Thursday, June 3, 2010

"Bachal Boys"


I went to go see the film, “Bachal Boys.” I didn’t realize until the movie started that this film was in Philipino with English subtitles. It was somewhat hard to understand what was going on at certain points but overall I understood the film. This film consisted of one ethnicity; Philipino people. Most of the characters in the film were young Philippino children. The concepts that were developed in the film that I noticed were all male dominated, class, and how woman were very little seen or heard from.
This film was all male dominant because the film was constructed around these young male children searching for their friend. These children ran around the city looking to steal/find metal scraps to trade in and receive money for themselves. One day they lost their friend at sea. One of the children was completely saddened by this. He continued searching for his friend but never found him. The focus was of males throughout film.
The classes of the people in the film were of lower class. The children and their families were of poverty. The children wore the same clothing everyday in this film and their clothing was dirty and torn up. Whenever the families would eat they would only eat rice for meals. Also, the homes were sand/dirt flooring, the roofing was a hut, and the doors were sheets. They showed a scene where the landlord came by to get rent and one family couldn’t pay.
Woman in the film were not at all seen in the beginning of this film. It was only up until the middle that woman were seen. The mother and grandmother in the film were very little heard from as well.
Overall, I thought this film was very difficult to stay focused on and it wasn’t what I expected at all. It was a different film to view because I don’t usually view films that are in a different language with subtitles.

"Winter's Bone"


I went to the Egyptian Theatre to view the film, “Winter’s Bone.” First I would like to say that this was fabulous and I completely see why it has won so many awards, including one from the Sundance Festival. The film was completely sold old and multiple people were waiting outside in long lines trying to get in. A few of the key concepts taught in class that were developed in the film were the white messiah and gender roles.
The main character, Rae, is a 17 year old young girl who takes care of her sickly mother and 3 siblings. She takes on the stereotyped gender role of a male by chopping wood for the family, shooting, teaching siblings how to shoot squirrels, and basically making all decisions and figuring out everything for the family when things go wrong. She is a contradiction of the stereotyped gender role of a female because of all these things that she continues to do in the film for her family. The idea of a woman to clean, be submissive and be a sexual object is nothing of which Rae does in this film. She dresses very manly by wearing baggy jeans, big boots, and big jackets. She also speaks unlike a stereotyped woman is suppose to. She speaks her mind by yelling at people who she thinks knows where her father may be and has an attitude with the Sherriff in the film.
Rae is the White Messiah in this film. The story of the film is, Rae attempting to find her father to turn into the law so Rae and her family can keep their home. Her father committed a crime and was scheduled to show up in court and if he doesn’t he noted that he would pay for his bail with turning over his home. Rae was the White Messiah by trying to find her father to turn him into the law so her mother and siblings could keep the home. She was the one who was trying to fix the issue and that is what makes her the White Messiah.

"Winter