Foreign films comparable to coffee

Movies from Kinshasa to Korea refresh mind

I’m beginning to develop an enormous affection for foreign films. It has developed the same way as my love for coffee. I tried it once and didn’t really like it. I tried it again and it was a little better. I had it a few more times and then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t get enough.

This, of course, might have something to do with the addictive nature of caffeine, but foreign movies have struck a similar chord, minus the chemical dependency.

The chilly weather and getting all four of my wisdom teeth removed has greatly increased the amount of time I in front of the TV. My second stop after my dental surgery was Hastings video store. I knew that I wouldn’t and probably shouldn’t be doing much after filling my prescription for Hydrocodone. So I rented a ton of movies from countries I didn’t even know had cinema.

The first film, “Viva Riva!” by Congolese writer and director Djo Tunda Wa Munga, was pretty much badass. If he and Martin Scorsese joined forces, they would dominate Hollywood. “Viva Riva!” is a revenge thriller set in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Small town hustler, Riva, starts making the big bucks when he gets involved with smuggling gasoline, a precious commodity in Kinshasa. In no time he gets caught up between the local gangster and his gorgeous Nubian girlfriend, while lethal Algerians who he stole the gasoline from are on his tail. It’s noir style filmmaking mixed with African mystique. It will probably blow your mind, but be warned. This movie is highly graphic.

The second film, “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” by Thai writer and director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, caught my eye immediately. The cover of the DVD depicted a creepy looking black, Sasquatch-looking figure with glowing red eyes. In the movie, this creature turns out to be the ghostly return of one of Uncle Boonmee’s sons.

Set in the beautiful Thai countryside, the film follows Uncle Boonmee’s nightly visits from his deceased wife and son during his impending kidney failure. The film was highly ambient and experimental. I’ll admit that some of it went over my head. The luscious Thai scenery was captivating and the display of Thai perceptions on death, such as reincarnation, was fascinating.

The third film, “I Think I’m a Cyborg, but it’s OK,” by Korean writer and director Chan-wook Park, was the weirdest and most challenging film to watch. The movie was in the melodic language of Korean, but there was a lot of inner and outer dialogue that occurred simultaneously, making subtitles confusing. The second reason, and the reason why I liked it, was because it was purposefully quirky.

A girl, traumatized by her grandma being carted off to a mental institution because she thought she was a rodent, is committed to a different mental institution after she tries to “recharge her batteries” by sticking a live wire into her vein. She is convinced she is a cyborg. At the mental institution she meets a troubled young man who falls in love with her and helps save her, not by shattering her “fantasy,” but by becoming a part of it. What surprised me most about this film was how funny it was. Park delivered the dark comedy and underlying deep messages that I enjoy in Coen brother’s films.

So try something new and feed your mind with some coffee and a freaky, fantastic foreign film.