Film Report – Friends in High Places
The movie ‘Friends in High Places’ takes the audience on a journey in the ‘nat cult’ and into the lifestyles of many avenues. The people of Burma worship spirits and have gained victories over the notions of military autocracy. The cult-cultured people embrace many mediums, and the majority are homosexuals, which makes life bearable in the region. Instructed by two dynamic female storytellers, the audience embarks on a journey into a realm of moving narratives, traditional costumes, melody, and dances. They later realized the distinctive duty of spirit mediums in the Burmese community as social personnel and offered psychiatrist services to individuals from all aspects of life.
Lindsay Merrison, the film producer, creates a kind-hearted and pleasant sharp story on the nats, their means, and their belief. The film blends different themes like legends, theatre, belief, and reality to inspire the audience’s emotions and sense of humour. The most interesting part of the narrative is when the two older women who are having fun while smoking in their small room share views about life and the nat cult with their modest but sarcastic remarks. The author keeps portraying these two women throughout the drama as they create choruses and exciting viewpoints on lifestyle in Burma. Thus, the central issue depicted by the writer is that beneath the dictatorship in Burma, a new world is shown to the viewers, having factual rebellious influence.
Conclusion
The movie reflects many modern dramas by portraying vivid pictures without explaining to the audience more than the stories narrated by the characters. Merrison illustrates that persons of diverse status seem to support spirit channels, but some do not understand how becoming a spirit medium can compromise knowledge of an individual’s class. Perhaps the writer attempts to demonstrate how cautious males are when relating to the culture of nats. However, not many audiences can appreciate that this trait reflects several males’ scornful evasion of the cult. More so, people did not understand the importance of people’s associations with the spirits and their devotion to Buddhism.
The central role of the narration, accompanied by images, demonstrates brief aspects of the Burmese administration’s attacks on the community protestors. In my perspective, the narrator illustrates that the culture of Burmese needs to appeal to the Nats to assist them in addressing the irritable and subjective officials in the world. Furthermore, the writer demonstrates a disorderly and unequal division of power in the community where only the people with influential connections hope to survive. At the same time, those without a prominent link to the governing administration connect with the NATS as a viable choice. However, several audiences would have difficulties in connecting aspects of the spirit world and the reality of situations in Burma.
In essence, the movie offers viewers a striking image of one side of the community’s ritual lifestyle. Possibly, the drama is effective in educational courses on psychology and clinical anthropology, especially fields that address the subject of possession. The portrayal of the film through the use of numerous colours and different conversations enables viewers to place a distinction between the foundation of a community in political and economic arenas. Further, it shows the energy individuals need to nourish their spiritual worlds for survival or as a coping mechanism.
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Question
The film report is designed to get you to think and evaluate the religious material presented to you. You may not be familiar with the religion or culture, so how can you know if the film is accurate or even fair? Whose voices are we hearing? Who are we not hearing from? Are we being led to form a particular opinion, that of the filmmaker, or are we left to form our own opinion? Finally, does the film do a good job of helping us to understand a religious or spiritual practice that isn’t our own?Any audiovisual recording should be approached critically and respectfully, as it is the product of a series of decisions or choices made by its maker(s). Students should write four (4) double-spaced pages, approximately 1000 words – not including citations page, 12-pt Font, Times New Roman Font, and it should explicitly address the following 6 points presented below 1. Write one or two short paragraphs about the central issue or principal target of the film. What was the point of the film? Any film, particularly documentary or nonfiction, has a principal target, an audience in mind, or a central issue that an educated or critical reader/viewer should be able to identify. 2. Write one or two short paragraphs about the filmmaker(s)’s argument developed in the film about the central issue or principal target. In other words, you need here to summarize the claims made by the filmmaker(s) about the central issue or topic. 3. As we all know, nobody—in mainstream society or in academia—makes claims about a particular issue without presenting data used as evidence in support of or to back up these claims or ideas. From watching the film, what can you say about the data used as evidence by the filmmaker(s) to support their claims? Include in your report the types of data used: verbal data (interviews, conversations between various people, etc.); observed actions; primary sources (archival documents, newspapers, books, records); secondary sources (essays or other nonfiction films written/produced by other scholars/filmmakers); participant observation; etc., where applicable. 4. Write briefly about the organization of the film. It will have a particular structure; it presents the argumentation, some background information/history, and the claims or interpretation of the filmmaker in a particular organized way. We, as educated viewers or “readers” of films, must be able to reflect upon the choices made by a filmmaker to present his or her film in a particular way. The filmmaker’s selection of a particular film structure is connected to theoretical and political considerations and how the maker wants it to be interpreted. Keep in mind that these points are, of course, closely related. Is the filmmaker present in the film? Do we see, hear, or otherwise get to experience the human behind the camera making the film? 5. Discuss the film in whatever way you want. Here, you could state why you like or dislike the film, comment upon one of its aspects, or focus most specifically on the relation between the filmmaker’s claims and the data he or she used as evidence, for instance. Was there anything that surprised you or moved you?
On your review, be sure to writeYour name/PID, The film’s full title, The geographical area/s where the film is based, and the religious or spiritual tradition it is documenting (i.e., Vodou in Haiti, Candomble in Brazil)
Friends in High Placeshttps://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/watch/friends-in-high-places “Buddhism and nat worship are like mangoes and bananas.” Whether contending with a deceitful daughter-in-law, forecasting financial prospects for a tea shop, or freeing a husband from government detainment, Friends in High Places reveals the central role of nats and spirit mediums in alleviating the day-to-day burdens of modern Burmese life. “Leprosy isn’t as contagious as people’s problems,” notes one medium, “my clients bring their worries into my home. I don’t need to go out on the street to learn how cruel life can be.” Yet despite their skills in channelling good luck for others, the life stories of the mediums prove to be as poignant as the stories of those who seek their assistance.
Resource:
https://medium.com/@ExpertsEssays/how-to-write-a-reaction-paper-to-a-documentary-642a4a008faa