Mud Songs

3-Iron tells the story of a guy who spends his time breaking into and living in houses where he knows the owners are on vacation. He always cleans and tidies up the house, then leaves a token of appreciation behind. Inevitably he breaks into a house where someone is home, and I don’t want to say what happens next, but it’s magical. The director, Ki-duk Kim, who directed one of my favourite movies from last year, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, likes to create characters who develop relationships in a non-verbal manner — and he makes it work. The two main characters of this film don’t speak a single word to each other, yet you know exactly how they feel about each other. It’s pure fantasy, of course, but pure cinema, too, in that you’re drawn into the story, into the lives and feelings of the characters, simply by watching them be together. It’s magical and compelling and dramatic and tragic and funny, and I know I’m going to like this movie more every time I watch it.

12 and Holding is a powerful, engaging film that presents a more honest look at childhood than anything I’ve seen for years. It’s about a small group of young kids, each of them dealing with some difficult issues that arise from things happening at home (or not happening at home). There’s a fat kid trying to lose weight, a lonely girl looking for a father figure, and another guy dealing with a death in the family (which could be Stand By Me but not in any way nostalgic). It’s difficult not to immediately care about these kids because their reactions are so genuine. Except for maybe one small detail, everything that happens seems plausible, which only heightens the drama as all the stories come together in the end.

The 400 Blows, François Truffaut’s first feature film, does a wonderful job at capturing adolescence — and every minute of it will ring true for people who weren’t always on their best behaviour when they were kids. It’s one of Roger Ebert’s Great Movie picks: “The 400 Blows (1959) is one of the most intensely touching stories ever made about a young adolescent. Inspired by Truffaut’s own early life, it shows a resourceful boy growing up in Paris and apparently dashing headlong into a life of crime.” (Don’t read the whole review unless you’ve already seen the film.) Whether or not you relate to the main character, it’s difficult not to feel sympathy for him because although he gets into trouble, he’s not a bad kid; he’s just surrounded by stupid adults, at home, at school, everywhere. There isn’t much story to The 400 Blows, but it’s so well directed and acted and it all feels so genuine, it’s perfectly enjoyable just the way it is.