The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler

This film on Netflix gives a powerful portrait of a heroin during the Second World War. Irena Sendler, who has as a Social Worker access to the Jewish getto in Poland, finds the team she works with without supplies to do what she originally intended: to prevent the typhus from spreading.
She sees the miserable circumstances that are brought on daily base to these Jews by the Germans, and can’t help thinking: there should be more I could do.
One evening she is being phoned quite late by people she knows. They have taken a Jewish child into their care, but no longer dare due to the Germans becoming more strict every day. Irena agrees to take the child with her, lets the girl stay the night with herself.
The next day, she tries to find a Polish family who will take the girl in. This is where the adventure starts. Because if she can find a family for one girl, surely it must be possible to do this for more children?
Aside the fact that it’s highly dangerous what she’s attempting, there’s also the highly emotional side of the story: she will guide the children to a safe place to stay, but will the children ever be reunited with their families? Also, Irena teaches the children to speak Polish instead of Jiddish, as their background cannot be revealed in case Germans would ever hear them. Some Jewish parents have problems with this.
Then again, it’s a war, and children should have a chance to a future.

The acting is incredibly powerful. It’s too bad it’s an American production, which leads to most of the actors talking English while the movie clearly plays in Poland, surrounded by Germans. Bit weird that bit, but OK. Anna Paquin does an excellent job at the weird accent, helped by Goran Visjnic who is Stefan, the man in the house of Janusz Korczak. If you ever did a Pedagogical study, his name should ring a bell, given that he setup his own Pedagogical views in the home for children that he had setup. Stefan is one of the workers in his house and he gives Irena directions as to where she should go to route- and planwise.
Excellent parts of Marcia Gay Harden (Irena’s mother), Steve Speirs (Piotr, the chauffeur) and Ruby Bentall (Stefania, one of Irena’s colleagues).
Piotr especially captures your heart immediately.

Watching a film like this at the current state of the world also makes you realise: in a way, things never changed. People are still able to blame a whole group of other people for doing wrong, while others don’t investigate before they believe this to be true.

The only thing that’s missing from this film, is the information that after the war, indeed efforts were made to reunite the children with the families they came from. It’s obvious that this wasn’t successfull in all cases.

 

Big Hero 6 (review)

Such a cute film about nerds! Big Hero 6 tells the tale of youngster Hiro, who is very intelligent, but kind of lost track to what’s important. Which means he rather goes out for robot fights to earn money, than to actually accomplish something useful and less dangerous/violent.
He has a big brother, Tadashi, with whom he lives, along with their aunt. Tadashi works at a lab where Hiro has never been, and when Tadashi has, one night again, saved Hiro’s ass while robotfighting, Tadashi decides to bring Hiro to his work.

BINGO!

Hiro is so mightily impressed, he finally decides what he wants: to attend the college attached to the lab his brother works for.

One of the things I like so much about this film is that intelligence is made funny, witty and charming. You instantly fall in love with Honey Lemon’s bounciness and Wasabi’s clumsiness while he is such a perfectionist, really. And as an adult you won’t be able to keep quiet when Baymax makes his Rainman-like comments 😉
It felt like watching a cross of Big Bang Theory, James Bond, Inspector Gadget, and a superhero movie a la Spiderman (for instance).
It is too bad, however, that the clou is been given away too quickly. I do think that the children who this film is aimed at, will have figured it out almost immediately.

Which doesn’t mean one cannot enjoy this film. On the contrary. The action scenes aswell as the slower, emotional scenes are an excellent watch.

 

The Iron Lady

Even though Margaret Thatcher was still alive when the film was made and it was opposed of, when it was heard Meryl Streep was cast, I can remember it was less frowned upon. And for a good reason. Streep does as Streep does. She’s remarkable as one of the least favourited women in all of Britains history. Her facial expressions, accent: Streep performs the trick so well.

The film is also remarkably dull.
Politics can be exciting, in a way, when not listening to anyone or anybody, but the storyline seems to want to portray the moments of Thatcher being active around in the boarding room, whilst making her a loved person by getting her husband involved. Picking Bridget Jones’ father (Jim Broadbent) for that seems very sweet, but it makes you feel sorry for the man aswell. Footage is used of actual events and Thatcher’s reasponses to it.

Most of all, the film is just an easy playground for Meryl Streep to do what she does best: impersonate, show how well she can do this.
I was stunned by her performance, while understanding better and better why Thatcher had so many enemies..
There are loads of films in which Meryl Streep sets a perfect example of how to act and plays a pleasant character. This wasn’t one of them.

 

Coraline

Een kinderfilm? Hoewel de film wel degelijk grappige momenten kent, en werkelijk waar keurig is aangekleed (zie de extra’s op de dvd, er is echt heel veel werk gemaakt van de kleren die Coraline draagt en haar haardracht), kan ik niet zeggen dat alle delen van deze film daadwerkelijk voor jong publiek geschikt zijn. Zeker de laatste, zeg 20 minuten, zijn gewoon niet geschikt.
Het verhaal gaat over Coraline, die net met haar ouders in een nieuw huis is komen wonen. Coraline is enig kind en haar ouders werken allebei vanuit huis. Keihard. Zonder onderbreking. Omdat Coraline niemand kent verveelt ze zich a la minuut. Ze heeft wel een buurjongetje, Wyborne, maar die lijkt ze om wat onduidelijke redenen alleen maar irritant te willen vinden.

De film heeft een tamelijk hoog Tim Burton gehalte, maar met een minder sterk verhaal. Tim Burton verstaat echt de kunst van het grappige met het griezelige combineren, in tegenstelling tot Henry Selick.
Hier is het meer de kunst van het 3D gebruiken om het verhaal aan te kleden. 3D met rood/groen bril overigens.
De muziek is wel weer heel prettig, dromerig. Het is geen Danny Elfman, maar het doet het prima.
Waar het eng wordt, is het voor kinderen met een erg levendige fantasie niet handig om alleen te kijken. Coraline belandt in een wereld waar ze geliefder is en waar ze naar verlangt dat ze er kan blijven. Daar hangt echter een consequentie aan (doet het dat niet altijd? Heel vervelend…) en als Coraline hier geen ‘ja’ op zegt, veranderd de film subiet in een horror-achtig scenario.
Ik zou hier geen kinderen van onder de 6 of 8 naar laten kijken, al hangt dit van het kind af, uiteraard. Een kind wat alles voor zoete koek aanneemt zou hier nog een aardige nachtmerrie van kunnen krijgen.

A film for children? Indeed the film has it’s funny moments, the leading parts are children and it’s very well accesorised (watch the ‘extra’s’ on the dvd, there has been put a lot of effort in Coralines’ clothes and hair)I can’t state that all parts of this film are suitable for very young children. Especially not the last part of say 20 minutes.
The story is about Coraline, who just moved houses with her parents. They both work from home and very hard and being an only child makes Coraline pretty much bored on the spot. There aren’t much kids around in the neighbourhood either. There is Wyborne, whom Coraline finds very annoying for some not very apparant reason.
The film was made in 3D, the red/green glasses kind. This is visible when watching the none-3D version. It’s a very dark decorum.
This film has quite a high ‘Tim Burton’feeling, but Henry Selick simply isn’t him. The story isn’t strong enough to keep it up. Where Tim Burton can combine scary & funny easily, this film seems to be build around the 3D-effects.
The music is a good addition, dreamy style, as it is part of Coralines’ nightlife you’re getting into. It isn’t Danny Elfman, but it’s great for the scenery.
When it becomes scary, it’s unwise to let children watch it on their own.
Coraline meets a world where she feels more loved, at home, cared for. Of course, she likes this world better. She wants to stay there, but ofcourse this comes with a consquence (doesn’t it always? Very annoying!) and when Coraline doesn’t agree to this, the film takes a bit of a horrific turn.
I wouldn’t let children younger then say, 6 or 8, watch this particular part. Though this depends on the child itself, if it’s a child that will believe anything s/he sees, s/he will get nightmares, as the story here isn’t exactly strong either.