watched alf sjöberg’s “miss julie” last night. the film is based on a play by august strindberg. totally surprising. the film was made in 1951 yet it is daring, politically incorrect and immensely “modern” for that time. strindberg was obsessed with gender dynamics (miss julie is based in large part on his first marriage – a marriage full of sexual chemistry but also profound loathing). the tug of war between the sexes is complicated and distorted further by economic class and the power structures it enables. must read more strindberg. here’s more on the film.
Category: reviews
the seventh seal
finally saw bergman’s “the seventh seal” – visually stunning and profound. no wonder it’s considered one of the best films ever made. the film is ground-breaking. it’s one of bergman’s earliest films i believe and it shows us many things we’ve learned to love about his work. first the cinematography is divine. there is no other word for it. it’s a lesson in composition and light. second, the knight’s quest for truth is something we can all relate to. his need to believe in god is contrasted with the squire’s rationality and cynicism. bergman’s symbolism is at play, as usual. so much can be read into the film – based on our own inclinations perhaps. it struck me how the crusades (like most wars) seemed meaningless to those who were once motivated to leave everything behind for god and country. in fact, war breaks something inside of one – perhaps irreversibly. the scene where a young girl, a child really, is burned at the stake for bringing about the plague is heartbreaking and senseless. people can believe anything to make sense of their reality, even if it means murdering a child. of course, there r many comments on religion throughout the film.
someone compared it to kurosawa’s ikiru. i have seen ikiru and it blew me away. in fact, i liked it more than rashomon, which i understand is a classic in many ways (cinematography and the use of dappled light, the idea of telling the same story from diff perspectives, the unusual editing, etc) but it doesn’t have the compassion that ikiru has. in the same way, i found the seventh seal to be compassionate, not just cerebral. the portrayal of a simple, happy family is v warm indeed. so great comparison.
have not seen woody allen’s love and death but apparently it has a lot of references from the seventh seal. allen is a huge fan of the film. the criterion collection includes his comments.
“The Time That Remains” – The Letter
loved the film. its perfectly framed shots, impeccably choreographed scenes, spare dialogue and quiet moments of brilliance r like a visual poem. by creating physical, mental and emotional space around his narrative, elia suleiman imbues his palestinian characters with elegance and dignity. the film expresses his desire for order in an environment which is hardly bearable let alone comprehensible. the absurdity of excessive force or widespread propaganda, the humiliation of occupation and the violent dance between israeli soldiers and palestinian resistance are all visually articulated. certain images/scenes r indelible, many from 1948. what better statement of resistance or wish for peace and co-existence than suleiman pole vaulting effortlessly over the separation wall? beautiful. 5 out of 5 for me.
Private (2004) – Movie Trailer
based on a true story and shot with the realism of a documentary, the film is a psychological but also v physical depiction of what it’s like to have one’s home occupied by soldiers. the metaphor obviously extends to the occupation of palestine. brilliant acting by veteran palestinian actor mohammad bakri. anguishing, compelling but also humanizing. it was reviewed favorably by EI but severely critiqued in this article. i agree that the “humanizing competition” (during filming) b/w idf soldiers and palestinian civilians is v much in evidence and somewhat masks the brutality and complete illegitimacy of the occupation. 4 out of 5 for me.
L’enfant sauvage – 1969
watched françois truffaut’s l’enfant sauvage (the wild child) again last night. what an exquisite film. the black and white cinematography is gorgeous, antonio vivaldi’s sublime music forms the film’s entire musical score, truffaut’s performance as the real-life dr itard is perfectly controlled and 13 year old jean-pierre cargol (who plays the main role) is absolutely stunning. more background on the film here.
Miral
finally saw miral. the film’s content is fine, except perhaps the oslo accords which r presented as a viable solution to the occupation. a map of what was proposed would be useful as it would be a visual recap of the bantustan that was supposed to constitute a palestinian state. my problem with the film is more aesthetic, more technical. the film lacks any emotional depth. it is full of cardboard characters that we should feel something for but with whom we r incapable of forming any empathetic ties. the camerawork is too stylized (in an unsteady way), to the point of being distracting, annoying. however, the film “shows” many imp issues (w/o really delving into them) and that is something. 3.5 out of 5 for me.
Watch Documentaries Online – Occupied Minds
occupied minds: a candidate for the palestinian film festival we’re organizing in rochester. the film touches on many important issues, it’s personal and therefore easier to watch and access. it tries to be balanced (which can be a problematic word in the context of occupation but it’s not here). it lacks a cohesive narrative and doesn’t leave us with any cogent/urgent message but at the same time it manages to cover a wide spectrum of issues in one film w/o making it overwhelming. a great compliment to narrative films. 4 out of 5 for me.
Budrus: The potential and limits of non-violent popular struggle
The case of Budrus has been celebrated, especially in the West, because of the villagers’ employment of non-violent protests and other actions. Expressing this view on non-violence, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen writes: “Those of us who have watched Israel trying to control the West Bank have always wondered why the Palestinians have not tried passive resistance.” This view, unfortunately, is completely divorced from the reality of a four-decade-long coercive occupation of the West Bank, during which Palestinians have often used what Cohen calls “passive resistance.” In the first intifada, marches and strikes were met by beatings and bone breakings along with tear gas, rubber bullets, and live fire, as well as curfews, long-term school and university closures, and any number of other repressive responses. Israeli occupation forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and severely injured thousands. We see much of the same happening now in other West Bank villages in response to Palestinian non-violence. More here.
Documentary Shows Language Saved From Extinction : NPR
watched this absolutely fascinating pbs documentary last night. “In 1993, Jessie Little Doe Baird had dreams in a language that her Wampanoag people stopped using more than 100 years ago. The new PBS film We Still Live Here shows how they brought their language back to life.”
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i was struck by so many things in this wonderful film: how our bodies and spirits r deeply connected to our ancestors, how language articulates our culture and identity and is our link to the past and future, and therefore, how the loss of one’s language can mean a loss of one’s narrative, one’s history.
it is ironic that translations of the bible into wampanoag (the purpose was to replace one culture/belief system with another) were instrumental in reviving the wampanoag language, which had been dead for over a century.
i was surprised by the large number of legal documents that were submitted by the wampanoag people, in their own language, to boston courts, asking for justice and a stop to the theft of their land. the wampanoag did not have horses or carriages and so their feet were literally rooted to the land. in wampanoag the expression for losing one’s land can only be translated in english as “falling away” such that there is no ground under one’s feet.
talking about land theft, the point was made that the white settlers developed an incredibly complex legal system which made it possible to proceed with the pilfering thru legal justification and window dressing. that’s not so different today. western laws can justify and obfuscate anything – torture, preemptive solitary confinement, profiling, entrapment, sanctions, war, occupation and sundry drone attacks. if it sounds marginally legal, it’s ok.
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more here.
L’homme qui aimait les femmes
liked truffaut’s “l’homme qui aimait les femmes” (the man who loved women). didn’t find it offensive or that funny for that matter. found it immensely interesting.
Self Study
“It has always been a struggle for me to explain myself, who I truly am, and how I should or shouldn’t act in culturally diverse situations. Occasionally I feel confused, proud, and even awkward about how to deal with the differences of my two halves. Am I Iranian? Am I American? Should I be Muslim from my father or Jewish from my mother? I feel that maybe these photographs will answer some questions.” More here.
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my comments:
that’s natalie abbassi trying to make sense of her identity. such questions might be more pertinent for newer immigrants and certainly for people who have truly lived bi-culturally, as she has, especially when one of the cultures they r rooted in is perceived as the opposite of the other. iran is not just another country – it comes with a lot of stereotypical baggage in america. and i’m sure that the same is true of being an american in iran – altho perhaps to a lesser degree on account of american cultural hegemony. i find the formation of cross-cultural identities to be fascinating (perhaps because that’s something i think about a lot) and its artistic treatment is most interesting to me. i like what she has done. she has expressed her “duality” quite literally.
mixed identities have always existed, but they have never been immersed in such a global, complex, propagandized environment as today. the exploration of one’s identity is a way to come to terms with oneself especially if one part of ur identity is being articulated/mutilated for u on a daily basis. as far as those sharing in that exploration, i think that it can be an equally rich experience for them. it creates empathy, it widens one’s world. it’s a bit like learning a new language.
the tudors
watched a few episodes of “the tudors.” it’s a sexed up, soap opera-ish account of henry VIII’s travails, with awful digitally-generated sets. what struck me most (apart from the obscene disconnect b/w ruler and subject and the sad results of royal inbreeding) was how women have been “colonized” forever. it’s the oldest, most pervasive form of imperialism.
Sadegh Hedayat’s THE BLIND OWL
read an excerpt from sadegh hedayat’s “the blind owl” – it’s considered to be one of the classics of iranian (nay human) literature. it’s dark, poetic, layered, circular, intense, nightmarish – full of symbolism and human psychology. hedayat was one of the pioneers of modern iranian literature. check it out.
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In life there are certain sores that, like a canker, gnaw at the soul in solitude and diminish it.
Since generally it is the custom to relegate these incredible sufferings to the realm of rare and singular accidents and happenings, it is not possible to reveal them to anyone. If one does talk or write about them, people pretend to accept them with sarcastic remarks and dubious smiles, while adhering either to prevalent beliefs or to their own ideas about them. The reason is that as yet man has not found a remedy for these sores; the only remedy now is forgetfulness induced by wine or, artificial sleep induced by opium and other narcotics. It is a pity, however, that the effect of these drugs is transitory and that after a while, instead of soothing, they add to the pain.
Will it come to pass one day that someone will penetrate the secrets of these supernatural happenings and recognize this reflection of the shadow of the soul which manifests itself in a coma-like limbo between sleep and wakefulness?
I shall only describe one such incident which happened to me and which has shocked me so much that I shall never forget it; its ominous scar will poison my life throughout-from the beginning to the end of eternity where no man’s understanding can fathom. Did I say poisoned? Well, I meant to say that I am scathed by it and will remain so for the rest of my mortal life.
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More here.
my review: the fighter
saw “the fighter” last night. full of energy, sometimes to the level of camp. christian bale is totally out there, channeling the crack-addicted dicky eklund. mark wahlberg provides a nice counterpoint to his frenetic restlessness. melissa leo is their mother alice – a tyrant in a hair sprayed bouffant, surrounded at all times by 7 bizarre daughters. amy adams is obviously going for something different here – foul-mouthed, tough girl from a blue collar neighborhood. it works.
my review: the tree of life
[voice over] The nuns taught us there were two ways through life – the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you’ll follow.
Grace doesn’t try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries.
Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things.
The nuns taught us that no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end.
I will be true to you. Whatever comes.
thus starts terrence malick’s latest film, “the tree of life”. it is one of the most ambitious films i’ve ever seen, it is also one of the most profound and visually poetic. i can best describe it as a broad, panoptic slice of life where malick gets to isolate each layer and collage it back together, in order to partake of its multi-dimensional flavors. an individual life is a series of recollections and malick offers us some beautiful memories – fleeting moments, gestures, visions, sounds and silences merge in random, lyric ways.
this reconstitution of childhood, memory by memory, is mixed with larger questions about life and death, god and the universe. we r treated to spectacular imagery recounting the story of life on earth, from meteoric collisions to volcanic eruptions and cascades of water. pre-cellular life transforms before our eyes into more and more complex organisms until we r regaled with incredibly alive, watchful dinosaurs. this entire sequence is overlaid with hushed questions asked of god:
where were u? u let a boy die. u let anything happen. why should i be good when u aren’t. what r we to u?
it’s a terrific audio-visual blend of metaphysics and the infinite depth and breadth of what we imagine to be god’s manifestation.
the film also explores the binding relationship b/w parents and children and between life and death. there is a moving scene at the end where time seems to collapse – past, present, life, death all come together in a beautiful dance of grace. that resolution provides the final release in the film and the beginning of peace. perhaps that’s malick’s way of warning us about the limits of linear thinking. rather than look at life thru a pinhole and try to establish cause and effect relationships, perhaps it would be useful to open the door and embrace everything at once.