Instead of a "five-minute book review," here's a five-minute film review.
Xavier Beauvois's 2010 film Of Gods and Men (des Hommes et des dieux), which won the Cannes festival prize that year, is one of the best movies I have ever seen. My favorite movie before this was another foreign film, Babette's Feast (in Danish and French); Of Gods and Men trumps it. It is gloriously beautiful, but slow, quiet, peaceful, and gently terrifying. It transforms horror into beauty and joy. I won't say much here, because my upcoming Curator piece compares it to 1984 and a short story by Tony Woodlief and goes into plot, etc., in some detail. But I just want to say that it is one of the most moving, most beautiful, and most well-made films I have ever seen. For someone who usually loves the huge blockbuster fantasy films, as I do, this is good. This is high praise. So, get it from Netflix right away!
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