Memoirs of a Superfan, Vol. 3.4

Seeing only two movies in two days might put a Superfan into withdrawals, but when they’re as good as THE HOME SONG STORIES and AMAL, you feel like you’re getting your full dose.

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Seeing only two movies in two days might put a Superfan into withdrawals, but when they’re as good as THE HOME SONG STORIES and AMAL, you feel like you’re getting your full dose. They both are truly international films, the first from Australia (THSS was the Australian selection for the Best Foreign Film category of the Oscars), and the second by an Indian Canadian, Richie Mehta, but shot in India. Just like the other great films of the festival, they expanded our understanding of humanity, raising important, and still lingering questions.

As someone who’s personally and professionally interested in psychology, emotions, and motivations, the films were especially touching. THSS starred Joan Chen as a woman rife with turbulent emotions which lead her to harm herself. We watch her story unfold through the eyes of her children, particularly her young son. This is director Tony Ayres’ real-life story, as actor Steven Vidler noted before the film. It’s a harrowing and heart-rending tale, and the most poignant moments are near the end, as the son, now a writer, looks back with longing and despair to his memories of his beautiful and tragic mother. Joan Chen was present via a recorded interview (she is now in China shooting MAO’S LAST DANCER), and she spoke with great candor and introspection about the difficulties of playing the mother, who is not exactly a sympathetic character. She noted how important her own children are to her, and how difficult it was to empathize with and understand her role in the film. She also noted the classic conflict of modern parenting: every time she takes on a project, she’s had to leave her family for some time. All in all, THSS was a truly remarkable story. We desperately need more ways to understand each other, and THE HOME SONG STORIES was a dramatic example of that need.

As the festival moved to San Jose, so did I. AMAL (this year’s recipient of the Festival Jury’s Best Narrative Feature Grand Prize Award) gives us a striking contrast in characters – the title character is an autorickshaw driver with a heart of gold, while seemingly every other character is tainted by greed or selfishness. Our moral sense of justice is engaged as we root for this underdog. I won’t give away the ending, but…it’s an indie, so you can probably guess that it’s not a Hollywoodesque miracle finale. I asked director Richie Mehta if he had considered any other endings. “The financiers wanted a different ending,” he said, but he wanted to leave some questions open for audience interpretation. “What you feel at the end wholly depends on who you are.” That is, whether you feel happy or sad for Amal will depend on what you feel happiness consists of. Interestingly, he wanted viewers to get a sense that God and every single person in the film is subtly conspiring to protect Amal and his dharma, his essence or nature. I’d love to hear what other viewers thought of this ending. (Actor Vik Sahay was also on hand for Q and A; you can also see him on NBC’s CHUCK.)

Ravi Chandra, M.D. (www.sfpsychiatry.com) is a psychiatrist and writer in San Francisco.