Movies from the Past 10 Years that I Recommend
by Rev. Claude Pomerleau
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HUGO – Martin Scorsese, Director A masterpiece of artistic creativity (the subtlety of colors and shades is just one of the many glories of this fine work of art), story telling and acting as homage to one of the great French masters of cinema |
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THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES – Walter Sales, Director Che Guevara-Lynch and his buddy, Alberto begin in Buenos Aires, ride through the Andes, and the Amazon, and up to Venezuela in an old, broken-down wreck of a motorbike. It has touching social and geographical insights, with humor and social criticism. One of Gael Garcia Bernal’s finest roles. |
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THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES – Juan José Campanella, Director Powerful insights into historical memory and its haunting power to sustain and transform human relationships — how humans try to do right within a corrupt, judicial system designed to do wrong. |
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MACHUCA – Andrés Wood,Director A partially autobiographical coming-of-age drama during one of Chile’s most horrendous, political repression’s. A fine testimony to a Holy Cross school struggling to establish social justice under unforgiving military terror. An homage to “Au revoir les enfants”, by one of Chile’s finest directors. |
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THE LIVES OF OTHERS – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Director A finely etched study of a commonplace agent of the East German secret police, and the power of human relationships to transform a life — even that of a dedicated, flunky of the German secret police. |
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ROMAN DE GARE – Claude Lelouch A surprising and subtle murder-mystery, with puzzles, tongue-in-cheek humor and a fine cast of actors that includes Fanny Ardant and Dominique Pinon. If you ever wondered what happened to one of France’s finest directors, well…wonder no more. See this movie. |
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OTHER FILM RECOMMENDATIONS
From Michael Cameron, Theology:
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A Separation (2011): While the film is Iranian, the heartbreaking family conflicts at the film’s core are universal. Many true-to-life twists and turns show good people who mean well and yet stlll hurt one another. They desire to do what is right, but undermine their own best intentions. Powerful filmmaking!
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From Mark Eifler, History:
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Atomic Cafe (1982): Take clips from atomic bomb testing, newsreels of backyard bomb shelters, political speeches and television ads from the 1950s, creatively mix them all together, and you end up with dark comedy that is both thought provoking and deeply unsettling. |