Movie Review: Waste Land

Stefan and I rarely watch movies all the way through in one night. Generally we try to only spend 30 minutes watching TV a night. Sometimes we don't at all, and one night a week we spend 60 minutes watching House. It's very rare a film can keep our attention gripped long enough that we don't feel we're 'wasting our time' watching it for its entirety. Waste Land was one of those gems that we gave a whole 90 minutes to.
The movie Waste Land is a fantastic documentary about Brazillian artist Vik Muniz, who goes to the largest dump in the world, Jardim Garmacho and not only develops relationships with the people who work there, "pickers" (of recyclable materials), but also to recreate famous portraits through using only the materials found in the dump, photographing them, and then investing in the lives of those who work there with the profits. Sort of a hefty plot, I suppose, but really a tear-jerker movie and an awesome 'true life' story.

The art is nothing short of amazing, and extra large. I believe they rented an airplane hanger (that's what it looked like?) to re-create the photo by magnifying it, and then filling in all the detail, shadow, etc. with the garbage. The pictures are truly beautiful, and the entire idea is so creative...making beauty out of trash, or imperfection.

I highly recommend this movie, if not for learning something new about the world (always a good thing), then for the redemptive quality of the story. All of the lives of the catadores (pickers) were changed significantly from this project--for the better. The website also provides brief information about their current life that the film could only briefly mention. If you have any creative bent in your body, you will find this worth your while. Watch the trailer, and be amazed and inspired!

Comments

Amber said…

This sounds awesome, I really want to see it so bad! I sometimes have trouble sitting through documentaries, because I get bored, but I think I would rather like this one.

May 26, 2011 at 3:36 PM

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