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Reviews
La otra conquista (1998)
Very educational
I thought that this was a very educational movie for me. I never once in my life knew what actually happened in the south America during the Spain's conquest. I used to think that the great Spaniards rode into the south Americas, colonizing it and freeing them from their savage ways. I also used to think that live sacrifices were barbaric and savage. I still don't think that it was right but now I see why they did such things and that the sacrifices weren't always forced to do it, but also felt honored to become one with their god. Watching the movie let me realize that no culture is superior to other but it is all up to the eyes of the beholder. I was also inspired by the spirits of the Aztecs, in how they would offer up their bodies to the Spaniards but never their spirits and their mind. For example the main character gave in to Spaniards physically in that he let himself be held captive in the church but his spirit never died out and in the end he seemed to even shake up the Spaniards that kept him captive. Overall I thought that this movie was a great eye opener for me, and I would recommend it to anybody that aren't familiar with the history of Aztecs.
La battaglia di Algeri (1966)
Great movie
Battle of Algiers was a great movie that portrayed the struggles of the Algerians for their freedom. The way the movie was filmed made it so that I couldn't tell who the bad guy and the victim was. The movie equally showed the destructions that each side caused without much bias on each side.The scenes where each side were bombed by the opposition, they were both filmed in a way that you would sympathize who ever was on the receiving side. This made it even harder to pick a side, which let me really question the justice of the uses violence in those circumstances on either side. Even so, I sympathized with the Algerians because, I am an Korean-American, and because Korea went through similar oppression by the Japanese. Another great aspect about this movie was how realistic the shots of the attacks were. For example the scene where the racing track was blown up it was so realistic that it made people think that the movie was a documentary. A scene that caught my eyes the most was the scene where Ali is tripped by a Caucasian man and they exchange a very intriguing stare. Even though Ali was on the floor, his did not waiver as he stare into the Caucasian man's eyes. I thought that this scene was a great metaphor of the relations between the Algerian and the Americans as a whole. Because even though the Algerians (Ali) is oppressed by the Americans (Caucasian man), the Algerians don't lose their pride and fight on to regain their freedom.
Once Were Warriors (1994)
One of the best movie I have seen so far
Recently having watched this classic movie for the first time, it became one of my favorites instantly. The best part of the movie was that I was able to connect to the movie personally, but this wasn't the only reason that made this one of my favorite movies. I fell in love with this movie for how great the character development was for many of the characters in the movie. I felt the pain and the joy of the characters as they went through their turmoils and victory. The two older brothers were very well developed in very short amount of scenes, where they grew from immature children into reliable men. Even though the two went through different events in order to reach this conclusion, they reached it using their Maori culture. This was great because, I was able to see the whole family (excluding Jake) as a single character who in turn returns to the Maori culture where they belong, when the family decides to go live with Beth's family. Beth was another character that was developed greatly. She started off as a uneducated woman that thought she was supposed to "keep her mouth shut, and her legs open," into a independent woman that didn't need Jake anymore. My favorite character development had to be Grace. She was set up as the conscious of the family that looked after the family. I was able totally sympathize her. Even when she took her own life away I thought that her actions were justified due to what has happened to her and what results her actions brought upon her family. Over all I thought that this was a great movie, the music through out the movie was excellent as well as the non-glorified and very realistic violent scenes.
White Dog (1982)
Thrilling movie!
First of all I thought that Mr. Fuller was very courageous for making such a controversial movie during the time that he did. I believe that even if the movie was first released today, it would face a lot of criticism and enemies, but seeing how it was released almost three decades ago, I can't imagine what kind of criticisms the movie had to go through. Past the fact that this movie is about racism, I believe that this was one of the best thriller movies i have ever seen. I thought that Mr. Fuller did a great job keeping up the suspense through out the whole movie. I was almost never able to predict what was going to happen next and was caught by surprises by what happened. I believe that the suspense wouldn't have been as great without the superb music. Even during calm scenes there would be times when ominous music would be playing and that kept me on my toes throughout the whole movie. Along with great music I thought that the camera work on great close ups during crucial parts of the movie made the movie even more thrilling. Even though this movie is widely known for it's racist aspects, i think that this movie should be watched for it's great thrilling aspect.