The Cuckoo (Kukushka) is a most unusual film which puts the audience in a special place of knowing. While the three principles each speak separate languages with no comprehension of the others, we have the privilege of reading subtitles. Add to that a hefty dose of Lapp mysticism and you have great concept. This was the acting debut of Anni-Kristiina Juuso (Anni), who was chosen for her ability to speak Sami, and who never saw the script. She was given her lines in Finnish before each scene and translated them then.

Another great MovieNight 🙂

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2016’s Palm D’or winning I, Daniel Blake is a Kafka-esque tale about the British welfare state, set in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The message here is not about people who “fall through the cracks”, but rather how those cracks are systematically widened by bureaucracy in order to save the state money. This was a lovely, humanist bit of Ken Loach activism which, while requiring the passing of Kleenex boxes around our sofas, also delivered a lot of laugh-out-loud humor.

I decided to add subtitles to this one… the Geordie accent can be tough… good call!

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Asghar Farhidi’s About Elly, shown this week at MovieNight, is a powerful and gripping drama which provided us with a crystal clear portal into Iran’s middle class. On the face of it, they seem to be rather like us here in the west: this was a pleasure-seeking weekend getaway from the big city to the beach, with a cast made up of beautiful people. All surprisingly familiar… until disaster strikes.

Now, we see significant cultural differences. There is much about honor and respect at issue, and the strict division between sexes comes back into play. What started as a match-making game has ended in tragedy, and lie upon lie is told in an attempt to bury this indiscretion. Fascinating.

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