"Inspired by a true story" usually gives a film a sense of verisimilitude. But My Way, a long, absorbing World War II epic, stretches credulity to the limits. No human being could've endured what the protagonist of this film did and live to tell about it.
The story deals with Jun-sik Kim, a young Korean marathon runner with hopes of competing in the Olympics. But his country has been overrun by the Japanese, who were extremely cruel to the Korean people and tried to obliterate their culture. Oddly, Kim's pre-war good friend is also a marathon runner. Trouble is, he is Japanese and their friendly rivalry quickly changes. The movie depicts Kim's induction into the Japanese army. His former friend, now his superior, treats him and the other Korean conscripts harshly. Eventually, they wind up in the Russian army, then, incredibly, are forced to fight in the German army, and reunite on the beaches of Normandy along Rommel's Atlantic Wall just before D-Day. This movie defines the word "epic," with its vast vistas of combat on fronts rarely depicted in movies.
Bernie is a dark, quirky comedy based on a 1998 magazine article. An unlikely friendship is formed between a prissy, rich Texas widow, disliked by her neighbors, and the town mortician, portrayed by Jack Black. Shirley MacLaine portrays the widow. The friendship sets the town's tongues wagging and eventually leads to her demise. Matthew McConaughey, aided by his authentic Texas drawl, is the local district attorney, determined to convict the effete, smug mortician of her murder. At the end of the credits, when the real people are shown, you get the chance to see how well the film was cast. It's a creepy, deliciously absorbing film.
World War II movies are released every year, and in recent years, excellent films like In Darkness have told little-known stories of how some Jews managed to evade capture and survive the Holocaust. The first one this year is Saviors in the Night , telling yet another harrowing true story from a unique perspective. A Jewish German horse salesman, his tall, blonde, much younger wife, and their seven-year-old daughter flee town for the countryside and are taken in by a farmer and his family. The salesman and farmer had been comrades in World War I fighting for Germany, the Jewish soldier having won the Iron Cross, Germany's highest military honor. Thus begins several years of the mother and daughter masquerading as Catholic farmers blending in with the family, fearing every knock on the door or strange noise during the night. But the father, who is too well known to fool local authorities, hides in a neighbor's barn and later in another's attic for three years. Now and then we hear reports on the progress of the war on the family's radio, and never forget that it would mean instant death should they be caught harboring Jews.
Veronica Ferres portrays the mother, continually forced to conceal her inner terror, shielding her daughter from the nightmare that is their everyday existence, sometimes nearly being forced to flee their sanctuary yet again. At the end of the movie, there is a coda sure to bring tears to the eyes of any viewer. The real daughter, now elderly, is seen visiting the movie set with the real farmer's daughter, who changed from being a member of the Hitler youth to helping hide her new friend. A closeup of the women holding hands as they meet the actors who told their story is unforgettable.
Most people, I suspect, don't marry their first love. Charming stories of long marriages between high school sweethearts still exist, but most of us go out into the world, evolve through new experiences, and meet lots of new people. That's the theme of Goodbye, First Love, from France.
As this poignant film opens, Sebastian Urzendowsky and Lola Créton are in love. He's a few years older, and their personalities are very different. She's committed, intense, and loyal. He longs to explore the world. The story chronicles his leaving her for a long period abroad. When he stops writing, she begins to realize they won't spend the future together. Innocent love can sometimes collide with the ways of the real world.
The movie could easily have succumbed to sentimentality and clichés, but the relationship between the two young lovers ebbs and flows as in real life. The young actors, probably new to American audiences, handle the challenge skillfully, as does director/screenwriter Mia Hansen-Løve.
For a guaranteed great time, see Darling Companion, starring Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline. He's a Denver surgeon, she his wife who, with her daughter (Elisabeth Moss), finds a stray dog along the freeway. A year later, they lose their beloved pet in the mountains near their vacation home and spend three days pursuing it. Sam Shepard, Richard Jenkins, and a sensational young Israeli actress, Ayelet Zurer, co-star. Zurer plays the house's half gypsy caretaker, who thinks she can "see" where the dog may be. In the process she steals the movie. This is a terrific Lawrence Kasdan-directed delight.
