SXSW ’17: Inflame

There is no crime of such enormity society cannot be manipulated into forgetting. Just ask Hasret. The news editor ought to know, but she too has also forgotten, even though the outrage in question hit tragically close to home. However, her subconscious has been nagging her, perhaps alarmed the sins of the past are being repeated with impunity by an Orwellian government and its complicit media allies in Ceylan Özgün Özçelik’s Inflame (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 SXSW.

Hasret lives in a Turkey just a tad bit more dystopian than it currently is now. Call it near future by four or six months. She works as an editor at the Turkish CNN, where she has a front row seat to view media manipulation, in favor of the autocratic government’s official party line. It has taken a toll on her soul and her conscience, but there is something disturbing her at an even deeper level. For weeks, she has troubled by visions of her late folk musician parents—at least she hopes they are just waking dreams or the like. Regardless, they have led Hasret to question the official report of their deaths in 1993, supposedly due to an auto accident.

As the current climate becomes more repressive, Hasret’s own body and mind start to rebel. She starts cutting social ties, confining herself to her parents’ flat in an old quarter of Istanbul scheduled for demolition. She becomes prime proof of the cynical adage: “just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” Of course, that puts she in an enormously dangerous position.

Those who really know their Turkish history will pick up on the significance of the year 1993 and Hasret’s parents trip to a cultural festival in Sivas. Those who do not, can thank the Erdogan regime and their allies for banishing the 1993 mass murder of thirty-five artists and musicians down the national memory hole. During the very real historical incident, thirty-five artists and musicians were burned death in their hotel by a mob of intolerant Islamists. According to the film’s closing titles, a number of the attorneys for the accused arsonist-murderers now hold high-ranking political positions, which should not surprise anyone who has been paying a thimble-full of attention to the regressing nation.

Inflame is an important film that took considerable guts to make, but it makes few stylistic concessions to reach a wider mass audience. The parallels with Polanski’s Repulsion need little explanation, but the scope of Inflame is much wider and its themes are far more macro.

Algi Eke’s portrayal of Hasret’s descent into madness is absolutely harrowing. She carries every agitated second of the film. Frankly, most of the rest of the cast hardly gets a chance to register, but there is something unsettling about Özgür Çevik’s turn as her ostensive platonic friend Mehmet. Although we are not given any explicit reason to distrust him, he still manages to set off all our alarm bells.

Özçelik creates a similarly eerie tone—sort of Charlotte Perkins Gilman by way of George Orwell. It is not the easiest film to watch, but if you like to be challenged by cinema, it will definitely do that. It also clearly defies the prevailing authoritarianism of Turkey’s increasingly Islamist government, which constitutes genuine dissent and defiance.  Uncompromising in every way, Inflame screens again tomorrow (3/14) and Thursday (3/16) during this year’s SXSW.

SXSW ’17: Walk with Me

Thich Nhat Hanh has published forty books in English translation. That constitutes a nice backlist, but there is still another sixty-some untranslated titles for his publisher to dip into. Clearly, Nhat Hanh is prolific, but his body of work is truly impressive considering his work ethic is tempered by his practice of mindfulness—a conscious embrace of the present moment. Although health concerns have finally slowed down the ninety-year-old teacher, Max Pugh & Marc J. Francis documented the Thien (Zen) Buddhist monk at the peak of his powers, as he interacts with the students and fellow monastics of his Plum Village spiritual community in Walk with Me (trailer here), which screens during this year’s SXSW.

Nhat Hanh first rose to prominence advocating a peaceful resolution to the Vietnam War, but when the war did indeed end, he was exiled from his country until 2005, which probably tells you everything you need to know about the so-called Peace Movement’s assumptions. Yet, one could argue his influence has been far greater than if he had remained in his homeland, as has been the case for the great teachers of Tibetan Buddhism.

Pugh & Francis manage to capture a sense of what attracts both the monastics and the visitors to Plum Village (near Dordogne, which also has a large British expat community). Obviously, the tranquil vibe starts with Nhat Hanh himself, but a sense of mindfulness permeates the place. We see it in practice when the entire community stops in mid-stride and mid-sentence whenever bells chime, to re-focus on the moment. It is also impossible to miss the beauty of their services, especially those involving performances by Sister Trai Nghiem and her fellow musical monastics. Many visitors are literally moved to tears by their sounds and probably a lot of audience members will be right there with them.

However, unlike the still spritely Dalai Lama, it is hard to draw a bead on Nhat Hanh’s personality, beyond his superhuman sereneness. Benedict Cumberbatch (who might replace Richard Gere as the go-to narrator for Buddhist-themed documentaries) reads excerpts from Fragrant Palm Leaves with all do sensitivity, but his syrupy voice reinforces our distance from the ostensive subject. Instead, Pugh & Francis apparently opt to show how the teacher is reflected in the disciple. Again, Walk with Me will sneak up and coldcock viewers with the depth of feeling experienced by an American monastic reuniting with the nursing home-bound father she rarely has an opportunity to visit.

Mindfulness really is the key to Walk with Me. It is a somewhat uneven film, but the high points are arrestingly beautiful. So, you had better pay attention, because you would not want to miss those moments when they happen. Highly recommended for spiritual audiences of all faiths, Walk with Me screens again this morning (3/13) and Wednesday (3/15), during SXSW ’17.