Stranded: I come from the plane that crashed in the Mountains - 9/10
This film was made about three years ago. It is a documentary that follows a Uruguayan rugby team that crashes in the Andes on their way to Chile. After spending two months stranded, two of the company successfully found help and the 16 survivors of the flight were safe.
This was a powerful film. The survivors were the ones doing all the commentary. There was no narrator, no script, and the use of original footage and pictures helped bring the story to life. It was so captivating to watch the brutal story
of their survival. Many things they were saying reminded me of Elder Groberg's thoughts he had after the hurricane on his mission. The idea of death was hopeful, peaceful, and he felt close to God and at one with everything around him. Living was a chore, and he only lived because of what needed to be done for others around him. This was a stirring film for me and I got extra credit in spanish!
Goal! The Dream Begins - 6/10
The title gives away the reason I didn't rate this as high as I was originally going thinking I would. It was a bit predictable, cheesy and obvious. Never the less, I was stunned with the cinematography and the huge money shots throughout the movie. The story is the classic American dream - except it doesn't really happen in America. Santiago is an illegal immigrant who is super good at soccer. A former scout for the English premier leagues notices him and then - you guessed it - he goes on to do great things and is very happy.
The soccer scenes were really neat and they captured the love of the game pretty well I thought. Also there was some good material about what attention can do to one's pride and how that affects everything that really matters. I enjoyed it overall though it didn't really encourage deep thinking. It didn't have to though for it to be worth it. I am thinking I will see the sequel someday - but not too terribly soon.
Il Postino (The Postman) 10/10
Though I give it a ten, it wasn't perfect. But I figure some films really do deserve what they are trying to attain. Il Postino is an Italian film that follows a very simple son of a fisherman. He doesn't have a job or really a sense of direction and after some scolding from his quiet father he decides to be a postman. The only house on his route is the great Chilean poet who has recently been exiled because of his communist tendencies. The postman befriends him and in a very innocent and loving way the poet helps the postman with his love life, and self achievement and purpose.
I won't give the end away but it was very powerful as I thought about themes of friendship and memories. This story has a great romance about it but I don't think that that is the main focus. There are deeper things running here and I would love a discussion with anyone that has thoughts about it. It is simply a wonderful film. Il Postino cost about 3 million to make and brought in roughly 21 million. While Goal! took 10 million to make and only made about 4 million. This is a perfect example of how you don't need super amazing shots and star cameos from David Beckem to have a good story.
It has been 10 years or so since I saw this film but I remember really liking it and feeling happy to see it. What do you see as the deeper themes? At first glance, it kind of seems like the film is endorsing Communism and having no sense of direction or purpose in life but to enjoy nature and poetry. But does the film shift that view? How? Should it? What are your views about the issues the film raised for you?
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