August 1st, 2007 - Hunger Awareness Film Night Film - Sparrows

The film the Hunger team chose for this Wednesday was Sparrows. Mary and I were concerned how well a silent film would go over with the audience but it was an interesting look into hunger as it was perceived in the early 1900's.

Our son Eric, when he was young, would show his friends Buster Keaton films. His friends found it difficult to be interested because they were expecting a different experience. For them a black and white picture and lack of dialogue was too much to overcome. Silent films just did not hold their interest.

Our thoughts also turned to the Organ Grinder Restaurant with its wonderful organists (including our own David Lee) playing a Wurlitzer organ to silent comedies. It went out of business and we could not think of any place where silent films were shown now. Would any 2007 audience just be bored with the melodrama, the acting style and the way films were made in 1926?

Last night the answer turned out to be no. Instead we found this was a film that seemed to satisfy everyone in the audience on some level. Intstead of watching it silently we tried to voice our reactions during the film. We found that this was a typical way a film audience of the twenties would react rather than watch silently (there was no problem then with dialogue being missed). It took some adjustment but we found this drew us together as an audience.

Certainly, there was exaggerated acting and movement to our 2007 sensibilities but there were also times when expressions would float over Mary Pickford’s face that made a connection. There were scenes that couldn’t be filmed now because they would seem to be too simplistic or over the top. Many of those scenes connected with those of us in the audience.

In the discussion afterwards Diane talked about a memory she had about a fear that was instilled in her mother about child kidnapping from the cradle. The film was about concerned about child kidnapping and the ways baby farms operated in the early 1900s.

There was control of food used as a way to exert power at the farm where most of the story took place.

It feels like the film nights have entertained those who attended and provided at opportunity to explore hunger issues. We look forward to preparing for The Southerner next Wednesday, which will, among its other strengths, dramatize why the Backpack Buddies program ( and other programs specifically focused around nutritional meals for children) are so important.