The Gleaners and I

The Gleaners and I truly is a must-see documentary, reminding me of both a Food Network TV show and something you would see on the Travel Channel. After having watched it, I realized that no matter how bad we believe things can get sometimes, there is always someone out there who is in a worse situation. Dire straits forced gleaners to glean for potatoes, grapes, bread, meat and even furniture and appliances. The people gleaning for potatoes would find some that were shaped like hearts and they were so excited to find them. This was heartwarming and comical at the same time. Seeing their faces light up at finding this food made me realize how much I appreciate life and the things I have even more. What mundane a chore of going to the grocery store might be for you and me would be a delightful luxury to these gleaners. In one scene, several chefs created gourmet delicacies out of foods they had gleaned. This scene to me also echoed a phrase later spoken by another man in the film: “I make sentences out of things” and his things were different objects he had used to create a monument. These gleaners in the film were making sentences out of things; they were making the most out of what little they had.