So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking. Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older, shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
Sundance Film Festival: Renewed Rebellion
Posted by: Jane Jelenko | Posted in: Being creative, Living Intentionally, Personal resources, Jane's MusingsWednesday, February 10, 2010
We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time
Get Back to Where You Once Belonged
Susan and I returned to Sundance this year. We had taken a year off from our annual pilgrimage to Park City because the experience had become such a giant hassle that we could no longer justify the expense and time away from our families to indulge ourselves in an orgy of indie films. But the buzz about a revived Sundance 2010 was too alluring for us to stay away.
Our loyalty was well rewarded. Park City and the Festival staff outdid themselves to enhance the experience of attendees like us – i.e. movie fans who aren’t “in the biz.” The website for buying packages and reserving tickets actually worked, the shuttle service was convenient and we never had to stand in lines in the bitter cold to get into the venues. But most of all, there was a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to the art of filmmaking that was palpable, even to us aging boomers, sitting in the dark, sipping from our refillable water bottles.
Robert Redford, who founded the festival twenty-five years ago as a counterweight to the Hollywood studio system, opened the proceedings with this statement, "We’re going back to our roots with
fresh new voices." In recent years, Sundance had become more about doing deals for wide release, than a showcase for artists whose work might never otherwise be seen. The theme of REBELLION gave us all a renewed taste of our long-lost willingness to question the status quo and strike out on our own road to where our talents and energies might lead. It was downright invigorating.
Susan and I saw ten films in four days—all good or great (except for one stinker which shall remain nameless). For me the standouts were:
A Small Act – a documentary about a poor Kenyan boy whose life was changed when an anonymous Swedish woman sponsored his primary and high school education for $15 a month. The boy, Chris Mburu, grew up to attend Harvard and become a U.N. human-rights lawyer. He discovers his sponsor’s identity—a Holocaust survivor named Hilde Back and names his foundation to provide scholarships for young Kenyans after her. Both Chris and Hilde were at the screening and answered questions from the audience who mostly wanted to know how to donate to the cause.
Hesher – a dark, and extremely violent film which manages to be funny and quite endearing. Unnerving to watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the adorable protagonist in 500 Days of Summer, transform into a heavy metal psychopath who still manages to win your heart.
Blue Valentine – A story of the development of a romance and the disintegration of the marriage told in parallel. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams were excellent, but I kept feeling that this bittersweet story was done better in Two for the Road. OK, that 1967 film had Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney but it also managed to give life to both protagonists’ stories in a way that was
missing in this current incarnation.
The Killer Inside Me – This film had so much violence (against women primarily) that I had to turn my head away. It’s a very interesting film noir set in Texas with great stars like Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, and Kate Hudson and has already landed a distribution deal. But be forewarned—it’s pretty tough to take.
I could go on with my personal film reviews, but I think the more important take away from this year’s Sundance experience is about the recommitment to the values that were at the heart of this enterprise from the beginning. Made me think about the impulse to change lanes many of us feel at this vulnerable stage of our lives. We’ve been slogging so long in the success track that we feel disconnected from the bright, young, enthusiastic men and women we were when we started out on our journeys.
This is our opportunity to reclaim our values, our dreams, and our energies—to get back to where we once belonged.
So what’s your story of renewal ?We and our readers would love to hear from you.
