Synopsis:
In this debut feature from
Afghanistan's
Chechnya's
Nunavut's
Venezuela's
Sri Lanka's
newly-independent East Timor's
the Federated States of Micronesia's
the Palestinian Authority's
the Yanomani Indians'
the Congolese People's Liberation Army's
most renowned
director
poet
avant-gardist
provocateur
pornographer
political activist
revolutionary
idealist
ex-dictator
Unitarian
, a
wide-eyed
plucky
deeply religious
mentally handicapped
wise-beyond-her-years
scrawny
pinheaded
harelipped
tubercular
bisexual
sweatshop worker
orphan girl
organ-grinder
ballet dancer
music lover
mime-in-training
sewer dweller
landfill scavenger
double amputee
miscellaneous sufferer
, oppressed by her
alcoholic
abusive
petty criminal
sex criminal
materialistic
fast food addicted
Mormon
Taliban
Republican
slave-owning
father
mother
wicked stepmother
conjoined twin
priest
mullah
village chief
factory owner
gymnastics coach
culture
, undergoes a
desperate
nightmarish
psychedelic
humiliating
degrading
stomach-churning
mind-numbing
baffling
metaphorical
really, really long
journey
descent
immersion
initiation
odyssey
into the seedy underworld of
drug trafficking
human trafficking
human organ trafficking
prostitution
child prostitution
pornography
child pornography
Three Card Monte
tattoo fetishism
Ukrainian Easter egg making
.
Victimized by
corrupt policemen
hypocritical clergymen
the longshoreman's union
sinister CIA operatives
white men in SUVs
pharmaceutical companies
capitalism
the military-industrial complex
the very existence of Israel
Harvey Keitel in a cameo role
, our heroine endures repeated
beatings
rapes
forced head-shavings
purple nurples
uncomfortable family dinners
before finally fleeing to the
desert
jungle
mountains
snowy wastelands
ocean floor
, where she is adopted by a group of
spirited Gypsies
quirky circus folk
dour millennium cultists
Rastafarians
snake handlers
nudists
Pygmies (or as they prefer, Twa Peoples)
United Nations goodwill ambassadors
peace-loving Native Americans
nomads attuned to the rhythms of the earth
and experiences love and political awakening with a
kindly
fiery
lean but muscular
dreadlocked
pot-smoking
violinist
painter
Sufi mystic
aid worker
beekeeper
Tibetan monk
deaf-mute
blind beggar
Wal-Mart greeter
suicide bomber
.
Awarded the
Best
Bleakest
Longest
Most Earnest-But-Inept
Least Objectionable
Feature prize at the 2002
Yerevan International
Rotterdam Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered
Ralph Nader
UNICEF Social Justice
Kraft Dinner Invitational
Film Festival, this
breathtaking
heart-rending
well-meaning
never-ending
deeply depressing
movie will change the way you look at
poverty
religious fundamentalism
US foreign policy
the role of women in society
lepers, dwarves, etc.
.
--for Anne R.