?Journey always change the people involved
Journey is a movement from one place to another. Journeys have many different obstacles and challenges. Journey can either be physical, inner, imaginative and emotional. Most journeys have a purpose. The concept has been described by composers in the text ‘beneath clouds’, directed by Ivan Sen and ‘journey to freedom’, a recount by Hai Van Nguyen. In beneath clouds, Ivan Sen examines the physical and inner journey of the two main characters Lena and Vaughn. Ivan sen brings out the conflict between aboriginal and white people, as well as problems affecting both communities.
In journey to freedom’, the narrator shows the different experiences and conflicts of her family, who fled from Vietnam on fishing boat in hopes for a better future. The narrator links her experiences to the situation in Australia. Both texts show the different aspects of journey through different film techniques, language, settings, symbols and dialogue. Both characters in beneath clouds are aboriginal descent and Lena is fair-skinned Australian girl who lives with her aboriginal mother and brother in a small country town.
She feels that there are no life choices for her there, other than teenage pregnancy and unemployment. Vaughn is an angry aboriginal teenage boy who’s living in a minimum-security prison in a western NSW. Vaughn is hardened by his experience of the world. Vaughn feels that as an aboriginal young person, he has been victimised by white Australians. They meet on the road to Sydney. The journey brings them together. They are both searching for a purpose in life and trying to find a sense of belonging.
In journey to freedom the concept of physical and inner journey, is shown through the challenges and hardships the family had to face their journey to freedom. They travelled from Vietnam to Malaysia in hopes for a better future, and ended up in a refugee camp, where they faced many challenges till eventually they were allowed in Australia. The texts shows how the journey wasn’t easy, were difficult and choices had to be made. Their journey was challenging and fear affected their attitudes with a new feeling of hope when a new life in their dream country was offered. These experiences made the way for her to develop a new attitude and compassion for the refugees in Australia. The hardships allowed her to maintain her understanding of the world.
The settings in beneath clouds, the physical environment changes to reflect the changing emotions of the characters. Their journey takes them through different settings – from the desert and dry lands to train trucks and cities. The settings changed constantly to reflect the changing emotions of the characters. The dead butterfly symbolises the worthless of her life, and her neat room shows what Lena is searching for. In journey to freedom, a recount gives a detailed series of events explained to show the experience of her family during their journey. The reader is able to imagine and develop an understanding and obstacles written by the narrator. It has enhanced our understanding of the world around them as well as develops an awareness of the current problems.
Journey change the people involved as seen in the characters of the two texts. In beneath clouds, the journey of Lena and Vaughn is a journey to get accepted in their community/society. Lie is a journey that we all make and it could be a search for love or freedom as in journey to freedom. Along the way life is a journey filled with decisions and choices. Lena and Vaughn had an aim in their physical and inner journey, Lena outgrows her hatred towards aboriginals and Vaughn has a better understanding of the world and his attitude towards all white people changes. The narrator in journey to freedom gets what she wanted after she was granted entre in Australia. Her journey has altered her perceptions of the world around them. To conclude, through a variety of film techniques and languages, the composers of the two texts have shown how journey always change the people involved.
