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Campusgirl
Reviews
Grizzly Man (2005)
Big brother in the wild
Far from not acknowledging the cinematographic achievements this documentary may have and definitely has, I must admit that watching it made me feel very uncomfortable. The documentary is somehow a reflection of our time and fascination for the reality TV - it is a sort of a big brother TV-show in the wild. it exploits the 'united freaks' (its characters) and exploits their intimate information to the point that you start to think whether some journalistic ethics should have played a part. It shows the life of a very unbalanced person but seems not to celebrate the fact that this person chose to live the way he did and paid the price he knew that he might have to pay. When the director listens to the famous tape, the scene is so repulsive in its hypocrisy that its voyeurism is sickening. I don't think the director tried to understand the person whose life he is 'documenting' but wants to present a some kind of a photography of craziness almost as a clinical case - but shouldn't there be some kind of limits of what we are allowed to exploit of other people's lives?
The Secret Life of Words (2005)
A great movie on survival and healing
When people go through great amounts of pain and unbearable suffering, it takes a lot of time for them to be able (if ever) to heal and go on with their lives. This movie helps us to understand that process and connect with other people's pain. It does it in a very slow way, it's true, but that's the greatness and beauty of this movie. It gives us time to understand what these people have been thru, and shows how important it is that we do not forget, or let those that have suffered to be forgotten. It's not 'showy', not fast, not overly intellectualized but small, understanding and truthful. It gives us people difficult to watch because they are block, closed and reserved but at the same time gives us time to understand why, and that in the end it is possible to survive, to heal from the most terrible things that can happen to a human being. This movie is not for people who are not sensitive enough to think about what happened 'around the corner' some years ago and what extent can the human cruelness reach. The movie could have been pathetic and sentimental but it's not (it does have its faults but the outcome is so important that you forgive that). It shows that there is a place in a world for those that have suffered, and for those that are hurt, lonely, shy, and for those to whom the mere existence is difficult. And already for that I am grateful for this movie, that shows that there is so much more in life than words, and that we all carry a rich universe in us to be explored if we love and are loved no matter who we are and what life has put us through.