Goodbye Shirazi Girl

 Iranian Film Festival 2025

Cultural Exchange Program - Iran/ Philippines

Cinema 3 Shangri la Plaza mall

This film is based on Neil Simon's 1977 film, Goodbye Girl. The movie where Richard Dreyfuss won his Oscar best actor award as Elliot Garfield, the offbeat aspiring actor who has to share an apartment with a single mother (Marsha Mason) and her daughter.

In this Iranian version, Shabnam is the single mother who lives with her daughter in a fairly decent apartment and works as a manager in a restaurant. One rainy night, a stranger is frantically trying to enter her apartment. Apparently, Shabnam's ex boyfriend ghosted her but he owes some money to Nasim so to make amends, he allows Nasim, an aspiring actor to stay at Shabnam's apartment. 

Clearly a misunderstanding as Shabnam has no idea who Nasim is, and also why her apparently married boyfriend just abandoned her and left without any warning. Obviously there is a great deal of animosity between Shabnam and Nasim who are polar opposites yet each with their own endearing qualities. Soon their living arrangement turns into romance as they learn to accept each other's foibles while still maintaining a sense of common decency. Embracing their differences and learning to blend into each other's complex lives.

This romantic comedy has its charms as it follows to the dot the film upon which it is based, the classic "The Goodbye Girl" by esteemed playwright and director Neil Simon. A bit more cheesy sometimes veering on the corny side yet with cultural nuances inserted, this version mostly succeeds due to the believable performances of the two lead actors. 

In the Arms of the Tree

 Iranian Film Festival 2025
Cultural Exchange Program - Iran/ Philippines

Cinema 3, Shangri-la Plaza Cinemas

Iran has a vibrant film industry. Some of their films mirror the tumultuous and volatile political landscape as well as feature the complex everyday lives of ordinary people. I figure this can be applicable to any nation with a rich, colorful history and a populace that has endured so much through the years.

Filmed in its official language, Persian/Farsi with English subtitles (naturally), In the Arms of the Tree explores the complicated situation of Kimia and Farid. After 12 years, Kimia is seeking divorce as she is beset with a trauma/phobia which affects her mobility. 

They have not yet informed their young sons, 11 year old Taha and 5 year old Alisan about the divorce. Farid wants Taha to live with him as he has started to inculcate his eldest son to be a responsible son, brother and eventually take over the family business. While the youngest would go with his mother. This would disrupt the close bond of the siblings, as the impact of any form of separation/divorce would naturally be most felt by the innocent children.

Shot mostly outdoors in rural Iran, the latter part of the movie intensifies. We are kept on the edge of our seats with mixed emotions, sensing the desperation of both Kimia and Farid and like them we find ourselves praying that it won't end up in tragedy.  

A melodramatic tale about the effects of a marital discord on the lives of the children as well as between the couple themselves. Effective performances from the cast, especially the actress who portrays Kimia, her anguish was palpable and added to the intensity of the dramatic scenes.

The simple rural settings of a small town that is not yet swallowed up technology is a refreshing change from today's decaying society obsessed by instant gratification, a fast paced lifestyle and the onslaught of artificial intelligence.

The Teacher's Lounge

 KinoFest: The German Film Festival
The Red Carpet, Shangri la Plaza Cinema

Besieged by a series of thefts in a local school where pupils and even teaching staff are suspects, The Teacher's Lounge explores the length a newly hired idealistic math teacher would go to expose injustice in their diverse community. The admin zeroes in on the immigrant students as suspects, now known as racial profiling. Yet when teacher Carla herself becomes a victim of theft, she goes all out to accuse the perpetrator (the staff is the mother of one of her bright students) whom she caught on  video using the webcam of her laptop. It sends the entire high school into a web of suspicion, speculation, with a myriad of lies and half truths.

The film unfolds within the claustrophobic walls of the school, without any semblance nor background into the lives of the characters especially Carla. We can ascertain she is idealistic, righteous and wants fairness in everything she does. Nothing personal in terms of relationship status is revealed about her.

The tale progresses at a slow pace but is packed with gripping drama as the investigation takes its toil on the students, the other teachers and especially on Carla. Her idealism and her strong sense of justice is questioned, examined and put to the test as she weaves through the fallout of her accusation. Students acting out in rage specifically Oskar whose mother is the 'suspected' thief, the student council publishing a scathing article about her integrity, the other teachers distancing themselves from her, and even a disruptive PTA meeting.  

All these heavy emotions don't go lightly as the audience is also torn between rooting for Carla yet at the same time, also maligning the deceptive method she used to catch the thief. The ensemble cast of mostly kids and the actress portraying teacher Carla do well to project their characters insecurities and fears. The film concludes without any firm resolution, yet it leaves a lasting impression about our own biased assumptions about how we treat other human beings especially when so called 'bad' things happen to us. 

Wedding High

 Japan Film Festival 
Online 2024

I tend to watch Japanese movies laden with conflict, personalities with strong character development, focusing on sensitive issues like suicide or bullying and/or samurai themed films. 

For a change, I chose Wedding High because it is a comedy.

It did not disappoint. It was a riot.

The story revolves around a couple getting married, from the planning stage, to the actual wedding ceremony and the reception. Mostly seen through the eyes of the seasoned wedding planner who has her hands full with all the 'problems' that she needs to iron out to ensure a smooth, happy wedding.

Anyone who has planned a wedding knows the abundant amount of stress that comes with it and a Japanese wedding ceremony is no exception. You have relatives (from both sides) and friends offering themselves as 'entertainment' like lasso roping, performing magic and escape tricks, to the fillet of an actual tuna by the father of the bride - certainly eccentric yet also quite amusing. To further complicate the melee, throw in the ex boyfriend of the bride with his sinister plot and a burglar, who all give us an interesting insight into the essence of humor in the Japanese culture.

I found it interesting that the plot featured the background stories of some characters from the wedding entourage like the videographer friend, the groom's boss watching comedy shows so he can deliver a funny, anecdotal speech and the poignant life story of the wedding planner.

The 'wedding story' clocks in with almost 2 hours of fun entertaining narratives and side plots all unfolding seamlessly. The ensemble cast of quirky characters with their colorful lives added flavor to this comedy with an unexpected twist towards the end. 

Be warned, you might need to put on your sleuth hat to piece together the different parts of the puzzle.

Don't worry, it isn't rocket science! 

The Zone of Interest

 2024 Oscar Awards

Best International Film Feature (UK) Winner

Best Sound Winner

This movie is loosely based on the late British author Martin Amis's book that focuses on Rudolf Hoss, the extremely driven commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Austria. "The Zone of Interest" refers to the area surrounding the death camp. 

English Director Jonathan Glazer filmed near the actual camp in Auschwitz  which is now a memorial museum. He also built a replica of the Hoss's residence. Dialogue is in German, with certain compelling and powerful scenes shot in night vision juxtaposed within the movie that was presented in vivid shots against a drab, gloomy background. Glazer did an excellent job by seamlessly blending scenes of a happy family with sounds of destruction and mayhem from the camp. No wonder, it won the Oscar award for Best in Sound. 

The film centers on the family life of the Nazi commander in a modest house with lush gardens and swimming pool just a few meters away from the site where millions of Jews were killed in gas chambers. We see him, his wife Hedwig and their 5 children living in pure oblivion of the horrors behind the perimeter fence. A normal, almost clinical existence with full household help at their beck and call yet we don't get any sense of extravagance. They were quite ordinary during an extraordinary period in history.

We are not shown any gruesome scenes of the atrocities committed against the Jewish people but long angle shots will reveal the smoke billowing from the chimneys in the camp. At some point, it seemed like it was snowing but actually it was from the ashes of the prisoners. Eerie sounds of gunfires, of people screaming, dogs barking echoes in the background during a family dinner. We have the ladies of the household trying on clothes which were evidently taken from the female prisoners. Mrs Hoss (Sandra Huller) even boasted that she found a diamond hidden in a toothpaste so she instructed the help to buy all the toothpaste they could find. 

Beyond all that, we can be forgiven to think of them as any ordinary German family living in a small town with their own dreams and aspirations, just like the rest of us. But we must never ever forget what the Nazis did to the Jewish people. Because to deny, or even forget it ever happened would be a greater crime to human kind. 

Kudos for winning two Oscar awards, Best Sound and Best International Film Feature (UK).

Past Lives

 2024 Oscar Awards

Best Picture Nominee
Celine Song: Best Original Screenplay Nominee

In this semi autobiographical film, written and directed by Celine Song, a Korean Canadian film maker, Nora (Greta Lee) or Na Young as she was known in South Korea and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) are classmates in a school in Seoul. They were pretty close and would probably have ended up married to each other but destiny had other plans. At age 12, Nora's entire family migrate to Canada. When her mother was asked why they were leaving Seoul despite having good jobs. She tells Hae Sung's mother "If you leave something, you gain something too".

12 years past by, Nora is studying to be a playwright. She sees a comment on her father's FB page from Hae Sung who was wondering where he could contact his former classmate. They begin communicating through video calls. Despite the time difference, their line of communication is constant. She lives in New York now while he is still in Seoul. Sort of a LDR, (long distance relationship) but not really romantic, there is no label for their situationship (is that what they call it now?) given that they are continents apart. 

You see Nora is a very driven young woman. When she was young in Seoul, she said she was leaving because no one in Korea wins the Nobel Peace Prize. She is focused on getting things done. She decided to end the line of communication with Hae Sung because obviously life takes precedence over anything else. She is going on a writer's retreat while he is busy with his engineering studies. They don't have the luxury of just hopping on a plane to see each other either in Seoul or New York.

12 more years pass by, Nora is now married to Arthur, a Jewish novelist. Hae Sung emails her to say he is finally visiting New York for a short vacation. This stirs up a lot of mixed emotions for Nora but keeps a calm and collected exterior. While Hae Sung is clearly still in love with Nora, he is mature enough to know his limitations, somehow needs closure, a proper good bye, so to speak.

When they finally meet up, it is a bit awkward for the both of them. The pivotal scene at the bar (with her husband Arthur as the third wheel), Hae Sung asks a lot of "what if" questions. He ponders out loud to Nora all the different scenarios that could or could not have happened. Her simple answer is "I don't know". By the way, Nora and Hae Sung speak in Korean to each other while she would sometimes translate it into English for Arthur.

Nora is not a slave to her past, her frame of mind is now focused on the present. She tell Hae Sung that his memory of her as a 12 year old girl is someone she left in Seoul. He concedes and accepts by telling her that she was too big for Seoul. She had lofty ideas, far reaching goals. I totally agree with Nora because who we were when we were 12 years old with pigtails is a totally different person from who we become at 24, 36 or even 48 years of age. 

In the same aspect, "Past Lives" will hit differently for the viewers. It depends on how old you are, on your level of maturity, on your concept of fate and destiny, on your past, present and future journey in life. That is the beauty of this film, it will definitely make an impact whether you are a fresh graduate, a new mom or an empty nester. It will simply linger on, linger more and keep lingering.

Perfect Days

2024 Oscar Awards

Best International Feature Nominee (Japan)

If this was a vlog, it would be titled "A day in the life" of the vlogger. This film about Hirayama, a 60 something year old public toilet cleaner's routinary life in Tokyo runs for 2 hours and 3 minutes. 

Minimal or hardly any dialogue, he is an old soul as he still listens to music using the old reliable cassette tape while driving to his job. He also uses an old analog camera, with film and takes random pictures of tall trees then he has them developed in a shop. He sorts out the good shots from the 'ugly' ones and neatly arranges them in metal storage boxes. 

In this day and age when technology has taken over our lives, it is simply refreshing to witness someone existing without the trappings of modern gadgets. Quite ironic because he lives and works in Tokyo, Japan where the latest versions/models of gadgets are manufactured.

Nothing much is revealed about Hirayama brilliantly portrayed by veteran actor Koji Yakusho. We don't know if he is single, married or divorced. Yet he seems pretty content with his simple, no frills, no drama existence. He exudes a cultured, intellectual vibe, judging from his choice of books (Faulkner, Patricia Highsmith) which he reads every night before sleeping in his tiny, yet well maintained apartment. His musical preference ranges from Otis Redding, Lou Reed to Van Morrison.

In his sleep, we are shown a visual of black and white abstract images which don't really say much about his background. Whether they are dreams or nightmares from his past is not articulated. It is only when his niece shows up at his apartment and stays with him for a few days that we more or less get a glimpse of his past life. When he starts crying after his estranged sister picks up her daughter, we understand his heartbreak but then there is no turning back.

Honestly, 2 hours is a tad too long for a movie that wants us to believe we can subsist with the bare minimum. Renowned director Wim Wenders though succeeds in making Hirayama a well loved character. Towards the emotional ending, in an encounter with a random yet significant character there was even a hint of a possible romantic interlude for Hirayama. Or at least, I like to think so or maybe I am reading too much of it. Heh.

As for his raw, emotion-filled facial expression in the last scene (spoiler alert: actor Koji Yakusho's explanation) it is open for many interpretations. I believe that it comes from a grateful and happy place. Each morning when he opens his door, he looks up at the sky and the rustling leaves of the tall trees outside his modest place and smiles with a twinkle in this eyes. He is living his best life and we do wish him well.