Blood Brother

     In some ways, I feel that this movie is similar to The Man Who Planted Trees. It is a story told from a third person's perspective about a simple man who is greatly impacting lives while more or less going unappreciated for it, but what makes Blood Brother more impactful is that it's actually real. One thing I will say about the movie that I didn't like though was the note that it ended on. Just as they say in the movie itself, people always like stories to end happily, but that's rarely how it goes in real life; even less so in in the world that Rocky is living in, and yet they just couldn't resist ending on a happy note in this film...Don't get me wrong it's certainly not like I wished Surya had died. FAR FROM IT, these are real people we are talking about here; not just characters in a film! But the unfortunate truth is that his recovery is only a reprieve from the inevitable. HIV has no cure and it just feels unjust to me for the movie to simply gloss over this fact. That being said, I really liked how they used the story about the cat at the beginning as foreshadowing. That was also a well animated sequence, just say'n. I really don't want to go too far into an analysis of that sort for this film though. I feel like going into a discussion about artistic technique in a film with such an all-too-real message is not entirely appropriate.
     It's always humbling to watch films with subject matter like this. It makes you ashamed that you ever thought you had your own problems. To watch Rocky as he pours out his heart and soul to these kids and treats them as equals when no one else will is truly inspiring. I honestly don't think I have it me to do that kind of work, and that saddens me, but let's not forget that this story would not have been possible without the help of film-makers like us. Our job is important too, and we should not feel like lesser people for having a different calling.