After a few glasses of some excellent Sangria, the last thing I wanted to do was watch a film. Wine gives you a great buzz, but, in my experience, when not active it puts you right to sleep. As I sat down to watch The Counterfeiters, (it won best foreign film at the Oscars this year) I was already feeling sleepy. Its opening scene is of a man sitting on beach with no action or dialogue. Upon watching the first scene, I was nervous that the pace of the movie would be too slow and that I would be falling asleep shortly. However, the movie turned out to be one of the best films I have ever seen. For starters, the film was beautifully transcribed; the dialogue was well translated, and almost poetic in some scenes. Typically, films about World War II are heavy, and emotionally draining. Of course, the genocide of millions of innocent people should feel heavy and depressing; however some films are so overwhelmingly depressing that viewers tend to only be consumed with that empathetic/heartbreaking feeling leaving little room, if any at all, for analytical engagement. Too busy processing feelings, viewers become too tired to process thoughts, and this is truly tragic. Film should not only provoke feelings, but thoughts. The Counterfeiters is an excellent example of simultaneously provoking emotion and thought. In the story, we are exposed to a different Jewish experience during World War II. These Jews, due to their documentation expertise are treated better than their counterparts since the success of the war is dependent on how well they are able to counterfeit the British pound and US dollar. We see their internal struggle, and how it differs from the other Jews at the camp. Although not treated great, they are treated better than the other Jews which creates a feeling of disconnect. They are all Jews, but they are not equal, they are not going through the same experience, their struggles are different and this ultimately leaves the counterfeiters feeling guilty and in a way, less Jewish. The Jews that are treated badly are reminded that they are Jews constantly; however their identity is still intact; whereas the counterfeiters get stripped of their Jewish identity because they are unable to connect through the Jewish struggle, and they assume a new identity, one of a criminal. This is shown at the end when the camp is freed and the Jews that were treated badly find the counterfeiters, but do not recognize them as Jews. This film was absolutely incredible. I highly recommend it! Also, one of my favorite parts (it was brilliantly filmed) is a scene when there is no sound and the main character is extremely angry walking down a hallway. The movie is still silent when he goes to turn on a facet in the bathroom, but I have never heard the sound of running water more clearly! That scene is filmmaking at its very best!
Today I went to a cafe to study with a friend. While there, she was telling me that she was having very funny flashbacks from the night before. I asked her what point of view her flashbacks were in and she told me that they were in a cinematic point of view (third person), as in she was watching her actions. I found this interesting and started to think about memories. As we go about our daily routines, we all have a first person perspective of looking out and seeing our surroundings, but it seems to me that when people remember things it is always in a cinematic way. We watch our memories as if they were a movie, and we see ourselves running or laughing or dancing, but we see ourselves in our memory. This made me think about the way our memories are constructed. Do we construct our memories in this manner because we have all been exposed to film? What are the perspectives or points of view that the aborignals or native people, that have never been exposed to film, have when they are remembering a moment? Would their memories be constructed in the same way, are they seeing their memories from a first person perspective or are they seeing their memories from a third person perspective like many films today? How do our memories make the transition to third person when everything we experience is in first person?
Sometimes I’m not sure what I should think. Sometimes I’m not sure what I should want. Sometimes I’m not sure what I should want to want. Sometimes I’m not sure if I have the courage to want more, and sometimes I question if I have the right to want more. Sometimes I question whether I have is what I want or if what I have is something I have been taught I should want. Sometimes I think that the only way to find what I truly want is to rule out all the things I know I do not want. Sometimes I think people confuse being complacent with being content. Sometimes I think people confuse being satisfied with being content. Sometime I think I know the difference between these and sometimes I don’t think I know the difference at all.
