There is only one advantage to having food poisoning. You are so horribly ill you can do nothing but watch movies. Yeah!

I managed three Rotten Tomatoes films in 36 hours! They had absolutely nothing in common except for the fact that they were extraordinary within their own genres; a black and white Japanese action flick from the 1950’s, an American war film directed by a woman and a ‘romantic comedy’ written and directed by and starring the French actress July Delpy.

‘Seven Samurai’ (1954) has been labelled as one of the most influential films ever made. I believe it. It was released in 1954, but still had me spellbound in January 2010.

In a nutshell…

A group of farmers needs to hire exactly seven samurais to protect their village from marauding bandits. It is not an easy task as Samurais were soldiers for hire at the end of the 16^th century and charged exorbitant amounts for their services.

The mood of the film…

‘Seven Samurai’, even though it clocks in at 3h28min, is highly entertaining to watch. It is filled with lots of humour, heroics and drama. If released today it would be categorised as an action adventure.

Kikochiyo, a gruff-looking Samurai wannabe, is the highlight of the film. He behaves like a petulant teenager that mocks the villagers, the Samurais and the bandits in equal parts. The children adore him and follow him around the village. In one scene where he mocks a particularly old villager and the children giggle incessantly, he threatens to charge them admission.

It is however his tragic past (which I am not giving away) and understanding of the farmer’s plight that lends the film its emotional depth.

Best one liner…

When the Elder instructs the villagers to employ samurais, they complain saying that samurais are too expensive to recruit.

The Elder replies, ‘We can only afford to feed them. Find hungry samurai.”

Best scene…

A bandit is caught and held for interrogation by the samurai. They have a hard time to keep the villagers from killing him. The bandits steal their food, kill their sons and rape their daughters. Still the samurai keep on protecting the lone bandit. That is until a decrepit woman, who was left destitute and without any family, walks through the crowd. She is barely able to hold up the sharp farming tool. They let her through with an anonymous onlooker saying, ‘Let the old woman avenge the death of her son in any way she sees fit.’

Goosebumps.

What makes this film relevant today?

It portrays seven samurai who give up money and their usual status for the protection of those in need. We need a couple of dudes like that.

Rotten Tomatoes Score

100%

Youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZl2M8BLERs

‘The Hurt Locker’ (2009) opens with a quote that says war is a drug. From there on in you are glued to the screen.

In a nutshell…

The American bomb squads defusing bombs in Iraq live dangerous lives. They become addicted to the adrenaline up to a point where nothing else matters, not their wives or newborn children. They only feel alive when they are ‘at work’.

The mood of the film…

‘The Hurt Locker’ is suspenseful. You believe every bomb they defuse is going to explode, that every onlooker is a terrorist and that Sergeant James is going to go over the edge at any minute. Kathryn Bigelow, the director, successfully achieves that with long, lingering shots and pauses in conversations.

Best one liner…

Sergeant James takes off his heavy, protective gear whilst defusing a massive bomb. His defence?

‘There’s enough bang in there to blow us all to Jesus. If I’m gonna die, I want to die comfortable.’

Best scene…

An Iraqi calls for help. Against his will a bomb has been locked to his torso and he does not want to die. James feverishly tries to cut the locks, while an Iraqi policeman interprets their conversation from a distance. When James realizes the time is running out, he apologizes over and over, but ultimately runs away to save his own life. The man looks up in the air, says a prayer and explodes.

What makes the film relevant today?

Do I need to say anything?

Rotten Tomatoes Score

97%

Youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GxSDZc8etg

‘2 Days in Paris’ (2007) is not what I would call a romantic comedy. Yes, there is romance and there is comedy, but also fear, loss, rejection and sexual politics.

In a nutshell…

After a two week holiday in Venice, Jack (a New Yorker) and Marion (a Parisienne) spend two days in Paris on their way home to New York. Jack is introduced to Marion’s parents (wonderfully played by Delpy’s real life parents), her circle of friends and myriad of ex-boyfriends. Jealousy, shock, lies and deceit follow suit.

The mood of the film…

‘2 Days in Paris’ feels like a female Woody Allen film. There is profound dialogue, but also mindless banter, incredibly dry wit, the usual voyeurism and then a lot of smoking and drinking.

Initially the obvious cultural differences between the pair are highlighted. Jack is the more straight-laced American, where Marion is the free spirited, sexually promiscuous French girl. Luckily Delpy takes the film a step further by delving into fear and rejection that lies underneath the superficial behaviour. The whimsical ending, which I won’t give away, came as quite a surprise.

Best one-liner…

The script is filled with unbelievable one-liners. It was hard to choose one, but here it is. When quizzed about why Jack wants to visit Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris, he replies, ‘I’m a huge Val Kilmer fan’. Val Kilmer played Jim Morrison in the film ‘The Doors’!

Best scene…

Marion and Jack arrive in Paris exhausted after a 12hour train trip. It’s raining, the taxi cue is long and Jack is grumpy. The tourist group in front turns around to ask Jack directions to the Louvre. They are Americans on a Dan Brown code cracking tour. One girl wears a Bush/Cheney T-shirt. He kindly points them in a direction and urges them to walk as it is so close no taxi will take them there.

He lied to them. He doesn’t know where the Louvre is, but now they’re in front of the taxi cue. His excuse? They’re on a code cracking tour and they voted for Bush. They deserve it.

What makes the film relevant today?

Relationships are complex. In a society where we consume, throw away and move on, this film might make you think twice about your reasons for moving on.

Rotten Tomatoes Score

85%

Youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8raqLzb3rQ