Mein Leben als Zucchini (2016)

Mein Leben als Zucchini: Directed by Claude Barras. With Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat, Paulin Jaccoud, Michel Vuillermoz. After losing his mother, a young boy is sent to a foster home with other orphans his age where he begins to learn the meaning of trust and true love.

“Tall Target (1951)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe simple idea of Anthony Mann approaching a crime movie about Abraham Lincoln made me seek this out. And itu0026#39;s great stuff, filmed with the lively, dramatic black and white of the time. And in a weird quirk, the leading man (played by Dick Powell) is named John Kennedy. Mann was just beginning his legendary set of eight Westerns with James Stewart.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile not a bit a film noir officially, this is coming from that era, and has the dark, ominous feel of a good noir. Powell (a noir staple) plays a detective with a somewhat modern air (not 1861, when is when the film is set), and he some of that man alone against the world quality. And then, on top of it, this is a u0026quot;train movie,u0026quot; one of that unnamed genre of films that is primarily or entirely set on a train, up and down the length in various ways (what one character with a drink in his hand calls u0026quot;the longest bar in the world, New York to Baltimoreu0026quot;).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis one starts beautifully at night, and there is some terrific stuff just to look at, as the lights against the night sky are stark and the shadows heavy. The smoke and steam billows gray into the black sky. The plot, proceeding, is remarkably visual, too, with Powell looking for clues as things start to look increasingly ominous. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are some great side characters here, including Ruby Dee in her young elegance and strength. And then there are some side actors who play their caricatures a little too hard (like the train conductor, briefly, but several times). u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cloak and dagger plot is fairly linear—the story is based on fact loosely, so there might not have been total freedom. But Iu0026#39;m not sure how many times on one train ride Mr. John Kennedy can get himself into a total lethal trap and then fight, trick, or luck his way out of it. But thatu0026#39;s part of the fun of it, I suppose.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd there is enough other stuff going on here to make it really interesting and beautiful. A surprise for me.”