Goodbye Bafana – a movie review

Last night we saw the excellent movie Goodbye Bafana, based on the book of the same name. It is the true story of James Gregory, a young prison guard in South Africa who gets sent to work at the maximum security prison at Robben Island in the late 1960s. As he speaks the tribal Khosa language which he learned from a black friend on the farm where he grew up, he gets detailed to guard new prisoner Nelson Mandela and some of his ANC contemporaries. They are imprisoned for acts of terrorism against the Apartheid government. Gregory is asked by the intelligence agency to listen into Mandela’s conversations and feed back any details of ANC plans.

Gregory and his wife Gloria are typical of their time. All their news they get from the newspapers, tey have no TV. ANC publications are banned so they believe what the authorities tell them – that the ANC are communist terrorists intent on taking away land from white people and killing them. They attitudes are similarly racist. At one point Gloria tells her children that it is God’s way that black and white should remain separate.

One incident in the story occurs during Mandela’s first meeting with his wife, Winnie. Sat behind a glass screen and speaking through telephones, Gregory is listening to every word. He feeds back to the intelligence agency that Mandela has a son from his first marriage who has just got a car and a driving license. It is not long before this son is found dead in a car accident. Gregory suspects that he was murdered and blames himself.

As the story develops, Gregory starts speaking to Mandela in Khosa, and their friendship gets closer. Gregory’s attitudes slowly change, particularly after he sees how blacks are treated in the street and get a chance to read an illegal copy of the ANC’s charter of beliefs. Finding life more difficult on Rebben Island, Gregory eventually moves to a different job, but six years later is reunited as Mandela and other ANC prisoners (Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Ahmed Kathrada and Raymond Mhlaba) are moved to a slightly more comfortable prison at Pollsmoor. Once again, Gregory is Mandela’s primary guard. This remains the case until Mandela’s eventual release from Victor Verster Prison on 11th February 1990.

Apart from the obvious touching friendship, one of the things that stuck out from the film was the attitudes of the society in the 1960s and on through into the 1980s. The prison guards and police had some very racist thoughts and actions which jarr with our modern attitudes. Some of the lines are difficult to hear. However, they were, I suppose, simply a product of their time. When fed propaganda by the government, when not many people had TV’s and given that most ANC and anti-aparteid documents were banned, there was no other source of information from which to gather their views. They views they held were the views fed to them. Gregory eventually saw through it.

It is worth making the connection to today – what are we being fed by the media and newspapers that dictates what we believe and think about things? True – we have access to a much wider range of information through the internet and more permissive governments, but it is still worth asking what that media is telling us and whether it is misleading or damaging. Things such as beauty is best, might is right, or the continual desire that is drummed into us to own more things and that this will make us happy. Surely we are all a product of our time that is difficult to escape.

Overall, a wonderful, thought-provoking film.

Into the Wild – movie review

Into the Wild is a movie based on the true story of Christopher McCandless. After he graduated from university in Atlanta, he disappeared, seemingly without trace. He drove out west in search of adventure, in effect to find himself. On the course of his journey, he lost his car in a flash flood, and ended up walking, canoeing and camping to continue his journey. In his desire to find meaning, he eradicated his identity, burning his driving license and social security card, and reinvented himself as “Alexander Supertramp”. He was convinced that the way to find true meaning and happiness was to go into the wild, so he headed for Alaska, woefully unprepared. I should warn you that spoilers follow….

There has been lots written about Christopher McCandless and the mistakes he made. I’m not going to repeat that here, but I will make two points:

Chris McCandless was portrayed in the film as determined to escape the life of western materialism that he was born into. He considered it to be a lie. Why? Well, he discovered truths about his parents that undermined his confidence in them – his father had another family that had been kept secret. He remembered the time when his parents sat he and his sister down around the dinner table and informed them they were going to get a divorce, and they should pick which parent they wanted to live with. The divorce never happened, but the marriage didn’t get any happier. He witnessed blazing arguments and even violence between his mother and father. All the time, the family kept up the appearance of a well-kept, happy, loving family, which had fun together, spent time together and went to church together – living the American dream. It is this that led Chris McCandless into leaving, going into the wild to find himself. I guess the message that the film gave to me was that a lack of integrity between inner life and family and outward appearance can be very damaging indeed. It is indeed, living a lie.

Secondly, the film portrayed Chris as leaving to find himself and find happiness. He was convinced the only way of doing this was to go into the wild on his own, survive by himself, and commune with nature. On his way out there he met many interesting people, from farm labourers in South Dakota, to Hippies in Slab City, to a nice old man in Northern California. From each person he learns, and enjoys their company. But he was still convinced that Alaska was the place to go. He headed out beyond Fairbanks and finds an abandoned bus in the middle of nowhere which had previously been used as a hunting shelter. He makes this his home and starts to hunt and scavenge. At one point it seems that he has learned his lesson and found himself, so he starts to make his way home, only to find that a river that he crossed on his way out had swelled and was impassible. He reluctantly returns to the bus. This time he is overcome by desperation and loneliness. At the end of the film, when Chris is dying from starvation – there had been a lack of animals he could hunt for food – he writes in his journal: “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” – and he remembers all the interesting relationships he struck up on his journey out West. I think this is a good point – happiness comes from relationships, with each other and with God, not through achieving tasks or ‘finding oneself’. It’s a shame that Chris had to be on the point of death to realise this.

The movie itself is beautifully shot – not difficult considering the beautiful surroundings of the countryside of Alaska and the West Coast. The Acting from Emile Hirsch and others is excellent. Well worth watching.

A set of photos from the bus which Chris made his home can be found here.

Heaven (Tom Tykwer) – movie review.

A couple of nights ago I watched the film “Heaven”, with Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi (Phoebe’s brother in Friends). I picked the film mainly because of its director Tom Tykwer, who wrote and directed one of my favourite films, Run, Lola Run. Heaven was not written by him.

Set in Italy, it is the story of a young lady (in her 30s) intent on revenge. Her husband died of a drug overdose, and she blamed his long time friend and dealer, who is also supplying teenagers in the school she works in. She blames him for their deaths too – this dealer also happens to be an important business executive. After a long time of pestering the police, she decides to take the law into her own hands, and she plants a bomb in his office. Only, the bomb doesn’t get him, it gets four innocent people.

She is arrested and is questioned by the police, and she is genuinely distraught to learn that she killed four innocent people (whether she is more upset for killing the innocent people, or for missing her intended target, I don’t know). In the course of her questioning, it becomes evident that there is police corruption, and she gets more frustrated. However, a young police officer (Ribisi) who is acting as translator, starts to feel sorry for her and falls for her (she used to be the English teacher of his younger brother). So he helps her to escape. But first she still want revenge. He helps entice the business executive into the police station, the police officer supplies her with a gun, and she kills the dealer/executive. Then they go into hiding and are chased by the police.

As they run, she learns to trust and love him. He has given up everything for her. They become more alike.

All along I was wondering why the film was called ‘heaven’. The director does of god job of getting us to feel for the woman, despite her crimes. I genuinely wanted them to get away.  It is also shot wonderfully, with many of the scenes giving images of heaven (for example, after she faints one time, he wakes her up has an angelic aura). I watched the special feature interviews on the DVD, and in it Cate Blanchett calls it a story of redemption. I just don’t see this. She is not redeemed from anything; they are on the run. She still gets revenge. She still does not face up to her crimes, and causes hardships for those she stays with. However, during the film, she is changed – transformed from a focussed lady with one intent, into a lady who learns to love and trust, by his love of her. I suppose this is a type of redemption, just not a very complete one.

The final scene is one in which they have stolen a police helicopter and they simply go up, into the sky, out of sight. I suppose, up to heaven.

A beautifully shot and interesting film, but ultimately one which fails to give a vision of heaven or redemption. Real redemption is not just moving past the failures and issues in our life, but having faced up to them, being freed from their power. In Christian thought, redemption is about being freed from the power of guilt, shame, and sin, not because they are in the past, but because they have been dealt with and paid for. In the film, her sins are not paid for, they are simply past.

Run Lola Run.

Run Lola Run is an extraordinary film. Is life fate? Do split second choices matter? and do they actually change anything? Run Lola Run explores these questions….. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity) plays Lola. She and boyfriend Manni are in trouble after a job for a gang and having the money stolen before they could hand it over. Now they have to come up with 100,000 Deutche Marks in twenty minutes, to give to the gang chief.

All is progressing smoothly as Lola runs through the streets to get to Manni before the gang chiefs do, and before he takes matters into his own hands. On her way she meets, in passing, several members of the public, some of whom help her.

She gets there just too late. Manni decides to hold up a supermarket just as Lola rounds the corner. They are both surrounded by police.

This should be the end, but we are only 20 minutes into the film. The rest of the film is a replaying of the same 20 minute episode, with subtle differences. Sometimes the differences are as simple as the time it takes to run somewhere – but the split second affects an important change. Each of the differences affects a choice that Lola has to make along the way, which subsequently effect the end scene.

For Lola and Manni, The ultimate goal is love… to be able to spend their time with each other, the one they love. Salvation, then, comes by getting to the end unscathed so they can enjoy the rest of their life together. There is a clear concept of sin in the how this is worked out, and its effect on the ending. However, sin is also demonstrated by the dysfunctional relationships amongst the other memebers of Lola’s family, who show up in each of the repeated stories. The split second differences in the repeated narratives also mark important changes for them.

So what is the film saying? Is life fate? I don’t think it is saying that life is predetermined as Lola is seen excersising choices, different choices depending on the particular circumstances. Her choices do matter, and they dramatically affect the outcome. However, there is a sense that by doing things ‘the right way’, and with a bit of luck, the right ending will come about. It does seem to be tied to Lola and Manni’s behaviour in the 20 minute episode.

Thoroughly recomended. An excellent, fast-paced, quirky, thought provoking film.

Sin City – is this what hell is like?

22/11/10 Originally posted several years ago – warranting a re-post as I was preaching on Matt 13 yesterday which contains the line “weeping and gnashing of teeth”, and it reminded me of this film.

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I watched the film Sin City last night.  It is very violent, but also very interesting.
Spoilers follow….
It is based on a four comic book stories which all interlink, through a common character or place. The city itself is exactly as described. It is a horrible place where the people are violent, the church, government, and police are corrupt, women are treated mostly as sexualised objects. One of the stories is about a former convict, who is very ugly, who is framed for the death of a prostitute (he had slept with her although he didn’t know she was a prostitute). He is gutted and angry that the only woman to have paid him any attention had been murdered whilst he was asleep. What follows is a violent rampage as he tries to get to the bottom of the issue. (The girl was one of many to have been killed and eaten by a cannibal, supported by the church). Anyway, although he uncovers the truth about the murders, he is still framed and killed on the electric chair. Two of the other stories in the film also demonstrate unsatisfactory endings.

In the midst of watching this world unfold, through the perpetual violence and corruption, I was yearning for something ‘good’ to emerge. I was wondering, is this what Hell is like: violence, lack of trust, corruption, continual broken relationships. This film emphatically shows sin for what it is: disgusting, depressing, with seemingly no end. There is a perpetual yearning with seemingly no end, and no hope

Good does eventually come in the form of the saviour figure, Bruce Willis. His character, Jon Hartigan, a police investigator, is just about the somewhat morally good person in the film (although he also has to kill people along the way). Near the beginning, he saves a young girl from a paedophile, the son of the senator, who planned to rape and kill her. In the process he dies. “An old man dies, a young girl lives. Seems fair”.

Towards the end of the film it emerges that he doesn’t die. He is kept alive by the corrupt senator in order to be framed for the girls rape, which never took place.  Th girl knew this and kept writing to him in prison. When the letters stop, worried for her safety, he eventually confesses in order to get out of prison earlier and he goes to find the girl. Unfortunately the  paedophile (who’s skin had been stained yellow in an accident in the scuffle at the beginning – he looks like a yellow version of the devil) follows him, and the whole scenario plays itself out again. After the paedophile is killed, the investigator kills himself. He reasons that only with him dead is the girl safe. Once again an “old man dies, a young girl lives”. A hint of redemption which stands out in an otherwise fallen world.
Is it a good film? Well, as it makes no illusions over the seriousness of sin, it has its merits. It is also beautifully shot, mostly in black and white with harsh lighting, with just a splash of colour. You feel like you’re watching an acted comic book. But it is Tarantino-esque in glamorising violence. And it is very, very violent.

I don’t want to see it again.

Stallone a Christian?

I’ve been reading a couple of reviews about Sylvester Stallone’s new film, Rocky Balboa. (I haven’t seen any of the previous Rocky films). Stallone has given interviews to various Christian media sources promoting the film. In them, he talks about the theme of redemption for the central character as he makes his latest comeback.

I am a fan of finding Christian themes in secular films. At the very least it can serve as an excellent conversation starter. Sometimes films uphold Christian values in part of in whole, sometimes they frankly show the consequences of going against them. Many times a totally different world view is promoted, but for each one it is still possible to ask what the films say about humanness and identity, what is sin in that context, and what is salvation.

One of the interesting things to come out of Stallone’s interviews is his talk about his growing faith. Some have claimed that he is a born again Christian. As far as I can see there have been two different responses in the Christian community to this.

Firstly: Stallone cannot possibly be a Christian. He has made too many violent movies, has not lived a Christian lifestyle, and has even made some sort of porn film in the early 1970s. His interviews and talk abotu his faith must simply be a marketing ploy to gain endorsement from the Christian community.

Secondly: After a little skepticism, some Christians have wholeheartedly believed Stallone. Could he now be the new mainstream Hollywood hero for the Christian community (particularly after Mel Gibson’s recent fall from grace)?

Well, is he or isn’t he? It seems quite important to some to find the answer. I have several thoughts on the subject.

1. No-one is beyond redemption. There is no reason why people far worse that Stallone cannot be touched by the Spirit and come to a living faith.

2. I am not the judge, God is. And he knows Stallone’s heart (and mine). As such I must not try and jump to conclusions about who is in and who is out, but keep an open (but balanced) mind. I’m sure we’ll all be in for a surprise when we reach heaven and see who is, and who isn’t there.

3. The Christian community is often too quick to hail certain people as their latest hero. This can lead to an unhealthy culture of celebrity, placing them on a pedestal that they cannot live up to. All are sinful and will ultimately let us down in some public or private way. That belongs only to Christ.

4. The Christian community is also often too quick to take people off the pedestal after some failure. “Ah well, they’ve sinned, I guess they can’t be a Christian after all”

So is he a Christian? Is the film Christian? Does it matter what we think? I’m prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt with the understanding that the ultimate judge is God.

Some Christian reviews are here:
Focus on the Family:
http://www.citizenlink.org/clcommentary/ A000003061.cfm
Christianity Today:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/ interviews/sylvesterstallone.html

Little Miss Sunshine

This is the funniest film I’ve seen for ages, yet Little Miss Sunshine is also quite profound. It’s the story of a family travelling across America in a VW Camper van in order to get their young daughter to the final of the Little Miss Sunshine competition – a beauty pageant for 8 year-olds – in California.

They are undoubtely a dysfunctional family: The grandad has major issues and seems to have regrets about how he has lived his life; the father is trying to climb the ladder to self-help bliss by publishing a book about his 9-step programme; the son hasn’t spoken for nine months as he wants to get into flight school; and the brother has just tried to kill himself for unrequieted love. This doesn’t sound like a laugh, but with Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, and Steve Carell in the leads, it becomes hilarious.

Spoilers ahead…

Ultimately they all fail. As each of them fails, they place their hope in the little girl’s beauty pageant. When she too fails in a spectaular way, this knits them together as a family in a way that they have never been before. They find a common hope in their combined failure.

It is primarily a film about identity. Each of the characters are trying to define themselves in a certian way. It is only after they all have admitted defeat that they are able to be real with each other.

In diagnosing the problem, the film gets a lot of things right about the world – certainly things that I can identify with. I cannot do it all on my own. Self-help is not enough, this may lead to some success, but ultimately, emptiness. I need other people. However, the film’s solution is only part of the answer. Opening up to each other can help break down barriers and lead to closer community. But fulfillment is not to be found in this community alone, without God at the centre. A community living for itself will ultimately break down too.

Jesus took our guilt and shame and failure and redeemed it. He is the one I must be real with, open up to, and consequently, find my identity in. Only through him can I relate to others in a deep way, unafraid of looking like a failure in the eyes of others.
See the trailer here.