BFF

I'm attending the Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) this week. This is the second year for this festival that was begun by Geena Davis who is a champion for inclusion of women and diversity in film. She has actually done a study that shows how little women are used in front of and behind the camera. Even crowd scenes with extras do not have enough women to represent our society. She has taken the results of that study to Hollywood producers and writers and powers that be and shocked them all. Most of them have vowed to change. This film festival is all about inclusion and is the only film festival that offers full distribution for the winning films.

Yesterday I attended a panel called Progress or Perfection and three films. All three films were well done and well received by the audience.

Driving With Selvi, a documentary about a former child bride who escaped her abusive husband to become South India's first female taxi driver. The film follows her over several years and we see a courageous and strong woman who is determined to not only succeed, but to thrive.

Wild Prairie Rose is a narrative film that started a bit slowly for me, but quickly won me over. Rose comes back home to the country from Chicago to take care of her ailing mother. She hopes to only be there 3 weeks and get back to her life. However, she meets a deaf man that changes her perspective on everything. What is interesting about this film is the director chose to cast a deaf man in the role rather than a hearing man who played deaf. Also, in the audience watching the film were a number of deaf people with an interpreter off to the side who signed for them during the film. The interpreter was two rows in front of me and I was surprised that it offered no distraction from my movie watching at all.

The third film I saw yesterday, was clearing the best produced.....all three films were very good and I loved them all....but this one had more star power. The Great Gilly Hopkins stars Kathy Bates, Olivia Spencer and Glenn Close. This film had me laughing and even in tears towards the end....and I saw many people around me with tissues. All of the films had their film makers do a Q & A after the film, and even David Paterson, the screenwriter/producer of this film was in tears as he stood in front of us. The film was adapted from a novel written by his mother Katherine Paterson. He said the book is used in schools and was based somewhat on their family. It's about a 12 year old wise cracking young girl who has been shuffled from foster home to foster home until she meets Maime Trotter, played by Kathy Bates. Having been in foster homes myself until I was finally adopted at age six....I could identify with this film from the start.

I'm off to watch a bunch more films today...and will try and post more about them tonight. So far, I'm loving this festival. Thanks Geena Davis for all the work you are doing to promote diversity in film.

The Giver

Imagine for a moment living in a world with no war, no anger, no judgment, no fighting. The words of John Lennon’s song come to mind….

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

It’s certainly a nice sentiment, but the movie The Giver , based on the 1993 novel by Lois Lowry, shows us what such a world might look like: a world of ‘sameness.’  Director Phillip Noyce does a great job of using black and white to paint a picture of a peaceful and complacent world. We’ve seen it before when director Gary Ross used it in Pleasantville, and it certainly served this movie as well.

This post-apocalyptic ‘utopian’ world came about after something referred to as ‘The Ruin’. Everything that could possibly cause upset has been removed, including the ability to see color and feel emotions. Even weather is controlled…no snow or storms allowed. There are no automobiles so no worry of road rage or accidents. Each person receives a daily dose of medication that depresses all of their feelings, even those of love, longing and joy. ‘Precision of Language’ is a commonly used phrase to make sure communication stays clear. I have to say that could come in handy in relationships sometimes. If someone says they are angry…what is the precision of that word….anxious, nervous, insecure? However, ‘warm and nice’ just don’t say enough when it comes to love, but the people in this world wouldn’t know, they don’t feel those emotions.

Also missing are memories. All of the community’s memories of life before this contrived community are stored with one person called The Giver (Jeff Bridges) who gives the elders guidance based on the decisions of the past. Every 10 years a new Receiver is chosen to receive all of the memories. Young Jonas (Brenton Thwaite) is chosen to be this Receiver….and soon thereafter sameness is in jeopardy. Jonas stops taking the daily medication, and begins to see colors and feel emotions and soon realizes what he and the others in his world have been denied.

Meryl Streep does a formidable job of playing the Chief Elder and pops up in holographic form to keep the community in line. Katie Holmes and Alexander Skarsgard play the Family Unit ‘parents’ assigned to Jonas and are successful in keeping an emotionless presence throughout the film.

I enjoyed the film, although not as much as similar films on this subject: Divergent and Hunger Game. My main issue with this film is that they could have made it a little longer and done a little more with the memories being ‘given’ to Jonas. They seem too brief and choppy, and certainly don’t serve to elicit any emotion from the audience.

This movie just served to confirm my belief that ALL of life has value. Yes, war, illness, and pain, while not fun, have their purpose. When I left the movie I turned to my husband and said, ‘Honey, I wouldn’t give up feeling pain or conflict if it meant I also had to give up feeling the love in my heart for you.’

While I love the sentiment of John Lennon’s song, and it’s certainly something to strive towards…The Giver reminds us that a utopian world with only harmony comes at too great a cost.