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Jul. 8th, 2011
Congolese movie is Congolese
Jul. 8th, 2011 11:46 pmHey,
So tonight I went in to Kendall to see Viva Riva, a crime noir film set in the Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and directed by a Congolese filmmaker.
The basic story is that Kinshasa is starved for gasoline. Riva shows up with a truck full of gas and he and his partner are planning to sell it in a few days for mad cash. Riva then goes out on the town and promptly falls head over heels for the girlfriend of the local mafia kingpin. Meanwhile, the Angolian mobster Riva stole the gas from arrives in the Congo to get back his gas and make Riva pay.
This film is Brutal. The violence isn't super-gory it's...realistic. People who get punched fall down and then they get beat up some more and it breaks them. People cry and scream and bleed and none of it is stylish or over-the-top. It's not an easy film to watch.
The gas and the money it represents corrupts pretty much everyone who finds out about it and it drags them down. Everyone in the movie is hustling, trying to work an angle for the big score that will get them out and most of them drown in their own petty schemes.
There are also some smoking hot sex scenes, but that doesn't make the violence any easier to take. Oh, actually, no one in the movie gets raped even though that'd be an easy out for a film set in the Congo. All the sex is consensual (although often paid for). In addition, a couple of the women are really capable and one in particular is every bit as dangerous as the guys.
I think it's a good movie, I think that violence conveys, on a small scale, the tragedy that's beset the Congo for years. It's metphors aren't subtle, but they are effective.
I actually do think it's a good film, but I can't recommend it without putting a big TRIGGER WARNING around the whole thing. Also? Not a good first date movie.
later
Tom
So tonight I went in to Kendall to see Viva Riva, a crime noir film set in the Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and directed by a Congolese filmmaker.
The basic story is that Kinshasa is starved for gasoline. Riva shows up with a truck full of gas and he and his partner are planning to sell it in a few days for mad cash. Riva then goes out on the town and promptly falls head over heels for the girlfriend of the local mafia kingpin. Meanwhile, the Angolian mobster Riva stole the gas from arrives in the Congo to get back his gas and make Riva pay.
This film is Brutal. The violence isn't super-gory it's...realistic. People who get punched fall down and then they get beat up some more and it breaks them. People cry and scream and bleed and none of it is stylish or over-the-top. It's not an easy film to watch.
The gas and the money it represents corrupts pretty much everyone who finds out about it and it drags them down. Everyone in the movie is hustling, trying to work an angle for the big score that will get them out and most of them drown in their own petty schemes.
There are also some smoking hot sex scenes, but that doesn't make the violence any easier to take. Oh, actually, no one in the movie gets raped even though that'd be an easy out for a film set in the Congo. All the sex is consensual (although often paid for). In addition, a couple of the women are really capable and one in particular is every bit as dangerous as the guys.
I think it's a good movie, I think that violence conveys, on a small scale, the tragedy that's beset the Congo for years. It's metphors aren't subtle, but they are effective.
I actually do think it's a good film, but I can't recommend it without putting a big TRIGGER WARNING around the whole thing. Also? Not a good first date movie.
later
Tom
Congolese movie is Congolese
Jul. 8th, 2011 11:46 pmHey,
So tonight I went in to Kendall to see Viva Riva, a crime noir film set in the Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and directed by a Congolese filmmaker.
The basic story is that Kinshasa is starved for gasoline. Riva shows up with a truck full of gas and he and his partner are planning to sell it in a few days for mad cash. Riva then goes out on the town and promptly falls head over heels for the girlfriend of the local mafia kingpin. Meanwhile, the Angolian mobster Riva stole the gas from arrives in the Congo to get back his gas and make Riva pay.
This film is Brutal. The violence isn't super-gory it's...realistic. People who get punched fall down and then they get beat up some more and it breaks them. People cry and scream and bleed and none of it is stylish or over-the-top. It's not an easy film to watch.
The gas and the money it represents corrupts pretty much everyone who finds out about it and it drags them down. Everyone in the movie is hustling, trying to work an angle for the big score that will get them out and most of them drown in their own petty schemes.
There are also some smoking hot sex scenes, but that doesn't make the violence any easier to take. Oh, actually, no one in the movie gets raped even though that'd be an easy out for a film set in the Congo. All the sex is consensual (although often paid for). In addition, a couple of the women are really capable and one in particular is every bit as dangerous as the guys.
I think it's a good movie, I think that violence conveys, on a small scale, the tragedy that's beset the Congo for years. It's metphors aren't subtle, but they are effective.
I actually do think it's a good film, but I can't recommend it without putting a big TRIGGER WARNING around the whole thing. Also? Not a good first date movie.
later
Tom
So tonight I went in to Kendall to see Viva Riva, a crime noir film set in the Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and directed by a Congolese filmmaker.
The basic story is that Kinshasa is starved for gasoline. Riva shows up with a truck full of gas and he and his partner are planning to sell it in a few days for mad cash. Riva then goes out on the town and promptly falls head over heels for the girlfriend of the local mafia kingpin. Meanwhile, the Angolian mobster Riva stole the gas from arrives in the Congo to get back his gas and make Riva pay.
This film is Brutal. The violence isn't super-gory it's...realistic. People who get punched fall down and then they get beat up some more and it breaks them. People cry and scream and bleed and none of it is stylish or over-the-top. It's not an easy film to watch.
The gas and the money it represents corrupts pretty much everyone who finds out about it and it drags them down. Everyone in the movie is hustling, trying to work an angle for the big score that will get them out and most of them drown in their own petty schemes.
There are also some smoking hot sex scenes, but that doesn't make the violence any easier to take. Oh, actually, no one in the movie gets raped even though that'd be an easy out for a film set in the Congo. All the sex is consensual (although often paid for). In addition, a couple of the women are really capable and one in particular is every bit as dangerous as the guys.
I think it's a good movie, I think that violence conveys, on a small scale, the tragedy that's beset the Congo for years. It's metphors aren't subtle, but they are effective.
I actually do think it's a good film, but I can't recommend it without putting a big TRIGGER WARNING around the whole thing. Also? Not a good first date movie.
later
Tom