This was originally written on 02.16.2001
I’m relaxing now, in my father’s cluttered lakewood apartment, after spending the day roaming about the city. Some kids have headed down to coastal waters for a spring break filled w/ sexual promiscuity and drunken debauchery. I, on the other hand, am on the north coast trudging through the lingering rust belt winter. I don’t mind the city though, even when cold, grey skies serve as a constant reminder of Cleveland’s hard, industrial history. I like walking around cities, it makes me feel terribly grown up and cosmopolitan. And amidst the heavy, mid-day pedestrian traffic, its significantly harder to feel lonely. I feel a little like Holden Caufield roaming about the city after being ejected from boarding school.
I roam the streets more out of liesure than desperation though. I got to do one of my favorite things this morning, ride public transportation. I hopped on the bus and took a jaunt east to center city. I don’t know why I like public transportation so much, but I could ride all day. I like trains the best, but busses are ok too. It might just be because I hate driving, but I also like the bus because it makes me feel so connected – I get in this capsul and with minimal thought and effort, I at my destination. I imagine its a little like what teleportation would feel like. Also, I tend to like the social nature of public transportation. Maybe its just because I watched too many episodes of Seasame Street as a child, but I really like the idea of neighborhoods and community. People driving alone in autos seems like the perfect metaphor for the isolation of modern life.
Before I digress too much, I should mention why I went downtown in the first place. Cleveland is having it’s 25th annual international film festival, and although its not Cannes or Sundance or Toronto, its still an awesome chance to see films that one wouldn’t get a chance to see elsewhere. I saw two films, selected basically at random, and what follows are some notes about the two films.
The first film that I saw was a fun lbritish comedy called “House!”. While, I’m no expert on british film, “House!” seems similar to many of the British comedies, such as “The Full Monty”, that have captured the fancy of American audiences. It is a tale of individuals facing tough economic realities and overcoming these realities w/ cleverness and gusto. The plot of the film centers around an aging bingo hall that has fallen on tough times, particularly with the opening of an ultra-modern bingo complex in the same town. The main protagonist, js a likeable young girl who works at the old bingo hall. This character is instantly likeable, as are most of the characters in the film. It seems that many comedies are just a string of jokes or gags and that even the most basic character development is forgotton. Either that or the characters are merely cliches. I found this film a refreshing departure from that. We learn that after the death of her mother, she too has fallen on financial troubles, and it seems the bingo hall offers stability and friendship in her lonely life. However, when it seems the bingo hall will close, and when the girl’s aunt comes to collect her half af the family house, what little stability she has appears to be at risk. Luckily, the girl possesses a strange gift that enables her to guess winning numbers. With this skill she devises a plan to save her beloved bingo hall.
This comedy is not what I would call an amazing film, but is, at the same time, a truly enjoyable picture. It is charming and sweet without being ridiculously sappy. It is clever and fun without being obnoxious or hacknayed. All in all, it makes one feel as a good comedy should make one feel: happy and w/ a certain rekindled liking of humanity.
The second film that I saw was a Turkish film titled “Run for Money”. In this film, an exceedingly honest shop owner comes upon a mass of American dollars. What follows is the gradual but complete corruption of this man.
While the theme of the corrupting influence of money is by no means a new one, and this film’s treatment of this subject was not any more vivid or powerful than others, I thought that this film was still very interesting given the cultural climate that it was written in.
Currently, the Turkish economy is crap, inflation is rising, and the official currency isn’t doing so well either. I even read a recent Wall Street Journal article about an impending IMF bail-out. In my econ class, we discussed that in periods of hyperinflation, people tend to keep short term outlooks and are constantly hedging against inflationary pressures. I think this film probably reflects such a cultural preoccupation with money and wealth and makes a statement about the opportunity cost that such a preoccupation entails. Also, I thought it particularly interesting that the protagonist found American dollars and not some other currency. To some extent I think the film may also be a commentary on the impact that a growing western influence has had on Turkish culture.