MAMI 2014 ended on a personal high note for me this year. I made it a point to watch some movies purely to rekindle nostalgia from places I have visited in the past. And while the majority of movies here are from France, their setting and locales have completely different meanings for me. Read on to find out about these cinematic gems.
Theeb
Shot partly in Wadi Rum in Jordan, my latest destination, this was a superb movie about a young boy named Theeb who follows his elder brother and a Britisher carrying a mysterious box into the wilderness of the Arabian desert. The haunting background score and superb performances made this one of my favourite movies at MAMI this year.
Lessons In Dissent
Lessons In Dissent is perhaps the most relevant documentary of the current situation in Hong Kong. Featuring youngsters who have taken on the mantle of saving the country’s education system from getting China’s Communist overtones, this documentary traces the journey of the pro-democracy protests that has gripped the special administrative region since the British returned Hong Kong to China.
Weekends In Normandy
I visited Normandy to see the remnants of World War I. Weekends in Normandy was a much more timid subject in comparison. This movie tells the story of two couples as they grow old together and face the sorrows and joys of being with as well as without one another. Sort of like rom-com for oldies. It does have some spectacular views of the Brittany and Normandy regions though.
Girlhood
Girlhood is a coming-of-age story that features some of the less touristy places of Paris that you should have previously visited to appreciate. Whether it’s the gigantic Les Halles metro station or La Defense part of Paris, this movie is a treat for those who have ventured beyond Paris’ major attractions as I did.
French Riviera
There was no way I was going to miss the most special part of my France trip. Whereas this movie focuses the places around Nice and brings in casinos and a real-life murder mystery, my own journey stretched from Bordeaux to Monaco along the entire stretch of the Riviera. Superb memories rekindled personally though I can’t say the same about the movie.
Special mention: The Big Journey
You can watch this entire movie from the link above if you understand French. The Big Journey takes a devout father and his reluctant son on a journey from France to Mecca and is punctuated by many touching moments that made this one of my favourite movies at the Mumbai Film Festival.
What movies have caught your attention from your travels? Do let me know in the comments below.
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