This initially beautiful mosaic-film tells the story of three courageous women.
A poor Indian woman (untouchable) flees with her daughter by train tot better conditions. A young Italian woman finds herself in trouble when her family-business- a wig-workshop - threatens to collapse. A Canadian woman must choose between her successful but life-sucking career and taking her cancer and herself as a person seriously
With fantastic acting and beautiful cinematography the film expands on the theme of the individual who wants to develop itself against religious norms, cultural values and social pressure.
But then the film goes completely off the rails.
The Indian woman appears to be on her way to a temple where she and her daughter offer their hair, in a misplaced ritual, to the gods as penance (while in fact they have been destroyed by a religious - but in fact financial - system of exploitation). Her misplaced 'sacrifice' is sent in large container ships all over the world.
The young Italian woman receives this hair because she has decided to internationalize her local family business. She will now make wigs with this 'contaminated' product and not local hair. The cheaper wigs are again sent all over the world and end up in Canada, among others. In exclusive wig-shops.
The Canadian woman - who 'fixed' her cancer with chemo and didn't do anything about her 'slave-of-the-system' life - buys a wig (made with the hair of the Indian women, as the metaphor of international trade concludes it's sad arc) in an expensive store in Montreal.
So.... What obviously is meant as the hopeful consequence of internationalism - shown in the journey of hair and three courageous women - turns out to be the horrible exposé of ruthless neo-colonialism, loss of local identity and obedience to a system that destroys our humanity. We all know who work in this gigantic chain of international trade-traffic, don't we?
The last image is terrible: disfigured with a poor Indian woman's wig, the Canadian woman returns to the hustle and bustle of her slave-career.
Shame on the producers and artists of this initially beautiful story.
A poor Indian woman (untouchable) flees with her daughter by train tot better conditions. A young Italian woman finds herself in trouble when her family-business- a wig-workshop - threatens to collapse. A Canadian woman must choose between her successful but life-sucking career and taking her cancer and herself as a person seriously
With fantastic acting and beautiful cinematography the film expands on the theme of the individual who wants to develop itself against religious norms, cultural values and social pressure.
But then the film goes completely off the rails.
The Indian woman appears to be on her way to a temple where she and her daughter offer their hair, in a misplaced ritual, to the gods as penance (while in fact they have been destroyed by a religious - but in fact financial - system of exploitation). Her misplaced 'sacrifice' is sent in large container ships all over the world.
The young Italian woman receives this hair because she has decided to internationalize her local family business. She will now make wigs with this 'contaminated' product and not local hair. The cheaper wigs are again sent all over the world and end up in Canada, among others. In exclusive wig-shops.
The Canadian woman - who 'fixed' her cancer with chemo and didn't do anything about her 'slave-of-the-system' life - buys a wig (made with the hair of the Indian women, as the metaphor of international trade concludes it's sad arc) in an expensive store in Montreal.
So.... What obviously is meant as the hopeful consequence of internationalism - shown in the journey of hair and three courageous women - turns out to be the horrible exposé of ruthless neo-colonialism, loss of local identity and obedience to a system that destroys our humanity. We all know who work in this gigantic chain of international trade-traffic, don't we?
The last image is terrible: disfigured with a poor Indian woman's wig, the Canadian woman returns to the hustle and bustle of her slave-career.
Shame on the producers and artists of this initially beautiful story.
Tell Your Friends