Category: Independent

La Mission

               

Director:  Peter Bratt
Country:  USA
Release:  2009
4-star

Che is a tough guy, ex-con, widower and reformed alcoholic who works and lives in the Mission District of San Francisco.  He is also a good friend, good worker, good neighbor, and devoted father to his son and best friend, Jesse.  Jesse is an attractive, affable good student, who (unknown to his father) just happens to be secretly gay.  When Che finds out the boy’s secret, there is a physical confrontation that spills out into the street with Che disowning his son – and soon the whole neighborhood and all of Jesse’s classmates know his secret.   Eventually father and son attempt to work it out, but mostly by avoiding each other and avoiding the subject.  Their own version of don’t ask/ don’t tell seems to be working, but just as things start to get back to something that resembles normal, the unavoidable subject comes up and pushes them further apart. Unable or unwilling to try any more, Jesse moves out and father and son remain estranged. Ultimately something has to give as Che’s inability to come to terms with his son’s gayness threatens to destroy everything good in his life.  The father is a major low-rider, and there is an affectionate portrayal of low-riders and interesting insights into that culture.  A little unrealistic to me,  everybody (except Che) in that supposedly macho world seems just a little too accepting and open-minded.  In fact everyone is almost unbelievably cool about the issue, except for a few neighborhood thugs – who have had confrontations with Che, and even they seem to want to use the son’s homosexuality more against the father than the gay kid himself.  But just maybe the movie is trying to point out that you do not necessarily have to be a macho ass to have problems with your child’s gayness.  Maybe Che’s disappointment is also mixed with equal parts of fear for his son’s safety and possible limitations this might have on the son’s bright potential.  Of course it does not, and should not, have anything to do with anything about Jesse – except for his private sexual preference.  But try telling that to Che, and try telling that to society sometimes.  You have to watch the movie to find out if the two ever work through their problems and reconcile.  “La Mission” is a film about complicated emotional issues and how two people can find it so damn difficult to do just the one simple thing of loving each other.

See Netflix‘s rating or what other viewers have to say about La Mission!

Sweet Land

Director:  Ali Selem

Country:  USA

Release:  2005

4-star

“Sweet Land” is a tender and affectionate portrait of one immigrant couple in early 1900’s America.  Olaf is a Norwegian who has been in the country for some time, and has homesteaded a farm in Minnesota.  Shortly after WWI, he is joined by Inga who has come to be his wife, although they have never met and she does not speak English.  Immediately they go to the preacher to be married.  However, it comes to light that although she came here from Norway, Inga is actually an orphan of German nationality, and the preacher refuses to marry them unless she can obtain the proper papers.  The county clerk similarly refuses to issue her papers.  They base their refusals on the fact that Inga’s undocumented status does not allow them to verify her background or character – but the real reason is that America just finished a war against Germany and, frankly, she just is not one of “them”.   At first Inga is sent to live with Olaf’s best friend and his wife.  But with 9 children plus them in the house, privacy and sanity is at a minimum, and Inga quickly insinuates herself into Olaf’s house, forcing him to sleep in the barn.  Despite a rocky start based on their awkward unfamiliarity with each other and differences in dispositions (she is too fun-loving and he is too serious), they spend the year in close companionship, striving hard together towards the common goals of working the land, keeping their farm afloat and gaining acceptance among their community.  As they face the challenges of their life together (fairly ordinary and uneventful challenges for those times) a real bond and genuine love and affection grows between them.  The movie is mostly set in the time of their first year together, but also jumps to the 1960’s at the time of Olaf’s death and interment, and then to 2004 at the time of Inga’s passing, when their grandson Lars is faced with the responsibility of deciding the disposition of the family farm.  Viewers who like a lot of action in a movie may find this too slow.  I think it would be a great story for young children who grew up in an internet, computer, cable TV, cell phone, ipod, ipad world – to see and know that less than 100 years ago, many people in this country worked so hard to farm the land by hand, without even a tractor to assist them; and did so happily and determinedly without complaint or reservation.  “Sweet Land” is also a fine example of the kind of quiet, lyrical and unassuming movie option that independent filmmakers can provide as an interesting alternative to mainstream Hollywood offerings.

See Netflix’s rating or what other viewers have to say about Sweet Land!

Jesus Henry Christ

  • Director:  Dennis Lee
  • Country:  USA
  • Release:  2012

4-star

A strange and freaky movie, with strange and freaky characters and strange and freaky plot twists.  Young Henry, a test tube baby and genius from birth, is raised alone by his strong-willed, feminist mother – until, at the age of 10, he sets out to discover his biological father’s identity.  Along the way he not only finds his father, but also a sibling and a sense of family and belonging and purpose.  The movie gradually, unexpectedly and unpretentiously pulls you in, and before you know it the strange and freaky narrative evolves into a charming and endearing story about the importance of individualism, the strong pull of family and the power of forgiveness and redemption.  A good cast, headed by the always eminently watchable Toni Collette, makes it all the more believable and touching, and makes the offbeat characters and story, sympathetic and engaging. This film is a great example of the potential of independent movie-making in American cinema and the variety and quality of films in produces, which would not be possible under the blockbuster, box-office-driven system of mainstream Hollywood.

See Netflix’s rating or what other viewers have to say about Jesus Henry Christ!