Land of the Fathers...

What can I say about Land of the Fathers? Overall, I think it was a pretty good film. The story portrayed in the film was very touching. After seeing the struggles that Bayan and Ata went through to bring Bayan's father home, you can't help but feel for them in the end. Seeing the sadness in Bayan's face when he sees his father's name on the communal grave was heartbreaking. I did like the ending of the film when Bayan and Ata were reunited though. It would have been a bit depressing if after all that they had been through, they were left alone.

The only thing about this film that bothered me a little bit was that I had some technical issues when I tried to watch it. The images kept freezing or breaking up and the audio was cutting in and out, but this was only for the first part of the movie. I kind of felt like I was missing some of the crucial scenes that set the tone for the rest of the film, but once the technical problems were resolved, I was able to figure out what was going on.

Personally, I have to say that I was drawn in more by Mongol and Borat than I was with this film, but the story being told in the film was very interesting and I did enjoy it more than I expected to.

Thinking about global issues...

So, last week in my senior seminar class, one of the topics for discussion was the media's coverage of global issues and whether or not people in the United States are well informed of all that is going on in the world. When I was trying to think about something relevant to write about for this blog, that class discussion came to mind right away because reading "Apples are from Kazakhstan" and watching the films for this course has made me reconsider how much I actually know about world history and current events in foreign countries. I feel as though I have a pretty good base of knowledge in terms of world history, but at the same time, I am starting to realize that I still have a lot left to learn. This class has made me think about the fact that up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know much of anything about Central Asia (or a couple of the other regions of the world for that matter). Then, when the topic of exposure to news worthy events on a global scale was brought up last week, it gave me even more of an interest in making a conscious effort to pay more attention to the issues making headlines outside the United States, so that is something I definitely need to work on.

Well, I guess thats all I have to say about this. I just got to thinking about the issue again today, but I don't want to sound redundant, so I'm going to stop talking about it for now. (I probably should have just done some research on Central Asia or foreign news in general instead of talking about the fact that I don't know much about it, huh?) Anyway, bye for now!

Mongol...

Well, I have to say that last week's film, Mongol, was surprisingly interesting. I will admit that when I figured out that the film was about Genghis Khan, I wasn't exactly thrilled about having to watch it. I wasn't all that excited about the subtitles either because I have never really been a huge fan of films with subtitles (not that there is anything wrong with them, I just get a little bit distracted by them sometimes). However, after the first few minutes I was hooked. I thought that this film was absolutely fascinating. Everything in this film felt very authentic, but I tend to focus on things like composition, camera movements, things like that, so the visual aspect of the film stood out right away. I thought the cinematography in this film was stunning. From start to finish, every scene was captured beautifully. Aside from that, the story itself was really interesting. Who would have thought that Genghis Khan had a heart? Based on my own misconceptions and what I had learned about him in the past, I was expecting to see this savage being who destroyed everything and everyone that got in his way. It was pleasantly surprising to see him portrayed in a more humane way (okay, so maybe humane isn't the best word to use to describe him, but you get what I'm trying to say, right?). After watching the film, you kind of feel for him in a way because of all that he had to go through from the time he was a child. You sort of gain a new perspective on why he behaved in the ways he did. It wasn't because he was a monster, he was doing what he thought needed to be done to protect himself and the people he cared about. The film definitely puts a fresh spin on the story of a man that is generally known for being a barbarian, so it was really interesting to see. It makes you think about the fact that sometimes things are not as they seem and reiterates the importance of considering certain issues from different points of view to get the complete story.

Thoughts on Borat...

I realize I'm a little late on this one, but how can I not comment on Borat. I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see that this was the first film of the semester. I had heard a lot about the film in the past, but I had never seen it until last week. It was definitely interesting, to say the least. It took me a while to decide whether I thought the movie was a work of comedic genius, or if went a little too far and crossed the line one too many times. I mean, Sacha Baron Cohen was hilarious as the very bold title character, but some of the subject matter was definitely over the top. Overall, I will admit that I did like the film. I wasn't expecting to at first, but I did. As much as one can argue that Borat might have been a bit too extreme and used the comedy as a way to exploit the people of a little known country for our amusement, it did leave an impact. For me personally, the film generated more of an interest in learning, not only more about Kazakhstan, but about a lot of different places that I don't have a great deal of knowledge about just yet. In my opinion, the film made me more aware of my own misconceptions of places that I never really gave much thought to in the past. I mean, I LOVE the Travel Channel, so I have learned a lot about different regions of the world that way, but I've never come across a Passport to Uzbekistan or anything like that, so I think that this film gave me more of an interest in exploring the countries that have essentially been forgotten until now. In this way, I have to say that the film was justified in using such an extreme approach, because it made me, and I'm sure many others as well, look at certain things from a fresh perspective and brought about a desire to know more that I probably wouldn't have otherwise.

Well, thats all I really have to say for this film. I'm looking forward to Mongol and the next installment of "Apples". That book turned out to be so much more interesting than I thought it would! Anyway, see you on the discussion boards!