here are two films I loved this year:
Contracorriente (Undertow).
It was Peru's submission as Best Foreign Language Film.
Miguel is a handsome, young and beloved fisherman in Cabo Blanco, a small fishing village in the Northern coast of Peru, where the community has deep-rooted religious traditions. He is married to the beautiful Mariela, who is 7-months pregnant with their firstborn, but Miguel harbors a scandalous secret: He is having a love affair with another man, Santiago, a painter who is ostracized by the townsfolk for being agnostic and open about his sexuality. Tragedy strikes, Miguel is forced to deal with the consequences of his acts and to come to terms with who he really is, even if by doing so he stands the chance of losing the people he loves the most.
With sweeping images of the beautiful Peruvian coastline, UNDERTOW (Contracorriente) is the emotional intersection of contemporary sexuality, confronted by tradition and belief.
2010Miami Film Festival: Winner, Audience Award Ibero-American Competition
2009San Sebastián International Film Festival: Winner, Sebastian Award
2010Sundance Film Festival: Winner, Audience Award World Cinema – Drama; Nominated, Grand Jury Prize World Cinema – Dramatic
“In a confident yet relaxed feature debut, Fuentes-León has created a wholly unified work of art.” Kevin Thomas , Los Angeles Times
“Undertow, for all its narrative tricks, has been given the rhythm and texture of real life, as well as emotional undercurrents that are haunting.” Bob Mondello, NPR
“Sensual and romantic with a heavy dose of the supernatural and populated by indelible characters.” Pam Grady, Box-office Magazine
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm1-tDY-esU&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
'Beginners'
http://focusfeatures.com/film/beginners/prestitial
Don't miss this great new film about a recently widowed 75 year-old man coming out as gay, and his thirty-something son, challenged by the news, finding his own way at love and life.
Starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer.
"At once achingly personal and completely universal, Beginners was suggested to writer-director Mills' by his own father's journey as a gay man later in life. Oliver (McGregor) meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna (Mélanie Laurent of Inglourious Basterds) only months after the death of his father (Plummer) and inheriting his dad's "talking" dog. Oliver's new love floods him with memories - shown in fractured flashbacks - of his father, who came out of the closet at age 75 to live a wonderfully tumultuous last few years, including a much younger boyfriend (ER's Goran Visnjic), as well as that of Oliver's own bumpy childhood with his quirky mother. Gentle, tender, effervescently sweet and yet profoundly moving, this is a film to cheer for and cry with at the same time (bring your tissues). Oscar buzz for the lead actors has already begun! "
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXUFUp6vsxg&feature=player_embedded[/ame]
