Home From Home: Chronicle of a Vision (Corinth Films)
At four hours, Home From Home: Chronicle of a Vision would be a demanding (but worthy) experience in theaters. It’s probably more easily appreciated on its DVD release. German director Edgar Reitz has fashioned an artful film reminiscent of his country’s 19th century novels. Living in a squalid Prussian village of dirt streets and sagging houses, the protagonist, a young man called Jakob, is given dreams of wider horizons through the books he reads. His father thinks he’s a lazy good for nothing, his eccentric uncle helps him hides his books from destruction—Jakob is the odd ball in town—and his oracular grandmother warns that “dreams have a way of coming true.” Filmed in bleak, Ingmar Bergmanesque black and white, Home From Home vividly imagines a time when waves of European migrants left for the New World—South America as well as the U.S.—fleeing hunger and bad governance.
The Carer (Corinth Films)
Trouble stirs when a young Hungarian Dorottya (Coco Konig) is hired as caregiver to Sir Michael (Brian Cox). The cantankerous old man was a great thespian and remains a figure of towering Shakespearean bluster. Dorotty seeks admission to a London drama school and her smile gives away her innocence. The Carer’s plot is mechanical but the acting saves the day in a charming story that reflects on life as it ends as well as it begins.
“Hawaii Five-O: The Final Season” (CBS DVD)
Many revivals of popular TV shows fizzled but the “Hawaii Five-O” remake found enough audience to run for five seasons. The concept remains the same as in the ‘60s: cops fight serious crime on the idyllic pearl of the Pacific. The multi-ethnic, male-female Millennial-Gen X cast are rigged with all the high-tech toys but nothing can replace squealing tires and death-defying chases. The DVD set includes 22 episodes (plus bonus material) from the final season.
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