Page 20
The
Portland Observer Black History Month
February 19, 2014
WELLS
FARGO
One history.
Countless
heroes.
‘The Last Step, ’ an Iranian feature film starring Leila Hatami.
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c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 11
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C e l e b r a t i n g o u r n a t i o n ’s p r o m i s e
an d p ro g re ss.
Black history isn’t just words on a page.
It echoes in the footsteps of civil rights
marchers. It comes to life with the words
of great leaders like Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. And it continues to ripple through
generations, changing us all for the better.
Wells Fargo honors Black history, which is
American history.
Wells Fargo is proud to present The Kinsey
Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard
and Shirley Kinsey — Where Art and History
Intersect. This nationally touring exhibition
helps share the often untold story of African
American achievements and contributions to
American history. Join us in our celebration
and visit wellsfargo.com/kinseycollection to
learn more.
Together we’ll go far
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(1170746J 1062)
the U.S. and also a Chinese perspec
w tive on the U.S. itself.
Wildly popular in China, this film
from Hong Kong has been dubbed
"the Chinese Social Network." It
tells the story of three young men
who meet at university, bond over
their dreams of studying in the U.S.,
and end up founding a hugely suc
cessful corporation that tutors stu
dents in English and coaches them
on what they need to obtain a U.S.
visa. The U.S. actors in the film are
distractingly awful and the plotting
sometimes feels clumsy, but in the
end I wondered if my perceptions as
to the latter might in part reflect
some cultural differences; ultimately
the film sells its distinctly Chinese
perspective on U.S-Chinese rela
tions. (Plays again on Feb. 20)
’’The Snow on the Pines” (6.5) is
primarily interesting for what it may
signal about a shift in Iranian soci
ety. It lacks the complexity that I
have so admired about other Iranian
films (including "The Last Step,"
discussed below). By Western stan
dards, its story of a woman who
discovers that her husband has been
cheating on her is fairly well-worn
territory. But for an Iranian film to
focus entirely on the woman's expe
rience, including her burgeoning
interest in a man not her husband,
feels pretty remarkable -- indeed, I
was having trouble wrapping my
head around the fact that this film
actually won awards in Iran. Appar
ently it took a couple of years to get
the film past Iranian censors, but
things must be shifting if this film
can gamer critical interest in main
stream Iranian cinema. (Plays again
on Feb. 20)
"Thy W omb” (5) offers the op
portunity to observe the culture of
one of the Philippines Muslim prov
inces, the island community of Tawi
Tawi, but doesn't provide the narra
tive structure to help non-Filipino
audiences understand what they
are seeing.
The story revolves around a
middle-aged fisherman and his wife,
Shaleha, a midwife who has never
been able to conceive. Shaleha
decides, finally, to help her hus
band find a second wife. We don't
learn enough about their culture to
get a sense of why she would make
such a choice and to interpret the
other complications of the plot, as
the two have a loving relationship
and it's not even clear that he under
stands how this decision will end up
affecting her. There also is intermit
tent violence in the film that is en
tirely unexplained. It's beautifully
filmed and often arresting to watch,
but leaves a lot of questions unan
swered, having offered the audi
ence no tools to answer them. (Plays
again on Feb. 20)
Three of my favorite films have
ended their festival run, but are so
good that I recommend keeping an
eye out for a theatrical or DVD re
lease:
"Metro Manila" (10), a British
film set in the Philippines, is my
favorite film at the festival so far. It
w on an A u d ien ce A w ard at
Sundance and was Britain's sub
mission for the Academy Award for
best foreign language film; it de
serves to be among the nominees
since it is better than the four that I
have seen.
It's the third film o f its talented
writer director, Sean Ellis, who wrote
the screenplay in English and shot
the film in Tagalog, with the help of
his strong Filipino cast. It's a bril
liantly plotted, beautifully acted,
suspenseful and moving story of a
couple who leave their farm to seek
a better life in Manila and encounter
the worst of humanity there. I can't
think of a more satisfying thriller,
and it also has a really important
story to tell. I expect to write a longer
review o f this one, which is a strong
contender for my own list of the best
films of 2014.
"The Last Step" (10), which fin
ished its PIFF run on Monday, may
have dimmer commercial prospects
in the U.S. but is also quite wonder
ful, in its own way.
Inspired by Tolstoy's novella
"The Death of Ivan Ilyich" and James
Joyce's "The Dead," it explores re
lationships between a husband, a
wife, and their mutual friend, veer
ing back and forth in time. It is clear
early in the film that the husband
has died, and the action changes
time periods frequently, shifting
before and after his death. The shifts
are filmed without any fade-outs or
clues, which is disorienting at first
but ends up giving the film a sort of
metaphysical quality, blurring the
lines of time and space in a manner
that mirrors the spiritual world and
captures subtleties in the relation
ships that might not otherwise be
perceptible.
Iran continues to produce par
ticularly dazzling films; I'm anxious
to see this one again because its
riches can't be absorbed fully with
just one viewing.
"Ida" (9) is the last of the three
strong Polish films I saw at PIFF this
year and may have a shot at a limited
U.S. release, as it deals with World
War II themes that Americans re
spond to and has won awards at
several international film festivals.
Set in 1962 and shot beautifully in
black-and-white, it tells the compel
ling story of a lovely young orphan
who has spent her life in a rural
convent. About to take her vows as
a nun, she is instructed by her mother
superior to visit an aunt in Warsaw
that she didn't know she had, and
once there she learns things about
her family and identity that she never
suspected. The aunt is a beautiful
and hard-drinking judge who earned
her reputation as "Red Wanda" for
prosecuting state enemies. The two
women are a study in contrasts, and
embark on a journey to find what
became of the younger woman's par
ents during the war. It's a compelling
story, told with restraint and care.
Next week: my own list of the best
films of 2013, just in time for the
Academy Awards.