Darwin - no services ahead

Let me start today by wishing you a belated Happy Thanksgiving.

Hope you and yours had a lovely day.

All of the films I seem to be watching lately are about America and American culture.

 After the grimness of The Bling Ring and it's excessive consumption, I watched the award winning documentary Darwin which was the complete polar opposite in almost every way.

This a quiet  respectful  film about people living almost on the margins of society ,with very little material advantage yet who treasure their strange surroundings!

Far from civilistation, this town of less than 35 souls, appreciates the unique chance to live somewhere they feel accepted for "who they are now".

They all "have stuff in their past"

It takes special kind of person to appreciate a place like Dariwn as giving them "a start over"

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK4HW-raJEU] 

 Darwin is a documentary film about an isolated community at the end of a weathered road in Death Valley, California.

Propelled from society by tragic turns, the people of Darwin (population 35) must now find ways to coexist in a place without a government, a church, jobs, or children.

The near-ghost town's survival depends on a fragile, gravity-fed waterline that descends from the mountains where top secret weapons are being tested. One "accidental" drop of a bomb, they half-joke, could wipe out their entire town...

The characters in this film have stayed with me long after the credits rolled and made me think about the hectic urban life that I lead.

Could I survive in such a place, I honestly don't think that I could!!!

Monty - The salty old miner mysteriously bound to Darwin since the 1950's. With the help of his firecracker wife, Nancy, he emerges from a violent history to find the artist within. 

Susan - The postmaster. Her hippie idealism and fierce humor are shaken by a tragic estrangement that unexpectedly bonds her with other Darwin residents. The only person in Darwin with a real job!

 Hank and Connie - Turning their backs on troubled pasts, they embrace Darwin’s peace and quiet, find a new religion and spread the word that Darwin is "just an everyday town now." 

Together with their fellow outsiders, they tell the story of a uniquely American place and yet a place that is unique even within America

 Darwin, like many thousands of towns in late-19th-century USA, sprung up on the back of a lucky strike, in this case, of silver. The town became derelict just four years from its settlement in 1878, as prospectors leapt on to the next lucky strike. It was revived in the early 20th century as copper became a commodity but today the miners are all long gone ( with the exception of Monty!!!)

 

 Catch the film if you can and be sure to try and head over to the site and find out a little bit more.

 Queen Marie

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