Friday, June 28, 2013

TRACE (2011, M. Tayfur Aydin, Turkey, A+15)

 
TRACE (2011, M. Tayfur Aydin, Turkey, A+15)
 
If I were a woman, I would do what Buse (Tarçin Çelebi) does in this film. Before I break up with a guy, I would make love to him before breaking up. I’m glad to see a female character who does what I would do in her place.
 
This film presents a topic I like very much—the understanding of pain between people. I like films which presents a character who comes to understand and/or sympathize with the pain of another character. However, TRACE is different from most films I like which present the same topic, because TRACE doesn’t show us “dramatic flashbacks”. TRACE only relies on the voiceover of the grandmother to tell us what happened in the past. And it tells us very briefly. In doing so, TRACE avoids being melodramatic. And it somehow makes me think about the “limit” of this understanding of pain. TRACE shows us that though the son and the grandson may gain more understanding about the pain of the grandmother, the son and the grandson can never fully visualize what happened in the past, and may feel only 1% of the pain of the grandmother.
 
I’m not saying that “dramatic flashbacks” are good or bad. I like both films which dramatic flashbacks, which sometimes move me to tears, and films without dramatic flashbacks, which are more realistic like this one.
 
MY FAVORITE FILMS ABOUT THE UNDERSTANDING OF PAIN BETWEEN GENERATIONS
 
(in alphabetical order)
 
1.ANGELS (นางฟ้า) (2013, Bongkot Kongmalai + Viroj Srisitsereeamorn)
 
2.ARARAT (2002, Atom Egoyan, Canada)
 
3.THE BARBECUE PEOPLE (2003, Yossi Madmoni + David Ofek, Israel)
 
4.THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (1995, Clint Eastwood)
 
5.THE GUAVA HOUSE (2000, Nhat Minh Dang, Vietnam)
 
6.INCENDIES (2010, Denis Villeneuve, Canada)
 
7.THE HAPPY STORK’S GRIEF (2010, Eileen Hofer, Switzerland)
 
8.THE JOY LUCK CLUB (1993, Wayne Wang)
 
9.SOME SECRETS (2002, Alice Nellis, Czech)
 
10.VOICE OF MY FATHER (2011, Orhan Eskikoy + Zeynel Dogan, Turkey)
 
11.WINTER REMINISCENCE (ความทรงจำดีดีในหน้าหนาว) (2010, Thanaphan Palakawong Na Ayutthaya, 14min)
 
12.WOMEN IN THE MIRROR (2002, Yoshishige Yoshida)
 

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