Klara Jagovit: August 2016

Wiener-dog

animals 01:20:00

You know how it is with those pets. They spend whole days with you, observing your every move, sniffing at your every household crime. They know more or less everything about you. The way you treat your pets should be the way you should be treated. But it's fascinating to hear the stories of lost animals which were found seven years later in a different country. It's great to hear the news about happily rescued cats who found their safety and home happiness. It's equally harsh to hear about unfortunate accidents, poisonings, and mistreatment. This is one story of a Wiener-dog (a quiet advertisement of the breed as they are apparently constantly losing in popularity). But instead of getting to know the dog, you learn more about America and its people. Enjoy.

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10,000 BC

adventure 23:51:00

Quite recently I have come across an online newspaper article about a mammoth tusk discoveries in Siberia or some other distant Russian area. As we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Internet, it amazes me that two spheres: the distant past and technology-packed present interchange. Around 10 000 BC, I would have probably been scribbling something on the cave wall and waited patiently for someone to visit it to gain one brave reader. As my other skills would have probably been neglected, I would have been mauled by wild animals, I would have died of hunger, or would have been eaten by my cannibal neighbors. As you can imagine, I do appreciate recent inventions.

What technology added to our lives was also making distant past as tangible and real as the present. If you want to travel to days when survival was more than paying off a mortgage and finding a job, when cats were not tamed pets but wild beasts ready to tear you apart, take a moment with 10 000 BC. When you think of it, planes, cars, computers, coffee makers and remote control didn't deprive us of the emotions of a pristine human, as fear, love, passion, and faith are as present as ever before.

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Summer of Sam

crime 02:35:00

When your seemingly calm city life starts to remind you more of a nightmare than your usual day to day life... When everyone you know suspiciously looks at your every move... When in the blink of an eye your friend can turn into an enemy... When love and sex intermingle, making the first one non-existent, and the second an everyday nectar of survival... When one mentally disturbed murderer adds to your family problems an abundance of blood and guts... When you're so guilt-ridden that every word seems to be a lie... When you seek strong experiences and a rough New York cultural change of landscape, this is a film for you. Summer of Sam.

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The Other Woman

children 02:18:00

There is a small percentage of the happily married couples who knew each other all their lives, fell in love in their teens and lasted in fondness, fidelity, and bliss to their last days. They hit newspaper's headlines. They still arouse the admiration during their golden anniversaries and receive appreciative letters from the officials. The rest have to be happy with second or third chances (the fourths and fifths counts as well, sometimes the eights and ninths should be still taken into account). The majority of us try to construct our lives anew, after betrayals, deaths, accidents, infidelity, and unhappiness. How to start a relationship on the falling foundations of another relationship? How to build the happiness on someone's broken heart? How to deal with ex-partners, children from previous relationships? How to be happily in love after causing pain and how to deal with loss? There are no clear answers. The Other Woman.

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Sausage Party

adventure 02:54:00

Providing that the whole experience is not traumatic to the viewer who has a healthy relationship with food, this might actually be a very entertaining adventure. Is everything we believe in the truth about how we are supposed to live? Are we controlled by lobbyists, churches, and corporations? Are we afraid of breaking rules which were established by officials in the name of the higher power which doesn't exist? Do we maintain ridiculous religious and cultural conflicts that should have been resolved centuries ago? Are we sunk deep in hypocrisy as a chip in ketchup? Maybe we have more in common with the supermarket food than we think. An adult version of Toy Story, this time very mouth-watering and sexual. A great parody of American culture and religious inhibitions, but do sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll really solve all the problems and teach us the right way of life? Sausage Party.

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Spotlight

church 02:40:00

When I was a child I used to go to church. I needed an hour of consolation once a week before school. Imagine an introvert child who didn't like Mondays and the stresses of exams, and went regularly to a place where you could be alone with your thoughts and faith. I still think that we need the consoling power of religion, we require some guidance in life and, occasionally, we need help.

I've never had bad experiences with priests. There were those who weren't particularly understanding during confession, there were those weirdos overly interested in my "ungodly thoughts", and there were those fun and honest to talk with, laugh and contemplate life. It's the same with teachers. Some priests sparkle, some leave you with trauma. It's important to talk about this trauma.

As an adult, I was simply disappointed with the institution as it treats us like idiots. It makes us believe that scientific progress indicates sin, that marriage is an institution whatever the cost. It forces us to believe that it is impossible to follow a lifestyle that makes us happy, whether it is re-married, divorced, in a same-sex relationship or childless. It puts a blame on us: ordinary people. The blame is just the change of focus. Let's shift the blame and let's shift the focus. Why so many priests earn so much money, while their job doesn't require more engagement than that of school teachers? Why the job itself is treated with respect bordering on idolization when probably doctors, nurses and charity workers deserve more admiration? Why so many priests have illegitimate children or have an "official" relationship with the lady in the house when, in theory, all promised celibacy? Why so many cases of abuse, pedophilia, and injustice happen behind the closed walls of the Church? Let's quit the appearances. Spotlight. One important film which breaks the silence. We need more.

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The Blue Lagoon

beauty 00:05:00

Oh, that was something! I always wondered why we act as we act as civilized people. What makes us fall in love, take on different responsibilities, act according to certain cultural norms? Why women tend to be full-time mothers and men want to play with the fire? Why in the developing countries there is still a division between feminine and masculine roles and why oh why this division is rather rigid and any aberration from the norm is perceived as dangerous? Still, one creative mind put a boy and a girl on an island and made them grow in a natural way. On one hand a social experiment, on the other: a still beautiful love story in the paradise holiday background. The Blue Lagoon.

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Orc Wars/Dragonfyre

action 02:47:00

We all know that the film industry is unfair. There are thousands of stories pushed into post-production, delayed to eternity, postponed to a better day which may never occur. There are hundreds of scripts which pass unnoticed and millions of wanna-be actors who try their strength in countless hours of castings and rehearsals. Few of them destined to stardom. It all comes down to money, as the greatest action/science fiction films have budgets beyond the grasp of us - ordinary viewers. The powerful have control over millions of dollars. We - the weak - have only the power of choice - to watch or not to watch. And I remember myself fascinated beyond anything when they released the trailer of Lord of the Rings. My jaws fell down literally. The first glimpses of hideous Orcs, the beautiful faces of Elves and those hairy feet of Frodo and his companions. Ah, what warm memories! And those millions of dollars of preparation. A slightly smaller budget was collected to make this film. And if you want to be entertained, don't be a snob. Try making a better one. Utterly enjoyable and dense in action: Orc Wars. There's no accounting for tastes.

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Shadow of the Vampire

filmmaking 01:14:00

You are probably familiar with a lot of vampire movies. Blood-sucking, immortal and mysterious undead have been with us for centuries. From legends, through novels to modern age cinema. We still haven't got bored with their pale nature and food cravings. We still carry some respect towards their desires and strict rules of conduct.We still appreciate the healing powers of garlic. Crowds of teenagers would cut themselves to get a kiss from Edward-the shining-chest and walk in the shoes of Bella-awkward-but-gets-the-best-guys. What happened to the world? This is another vampire film, which takes the filmmaking to another level. What if while filming a classic vampire film you employed someone whose background was more or less questionable? What if fiction was far closer to the reality than you thought? What if your crew-mate was someone different from what you had expected? Enjoy.

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Suicide Squad

action 02:04:00

I read so much criticism that it actually almost prevented me from going to the cinema. But then I went, hopeless to be soon disappointed, landing in an almost empty cinema room, as it was daytime. And I watched.

I really don't get those film critics, to be honest. Maybe as viewers, we pay attention to different things, maybe as fans, we don't expect the characters to be flawless. And I was far from disappointed. Call me a freak but I'm not a fan of the BIG heroes who devoted their lives to saving the world. Fine, they are equipped with the greatest gadgets, their fate was predetermined and they are all so full of action and glory. And they get the best girls. We have so much in common with them as to the 1 percent of millionaires who spend in one day our yearly earnings. Their problems seem to be far-fetched. Their Batman/Spiderman suits imply loneliness. They have relationship problems as they cannot even decide on a girl because saving the world is oh so important. And what I loved about the characters of Suicide Squad that they are more or less like us. In all their madness they want what an ordinary human wants in life and this makes it easy to like them. No time wasted. And If I had watched something like this 10 years ago, I would have probably been obsessed. Enjoy.

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Waterworld

adventure 03:21:00

If you take ground for granted, if your life circulates around the rural gems of the field, or you simply like stepping on the thick layers of city concrete, can you imagine a world flooded by water? What does life look like on the vast areas of oceans and seas, what things are of value and what hope do people have for the future? Can a half-human develop feelings for a little girl and her guardian? Can you be the boss of the water mafia without an eye? And finally, what is the secret of a tattoo map inked on one's back?

An action film for everyone craving adventure. There are worlds following rules which to our world simply don't apply. Let's wait for the climate change. Waterworld.

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V for Vendetta

abuse 07:08:00

Inequality, prejudice, and intolerance are no longer attached to World War 2 and Hitler-like politics. Turn on the TV, go to the streets of any European city. Our generation encounters events which we cannot comprehend, where one religion fights with another, where one culture wants to dominate over different ways of life and where one lifestyle cannot be accepted by other lifestyles. What's the point of the global village of the internet if we cannot learn to coexist with each other? Is the world without violence and hatred really possible? V for Vendetta. A good film about the cruelty of ideology and us as species, reminding us that the worse case scenarios are always possible.

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Switch

comedy 01:22:00

One day you are a man. The boss of your surroundings, the mighty heartbreaker of women's hearts, the leader of the pack of your kind. You think you're the king of the world in your manly suit and a bunch of girls following your lead. The fate is tricky. Karma of bad deeds can come to you in the most magical way. One day you wake up and you're no longer the body you grew up in. One day you look in the mirror and you are... a woman. It's a funny and still wise classic from the nineties. If you haven't watched it, there's catching up to do. You think that the nineties are long gone, but the sexist treatment of women, unfair social expectations and double standards in a lot of places seem to stay the same. Sometimes you need a hard lesson to change your point of view. Sometimes you need a Switch.

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Dans la maison/In the House

France 00:05:00

Storytelling is a gift. There are people who tell interesting stories and there are those who burn every joke. There are writers who make you read till the very last chapter and there are those who force you to put down the book after a couple of pages. What if your writing talent was inspired by real events and you were the creator of people's fate? What if for the writing purposes you dug too deep and consciously influenced life of those who had no idea that you are the conductor of the play? What if you used the talent which is a God's gift to play God himself? And what if you encouraged a student to pursuit interests, not realizing how dangerous they may be for so many? What's it's like to let the writer in the house?