I love going to the movies. This is why I even have a monthly subscription to my local cinema. I like and watch all kinds of movies with the exception of horror. While the majority of movies is entertaining, there are always a few that are more thought-provoking. I am presenting five of those that I watched recently to you today.
1. Bombshell
‘Bombshell’ is a biographical drama. It is about women who worked at Fox News and were constantly sexually harassed. Under CEO Roger Ailes, for years women had to wear short skirts; if they wanted to advance in their careers at this station, they usually had to meet Ailes’ sexual demands. Until newscaster Gretchen Carlson is fired for no clear reason and sues Ailes.
I found this movie evocative. With the Me Too movement going on, I feel that this is just one story of millions. Us women will need to fight back for a long time, esp. when comes to shady, but ingrained company practices.
2. Parasite
A friend who had lived in South Korea for a few years had recommended ‘Parasite’ to us just before everybody started talking about it. As in before it won all its four Oscars. Even though we might have not even understood all the film’s allusions, it was disturbing. Especially the twist towards the end had us discuss the movie again and again.
‘Parasite’ is about the poor family Kim. The parents are unemployed. All, the parents and their two kids scrapy by. Until one day the son gets a job as an English tutor for the daughter of the Parks. They are a rich family where the mother doesn’t have to work and they can still afford all kinds of servants. And this is how the Kims weasle their way into the Park’s family home. They pretend to hardly know each other and recommend each other’s services. At the same time they also make sure that they have other employees fired.
3. Balloon
In ‘Balloon’ two families try to make a hot-air balloon in order to escape from the GDR to Western Germany in the 1980s. The film is based on a real story. Their first attempt fails when they crash in a forest just a few meters away from the border. The Stasi (the GDR’s State Security Service) does its utmost to find the traitors.
It rarely happens that a German movie ends up in U.S. cinemas. I found this one a lot harder to watch than I had anticipated. This was most likely because I was born in the GDR and lived there until the wall came down. I actually grew up with all the songs the kids sing in the movie. It also made me once more aware of how close I was to live in that unfree country forever if it wasn’t for the later historic events – and now I actually really live in New York City. Also, the movie is extremely suspense-packed.
4. Little Women
‘Little Women’ is based on a novel by Louisa May Alcott from 1868 and 1869. It follows four sisters while they grow up. As their father is not very present, the daughters and their mother support the family in different ways. All of the girls have different talents and aspirations. But over the years, things come between them and their dreams of being independent and artists.
First of all, this movie is also entertaining. But it also is food for thought. The girls have for instance a rich aunt who has never married and who enjoys her life a lot. On the other hand, even she pressures the girls into marrying as well as possible. It is also fun to see that there are more and more movies where the protagonists are almost only women. I still haven’t read the book, but it is on my to-read list.
5. The Game Changers
A totally different genre, ‘The Game Changers’ is a documentary investigating the health benefits of a plant-based diet for athletes. It promotes a vegan lifestyle and shows different medical experiments. Famous athletes like Arnold Schwarzenegger have their say and explain why they have been vegan for years.
This documentary, which you can find on Netflix, was my actual trigger to change my diet. Ever since we watched it, we have eaten far less meat and other animal products than ever before.
© janavar