11' 09" 01 september 11

tonight i decided i needed to start trawling back through the rental archives
looking for films i had missed seeing on the big screen at the theatre
this is partly because i'm struggling to find films on general release
that match my criteria for films that i will make the effort to watch
i tend to want to avoid the action flick, the rom-com, the endless sequels
the period pieces, nostalgia pieces, animations, the feel-goods, senseless violence
and by and large anything churned out by the hollywood machine
which at any point in time leaves about 5 or 6 that i will try and get to
however sometimes when a film seems in order and anything that appeals is not timed well for me
and as much as i want to continue to support picture theatres
fallback to the hole in the wall seems a fine idea for the nights entertainment
get online, trawl through the available titles, find something, reserve it
walk up the street, put card in slot, retrieve dvd of choice
return via the takeaway food shop and the takeaway wine shop
lights off, projector on, settle in and enjoy the home theatre experience
tonights choice appealed not so much for the need to revisit the scene of the crime
and once again see planes flying into buildings and those buildings subsequently collapsing
but because this film has a very interesting concept
11 short films each exactly 11 minutes and 9 seconds long and encased in 1 frame
hence the title that otherwise seems a bit cryptic or confounding
the films are all low budget and with a loose connection to the day in question
filmed in 2002 and with each director from a different country and culture
there are the names of ken loach, sean penn and alejandro gonzalez inarrito (babel) amongst them
the film is very well set up with each short film introduced with the clever use of graphics
to display a map of the world and highlighting the home country of the next director
and so in keeping with the premise of this film 9 words to describe each of the 11 films

iran - the innocence of children in a crazy adult world
france - deaf mute rediscovers love in the shadow of disaster
egypt - ghost story in heavy handed middle east political analysis
bosnia herzegovina - moving story of ethnic cleansing survivors empathysing with america
burkina faso - tale of bin laden pursuit by west african lads
united kingdom - chilean survivor recalls murder of allende september 11 1973
mexico - minimal visuals of falling bodies over recordings of 9-11
israel - parallel story of the chaos following a suicide bomber
india - muslim woman searches for terrorist son suspect turned hero
united states of america - sean penn directs ernest borgnine's detached widower in manhattan
japan - disturbing portrayal of how war can affect mental health

i'm glad i found this one in the rental shop and not sure how i missed it on general release
there's not much joy, happiness or laughter to be had
but considering the subject matter that makes a lot of sense
it reminded me a lot of babel which is one of my favourite films of recent times
and in fact i think my favourite of the 11 on display is that of the director of babel
where we see the occassional flash of film of people falling from the twin towers
and a multi-layered soundtrack of the recognisable soundbites from the day
leading to a haunting piece of music and the on-screen statement in arabic
complete with english interpretation
does god's light guide us or blind us?
thought-provoking