Kieslowski's Decalogue #8

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”

An ethics professor, Zofia, is confronted by a woman from her past. The woman, Elizabeth, is a Jew who, almost half a century earlier, sought shelter from Zofia during the Holocaust. At that time a newly wedded Zofia and her husband turned the girl and her guardian away because of fears of being turning in to the authorities.

This is a story that carries much of its emotional weight in the past, prior to the events seen on screen in the present day. It focuses on forgiveness and moral equivalence by contrasting the current era’s ethical principles with those from the past which sometimes were very different.

Another man, a tailor by profession, doesn’t want to make peace with the past. He’s estranged from his friends and his plight is contrasted with Zofia’s attempt to make amends and address her previous actions. Zofia describes God as “He who is in all of us” as the two women share a final embrace while the tailor gazes at them from afar (implying that he will never share that feeling).

As the citizen philosopher Martin Buber wrote in “I and Thou,” God is found in the embrace and in the air people breathe.

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I will leave you with some words from Kieslowski himself…

“… if there is anything worthwhile doing for the sake of culture, then it is touching on subject matters and situations which link people, and not those that divide people. There are too may things in the world which divide people, such as religion, politics, history, and nationalism. If culture is capable of anything, then it is finding that which unites us all. And there are so many things which unite people. It doesn’t matter who you are or who I am, if you tooth aches or mine; it’s still the same pain. Feelings are what link people together, because the word “love” has the same meaning for everybody. Or “fear,” or “suffering.” We all fear the same way and the same things. And we all love in the same way. That’s why I tell about these things, because in all other things I immediately find division.”

And this from a noted film writer…

“Far from being morality tales, these short stories are in a sense closer to parables – at least they are as confounding and strange as Jesus’ parables were to his first hearers. Their achievement, in part, is to throw the viewer off balance, to unsettle, to leave one pondering rather than to convince.”

Irish rugby

I do not understand the world's fascination with the game of soccer and I've never been a fan of the sport.  However, I do have an admiration for the sport of rugby.  These guys are TOUGH!  No pads, no rest, and no fake injuries...

On Saturday Ireland won the Grand Slam in the Six Nations (Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy) Championship by beating Wales 17-15.

Congratulations to Brian O'Driscoll,  Ronan O'Gara, and Paul O'Connell.  This is the first time Ireland has won the Grand Slam in 61 years!

Kieslowski's Decalogue #1

This is my favorite of Kieslowski’s Decalogue films. It contains the most evocative of metaphors for the referenced Commandment (“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”).

It is at its foundation the age-old story of faith versus reason.

A young university professor father teaches his young son, Pavel, the computer skills and math necessary to calculate the thickness of ice. Pavel’s father represents man’s belief and reliance on what is seen, what is known, and in what can be reasoned. Beyond this there is nothing else.

Pavel’s aunt is a woman of active faith who responds to Pavel’s question, “Who is God?” with a hug and then asks him, “What do you feel?” Pavel replies that he loves her. His aunt says that that’s exactly where God is…

A tragedy later occurs that is truly heart-wrenching and dramatically earned. Science fails Pavel’s father and it ultimately fails Pavel.

The acting in all of the films of the Decalogue is stupendous and this is no exception.

The visuals provide artistic insight to the soul like none of the other films in the series: the church, the dead dog, the curdled milk, the photo of John Paul II, the “mystery man”, the ink blot, the church vigil, the wax tears dripping on Mary’s cheek, and the irony of the holy water turned to ice. Everything represents something in and of itself yet they all hint at the mystery much deeper.

Even if you don’t have time to view all ten in this series, I highly urge you to set aside one hour of your life to watch this artistic gem at least once… and then again… and again…

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I will leave you with some words from Kieslowski himself…

• “When I think of God, it’s more often the God of the Old Testament… a demanding, cruel God.”
  

• “Our idea was very simple, Kieslowski said. “The Decalogue is one of the ethical foundations of our society. Everyone is more or less familiar with the Ten Commandments, and agrees with them, but no one really observes them. Everyone seems to accept the Ten Commandments as a kind of moral basis,” Kieslowski continued, “and everyone breaks them daily. Just the attempt to respect them is already a major achievement.”
  

• To tell you the truth, in my work, love is always in opposition to the elements. It creates dilemmas. It brings us suffering. We can’t live with it, and we can’t live without it. You’ll rarely find a happy ending in my work.”
  

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all...

Blackrock

When my wife and I first moved to Ireland this was the building that we wanted to move into.  Circumstances beyond our control prevented us from doing so and we ended up not far from here and are quite happy with our new home.  

On Friday a gas explosion ripped apart this exact same unit that we had wanted to move into almost a year ago (fortunately nobody was injured).

It makes you think about the mystery of God's plans, doesn't it...?

Cinematic Lenten Reflection

For the next three Wednesdays of Lent I have kindly been asked to host a seminar on Krzysztof Kieslowski's masterpiece The Decalogue.  

This was a series of ten short films -- each one hour in length and based upon one of the Ten Commandments -- that he made for Polish television in the late 1980's.  These truly are works of art, both in the writing as well as the visual storytelling, and are strong reminders during this time of Lent of man's great weakness and the darkness through which many travel who suffer from spiritual and moral decay.

The schedule is as follows:

• March 18th ("Thou shalt have no other Gods before me")
• March 25th ("Thou shalt not bear false witness")
• April 1st ("Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's possessions")

Silent Retreat

I recently had an opportunity to spend a weekend in silent prayer and meditation sequestered far away from the daily grind.   What a wonderful experience and one that I highly recommend to anyone if given the chance...

It's amazing how these seeds of contemplation allow the spiritual life to strengthen and grow ever more... 

Thank you to Fr. Michael for leading our group of 20...    

Thoughts on film...

A good film must above all else move me. This is just a plain and simple truth, which in reality, is a very difficult thing to do.

What I mean is that I respond first and foremost to a film from an emotional point of view. Many people go to films as an escape, some go to have a laugh, others are looking to explore. Me? I go to be moved. And the first question I ask myself after experiencing a film is, “Did this film, in some manner, in some way, pierce my heart?”

What does it really mean to move someone? It’s more than simply inducing a deep emotional reaction. It’s more akin to connecting emotionally with what Jung calls the “collective unconscious” -- that aspect of humanity that we all share that responds in a more or less similar way to the basics of love, empathy, pity, anger, joy, remorse, gratitude, frustration, jealousy, regret, desire, etc. Think of it as viewing the film through a catholic lens -- that’s catholic with a small “c” -- denoting universality and man’s shared humanity.

A good film is more than just a series of moving images. It’s comprised of so many complicated and complex elements, like parts of a car, that if any of them are not working properly, or are missing, or are incorrectly placed, then the entire film suffers.

Think of the various parts of a car that are necessary for it to run properly. These parts must be expertly assembled and well integrated for it to be an automobile that is received well by the buying public. It is the sum of these parts.

The same can be said for a film.

The most important part of the car -- the frame -- serves as its foundation, that part of the car on which all of the other important parts must attach themselves to. It is the core, its central strength. And in a film this frame is the script. A well-made film must first begin with a strong script.

The engine of a car provides the horsepower that propels the frame. A car can have an engine too small for its size and suffer in performance or the engine can be too large and cause stress on the frame. A film’s engine is its ensemble of actors. Actors rely on emotion to fuel their performance. We’ve all seen acting performances which have elevated otherwise sub-par material and visa versa with an otherwise great film that is lacking because of a lead performance gone astray. An excellent film contains acting performances that are truthful, compelling, and deeply emotional.

The transmission and steering wheel are integral components of a car. The transmission converts the engine’s propulsion and allows the wheels to turn. The steering wheel controls the car’s direction. In a film these two components are represented by the director. He or she closely monitors and helps shape the actors’ performances as well as determines the direction of the story.

The headlights and windshield on a car provide illumination and visibility, especially with respect to the external influences of Mother Nature. If either is dirty or marred then the driving experience will be hampered. In a film this area of responsibility is in the hands of the cinematographer, who works with the elements of light to best capture the visuals of a film.

The tires, wheels, and suspension system of a car keep the foundation firmly attached to the road and the ground beneath. The road may be full of potholes or wet and slippery but the tires must continue to hold their traction and the suspension should keep the ride smooth at all times. A film’s editor helps smooth out any mishaps that might occur when shooting the film and ultimately protects the frame of the film, the script.

A finely tuned exhaust system doesn’t bring attention to itself. It doesn’t make erroneous backfires. Its purr should match the throttle of the engine. In a film the musical score best represents this as it runs through the whole of the film, subtly highlighting key emotional moments and never bringing attention to itself in doing so.

All of these parts must work seamlessly together to produce a rewarding product.

You may like minivans or sports cars and I may like sedans but as moviegoers we’re all just test drivers. We get into a film and let it take us for a ride. Our riding experience depends much on our preferences and what aspects of a film we appreciate and respond to the most.

The first several minutes of our film experience set the tone and we may ask ourselves -- am I in good hands? If I can trust the vehicle that’s taking me on this journey then I will tend to sit back and suspend any lingering disbelief. If I cannot then I will continue to be on the lookout for glaring cracks in the narrative, picking apart specific shot selections, and shaking my head at a moment when an actor’s emotion is truly not believable.

A good film must have no false notes. And by this I mean that it should be honest according to the human condition. One false story note could begin to eat at the whole of the film like rust to the undercarriage of a car. A false acting performance is akin to one of the pistons misfiring.

Cars (and films) are being made in more countries now than ever before. Many of the traditional manufacturers have lost their ability to innovate. They’ve lost their creativity and have suffered as a result. The more interesting cars (films) are now being made by the non-traditional manufacturers who are able to create them with a unique and rewarding freshness.

Whenever I first take my seat in the theater I will continue to hope that I’ll be rewarded by a film that is well made, interesting, and provides an emotional experience that pierces the heart…

Babel

"If you want to be understood... listen"

"In the beginning, all the Lord's people from all parts of the world spoke one language. Nothing they proposed was impossible for them. But fearing what the spirit of man could accomplish the Lord said "let us go down and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech."

I recently had an opportunity to once again view the 2006 film Babel...

A sad and harrowing tale which expertly weaves three seemingly disparate family stories together into a global tapestry and as a result sheds some light on the interconnectedness of the human condition.

The three stories consist of an American couple traveling in Morocco, a nanny returning to her native Mexico for her son’s wedding, and a deaf Japanese teenager desperately searching for a human connection of her own in Tokyo.

Each of these stories focuses in some manner on a relationship between a parent and a child. The relevance and apparent lesson is that we first learn to communicate through our connection to our parents. Babel is ultimately a portrayal of just how difficult it is to honestly communicate with one another in an increasingly shrinking world.

A goat-herding Moroccan father acquires a high-powered rifle for his sons in order to keep predators at bay. His two young sons begin the film by setting off a chain of events that will resonate for the viewer for the remainder of the film. A bullet from this gun pierces the metal shell of a tourist bus, hitting an innocent victim.

The Tokyo story is particularly heartbreaking and could even exist on its own if extended to a full-length feature film. The deaf teenage girl yearns for a connection with anyone as her internal anger resonates from serial rejection manifesting itself in several instances of social misbehavior. This slice of the story is psychologically accurate and quite compelling.

If anything negative can be said for this film it is that there is no beginning and no end, rather it is more a snapshot in time, and then life goes on. Instead of witnessing one hero on his journey, the emotional power of the story is diminished by having us peer into the lives of several people we don’t get to know all that well. But this results in another of the film’s central themes -- not only does every action have a consequence, but every inaction does as well.

Both writer Guillermo Arriago and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (also collaborators on Amores Perros and 21 Grams) are at the top of their game here. This production is of the highest standard, with excellent music, cinematography, and performances, making this an all-around, compelling work of art.

It is a film that will stay with you long after the credits finish rolling.

Slumdog Millionaire

My wife and I finally saw this wonderful tale…

Now I can see why this film rose above the other nominees during this year’s numerous award ceremonies. Granted the competition was pretty bland for films in 2008, but this one was truly a triumph of spirit. It’s nice to leave the theater with a smile on your face.

How well this will stand the test of time is another story...

Some may think the use of the specific “… Millionaire” questions to be a forced story convention but I found it to be a nice way to break up the story into chapters and firmly bind the past with the present.

I’ve spent some time in Kibera (Africa’s largest slum) in Nairobi and certain parts of Mumbai remind me of Kibera as well as what I’ve seen in films and photos of Soweto in South Africa and the slums of Rio de Janeiro. What amazes me about these places is how children everywhere are able to find happiness, no matter their circumstances. There’s something to be said for childlike naivety. They’re only made aware of their circumstances as they age and begin to compare themselves to others while all around them the media and advertisers constantly remind them of what they don't have…

And this reminds me of a fantastic documentary from a few years ago, Born Into Brothels, where the filmmaker, a still photographer, went into the red light district of Calcutta and made a distinct difference in the lives of many of these children. But at the end of the day many of the children returned to their broken homes because their mothers needed their helping hands thus hindering the child's opportunity for a free education in a boarding school far from the slums and streets of Calcutta...

There are no easy answers...