The Middle of the World

The Middle of the World takes us on a journey through the eastern side of Brazil. This film is a true story about a rural poor family who treks 3000 km across Brazil on bicycle to find opportunity. The father of the family, Romao, is trying to find a job where he can make 1,000 reals a month. He believes this to be enough to support his five children and wife. Throughout their journey the family desperately tries to find ways to get by. They beg and even sing for money and they also stop in a town where the mother of the family, Rose, makes a few hammocks for some money. Romao is a religious man and believes he will find direction when he visits his patron saint Father Cicero. During his visit to Father Cicero, Romao determines that the family needs to go to Rio de Janeiro to find work. The family then embarks on a long stretch of road which will test the family and it’s relationships with each other.

The major theme in The Middle of the World is rural poverty in Brazil. In the film we are shown that it is extremely hard for Romao to find work. He aspires to be a truck driver but most positions where he lives are already filled. In the film the family starts their trek out in the Northeastern part of Brazil. According to a rural poverty.org, (http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/) the poorest and least developed part of Brazil is the northeast. The areas lack of opportunities force urban migration away from these areas. In Brazil 30% of the population lives on less than $2 a day. We see as the family moves toward Rio de Janeiro their job opportunities slightly increase. Though we never see Romao find a job, we do see his son, Antonio, get a job as a brick layers assistant and the family does a quick job as Indian imposters at a tourist resort.

Throughout this film we get a sense that religion is a big part of Brazilians lives. Early on in the film Romao expresses his need to visit the statue of his Patron Saint Father Cicero. We see in the scene where Romao and family visit the pilgrimage of Father Cicero that crowds of people flock to the statue to be blessed. Father Cicero had great influence on this area as a Roman Catholic priest in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The majority of Brazil belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Also we notice another example of Catholicism in the final scene where Romao and family arrive at Rio de Janeiro and their first visit is to Corcovado Hill to visit the Cristo Redentor statue. This is a statue of Jesus that sits high hill top that overlooks Rio. Romao is a man who is not a sinner and encourages his family not to sin. We get a good idea in the movie of what the values of a religious family in Brazil might be like.

I was intrigued by this family’s long journey across Brazil. Curiosity sent me to plot the route they took. I wasn’t sure exactly where there starting point was in the movie. You can assume they started near the equator in northeastern Brazil. On my map I have their starting point as the first truck stop they stopped at in the beginning. In the map that is attached to the left you can see that I have listed the cities or towns that are mentioned in the film or noticeable on street signs. Click on map to enlarge.

Middle of the World did a great job at educating the viewer on this region. When the movie covers a large geographic area it helps give the viewer a good perspective of the region as a whole. I also thought it did a great job at portraying the problem with rural poverty in the region. My only downfall with the movie was the lack of substance with the plot. We see the family go through the movie with no extreme ups or downs. This is most likely because they told the story realistically to what really happened. I was really hoping they would show a more of a concluded ending. We really never see if Romao gets his job or not. I wanted them to find success.

Yesterday

Yesterday takes us to a remote village in South Africa’s Zululand. This film tackles one of the biggest epidemics in the region. South Africa has world’s worst AIDS epidemic. The story centers on a mother named Yesterday who lives with her daughter Beauty in a remote village called Rooihoek. Yesterday is hit with the news that she has the HIV virus. We watch as Yesterday’s village turns its back on Yesterday and her also infected husband. This is a story of a woman’s courage, strength and determination to not let the disease get the best of her.

As we examine the AIDS epidemic in South Africa we see startling numbers. At the end of 2007 there were 5.7 million people in South Africa that had HIV. There are also 1,000 AIDS deaths that happen in one day. This film shows the fast need for education on the HIV virus. We see in the film that people are very uneducated when it comes to contracting the disease. Villagers think that just being in the same village they will get the disease too. Also they seemed uneducated on condom use in the film. South Africa’s population is actually on the decline because of the epidemic.

There was an area in the film that I thought had some irony in it. Yesterday had the HIV virus and yet she seemed to be hanging in there and battling the illness. She seemed to have a focused positive frame of mind. On the other hand, Yesterday’s husband seemed to fade quickly after becoming sick. I thought it was interesting how he was the bad guy and he got hit harder by the illness. He was the one that was sleeping around and he was very unwelcome to his wife’s news of the illness when he beat her. It was a sign of bad karma when he came crawling back to his wife in terrible shape.

Yesterday does a great job a raising attention to a very serious social issue. Possibly this film is just what this region needed, a main stream media learning tool to teach awareness on this devastating disease. I liked how they filmed the movie in the rural areas. This shows that even the people who live in the rural areas who are married can be still susceptible to the deadly disease.

Tsotsi

We head to Johannesburg, South Africa in our next film titled, Tsotsi. This film centers on a trouble youth, Tsotsi, who leads a small gang out of the township Soweto. The story shows us Tsotsi’s mentality transfer from being a ruthless criminal with no conscious to a person with a new outlook on life. Tsotsi begins his transformation when his friend Boston asks him if he ever had a dog. This somehow breaks the rough edge of him. He recalls when his father broke his dogs back. This was the last time he lived with his parents. With deep emotions leaked out he is even further weakened when he shoots a woman for her car and later finds the woman’s baby in the back seat. He keeps the baby and the presence of the baby brings back memories from his childhood. It all somehow changes his way of thinking. He wants to care for the baby and give it possibly the upbringing he never had. Tsotsi then fades away from his gang and even encourages Boston to go back to school. Eventually Tsotsi’s guilt gets the best of him and returns the baby to its father and paralyzed mother.

The setting of this film is largely set in the township of Soweto. Soweto is a former township from the Apartheid era. The depiction of this area in the film is very poor with some gang activity. According to Wikipedia, parts of Soweto rank among the poorest in Johannesburg. In the film we only really see the bad parts of Soweto, there are also more developed nicer areas. There are many areas which are reoffered to in the film as “the shacks”. These are the poverty stricken areas and crime and violence are its result. The picture attached to the left is “the shacks” in Soweto.

An issue that was prevalent in the film Yesterday was also slightly captured in Tsotsi. South Africa has the worst AIDS epidemic in the world. We see AIDS in Tsotsi as Tsotsi mother is dying of the disease. This could be one of the bigger issues into the breakup of his family. We see as Tsotsi’s father is not dealing well with her disease as he breaks the dogs back. There are a few other scenes where we can see the need for education for prevention of AIDS which was displayed on billboards in Johannesburg. We see two different billboards in the opening scenes of the movie. One billboard says “ We are all affected by HIV and AIDS”.

I found a few parts in the movie to have irony in them. There seemed to be an underlined theme of people or animals being paralyzed not being able to walk. Tsotsi was very heart broken as a child when his father broke his dogs back. This seems to play into the breaking of the soul in Tsotsi later in the movie. Tsotsi learns of the baby’s mother being paralyzed and it seems to hit him hard. This resurfaced feelings of see his dog struggling to get up. Also Tsotsi was intrigued with the homeless man who was in the wheelchair. It was almost like Tsotsi hoped he was just faking to get money.

Crying Ladies

The Philippines is the setting for our next movie Crying Ladies. Crying Ladies is about family, friends and new beginnings. The movie centers on the main character Stella, as she struggles with poverty and struggles to find happiness while living apart from her son, who lives with his father. Stella’s two friends are also stuck in ruts as one is dealing with martial affairs and the other deals with the fact that her movie career is probably over. One man brings the friends together when he needs funeral criers at his traditional funeral he is planning for his father. One thing is for certain these women had plenty to cry about from their personal lives. In being united, these friends find strength, hope and encouragement from one another and ultimately find happiness and success. In the end Stella finds success in the karaoke business and becomes an award winning actress in karaoke videos. While Stella’s friends find happiness with resurgence in their lives.

As we watch Crying Ladies we notice there is large Spanish and U.S. influence on the Philippines. This is because the Philippines were colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century and later became a United States territory in the early 20th century. The Philippines became independent in 1946 following World War II. One Spanish influence I saw was religion. Choleng’s church was Roman Catholic. According to Wikipedia about 90% of the Philippines are Christian. This film also shows us that the Philippines are very diverse. Looking at people in the film, there is not one distinct look of a Filipino. There are many different influences on the area.

We see quite a bit from Chinese culture when we get to see Wilson’s father’s funeral. This is a traditional look at a funeral. Funeral criers were hired in the past, but are a trend that has declined. Wanting to make it as traditional as possible Wilson hires Stella and here two friends to cry at the funeral. We notice a stark difference from American funerals. All of the mourners were dressed in white compared to black seen here in the U.S. We also see many similarities in this movie as we saw in Singapore Dreaming. Just like in Singapore Dreaming we see the traditional burning of the paper house. Although, I notice the funeral in Crying Ladies was taken more serious, which may have been due to the wealth of the family.

A small part I took from the film was the transportation. We see in the film many of these jeep looking cabs. These cabs are called jeepneys. According to Wikipedia, jeepneys are the most popular means of transportation in the Philippines. These are jeeps that were left over after World War II. The U.S. either gave or sold the surplus of them to Filipinos. With a little styling up these Army jeeps were turned into taxis. The picture on the left is an actual jeepney in the Philippines. Also in the film, cabs and public buses are present.

Crying Ladies was an excellent film that showed much of what the Philippines are like. You get a good idea of how diverse the country is and also you learn where they get a lot of their influences from. Many traditions are noticeable, which makes it easy to learn about their customs. I have gained a better understanding of this region by viewing this film.

Singapore Dreaming

Singapore Dreaming takes us on a journey into the up and down lives of a contemporary family living in Singapore. The Luh family is working class and has members of the family caught up in the fast growth of Singapore. Wanting a better life quickly, the Luh’s face the realities of their struggle. Finally big dreams come true when Poh Huat, the father of the family, strikes it rich with the lottery. Soon greed gets the best of everyone and battle lines are drawn for shares of the money. Everything changes when father has a heart attack. Everyone shows their true colors in the event of father’s death. Mourning their loss, their relationships with each other begin to strain when they squabble over who is deserving of the money. The Luh family shows the viewer how money and selfishness can tear up a family.

As we see in the film the Luh family is living in what looks like a large apartment complex. This type of complex is government owned and called public housing. In Singapore the Housing Development Board or HDB is responsible for public housing. Public housing in Singapore is not looked as poverty; in fact it is quite common for Singaporeans, whom are middle class, to live in public housing. Singapore has a large population and little space for its residents. Singapore is about 3.5 times the size of Washington D.C. and has a population of 4.6 million residents. These large public housing compounds enable many people to live in close proximity. According to an HDB website, there are about 86% of Singaporeans that live in HDB housing, compared to 9% in HDB’s inaugural year of 1960. The picture to the left is an actual HDB complex.

Language is an interesting aspect in this film as we hear many different languages being spoken. This is a reflection of a multi-cultural society. In Singapore Dreaming we hear mostly Hokkien, English, and Mandarin. We also here something that sounds like English but sometimes is hard to understand, this language is a Creole called Singlish. English was introduced when Singapore became a British colony. There are little hints in the film that Hokkien is a language that is not traditional to Singapore. For many years the Government tried to push for Mandarin and English. In the past they implemented education guidelines that the schools teach the mother language Mandarin. Hokkien and other languages have declined sense the governmental guidelines were enacted, though Hokkien is still commonly heard on the streets.

In Singapore Dreaming we get a clear look at Taoist funeral practices. There is a great deal of preparation that goes into these funeral services. We see in the film that the Luh family goes into great detail in setting up a paper display of their father’s belongings. This is so the dead can use these things in the other world. A large paper mansion is on display along with a car and even a pool. This is all burned in the culmination of the funeral. In the film we see that the family is holding a wake in large communal area. This is actually at their HDB public housing complex and is there for these types of special occasions so the residents have space to send off the dead. The picture to the left is a similar looking paper house that I saw in the film.

In closing, we see this film with many similarities of our own environment. Money and greed are universal and sometimes people get caught up with the thought of money getting them everything they ever wanted, yet we sometimes forget what we already have. Singapore Dreaming geographically gives us much to grasp. Language, religion and just day to life in the film give us a greater understanding of Singapore.

Rabbit-proof Fence

Rabbit Proof Fence takes us to the continent of Australia. As we see in Rabbit Proof Fence, Australia is a very dry place. It is actually the driest inhabited continent on earth. Australia is arid or semi-arid in ¾ of its land. Also as we see in the movie there are not many elevation changes. Australia is also the most flat continent. Its highest point is Mount Kosciuszko which is 2,228 meters high. The population of Australia is about 20 million people with most of the population centers on the coast.

Rabbit Proof Fence is based on true events which give us a look into the treatment of aboriginal people of Australia. Aboriginal people can be traced back 40,000 years as inhabitants of Australia. In the 17th century exploration by European settlers began. It was in 1770 when Captain James Cook took claim of the area in name of Great Britain. Rabbit Proof Fence takes us to 1931 when there was a special law or aboriginal act that controlled the lives of the Aboriginal people. The goal of the Aboriginal act was to breed out the black race. A man named A.O. Neville was the chief protector of Aborigines and was the legal guardian of every Aborigine in the State of Western Australia and held his position for 25 years. As we see in the movie, the state has the power to take any half-caste child away from their family and then taken to Moore River. It was here the children were taught to be white and was the place where the main character and her sister and cousin escape and make the long journey back to their homeland Jigalong. I can’t even imagine the strain this put on the Aboriginals. This was in fact stealing generations from these people and stealing their identity.

I was wondering while watching, what the true meaning of the film’s title. The title Rabbit-proof Fence was indeed the actual purpose of the fence. The fence was constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits out of Western Australia pastoral fields. We learn in the movie there are actually three fences. A map of the fences is posted to the left. The rabbit was introduced to Australia when it came over on the first fleet from Great Britain and was released into the wild in 1859. The rabbits spread like wild fire and had a real negative effect on Australia. Today many native plants and animals are extinct due to the introduction of the rabbit.

Once Were Warriors

Once we were Warriors takes us to Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand. It is located on the North Island and has a population of about 1.4 million people. New Zealand is broken up into two islands, the North Island and the South Island. New Zealand is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and is 1250 miles southwest of Australia. This movie shows us urban life of an indigenous Māori family in the City of Auckland, New Zealand. Māori is the word that refers to the indigenous people of New Zealand. This film is a graphic look into a Māori family dealing with issues such as alcoholism, domestic violence, and poverty.

There are many social economic issues we see present in this film. Māori’s are depicted as a struggling society. Many examples of poverty are noticeable. Also there are examples of Māori’s belonging to gangs and being involved in criminal mischief. This is actually a big issue in New Zealand. The majority of Māori are a struggling society. Māori account for 14% of the population and yet 50% of the prison population is Māori. Māori also suffer from more alcohol and drug problems than any other group in New Zealand. The Māori also suffer from racism in New Zealand. This film did a good job at bringing these problems to the surface. Along with Jake’s domestic violence issues and his alcoholism we see that he also has a gambling problem. In scenes we see him betting on horse races and he becomes very agitated when being interrupted when watching the race. Horse racing is actually major contributor of New Zealand’s economy. There are actually 59 horse racing locations in New Zealand and the industry alone provides 18,300 full-time jobs. New Zealand generates about 1.4 billion a year from its racing industry. The racing is not where New Zealand stops with its horses. New Zealand has many breeding company which breed top horses for exportation to such areas as Australia and Asia.

In the film we see that some Māori are more connected to their ancestry than others. The family of focus in the film really doesn’t get back to their roots till the end when everything falls apart. Their son Mark “Boogie”, becomes attracted to his ancestry when he is taken from his home and at his boarding school he is introduced to Māori customs. During the film we see many examples of Māori customs. We see many Māori adoring tattoos on their face and body. Tattoos or in Māori language “Moko” are very traditional to the Māori. Tattooing is started in adolescence, usually to celebrate life events. We also see traditional Māori weapons in the film. We see Boogie using a wooden stick to break out windows in his boarding school. This was no ordinary stick; it was what is called a Taiaha. A Taiaha is a traditional weapon of Māori from New Zealand and is about 5 to 6 feet long. The weapon was used in close combat situations. It is pointed on one end and widens out on the other in broaden blade. The Taiaha is not commonly used for combat for today’s generations, though it is still used in traditional dance rituals.

One thing I found interesting with the film was there were a few parts that had American influenced items. In the scene where Nig is being driven to the gang beat in initiation ceremony we here a reference to Michael Jackson. The gang leader lets Nig know that he will not have to pay for his face to get rearranged like Michael Jackson. I thought it was quite a funny line in a movie that had little humor. Also I noticed a few movie posters in Gracie’s room. They were movie posters of Lethal Weapon 3 and White Men Can’t Jump. Both movies came out in 1992 which just a couple years prior to Once Were Warriors debut.