Rafick's Blog

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Best Prison Movies| Brubaker

In this prison movie the viewer is more captivated by the behavior of the different actors than by the harshness of the prison world, voluntarily dampened by the director to help offset the arrogance in the face of some and dismay in others. While Cool Hand Luke highlights the main character and his influence on prisoners, Brubaker allows us to make judgments not only about how the management of penal institutions, but also to inform us about the means used by local officials to change things. And when a captain decides to sail in troubled waters, the political world does not provide him with many buoys. Hats off to Yaphet Kotto, who, after Alien and The Star Chamber, charms us by her fine interpretation , especially in the scene of the intimate dinner in the private quarters of the Brubaker. One of the top prison movies.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Why I Like to Watch Holocaust Movies

When I was a student in France, in the 70s, I didn't understand the importance of remembering. I recall that once a friend spoke of the work of Serge Klarsfeld, who was tracking down former Nazi officials, and I told him that it was all bullshit, that what had happened had happened and it was best to forget it all. It was only a few years later, when I read about the atrocity of the Shoah, that I realized my blunder. Since then, I have read a lot about the atrocities committed by man on man over history, and I have understood that the best way to prevent them is to always speak about them, to write about them, to make movies about them, to watch movies about them. This is why I like to watch Holocaust Movies. They help me remember. We have to forgive, but never forget. As the Russian saying goes, if we forgive, we lose one eye, but if we forget, we lose both eyes.

Prison Movies--Unforgettable Moments

There are two moments in prison movies I will never forget: 1. When Andy is finally out of Shawshank and raises his hands in joy to the sky. 2. When Billy Hayes realizes he has finally escaped from jail and starts to run. The happiness that I feel in those two moments is indescribable,and at the same time my thoughts go to the terrible injustice that reign in most countries, to the corrupt and incompetent judges responsible for this state of affairs.