Pop Smart - Opens Friday: Jellyfish and The Singing Revolution

I reviewed Jellyfish (pictured) and The Singing Revolution this week, but since there was no room for print we decided to publish them as online-only extras. And they’re both worth checking out.

Jellyfish is a quirky little excursion into magic realism by Israeli author-turned director Etgar Keret and his partner, Shira Geffen:

Winner of the 2007 Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Jellyfish often stays afloat on a visual charm that floods its aquatic metaphors. In the opening shot, we see Batya (a subtly expressive Sarah Adler) standing with her departing boyfriend in front of what looks like an aquarium’s façade. But as he and his truck pull away, so does the background, revealing a Tel Aviv street scene. Reality bites, and much of Jellyfish is spent watching its women struggling to navigate life’s choppier waters.

Then there’s The Singing Revolution, a documentary by James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty about the impact of Estonia’s deeply entrenched musical culture on its struggle for independence from the Soviet Union:

That passion is laid out in a methodical but poetic fashion, as actress Linda Hunt’s narration explains the nation’s love of music as best heard at its annual Song Festival. The sights and sounds of witnessing 30,000 voices unified in one song – and in particular, the nation anthem born under occupation, “Land of My Fathers” – come off as a moving metaphor. The camera pans and scans the people, young and old, as they defiantly sing for their common identity: “For her a hundred times I shall give my life. You are still alive in my heart.”

Both open today (Friday) at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.

Here’s the trailer for The Singing Revolution …

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