Reviews

I've seen this film for the first time tonight. I was moved to tears. Jeremy Gilley's idea to set aside one day of every year to declare cessation of war is a brilliant idea, not unlike giving up an addiction step by step. Paradoxically, it's on days like September 11, 2001, and today, July 26, 2006, that we need the message more than ever.

One key point of the movie is in the final scene with Jeremy's interview of Ahmad Fawzi of the UN. Mr. Fawzi made the point that resolutions and concerts are well and good, but are not substitutes for individuals in action. All governments in theory are representative of the will of constituents, the driving force behind social change. Milestones like the UN resolution 55/282 are the results of Jeremy's actions; it remains incumbent upon us as individuals to express our desires to end the suffering and squander of war, and as societies, to learn from those who have a vision of something better. That's probably why he received an audience with so many world leaders, including a contentious session at a meeting of the Organization of Arab States.

One moving part for me was hearing a Palestinian who turned away from violence after nearly losing his life in a premature explosion of a bomb. Another scene had Arabs and Jews from the same Israeli town who came together to have a dialog on overcoming generations of hatred. I rarely found the movie bogged down in details, and for a documentary was well edited, including the 9/11 sequences from NYC.

The message I come away with is to be 'for something and against nothing', in other words, proactive for peace and the prosperity that comes with tolerance. In the words of Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small, highly committed group of individuals can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." The website http://www.peaceoneday.org/ keeps bringing the message of the movie into action.

I liked 'La Vallée' because it made me ask fundamental questions about my own journey. The central character Viviane (Bulle Ogier) begins with one search and ends with another. The other characters Olivier, Gaetan, Monique, and Hermine each have their own journeys that weave stories of personal transformation around each other in pursuit of spiritual ideals. The open nature of the ending alludes to every person's image of the unknown.

I had the soundtrack album (Obscured By Clouds) in the early 70's and was intrigued by the cover. Now, many years later, I've visited and experienced a little of Polynesian culture for myself, and find that the essential questions about how to reconcile western and indigenous culture are still just as powerful as those played out in the movie. I see the scene just before the final ascent to 'the valley' as the core dialog, namely, can we step inside the world of ancestors and taboos, or are we merely tourists on our own journeys? Can we return with knowledge to paradise, or must we, as Oliver says, 'take a second bite of the apple'to move forward? Can we reinvent ourselves, or are we bound in our world views by jealousy, phobia, hormones, and social convention? I think Schroeder is expressing this dialog within himself against the backdrop of the Mapuga.

Barbet Schroeder's second feature film shares some of the same shortcomings with his first film 'More'. The editing is at times abrupt, and some scenes seem to evaporate into dead-ends with no plot development. Nevertheless, I admire his willingness to make this film in New Guinea. It must have been very progressive for its time.