The title tells all, another subtle aspect of foreign films that makes them overshadow American films. Look for the words the film defines: "human/humane," "resource/source" and the simply understated word, "manager."
Think about how the manager of a large bread factory in Jerusalem becomes the only "resource" willing to follow through when a suicide bomber kills a former worker.
Will he stay home, do the minimum, try and please a beautiful but angry wife and lonely daughter, or will he decide to make more than bread? Will he sniff out trouble lurking below the fragrant and life-sustaining bread the company is known for?
Why sleuth the life of a Russian immigrant, an engineer from Russia and attempt to find her family and return the body to Russia? A two-day promised journey to Russia ends up being a comedy of errors and tender moments. Good people pop out of the frozen tundra; even the Russian army or at least part of it, gets involved. A broken family comes together—slowly.
A reporter, looking for a scoop for a fledgling expose kind of paper you see at the check out counter in Albertsons, hitches a ride. Hot news about corporate inhumanity and coldness warms into something deep and enduring. Enemies become friends—sort of.
People care about people they don’t even know because others are part of the human family. Seen any fellow humans lately? How far would you track their lives? Not gossip, verbal diarrhea, but caring: love in action. It could mean baking a loaf of bread, and asking real questions. "I want to take you for lunch this week. You've been on my mind lately."
You'll need to be careful. Charity is costly; it can cause you pain. Is the dead Russian girl “more” than an unemployed mechanical engineer who simply mops floors something more than a janitor? Was she a wife? A mother?
Is this a film that warns us yet again that our work can swallow us? Career can seduce us from what means most. As a guy who probably got at least an A- for “husbandhood,” I find myself watching a film, hands clenched, saying, "Fool, don’t leave without making sure she knows you love her. Good-bye is never enough; it might be your last."
And if you find yourself in a 17-year-old van in the middle of Russia, don’t forget to call and say more than, “I am in a fix here. We have a situation.” Say, “Think about me. I need you, but I’m glad you’re safe from this.”
Tell that daughter, your arms around her, “I really am glad you’re my friend.” She knows you love her but do you like her?
Dig deep enough--beyond that fake smile, the fake, fatuous response that things are "great" and see a real human standing in the line for stamps. Nothing like a follow-up, either. "Our family remembers you each night at prayer." I go on believing that there is an energy field we can tap into. Who knows, one phone call, one email may change the day for both of you.
That’s the manager’s mistake and redemption. He starts asking questions. The answers, like our own, might take us from our chair by the fire all the way to a Russian village, suddenly surrounded by new friends.
It’s Christmas. Are you ready to manage your resources?
I like it.
ReplyDeleteYou're very kind, considering I pitch a low budget Israeli film against the grey-haired actor-tycoon-Casanova, star of "The Descendants." It could be the warehouse of medical books you face and the fact that you aren't [as your parents are not] interested in anything that smacks of being a "Hollywood Blockbuster," an uber-used phrase, anyway.
ReplyDeleteArtistic Expression: Tested by Empirical Methods in Industry vs. Nonindustry
ReplyDeleteZack Oakey, MSIII
Abstract:
Background
There is much to be said concerning the question of art and how to create a standard quantity whereby one can perform cross-comparison that might guide future actions. Large population studies with subject populations of more than n= 100,000 demonstrate a consistent preference for an exposition that requires an inciting incident that portends future attention, an antagonist clearly defined and free of ambiguity, a climactic event upon which a theme clearly revolves, and pleasant denouement in which antagonist 'loses' and all protagonists 'win.'
Objectives
To determine whether plot designs of the above description compared with others available in the market are associated with increased risk of boredom by empirical standards.
Methods
We randomized all subjects (n= 1) to exposure group Gateway and to exposure group Broadway (on 3rd S). Service providers were blinded and randomized by Megaplex and Salt Lake Film Society managerial methods. For every film experience subjects rated their experience on a quality-adjusted life hour (QALH) scale, where the measure of film burden was rated as 1/10 for least burdensome and 10/10 being most burdensome.
Results
A majority of subjects randomized to Gateway exposure group (52%) rated an experience of 3/10 on QALH scale, 30% experienced 4/10, and 18% experienced 8/10. Those randomized to Broadway exposure group rated 80% a 9/10, 15% a 8/10, and 5% a 7/10.
Conclusion
By QALH scale, the least amount of quality time lost took place in the Broadway exposure group. This was a statistically insignificant result (p > 0.05). By empiric association one could be guided by Gateway vs. Broadway results, but further trials are necessary.
How can I get in on this? Do you really believe we can ever quantify aesthetic experience, Zack? John S Mill read Aristotle in the original Greek at 4 years of age and by the time he was 12, he had read the major literature of Greece and Italy. In his 20s he had a nervous breakdown. After drifting in the Doldrums for a few months, he picked up Wordsworth and read himself into stability. Aren't there are numerous unmeasurable factors that the QALH scale ignores or at this point at least doesn't consider? My comments place "The Descendants" very low on the QALH. I had a slight headache and brought negative bias into the theater against the hyped pre-Academy Ward gala, an event that in my mind does not really evaluate greatness [whoops] in acting and film. Perhaps I miss the point here and my former student has now displaced me as not King of the Mountain but at the time of tutorials squire of the little mound next to the Smith Bldg. I know someone in your proximity who would gladly take me to school on my misreading of your text, would add a time out and a horsewhip as well. Here's another Homer: how does the QALH hold up [if applicable to text] with sacred texts? Say one, where, as they call it here, "ain't got no horses?"
ReplyDelete