Harmony Lessons (2013)

Harmony Lessons is an elegy to violence. Violence at school used by gangs to terrorize kids and get money. Ironically more intense, brutal and sophisticated violence is used by police authorities on the name of the law. A circle of violence out of which the use of brains and violence is shown as the only way out.
If this is the message of the film (just leaving a question mark in case I did not understand it) I strongly disagree. We have so much violence in our lives around us, both physical and psychological, that yet another show of it is too much.
Bertolt Brecht said that “Art is not a mirror to hold up to society but rather a hammer to shape it”. Personally I am looking for artists that try to shape a better world.

My rating: 03/10

September (2013)

The story is simple and the strength of the movie is not in the story. It is in the acting (even by small kids), the direction and the fact that it is one of these movies where almost everything is said without words. It is the face of the actor, the scenes, the sequence of the events that convey all the feelings about the loss of someone you love, the struggle to get some support while in that position, and what other people are willing to do (or not) in order to help. It is also about life itself, which has its turns and the light may hit you when you are inside the tunnel. Humane, realistic and optimistic (after all).

My rating: 08/10

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Philippe Falardeau, the director of  “Monsieur Lazhar” mentioned  before the movie that there is a guideline for directors: do not make films with children or animals! Yet, he ignored that guideline and made an amazing film with kids. Kids which are righteous, generous, wonderful, magnificent, which we need to consider as full-grown ups in small size but we usually forget to do so.

A story that unfolds little by little, adding pieces to the puzzle as the film moves on. A teacher who learns from its pupils as much as they learn from him. A society that does not forgive sidestepping even if the results are healing.

Another film you should NOT miss…

My rating: 09/10

Rust and Bone (De Rouille et d’os) (2012)

“Rust and Bone” belongs to the  kind of movies that leaves you speechless…Realistic to the bone, with cruelty and humanity walking hand in hand, saying only what is needed, to the degree that is needed: The loss of what we take for granted, the shock we face when people around us think in an entirely different way than we do, how shortsightedness may lead to tragedies…An ocean of feelings.

My rating: 09/10