THE SPOILS (2024) NYJFF 2025

This is a look at the question of reparations concerning looted art work from Nazi Germany. Focusing on the case of Max Stern who was a Jewish art dealer who escaped to Canada before the war after he was forced to liquidate at unfair prices by the Nazis. When the City of Dusseldorf tried to hold art exhibits in his honor old wounds are opened up and road blocks appear.

This is a very good film about the problems of opening up old wounds and the thorny problem about how to make things right after almost a century. It’s not an easy question to answer and THE SPOILS makes a solid attempt to unknot just the problem with this exhibition but also the problems with reparations in general. It doesn’t seem to shy away from the complicated questions.

I really liked this film a great deal. Even if I wasn’t interested in the subject this film would have hooked me with its compelling presentation.

Recommended.

The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024) Animation First 2025

In Poland during the Second World War  the wife of a woodcutter  takes in a baby that  was thrown from a train going to the concentration camps. She and her husband struggle to raise the child, while the man who threw the baby struggles to survive the camp.

Michel Hazanavicius shifts gears yet again with an animated film about the miracle of survival and the things we will do for the ones we love. It's an odd move for a man who is best known for his comedies and the results are extremely mixed.

There are some great sequences in this film as well as some head scratching moments. Feeling less like an organic tale and more like a very serious, very important novel, the film never quite comes together because the film never fully connects the two halves. The result is a film that feels a bit like sermon.  

I was intrigued for a while but the film began to lose me as the film started to tell us about the man who threw the baby from the train. It's not that these sequences,  having to do with surviving in the camps, are bad, indeed they include some of the most crushing sequences I've ever seen  about the Holocaust, but rather they never fully mesh with the sequences about the baby and the woodcutters wife. a big part of the problem is the style of the images are too dissimilar.  The woodcutter sequences are more lyric and realistic where the images of the man are closer to some of the surrealist art that sprang up around the war.

While a wasn't connected from start to finish the film still threw up some staggering pieces such as the post war sequence where the man stumbles on the woman and the child selling cheese on the street.  The whole sequence of recognition of finding the now grown child, while also seeing his horrific physical persona is one of the most crushing moments I've ever seen in any film.

Perhaps I would have liked the film more had the ending amounted to something but the film never ties up all the threats ans the 20 year jump ahead didn't amount to much.

Worth a look for those interested in stunning uses of animation or atypical Holocaust stories.

The Other (2024) NYJFF 2025

This was the first great film I saw in 2025.  In a world being broken by hatred, the film makes clear that the only way to begin to end the madness is to meet and open lines of communication.

Filmed before the October 7 massacre and the madness that followed, THE OTHER is a series of interviews with both Palestinians and Israelis telling the story of how the conflict between them directly affected their lives. Largely the stories are a catalog of loss chronicling how they lost a loved one to the violence.  Then over time the film begins to turn and become something else. It becomes and exploration of people reaching out  and trying to bridge the gap.

I was deeply moved by this film.  When it ended I was  left wiping tears from my eyes and trying to find words to express how much this film means to me.

Go see it. This will be one of the best films you see this year.

Highly recommended.

Lost City (2024) NYJFF 2025

This is the story of how the city of Amsterdam used the tram system to effectively deport the entire Jewish population of the city during the Nazi Occupation.

This is a film that doesn’t play like other Holocaust films in that almost the entire film is told by the survivors of the deportation while they stand on the streets of the city or take a tram ride around it. The film begins symbolically with a tram leaving the depot and ends with a tram returning. This effectively bookends the story of the whole sad affair.

What I found most troubling was how the use of the tram mixed with the modern telling makes the whole thing deeply disturbing. The context makes the deportation quietly banal, which is what it was designed to be. The Nazi's didn't want a fuss. I was deeply bothered by it and completely came to understand why it all happened.

A word of warning about LOST CITY, when I originally saw the film I went through the film  and it’s tale and I liked it, but I didn’t love it. However after the film was over and I was allowed to let the entire film wash over me I found I was becoming more and more disturbed by the implications of the film. As a result the film became not just a retelling of a historical event but a dire warning for a society on the edge of falling into darkness.

Recommended

A Great Big Secret (2024) NYJFF 2025

This is a great little film about Anita Magnus Frank who was a hidden child during the Second World War.  Frank was born in 1936 and was spirited away  a few years later so she could live under a new name. It was only decades later that she began to tell the story of her real life.

This is an important tale of families broken apart in the hope that someone would survive. Frank not only survived but thrived in the best sort of a way.  It’s a wonderfully compact film, it runs just over 12 minutes, and would make a great feature film.

Highly recommended.

From Ground Zero (2024) opens Friday

Oscar short listed documentary is the collection of short films set in Gaza. The films show what life is like in the contested area at the present time.

This is a very good, and very up to the minute look at the situation in Gaza since the Israelis started leveling the  area in the wake of the October 7 attacks. It’s a heart breaking look at what life has become for the Palestinian population in the area. If you want to know what life is like right now this is the film for you since what you see here is not what you are going to see on American news services.

I like this film a great deal. At the same time the film is a bit of sensory overload. This is a film that makes clear what is going on and it overwhelms you, more so if you are seeing several of the other recent films on similar subjects.

Recommended – but bring tissues.

Harbin (2024) opens Friday

In 1909 the Koreans resisting Japanese rule plot to kill the Japanese Prime Minister who will be visiting the country.

Seeing HARBIN is going to be a great way to start 2025. This is a taut espionage thriller that is going to keep you on the edge of your seat. It doesn't matter if you know what happens, the twists and turns and the well drawn characters are going to keep you invested.

Beginning and ending with a haunting image of a man crossing a frozen river HARBIN grabs us early on. Beautifully spinning out it's tale in such away as to create natural tension, the film drops us into a time where the Koreans lived in fear under the thumb of the Japanese army. The fear that anyone or everyone around you was working with the Japanese is very real, and as we see in the film not being wary can cost lives. The creation of this feeling from the get go adds a great deal to the proceedings. 

What helps make the film so good is how the characters are drawn. There isn't a clear line as whether someone is all good or bad. No one is perfect. Yes, we know that Ahn is above reproach, but even he makes some really bad choices that result in many deaths. There is no clear path to victory, and even victory, if achieved, is going to end badly, Japan after all controls the country. The cast is first rate and make you like everyone.

The film is helped along by a great visual style. The film looks great and feels like we are back over a century. The large scale set pieces feel just as intimate as the smaller ones where the plot is hatched.

As wonderful as the film is the film does have one flaw and that it is trying to to do too much. There is a lot to the story and in order to make it all work the film frequently resorts to flashbacks which pause the forward momentum. I suspect that the film is going to play better the second and third times through when we are more accepting of the film on it's own terms.

Quibbles aside, I had a blast with this film. It's so good that I'm going to see if I can make it into a theater for second go where I can just sit and watch and munch on popcorn as I get lost in the story of freedom fighters.

Highly recommended.

Collaborator (2024) Dances With Films New York

In the disputed Kashmir valley between India and Pakistan a young man is forced by Indian authorities to walk through the valley to collect the identity cards of the dead.  Wanting to be free of the task he tries to flee to Pakistan however  they think he is still in the employ of India. Upon returning to India they think he is working for Pakistan. Is there anyway that he can get out of the middle?

Based on the autobiographical novel from writer Mirza Waheed, this is a film is a moving look at how people get trapped between battling countries. It’s tense story that shows how officials don’t care about the truth only how things can be turned to their advantage.

I really liked this film a great deal. While not on my original Dances With Films dance card I jumped at the chance to see it.

While the film can be a little too talky at times, the cast and the tension of the situations presented make this more than worth your time.

Recommended

DOC NYC Capsule Reviews: The Crimes of Putin Edition: THE BASEMENT and AFTER THE RAIN: PUTIN’S STOLEN CHILDREN COME HOME

THE BASEMENT
400 residents of the Ukrainian village Yahidne we round up and forced to stay in a basement for a month. as the Dead were stacked up in a corner like wood, the residents waited to find out their ultimate fate. Freed they tell their story for the camera as we listen to the words from a diary written during captivity with the expectation it would be found after everyone was dead. A slap in the face film, this is a you are their document of war crimes committed by Russian Soldiers. It is also a moving look at how people can survive terrible things and come out on the otherside.
Recommended.

AFTER THE RAIN: PUTIN’S STOLEN CHILDREN COME HOME
The children of Ukrainian parents stolen by the Russian army and rescued are sent to a farm in the country in order to decompress and begin the healing process. Low key doc  about the trauma of war quietly sneaks up on you and hits you over the head. While things seem largely okay at the start we quickly realize that isn't the case and we watch as the healing begins. This is a small gem of a film.

Plunderer(2024) Doc NYC 2024

This is a portrait of Bruno Lohse who was Herman Goering’s art expert and responsible for some of the plundering of art during the second world war. We are told Lohse‘s story by Jonathan Petropoulos​, who became his friend in order to find out the secrets of where the art went.

This is an excellent look at  a part of the war that we all are aware of but which hasn’t been explored. What happened to the great art treasures of the conquered nations. This film will tell you. It will also explain how these art plunderers managed to survive after the war (the plundering was seen as the least of the crimes committed).

As a history junkie I was in heaven. There was so much here that I hadn’t known or considered. My eyes were opened up to a great deal.

Additionally and most importantly, this is a hell of a story that is going to grab you and pull you  along.  I loved this film a great deal.

Go get some popcorn and see this.

THE PORCELAIN WAR (2024) DOCNYC 2024

Ukraine is like porcelain, you can break it but you can’t destroy it.

A look at Slava, Anya and Andrey, three artists who are still in Ukraine fighting the Russians and still making their art- small porcelain figures that they create and leave in various places.

The pair works in porcelain because the material is nigh indestructible. Yes it breaks but you can repair it and clean it up even after millennia. Their medium is a message.

A beautiful and loving film about the human spirit in trying times this is a wonderful portrait of life in Ukraine that is counter to al the other death and destruction films. Here we see how much life there is. It’s something that is going to come as a revelation to many people who see the country as bombed out.

I was moved.

I have to mention a brief animated sequence near the end of the film that usesAnya's art. It’s a glorious little tid bit that is pure cinematic magic. I would love to see her designs as the basis for a whole film.

See this film

FRONT ROW (2024) DOC NYC

Ballet dancers from Ukraine come together in Denmark in order to form a dance company.  While they are feeling guilty for fleeing to safety, they are using their art to  bring awareness to the conflict and the tragedies that are unfolding back home.

This is a good little film about the power of art to heal in the time of war. It’s another in a growing line of films about how art is helping to keep the spirits of Ukrainians afloat.

If I were to quibble I would ask that the film be a bit longer. While we get a good amount of dance in the film, I wish we had gotten even more time with the dancers and their families. Still it’s a quibble and the film is worth a look.

Yalla Parkour (2024) DOC NYC 2024

Filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter was fascinated with the videos of people doing parkour in Gaza, so she reached out and got into contact with one of the filmmakers and participants Ahmed Matar. The film charts their friendship before the destruction of Gaza by the Israeli military.

This is a very bitter sweet film. While the bulk of the film is set from 2015 until 2023, the framing of the film is set very much in 2024. This is a kind of elegy for the places and lives lost, with all references to the dead coming from inference and a very long list  of “In memory of….” Of the people connected to the film who died. As the film begins and  Zuaiter talks about happiness and the smile of a young man that sucked her into all of this, we know this is going to be rather sad. How could it not considering the growing number of lives lost. You can’t help but wonder did Ahmed or any of the faces we see manage to survive the last year of bombing.

This is a one of a kind film. It’s a film that shows us the life that has been lost and acts a reminder of the ability of the Palestinians to simply survive. The places that the men perform their tricks in are all largely bombed out or partially destroyed places. The places are in ruins but these men are alive in them doing wondrous things.

To be honest I’m not certain this film would have worked had the bombing taken place. Yes it would have been a very good look at parkour in Gaza, but the weight of current events, of things outside the original intention of the film, and which were inserted into it at the last minute have made the film something weightier and even better.  The film isn’t just about these guys, but instead it somehow has become about a bigger group of people.

When you see this film be aware that the pacing of the film is very deliberate and real. Zuaiter shows us conversations between herself and Ahmed as they watch videos of the acrobatics.  There is no quick cutting and jumping from thing to thing. It’s the clips as Ahmed made them. They aren’t amped up by flashy editing, we watch the moves in real time. The result is everything has added weight (more so since we see them crash).  

I was moved by the film.

This is the story of a bunch of people who we come to like and who we fear. As a result, thanks to Zuaiter’s being stationed in America, a film about how we deal with people we love who are in danger on the far side of the world.

This is a staggering achievement thanks to the films utterly simple construction.

Highly reommended.

AFTER WAR (2024) DOC NYC

Hybrid film mixes narrative, documentary interview transcriptions performed by actors, essay and other things to create a one of a kind film looking at the effect of war on the survivors. It’s truly unlike any other film you've seen that is impossible to either classify or describe. To be completely honest I’m not certain it really works since the lines spoken by the actors don’t always connect to the images. Additionally the actors staring hard into the camera works for a little bit but the intensity is a bit much.

Give the film a lot of points for trying to do something unique, but at the same time a little goes along way.

SUDAN, REMEMBER US (2024) DOC NYC 2024

This is a look at what happened in the wake of of the 2019 revolution in Sudan. A dictatorship that lasted three decades was removed. However, while the early days were filled with hope for a better tomorrow,  the various sides decided to step up and violence erupted. Hope was replaced with fear.

This is a very good look at events that most of us are not really aware of. I knew that there had been some shifts in leadership in Sudan, but I didn't really know what had happened. This film filled in a blind spot via the story of various people who were there and tried to do what was best.

I was moved.

Worth a look.

Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey (2024)

This is a look at the role of chaplains in the military. Using the discovery of the remains of a POW chaplain  after 70 years the film looks at the role of chaplains over the years and the sacrifices that they have made through interviews with chaplains who served in various conflicts over the last few years.

If you ever wanted to know what t’s like to be a chaplain both during and after deployment this film is for you. This is a film that tells you everything you wanted to know and then some  about the position. While the film focuses on a Christian chaplains the film also introduces us to other men of other faiths.

This is a solid film.

If I was to quibble with the film it’s that the film is a little too slick for my taste. I know from several friends who are men of the cloth of various faiths that the job is incredibly tough and takes a toll. While we get some of that in this film the film doesn’t quite lean in the way it should. I never quite felt the emotional connection I should have. I blame the editing which at times is a little too frenetic.

Quibble aside this is definitely worth a look.

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

 

Some how this Guy Ritchie film got lost. Despite getting really good reviews the film kind of went no where at the box office and I only caught it on cable.

The true story of a bunch of soldiers willing to fight war down and dirty, the film follows a band of misfits as they go to a Spanish island to stop a German freighter from being used as submarine supplier Ship.  Of course t goes side ways and in unexpected ways. Sporting a cast that includes Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding among others, the film is an old school film done with modern sensibility. Blood flows and curses spoken. It’s a film that doesn’t rely on rapid cutting for effect but on situation and character. The result is a wonderful popcorn film.

I had a blast.

Is it high art- no but it’s damn entertaining.

Recommended

Artifact War (2024) Austin Film Festival

Jump to see ARTIFACT WAR. This under the radar gem is one you’ll want to see repeatedly.

The film is the story of a group archaeologists and academics who, even before the war in Syria, took steps to chart the antiquities and museum artifacts in case anything happened. Once the war started and the factions inside the country either sought to steal the work or destroy it, they took steps to either rescue the material or provide a trail so that if anything ended up in the markets it could be identified as plundered.

A collection of talking heads, archival footage and recreations (because somethings were too dangerous to go shoot) this film pulls us in and drags us along. It tells a story that probably none of us have heard before, but which, thanks to films like the Indian Jones films we have more than a passing interest in.

I loved this film a great deal. I did not expect to get sucked into. I never looked at my watch, I just watched and waited for the next twist or turn.

What a delight.

And know that my saying that isn’t lessening the story being told, but rather it is a way of saying that because the story of trying to protect our heritage is told so compellingly people might be more willing to do something to help prevent this from happening again or at least be aware when something appears in museum or somewhere else to realize that it might have been looted.

Recommended.

Rule of 2 Walls (2023)

Artists in Ukraine attempt to make art in the middle of a war.

This look at life in Ukraine during the war is one of the best films I've seen on the conflict. While the film can feel a bit scattershot at times, it's rawer and realer than any film I've come across before. This is life as it is being lived and we are better for it.

The power of the film comes from several different places. The first is the fact that the film never looks away. this is the first film where we really see the destruction. We see the dead. The cost of the war is not an abstraction, rather it is real and right in front of us.  The camera never waivers. 

It also is wonderful that the film is presented by everyone on screen and behind it. We hear the voices of the filmmakers on all levels. They speak their truth to us as well as covering the truth of the artists whose work we are seeing. We are brought in to what it took to make this film including hearing the hold music of a credit card company.

Wonderfully there is real life in this film. There are moments scattered all through it, little bits, such as people singing in a stairway, others going to a concert, others picking up bodies, still others making art. While many of these moments are not connected to anything they add so much to what we are seeing because it shows us life as lived.

What I love about this film is it doesn't feel manufactured most other Ukraine documentaries feel as though they are stage managed, They are part of a propaganda machine to present a certain point of view, to show the Ukrainian people standing tall an muddling though a was that's largely in the distance. That isn't the case here. War is real, the bodies are real, people are living in ruins. The pieces are jagged and raw. Nothing is polished and so it feels lived in.

If you are like me, and you've seen a number of Ukraine film RULE OF TWO WALLS may end up being  a film that connects them all up. Many of the stories connect to tales told in other films. For example a sequence in Bucha connected to a film called WHEN SPRING CAME TO BUCHA which I watched a short time before. Other references connected to other films. My understanding of the war expanded.

This is an amazing film.

It's one of the best I've seen on the war and as such is recommended.

Burmese Harp (1956) opens at Film Forum October 18

With THE BURMESE HARP opening in a restore version at the Film Forum here is a piece I posted about ten years ago.

One of the first films I wanted to right up for Unseen was Kon Ichikawa‘s Harp of Burma or The Burmese Harp. Despite numerous efforts to do so I never have. The problem for me is that the film is so powerful and so moving to me that I can’t find the words. To me the humanity in the film is so powerful that it obliterates any of the flaws of the film (it’s a tad too mannered at times).

The film is set at the close of the Second World War in the Pacific. As the Japanese rally and try to make sense of what is going on one of their number will keep their spirits up by playing the harp. When the hostilities finally end, the men are placed into a camp by the Allies. However word of the end of the war hasn’t reached all the Japanese positions so they ask the prisoners if one would go into one of the strongholds and try to talk the men into surrendering. A man named Mizushima goes.The meeting doesn’t go well, he isn’t believed and the men think he is a traitor and they elect to fight to the last man. The end comes sooner then they think when the shelling resumes everyone is is killed. Everyone that is except Mizushima, who staggers out into the jungle. Not sure of what to do or where to go he wanders the countryside horrified that the bodies of his fellow comrades have been left to rot and decay where they were killed. Deciding he cannot allow this to be he decides to bury all of the dead where ever he finds them.

Almost five years on at Unseen I still don’t have the words. This film floors me each and every time I see it. And every time I see it I try to explain why it moves me so but I can’t find the words. What I always stumble on is how the film is a near perfect antiwar film, and how it is a touching memorial for those who died. It’s not just Japanese who died but anyone who died. We will remember. We will return you to a place of dignity despite the indignities of war and of your death. This is the return of humanity after the inhumanity of war.

I am beyond words. This film places me to somewhere that is all emotion and nothing else.

I don’t know what to say beyond just see it other than to say this is on my list of the greatest films ever made.