The Color of Paradise

"The Color of Paradise" is a beautiful film from Iran that centers around Mohammad, a blind 8-year-old who has used his other senses to become attuned to nature and to win over the staff and other students at an institute for the sight-impaired.

Unfortunately, those abilities don't really impress the boy's father, Hashem, a widowed laborer who believes his son is an unfair burden. Rather than take the boy back with him after the school year is out, he pleads with administrators to keep him through the summer vacation. Eventually, he does agree to take Mohammad home, and there the boy quickly thrives under the guidance of his two happy-go-lucky sisters and his grandmother, who runs the family farm.

There, the real reason for Hashem's fatherly reluctance is revealed — he is planning to marry a woman from a strict Islamic family and fears his son will embarrass him. So he schemes to give Mohammad away to a sight-impaired carpenter, hoping the boy will at least learn a trade.

Hashem has been working very hard to raise the dowry and gifts that are necessary to get her hand in marriage. Consent is given by the woman's family after he presents the gifts.

My parents, sisters, nephews and nieces are all living in Europe and buying gifts for everybody is the most time consuming part of a trip when I fly back to see them. Considering that my gf's parents are from Iran, I never thought my 'gift' buying skills' would come in handy for marriage proposals as well :)

Buena Vista Social Club

In the documentary "Buena Vista Social Club", Wim Wenders follows Ry Cooder to Havana to record and interview some of the old but still-living great names of Cuban popular music. With the eloquence of weariness, the aged musicians calling themselves the "Buena Vista Social Club" embody the spirit of their home city of Havana. Today Havana is a decaying city of pastel palaces, decorated with laundry hanging on rusty but still ornate iron scroll work.

Despite the decay, the musicians are like the Bulgemobiles from the 1950s, gorgeous in their dotage, rolling through the narrow streets of Havana.

However, when placed in a foreign and complete different environment such as New York city, the visiting legendary musicians suddenly look helpless and confused. They marvel over the skyscrapers in Manhattan ("Where's the Statue?" "It's over there." "No, it's over there" "No, that's not it") or have problems to name the different souvenir statues of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Louis Armstrong which are displayed in a shop window. They even don't recognize a statue of Cuba's invader, JFK, when they see him.

The experience also causes them to contemplate about the choices they made in life: "If we'd followed the way of possessions, we would have been lost long ago. ... We've learned to resist both the good and the bad."

This weekend, I experienced the same feeling of being "helpless and confused" when I was was in location that was foreign to me: the Giftcenter & Jewelrymart in San Francisco. It's the ultimate place to buy an engagement ring. My gf used to date a jeweler and in an attempt to schmooze the sales associate, she asserted "I gave up a diamond man for him, but he is more than worth it".

My luck that she resisted the way of posessions as well. Except for this one ring off course... :)