Movie Reviews

While my friends in university spent this past week snowboarding, suntanning or lazing around the house, I have been trying to get through a very hefty to-do list. One of my assignments was to watch 3 out of 6 specific movies and then comment on how they visually impacted me or related to photography. So here it goes. The movies that I chose were Born into Brothels, I am Cuba, and Pecker.

Born into Brothels is a documentary following photographer Zana Briski through her interaction with the children that live in the red light district of North Calcutta, India. Zana spent a few years living and photographing there and immediately made a connection with the kids of the brothels. After making a connection with the kids, she decides that she wants to experience the red light district through their eyes. She gives each child a camera and holds regular photography classes with them to go over their work. Throughout the film, she takes on the challenges of getting the kids accepted into boarding schools to get them an education and an escape from the life in the brothels.

Photographically, I found this film very inspiring because it shows how life in your own backyard can be so exciting. Although it makes me want to travel more, I also realize that this work that was so well received by others, even culminating in a gallery show in New York and in Calcutta, was simply a result of the children wandering around their own neighbourhoods and simply taking photographs. It made me think more about that very first lesson in Creative Imaging on “good seeing”. These kids have it and I need to work on being better at it.

The film gets a 5 out of 5, and for photographic inspiration another 5 out of 5.

I am Cuba is a gorgeous black and white movie that combines four different stories of different Cuban demographics and their need for revolution during Batista’s rule. The dialogue is hard to follow as it is a mixture of Spanish/English/Russian and there is a lot of singing, which I don't generally like in movies. Filmed in the 1960s, it humorously portrays Americans as being boisterous and entitled as all hell. The actual plot of the movie doesn't matter as much as the cinematography of it. The beautiful long shots of the landscapes sets the scene while the viewer is thrown right into the middle of the propaganda and revolution with the tighter shots of Havana, the sugar cane fields and the tired looking men that farm them, the nightclubs full of Cuban prostitutes and pompous Americans waving handfuls of money, and in the small rooms where young Cuban men plan their revolution.

Photographically, this movie has sealed my love for the simplicity of a black and white image. The movie could also function as well, if not better, if the dialogue was removed and the cinematography itself did the talking. This is important because it shows that, if done correctly, your images do not need any accompanying explanation.

This three hour film gets a 2 out of 5 for entertainment, but for photographic inspiration it gets a 5 out of 5.

Pecker is a very entertaining and cynical look at the world of art. Pecker, an amateur photographer and sandwich shop employee is discovered at his d.i.y. photography exhibit by a New York City art dealer and gallery owner. Given comparison to Weegee, he rises to fame with his casually composed images of the characters in his life in Baltimore.

Photographically, Pecker is in line with my favourite style of street photography and brings up the same lesson as in Born into Brothels...which is to practice good seeing. Pecker took shots of everything and anything from around his neighbourhood. It shows that sometimes, that 'aha' moment can come from the editing and not necessarily from before the shutter is clicked.

This film gets a 5 out of 5, and for photographic inspiration it also gets a 5 out of 5.

P.s. An insanely beautifully shot movie is Let The Right One In. Its a movie about a little boy and his vampire friend. I realize that this description might sound a bit ridiculous, but watch the trailer because it's just so so so good. I promise.