OF GODS AND MEN ASKS, “WHAT PRICE TERRORISM?”
Grand prize winner at Cannes in 2010, Of Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux) is a true story of seven French Catholic monks in Tibhinine in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria (though filmed in Morocco) during the war of independence from 1954-1962. As monks, they brought economic opportunities, education, medicines, and hope to villagers in a remote part of French Algeria in a selfless commitment to their faith, living peacefully with Muslim villagers. Since the war to eject the French could not be fought on an equal footing with the well-armed colonial power, they use terrorist methods, resulting in counterterrorism. Much of the film focuses on why the seven Trappist monks talk themselves into staying when they could easily leave for France. Singing is one of the ways that brought them piece of mind, but their main joy is to serve members of the community around their monastery, even treating wounded terrorists. Ultimately terrorists grab five as hostages in the mistaken belief that such a bold action might force the French to grant independence or release jailed freedom fighters. Credits at the end identify the fate of the seven, one of whom is still alive. The film, directed by Xavier Beauvois, thereby makes a case about the futility of violence that resonates in the present, perhaps explaining why those seeking to throw off the colonial yoke used crude terrorist methods while being rebuffed in efforts to negotiate an independence that had been already granted to most other French colonies. Accordingly, Of Gods and Men has been nominated for best film on peace of 2011. MH
WINTER IN WARTIME PORTRAYS THE HEROISM OF A TEENAGER
Winter in Wartime (Oorlogswinter) focuses on 13-year-old Michiel (played by Martijn Lakemeier), the son of the mayor of a small town in the northern Netherlands (though most filming is in Lithuania) who fights the Nazis in January 1945, when Nazis had cut off food supplies to the region in retaliation for a general railway strike ordered by the Dutch government-in-exile. Based on the semibiographical novel by Jan Terlouw, the suspense is real as Michiel discovers Jack (played by Jamie Campbell Bower), a member of the British air force hiding in a bunker in the woods. His then assigns himself the task of helping the Brit survive, bringing his sister Erica (played by Melody Klaver), a nurse, to take care of his wounds, and Michiel tries to provide a way for him to escape from the clutches of the Nazis. However, the unexpected happens. By the end of the film, two close relatives are dead, for which he feels some guilt as he comes of age much earlier than his playmates, and the inevitable end of the war arrives in May. Directed by Martin Koolhoven, Winter in Wartime is a tribute to the indefatigable Dutch in undermining Nazi rule, a cinematic companion to the film classic The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). MH
THE LINCOLN LAWYER REVEALS SECRETS ABOUT BEING A LAWYER IN LOS ANGELES
Aside from the twists and turns of the entertaining plot in The Lincoln Lawyer, we view pick-up bar perils, the going rate for high-class prostitutes, benefits of being a part-time mob attorney, prosecutorial misconduct to get convictions by any sleazy means, the rich seeking to buy their way out of convictions, and a lawyer with a six-figure client who cannot afford to live in Beverly Hills. Directed by Brad Furman, The Lincoln Lawyer has a Hitchcockian revenge plot with a dash of sex and vitriol. MH
FILMS CAN SERVE AS CATALYSTS OF POLITICS
A recent article by Danny Goldberg explains media’s power to frame the political debate. The link is http://www.alternet.org/story/150296/why_our_books%2C_movies_and_music_are_the_catalysts_of_politics_?akid=6688.196050._j7Dcf&rd=1&t=15