The actor that played Chico I thought was the best/strongest actor in the film. Supporting actors let the film down with their inexperienced (almost ham) acting, 1 dimensional roles. Although I criticise, watching the film helped me a lot. Before this, I was unable to get a proper feel for this topic, this, I found was because I had nothing visual to help me get a clearer understanding on the conditions and effects on peoples lives. It was quite shocking to view real footage of the Rainforest being burnt down. The film sparked of energy inside of me that left me feeling sorry for some and hating others. Some of the scenes that occurred were very graphical (i.e. a man getting burnt alive. Another, having his arm cut off because he wouldn’t move out of the way for a group of lumberjacks.) It was things like this, I told myself that were added to make the story seem more interesting. “This type of thing wouldn’t happen in real life” I assured myself… How wrong can I get?
The film ends with Mr. Mendez being assassinated as he steps foot out of his home on his way to the bathroom.
The government and rural workers alike were unable to stop Chico and his followers from protecting the trees in the short-term, but ultimately, he lost the war and paid the price for sticking up for what he believed in with his life. From the film, it seemed to me that the moral of his followers dropped tremendously after his death. No one else seemed to have the guts to become a leader after that and so the pressure the government was put under to leave the rainforest alone soon faded also. Through his work, an agreement was met. A percentage of the rainforest is not allowed to be destroyed and is to be kept intact for future generations.
Poetry was next to be covered. As a class, we sat and read two poems, each one from a different angle. The first was very laid back, entitled “ ” which was about the beauty and tranquillity of the rainforest and also on the way the animals react to their surroundings after it rains. To accompany this poem, a piece of music was played. It was the type that may be played whilst performing hypnosis. Very mellow without a rhythm to it. The combination of the two worked very well together. We then repeated to look over the poem again, but this time Joanna was to read it. At first, I felt as if I was just listening to a poem but soon, I felt as if I were there. She took her time reading the poem (when she felt it was the right time to proceed with a line, she did) and used a smooth tone of voice whilst doing so. Her timing when to proceed was almost perfect. It was only by chance, but she quoted a line about leaves rustling and as she did, on the music, this sound was heard. She did a very good job. I almost forgot where I was.
The second poem was called “ ”. This one was about the destruction of the rainforest. The music that accompanied it had more of a panic aggressive feel to it. The class agreed also but when it came to reading it aloud, no one seemed to put the aggression in their voice. This one was too hard to do.
Staying on the topic of sounds, the class was told to lay down and to close our eyes. A different piece of relaxation music was played quietly, just as background noise and the class was told to imagine the rainforest just after it had rained as all the animals were coming out from their shelters. We were told in our own time to begin in making the sounds we would hear. Afraid of making a fool out of myself, I just lay there. Others must have been worried about looking silly as well and no noises were made. I could sense the group’s uncomfortable ness and could hear people fidgeting. This was probably their way of dealing with it. Eventually, I think it was Amma who got over her ego and began making the sounds. Others soon followed and the classroom was a wash with sounds. Some, however I don’t think were paying attention to the fact that we were supposed to be making sounds from the forest and so, horses and sheep were also being heard.
I was quite surprised as to find how very distant the group actually was. We have worked together for over a year and yet, still we worry about looking foolish in front of each other.
After a couple more lessons just reviewing what we already knew, we then thought of groups that would be for the rainforest being cut down and those against i.e. WWF (against), Government (for). Our names were put into a hat and randomly drawn out as well as the group we would be representing. The class was about to have a debate. It was nicknamed “The Great Rainforest Debate”. We would be split into teams of two, each team representing a different corporation.
My partner for this exercise was Lauren. Our corporation, the Brazilian Government. Looking round at the competition i.e. Siana and Natasha, Triston and Ronald, I knew I was in for a tough time. I didn’t feel confident that my partner would be able to contribute to my ideas. My ideas were more technical and hers were very predictable. The sort of thing the opposing teams would be able to tackle without problems. We were given one lesson to come up with arguments for each of the opposing teams. I found myself doing most of the work but was fine with that because I had the hunger to win.
Upon viewing other teams debates, I noted people’s strengths and weaknesses in an attempt to use it against them. The points being brought up by the other groups didn’t seem to vary and this I thought was a shame because the challenge was becoming predictable. One team that did make a difference was Green Peace (Siana and Natasha). I thought they were the most professional. Siana was the brains and Natasha was the mouth. Together, they tore apart competition.
After two lessons of debating, the finals were upon us. There was no question in my mind that I wouldn’t be in it. It was between Green Peace and The Brazilian Government. My partner wasn’t in that day so I was left to hold the fort. Luckily I had plenty of ides and focused most of my arguments on my hardest challenge. My arguments proved to be too much for the brains (Siana) to cope with and so silenced the mouth (Natasha). I exited the victor (Not to my surprise).
Before my head had finished deflating, we had begun our next practical, which was to be about a worker being killed in the clearing. I had the notion that every group would have the same type of idea where a tree may fall on someone or something along those lines so I decided to take charge and tell my group of five/six how we would do ours differently. We agreed that our worker would have near death experiences with the natural elements but ultimately be killed by a fellow worker. We had a tree fall on him, animals attacking him, and finally to kill him, he is run over by a truck. For originality, my group had to get top marks.
I don’t really remember the other groups’ work. I think that speaks for itself. It didn’t leave a lasting impression.
The final practical we were to cover in this topic was based on a play the class had read entitled “September” (which I wasn’t actually present for). I can remember watching a previous year group performing it so I had an idea what it was about. September is a play in the memory of Chico Mendez, which is set in the underworld/dead zone. Chico, Q, ruler of the underworld and a beggar are the three main (well, only) characters in the play. Q tells Chico that he can’t make a difference to the world as it is ruled over by one thing. Power. Money. Chico becomes distressed by this and argues the point. The main plot then comes into play. Q makes a deal with Chico whereby if Chico can get a starving beggar to feed him even a crumb of bread, Chico can have his life back. If not, then Chico stays dead.
In the end, the beggar tells Q to kill Chico, an instruction the ruler obeys and Chico is killed.
As I wasn’t present for these lessons, I took a step back and agreed to be given an extras part in my groups presentation. In a way I was relived. I didn’t want to become a liability to the group.
I was working along side Siana and Ronald who I felt to be strong actors and Elsa who has got potential but doesn’t get into the work as much as she could although the same could be said for Siana. Siana was more of a leading role person but decided to take the passengers seat and made way for Elsa. If top marks were what the group was after, this wasn’t a very clever move.
The scene itself worked fine if you overlook the fact that Elsa missed out various important main links and lines. Our group took a more comical approach to the scene whereas the other groups were more serious. The remaining three groups were equally as good as each other and I’m not just saying that. No one individual really stood out from anyone else on the acting front, which is something very important. This means even the strongest actor couldn’t be separated from the less abled. Everyone pulled his or her weight. I did however feel sorry for Amma. Her acting was brilliant, her expressions were top class. Then why do I feel sorry for her? She was put in a group with the biggest ham actors in the class. Saloum and Triston. How she managed to keep her cool as well as a straight face, I will never know.
