Cinematic Distractions...

[dulcedemon]

Stranger by the Lake (L'inconnu du lac - 2013):
This is not a movie you want incorrectly delivered to your neighbor's mailbox. That story will follow my comments about the movie.
Based on its description, I had it pegged as a very gay murder mystery. How gay? It's nude beach on a lake in the South of France gay. It came up short on the mystery. I was expecting a whodunit, but it's more of a hedidit (but he's hot and hung, so what the hell). There is full frontal male nudity (most of it uncircumcised) in almost every scene. The numerous sex scenes range from partially obscured by woodland greenery softcore to up close explicit oral sex. Anal penetration is convincingly implied but not actually shown.
In this scenario, we follow a young man, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps), on his summer vacation during which he makes daily trips to the lake. There is lots of swimming, sunbathing, and hooking up in the woods behind the beach. He meets a lumberjack, Henri (Patrick d'Assumçao), who looks nothing like one might expect a lumberjack to look. They quickly bond but keep it platonic. Franck fools around with a few others before a young Tom Selleck look-alike appears on the scene. Christophe Paou plays the mysterious, head-turning hottie Michel. It all goes swimmingly until a dead body turns up, and a police inspector (Jérôme Chappatte), who bears a strong resemblance to the science historian James Burke, starts asking questions.
I really liked Henri. I tried to guess his story, but none of what I predicted would happen did. I didn't care for the shrug of an ending. Americans will wonder where these guys find the time to hang out at the lake every day. This is France where everyone gets 3-4 weeks of vacation.
It took a month for a playable copy of this movie to arrive. It was incorrectly delivered to the house next door. We found that out after it was a week late in arriving. The neighbors said they took it back to the post office, which was not the best idea on their part. Maybe they took it back. Maybe they didn't. I waited several more days. Movie rental service didn't have it and neither did we, and the post office couldn't tell us where the hell it had ended up apart from it wasn't there. Movie rental service sent a replacement copy. It arrived badly cracked. They sent a replacement for the replacement, and that's the one we watched. I wouldn't say it's the absolute best movie on this list, but it's unique, and with all the trouble in getting it, I couldn't give it anything less than the top spot.

The Insect Woman (Nippon konchûki - 1963):
The story of one woman's lifelong struggle to escape grinding poverty and sexual abuse. Not exactly a ray of sunshine, it's hard-edged and depressing from beginning to end. It's certainly not for everyone. Director Shōhei Imamura has a solid reputation of taking on challenging and provocative subjects. In that regard, The Insect Woman is no exception. It's a shining example. Among its themes are incest, child abuse, arranged marriage, sexual harassment, rape, generational poverty, indentured servitude, prostitution, incarceration, and ectopic pregnancy. It boasts terrific cinematography while telling an engrossing but unpleasant tale with only the barest hint of optimism at the end. At your own risk.
Spoiler: Everything goes well for the woman with the ectopic pregnancy because the doctor performs life-saving surgery immediately upon discovering it.

Genghis Blues (1999):
One night, a blind blues musician, Paul Pena, hears a broadcast of Tuvan throat-singing over shortwave radio. Little by little, he teaches himself the technique, which earns him an invitation to perform in a singing competition in Tuva. This documentary follows his fascinating and at times daunting journey, which highlights his powerful friendship with renowned Tuvan singer Kongar-ol Ondar.

Of Cooks and Kung Fu (Tao tie gong - 1979):
A wicker hat wearing badass with a culinary grudge scours land for The King of Chefs. He leaves a long trail of dead chefs and dead chef's assistants before finding the right man. It falls to the King of Chefs' bumbling apprentice (and grandson) to save the day or, failing that, exact revenge.
It's low-quality. The copy I had was especially poor. It was made from a blurry old print in the wrong aspect ratio. The version on YouTube is better quality. No matter which version you watch, the audio doesn't match the action. The same slap noises are played non-stop over every fight, even when no one is being struck.
It's full of both intentional and unintentional comedy. There is a special form of chef's kung fu. Instead of yelling out the names of moves like Flying Tiger Kicking Face or Fiery Buddha's Death Palm or whatever, they yell the names of popular Chinese cuisine. My favorite of which is "Fish Balls!". Very stupid. Very funny. Perfect for when you need to relax with some mindless entertainment.

Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022):
A succinct but derogatory description would be: The Whore Whisperer
This epic-length lavish spectacle was ripped from the pages of the non-fiction crime novel Mafia Queens of Mumbai by Hussain Zaidi with research by Jane Borges. It's based on the true story of Gangubai Kothewali, who was tricked and sold into prostitution by her boyfriend while she was still a teenager. She understandably doesn't want to work, so the madam tortures her until she does.
A particularly violent client beats her so badly that she is hospitalized with several broken bones and internal bleeding. The man responsible is known to be a hired goon of a local mobster. When she gets out of the hospital, she pays a visit to that mobster to demand reparations. The mob boss is impressed with her bravery and tenacity, and an unlikely friendship is forged. This is the first step on her path to becoming a madam in her own right.
Events unfold which lead to her taking over the brothel to which she had been sold. From there, she does whatever she can to amass power, money, and political influence. She uses her fortune and influence to fight for better working conditions and health care for sex workers, and thwart legislation that would shut down the brothels. She sort of becomes the Mother Teresa of sex workers in Mumbai, even the garb she wears is nun-like.
It's not all hearts and flowers and warm fuzzies. The first several scenes are very dark, violent, and made all the more awful by how young the girls are. For all her good work, she is still a pimp, albeit a kinder, gentler, more considerate pimp who gives her workers one day off a week and provides babysitters and tuition money for their children. There is a weird and dangerous rivalry between her and another even more powerful madam that is long and involved enough to be a subplot. Without spoiling it, they eventually decide to settle the matter by holding an election.
It's a wild ride complete with a few song and dance numbers, certain scenes might upset sensitive viewers, and it requires an almost three-hour investment of time. Alia Bhatt does a great job as the lead. I also particularly enjoyed the performances of Seema Bhargava, and Vijay Raaz.

Paheli (2005):
A colorful and opulent fairytale in which a ghost becomes smitten with a bride-to-be when her wedding party stops at a roadside well to refresh themselves along their journey to the groom's family home. The ghost follows her to her new home. After spying upon her not too happy wedding night, the ghost uses illusion and impersonation in an effort to win her love and ingratiate himself with her in-laws. This was my second attempt at this movie. I fell asleep for some of it the first time. I remembered nothing but waking up for the final dance number, which is styled as a puppet show and shown with the closing credits.

Loving (2016):
Educational for those who are not familiar with the case of Loving v. Virginia, but other than that, it's rather tepid for a drama. It's heartwarming and historical but also kind of slow.

Nightmare Alley (2021):
This has so much of what I love, yet I didn't like it. A carnival and freakshow themed noir dripping with vintage fashions, art deco set design, and a great cast directed by Guillermo del Toro... What could go wrong? It's gorgeous but hollow. It's seductive but devoid of any real passion. Almost no one is likeable. In terms of a plot, a grifting grifter grifts griftily griftward.
Rooney Mara plays the innocent in this equation. Other than not wanting to see her get hurt, the feeling just wasn't there. Cate Blanchett is a stunning, satin-draped serpent poised to swallow a rodent whole. Bradley Cooper's character is despicable from the start, which made it hard to care about the story. Willem Dafoe is perfect as the sleazy, cutthroat boss of the carnival. Ron Perlman brings strongman menace. Toni Collette as Zeena the Seer was my favorite among the carnies. Though she was long done with it by the time I was born, my grandmother's aunt once worked as carnival fortune teller.

The Blazing Sun (Siraa Fil-Wadi - 1954):
I keep trying with these early Omar Sharif movies because they are subtitled and suitable for quiet late night watching, and relatively short in length. Movie rental service has several Egyptian movies from the 1950s available for streaming, and Omar Sharif stars in most of them. For this and one other, Faten Hamamah is the leading lady. My favorite, Struggle on the Nile (1959), pairs him with Hind Rostom. The Blazing Sun (1954) has much in common with Dark Waters (1956). Sharif plays pretty much the same guy in both movies, and Hamamah plays his love interest.
His character here is a nice but poor young man fresh from agricultural college who spends his days toiling in the sugarcane fields along with others from his village. He uses his education to improve the quality and yield of the crop in the hope of fetching a premium price come harvest time. This boon for the villagers comes as unwelcome news to the local slumlord and sugar baron, who also happens to be the father of the young farmer's love interest.

Paisan (Paisá - 1946):
It's a revered classic, or so I've read. Its seamless blend of filmed scenes and actual newsreel footage is quite impressive. There are more non-actors than actors, and they are hard to distinguish. The kids were the best actors. I couldn't tell if they were professionals, actual street kids, or sons of the director and his crew. One of the actresses, Harriet Medin, looks a lot like Geena Davis.
The first story was heartbreaking and infuriating, but by the end of the film, I appreciated it for its clarity and decisive conclusion.
The soldier with the street kids hammed up his stumbling drunk routine too much. The kids made it worthwhile.
The sex worker story had an air of implausibility and inconclusiveness. I wasn't sure what it wanted the audience to believe. We could believe that she is his sweetheart, but he no longer recognizes her. Yet when she solicits him on the street, there is no hint of recognition on her part. We could instead believe that she is not the woman he seeks, but she wishes she were and imagines herself as his sweetheart as he reminisces about her.
Harriet Medin stars in a segment about two very selfish people who refuse to follow orders and get people killed for their trouble.
The story I dubbed Dinner with Bigoted Monks really pissed me off. Stop me if you've heard this one:
Three army chaplains of three different religious denominations walk into a Catholic monastery somewhere in rural Italy. The monks have a hissy fit upon finding out that one of the chaplains is Jewish. They are also less than delighted about the Protestant. They all start dropping to their knees and praying as if the Devil himself were their guest.
They confront the Catholic chaplain and interrogate him about the lost souls with whom he travels. Basically, they want to know if he has tried to convert those two heathens, and if not, why not. He isn't happy with their questioning, but he is as nice as can be about it. Before the conversation gets too deep, dinner is served.
The monks serve the trio, but none of the monks are eating. They explain that they are fasting in gratitude for the two wayward souls who must be shown the light. It gave me a bad feeling about the watery vegetable soup set before them. Maybe the soup is fine. Maybe the soup has been poisoned. We are left to wonder about the outcome.
The final story is a pretty straightforward combat story. Though it's very different from the first segment, I liked it for the same reasons.
On the whole, I didn't like Paisan, but some parts were enjoyable. The running time felt long, yet two hours isn't near enough time to tell six stories. Half of them could have been fleshed out more. I don't need every movie I watch to have a clear and decisive ending all neat and tidy and tied up with a bow, but this one annoyed me.