Thread: NonRussian films (work in progress)

Originally Posted by Johanna

Worked with lots of Indians (IT outsourcing)

Hindu code?

Code:

bool b;
...
if (b.ToString().length < 5){...}

Originally Posted by Johanna

Some of it is (at least used to be) incredibly silly, like insane co-incidences and people who are either too sugary nice or pure evil (not enough nuance in the characters).

You can’t do without twins, one of whom is lost in his/her babyhood, accidently slipping out of his/her mother’s hands and off the bridge into the foaming brine, when she habitually kicks her foot against a splinter, while running away from her evil uncle Raj, only later to be found by a Gipsy and raised into a feisty rapscallion who’s going to inevitably reunite with his/her meek and obedient sibling and revenge, this time both of them, their mothers tears (no need to remind you that since the moment the child perishes his/her mother’s day starts with crying her eyes out year in year out), childhood hardships and lost profit for the unlucky one.))

Originally Posted by alexB

You can’t do without twins, one of whom is lost in his/her babyhood, accidently slipping out of his/her mother’s hands and off the bridge into the foaming brine, when she habitually kicks her foot against a splinter

Yeah exactly! Shameless escapism!

Originally Posted by Ramil

Originally Posted by Johanna

Worked with lots of Indians (IT outsourcing)

Hindu code?

Code:

bool b;
...
if (b.ToString().length < 5){...}

Hmm... Yeah...
SOME of them are pretty good but too many are NOT.... And consultancies in general are shameless in that they have no reservation about taking a someone straight out of university, who can barely make himself understood in English and pass him off as a "senior technical analyst" or something like that.
Don't get me started on all this...

Plus there is a BIG cultural difference and this sometimes creates fairly frustrating situations particularly when everyone is working under extreme time pressure andf financial pressure.

Not to mention the fact that the whole principle of outsourcing to low-cost countries is not really in line with my principles -- although it's worth noting that their "low" salaries still give them an excellent lifestyle in India -- better in many ways than an equivalent person in Europe. But the truth is, if not for the price, in most cases they would not have been used.

Originally Posted by alexB

... (no need to remind you that since the moment the child perishes his/her mother’s day starts with crying her eyes out year in year out), childhood hardships and lost profit for the unlucky one.))

Needless to mention that medieval European literature too is very abundant with plots like that.

Originally Posted by Johanna

I have a feeling Indian cinema is become a bit more artistic and less kitsch. What do you think?

Originally Posted by alexB

Originally Posted by Johanna

Some of it is (at least used to be) incredibly silly, like insane co-incidences and people who are either too sugary nice or pure evil (not enough nuance in the characters).

You can’t do without twins, one of whom is lost in his/her babyhood, accidently slipping out of his/her mother’s hands and off the bridge into the foaming brine, when she habitually kicks her foot against a splinter, while running away from her evil uncle Raj, only later to be found by a Gipsy and raised into a feisty rapscallion who’s going to inevitably reunite with his/her meek and obedient sibling and revenge, this time both of them, their mothers tears (no need to remind you that since the moment the child perishes his/her mother’s day starts with crying her eyes out year in year out), childhood hardships and lost profit for the unlucky one.))

That's Seeta and Geeta. Is that the only one you've seen? It's an old movie, Bollywood changed quite a bit since then. But I suspect men shouldn't bother with Hindi movies at all, for the most part. There seems to be a lot of cynicism, narrow-mindedness, and prejudice towards Hindi movies which is a sad thing -- they are not all bad, you know. Among the heaps of crap there are gems. The things that I like about Indian cinema are its beautiful, vibrant colours, traditions and culture, music and dances. All those things absent from the Russian cinema.

There are now a lot of different Hindi movies, more seriously-minded and so on, like "Swades", which explores the problem of "brain drain", which India faces and which is very topical for Russia as well -- a lot of intelligent, educated people leave the country in search of greener pastures. Bollywood no longer makes only traditional "masala" movies which included all genres mixed into one -- melodrama, comedy, action. In this respect it's moving more towards Hollywood and not everyone likes this. Though modern Indian films are definitely less boring compared to the older ones.

Originally Posted by Johanna

Shameless escapism!

Yeah, who doesn't like a bit of escapism? I'd say Hindi movies are about celebrating life and having fun.

Has anyone heard of or seen "The Music Lesson"??

http://www.greenboxfilms.com/documentaries.html There is a trailer on this site

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1329409/

Synopsis: The Music Lesson tells the story of two groups of young people from extraordinarily different backgrounds as they use the power of music to discover each other's worlds.

Ten classically trained students from the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra traveled across the world for a life-changing cultural exchange with a group of students from Laikipia, Kenya, whose tribal elders have passed down the tradition of singing, dancing, and playing music for centuries.

The Kenyan teacher/percussionist featured in the film and I believe the director will be visiting some of the schools in our area this week and showing the film and then doing a Q&A afterwards. We are going to be able to see it tomorrow.

I'm watching "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" right now. I have not expected it to be any good , but I must admit that I like it!
It's like a little brother to "ROME": more brash and garish, but cute in it's own way.

What leaves you speechless almost from the first minutes is literally gallons of blood spurting from even the tiniest cut when men are fighting. Some people are unhappy about this because it's too cartoonish. I personally think that it's a bow to the aesthetics of the original comic book (though I have not seen it). After all no one got indignant that people in "City of Sin" were "black & white, right? These moments are very graphic, in the sense that sometimes it looks like a picture from a book, which was an intentional effect, in my opinion.

There are also a lot of sex charged scenes (including homosexual intercourse and frontal nudity). So this show is definitely not for the young and/or squeamish.

That aside, the acting is surprisingly good, Spartacus is likable and intense, villains are two-dimesional and there's even a descent plot emerging after 3rd episode or so (more complicated and interesting, than just "Spartacus is fighting on arena"). There are intrigues, fights, romantics and even some tragic events.

I highly recommend it if:
1) you liked "Gladiator" or "Rome"
2) you are ok with graphic sex and violence
3) you do not expect historical truth from a show based on a comic book
4) you have sense of humor

It might also be a good idea to watch at least two episodes before you give up on it. )))

Official site with trailers to every episode:
http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus

Кто-нибудь видел фильм "Ничего личного" (2007)?

Ты имеешь в виду 'Duplicity'? (2009)

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Ты имеешь в виду 'Duplicity'? (2009)

Нет, наш, русский фильм режиссера Ларисы Садиловой. Он 2007 года.

Form the Music thread...

This 1989 Oscar and a Golden Globe winning song is from one of my favorite movies, Working Girl and the song is Let the River Run by Carly Simon. I could re-watch Working Girl almost any day and this version of the song is the one I like the most.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-0mmVnxPA

Originally Posted by alexB

Great film! I couldn’t help but see it after your passionate introduction. As usual no one has ever heard about it in the video stores, nothing but junk with guns, monsters and stupid car chases there. So I found it on MEGAVIDEO in a not so great resolution, but liked it, regardless. The song too. Don’t remember seeing Melanie Griffith anywhere before, but here she was nice, I mean beautiful. I dare not look for what she is like now, for time can make fools of us all.

So... as I said on the music thread, I would post over here why it is that Working Girl http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096463/ is one of my favorite films.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that I was living in New York when this film came out in 1988 and the film takes place in New York. If you ever wanted to know about what it was like to live in this area of the world during that period... this is the film to watch. The writers, actors and director nailed this one. All the mannerisms and stereotypes are dead-on perfect! The hair too! OMG yes, women in NY and New Jersey wore their hair like that, the higher the better! Today, the sneakers have been traded in for flip-flops. Why on earth they wear flip-flops on the dirty NY streets to work is beyond me!

The next reason I like this film so much is it is the so correct as to the office politics and reminds me that I am not alone in my experiences with those things. It always give me hope when things at work happen. You see what happens to Tess and you feel for her and you can relate to her because you have been in her shoes! And it is always nice to think (even though you know it is only a movie) that someone has it worse than you.

Next, it give me hope. I used to watch this movie to give me confidence right before starting a new job or a promotion. Silly, I know, but it is that kind of a film for me... the David and Goliath of the work place.

Finally, I love the cinematography. The ending shot is amazing and worth waiting for every time!

So there you have it... my sappy reasons for liking this film. And yes, I own a DVD of it!

Originally Posted by Ramil in [url=http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtopic.php?p=227574#p227574

this[/url] thread]Ты по телевизору их смотришь? (Там это всё вырезается)

Вчера или позавчера я действительно видела по телеку современный (200 российский фильм, в котором была куча мата (он запикивался и заглушался, но всё было понятно), причем совершенно непонятно, зачем он там был. Все эти фразы можно было бы сказать и обычным языком, и у персонажей не было никакого особенного эмоционального накала, когда они их произносили. Фильм назывался "Тот, кто гасит свет". Закос под типичный американский детектив-ужастик, с очень хорошими известными российскими актерами. Куча несуразностей и неправды, в духе "12" Михалкова, плюс издевательский монтаж (куча склеек, "рваные" кадры и т.д.). Меня, кстати, посетила мысль, что посмотри этот фильм американский зритель, фильм бы ему очень понравился.

Кто-нибудь смотрел?..

Something about war films that I remembered when I wrote in another thread. It belongs here, I think.

====================================

My opinion (newly founded) is also that the old Russian (Soviet) war films that I have seen recently are better (in my view) than the American ones because they focus on the regular people affected by the war, and they do not over-dramatise events.

Hollywood films always focus on some specific action and liberally change the historical facts for maximum effect. Plus make all the good people American and great looking... For me, all this is cliche-ish and not interesting.

I had never seen a Russian war film until recently, but now I am glad that I have -- they really give a new perspective. Too bad they were not spread more outside Russia before! A lot of Europeans (like Brits) only knew the American view of the war.

Some good films about the War that I've seen multiple times because they've run on TV:

"Heimat" which is an epic German chronicle that takes place partly during those years. There is a cool sub-plot about a man who walks from Siberia (he was taken prisoner) back to Germany.

Also, the eternal "Heroes of the Telemark" which I've seen on TV about a million times in Sweden. (But they changed most of the Norwegians to Americans and Brits if I remember correctly.)

Films I've seen on cinema:
Pearl Harbour was a pretty good American war film, I thought.

"Hitlerjunge Salomon" (German) was very good too and allegedly based on the true (completely bizarre) life of somebody who is still alive. There is plenty of bad Russian in the film.

And lately:
I *REALLY* liked "А зори здесь тихие" and "Stirlitz" and have watched a few other ones but missed a lot due to bad or no subs. More on this some other time. Kukushka was the first (very good!) film I have seen about the events in Finland (the winter war and ww2). There is a Finnish film called Talvisota (Vinterkriget) about this, from 1990.

One of the greatest war movies ever is probably "Ballad of a Soldier/Баллада о солдате" (1959). It's a beautiful, heart-breaking film. And it's not difficult to understand at all, as there don't seem to be any specifically "Russian" references -- it's cross-cultural and mostly about the acting and visuals rather than dialogue, politics, etc. There are no battles in the film (except a little piece of action at the beginning). Highly recommended.

On imdb.com -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052600/





I've recently seen Dil Se (From the Heart) (199, which is a very unusual Hindi film. Very realistic, grim and gloomy, both in terms of photography and its subject matter. It's about separatism or, more precisely, about the love of a journalist for a terrorist girl. I didn't even know India had problems with separatists. Can't say I really like this film (I generally prefer something more kind, feel-good, eye-candy, humorous) but it was quite interesting and very well acted. Very artistically done and the music is gorgeous. The "Chaiyya, Chaiyya" song was apparently very popular in the UK. Every time I hear it, I go slightly crazy as it's extremely... er, dunno what the English would be for "зажигательный". It was shot on a moving train. Here it is -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfit3lK_xHs

The film was a box office failure in India (as such films generally tend to be there) but a success overseas. And it was the first Indian film to enter the top 10 in the United Kingdom box office charts.

Dil Se at imdb.com -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164538/

Originally Posted by starrysky

Every time I hear it, I go slightly crazy as it's extremely... er, dunno what the English would be for "зажигательный".

Would "inspiring" do fine in this sense?

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Would "inspiring" do fine in this sense?

Hmmm... perhaps.

Originally Posted by starrysky

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Would "inspiring" do fine in this sense?

Hmmm... perhaps.

The issue here is that you can say "зажигательный" only about a very specific type of dance. But "inspiring" can be used in a more generic sense. Like, you can't say that the Swan Lake ballet was "зажигательный", right?

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Like, you can't say that the Swan Lake ballet was "зажигательный", right?

It was completely "разрывной".

Originally Posted by it-ogo

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Like, you can't say that the Swan Lake ballet was "зажигательный", right?

It was completely "разрывной".

Как насчет зажигательный = stirring ?

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Как насчет зажигательный = stirring ?

I was also thinking of "rousing" but I don't like it somehow... It seems that this word is ultimately untranslatable. That is to say, you can translate it but something will be lost. Or else I don't know English well enough to pick an ideal equivalent. Maybe someone who is a native speaker will chip in. "Зажигательный" means "which sets smth on fire". In other contexts it can be translated as "incendiary, inflammatory."

P.S. I've also recently re-watched "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", for the fourth time, I think, and I don't remember if I mentioned it anywhere earlier but it's the one Russian film where Russian is spoken mostly with an accent -- the Northern one, "оканье" -- "гОвОри", "мОлОкО", etc. To tell the truth, I rather dislike it, though you do get used to it after a while. Since the action takes place somewhere in Carelia, it's quite natural. I don't know if people in those regions still have this accent. Also, the language for somebody learning Russian is quite difficult -- "слега" (which can be translated as a "stick"; I only ever saw this word used in the book this film is based on), "не гоношись", "Лизавета Батьковна", "на миру и смерть красна", "мал золотник да дорог" and others. I htink I like the books a bit better, though. Here is the book online -- http://militera.lib.ru/prose/russian/vasilyev1/01.html.