This documentary film follows five people who work in the oils sands and, in their off time, sing at a Karaoke bar in Fort McMurray. I didn’t connect at all with the characters, and only one of them indicated she had qualms about the environmental issues of the project. All of them, and most of their colleagues, were there to make a lot of money in order to get out of debt and then move on with their lives.
We saw this last night at the opening gala for the 2014 Powell River Film Festival, now in its 13th season. It is the story of a young girl and boy who have disabilities, but who fall in love and want to be independent. The female lead has Williams syndrome and she was marvellous. The male lead was acting his part, but he was just as believable. Almost all the other actors were disabled in one way or another. The movie told you very little about the disorder, and I found it a little depressing. It was a tough position for the young people involved, as well as for their caregivers.
Quite a frivolous movie, but I loved the characters. Four opera stars are reunited at a retirement home for musicians. Two of them were married to each other in earlier times, and they parted badly. One (Pauline Collins aka Shirley Valentine) is slipping into dementia and the other blames his outrageous behaviour on a stroke. I loved that as the credits for the movie came on screen, we saw many of the characters as they appeared in the movie, along with their very legitimate musical credits (opera stars, conductors, musicians).
A very interesting documentary aboout the green movement in China. In 1993 a law was passed that allowed the public to voice their opinion on projects that have an environmental impact. A number of filmmakers and journalists spread the word about the law so villagers had an opportunity to shape their future. Through their protests, they were able to stop the construction of a hydro-electric dam at the Tiger Leaping Gorge. This dam would have flooded hundreds of acres of land and displaced thousands of people.