from Africa to America - Film # 3
Academy Award Winner for Best International Feature Film: 1950
A story of a doomed love affair and Italian neorealism don’t appear to have much in common. Yet The Walls of Malapaga proves itself capable of summoning the sense of desperation that draws toward such films.
The film makes no claims of being in conversation with the movement made famous by De Sica, Rossellini, et al. Yet when Pierre (Jean Gabin) tells Marta…
from Africa to America - Film # 2
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film: 1948
When Jesus said that the poor will always be among you, he wasn’t kidding. Poverty has outlived Christ himself, as well as Vincent de Paul, the one-time Saint and subject of this film.
Monsieur Vincent is a film about human compassion which appears boundless when viewed from the de Paul’s POV. But it’s countered by human suffering, which is endless. There are no solutions…
I’ve been wanting to jot down something about this film for a minute now. And I’m pretty sure that this film's been covered from about every angle imaginable. So let me try approaching it from this angle. Let’s talk about my pity for Sal.
When I mention a pity for Sal, I’m not referring to pity for the man himself. I’m referring to his desire to cling to whiteness, the construction of it, and the burden it places on black…
Who is this film for? And what is it looking to accomplish?
These are the two questions that have been swirling around in my mind almost a week later after watching Green Book, Peter Farrelly's racial road movie about the classically trained pianist Don Shirley, Tony "Lip" Vallenlonga, and their 1960's journey through the deep south. I know the answer to both questions, but I don't think Peter knows and I don't think that co-writer Nick Vallenlonga knows either. But…
