"I feel a great responsibility to do something about this. Since I was a child, I've been wanting to solve this conflict in my family and take away the shame and guilt and the secrets and silence. I wanted people to reunite. I wanted to make this happen before the older generation dies. Since I couldn't do it in real life, I did it through fiction." Filmmaker Amanda Kernell on prejudice against the Sami and her film "Sami Blood"


The Sami people (also known as Lapps) have traditionally lived in the northern regions of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The film "Sami Blood" is the coming-of-age story of one young girl based, in part, on the experiences of Amanda Kernell and her family. Kernell, who is half-Sami and lives in Sweden, cast Sami speakers in the film's main roles in order to heighten the authenticity of her first feature.

I was struck by the similarities between the experiences of the Sami people and the American Indian. Kernell, herself, stated in an interview that people from many different cultures have thought the film accurately portrayed their story. It is one of the paradoxes of film that the more specific the tale is, the more universal its appeal.

In a completely different vein, I also watched Bill Holderman's "Book Club" this week. I normally skip this type of comedy but the fact that both Andy Garcia and Don Johnson are in the cast meant I had to at least check it out. I thought Jane Fonda, as a successful businesswoman who has (frequent) casual sex in order to avoid any emotional commitment, overplayed her role. Don Johnson, who plays Fonda's love interest, would not agree with me, though. He said working with Fonda was "a breeze. I mean, she’s a pro, you know, and we developed shorthand very early on. And it was just easy. Like, just easy. There wasn’t a lot of trying to make a connection or build a relationship or anything, ’cause fortunately, we already had that-that affection for each other. So we could just use and translate right into the characters."


I feel the most relaxed, and hence believable, couple onscreen is Diane Keaton and Andy Garcia. He plays a pilot who shares his love of flight with Keaton. A smart producer would figure out a way to put those two in a film of their own.


Here's the latest article from the Drama Movies site at BellaOnline.com.

Sami Blood Film Review
This debut feature from Amanda Kernell was a massive hit on the film festival circuit in 2016. A teenage Sami girl attends a Swedish boarding school and is forced to choose between her ambitions and her heritage.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art305631.asp

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