A Dios Momo (2006)

Having a chance to see this film for free, and seeing that it was rated 7.1/10 on the internet movie database, I went for it (although now I see it was only rated by 10 people).

A quick summary: "An 11-year-old street boy, OBDULIO, who sells newspapers for a living but cannot read or write, finds a magical "Maestro" in the night watchman of the newspaper's office. OBDULIO's charismatic mentor not only introduces him to the world of literacy but also teaches him the real meaning of life through the lyrics of the "Murgas"(Carnival Pierrots) during the mythical nights of the irreverant and provocative Urugauyan Carnival" (see imbd.com).

To be honest, the plot made the movie sound very interesting, but while watching the film I felt like I was missing a lot because it just didn't seem very clear. Probably, to truly understand this film, one needs to know a lot more in-depth about the whole carnival culture of Uruguay. There is some sort of mysticism imbedded in this celebration, a ritual, something spiritual, that I as a non-Uruguayan could not understand. The same goes for the 'Murgas' sung during the film, I just couldn't quite grasp them.

If you are from Uruguay or have traveled/lived there, I do believe this is a film you should see, it is interesting even for an 'outsider' who doesn't understand every part of the film like myself. And the film is able to give a sort of glimpse into aspects of the Uruguayan culture and into the life of young working children.

The end of this film was also very unclear to me, as it seems that Obdulio leaves his grandmother? And then at the end of the film it appear that it is "dedicated to the the missing children and the children who are coming to save the world," which completely confused me. Indeed, the film may have benifited from a bit more focus/clarity, although I guess the mysticism was supposed to add to the surrealistic feeling of the film. My recommendation, do watch this film as it is interesting (especially the teaching methods of the night watchman, very clever), but only after understanding a bit more about Uruguayan (carnival) culture .

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

With this movie director Goran Ducik answers the age-old question: what happens to you when you die? Well, at least it answers it for all those who commit suicide: you end up living again in a world just like ours but a bit shittier. All people in this world came to be there via suicide and only via suicide, evident in the mood of the film (very little smiling, things are broken down, colors are bland, etc.). Our first glimse into this world is after Zia (Patrick Fugit), the main character, kills himself and ends up working at a cheap food place in the suicide world.

One night he meets a Russian guy (Eugene, played by Shea Whigham) who lives with his whole family in this world (the mom was the first to "off herself" because she was missing Russia so much). They become good friends and after Zia finds out that his girlfriend in the real world has also committed suicide, the two go on a roadtrip to find Zia's girlfriend. On the way they pick up a hitchhiker, Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), who is looking for the 'people in charge', insisting she got in the strange world by mistake.

An incredibly creative film everyone into artsy/indie movies should see. The acting is great, the setting fits perfectly and there are a lot of random fun tidbits. The ending is sweet, however a bit kitchy. It does seem like the director wanted to put more into this film then the length of the film allowed, leaving some empty spaces in the film that would have been nice to be filled. Nevertheless this film is worth checking out. For more info see imbd.com.