watch Trailer:

Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir) by Ari Folman, 2008 (R)

Documentary with Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ari Folman, Dror Harazi

"One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there is a connection between the dream and their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised he cant remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images." IMDB

A strange documentary-Animation movie talking about what no-one wants to talk about. A large part of it is polemic. The form is technologically advanced although quite tiring to watch and honestly not impressive (robot effect, layers of 3d obvious), but the content is very important for the next generations to understands facts about Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut, in 1982 Lebanon War.

Watch Trailer: