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Reviews
Inside Mecca (2003)
Perfect way to introduce yourself with the world of Islam values and holy journey to Kaaba
The following review is focused on analyzing the National Geographic documentary film by Anisa Mehdi (2003) that effectively shows the Muslim world and variety of nuances in a very unique and personal way. I can clearly say that this film can be quite beneficial for a wide range of audience, as even myself, culturally raised Muslim (but not religious myself) learned a lot from it. What is more, is that the way how Mehdi was able to dive the audience into this world via 3 POVs of completely different people from social, cultural and economic layers which makes it even more valuable, as it owns objective manner without any biased opinion (e.g. only from the POV of Muslim person). All in all, this film review aims at pointing aspects of Islam as brotherhood, equality in front of God, the importance of Kaaba, its characteristic of being the one of the monotheistic and helping those in need. And the last aspect that was quite surprising for me is its modern perspective that makes it understandable for the audience of current era.
Firstly, I would like to begin with short notice of what Kaaba is, so that rest of things that will be described later can be more understandable. Basically, Mecca is a place that is annually visited by people (Muslim believers) so that they can fulfil their duty as Muslims believers in front of Allah. Aside from just fulfilling what they are required to do according to the five pillars of Islam, they also hope to redeem their sins, feel close to God and dive into this journey as a faithful people in the holy place that is considered to create somewhat a unique experience of feeling the power of Islam. The thing that will mentioned as Kaaba is the special construction in Mecca that is the ultimate place of this worship and pilgrimage. Kaaba is large black square stone located in the center of the Masjid al-Haram mosque and according to he Muslim traditions and history, it was put there directly from the heavenly world and as there were plenty of sinner people, by the touch of them, the sacred Kaaba turned black. However, it is also considered that Allah himself ordered prophet Abraham to build it as a centre for the faithful so that they can pray and worship.
Back to the film, I would highlight the way how it shows the sense of brotherhood and equality that Muslim religious traditions also about. The first POV that the film incorporates is the journey of the South African radio host Khalil Mandhlazi that experience this two aspects noted above. He meets the issue of inequality in a way that is treated as a foreigner because of his race/skin color. This surprises Khalil as he learn that basic principle of Islam is that all faithful people are equal before God without any limitation as skin color, ethnicity, race or socio-economic class. This is very true, as according to Uranic verses this is what makes all believers brothers as they are all faithful to one God - Allah. Fazlur Rahman mentions this in his "Major Themes of Quran" (page 45), stating that this quality of all races in front of Allah is the ultimate essence in Islam. He says that the only thing that differentiates those people is the virtue they possess. During this POV of Khalil, the documentary successfully incorporates another value on Islam religious tradition which is helping those in need, usually in materialistic means as money, products - basically donating and doing charity. One of the pilgrims shares his devotion to donating and practicing charity when he can. This is quite true, as Rahman also addresses this on his work (around 38-39) confirming that Quran states that believers must practice helping those in need in the cause of Allah so they will be replayed in the afterlife. In this sense, I would strongly argue that the documentary is not superficial and it shows actual and original values of Islam and it core virtues and practices that all believers are expected to do.
On the other hand, not like Khalil, another pilgrim Fidelma O'Leary - the US citizen of the European descent working as a science professor - truly experiences this sense of brotherhood while other Msuslim people show their respect and care by helping and advising her to successfully reach the goal of her religious path. This situation surprises Fidelma as she is a white woman who was also raised Catholic and had somewhat of a pressure from her family; it is almost finding true close people and "family for her" and I really liked the way that showed the sense of brotherhood towards such a typically foreign person.
When it comes to the aspect of monotheism of Islamic religion, Mehdi also portrayed this in the "Inside Mecca" showing that those Muslim traditions are also addressed and practiced for one supreme God - Allah. This is quite the truth, as Islam is monotheistic Abrahamic religion just like Christianity and Judaism. This can also found in Fred Doner's lecture works (How Islam began) where he states Quran verses address faithful people as believers of God and not necessarily Muslims - showing its monotheistic aspect. The film shows historical facts depicting the role of Kaaba and tying it to monotheism. According of he Lecture "The Origins of Islam", Mohammad the prophet aimed to make Kaaba this central geographical place of pilgrimage and return its monotheistic tradition after the pre-Islamic era. I would totally say that Mehmed as a director did a strong work by also noting the role that Abraham played in Islam.
Another theme that was raised in the movie and what I also find pretty unique and interesting is the way how it portrayed the holy journey that those pilgrims can go through and the way how closeness to their faith can impact them and sometimes even change for the good. The third pilgrim Ismail Mahbob - a businessman from Malaysia - encounters quite an out of comfort zone experience being a person from the upper class that probably built her inner ego and the way he treats people and also his pride and arrogance. The film shows that the journey to Kaaba is not the easiest one in the world and you will encounter lots of difficulties to reach your goal. This can be shows in the scenes when he feels strange by covering all the body parts and dressing in the same clothing as all the believers (which is also refers to the sense of equality before god, no rich values incorporated as brands or etc.). Another scene is the crowd of billions of pilgrims around the Kaaba and even farther that makes him compare it to the wide and comfort Malaysian streets. Nevertheless, by the end of his pilgrimage, Ismail truly understands the meaning of Islam and this weakness and sins that people possess and practice daily. This is what makes the film unique, as I don't see any documentary about religion incorporating such modern and up=to=date issues as materialistic stuff and richness ending in these qualities as arrogance etc.
In conclusion, I would say that I totally suggest this to both religious Muslim people and those that are absolute beginners in this topic to have a better understanding of Islam and its deep and core values. This film was also shot from the perspective of 3 different people and it can relatable and easy to understand for a wide audience. Mehdi as a director nailed the effective representation of the journey that Muslim people experience daily and also to the Kaaba.
Little Buddha (1993)
"There is a little buddha in all of us, which may be asleep and just needs to be awakened."
"There is a little buddha in all of us, which may be asleep and just needs to be awakened."
Bertolucci's "Little Buddha" (1993) is a masterpiece that combines two worlds and two stories that are closely interconnected at the same time. While watching his work, you are not only watching intriguing and interesting plot/story, but also educating yourself by diving into basic conceptions of Buddhism. Generally, any person who has no experience or knowledge about Buddhistic traditions can be introduced to such notions as permanence and impermanence, reincarnation, nirvana, enlightenment and Buddha's background.
To roughly introduce you to the story without opening up important information, it can be said that whole film basically goes around Buddhist monk Lama Norbu (Ruocheng Ying) from Tibet in search for next reincarnation of his teacher/master Lama Dorjee that will give guidance to him and to all followers of Buddhist Temple. As the film proceeds, the plot is centered at young Jesse Konrad (Alex Wiesendanger) that was found by Buddhist monks as a possible reincarnated manifestation of Lama Dorjee in Seattle, the United States. At this point Jesse is given a book about Prince Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves) (later introduced as Buddha himself) as a gift from Lama Norbu. After that, the film divides into two parallel narrations of Jesse's reality in Seattle and story of Prince Siddhartha presented as a story that Jesse, his mother Lisa Konrad (Bridget Fonda) or Lama Norbu reading out loud. Ultimately, culminating at the point when skeptic father of Jesse (Chris Isaak) and Jesse himself dives into the world of Buddhism.
What I find especially interesting in Bertolucci's "Little Buddha" is that it presents religious conceptions and ideas that can be theoretically difficult to understand for a Western or generally modern era man in a quite easy and visually effective way. One of the perfect examples can be a moment of Lama Norbu explaining the concept of body and soul/mind alongside with the reincarnation to a skeptic modern day man - in this case Jesse's father Dean Konrad. Lama Norbu graciously pours tea into a cup and without any hesitation breaks it into pieces with a hot drink all over the table and the floor. Consequently, a scene explained by Lama Norbu as an analogy of cup being a body/manifestation and tea being a soul that does not change its form nor on the table or floor and can be transferred into another vessel(read body). Another Buddhist notion explained in the film that I want to point out is impermanence. Arriving to the Buddhist temple, Jesse and his father witness monks "drawing" mandala (image of an ornamental circle that also has special meaning in Buddhism as a circle being representation of life cycle and Samsara wheel) with the sand that can be destroyed anytime by single move of a hand or wind. As Lama Norbu later states, this shows that life is not something constant and it can be changed anytime by simple wipe of a hand destroying precious mandala that were drawn for a long period of time - impermanence of life indeed.
Another aspect of the film that worth noting is the amazing cinematography created by professional Vittorio Storaro. Storaro sets clear visual binarity and dualism through the red and yellow, gold-ish warm colored Katmandu and Tibet and beautiful icy blue Seattle. These colorings speak for themselves surely building certain characteristic for two different "worlds" - empty, cold and materialistic America and golden and spiritual Katmandu and Tibet. In terms of sound production, what I personally noticed is that during the scenes in Seattle, there is only the sound of silence with the background city noises like car traffic, police or ambulance sirens, whereas in the scenes of Katmandu, Temple or the narration of the story of Siddhartha, some kind of melodic chanting can be clearly heard. To my mind, this also suggests the audience spirituality and depth or stability in terms of long melodic sound in the scenes in Katmandu or Ancient India and noise pollution and chaos in city center of Seattle.
To sum up, first things first, I would like to say that Bertolucci's "Little Budha" (1993) is both cinematographic masterpiece in terms of its effective representation of Buddhist religion, traditions, basic notions and the background story of Buddha himself and for the film's significant historical and cultural values and contributions. Apart from really good acting (Keanu Reeves was absolutely stunning), beautifully set cinematography, sound production and splendid views of Katmandu, it has strong message, tones of Buddhist wisdom and can be effective educational tool for those who are just started their journey of exploring Buddhism. I would totally recommend you to watch it, as even if you are close to Buddhism and follow different religious views or not at all, you will surely have some food for thought or you might even reconsider some of your perspectives of life.
Biruma no tategoto (1956)
Burmese Harp
Burmese Harp directed by Kon Ichikawa in 1956 is a drama movie with documental elements. It takes place in a Burma where Japanese soldiers , and especially Mizushima, are primary characters. It discusses the issue of patriotism, when regarding the Japanese soldiers and their surrender to the British army by the World War II. It also includes details that open up the theme of Buddhism and shows it by some aspects in a film. Basically, it is the time of summer in 1945, and tensions between Japan and British people are present. Mizushima's troop became aware that it is way better to surrender, as British will probably attack and it will be needless death for Japanese soldiers in this War. Though some troops are agreed to surrender, there is another group that is against such decision. Thus, Mizushima was sent by the commanders to the mission. Unfortunately, Mizushima was suppressed by the British militaries and forced to convince rest of the Japanese soldiers in Burma to rise the white flag or in other way, there will be massive bombarding of those soldiers. However, it was impossible for Mizushima to convince the soldiers and as a result there was a death of lots of people. Mizushima was hardly injuried and was healed by the Burmese monk. Consequently, protagonist himself turns out to be the monk and pursue the end goal of going back to Japan only after burying his fellow Japanese brothers in a proper and respective way.
It is important to point out how the topic of patriotism and Buddhism is risen in a "Burmese Harp". Firstly, the fact that Japanese soldiers was ready to surrender for the sake of safety of their county worth telling that it is pure patriotism, eternal love, pride for the nation and of course self-sacrifice. BY self- sacrifice I mean how it is nothing for soldiers to drop out their pride as a human, as a soldiers , as a fighters just to keep Japanese safe. Other Japanese troop is also patriotic ones, but in another glance, for them patriotism was equal to the infinite love for the nation, so that they can even die for Japan if it serve some good future and safety. However, as for many Japanese people in general, the only proper, respective and not wasted death is death in a fight, in this case in a War with the British. They find Mizushima who came to offer them choice to surrender as a disrespect and betrayal. It could also be find in an episode where the troop discusses moment when they saw some Buddhist monk whose face resembles with their brother who was considered as dead one. As their hope for the Mizuhsima to be alive was disagreed by the commanders who propose that a single thought that MIzushima is not dead, consequently not died in a fight for the nation, is the same as to say that it was useless death and it is highly disrespectful for Mizushima's spirit.
If considering elements regarding Buddhism, the viewers of the film can notice lots of episodes with the presence of the statues of Buddha, there was 2 different once in a temple of the monk who took care of the Mizushima: Buddha showing peaceful sign and Buddha in a para-nirvana. There are also numerous episodes with the temples and other statues. The moment with the Mizushima himself in a steppe where he wanders for a long time, with an injured leg and almost starved to death, when some laymen make him offerings as a food. However, what I personally find strange is how Mizushima eats the offered food. It is obvious that he was starving for days, but the episode of how he eats the food hardly show the patience and lack of desire that monk should possess. This could be argued as Mizuhsima is not a true monk to some extent and probably not achieved most of the goals that Buddhist monk should accomplish. This also could be understand as him becoming a monk not because his strong belief in Buddhist religious traditions or etc, but simply because of the respect and admiration towards the monk that saved his life, it is probably matter of the circumstances.
The details and symbols also play major role in a "Burmese Harp" as they show more emotional and mental atmosphere and conditions of the characters. For example, it is interesting how weather conditions illustrate the atmosphere in a movie. It was rainy when troops were together and recalled Mizushima or discussed his death or possibility of being alive. This shows the deep sorrow and sadness that his fellow Japanese soldiers feel so that the audience also will sad and feel the damping atmosphere. Or there was a heavy and dark clouds as the rain with a thunder is coming when the moments were too sorrow, depressed and regarding the death. The Harp itself , I consider, is a symbol of peace, friendship as the music is the language of love and people do not need any words while making it when they want something to express. The theme of peace could be seen when there was a possibility that enemies are coming to the troop, when they start to sing as a choir and laugh in order to distract coming people. However, they see that it is not the enemies but Burmese and they join them in a choir.
Generally, I consider that this movie is of a high quality, both from the cast side, montage, design and scenario. I felt everything that I should have been and I think that I had a great time while watching this film even though it is of 1956 production which is pretty old. Nevertheless, I reckon that the topic of Buddhism was not fully uncovered here or analyzed only superficially