Brief movie review: The General (1998)

A modern movie, shot for the wide screen, in black and white.  That was enough to get my attention. 

A true story about Martin Cahill, an Irish criminal who hated the Church, the IRA and the police equally -- grew up in the slums, and evaded all his enemies for a rich and joyful and brutal life.

The film was directed by Boorman, who also did Deliverance.  Like Deliverance, this one had Jon Voight in it, as the arch-rival police chief who spent his career trying to "get" the  "General".   Despite its brutality, it was funny in places, and mesmerizing throughout.

Other than the Innuit and the Native Indians, everyone in Canada is an immigrant.  Someone in every family, some number of years ago, left the familiar, and travelled -- usually thousands of miles -- to a new country.  For many, they didn't speak the language.  For some, they were evicted from the homes and their countries, and came here because Canada would have them.   And besides, we're so close to the United States, which they all know is rich and modern.    Perhaps that, too, has always been true, or at least for two hundred years or so.

Imagine.  I've been trying to imagine. My grandparents came from the Pale -- that part of the world that was either Polish or Russian, depending what year it was.  The village was Ostropol.  My grandfather was brought over by his uncle, along with some other cousins and some siblings.  It was 1900 or so.   Maybe earlier. 

I would think that a small town in Quebec at the turn of the 19th century wasn't as far a reach from Ostropol as Ottawa is from rural Kosovo at the turn of the 20th century.  On the other hand, there was no government assistance at the time -- and probably not as many demands for paperwork and more paperwork from families in which only the children are literate in their own language, and only two of the children have any understanding of English at all.

As we visited the Gashi's tonight, I was struck by their courage.   Actually, I was blown away by their courage.  They have left their country, been separated from their father/husband, spent time in a refugee camp in Macedonia, and then two months on a military base in Canada.  Now they are "home", and they are turning it into home already. 

The tea kettle made it to Canada from Macedonia; the tea glasses were not so lucky, but they've been replaced at last.  The hospitality flows now, with the tea, in its perfect glasses.  Hanuche has been crocheting like a madwoman, and the couch is adorned with her handiwork, already looking homey with three brightly coloured cushions.  The television competes with the Albanian and Turkish music: television for the eyes; the boom box for the ears.  Two senses.  Two cultures.

As we rifle through their documents, finding what we need to ensure that they get benefits that will be deducted from their monthly income (whether they've applied for the benefits or not), and finding what we need to get them health insurance, the family is stoic.  They're not used to being "helpless"; they're not accustomed to other people doing things for them. And they're certainly not accustomed to being strangers in a foreign land into which they are expected to "settle".

Still, they smile; the children laugh and run and play.  The elder daughters made tea; mother crochets. The older boys tend to our every need, ensuring that all papers are brought to us promptly.  And they are kind, cheerful, and welcoming throughout. 

I want their courage.  I want their strength.  I want to be so secure in my family and the future that I could be gracious as others took charge of my life, apparently in a benign way, but in foreign ways nonetheless.  And I want the immigrants who came before me to Canada that I appreciate their courage too.  My way has been made easier and richer because of theirs.

*****

Comp update:  I actually started reading in earnest yesterday.  I have been working on public choice theory, the one I theoretically took last, in the spring semester.  If I ever read these articles, I clearly didn't take in what I was reading.  I'm actually finding this stuff interesting! Now I'm getting really nervous!

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