Another year, another great Hamptons International Film Festival.  Many different films show us how the world looks thru many different eyes and lenses in 2008.  And these films come to us, if we are able to visit the cinemas hosting this terrific festival.

‘Song of Sparrows’ – might as well start at the top.  Best film of the festival in my eyes.  Fantastic cinematography.  Maybe best I have ever seen complementing the story of a blue collar father portrayed by ?Reza Naji trying to survive.  It all starts on an ostrich farm, and that is different.  Ever watch ostriches move, and run?  Unique!  And the director, Majid Majidi, has to be one of the best directors alive.  Or even dead!  It turns out he also was the director for my two favorite films: ‘The Color of Paradise’ and ‘Children of Heaven.’

Now I have seen all three of his monumental films at the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF)  over the years!  What a credit to this festival!

Karim is the character for whom life does not flow smoothly, yet he can fix anything, has the confidence to do almost anything.  The colors in this movie make the viewing of it a visual/mental orgasm, along with all the perspectives and scenes you are blessed to see.  Whenever this movie comes close to you, go see it, along with Majidi’s other movies I mentioned above.  You will not regret it.  Remember, these are Iranian movies, so explicit political commentary would not be wise to make.  Poetic plot and visuals is the way the director has chosen to work.

Next great film:

‘Taking Root:  The Vision Of Wangari Maathai’ took the prize for me as the best documentary.  Wangari Maathai is perhaps the most important individual in modern Kenyan history.  After the English
colonialists came in and tried to make an England out of Kenya,
cutting down so many of the land’s trees, laying railroad tracks and roads, subjugating the people with the unction of missionary religion, there came two dictators, Kenyatta and Moi, who further subjugated the people.  Ms. Maathai noted how important trees were to the survival of the country, combating soil erosion and drought.  This caused her to start a tree planting movement in 1977.  This led to a confrontation with President Moi who wanted to build a towering skyscraper and a very tall statue of himself on the last piece of public parkland in Nairobi.  If this occurred there would be no place for the common citizen to freely sit and/or gather in the capital city.  Moi made fun of Maathai, in a typical man-rules macho manner.  Then the women who had had their sons arrested for various political reasons by Moi’s henchmen decided to call a hunger strike and sit in the still existing park.  After a few days, Moi tired of the embarrassment and had his forces destroy their little tent, beating the women and anyone else who tried to fight back.  Maathai was beaten unconscious, ending up in a
hospital for several days.  The world press picked up on the story.  Naturally, the Moi project had been backed by the World Bank, but with the adverse press, the Bank withdraw its approval of the project.  Maathai had won a victory, which led to Moi’s downfall after two decades.  Much of this was captured on film, which the producers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, beautifully displayed,.  The colonial footage was particularly stunning as was one particular statistic: 100,000 Kenyans
were killed as a result of the English incursion, with only ~350 English dying.  This is almost the exact ratio we see in Iraq today: 1,000,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the Bush administration incursion there, with about 3500 American soldiers dying.  As time passed, Maathai was elected to parliament, and was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.  Her wisdom and determination are in evidence as we hear her talk and act, starting with her Green Belt
Movement, along with many other women.  Planting trees to combat erosion and drought, leading to a political movement freeing the nation from dictatorship and the entrails of colonial thought.  Religion however remains to erase much of Kenya’s native culture unfortunately, as has occurred in so many African countries, and other colonially demeaned lands.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ also played during the festival.  I confess I did not see it, for I heard it had already been picked up and would be shown in the USA commercially.  Subsequently I did indeed see it, and reckon that it is one of the best films of the twenty-first century.  The scene in the outhouse on the boardwalk with the younger protagonist brother has to be one of the most classic scenes ever filmed, especially in terms of comedy.  The director, Danny Boyle, is not an Indian.  He also made ‘Trainspotting’ which I had to exit from within the first ten minutes due to its graphic sensationalism of injecting heroin, the lover spitting on the needle before inserting it.  Those who dislike Slumdog object to its Boyle-istic sensationalism, and lack of Indian involvement.  However, the original creation was written by an Indian.  The colors in this movie are unbelievable, as is the cinematography.  {But not to surpass that in ‘Song of Sparrows.}  The story is very current, with plenty of tension, and some real purty faces.  Go see it is all I can say.  Despite any detractions, still, the movie overall is great. 

More comments on films will follow in the forthcoming weeks, as time permits…….