A Film A Day

Thursday Movie Picks: Parties

It's Thursday again, therefore welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where each Thursday we, the people participating, have to pick three films that fit the week's theme.

This week we have parties, the best way to have fun according to a lot of people. I'm the kind of person that loves spending her Saturday nights watching football, movies, TV shows or reading. That's my idea of fun. However, I love films about parties. Okay, maybe I don't love them, but I have fun watching those movies, and here are my top three

Project X (2012)

For his birthday, Thomas just wants to give a small party with some friends, but his best friend, to raise their social status, calls radio stations and puts ads up on Craigslist, and things spin out of control. The film isn't great. It's basically Superbad meets The Hangover, but the party is awesome.

Superbad (2007)

Best friends Seth and Evan are somehow invited to a party where they plan to lose their virginity so to leave for college with some experience. I don't know why or how, but this film is absolutely hilarious. I don't like Jonah Hill and I'm certainly not a fan of Michael Cera but they have a great chemistry. They have fun and simply make me happy every time. Yes, I've seen this several times. Don't judge me, okay?

This Is the End (2013)

Jay Baruchel wants to spend more time with his friend Seth Rogen, who invited him at James Franco's party. I don't know if it's because Baruchel goes to the party, but the Biblical Apocalypse begins - literally - and the group tries to survive the end of the world. Okay, the party is just a small part of the film, but it wouldn't be so great if it wasn't for it. And it's the best demential film I've ever seen.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)

Original Title

戦場のメリークリスマス Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu

Genre

Drama | War

Director

Nagisa Oshima

Country

UK | Japan | New Zealand

Cast

David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano, Jack Thompson, Johnny Okra, Alistair Browning, James Malcolm, Chris Brown, Yuya Uchida, Ryunosuke Kaneda, Takashi Naito, Tamio Ishikura, Rokko Toura, Kan Mikami, Hideo Murota

Storyline

During WWII, British colonel Lawrence (Tom Conti) tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW (David Bowie) and the Japanese camp commander (Ryuichi Sakamoto) in order to avoid bloodshed.

Opinion

Don't be fooled by the title, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" ain't a Christmas film, but an intense, thought-provoking and moving war drama.

Loosely based on Laurens van der Post's "The Seed and the Sower", the story is at times quite disturbing yet very beautiful and incredibly involving.

But why waste both your and my time to talk about the plot? That's not what the film is about. It is about the characters. Characters that are beautifully developed which allows us to understand their conflicts and motivations. Also it's incredible how the film shows compassion for every character, making no distinction between British and Japanese, using this compassion to show that there is no bad guy, men all are the same, they just find themselves in the position to do what they have to do.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" beautifully shows the atrocities of war and how the lack of understanding between countries can create so much destruction. It also shows both the physical and mental abuse the prisoners had to live.

However, I cannot imagine the film working this good without its musical score. Composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto - also playing the Japanese camp commander -, the score is absolutely fantastic and fits every scene to perfection.

And at last the acting. I read people were making such a big deal about David Bowie being in the film, and I understand why. His performance as Jack Celliers is superb and he perfectly captures every shade of his character. Tom Conti is also excellent as the British colonel, Ryuichi Sakamoto is simply perfect and Takashi Kitano does a great job as the only "human" Japanese.