AFI FEST REVIEW: “What Will People Say” is a compelling coming-of-age story with global repercussions and rich image composition.
The Norway-German-Swedish co-production recounts the story of Nisha (Maria Mozhdah), a young and free-spirited Pakistani teenager living with her ultra-conservative Muslim family in Norway.
At home, the girl follows the rules. In school, she feels liberated, and dresses and behaves like other “Norwegian” girls of her age.
While she desires to try her first sexual experience with her boyfriend, she gets caught and punished.
Nisha’s father takes her back to their home country, where she will get a more rigorous discipline.
Nisha's martyrdom starts with the learning process. Her millenarian culture gets more painful when her dignity as a woman is trodden by the barbaric defamation of her persona.
For Nisha, things get even worse when her physical safety is placed in danger.
“What Will People Say” is a compelling, contemporary drama elevated to a higher level of affection by its director Iram Hay, an Oslo born female writer, director, and actress. In this, her second feature, she shows an enormous talent and incommensurable vision influenced by the global problem of immigration.
"What Will People Say" Poster in Spanish.
"What People Will Say" is the Audience Award Winner of the AFI Fest 2017 and now the official Norwegian entry to the 91st Academy Awards. It is a worthy representative of the contemporary Scandinavian culture.
“A Fantastic Woman” is a stunning film about love, grief, and compassion—timely, arresting, controversially fierce, and undeniably moving. It is a modern masterpiece.
“A Fantastic Woman” is this year’s underdog to win the Oscar for Best
Foreign Language Film.
In 2010, the favorite picture to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language was Michael Haneke’s masterwork “The White Ribbon” - the insightful Argentinean film “The Secret in Their Eyes” took the gold. This year, the Swedish Palme d’Or winner “The Square”is the front-runner, but the South American transsexual venture can be the night’s big surprise.
This year’s Chilean contender elevates the public into the universal paradigm of what will happen if the person you love dies in your arms.
Marina Vidal is reliable and, at the same time, a vulnerable transgender performer - a hard-working waitress who dreams of becoming a “Torch Singer.”
“A Fantastic Woman,” Daniela Vega as Marina Vidal, photo courtesy of Sony Classics 2017
What makes this insightful film more authentic and relevant is Marina’s person (Daniela Vega), a real transgender actress and an excellent singer with a beautiful voice.
Orlando (Francisco Reyes), a 57-year-old divorced textile company owner, is Marina’s lover. The camera pans him, admiring Marina while she sings, “Your Love is Yesterday’s Newspapers.” After that, the loving couple celebrates Marina’s birthday over Chinese, where he professes his love to her.
“A Fantastic Woman,” Daniela Vega as Marina Vidal, photo courtesy of Sony Classics 2017
Later that evening, Marina rushes him to the hospital. The first perplexing moment in that chaotic situation asphyxiates her. She has to deal with the pain of losing someone dear to her and the scrutiny of doctors, police, and the detective officer from the sexual offenses unit. They all want to implicate her in a crime that did not occur just because she is a transsexual woman.
AFI FEST, a standing ovation for A FANTASTIC WOMAN, photo José Hermosillo, Copyright FestivalinLA 2017.
After Orlando’s sudden death shock, what follows is even worse than the regular dying business. When Marina wants to go to her lover’s funeral, his ex-wife disagrees, and she has to explain to the singer that Marina and her ex-husband’s relationship is an act of perversion.
Her effort to keep Marina away from the family becomes a campaign that involves humiliation, abuse, and an attempt to arrest her. Orlando suffered head wounds from a fall as she was trying to get him to the hospital. The family, ashamed of their father’s “immoral” conduct, will try to break Marina’s spirit. Their imagination runs them wild. Through Maria’s experience, we see social injustice, and she must confront society and its laws. Marina is not a criminal, a prostitute, or the monster everyone thinks she is. She is a hard-working person with dreams and emotions like everyone else, as she proudly says: “My name is Marina Vidal. Do you have a problem with that?
Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio (“Gloria”) has an innovative storytelling style focusing on women’s issues with heightened awareness, sensibility, and respect. Leilo’s humanistic approach is impactful.
Influenced by the magic realism of the Chilean writer Isabel Allende (“The House of the Spirits”), Sebastián Lelio and his co-writer Gonzalo Masa developed the main character with universal appeal, mixing traditional drama with magic realism and hyperrealism.
In like manner, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s documentary “Bridegroom” (2013) addresses the sensitive subject of “domestic partners” and the absence of their legal rights in hospitals, given their outdated rules and bureaucracy. In Marina’s case, the film exemplifies how, in Chile, as in many other places globally, transgender people and, in general, the LGBTQ community are unprotected by the law.
“A Fantastic Woman” is an exquisite film comparable to Pedro Almodóvar’s “All About My Mother.” The most powerful scene comes when a strong wind tries to erase Marina from the earth while she stoically remains attached to her destiny.
Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman, Chile. Photo courtesy of the Berlin Film Festival 2017.
The striking visuals, the richness of color, the reflective mirrors, and the perfect framing are the work of the talented cinematographer Benjamin Echazarreta, whose arresting images create the right impact on the viewer.
The opening sequence of the Iguassu Cascades is evocative and visually contrasts with the modern part of the city in a style similar to Venezuela’s hyper-realistic Golden Lion winner, “Desde Allá/From Afar.”
The beauty of the film resides in Marina’s evolution into the perfect woman she wants to be. As she sings Aretha Franklin’s cover, “You Made Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” she attempts to remove negativity from her system.
“A Fantastic Woman,” Daniela Vega as Marina Vidal, photo courtesy of Sony Classics 2017
Very few movies center on an actual transgender person as genuinely as in “A Fantastic Woman.” Prejudices and public humiliation represent homophobia. Those stigmas are similar to the ones shown in the relationship between a transgender woman and a U.S. Army Officer in the 2003 TV movie (based on a true story), “Soldier’s Girl” by Frank Pierson.
During the film’s conception, actress Daniela Vega worked as a script consultant to bring authenticity to the project - until one day, the director wrote her a letter of invitation to take Marina’s lead. Daniela jumped on the spot.
Producers Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín (“No,” “Neruda,” and “Jackie”) invested in a risky film that is taking the world by storm.
“A Fantastic Woman” is a classy and gripping film about the transgender community who have struggled for quite some time and don’t give up on their fight for “equality and justice” in a closed-minded society.
“A Fantastic Woman,” Daniela Vega as Marina Vidal, photo courtesy of Sony Classics 2017
The problems presented in the film need to be addressed personally and openly.
Orlando’s unexpected passing sets the grim tone of this Latino, tropical-flamboyant movie from the beginning. And its artistic touch makes “A Fantastic Woman” an inspiring story. Marina’s ordeal challenges its audience, providing the right tools to explore, expand, and connect with empathy and respect with the brave people who choose to be as different as Marina Vidal in “A Fantastic Woman,” a colorful, classy, and mind-blowing film.
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“The Final Master” is a stylish, fast-paced, perfectly choreographed, action-packed flick.
The story is set in 1912 in Tianjin, where two martial arts schools will fight for honor and freedom.
Master Chen (Liao Fan) is the last warrior who holds the secrets of the Wing Chun school. He is searching for a new pupil to teach his arts and skills to a young, brave local fighter.
The tension arises when the Master is caught in a war between the Military School and the Academy of Martial Arts.
“Knowledge is power.”
“Wisdom comes with experience.”
The Master must decide whether to vanish with his knowledge into oblivion or to wait two years until a new master is trained and ready for action.
But first things first, the Master has a tactical plan to redeem his past and restore his honor after the offense he suffered years ago in his homeland.
One of those steps is to marry a local girl. The bar waitress seems a good prospect, but it won't be easy. The ambitious woman hates freeloaders who order nothing and only eat the complimentary bread on the table. He must convince her to agree to the arrangement.
She has two conditions: to be a wife, not a concubine, and to have crab for dinner every night. He has no money – she suggests going fishing in the river. Another of the many tasks to help improve his endurance, elevate his spirit, tame his temper, and strengthen his body.
The wife becomes a vital part of the story, as she reflects: “The flowers of the garden without the gardener will die, as women do without men.”
Master Chen wants to live in austerity, away from the mundane world, and focus on training his pupil.
The young apprentice looks at the beauty of the Master's wife and teases her. He is extremely skilled, but he must focus his training if he is to win a battle of his own.
The fights become more complicated when they involve knives.
Then the story becomes more strategic and scheming as militaries and politicians seek to take over, and the groups prepare for the fight. The Master fights solo.
In this exciting film, the battles feel more realistic and physically demanding than in other action movies full of fantasy and special effects, like “The House of the Flying Daggers.”
Director Xu Haofeng (writer of "The Grandmaster") controls all aspects of the production to perfection.
In the well-developed Wu-Join script, all the characters are well-developed. They have a definite purpose and a shadowy past, and their actions reinforce how they deal with their present.
Not only is the story well told, but the excellent cinematography, music, sound design, set, costumes, makeup, and performances also add excitement.
All the elements in the production work well together to enhance the viewers’ experience and to make "The Final Master" a beautiful, action-packed martial arts flick. When the warriors’ honor is at risk, The Final Master must put his body and soul into fulfilling his destiny. "The Final Master" is an authentic period piece of art worth your time. Its open ending leaves room for a new, exciting sequel and many more to come.
“The Revenant” is the latest work of the Oscar® winner Mexican helmet Alejandro G. Iñárritu - the question is if this film has the potential to win gold this year - the answer is “yes” and “no.”
A contender “yes” because it has the quality of so many talented people working on the set. “No” because never a survivor movie has won an Oscar® for best picture, unless “The Revenant” can be the exception and make history.
In recent years, survivor movies have been snubbed out of gold, films like: "Life of Pi," "Gravity," "All is Lost" have been compensated on the technical categories, not for acting or best picture. To have a positiveturnout, "The Revenant" should be listed as a historical time-period drama to fit in the same category of the Oscar® winners: "Dances with Wolves," "Braveheart," and "Gladiator."
Inspired by real events, “The Revenant” is a visceral and a cinematic experience.
In this epic adventure of "survival" Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), after the attack by a bear is abandoned by his hunting team and betrayed by his own people, including John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). He must fight against the dangers of the wilderness in the hard winter of North America.
The free adaptation from the Michael Punke’s novel was made by Mark L. Smith and Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Some members of the crew said: “The shooting of this movie was a living hell.”
How can you aspire to perfection without any sacrifice?
In the shooting of “Babel,” Adriana Barraza collapsed in the desert due to the heat exhaustion, the production was stopped for more than six hours. The result was an Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her.
Perhaps, DiCaprio having suffered the extreme cold weather conditions can be an Oscar® hopeful regardless of his silent character.
The trailer exhibits the beautiful and haunting cinematography by the two times Oscar® winner Mexican D.P. Emmanuel ‘El Chivo’ Lubezki (“Gravity,” “Birdman”). The way the "Revenant" was shot was similar to the work he did in Terrence Malick’s “The New World.” Emmanuel shoots every frame with natural light, an influence from the “dogma” movement.
Lubezki may win his third consecutive Oscar® for this movie.
“The Perfect Storm” has been positioned "perfectly" for Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” at the awards season. Now, we need to wait and see if the weather conditions, the critics, the Academy members, and the audience can say: “This ‘epic' has what it takes to win the gold this year."
