Reviews
Les invasions barbares (2003)
A disappointing sequel
When I heard of a sequel to the Decline of the American Empire, I couldn't wait to see, but what I saw could hardly reach the ingenious original.
Surely the intentions were not bad, the name is the perfect historical choice for a followup, the theme of a capitalist son of a socialist was already kind of obvious, the rest then was completely foreseeable.
While "The Decline" used subtle clauses, often only understandable in the whole movies context to point out certain criticism, "The Invasion" tries to enforce it to you with a hammer, no matter if it adds anything to the movie itself. For example, there is a scene about unused old statues the catholic church wants to sell, which has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of movie itself.
"The Invasion" mostly focuses around the son, who at far too many occasions is demonstrating that money can buy everything - we know the message, we live in the real world - but that son is only used to link some fragments together by being the person on site. Except for the father, the other actors have no role at all, especially the women are not existent.
The movie depicts women as stupid, fun-oriented and at best just looking for the love of their life, which is I find offending. Gone is the pointing out of the discrimination of women, even in the supposedly most progressed parts of the society.
My suggestion, get "The Decline of the American Empire" and enjoy it, and be glad that many people won't notice that there may be a link between those completely different movies.
Hundstage (2001)
The truth is always reasonable, or is it?
Trailers of this movie may show scenes of violence or non mainstream sexuality, but these scenes are just rare fragments, picked out to attract audience. They are, of course showing the main message of the movie:
People who are constantly kicked on their heads in their jobs and lives, using power, which they may have somewhere else, to notoriously oppress others. And at the low end of the oppression chain, mostly women.
A movie showing this as brutally as Hundstage is surely tough to face, but having to endure such lives, is even tougher.
Technically the film is much like Short Cuts, but consisting of documentary style episodes, featuring people like your neighbour, playing just the way they are. Without any glitter, and most disturbingly, without any hope. Its documentary style makes the movie even more disturbing, because you realize, such people are out there, and there are many of them, although our society focuses on the nice exterior looks. Somewhere the porn industry has to do its business, somewhere unreported domestic violence has to take place, somewhere hopes have to shatter. I sure do know such people.
If you want to see a movie without any funny scenes (some may think the handicapped woman repeating the top ten supermarkets is funny, but this happens for real) and without any melodramatic, go watch this movie. However it will lose when you are focusing on subtitles I fear, as subtitles can´t transport accentuation.