The story of the men from the 506 PIR, 101st Airborne, Easy Company
"Ordinary men, an extraordinary story". This sentence summarizes perfectly the D-Day veterans and also the Easy Company veterans and what they have been through in Europe between 1944 and 1945.
Steven Spielberg has always been interested in World War II. For example, some of WW2 films are: 1941, Empire of the Sun. That is why he decided to direct the very realistic film Saving Private Ryan, which tells the story of a platoon searching Private Ryan during the battle of Normandy.
This movie was a huge success around the world. Saving Private Ryan had to be successful so that Band of Brothers could exist.
Thus, there are similarities in terms of direction between Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers with the now famous technique of "shoulder camera" which gives a very realistic impression during the film, including during combat.
But it is mainly its respect for historical details (both the script and the fights) which makes Band of Brothers being one of the best World War II series.
More than 10.000 participants, 500 actors and a budget of more than $120.000.000 were necessary for its creation which made it one of the most expensive series in history.
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film set (which takes place) during the Vietnam War. The plot revolves around two US Army special operations officers, one of whom, Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) of a special operation unit, is sent into the jungle to assassinate the other, the rogue(rebelle) and presumably insane (mad)Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) of Special Forces. The film was produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The script is based on Joseph Conrad's novella (a long short-story)Heart of Darkness. The film became notorious (infamous) in the entertainment press due to its lengthy (rather long) and troubled (full of problems) production, as documented (described) in Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse. Marlon Brando showed up to the set overweight and Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack. The production was also beset by extreme weather that destroyed several expensive sets (décors). In addition, the release date of the film was delayed several times as Coppola struggled to come up with an ending and to edit the millions of feet of footage that he had shot.
All three films condemn war for its bloodshed and the horrors committed on the battlefield for they are all drawn in dark colours such as all shades of gray and black with dark red for AN. The soldiers look/seem small and fragile against the sky whichenhances /underlines / highlights their precarious position.
However SPR and BB salute/ highlight the bonds of friendship created between soldiers during the fights such as brotherhood and help, sometimes heroic/ brave actions done to save a fellow soldier from danger even at the cost of one's own life. The light from the horizon creates an impression of hope in the midst of chaos.
On the other hand the poster of Apocalypse Now, especially the one above, while using the same technique as the other two (the faces of two men at the top against a dark cloudy sky, the dark earth at the bottom and the light coming from the horizon line) conveys a completely different message -- that of madness and evil (we are not sure the men are soldiers or crazy people) drenched in blood and fire (the background is red which underlines the impression of bloodshed -river of blood, and napalm destroying men and Nature in Vietnam) represented by the setting sun over the river.
Aboriginals are Australianindigenous. At the beginning their ancestors came from South-East Asia. Before the Europeans' arrival in Australia, they inhabited the whole Australian continent. There were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aboriginals in this country. There were a lot of tribes ( 500 tribes ). They spoke different languages or dialects from region to region. There were more than hundred languages and dialects.
In each tribe there is a religious leader but no political leader. The tribe's territory was where their ancestors had lived. They thought that their spirits were still there. Religion is very important in the Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal people are very religious and spiritual. They usually believe in different gods. These gods were represented with specific pictures.
For example this picture represents Wandjina who is the cloud and rain spirits. We can see this god mainly in the Kimberley art.
Aboriginals think that all natural objects have a soul. However they do not believe that rocks have a soul except the special rock created by deity in the Creation Period.
The Creation Period or "The Dreamtime" is very crucial in their culture. They think that at the beginning of the world, the earth was a wasteland in the darkness: all the world slept. They believe that the Rainbow Serpent woke up the frogs and when they laughed water covered the earth. With water, trees and grass sprang up. And all animals woke up. Now the Rainbow Serpent represents fertility and abundance.
When the Europeans arrived in Australia, they destroyed the Aboriginal culture and a lot of them died. Now Aboriginals are fewer than 230,000, that is to say 2% of the Australian population.
The Stolen Generation is the name used for the Aboriginal children who were removed from their families by state government agencies from 1869 until 1969. These children were placed in orphanage, internship or white families, so that when they were adults, they would marry white men and white women. Therefore the Aboriginal race would disappear. At least 100 000 children were removed from their families. This situation went on until the years 1970 (Aboriginals are still perceived as second class citizens nowadays). But in 1992, the Australian High court of justice declared that Aboriginals were the first inhabitants of the country-continent. The state government admitted its mistake and apologized in 2008.
I did not know about the Stolen generation, and I have been really surprised that people removed children from their families just because they were half-case. I think "ANTaR" is a useful organization, because it helps many Aboriginals : its goal is to improve justice for Aboriginals and specially to have "white people" respect them.
The Sea of Hands was created in 1997.The first Sea of Hands installation ( Camberra 1997).Over 300.000 people have joined the Sea of Hands.The sea of hands has travelled right around Australia .Many have supported the Sea of hands
The Sea of Hands has been installed in every major city and many regional locations throughout Australia, and continues to gather signatures everywhere it appears.
The Sea of Hands is ANTaR's primary public education initiative and Australia's largest public art installation. The Sea of Hands has been installed in every major city and many regional locations throughout Australia, and continues to gather signatures everywhere it appears.
for the right to be themselves, to enjoy their cultures, languages, laws and traditions;
to have their rights to land and cultural heritage respected and protected.
Since then, over 250,000 Australians have signed their names on one of 120,000 plastic hands that make up the Sea of Hands, to show their support for Native Title and Reconciliation
The hands of the Sea Of Hands show the colors of the Aboriginal flag: black, red and yellow. Black represents their color of skin, red represents Mount Uluru (Ayers Rock) that they adore or the red ground of Australia & yellow represents the sun.
There are some typically Australian animals, for example, the Koala bears, the Kangaroos...
The organisation Antar tries to help Aboriginal people & help everybody to know them & to respect them & their traditions.
The Sea of Hands was originally conceived in 1997 as a creative way of demonstrating opposition to the Federal Government's proposals to amend the Native Title Act to restrict Indigenous
native title rights.
Antar (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) wanted to actively engage people and capture their imaginations in a way that politicians and media could not ignore. Australian Artists Against Racism came up with the idea of recyclable plastic hands in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, planted in a design.
The Sea of Hands was born !
Native Title :
Native title is a property right which reflects a relationship to land which is the very foundation of Indigenous religion, culture and well-being. The non-discriminatory protection of native title is a recognised human right.
Under the Native Title Act 1993, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner is required to:
prepare an annual report to the Attorney-General on the operation of the NTA and its effect on the exercise and enjoyment of human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; and
report, when requested by the Attorney-General, on any other matter relating to the rights of Indigenous people under the NTA.
The objectives of the Commissioner are to provide and promote a human rights perspective on native title; assist in developing more efficient native title processes; and to advocate for the co-existence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous interests in land based on compatible land use.
Plastic hands in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, each one carrying one signature from the Citizen's Statement, were installed in front of Parliament House in Canberra in October 1997, in what was the largest public art installation in Australia. The Sea of Hands has become a symbol of the People's Movement for reconciliation. Wherever possible, the Sea of Hands reproduces designs by a local Indigenous artists.
History of the flag :
The Aboriginal flag is divided into two equal halves. The top is black, the bottom is red and there is a yellow circle in the centre. The black half symbolises Aboriginal people past, present and future. The yellow circle is the sun, the giver and renewer of life. The red half of the flag is the earth. It also represents red ochre symbolising spiritual attachment to the land.
Now a little tourism :
Uluru, also called Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia.
Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site.
Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the area.
It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and former paintings.
You can see why the Aboriginal owners are called the Uluru climbers.
The first Sea of Hands was held on the 12 October 1997. 70,000 coloured plastic hands, each one carrying one signature from the Citizen's Statement, were installed in front of Parliament House in Canberra.
I enjoy admiring those oceans of colorful hands which stretches far and wide forming waves.
If you want to see a video which shows the installation of the plastic handsclick here.
If you want to create your own hands click here and then go on "ADD A HAND".
Show imagination !
RABBIT PROOF FENCE :
In class we saw a film called Rabbit Proof Fence. The director is Phillip Noyce.
The story begins in Western Australia in 1931. It tells the story of Molly 14 years old, Gracie 10 years old and Daisy who is only 8 years old, daughters of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers.
The story begins in the tiny depot of Jigalong in northwestern Australia on the edge of the Gibson Desert.They live with their mothers and grandmother.
The white fathers of the three girls who worked on the long fence have abandoned them and moved on.
In Perth, Mr A.O. Neville, the chief protector of Aborigines is the legal guardian of every Aborigine in the State of Western Australia.White people called them "white-caste". His plan is to married aborigine women to white men in order to eliminated half caste. By this title he has the power to remove any half-caste child from their family from anywhere within the state. This is what he kidnap the 3 girls. He want these children forget their language and customs and become completely assimilated into white culture.
What touched me in this film is the scene showed in this picture. It consists about the separation between the 3 girls and their mothers. It's a terrible thing to be dominated and forced to give up all that is sacred to you.This key element is what make this Australian film such a wonderful spiritual adventure story and one of the best films I have never seen.
To my mind, those 3 girls are very courageous. Moreover they are so cute and charming ! I enjoyed watching this movie even if it was sad because we can really see their conditions of life.The story is based on historically true events.
I hope you see this film because it is a moving and an interesting movie !
TO CONCLUDE :
In the fourth unit, we talked about the Sea of Hands, about 3 films (Apocalypse Now, Saving private Ryan and Band of Brothers which all deal with war) and of course about Rabbit proof fence. All those films refer to tragic and dramatic events in the past.
Some favourite people proverb might be « an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth ». But sometimes revenge is not the best way to sort out of a problem or to do justice. In life we must learn to forgive. In fact, like aboriginal behaviour, people have to turn over a new leaf. But on the other hand it is clear that it is not very easy to forget.
Working on this site was very interesting since I have learnt a lot of information about the Sea of Hands which taught us about a whole new culture. Indeed I had never heard about the history of Aboriginals from Australia before. Besides this kind of work is original and can be beneficial. In fact, we do not usually work on the Internet.
The Sea of Hands was created by ANTaR in 1997. Today, about 300 000 people have joined this solidarity movement, and 120 000 hands have been created.
This artistic event was created to put on an equal footing all the people who live in Australia... But only 300 000 citizens out of the 19 500 000 inhabitants of Australia have signed this petition.
Australia was conquered by The English in 1788. It all began with the discovery of Australia by Captain Arthur Phillip. After that, English people took command on the island.
English people have cultivated and populated this land and they forgot the Natives’ rights on Australian ground. English conquerants tries to abolish aboriginal people by the wash of their blood, with mariage between aboriginals and english people.
However in 1974, The Sea of hands told Australian people that this was not their native country, and that the natives had been forgotten by the settlers.
So I think it's very important to remember that english australian people are strangers on the island and that they have ruin native australian's lifes. The ANTaR movement help aboriginal pepole to make a new life by get a real job and to be respected.
http://seaofhands.antar.org.au/
You can join too ! Come on !
