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Has it struck you yet that even as we sit divided in our own little boxes, there has been no other time yet when all the people across the globe have come together to deal with one common issue—the novel Coronavirus? Even as we are separated, we have never been more united than now, and that goes on to say that humans everywhere are the same. In our weaknesses, pain, smiles, tears of joy, and just an innately kind heart that only craves love, we are all one and the same.
Which is why, HG Film Club’s latest edition with our expert friend Sonam Nair explores her favourite human stories from across the globe, ‘cause we’re all in this together now:
City of God (2002)
Directed by Fernando Meirelles, this film takes you to the slums of Rio and follows the story of two kids whose paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin. Sonam says, “ It’s a cool, funky gangster film but it’s based on real crime that happens in Brazil and that makes it disturbing because you see these little children take up guns at a very young age and how violent their lives get. It’s a reality. Just today, I read that the Brazilian mafia is taking charge of social distancing because the government in slacking, and that’s really interesting.”
Capernaum (2018)
The title of Lebanese drama Capernaum can be translated to ‘chaos’, a word that describes the life of a young boy named Zain who is struggling to live on the bottom of society in modern Lebanon. A Nadine Labaki masterpiece, this film is about Zain, a penniless boy who is being held in a Lebanese jail for attacking a man. However, we first meet him in court for another reason: whilst he is suing his parents for having been born.
Sonam, who was quite touched by the film says, “Capernaum is this really, really heartbreaking film which shows the plight of Syrian refugees and it’s through a little boy who has to take care of an even smaller boy than him. Not many people know that they actually cast Syrian refugees to be in it and it’s, in a way, inspired by these kids’ real story, so it’s even more heartbreaking when you see it.”
Spirited Away (2001)
Sonam says, “This gorgeous animated film set in Japan and it’s really soulful.” Hayao Miyazaki’s perfect surreal fantasy, Spirited Away tells the story of a 10-year-old girl who wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches, and spirits as she moves with her family to the suburbs. “It’s a fairy tale, only pretty gloomy. It’s one of Studio Ghibli most famous animated films. The thing with these films is that they can be viewed by any age-group and any culture-group because they are set in a world that transcends these cultural barriers,” she continues.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
This Taika Waititi (fame Jojo Rabbit) film explores a national manhunt that is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand. Says Sonam, “This is one of the director’s earlier films. He is really cool. It has this amazing kid who later was also in Deadpool 2 who has been set away to live with this old couple and he gets bored and goes off to the wilderness. It’s a quaint, funny, heartwarming film.”
A Separation (2011)
A heart-wrenching piece by Asghar Farhadi, this film follows the story of a married couple who are faced with a difficult decision—to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer’s disease. Sonam exclaims, “while they are getting separated, something happens in their house. It just shows sides of human nature in such an interesting way and it’s a film that could be set anywhere in the world.”
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