Last week movie we watched was Harlan County. The documentary film the coal miners going on strike for unfair wages.  The hourly pay for a coal miner was pretty low considering we get a look at for what police offers in New York witch made way less and the job was less dangerous. Another reason why coal miners went on strike was due to the poor benefits they received after retirement witch cause some workers to work until they died. Working as miner was extremely dangerous just being exposed to smoke they’ve developed black lung disease and other disparities. Protest started off like any other regular protest the men where outside with their signs standing in front of their jobs. Things quickly escalated when miners stared to get shot at and latter leaving one miner dead. Witch was the breaking point, shootings seemed to have the men shaken and defeated, but not the women. The women started fighting harder than the men they didn’t want their men coming home under paid and having them dying and leaving a child without a father because of black lungs. The woman were defiantly the backbone of the movement of the coal miners, from organizing meets waking up early in morning to getting arrested. These ladies where on a mission to get there men what they devised by any means necessary. What these ladies didn’t know was they were starting a movement around the country for all coal miners. Reason why the women were so successful because they were just a little bit more aggressive then the men for instance, when they parked there car in front of the drive way so the scrubs who were the people not on strike couldn’t drive into work. Even when the sheriff came to talk to the ladies the women held their ground until the sheriff heard there demands. If it wasn’t for these coal miners protesting and making attempt to make a change who knows where coal mining will be today.

 

 

 

 

Last week film we watched was high school, tittle being pretty much self-expiatory it took place in a high school in Philadelphia. Purpose of the film was to document the everyday life of what goes on in high school, from students getting sent to the dean’s office to student assemblies’ to classroom environment. Even though the times were different back then I did see some parts of the film that still goes on in high school today. For example one student gets sent to the dean’s office for punching another student in the face. Student reasoning for punching the other student was he was bothering him. The dean who actually my favorite character just because he reminded me of my old dean in my high school was swift and quick to his point and had zero tolerance for fighting and gave the student who punch the other student detention. With that being said there were some other parts of the film that doesn’t ,well at least I can say from my experience from high school that doesn’t go on now that went on back then. For example how boys and girls are given social roles, the old fashion American dream men make the money to bring home to his wife and women job is to use the money pay bills, cook and clean. Its more common now then I think in any other time period in our country’s history for children/young adults to have been brought up in a single parent house hold, whether that be a single mother or father.  Witch forces man or women to be more dependent finical wise anyway witch in my opinion is good and kind of glade we drove away from that thinking that the man in the relationship has to bring in the income while woman stays home. One last difference I noticed from this day in age to back then was the meetings that went on for the kid’s future. I feel it’s great that school actually sits down with the students’ parents to talk about college education. Although faculty in the school doesn’t really cater to the students goals outside of school. If your goal didn’t involve you going to college the faculty would make you seem like a disappointment. For example there one student instead of going to college her dream was to do make up. Instead of encouraging her to pursue that dream the consular  pretty much tries to make her look bad, doesn’t help either when the father in the room not backing up his daughter. I understand that we all want what’s best for our kids and you feel sending them to college is what’s best , I also feel it’s important  to listen and support your kids goals. That being said I feel high school was pretty good documentary and give nice viewpoints of an everyday life in school.

This week film we watched was Night and Fog. Documentary witched film Ten years after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps Alain Resnais documented the abandoned grounds of Auschwitz. One of the first place reflections on the horrors of the Holocaust, Night and Fog changes the stillness of the abandoned camps with haunting wartime footage. This film is pretty big eye opener, even though it’s a few years after the holocaust the concentrated camps was definitely a brutal place to be in. Alain Resnais dose a great job in filming the environment and showing real footage on what they actually did to the Jews people in different areas of the camp. The scene that really pops out to me is the gas chambers mindset that Jews are going in there to take a shower but in reality there walking into their own death Alain Resnais does a great job filming the scratches on the wall then showing some real film of the bodies laying on the floor after being gassed. I also found it interesting that there wasn’t just all Jews, criminals were also locked inside the camps but were treated better compared to the Jews. I wish I could say I’m surprised about that but I’m not Jews pretty much the low of lowest in the camps. Just crazy to me that week prior we watched a film when Hitler was on the rise to power and it gave this new life feeling  just to see what happens years latter really makes me think if German citizen knew this was going to happen how many would be actually back up Hitler still. I still stand by my statement it’s one thing to read about what happened but its way different watching it happen it even though you can paint a pitcher in your head but I feel like your imagination limits you then actually seeing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two films we watched were Triumph of the Will and Why We Fight. The two films main purpose where to motivate and persuade there nations into rallying up and have one single goal. The first film we watched Triumph of the will by Leni Riefenstahl, which is the film I really want to focus on. Film was to influence Germans citizens to join the Nazi party. I found this film quit interesting in few reasons, as you may know Germany was going through a major economic downfall after WWI. Country was definitely looking and needed for a new leader, new voice, and Hitler was that person. Leni Riefenstahl does a great job portraying that in the documentary we watched. For example right in the beginning of the film when Hitler is on the rise of power Hitler is greeted with cheers and joyful atmosphere. When rides into the city it seems like everybody and there grandma came out to see him, waving their Nazi flags kids handing him flowers shaking town people’s hands. When it came to his speeches though, you could hear a pin drop practically every time he finished a statement there would be an uproar of applause. Hitler was what the country needed matter of fact at the end of the film it was said “”Hitler is Germany …Germany is Hitler””. If I didn’t know anything prior to watching this film I would a thought Adolf Hitler was a hero, revolutionary a man of pride for his country. Riefenstahl really does a good job portraying that in her film Triumph of the Will. The last filmed we watched didn’t really have me that assumed the presentation didn’t really have me amused unlike the other film it was U.S rara video to motivate Americans to fight in the war, which I have no problem with just the way it was presented wasn’t big fan. The video used a lot of scare tactics and showing little cut a ways of German, chines leaders killing people. One good point they had is when Japanese bombed the harbor witched did affect a lot U.S citizens witch I feel like was a good reason to go to war. After that being I still feel Triumph of the Will was a better film to me for its side of Hitler us American’s wouldn’t see.

 

 

 

After watching the film “Nanook of the North” in class, my first impression was not very interesting. In the beginning it was kind of boring, reason being due to the fact it was black and white film with only music in the background and periods of just text being shown to describe the scene. I must say after watching ten minutes into the film and before I had a chance to start to fall asleep, it started to seem interesting and I found myself enjoying it. For example, when the eskimos started hunting for walruses it was quite impresses, you can tell the eskimos had a solid strategy when it came to hunting. eskimos weren’t too aggressive on how they hunted the walrus they stayed stealthy as long as they could. Once on attack the eskimos showed remarkable team work on bring the walrus into shore. Another great scene in this film was finding of the foxhole, in the beginning of the scene I was confused just due to the fact I had no idea what the eskimo was looking for, after eskimo poked his head to what seem like to me a bunch a snow he comes out with a fox, me having no idea it was even a foxhole. The reason why I find this scene incredible and also impressive what looked like just like a regular bank of snow,  was really a foxhole, this shows how aware the eskimo people are to their environment. Even though I cannot stress how important the eskimo’s people survival skills are but there family life is what shows there no difference from you and me. One of the heartwarming scenes the family gathered together listening to music on a vinyl witch I believe was the first time for them or seemed like it because there reaction to record track was like they never used or had one even one of the eskimos tried to eat the vinyl.  All that being said for the time of the documentary being released I can see how it could be a big hit, showing the audience how other people around the world live, even if some people say eskimo people were acting  in front of a camera. It’s fair enough to say that this is what it would somewhat be like if you were an eskimo.