Tag Archives: Films

Art From the Waste Land

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The documentary “Waste Land” was enlightening. It showed a side to product consumption that I had never considered before. Moreso than anything, it showed an entire community of people whose very lifelines came from the landfill of Jardim Gramacho. The documentary followed Vik Muniz’s expedition to create art out of the landfill of Jardim Gramacho and how it impacted the people that lived there. My favorite part of the documentary had to be when Vik, along with the people, actually crafted the pieces of art using recyclable materials. It was an inspiring moment and left me awe-struck.

Another deeply fascinating part of the documentary was its portrayal of the people that made their livings off of picking recyclable materials. The portrait that is painted of this community shows a strong, proud group of people; they live a simple life and are satisfied with it. Vik postulates that this might come from denial and from not knowing any better. Regardless, it was a very heartfelt moment in the documentary when Tiao and his people were at the museum; their words, especially Irma’s, moved me.

“Waste Land” was an extremely enjoyable watch and was full of deep, emotional moments that truly appealed to the viewer. Loved it!

P.S: “99 is not 100!” should be a motto for the recycling movement!

An American Journey – Role of a Photographer

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The one thing that mainly stood out to me from the documentary, An American Journey: In Robert Frank’s Footsteps, was the portrayal of the role of a photographer. I believe that Frank’s printer described it well in his interview. He claimed that Frank was simply an architect, while he was Frank’s engineer. Frank, the photographer, had a design or plan for an image, and it was up to the printer to work accordingly. Although Frank had taken the pictures, his printer had to manipulate them in order to truly realize what Frank wanted to portray.

I found this idea to relate to our early conversations pertaining to the purpose of art. The role of a photographer basically runs along the lines of the role of an artist: to convey a specific message through some creative means. Analyzing further, I have noticed that most of the art we have seen (opera, dance, films) have all been collaborations. There is no one single artist, but rather a combination of different artists in order to produce a final masterpiece. This is also the case with Frank. My original thoughts about photographers were shattered, as I previously viewed them as singular artists producing single forms of art. However, upon realizing Franks’ dependency on his printer in order to produce his art, I now view photography as a collaborative effort as well.

Reactions to Man on Wire

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Damn. If I had the talent to walk on wire/cable at even 10 floors above ground level, I wouldn’t be here composing this post right now.

Philippe Petit is probably one of those guys where you just don’t have the correct adjective to describe him. Crazy? Brave? Idiotic? Heroic? To perfectly plot this whole event, and not get caught is definitely an incredible feat. I mean, he wasn’t at the 10th floor, the 20th floor, but the 110th floor. What could’ve possibly been going through his mind?

What I probably most liked about the documentary was the fact that it seemed to made me feel like I was in the moment, especially when they were describing how they almost got caught and stuff. If Petit’s timing was not correct, August 7th, 1974 might’ve just been another ordinary day for all of us, and the prisons might just have an extra guy in there.

However, in exchange for his fame and glory, Petit lost his friends, lost the love of his life, lost everything he had had before August 7th, all because of the 45 mins on the top of the World Trade Center towers. I mean, I don’t know if that’s worth it.

~Christopher Chong

Man on the Wire – Reaction

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I am not a fan of documentaries. I just dislike them. Man on the Wire was a unique case. I actually enjoyed the documentary about Philippe Petit and his whole crew.

I have heard of stories about people who have walked across many dangerous places via tightrope, but I have never heard of Philippe Petit and his story of walking across the Twin Towers via tightrope.

I found it quite amazing that he would have the concentration and the balance to actually achieve all that. I can barely keep my balance on a 2×4! I respect Philippe for doing whatever he wanted to achieve his dream of walking the tightrope 110 stories high. This does raise many questions though.

One of the biggest issues I have with Philippe’s story is the issue with money. I don’t understand how Philippe could even go back and forth from America and Paris ever so often. Where does he get his money to do so? I thought he was only a street performer. Either he hustled a lot of money while doing so, or he acquired his funds elsewhere.

The biggest question that I would have loved to ask Philippe and his crew is this: What did you guys do after the event? I have absolutely no idea how one would feel when a dream is achieved. Where would you go afterwards? What would you do? Will there be anything else in life that will ever feel better than when the dream was achieved?

I am so curious as to what the crew did after the heist was over. Is the ending like the usual ending to a dream? Was it a sad awakening to reality?