An Autumn Afternoon ("Sanma no aji")

Directors: Yasijuro Ozu
Starring: Chishu Ryo, Shima Iwashita
Year: 1962

Shuhei Hirayama (Ryo) is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter (Iwashita). Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

Comments: Ozu's last movie after a career that spanned more than 50 feature films and 40 years. The film highlights Ozu's low camera angles, detailed arrangements of objects in each scene, and plot lines that deal with family relationships -- many about the conflict of daughters leaving their homes to get married. Ozu's films, which were not seen outside of Japan until 15 years after his death in 1963, provide a a fascinating glimpse into post-war Japan. We have also seen Ozu's "Tokyo Story", which we liked very much.

Recommended.

Beaufort

Directors: Joseph Cedar
Starring: Oshri Cohen, Itai Tiran, Alon Abutbol
Year: 2007

BEAUFORT tells the story of LIRAZ LIBERTI, the 22 year-old outpost commander, and his troops in the months before Israel pulled out of Lebanon. This is not a story of war, but of retreat. This is a story with no enemy, only an amorphous entity that drops bombs from the skies while terrified young soldiers must find a way to carry out their mission until their very last minutes on that mountaintop. As LIRAZ lays the explosives which would destroy that very same structure that his friends had died defending, he witnesses the collapse of all he's been taught as an officer, and his soldier's mental and physical disintegration.

Comments: The best part of this movie is that is aptly captures, in a timeless and universal way, the sense of isolation and despair of a group of young men on a doomed mission. While the film has a political point of view, it doesn't beat the viewer over the head, and provides a glimpse into a particularly tumultuous time in Israeli history.

Recommended.

Empire of the Sun

Directors: Steven Spielberg
Starring: John Malkovich, Christan Bale, Ben Stiller
Year: 1987

A boy's privileged life is upturned by the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, December 8, 1941. Separated from his parents, he is eventually captured, and taken to Soo Chow confinement camp, next to a captured Chinese airfield. Amidst the sickness and food shortages in the camp, Jim attempts to reconstruct his former life, all the while bringing spirit and dignity to those around him. Based on a true story.

Comments: Spielberg does a remarkable job at telling the story through a boy's perspective and showing how his character grows and changes. Lushly visual with memorable performances by Malkovich and Bale. Many scenes are simply haunting.

Recommended.