Movie Review: FUGITIVE PIECES (2008) B

One more movie about a holocaust survivor.  Not to diminish the horror of the holocaust . . .  many of this genre of movie fit into a predicable pattern.  Usually the film is about a person who escaped, lost their loved ones, and the depression they feel. 

Fugitive Pieces tells the story of Jakob Beer, a man whose life is haunted by his childhood experiences during WWII. As a child in Poland he is orphaned during wartime then saved by a compassionate Greek archeologist. Over the course of his life, he painfully attempts to deal with the losses he has endured. The movie was slow so that the viewer could feel the pain also.  At the unrealistic end of the film, through his writing, and then through the discovery of true love, Jakob is ultimately freed from the legacy of his past.  Not really believable.

Other Reviews:
The movie has little dramatic momentum, and its journey is essentially Jakob's incremental acceptance of his fate. But Dillane (the actor) and the writer-director Jeremy Podeswa create such a compelling central character that it hardly matters.

His journey towards peace of mind involves lots of lyrical philosophizing, which presumably comes straight from the film's source novel, by Anne Michaels, and doesn't lend itself to dramatization, despite Dillane's typically intelligent performance.

Movie Review: Department Q: A CONSPIRACY OF FAITH (2016) AAA

Nexflix streaming:Subtitles

This is the third of the Department Q series  . . . and probably the most painful and "dark" to watch.  Its about the brutality and kidnapping by a serial killer.  But if your are into detective stories, this one is a classic (My triple A rating), will keep you at the edge of your seat.  A movie that must not be missed.

Storyline
An old note is found in a bottle in Jutland which has traveled very long across the ocean a long time ago. The note is hard to decipher, but when the Danish investigator from Section Q receives it, the odd personalities within the section find a new angle on it and try to unveil yet another old and diabolic case even though the lead is cold.

Other Reviews:
A Conspiracy of Faith is a thriller but one with quite a differing approach. It dispenses with the comedy of the earlier film and instead goes for a pretty downbeat approach. Hardly surprising really when you consider that the story is about two cops investigating the case of two abducted children. This kind of material is always one that is going to be somewhat dark, another recent north European film The Treatment (2014) dealt with this subject in a very head on manner and consequently was very disturbing indeed in places. A Conspiracy of Faith only goes so far with its dark material and by the end of the film slightly dissipates its impact further by having its narrative go into more standard thriller territory. But despite that, this is still another compelling bit of Nordic noir.

This is the best of the three Department Q films in my opinion, it is not darker as such, off course the fact that its about kids getting taken is just not very nice to think about, but the cases they are working on are dark and we are beginning to know the characters and their different persona's and they really capture many great aspects of the characters and their interaction with other people.

Serial killers are always strange and dark, but this one is very well portrayed by Pål Sverre Hagen, he really seems like this nice guy, good looking (a Norwegian Ryan Gosling), well spoken, calm and trustworthy. But deep down he is just a bad bad man, with a terrible past and a twisted mind.

It might seem that there is a decline in the movies, but this is still rock solid. I can only imagine that the book is even more than that. It has characters from the previous movies (and books of course) and has a case that is pretty strong. You don't have the urgent feeling and the playfulness it had in the previous movies. As dark as they got, you always had something light in them.

As the previous Department Q films, this haunting crime-film is all about the darkest and most twisted evil people, and they're terrible actions towards innocent people. In this film it also deals with children, so it's very gripping. As a Norwegian I'm delighted to see Norwegians actors in this film, they really brings life to the film, acting in a convincing way. It even has a Norwegian director. But this it danish crime at it's very very best.

Foreign Movie Review : FAUDA (2015- ) AAA+

Netfix Original Streaming;

Subtitles: Israeli, 12 episodes

"Fauda" the movie series (Arabic for 'Chaos') depicts the (most horrible aspects) of the two-sided story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The quote another person who reviewed this painfully difficult to watch series, it is a "Gripping drama so real that it hurts".  It definitely SHOULD NOT BE WATCHED FOR THE WEAK AT HEART.  Unending violence a hatred.  I only hope that the situation in the real Israel is a lot less violent and intense than shown in this series.  However, The amazing thing is that past leaders of the Israeli 'mista'ar'vim' have said that the reality is even more astounding than that which is portrayed in this series. If so, it boggles the mind . As an aside I'm not sure a follow up series was created.

Purchased and broadcast by Netflix, this is the best series to come from Israel TV film-makers, who are rapidly becoming masters of the genre --and all this on strictly limited budgets.

These Comments Are Excerpts From Other Reviewers:
Doron, a commander of undercover Israeli unit, the Israeli Special Forces, operating inside Palestinian territories, and his team, are hunting down Hamas terrorist Abu-Ahmed. On the other side of the fence, the life of Abu-Ahmed and his family, who has thus far murdered 143 Israelis, will never accept the State of Israel, and will continue Jihad for as long as it takes.

Why is Fauda different? Well, for a start, there is the fact that it reeks of authenticity about the cat and mouse tactics Israel is forced to employ when hunting down highly motivated Palestinian terrorists. This drama has everything. It is played out in Arabic and Hebrew by superb actors who have bilingual command of the languages.

It is never condescending to the Arabs, so even the most fervent of Palestinian supporters will find it hard to find bias. The eternal struggle is seen from both sides and does not moralize. Love and betrayal are exposed, not only between human beings but also between ideologies. This, indeed, is a fight to the death.

The Israeli Arab actors, too, deserve credit for portraying their characters with such humanity. Betrayal is an integral part of Arab society in the West Bank (and Gaza for that matter). Israel would not have been able to succeed as often as it has if not for the myriad informants and stool pigeons willing to 'shop' the terrorists among them, whether for money or for political reasons. Everyone, it seems, has his price. The enmity between Fatah, which runs the West Bank, and Hamas, dominant in Gaza, is palpable. Israel uses this to its advantage.

The reason why this series must be seen on TV throughout the Western world, and even further afield, is that it shows in depth how Israel combats terrorism. All we usually see on the news channels are the results of hits via video from drones and guided missiles. We never see the story behind the assassination of terrorists.

The suspense of the story reminded me that life under constant threat of terrorism is a brutal and hardening existence. I was on edge, despite knowing what the eventual outcomes were likely to be. The lesson I took from this story was how sad it is that two sets of human beings with amazing fortitude and commitment cannot channel those qualities to make a mutually progressive existence.

Knowing little of the Israeli - Palestine conflicts and issues I watched this series initially only because of a review I read somewhere. Not really into watching something with subtitles I was gripped from the beginning and couldn't stop watching it.

Intense and Engaging
This is super addictive so watch out! I watched 6 episodes in a row and I definitely don't regret it one bit. Definitely recommend this show, you wont regret it. The acting, the filming, the effects-its all truly amazing. Unfortunately , I think this show only has one season, which is really upsetting to me. Hopefully the series will continue for as long a possible. 10/10

Very realistic (although many of the things depicted in the show are out of date, like tracking techniques used by Israelis - they use much faster and slicker technology now and Hamas too - I can't believe that they didn't sweep the place & the visitors for bugs), but somehow it is very depressing: you realize that there can never be any peace - one side just has to ex

terminate the other. And that is the bitter truth.

Movie Review: PAPA (2015) C-

Bad movie and boring about Ernest Hemingway and his late life in Cuba.

From other reviews: Despite its obvious sincerity of purpose, and the cachet of its having been filmed on locations where the real-life drama actually unfolded, “Papa: Hemingway in Cuba” is disappointingly plodding and ham-fistedly obvious in its attempts to offer an up-close and personal portrait of a mood-swinging, self-loathing 59-year-old Ernest Hemingway

The film was directed by noted producer Bob Yari, his second effort, but it smacked of something that had problems all along the way, including sound design and story structure. There was absolutely no life to the story, and there were several bad casting choices…including Papa Hemingway…and the film lands with a thud rather than a heralding for the man, image and essence of the legendary writer. Movie Review: PAPA (2015) C-Movie Review: PAPA (2015) C-

See all my reviews at http://movieandtvreviewsforgrownups.blogspot.com/

Foreign Movie Review: SON OF SAUL (2016) AAAA

This movie stands out from all others I have ever seen in my lifetime and (in truth) cannot be reviewed and compared to other movies.   It is so overwhelming, gruesome and devastating . . . but on the positive side it is a story that must be told.

In this piece, the director, cinematographer and all others that worked on this masterpiece of a film, created hell on Earth.

If you are interested in a description of what I consider is the horror of all horror films see:
https://www.google.com/search?q=2016+oscars+foreign+film&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=son+of+saul

Other Review:
Tom Long, THE DETROIT NEWS:  Brutal and brilliant, “Son of Saul” may be the most harrowing film ever made about the Holocaust, which should give you an idea of how hard it is to watch. This is mankind at its worst, even as one soul tries to persevere among the horrors.
That soul would be Saul, a sonderkammando at a concentration camp that is likely Auschwitz. Sonderkammados were Jewish prisoners charged with doing the camp’s dirty work; after a few months service — and Saul has served a few months — they, too, are killed.
As the film opens, Saul and others are guiding trainloads of newly arrived Jews straight to the gas chambers, although the soon-to-be victims are being told they are just going to take a mass shower and then be given hot soup.
After the chamber doors are closed and the victims gassed, the sonderkommandos rummage through the clothes and articles left behind, looking for valuables to turn over to the Nazis. Then they go about lugging the naked dead bodies out of the chamber and scrubbing the floors.
At this point a minor miracle occurs: A young boy is found alive, coughing among the dead. Saul watches as the boy is carried to a table — where a Nazi doctor promptly suffocates the child.
Something in the boy touches Saul. Could it be his own son, does it remind him of a son? No matter, he sets out on a quest to find a rabbi to bless the dead boy before an autopsy is performed, taking him to all corners of the camp on a frantic and life-threatening quest. This quest is complicated even more by a jailbreak conspiracy among the sonderkammandos that Saul is a part of.
First-time Hungarian feature director Laszlo Nemes, who also co-wrote, is constantly on the move as the camera follows Saul from one horrific scene to the next, clinging tight to the man’s desperation. Time is running out for Saul right from the beginning; all he’s looking for is a blessing. In this bleak world, blessings are hard to find.

Foreign Movie Review: THE SALESMAN (2016) AA

The director of this excellent Iranian movie, Asghar Farhadi, is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film for his movies A Separation and The Salesman in 2012 and 2017, respectively. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world by Time magazine in 2012.

It is an excellent film, well acted, well directed with a story that is real.

Forced to leave their apartment due to a dangerous construction project in a neighboring building, a young Iranian couple moves to the center of Tehran where they become embroiled in a life-altering situation involving the previous tenant. 

The film’s title refers to the play being staged by the of actors presenting Arthur Miller’s tragic “Death of a Salesman” in Tehran. In this movie the writers and director introduces us to thoroughly defined characters who are not always truthful about their motivations, sometimes because they don’t understand themselves. Like salesmen, they put the best side forward and conceal the flaws.

Classic Movie Review: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) AAA

A memorable film about the aftermath of World War II in the United States., this film opens with the homecoming of three veterans to the same small town. The movie exposes the reality of altered lives and the inability to communicate the experience of war on the front lines or the home front.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, February 17, 2015, 5:16 PM

(Originally published by the Daily News on Nov. 22, 1946. This story was written by Kate Cameron.)
When Samuel Goldwyn said recently that ‘The Best Year of Our Lives,” which had a gala premiere at the Astor Theatre last night, represented his outstanding achievement as a Hollywood producer, he spoke nothing but the truth. His new film is everything he claims for it and more.
As far as this review is concerned, it is the best picture to come out of Hollywood since the end of the war. It is a slice of postwar life in an American town, with a little of everything that goes to make up the major and minor adjustments of the men who returned from the various war fronts to civilian life.

Strong Human Interest.
The transitions of Sergt. Al Stephenson, Capt. Fred Derry and sailor Homer Parrish to their old life in Boone City, are filled with human interest. There is great joy, as well as grief and laughter, in the adventures of the three service men, as Al returns to his grown up family and his old job at the bank, as Fred sheds his uniform and the glamor attached to an officer of the Air Corps for the linen jacket of a drug-store clerk, and as Homer tries to get used to a pair steel hooks that have replaced his lost hands.

Documentary: FIVE CAME BACK (2017) AA+

The wartime contributions of five prominent Hollywood film directors during World War II are profiled.

Excellent series, a little slow in the beginning, but stick with it.  On Netfix streaming.

The five directors were, Frank Capra, George Stevens, John Ford, John Huston, and William Wyler, all of which have been among the most highly regarded and influential directors, in the history of filming.

Forced me to see THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, which turned out to be timeless.  A great picture after 70 years in black and white. I'll review that next.

Steven Spielberg (who's production company - Amblin TV) also produced it, on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross and David Bianculli.
 

From Other reviews:  Talk about the greatest generation, I can not recall being so moved by their stories of their participation in WWII, since the last time I watched one of their fine films. I have so much more appreciation of those films, knowing now what I have learned from this series!

Thank you Mr. Spielberg, for bringing this to the world, in your ongoing efforts to tell the story of how this war has changed the course of human history. My hope is that this documentary, now available on Netflix, will be viewed by millions, and help to remind us, and inform others, of what America was once all about. I really think that this important and Oscar-worthy series, should be required viewing in our educational institutions.

Foreign Movie Review: MAGNUS (2106) A+

A good Movie/Documentary about a the mind of a chess master . . . from childhood to young adulthood.  Unbelievable, remarkable brain that can memorize and analyze chess moves beyound my imagination. Shows how much we don't know about the human brain and it's capabilities.

Other Reviews:  As a young boy, Magnus Carlsen was very different from his peers. Bullied by the other children, he usually sat by himself, lost in thought. But when a strong interest in numbers led him to the game of chess at the age of 5, he quickly started to climb the ranks of the chess world. At 13, he decided that he would become the World Chess Champion. Magnus is now known as the "Mozart of Chess"--combining the skill and intellect of chess with unrivaled originality and instinct. Through an extensive amount of archival footage and home movies, filmmaker Benjamin Ree follows Magnus's meteoric rise to the top in this unique coming-of-age story. The film invites audiences to not only experience the fascinating world of competitive chess, but also peek into the mind of a modern genius.

Foreign Movie review: DUKHTAR (2015) A+

A excellent movie about the abominable treatment of women in Pakistan.   Tells the story of women forced into marriage at 13 years old to older men for political reasons.  Must have caused a political storm when it was released in Pakistan.

Other Reviews:
Early in Dukhtar ("Daughter"), a Pakistani drama screening at this year's Chicago South Asian Film Festival, writer-director Afia Nathaniel presents a striking image of a woman preparing dinner for her husband in their small, mountainside home. A post in the middle of the home's single room divides the wide-screen frame in half; the wife, Allah Rakhi, sits on the left side in darkness while the husband, Tor Gul, sits on the right side in light. Neither looks at the other—until Allah Rakhi crosses the frame, you might think that the home has two rooms. This is a clever way of illustrating the division between these two characters, as well as divisions between men and women in traditional Pakistani society. The moment isn't subtle, but like much in Dukhtar it gains from a certain elemental power. With its stark imagery and characterizations, the film often feels like a folktale, even though it takes place in the present and addresses ongoing social concerns.

See all my reviews at http://movieandtvreviewsforgrownups.blogspot.com/

Foreign Movie Review: THE MAN WHO WILL COME (2009) A

The horrid story of the massacre of Innocent civilians in Italy during WWII by the Nazis.  This slaughter was carried out in retaliation of Italian partisan action against the Germans in occupied Italy in 1943.

It turns out in occupied Norway during WWII partisans were also killing German soldiers , under British secret service direction.  The killing was stopped because the Germans killed 10 Innocent civilians for ever soldier killed.  The price of the minor sabotage, that didn't materially effect the war effort,  was not worth the loss of life by the Norwegians.


From Rotten Tomatoes: A real life tragedy during World War II inspired this period drama of  an eight-year-old girl growing up in a small town near Bologna, in the 1940s. Martina is an sensitive and impressionable child who was struck mute by the death of her baby brother, though she seems to be improving now that her mother Lena is expecting another child. But as Lena and Martina's father Armando struggle to keep the children clothed and fed, war rages in Europe, and the family has been forced to take in several relatives who've fled the fighting in the larger cities,

As Axis forces patrol the village, a growing number of underground resistance fighters are organizing in and many citizens are torn between their support for the patriots and their fear of reprisal from German soldiers. As resistance activities simmer, the German SS arrives in  and Martina a witness to a massacre. L'uomo Che Verra (aka The Man Who Will Come) was an official selection at the 2009 BFI London Film Festival.

Movie Review: HIDDEN FIGURES (2017) A

I worked as an engineer on the United States Space Programs starting in1965.  I also visited the NASA Langley facility in the late 1960's.  I found many aspects of the movie stereotypical.  I had first hand knowledge of the work that went on at NASA and also work performed by the manufacturers of the spacecrafts  to compete with Russia during the early 1960's

Admittedly , I didn't see a black person's face in all the years on the program, however, I thought it was totally unnecessary for the film to continually show the black women running to the rest room.  Also the technology seemed off base.  Analytic Geometry is a basic course that every engineer would have known . . . not only the black women.  Trajectories of missiles was basic knowledge to all experts in the industry in that time frame. Also there were many many people that could program in FORTRAN.  A lot of technical stuff was just not believable and it diminished the movie . . . in my eyes.

From the human standpoint, however, It showed how far we have come in race relations in the 60 or so years since we first orbited the earth. I believe the review that follows is somewhat exaggerated.

From Rotten Tomatoes:  HIDDEN FIGURES is the incredible untold story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle MoUnitednáe)-brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

Foreign Movie Review: A MAN CALLED OVE (2016) C

For the first 85% of this movie the story is about a very unhappy man.  If you can tolerate the pain then the last 10 minutes or so will lift your spirits . . . somewhat.  Another film that received excellent ratings from the critics.   Don't waste your time with this one.  Nothing there.

From Rotten Tomatoes:   Stepping from the pages of Fredrik Backman's international best-selling novel, Ove is the quintessential angry old man next door. An isolated retiree with strict principles and a short fuse, who spends his days enforcing block association rules that only he cares about, and visiting his wife's grave, Ove has given up on life. Enter a boisterous young family next door who accidentally flattens Ove's mailbox while moving in and earning his special brand of ire. Yet from this inauspicious beginning an unlikely friendship forms and we come to understand Ove's past happiness and heartbreaks. What emerges is a heartwarming tale of unreliable first impressions and the gentle reminder that life is sweeter when it's shared.

​

Foreign Movie Review: THE INNOCENTS (2016) A+

A painful movie about the Russian abuses of women in their counter offensives against Germany during WWII. 

From Rotten Tomatoes:
The Innocents begins quietly, before devolving into unspeakable horrors. The heartbreaking film follows Mathilde, a young French Red Cross nurse in December 1945, as she discovers a group of nuns who have been raped by Soviet soldiers, and are now dealing with more than half a dozen pregnancies. The screenplay, which is based on true events chronicled in notes by Red Cross doctor Madeleine Pauliac, handles the delicate story with care. The already gut-wrenching plot is only improved by the soundtrack – often comprised of the nuns singing morning prayers – and the cinematography is stunning, with beautiful muted shots of Polish landscapes and their war-ravaged occupants. Most critically, director Anne Fontaine delicately handles the impossible choices Mathilde and the nuns face and the moral issues, including holding onto one’s faith following senseless acts, they repeatedly come up against. The Innocents is a powerful, brave film that will stay with you for days.

Movie Review: HACKSAW RIDGE (2016) A

Unfortunately I was familiar with the story line of the movie before I saw it in the theater. So it didn't get into the feelings (and pain) of the men involved because I was familiar with the plot.

Netflix had a special documentary film that went into the details of the Japanese defenses using three ridges and special tunnels built into the ridges on Okinawa. Watching the frontal attack by the Americans on the ridge seemed like foolish strategy considering the defenses the Japanese set up on other ridges as well.  It seems that we could have taken Okinawa without the loss of tens of thousands of men.  And our plans to attack the Japanese Islands in November of 1945 seems insane. It would have cost millions of lives on both sides. (But that is a different story altogether).
From Rotten Tomatoes: HACKSAW RIDGE is the extraordinary true story of Desmond Doss [Andrew Garfield] who, in Okinawa during the bloodiest battle of WWII, saved 75 men without firing or carrying a gun. He was the only American soldier in WWII to fight on the front lines without a weapon, as he believed that while the war was justified, killing was nevertheless wrong. As an army medic, he single-handedly evacuated the wounded from behind enemy lines, braved fire while tending to soldiers and was wounded by a grenade and hit by snipers. Doss was the first conscientious objector to ever earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Movie Review: EDDIE THE EAGLE (2016) A

This is movie that starts very slowly . . . in fact I almost gave up on it in the first 10 minutes.   But by holding on I was rewarded by an entertaining and worthwhile fun film.

From Rotten Tomatoes:
Inspired by true events, Eddie the Eagle is a feel-good story about Michael "Eddie" Edwards, an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself . . . even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach (played by Hugh Jackman), Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic showing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Foreign Movie Review: Labyrinth of Lies (2015) AA

Labyrinth of Lies is a very important move that shows the German people coming to grips with the atrocities committed by their people during WWII.  Just recently  a new memorial was opened in Berlin.  "Holocaust of Bullets ", deals with the millions killed by the Germans in Eastern Europe during the second world war.

It has taken over 50 years for honest men and women to deal with the past horrors committed by their fathers and grandfathers

The movie shows a postwar Germany where young people are shielded from the atrocities carried out by their parents, neighbors and bosses. Most of them are sick of the war and prefer to push their guilt to the back of their mind. It seems stranger than fiction that such crimes against humanity could be systematically buried, but the movie is based on a true story.

In the film  a journalist identifies a teacher in the playground as a former guard from Auschwitz, but no one wants to take notice. However, a young prosecutor takes on the case and can't even be stopped by his boss. During his research he realizes that some Germans claim that they never heard the expression "Auschwitz," while others try to forget about it. As the prosecutor doesn't give up, the Attorney General Fritz Bauer retains him to take charge of the investigations. Struggling with an overload of information, the young attorney blunders into a labyrinth of guilt and lies where he almost gets lost.

The movie end when the results of one of the first trials of German atrocities . . . performed by Germans . . . was held in Frankfurt in the early 1960's.

Strange that we in the United States have never dealt with the atrocities performed by our elders on the Native Americans.

Documentary Movie Review: BUCK (2011) AAA

A very special, touching and unusual film about people and horses.  Much better than the movie "Horse Whisperer".  Buck (the object in this great film) was if fact used as a consultant for that Robert Redford movie . . . released some years ago.

From Rotten Tomatoes:  Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will." So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real life "horse-whisperer", he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses - and people - with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, Buck is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds.

Foreign Movie Review: THE DANISH GIRL (2015) A

I rated this movie A not because it was entertaining  but because it dealt with an issue that has been taboo and controversial up until recent years. A person that has to deal with the issue of  being transgender.   That is, being of one sex but feeling that you belong to the other sex. If the subject matter offends you . . . don't see it.

It's a story that takes place in the late 1920's about one of the first people to undergo sex-reassignment surgery.  Unfortunately, I didn't feel empathy for the people. Somehow it was produced in a way that you made you feel that you were watching from the outside. It missed the mark.

As another critic said, "the film merely impresses when it should move. Why? Hard to say. Set in the world of artists, too often it works more like a painting than a film, with beautiful images attracting us to what is, ultimately on closer inspection, a flat surface."

Foreign Movie Review: 11 FLOWERS (2013) C

Chinese; Subtitles

Relatively slow story of some young boys who are living during the latter part of the "Cultural Revolution" (1966 -76). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution

Only interest in the film for me was the culture and living conditions of the people during this era in Chinese history.