Thought provoking documentaries

I am thoroughly enjoying every bit of my three week break by spending just a bit more time snuggled under layers of blankets (the reverse Princess and the Pea due to the chilly nights), and borrowing films to watch from the school library (I paid so much in school fees so I might as well make the most of it!). That's what I did during my time in National University of Singapore and in Leeds University as well, and it exposed me to and made me fall in love with a whole new world of film outside the typical Hollywood types.

This time however, I stuck with American-centric documentaries that I have been wanting to catch, Walmart, the High Cost of Low Prices, and Food, Inc. After watching those, I am reminded of everything wrong about our current capitalist economies and wonder when things will unravel to make way for a new system.

So let's talk about Walmart first. It was definitely not unbiased and felt like a revenge against big multinational corporations at times. But it was a thought provoking film that made me think about all the times I smugly patted myself on the back after scoring something on the cheap with not much thought given to the origin of the goods.

The evil that is Capitalism

I particularly enjoyed the end of the documentary, which showed people power at its finest. Ah, so we are not powerless after all. It makes my heart sing that a big MNC's plans can be thwarted.

Moo.

Next up was Food, Inc, a documentary that is close to my heart due to my love for food. This was an enlightening and at times, scary, film tracing the sources of our food and how (again) big corporations and government policies predict food prices that shape food culture. And how human greed is skewing our food system and ultimately killing us.

Do you know what goes in your food? 

I love my farmers markets and hate the thought that they will one day become a thing of the past as these big corporations drive them out of business and replace our whole foods with processed ones, so I'm taking a stand and choosing to be an educated consumer and choose whole food for the sake of my earth, my fellow human beings, my loved ones, and my health. 

"Why is it that you can buy a double cheeseburger at McDonald's for 99 cents and you can't even get a head of broccoli for 99 cents?"

Gravity

Gravity blew me away with its amazing visual effects and the contrast of space and claustrophobia. I have an inexplicable fascination with space movies (not quite the likes of Star Wars and Star Trek, even if I do enjoy the latter, but those that are more grounded in reality) such as the films focusing on the Apollo missions, the documentary on the 2003 Colombia space shuttle accident and the more science-fi-ey Moon and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. I have been equally awestruck and chilled by the immensity of space and man's efforts towards scientific progress.

Space - the final frontier, as Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles called it - is equal parts majestic and equal parts threatening. I held my breath as Sandra Bullock's character spun out of control in the vast expanse, harrowed by the loneliness evoked. Space figured as the third character in a small cast; a force that threatened survival while being a space to survive in.

The failures and catastrophic series of events in Gravity left me pondering on the insignificance of man in light of greater forces.

Of course, there was also the whole birth sequence that many made reference to. I guess it is only appropriate since people are changed when confronted with their own mortality and powerlessness.

So far, my top three movies of 2013 are Cloud Atlas, Pacific Rim and Gravity, in no particular order. What is yours?

6 stories across 6 different times

Every so rarely are we struck by a film that haunts and enchants, begging to be revisited if only to increase the viewer's understanding of the story.

I had the chance to see Cloud Atlas yesterday and it blew me away completely. It is intricately woven together by stories that are vastly different but connected, at the same time. The idea of soul mates almost caused my eyes to betray my emotions (especially since it is a sore spot for me at this point in life) but filled me with hope.  

 

I loved the idea of the music of the Cloud Atlas sextet binding the stories together. The ebbs and flows of the piece corresponded to the highs and lows, and the moments of suspense and peace in each of the character's lives.

This is a story that I need to revisit. Now to grab a copy of the book!

"Our lives are not our own.We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future." - David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Two young lovers, in their kingdom by the sea

Finally managed to catch the much touted and the latest Wes Anderson film, Moonrise Kingdom. And I must say, it is such a refreshing change from the standard Hollywood fare that has been flooding the cinemas lately.

Moonrise Kingdom is a charming tale of a blossoming romance between two young outcasts, who were lucky enough to find each other. The film follows them as they run away from the adult world and into their temporal kingdom by the sea (somehow the scenes of them in Moonrise Kingdom reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe's poem, Annabel Lee). I cheered silently as the two young lovers emerged triumphant and managed to retain their autonomy despite pressure from society.

Wes Anderson managed to weave in the nostalgic charm of an older period, untouched by modern technology. I really enjoyed the film.

Loving Annabelle

When I was an undergraduate, I loved going to the University library to borrow films, just because. And I really miss that. So I have been trying to watch a film a week.

Just caught a really beautiful and tragic film, "Loving Annabelle". It may be a little clumsy but I love the simple, straight-forward story-telling. Love is love, whatever the form. A tale of forbidden love set in a rigid Catholic boarding school where nothing that is not black and white is ever accepted. In comes the outwardly rebellious daughter of a senator, who later proves herself to be a gentle and sensitive soul. Her presence disrupts the orderly ways of the school and breaks down her poetry teacher's pretense to normalcy. 

What I liked is the the film never victimises either character. While both are powerless to the attraction of the other, they are both complicit participants.

"What you call sin, I call the great spirit of love, which takes a thousand forms"
-From Madchen in Uniform, the German film that it was based on.