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The opening evening was a humble affair, held in an intimate room. The hall outside was decked with charity stalls and littered with leaflets – not everyone wants to rule the world, but apparently we all want to change it. The casual ambience radiated by the relaxed crowd was given a touch of class with a magnificent performance from soprano Heather Keens. Effortlessly she filled the air with a rendition of ‘Mimi’ from La Bohime, a song about a poor French girl scraping a living from making paper flowers.
Following the screening (you can read our review by clicking here), Simoe and his interpreter joined us for a brief Q&A session to reflect on attitudes to homelessness, and the truth that inspired his documentary…
What inspired you to start making the film?
Ten years ago, I noticed more and more people on the street - unemployed people. More people with family problems; problems with work; drink problems that took them to the street. That’s when I started to realise what’s happening. So, I went onto the streets with NGOs to understand their work. I got a camera, a mic, and after that I tried to raise some funds. Three years ago I got some money and tried to start the project. By coincidence, I finished it in 2010, the European year for poverty.
Can you tell us what you mean by the European year of poverty - is it part of this 2015 goal? How do you think it’s going?
The poverty year really helps raise attention and raise money. The organisers bought the first DVDs of Paths Of Pain so they can distribute them all over the country, and to social centres so that they can teach people (about other) people’s reality. That helped our team’s problem (with funding). I think that without help like this, I will go back to Portugal and in three years’ time, five years’ time, and there will be more and more people on the streets.
What would you say is the reaction of the Portuguese government over time to poverty? Is it improving; is it getting worse over time, or does it depend on who is on the streets? And how is the economic situation impacting their attitude?
There has been no change, and there is no difference between left and right. They try to do what they can with their resources. People think they don’t care, but the biggest problem is us: society. We don’t look for these people; we avoid them, we try not to look at them. It isn’t until we read about it or see a really good film about it that we realise this is happening - this is a reality.
They (the homeless) are asking that we give them work or help; we cannot expect much from the government, because if they don’t have people employed or in work, then how can they help the other people who are living in the street? How can they change? We cannot gain anything from them.
Could you please tell us how you got the intimacy from the people involved?
It’s really our profession to try to take people’s emotions (and put it on film). It’s really part of our job. We always tell the truth about everything. We don’t lie or keep anything hidden, and people are always surprised. We have kept in touch with those people (in the film); they have become close to me and I am involved. I didn’t do anything to create a cold relationship (with them), and they then deliver themselves to the camera - they open themselves to us. But people have to realise that they are also intelligent, and opportunists, and they really wanted to get themselves help - they wanted to take the opportunity of the project, to get something from it. They really can achieve something from this: three of the characters have already found a home after this project.
How effective do you think film and documentary is in encouraging real change in social problems?
I believe that it helps: that’s what I do. I think that documentary can show more reality than fiction. There are more and more filmmakers, especially young ones, who are concerned with showing people the social problems and realities - and not the good ones. I think that cinema is a really good resource. RS
Film: Paths Of Pain
Director: Rui Simoes
Starring: Carlos Ferruira, Manuel Vicente, Fernando Maedais
Genre: Documentary
Country: Portugal
This film was screened at the Unchosen Film Festival on 19th October 2010. The event “raises awareness of human trafficking through the media of film.”
Addiction and poverty pave the Paths of Pain in documentary connoisseur Rui Simoes’ latest revelation. Appropriately completed in time for the EU’s proclaimed Year For Combating Poverty And Social Exclusion, Paths Of Pain covers three years in the life of the homeless.
Filmed in Simoes’ homeland of Portugal, a cast of alcoholics and drug addicts show film crew and audiences around the destitute world of the poor. They incessantly talk us through their lifestyles, exposing snippets of their past and discussing their philosophy on life. Simoes and friends passively remain on the other side of the lens, simply recording their findings.
Sadly, the majority of personalities appear to have resigned themselves to park benches and shop doorways. One or two have found enough motivation - or luck - to take shelter in hostels. But Helena breaks the mould completely in her seemingly endless strive to better herself. Primarily, her priority lies with art. Whilst the others are fretting over their next bottle of wine, she is searching for somewhere she can express herself with paint and a pad. As one of the more coherent interviewees, she tells us how she initially chose poverty over money, in a dialogue that tragically seems tailored to convince herself rather than us. Bitterly, she describes how she thought that a lifestyle void of fortune would bring her closer to the warmth of humanity. Then she admits her mistake...
Apart from occasional flashy editing, the one hint of artificiality in the entire documentary lies with an attempt at hope. Simoes reports local efforts to help those on the street, following vans of volunteers who clean and dress the wounds of the homeless. Strangely, they choose to work at night beneath street lamps and headlights, adding to the sense of uneasiness established by the rest of the film. Narrative may not influence documentary as much as fiction, but even so, these scenes simply do not fit and feel like an afterthought.
Although Paths Of Pain was recorded in and influenced by Portuguese society, it essentially represents any city in any country. Its theme is universal and we are all aware of it - which is why the documentary lacks originality. Shots of streets piled with make-shift beds, of weary bodies sifting through rubbish, and of dirt encrusted hands held out empty and needy introduce the film, and audiences immediately know what to expect. There are no surprises, and there is little in the way of enlightenment. It’s the same old message: homelessness is bad and we need to do something about it.
By forming relationships with each of the cast, Simoes no doubt aimed to give this message a personal twist. The openness of the interviewees is indeed remarkable, but to the point of grotesque. The hand-held camera captures it all, as one character repulsively dislodges the tar in his throat, regurgitating it onto the floor of his shabby shell of a home. Another indifferently confesses to molesting prostitutes. Dignity has no place in Paths Of Pain, and the cast make no attempt to change that.
Equally, it would seem that most of them make no attempt to change their situation. Save Helena, the lasting impression is that the characters have chosen their lifestyle. They have allowed themselves to fall into it, and now they find excuses to avoid working their way out. Their lazy vulgarity endear them to no-one and Simoes’ mission falls flat. His characters don’t help themselves so why should we? Apparently, since completion, good has come of his project, and several interviewees have taken advantage of the opportunity presented by Simoes’ publicity. This single element of surprise - the one twist that goes unpredicted by audiences - is completely missed in the film, and Simoes misses a vital point of interest for viewers. Not even a post-credit update appears.
On occasion, the camera does capture genuinely touching moments. They are genuine because they are free from the confines and clutter of intoxicated ramblings. They are touching because finally a true sense of emotion and depth is offered to the viewer. The trembling hands of Manuel as he feeds himself at his sister’s table miserably verify his addiction; the passing moment of calm that passes over Carlos’s face as he dances with a woman. The tears shed at a church service in response to the priest’s words, and the pain that creeps from the verses of a song. Whilst some of the characters are unguarded and almost boastful about their condition and their addictions, there are those that deny it, and that is touching, too. These humbling flashes of sincerity refreshingly punctuate the film, but not enough.
Of course, Paths Of Pain gets you discussing the issue of poverty, but not for anywhere near as long as it takes to raise it. There is nothing in the documentary to motivate audiences into action, and consequent reflections on the homeless are unlikely to be favourable.
Kudos should go to Simoes and his crew for the effort put into the film - who wants to spend three years following grimy addicts through dingy alleys? But, essentially, Paths Of Pain is one long interview with an alcoholic and his friends: tedious and fragmented. RS
