Day 7

From the Czech Republic comes “4Some,” a sexual farce so completely non-judgmental, hilarious and graphic I can’t imagine anything close ever being made in this country.  Two middle-aged couples go on a Caribbean working vacation and decide that their respective marriages could use a little spicing up.  The solution is spouse swapping.

The sidesplitting humor not withstanding, the film shies away from nothing.  Unglamorous bodies, awkward couplings, parent-child/generation gaps, permissiveness and testing the bonds of friendship are all handled with great care and sensibility.  I fear it will never be screened in anywhere but in the most cosmopolitan population.  Keep your fingers crossed that Netflix gets it because you don’t want to miss it.

“Bwakaw” is a small yellow dog owned by the town curmudgeon, Rene.  She strayed into his life and he half-heartedly cares for her.  He is tolerated by a rag-tag bunch of misfits who are tired of his constant end-of-life machinations.  It took him over 60 years to come to terms with his homosexuality and he still spurns all attempts to fix him up.  Tragically several incidents validate his preoccupation with death but when Bwakaw is diagnosed with terminal cancer it seems his life flies out of control.  His love for his little dog surprises everyone and it looks like Rene may finally blossom.  Octogenarian, Eddie Garcia is a superstar in the Philippines and this may be his greatest role to date.

“Two Lives” is a dark thriller from Norway and Germany.  A seemingly idyllic Norwegian family is torn apart as an investigation is mounted to establish culpability for crimes committed against children of German soldiers and Norwegian women.  Those wishing to leave sleeping dogs lie are willing to do anything it takes save their skins.  I don’t know that many of us even know of this dark episode in Norwegian history and this is a top-notch vehicle for bringing it to life.  Liv Ullman has a substantial role.

My last for the day is a comedy from Japan.  Kenji Uchida reworks the identity-swap genre   A hapless loser grabs the chance to switch identities with an accident victim who has amnesia.  He quickly realizes he has slipped into the underworld and maneuvers himself deeper and deeper into the cutthroat world of gangsters, hit men, and molls.