Foreign Film Fun...and Unfun

So, my husband and I are house-bound each night after 7:00, our son's bedtime. This is all well and good during the work week, and we have gotten used to it on most weekends, but I must admit it was a little depressing over the holidays. For one thing, most of the Oscar contenders are released around this time of year. Secondly, there are generally lots of other fun things to do and see around town at Christmas. This year we did get out to see the Rep's version of A Christmas Story, which was great and which was preceded by an equally great dinner at Acorn (yum!), but other than that we only snuck out to one movie: Up in the Air. We picked a winner with that one. What a terrific film for the time in which we live. However, the rest of the break (and break #2 -- thank you, snow), we had to rely on Netflix. And so we kicked off 2010 by watching 3 highly acclaimed foreign films: Sin Nombre, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, and Sugar. All three are deserving of the acclaim and are worth watching, but only one was fun.

Sin Nombre (2009) is a rather sad tale of redemption. It focuses on a young Honduran gang member, Willy, a.k.a. "El Casper," who becomes disenchanted with his MS-13 compadres after their actions hit a little too close to home. His attempt to escape their wide-reaching network is doomed from the start, but he meets a young girl, Sayra, who sees him as a human rather than the monster he was. I really liked this film, but it was kind of unfun.

4 Months, Three Weeks, and Two Days (2007) won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2007, and I can definitely see why because the acting was superb. However, it also made some people's "Top Ten Movies of the Decade" for 2000-2009, and I certainly wouldn't go that far. This movie is about an abortion, and a late-term abortion at that, and the director is able to dance a fine line between making the act seem benign and abhorrent -- quite an achievement. It is set in Communist Romania in the late 1980s, where abortion is illegal. The film centers on two girls, Gabita, who needs an abortion, and Otilia, who helps her get one. I think this film would interest viewers on either side of the abortion debate, and I could probably spend a long time discussing all of those elements, but what has really stayed with me since I watched it is the portrayal of the friendship of the two girls. All I can really say about the film's protagonist, which turns out to be Gabita's friend Otilia is Best. Friend. Ever. If you have seen this film, you will know exactly what I mean. Also, the actress who plays her, Anamaria Marinca, is amazing. All of that aside, this film is VERY unfun.

Sugar (2008) was the only truly heartwarming tale of the three. My husband loved it so much he has decided to name it the best sports film of the decade. I don't know if I would go so far -- actually, I just don't have any business ranking sports films --, but I really enjoyed this film. The acting of Algenis Perez Soto, who plays aspiring Dominican baseball player Miguel "Sugar" Santos, is just superb. Also, the portrayal of the minor characters -- the Iowan family with whom he lives during spring training, the manager of the Kansas City knights, the Puerto Rican carpenter who befriends him in New York -- are all pitch perfect. The outcome was not what I expected, and this is perhaps what elevates this film and puts it at the top of the often overly predictable sports film genre. This was definitely the most fun of the three films, and I think it was also the best.