Proof of Life, Man on Fire and Cronicas, Gates of Splendor, The Motorcycle Diaries, Luzuriags-Ratas, Ratones y Rateros, Entre Marx Y Una Mujer Desnuda

"Each of the films on this lists are compelling stories in their own right. At the Gates of Splendor has now been remade into a feature film entitled The End of the Spear-I suppose we all want to have the ultimate water cooler story to tell. And as exotic as they seem these film are not typical Latin American stories either. But rather tales of transformations that take place in the human heart. I can only tell you from personal experience that Ecuador is a place where many things challenge your way of seeing. Too much so sometimes and you have to look away for awhile. The ultimate conspiracy.

Why this is so is a profound question. And I do not know nor can I express exactly why but these films say a lot about this condition. There are others like the Motorcycle Diaries and Ratones y Rateros and Luzuriagas magic realist masterpiece "Entre Marx y una Mujer Desnuda" that also represent a growing Latin cinema all of which in this list touch on Ecuador. Even 'the diaries" since Che lived in Ecuador in the coastal city of Guayaquil for a decade. One more such story from the soul of that undiscovered continent.

I guess that is part of fate in Latin America-not to be too melodramatic here and I am no expert on the subject but something of the character of Latin American is always a little hidden or submerged. It is our preparation to respond when it reveals itself that shapes our experience of it that is itself the soul of the matter.-Terry

"Proof of life is about identity. During my employment in Ecuador a film was shot entirely on location in Ecuador starring Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. It was based on the real life stories of people who worked with companies in Columbia and Ecuador based in part on their acounts in the book "Adventures in the Ransom Trade" During that time the Canadian Ambassador was setting up the Canadian-Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce of Quito where I met some of the executives of one of the companies whose engineers are portrayed in the fictionalized version in the movie. I lived through the period in which the events in this movies are portrayed. And also relived in an almost surreal way those events when I met Jim a production assistant for the shoot at the Quito airport. He was delivering the film back to Miami. The experiences portrayed in the film are a real fact of life in Latin America. Made so by the fact that knowledge of these events are suppressed by the media.

This theme- namely that corruption and violence are the wicked stepchildren of silence, conspiracy, secrecy and a lack of press freedom was a theme elaborated on later in the visually stunning film "Man on Fire". Denzel Washinton plays a Catcher in the Rye type of character who goes too far. Each of these films have excellent companion multimedia presentations to support the films . To view click on the images. You must wait for trailers for Man on Fire to download themselves after clicking on the green screen then they play themselves. Stick to the smaller ones and it takes a few minutes otherwise they won't run properly. I even used some clips from Proof of Life in my ESL class for a lesson on negotiation. In the middle of the world nothing is for real sometimes."

Cronicas also filmed entirely in Ecuador is a disturbing film with a disturbing message that also has a companion site. This time it is about the opposites about what happens when the media takes its influence too far and starts to play God.

Are things really all that different in the middle of the world?

Fractal image of water going down the drain

"NASA is run by men with Newtonian goals"-McLuhan

"At the equator water flows the opposite way. Satelites face up instead of at an angle. But is life really different there? Arthur C. Clarke wrote a sequel to 2001 a space odyssey in which he postulates the need to build a space elevator as a away to colonize space in a more economical way than we currently approach outer space with rocket propulsion today.

Clarke says that the materials (high tension carbon fibre ropes are available now and that this would involve relay stations for the elevator that would be anchored at the equator. Of course the debate over the need for space colonization goes on. And as time moves on interest seems to be waning for manned space colonies.

Especially when we have so much poverty right here on earth. Cost benefit analysis probably shows that deep space explorers teach us more about the universe. However some scientists feel that such a venture is exactly what the world needs to give us a common sense of purpose to help us break out of the rich get richer poor get poorer world pyramid of human existence we now live with in our current habitat and environment namely planet earth. Very ambitious indeed. Hmm... maybe life in the middle of the world could be different." Terry

Space Elevator-Anchored on the Equator

Jupiter viewed from the Moon Titan