"No Man's Land"

“No Man’s Land”, a foreign film directed by Danis Tanovic and produced in Bosnia-Herzegovina, focuses on the civil war that took place in this country. This film seems different from the typical war film, due to its lack of fighting and a different main focus than normal. A typical war film usually focuses on important battles that may have had a drastic affect on a war, while No Man’s Land focuses on a situation that does not involve any major fight or look at a crucial event that has an effect on the war. Also, a war movie is usually known for having large amounts of weapons firing, planes dropping bombs, or some kind of combat. However, I can only recall a handful of scenes that involved a weapon actually being fired. This makes for an extremely different movie, the main focus is on the relationship of a few people and how they interact with each other.
War movies are similar in that they usually have some kind of objective, hero, or villain but this movie simply looks at the people involved with war, what they go through and how they feel. This makes for an interesting movie. It is revealed that the soldiers and others involved in the situation do not really have anything against each other, just a warped sense of patriotism, the origin of which they do not understand. The factor of realism that you feel watching this movie is further emphasized by the plot only covering one day of events.
Because this movie mostly took place in a trench and involved characters of a few different races, this film lacks local traits and has a global affect. Overall, this is a good movie that presents an original idea on the idea of war.

"Underground"

"Underground" is a film co-produced by a few countries, including Yugoslavia, and directed by internationally recognized film director Emir Kusturica. This film follows the life of two friends in Yugoslavia after World War II. The issue of how a movie appeals to local and global audiences is a common issue when discussing foreign films. Other well know foreign films, such as "Nine Queens", are usually criticized for concealing local traits that might not agree with common Hollywood film traits. Film makers in foreign countries likely do this in order to appeal to global audiences, especially Americans. However, some foreign films are not afraid to show aspects of their local communities. Despite the large amount of local aspects shown in “Underground”, it was still able to make a strong appeal to a global audience. The characters’ actions were drastically different from American culture, meaning the director did not with hold any local traits. The fact that the movie preserves local aspects and is still popular among global audiences speaks to the true strength and universal application of the movie’s message. This is also a good trait for a foreign because it allows global audiences to hear the messages of other cultures through a strong medium. “Underground” was focused on an important issue, the happenings in Yugoslavia after World War II, which means that the success of this movie made a crucial impact on what the world knows about Yugoslavia. Despite Kusturica’s local film, he was able to make a significant affect on a global audience.

My Sassy Girl

My Sassy Girl, a South Korean produced romantic comedy, is well known on the international film scene. The movie centers around a man who chooses to enter into a relationship in which he has no free will and that is very difficult for him. This love story is extremely different from the traditional relationship, in that the role of the man and the woman seem to be switched as according to traditional Korean relationships. The man is submissive to the woman throughout the plot of the movie which is making an obvious statement or push for increasing feminism in Korean culture. This may be why My Sassy Girl gained so much popularity in South Korea, the challenge to traditions likely drew interest of local cinema goers, especially the younger demographic. However, the movie likely gained popularity on the international scene for different reasons. In countries which already have strong independent figure established for women, such as America, this movie is simply seen as a comedy, possibly just a humorous exaggeration of some relationships. Despite the different affect on different cultures, this movie clearly has been influenced by growing globalization, due to the fact that it has gained global recognition. Globalization is another growing issue in South Korea, along with the previous mentioned feminist movement. Because the government still has affect over on the films that are released in South Korea, cinema is a very crucial form of expression for movements, such as the feminist movement, of culture in South Korea. My Sassy Girl is a perfect example of how South Korea is attempting to lead social movements utilizing the cinema outlet.

Welcome!

Welcome to my "International Cinema" blog! I know you're all looking forward to reading my movie reviews on the best of international film!