The Fever

This is a tough concept to take in, but yes somewhere down the line we all are guilty. We may not know it, but we are. But then again that's how this chaos called world runs.

For some this movie is just too much over their heads, for some its gold, some its an awakening and to some just a movie. Well it all depends what we wanna see and what we have seen, in our life. Its not only whites or some other people who are the ones to be blamed or said to be the evil. But its a cycle. After all if one person is eating a meal that means, there is someone in this world who is going with out a meal. If you get a job then others don't. If you succeed then others fail, etc etc. But this is a thoughtful film, don't take it as an insult or disrespect just because you are rich or white or any one who feels offended for what reason god knows. You were just lucky nothing else, that you have the time to see and be repulsed by this movie. Some don't get enough time to even breath properly.

Hell is not somewhere we'll go when we die. Its a constant revisiting place, that we visit each time we come back to reality from a few moments of piece and or love. Blessed ones enjoy and for those who don't get it now, don't bother, because if you could then this movie wouldn't have been made. And don't look for solutions in this movie, its just a movie about realization not solutions.... If you think there is then look closer.

This movie completely took me by surprise. I was a bit taken aback by a commenter here who found it odd that the main character had not been out in the "world". Until recently when the US government made it mandatory for citizens who carry a passport when visiting our neighbors Canada and Mexico, only 20% of Americans had passports. I.e, only 20% of Americans have a clue as to how hated we are in the world. But, I digress.

For every issue one can imagine, there are always two sides of the proverbial coin.

The character that Vanessa Redgrave plays is one who becomes aware that there are people in the world that work just as hard as she had in her lifetime who have less. Far less. And this is a message that for Americans (I cannot speak for anyone else in the world and do not presume to speak for all Americans) this is a difficult concept. For here anyone born into any circumstance has the possibility of making anything out of oneself with hard work and dedication. It is hard to conceive of countries where that is not a possibility.

In a foreign country and in the midst of a fever, a woman examines her upbringing, her circumstances, and her shock that not everyone who works hard attains prosperity. Her torment is merely what each and everyone of us should examine in our own lives, especially at a time when immigration is such an issue in the US, a country born to welcome the downtrodden from other countries. When her fever ends, she longs for her soft cotton sheets and other comforts of her home and that with which she is familiar. Yet she is changed. For she is awakened.

I think this film is one that everyone should see. And now that HBO has begun to air it, there is no excuse not to see it. It is not black and white. There are no clear cut villains or heroes. There are issues of entitlement but entitlement is an ongoing issue to any thinking person. It is something men take for granted that women will never know. It is something whites takes for granted that people of color will never know. Entitlement is often so subtle that it takes intense examination to truly understand what it is. And this is something "The Fever" undertakes. Everyone works hard. Why does it have pay offs for some and not for all? Don't disregard this film as just another "liberal" film. Let it seep into your soul and give it some real thought. For it is truly food for thought. It is food for the soul.

The scene with Micheal Moore and the conversation about the delicious ice cream is a powerful scene. It is one that can be applied daily here in the US (obviously not as milk). One can use the milk to make ice cream to increase tourism to a country and thus prosper the country. Or, it can be used to feed all the children (and thus prosper the country in a different manner).

Metaphysically this movie pits the concept of limitation against the concept of limitlessness. Methaphorically speaking, is there really only enough milk for one or the other? Does this movie perpetuate the illusion of the responsibility of fairness in the world when not only is that concept subjective but obviously (if only noted of birth circumstances) to be a falsehood? Or does this movie inspire us to strive to make the world a better place for all? Should one feel guilt when one realizes that ones hard work does not justify ones comfort, when in reality all work hard but are not all comfortable? And what steps should we take when that realization is made?

See this movie, if for no other reason than . . . to think. It deserves your thought.

What I thought of was that song, "he ain't heavy. He's my brother."

I wont go into a commentary about the structure of the film.However, I do find great trouble in the movies implication that many of us in the West are responsible for the misery of the people in the 3rd world. There is an insurmountable amount of evidence in the fields of economics and political science which clearly shows that much of the 3rd worlds suffering comes from poor political institutions. I guess the one area where it is appropriate to find fault with the West is there use of farm subsidies, which ultimately negatively affects the lives of millions of farmers in the 3rd world and consumers in the first world. However, arguing that the purchase of goods and services on the global market somehow creates poor people is a psychotically inaccurate message to promote, which this film does to a large degree. China, India, Ireland, and many emerging East Asian countries have grown much wealthier and in the process lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty precisely because we in the West buy goods and services from around the world. I sympathize with the film's intent to draw light on the plight of the poor, however, they have found precisely the wrong reasons for the 3rd world's poverty and an even worse remedy for the problem. Commerce amongst free people is something that should be championed and regarded in the same esteemed light as the freedom of speech.

I saw this at the Virginia film festival and it was wonderful. Could have used better direction, but Vanessa Redgrave was marvelous nonetheless. As an added note, she did not get her son this film. He got it on his own and had her star in it. I thought it was a brilliant piece of work that could have been better but got its message across. It Was Wonderful And deserves much, much more Also, this film was a HUGE HIT at the festival. They had to add another day to screen it because it was sold out on its regular schedule and there was so much demand. So to those who don't like it, I say that the general public (At least those in Virginia) love it.

Justino, 45 years old, born in Desana, is a security guard at the port of Manaus. While his daughter prepares to study medicine in Brasília, Justino is overcome by a mysterious fever. Manaus is an industrial city surrounded by the Amazon rainforest. Justino, a 45-year-old Desana indigenous man, works as a guard at a container terminal. Since his wife's death, his main companion is his youngest daughter with whom he lives in a modest house on the outskirts. A nurse at a health center, Vanessa is leaving to study medicine in Brasília.

As the days go by, Justino is overcome by a strong fever. During the night, a mysterious creature follows his footsteps. During the day, he struggles to stay awake at work. But the boring routine at the port is broken by the arrival of a new watchman. Meanwhile, his brother's visit reminds him of life in the village, where he left 20 years ago. Between the oppression of the city and the distance from his village in the forest, Justino can no longer bear a placeless existence.

I love unconventional national cinema, that is, those that avoid silly meals, an excellent everyday thriller, regional, natural and not very caricatured... A French-German-Brazilian drama and suspense film spoken in Portuguese and in the indigenous languages Tukano and Tikuna, as original as it gets...