It's my mother's birthday today.
And I'm back.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
AzulOscuroCasiNegro
I was born in a life with fairly good conditions. I have an extended family and my father has worked a lot to provide for 7 people, and yet, never have I been forced to earn money in my childhood or during my teenage years, and never have I suffered from hunger. It has been my choice to take my own responsibilities, it was not a necessity for me to work even in my university years; I was one of the lucky ones, unlike Jorge in the movie, AzulOscuroCasiNegro.
AzulOscuroCasiNegro is a 2006 Spanish movie written and directed by Daniel Sanchez Arevalo. It tells the story of a young man, named Jorge, who works as a janitor, not because he chooses to, but because he simply has to. In the beginning of the film, a younger Jorge burns the garbage dumpster in front of a huge apartment building only to be found out by the janitor of the building and runs away. We quickly realize that the old janitor is his father, and the reason why he does such a thing is because he does not want end up like his father. However, his father suffers a heart attack right there, and Jorge's life changes, from choices, to obligations.
The movie then moves forward to seven years later, and we see that Jorge is now the janitor of the same building, has just earned a business degree and has been nursing his father ever since. Desperate to get out of his situation, he applies for many positions in various companies, but is always turned down for he does not have any experience aside from being a janitor. He spends his days working in the building, chatting with his best friend Israel in the roof of the building and every once in a while, visiting his older brother in jail. Antonio, Jorge's brother, falls in love with Paula, a beautiful young woman in jail on drug charges, who is constantly attacked by a gang of other women in jail for some men issues, and in order to get out of that situation, trying to get pregnant to be taken to maternity ward. Antonio tries to get her pregnant, however he soon finds out that he is sterile, thus, he asks the one person he can trust to get Paula pregnant, namely, his young brother Jorge. Being initially against the idea, Jorge soon accepts this task, reluctantly, just to help his dear brother. However, things are about to get all mixed up with the arrival of Natalia, Jorge's childhood crush, back to the building, Antonio, going out of prison and starting to live with Jorge and his father, and with an emotional bond growing between Paula and Jorge.
AzulOscuroCasiNegro is Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's first feature film. It means Dark Blue Almost Black, in English. It is a drama with a little blend of comedy that is brought not by the story but rather by the characters themselves. The story involves many sub-plots that are not all related to the main story, such as Israel's own issues with his father and his search for his true sexual identity, however, they all at one point lead to the main theme of acceptance of who these characters really are and the search for it; there are some things in life that we sooner or later have to accept, but we should constantly work hard to change the circumstances to reach what we really want in life and who we really want to be. These sub-plots cause the film have many main characters; it may be that Jorge is the center of it all and it is in fact his struggle that we watch in details throughout the course of the movie, however, the other characters are all very well studied that to some extent it is possible to say that they all get equal share to tell themselves within the story; thus, this multi-character nature of the film does not distract the viewer or destroy the story. We want to see Jorge reach his goals, but we also are equally curious of what is about to happen to Antonio after so many years in jail, or of somewhat funny struggle of Israel against his sexual tendencies, or if Paula will ever be able to get out of this living hell where she is constantly tortured. And in between all the misery and trouble, we see the soft tenderness, a beautiful love growing in one of the most unusual places, and out of unusual and perhaps even unpleasant circumstances, between Jorge and Paula; right in the center of the story, the two main characters and us, the audience, find an emotional asylum and hope for the future, where there seems to be theoretically no future or whatsoever.
What you get in the end of the film is not a very comfortable smile, but rather a hope for the beginning of a pleasant future, not a comfortable future again, however, we know that the characters, most of all Jorge, now know more or less who they are, and thus, will go on their struggles with their feet firmly on the ground. Better conditions?, well, it is open to discussion, but it is always better than fighting with false hopes.
AzulOscuroCasiNegro is a 2006 Spanish movie written and directed by Daniel Sanchez Arevalo. It tells the story of a young man, named Jorge, who works as a janitor, not because he chooses to, but because he simply has to. In the beginning of the film, a younger Jorge burns the garbage dumpster in front of a huge apartment building only to be found out by the janitor of the building and runs away. We quickly realize that the old janitor is his father, and the reason why he does such a thing is because he does not want end up like his father. However, his father suffers a heart attack right there, and Jorge's life changes, from choices, to obligations.
The movie then moves forward to seven years later, and we see that Jorge is now the janitor of the same building, has just earned a business degree and has been nursing his father ever since. Desperate to get out of his situation, he applies for many positions in various companies, but is always turned down for he does not have any experience aside from being a janitor. He spends his days working in the building, chatting with his best friend Israel in the roof of the building and every once in a while, visiting his older brother in jail. Antonio, Jorge's brother, falls in love with Paula, a beautiful young woman in jail on drug charges, who is constantly attacked by a gang of other women in jail for some men issues, and in order to get out of that situation, trying to get pregnant to be taken to maternity ward. Antonio tries to get her pregnant, however he soon finds out that he is sterile, thus, he asks the one person he can trust to get Paula pregnant, namely, his young brother Jorge. Being initially against the idea, Jorge soon accepts this task, reluctantly, just to help his dear brother. However, things are about to get all mixed up with the arrival of Natalia, Jorge's childhood crush, back to the building, Antonio, going out of prison and starting to live with Jorge and his father, and with an emotional bond growing between Paula and Jorge.
AzulOscuroCasiNegro is Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's first feature film. It means Dark Blue Almost Black, in English. It is a drama with a little blend of comedy that is brought not by the story but rather by the characters themselves. The story involves many sub-plots that are not all related to the main story, such as Israel's own issues with his father and his search for his true sexual identity, however, they all at one point lead to the main theme of acceptance of who these characters really are and the search for it; there are some things in life that we sooner or later have to accept, but we should constantly work hard to change the circumstances to reach what we really want in life and who we really want to be. These sub-plots cause the film have many main characters; it may be that Jorge is the center of it all and it is in fact his struggle that we watch in details throughout the course of the movie, however, the other characters are all very well studied that to some extent it is possible to say that they all get equal share to tell themselves within the story; thus, this multi-character nature of the film does not distract the viewer or destroy the story. We want to see Jorge reach his goals, but we also are equally curious of what is about to happen to Antonio after so many years in jail, or of somewhat funny struggle of Israel against his sexual tendencies, or if Paula will ever be able to get out of this living hell where she is constantly tortured. And in between all the misery and trouble, we see the soft tenderness, a beautiful love growing in one of the most unusual places, and out of unusual and perhaps even unpleasant circumstances, between Jorge and Paula; right in the center of the story, the two main characters and us, the audience, find an emotional asylum and hope for the future, where there seems to be theoretically no future or whatsoever.
What you get in the end of the film is not a very comfortable smile, but rather a hope for the beginning of a pleasant future, not a comfortable future again, however, we know that the characters, most of all Jorge, now know more or less who they are, and thus, will go on their struggles with their feet firmly on the ground. Better conditions?, well, it is open to discussion, but it is always better than fighting with false hopes.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Fifty Dead Men Walking
A few weeks ago, a friend from UK came to Istanbul for a visit. We had long talks about all sorts of stuff for the following few days, and at some point I asked him, so, what's all this about UK, I mean Scotland, Ireland, England etc, are they separate countries now or what? I, for years, personally did not feel the need to know about them any further than the Freedoooom! speech from so-called William Wallace (and I surely have read that Braveheart was not historically accurate), but there we were, I had a British right next to me, well-equipped with all sorts of historical, political and sociological information and he filled me in with all. Yet, the thing I remember most about our conversation was the final decision I reached of living in Scotland!
So tonight I watched Fifty Dead Men Walking, but with a little bit of a confusion at first and I ended up with some mixed feelings about the movie.
Fifty Dead Men Walking is a 2008 movie by Kari Skogland, based on the 1997 autobiography of the same name by Martin McGartland, starring Jim Sturgess (Martin McGartland) and Ben Kingsley (Fergus). It covers the period between 1987-1991, the period in which McGartland worked as an informant within the IRA. In the 80s, McGartland was a 20-something street hustler in Northern Ireland; IRA wanted to recruit him, and so did the British police. Since he did not approve of IRA, he decided to work with the British police, while becoming an official volunteer in the IRA, gaining the trust of top people within the organization, thus being donated with top-secret information which he handed in the British police, through Fergus. As the situation got more and more serious, it seems that McGartland and Fergus built a somewhat father-son relationship. However, it is obvious that there is no win-win situation in the end for nobody, and as the British decided to use him as a bait, he was finally discovered by IRA. After that point, the only person that McGarland could trust became Fergus, who arranged a new life for him and his girlfriend in Scotland, which he did not accept in order not to take his girlfriend, his son and his other child on the way, down with himself, doomed to an insecure life. He then ran alone to Canada, and he was found one day by an IRA hitman and was shot. It is known that he survived after the shooting and is still on the run.
It is not easy to make comments about a movie like this without the criticism of the story itself, for it is a real story and is related to many lives as well as many deaths, and, is a piece of a very recent history. It is almost thoroughly one-sided look at the events that took place as well as the identity of McGartland, however, that is a choice made by the director and there is no escape from it since it is based on McGartland's very own writing. Thus comes my mixed feelings about the film; it creates an almost heroic description of the man, whom even I could blame for many unpleasant events, but it also makes a very good character study and a thriller out of the whole story, for those who would prefer to see it that way. I believe that it is indeed possible to find the movie very successful giving the credit that it does create an ambience that there was this man, no matter what he did and if we approved or not, suffering from the consequences of his actions, never being able to see his family and his friends again, yet, a true justice for what he did, to his community.
Certainly, Martin McGartland was not the only one, acting as he did, or to blame for what happened, however, he did play an integral part. Yet, the movie, hearing the word 'terrorist' for so many times through its course, also makes you think of all the 'freedom fighters' or 'wars against terrorism', all around the world. My friend asked if we, humans, are ever to find the beauty of love and peace, and I replied, with all my pessimism, no; unfortunately, in this world, love and peace do not have any value, over money, over absolute power, over hatred.
So tonight I watched Fifty Dead Men Walking, but with a little bit of a confusion at first and I ended up with some mixed feelings about the movie.
Fifty Dead Men Walking is a 2008 movie by Kari Skogland, based on the 1997 autobiography of the same name by Martin McGartland, starring Jim Sturgess (Martin McGartland) and Ben Kingsley (Fergus). It covers the period between 1987-1991, the period in which McGartland worked as an informant within the IRA. In the 80s, McGartland was a 20-something street hustler in Northern Ireland; IRA wanted to recruit him, and so did the British police. Since he did not approve of IRA, he decided to work with the British police, while becoming an official volunteer in the IRA, gaining the trust of top people within the organization, thus being donated with top-secret information which he handed in the British police, through Fergus. As the situation got more and more serious, it seems that McGartland and Fergus built a somewhat father-son relationship. However, it is obvious that there is no win-win situation in the end for nobody, and as the British decided to use him as a bait, he was finally discovered by IRA. After that point, the only person that McGarland could trust became Fergus, who arranged a new life for him and his girlfriend in Scotland, which he did not accept in order not to take his girlfriend, his son and his other child on the way, down with himself, doomed to an insecure life. He then ran alone to Canada, and he was found one day by an IRA hitman and was shot. It is known that he survived after the shooting and is still on the run.
It is not easy to make comments about a movie like this without the criticism of the story itself, for it is a real story and is related to many lives as well as many deaths, and, is a piece of a very recent history. It is almost thoroughly one-sided look at the events that took place as well as the identity of McGartland, however, that is a choice made by the director and there is no escape from it since it is based on McGartland's very own writing. Thus comes my mixed feelings about the film; it creates an almost heroic description of the man, whom even I could blame for many unpleasant events, but it also makes a very good character study and a thriller out of the whole story, for those who would prefer to see it that way. I believe that it is indeed possible to find the movie very successful giving the credit that it does create an ambience that there was this man, no matter what he did and if we approved or not, suffering from the consequences of his actions, never being able to see his family and his friends again, yet, a true justice for what he did, to his community.
Certainly, Martin McGartland was not the only one, acting as he did, or to blame for what happened, however, he did play an integral part. Yet, the movie, hearing the word 'terrorist' for so many times through its course, also makes you think of all the 'freedom fighters' or 'wars against terrorism', all around the world. My friend asked if we, humans, are ever to find the beauty of love and peace, and I replied, with all my pessimism, no; unfortunately, in this world, love and peace do not have any value, over money, over absolute power, over hatred.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Patrick Swayze And The Iconic Moments of Hollywood
Many women in my age, maybe also who are older, would agree that their Adonis during the 80s had been Patrick Swayze. His dance moves in Dirty Dancing did give many women the almost heart-attacks. His filmography may not be that long and full of well-remembered roles, or he may not have a huge list of awards, and yet, he grabbed a slice of history as Orry Main in North and South, Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing or the iconic pottery making scene with Demi Moore in Ghost. The 90s' crush on the incredibly untalented Keanu Reeves overshadowed Swayze's rebellious success as Bodhi a bit, nonetheless, he did get a nomination for Most Desirable Male in MTV Movie Awards that year.
Well, enough with the widely known information that you can find anywhere. What I feel, on the other hand, is that another personal idol, another part of my past, my childhood, is gone, and at such a young age. I am afraid that by the time I have children and I tell them about my past, there will have remained no other witnesses or no examples. Whenever there was a movie of an old Hollywood star on TV, my mother used to start telling all about those great actors and actresses she was in love with, that helped shape up her youth, and there were all dead - to me. And now, it is about to happen - to me.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Wolke 9
Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.
Rainer Maria Rilke
**
I have had this movie for quite a long time and ever since, I have been avoiding it. Having my own selfish issues about my age and the fact that I will be exactly 30 in a couple of months, I could not dare to watch the story of old people. Yet, finally today, after a conversation with a friend on something that is completely irrelevant, I remembered that I had this film in my archive and decided to see it.
Wolke 9 is a 2008 German movie directed by Andreas Dresen, about a woman, Inge, aged 67, finding love after 30 years of marriage. Right at the beginning of the movie, we see Inge, an old simple woman, taking the trousers she made for Karl, 76 to his apartment. Surprised to see her at the door, Karl goes on to try them on, and after this brief encounter, the next thing we know is the two rolling on the carpet naked, making a passionate and warm love. Inge almost runs out of the apartment right after and goes back to her routine life with her husband of 30 years, Werner. However, she can not really go back to it all, for she can not take her mind off Karl. When he also shows his affection by constantly calling her and trying to see her again, she gives in and the two start an affair, which is not an affair of only sex, but of true love.
While a love story is one that comes out of Hollywood or European cinema or anywhere in the world every year in countless examples, a story about old people is not as such, especially one that is so fact-driven and brave. Life after a certain age is like a restricted area for cinema, and surprisingly it is in fact an unknown territory in real life. It is like the time of your life where people think they should leave you alone and not discomfort you by revealing your privacy. And yet, people are actually living longer than 40-something today, up to 70 or 80, or maybe even longer, and despite the fact that they get old physically and mostly losing their glamour, they feel and discover things still, maybe even more today, in this fast-paced world. What makes Wolke 9 special is that it does break taboos about that period and shows us, bravely and honestly, what we have been ignoring for quite some time now; in order to do that, it literally strips down people who are not glamorously or elegantly young and fresh, leaving the viewer with a shock that a story without flawless skins or without the brightness of youth can actually be as warm and passionate and that love makes anyone shine no matter what age; yet it also emotionally strips them down, again along with us, the audience.
Aside from the obvious, there is something deeper within the story and this is the core of the beauty of the film, which makes it something more than the bravery of the director and the actors, that would start to mean plain if the sentences were to be repeated again and again. One might argue that it does not make a simple love triangle remarkable to even unusually tell it through older people, and that would be perfectly true in a way, yet the movie is not about who will end up with whom, but about a woman's life passed for ages after ages without realizing who she actually was and by never putting herself in first place; is it too late to be happy and to lose herself in love and passion, thus finding her true self, in an age over 60? I hope not.
In Wintertime Love, Jim Morrison sings;
Come with me, dance, my dear,
Winter's so cold this year,
You are so warm, my wintertime love to be.
and yes, love is warm, no matter at what age and yes, I believe that Inge is a lucky woman. I also am sure, now, that what I am afraid of are not the wrinkles or floppy breasts, but a life spent without true love or without knowing who I really am.
Who would have thought that I would thank Inge for that?
Rainer Maria Rilke
**
I have had this movie for quite a long time and ever since, I have been avoiding it. Having my own selfish issues about my age and the fact that I will be exactly 30 in a couple of months, I could not dare to watch the story of old people. Yet, finally today, after a conversation with a friend on something that is completely irrelevant, I remembered that I had this film in my archive and decided to see it.
Wolke 9 is a 2008 German movie directed by Andreas Dresen, about a woman, Inge, aged 67, finding love after 30 years of marriage. Right at the beginning of the movie, we see Inge, an old simple woman, taking the trousers she made for Karl, 76 to his apartment. Surprised to see her at the door, Karl goes on to try them on, and after this brief encounter, the next thing we know is the two rolling on the carpet naked, making a passionate and warm love. Inge almost runs out of the apartment right after and goes back to her routine life with her husband of 30 years, Werner. However, she can not really go back to it all, for she can not take her mind off Karl. When he also shows his affection by constantly calling her and trying to see her again, she gives in and the two start an affair, which is not an affair of only sex, but of true love.
While a love story is one that comes out of Hollywood or European cinema or anywhere in the world every year in countless examples, a story about old people is not as such, especially one that is so fact-driven and brave. Life after a certain age is like a restricted area for cinema, and surprisingly it is in fact an unknown territory in real life. It is like the time of your life where people think they should leave you alone and not discomfort you by revealing your privacy. And yet, people are actually living longer than 40-something today, up to 70 or 80, or maybe even longer, and despite the fact that they get old physically and mostly losing their glamour, they feel and discover things still, maybe even more today, in this fast-paced world. What makes Wolke 9 special is that it does break taboos about that period and shows us, bravely and honestly, what we have been ignoring for quite some time now; in order to do that, it literally strips down people who are not glamorously or elegantly young and fresh, leaving the viewer with a shock that a story without flawless skins or without the brightness of youth can actually be as warm and passionate and that love makes anyone shine no matter what age; yet it also emotionally strips them down, again along with us, the audience.
Aside from the obvious, there is something deeper within the story and this is the core of the beauty of the film, which makes it something more than the bravery of the director and the actors, that would start to mean plain if the sentences were to be repeated again and again. One might argue that it does not make a simple love triangle remarkable to even unusually tell it through older people, and that would be perfectly true in a way, yet the movie is not about who will end up with whom, but about a woman's life passed for ages after ages without realizing who she actually was and by never putting herself in first place; is it too late to be happy and to lose herself in love and passion, thus finding her true self, in an age over 60? I hope not.
In Wintertime Love, Jim Morrison sings;
Come with me, dance, my dear,
Winter's so cold this year,
You are so warm, my wintertime love to be.
and yes, love is warm, no matter at what age and yes, I believe that Inge is a lucky woman. I also am sure, now, that what I am afraid of are not the wrinkles or floppy breasts, but a life spent without true love or without knowing who I really am.
Who would have thought that I would thank Inge for that?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Playlist for today
An old flame - The Doors. And my all-time favorite The Doors tracks.
Little bit of nostalgia would do no harm, right?
Little bit of nostalgia would do no harm, right?
Music of Ancient Greece, Sumer, Egypt and China
As a person interested in music of various genres, I recently made a little research on ancient music and found a few collections on some of great ancient civilizations.
Among those musical excerpts the one that amazed me most was those of Greece. In ancient Greece, music happened to be present in everything related to society, from marriages to funerals, to stage dramas etc, thus playing a significant role in their lives. The word music comes from the muses, the daughters of Zeus and patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavours and there are many archaeological remains depicting music being performed on ceramics. Pythagoras and his school laid the foundations of our knowledge of harmonics, it is often seen that the term 'music of the spheres' was used, meaning that music, for ancient Greeks, was rather a mathematical and philosophical description of the universe - the stars, the sun, the planets, vibrating in harmony.
About the music, Plato explained that;
Our music was once divided into its proper forms...It was not permitted to exchange the melodic styles of these established forms and others. Knowledge and informed judgment penalized disobedience. There were no whistles, unmusical mob-noises, or clapping for applause. The rule was to listen silently and learn; boys, teachers, and the crowd were kept in order by threat of the stick. . . . But later, an unmusical anarchy was led by poets who had natural talent, but were ignorant of the laws of music...Through foolishness they deceived themselves into thinking that there was no right or wrong way in music, that it was to be judged good or bad by the pleasure it gave. By their works and their theories they infected the masses with the presumption to think themselves adequate judges. So our theatres, once silent, grew vocal, and aristocracy of music gave way to a pernicious theatrocracy...the criterion was not music, but a reputation for promiscuous cleverness and a spirit of law-breaking.
What Plato suggested here as the law-breakers were those such as Aristoxenus, who argued that the notes were to be judged, not by mathematics, but by the ear, describing further, as one should sing and play what sounded good and reasonable to people, for he could not hear the music of the spheres anyway.
The following musical excerpts are from a collection with the title Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians & Greeks, and it contains excerpts from Hurrian Hymns, dating back to 1250 BC. Hurrians were a people of Ancient Near East, in northern Mesopotamia, beginning approximately 2500 BC. It is possible that they originated in the Caucasus. The Hurrian texts from Ugarit, an ancient cosmopolitan port city, are the oldest known examples of written music, dating from 1800 BC. In these texts are found the names of four Hurrian composers, Tapšiẖuni, Puẖiya(na), Urẖiya, and Ammiya.
The ancient Chinese music involves the instrument Guqin, which has a long history dating back to almost 3000 years. Because of huge file size problem, unfortunately I could not add here any examples, however, those who are curious about it, may find a very good collection of examples here.
**
Information was mostly taken from wikipedia.
Among those musical excerpts the one that amazed me most was those of Greece. In ancient Greece, music happened to be present in everything related to society, from marriages to funerals, to stage dramas etc, thus playing a significant role in their lives. The word music comes from the muses, the daughters of Zeus and patron goddesses of creative and intellectual endeavours and there are many archaeological remains depicting music being performed on ceramics. Pythagoras and his school laid the foundations of our knowledge of harmonics, it is often seen that the term 'music of the spheres' was used, meaning that music, for ancient Greeks, was rather a mathematical and philosophical description of the universe - the stars, the sun, the planets, vibrating in harmony.
About the music, Plato explained that;
Our music was once divided into its proper forms...It was not permitted to exchange the melodic styles of these established forms and others. Knowledge and informed judgment penalized disobedience. There were no whistles, unmusical mob-noises, or clapping for applause. The rule was to listen silently and learn; boys, teachers, and the crowd were kept in order by threat of the stick. . . . But later, an unmusical anarchy was led by poets who had natural talent, but were ignorant of the laws of music...Through foolishness they deceived themselves into thinking that there was no right or wrong way in music, that it was to be judged good or bad by the pleasure it gave. By their works and their theories they infected the masses with the presumption to think themselves adequate judges. So our theatres, once silent, grew vocal, and aristocracy of music gave way to a pernicious theatrocracy...the criterion was not music, but a reputation for promiscuous cleverness and a spirit of law-breaking.
What Plato suggested here as the law-breakers were those such as Aristoxenus, who argued that the notes were to be judged, not by mathematics, but by the ear, describing further, as one should sing and play what sounded good and reasonable to people, for he could not hear the music of the spheres anyway.
The following musical excerpts are from a collection with the title Music of the Ancient Sumerians, Egyptians & Greeks, and it contains excerpts from Hurrian Hymns, dating back to 1250 BC. Hurrians were a people of Ancient Near East, in northern Mesopotamia, beginning approximately 2500 BC. It is possible that they originated in the Caucasus. The Hurrian texts from Ugarit, an ancient cosmopolitan port city, are the oldest known examples of written music, dating from 1800 BC. In these texts are found the names of four Hurrian composers, Tapšiẖuni, Puẖiya(na), Urẖiya, and Ammiya.
The ancient Chinese music involves the instrument Guqin, which has a long history dating back to almost 3000 years. Because of huge file size problem, unfortunately I could not add here any examples, however, those who are curious about it, may find a very good collection of examples here.
**
Information was mostly taken from wikipedia.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Chicago 10
I watched this movie wishing it had not been a familiar scene for me, for someone who was born more than ten years later than the time of the events that are documented in the movie. No, unfortunately, I am familiar with those acts, but the unfortunate part is not about people expressing their opinions about something that they are against, it is rather the actions taken in order to prevent them, and the actions causing their need to protest.
In 1968, in late august, Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago, known as a police state; it was convened to select the party's candidates for the November 1968 Presidential election. However, it quickly became the scene of massive demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time of its height. In the aftermath of the events, eight demonstrators were tried: Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner and Bobby Seale. During the course of the trial, Seale was taken away due to his so-called violent and illegal stands against the court, decreasing the number of the defendants to 7, thus going down the history as Chicago 7. The movie Chicago 10 is named after this, with the addition of Bobby Seale and the lawyers of the defendants, William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, for they too went down with the defendants.
Chicago 10, or by its full name Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace, is a 2007 partially animated documentary by Brett Morgen. In consists of archive footage of the actual events, and the animated trial scenes, based on transcripts and rediscovered audio recordings. It is a powerful reminder of the events of 1968 in USA, against Vietnam War; starting from the preparations for demonstrations one year earlier, it presents the events day by day, with the trial scenes in between. Many people then and today know about the protests against the war by the youth, by hippies, yippies and many other organizations, but what is emphasized here is the fact of extreme violent actions taken against these unarmed crowd by the police in a country where there is so-called freedom of speech, and the fact of the quite openly one-sided funny trial in the aftermath. What we see in these footages is the reality of intolerance of the governments and their armed extensions fed by wars, which is just a peculiar example for some, however, what many today are aware of is that these extreme measures are still taken today in many countries against many people who are just brave enough to stand up and speak, including the country that I live in.
As for the results of the trial, taken directly from wikipedia article on the subject;
On February 18, 1970, all seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy. Two (Froines and Weiner) were acquitted completely, while the remaining five were convicted of crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot, a crime instituted by the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. On February 20, they were each fined $5,000 and sentenced to five years in prison. At sentencing, Abbie Hoffman recommended that the judge try LSD, offering to set him up with a dealer he knew in Florida. On November 21, 1972, all of the convictions were reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on the basis that the judge was biased in his refusal to permit defense attorneys to screen prospective jurors for cultural and racial bias (Case citation 472 F.2d 340)... During the trial, all the defendants and both defense attorneys had been cited for contempt and sentenced to jail, but all of those convictions were also overturned... Of the eight police officers indicted in the matter, seven were acquitted, and charges against the eighth were dismissed.
Today, what we all have is a hope, leading to many contemporary actions and movements, such as Zeitgeist, that one day, the reasons for such protests will vanish, taking the humanity to a higher, enlightened level.
In 1968, in late august, Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago, known as a police state; it was convened to select the party's candidates for the November 1968 Presidential election. However, it quickly became the scene of massive demonstrations against the Vietnam War at the time of its height. In the aftermath of the events, eight demonstrators were tried: Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner and Bobby Seale. During the course of the trial, Seale was taken away due to his so-called violent and illegal stands against the court, decreasing the number of the defendants to 7, thus going down the history as Chicago 7. The movie Chicago 10 is named after this, with the addition of Bobby Seale and the lawyers of the defendants, William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, for they too went down with the defendants.
Chicago 10, or by its full name Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace, is a 2007 partially animated documentary by Brett Morgen. In consists of archive footage of the actual events, and the animated trial scenes, based on transcripts and rediscovered audio recordings. It is a powerful reminder of the events of 1968 in USA, against Vietnam War; starting from the preparations for demonstrations one year earlier, it presents the events day by day, with the trial scenes in between. Many people then and today know about the protests against the war by the youth, by hippies, yippies and many other organizations, but what is emphasized here is the fact of extreme violent actions taken against these unarmed crowd by the police in a country where there is so-called freedom of speech, and the fact of the quite openly one-sided funny trial in the aftermath. What we see in these footages is the reality of intolerance of the governments and their armed extensions fed by wars, which is just a peculiar example for some, however, what many today are aware of is that these extreme measures are still taken today in many countries against many people who are just brave enough to stand up and speak, including the country that I live in.
As for the results of the trial, taken directly from wikipedia article on the subject;
On February 18, 1970, all seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy. Two (Froines and Weiner) were acquitted completely, while the remaining five were convicted of crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot, a crime instituted by the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. On February 20, they were each fined $5,000 and sentenced to five years in prison. At sentencing, Abbie Hoffman recommended that the judge try LSD, offering to set him up with a dealer he knew in Florida. On November 21, 1972, all of the convictions were reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on the basis that the judge was biased in his refusal to permit defense attorneys to screen prospective jurors for cultural and racial bias (Case citation 472 F.2d 340)... During the trial, all the defendants and both defense attorneys had been cited for contempt and sentenced to jail, but all of those convictions were also overturned... Of the eight police officers indicted in the matter, seven were acquitted, and charges against the eighth were dismissed.
Today, what we all have is a hope, leading to many contemporary actions and movements, such as Zeitgeist, that one day, the reasons for such protests will vanish, taking the humanity to a higher, enlightened level.
Playlist for today
A selection tracks from various soundtracks, respectively:
The Thomas Crown Affair
Broken Flowers
Love Story
Stranger Than Fiction
In The Mood For Love
Babel
The Thomas Crown Affair
Broken Flowers
Love Story
Stranger Than Fiction
In The Mood For Love
Babel
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Revanche
Very rarely do so many people easily identify themselves with criminals, very rarely do they understand their humanity and feelings. It is always a lot easier to say that they are not worth the effort, that they even do not feel. With all due respect, they are human and they too have a storm breaking within their heart.
Revanche, Austria's nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2009, directed by Götz Spielmann, is a movie focusing on the human aspect of such a criminal.
The movie starts with a couple in the city, in Vienna; the woman, Tamara, is an illegal immigrant from Ukraine, working as a prostitute in a brothel while the man, Alex, runs errands in the same brothel. The two have a secret relationship; it is forbidden for them to be involved in a romantic affair with each other. Tired of having to steal moments from their wasting way of life in order to be together and happy, and tired of the boss' plans on Tamara, they run away one day; problem is, they need money, but Alex has a plan: he will rob the local bank - easy and neat. However, the things do not go according to plan, and Tamara is accidentally killed by the police officer that try to catch them.
Now, up to that point, you think that you are watching a thriller, and not even so much an original one. Yet, almost everyone who sees the film agrees that, from the moment Alex realizes that Tamara is shot and dead, the film takes a turn. In the center of the remaining story is the revenge that Alex wants to take for his girlfriend's death, however, it is not quite an obsessive one, in fact, it becomes the one thing that causes a complete change in Alex, to a better self. He goes to the farm where his grandfather lives in, at first just to hide and mourn, however as he starts working there in order to help his grandfather, he opens himself, somewhat quite reluctantly, to whole new feelings, while he is seen from outside, as if closing himself to his inner thoughts. By chance, he meets Susanne, the wife of the police officer, who is a nice but unhappy woman with problems in her marriage, and gets involved in a surprising and sudden relationship with her, which consists of a mild aggressiveness, eventually softened a bit by Susanne, and two nights of sex. As there is always Alex and how he tries to cope with Tamara's death and his own feelings of revenge in the center, he is not the only one in this equation; Robert, the police officer, is also trying to cope with the fact that whether by accident or not, he killed a person, and is not understood by his wife or his colleagues; and Susanne is recovering from her miscarriage, trying to get pregnant again, as her husband gets more and more away from her emotionally. The three people, whose real connections are only known to Alex, get involved within a relationship knot, as the two protagonists, namely Susanne and Alex, unknowingly help each other overcome their problems.
For about the first 45 minutes of the film, I thought that I was watching a routine hide and seek story, but the minute Tamara is dead and Alex is crushed by that fact, crying by himself night after night, I realized that the movie was in fact a character study, with a credibility that only a few European actors and directors could manage. Even in the best Hollywood movies, or European ones, if there is a leading star, then the movie loses its somewhat reality, however, Revanche overcomes the problems of storytelling, to the extent that the viewer is convinced that the actors are actual people for the remaining 70 minutes. It is a long movie, but the tension of what might happen anytime, with a possibility of sudden outbursts of feelings or realities keeps you intensely connected to it. 'Whose fault is it if life doesn't go your way?' is the motto of the movie, and is the question that characters in the movie keep on asking themselves in their inner thoughts continuously throughout the course of the film.
Apart from the profound character studies, visually the director uses many contrasts creating the ambience of the film, such as the complete serenity of the nature contradicting the tension of the people. The elements of the nature become the props of the movie, as the sound of the wind through the leaves of the trees become the soundtrack or one indifferent bench by the side of the lake becomes the most important stage setting through the end.
What is most important about the movie is that you understand those people, even if you have never worked as a prostitute, never killed anyone, never robbed a bank, or slept with a complete stranger, for these become only the small details eventually. Whatever happens to us, it is just another event triggering whole new and different emotions, taking our lives to many other turns. There is no lesson that can be learned from this movie, and yet, it is not its intention, the film just makes you, the audience, eventually turn to your innerself and makes you realize that any story in your life is a possible movie.
Revanche, Austria's nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2009, directed by Götz Spielmann, is a movie focusing on the human aspect of such a criminal.
The movie starts with a couple in the city, in Vienna; the woman, Tamara, is an illegal immigrant from Ukraine, working as a prostitute in a brothel while the man, Alex, runs errands in the same brothel. The two have a secret relationship; it is forbidden for them to be involved in a romantic affair with each other. Tired of having to steal moments from their wasting way of life in order to be together and happy, and tired of the boss' plans on Tamara, they run away one day; problem is, they need money, but Alex has a plan: he will rob the local bank - easy and neat. However, the things do not go according to plan, and Tamara is accidentally killed by the police officer that try to catch them.
Now, up to that point, you think that you are watching a thriller, and not even so much an original one. Yet, almost everyone who sees the film agrees that, from the moment Alex realizes that Tamara is shot and dead, the film takes a turn. In the center of the remaining story is the revenge that Alex wants to take for his girlfriend's death, however, it is not quite an obsessive one, in fact, it becomes the one thing that causes a complete change in Alex, to a better self. He goes to the farm where his grandfather lives in, at first just to hide and mourn, however as he starts working there in order to help his grandfather, he opens himself, somewhat quite reluctantly, to whole new feelings, while he is seen from outside, as if closing himself to his inner thoughts. By chance, he meets Susanne, the wife of the police officer, who is a nice but unhappy woman with problems in her marriage, and gets involved in a surprising and sudden relationship with her, which consists of a mild aggressiveness, eventually softened a bit by Susanne, and two nights of sex. As there is always Alex and how he tries to cope with Tamara's death and his own feelings of revenge in the center, he is not the only one in this equation; Robert, the police officer, is also trying to cope with the fact that whether by accident or not, he killed a person, and is not understood by his wife or his colleagues; and Susanne is recovering from her miscarriage, trying to get pregnant again, as her husband gets more and more away from her emotionally. The three people, whose real connections are only known to Alex, get involved within a relationship knot, as the two protagonists, namely Susanne and Alex, unknowingly help each other overcome their problems.
For about the first 45 minutes of the film, I thought that I was watching a routine hide and seek story, but the minute Tamara is dead and Alex is crushed by that fact, crying by himself night after night, I realized that the movie was in fact a character study, with a credibility that only a few European actors and directors could manage. Even in the best Hollywood movies, or European ones, if there is a leading star, then the movie loses its somewhat reality, however, Revanche overcomes the problems of storytelling, to the extent that the viewer is convinced that the actors are actual people for the remaining 70 minutes. It is a long movie, but the tension of what might happen anytime, with a possibility of sudden outbursts of feelings or realities keeps you intensely connected to it. 'Whose fault is it if life doesn't go your way?' is the motto of the movie, and is the question that characters in the movie keep on asking themselves in their inner thoughts continuously throughout the course of the film.
Apart from the profound character studies, visually the director uses many contrasts creating the ambience of the film, such as the complete serenity of the nature contradicting the tension of the people. The elements of the nature become the props of the movie, as the sound of the wind through the leaves of the trees become the soundtrack or one indifferent bench by the side of the lake becomes the most important stage setting through the end.
What is most important about the movie is that you understand those people, even if you have never worked as a prostitute, never killed anyone, never robbed a bank, or slept with a complete stranger, for these become only the small details eventually. Whatever happens to us, it is just another event triggering whole new and different emotions, taking our lives to many other turns. There is no lesson that can be learned from this movie, and yet, it is not its intention, the film just makes you, the audience, eventually turn to your innerself and makes you realize that any story in your life is a possible movie.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Entre Les Murs
It is an incredibly enormous amount of time that we spend in between the four walls of the classrooms we have been educated in throughout our lives, maybe only with the possible exception of university years. I had 5 years of elementary school and 7 years of high school, and in each of them it is almost like I saw my teachers and my classmates more than my family. When you get out of the high school classroom for the last time at the age of about 18, you are likely to feel as if you are to step out to a whole different universe, and in a way it is a whole different universe.
What I witnessed today, while viewing Entre Les Murs, the 2008 Palme d'Or winner film directed by Laurent Cantet, I have thought of several things, from the surprises it brought into my mind, such as a definitive comment of the teachers' side that I so long looked at from a certain view no matter at what age, to the similarities and more likely differences between the education system I saw in the film and that of I personally experienced years ago - and perhaps is still experienced by so many, in Turkey. However, possibly one of the first surprises of the movie is that it is not a documentary but is at certain points fictional, although based on the book of the leading actor's own teaching experiences and as a genre in cinema it would only fit to drama. Yes, the film is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau, who also acts as the teacher in the movie. The book is that of a semi-autobiography, and Monsieur Bégaudeau is today more of a journalist, author and actor.
Entre Les Murs shows us what goes on in a classroom throughout one school year, in French course, in an inner city middle school in Paris. In order to focus fully on the intended subject, and in a way to increase the somewhat tension in the viewer, the film is strictly limited to scenes inside the school, with about 75 of them in the very same classroom mentioned. There is not much of a hint of the students' personal lives, and perhaps that is the very point that the students try to make at one time about writing their self-portraits; the thing is, the school is an acting stage, for everyone without an exception, an acting that is in a way a primitive version of internet chat dialogues where you can pretend to be anyone, and thus, the sentence 'your lives interest me' expressed by the teacher is in fact non-sense and pedagogically incorrect for the life of any of the sides really is not interesting at all, for either sides. This is why, the film does not fill us with unnecessary details of the students' or the teachers' personal lives, and instead tells us to settle with what we actually see and guess or create stories ourselves; for example, there is a scene where two close girl friends named Esmeralda and Khoumba suddenly decide to sit away from each other, and we can dig this story along with the teacher only as deep as the students allow us to, they just wanted a change, however you may as well go on yourself with a quarrel between the two about whatever you can imagine. A few days later, they would start sitting together, again by any possible reasons.
While the film takes an interestingly direct view of the teachers' side, it does not 'take sides'. According to our own interpretation, in the end we decide whether it is harder to be a student or a teacher, but the movie itself will just tell you that they both are tough positions. This aspect of the movie is in fact what attracts it closer to being a documentary, the closest that a drama can ever get. I,myself, see that it is hard to be a teacher within that system of teaching, and also would want to participate in it as a student.
The very similarity of that system with that of what I had been through is the constant emphasize and profound focus on punishment. Especially during the first meeting of the teachers accompanied by the students' and parents' representatives, it is, in a semi-hidden way, implied that the teachers define their students and their education system, through punishments, rather than rewarding. For me, learning is the very essence of my being, however, that does not make the constitution called school the only essential parameter in that equation, with me obeying without question within a herd mentality, and if questioning is one of the most important tools of learning, than the students being punished, mostly because in the very root of their presence at the school, there remains a complete mystery of why there, why between those walls, is to take the easy way out for the teachers. Many of those rebellious children can be put in a more proper manner if simply they are convinced, with contemporary methods, it will be the best thing for them to go through this learning stage. This certainly may look naive, and I am not a professional in this area so as to offer any definite method, however, it may be a starting point.
In contrast to the one basic similarity stated above, I have found the two education systems completely different (I must here remind you that I am only referring to my own experiences as a student, which happened to be years ago!). While in our classroom, we hardly ever expressed our thoughts, extreme or ordinary, and were hardly ever encouraged to do so, these students are expressing themselves so much up to a point where the teacher can not even talk himself. Now some teachers would argue with this teacher's method, and yes they even do in one of the IMDB forums, but I want to congratulate him for being so open-minded and perhaps even brave; brave, because at most of the time this openness to lead any idea expression to a certain level of debate leads instead to a chaos in the classroom which is harder to handle. And this method of teaching also requires even more effort from the teacher, for today's students are not taking only what he/she gives to them, but they also are aware of anything happening in the world, to the only extent of how much they want to know, through TV, through internet, ie, to the easily accessible information. So remind us, once again, why choose to obey a certain institution's rules while I can get access to anything at home, in my room? Once again, you have to do more, to convince these students.
I can write more and more about this subject, however I will stop here for the moment; but before I do, here is a little recommendation: before or after you watch the film, it does not matter, visit its official website http://www.sonyclassics.com/theclass and read the section Film, especially the Cantet - Bégaudeau interview, it will give incredibly interesting facts about the story's evolution and - all amateur - adolescent cast. So I am willing to take back the statement I made a few days ago, here on my blog, about losing my faith in French cinema, it could not prove me wrong in any better way; however, they should stick more to that real France of today, with millions of different voices from different races and nations speaking up, instead of the seemingly high-qualified intellectuals.
What I witnessed today, while viewing Entre Les Murs, the 2008 Palme d'Or winner film directed by Laurent Cantet, I have thought of several things, from the surprises it brought into my mind, such as a definitive comment of the teachers' side that I so long looked at from a certain view no matter at what age, to the similarities and more likely differences between the education system I saw in the film and that of I personally experienced years ago - and perhaps is still experienced by so many, in Turkey. However, possibly one of the first surprises of the movie is that it is not a documentary but is at certain points fictional, although based on the book of the leading actor's own teaching experiences and as a genre in cinema it would only fit to drama. Yes, the film is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau, who also acts as the teacher in the movie. The book is that of a semi-autobiography, and Monsieur Bégaudeau is today more of a journalist, author and actor.
Entre Les Murs shows us what goes on in a classroom throughout one school year, in French course, in an inner city middle school in Paris. In order to focus fully on the intended subject, and in a way to increase the somewhat tension in the viewer, the film is strictly limited to scenes inside the school, with about 75 of them in the very same classroom mentioned. There is not much of a hint of the students' personal lives, and perhaps that is the very point that the students try to make at one time about writing their self-portraits; the thing is, the school is an acting stage, for everyone without an exception, an acting that is in a way a primitive version of internet chat dialogues where you can pretend to be anyone, and thus, the sentence 'your lives interest me' expressed by the teacher is in fact non-sense and pedagogically incorrect for the life of any of the sides really is not interesting at all, for either sides. This is why, the film does not fill us with unnecessary details of the students' or the teachers' personal lives, and instead tells us to settle with what we actually see and guess or create stories ourselves; for example, there is a scene where two close girl friends named Esmeralda and Khoumba suddenly decide to sit away from each other, and we can dig this story along with the teacher only as deep as the students allow us to, they just wanted a change, however you may as well go on yourself with a quarrel between the two about whatever you can imagine. A few days later, they would start sitting together, again by any possible reasons.
While the film takes an interestingly direct view of the teachers' side, it does not 'take sides'. According to our own interpretation, in the end we decide whether it is harder to be a student or a teacher, but the movie itself will just tell you that they both are tough positions. This aspect of the movie is in fact what attracts it closer to being a documentary, the closest that a drama can ever get. I,myself, see that it is hard to be a teacher within that system of teaching, and also would want to participate in it as a student.
The very similarity of that system with that of what I had been through is the constant emphasize and profound focus on punishment. Especially during the first meeting of the teachers accompanied by the students' and parents' representatives, it is, in a semi-hidden way, implied that the teachers define their students and their education system, through punishments, rather than rewarding. For me, learning is the very essence of my being, however, that does not make the constitution called school the only essential parameter in that equation, with me obeying without question within a herd mentality, and if questioning is one of the most important tools of learning, than the students being punished, mostly because in the very root of their presence at the school, there remains a complete mystery of why there, why between those walls, is to take the easy way out for the teachers. Many of those rebellious children can be put in a more proper manner if simply they are convinced, with contemporary methods, it will be the best thing for them to go through this learning stage. This certainly may look naive, and I am not a professional in this area so as to offer any definite method, however, it may be a starting point.
In contrast to the one basic similarity stated above, I have found the two education systems completely different (I must here remind you that I am only referring to my own experiences as a student, which happened to be years ago!). While in our classroom, we hardly ever expressed our thoughts, extreme or ordinary, and were hardly ever encouraged to do so, these students are expressing themselves so much up to a point where the teacher can not even talk himself. Now some teachers would argue with this teacher's method, and yes they even do in one of the IMDB forums, but I want to congratulate him for being so open-minded and perhaps even brave; brave, because at most of the time this openness to lead any idea expression to a certain level of debate leads instead to a chaos in the classroom which is harder to handle. And this method of teaching also requires even more effort from the teacher, for today's students are not taking only what he/she gives to them, but they also are aware of anything happening in the world, to the only extent of how much they want to know, through TV, through internet, ie, to the easily accessible information. So remind us, once again, why choose to obey a certain institution's rules while I can get access to anything at home, in my room? Once again, you have to do more, to convince these students.
I can write more and more about this subject, however I will stop here for the moment; but before I do, here is a little recommendation: before or after you watch the film, it does not matter, visit its official website http://www.sonyclassics.com/theclass and read the section Film, especially the Cantet - Bégaudeau interview, it will give incredibly interesting facts about the story's evolution and - all amateur - adolescent cast. So I am willing to take back the statement I made a few days ago, here on my blog, about losing my faith in French cinema, it could not prove me wrong in any better way; however, they should stick more to that real France of today, with millions of different voices from different races and nations speaking up, instead of the seemingly high-qualified intellectuals.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Bom Yeoreum Gaeul Gyeoul Geurigo Bom
I was in fact to just put here the trailer and a few photos and that would be it, for this movie needs not be told with words after words; this extremely silent and wise movie needs to be viewed. But, then again.. I could not help myself. I do not think of myself as that of spiritual person and yet, this movie, with its clever symbolism and complete peace, did impress me.
Bom Yeoreum Gaeul Gyeoul Geurigo Bom, aka Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring, is a 2003 South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-Duk and unlike his previous films which were criticized for being excessively violent misogynist, this is a quiet, peaceful and musing work; it tells the story of the life of a Buddhist monk, passing through the seasons of his life.
Spring
The monk, in his childhood, is a young Buddhist apprentice, living with his master on a floating monastery. They lead a simple life, filled with praying, meditating and from time to time, going to the shore by a rowboat to take a walk or to collect herbs. During one of those visits to the shore, the young apprentice tortures a fish, a frog and a snake by tying a small stone to each of them and laughing by himself as the animals struggle. The master quietly watches the apprentice without him noticing and at that night he ties a big stone on the apprentice's back; when he wakes up in the morning, the master says that he can not untie the stone unless he finds the tormented animals and sets them free, adding that if any of them has died, he will "carry the stone in his heart forever". The apprentice finds the frog still struggling at the same place he left it and sets it free, however, the fish and the snake are dead; the apprentice cries heavily while the master watches him.
Summer
The teenager apprentice greets a mother and her daughter in the shore and takes them to the monastery. The girl is sick and the two come to the monastery hoping to get a cure, thus, the master accepts to take the young girl in for a while until she gets better. In the following days, the apprentice gets sexually attracted to the girl and after a few rejection, she eventually joins him in a trip to the forest where they have sex. They go on like this, secretly, for a while until one morning the master finds them lying naked next to each other in the boat. He does not express any anger or disappointment, however he says that the girl must leave immediately for she is now fully cured and he warns the apprentice saying "lust leads to desire for possesion, and possesion leads to murder". Unable to forget her, the apprentice soon after leaves the monastery in the middle of the night taking the Buddha statue with him.
Fall
The aging master sees in a newspaper by chance that his apprentice who left years ago is wanted by the police for killing his wife. He guesses that the apprentice would come there and he gets ready to welcome him. The apprentice does arrive there soon, still full of anger, carrying the knife he used to kill his wife. In a short while, he makes a suicide ritual, however the master beats him by a bat showing him that he will not get away with this and end his life easily; he then writes "Heart Sutra" on the deck of the monastery and asks the apprentice to carve the letters. As the apprentice goes on carving without stopping for a moment, the police comes to arrest him, however the master asks them to wait until the apprentice is finished with carving next day. He falls asleep as soon as he is finished, and the police, somewhat taken away by the soothing existence of the master, helps him to paint the letters in various colours, and they take the apprentice with them when they are finished. After they leave, the master makes a suicide ritual, meditating until he suffocates and is burned to death.
Winter
The apprentice, now middle-aged, comes back to the monastery drifting uninhabited for years after he gets out of the prison and starts living there, meditating and exercising every day. One day, a mysterious woman whose face is covered with a purple scarf comes to the monastery with a baby; after spending the night there, she leaves the baby and tries to flee, but falls into a hole the monk dug up before. Finding the woman dead because of that, the monk ties the large circular stone of the monastery to his body, and climbs to the summit of the highest mountain there.
and Spring
As the cycle is completed by returning once again bact to 'spring', the apprentice, now the master, lives in the monastery with the baby grown a few years to his childhood and now the apprentice himself. He torments a fish, a frog and a snake, completing the cycle and showing us that it will go on and on.
While I love almost everything about the film, one thing keeps bugging me; the good old woman as the root of all evil concept. It may be almost essential to use that as it is the one of the oldest beliefs and the reason - or cause, I am not sure - of the othering, however, I can not take it anymore and beg the movie genii to use a new concept of evil - well then again, maybe the director does think of the women as above, thinking of the possible clues he had been giving in his previous movies.
From many aspects, the movie may be thought as a 105 minutes meditation and this would not quite be a false statement, not only for its beautiful and peaceful cinematography but also the way of story-telling and possibly the story itself; yes it is a meditation and you do not want it to end.
Bom Yeoreum Gaeul Gyeoul Geurigo Bom, aka Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring, is a 2003 South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-Duk and unlike his previous films which were criticized for being excessively violent misogynist, this is a quiet, peaceful and musing work; it tells the story of the life of a Buddhist monk, passing through the seasons of his life.
Spring
The monk, in his childhood, is a young Buddhist apprentice, living with his master on a floating monastery. They lead a simple life, filled with praying, meditating and from time to time, going to the shore by a rowboat to take a walk or to collect herbs. During one of those visits to the shore, the young apprentice tortures a fish, a frog and a snake by tying a small stone to each of them and laughing by himself as the animals struggle. The master quietly watches the apprentice without him noticing and at that night he ties a big stone on the apprentice's back; when he wakes up in the morning, the master says that he can not untie the stone unless he finds the tormented animals and sets them free, adding that if any of them has died, he will "carry the stone in his heart forever". The apprentice finds the frog still struggling at the same place he left it and sets it free, however, the fish and the snake are dead; the apprentice cries heavily while the master watches him.
Summer
The teenager apprentice greets a mother and her daughter in the shore and takes them to the monastery. The girl is sick and the two come to the monastery hoping to get a cure, thus, the master accepts to take the young girl in for a while until she gets better. In the following days, the apprentice gets sexually attracted to the girl and after a few rejection, she eventually joins him in a trip to the forest where they have sex. They go on like this, secretly, for a while until one morning the master finds them lying naked next to each other in the boat. He does not express any anger or disappointment, however he says that the girl must leave immediately for she is now fully cured and he warns the apprentice saying "lust leads to desire for possesion, and possesion leads to murder". Unable to forget her, the apprentice soon after leaves the monastery in the middle of the night taking the Buddha statue with him.
Fall
The aging master sees in a newspaper by chance that his apprentice who left years ago is wanted by the police for killing his wife. He guesses that the apprentice would come there and he gets ready to welcome him. The apprentice does arrive there soon, still full of anger, carrying the knife he used to kill his wife. In a short while, he makes a suicide ritual, however the master beats him by a bat showing him that he will not get away with this and end his life easily; he then writes "Heart Sutra" on the deck of the monastery and asks the apprentice to carve the letters. As the apprentice goes on carving without stopping for a moment, the police comes to arrest him, however the master asks them to wait until the apprentice is finished with carving next day. He falls asleep as soon as he is finished, and the police, somewhat taken away by the soothing existence of the master, helps him to paint the letters in various colours, and they take the apprentice with them when they are finished. After they leave, the master makes a suicide ritual, meditating until he suffocates and is burned to death.
Winter
The apprentice, now middle-aged, comes back to the monastery drifting uninhabited for years after he gets out of the prison and starts living there, meditating and exercising every day. One day, a mysterious woman whose face is covered with a purple scarf comes to the monastery with a baby; after spending the night there, she leaves the baby and tries to flee, but falls into a hole the monk dug up before. Finding the woman dead because of that, the monk ties the large circular stone of the monastery to his body, and climbs to the summit of the highest mountain there.
and Spring
As the cycle is completed by returning once again bact to 'spring', the apprentice, now the master, lives in the monastery with the baby grown a few years to his childhood and now the apprentice himself. He torments a fish, a frog and a snake, completing the cycle and showing us that it will go on and on.
While I love almost everything about the film, one thing keeps bugging me; the good old woman as the root of all evil concept. It may be almost essential to use that as it is the one of the oldest beliefs and the reason - or cause, I am not sure - of the othering, however, I can not take it anymore and beg the movie genii to use a new concept of evil - well then again, maybe the director does think of the women as above, thinking of the possible clues he had been giving in his previous movies.
From many aspects, the movie may be thought as a 105 minutes meditation and this would not quite be a false statement, not only for its beautiful and peaceful cinematography but also the way of story-telling and possibly the story itself; yes it is a meditation and you do not want it to end.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Summer
I have always believed that those who have a life-long friendships are the lucky ones. Having especially two friendships like that myself, I know what a magnificient thing it is to live through your adulthood with the same people that you grew up together, with those that saw you during the best and worst stages you had been through. They become, without a doubt, the most important people in your life. Shaun and Daz of the movie Summer are two friends like that.
Summer is a 2008 independent UK movie by Kenneth Glenaan, starring Robert Carlyle and Steve Evets, along with Rachael Blake. It is a story of friendship, unforgettable first love and in a more general view, the concept of life and death. Shaun and Daz are two close friends who have spent their all lives together and who have been living together at their 40s, with Daz's problematic son Daniel. Daz is bound to wheelchair due to a motorcycle accident he had in their most important summer, and he is about to die because of many serious health problems including liver, lungs etc. The two have always been quite vibrant, from their childhood days to the present. They both had problems at school, with Shaun being especially quite a slow learner. The fact that Daz is about to die causes Shaun to remember and even relive the details of that summer, sometimes by longing, sometimes by regretting.
The most important detail of Shaun's past, aside from his friendship with Daz, is his first and only love, Katy who also grew up with them and whose first love was Shaun. She is now a solicitor in Sheffield living in the best conditions among the three. With the memories of the past coming back to him more and more intensely every single day, Shaun attempts to get in touch with her, for the first time after that last summer they had together. Being at first quite reluctant to see him again, Katy then visits Shaun one night in the market he works and the two talk a little after a long while, each of them looking quite wasted for different reasons. In a few weeks' time, Daz dies and Shaun has to face the first real loneliness and the biggest loss in his life.
Glenaan's Summer does not tell the most original story ever. What makes it a remarkable and perhaps at some points even much more than just a remarkable movie is the familiar details it has in it, and the dose of intimacy, realism and sensibility. You can not decide which of them, Shaun or Daz, is in a more miserable condition or maybe whether they are really miserable at all, for they have at least each other; despite the quarrels full of f-word they have all the time, you understand what a loss it has been in the bathroom scene of Shaun after Daz died. While Daz's physical condition is an accident, Shaun is intentionally self-destructive, compressing his right hand in the workshop during high school years, crushing his bones and giving permanent damage, and this gives the clue to how intensely he feels; even though he is slow to learn, he is not slow at all to feel.
While I was expecting an average movie of friendship, I got a little surprised at how intense I, myself, felt at the end of the movie, crying together with Shaun. Thus, in order to remind you of your own memories and your friendships, and probably your first and biggest love, you should see Summer and regain your sensibility.
Summer is a 2008 independent UK movie by Kenneth Glenaan, starring Robert Carlyle and Steve Evets, along with Rachael Blake. It is a story of friendship, unforgettable first love and in a more general view, the concept of life and death. Shaun and Daz are two close friends who have spent their all lives together and who have been living together at their 40s, with Daz's problematic son Daniel. Daz is bound to wheelchair due to a motorcycle accident he had in their most important summer, and he is about to die because of many serious health problems including liver, lungs etc. The two have always been quite vibrant, from their childhood days to the present. They both had problems at school, with Shaun being especially quite a slow learner. The fact that Daz is about to die causes Shaun to remember and even relive the details of that summer, sometimes by longing, sometimes by regretting.
The most important detail of Shaun's past, aside from his friendship with Daz, is his first and only love, Katy who also grew up with them and whose first love was Shaun. She is now a solicitor in Sheffield living in the best conditions among the three. With the memories of the past coming back to him more and more intensely every single day, Shaun attempts to get in touch with her, for the first time after that last summer they had together. Being at first quite reluctant to see him again, Katy then visits Shaun one night in the market he works and the two talk a little after a long while, each of them looking quite wasted for different reasons. In a few weeks' time, Daz dies and Shaun has to face the first real loneliness and the biggest loss in his life.
Glenaan's Summer does not tell the most original story ever. What makes it a remarkable and perhaps at some points even much more than just a remarkable movie is the familiar details it has in it, and the dose of intimacy, realism and sensibility. You can not decide which of them, Shaun or Daz, is in a more miserable condition or maybe whether they are really miserable at all, for they have at least each other; despite the quarrels full of f-word they have all the time, you understand what a loss it has been in the bathroom scene of Shaun after Daz died. While Daz's physical condition is an accident, Shaun is intentionally self-destructive, compressing his right hand in the workshop during high school years, crushing his bones and giving permanent damage, and this gives the clue to how intensely he feels; even though he is slow to learn, he is not slow at all to feel.
While I was expecting an average movie of friendship, I got a little surprised at how intense I, myself, felt at the end of the movie, crying together with Shaun. Thus, in order to remind you of your own memories and your friendships, and probably your first and biggest love, you should see Summer and regain your sensibility.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
My Blueberry Nights
My rommate and I were searching for something, anything, to watch on TV in this lovely, and boring friday night when we bumped into My Blueberry Nights. We had been through many, MANY awful channels trying to figure what the hell happened to TV channels in Turkey and we had just seen AVP: Alien vs. Predator (well, we like going on with the mainstream sometimes, but I must warn you that this particular movie was not exactly the best choice having just had dinner), and so we decided, why not, it's a Wong Kar Wai film and it's only 20 minutes passed since it started. Turns out, instead of why not, we should have asked, why.
My Blueberry Nights is Wong Kar Wai's 2007 movie, starring Norah Jones (why?), Jude Law (why?), Rachel Weisz (unfortunately, why?), Natalie Portman (no comment, yet) and David Strathairn. Elizabeth (Jones) is a young woman who is trying to cope with the ending of her relationship. One night she goes to a cafe owned by Jeremy (Law) who is an émigré from Manchester (with the terrible fake accent thanks to Law's acting talent), and they start talking to each other about relationships, keys that the customers leave at the cafe and the blueberry pie that noone ever eats except for Jeremy himself and Elizabeth eventually. They spend a few nights together at the cafe; however, uneasy with the thought that she can never let go as long as she is there, Elizabeth decides to leave New York and goes on to a trip, ending, at first, in Memphis. Working in a cafe during the day and in a bar at night, trying to save money to buy a car, she meets interesting characters with whole new problems of their own. She sends Jeremy postcards regularly, without giving the specific details of her address, continuing a kind of communication with him. Meanwhile, Jeremy desperately tries to find her, calling all the cafes and bars in Memphis, asking whether a girl named Elizabeth is working there.
Elizabeth, now calling herself Lizzie, then moves on to Nevada and finds a job as a waitress in a casino. There she meets Leslie, and after a deal with her, the two go on a journey to Las Vegas to see Leslie's father by Leslie's car. When they finally reach there, they find out that Leslie's father is dead. She helps Lizzie buy the car she always wanted, and each go on to her own way. And guess, after all this journey to "find herself and change" and finally having bought the car as she wanted, where Lizzie heads to?
I wonder what Wong Kar Wai was thinking while making this movie, but first of all, while casting the actors. Norah Jones' debut as an actress is one that would not lead to many other acting jobs. She is mostly seen bending her head while listening to other people and observing and that is - ok, almost - all. Jude Law is as usual looking with gentle eyes, and this is the "that is all" for him, not mentioning the accent (for I have already given the hints of this disaster above). Rachel Weisz was the one and only real dissappointment for me though, for I really like her acting in most of her movies, yet she was only the gorgeous sexy woman walking in the Memphis bar while men slobberingly watched her pass by and her crying her heart out scene was unbearable. I could hear the director whispering her, Rachel, be unreal, act exaggerated. As for Natalie Portman, well, I thought for a moment that I had fallen into the hell of Closer when I first saw her name, along with Jude Law.
The only nice and beautiful thing about the movie was the kiss. It was sweet and also passionate, however I am not sure if it was actually good or if it is me, craving for love at the moment, that I can find any love scene sweet and beautiful to long for.
I did watch the missing first 20 minutes right after the movie ended, when it started again on the next channel. It turns out that I might have as well left it unseen. The dialogues at the beginning were so poor that my hopes at the first time around of a powerful emotional bond between Jeremy and Elizabeth which I did not see just vanished into thin air. If you decide to watch this movie, I advice you to prepare for this question you will ask yourself again and again: What the hell happened in the 7 years between Fa Yeung Nin Wa (aka In The Mood For Love) and My Blueberry Nights?
***
Just remembered another beautiful thing about the movie; "Try A Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding, which played over and over again during the Memphis scenes, making you wonder if the movie ever has another soundtrack besides this, especially if you have just started watching it from that moment on:
My Blueberry Nights is Wong Kar Wai's 2007 movie, starring Norah Jones (why?), Jude Law (why?), Rachel Weisz (unfortunately, why?), Natalie Portman (no comment, yet) and David Strathairn. Elizabeth (Jones) is a young woman who is trying to cope with the ending of her relationship. One night she goes to a cafe owned by Jeremy (Law) who is an émigré from Manchester (with the terrible fake accent thanks to Law's acting talent), and they start talking to each other about relationships, keys that the customers leave at the cafe and the blueberry pie that noone ever eats except for Jeremy himself and Elizabeth eventually. They spend a few nights together at the cafe; however, uneasy with the thought that she can never let go as long as she is there, Elizabeth decides to leave New York and goes on to a trip, ending, at first, in Memphis. Working in a cafe during the day and in a bar at night, trying to save money to buy a car, she meets interesting characters with whole new problems of their own. She sends Jeremy postcards regularly, without giving the specific details of her address, continuing a kind of communication with him. Meanwhile, Jeremy desperately tries to find her, calling all the cafes and bars in Memphis, asking whether a girl named Elizabeth is working there.
Elizabeth, now calling herself Lizzie, then moves on to Nevada and finds a job as a waitress in a casino. There she meets Leslie, and after a deal with her, the two go on a journey to Las Vegas to see Leslie's father by Leslie's car. When they finally reach there, they find out that Leslie's father is dead. She helps Lizzie buy the car she always wanted, and each go on to her own way. And guess, after all this journey to "find herself and change" and finally having bought the car as she wanted, where Lizzie heads to?
I wonder what Wong Kar Wai was thinking while making this movie, but first of all, while casting the actors. Norah Jones' debut as an actress is one that would not lead to many other acting jobs. She is mostly seen bending her head while listening to other people and observing and that is - ok, almost - all. Jude Law is as usual looking with gentle eyes, and this is the "that is all" for him, not mentioning the accent (for I have already given the hints of this disaster above). Rachel Weisz was the one and only real dissappointment for me though, for I really like her acting in most of her movies, yet she was only the gorgeous sexy woman walking in the Memphis bar while men slobberingly watched her pass by and her crying her heart out scene was unbearable. I could hear the director whispering her, Rachel, be unreal, act exaggerated. As for Natalie Portman, well, I thought for a moment that I had fallen into the hell of Closer when I first saw her name, along with Jude Law.
The only nice and beautiful thing about the movie was the kiss. It was sweet and also passionate, however I am not sure if it was actually good or if it is me, craving for love at the moment, that I can find any love scene sweet and beautiful to long for.
I did watch the missing first 20 minutes right after the movie ended, when it started again on the next channel. It turns out that I might have as well left it unseen. The dialogues at the beginning were so poor that my hopes at the first time around of a powerful emotional bond between Jeremy and Elizabeth which I did not see just vanished into thin air. If you decide to watch this movie, I advice you to prepare for this question you will ask yourself again and again: What the hell happened in the 7 years between Fa Yeung Nin Wa (aka In The Mood For Love) and My Blueberry Nights?
***
Just remembered another beautiful thing about the movie; "Try A Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding, which played over and over again during the Memphis scenes, making you wonder if the movie ever has another soundtrack besides this, especially if you have just started watching it from that moment on:
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