Movie review - The Red Turtle

Where animations are concerned, my personal preference often involves beautiful natural scenery and hyper realistic images, whether hand drawn or digitally generated, that seem to be the work of an artist. And it was with these elements that “The Red Turtle” became my first choice of a series of films offered by the “World Animation Festival in Summer” now in progress at the Cinematheque Passion.

The film is in fact a display of artistic pictures and images that look like those in real life. There are scenes of the undersea world, beach rocks the man climbs up and down, incoming and outgoing tides, sunrise and sunset as well as long straight trunks of bamboos in a rainforest. In fact, watching the film is an experience of browsing beautiful paintings in a moving panorama. And, as in almost all animations, especially a dialogue – free one, there are fantastic sound effects that bring the various scenes to life, such as the pattering of the rain, the roaring of the waves, the thundering of the tsunami, etc. In fact, with the eyes closed, the viewer could imagine himself enjoying the stunning performance of a brilliant orchestra.

Of course, I did not go to the cinema for the mere enjoyment of the paintings and music. The film does tell a story. It seems a survivor story in the beginning. The man, washed up onshore after a ship wreck, makes repeated attempts to build a raft with the hope of sailing out to the sea, but getting more agitated and frustrated each time the raft is battered and scattered into pieces by an unseen creature. The viewer would thus expect his continuous fight with the attacker until his final victory. But, unlike Robinson Crusoe, who succeeded in leaving the island eventually, our hero in the story spends the rest of his life there with the Red Turtle, the creature responsible for the destruction of the rafts, which has turned into a woman.

So we may consider this a magical realism story. There is unspeakable love between the couple. They somehow make me think of Adam and Eve as they are the only humans on the island. They get along so naturally with the other creatures that they seem to have become part of Nature and Wilderness themselves. The birth of a child makes no difference to their harmonious and peaceful life. As the child grows up, however, he gradually feels the call of the sea. And then the day comes. He bids his parents good-bye and swims out to the sea accompanied by a trio of red turtles. We are thus reminded that he is himself a red turtle. The story ends with the mother turtle also swimming back to the sea after the death of her husband in his old age.

The story is simple and with few dramatic elements. I am not even aware of a special message for the viewer to ponder. It may not be appealing to kids. However, I appreciate the feeling of comfort it affords, the kind of peaceful comfort I would enjoy while reading a novel, preferably on an island as peaceful as the one where the castaway had a romantic encounter with a turtle-turned woman.

This is how a child ought to be treated, austic or not

"Life, Animated” was my first choice of a series of documentaries offered for the month of July. It is about the long struggle of a boy named Owen to survive the long period of darkness in which he was trapped by autism.

Owen was diagnosed to be autistic at the age of three. The years that followed saw his parents struggling with the specialists to help him recover his lost speech and to come out of hiding. There was little success at first. When he was six, however, Owen made his first attempt to utter a word. To his parents’ surprise, he was found to be making use of Disney animated movies to make sense of the world he was living in, the ordinary world. His parents then started talking with him in Disney dialogues. He thus gradually learned to speak and navigate the social world.

Owen spent hours immersed in animation in another way too; he produced his own cartoon stories. There was one in which he portrayed himself as the protector of sidekicks. That was the time when he was troubled by school bullying. His drawing thus relieved him of negative emotions, giving him comfort and security.

The movie is honest about Owen’s struggles as well as his family’s. Disney movies had not made life a bed of roses for Owen. He could not easily tackle the challenges on his path to independence. He chose to watch “Bambi” on the first night when he was on his own, showing his anxiety in the absence of his mother … just like the little Bambi. And when he had fallen in love with a girl, his brother worried about his lack of knowledge about lovers’ intimacy. But before this problem was solved, something happened which gave them a still harder nut to crack. The girl soon broke up with him and he felt as though it was the end of the world. Finally, he managed to make sense of his heartache by drawing and navigate his way through the rough reality.

It was with joint effort that Owen’s family had succeeded in setting Owen up in life. They had jumped into his language, and into his world rather than bringing him out to where they were. They had shown with their experience how the autistic child’s affinity … his love for Disney movies … could be explored to provide a pathway for his social and personal growth.

“Life, Animated” is a story of love and resilience. It inspires us with the message that to help an autistic child, there is no professional, no fixed way. What needs to be done is to recognize the joy in the child and respect the child for what he is instead of the person they wish he could be.

Isn’t this the right way a child ought to be treated, autistic or not?

Students can be brought together to form a “meaningful” community

According to the article “Group Therapy” on the Digital Life page of the South China Morning Post (June 3, 2017), Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook chief executive, wants to use his social network to foster “meaningful” communities and bring the world closer together.

I agree that the idea of mere sharing of pictures and live videos among circles of friends and family is already outdated and that people of shared interests can be nudged into online groups, sharing thoughts, offering support and organizing events. Here I would like to suggest that among the proposed “meaningful” communities can be one formed by students with the aim to enhance their academic motivation.

Recent research shows that social networking can serve effectively as an education tool, enhancing students’ academic ability and boosting their learning in various fields. It has also been proved that the more often students make use of social networking, the more involved they are in school activities. They can thus enlarge their social circles and seek help more easily when needed.

Besides, students can broaden their horizons by social networking with their counterparts overseas. Learners of different cultures can communicate and be empowered to explore new ways of thinking and learning. By sharing the teaching and learning materials, they can work on joint projects, thus getting involved in global problems and concerns, to which they can come up with innovative solutions.

Moreover, social networking is capable of enhancing students’ social capital, which is associated with the ability to secure benefits by virtue of membership in social networks. Imagine being a member of a group composed mainly of students of a world famous college! Undoubtedly, youngsters with accumulated social capital have an edge over others in their future development.

Last but not least, students engaged in online communications can develop a sense of belonging to the community with an openness to varied ideas. And this is exactly how Facebook can help make the world a less divisive place.  

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

https://www.facebook.com/CinemathequePassion/photos/a.495826130541565.1073741828.481600895297422/550228945101283/?type=3

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.
https://www.facebook.com/CinemathequePassion/

Understand and manage the blues

https://www.facebook.com/uiuhkcampus/photos/pcb.1458469904211003/1458469837544343/?type=3

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.

Spiritual Retreat in the Ward – my stay in hospital (3)

For the Holy Week, I had been assigned a few responsibilities. I was to be the commentator for the Mass of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. Besides, on Good Friday there was the Way of the Cross on the Gia Hill, for which I was the lector at one of the stations. In addition, there was the commemoration of Jesus’ crucifixion in the afternoon. Most importantly, the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday was an occasion I had attended annually over the past years. And the Baptismal ceremony would mean much to me this year as I would be the godmother of one of those to be baptized.

Because of my hospitalization, I was deprived of the chance to participate in all these events. However, I decided not to be left out. And out of the mercy of the kind Lord, I did get involved in the Holy Week commemoration amidst the pain and dizziness.

The lingering dizziness meant that I had to keep my eyes closed most of the time though my mind was wide awake. There was no reading or watching TV. The only thing I could do was to listen to songs on the mobile phone. I chose religious songs appropriate for reflections on Jesus’ agony, death and resurrection. There was one named ‘Four days late’ about Jesus raising Lazarus from death four days after the funeral. I kept playing the song again and again and felt elated each time by the singer’s bright and ringing voice singing the line “He’s still on time!” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=se7yAkqu3Ek).

When the dizziness was less disturbing, I browsed the websites with the hope of stumbling upon the live broadcast of a church event. Very fortunately for me, I visited the site of our Cathedral and was able to watch the ceremony of the washing of feet on Maundy Thursday. I felt touched by our Bishop’s humility in kissing the parishioners’ feet.

 (https://www.facebook.com/secathedralmacau/videos/1776393412374711/)

On Good Friday evening I intently searched on YouTube for videos displaying the devout participating in the Way of the Cross. To my delight, I found one with a voice reading the related Bible verses, guiding the viewer to pray and then meditate on Jesus’ agony station by station. I found this very useful in helping me reflect on Jesus’ great love for us. I looked at the scenes of Jesus’ passion, the cruelty of which I had dreaded previously. Thinking of His suffering, I found my own pain negligible.
(https://hk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-search-sb&p=%E8%8B%A6%E8%B7%AF%E5%8D%81%E5%9B%9B%E7%AB%99+%E9%BB%98%E6%83%B3Youtube#id=6&vid=3431390fb2912055aa0a3a3b89c1a430&action=click)

At other times when there was not a ceremony going on, I watched online sermons of different priests. Actually, I had had the links forwarded to me before but very seldom did I care to watch them as I was preoccupied with either one thing or another. In hospital, however, I managed to pay good attention to the preaching and get really inspired.

Gradually recovering, I was able to do some reading. It was a book assigned by our reading group. Without disturbance from the everyday trifling matters, I enjoyed the reading far more than I usually did. I also got a flood of inspiration ready to share about in my next gathering.

In a way I can see my hospitalization as a spiritual retreat. I did more praying and meditating with an increased awareness of the consolation from God’s presence amidst the pain I went through.