A Norwegian Masterpiece captured by an Indian master

 Henrik Ibsen wrote "An Enemy of the People" in 1882, but the message rings true more than ever today.  Powerful people will deny truth if it hurts their profits.  The play has been adapted in different eras.  Arthur Miller adapted it for Broadway and later a film.  Steve McQueen took that adaptation for another film in 1978.  Satyajit Ray, a revered Indian film maker adapted it in 1989 in his Bengali language as "Ganashatru" and made available to an English speaking audience.

In all versions it starts with a scientific doctor concerned over an apparent disease spreading in his community. In the version by Satyajit Ray it is set in a Hindu environment and fundamentalists add to the pressure.  Doctor Gupta had noticed an increase in jaundice cases and suspected it was spread by contaminated water.  After sending some water to be tested it proved to contain a lot of bacteria.  

He approached a journalist friend who at first seemed impressed and promised to publish.  But soon the publisher/printer intervenes to advise against it.  Doctor Gupta's brother is on a business committee had thought disclosure of the water problem would hurt the temple that drew a lot of Hindu devotees and also tourists.  Religion is brought up a few points and the doctor confesses that he does not always follow Hindu rituals, but does respect other people's beliefs.  An attempt at a public meeting is broken up and the crowd turns against the doctor.  His daughter was let go at her teaching job and the doctor himself was threatened to be removed from his hospital position.

At this point there appears a ray of hope.  Ray seemed to feel there are people who fight the powerful.  Today our hope seems to reside among the youth as it does in this version.

In modern times some of us have been mystified why so many people vote against their own self interest.   One recurring thought has been that powerful people profit from choices of large numbers of people whose preferences can be manipulated.  Ibsen, Miller and Ray have used this play to demonstrate how this procedure works.

This version is world class because of the talented people involved.

The motivating key for me was Satyajit Ray, the writer, director and composer.  He is revered as one of the most important filmmakers in history.  Born in a Bengali speaking section of India.  He earned a degree in science and economics,  He became a commercial artist, later illustrating publicity for his films film credit titles, but also designing  typing fonts.  He was inspired after an interview with famous French director, Jean Renoir during a visit to London who he later helped find locations for a film in India.  Later he met with Akira Kurosawa in Japan.  He wrote film criticism and learned from other masters.  The French have an award for the highest artistic achievement and most recipients travel to France, however Premier Francois Mitterand traveled to Calcutta to give one to Satyajit. 

For his first film, "Pather Panchali" (1955) he took 2 1/2 years because of financing needs and that he would not accept money from those who wanted to change the script and meddle in production matters.  It was an international success.  In noting his films I noticed that he was credited with writing over a dozen well after he had died.  In total he has 85 credits for writing, 39 for directing and 37 for composing.including "The Music Room" (1958), "Devi" (1960), "The Big City" (1963), "Charulata" (1964) and "Nayak:  The Hero" (1966).

Barun Raha was the cinematographer.  He has 23 cinematographer credits and 7 for the camera and electrical department.

Dulal Raha was the editor.  He began as a makeup assistant and a clapping boy.  He has 66 editor credits, 2 for the editorial department and 2 for the sound department.  He was the editor for all of Satyajit's films including "The Music Room" (1958), "Devi" (1960), "The Big City" (1963), "Charulata" (1964) and Nayak:  The Hero" (1966).

Soumitra Chatterjee played Dr. Gupta.  He was active as actor and playwright for theatre and also was a radio announcer.  He has 332 actor credits, 1 for writer and 1 for additional crew including "Devi" (1960), "Charulata" (1964), "15 Park Avenue" (2005), "Samantaral" (2017) and "Shonar Pahar" (2018).

Dhritiman Chatterjee played Dr. Gupta's brother.  He was a favored Santyajit actor, but paralleling his acting roles he also was involved in advertising, social communication and documentary film making.  He has 66 acting credits including  "Black" (2005), "15 Park Avenue" (2005), "Guru" (2007), "Kahaani" (2012), "Agent Vinod" (2012), "Midnight's Children" (2012), "The Man Who Knew Infinity" (2015) and "Pink" (2016).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/11/pink-sensitive-film-to-deal-with-consent.html

 Ruma Guha Thakurta played Dr. Gupta's wife.  She founded the Calcutta Youth Choir in 1955 and was also a playback singer.  She has 64 actor credits, 14 for the music department and 1 for choreography including "The Namesake" (2006).

Mamata Shankar played Dr. Gupta's daughter.  She is a dancer and choreographer and has run a dance troupe that tours globally.  She has 84 actor credits including "Pink" (2016).

I watched the film on a DVD. spotted at my local library with an English title.  It might be hard to locate, but the Arthur Miller/Steve McQueen versions might be easier to catch. 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the link you should be better able to determine if a particular film is worth following up. 

Call Me Dad

"Call Me Dad" (2025) is based on a Korean film, "Pawn" (2020).  Families come in odd combinations.  All that is required is two or more people of any sex and of any age and a little love.

In "Call Me Dad" a young girl, Imtan is taken as collateral for a debt by two debt collectors Didi and Tanto.  Rossa is really poor, the debt was incurred by her errant husband and she can barely live and support Imtan.  Didi and Tanto are soft in one way and don't want to use violence and stumble on the idea of taking young Imtan who appears to be about five or six.

The debt is never paid back and the two men end up raising her, although they are mostly immature and incompetent, if earnest. In the beginning Imtan is rebellious and demanding and the two tried to accommodate her.  A stranger tries to lure her for what we never know, because Didi intervenes. They become protective, enroll her in school (against her wishes), get her clothes and feed her.  The two men keep in touch with the mother, Rossa and arrange meetings.  The mother feels her daughter is better off.  Didi even checks out a boyfriend.

Imtan is grateful for the treatment and then become attached as do the two supposedly tough debt collectors.  Not exactly a typical family, but in this case it seems to work. The story continues as she grows up.  But there are a few twists along the way.

From my viewpoint this is the one Indonesian film blog with the most links which means that I am discovering connections that bode well for the future of cinema in Indonesia and elsewhere.  Enjoyable films take a lot of effort from talented people.  Below are only a few.

Benni Setiawan was the director.  He has 24 credits for directing, 27 for writing and 1 for acting.

Rifki Ardkisha was the writer.  Building his career he started writing for commercials and audio dramas. He has 8 writing credits.

Anggia Kharisma was a producer.  She has 20 producer credits, 3 for the costume and wardrobe department and 2 writers including "Cemara's Family (2019) and "Heartbreak Motel" (2024).  See the second film in http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/12/two-year-end-film-reviews.html

Jerry Kyoungbaum Ko was an executive producer.   He was once a film critic in Korea and after interviewing a prominent Korean director he became active in making films.  He has worked his way up to being in charge of global film business for CJ ENM that enables him to promote films internationally.  Jerry has 33 producer credits and 2 for additional crew including "Father Stu" (2022), "Past Lives" (2023) and "Mai" (2024).    See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/05/with-mai-vietnam-stretches-for-global.html 

Ifa Fachir composed much of the music.  He has 11 composer credits and 9 for soundtrack including "Cemara's Family" (2018).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/01/cemaras-family.html

Arnand Pratikto was the cinematographer.  He has 10 cinematographer credits and 1 for actor including "13 Bombs" (2023) and "Heartbreak Motel" (2024).

Hendra Adhi Susanto was the editor.  He has 23 editor credits and 4 for the editorial department including "13 Bombs" (2023), "Heartbreak Motel" (2024) and "A Brother and 7 Siblings" (2025).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/07/a-brother-and-7-siblings.html

Ringgo Agus Rahma played Didi.  Working at a radio station he interviewed an important Indonesian director and was offered a role.  He has 55 acting credits including "Cemara's Family" (2018) and "A Brother and 7 Siblings" (2025).

Boris Bokir played Tanto.  He has been a standup comedian.  Boris has 22 acting credits, 2 for producing and 3 for soundtrack.

Myesha Lin played the young Imtan as pictured in the post at the top.  She has 4 acting credits. 

Tissa Biani Azzahra played the older Imtan.  She has 42 acting credits and 2 for soundtrack including "Cigarette Girl" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/11/cigarette-girl.html 

Sita Nursanti played Rossa, the mother.  She has been a singer as part of Rida Sita Dewi.  Sita has 24 acting credits and 1 for soundtrack including "Heartbreak Motel" (2024).

"Call Me Dad" might strike you as crude in the beginning, but it will grow on you as you watch a family develop.  Available on Netflix, subtitled and dubbed.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

Scarcity

Ultimately "Scarcity" (2013) is about managing your resources such as money, time, space, etc.  Mostly when we start with abundance we fritter it away to scarcity.  This is a good perspective on this all too common problem.  Bought to my attention by Daniel Pink.

We have learned to focus more when something we value is scarce, but the authors declare we are really tunneling, meaning we disregard things that are less important, but afterwards neglect will compound the scarcity. 

Stephen Covey divided our choices to: important and urgent, important/not urgent, not important/not urgent.  When we tunnel we lose sight of the important/not urgent and that leads to future problems.

One given example I identify with is, we are less liberal with toothpaste as we near the end, but we don't worry about that when we get a new tube.

Scarcity refers to what we feel we need, time, money, etc. 

Scarcity too often leads to borrowing.  Classic example is with money.  When we get paid most people have a tendency to spend a lot soon and not really pace themselves until the next pay.  If something occurs such as an emergency, a last minute invitation, a limited sale, many will borrow money.  The interest compounds so next time you have an extra burden.

Time is another example.  Students are a cliche.  They too often wait until the deadline to cram a school assignment or test.  They ignore other things usually such as friends, entertainment or other studies.  This can catch up to them.  At work, employees often duplicate this behavior leading to neglect of other important things.

Most of us have slack that allows us to handle the unexpected, the authors label it Bandwidth.  With enough bandwidth one can handle distractions include your own wandering mind and unexpected emergencies.  Build up your bandwidth.  Below are some suggestions for both individuals and groups.

Government and employers can help.  Dividing up payments (or government assistance) for greater frequency encourages recipients into pacing themselves.  School lunch programs build up bandwidth for parents and in turn for the students.  Childcare is a major concern affecting mothers, but if it can be smoothed out business and education will both benefit reducing scarcity.  School assignments could also be more frequent.  Filling out forms tend to exasperate especially poor people and could be made easier using current records.  Long deadlines are a recipe for trouble and can best be replaced with frequent interim deadlines.  Incentives can be useful, but they cannot be in the distant future, but visible and almost immediate, a successful example was incited to get people to vaccinate in India was a kilo of lentils.

Banks and credit card companies can make bill payments automatic removing some of the anxiety and making certain bills are paid.  Making decisions more automatic will help build up your bandwidth.

The authors confess they found that time demands led to scarcity and they missed deadlines making the book come out later than scheduled.  They maintain they learned a few lessons along the way.  I have been making some adjustments and hope you will look carefully at yourself and make a few adjustments to make your life better.

There is a lot more to understand in "Scarcity" and to adapt.  A worthwhile read.

Check   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/09/focus-is-crucial-for-work-and-play.html for another perspective.

More Murals in Hamilton, Ontario 2025

Art can come in different forms.  Murals are often paid for, but are accessible to most people who do not enter art galleries.  My adopted home city has been livened up with lots of murals and more on the way.  At the bottom is a link to my previous blog on Hamilton murals.

 It has been my good fortune to discover more murals within walking distance. 

Supercrawl 2025 decided to spice up their event and encouraged mural painters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Looking suspiciously like an ad for a prominent real estate salesman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Catching an artist in action during the 2025 /Supercrawl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local hero, Shai Gilgeous Alexander.  Part of the Supercrawl mural program right at the south west corner of  James N. and Wilson W

    

 

Below is a mural that was at the Sir Alan McNabb Secondary School that Shai attended.  It has since been destroyed.

The east side of Wilson at James St. N.

 

 

 

 

 

James St. North of Wilson E. 

This and the next one were straddling AM Breakfast on Rebecca St.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This and the next one are found at Collective Arts on Burlington St. E.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is "Atlas" done by Lester Colomo. It had been covered up by black paint, but this photo was taken after that and someone had taken on the task of removing all the black paint.  On south west corner of Barton W and James N. on the side of Padovani Travel Agency

This Studebaker mural done by Scott McDonald.  I have been told that Studebaker once had a factory further east near Barton.  Can be seen at the north east corner of James N. and Barton E.

 

 

 These four are found in a back alley on Barton St. E. less than a block from Barton E. James N.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 By Kyle Joedicke with indigenous theme at Barton W. and Locke N.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near to Barton E and Hughson N Side of pizza business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beside Tamasha restaurant on James St. N.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Two murals near the downtown core

 Racamulto on Murray St. (also officially known as Corso Racamulto ) by Scott Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

 Three women, on John St. N. just north of King St. E.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                  Six photos taken by the Victoria St. Underpass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Stinson Park

Lester Coloma has been a prominent mural artist and the Hamilton Art Gallery had him do one for them.
 There is just one other of his murals on this post, but there are several on the post linked below

Previous blog on murals   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/09/murals-liven-up-hamilton.html

Two Unrelated films that deserve more attention

Timing is everything has more than a little truth.  I watch a lot of movies, maybe too many and a small percentage get a blog post from me.  Not likely to increase their profits, but ones I especially don't want to forget.  

Within two days two such films got my attention and seemed worthy of getting more attention.  They are not related and I had other plans, but they are being bumped up.

" Left Handed Girl "(2025) was out one early day in December on Netflix and I found myself engaged, but not really knowing why.  One of the promo lines was the family had secrets and before too long we could imagine what some might be, but I for one was really caught off guard with the core secret revealed near the end.

A mother, Shu-Fen and two daughters, I-Ann and I-Jin came to the big city of Taipei and set up a noodle vendor site at an all nite market.  The left handed girl has an early reference to being left handed while eating.  Her grandfather tried to scare her from using her left hand and told her it was the devil's hand.  She was acutely aware of her mother's poverty and wanted to help out.  Her solution was to steal things with her left or devil's hand.  The elder daughter became aware of I-Jin's thinking and coerced and accompanied her returning items with an apology

The older of the two daughters I-Ann encounters an old school mate who asks her why despite having high marks she is not in university.  Poverty was the explanation.  We see a short visit to a father who is receiving oxygen and I-Ann gives him a brutal curse for abandoning his family.  She is sexually promiscuous and wears provocative clothes

We can only hope their prospects improve, but it doesn't seem likely.  The big secret comes from out in left field.  It upsets some people, but the one who revealed it is relieved.  Let your imagination run wild.

One other movie gave me such a surprise.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html

Some of the people who made it happen.

Sean Baker was a writer, editor and executive producer.  He believes in the benefits of an intimacy co-ordinators.  He had the idea for this film over 20 years ago.  Sean has 14 writing credits, 15 for directing and 15 for producing including "The Florida Project" (2017) and "Anora" (2024) which made him the first person to win 4 Oscars for the same film.  

Shih-Ching Tsou was the director, writer and executive producer  She was born and raised in Taiwan, but moved to New York City for Media studies where she met Sean Baker and went on to collaborate in several films.  She has 7 producing credits, 3 acting credits, 2 directing credits and has been a costume designer for at least two films including "The Florida Project" (2017). 

Tzu Hao Kao was the cinematographer.  He has 10 cinematography credits and 3 for the camera and electrical department.  This film was done with an I phone.

Janel Tsai played Shu-Fen, the mother.  She has 37 acting credits and 1 for producing.

Shih-Yuan Ma plays I-Ann, the elder daughter.  She was studying communications at university when Shih-Ching Tsou spotted her modeling on Instagram and recruited her.  This is her first film role. 

Nina Ye played I-jin, the 5 year old daughter, although she was closer to 6 years.  In 2020 she started in commercials and has gone on to 18 acting credits.  Yes, she is cute and bubbly and from one interview fairly fluent in English.

Teng-Hui Huang plays Johnny, a market vendor and boyfriend to Shu-Fen.  He has 69 acting credits and 1 for producing including "Forget You Not" (2025), a series I am just now re-watching.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/06/forget-you-not-something-from-taiwan.html

"Left Handed Girl" is available on Netflix with subtitles or dubbing.

"All the Empty Rooms" is different in the sense that we had already been informed of a tragic surprise, but tended to slough it off.  This short film (34 minutes) shows us some of the aftermath. 

Steve Hartman had been a good news specialist at the end of a newscast to counteract all the heavy news.  In 1997 he was asked to follow up with the parents of children killed in school shootings.  He felt it was whitewashing and he wanted to do more.

Over 7 years he teamed up with photographer Lou Bopp visiting parents and taking photos of their child's bedroom and viewing home videos.  One parent said he didn't think there was any benefit for him participating, but thought it might be helpful for others.  Other parents felt the experience of the story was beneficial for them.  One older brother started calmly talking, about his sister, but broke into tears.  Steve was shown clothes bought for a special occasion, but never worn.

As Steve said he wished more Americans could view these rooms feeling it would make a difference.  These could be your children.  School shootings had gone from 17 per year up to 132.  The phrase that springs to mind is "what might have been."

Joshua Seftel was the director and producer.  He had delivered babies with his father, Dr. Lee Seltel, an obstetrician.   His first film, "Lost and Found" (1992) resulted in an increase in adoptions of Romanian orphans.  Joshua has 29 credits as a producer, 28 as a director and 9 as a writer.

Music was provided by Alex Sommers.  He attended the Berklee College of Music.  He went on to run a recording studio in Reykjavik, Iceland.  He has 34 music credits, 14 for the music department and 4 for the sound department.

"All of the Empty Rooms" is also available on Netflix.

Both these films are memorable for different reasons, but for most of you both are well worth the effort.

Charlotte's Web Provides Gentle Lessons on Life

 "Charlotte's Web" (1952) is a children's book (and film) that I missed as a child and heard about as a parent.  Now that I am retired I came across the book lying around our house.  It struck me as a masterpiece and I decided to check out the movie.  

When a child is still figuring out what life is all about it is good that they can have a few gentle lessons.  Life can be pretty rough.  There are a few lessons offered by "Charlotte's Web", but you might want to learn it bit about it before you open the book and start reading to a youngster.  Are they ready?

 As an adult one of the notable themes is death, not too often encountered in children's books.  One of the main characters dies at the end and Wilbur lives under the threat of the slaughter house.  Putting that aside there is a lot of fun.  Wilbur likes to frolic in mud and manure.  Fooling adults is also fun.

The plot is simple enough.  An adult realizes that one baby pig is not very likely to survive and it is better to kill it (they don't actually say that) right away and concentrate on the others from the same litter.  Mr. Arabel walks by with a baby pig in one arm and an axe in the other.  A young girl who has some suspicions offers to take care of it.  She sees him, to be someone to play with.  Her father decides to humor her, but requests her to keep him in a neighbor's farm.  The cute little pig is named Wilbur and when not playing with Fern gets acquainted with some farm animals.  Templeton, the rat hints about what happens to pigs when they get big.  Wilbur is horrified, but has found a friend in a spider, Charlotte.

Charlotte promises to find a way.  Soon she spins a web with two words "Some Pig" and it creates a stir such that Fern's father is impressed and it seems like Wilbur's life is a little more secure.  However the storyteller realizes that such events are easily forgotten.  So Charlotte decides to try another web word.  In her quest she enlists the aid the rat, Templeton to go through garbage to find a suitable word.  The result is "Terrific".  Another word used at a fair is "Humble".  

It has a happy ending, but as a responsible parent, aunt or uncle you should check out the ending before  getting a young child engaged in the story.  Charlotte knows she is going to die and sort of explains it to Wilbur and then asks one favor.  He is to get her egg sac and take it back to the farm.  Wilbur has to get Templeton to get it by promising first access to his pig slop.  At the actual end Wilbur greets literally hundreds of baby spiders, but soon almost all of them are carried off by the wind to land wherever fate takes them.  The good news is at least one stays and becomes Wilbur's friend.  Oh,;Fern moves on to life outside the farm.

One interesting interlude is when Fern's mother, Mrs. Arabel is so concerned about her daughter and talks to the family doctor, Dr. Dorian.  The mother wonders about the web word as some kind of miracle.  Dr. Dorion points out that the spider web is a miracle.  Then she is concerned that the animals talk to one another and asks if that can be true.  Dr. Dorian reassures Mrs. Arabel that although he has never heard an animal talk, that is likely because he didn't pay attention.

The book and the film are essentially the same story with the same message, but there are a few differences.  I mentioned that Wilbur likes to play in manure, but in the film it is just mud.  In the film the animals have each an actor to say the words (read more in the section about director Gary Winick).  In the film the doctor is relaxed and very reassuring.  Charlotte is depicted by a large enough replica of a spider that slithers down to rest on Wilbur's face in the film whereas in the book Wilbur just listens from a distance.  In the film Fern's mother is seen cooking bacon in a pan, reminding viewers (Fern seems oblivious) how pigs end up.

For city raised children seeing where their food comes from may stun them a bit, but make them more aware of how other people live. 

The story was created by E.B. White who loved animals and was familiar with farm life.  He attended Cornell University and became a reporter.  He wrote articles for the New Yorker becoming a staff writer.  White edited and updated "Elements of Style."  Children's stories were inspired by a niece with three that received awards; "Stuart Little", "Charlotte's Web"  and "The Trumpet of the Swan".  In 1978 he was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize crediting him for essays and a full body of work.  Later in life he developed Alzheimer's.

The book won awards and became very popular.  "Charlotte's Web" was made into film in 2006.  Here are some of the contributors.

Gary Winick was the director.  In 1999 he co-founded Independent Digital Entertainment known as InDigEnt to make film making more accessible.  He has 25 producing credits and 112 for directing and 5 for editor including "Letters to Juliet"  Regarding this movie he once was quoted "Working with animals is cute for about 15 minutes and then it becomes frustrating beyond belief."  They had 47 pigs to portray Wilbur and it often took days for a single shot.

Danny Elfman wrote the music.  In his youth he was part of street band called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, performing, composing and building unique musical instruments.   He has 141 composing credits, 119 for the music department and 23 for acting including  "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993), "Sommersby" (1993), "Dolores Claiborne" (1995), "Good Will Hunting" (1998),  "Big Fish" (2004), "Milk" (2009), "The Next Three Days" (2010), "Hitchcock" (2012), and "The Girl on the Train" (2016)

Seamus McGarvey was the cinematographer.  He has built up a music video business that has included Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield.  He has 78 credits for cinematography, 11 for the camera and electrical department and 1 for directing including "Atonement" (2007), "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (2008), "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011), "Anna Karenina" (2012), "The Accountant" (2016),  "Nocturnal Animals" (2016), "The Greatest Showman" (2017) and "Cyrano" (2022).

Sabrina Plisco was the editor.  She has 55 editor credits, 2 for the editorial department and 1 for producing including "Into the West" (2005).

Dakota Fanning played Fern.  She now has 72 acting credits 3 for producing and 1 for directing including "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008), "Ocean's Eight" (2018), "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019), "The First Lady" (2022) and "The Perfect Couple" (2024).

Beau Bridges plays Dr. Dorion  His father, Lloyd Bridges had his own tv. show and that is one of the early acting experiences for him. He played basketball at UCLA under John Wooden and later at Houston University.  Beau has 229 acting credits, 6 for directing and 5 for producing including "Jerry Maguire" (1996), "Into the West" (2005), "The Descendants" (2011), "The Mountain Between Us" (2017), "Greenleaf" (2018), "Homeland" (2018),"One Night in Miami" (2020) and "Lessons in Chemistry" (2023).

Sam Shepard was the narrator.  His father was a WWII bomber and moved his family to various military bases.   He competed in rodeos riding broncs and bulls.  He has 66 acting credits 33 for writing and 2 for directing including "Days of Heaven" (1978), "The Pelican Brief" (1993), "Inhale" (2010), "Mud" (2012), "Safe House" (2012) and "August, Osage County" (2013).

The animals all have actors for their voices.  Julia Roberts was the voice of Charlotte, John Cleese voiced a sheep, Kathy Bates a cow, Robert Redford a horse and Wilbur was voiced by Dominic Scott Kay.

Would you want your child's first acquaintance with death to be when a loved one dies?

Reading is a habit that can get started young and help one not only learn things, but understand them better.  The book and the film likely are available at your local library.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of a movie I have seen.  It is not a recommendation, but generally I foundt them worth while.

Homebound

"Homebound" (2025) was based on a New York Times article in 2020 describing a Covid convoy in India.  It got picked up by  Neerajk Ghaywan and got the attention of Martin Scorsese and has since become an Oscar nominee for best foreign film

The first half of the film is about two friends looking for a better way of life.  Shoaib is a Muslim and Chandu is a low caste Hindu.  They both think getting on the police force will give them more respect.  Chandu has a sister who wants him to get more education.  Getting into the police is very difficult because there are far more applicants than openings.  They have local jobs and have been suggested they can go to Dubai.  The two young men argue among themselves and try to motivate each other.

Shoaib and Chandu encounter prejudicial comments that they resent.  Shoaib has a sort of girl friend who encourages him and she also pushes for more education and later bends a little.

 Past the half way point we encounter a brief reference to a disease spreading.  Quickly we become aware there is a panic and Covid is identified.  People are asked to wear masks and to maintain a two meter separation from each other.  A big blow is when the mill they are working in (to save money and wait for better opportunities) shuts down for 21 days and later followed up with another shutdown.  In India it is common for rural residents to send family to work in factories and send money back home.  At this stage convoys are organized, but the demand is great.  

Chandu comes down with a serious illness.  It might be Covid, but might not and in any case it is not just Covid victims that struggle to find hospital space, it is every person in need of medical attention.  They do get onto a truck transporting workers back to their distant villages, but Chandu is so sick that the other passengers demand he get out.  Shoaib is very protective for his friend, but their bond is really tested.  To find out what happens you should see the movie.  Here in North America we didn't suffer as much as Third World countries. 

This film has been nominated and won many festival awards already.  A lot of people contributed and here are a few of them.

 Basharat Peer was an Indian journalist who attended the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.   He helped write the script for "Haider" (2014).  He wrote opinion pieces for the New York Times and one of them in 2022 was about how Covid had affected poor people in India.  It caught the attention of Neerajk Ghaywan and the notice of Martin Scorsese.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/02/haider-bollywoods-version-of-shakespeare.html

Neerajk Ghaywan was the director and writer.  He was born in a Dalit  (the lowest caste, untouchables).  He got an engineering degree, but the corporate world was not what he wanted.  He became a film critic and became active in the film industry.  He helped Anurag Kashyup with "Gangs of Wassepur" (2012).  his first feature film was "Masaan" (2015).  He had filmed some shorts and won twice at Cannes Film Festival.  In 2016 he did a commercial for British Airways.  He has 9 directing credits, 5 for writing and 3 as an assistant director.

Karan Johar was a producer.  His family was well entrenched in Bollywood.  He started as a child actor.  Over time he became a major producer and director who occasionally did acting roles.  He became the host of a popular tv. show, "Koffee with Karan."  Karan played a key role with some of the most popular films and was known for launching big stars. He is credited with 79 producing credits plus 14 as director and 16 as an actor including the most popular film of all time, "Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (1995), "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" (1998), "Kabhi Khushi Kabhe Gham" 2001), "My Name is Khan" (2010), "Raazi" (2018) and "Good Newz" (2020).    A bit surprise was that he was also a costume designer for my favorite star, Shah Rukh Khan.  So to get a feel for more for his films (and others) check out  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/06/shah-rukh-khan-worlds-most-famous-actor.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/06/shah-rukh-khan-worlds-most-famous-actor_23.html 

Martin Scorsese took an early interest and became an executive and helping with the script.  He is well known to American viewers   His formal film education took place at New York University;s School of Film.  Later as a lecturer he taught Spike Lee and Oliver Stone.  Scorsese has been involved with restoring and finding lost films He has directed for 19 Oscar nominated performances.  He has 96 credits as a producer, 71 credits as a director, 36 credits as an actor (mostly cameos) and 16 as screenwriter.  His credits include "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Raging Bull" (1980), "After Hours" (1985), "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), "The Aviator" (2004), "The Departed" (2006), "Hugo" (2011), "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), "Silence" (2016), "Rolling Thunder Revue" (2019),  "The Irishman" (2019) and "Maestro" (2023).  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/01/killers-of-moon-flower.html

 Naren Chandavarkar was the composer collaborating with familar partner, Benedict Taylor.  He has 38 composing credits including "The Girl in the Yellow Boots" (2010), "Ship of Theseus" (2012), "Killa" (2014), "Nil Battey Sunata" (2015), "Udta Punjab" (2016), "Newton" (2016) and "Trail By Fire" (2023).  Benedict Taylor played the violin, viola, sang vocals and helped compose for the film in the link; http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/01/ship-of-thesus.html

Pratik Shah was the cinematographer and was American.  He has 20 cinematography credits, 9 for the camera and electrical department, 2 for writing and 1 for the color department.  Mostly filmed in Bhopal, India.

Nitan Baid was the editor.  He has 135 editorial credits, 13 for the editorial department and 1 for additional crew including  "Masaan" (2015, "Raazi" (2018), "Gully Boy" (2019) and "Chandu Champion" (2024.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/08/chandu-champion.html

Ishaan Khatter played Shoaib.  He has played in British, American and Indian series.  One of the series, "A Suitable Boy" (2015 )had been directed by Mira Nair, the mother of the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani.  Ishaan has 14 acting credits including Udta Punjab" (2016), "Dhadak" (2018) and "The Perfect Couple" (2024).

Vishal Jethwan played Chandan.  He has 19 acting credits including "Hindi Medium" (2017), "Mardaani 2" (2019) and "Human" (2022). 

Janhvi Kapoor played Sudha Bharti.  The daughter of famous actress, Sridevi.  She took acting course as the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Fillm Institute in California.  She has 17 acting credits including ""Dhadak" (2018 and "Ulajh" (2024).

"Homebound" is available on Netflix subtitled.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.