Magonia (2001)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Ineke Smits

Writer:

Arthur Japin (writer)

Release Date:

25 October 2001 (Netherlands)

Plot:

A sea faring father, a man living on the edge of mental sanity, periodically sees his young son. During the visits...

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ramsey Nasr	...	Memed
Dirk Roofthooft	...	The Father
Willem Voogd	...	The Boy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amiran Amiranashvili	...	Achmed / Hadas
Antje de Boeck	...	Josse
Geert Hunaerts	...	Arend
Nodar Mgaloblishvili	...	Abdul Abdurduran
Nato Murvanidze	...	Illeknoer
Philip van den Boogaard	...	Olle
Linda van Dyck	...	Zoë
Jack Wouterse	...	IJsbrand

Runtime:

Argentina:112 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch | Georgian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Gareji Desert, Georgia

Good to watch.

Recently watched this movie on world movies channel. It's a collection of three stories told by a father who is recovering in a mental health center, to his son who comes and visits him every week.

The first story was a simple one that gripped me into the movie. An announcer in an Islamic mosque is getting older and older and still he continues to shout the announcement of prayer time despite his hoarse voice. A young lad assists him on all his chores (including carrying the old man to the roof top for announcement). He and the old man's daughter are in love. Though nobody likes the old man's voice which turned horrible at old age, still they respect him and let him continue it. One day that young man went to the town and brought a sound system mike, speakers with an amplifier. Things happen after this emotional toils makes it a beautiful story.

The second story is about loneliness. It is not exactly a story, but an event that transformed all those who lived at that moment. It reads "It does not matter whether you travel everywhere or live alone on a hills top, loneliness can turn you mad".

The third story is about true love and false hopes. A woman with her son living in a small shore town hoping for her lover, a sailor who promised her that he will come back for her. All these years she lives a low life as kitchen maid in a small pub. Being abused by the pub owner constantly, she was also loved by a neighbor craftsman who asks her to get away with him to somewhere out of town. One day the sailor returns..and what happens then..

All the stories talks about human lives made into different styles of knots and the dream land Magonia. The ending is unexpected.

I followed the film through subtitles only. They are done very well. Since, I do not know the ethnic differences between different lands of people I could not know the ethnic difference between the faces. But that's OK. Actors, Photography and Music played perfectly.

You want compelling stories ? Watch this.