285. Suk suk (2019)

 

Country: Hong Kong

Directed by Ray Yeung

Simple and real, Suk Suk is a tender film about the lives of closeted gay men at their 60's and 70's who are forced to keep hiding their true sexual identity and to content themselves with just fractions of happiness and intimacy in a society that not yet fully accepts anything different from the traditional gender roles. Without much drama, without to be very emotional, without a cheesy happy end, Ray Yeung presents beautifully a sober reality that is relevant not only in Hong Kong but pretty much everywhere on the planet involving millions of oppressed people

You can watch the full movie here: https://youtu.be/R420mU4aoDc

284. Downpour (1972)

 

Country: Iran

Directed by Bahram Beyzai

A totally unknown and unappreciated masterpiece of Iranian cinema, "Downpour" begins as a rather unimpressing and goofy typical story of the young idealistic teacher who goes to teach in a small city, an environment that it's hostile at first but then, you guess, it gonna embrace him etc. However, as the film progresses, you realize that it's much more than that: it's an almost devastating depiction of various social problems of the era, a bitter and emotional comment about the woman's position in that given society, an elegy about murdered dreams, a trip back and forth from hope to the total darkness. All of those though not as a simplistic social protest in your face but incorporated as hints to the plot, with a way that they hit the hardest, infused with poetical, surreal notes. A film that, seriously, they should teach in every film school