The first movie I watched this week was Born Into Brothels. It is a documentary film about children learning to take pictures in the brothels where they are growing up in India. When I started watching the movie I thought I would have a harder time with the film then I did. There was sadness but within this movie I was able to see the joy that the children are able to find in life. For example I was so happy for the children when they went to the seaside. You could see in their faces how being there was an experience they would never forget and it masked the sadness for a short while. I was left thinking what is it about the human spirit that wills us to keep going in the midst of misery and hardship. The photos that these children took were amazing and so real, it is hard to believe that people live this way. It was reassuring to know that the children wanted to learn and be there and create pictures of beauty in this life that they know. At the same time it was discouraging to find out that even with the chances they were given to make a better life a few of them went back to the place they wanted to get out of. I am glad that I finally got the chance to watch this film, it was worth it and I found it encouraging watching these children going through some of the same issues I do with my own work.
The Second film that I watched was Pecker. It was way different from the first film that I saw but I cannot say that I liked it better. Pecker was not what I expected at all. I know that some people found it funny and witty but maybe I still had Born into Brothels in my mind because I could not get into this movie at all. I found it odd, awkward and bizarre, I know that that is also part of the message but I really had a hard time with it. The actually photos in the movie were cool but I wish I could have just seen the photos without the movie.
The final movie that I watched was One Hour Photo. I would have to say that out of the three this one fell right in the middle in terms of me liking them. This movie was also odd but there was something about it that I could really relate to and I think it is easier than we think to fall into this photo-stalking trap. I too can get lost on facebook looking at photos of people lives. I can see where this movie can actually be really close to real life. While I could relate more to this movie than Pecker the ending didn’t really give me much closer and I really had to use my imagination to picture (no pun intended) what happened to all of the characters.
All in all I think movie week was successful and I am glad I got to watch Born into Brothels and One Hour Photo and if I had to sacrifice my time with Pecker to do so well it was worth it.
