Do gleaners deserve better social attention? – movie review -- “The Gleaners and I”

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I had doubted how a movie could last for more than an hour without a story to keep the audience amused until I watched “The Gleaners and I”, a documentary. Though lacking in amusing elements, the movie grabbed my attention all the way through.

As shown in the poster with a few females bending over what appeared to be stems of wheat, the word “gleaners” first appealed to me as women gathering a ripe crop from the field. The movie, however, shows gleaners of various kinds. There are gleaners seeking to survive on leftovers on farms, in orchards, vineyards and even oyster farms after the harvest. There are also urban gleaners who live off discarded produce in the streets.

The movie thus brings to light the problem of wastage in both rural and urban areas. Because of overproduction, a lot of potatoes, apples and grapes are left to rot on the ground. Similarly, over consumerism has led to huge amounts of unwanted goods thrown in the streets.

However, such revelations are not meant to sadden the audience. The gleaners, rural and urban ones alike, appear to be enjoying themselves. Without the least sign of self-contempt, they talk cheerfully about their experiences. One interviewee boasted of staying in good health despite his decade-long consumption of discarded outdated food. A lecturer who teaches French to immigrants is found to be feeding daily on vegetables thrown out of fresh markets. In response to the director’s curious questions, he can even explain the nutritious values of the vegetables he chooses. Another hopeful delight is the exhibition at which everything on display is picked up from the street. So gleaners are not limited only to those suffering from poverty. And there are other claims to the unwanted goods than just something to fill the stomach with.

The word “I” in the movie name suggests that the director has a part to play in the movie. Indeed she can be considered a gleaner herself. With the use of a handheld digital video camera, she travels from place to place, gleaning ideas, images and people’s emotions to make her film. She does gleaning literally, too. She has a collection of abandoned objects gathered on her filming trips. What impresses me most is a glass enclosed clock without the hands. “Then,” she says “I won’t have to think about the passing time”. The heart-shaped potatoes are another pleasant surprise.

In this age when there is so much talking about environmental protection and waste reduction, the movie offers another perspective from which we can ponder the issue. Gleaners perhaps deserve better social attention for their contribution to the idea of turning waste into value.

Let me sum up by saying that documentaries can be interesting. They are more true to life than ordinary kinds of movies, even those about a life event, as documentaries show the real world we are living in.

P.S.
If you are interested in documentaries, there is a series to be screened in Cinemathetique - Passion in July.
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Understand and manage the blues

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Most of us see depression as a disease waiting to be cured. In his article “Living the blues” on the SCMP on June 10, however, Elbert Lee discusses depression as an issue that is closely related to personal growth and can turn a person into “a fuller, deeper, more resilient human being.”

I agree that depression moods, often referred to as the blues, are a psychological issue of great significance especially to young people as they inevitably come with adolescence. At this stage there may be some changes in their mood and behavior. Parents and teachers ought to be careful to distinguish between normal changes and symptoms of depression. Depression, if diagnosed, should not be allowed to exacerbate for it can take a severe form and can even be fatal as is evident from the sudden death of Elbert’s close friend.

On the other hand, if well managed, the blues can actually serve very beneficial purposes as suggested in the headline. Elbert states that depression can arouse an awareness of certain complications or shadows of life. Young people then understand that life is not all about pursuing wealth and happiness, and that they ought to ponder, experience and explore the darker side of life in order to learn from it. This can be of a better healing effect than what the usual antidepressants can achieve. More importantly, this can lead to their growth with better character strengths.

Elbert even points out that the blues can contribute to artistic and innovative production. We are not short of examples of very touching stories written by authors in their worst moods ever. Artists who are down in the dumps may also produce paintings that tug at our heartstrings.

In brief, depression is part of life. It is especially important to help young people understand their depression more in order to manage it well.

Film Review – ‘The Long Excuse’

“The Long Excuse” is a story about Sachio Masahiro Motokia, a celebrity writer, whose wife, Natsuko Eri Fukatsu, dies in a car crash. He does not at first feel the loss and even appears in a TV program with pretended bereavement. Then he meets Yoichi Omiya, a truck driver, who is left with two children to take care of after the death of his wife, Natsuko’s friend, in the same accident. Sachio offers to look after the two kids when Yoichi is at work away from home. He does this probably because he finds it difficult to proceed with his life. It is during this time that he begins to ponder his own life, his disloyalty in marriage and his lack of children. He finally allows himself to face up to his guilt and sadness and finds a renewed purpose to life.

The film is touching but not tear-jerking. In fact, it is beautifully orchestrated between joy and sadness. There are even some good laugh-out-loud moments. I enjoy how Sachio, with the help of Yoichi’s little girl, messes around with the housework. He cares so much about the girl’s sensitivity to seafood that he makes sure there is none even when buying creamy buns. It is a heart-warming scene when the girl actually has to push him from behind when he fails to cycle up a steep slope where her mother used to take her on a daily ride.

Sachio’s dealing with the boy, on the other hand, appeals more to the emotions of the audience. The mature and melancholy boy is deeply grieved at the loss of his mother, secretly lamenting that the misfortune has not fallen on his father instead. Contemptuous of Yoichi’s ignorance and inability to cope, he decides to give up enrolling in high school in order to take care of the family. In the boy Sachio sees a young man with a strong sense of responsibility, who he himself has never been. However, Yoichi’s involvement in a car accident while at work finally convinces the boy of his attachment to his father. Sachio also takes the chance to advise him to treasure everyone in the family for, all of a sudden and for no reason at all, they may be gone forever.

“The Long Excuse” is a love story. It is about love that is lost and then rediscovered. It is a movie that will leave you feeling happy and sad at the same time.