Kon-Tiki

 

 

 

         My dad is a director of Children's plays, so I had already seen a fair share of international films.  Something I like about them, and something that is represented heavily in Kon-Tiki is that their cinematography is not as quickly cut, it really gives you time to feel the full emotion.  Also, the direction is done in a way that more is left to interpretation, like when Thor hangs up the phone after having a deep conversation with his wife, and looks at his friend with an impish smile and then becomes serious.  It leaves you wondering, "Is he guiltily happy that his wife is worried?"  "Is he just excited for the journey?"  "Why did he change facial expressions?"

        Something else about foreign movies is that they are not always the full, happy, winner takes all endings we are used to.  Kon-Tiki very much is a bitter-sweet ending.  I went with a friend and I told her that I always find foreign movie endings to be kind of sad, and she said, "I feel like it was a good representation of Thor, he is not motivated by the same things as many of us, but his personality is needed to be a vessel to bring the others characters' happiness at the end of the film."  Regardless, I think this story is worth telling.