Tag: Films to watch

Mustang: A Must-See That Will Touch Your Soul

To all my faithful readers, I apologize for the writing hiatus. I blame it on a new job that I have only just gotten around to balancing with blogging. All the same, I am excited to drop my two cents on a film I recently watched! =)

This was another suggestion from my close friend and up-and-coming filmmaker, and what a beauty indeed! Mustang is a Turkish film that opens in a remote village in Turkey. It focuses its lens on the youngest of 5 sisters as the opening credits come to a halt. Young Lale is saddened by the departure of her favourite teacher. Her sisters try to comfort her and together, the five of them embark on an innocent and free-spirited romp on the beach. When they return home later that day, their grandmother is furious and begins hitting them one by one. Their crime? Hanging out with boys “indecently”, credit of a no-good and snitch-of-a-neighbour. The five girls are then cloistered like nuns and in Lale’s words, put through a “wife factory”. So begins this story that will both make your heart soar and devastate you all in the same breath.

Spanning themes of family, loyalty, sisterhood, bravery, abuse, love, freedom and captivity among several others, this film is a piece of artwork on its own. A layperson on film-making, I was still able to appreciate the beautiful angles that were shot, the exquisite song choices and the phenomenal acting by each of the 5 sisters: Sonay, Selma, Ece, Nur and Lale.

Director, Denis Gamze Erguven takes the viewer on a journey that is haunting in its likeness to our lives. As a woman, but also a free spirit, several aspects of this movie resonated with me on so many levels. These sisters are brave and unapologetic of who they are as people. They walk out into the world fiercely and love tenderly and openly. They trust but trust too with reason. They are clever in their attempts to attain their freedom and unwavering in their loyalty towards one another. As someone who shares a close bond with her siblings, this movie brought me to tears and is easily a fantastic movie for sisters who might be looking for a movie to bond over.

I can’t help but think of the applications this film can have to a classroom setting as well. With its strong focus on womanhood and the fight to be oneself in a world that stifles our spirits because of doctrines that are outdated and ignorant, this film poses big real-world discussion questions for courses at the high school level such as English, Family Studies, Social Sciences (particularly Psychology and Sociology), Women’s Studies, Cultural Studies and so on. It is also a fantastic eye-opener into the lives of women in remote places all across the world. An opportunity to see them as one with us, women of the West, an opportunity to feel the thirst of their spirits and the hunger in their bravery for a better life that they alone control.

I will not say more about this film (trust me I could!), mostly because I view this to be that piece of artwork in a gallery that is best viewed and not described. Therefore, whoever you are, wherever you are, this film will change you. Watch it.

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Where Do We Go Now?: A Stunning Masterpiece

When a really close friend and talented emerging filmmaker suggested we watch Where Do We Go Now?, I was intrigued by the promise of scintillating content. And I was not disappointed. Directed by and starring Nadine Labaki, this film entirely in Arabic (with a French version and with English subtitles) was shot in 2011, and is set in a small village in Lebanon.

This film begins, as pictured above, with a group of women beating their breasts in mourning. They are mourning the loss of their husbands and sons to clashes between the two religions in their village: Islam and Christianity. The movie features strong themes of female leadership, religiously-motivated conflict, community, hope, forgiveness and love. It shows how when women lead, they lead with their head and not their hearts (contrary to popular belief), favouring the greater good over personal benefit or comfort. Mothers and sisters live their lives on tenterhooks, throwing themselves between testosterone-pumped men who are quick to jump to conclusions about their neighbour and react with violence. The women in this film showcase staggering presence of mind, grace and beauty in all its forms. They go to great lengths to keep the harmony in their village and their men alive. When heartbreak knocks on their door, they answer bravely not crumbling under pressure. They rise up to sacrifice their own personal dreams to save those around them. They conquer hate with bountiful love and understanding, and at no point do they let the bond their gender has necessitated they form come under threat. They band together, Muslim and Christian alike, and show forgiveness and humility. They are the protectors of their men, their homes and their small community. The incredible lioness-like spirit of a woman is so masterfully presented in this 102 minute film

Flipping our deeply-entrenched concept of religion on its head, this film tugs at the heart of spirituality, putting forth the notion that religion is in the heart and not based on whether we hold a cross in our hands when we pray, or whether we put our foreheads to the ground in prayer. It tries to make us see that conflict over religious beliefs is entirely ridiculous because at the end of the day, we all believe in one God.

Community is at the centre of this beautifully-crafted film with this theme echoing in the plots the women devise together. In the way they run to each other’s aid to protect their own and their fellow-women’s sons and husbands. In the way they prepare food together. In the way they work toward religious celebrations together. Even while their men fight each other, these women stick together and it is their sticking together through good and rough that leads to (SPOILER ALERT) salvation.

In its totality, it could be argued that this film challenges the importance of religion over community, ultimately unifying people through love.

While carrying conceptually-heavy material, this film is careful to lighten the mood with candid moments between the strong circle of women, musical pieces that provide gorgeous melodies and profound lyrical movement, and glimpses of hope and happiness.

This film needs to be seen to open up minds closed by conflict and the various divides infringed on us by society and based on the colours of our skin, whom we choose to love or the name of the God we pray to. A stunning masterpiece, this deserves a 5.0/5.0

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