Walk on WaterWalk on Water

"Walk on Water is an Isreali movie about a secret agent put on a mission find a very old former Nazi.  This Nazi had killed many people in the agent's commander's town during WWII.  The secret agent's real name is Menachem but is referred to as Gidon because it is his cover name.  Gidon is shown discreetly assassinating a man with poison in front of his family.  After being congratulated by his superiors and fellow colleagues his boss asks him to assassinate the former Nazi because his grandson and granddaughter will be near by in Israel.  Gidon poses as a tour guide and gets to know the two relatives of the Nazi.  He plants bugs but doesn't get much useful information.  He is frustrated and tries to get out of the case with no avail and uses the grandson's homosexuality as an excuse.  He starts to get to know the grandson and granddaughter but after the grandson picks up a man at a gay club.  Tensions between Gidon and him rise and he bargains a jacket down to a low price even though the grandson insists that the price is fine.  Things begin to get awkward after that but Gidon talks to him about being German and visiting Israel and how he feels about it.  The make amends and Gidon is invited to a party with the grandfather's family.  The grandfather shows up as a surprise and Gidon drives away but returns to kill him.  He can't bring himself to do and says he just cannot kill anymore.  The Nazi's grandson sees him then kills the grandfather for him knowing he is a Nazi and is deeply offended by what he has done in the past.  The movie finishes fast forwarded 2 years, Gidon is married with two children married to the Nazi's granddaughter.  Gidon and the grandson remained good friends.

          A theme in this film is being oneself.  The grandson Axel was himself from a very young age.  He would proclaim how he was gay and was proud of it.  On the other hand, Gidon had trouble being himself and letting his emotions out.  Even when his wife killed herself he went to work the next day.  In many of the movies we watched, there were characters that were opposites and they both learn from each other.  This movie is no different.
          I found myself to not be a huge fan of this movie.  I didn't really get into it and found the Axel's acting to be sub par.  Whether it was because English was his second language and he had trouble putting emphasis on words, or something else.  I thought his acting was not as natural as other characters.  I didn't find the movie very compelling to watch.

Children of Heaven

Children of Heaven is an Indian film directed by Majid Majidi.  The film takes place in Iran and revolves around a boy and his sister.  The boy (Ali) and his sister (Zahra) have many difficulties after Ali looses his sister's shoes.  They struggle to swap shoes back and forth, and Ali still making it to school on time causes a lot of stress for the two.  Ali needs his shoes for school, and Zahra wants to have pretty shoes.  Only their father works and he makes very little money.  After Ali set down his sister's shoes a homeless man accidentally stole them.  He searches and searches but does not dare tell his father about the dilemma of his sister's missing shoes.  Ali and his sister argue in secret about getting her new shoes, or her old ones back.  They eventually decide to have  Zahra go to school first and then they will swap shoes and Ali will run all the way to his school.  Ali is late for school a few times and is scolded.  He still does well in school which saves him when his teacher gets him out of trouble because he knows how hard he works.  His father tries to work as a landscaper but many upper class houses reject him.  Finally a little boy talk to Ali through an intercom but Ali has to leave with his father.  As they begin to leave, the boy who was speaking to him runs outside with his father.  The father calls them over and the father works in the mans yard, and Ali plays with the little boy.  The boy had all of the material things he needed but all he wanted was a friend.  Ali had people in his life, but had no material things he needed.  After the father finishes he is paid more than he ever has but while riding home their bike breaks and they crash.  Ali continues running to school and finds about a race he knows he can win.  Third place prize is a pair of shoes and he tells his sister he will win those for her and exchange them for her.  He qualifies for the race but after struggling to get to the finish the race is so close, he can't tell if he got third place or not.  After finding out he cries because all he wanted were shoes.  When Ali returns home disappointed he sees his sister.  Before he can tell her what happen, her mother calls her away. The movie ends with Ali dipping his feet in a pool of water to soothe them, and his father riding his bicycle with a pair of shoes and many other things for the family.

          A theme in this movie is struggle.  Ali struggles to get his sister shoes.  Zahra struggles to feel comfortable and confident in her brothers shoes.  Ali's father and struggles to provide for his family and in turn, the entire family struggle in poverty.
          I liked this movie very much because the entire movie revolved around a pair of shoes.  I think the movie really showed how solvable problems can really overwhelm children.  Ali really reminded me of when I was a kid and felt so worried about problems I knew my father would be upset about and the competitively desperate feeling of trying to win a competition.  I really liked how this movie reminded me to be thankful for what I have.

Tsotsi

     Tsotsi is a South African movie about a boy who lives in the slums.  At the beginning of the movie The main character Tsotsi and his gang murder a man on a subway train.  They took his money and left him in the subway after everyone had departed.  After being jeered at by some more seasoned thugs, Tsotsi  desides to up the anti.  He heads out to a wealthy suburban town and hides in front of a residence.  Tsotsi  Sees a woman arrive at her house and step out of her running car.  He yells at her as he enters the car and sloppily drives away.  He did not know at the time but that grand theft auto would change his life forever.  As he drives off he hears a shocking noise, a baby crying.  He immediately slammed on the brakes and lightly crashes the car.  He takes the baby out of the car and at first contemplates leaving it behind, but then thinks otherwise and brings the baby to his apartment.  Having no prior knowledge of how to take care of a baby he struggles on how to care for it.  He even tries to create a makeshift diaper out of pages of a newspaper.  He ends up not hanging out with his friends as much and is very preoccupied by the child living in his home.  He finds a nearby mother to feed the baby.  He uses a gun to influence her.  Tsotsi  did not have a father of his own and was determined to be a good father to the child he actually had stolen.  He returned back and forth to the mother that would feed the baby and was receiving heat from his friends about them not seeing him.  Tsotsi  does not feel like being a gangster anymore because he feels responsible for a child now.  He does decide to return to the home he stole the child from and take baby food.  One of his accomplices gets gun happy and want to kill the father.  Before his accomplice can shoot the baby's father Tsotsi shoots him in a moment of panic.  Tsotsi  and his remaining friend flee and Tsotsi  goes and tends to the baby.  He finally made the extremely hard choice to return the baby after the mother Tsotsi had been bringing the baby to convinces him.  In a very emotional scene, Tsotsi  tries to leave the baby but finds it extremely tough.  He doesn't flee, and the movie ends with Tsotsi  in tears and the police surrounding him.

    I think a theme in this movie is attachment.  Tsotsi becomes attached to the baby, and of course the baby's parents were attached also.  One of Tsotsi's friends talks to him about not hanging out anymore and how they have been friends for so long.  In the end, Tsotsi's attachment is his downfall.

     I liked this movie very much.  I found it surprisingly easy to really feel the attachment Tsotsi had to the baby.  I could really feel bad for Tsotsi when he had to return the child.  Obviously, the parents deserved and needed their child back but you could really feel Tsotsi's pain.