Daily Chai

In case you missed Half Nelson

One of the reasons I feel compelled to recommend the 2006 film Half Nelson is because it is just the kind of film I would skip based on its plot summary -- white school teacher in inner-city school in black neighborhood, confronts some of his own personal demons and strikes up an unusual bond with one of his students. Yada, yada, yada.

Despite that seemingly cliched setup, there is nothing cliche, cheesy, all that familiar, or even very Hollywood about Half Nelson. It is one of the most original films I've seen in a long time. The relationship between the student and the teacher would have come out corny in the hands of less skilled writers and actors, but here it just leaves you breathless. As for the demons the teacher finds himself confronting, let's just say these are in no way glossed over: it's far more than a perfunctory look at the privileged white guy's problems as a literary device to contrast those of all the kids in the hood.

It is at times sweet and moving, at times edgy, and at times downright dark: scenes of all-nigh crack benders, high school basketball games, and just a very undramatized look at how life goes on even in some very troubled places.

Parallel universes

Who knew that the Golden Gate Bridge, which is really just too majestic for words, also has the much darker identity as the world's suicide capital? OK, "capital" might be debatable -- how do you track these things? -- but it is a fact that about once every other week, a person jumps to his or her death* from this scenic landmark.

The 2006 documentary The Bridge is not a film to see if you're looking for laughs, but I'd recommend it for anyone who is curious about GGB's other legacy as a suicide destination, or if you just take interest in the way light and dark often juxtapose.

Here in San Francisco, there is a longstanding debate, about whether suicide barriers should be erected on the bridge, as they have at many other once popular suicide destinations around the world. I used to think the idea was silly; that anyone hell bent on suicide wouldn't be stopped by a little fence. But I have since read enough about this matter to understand that little measures go a long way in preventing someone with -- usually temporary -- suicidal thoughts from acting on them. And I find it repugnant that authorities in San Francisco are weighing the merits of such a barrier against what might be lost in scenic value. (The current barrier on the bridge's walkway is a ridiculously low 4.5 feet).

In any event, this film does not take on the suicide barrier controversy. Rather it tracks the lives of some of the people whose lives came to an end in the chilly waters beneath this beautiful bridge. It's a personal story, not a political one. But it certainly gives you a different perspective.

*Not all bridge jumpers die. John Kevin Hines is among those who jumped and survived. (Though they didn't exactly swim to shore). Hines tells a harrowing story of being determined to kill himself until his feet left the railing, and then, realizing it was all a terrible mistake.

Much of this is clearly bogus, but...

In case you still haven't caught Loose Change 911, the conspiracy theory film (not exactly sure I can call it a documentary) about the events of Sept. 11, 2001, you ought to check it out (which you can easily do, online).

I recommend the film not because it convinced me that all the events of that day were a big lie masterminded by our own government; indeed much of what the filmmakers assert, like that United Flight 93 never crashed in Pennsylvania, can be easily refuted. I really liked the film anyway, because it did raise some troubling questions for me about what the U.S. government did or did not know.

The biggest weakness of the film: it gives equal weight to the most ludicrous claims asd to the reasonable ones, including the curious collapse of World Trade Center 7, which was located across the street from the Twin Towers, and collapsed even though it was not directly hit. The film's biggest strength: it questions just about everything we've been told about that day, and does so in a way that's quite gripping.

Un coeur en hiver

Years ago I saw the French film Un Coeur en Hiver. Although it's a gross oversimplification to say it's about a love triangle, that's an accurate ten second summary and since I was at the time ending a long term relationship and starting another one, I was moved by how well it conveyed passion in ordinary life and the impenetrable nature of some people.

Thanks to Netflix, I was able to watch it again recently. Although it did not strike as close to home this time around, I loved it just as much. I'd done a lot of my own living in the 16 years since the film came out and upon watching it a second time, I came to understand how it was not just a story about specific characters, but also had a lot ot say about every person's isolation, resilience, ability to feel and ability to not feel.

It's also just a wonderful French film, understated, not always linear and set in a violin shop of all places, which turns out to be a really nice place to visit for a while.