Live from Sundance, Day 3a

Geez, it's late on Day 4 and I'm still talking Day 3?

Monday's movie-watching began with a 9am showing at the Park City Library. The feature was preceded by a short from Ireland, introduced by the fine Irish lad that produced, created, and directed "A Film from My Parish - 6 Farms". It was a composition of digital stills, which is to say, he took pictures and linked them together to create his imagery. It wasn't a still picture with a voice over -- it was an animated sequence of images. A walk down a lane was created by taking a picture, stepping two inches forward, taking another picture, and so on. Ostensibly about old Irish handmade furniture in the farmhouses around County Tipperary, it became a visit with the farmers, the history, and the rich palette of the land. The director, Tony Donoghue, showed us the camera hanging around his neck like a tourist and said, "This is all you need." He wore out two such cameras taking 50,000 images, and built an absolutely captivating seven minutes in an Irish heaven.

And then, the feature: a documentary about an old Korean farmer and his faithful 40-year old ox called "Old Partner". This farmer and his wife raised nine children, season after season in the rice paddies and chili fields, always accompanied by this ox. It hauled their carts, ploughs, and harvests -- every day, in a season-driven pattern of service. The difficult rural life showed on their bent limbs, the tired eyes, the difficult steps, the exhaustion of their daily routine -- the farmer, his wife, and the ox too. So many years together created a bond, a partnership, and a mutual reliance that transcended the role of mere livestock. The farmer rises every morning to cook his ox a special cattle gruel, and you can see his eyes cut to alert status when hearing his lowing. Not to ruin it for you, but the ox dies -- and the taciturn farmer, his lined face a legacy of his labors, barely acknowledges it. In his gnarled hands, however, is the bell that the ox wore for all those years. Perfect.

Anatole France wrote, "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." That's tagged with the movie, and may or may not be true. All I can say is that I have an old dog that has hauled his aching legs up to walk and meet me at the door every time I walk through it, and when the day comes that he is no longer there, a piece of me will be pass with him.