The Rainbow Thief - A Film Review

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The mist clears to a bird of prey circling overhead. The camera tracks the flight of the bird. A dead fish floats on the murky water below and is soon approached by a shadow moving across the water. For a second we associate the shadow with the prowling bird above. But it is a human hand that enters to pluck the dead fish from the water. The fish follows the hand back to a person, down-and-out, but happy with his luck. He now leans back to sit against the dock moorings. This is Dima, who has barely had a minute alone with the fish before he is aproached by a rat who wants a part of the dinner. The two friends share their catch before Dima rises to stretch himself and admire his surroundings. When no one is looking he sneaks around a corner and opens the door to his home - a manhole in the street leading into the underground sewers.

Welcome to the filmmaking of Alejandro Jodorowsky a Chilean filmmaker, playwright and composer.

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As Dima tries to squeeze himself through the manhole, popping champagne brings us into another world. The world of aristocratic glitter where the champagne is a drink enjoyed by dogs. The humans are fed on bare bones and the caviar is reserved for a pack of well groomed dalmatians. Here in this world of decadence, the alter ego of Dima, haunts the palaces in the form of the reclusive Prince Meleagre, heir to the riches of the eccentric millionaire, Uncle Rudolf. As Uncle Rudolf falls into a coma after an evening of excessive entertainment by the rainbow girls, Dima from his low life in the sewers, sees gold at the end of the rainbow and appeals to his majesty Prince Meleagre to return to the surface and to reclaim his birthright.


"Rainbow Thief" filmed in 1990 on location in Poland and in what appears to be an incredible London studio, brings together two great stars, Peter O'Toole (Prince Meleagre) and Omar Sharif (Dima) who, supported by Christopher Lee who plays Uncle Rudolf, deliver great performances to the film.


The film has been criticised by members of his big cult following as the tamest of all the films that Alejandro Jodorowsky has ever made. Jodorowsky in his campaign against human violence, greed and hypocrisy does make avant-garde films containing violently surreal imagery, mysticism and religious provocation.  


Jodorowsky lives primarily in Mexico. Although he himself is also a playwright and screenplay writer, he did not write the screenplay for "Rainbow Thief". It was written by Berta Dominguez D. 


Berta's husband Alexander Salkind, was the executive producer of the film. Jodorowsky is reported to have been very much curtailed by the production who threatened him with an immediate sacking if he had tried to change the original story in any way. 


But still, he has managed to produce what is probably his most sublime creation ever.


Taking his chance to work with actual "movie stars" Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, Jodorowsky takes the clay and the "severe" restrictions imposed upon him, to bring about another level of his genius. Concentrating on capturing great performances from his cast, playing with his usual elements of mysticism, and putting to great effect, the mastery he admires from the cinema of Federico Fellini, he created a world from the delusions and existential questions of Dima, played by Omar Sharif.


Some may say that the film has wonderful cinematography but no story. One part of that observation is apparent from watching the picture. The Cinematographer is none other than Ronnie Taylor (BSC) the cinematographer that photographed for the epic film "Ghandi".


The second part of that observation is a pity to hear mentioned and written.


Jodorowsky as a director has a lot of respect for his audiences and he allows his audiences to form their own interpretation of his films. He also likes to let an audience have first hand experience of the world in the scenarios that he builds for the cinema. For "Rainbow Thief" one interpretation, of the final story could go as follows.


Dima, lives alone in the sewers with his dog, surrounded by rats and other vermin in an environment where his clothes are never dry. He spends his days confronting himself in conversation about the vices and devices of human survival with his only companion, the dog Kronos.


Kronos the dog is just a puppet and his power of speech is granted through the machinations of his majesty, Prince Meleagre a ventriloquist who speaks through the dog.


Dima had invited Prince Meleagre with his dog and puppet Kronos into his underground home, where they live in luxury in the only dry spot in the sewers. Dima himself becomes the servant of Prince Meleagre and it is to him that he dedicates his life of petty crime. But Prince Meleagre is never satisfied with anything he steals from the world above, often reprimanding him for going out for too long and choosing instead to school Dima on the virtues of the transformation of the human soul. On practical terms, Prince Meleagre constantly reminds Dima of his daily responsibility of checking the water levels in the sewers and to secure their only canoe which might get washed away in a flood.


In his life, as Dima moves between the sewers and the world above, he undergoes the constant transformation between his wet environment and the warm and dry land of the people above. He quickly shrugs off his conscience and the complaints of Prince Meleagre to become himself a prince of thieves in a world in which he has to steal to survive. He becomes a smooth and elegant artist, rubbing shoulders with fellow thieves and the well to do in a world of luxury. Where his powers of seduction cast a constant spell on the lady of his dreams, the newspaper stand lady Ambrosia, from whom he also sometimes steals money and the occasional newspaper.


It is through the newspapers that he steals from Ambrosia that Dima keeps himself inspired, especially with the fortunes and the inheritance of his alter ego, His Majesty, Prince Meleagre.


But when an imminent flood threatens his underground world, Dima and Meleagre have a severe falling out. Uncle Rudolf dies and Meleagre has failed to return to the surface to claim his inheritance. They get into a fight and Dima decides to save himself from the flood and to leave Prince Meleagre behind.


Here's an extract of memorable dialogue between Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif during their first argument:


Meleagre: "My friend, it is here in the depths of the sewers, revelation came to me. Let us forget our quarrels of the past. Let us rejoice. The Meleagre is here to steer you on, so that you in turn may steer the world out of the greatest deluge ever on earth!"


Dima: "I do not want to steer you anywhere". And you... you're going to steer me? Ha... you're scared out of your pants when you piss!" (He starts walking out and turns). "You have no gratitude, see? No gratitude! Who brought you down here, you and your real dog? Who found you shelter? I did. Who brings food everyday? Dima does. Dima! Dima!"


Meleagre: "You understand nothing. Into the abysmal pit must you fall before you see the abysmal blue. For so, my friend has been given, even unto you!" 


A desperate Dima, scrambles between the world above and the sewers trying to keep his make believe world alive. With the dream of gold at the end of the rainbow his one chance to the life of his dreams. He struggles and negotiates but to no avail. At the end he has to flee the sewers. The YouTube video below shows the part where in his dilemma he at first abandons his alter ego. Then in a desperate change of heart, and exposed to great peril, he abandons his escape and tries one more time to save Meleagre.

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In a struggle between his real life survival instincts and his spiritual alter-ego, Dima tries to save Meleagre, who instead stupidly tries to save Kronos the puppet dog. Finally, Dima has to knock Meleagre out so that he can carry him to safety. But it is to no avail. Dima loses Meleagre who perishes in the flood. Grieving the loss of his friend and the loss of his home, Dima clambers out of the sewers through a new manhole he finds. Safe at last from the flooding below he sits for hours at the entrance of the manhole defeated. Crowds of cleaners and people pass by the lone figure, a worm out of his hole, until policemen come to arrest him and to throw him out of the city gates. Alone on the waterfront, Dima looks out into the harbour and there he finds his companion Kronos, who has also survived the flood. He calls out and shows Kronos the way out. He embraces his dog and they leave the docks together. 


It is only here at the end of the film, when the dog turns out to be a real dog and not just a puppet, that an audience may realise that perhaps, Prince Meleagre was only a figment of the imagination of a desperate soul. That Dima in his loneliness, had created Prince Meleagre so that he could believe that his miserable dwelling in the sewers was worthy enough to be tenanted by a prince. That without his dog, he would be nothing to the world.


In an incredible duet of a performance by these two actors who first acted together in "Lawrence of Arabia", where Omar Sharif was discovered, Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif play out a poor man's struggle to maintain a sense of perspective and his method of holding on to human faith during dire circumstances.
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"The Rainbow Thief" Production Details


Burrill Productions

Directed by	Alejandro Jodorowsky
Written by	Berta Domínguez D.
Starring	Peter O'Toole Omar Sharif Christopher Lee
Music by	Jean Musy
Cinematography	Ronnie Taylor
Editing by	Mauro Bonanni
Distributed by	Rink Anstalt
Release date(s)	France: January 19, 1994
Running time	87 minutes
Country	England
Language	English

Production details sourced from Wikipedia.


Disclaimer: The images used in the Review are actual screen shots from the film. A watermark from Artistic Melanesia is added simply to trace any abuse of copyright on the internet that may result from this article back to the writer of the article.

China keeps piling up more foreign money

China keeps piling up more foreign money
To understand the troublesome theories of the present banking system which is advancing predatory capitalism, and realise the reasons why China is forced to spend its foreign reserves by buying up new companies and the big brand names from abroad, one has to look inside China itself.

International financial arrangements and relationships especially those between the US and China have led to the pile up of China's foreign reserves. China's own failure or unwillingness to increase the value of its own currency the Yuan is making its own goods cheaper than goods produced and manufactured in America and Europe thus maintaining an imbalance of trade between the superpowers.
The present economic crisis also highlights the great divide between the rich and poor, where in China's case, the ruling party owns about 3 trillion US Dollars in foreign reserves while its own citizens have very little buying power on the international market because of China's maintaining of a weak Yuan.
Click on the Heading above or here to read some background from January 2011.

What happened after Mozambique?

In 1978, the late Jean Rouch himself a famous figure in French cinema, and a group of Parisian filmmakers created the Mozambique film workshop which created the first ever indigenous third world filmmakers and film authors.

Today, indigenous and third world filmmakers are still struggling to have their own voice and world view heard on the international forum.


There are still too many people and organisations who believe that the third world people need to be represented by first world filmmakers. But are we really incapable of speaking for ourselves? Are we incapable of representing ourselves and offering our own particular perspective on the way the earth functions? Shouldn't we create, run and control our own film forums that truly empower ourselves as the third world people?

Séverin Blanchet creator of several film workshops in the
third world. 

It is fine to collaborate together with filmmakers from the industrialised countries but we also need third world filmmakers and a third world film industry to be self regulating and to be self driven. 

Vincent Blanchét taught and inspired third world

filmmakers. Member of the original Mozambique

Workshop

What did Jean Rouch stand for? What was the dream that the late Blanchet brothers gave to the third world filmmakers? How did these two men inspire the rise of indigenous filmmaking in Papua New Guinea. How did Papua New Guinean filmmakers pick up and run with that dream?


Most third world film festivals are appendages of the larger first world industries funded by Paris or Brussels. Many international film festivals created in the name of third world people are not run or funded by third world people and many of them are Eurocentric. 


Upon what forum can third world film makers and artists really stand on to carry on a reflection about their own cultural existence and the socio-political and economic challenges that they face and struggle with? 


Today our struggle goes on. As a simple evidence of that, most of the film forums are in the Western Countries and very few festivals are run at the level of our rural communities.

Customary welcome rituals, a normal part of Ânûû-rû âboro Film Festival

That's why today I see that the best third world film festival is the Ânûû-rû âboro film festival in New Caledonia. It is the best third world film festival in the world for me, because it reaches out to the communities. It is not run by a hotel but by the whole Melanesian community of the Province Nord (Northern Province of Kanaky). 


The film screenings take place in the villages, where international filmmakers are hosted by the villagers. So members of rural communities are able to have discussions with the filmmakers about a myriad of local and international issues. This is a festival that recognises what film needs to be in the lives of third world people.


The model of Ânûû-rû âboro is a great way for third world people to organise and go forward with their film festivals. Papua New Guinea as a friend and neighbour of the Kanaky people could very easily adopt the Kanaky way of organising film festivals for Papua New Guinea's own film scene and culture. 


Below is a song by Bob Dylan called Mozambique - from his own dreams inspired by Mozambique. That kind of artistry is great. Because it's a third dimension and not from someone merely using the third world for their own career like many people purporting to support the third world do.


That's my point here. It's not about blocking first world filmmakers from working in the third world, but its about proper recognition of third world aspirations as well.


Outside of fiction and drama filmmaking, first world filmmakers who are involved in Documentary film do not have to shut out the voices of third world filmmakers just so that they themselves can have a socio-political voice regarding the state of the third world. They should be facing the common issues from their own humanity, standing on their own personal politics and they should define that for themselves properly before they start publishing their own observations. That way they can provide the earth with authentic art and not the mere noise making about third world issues which only affect them as consumers.


During many other articles regarding film and emancipation, I shall carry on with a critical analysis about North/South relationships and how the third world voice is constantly silenced or denied through various constructs.


In a follow up post, I will deal with the fine differences between People's Forum Filmmaking (The Spirit of Mozambique) and Visual Anthropology.


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Note: There are too many terrible covers of "Mozambique" online. Here is an original performance by Bob Dylan and his own band, not in good quality but an original. Please click here if the embed below doesn't work. It usually takes a while for this video to load.

I like to spend sometime in Mozambique
The sunny sky is aqua blue
And all the couples dancing cheek to cheek
It's very nice to stay a week or two
And maybe fall in love just me and you.


There's a lot of pretty girls in Mozambique
And plenty time for good romance
And everybody likes to stop and speak
To give the special one you seek a chance
Or maybe say hello with just a glance.


Lying next to her by the ocean
Reaching out and touching her hand
Whispering your secret emotion
Magic in a magical land.


And when it's time for leaving Mozambique
To say goodbye to sand and sea
You turn around to take a final peek
And you see why it's so unique to be
Among the lovely people living free
Upon the beach of sunny Mozambique..

The Story of Bidder 70

By the time his deed was done, he had become known as "Bidder 70". But when he was standing alone, in the midst of a crowd of people representing  billion dollar oil industry giants, Tim DeChristopher knew that whatever he chose to do inside the crowded auctioning room would have to amount to a felony and that he would be liable to face criminal charges. Today he waits for the judges to deliver a verdict that might send him to prison for 10 years for acting to prevent the oil and gas industry from committing an even greater crime against his country and its democracy.

Tim De Christopher AKA Bidder 70

On December the 19th, 2008, Tim De Christopher left his university campus after a finals exam and he headed straight for the venue of a controversial event. The US Bureau of Land Management was staging an auction in a bid to sell off oil and gas drilling rights to over 150,000 acres of wilderness in Southern Utah. 

Hundreds of protestors had gathered to try to stop the event which was controversial because there was a lot of concerns about its legitimacy. It was called the "fire sale" - the Bush administration's last great gift to the oil and gas industry. As this was during their final days in office, the Bush administration had nothing to lose. The sale of the lands had been given the go ahead. 


As events unfolded to seal the fate of history, Tim arrived alone on the scene.

He looked around him and could see that the public protest was getting nowhere. Walking around past the protestors, he eventually stepped inside into the auction area wondering what he could do. What could he do at such a late stage? How could he disrupt the auction?
The auction officers asked him whether he wanted to join the auction. He accepted and was given a number on an auction paddle. As history would later remember it, the paddle was numbered 70. He had become Bidder 70. Was this enough? What could he do with a bidding paddle? Swat a fly maybe, but stop a multi-billion-dollar industry from taking over public lands? - Not very probable. He took up his place with the paddle, his mind racing. He was in position but what could he actually do?

Amongst the protesters who had earlier spoken out against the sale of the Utah lands to oil and gas companies were Steve Bloc, Conservation Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which had even the pursued the matter in court to try to stop the sale of the lands and lost. 
Actor and activist Robert Redford had also spoken out on television. His appeal is transcribed below here.

Robert Redford: Anyone who has been there, can testify to the fact, that there is no place like these lands. These lands are not chains and bushes. The lands are ours. They're ours because they're part of our legacy, they're part of the American human legacy. No place on earth can speak to the balance of beauty and nature like these areas. 

There's so much deception, so much sleight of hand here. I mean how would you feel, if there was an heirloom that was centuries old and someone came in while you were not looking, or distracted you, by creating something over here and took it away from you? How would you feel? 

This in not their land. This is our land. These are public lands and the BLM was supposed to be protecting these lands on our behalf. Once the lands are taken away, they're gone. And gone doesn't come back. 

So I feel strongly that we have to do everything, and it isn't a question of trying to talk to them. Forget that. That doesn't work. They've been trashing the environment ever since they came in, almost as if it is their duty to do so. But when they trash our lands and not theirs, and claim it is their prerogative, something is pretty criminal. So I say stop it. Enough is enough. Not only will it not serve the purpose they keep stating - it's not gonna provide any new energy. It's gonna pollute what we've already got, and it's gonna take away something that is ours to give to our children and their children, and their children, and their children and their children.
So I feel pretty strongly about this and I appreciate being given a chance to speak on it. As I said before, it's an emotional situation for me and we should not allow this to happen. It's criminal.

A few hours later later, the 27 year old was apprehended by federal police officers and taken outside for interrogation, Tim kept wondering to himself as he was being ejected from the auction premises whether he had done enough to disrupt the event.
How Tim Disrupted the Utah Oil Bid with a paddle

We pick up the story again from Malak Behrouznami, a journalist with the Real News Network, who interviewed Tim on April 1, 2009

BEHROUZNAMI: Tim DeChristopher, also known as Bidder 70, was indicted on two felony counts for his participation during a US Bureau of Land Management gas and oil lease auction that took place December 19, 2008, in Salt Lake City. DeChristopher is being accused of disrupting the auction by purchasing 22,000 of 130,000 bids in an attempt to save the land from gas and oil development. The bids comprise a total of $1.7 million, which DeChristopher is unable to pay for.

DECHRISTOPHER: Well, I showed up at the auction, which was very controversial because there was a lot of concerns about the legitimacy of the auction. It was the very last one of the Bush administration. They were auctioning off huge tracts of land outside of Arches and Canyonlands National Park for oil and gas development. So I walked in, and they asked me if I wanted to be a bidder, and so I said yes and ended up with a bidder paddle and then got inside and saw an opportunity to make a really serious stand against this auction. So I started bidding first to drive up the prices, and then actually winning parcels. And I ended up winning 14 parcels before they stopped the auction and took me out and interrogated me at that point.

BEHROUZNAMI: On January 17, 2009, the Bureau of Land Management was found to be at fault for violating environmental protection laws concerning air quality and historic preservation. Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina temporarily froze the sale of 77 parcels. On February 4, 2009, the Obama administration's interior secretary, Ken Salazar, pulled the 77 leases, which included DeChristopher's bids.

DECHRISTOPHER: There were several issues involved in this auction. Probably the one that's gotten the most attention was just the destruction of our national heritage. These were pristine lands right outside of Arches and Canyonlands national parks. And I think a bigger factor is the threat to our climate that's associated with this drill now, think later mentality that is posing a massive threat to our future. And then the other issue involved in it is the lack of a democratic and transparent process, where the BLM wasn't following their own rules in holding this auction. And that's really the reason that it was overturned later on is that the government admitted that the BLM hadn't done an adequate environmental impact statement, they hadn't weighed the consequences, they hadn't discussed things with other government agencies the way they were supposed to. And it also later turned out that the BLM was in violation of a law that went into effect in 2001 requiring them to weigh the impacts of climate change with any decision like this that they make.

Second Interview by Emma Coleman of the Huffington Post

Emma Coleman: What compelled you to go to the auction and do what you did?

Tim DeChristopher: I saw the auction as a confluence of several issues. The one that got a lot of attention around that time was the destruction of our natural heritage -- that these were beautiful public lands that were being destroyed. But more important to me was what I thought was the destruction of our democracy that this auction represented. That this was public property and yet the public had been locked out of the decision-making process. And the government agencies weren't following their own laws in the way that they ran this auction. But probably the biggest motivation for me was the threat of climate change. And the threat that this "drill now, think later" mentality represented to my own future and to the future of the people that I care about. We've certainly seen the results of that mentality over the past few months and its directly destructive impact.

Tim DeChristopher Faces Sentencing on the Felony Charges on July 26th 2011

Tim was convicted on March 3rd and faces sentencing on July 26th (Delayed from June 23rd, read about the delay here).  Anyone able to donate to help his legal team prepare for appeals can do so here.

But Tim is not lying down for anything.

Power Shift 2011 Keynote Address

To understand a little more about the man behind Bidder 70, we should listen to him express his convictions when he spoke about staying human as we wonder what we should do to save the Planet Earth during our lifetime.

Notes:
1. As a lot of people may be trying to view this video, please do be patient and let it load before you can enjoy viewing it.
2. Remember that the Title of this Blog Article is also a link to the support site for Tim DeChristopher and the Peaceful Revolution.