As September begins we feel shocked by the news
that have hit the headlines recently. This summer will be remembered due to one
of the worst migration crises that has ever taken place in Europe: desperate
people who flee war conflicts which are tearing their countries apart are
trying to reach European territory in search of not only the opportunity of
making a living but the opportunity of staying alive. I didn´t intend to write
about this on this post. I´d planned on writing about this summer´s last film
releases: Paper Towns, The Fantastic Four, Mr. Holmes … and, of course, I intended to write about Venice and
San Sebastián and about Emily Watson who will be presented with the Donostia
Award – a lifetime achievement award – but just now I felt that I needed to
mention the overwhelming reality that pervades our news bulletins. Because we shouldn´t feel
impervious to what is happening around us, don´t you think? Perhaps, that´s the
problem, we have felt that way for a very long time until, last week, a
harrowing image forced us to gain awareness of the terrible consequences of
this crisis. The photographer who took the photo said that she was petrified
but in spite of that, she felt that she needed to take it. I´ve written about
the power of images very often because evidently they are the integral part,
the defining element of cinematic language but images are also inextricably linked
to journalism, in fact, there is even a type of journalism based on the use of
photographs which is called photojournalism. Last year we had the opportunity
of watching a film related to the influence of photojournalism. As you must
remember, the story of the film The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty pays tribute to the photographers of Life magazine who contributed to making
American people aware of the most important events and conflicts of the 20th
and 21st centuries. According to the saying, “a picture is worth a
thousand words” and it must be true, otherwise, how can we explain the impact
that some photos make on us? It wasn´t until we saw that photo – the photo of a
three-year old child lying dead on a beach – on the front page of well-known
papers that we started to realize the bulk of this humanitarian crisis. We knew
the data and the figures but that harrowing image spoke volumes about the plight
of these people. Films help us to understand the world we live in and films helps us to
broaden our minds, but they also help us to feel better and to escape from
reality; however, sometimes, we need to face our daily reality so that we can
change it. Going to the cinema and forgetting about current issues is good,
enjoyable and even advisable but we shouldn´t forget about them completely,
should we?
