Does this title suggest some glimmer of hope? Perhaps offer a warm opportunity to better something or someone?
I'm taking a cue from the film I watched last night and will guarantee you none of those things :-)
Last night I joined a local film club to watch Megalopolis, a new documentary which explores the dehumanizing effects that cities and modern society have on human beings.
I'd be foolish to suggest this movie will change your life or offer some new reflections you haven't considered of your fellow creatures but I will offer a few observations which probably won't be misinterpreted as being filched from the marketing brochure.
The film left a thick layer of malaise on everyone who remained for the full 2 hours and probably even those who left well before the final scenes. I found no compelling reason to watch or share this film with anyone in the future as I typically want to see something that fits one or more of a few requirements:
a) entertaining (pure unadulterated/titilatting/stupid/intellectual/or otherwise)
b) educational (I learn something new vs. seeing what I already know)
c)uplifting (offers hope for a better future or a completely fabricated ending that fits only in the dreamlike non-reality state one inhabits during a movie.)
This film is bleak, you can almost smell the sickeningly rancid noxious fumes of human depravity, fear, and feel your skin crawl with the ridiculousness of the behavior documented. The story is not one of hope but rather despair and resignation. There are many rather compelling images of modern life, glistening sparkling skyskrapers, billboards with happiness smiles and other good emotions repackaged and beckoning all to consume, the ivory tower life as seen from afar and often viewed by the audience through the small fragmented lens of the characters. There are also some humorous english translations in the subtitles as well as interesting observations from a linguistic perspective. In one particular scene we witnes an affluent Chinese couple riding along in a convertible Mercedes in downtown Shenzen. The man offers this phrase to his partner and to the camera. "If this is happiness....then yes I am very happy" I hope this is mildly entertaining as you consider the logical fallacy of this statement. The sentence proves nothing or perhaps everything. Perhaps it's quite true. After all if what he is experiencing is happiness and he's fully immersed as he appears then he truly is happy. I can only wonder the comments of the other characters as they toil, endure, and suffer. "If this is misery, then I am truly...."
The film does offer a stark contrast to western media in their portrayal of Muslim Madrasahs and Islamic veil traditions. Yes, you and I are most likely aware of this disparity and filter that we receive here in the Western World. It was illuminating nonetheless to see boys as young as 6 years old from the US going to Pakistan to study the Koran without the distraction of our society.
Here's a few nuggets, if I can call them that. Perhaps I should call them bits of coal:
If you ever completely lose all worldly possessions you may find yourself in despair at how to survive. Even in the largest filthiest most inhospitable cities such as Karachi, Shenzen, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, and others one might still have real means however dim of survival. I saw a family of 10 sorting through garbage to feed the entire family. They work daily nonstop from 6 AM to 10 PM and live in the stench and filth of rubbish. This is their existence, the father laments he knows no other way to support everyone.
I witnessed women recounting their exploitation and those of others, a man who left his family to live on the street and knows no one, he is not a mentally challenged fellow, he's just weary of his former life. Young asian women dramatically altering their appearance in a group called "Angeleek" and engaging in a seeming ridiculous outfit and makeup that appeared almost like a warrior paint of black and white so as to prompt intrigue and perhaps fear from others.
Tales of mass suicide, oppression, prostitution, crimes of all sort. Stories from the streets of LA and an interesting observation that LAPD is also a gang and by far the most highly organized and capitilized of them all.
Although the film offered no call to action and left me with no desire to smile I somehow found a peaceful reflection in our resilience as humans we find a way to survive most situations whether by design or accident. I made my way home later that evening first by walking (in the wrong direction) and then by sheer coincidence happened upon a bus route that would bring me much much closer to home. I took a seat on the bus and soon found myself back in familiar and safe surroundings.
No dreams of Karachi, Tokyo, or Shenzen last night as I think the extents of my travels were brief and soon interrupted by the garbage trucks carting away the refuse.
I'm taking a cue from the film I watched last night and will guarantee you none of those things :-)
Last night I joined a local film club to watch Megalopolis, a new documentary which explores the dehumanizing effects that cities and modern society have on human beings.
I'd be foolish to suggest this movie will change your life or offer some new reflections you haven't considered of your fellow creatures but I will offer a few observations which probably won't be misinterpreted as being filched from the marketing brochure.
The film left a thick layer of malaise on everyone who remained for the full 2 hours and probably even those who left well before the final scenes. I found no compelling reason to watch or share this film with anyone in the future as I typically want to see something that fits one or more of a few requirements:
a) entertaining (pure unadulterated/titilatting/stupid/intellectual/or otherwise)
b) educational (I learn something new vs. seeing what I already know)
c)uplifting (offers hope for a better future or a completely fabricated ending that fits only in the dreamlike non-reality state one inhabits during a movie.)
This film is bleak, you can almost smell the sickeningly rancid noxious fumes of human depravity, fear, and feel your skin crawl with the ridiculousness of the behavior documented. The story is not one of hope but rather despair and resignation. There are many rather compelling images of modern life, glistening sparkling skyskrapers, billboards with happiness smiles and other good emotions repackaged and beckoning all to consume, the ivory tower life as seen from afar and often viewed by the audience through the small fragmented lens of the characters. There are also some humorous english translations in the subtitles as well as interesting observations from a linguistic perspective. In one particular scene we witnes an affluent Chinese couple riding along in a convertible Mercedes in downtown Shenzen. The man offers this phrase to his partner and to the camera. "If this is happiness....then yes I am very happy" I hope this is mildly entertaining as you consider the logical fallacy of this statement. The sentence proves nothing or perhaps everything. Perhaps it's quite true. After all if what he is experiencing is happiness and he's fully immersed as he appears then he truly is happy. I can only wonder the comments of the other characters as they toil, endure, and suffer. "If this is misery, then I am truly...."
The film does offer a stark contrast to western media in their portrayal of Muslim Madrasahs and Islamic veil traditions. Yes, you and I are most likely aware of this disparity and filter that we receive here in the Western World. It was illuminating nonetheless to see boys as young as 6 years old from the US going to Pakistan to study the Koran without the distraction of our society.
Here's a few nuggets, if I can call them that. Perhaps I should call them bits of coal:
If you ever completely lose all worldly possessions you may find yourself in despair at how to survive. Even in the largest filthiest most inhospitable cities such as Karachi, Shenzen, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, and others one might still have real means however dim of survival. I saw a family of 10 sorting through garbage to feed the entire family. They work daily nonstop from 6 AM to 10 PM and live in the stench and filth of rubbish. This is their existence, the father laments he knows no other way to support everyone.
I witnessed women recounting their exploitation and those of others, a man who left his family to live on the street and knows no one, he is not a mentally challenged fellow, he's just weary of his former life. Young asian women dramatically altering their appearance in a group called "Angeleek" and engaging in a seeming ridiculous outfit and makeup that appeared almost like a warrior paint of black and white so as to prompt intrigue and perhaps fear from others.
Tales of mass suicide, oppression, prostitution, crimes of all sort. Stories from the streets of LA and an interesting observation that LAPD is also a gang and by far the most highly organized and capitilized of them all.
Although the film offered no call to action and left me with no desire to smile I somehow found a peaceful reflection in our resilience as humans we find a way to survive most situations whether by design or accident. I made my way home later that evening first by walking (in the wrong direction) and then by sheer coincidence happened upon a bus route that would bring me much much closer to home. I took a seat on the bus and soon found myself back in familiar and safe surroundings.
No dreams of Karachi, Tokyo, or Shenzen last night as I think the extents of my travels were brief and soon interrupted by the garbage trucks carting away the refuse.
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