Five Broken Cameras

A Review

Directed by	·         Emad Burnat ·         Guy Davidi
Produced by	·         Christine Camdessus ·         Serge Gordey ·         Emad Burnat ·         Guy Davidi
Written by	·         Guy Davidi
Music by	Le Trio Joubran
Cinematography	Emad Burnat
Editing by	·         Véronique Lagoarde–Ségot ·         Guy Davidi
Distributed by	Kino Lorber
Release date(s)	·         November 23, 2011
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Palestine Israel France
Language	·         Arabic ·         Hebrew

            Bertrand Russell once remarked, “War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” The conflict between Israel and Palestine is not new and every now and then the news bulletins are flashing a story on it. But, not many know what actually happens on the borders and this is what ‘Five Broken Camera’ very aptly depicts. From the opening scene when Emad’s youngest son is born and the revolution to protect his village’s land from Israeli seizure begins, a unique parallel is drawn depicting the existence of human life midst the conflict. The film is divided into five segments shot from five cameras, which in itself is a unique concept as the destruction of each of the cameras depicts the amount of struggle Emad had to do to bring forth the plight of his people.

            Each of the sequences shot describe various timelines of the resistance. Each and every scene is intriguing and depicts the reality very aptly. The involvement of the villagers to save their land makes one think as to what the audiences across the globe are catered with is really news or cooked up facts? Some of the scenes like Emad getting shot and his brother being killed by Israeli forces are disturbing yet they portray the valour and audacity of the people of Bil’in who are willing to die for their village. The involvement of Israeli and international activists brings to light the disparity in the public opinion and what the government considers to be public opinion, but is thier own agenda. Emad’s camera not only shoots the entire struggle, in fact, it becomes its symbol. His struggle to film the incidents and the family tussle create impediments for his work but he doesn’t gives up and continues shooting despite threats from the army.

            The film is an honest effort to showcase the reality that never even touches the periphery of a common man’s living room. There is not much to say but to admire the courage of people associated with filming and the excellent work of the editing team. To be precise and clear, one the most appealing documentaries of our times is '5 Broken Cameras', go for it!

Rating: 9/10

Thumbs Up: Watch out for some very powerful scenes like the one in which Emad showcases his broken cameras like they are some war souvenirs.  

Thumbs Down: I’ll be damned if I write anything here!!

THE WAR YOU DON’T SEE

A REVIEW

Directed by	Alan Lowery           John Pilger
Produced by	Alan Lowery            John Pilger            Christopher Hird
Written by	John Pilger
Narrated by	John Pilger
Starring	John Pilger             Rageh Omaar             Dan Rather             Mark Curtis             Carne Ross             Cynthia McKinney             Julian Assange
Music by	Sacha Puttnam
Cinematography	Rupert Binsley
Editing by	Joe Frost
Studio	Dartmouth Films
Release date(s)	December 13, 2010
Running time	97 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

            The real casualty of war, indeed, is truth but, it isn't the only casualty. The war that you don't see is an intriguing documentary that takes the viewer beyond the veil and exposes the bitter reality behind the wars that take place in the name of valour, courage and sacrifice. John Pilger, who has been a vociferous critic of the ‘imperialist’ foreign policies of USA, UK and Australia, has once again raised the issue of useless and needless wars in the name of establishing democracy in the so called disturbed regions and also taunted the culture of the so called ‘embedded journalists’ .

            The film begins with the World War I Prime Minister of Britain David Lloyd George telling the, then, Guardian editor C P Scott that, “If the people really knew the truth, the war would be stopped tomorrow.” What follows is a series of questionnaire to eminent media personalities like Stuart Ewen, Melvin Goodman, Dan Rather, Rageh Omaar, David Rose, Dahr Jamail, Mark Manning etc. and exclusive footage that reveal the real life scenarios during the Iraq war shootouts killing innocent civilians. Mr. Pilger also interviews former British diplomat Carne Ross and the US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who, respectively, testify the sufferings of Iraqi civilians and criticize the Obama administration for not withdrawing the troops. Then comes the whistleblowing icon Julian Assange who asserts that, investigative journalists are the number one threat to the menacing activities of the west. The documentary ends with John Pilger quoting Claud Cockburn that, “believe nothing until it has been officially denied”.

            The film has been shot in a very appealing style. The video footages are not very disturbing but they do quiz a common man’s notion about war. However, the interviews seem to be very soft in tone and could have been more ‘dig in deep’ kind of. But, all in all, it is a film that forces the viewer to think of what he is fed in the name of information and what actually happens, as if there is a matrix that creates an illusion called ‘news’.

RATING: 8 out of 10

THUMBS UP: Watch out for the scenes when Bush and Blair are taking a stroll in the park, regardless of the havoc they caused and the clip in which the ex U.S soldier Ethan McCord is running with the injured Iraqi children in his arms.

THUMBS DOWN:  The interviews seem heavily scripted.

THE PADOSI CHRONICLES - 1

THE PADOSI CHRONICLES

CHAPTER 1

BABLOO

I had just completed the last mudra of Mandook-aasan (The Frog Posture), in the balcony, when I was perturbed by a whistling sound, which was quite unusual at 6.30 am in the morning, in my locality. Distraught by the crass cacophony I looked around and was shocked to witness my padosi ka ladka (neighbors’ son) Babloo, the personification of the angel of slumber himself, up early. The mystery of his early awakening was pissing me off when, a keen observant that I am, I noticed a behemoth smart phone dripping out of his pajama pocket, which he eventually took out. Suddenly, he started beaming towards me and waved his inhuman paw clutching that smart phone. I loathly retorted in the same gesture. While having tea later, I realized the reason he got up so early – to show off! Since I usually leave for college much earlier than he gets up and come later than he does (which, luckily, is the reason of our sporadic interactions), Babloo devised this sinister ploy to flaunt his novel device.

Babloo and his ismaart phone soon became popular in the locality. Frankly, I was jealous, because nobody noticed my smart phone, which, I agree, was smaller and cheaper than Babloo’s – whatever! His vexing mataji, my mother’s kitty colleague, further irked me with the gibberish about Babloo’s corpulent salary. Every day I had to hear about Babloo, his salary, his job and of course, that bugger, son of a metal smart phone. I had had it! Something had to be done to contain this virus of belligerent exhibition. If I had a Dexter’s Lab, I swear to God I would have used every bit of the techno babble that exists to decimate Babloo’s smart phone the very moment he tried flaunting it. Seemingly destined for Arkham Asylum, I got some respite from this routine when I had to stay at a friend’s place for the weekend. But the query remained – how will I bear the sight of that arrogant dork, dobaaraa?

On getting back, maa welcomed me with a queer smile. I marveled at her guts. Maa so brave of you to smile even as the Enemy is at the Gates - I remarked, to which she burst out laughing.  Gazing the quizzical look I bore, she revealed – Babloo ka phone, gaadi aur purse chori ho gaya! (Babloo’s wallet, car and the smart phone were robbed).  I jumped in joy, my energy was contagious and I was more delighted than I had ever been in my entire life!  Maa further elaborated that Babloo had gone out on a blind date with a lady who claimed to have been smitten by his display picture on a social networking website in which he was showing off his phone (yes he is added in my list, so what?) but, when he reached the agreed spot he was ambushed and robbed. I was elated and wondered if I had any psychic potency, because if it was God’s wrath on Babloo, then it was the result of my constant malediction. A remorseless individual, I didn’t even visit to reconcile the brittle, battered and broken Babloo, though I wonder what he must have sad about – the smart phone or being duped in ‘blind’ love?

Next morning, back at the balcony, the breeze seemed cooler and more fragrant than ever before. There was no sign of Babloo, this time not because of slumber but due to shame, I believe. But, who cares as long as the serene morning is not disturbed by yet another tuneless toad from the bingle bob? I plugged in my head phones and lungi dance took on and I said to myself – who’s the THALAIVA(boss) now?