Middle of the Earth

The Middle of the Earth - 2003

This film takes place in Brazil starting in the sate of Paraiba where one family sets out en route to Rio de Janeiro for better economic opportunity. The opening scene takes place in front of a sign that reads, ‘Middle of the Earth’ due to the location on the equator being 0’ Latitude. The family ponders the meaning and the audience is shown their innocence as well as general character as they set off on the road.

(Middle of the World)

Poverty is the focus of this movie and the struggle to survive that one particular family must endure in the search for economic security. The father is a righteous man with high standards and only requests enough income that will be sufficient in feeding his family. He believes that the late Father Cicero, a famous local priest, will grant him salvation in the form of steady work when they arrive at Rio de Janeiro, after completion of a superstitious ritual involving the statue of the priest. 2000 miles of road separate Him and his family from the city so he collects four bicycles and they set off. The family’s journey to prosperity proves long and dangerous with famine a common occurrence.

(Singing to the locals to raise money)

Although poverty is the main focus, seen on a larger scale when the family arrives to visit the Statue of Father Cicero, it is approached in a romantic way that portrays the family as calm and collected without negative emotions. The only one who is different is the hormone-bound Antonio, who struggles to break out of boyhood to become a man. When the family arrives in Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of people line up to kiss the statue and there is almost a sense of pandemonium due to the crowd of people.

Violence and other issues such as illegal deforestation are not addressed in the film. Statistically Brazil ranks as one of the top countries for violent crime and has been compared to war zones by the media. Figures of 150 deaths each day in 2006 actually exceeded some combat zones at the time. Neighboring Columbia is said to be one of the top three most dangerous countries in the world including South Africa and Iraq.

The controversy of deforestation is shared by different countries including Brazil. South America is home to 40% of the world’s total rainforest, the Amazon. Although the majority of the Amazon is located in Brazil, it stretches into eight other countries to the north and west. Current logging and slash & burn farming are taking a toll on the forests. It is hard to glance at current satellite images of the area without seeing several highly affected areas. A popular place used as a common example of this is the state of Rondonia, just north of Bolivia. Currently an area of approximately 30,000 square miles has been cleared in this state alone. Slash and burn farming techniques employed by natives, have been destroying the rainforests for decades now with little progress made in the name of prevention. Even in places where logging is banned, middle management easily makes it look legitimate in order to turn profits.

Google Earth has an example of this outlawed logging in a layer called ‘Global Awareness; Greenpeace.’ (Greenpeace = sub layer) What makes this issue so important is that the soil being exposed isn’t capable of sustaining crops for more than a few years forcing a revolving ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ scenario.

(The line represents 300 miles. El Beni is to the south with another larger area.)

The trip is a modern day version of the Oregon Trail. Although less eventful than most of the actual trip taken across the great plains of North America in the 1850’s, it took the same amount of time and covered about the same distance. The family only ran into real trouble one time when Antonio, was cut for defending his mother in an effort to prove his bravery and manhood to his father. This trip in reality could prove to have far worse consequences due to the amount of crime in the region.

Singapore Dreaming - The 5C's

Singapore Dreaming (2006)

This film takes place in the city-state of Singapore in modern, Southeast Asia. It’s a story about a man’s life that is drastically changed when he wins S$2 million in the lottery. He works as a repo-man and is in a nicer house than his assessing what needs to be repossessed, and the next day he is deciding what top-dollar condominium to buy. Winning the lottery was his dream and he showed a great deal of excitement when his son picked numbers for the upcoming jackpot. He also had newspaper clippings of the lottery drawings and ads for new condos and sports cars that he would buy if he ever won. Ironically he passes away a few days after winning, before an interview at a prestigious country club.

The local culture is portrayed well with a mixture of dialect that includes Singlish, English, Mandarin, Hokkien. The official languages for the country are English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. English is used the most in the country, is taught in the schools, and it acts as a cultural bridge. Singlish is the combination of English and other dialects and is a common throughout this film. The level of diversity is not rivaled by many other places and is due mainly in part to unrestricted immigration during the 1800’s. There are many different races of people with language becoming the last thread that connects the current population with their heritage. Although English is becoming the most widely used and accepted of all the languages, it is customary for children to learn native dialects from their mothers.

Singapore has been a strong economic force in the world today and for the last several decades. It is included as one of the four Asian Tigers along with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. These four countries had the most impressive development rates since WWII and influenced trade routes significantly. Singapore is known for having the busiest port in the world with 1.15 Billion tons shipped from in 2005 alone. This amount increased the prior year’s amount and previous world record by 10%. The country has maintained this lead since 1986.

It’s not by coincidence that this city-state has become a known for their port and trading. In 1819, a man by the name of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, landed in Singapore and realized the potential as a possible trading location. He quickly signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah to enable British trade. The British would soon take over the island thanks to John Crawfurd who got the sultan to sign another treaty giving the island over to the British. Stamford is remembered and embraced today with a statue at the location of his arrival on the island.

The country is one of the four remaining sovereign city-states in the world. The others include the Vatican City, San Marino, and Monaco. London, Washington D.C., and Hong Kong are the current non-sovereign city-states that exist today. These cities are all unique and represent major influence not only to their countries that they reside in, but also world-wide. Respectively, Singapore and the non-sovereign cities are more known for their roles in a global sense.

The island is located along the southern coast of Malaysia with two man-made connections between each other. There are several small islands around a mainland that is Singapore. This main island is small at approximately 20 x 10 miles and mainly urban. There is a small woodland area near the center with three man-made lakes. The land area has grown, due to conservation efforts made in the 60’s and will continue to grow from its current size of about 250sq miles for years to come. Other than the small section in the center and along the west coast, the island is the textbook definition of a concrete jungle. The city is dense and the coast is littered with shipyards.

The climate is moderate, and temperatures range from 70-90 degrees annually due to the location along the equator. The only real distinct season occurs in November and December when monsoons ravish the area. The annual rainfall is just less than one hundred inches with the majority being received during monsoon season. South East Asia as a whole is the leader in annual rainfall as illustrated in the following map.

There is definitely a superficial trend towards materialism that shows through in this movie. The son nearly attacks the lawyer when he finds out he won’t be receiving any money and the father acted with pride as though he was someone who earned, rather than won, the money. The mother had forgotten who she was after getting married due to ignoring her own needs while being constantly devoted to her family. Her character is the core of the story and symbolizes traditions that are being lost in the fast paced Singaporean lifestyle race, to attain the 5C’s.

Once Were Warriors

‘Once We Were Warriors’ 1994

The film may come off as offensive to someone of Maori descent as it only portrays a stereotypical type of lifestyle. The story deals with the native heritage in New Zealand and how it meshes with modern everyday life. Many places throughout the world have similar issues that the movie addresses. Violence is common throughout the film, heritage is embraced in many forms (as well as left behind), and the setting is a poverty stricken area of low-rent government housing. There is a hint of positivity in regards to native culture in the end during the funeral, and also when the younger brother learns self-discipline in reform school.

The film portrays a family in the ruff area of South-Auckland, New Zealand. Jake ‘The Muss” is a tuff father, quick to his fists and has earned a reputation that gets him free beer at the local pub. His wife Beth struggles to maintain balance between Jake’s lifestyle and her family values. She also has to taking a beating from her drunken husband Jake, whom her traditional Maori family highly disapproves. The oldest son struggles to find his identity and joins a local gang (TOA), and is seen by his father afterwards who calls the gang losers. During a bar seen Jake says, “You should learn to stand on your own two feet, be more like your father.” The younger brother gets mixed up in trouble, and sent to reform school where learns self discipline and respect. The daughter is raped by a drunken uncle, and later commits suicide after her homeless friend kisses her with no ill-intent, only bad timing.

The Native people to New Zealand came from Polynesia around 1000 A.D. British settlement caused devastation for the Maori people similar the US and Australian Natives. The Maori were alone until the 1800s when British colonization began. They were quickly forced to rural areas and would stay there segregated, until after WWII when they sought work in the cities. One of the main traits associated with the local culture is the Haka dance. It is commonly performed as a war dance with the object of intimidating an adversary. This dance has many other forms and is not gender specific.

The issues faced throughout the film, are similar to those in the US in regards to the Native Americans. Each is a culture is grasping for air as it struggles to carry on its heritage. Violence abounds in low income housing areas and suicide is not uncommon. Alcoholism is at the root of many problems and unemployment is high. This is the case for many Indian Reservations throughout North America.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

Rabbit-Proof Fence 2002

Although titled “Rabbit-Proof Fence,” the story depicted is that of racial prejudice and oppression. This is a film based on a true story of three young girls, who escaped from a reform-school 1500 miles from their home in Australia. In 1931, three Aboriginal girls, 14-year old Molly, her 8-year old sister Daisy, and their 10-year old cousin Gracie, were taken into government custody due to their half-caste status. Forced into a life they didn’t want, Molly choose to risk solitary confinement and brutal lashings in an effort to return home. She led the other two girls away from the camp towards home. During the trek, Gracie was captured and returned to the camp, but the two sisters made it home after several months of drudgery. They never saw Gracie again.

The girls are part of a group of Australian natives as well as mixed children (half-castes) known as, ‘The Stolen Generation.’ This group consists of young children who were stripped from their families by law enforcement and church missionaries between the years of 1869 and 1969. There were government policies in place that allowed this genocide to take place. Many researchers believe it was a plot to eradicate all the native people, similar to the Nazi plight in regards to the Holocaust.

The first settlers in Australia, one hundred-fifty years prior to the beginning of ‘The Stolen Generation’ era, nearly wiped out the native people with disease similar to what happened in North and South America. Small pox alone killed about 50% of the Aborigines. Before British settlement the population is estimated at 720 thousand, and in 1986 it was 227,593. The current population is 455,028, but Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders only account for 2% of Australia’s overall population.

Newly appointed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, gave an apology speech February 13, of 2008, to try and mend the relationship between the government and those affected by the genocide. There has been a national ‘Sorry Day’ held annually for the last decade, due to pressure from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. This Commission spent 17 months researching and reviewing cases concerning separations and a report called ‘Bringing Them Home’ was released to parliament. Another report, ‘Telling Our Story,’ documented individual cases and is currently available to download online. The first report was sent to parliament and became a major topic of debate. Many felt it was not the responsibility of the current staff to apologize for others’ actions and feared it would open up the door to more and more lawsuits against the country. The national ‘Sorry Day’ and the speech given by P.M. Rudd, are the only major actions of government to reach out to the Native People so far.

The girls used the Rabbit-proof fence to find their way home to Jigalong. It’s the largest fence in the world with the main section reaching from the northern shore to the southern and totaling 1900 miles. It took seven years to complete and multiplied from one into three sections. It proved extremely difficult to maintain due to the harsh landscape and length. The rabbits soon found ways under, through, and around the fences during their spread from the east to the west. The three fences were built to guard croplands from these multiplying rabbit populations that were a result of mismanagement by British settlers who brought the rabbits with them as a food source. The fence combined with the genocide, offer subtle irony as the people try to control not only the rabbit population, but the Native’s as well.

In the end, it seems that the fence was much more successful as a tool for the girl’s survival than its original purpose. It was built to keep rabbits out but served as a navigational tool for two young, unwavering girls who made it home. Approximately 100,000 others were captured and not returned. This incident may be small compared to events such as the Holocaust, but the importance is the same and its occurrence more recent. Public awareness is probably the best outcome of this film and the media is quick at ninety minutes as well as entertaining.

Eat, Drink, Man, Woman.

Eat, Drink, Man, Woman.

This family is tied together by a weekly ritual of a lavish dinner cooked by the father, who is the head-chef at a very large and upscale restaurant. He’s on the brink of retirement after the passing of his thirty-year partner and friend, and finds himself suffering from a failing palate. His friend’s death was work related and caused a lot of doubt and question about how he should spent the rest of his life.

At home, his three daughters give life to the house as well as to their father. Each has her own life and individual ideals. The father is strong and has his daughters respect, but nonetheless, they view him as an old badger. He always remains passionate about his cooking and seems to be the most revered chef around. Governing his daughters and staying active are his only other passions. He is fun-loving with strong morals and pride, jogs against doctor’s orders, and has a girlfriend half his age, who also has a daughter of her own. As their relationship progresses, he spoils his girlfriend’s daughter with meals in school he delivers himself everyday during lunch. He then eats the lunch his girlfriend made in order to keep her from becoming suspicious.

The plot in not far from one you might see on a midday soap-opera. Food is used as a communication device in a ritualistic manner. The Taiwanese family seems to honor only this weekly dinner tradition that can relate to a large audience. Food and community is core in our society, and though it is not necessary to converse with others while you dine, it is customary. The weekly meal is the epicenter of the movie and everything seems to take place around it. The relationships are the main focus, and each characterizes a topic relative to life in general as well as in Taiwan.

The daughters are all old enough to live on their own, but due to different circumstances they don’t. The father seems to enjoy their presence though he is stern, and the girls seem to enjoy living there even though they don’t admit it. The father has spent many years raising and looking after the girls and now they are all at the turning point where the girls look after each other and for their father. His palette is failing as are traditions around him.

The fact that the youngest daughter ironically works at a fast food restaurant shows the changing culture and way of life. Her father seems to approve of her job, but only because it isn’t a means to an end. As a college student it’s a common job to have as well as living with a parent or parents is as well. The job symbolizes the modern day Taiwan and the fathers cooking, symbolizes the older and slower paced version. The two generations live close together but each is very distant to each others way of life.

The oldest daughter is a successful business woman in the airline industry who seems to prefer to be a chef. The father taught her everything he knows but wouldn’t let her become a chef due to cultural reasons. The success of her current career has allowed her to hold on to the past by purchasing her father’s home even after a bad venture with an apartment complex where she lost a large amount of money. She seems to be extremely happy afterwards and as luck would have it, she was the one complaining about wanting to move out.

The oldest daughter has converted to Christianity and has recently fallen in love with a man, marries him (due to a pregnancy), and says he will convert as well. The official religion is Taoism with 33% of the population and then there is Buddhism with 35% while Christianity only holds 4.5%. This puts it in third place in the overall ranking and gives an alternate choice to the two traditional religions of the country. This represents a cultural diffusion taking place as well as infusion. The melting pot that is the U.S., seems to be taking form again and again in other countries. Though infusions may not be of people, they’re of ideas and a western way of life that seems immune to the culture and traditions of any place.

Beijing Bicycle

Beijing Bicycle 2001

Beijing Bicycle depicts the struggle that is faced by many young rural men, as they travel to the city to seek better employment. This story may have been a bit exaggerated, but it does get some points across nicely. The transportation, economic state, and the pace of the city are all shown in the movie. Guei, a young-man from the countryside has just got a job as a bicycle-currier and will earn the new delivery-bike after a few weeks of work. Unfortunately it is stolen just before he has earned enough credit for it and he proceeds to search Beijing, a city with 9 million bicycles, to recover it (The street signs even have bicycle outlines in the lights.). His boss is impressed at his persistence and offers him his job back if he can find the stolen bike.

Qin, a school-boy now in possession of the bike, used money that was to pay his younger sister’s school fees to purchase the stolen bike. Qin’s friends have it out for Guei and the group struggle to find a solution after Qin’s father gets involved. They decide to alternate ownership on a daily basis. After Qin got the bike back, everything suddenly seemed ok. The bike was a source of freedom that allowed him to forget about everything bad in his life. This was similar for the Geui as well, except for his delivery-situation. It was his livelihood and even a right of passage for his hard work.

There is definitely going to be culture shock of some type experienced by Geui, and it’s illustrated when he’s forced to take a shower at a SPA before entering to see a client that turns out to be the wrong one. He is a soft-spoken, humble, stubborn, and determined, all traits that can be assumed to be shared by the majority of countryside immigrants who look to the city for work. He shows steadfast dedication after receiving the job as a delivery boy. He talks with his friend at the convenience store and the friend encourages and admires the position Guei is in. He describes it as a, “Dream Job”, as he gazes at the shiny new bike. It seems that the battle is already over instead of just beginning.

The city depicted, is a blend of old and new with a level of coexistence quickly giving way to modern times. Qin wears a school uniform, goes to fancy arcades after school, and returns home to what could be called a shack. Above the store owned by Guei’s friend, a maid loafs around in her employers fancy clothes. The boys with the bicycles practice in construction sites to improve their skills that will make them more popular with their peers. Geui’s friend lives vicariously through him with the ideas of being able to go to all the fancy places in the city. There were a lot of situations where people were trying to ‘forget themselves’ or perhaps, be something better. The students street clothes appeared no different than what you would see in the U.S. This is probably a well portrayed aspect of the youth in the lower economic levels. The violence displayed is also more than likely a result of this.

Guei’s job could be compared to UPS of Fed-Ex on a smaller scale. Bicycle delivery companies exist elsewhere in large cities, but Beijing with its much larger percentage of bicycles than any other city, allows this comparison. The city has relied mainly on bikes for transportation up until the last ten years, with the current trend shifting to cars. President Wang is trying to combat this due to the high concentrations of emissions, as a result of the new influx of cars. The city has spent about 17 billion dollars in the three years leading up to the Olympic Games, in an effort to increase clean air and become more environmentally friendly as a city. Transportation was the main focus with public transportation, the main target. Commuters with motorized vehicles are required to use public transportation once a week and business hours are encouraged to be staggered to avoid dense traffic. Many more changes took place and will continue to take place, it seems as though the Olympics were used merely as a catalyst for the conversion of the city. Comparing Omaha, Nebraska, to Beijing, gives a good example of the density problem causing the heavy pollution. Both cities are laid out in an approximately 100 square mile areas, giving the two similar spatial characteristics. As of 2007, Omaha’s population was 424,482, and Beijing’s roughly 17 million. This makes it approximately 40 times larger than the Omaha. Imagine 10 times more vehicles on the roads in Omaha that is exactly what Wang is facing.

The only time you see a lot of bicycles in Omaha, is at a school and many other smaller cities in the U.S. are the same. With the incline of oil prices, more and more people are risking life and limb, with their two-wheeled transportation. It seems ironic that the people of Beijing who are now able to buy cars are being told no to drive them. It is not going to be an easy task to revert everyone to bicycles, but Wang has done well this far. Of course a plan like this would have to allow for long-distance commuters to use cars, but they would be highly outnumbered by local commuters saving emissions. The main problem is emissions, but even if that was solved, there are just too many people in Beijing to have a good solution.

Veer-Zaara (2004)

Get comfortable because this film from India’s ‘Bollywood,’ is serious about entertainment. At over three hours long, the movie takes viewers far away from their everyday lives and deep into the story. It’s a mixture of song and dance, native and foreign dialects, people, culture, palaces, and attitude. Winning several top awards and earning the number one film spot of the year for India in 2004, it definitely commands attention. The term Bollywood is a mesh of Hollywood and Bombay, India’s largest city that is now know as Mumbai. The majority of the regions films come from this location.

This film takes place throughout several areas around India beginning in the Punjabi countryside. The area is lush and mountainous and the main characters, Veer and Zaara, are shown singing love songs to each other and dancing in the meadows. Zaara is from Pakistan soon to be unwillingly wed in an arranged marriage Veer is an Air Force pilot from India. The love story that unfolds, deals with political issues, cultural differences, and religious beliefs. Throughout the story, there seems to be a common underlying theme of unity that is spelled out in songs and script to the audience.

When India and Pakistan won their independence from Britain in 1947 there were problems, mainly religious, that caused millions of Muslims living in India to move to Pakistan, and Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan to move to India. This was the reason for Zaara having to travel to her grand-mother’s homeland in India to bury her ashes. Once there Veer didn’t think there would be a chance that a Guru would help due to her non-Hindu religion. When the Guru learned of Zaara’s efforts he had no problem performing the last rights for her grandmother.

The song that Veer sang on the way to his home titled, “My Land,” described it as being the same as Zaara’s. The song is very similar to the American youth song, “This Land Is My Land.” Later, after winning his trial, Veer sings about how he looks just like everyone there (Pakistan) and that the country is much like his own. Earlier, when the couple arrived at Veers village, Zaara was dressed in the local Punjabi attire and attended a Lodi Festival where men pronounce their love for a woman. She is accepted very easily by the people in Veer’s village.

Women’s rights were also dealt with. Zaara brings up the topic of female education at Veer’s village, and they decide to build a school for the girls. In Pakistan at the prison, a female lawyer was a new concept for everyone as well as in the courtroom.

Although a lot of exaggeration may have been used to depict this area and the people that live there, the bottom line was accurate; there is a feeling of separation that is felt throughout India and Pakistan. People there are divided by religion, area, history, and education. By using a love story as a medium, writer Aditya Chopra, created a sense of unity in the region with several different things that an audience member could relate to.

This type of movie is one that generally goes down in the history books. Similar to ‘Casablanca’ in many ways, it transcends barriers to create a small bond between people that are more or less divided. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Muslim, Hindu, Christian, or Inuit; there is a good chance that you can relate to this film in some way.