The Grandfathers DVD, a review

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

I’m not sure why it took me a while to sit and write this review.  All I can figure is that my brain needed to ruminate a bit on this particular item before words could form for a review.

I mentioned a while back that one movie the boys and I watched which had an impact on our view of missionary work was The End of the Spear.  For some reason, little mention is made of modern missionaries within the Catholic Church.  So, I had not heard about the events in Ecuador during 1956.  That movie was a real eye opener for all of us.  Not only did it showed just how dangerous missionary work can be, but it also reminded us that while the Western world might have been ‘modern’ there were still pockets of the world where people described as savages walked the land.

The Grandfathers was not the same cinematic approach that The End of the Spear had taken.  Instead, this is a documentary with a mixture of photographic mediums to share how the grandson (Jesse Saint) of one of the men killed tries to find his place in the world.  It is by making the journey to visit the Waodani people that he hopes to learn more about his sainted grandfather and maybe get a better grasp on the connection that was forged back in 1956.  This is especially true of how he relates to Mincaye, one of the tribesmen who took part in his grandfather’s murder.  It is from Mincaye that Jesse is better able to understand his own grandfather.

R, P and I enjoyed our glimpse into the Saint family and how the brutal massacre of their patriarch has affected them.  Seeing signs of Westernization among the Waodani after only 2 generations was interesting.  The rapidity with which some aspects of their culture (e.g. spearing) have been practically eliminated was almost shocking.  You could also see that while individual cultures can be dramatically different, there are definitely similarities among all humans that walk this earth.  And, I can honestly say that the one thing about this documentary my boys will remember is the discussion about farting.  (Maybe seeing it is a source of comedy in other cultures is not a good thing for a group of boys who find it especially funny…)

Now, we just need to view Beyond the Gates of Splendor to get the full experience.  At the moment, both Beyond the Gates of Splendor and The End of the Spear are available to watch on Hulu.

While doing a bit of my own research, I discovered an interesting Q&A with Jim Hanon, the director of this trilogy, where you can read more about the filming of The Grandfathers.

The Grandfathers is available on DVD for $19.95 plus shipping from Ethnographic Media. You can view the trailer for this film below…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_bzv7HLe2w]

 

Disclaimer ~ We were sent a copy of The Grandfathers on DVD by the B&B Media Group for the purpose of this review.  No other compensation was provided and the opinions expressed are our own.