Funny Girl (1968)

Why it's here:
For the chance to see and hear Barbara Streisand, who shouldn't be overlooked as a major film star. She won an Oscar for her role for Funny Girl - which was also her first screen role.

Specs:
2 1/2 hours; color
Set in the 1920s

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
8.0. In fact, every one of us rated it an "8."

More about the film and our reaction to it:
You expect teen and preteen boys to enjoy certain kinds of movies. Abbot and Costello pictures, the On the Road series, the Maltese Falcon....  But, when they love a movie like Funny Girl -- detailing the life of stage star Fanny Brice -- that simply speaks volumes to the QUALITY of a motion picture. It has to be a great film if it won over people who are so far out of its target demographic. And it was. [In fact, my husband, who was working in his study and had not planned to watch, came in to see it; it hooked him from the next room].

Barbara Streisand and her incredible voice and performance are the undisputed anchor for this movie. She is so watchable. Everything else -- from the plot, to supporting performances, cinematography -- is  a support to her charm, comedy and talent. We also enjoyed seeing Omar Sherif again, this time in a very different role from where we saw him last (Lawrence of Arabia).

The film is long, but, again, it speaks to how well made and solid it is that we didn't mind. We watched it over two nights and were all anxious to sit back down and enjoy the second half.

It is clear that we are now deep into the modern-era 60s! We've seen, in this festival, many films dealing with marriage and divorce, but this one felt like a first, in that the marriage ended (sorry spoilers!) for reasons that are distinctly depressing: people who love each other, where neither is at fault, cannot make a go of it for reasons of pride and introspection. Though set in the 20s, the film is stewed in its (present) time; It feels like a 60s flick. Parents should be aware of some very sexy bikini style costumes on full display in an early musical number! Those costumes were certainly not period appropriate.

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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Why it's here:
Well, I'd, of course, heard of the film. But never seen it. In researching for the festival, this title came up again and again as one of the best films of all time. When I learned that Obi Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness) was featured in the movie, I couldn't resist.  (The boys found him entirely recognizable by his voice, if not so much by his look, as this was 15 years prior to Star Wars.)

Specs:
Nearly 4 hours! Shot gorgeously in color.

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1 - 10:
8.13

More about the film and our reaction to it:
What an incredible, remarkable, film. Wow. Just wow. We can't say we loved it. We loved LOVED the first half. Its hard to imagine better cinema ever than the first half of the movie.  For us, the second half felt long and less compelling. More of the psychological and political depth and drama emerges in ernest in the second half making it less suitable for children -- unless they are the more mature type, readily engaged with that type of material.  There are several unsettling scenes of violence - mostly implied or not graphically shown. Other disturbing ideas will go over younger kids heads.

Our main character, Lawrence, as well as many (most) of the others -- and, come to think of it, the civilizations they represent -- is ambiguous: siting neither on the moral right or hated wrong, but somewhere in between. Although Lawrence's character flaws were foreshadowed in the beginning of the film, it was easy to forget them as we joined him on his amazing journey into the Arab world.  The film allows you to just plunge viscerally into that world. The cinematography is so gorgeous that "visceral" is the only word for it. You truly experience this land on an unimaginable level. My husband and I agreed that we have never seen such a beautifully shot film, ever. It was stunning.

We watched over two, well, really three nights. The first we were spellbound and in love with this film. We stopped just before intermission. The second night just didn't click for us in the same way. We put the film on and watched for another hour or so then found we were all just drifting and losing interest. So we put off the last half hour until the following night. Did I mention this film runs well over 3 1/2 hours long? Still, I wouldn't let that discourage anyone from seeing it who is interested. The film is glorious.

My hesitancy to recommend it for families lies in the fact that I don't think most modern kids would get into it the way mine did. If your kids are good with more serious themes in film and with disturbing and ambiguous truths, then go for it.  But its probably best to ease into classic film first before taking on this one.

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