Archive for the 'Abortion' Category

Bella

Published
by
nathanshorb
on July 2, 2008
in Abortion, Adoption, Family and Independent
. 0 Comments

Bella is the story of a failed-soccer-star-turned-chef befriending a recently-pregnant-and-now-fired-waitress over the course of a day. In the end, it is both a mildly successful little film and an interesting case study.

If you’d watch this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it, you’d finish it mostly pleased. The acting is good, the story is interesting, the cinematography is decent. It’s nothing overly enthralling or groundbreaking, but there are plenty of worse indie flicks out there, and this one succeeds in what it does.

But when you find out the backstory to the making of the film, there’s a lot more to think about and assess here. The lead actor was a wildly-successful soap opera star in Mexico who was building quite the resume, but after recommitting his life to Jesus Christ, wanted to pursue projects with more wholesome messages. The director intended to do the same. Both, as Latinos, also wanted to portray their culture outside the usual stereotypical ruthless bandits, lazy mooches, or steamy lovers.

So, were they successful?

I appreciate the portrayal of Latin culture in the US. They’re right, we could use more of it, especially because all of us could definitely learn from their zeal, joy, and tight-knit family that is shown in Bella.

I also appreciate that they set out to tell a real story with real people full of accidents and pain and hurt and mistakes. When Christians set out to make a story, this isn’t always a priority in their minds. Or, if it is, they’ll conveniently have a perfect and steadfast Christian character (played by Kirk Cameron, of course) come to share the gospel and save the day.

While I don’t think that Christians need to avoid things like curse-words in order to make a redemptive movie, I was impressed that such a real, honest, and poignant story could be told without a single curse-word or any other graphic material.

In the end, something about the film falls a little bit flat, a little bit hollow, a little bit empty. Mainstream critics complain that it was too concerned with its pro-life message and trying to disguise it. The reviewer at Christianity Today says, “The characters harbor no ambiguities; when the credits roll, we can feel sure that we’ve learned all there is to know about them.” In the end, I think this is true. It’s a fine film, but something is missing, and I would venture to guess that it’s because the writer/director was focused on something other than simply telling a story.

Sure, he wanted to tell a story, and again, he did a relatively decent job at it. But he wanted to tell a story that was not graphic, that was family-friendly, that was moral, positive, and life-affirming, and that showed Latinos in a good light. Perhaps that’s putting one too many restrictions on the story you’re telling, and that’s what will leave your story hollow.

So, as a case study, is this how Christians should be making movies? It’s definitely an interesting approach, and it’s not a bad attempt, not at all. This movie-making team shows great potential. If they could take one step back, resist telling the story they want to tell, and instead let a story tell itself and let the meaning unfold from there, I think they’d see much better success. Bella was very close to doing this, and that’s why it was a good film, but I think in the end there were too many restrictions placed on it.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Nightwatch

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 25, 2008
in Abortion, Action, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Comedy, Epic, Fantasy, Horror, Narrated, Russia, Sci-fi, Thriller, Trilogy, Vampires and War
. 2 Comments

Nightwatch is a vampire movie I heard about a few years ago from a buddy of mine. I’ve been meaning to watch it for quite some time and wouldn’t you know, it’s available on-demand from Netflix. Set in Russia, there’s an ongoing, epic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. In this context they are the Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness and they are called Others. At one point during this epic, immortal battle, a truce was formed. Humans now had to choose their own side. They could no longer be forced into serving the Light or the Dark.

There was an ancient prophecy about a virgin that would pretty much bring about the apocalypse. There was also an Other that would join the battle and have to choose which side they would fight for. This choice would turn the tide for whichever side he/she chose.

This brings us to modern-day Russia where the Others walk amongst the humans pretending to be mortal. The Light are called Nightwatchers and the Dark are called Daywatchers. Both sides monitor each other to ensure the truce is held. That truce is eventually broken and all hell, literally, is about to break loose. The apocalypse is upon them and both sides are trying to find “the one” in order to bring them to their side.

Based on a book, this story is being put into a trilogy. In fact, the second film, Daywatch is mentioned in the end credits. Unlike some vampire-esque movies this one isn’t filled with gore or pointless sex and nudity to cover up the slow and weaker parts of the plot and script. I’m really interested in seeing the second installment now. They’ve got me hooked. I’d definitely recommend this to any fan of the vampire genre.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Citizen Ruth

Published
by
Neville
on April 25, 2005
in Abortion, Comedy, Drama and Independent
. 3 Comments

Abortion. Another movie on abortion? I know what you’re thinking but let me explain.

This 1996 directorial debut of the brilliant Alexander Payne (”Sideways,” “Election,” and my definite favorite “About Schmidt”) is just as dark as his darkest movie (”Election” probably) and just as poignant as well (”About Schmidt”). Like with any one of Payne’s movies, the first and final five minutes of the film are the culmination of a great work of art—as it communicates the ideas and truths and feelings that are found throughout the rest of the film. In “Citizen Ruth,” Laura Dern gives a walloping, white-trash performance as a poor mother who huffs a lot, living in an America that only cares about causes–refusing to consider, even for a moment, the individual. This movie isn’t about advocating pro-choice or pro-life political agendas because really, it spends the whole movie making fun of both sides. It faults the psycho-evangelical-no-questions-asked-picketing-’Abortion-Kills-Children’ approach of the right while dishing out that the left is more concerned with winning then losing to a group of “religious folks.” Their are almost-equal attacks all around but really, the story is about Ruth–and about how no one really gives a rip about her needs and her life.

In one of the most poignant scenes from the film, Ruth is found in jail…crying out…praying out loud to God, curled up in the fetal position on the cold prison floor. She’s crying out for love, crying out for help, and the rest of the film is seemingly what she gets. But is it enough?

With Rolfe Kent’s beautiful and luminous score (again, the wonderful composer behind “About Schmidt” and Payne’s other films) closing the end film sequence that shows once again, just how powerful “showing” and not “telling” the story is when it comes to watching movies, Payne constructs (like he always does) an ending that is not only better than the sum of the film’s parts, but one that shows why he’s still around making good films, almost 10 years later.

After “Vera Drake,” check this one out for a way different perspective on the whole question of abortion. It doesn’t give answers, just raises questions—and points to what should be the force driving any social movement or cause here in America. But please, please…understand “Citizen Ruth” is a very, very dark comedy. More disturbing and sad than it is laugh-out-loud funny.

Vera Drake

Published
by
Neville
on April 17, 2005
in Abortion, Crime, Drama and England
. 5 Comments

Finally, a movie on abortion that treats it with respect and dignity and humanity. “Vera Drake,” is a movie most people need to see not because it is an amazing film, but because it has that sort of gentleness and tenderness toward family and forgiveness; toward choosing life and choosing love. Although many people may shy away from “Vera Drake” because they think it’s left-wing political propaganda, that isn’t what the movie is trying to do at all (in my mind at least—it’s not a “pro-choice” movie, although many will look at it in that light). In a sense, it’s trying to discuss abortion as if the whole debate never existed. It takes us to a place where people still struggle with the issue—and when I say “still struggle” I mean, they still think about it harder than most Americans and most Christians generally do—and this world seems simple and quaint, yet unmistakably unsettling. Imelda Staunton plays Vera Drake, a 1950s woman living in England who lives to love and loves to live. She’s a housekeeper, a maid, a loving mother, a loyal wife—but she’s also an abortionist, a word that even the movie suggests is a bit “over-the-top” to describe someone. In her mind, she’s simply helping women who can’t think of any other way out.

Since this is a film by Mike Leigh, the purist filmmaker who strives for honest filmmaking and real-life representation in most all of his films, the movie has a very intimate feel and yet, a very sad one as well. It’s one that’s worth the rental not because of its subject matter but because of its graceful way of handling forgiveness, which is really what the movie is mostly about.

See it.