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| Syd |
 Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 8:40 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I'm watching The Secret of the Grain, which features a very extended family of a Tunisian man and I'm still trying to figure out the relationships. It doesn't help that the character identified by Netflix as his mistress is actually his daughter (it's not THAT kinky a movie) and IMDb lists a man as playing the mistress (not that kinky either). Still waiting for something interesting to happen and i'm 48 minutes in. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 9:26 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| This is, of course, assuming Hatika Karaoui didn't have a sex-change operation to become Mohamed Karaoui or vice-versa. It seems to be her only role (at least until Marc tells me she's an ex-porn star). |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 9:39 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| Really enjoyed the Russian film Mermaid (aka Rusalka). It's pretty much a quirkfest, but it's got a great pace, some very funny moments, nice camera work, and avoids missteps. One unique feature was the way billboards and signs with their generic optimistic messages seemed to comment on the proceedings. Credit to Trigon films for nicely subtitling those. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 10:33 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| There are several films with that title. Is that the 2007 film? |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:02 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Yes.
It was also Russia's 2009 Academy Awards submission to Foreign-Language Film category. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 12:44 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The Secret of the Grain manages the feat of putting about five hour-long scenes in a movie that lasts two-and-a-half hours. For this feat, it won the Cesar. This is from the country that coined the word "Sadism."
This seems to have been an active decision by the director to increase tension by expanding sections to the point of tedium and beyond.
The film does have its merits. The movie is about a Tunisian immigrant to France who has worked in a shipyard for 35 years and is being eased out of his job. He has a large extended family through his ex-wife, and currently lives in a hotel where the owner is his mistress and the mistress's daughter Rym is practically his adopted daughter. After this girl impresses on him how great his wife's couscous's are, he decides to use his severance pay and family to open a shipboard couscous restaurant with his ex-wife as cook and his family as employees so his children and grandchildren (and Rym) will have something after he dies. Rym, who is extremely bright and picked up business skills from her mother (who started off with nothing), is his business manager through the red tape.
The first hour is spent introducing us to everybody and nothing much happens for a good part of it. It picks up an hour into it when the plot about creating the restaurant begins, but is undermined by overlong sequences. The acting is generally good and natural, the standout for me being 20-year-old Hafsia Herzi who won a well-deserved Cesar for most promising newcomer. She and Hiam Abbass (The Visitor) are in "The Dawn of the World" which I'll have to check out if it's been released in America. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 4:05 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Maybe the film is a visual metaphor for couscous which is small and bland, light and fluffy, and seemingly endless with whatever dish.
Or maybe I just don't like couscous much, which seems to me to be a weird attempt to make wheat into rice and losing anything of value in the process.
I have the film but haven't been motivated to watch it yet. Believe Ghulam enjoyed it. I would like to see a Tunisian film and it's probably one of the few I have ... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 9:07 am |
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Location: Black Hills
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| I missed TSOTG at the local arthouse, but heard people praise it a lot. I wouldn't usually gravitate to a film about someone opening a couscous (= spaghetti chopped up in teeny bits) restaurant, but strong acting is always worth watching. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:12 am |
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| Have you had couscous? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:40 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Many times, many ways. It's hard little bits of durum semolina, which means it is the identical material to that found in a pasta noodle. You cook it up and, yes, it yields an absurdly large amount from a handful. It is pretty dull by itself and lacks all the charm and interest that semolina might have when in the form of a long noodle or a corkscrew or a tube. The only way I've really much liked it is with honey and cinnamon, i.e. as a dessert. Or in soups, once in a while.
Really, I like saying the word "couscous" more than I like it as food. Your description -- "a weird attempt to make wheat into rice and losing anything of value...." is spot on. |
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| grace |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 12:48 pm |
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| Or saute up some garlic, add to couscous with a splash of good olive oil, with grated, non-green-can Parm optional, for a side. Or saute up cooked couscous with toasted walnuts, artichoke hearts, more garlic and Parm. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 7:10 pm |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 4:03 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Well, couscous shouldn't be hard, it should be soft and fluffy. But I can't recall ever making it, just eating it in restaurants and assorted foreign countries.
I don't care for the texture much and it's too insubstantial. Even for pasta I prefer big thick forms such as shells, ziti, farfalle, rotini, etc. And prefer brown rice to white. I like my carbos solid.
Maybe I'd like hard couscous better ... |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 4:59 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Shouldn't all couscous talk be in The Lobby? It's sold at most reputable refreshment stands along with popcorn and nachos. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 8:49 am |
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Location: Black Hills
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gromit wrote: Well, couscous shouldn't be hard, it should be soft and fluffy. But I can't recall ever making it, just eating it in restaurants and assorted foreign countries.
Just to clarify, when I said, "It's hard little bits of durum semolina, which means it is the identical material to that found in a pasta noodle," I was describing the couscous BEFORE it is cooked. Yes, it is soft and fluffy after cooking. Yes, this should be in the Lobby. Too late now. |
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