{"id":888,"date":"2005-02-20T15:48:02","date_gmt":"2005-02-20T20:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/?p=888"},"modified":"2018-11-16T10:11:33","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T15:11:33","slug":"les-choristes-and-la-mala-educacion-and-mar-adentro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/?p=888","title":{"rendered":"Les Choristes and La mala educacion and Mar adentro"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have seen three outstanding movies in the last two weeks. They are very different yet have things in common: two are Spanish films and two of them deal with boarding school memories.
\nLet me start with the Christophe Barratier French film \u201cLes choristes\u201d. It is set in a small remote village in post war France. Most of the action takes place in a boarding school for unruly boys. An out of work music teacher gets a job there as a supervisor\u2026and slowly gains the boys\u2019 trust and cooperation by starting a choir. There are amusing scenes and beautiful ones too. One of the boys has a beautiful voice\u2026and face\u2026It is a touching film. A bit reminiscent of \u201cChocolat\u201d and, in a lesser way, of \u201cAm\u00e9lie\u201d, there is sensuousness in French films that comes through no matter what the story line. This is a feel good movie\u2026in the end.
\nIf you want to see a teaser check out:\u00a0http:\/\/www.leschoristes-lefilm.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The second movie also deals with a boy\u2019s boarding school, but in a very different way and mostly, with a totally opposite outcome. It is the Pedro Almodovar film \u201cLa mala educacion\u201d. This is a beautiful film but a troubling one. The story line is a mix of flash backs which is confusing at first. The music is impressive, the colors and images are very strong. One of the main actors is incredibly good looking both as a girl and as a boy. As in his previous movies Almodovar deals with transvestites, his depiction seems to be getting bolder with every new film. In this film he points the finger at the priests who taught in that boarding school. This film is visually a gem\u2026but leaves the viewer somewhat uncomfortable.
\nAgain if you want a teaser:http:\/\/www.lamauvaiseeducation-lefilm.com\/<\/a>
\nFinally the third movie: Alejandro Amen\u00e1bar\u2019s film titled \u201c Mar adentro\u201d (The sea inside). This is the kind of film you never forget\u2026you have flashbacks\u2026it is visually striking but mostly it is the actors and their roles that make the film. The story is deceptively simple: it is about a man (Ramon) who has been a quadriplegic for 28 years and wants to be allowed to die. He lives in his brother\u2019s house with their father, his brother and his wife and their son. He hires a lawyer to present his case to the courts but he requests a lawyer who has a degenerative disease\u2026it turns out to be a beautiful woman (who resembles Catherine Deneuve but with acting abilities) add to the group another lawyer and an activist and finally a young village woman. Each one has a very intense and unique relationship with Ramon. Ramon himself is so endearing, you are constantly torn between wanting to keep him alive because he is so nice and letting him die because that is what he so desperately wants. There are scenes that take you breath away. There is humor too\u2026and tears\u2026. A truly beautiful film. It is not depressing but it is very sad\u2026
\nThis teaser is not representative of the whole thing but I feel than nothing short of the full film can do it justice:\u00a0http:\/\/www.cinoche.com\/trailers\/1008\/1122<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have seen three outstanding movies in the last two weeks. They are very different yet have things in common: two are Spanish films and two of them deal with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-and-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=888"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1703,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions\/1703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}