Waste Land (2010)

• 
  
  July 26, 2011

  PedroPauloA

  What happens in the world's largest trash city will transform you.
  
  Magnificent
  
  A touching documentary that truely depicts a great artist and humanitarian. I loved the movie from start to end and it moved me deeply.
  
  Overall I highly recommend everyone to ... read morewatch this movie, its amazing, and beautiful! Watch it!
  
  Zumbi: "We have to think about the future because I don't want my son to be a picker. Although if he is, I'd be very proud... But I'd rather he be a lawyer to represent the pickers, you know."

  Share This Review
• 
  
  April 14, 2011

  blacksheepboy

  A powerful and extremely moving documentary that delves into the creative process of an artist and shows how art can really change people. The most fascinating though about this involving real story is to see the deep and unexpected relationship that grows between the artist and ... read morethe people that are the subject of his unlike creation.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  February 6, 2011

  5oclockcoffee

  Waste Land is a documentary about the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and his "social work" with workers from the garbage dump Jardim Gramacho. All that poverty is heartbreaking and outrageous in a country with absurd social differences where a few people have a monthly wage that co... read moreuld save lot of families. At the end of the film I could only think how unfair the situation is - Muniz had an amazing and beautiful gesture, but the real changes in the community and their lives were minimal - and felt like that Boris's quote*:
  
  "But what do you do? You read about some massacre in Darfur or some school bus gets blown up, and you go "Oh my God, the horror," and then you turn the page and finish your eggs from the free range chickens. Because what can you do? It's overwhelming!".
  
  Because, what can we do? As the Brazilian filmmaker João Moreira Salles says, it would be an illusion to think that a documentary can change the world and its characters. Vik Muniz did his part and it must be enough.
  
  Other films had already explored this theme like Ilha das Flores (Isle of Flowers, by Jorge Furtado) and Estamira (directed by Macros Prado), both stronger than Waste Land**. This documentary is important to both social and artistic worlds, but it's quite normal as a film. The soundtrack, composed by Mody, sounds superficial and too much melodramatic sometimes. The same happens to some scenes like the one where Vik Muniz, alone in his place, looks to the world globe in his hands with a desolate expression. It's one of those poor scenes where we can almost listen the director saying: take the globe in your hands, look at it, make a sad face, you miss those people, yes, like that, good, that's it . Cut.
  
  
  
  * Whatever Works, by Woody Allen.
  **There's also the documentary Boca de Lixo, directed by Edurado Coutinho, that I haven't seen yet.
  
  
  

  Share This Review
• 
  
  March 13, 2012

  gator681

  As related in the documentary "Waste Land," the best thing that ever happened to artist Vic Muniz was being shot when he was younger.
  
  The pay off allowed him to go to America where he could pursue his dreams of being an artist and has succeeded by using found materials. Now, ... read morehe wants to apply the same approach in returning to his home country of Brazil to create art around the giant garbage dumps in and around Rio de Janeiro, not without a little danger from the nearby favelas. At this point, it is not explained why his wife does not handcuff him to the radiator to prevent him from going.
  
  But what he does find in Jardim Gramacho is a great deal of community and camaraderie amongst the thousands of recyclers, which the women prefer to the alternative of drugs and prostitution. This inspires him to give back to the workers by making portraits(my favorite being the Marat pose), while also giving them the proceeds from the sale.
  
  "Waste Land" is insightful in giving us a close-up of a rarely seen part of Brazil, and at the same time through the art and publicity exposing it to the wealthy citizens of the country. On a general note, it reminds us of how much we throw out on a daily basis and what can be recycled while also on a metaphorical note that no human being is ever disposable. However, I think the documentary errs by bending over backwards in trying to give a positive spin to the workers' lives, despite the dangers and hard and dirty work involved. And Muniz, whose own story takes a back seat, is to be commended for what he does, even as it is only a drop in a very large ocean.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  May 26, 2011

  lesleyanorton

  Enthralling documentary about some recycling workers on the worlds largest landfill and a Brazillian photographer who decides to make art with them and of them. Their jobs are smelly and undervalued, and most live in the onsite shanty town but as one single mother says " It's be... read moretter than being out there, like a lot of people, prostituting yourself."
  
  For the latest update, see http://www.wastelandmovie.com/catadores.html
  
  

  Share This Review
• 
  
  November 18, 2011

  akuhndog

  Last year saw two "Land" documentaries nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards. One was GasLand, and interesting documentary about natural gas drilling and the effects on nearby water supplies and the people affected. Waste Land is quite different. It follows renowne... read mored photographer/artist Vik Muniz, a native of Sao Paolo, Brazil. Muniz came from a poor family and never quit his dream, riding it all the way to a nice studio in Brooklyn. For his next project, Muniz decided he would travel to Rio in Brazil and document Jardim Gramacho, the world's largest landfill.
  
  Once there, he discovers many fascinating people who work there collecting recyclable materials. Slowly the audience and Vik gets to know these people. Why they work there, where they come from, how they are able to sift through trash everyday. We meet Tiao, who is the young president of the organization that protects the landfill workers. He is young and charismatic, making sure that the work of the "pickers", as they are called, does not go for nothing. We meet Zumbi, the man who saves every book he comes across in the piles of rubbish, so that one day he can open a library for the pickers. We meet Suelem, 18 year old mother of two, Isis, and Irma, the cook for the lot. We meet Valter and Magna. Each of these people has a fascinating story as to why they are there and what they do.
  
  The film speaks extremely strongly of the human spirit. These people are extremely proud of their work. Proud that they did not stoop to prostituting themselves to get by, proud that they are retrieving all of these recyclables from the waste land. Their story is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Meanwhile, we realize that this is also the story of Vik and his endeavor to create art by using these people and the trash they spend their lives in. He uses them to help him construct his portraits and takes them away for a time from the dump. This is an interesting move. When at first they are proud of their work, they soon come to the realization that what they do might be below them, and not something they ever want to return to. This may be the only downfall of the film, had they not had a discussion about it in the film. Vik and his collegues sit down to talk about what they are doing and, as Vik says, maybe they are doing them a favor by taking the veil from their eyes and opening up the light of opportunity to them.
  
  Waste Land is a good documentary that does nothing more than tell the stories of a fascinating group of people who work at a trash dump in Brazil. The film would be much stronger if it was about just that, but it also has the story of Vik and his rise to prominence as an artist and his work on this particular project. At the same time it does raise some interesting questions that have to do with art, much like Exit Through the Gift Shop did last year. By the end of the film, I found myself caring deeply about these people because director Lucy Walker did such a great job of painting their stories so intricately, allowing time for each person to seep into the mind of the viewer and take hold. And for that reason, Waste Land is worth checking out, if not just to witness the ability of the human spirit.

  Share This Review
• 
  
  November 7, 2011

  mmeyers21

  This is one of those films that remind us to keep looking for strength everywhere. Instead of just making me angry this film reminded me to question.

  Share This Review

• Vik Muniz
• Fabio Ghivelder
• Sebastiao Carlos Dos Santos
• Jose Carlos da Silva Bala Lopes
• Suelem Pereira Dias
• Isis Rodrigues Garros
• Leide Laurentina da Silva
• Valter Dos Santos
• Magna de Franca Santos

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

• 
  Last Train Home (100%)
• 
  Marwencol (100%)
• 
  The Woodmans (100%)
• 
  Exit Through The Gift Shop (86%)

No quizzes for Waste Land. Want to create one?

• Waste Land (German)
• Waste Land (Australia)
• Waste Land (French)

• agustinlugo
• casagrande
• samanthabl...
• RisingSunce
• VailJoy
• lesleyanorton
• stefannoons
• leaferrer

No recent headlines. Got one?

• 

  Want

  by Kkleckner
  21 Movies
• 

  Documentary

  by topher94certz
  5 Movies
• 

  Want to see

  by lucascondon1
  7 Movies
• 

  1

  by patricryan
  9 Movies
• 

  Want to Watch

  by khsubscribe
  44 Movies

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?