ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

kidnapping

Song Without a Name – A Steep Climb

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Life is hard for those on the edge of society. It is often made harder by official indifference of authorities. It is even worse when the authorities feel free to take advantage of such people. Melina León’s film Song Without a Name shows just how such injustice can take place.

Inspired by real events, the film is set in Peru in 1988. There is economic chaos with astronomical inflation. But for Georgina and Leo, an indigenous couple in the Andes, life is lived day to day. Leo is a traditional dancer, Geo sings traditional songs, and they get by selling potatoes on the street. Geo is pregnant, and when she hears a radio ad about a clinic that will provide free medical care for expectant mothers, she takes the long bus ride into Quito for an exam. When she goes into labor, she takes that long bus ride again, gives birth, and encouraged to sleep. When she wakes up, she’s told the baby is at the hospital, and forcibly ushered out of the clinic. When she returns the next day, the clinic is gone. It was part of an operation to provide black market babies for adoption abroad.

On her first visit to the clinic, there were children jumping rope in the courtyard. As the jumped they chanted, “Single, married, widowed, or dead, divorced mother or not, you are worthless.” That rhyme reflects the official indifference that Geo encounter when they report the kidnapping to authorities. The police ask for her identity number, and when she doesn’t have one, she’s asked how they know who she really is. It seems to end any caring by the police, because to them she is a non-person.

It is only after she goes to a newspaper and finds a journalist willing to investigate that we discover that this is an ongoing concern that has official protection. But even when it is brought to light, there is likely nothing to be done about finding Geo’s daughter.

The film is an interesting mix of this story, and a look at the life of indigenous people such as Leo and Geo. The film begins with Leo and others dedicating his new dance clothes, and a celebration of dance and song. Those folkloric interludes show the richness of life that they share in, even if their everyday life may seem a struggle. For those who treat them as “worthless”, these scenes are a statement of the great value they actually have.

The songs are also very much tied into the grief and pain that Geo is going through. Lyrics include, “Time is the longest distance between two places”, “I don’t want to die alone far away”, and “Express bus, where are you taking me”.  These all reflect Geo’s emotional turmoil. The height of this is when we hear her sing a lullaby to her absent daughter. The emptiness she feels is palpable.

The cinematography of the film (which is done in Black and White with a 4:3 aspect ratio) places us in a world with steep landscapes. Geo and Leo navigate those difficult ascents and descents day by day. Their life is a constant uphill climb. Theirs is a precarious life. But others have their own uphill battles, as we see in a subplot involving the journalist as he enters into a relationship with an actor in his apartment building. Being gay also puts him on the edge of society, even though he has a respected professional position.

I first saw this last year at AFIFest. It’s interesting that when I recently watched it again, I made almost as many notes as I did with the first viewing—and mostly about other things I was noticing. That speaks to the abundance this film provides at a variety of levels. It is a blend of  emotional, spiritual, visual, and aural components that invites us to consider the lives of those we may see, but not truly see.

Song Without a Name is available on Virtual Cinema through local arthouses.

Photos courtesy of Film Movement.

A Girl Missing – Spite Hurts

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When a young woman’s life falls apart through a series of events around her, she’s left with nothing—except a plan, not for restoration, but revenge. But we learn that revenge may be just as unsatisfying as the life she has been left with. Kôji Fukada’s A Girl Missing relates such a story as it alternates between before and after timelines.

The film begins with the demarcation of the before and after—Ichiko (Mariko Tsutsui) goes into a salon to get her hair cut and colored. (The hairstyle becomes a visual marker as to which storyline we are in.) Ichiko has asked for a particular stylist, even though she’s not been to the salon before. We learned she’s recently lost her job and is looking to start anew. That sounds simple enough, but when we watch the events that follow, we see it is far from simple.

But we also see what happened before that led up to that new beginning. Ichiko works as a private nurse for the Oisho family, taking care of their grandmother. She is almost like part of the family. She is mentoring the older granddaughter Motoko (Mikako Ichikawa) who seeks to become a nurse as well. (We learn along the way that Motoko has something of a crush on Ichiko.) But then a tragedy strikes the family, Motoko’s little sister goes missing. She is found safe some days after, but it is discovered that Ichiko’s nephew was the culprit. At Motoko’s urging, Ichiko stays quiet about her connection. But when it is discovered things begin to unravel. We also learn that a serious betrayal is central to the news coming out.

The before storyline is told in a straightforward style. It gives us an overview of Ichiko’s life and how it slowly comes apart. The after storyline leaves us in the dark as to just what is happening, letting the before narrative shed bits of light into the shadows. This is a much darker narrative. Ichiko has lost not only her job, but everything important in her life. We aren’t sure where she’s headed in this story until all the pieces from the before story have come into place. Only then do we know why she is doing what she is doing.

The vindictiveness that drives the betrayal of Ichiko and Ichiko’s pursuit of revenge really becomes the fuel of injuring those who act out of malice. While the actions may be meant to hurt the other person, in the end, those who do these spiteful actions end up diminishing themselves as much as the other person. A lesson that seeking to harm others often backfires.

A Girl Missing is available on Virtual Cinema through local arthouses.

Photos courtesy of Film Movement.

All the Money in the World – What Are Riches For?

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“Everything has a price. The real struggle in life is to determine what that is.”

How do you determine the price of the important things in life? That question lies in the background all through All the Money in the World. “Inspired by true events”, it is a thriller based on the 1973 kidnapping of a grandson of “the richest man who had ever lived”, J. Paul Getty. But it is also an examination of the way money can shape or distort our lives.

J. Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) is kidnapped off the streets in Rome. When the kidnappers call his mother Gail (Michelle Williams), her first reaction is that it is a joke. Paul has often joked that faking his kidnapping would be a way to get money from his tight-fisted grandfather and namesake (Christopher Plummer). The elder Getty enlists the aid of a former CIA operative, now his head of security, Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlburg), to get young Paul back. When Getty is unwilling to part with any of his fortune for Paul’s return, Fletcher and Gail become allies in trying to get save Paul.

The thriller aspect of the film, with various twists along the way, is compelling to keep our interest, but that just serves to lead us to consideration of the role money has in our lives. Do we see it as a means to an end? Can we use money to achieve happiness or to buy things we want? Or is money an end in itself? Does having wealth fulfill us?

Although Getty is exceedingly rich, in this film we see him as a miser. An early scene shows him in his lavish Roman hotel suite, with his laundry draped over bathroom fixtures. Why pay someone to do that? he asks. When he eventually does pay the ransom (negotiated down over several months while Paul is held captive and facing brutal treatment), it is based on what he can write off on taxes and as a loan to Paul. He uses his wealth as a weapon to punish Gail for the divorce settlement with his son.

Getty, at least as portrayed in the film, uses his vast wealth to acquire great art. He places his trust (and his hope for fulfillment and happiness) in possessions. He does not expect people—even his family—to provide those things. He only trusts in the tangible. The attitude that money has inherent value and should be obtained is something that Getty has in common with the kidnappers. They all consider money as more important than people. For Fletcher Chase and Gail Getty, money is only valuable for what can be done with it—and especially done to aid someone in need.

Wealth is a topic that comes up frequently in the Bible. At times it is seen as evidence on God’s blessing, but it is frequently seen as an illusion or even as a hindrance in our relationship with God. Some scriptures that could be appropriate to consider in thinking of this film:

  • The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
  • It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (Mark 10: 25 and parallels)
  • The Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12: 16ff
  • The love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10a)
  • For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower fails, and its beauty perishes. It is the same with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away. (James 1:11)

Our attitude towards riches often shapes our spiritual lives just as much as it provides the trappings of our day to day lives. All the Money in the World gives us a chance to reflect on how our approach to money affects the way we understand so much more.

Photos courtesy of All the Money US, LLC