DVD Round-Up: "A Separation" (2011) and "Damsels In Distress" (2012)

A Separation (2011)

The Basics: Oscar winning foreign language film centering around the complications that result when a married couple, Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moaadi), decide to temporarily live apart in order to have time to reflect on their problems and consider their future. Their daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), decides to stay with Nader, who is also caring for his father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. During the separation, Nader hires a poor young woman, Razieh (Sareh Bayat), to help care for his father while he is at work. However, after coming home early one day, Nader finds his father alone and passed out in his room, causing a confrontation between him and Razieh that will complicate both of their lives for some time to come.

Reasons to watch: It is no wonder that A Separation won the Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2012. The movie features an outstanding screenplay and terrific performances from the ensemble cast, particularly Peyman Moaadi, as the complex Nader. He is a husband, father, caretaker and a hard working man who finds his life turned upside down by a random series of events that could have been avoided had he not separated from Simin.

The Bottom Line: A magnificent film.

Damsels in Distress (2012)

The Basics: A group of young women, led by the confident, yet often mistaken, Violet (Greta Gerwig), attempt to change the male dominated atmosphere/culture of their college, Seven Oaks, while also dealing with their various male love interests who threaten to distract them from their mission.

Reasons to Watch: Greta Gerwig is sublime in her role as Violet, the leader of the group. How she is able to keep a straight face while reciting her often absurd dialogue is amazing. The screenplay, by Whit Stillman, who also serves as director, is often quietly hysterical.

The Bottom Line: While Damsels in Distress is not for everyone, viewers who appreciate and understand the absurd humor may find themselves laughing out loud throughout the film. The intelligent screenplay insists that viewers pay attention because the material is always played straight by the talented young cast, who have mastered the art of the poker face.

Foreign Film Snapshot: "Amour" Starring Emmanuelle Riva

Amour recently won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film and received four other nominations, including Best Picture. Writer/director Michael Haneke's story explores the struggle of an elderly woman, Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), who suffers a series of strokes that eventually leave her bedridden and unable to communicate. Anne's loving husband, Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant), serves as her caretaker and promised Anne that she would not be placed into a hospital or a nursing home. Georges and Anne clearly love each other and watching their life together slowly fall apart is heartbreaking.  

The performances from the aforementioned actors are outstanding, if sometimes painful to watch. Their love story is touching and feels authentic, but the glacial pace of the screenplay and the unnecessary two plus hour run time left me struggling to pay attention at times. Regardless, Amour is well worth seeing and is still playing in limited release or, if you prefer to watch the movie on DVD, it will be available this spring (the exact date is to be determined). 

Foreign Film Snapshot: "Rust and Bone" Starring Marion Cotillard

The journey to maturity and independence bonds two unlikely people together in the French-Belgian film Rust and Bone. Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a young single father who is out of work and relies on his sister, Anna (Corinne Masiero), for a place to stay and food to eat. Their living arrangement is far from ideal, but the wayward Ali does not seem to mind. As a parent, Ali is impatient and occasionally resorts to physical abuse. He even forgets to pick his son, Sam (Armand Verdure), up from school and seems more concerned with spreading his seed that taking responsibility for his life. However, after receiving an offer to restart his interest in kickboxing, Ali finds a new purpose.

Stéphanie (Oscar winner Marion Cotillard) meets Ali at a nightclub where he works part time as a bouncer. After she gets into an altercation with another man and is injured, Ali takes her home, which does sit well with her boyfriend. The undeterred Ali is even brazen enough to leave his telephone number. Shortly thereafter, Stéphanie (Marion Cotillard), who works at a marine park, not unlike Sea World, as an animal trainer, suffers a terrible accident during a show. She is injured before falling into the water and is attacked by a killer whale and, as a result, her legs are amputated from the knee down. After being deserted by her boyfriend, she decides to call Ali, who helps to rebuild her self esteem. Before long, their relationship turns physical, but the wandering Ali continues to bed other women too, but at least he is honest about it. Stéphanie wants something more permanent with Ali and she decides to learn more about his violent role in the world of kickboxing, which has been very lucrative for him. Ali clearly has the drive to be successful and physically dominates his opponents. His desire to succeed inspires Stéphanie to begin to put her life back together and they begin to grow closer, which is helpful to both of them with the challenges they are about to face.

Rust and Bone, from writer/director Jacques Audiard, is an interesting character study that boasts strong performances from the aforementioned Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts and features an unlikely romance between the main characters. However, I found it difficult to root for them to be together because Ali is so unlikable and does not appear to deserve the decent people who populate his life. However, as the film moves along, viewers begin to see a different side of Ali, as challenges force him to rethink his life and priorities, but can he be fully redeemed? The answer to that question is up for viewers to decide. While I was invested in the story and the characters, with a run time of two hours, Rust and Bone feels overly long and the screenplay did not sustain my interest for the duration. However, the performances are well worth seeing, even though you may find yourself strongly disliking Ali for much of the film. That is not a criticism, as Matthias Schoenaerts should be credited with making viewers feel something for Ali, even if it is antipathy.