Movie Monday: "The Mountain Thief," a film by Gerry Balasta, 2010

By Kounosu (Own work (own picture)) via Wikimedia Commons

"The Mountain Thief," a film by Gerry Balasta, 2010.

There are always a few films that speak to the senses on a deep, personal level. Stories of humanity, particularly ones that burst open the small cultural and social bubbles we all find ourselves living in, are particularly powerful and necessary. "The Mountain Thief," I believe, should be required viewing for all college students, "first world" citizens worldwide and professed religious individuals who would seek to know and better the world. "The Mountain Thief" shows viewers what happens when communities are forced, by powers far beyond their own immediate influence, to survive on the garbage of others. These individuals find their sustenance by sifting through and reselling recyclables from the trash of the more wealthy people in the Philippines (but this plays out in so many areas across the world). It shows that conflict and community are possible in even the most trying circumstances.

What strikes me about this film is that all the actors are amateurs. In fact, all of them are scavengers in the Philippines, so this leads to an air of realism unattainable by even the most seasoned professional actors. I encourage viewers to watch to the very end, as the filmmakers describe the real lives and dreams of the actors who took part in this film. While many of their dreams may seem trivial to a first-world viewer, they show just how disparate the bounty of "modern living" is distributed throughout the world. Among a few are to cure a son's club foot, to learn to use a computer, to build a home at the foot of mountain of trash, to learn to read and write. These are things we as Americans take for granted, as an unalienable right as Americans, and things that are largely unavailable and unobtainable to many throughout the world.

The film opens as a Simon, the communities drug addict (he sniffs glue, paid for by stealing from other scavengers) is stealing a small sheet of corrugated metal from another family's makeshift roof. He is found out and runs away through a maze of shanty neighborhoods, running into Ato and Elmer on their way to the makeshift basketball court. He stumbles into Julio and his son, Ingo. They are newly arrived from a war-torn region in Mindanao, where his family owned rice fields that were burned in the fighting. They are seeking to survive through scavenging in Little Hope, the community at the foot of the trash mountain. The film makes no illusions as to the circumstances of these individuals. Survival is their daily aim, and though community exists, most are looking out for their own (and their family's) interests.

One of the best things about this film is that it pulls no punches. It also ends rather ambiguously, which may upset some viewers of modern Hollywood film-making. The film understands its own circumstances and does not give the viewer the satisfaction of a happy ending, particularly because for individuals like this film, there is no guaranteed happy ending.

You may be wondering why this film is even worth watching, as it seems to be a real downer. Well, in actuality, it kind of is, considering it is reality for many across the world. There are lighthearted moments, particularly with Ingo, who listens to the local religious zealot Ato teach about prayer, then acts it out on the highest mountain of garbage, because it is "beautiful up there, and close to the heavens." Ingo and his friend find and enjoy an unopened can of soda, a rare treat.

The film is edited to be rather artistic, as scenes will replay to emphasize the overall narrative, and some scenes will not make sense until later in the film. It reminded me a little of the film version of Gandhi, where the viewer sees the inevitable end of the film immediately, but does not understand the context until watching the entire film.

In the end, this is a very powerful statement on the state of the developing world, and asks the developed world just what our role is in perpetuating this environment. As consumers, do we have a moral obligation to address the "end" result of our consumed goods? This film also reflects on, though not explicitly, the historical circumstances that developed this environment.

Did the independence of the Philippines come too rapidly? Would the Philippines have been better off as a territory for a while longer, until basic infrastructure and stability could be achieved (like in Japan, post WWII?)

Although politics seems to play a small role in the film directly, viewers who know will recognize the handy work of corruption in the Philippines, among politicians and other wealthy families who benefit from others' poverty. But these actors care little for politics and international policy. They are looking for a few pesos to buy a little rice to feed their families for another day.

To see how you can contribute to the Mount Hope Project to help the actors in this film, see "The Mountain Thief" website here.

Stream or Purchase "The Mountain Thief" from Amazon.

Movie Monday: "Ilo Ilo," a film by Anthony Chen

This week, I wanted something that was completely different for me. I happened to find just this in Anthony Chen’s “Ilo Ilo,” a slice-of-life drama showcasing life in Singapore c. 1997, during the great economic crisis in Asia. I also reveals the dynamic between different ethnic groups within South East Asia, and hints at the relative hierarchy of each group. The relative economic differences between, say, Singapore and the Philippines is also shown through the characters’ relative situations, however it doesn’t reflect on which characters are “good” or “bad” in the traditional sense. Many of the actors are unknown to me, and likely many in Western cinema. The screen time is generously shared among the four main characters, so establishing who the “lead” is is problematic for Western audiences. Singaporean veteran actor Chen Tian Wen captures the hardships inherent as the struggling family patriarch Teck. Yeo Yann Yann plays is wife Hwee Leng, who is pregnant with a daughter and dealing with the stress of a hard marriage and a hard job. Newcomer Koh Jia Ler plays Jiale, a parent’s nightmare. A young man faced with his parents’ rocky marriage and hard life, he acts out at school and captures the challenges of any young boy learning for himself. Finally, we have Angeli Bayani playing Terry, a migrant Filipino housekeeper and maid. Bayani’s facial expressions, I think, capture the sort of “I must endure it” attitude necessary when faced with such hard choices as leaving your home for work, and the inherent, though not always obvious, prejudice against Filipinos among other South Asian groups. Many of the performances were spot on, and arguably very little could be added to improve the feel of the film. I appreciate that stereotyping wasn’t as prevalent in this film as in some American-made films, which often portray Asian characters, even in 2015, as martial arts masters, wise teachers and dragon ladies.

Jiale (Koh) is a troubled young man. He acts out at school and is constantly studying gambling odds when he should be focusing on his school lessons. His parents Teck (Chen) and Hwee Leng (Yeo) are at their wits end, finding their own stresses at work while trying to make allowances for their son. Finally, they decide to hire Teresa (Bayani), a Filipino mother looking for work in Singapore to help support her young infant son back in the Philippines. This film shows hardship piled on hardship, and helps introduce Western audiences to a different world that may be more similar than we’d think. There is good material here for looking at the ethnic hierarchies within South Asia, as well as the relative economic positions of immigrants relative to the majority. There is also just a good, quality film that is different than much of what comes out of Hollywood.

I found this film to be eye opening. Specifically, I have not seen many Singaporean films, nor have I had access to many films not made in China, Hong Kong, Korea, or Japan. It is refreshing to see films that showcase something different, without devolving into a kind of “poor me” attitude that is easy to take when showing non-Western films to Western audiences. The characters do not ask for your sympathy, but seem to say “see my endurance.” In the end, however, the human element tries to ensure we do feel for the characters, even troublemaker Jiale. Viewers will likely relate to the economic hardships the characters face, as much of the world emerges from an economic depression unseen for decades. Even when things get rough, however, the characters face their troubles as best they can.

This film is powerful, almost overly so. There were many moments where I felt “wow, I didn’t know it was like that.” The plight of Filipino immigrants trying to send money back home is a familiar situation with many Mexican immigrants looking to feed their families back home, especially here in California. This is not ancient history, or likely even history, as much as it is a reflection of what still happens today. While there is value is realizing what was during the 1997 economic downturn, analogies can be made today, and likely will apply in the future as well. Anyone interested in seeing something different (for me), and seeing a different world outside the most common depictions of Asian cinema would do well to check out “Ilo Ilo.” I wasn’t disappointed.

Stream / Purchase

Points of Interest:

Filipino women as housekeepers and maids, jealousy of relationships with children

Ethnic relations within East and Southeast Asia

Singaporean culture as it relates to other neighboring nations

“under the table” work of worker immigrants

Corporal punishment in cultures

Film Review: Not One Less, directed by Zhang Yimou

By chensiyuan (chensiyuan) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) via Wikimedia Commons

Not One Less. Directed by Zhang Yimou, Columbia Tristar, 1999.

Zhang Yimou creates a film showcasing the society Communist China  developed during its career in power. In Not One Less, we are introduced to 13-year-old Wei Minzhi, who must substitute teach in a poor village when Teacher Gao is called to care for his mother. What follows is the challenges she faces, both in teaching students not much younger than her, and the journey she must make to find a student who has gone to the city in search of work.

Many commentaries are critical of its position in Chinese film, claiming it was made as a propaganda piece for the Communist government. What seems to be amiss here is the evidence against such claims, namely Zhang Yimou's many other films. Many, including To Live, contain many symbolic criticisms aimed at the Communist government, either during the Maoist Period or the Reform Period. Furthermore, a number of interviews with Zhang make several of his opinions of government policy known to the reader. It seems a mistake to think a film's meaning can be discerned from a superficial viewing.

Education plays an important role in the film, emphasizing the plight of the countryside's children, as well as acting as a criticism of the PRC's handling of rural reform. The film's focus on chalk shortages (representative of the wider lack of educational resources) as well as the fact that Teacher Gao has not been paid a salary for six months of working reflect the shortcomings of the government's reform plans. The cause of this, Xaoling's article claims, is the government policy where individual villages are responsible for funding the nine years of compulsory education for the area's children. In areas where money is already very scarce, there is little which can be done to raise funding for the schools. Symbols of this failed reform include the sign stating “Education is the Foundation for the Country's Prosperity,” which is plastered on a broken down wall, as well as the nature of the schoolhouse, which has no clock, and must rely on limited resources to survive.

Zhang represents the plight of the children by explaining the song Wei sings to Teacher Gao, then to her students. Though she forgets the official lyrics, her substituted lyrics hold important commentaries on the nature of the State's relationship to its children. Xiaoling comments that the official lyrics represent the State as the sunshine to the nation's “flowers”, or children. Wei Minzhi can never remember the correct words, which Xiaoling believes to represent Zhang's belief that the children would not see themselves as being cultivated by the State when it seems to have abandoned them to their fate.

The “happy ending” of the film shows the TV crew and cargo trucks driving out to the village, carrying loads of donations made by the city dwellers. As Xiaoling says, many viewers may say it's too Hollywood to be taken seriously. On the contrary, this reading doesn't reflect the true ramifications of such donations. What do the students do after the funding and donations run out? Will the city people still remember them, or will they believe they've done their good deed for the year? Upon closer inspection, the film actually is giving a critical commentary on the government, as well as the prosperous people's lack of awareness of the countryside conditions. In some ways it's like applying a bandage to a shotgun wound, treating the symptoms without addressing the main cause. We are left with a few statistics, claiming the reforms and charity have allowed 15% of students to return to school in the countryside. Xiaoling reflects on this, wondering what will happen to the other 85% of the students who won't return. Zhang wants the people to know that there is still much work to be done, most importantly in the way government reforms are carried out in the villages and the countryside.

National responses to the film are surprisingly mixed. What is most troubling is the rather superficial review given by a representative of Beijing Normal University, who claims the film “lacks a strong plot” and laments at how the ending's “happy laughter conceals harsh reality.” These comments reflect the divide between urban dwellers and the plight of the countryside. Furthermore, it represents the lack of understanding, in that the reader claims the superficiality of the ending, which seems to be Zhang's exact point. Other comments, however, reflect the awareness of the situation in the countryside, as represented in Zhang's film, however it also shows the lack of action of the readers. Thought many make the effort to write commentaries on the film, one reviewer tells how they should have written a report after seeing the poverty in the village. The instances of “should have” or “will next time” likely expands beyond one commentator's words. It is the hope that this film will open the audiences eyes to not only the plight of the poor, but also the need for critical government review.

Works cited: 

Xiaoling Zhang, “A Film Director's Criticism of Reform China: A Close Reading of Zhang Yimou's 'Not One Less',” China Information XV.2 (2001):

Work for Free, and Reap the Rewards

Liberal arts degrees, or at least liberal arts as a minor, are not completely worthless in the marketplace.

One of the best skills people who study a liberal art, specifically English, Philosophy, or History, among others, is the ability to research and write clearly, for a specific audience, supported by concrete details and evidence. These also help contribute to critical thinking and analysis skills that are required in fields as divergent as science, business, and law.

While the job market is indeed more challenging, or less linear, among certain liberal art fields than it may be in, say, accounting, or computer science, it is no less viable than any other field. The truth is there is work out there for anyone who is seeking employment.

What is necessary for these specialists, however, is creativity in the search. It isn't enough to follow and believe that a seamless transition from education to corporate employee is immediate, or easily obtained. For the liberal artists, and to a lesser degree any field where a leg up on the competition is wanted, it is necessary to utilize multiple approaches to doing the key point of any job application: real world experience.

Most job postings want the "ideal candidate" to have 3-5 years of experience in the field of work, and a laundry list of skills and abilities. How recent graduates can acquire 3-5 years of experience, specifically if they didn't have the foresight to do so while in school, is on the surface unappealing. This task is the "work for free" mentality.

Internships, volunteer work, underpay, or otherwise minimal compensation for work within your specialization is what is necessary to achieve success when starting out. Whether it is writing articles for a few dollars, or processing artifacts within a non-profit museum, or volunteering time at a local shelter or office, these experiences show future employers that you are serious about your work, and are not merely doing it for monetary gain (although it may be a future goal).

It places you within a proper mindset to build a more solid appreciation for the work. When a person is working for low or no pay, they are able to gauge how important the work itself, the field, or the topics are to the individual based on intrinsic merits, and not extrinsic rewards like money or status. It makes sense that finding internal rewards first may make the employee more productive and thus will contribute to increased pay.

Do the work for free, or low pay, to begin with, and reap the rewards of a better, more suitable career in your chosen field.