Jason Lancaster

Directed by Lindsay Goodall 

Director Lindsay Goodall documents her grandmother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and the hardship it places on the family. This film follows a discussion where Goodall and her grandmother (Irene) talk about staying at an assisted living home for a week. Irene repeatedly forgets and at one point believes she is going to France. She does eventually go to the assisted living home and returns.

Goodall shows the burden the family is under and the humor that holds them together. The film was short, concise, and presented in a way that kept the audience focused. Goodall also did a good job showing how Irene could not physically take care of herself; while at the same time, Irene refused to believe she needed an assisted living home. 

Directed by Ira Sachs 

Harry (Chris Cooper) is a husband in the 1940’s who loves his wife (Patricia Clarkson) but feels she is too physical and lacks the emotional connection he needs. He meets with his best friend Richard (Pierce Brosnan) to discuss leaving his wife for another woman, Kay (Rachel McAdam). Richard suggests staying married and keeping Kay as a mistress.Harry decides he cannot stay with both women and his wife must be the one to go, for good.

Married Life is a classical narrative that starts slow but has a good build up and an unpredictable ending. There are numerous plot twists that keep you anticipating the next scene. When you think you know how the film is going to end something new will happen. This film was well directed with attention to detail; such as the chain smoking and era accurate set design. 

Directed by Trygve Allister Diesen and Lucky Mckee.

Brian Cox plays a 65 year old veteran who has lost his immediate family and now runs a small general goods store in the American Northwest. Three local kids try to rob him at gun point while he’s fishing but when they find out he had nothing worth stealing they shot his dog. Cox struggles to get justice for the death of his dog in an honorable way by going through the law. By film’s end, he decides on a more direct approach.

The film has frequent inconsistencies in the plot and was poorly adapted. The way the directors chose to add bits of the main character’s history along the way was confusing and often distracted from the main storyline. There were also characters such as Pete and his family that could have been left out completely or developed more. The reporter’s employment changes without explanation and seems to be done out of weak writing. This adaptation from a novel by Jack Ketchum has a sense of being in principal photography while being written at the same time; the background of the main character comes peace-meal as the story progresses.   

Mechanical Love – Directed by Phie Ambo

Mechanical Love is a documentary that follows a Japanese professor as he tries to make the perfect android or “geminoid” [a replica of a human]. He has made a very life like, full-scale version of himself that he uses to test his family’s interaction with the “geminoid.” The film also follows Pero, a robotic seal that is being tested in nursing homes around the world. Ambo documents the effect of the robotic pet that has been used in place of a lost pet or family member. Other reactions to this kind of “mechanical love” around the world are also presented in the film.

This is an insightful documentary presented on old 70’s style film stock. The reactions to the Pero robot were interesting and the older grade film added a very independent film feel, but there were many slow parts that could have been left out. Overall this film requires an interest in personal relationships and psychology with a bit of patients, otherwise you might find you’re just waiting for the end. 

The Song of Sparrows (Avaze Gonjeshk-ha) – Directed by Majid Majidi

A father, living on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran loses his job as a farm hand on an ostrich ranch. The father, Karim (played by Reza Naji)  struggles  to find a job and provide for his family. Along  the way, he experiences moral and personal conflicts that test his faith and his character.

Majidi writes an incredible story with overlaping metaphors that take the audience on their own emotional and moral journey. Some of the metaphors aren’t obvious at first but after talking with friends afterward you’ll realize this is a very well planned out and directed film. Anyone interested in full character development, both of the main character and the supporting players, should make a point to see this film.