Change Your Image
HIRanD
Reviews
Planetary (2015)
Disappointment
There is much about this film to like - beautiful images, thought provoking commentary, the intention to provide a visual meditation and context to develop a personal planetary world view. Yet the thoughts moving to my attention while watching the film were "preaching to the choir," "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," and most of all "please be quiet." The last is especially ironic since I am notoriously "talky," yet I felt this film really needed moments of ZEN quietness. Instead of leaving the film meditating on my connection with our planet, I came away feeling assaulted by words. The opening sequence was powerful and moving with images from space exploration and commentary from astronauts but then the film seemed to bounce around with commentary about the environment, economics, nature, meditation, indigenous cultures, etc. becoming a jumble of images and comments from philosophers who rambled on and on. Yes, there were moments of truly thought provoking statements - our bodies contain a small number of human cells and a larger number of viruses and microbes which help us survive; "we will never reach resolution," "we are all indigenous." But if the message is that "the answer to the world's problems exists inside of each one of us" the message was significantly hampered by too many voices. There were also moments of disconnect - instead of evoking respect for indigenous peoples, a lovely image of a Hopi shaman made both my husband and I think "how many dead animal parts is he wearing?" (neither of us is a vegetarian). As someone who identifies as Buddhist and appreciates the diversity of images, I couldn't help but notice the exclusion of Jewish, Christian and Moslem imagery and scripture supporting environmental stewardship. There are people of these faiths who believe they must live in harmony with God's creation. We are trying to find balance, but if everyone is talking, no one is listening. In their next film, I hope the filmmakers will recognize the power of silence.
Hwa-ryeo-han-hyoo-ga (2007)
"Based on actual events" which are more interesting than the movie
Lovers of history and film are often disappointed when a movie is "based on actual events." Based on a 1980 democratization protest in Gwangju Korea, Hwaryeohan hyuga (May 18) fails to depict anything more than military abuse of power. Prior to seeing the film at the Hawaii International Film Festival, I was unaware of the massacre. I enjoy Korean television dramas and found this almost as entertaining, though in a movie-of-the-week fashion. Characters and actions depicted in the movie seem artificial and the filmmaker seemed afraid to depict any political view other than love for Korea and Gwangju. The many fans of Jun-gi Lee on hand for the screening were probably mollified by his presence. While I feel the film trivializes the sacrifices made by citizens to advance democracy in Korea, it motivated me to learn more about Gwangju.