Last night I had my parents, a friend, and my 13-yr-old brother sit down to watch "Beyond Borders" with me, and realized something about my movie-watching habits. Since I have returned to the States I have this handful of movies that I want everyone I know to watch with me - why? They are good movies, but not all excellent films....maybe it would help if I told you the titles: "Yesterday", "Tsotsi", and "Beyond Borders" are the main ones so far.
In last night's film there is a scene near the beginning when "Sarah" stops the caravan to pick up a child who is scarcely recognizable as that, and being eyed by a vulture. My friend said, "Oh come on, there can't be children like that", as he turned toward me all I could do was nod. And it clicked all of a sudden why I show the same movies to everyone - because a handufl of scenes in them show the things that I can't say. I can't explain what it's like to hold a child dying of starvation or how hard it is to tell a woman she is HIV+ or what it's like to live in a place where one block is mansions and a mile down the road is corrugated shanties. Each of these films expresses a scene, a story, or a context that I know but cannot share.
3 comments:
Beyond Borders was shocking to say the least. I like what you're saying in this post. I often recommend films as a substitute to painting a picture with my words. Where can I find the other titles you mentioned?
We watched Tsotsi recently. It's a great film. It moved me deeply. I've also seen Beyond Borders. I'm going to check out Yesterday now.
Rob,
You should be able to find both films in the Foreign area of Blockbuster, or somewhere like that. Tsotsi took place and was filmed near where I was in S.Africa. Yesterday is the story of a Zulu woman, and it is the story of so many that I know.
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