BURMA

Tonight I watched two documentaries about Myrnmar (Burma) and the democracy movement against the brutal military dictatorship there. The first, BURMA VJ, follows the efforts of a small group of underground reporters with handheld video cameras as they attempt to document a 2007 uprising led by the monks. The people are suffering from famine, ethnic cleansing, poor medical access, no freedoms, political repression, torture, and worse. The second, CROSSING MIDNIGHT, focuses on the plight of ethnic minorities (one-third of the nation) as they flee from military oppression (mostly in the countryside), and the efforts of a small group of doctors and teachers who have established a medical/social-servive compound in Thailand and who cross the border to provide medical care (often via backpacking) and other social and educational services. Both documentaries are riveting and heartrending, and they open a small window into the internal affairs of a terrible regime. I heartily recommend these films to anyone interested in international affairs, and more specifically, the plight of the Burmese people. I am lucky to have about a dozen Burmese living near me. I talked with one today (I think he was ex-military) who has been my neighbor for about three years, and he said they were very truthful.

BEYOND RANGOON

While the world's eyes most often rivet to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to the unrest in North Korea or Tibet, often overlooked is the political oppression placed upon the people of Burma, by a military regime that some think is one of the worst on the globe. The massacres and killing of students in Tianamen Square and Tehran gained worldwide attention, but the crackdowns in what is now known as Myanmar have garned far less notice, although the continued house arrest of pro-democracy leader and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kii does get some media play, especially after the recent incident with the crazy American who decided he was going to swim to her house. The movie Beyond Rangoon, starring Patricia Arquette (who I just can't keep from thinking looked like Molly Ringwald), tackles the issue and tries to show the world what happened there. Some of the photography is absolutely beautiful, although the movie was filmed in Malaysia. The acting and overall production was more akin to that one would see in a made-for-television movie, but it is generally entertaining an informative. Some of the acting was simply lifeless. I thought one of the best performaces was by the young man who helped Arquette on their bamboo raft trip. I probably would not have been happy had I paid to see the movie, but as a dvd selection, it is not too bad.