Noel: 5 stories with no Christmas connection

December brings in an excellent spirit of cheerfulness and joy because of the impending end of the year and the merry festival of Christmas. It is a festival that is probably celebrated all over the world with the belief that people forgive and forget during the festive season to spread happiness and good tidings. Hollywood follows suit during the festive season with films about Christmas always having a sense of happiness and warmth to share with its audience.

Rose is a middle-aged woman who lives alone spare for her hospitalised mother. She is a divorcee who moved into her mother’s house after her marriage ended followed by the death of her father and her mother being struck with Alzheimer’s disease. She is about to spend Christmas Eve by herself but is invited to dinner by a young and handsome colleague from her workplace. Despite being attracted to him, she refuses his advances later in the night and decides to bring in Christmas by her mother’s bedside. She meets a young Hispanic girl named Nina who is having her own trouble with her jealous fiancé Mike while doubts of pregnancy loom in her head. Mike in turn is followed around by an old waiter named Artie who believes that Mike is the reincarnation of his dead wife. Lastly, Jules is a young man who is ready to cause harm to himself in the hope that he will be admitted to the hospital Rose’s mother is in because it was the location for his fondest Christmas memory ever.

Noel was written by David Hubbard and directed by Chazz Palminteri. It is a drama film with the theme of Christmas which was released in the year 2004 and stars Susan Sarandon, Penelope Cruz, Paul Walker, Alan Arkin and Marcus Thomas. An important supporting role is performed by Robin Williams.

For a Christmas-themed film, it is uncharacteristically depressing. The filmmakers opted to make a film with reality forming the core. The characters and the situations were meant to feel real and not come across as made up stories. However, a Christmas film is expected to have a cheerful spirit. This film has none of it. It is expected to give the audience a warm and fuzzy feeling and provide them with hope. Unfortunately this film lacks that panache. In fact, even the attempt to make a realistic film can be considered a fail. For one, it is difficult to believe a person is so delusional as to think of young men as his reincarnated wife every Christmas and hope that they would forgive him for his mistakes. Secondly, the character of a young Charlie is meant to come across as Rose’s figment of imagination at the end of the film. It would be impossible for Rose to be able to picture Charlie in his youthful avatar considering she has never seen him before even as his present aged self. If she does know what Charlie looks like presently, she should have been surprised to have met him as a young man considering he appears to be her age in her imagination when he is in fact decades older than her.

The storyline has no ebbs and surges. There are multiple stories which are forcefully woven together to find a connection when there isn’t one. Most of the stories have a beginning, but no conflict, followed by an inconsequential ending. This film is not good; especially if one is looking to get into the Christmas spirit.

Death in Gaza: The reality of fear and loathing in Gaza

The crisis in the Gaza Strip is a well known conundrum in our modern world. There is a horrible violation of human rights which occurs in this war ravaged zone which is a well documented fact and it needs attention. The issue is, while most people are aware of the existence of the problem, they are unaware of the life being lead by the residents in the area. James Miller’s Death in Gaza was an attempt to provide a perspective on how day-to-day life goes on in the Gaza Strip.

The documentary mainly focuses on the lives of children who are living in the Gaza Strip. It goes deep into the war zone by following the lives of three children in the most terribly affected region known as Rafah, the southernmost sector which shares a border with Egypt. Ahmed is a 12 year old boy who is pro-militant and wants to become a martyr for the cause of liberating the Palestinians and giving them their own land. He wants to kill as many Israelis as possible and doesn’t mind giving up his life for the cause. Mohammed is his best friend who is also twelve years old and wants to follow in Ahmed’s footsteps. He is willing to follow Ahmed to his death as long as he can be with his friend in this life and the next. Najla is a 16 year old girl who goes to school and helps in her duties at home. She hates the Israelis because of the number of deaths in her family and wishes the worst upon them in the hope of having a great Palestinian state. The film also focuses on the views of the militants as they carry out their operations behind masks while talking to the journalists freely about their plans. During the course of the documentary, we are also introduced to the ideals of the society in the area. Every person that dies as a consequence of interaction with Israeli Defence Forces is celebrated as a martyr, a fate which was met unfortunately by director James Miller.

While the documentary sets out to have a neutral perspective, it can’t help but portray a biased opinion. It starts off by showing the children as they are; as mere kids who lead a difficult life in a war zone and are afraid. But then the film opens up the lives of the kids further as it shows their inner hatred for their oppressors and their desire to be pro-active by taking matters into their own hands. The documentary innocently shows the boys discuss about hurling stones at tanks and preparing their version of homemade hand grenades that could take out their enemies.

The harsh realities in this documentary show the problems that are being lived through on a daily basis in Gaza. The most shocking and gripping fact of the documentary is the notion that the people on screen are exactly as the audience, but they are twisted and manipulated by harsh living conditions. It becomes a shocking reality when the audience finds out just how bad it is to live in Gaza and how difficult life can be in a war zone and the fear and hatred it brews. The fact that the director was killed during the making of this documentary which was captured on tape, and even features in the film, is what adds to the tension of the setting and goes to show how insecure the people living there must feel.

The documentary was meant to be one half of an overall perspective; the second documentary that was planned was from the point of view of the Israeli children. Unfortunately, the second documentary was never made, and will never be made. But no one should miss the chance to watch this documentary and this perspective of the matter.