“It was as if the last day, as people say in the Bible, that there will be a last day that Jesus Christ will come, and whatever on Earth will be judged. That was my imagination. I thought that God felt tired of people on Earth here, felt tired of the bad deeds, the bad thing that we are doing, yet God is watching on us. I thought that God got tired of us and he want to finish us.”
- John Bul Dau
For our November meeting, our movie group watched the documentary God Grew Tired Of Us. Narrated by Nicole Kidman, this film tells the compelling story of three “Lost Boys” John Bul Dau, Panther Bior, and Daniel Abol Pach. After fleeing the civil war in Sudan as boys and spending more than a decade as refugees, these young men were given the opportunity to resettle in the United States. The film documents their amazing journey from a refugee camp in Kenya to their new lives in New York and Philadelphia.
In our discussion after the film, the theme that came up again and again was the concept of community. Aubrie commented on the striking contrast between the men’s lives in the African refugee camp where they did everything together and in the United States where they struggled with a sense of isolation and loneliness. Amy noted that in the refugee camp they had “hope and humor and love and community” and she observed that while they were happy to leave the camp for a better life in the US, they also experienced a deep sense of loss in leaving their friends. Read the rest of this news item »
So I’ve been recommended this portrayal of the end of the Third Reich by a couple people now. So if you like, rent or order it from netflix this next week and join us to discuss it here next friday
Posted in Movie Reviews | No Comments »Retired military policeman Hank Deerfield, having already lost one son as a casualty in the U.S. military, is deeply disturbed when his other son, Mike calls him in the wee hours of the morning from a U.S. army base in Iraq. “Something’s happened, daddy. You gotta get me outta here,” the young man says, weeping. Thus begins a devastating murder mystery/war exposé
In the Valley of Elah was one of the more brilliant movies I’ve seen in the past 5 years. In astoundingly human terms the movie exposes to a wider audience the reality of the Iraq War in a way that slips past intellectual defenses: with story. The story is quintessentially true not only in the sense that it is based on actual events, but also in that deeper, more universal storyish way.
Read the rest of this news item »
Next Friday we will be reviewing the new movie In the Valley of Elah. It’s getting 67% over at Rotten Tomatoes, so it’s got to be at least watchable. If you get a chance, see the movie this week and join us to talk about it next Friday.
Posted in Movie Reviews, Videos, War, War Crimes | 5 Comments »
“The ruling class are those who have a voice. And that voice is a vote.”
- Alice Paul
For our September meeting, our movie group watched the 2004 film Iron Jawed Angels. This film focuses on the efforts of women’s suffrage leaders Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, brilliantly played by Hilary Swank and Frances O’Connor. The film is set in the final years of the struggle before the passage of the 19th Amendment. By 1912, the veteran leaders of the women’s suffrage movement in the US had decided that a federal amendment granting the vote to women was unattainable and had resigned themselves to battling to gain the vote state by state.
Then Alice Paul and Lucy Burns burst onto the scene. Passionately committed to the idea of a constitutional amendment, they brought with them the radical tactics they had learned while campaigning for the women’s vote in England. They used parades, mass demonstrations, picketing, civil disobedience and hunger strikes to attract attention to the disenfranchisement of women. Many of the women’s suffrage leaders suffered a great personal toll before finally achieving their goal in 1920.
We gave this movie high marks. As Staci said, “All American women should be required to see this movie before their 18th birthday.” Aubrie noted that she had learned about the suffrage movement in school but it was “just names and dates.” She felt that actually seeing the movement brought to life had “a huge impact.” Before seeing this film, I knew that our foremothers had worked long and hard to earn the right to vote. But I didn’t understand how much women like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns had actually endured. I will never cast another ballot without thinking of them and being grateful for their determination and their sacrifice.
Posted in Movie Reviews, Women's Rights | 7 Comments »
Next Friday, we’ll be reviewing shawshank redemption, and hopefully using it as a springboard to ask questions about the prison system, especially here in the country with the highest per capita incarcerated population in the world. Shawshank Redemption has been listed rather high on various “Greatest Movies of all time” lists. If you haven’t seen it, I hope you will do so, and I think you’re in for a treat. Join us next Friday to talk about it!
Posted in Movie Reviews | 2 Comments »
“My brother and I wanted those leaflets to open people’s eyes and to put an end to the terrible slaughter of other peoples and Jews even sooner than it will be ended by the Allies. Shall our nation be forever cast out by all mankind?
“Your master race really wants peace. It wants human dignity to be respected again. It wants God and conscience and empathy. The thoughts we have expressed and written are shared by many. They just don’t dare to speak up.”
This month our movie group watched the German language film Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. The film portrays the arrest, interrogation, trial and sentencing of Sophie Scholl, a member of the anti-Nazi student group The White Rose. Based on historical records, the script re-creates the last six days of her life in 1943 Munich. The film features brilliant performances by Julia Jentsch as the young activist Sophie and Fabian Hinrichs as her older brother and fellow conspirator Hans.
Read the rest of this news item »
Next Friday we will be featuring a review of the new movie Sophie Scholl. We invite you to watch it this week and join us in conversation next Friday. You can get if from Netflix.
Posted in Movie Reviews | 3 Comments »I fell in love with Chuyia, the charming, surly child protagonist in Deepa Mehta’s profoundly beautiful film, Water. In elemental, vivid surroundings, widows of all ages play out their disempowered lives in an ashram, compelled to make atonement for their husbands’ deaths. A fragile balance exists in the motion picture between despair and hope. I cried for half an hour after watching it.
Statistics about women and children forced into sexual relationships with men were given names and faces and endearing characters in Water. A space was created to grieve with and for them, to be deeply moved into desire for action, even if change appears impossible.
The story of the movie’s creation reflects the injustice it exposes. The day filming was to begin by the Ganges River in the Hindu holy city Varanasi, two thousand protestors destroyed the set, delaying work for three years and forcing Mehta to film Water in Sri Lanka rather than India.
Women and children are being raped as we surf the internet. Society, in the colonial India of 1938 depicted in Water, and throughout the world today, continues to give perpetrators the power and protection victims desperately need. Systems are in place, as the conflicts surrounding the filming of Water reveal, which are seemingly unmovable.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Posted in Movie Reviews, Prostitution | 1 Comment »For our movie group this month, my friends and I watched A Thousand Pieces of Gold, the true story of a young Chinese woman named Lalu. The film begins in 1880s China where Lalu and her family struggle to survive in the face of famine and marauding soldiers. In desperation, Lalu’s father sells her to become a bride in America.
When Lalu arrives in the Idaho mining town which will become her home, she is horrified to discover that she has been sold into prostitution. With the help of a few unlikely allies, Lalu fights back and manages to create for herself a life of dignity, independence, and ultimately, of refuge and love.
In discussing the movie afterwards, we all appreciated the authenticity of Lalu’s character. We found ourselves both inspired by her courage and determination, and occasionally mystified and frustrated by her decisions. Lalu demonstrates an almost exasperating ability to forgive and a powerful will to triumph over prejudice. Read the rest of this news item »