Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Visitors Adoption Movie Guide
Godfrey Reggio’s Visitors is a wordless, black-and-white
film. It’s more meditative than it is entertaining, but I think that’s OK.
Philip Glass’ soaring but somewhat looping music creates a pensive and relaxing
atmosphere for Reggio’s long, slow-motion close-ups of human faces. There’s not
much of a plot, so what I’m sharing here are the thoughts and questions I had
while watching the film.
-
There are so many faces. So many people. And each
person has a story, and value. So do you. So do I. And yet, so often we lose
sight of the awesome creativity and wonderful depths in each person we
encounter. Sometimes we even lose sight of it in ourselves. There are so many
people in close proximity to us that we don’t know, and as unrealistic as it
is, I want to know everyone’s story. “It’s impossible to know someone fully, and
then not love them” – Ender’s Game, paraphrased.
-
Many children are featured. Who will they grow up to
be? Why do some of us grow up to become untrustworthy?
-
Plants, people, and water look lively and animated in
time-lapse videos. Manmade structures look stagnant.
-
We’re really pretty when we smile.
-
I wish I spent more time interacting with people, and
less time interacting with technology.
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We can look down and out, or cheerful and thriving –
but we’re all people, no more, no less. But we each have been given the
creative potential to shape the world by creating kindness in our relationships
to others.
-
We probably have more “needs” than we need to.
How This Connects to
Adoption
Visitors doesn’t really have an obvious plot, so, I guess it
doesn’t obviously connect to adoption. Here are some thoughts that I had,
though:
-
Everyone has a story.
-
Everyone has the creative potential to shape
themselves, at least to some extent.
-
It’s easy to feel alone, even when unknowingly
surrounded by people who have similar stories to your own.
Positive Aspects
People are interesting.
Negative Aspects
The film is probably too artsy to hold the interest of kids
or teenagers, and limited distribution might make it difficult for adults to
find. Also, I think the film really needs to be seen in a theater; it wouldn’t
translate well to a home screen.
Questions for
Reflection
Who do you see, every day, that you don’t know very well?
What don’t you know about yourself that you would like to
know?
If you could grow in any way, what would it be?
If you could create one thing this week what would it be?
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