Movie inspired by true events about a French woman working for the Red Cross in Poland after WWII who is asked by a nun to come to their local covenant and help a woman deliver a baby. There she discovers most of the nuns in the covenant have become pregnant as a result of rape at the hands of the "liberating" Russian soldiers, and has to decide what it truly means to help people in need. It's an
interesting movie, which is both a compliment but also somewhat of a criticism because if director Anne Fontaine had sped things up a bit in the first hour, it could've been an
incredible one. Lead actress Lou de Laage is yet another French actress waiting to conquer the world with pure undeniable presence and talent.
Bakemono no Ko or
The Boy & The Beast is the latest feature film by Hosoda Mamoru, who with the retirement of Miyazaki and Takahata might now hold the title of Japan's most talent anime director. A young boy runs away from his family thinking he can make it on his own. He ends up in the world of Heavenly Beasts, where he becomes the disciple of Kumatetsu, a beast training to become the next Grandmaster who similarly believes he can make it on his own but needs a disciple to prove himself. The two bond and of course end up needing each other far more than both want to admit. It's funny and touching and much like Hosoda's other work deals with parenting and coming of age, although this movie's climax falls a bit flat under the weight of its heavy handed metaphorical emphasis.