Have you even seen a movie that was suspenseful, intriguing, intense and at the end, you had no idea what to make of it?
I went with a group of people to see the Black Swan and I have no idea what happened at the end of the movie. I'm not going to give you any information about the story, since it is incredibly suspenseful I don't want to spoil it. As we stood up at the end of the movie we all looked at each other and asked, "What just happened?"
The story was tough at times, but I really enjoyed it and I want to go see it again. I want to try to better understand the twists and turns in the plot of the story. There were some issues with understanding some of the dialogue.
Luckily there were the Hebrew subtitles that they always have at the bottom of the screen. I was excited because they helped me understand some of the things I missed. The only problem with the sub-titles was the fact that they disappeared to quickly. It's great that my Hebrew is getting better.
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
And Thou Shalt Love
Our Israel Seminar class is taking us on a strange journey through many layers of Israeli society and Israel itself. On Wednesday, this week, we visited a very interesting film school, Ma'ale. From what was explained to us, this is a film school for Orthodox Jews in Israel.
We were given a short introduction by one of their directors/writers, Chaim Elbaum. He explained some of the ways they deal with issues of modesty, yet still teach film creation. Apparently the school only shows certain films in class, and then leaves it up to the students that decide for themselves, what else they want to be exposed to.
The goal of the school is to put another view of the "Orthodox World" on screen. They want to show that there is more to "Orthodoxy" in Israel that HaUshpizin. However, they are not without controversy, I mean, what kind of a film school would it be if they didn't have some. As it turns out, the man we got to meet was responsible for creating and directing this film.
The film, ואהבת (And Thou Shalt Love), was incredible. Chaim Elbaum told a great story about a young man, who is gay and orthodox. The main character struggles with these two identities because they are supposedly mutually exclusive. Many ways of dealing with this situation are explored in the movie, and I don't want to spoil if for you. I will only recommend that you take the time to watch it. It should be available at Ma'ale's website.
I wish we would have had more time to talk with Elbaum, he had a very interesting story to tell us. Instead we also got to screen two other movies. But there was something so personal about watching someone's work with them in the room. Especially when the story is so moving and deals with such a difficult topic.
We were given a short introduction by one of their directors/writers, Chaim Elbaum. He explained some of the ways they deal with issues of modesty, yet still teach film creation. Apparently the school only shows certain films in class, and then leaves it up to the students that decide for themselves, what else they want to be exposed to.
The goal of the school is to put another view of the "Orthodox World" on screen. They want to show that there is more to "Orthodoxy" in Israel that HaUshpizin. However, they are not without controversy, I mean, what kind of a film school would it be if they didn't have some. As it turns out, the man we got to meet was responsible for creating and directing this film.
The film, ואהבת (And Thou Shalt Love), was incredible. Chaim Elbaum told a great story about a young man, who is gay and orthodox. The main character struggles with these two identities because they are supposedly mutually exclusive. Many ways of dealing with this situation are explored in the movie, and I don't want to spoil if for you. I will only recommend that you take the time to watch it. It should be available at Ma'ale's website.
I wish we would have had more time to talk with Elbaum, he had a very interesting story to tell us. Instead we also got to screen two other movies. But there was something so personal about watching someone's work with them in the room. Especially when the story is so moving and deals with such a difficult topic.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Harry Potter 7, pt 1
Last Saturday night, after havdallah, I tried to go see Harry Potter 7, pt 1. What we underestimated was the large amount of people interested in seeing the movie in Israel.
The theatre was absolutely packed and even though there were two showings at 9:00 and 9:30, and another one at 10:30, we couldn't find six seats in a theater. So we bought tickets for the next day we were all free (we had already discussed it because one of my classmates had called us to warn of this possibility). Wednesday night it was.
We got there just before the movie was to start and got to our seats. The theater was packed. Last time I saw a movie, I had waited a few months before I had a chance to go see it. The theater was empty at that point, this was my first, real, "Israeli" movie experience. Culture Shock strikes again!
First of all, the movie just started and people were still filling the theater. Not normally a problem except that seats are assigned. Which meant that people had to continue kicking other people out of their seats for the first ten minutes of the showing. Then they wouldn't stop talking.
Even better was when there were scenes that were "racy". I put that in quotes because they weren't really racy, but the reaction from some of the people in the theater made it seem like this was over the line. This one kid kept whistling until people laughed and clapped for him. Then it took another 30 seconds for people to stop talking about his whistling, and then another 10 seconds for people to stop shushing each other.
This shouldn't have been an problem, but it happened a few different times during the movie.
Surprise intermission! I think I talked about this last time, when I wrote about seeing Inception.
At almost the midpoint of the movie, it doesn't really matter what was happening, the lights turn on and movie stops. The intermission lasts about 5 minutes. I'm not sure what it is supposed to accomplish any more. I have a feeling that it is something that has been happening for years.
After the last movie I saw, I talked to some classmates about it. The best idea we could come up with is that this was instituted a long, long time ago, when people could still smoke in theaters. It seems like just the right amount of time for someone who would have wanted to dig in their bags and light a cigarette. Fortunately, you cannot smoke in theaters. But like many things, this is something that is just too ingrained in the culture here to get rid of it.
You might be thinking, "Maybe it has to do with letting people go buy more snacks or go to the bathroom." I thought that too. But the break is not long enough for one person to really get to the bathroom and back. Even more so, for half a theater to get downstairs to buy some food or hit the bathrooms. Any other ideas? I can't think of a good reason for it.
Anyway,
The movie is still really new, so I won't spoil any of the story. I've been a Harry Potter fan since the fourth book came out. I can't wait to see the second half of this movie, and I'll probably re-read some of the books before that. This summer will give me a little free time! The good part is that I will be back in the states to watch the end of this series with Kait.
The theatre was absolutely packed and even though there were two showings at 9:00 and 9:30, and another one at 10:30, we couldn't find six seats in a theater. So we bought tickets for the next day we were all free (we had already discussed it because one of my classmates had called us to warn of this possibility). Wednesday night it was.
We got there just before the movie was to start and got to our seats. The theater was packed. Last time I saw a movie, I had waited a few months before I had a chance to go see it. The theater was empty at that point, this was my first, real, "Israeli" movie experience. Culture Shock strikes again!
First of all, the movie just started and people were still filling the theater. Not normally a problem except that seats are assigned. Which meant that people had to continue kicking other people out of their seats for the first ten minutes of the showing. Then they wouldn't stop talking.
Even better was when there were scenes that were "racy". I put that in quotes because they weren't really racy, but the reaction from some of the people in the theater made it seem like this was over the line. This one kid kept whistling until people laughed and clapped for him. Then it took another 30 seconds for people to stop talking about his whistling, and then another 10 seconds for people to stop shushing each other.
This shouldn't have been an problem, but it happened a few different times during the movie.
Surprise intermission! I think I talked about this last time, when I wrote about seeing Inception.
At almost the midpoint of the movie, it doesn't really matter what was happening, the lights turn on and movie stops. The intermission lasts about 5 minutes. I'm not sure what it is supposed to accomplish any more. I have a feeling that it is something that has been happening for years.
After the last movie I saw, I talked to some classmates about it. The best idea we could come up with is that this was instituted a long, long time ago, when people could still smoke in theaters. It seems like just the right amount of time for someone who would have wanted to dig in their bags and light a cigarette. Fortunately, you cannot smoke in theaters. But like many things, this is something that is just too ingrained in the culture here to get rid of it.
You might be thinking, "Maybe it has to do with letting people go buy more snacks or go to the bathroom." I thought that too. But the break is not long enough for one person to really get to the bathroom and back. Even more so, for half a theater to get downstairs to buy some food or hit the bathrooms. Any other ideas? I can't think of a good reason for it.
Anyway,
The movie is still really new, so I won't spoil any of the story. I've been a Harry Potter fan since the fourth book came out. I can't wait to see the second half of this movie, and I'll probably re-read some of the books before that. This summer will give me a little free time! The good part is that I will be back in the states to watch the end of this series with Kait.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Are Movies An Educational Expense?
On Tuesday night, I went to see Inception with a couple of other students. The first thing is that the movie was great! I was completely sold on the idea, I loved watching it happen and the idea is far-fetched but it is also just plausible enough to draw me in and suspend any disbelief. Even the very slim premise for him taking the job. I'm not going to give you a spoiler alert because this is the last that I will talk about the movie.
The movie experience here is very similar to home with a few exceptions. The first one is intermission. Yeah, there is an intermission in the middle of the movie. And it is actually in Davkah the middle of the movie. In this case, it was right in the middle of a great action scene and the lights just turned on.
I also loved the subtitles. The movie was in English, but there were Hebrew subtitles. It was great! I while I was trying to watch the movie, I tried to follow the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. What a great way to test my Hebrew. I know the story, I know what is happening because the actual movie is in English. Yet I was learning real Hebrew words. It's not that I haven't been learning anything in Hebrew class or in Ulpan. It's just different to see words that people would understand and would use in day to day live.
I really enjoyed the fact that when the characters would yell out, "Jesus Christ!" The subtitle would read, "אלהים" (Elohim!). Not quite what I would expect, but something I would actually want to know about the day to day language.
So my question persists, if I start going to tons of movies to practice my Hebrew, does this count as an educational expense?
Davkah is a Hebrew word that in day to day language doesn't have a real meaning in English. From what I understand, it can be used to mean exactly. But if said with a sarcastic tone, it implies the exact opposite.
Elohim is the Hebrew word for God, in a specific sense, the God of the Jewish people. El is the term for god. Without going into a philosophical discussion, just take Elohim to mean God.
The movie experience here is very similar to home with a few exceptions. The first one is intermission. Yeah, there is an intermission in the middle of the movie. And it is actually in Davkah the middle of the movie. In this case, it was right in the middle of a great action scene and the lights just turned on.
I also loved the subtitles. The movie was in English, but there were Hebrew subtitles. It was great! I while I was trying to watch the movie, I tried to follow the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. What a great way to test my Hebrew. I know the story, I know what is happening because the actual movie is in English. Yet I was learning real Hebrew words. It's not that I haven't been learning anything in Hebrew class or in Ulpan. It's just different to see words that people would understand and would use in day to day live.
I really enjoyed the fact that when the characters would yell out, "Jesus Christ!" The subtitle would read, "אלהים" (Elohim!). Not quite what I would expect, but something I would actually want to know about the day to day language.
So my question persists, if I start going to tons of movies to practice my Hebrew, does this count as an educational expense?
Davkah is a Hebrew word that in day to day language doesn't have a real meaning in English. From what I understand, it can be used to mean exactly. But if said with a sarcastic tone, it implies the exact opposite.
Elohim is the Hebrew word for God, in a specific sense, the God of the Jewish people. El is the term for god. Without going into a philosophical discussion, just take Elohim to mean God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)