FILMS, CONTINUED
UNDER THE SHADOW (2016) D- Babak Anvari
A young woman and her child live in an apartment in Tehran, in the depths of the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s. Her husband, who is working away from the city, wants them to move, especially since the Iraqis have announced their intention to start attacking it with guided missiles. Then a missile does indeed strike their block, though fortunately without exploding. But then strange, supernatural things start happening which have nothing to do with the Sunni/Shia conflict.
A neighbour is convinced a “Djinn” is at work in their apartment block, a kind of evil spirit which is given authenticity by being mentioned in the Koran. But our heroine builds her life on logic, not superstition, and she refuses to buy it. Until, that is, she starts seeing things that threaten to demolish her entire belief system...
A joint British/Iranian production, this film was highly praised on its release, with its high professional standards and powerful depictions of the horror lying beneath the highly ordered veneer of Iranian society. Gripping stuff, and be warned, very scary.
LOVING VINCENT (2017) W/D- Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman
A young man is given the task of delivering one of the last letters Vincent Van Gogh wrote before his untimely death. Initially reluctant to carry out this onerous task (he’d rather get pissed on absinthe and screw around), eventually he becomes absorbed in the story of the late scribe. Did he really kill himself, was it a tragic accident or even... murder? The young man takes it upon himself to investigate further...
Using a revolutionary animation technique involving 115 animators (mostly Polish) working on 65,000 separate images, the whole film resemble the Great one’s paintings. Consequently, this film is visually stunning. For someone like me, for whom the work of Van Gogh is very close to their hearts, some scenes are moving to the point of tears. That said, the film is ultimately disappointing. The plot has various holes, and the “acting” if that is the word, leaves something to be desired. Despite this, the images linger long in the memory.
In conclusion, I think I have to say that if, like me, you love Vincent, you will want to see this.
Monday, 30 October 2017
October 2017 media review part 2
FILMS
DIE NIBERLUNGEN (1924) D- Fritz Lang
A young man is blessed by the Gods with invulnerability, except (there’s always an “except”, right?) for one little area on his body. As long as he keeps that secret, he’ll be fine. He falls in love with the daughter of the king, who returns his love with interest. But other high ranking courtiers aren’t best pleased by the match...
It’s hard to know how much to reveal of the rather labyrinthine plot, which may in any event already be known to you. It is, after all, the plot of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Germany’s most enduring myth. Suffice it to say that over the course of nearly five hours Lang produces one of the greatest masterpieces of the silent era. Despite its length the time rips past as one great crisis after another develops and is then resolved, often in the most unpredictable manner. The cinematography is extraordinary, the acting exemplary and the whole experience, sublime.
SILENCE (2016) D- Martin Scorsese
A Jesuit missionary (Adam Driver) makes the brave, if foolhardy decision to convert medieval Japanese society to the way of the Lord. The authorities quickly apprehend him and insist he converts to their faith. An epic battle ensues. Will he give in, or hold out, even though his converts are horribly executed before his eyes? And what of another priest (Liam Neeson) who preceded him? Has he renounced his faith and embraced Buddhism? Or held out against all the torture?
Watch and find out.
Scorsese, a devout catholic himself, had apparently been trying to make this film for years despite the naysayers who said it would never work, especially on this scale (it’s over three hours long). But he persisted, and the result is absorbing; highly atmospheric, deeply troubling and sometimes (as if often the case with this director) graphically horrific.
THE SETUP (1949) D- Robert Wise
A boxer (a terrific Robert Ryan in one of his strongest roles) in the twilight of his career is put up against an up-and-coming fighter who is an unknown quantity. The younger man is favoured by a local gangland boss who bribes Ryan’s manager to persuade him to take a fall. The manager is so convinced Ryan will lose he doesn’t bother telling him about the deal. And when the fight gets under way and it becomes clear Ryan is trying his hardest to win, the gangland boss is not best pleased...
One of my perennial criticisms of movies, especially in the last few years, is that they’re too long. Silence (see above) is at least half an hour too long; indeed my wife thought a good hour could have been shaved off it. But here, in just 73 minutes, Robert Wise has been able to create a classic of film noir, tightly directed, superbly lit and featuring riveting performances from all the players involved, especially Ryan, who here turns in what he thought was one of his best performances on screen. Terrific stuff. Don’t miss it.
THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER (2016) D- Brody Corbet
France, 1919. The great powers are thrashing out the terms of the Versailles Treaty, and an American diplomat and his family are holed up in a requisitioned chateau while the discussions are taking place. But his son is causing at least as much trouble for him as the protracted negotiations...
This young man is not a happy bunny. He hurls rocks at delegates emerging from church, throws tantrums at dinner parties and generally threatens to destroy the calm home life of the diplomat and his family. A battle of wills develops, and as anyone who has children will confirm, these usually end in tears all round.
Although it is never made clear, I think the idea is that this young man will go on to become some sort of charismatic fascist leader one day. In a way this is peripheral to the main story, which is: what is wrong with this troubled little boy, who on the surface is very easy to dislike, and what will happen next? What emerges is a fascinating piece of cinema, well acted and with a brilliant soundtrack to go with its dark themes of power and family disharmony. Intriguing...
DIE NIBERLUNGEN (1924) D- Fritz Lang
A young man is blessed by the Gods with invulnerability, except (there’s always an “except”, right?) for one little area on his body. As long as he keeps that secret, he’ll be fine. He falls in love with the daughter of the king, who returns his love with interest. But other high ranking courtiers aren’t best pleased by the match...
It’s hard to know how much to reveal of the rather labyrinthine plot, which may in any event already be known to you. It is, after all, the plot of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Germany’s most enduring myth. Suffice it to say that over the course of nearly five hours Lang produces one of the greatest masterpieces of the silent era. Despite its length the time rips past as one great crisis after another develops and is then resolved, often in the most unpredictable manner. The cinematography is extraordinary, the acting exemplary and the whole experience, sublime.
SILENCE (2016) D- Martin Scorsese
A Jesuit missionary (Adam Driver) makes the brave, if foolhardy decision to convert medieval Japanese society to the way of the Lord. The authorities quickly apprehend him and insist he converts to their faith. An epic battle ensues. Will he give in, or hold out, even though his converts are horribly executed before his eyes? And what of another priest (Liam Neeson) who preceded him? Has he renounced his faith and embraced Buddhism? Or held out against all the torture?
Watch and find out.
Scorsese, a devout catholic himself, had apparently been trying to make this film for years despite the naysayers who said it would never work, especially on this scale (it’s over three hours long). But he persisted, and the result is absorbing; highly atmospheric, deeply troubling and sometimes (as if often the case with this director) graphically horrific.
THE SETUP (1949) D- Robert Wise
A boxer (a terrific Robert Ryan in one of his strongest roles) in the twilight of his career is put up against an up-and-coming fighter who is an unknown quantity. The younger man is favoured by a local gangland boss who bribes Ryan’s manager to persuade him to take a fall. The manager is so convinced Ryan will lose he doesn’t bother telling him about the deal. And when the fight gets under way and it becomes clear Ryan is trying his hardest to win, the gangland boss is not best pleased...
One of my perennial criticisms of movies, especially in the last few years, is that they’re too long. Silence (see above) is at least half an hour too long; indeed my wife thought a good hour could have been shaved off it. But here, in just 73 minutes, Robert Wise has been able to create a classic of film noir, tightly directed, superbly lit and featuring riveting performances from all the players involved, especially Ryan, who here turns in what he thought was one of his best performances on screen. Terrific stuff. Don’t miss it.
THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER (2016) D- Brody Corbet
France, 1919. The great powers are thrashing out the terms of the Versailles Treaty, and an American diplomat and his family are holed up in a requisitioned chateau while the discussions are taking place. But his son is causing at least as much trouble for him as the protracted negotiations...
This young man is not a happy bunny. He hurls rocks at delegates emerging from church, throws tantrums at dinner parties and generally threatens to destroy the calm home life of the diplomat and his family. A battle of wills develops, and as anyone who has children will confirm, these usually end in tears all round.
Although it is never made clear, I think the idea is that this young man will go on to become some sort of charismatic fascist leader one day. In a way this is peripheral to the main story, which is: what is wrong with this troubled little boy, who on the surface is very easy to dislike, and what will happen next? What emerges is a fascinating piece of cinema, well acted and with a brilliant soundtrack to go with its dark themes of power and family disharmony. Intriguing...
October 2017 media review part 1
BOOKS
FRANK SINATRA HAS A COLD, AND OTHER STORIES, by Gay Talese
Want to spend some quality time with one of the world’s most iconic entertainers? Accompany Mohammed Ali on his trip to Cuba to meet Fidel Castro? Or even get inside the head of “Mr Bad News”, the man who compiles obituaries for The New York Times? Then read on...
From humble beginnings in New York’s Little Italy, Gay Talese went on to be a revered journalist, and then to become one of the most acclaimed “creative nonfiction” writers in the world. His methods are simple. He obtains permisssion (just how is hard to understand sometimes, in view of his legendary candour) to hang around his subject for a few days, weeks or even months, before distilling their lives into a straightforward, no-nonsense analysis which is many things, but above all human.
Concentrating as much on tiny detail as the bigger picture, Talese creates sublime little pieces of literature that make you marvel, and wonder: how did he do that? And how did they let him?
Marvellous.
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, by Kazuo Ishiguro
A butler to a grand house, approaching retirement, reflects on his lengthy career as he takes a road trip to the West Country to re-connect with a former colleague. His former employer, Lord Darlington, has died, and the great house has been purchased by a nouveau riche American. On the surface not much has changed: the new owner has kept him on as butler, so his future is secured. But as he makes his leisurely way through the English countryside, it is not the future that is preoccupying him, but the past...
Ishiguro, who has just won the Nobel Prize for literature, is Japanese by birth but has spent nearly all his life in Britain, which is what qualifies him to speak of his subject; the workings of the nobility and their homes as well as what goes on inside them with such authority.
Some years ago I saw the very fine film of this book, starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and Edward Fox and felt I didn’t need to read the book. Big mistake. Although the film is a faithful adaptation, neglecting the book would be a crime against fine literature. Don’t commit the same felony. Immaculately constructed, with a deeply moving core, this book is wonderful.
THE BLUE TOUCH PAPER, by David Hare
Being the life and times of one of Britain’s most eminent playwrights, by the man himself.
Raised in lower middle class gentility in 1950s Bexhill, he quickly showed himself to be something out of the norm. He won a scholarship to read English at Jesus, secured a first and then met a series of very clever people who encouraged him to involve himself in the theatre, first directing and then writing. The rest, as they say, is history. His first big success was Slag, which caused a storm when it was produced in the West End. Ever since he been writing plays which critique British society in a savage, insightful but always humorous style. And what especially marked him out was his creating strong roles for women, a famously neglected area for British playwrights at the time.
This book ends around 1979, with the rise of Thatcherism, so we do not hear how he was awarded a knighthood in 1998 for his services to theatre, or how he squared accepting the honour with his long history of subverting the establishment.
“He bit the hand that fed him” you could say, “But he never bit it off”. Is that cruel? I’ve been taking pops at the status quo all my life. Would I accept an honour in the highly unlikely event I were to be offered one? It is perhaps for the best I will never be faced with such a decision...
Please see next blogs for film reviews.
FRANK SINATRA HAS A COLD, AND OTHER STORIES, by Gay Talese
Want to spend some quality time with one of the world’s most iconic entertainers? Accompany Mohammed Ali on his trip to Cuba to meet Fidel Castro? Or even get inside the head of “Mr Bad News”, the man who compiles obituaries for The New York Times? Then read on...
From humble beginnings in New York’s Little Italy, Gay Talese went on to be a revered journalist, and then to become one of the most acclaimed “creative nonfiction” writers in the world. His methods are simple. He obtains permisssion (just how is hard to understand sometimes, in view of his legendary candour) to hang around his subject for a few days, weeks or even months, before distilling their lives into a straightforward, no-nonsense analysis which is many things, but above all human.
Concentrating as much on tiny detail as the bigger picture, Talese creates sublime little pieces of literature that make you marvel, and wonder: how did he do that? And how did they let him?
Marvellous.
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, by Kazuo Ishiguro
A butler to a grand house, approaching retirement, reflects on his lengthy career as he takes a road trip to the West Country to re-connect with a former colleague. His former employer, Lord Darlington, has died, and the great house has been purchased by a nouveau riche American. On the surface not much has changed: the new owner has kept him on as butler, so his future is secured. But as he makes his leisurely way through the English countryside, it is not the future that is preoccupying him, but the past...
Ishiguro, who has just won the Nobel Prize for literature, is Japanese by birth but has spent nearly all his life in Britain, which is what qualifies him to speak of his subject; the workings of the nobility and their homes as well as what goes on inside them with such authority.
Some years ago I saw the very fine film of this book, starring Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and Edward Fox and felt I didn’t need to read the book. Big mistake. Although the film is a faithful adaptation, neglecting the book would be a crime against fine literature. Don’t commit the same felony. Immaculately constructed, with a deeply moving core, this book is wonderful.
THE BLUE TOUCH PAPER, by David Hare
Being the life and times of one of Britain’s most eminent playwrights, by the man himself.
Raised in lower middle class gentility in 1950s Bexhill, he quickly showed himself to be something out of the norm. He won a scholarship to read English at Jesus, secured a first and then met a series of very clever people who encouraged him to involve himself in the theatre, first directing and then writing. The rest, as they say, is history. His first big success was Slag, which caused a storm when it was produced in the West End. Ever since he been writing plays which critique British society in a savage, insightful but always humorous style. And what especially marked him out was his creating strong roles for women, a famously neglected area for British playwrights at the time.
This book ends around 1979, with the rise of Thatcherism, so we do not hear how he was awarded a knighthood in 1998 for his services to theatre, or how he squared accepting the honour with his long history of subverting the establishment.
“He bit the hand that fed him” you could say, “But he never bit it off”. Is that cruel? I’ve been taking pops at the status quo all my life. Would I accept an honour in the highly unlikely event I were to be offered one? It is perhaps for the best I will never be faced with such a decision...
Please see next blogs for film reviews.
Thursday, 12 October 2017
I felt sorry for Theresa (nearly)
There can’t be anybody who hasn’t had that nagging, irritating little cough at the end of a cold. I’ve had them in front of patients when I was working as a GP, and that was bad enough. Imagine having one in front of ten million people. We don’t have to, because we all saw it, in an incident which redefined the expression “car crash politics”.
Then earlier this week the poor woman was asked how she’d vote if there was another leave/remain referendum tomorrow. And unlike Damian Green, who neatly sidestepped it by saying “That’s a totally hypothetical question and I’m not going to go there”, she remained silent. It is public knowledge the PM supported remain, albeit in the limp, half-hearted way a lot of Tories (and Jeremy Corbyn, come to that) did. She couldn’t say “Nothing that has happened since has changed my mind”; nor could she say, “Well, now I’ve had time to think I would change my vote”. At least she isn’t that hypocritical. But the poor dab is in such a mess right now she couldn’t say anything.
So, as one human being to another, I was feeling a bit of sympathy. Until yesterday’s PMQs, that is. When challenged by the Labour leader about the universal credit helpline, which for many costs 55p a minute to call, she completely ducked the question. Considering those claiming universal credit are invariably indigent, why couldn’t she say “Yes, that is a problem and we are going to make it free for everyone”? Maybe in her heart she thinks it should be free, but the trouble is she’s still in the thrall of people like IDS, Liam Fox and Owen “I’d rather see the UK’s GDP halved and our unemployment rate double before I submit to those tyrants in Brussels” Patterson.
John Major didn’t cave in to the “bastards”. But David Cameroon did, which is why we are where we are now, and now Theresa May is doing the same thing. Now these arch-Brexiteers, every bit as fundamentalist in their views as your average IS fighter, are running the country.
Then earlier this week the poor woman was asked how she’d vote if there was another leave/remain referendum tomorrow. And unlike Damian Green, who neatly sidestepped it by saying “That’s a totally hypothetical question and I’m not going to go there”, she remained silent. It is public knowledge the PM supported remain, albeit in the limp, half-hearted way a lot of Tories (and Jeremy Corbyn, come to that) did. She couldn’t say “Nothing that has happened since has changed my mind”; nor could she say, “Well, now I’ve had time to think I would change my vote”. At least she isn’t that hypocritical. But the poor dab is in such a mess right now she couldn’t say anything.
So, as one human being to another, I was feeling a bit of sympathy. Until yesterday’s PMQs, that is. When challenged by the Labour leader about the universal credit helpline, which for many costs 55p a minute to call, she completely ducked the question. Considering those claiming universal credit are invariably indigent, why couldn’t she say “Yes, that is a problem and we are going to make it free for everyone”? Maybe in her heart she thinks it should be free, but the trouble is she’s still in the thrall of people like IDS, Liam Fox and Owen “I’d rather see the UK’s GDP halved and our unemployment rate double before I submit to those tyrants in Brussels” Patterson.
John Major didn’t cave in to the “bastards”. But David Cameroon did, which is why we are where we are now, and now Theresa May is doing the same thing. Now these arch-Brexiteers, every bit as fundamentalist in their views as your average IS fighter, are running the country.
Wednesday, 11 October 2017
Another gold mine in Alaska: so what?
Since 2010 the American EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has been looking into the impact the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska might have on the local environment and the Native American communities nearby. This week their report was published, and it makes grim reading.
Gold mines take a terrible toll on the surrounding ecology. More than a million tonnes of material has to be sifted for every half-ton of gold, but gold is gold, right? It’s like, precious. So who cares? Well, as it happens, the local population does. They rely on the sock-eye salmon that swim in their rivers for their survival, and the stocks will be devastated if the mine goes ahead. And a huge, ugly scar will be left on the earth, at present a beautiful, untouched piece of Arctic wonderland.
Will Donald Trump take a hand to stop this despoliation? Will he fuck. He’s been systematically pulling the teeth of the EPA since he came into office, even putting a director in place who has been implacably opposed to almost everything the EPA has been trying to achieve over the last 20 years. Trump has said he’s interested in “clean air, and clean water; that’s about it”. But is it just the air he breathes, and the water he drinks? I think so. He won’t give a flying fuck about the problems of a far-flung land and the people who live there.
So look out Alaska. You’re in for it now. If you want to stop this outrage, you’re going to have to do it yourself. Don’t expect any help from your president.
Gold mines take a terrible toll on the surrounding ecology. More than a million tonnes of material has to be sifted for every half-ton of gold, but gold is gold, right? It’s like, precious. So who cares? Well, as it happens, the local population does. They rely on the sock-eye salmon that swim in their rivers for their survival, and the stocks will be devastated if the mine goes ahead. And a huge, ugly scar will be left on the earth, at present a beautiful, untouched piece of Arctic wonderland.
Will Donald Trump take a hand to stop this despoliation? Will he fuck. He’s been systematically pulling the teeth of the EPA since he came into office, even putting a director in place who has been implacably opposed to almost everything the EPA has been trying to achieve over the last 20 years. Trump has said he’s interested in “clean air, and clean water; that’s about it”. But is it just the air he breathes, and the water he drinks? I think so. He won’t give a flying fuck about the problems of a far-flung land and the people who live there.
So look out Alaska. You’re in for it now. If you want to stop this outrage, you’re going to have to do it yourself. Don’t expect any help from your president.
Thursday, 5 October 2017
Homage to Catalonia
States don’t like bits of them detaching themselves. It reduces their power. Iran, Turkey and Iraq don’t want the Kurds to have their own state. It may have something to do with the substantial oil fields situated within the region known as “Kurdistan”. They’re so worried about it the leaders of Turkey and Iran, one Sunni, the other Shia, normally bitter enemies, have cozied up and are speaking with one voice.
We didn’t like it when Scotland wanted to become independent. But at least that is another country. With Catalonia, that’s like Yorkshire saying it wants independence from the rest of the UK. Hence the Spanish don’t want to lose Catalonia. Hardly surprising. Its industry constitutes nearly 20% of the Spanish economy, and the tens of millions of foreign visitors to it every year provide a huge source of foreign currency.
My question is: why do they want to break away? What’s in it for them? I ask, because it is a question no one in the media has been prepared to address. It’s as if there’s a news embargo on why the Catalonians want independence.
Culturally speaking, Catalonia is very different from the rest of Spain. It has its own language, which is spoken by the majority of its citizens. Moreover, anarchist sentiment has long been part of the DNA of the Catalan people. Catalonians want to do things their way, and like all anarchists, bristle the moment someone else tells them what to do. I imagine the more they are told they can’t be independent, the more they’ll want to have their own way. But as I said, the media, the BBC and Sky News, CNN, Euronews, Al Jazeira, all of them seem to have signed up to a conspiracy of silence as to the underlying reasons. And you know what? That stinks.
We didn’t like it when Scotland wanted to become independent. But at least that is another country. With Catalonia, that’s like Yorkshire saying it wants independence from the rest of the UK. Hence the Spanish don’t want to lose Catalonia. Hardly surprising. Its industry constitutes nearly 20% of the Spanish economy, and the tens of millions of foreign visitors to it every year provide a huge source of foreign currency.
My question is: why do they want to break away? What’s in it for them? I ask, because it is a question no one in the media has been prepared to address. It’s as if there’s a news embargo on why the Catalonians want independence.
Culturally speaking, Catalonia is very different from the rest of Spain. It has its own language, which is spoken by the majority of its citizens. Moreover, anarchist sentiment has long been part of the DNA of the Catalan people. Catalonians want to do things their way, and like all anarchists, bristle the moment someone else tells them what to do. I imagine the more they are told they can’t be independent, the more they’ll want to have their own way. But as I said, the media, the BBC and Sky News, CNN, Euronews, Al Jazeira, all of them seem to have signed up to a conspiracy of silence as to the underlying reasons. And you know what? That stinks.
Tuesday, 3 October 2017
The sound of freedom
A couple of years ago in a little town in rural New England, they decided to build a new gun range. They already had one, but it was busy and shooters sometimes had to wait for several minutes before a stall became free. Well within the hearing of most of the population, some objected to the noise pollution the new range would generate. The objectors didn’t get very far, and as far as I know the gun range is still there and still operating. A news crew went there to gather opinion, and one man they interviewed said this:
“Every time I hear a gunshot I think, ‘freedom’”.
OK. So on Sunday, in Las Vegas, when the sound of gunfire echoed across its hotels and casinos, and had that gentleman been present, I wonder, would that have been his first thought? Or would he perhaps have been thinking: “I’ve got to get outa here. Some nut’s tryin to kill me!”?
The 2nd Amendment to the US constitution, which as we all know, because it keeps getting rammed down everyone’s throats, guarantees all Americans the right to bear arms. And as we also know, this was introduced during the revolutionary war to assist in the fight against the hated British. That of course was over 200 years ago, but the amendment is still in place, now serving a rather different purpose.
But this right is limited. Stinger missile systems, which enable an individual to take down an aircraft in flight, are not on sale to the American public. Neither are rocket powered grenades (RPGs) by which a man can blow up a whole building with a simple pull on a trigger. I do not believe it is possible for a private citizen to own a tank, load it up with shells and drive to work in it. However, it is possible for a private citizen to own an automatic rifle, another weapon of war, which can fire up to thirty rounds a second, making it possible to kill a large number of human beings in a very short space of time. That, after all, is what it is designed to do. Why would a private citizen wish to own such a weapon? To hunt wild animals?
“Hey honey, I bagged me a deer with my specially modified AR15 today. OK, there wasn’t much left of it by the time I’d finished, but it sure was fun blowing it away!”
Automatic weapons, like handguns, really have only one purpose: to kill human beings. Yet all across America, these items are openly on sale, often without any checks at all on who might be wishing to buy them. When I visited North Carolina not long ago, I couldn’t resist wandering into a gun store and examining a “Dirty Harry” style .44 magnum handgun- “the most powerful handgun in the world” (I don’t know if that’s still true, but it’s certainly up there). As I weighed the awesome piece of hardware in my hands, the store owner explained: “You don’t wing someone with this baby. You either miss ‘em altogether or blow a piece out of ‘em the size of a grapefruit”. Although the store owner knew I was a foreign visitor, I was told that if I handed over $350 I could take it away with me, there and then, and as many bullets as I wanted to go with it.
I respectfully put it to you, my American friends: that’s wrong.
“Every time I hear a gunshot I think, ‘freedom’”.
OK. So on Sunday, in Las Vegas, when the sound of gunfire echoed across its hotels and casinos, and had that gentleman been present, I wonder, would that have been his first thought? Or would he perhaps have been thinking: “I’ve got to get outa here. Some nut’s tryin to kill me!”?
The 2nd Amendment to the US constitution, which as we all know, because it keeps getting rammed down everyone’s throats, guarantees all Americans the right to bear arms. And as we also know, this was introduced during the revolutionary war to assist in the fight against the hated British. That of course was over 200 years ago, but the amendment is still in place, now serving a rather different purpose.
But this right is limited. Stinger missile systems, which enable an individual to take down an aircraft in flight, are not on sale to the American public. Neither are rocket powered grenades (RPGs) by which a man can blow up a whole building with a simple pull on a trigger. I do not believe it is possible for a private citizen to own a tank, load it up with shells and drive to work in it. However, it is possible for a private citizen to own an automatic rifle, another weapon of war, which can fire up to thirty rounds a second, making it possible to kill a large number of human beings in a very short space of time. That, after all, is what it is designed to do. Why would a private citizen wish to own such a weapon? To hunt wild animals?
“Hey honey, I bagged me a deer with my specially modified AR15 today. OK, there wasn’t much left of it by the time I’d finished, but it sure was fun blowing it away!”
Automatic weapons, like handguns, really have only one purpose: to kill human beings. Yet all across America, these items are openly on sale, often without any checks at all on who might be wishing to buy them. When I visited North Carolina not long ago, I couldn’t resist wandering into a gun store and examining a “Dirty Harry” style .44 magnum handgun- “the most powerful handgun in the world” (I don’t know if that’s still true, but it’s certainly up there). As I weighed the awesome piece of hardware in my hands, the store owner explained: “You don’t wing someone with this baby. You either miss ‘em altogether or blow a piece out of ‘em the size of a grapefruit”. Although the store owner knew I was a foreign visitor, I was told that if I handed over $350 I could take it away with me, there and then, and as many bullets as I wanted to go with it.
I respectfully put it to you, my American friends: that’s wrong.
Monday, 2 October 2017
September 2017 film review part two
MISS BALA (2014) W/D- Gerardo Naranjo (Mexico)
A beautiful young woman (Stephanie Sigman) enters the “Miss Baja California” contest, but finds herself, through no fault of her own, mixed up with the leader of a drugs cartel. She is forced to smuggle cash across the border; in return the cartel leader offers to fix the contest in her favor. Fearing for her life (and life is very cheap in Mexico; as the movie ends it explains how more than 30,000 people have been murdered by drug gangs and the police since 2005), she co-operates. Finally, of course, she is apprehended by authorities...
Based on true events, this is a fascinating and moving little tale told with great skill, though throughout it is Sigman’s performance which shines most brightly.
THE ANGRY SILENCE (1960) D- Guy Green
An impoverished factory worker (Richard Attenborough) risks the ire of his fellows when he breaks an unofficial strike. They bully him, harass his family and then send him to Coventry (hence the “angry silence”).
When this powerful little social drama came out in 1961, it was banned in the mining valleys of South Wales, where the unions disapproved of its apparent “anti-strike” theme. But Dickie Attenborough went there himself and persuaded them to relent. What a guy...
SULLY (2016) D- Clint Eastwood
In 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger set off from La Guardia airport in New York en route to Charlotte, North Carolina. But within a minute a bird strike took out both his engines. Lacking the height to make it to any airstrip, he crash-landed in the Hudson River, where, miraculously, everyone on board was recovered alive. Hailed initially as the “hero of the Hudson”, “Sully” soon came under fire for not trying hard enough to make it to an airport. And that’s your movie, right there.
Even at 87, Clint Eastwood puts a very competent movie together, and with Tom Hanks in the lead this couldn’t fail. Actually, it did. Apart from two key scenes, first the crash itself and then the moment where Sully proves he had no option but to ditch in the river, this film falls rather flat. There is no real flair, no real punch, just a skillful exposition of the facts. It could, and perhaps even should, have been a documentary. Pity.
LA NOTTE (1961) D- Michelangelo Antonioni
A Milanese couple go to visit an old friend who is dying in hospital. She is so upset she can’t bear it, and waits for her husband outside. As he leaves his friend’s ward, an attractive young woman lures him into her room and attempts to seduce him. He doesn't try that hard to discourage her, even though she is clearly unwell. Finally nurses arrive and pry them apart.. He rejoins his wife outside, but few words are exchanged. Clearly this is a loveless marriage...
That night they go to a high society party, where they go their separate ways and have a variety of disparate experiences. Finally they re-unite, but still there is no meeting of minds. End of movie.
Here we come to the creme de la creme. Antonioni’s movie is a miracle of astute human observation and directorial guile. These unlikeable people, beautiful and talented though they are, exert a magnetic pull upon our attentions. We cannot wait to see what they get up to next, and we are always hungry for more. Like all the best movies, it seems too short and we want it go on to see what happens next. Notable too for Monica Vitti’s performance as a bored socialite, this is one of the most influential films in modern cinema. Rightly so. One of the films to see before you die.
A beautiful young woman (Stephanie Sigman) enters the “Miss Baja California” contest, but finds herself, through no fault of her own, mixed up with the leader of a drugs cartel. She is forced to smuggle cash across the border; in return the cartel leader offers to fix the contest in her favor. Fearing for her life (and life is very cheap in Mexico; as the movie ends it explains how more than 30,000 people have been murdered by drug gangs and the police since 2005), she co-operates. Finally, of course, she is apprehended by authorities...
Based on true events, this is a fascinating and moving little tale told with great skill, though throughout it is Sigman’s performance which shines most brightly.
THE ANGRY SILENCE (1960) D- Guy Green
An impoverished factory worker (Richard Attenborough) risks the ire of his fellows when he breaks an unofficial strike. They bully him, harass his family and then send him to Coventry (hence the “angry silence”).
When this powerful little social drama came out in 1961, it was banned in the mining valleys of South Wales, where the unions disapproved of its apparent “anti-strike” theme. But Dickie Attenborough went there himself and persuaded them to relent. What a guy...
SULLY (2016) D- Clint Eastwood
In 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger set off from La Guardia airport in New York en route to Charlotte, North Carolina. But within a minute a bird strike took out both his engines. Lacking the height to make it to any airstrip, he crash-landed in the Hudson River, where, miraculously, everyone on board was recovered alive. Hailed initially as the “hero of the Hudson”, “Sully” soon came under fire for not trying hard enough to make it to an airport. And that’s your movie, right there.
Even at 87, Clint Eastwood puts a very competent movie together, and with Tom Hanks in the lead this couldn’t fail. Actually, it did. Apart from two key scenes, first the crash itself and then the moment where Sully proves he had no option but to ditch in the river, this film falls rather flat. There is no real flair, no real punch, just a skillful exposition of the facts. It could, and perhaps even should, have been a documentary. Pity.
LA NOTTE (1961) D- Michelangelo Antonioni
A Milanese couple go to visit an old friend who is dying in hospital. She is so upset she can’t bear it, and waits for her husband outside. As he leaves his friend’s ward, an attractive young woman lures him into her room and attempts to seduce him. He doesn't try that hard to discourage her, even though she is clearly unwell. Finally nurses arrive and pry them apart.. He rejoins his wife outside, but few words are exchanged. Clearly this is a loveless marriage...
That night they go to a high society party, where they go their separate ways and have a variety of disparate experiences. Finally they re-unite, but still there is no meeting of minds. End of movie.
Here we come to the creme de la creme. Antonioni’s movie is a miracle of astute human observation and directorial guile. These unlikeable people, beautiful and talented though they are, exert a magnetic pull upon our attentions. We cannot wait to see what they get up to next, and we are always hungry for more. Like all the best movies, it seems too short and we want it go on to see what happens next. Notable too for Monica Vitti’s performance as a bored socialite, this is one of the most influential films in modern cinema. Rightly so. One of the films to see before you die.
September 2017 Film review part one
SOUTH (1919) D- Frank Hurley
In 1915, while the world was locked in the most terrible conflict in its history, Sir Ernest Shackleton headed south to explore the Antarctic, having the foresight to bring cameraman Frank Hurley with him to record his exploits. His ship, Endurance, became locked in the ice and the crew stranded. Slowly their ship is crushed by the pack-ice, a scene dramatically captured by Hurley and his hand-cranked camera.
Leaving most of the crew behind, Shackleton and a handpicked group made what is now recognized as one the great epic journeys to a whaling station on Elephant Island, 800 miles away, to mount a rescue for his men. Incredibly, no one lost their life throughout the ordeal, and Frank Hurley was on hand to record everything he saw with the most extraordinary skill. Unforgettable.
FAT CITY (1972) D- John Huston
An ageing boxer, well past his sell-by date, seeks solace in drink. Then he meets a young pugilist on his way up and decides to mentor him. He even resolves to get back in shape himself, but his good resolutions are drowned in bourbon...
This gritty, naturalistic piece from Huston, a man thought by many also to be past his prime, is a revelation. He draws a staggering performance from Stacy Keach as the alcoholic fighter, and indeed, the portrayals of drunkenness from him his and off/on girlfriend played by Susan Tyrell are the most realistic I have ever seen.
With films like The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre under his belt while still a young man, Huston could have rested on his illustrious laurels in the 50s. His later output was more patchy, but then, in the autumn of his career he produced this minor masterpiece. A classic.
SCENT OF A WOMAN (1992) D- Martin Brest.
A young man (Chris O’Donnell) is given the task of babysitting a blind and embittered army major (Al Pacino). The latter would seek to drink himself to death slowly, and the young man is charged with keeping his drinking under control. This proves harder than anticipated...
Ever since The Panic in Needle Park we have been marveling at the sheer talent of La Pacino, and here he is in vintage form as he runs rings round his “carer”. He is benefited by a great script and highly professional directing, richly deserving his Oscar for best actor in 1992. Even better, like Fat City, it doesn’t seem to have dated a day.
WHITE GOD (2014) D- Kornel Mundrusczo.
This could have been called “About a Dog”, because the story centers around a mongrel dog in Budapest, a place where mongrel strays are rounded up an euthanized. They are taxed too, and the father of the girl whose dog it is is not prepared to pay this tax, so dumps it. But here is a highly resourceful mutt. It survives the streets; even when it is captured by a dog fighting syndicate it escapes and returns to its haunts, eventually becoming the de facto leader of a huge pack of feral canines. And they aren’t happy about their “second class dog” status...
Think Lady and the Tramp with an edge, a brutal, realistic edge. Here the dogs don’t talk. They don’t have to. Their actions speak a lot louder than their barks. Highly watchable.
Please see next blog for more movie reviews.
In 1915, while the world was locked in the most terrible conflict in its history, Sir Ernest Shackleton headed south to explore the Antarctic, having the foresight to bring cameraman Frank Hurley with him to record his exploits. His ship, Endurance, became locked in the ice and the crew stranded. Slowly their ship is crushed by the pack-ice, a scene dramatically captured by Hurley and his hand-cranked camera.
Leaving most of the crew behind, Shackleton and a handpicked group made what is now recognized as one the great epic journeys to a whaling station on Elephant Island, 800 miles away, to mount a rescue for his men. Incredibly, no one lost their life throughout the ordeal, and Frank Hurley was on hand to record everything he saw with the most extraordinary skill. Unforgettable.
FAT CITY (1972) D- John Huston
An ageing boxer, well past his sell-by date, seeks solace in drink. Then he meets a young pugilist on his way up and decides to mentor him. He even resolves to get back in shape himself, but his good resolutions are drowned in bourbon...
This gritty, naturalistic piece from Huston, a man thought by many also to be past his prime, is a revelation. He draws a staggering performance from Stacy Keach as the alcoholic fighter, and indeed, the portrayals of drunkenness from him his and off/on girlfriend played by Susan Tyrell are the most realistic I have ever seen.
With films like The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre under his belt while still a young man, Huston could have rested on his illustrious laurels in the 50s. His later output was more patchy, but then, in the autumn of his career he produced this minor masterpiece. A classic.
SCENT OF A WOMAN (1992) D- Martin Brest.
A young man (Chris O’Donnell) is given the task of babysitting a blind and embittered army major (Al Pacino). The latter would seek to drink himself to death slowly, and the young man is charged with keeping his drinking under control. This proves harder than anticipated...
Ever since The Panic in Needle Park we have been marveling at the sheer talent of La Pacino, and here he is in vintage form as he runs rings round his “carer”. He is benefited by a great script and highly professional directing, richly deserving his Oscar for best actor in 1992. Even better, like Fat City, it doesn’t seem to have dated a day.
WHITE GOD (2014) D- Kornel Mundrusczo.
This could have been called “About a Dog”, because the story centers around a mongrel dog in Budapest, a place where mongrel strays are rounded up an euthanized. They are taxed too, and the father of the girl whose dog it is is not prepared to pay this tax, so dumps it. But here is a highly resourceful mutt. It survives the streets; even when it is captured by a dog fighting syndicate it escapes and returns to its haunts, eventually becoming the de facto leader of a huge pack of feral canines. And they aren’t happy about their “second class dog” status...
Think Lady and the Tramp with an edge, a brutal, realistic edge. Here the dogs don’t talk. They don’t have to. Their actions speak a lot louder than their barks. Highly watchable.
Please see next blog for more movie reviews.
Sunday, 1 October 2017
Book review September 2017
Welcome to this month’s book review. Please note I have to divide my review up into several portions, as devoted readers may have noticed, because my iPad doesn’t like this blogging site. Please be patient...
BOOKS
THE NOISE OF SILENCE, by Julian Barnes
Being the life and times of one of Russia’s greatest composers, Dimitri Shostakovich. Written in the form of a biographical novel, and drawing deeply on Elizabeth Wilson’s definitive study, Shostakovich: A Life Remembered, here Julian Barnes has written what many feel is one of his best books.
Born in 1906, Dimitri lived his entire adult life under communism, and much of it under the baleful eye of uncle Jo Stalin. Hence his work was constantly subject to the scrutiny of his censors, who often pronounced his work reactionary and working against the spirit of the glorious revolution. Time and again some of his greatest achievements were proscribed and suppressed, and he often teetered on the edge of being sent to the gulags or even taken outside and shot.
But like his literary colleague Mikhail Bulgakov, he escaped the worst punishments because Stalin harboured a sneaking respect for his work. The compromises he was forced to make to stay alive and free, however, took a terrible toll on his mental health. Despite this he still created some of the most important musical works of the 20th century. If you want the quick version, read Barnes’s book; you will not be disappointed.
THE STATEMENT, by Brian Moore
A German war criminal has been hiding out in France since the end of the war, only able to do so because of the protection of a Catholic Church who think that deep down, he isn’t such a bad man. But a group of nazi hunters feel otherwise, and bypassing a stultified state that isn’t really interested in crimes committed forty years ago, takes matters into its own hands. Assassins are sent to kill him, but our antihero didn’t live this long without being on guard every moment of the day and night...
I was aware of the work of this prolific English writer for a long time without ever giving him a try. I’m glad I did. This is a superior thriller, well written and told with great pace and flair. Recommended.
GENESIS, by Sebastiao Salgado
Born in 1944 and scarcely without a camera in his hands ever since, Salgado started travelling the world in his 20s, recording its trouble spots, its war zones and famines, its wildernesses and those who live in it: the plants the animals and the tribes who live in some of the most remote and inaccessible places on the planet. In so doing he has gained the respect and admiration of human rights and environmental groups around the world for his work in publicising the plight of these endangered cultures.
The book itself is massive, lavishly produced coffee-table production of the kind I rarely indulge myself in these days. But I’m glad I did this time. There are over 500 monochrome pictures, beautifully printed and every one a revelation of the incredible diversity and fragility of the planet we call home. Go on, treat yourself.
SOUL MOUNTAIN, by Gao Xingjian
In the 80s, as China slowly climbs out of the pit of the Cultural Revolution and begins to rebuild itself, a young man goes in search of a mystical mountain that may provide some meaning to his life. Robert Louis Stevenson once said “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive”, which might be the subtitle for this extraordinary book, which helped secure the Nobel Prize for literature for Xingjian in 2000.
Using a bewildering and extremely skilful array of literary techniques, telling his story in the first person, 2nd and third, in order express different facets of his personality, and discussing history, politics, mysticism and magic along the way, our “hero” wanders around a China which seems to be waking as if from a deep sleep. But all along, there is the quest for “Soul Mountain” which nags away at him whatever he is doing. Will he find it? Does it matter? Read on...
Please see subsequent blogs for movie review.
BOOKS
THE NOISE OF SILENCE, by Julian Barnes
Being the life and times of one of Russia’s greatest composers, Dimitri Shostakovich. Written in the form of a biographical novel, and drawing deeply on Elizabeth Wilson’s definitive study, Shostakovich: A Life Remembered, here Julian Barnes has written what many feel is one of his best books.
Born in 1906, Dimitri lived his entire adult life under communism, and much of it under the baleful eye of uncle Jo Stalin. Hence his work was constantly subject to the scrutiny of his censors, who often pronounced his work reactionary and working against the spirit of the glorious revolution. Time and again some of his greatest achievements were proscribed and suppressed, and he often teetered on the edge of being sent to the gulags or even taken outside and shot.
But like his literary colleague Mikhail Bulgakov, he escaped the worst punishments because Stalin harboured a sneaking respect for his work. The compromises he was forced to make to stay alive and free, however, took a terrible toll on his mental health. Despite this he still created some of the most important musical works of the 20th century. If you want the quick version, read Barnes’s book; you will not be disappointed.
THE STATEMENT, by Brian Moore
A German war criminal has been hiding out in France since the end of the war, only able to do so because of the protection of a Catholic Church who think that deep down, he isn’t such a bad man. But a group of nazi hunters feel otherwise, and bypassing a stultified state that isn’t really interested in crimes committed forty years ago, takes matters into its own hands. Assassins are sent to kill him, but our antihero didn’t live this long without being on guard every moment of the day and night...
I was aware of the work of this prolific English writer for a long time without ever giving him a try. I’m glad I did. This is a superior thriller, well written and told with great pace and flair. Recommended.
GENESIS, by Sebastiao Salgado
Born in 1944 and scarcely without a camera in his hands ever since, Salgado started travelling the world in his 20s, recording its trouble spots, its war zones and famines, its wildernesses and those who live in it: the plants the animals and the tribes who live in some of the most remote and inaccessible places on the planet. In so doing he has gained the respect and admiration of human rights and environmental groups around the world for his work in publicising the plight of these endangered cultures.
The book itself is massive, lavishly produced coffee-table production of the kind I rarely indulge myself in these days. But I’m glad I did this time. There are over 500 monochrome pictures, beautifully printed and every one a revelation of the incredible diversity and fragility of the planet we call home. Go on, treat yourself.
SOUL MOUNTAIN, by Gao Xingjian
In the 80s, as China slowly climbs out of the pit of the Cultural Revolution and begins to rebuild itself, a young man goes in search of a mystical mountain that may provide some meaning to his life. Robert Louis Stevenson once said “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive”, which might be the subtitle for this extraordinary book, which helped secure the Nobel Prize for literature for Xingjian in 2000.
Using a bewildering and extremely skilful array of literary techniques, telling his story in the first person, 2nd and third, in order express different facets of his personality, and discussing history, politics, mysticism and magic along the way, our “hero” wanders around a China which seems to be waking as if from a deep sleep. But all along, there is the quest for “Soul Mountain” which nags away at him whatever he is doing. Will he find it? Does it matter? Read on...
Please see subsequent blogs for movie review.
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