The movies on my mind...

I Girasoli ( The Sunflower ) (1970)

Filmmaker Vittorio di Sica conceived this movie as a dramatic vehicle to further his anti-war stance. Antonio and Giovanna are an Italian couple whose newlywed life is cut short when Antonio is sent to the Russian front in the waning days of WW2. A short time later Antonio is declared missing in action. Unwilling to accept that her husband is dead, Giovanna embarks on a mission to find him.The trail leads her to a small town in Russia, where she finds him in a state of tidy domesticity with a peasant girl whom he married out of gratitude for saving him from near-death in the bitter cold of the steppes. Devastated, Giovanna returns to Italy.

Realizing he is still in love with his first wife, Antonio follows her back to attempt a reconciliation. The film's poignant denouement, shot at a train station, will remain one of the most moving scenes in cinematic history. The complicated layers of love, loss and loyalty are beautifully essayed by the legendary tandem of Loren and Mastroianni and underscored by the lush arrangement of composer Henry Mancini (Pink Panther theme, Moon River).

Black (2005)

A bristling hulk of human frailty is asked to tutor a blind deaf-mute. She's headstrong and violent in her frustrated attempts to understand the world beyond her lost senses. He's in turns drunk and rude, pushing and bullying her to break through the constraints of her handicap. Over the course of the movie what started out as an uneasy truce blossoms into a fond camaraderie.

Rani Mukherjee's Michelle McNally's jerky histrionics and almost-willful enthusiasm in the face of her disability is the perfect counterpoint to Amitabh Bachchan's Debraj Sahai, the world-weary teacher who slowly deals with losing his memories to Alzheimer's with all the curmudgeonly hauteur of a King Lear. Named one of the 10 best films of 2005 by Time Magazine, this gem of a film firmly secured Bollywood's place in world cinema.

Zatoichi Chikemuri Kaido (literally "Zatoichi's Spurting Blood Road") / Zatoichi Challenged (1967)

My dad's always been a fan of Shintaro Katsu. He recently sent me a cache of movies on his favorite blind blademaster, along with a note: "A cane sword, straw sandals and a passion for dice - that's what a real superhero is all about." After watching a handful of movies in the series, what it's pretty much all about to me is a gleeful slicing and dicing through a gaggle of 'hoods who look like a bunch of bored customers in a post office, all in the name of truth, justice, and the pre-Meiji way. It's violent, moody, campy and ridiculous like Katsu's trademark "duck song"...

And I bloody like it :)

In this 17th installment of the series, Zatoichi squires an artistically-talented young boy to a far-off village to search for his father after the boy's mother dies. Along the way they meet a Kabuki acting troupe, a mysterious samurai, and a crime syndicate. The plot is unique in the canon in that the normally gruff hero is portrayed clucking over his impish charge like a bemused mother hen. His reluctant ministrations don't go unrewarded however: in a heartwarming scene, when the boy is prompted to produce an image of his mother, he sketches a caricature of Zatoichi.

Oh, and interesting tidbit - George Lucas modeled the lightsaber on Zatoichi's lightning draw. No doubt he was also inspired by the prevailing theme of the series: the superman-in-everyman.

Les Destinees Sentimentales (2000)

I saw this movie while vacationing with Leese in Monte Carlo. Betcha didn't think I'd sit around watching three hours of muted romanticism for the better part of the evening rather than take another shot at the craps table.

I've been a fan of director Olivier Assayas after his breathtaking film adaptation of the satirical play Irma Vep. Granted, Les Destinees' length is a bit hard on the ass but it has its moments. Featuring great shots of the picturesque French countryside, it follows the exploits of local aristocratic scion Jean Barnery. The sedate Pauline, the niece of the region's brandy baron and newly arrived from a tour of the continent, falls in love slowly with Jean through their idyllic rendezvous under the flowering fruit trees in a spring orchard. One world war, an economic depression and 30 years later into their marriage she catches him tossing their old love letters into a blazing grate. Sensing her silent inquiry, he quirks a patrician eyebrow."Do you mind?" Pauline, her face carefully neutral, shrugs and replies,"No. We're not the same people anymore." This state of exhausted affection persists until a warehouse accident aggravates a war injury; the bed-ridden Jean, his facade crumbling all around him, gets caught up in an unguarded few seconds of emotion as he laments, "Poor old Pommerel, if only he knew - he who was always half ruined. All the same, in life there are some pleasant things. It takes patience to see them. You have to look for them. What today's world is losing..is love. There's nothing else in life. But once you're sure, your voice is almost gone." My translation is a bit rough, but in its essence, that line broke my heart.