Cat-Wings

This movie gave me a big laugh from the first half of the story, then turned out to be a serious and heartbreaking historical drama towards the end. Elijah Wood, who played an Jewish American man with a OCD-like compulsion, did a great job. His road trip fellow, Alex (played by Eugene Hutz) is wonderful in portraying a hip-hop-loving Ukrainian guy who speaks English with a funny accent. I loved how he translates in English with a sprinkle of jokes and sarcasm towards Americans. I think the screenwriter did some research to create unique English sentences which often happens when non-English speakers speak English.

A young American guy named Jonathan, played by Elijah Wood, is a collector who always brings small plastic bags to collect anything whenever he finds things that are meaningful. With a pendant he collected when his grandfather died and a picture when his grandmother dies, he flies to Ukraine to find the root of his family and a Ukrainian village. He hires Odessa Heritage Tour, run by an old Ukrainian man Alexander (Oleksandr Choroshko) who claims he is blind (but is not). Along with his English-speaking grandson, Alex (played by Eugene Hutz) and Alexander's clinging guided dog, a strange road trip starts. While looking for a Ukrainian village called Trachimbrod, Alexander's old memory comes back which helps Jonathan find a historical background hidden in the picture and the relationship between his grandfather and grandmother.

The story has a little puzzle that took me time to resolve, such as where Jonathan's grandmother met his grandfather, where his grandmother died, how grandmother's sister kept the grandmother's ring, etc. While the story depicts a cruel history around the Nazi's conquest in Ukraine and how his grandfather survived his life, the tone of the story is somehow poetic and aesthetic which makes the film impressive. When Augustine's sister was told that the war was over, everything was solved as if a tangled thread got loosen, and Jonathan's investigation put an end to the story and so did Alexander's. The movie also tells that one cannot choose a place to be born, so you could be someone else in another country.

I marked this movie in my watchlist in 2005, and finally had the mood and time to watch it. I feel time passed so quickly.

First of all, I made the perfect decision to not see any spoilers or reviews before watching Star Wars: the Force Awakes. I watched it without any prejudice nor being bothered by rumors or negative reviews. I only knew Han Solo and Chewbacca would be appeared in this episode, and that the time has passed to thirty years in the story after the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire. I was a little worried it could be a bad film, since Disney bought the right to the Star Wars production, and George Lucas was not involved with the creation of this film. When I had a first look at the trailer, it looked good although I had somewhat of a bad feeling about the casting in which Disney tired so hard in choosing the characters not to be racist with the story.

I'd say while this episode introduced new characters from anew generation, hopefully in order to gather new audiences, it also tried so hard not to ruin the original images of the film and to keep entertaining old fans. The story gets more straightforward and has fewer political scenes; the relation between the dark side being evil and jedi being heros is clearly depicted. It feels like the structure of the characters have been rotated to new generations. Han Solo is being replaced by Finn, Rey will be placed in Luke position, BB-8 is like R2D2, and Poe Dameron can be like Lando Calrissian. And a new Darth Vader is shown.

I definitely like and was moved by the first appearance of Han Solo and Chewbacca. Han looks old but his wild-eyed fighting spirit still remains very much alive with his furball assistant. And Princess Leia is still beautiful! The lovely scene of the two meeting speaks their long-term trustworthy relationship with love. Other old characters including Luke, C3PO, and Admiral Ackbar (who is famous for saying "It's a trap"), are shown to us like old friends. I couldn't be happier to see those old characters who are still acting in the same way that we remember, and new characters are, to me, naturally blended into the Star Wars universe. Especially, Rey as a new hero (or heroine) of the Jedi encounters difficulties and overcomes them by awaking her new skills, which will be the new hope for the Jedi in the next episode.

Overall, I enjoyed the new film and want to watch further episodes. I highly recommend you to watch this film without reading any reviews or rumors about the story.