ALL ABOUT THE FEATHERS

Chalo and Rocky

"All About the Feathers" is a 2013 Costa Rican narrative feature, directed by Neto Villalobos and made its T+T premiere at this year's trinidad+tobago film festival. This film is 85 minutes long and is in Spanish but with English subtitles. Honestly, I initially thought that the fact that the film was entirely in Spanish would have been a problem for me but the subtitles were very easy to follow along to and the strong impact of the film was surely no less felt. 

The film is a deadpan comedy and centers around the protagonist and main character Chalo, a very awkward looking man with a deep desire to own his own gamecock. You see, Chalo leads an extremely dull life and having a job as a security guard at an abandoned factory does not make his life any better. Chalo is very lonely, he is not seen as having a family or anyone of significance in his life. Chalo has a cellphone and at the beginning of the film, anytime his cell rings, it’s always someone calling a wrong number, which to me emphasises the depth of loneliness or lack of significant people in Chalo’s life. 

Chalo

At the beginning of the film Chalo keeps annoying a shop keeper by endlessly requesting to purchase his bird so that he can enter the bird into cock fighting. You just have to admire Chalo's persistence, the guy just does not give up! Eventually the shop keeper gives in and gives Chalo the bird. The introduction of this bird into Chalo’s life is a significantly life changing moment for Chalo and he is overflowing with happiness and excitement as he now gets to have his own gamecock, which he names Rocky. Rocky is Chalo's new protege but the only problem now is that he has no place to put Rocky, as everywhere he goes, the bird is strictly not allowed. Chalo is left constantly looking for somewhere that he can keep his new bird and train him to fight, which all leads to a string of hilarious events that puts Chalo's love for his new feathered friend to the test. Chalo struggles to find a home for Rocky, but the love and admiration that he has for Rocky does not allow him to give up. 




Along the way Chalo develops three new friendships, not counting the one he has with Rocky. The first friend he makes is with a young boy by the name of Erlan. Chalo meets Erlan on a bus and they both go to watch a cockfight together, sharing a love for gamecocks. The second friend that Chalo makes is with another security guard by the name of Jason. Jason is new to the job and is placed as Chalo's working partner. Jason’s character brings out a lot of the comedy in the film and his character seems to really connect with the audience. I personally find Jason to be one of my favourite characters in the film. Chalo then makes a third friend, who is a woman by the name of Candy. Candy is a maid working in one of the nearby houses and has a very warm, gentle, nurturing and kind personality. Candy teaches Chalo how to use his cellphone to send text messages and regularly texts him and he is seen smiling as he reads her message. Their relationship does not become romantic, they simply remain good friends. The fact that they text each other and more importantly that Chalo now has someone contacting him on his cell phone other than someone just reaching a wrong number, now shows how Chalo’s life is changing as he now has persons of significance in his life. Chalo's newly found friends all support him and even go with him to Rocky's cockfights, proudly and passionately cheering for him and Rocky, even when Rocky loses. It’s important to note that Rocky either directly or indirectly brought these people into Chalo’s once empty life, showing the significant impact of Rocky. Even though Rocky may not have won any cockfights as Chalo had planned, he won Chalo three new friends and by extension, an enhanced and more vibrant life. 

From left to right :
Erlan, Candy, Chalo, Jason

Unfortunately poor Rocky dies and in a most dreadful way too. Jason invited Chalo and the other friends over to his house for his one of childrens birthday party. During the party, Jason shows Chalo a gun he got from a friend and said that he was practising his skills. To be more clear, there is certain exam that you had to take as a security officer and while Chalo passed, Jason failed and had to be removed as Chalo’s security partner, hence the reason Jason is practising so that he can re-take the exam. Chalo shows Jason his shooting skills and then Jason tries and accidentally shoots Rocky, killing Rocky instantly. Chalo and all his friends then have a little funeral ceremony for poor Rocky. Rocky is now gone but he definitely made his mark in the lives of Chalo and his new friends. Chalo's life is no longer the way it used to be, yes he still has his boring job as a security guard but he now has three new friends who I am sure will make his days much brighter. I have no doubt that this incident will not deter Chalo from his cockfighting dream, I'm sure he would probably find some way to get another bird that he can train and enter into cockfights and who knows along the way he might even make some more friends. 



The film is set in rural areas in Costa Rica, in the film you see abandoned building, rusty roof tops, neglected lots, houses under construction, hostels where people just need somewhere to sleep for the night, only to have to find another place to lay their head tomorrow, you see the rickety buses, the cockfighting arenas and the streets. Honestly, whenever I thought of Costa Rica these were not the images I got in my head. I more pictured beautiful sandy beaches, really nice forests to go hiking and other sightseeing places. While all of these places do exist in Costa Rica, filmmaker Neto Villalobos shows the audience a very different, more working-class type of setting. “I see the beauty in chaos,” Villalobos says. Which clearly explains the setting of his film.  Villalobos explains, “I know there are a lot of magical places in Costa Rica, and beautiful beaches, but that’s not what I wanted to show. I love that, but I think there is a beauty in this other Costa Rica that people are not used to seeing." He then goes on to say, “And it’s not, like, ‘Oh, they’re so poor.’ No,” he emphasises. “These are also really happy people and they don’t need a lot of things.” Villalobos does not conceal this part of Costa Rica and although we see no sandy beaches and beautiful forests, there is beauty in the way that these people live their lives and enjoy the most mundane of activities. Villalobos portrays it all in a friendly and fun way, where we can all look at it with easy eyes and smile knowing a lot of us can relate as we may be in similar situations but always aspiring for more. 

The cast of this film includes mostly non-professional actors (and animals). I read that the guy who acted as Jason was a non-professional actor, and I honestly would not have even guessed that unless I read that article. I think in this type of film which focuses on the everyday life of working-class people, unprofessional actors are ideal as these are the people who have the history of living simple, ordinary but happy lives in Costa Rica. For these people, getting into character would happen naturally, giving the show a very realistic quality. All the actors did an excellent job and their characters were portrayed so flawlessly with so much personality that they did not need to go over-board to get a point across, they were simply understood and I loved that. The plot of this film is offbeat but thoroughly worked out. The film is a deadpan comedy and this comedy often occurs during immaculate static shots, where both the camera and the actors have immense control. Most scenes follow one after the next without any breaks in between, showing us everyday life for the working-class persons, exactly as it is in Costa Rica. The manner in which the film is shot, draws the audience into the film, listening to the conversations of the characters, as if we are actually there standing with them. Net Villalobos tells a simple story but with significant effect and this is the kind of story that anyone can relate to; the ordinary man trying to do something that everyone else thinks is irrelevant but does it anyways. 

See below for the trailer of the film! Thanks for reading =)

BELLE

            Belle is a UK drama film, directed by Amma Asante, written by Misan Sagay, and produced by Damian Jones.This film is a Narrative Feature of 105 minutes and stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton, Sam Reid, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, and James Norton. This film, although produced in 2013, made its Caribbean Premiere at this year’s trinidad+tobago film festival. The film is based on a true story and was inspired by the striking 1779 portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle beside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray. This portrait was hung at Kenwood House until 1922 and today hangs at Scone Palace Scotland. I have to agree, the painting is indeed very striking and I can see why it inspired the film. This painting is shockingly different from the ones usually seen during that particular period in time, with powerful appeal and intriguing details, as Dido, a bi-racial woman is portrayed as being equally noble as her English cousin. Dido is painted wearing expensive ostrich feathers, which is in marked contrast to the usual subservient poses of black people in paintings of that era. The picture shows the closeness between Dido and her cousin, despite the position of black skinned people in Britain at the time. Dido is carrying a plate of fruit which makes the portrait look very natural, playful and affectionate. It's not even clear who painted the portrait but it is clear that Dido's great uncle, William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, then Lord Chief Justice of England, commissioned the painting, which would have been a very very brave act for the time and place, especially from someone with such high social standing. Truly truly commendable!!

1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761 - 1804) and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (1760 -1825)

The film was set in the year 1769, when Britain was a colonial empire and a slave trading capital. British society of that era was built on its slave trade, which made Britain as dependent as America on a slave economy, but it was a faraway trade most didn't have to confront face to face.The story in this film brightly shines the light on the slave trade and brings it to the forefront. This right here is the exact reason why I choose to look at this film! The story takes place during a crucial time in history when England is at danger of upsetting their economic dependence on slavery. Throughout the film, a court case is taking place on what became known as the Zong massacre. The Zong massacre took place when 132 slaves on route from Africa to the West Indies were thrown overboard from the Zong slave ship. The slave traders claimed that this was done for the sole purpose of the safety of the ship, saying that the slaves were diseased, some even close to dying and that there was barely enough water aboard the ship for both slaves and crew to survive the rest of the voyage. The slave owners then filed with the insurance company for financial re-compensation of each slave that was lost, as they claimed that what happened was done out of complete necessity to save the ship. Lord Mansfield is seen as the person who rules on this case in England's Court of King's Bench in 1786, in a decision that can bring the slave trade to its knees and destroy the economic foundation of England. 

            The film mainly centers on Dido Elizabeth Belle. Dido, who was born on English soil, was the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a British admiral named Sir John Lindsay and an enslaved black Caribbean woman by the name of Maria Belle. Before leaving to go captain a voyage to the indies on a longitude experiment, Sir John Linsay left Dido in the entrusted care of a then appalled Lord Mansfield and his wife. The audience is taken on a journey to see Dido as she becomes a young woman, constantly struggling as a Mulatto who is placed in a position that makes her too high in rank to dine with the servants but too low in rank to dine with her family and with very very slim prospects of marriage but yet finding the strength and courage to ensure that justice was rightly served with this horrid Zong massacre.

At the end of the film, the audience learns that the slave traders deliberately choose to use the ‘tight-packing’ method to place the slaves in, although they knew that this method of transportation was highly responsible for causing diseases in the slave, which would eventually render them unable to serve as they normally would. It was also discovered that the slave trader’s excuse of there being limited supply of water for both slaves and crew was completely false, as the ship passed no less than eight ports where they could have replenished their supplies but did not, either because they did not need a re-supply of water or they knew what they had planned. To discharge slaves into the water for compensation purposes is entirely illegal and besides being illegal, it is wrong and INHUMANE on so many levels!!! It was therefore declared that a fraud was committed and as Lord Mansfield rightly said, “the state of slavery is so odious a position, that nothing may support it.” The zone case became a seminal step towards the abolition of slavery, paving the way for the landmark 1833 British law abolishing slavery. Some say that Mansfield’s decision may have been coloured because of the affection he felt for Dido.

In conclusion, I can honestly say that I enjoyed every second of this inspiring and beautiful film. As a film that is set during such a visually-rich period, there is a high need to portray excellent visuals. The filmmakers definitely did a praiseworthy job in capturing all the images in such stunning detail and accuracy which added significantly to the splendid beauty of the film as a whole. The result was indeed truly phenomenal, leaving long lasting images in my mind. The actors really got into character and all did an excellent job, giving us stellar performances. I am deeply grateful that I received the opportunity to see this film as it was not just merely entertaining but a significantly important learning experience for me, very happy that the trinidad+tobago film festival had this on show for all to see. As a person of the Caribbean, stories like this are worth knowing. To move towards a bright future, we need to know about the past, about where we came from and how we became who we are as a people today. So I strongly recommend this film to everyone, add it to your movie list and I can assure you, without a doubt, that this film will have every bit of a lasting effect on you as it had on me.

Thanks for reading! Check out the trailer for the film below..

                                              Trailer for the film Belle (2013)

INTRODUCTION

Hello Hello =)

My name is Stephanie Rattan and I am from the beautiful island called Trinidad and Tobago. I have created this blog as part of a project that I am required to do for one of my classes at school. 

As seen in the description above, this blog will place primary focus on the 2014 trinidad+tobago Film Festival (ttff). The festival is a yearly celebration of film from and about Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and its diaspora. This year's festival spans from the 16th of September until the 30th of September and the film lineup includes:

• CARIBBEAN : feature-length narrative and documentary films from the Caribbean, the diaspora, as well as films by international filmmakers made in and about the region. 
• PANORAMA : feature-length narrative and documentary films from heritage countries of Trinidad & Tobago, including India, countries in Africa and Europe, and, for the very first time, the Middle East. There will also be films from Latin America, Canada and the USA. 
• SHORT AND MEDIUM LENGTH FILMS : films under 30 minutes in length (short films) and films between 30 and 60 minutes in length (medium-length films), that are from the Caribbean and its diaspora. 
• NEW MEDIA : the ttff annually screens a selection of video art and experimental films and is presented in collaboration with ARC Magazine. 
  

Last year I had the great pleasure of attending the Film Festival for the very first time and I have never forgotten the experience. I went to see a Jamaican film called, "Kingston Paradise" as part of another school assignment and I was very very surprised at what I saw. At first, I just went because I was supposed to, but after 5 minutes into the movie..I was captivated and wondered how and why I never attended the film festival before. The movie was entirely intriguing, never was there a dull moment. 

So for those of you who have never seen a movie from the T+T film festival, you really don't know how much you're missing out on. If I were you, I'd try to find one of the movies online if possible and take a look..I can assure you that you won't regret it. For those of you who are here in Trinidad and Tobago, do attend this year's festival, I can promise that the experience will be worthwhile. 

So, this year when I was told that for a school project I am required to blog on a certain topic, I immediately knew, without a doubt, that I wanted to start a blog on the T+T Film Festival. I really believe that this is something truly worth talking about. I will try to see as many movies as possible, from each of the four categories available and will critique the movies on this blog. 

This blog will be partnered with my facebook page, youtube channel, flickr account and much more. This post is just an introductory one, my follow up post will include all other social media that I will be using for this project and I will provide links for them here, so that you can easily access them and share this experience with me and join me on my journey. I will also be posting the schedule for this year's festival and which films from the festival I will be watching on what days, times etc. So look forward to all of that ok.

I really am looking forward on embarking on this journey and I invite you to come along with me and share the experience. You can also comment below and let me know if there is a particular movie from this year's festival that you would like for me to watch and review..

Thanks for reading! Hope you're excited as I am.. =)
Talk to you all again very very soon.