From director James McTeague (V for Vendetta) comes “Nina Assassin” starring Korean superstar Rain. Does this action film compare with “V” or will this be another “Speed Racer” sized flop at the box office?

The Good: It’s clear that, after the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix Trilogy) gave him “V for Vendetta”, McTeague has a very bright future ahead of him. “Ninja Assassin”, not surprisingly, shines during its action scenes. Rain is clearly a beast, and the stylized, brutal, gory and over the top killing scenes are extremely fun to watch. It’s true that the story is completely ridiculous, but you are seeing a movie called “Ninja Assassin” after all. And fans anticipating an all out action film will not be disappointed. This film earns its “R” rating, with lots of severed heads, blood, and some of the coolest kills using a chain with a blade at the end.

Fans of McTeague’s films and the Wachowski brothers’ films will be in for a treat as the actor that plays the Key Maker, and several actors from “V for Vendetta” make cameos in “Ninja Assassin”.

It is official that Rain’s character may in fact challenge the young Leonidas in “300″ as the most badass young movie character. Let’s just say, the things he goes through will make you cringe.

The Bad: While the action was everything an action fan could want, the rest of the film was lacking. I realize the story and acting aren’t the main reason to see this film, but after McTeague directed the amazing “V for Vendetta” I was a little disappointed to see the story take such a back seat. Some of the characters overact throughout the film, and the film comes dangerously close to becoming boring near the middle when the main conspiracy in the plot is revealed.

The Final Word: Yes, this film is cheesy in parts. Yes, this film is over the top, and the plot is far from realistic. However, “Ninja Assassin” is also a lot of fun. So, while the holiday season may be a big season for family films, if your looking for a big, fun, funny, cool and kick ass action film, “Ninja Assassin” fits the bill.

Lukas Eggen

WATCHMEN

Jeffrey Dean Morgan / Jackie Earle Haley / Carla Gugino / Stephen McHattie / Malin Akerman / Billie Crudup / Mathew Goode / Patrick Wilson / Matt Frewer / Apollonia Vernova /  Leah Gibson / Niall Matter / Darryl Sheelar / Laura Mennell / Robert Wisden / Based upon ‘Watchmen’ by Alan Moore & Dave Gibons / Art Direction Francois Audouy, Helen Javis & James Steuart / Costume Design Michael Wilkinson / Set Design Michael Erickson / Original Music Tyler Bates / Editor William Hoy / Cinematography Larry Fong / Production Wesley Coller & Herb Gains / Adapted Screenplay David Hayter & Alex Tse / Director Zack Snyder

..OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE..

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

Keeping with the theme of people making a stand, which we have seen today in Ireland, with the public sector workers, I dug out an old essay I had written on V For Vendetta, a wonderful comic book and very good film based on the idea of what happens when a government pushes a people too far.

Let me make it clear that I am not airing my views, opinions or support for or against the striking public sector, I’m simply sticking with the theme that’s in the air at the moment, to blog this essay. It’s quite long, so get a cup of tea!

Examining Michel Foucault and Power and Surveillance in the Wachowski Brothers’ “V For Vendetta” (2006)

In this essay, I will examine some of Michel Foucault’s main theories and teachings regarding Power, Surveillance and Resistance, and apply to them to the 2006 movie, “V For Vendetta”.

V For Vendetta was originally written by Alan Moore as a comic book series in the 80’s. Interestingly, the comic book was set in a Thatcher-like state and was very much seen as a criticism of the British government at that time. The 2006 film leans more towards a criticism of the present Bush administration in the USA, which has expanded across the world, especially to Britain.

Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979 and reigned for 11 years. Her government was most notably memorable for: reductions in tax; manipulations in money supply to reduce inflation; privatisation of public industry; reduction of trade union power; reduction of governments role in economy; and encouragement of people to save, work and buy property. She also oversaw the reduction of the Welfare state. Sir Charles Powell, the Foreign Affairs Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (1984-91, 96) described her style thus, “I’ve always thought there was something Leninist about Mrs. Thatcher […] there’s no doubt that in the 1980s, No.10 could beat the bushes of Whitehall pretty violently. They could go out and really confront people, lay down the law, bully a bit”[1] However, it was argued that Thatcher’s monetary policies sacrificed Britain’s Social well-being, in favour of her economic policies. In 1983, Britain saw the worst unemployment numbers since 1923, due to Thatcher’s anti-inflationary policies. One of the worst examples of Thatcher’s governemt was an accusation made regarding the Miner’s Strike of 1984-1985, in which the power of Trade Union’s was severly weakened. There was an accusation by a former MI5 Chief Stella Rimington that Union Leaders phones had been tapped during the Miner’s strike. Similar situations and practices have also been recorded during the Reagan years in America.

V For Vendetta was released on the 17^th of March 2006. The film was originally due for a July release in 2005 but the terrorists bombings in London forced the film-makers to delay the films release as it contains scenes of a terrorist nature that would have been far too relevant at the original time of release. The film is a dystopian story about a society ruled by its totalitarian government rather than the government being the voice of the people. The film draws large comparison’s with Orwell’s 1984 in the sense that the movie encompasses aspects of surveillance, discipline and power. The film was seen as being an Anti-Fascist and Anti-Holocaust story. The story revolves around the characters of Evey and V. Evey is a young media worker paralysed by her fear of the world around her until she meets V. V is the freedom fighter/terrorist and protagonist of the piece, whose plan is to blow up the Houses of Parliament on the 5^th of November as a symbol depicting the state of the country. The rest of the film centres on the police investigation into V; the relationship between Evey and V; and Evey’s eventual abjection of the fear that has thus far crippled her life. As one of the main actors states, the film is, “A meditation on what happens when a government pushes people too far.”[2]

Firstly, I will briefly examine Foucault’s views on Power and Knowledge, and Resistance. Traditional ideas of power began with Francis Bacon who quoted, “Knowledge is Power.” Foucault however, linked Power and Knowledge as being one and the same, and believed that power was achieved through discourse. “In a society such as ours…there are manifold relations of power that permeate, characterize and constitute the social body, and these relations of power cannot themselves be established, consolidated nor implemented without the production, accumulation, circulation and functioning of a discourse.”[3] Foucault argues that power is achieved through discourse, and through social structures. “Without knowing it, we group distinguishable objects into unities and thus constitute our objects.”[4] In the most basic terms, discourse works through repetition of a statement, which said often enough, becomes true. “Discourse is not just a way of speaking or writing, but the whole “mental set” and ideology which encloses the thinking of all members of a given society.”[5] There are numerous elements of discourse in V For Vendetta, most notably through the character of Lewis Prothero, the “Voice of London”. Prothero preaches one phrase above all, “Strength through Unity, Unity through Faith”. He suggests that the present government is on a par with God, and “godlessness” will destroy the country. “The word “power” has a two fold meaning. One is the possession of power over somebody, the ability to dominate him; the other meaning is the possession of power to do something, to be able, to be potent. The latter has nothing to do with domination; it expresses mastery in the sense of ability.”[6] This is seen very clearly in V For Vendetta. The government has a dominating power over its people, but V and the rest of the people have the power to stop this. They have the power to resist.

However, Foucault also argues that one of the most important aspects of power is Resistance. According to Foucault, there are no relations of power without the existence of resistance. He believed that power was far more complex, and insidious than the power of ideology or brute economic oppression and that without resistance, all instances of power fade. V believes that there is something very wrong with the country and appeals to the people to join him a year later for the blowing up of parliament. As V states: “People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.”  “We must make allowance for the concept’s complex and unstable process whereby discourse can be both an instrument and an effect of power, but also a hindrance, a stumbling block, a point of resistance and a starting point for an opposing strategy. Discourse transmits and produces power; it reinforces it, but also undermines and exposes it, renders it fragile and makes it possible to thwart it.”[7] This is seen in the film as we see V read his “manifesto” to the people, when he appeals to their sense of morality not to allow the misdeeds of the government to go unnoticed or unpunished. “His (Guy Fawkes) hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked.” It is in this instance that we see discourse working as a hindrance to its original perpetrator. V speaks in the language of the people. He appeals to their sense of morality and rather than order them to act, causes them to question themselves. In his work “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison” Foucault identified how there had been a shift in the use of power from pre-modern to post-modern societies. There was a new reliance on self-discipline as opposed to punishment as a means of social control. The citizens of the film have slipped into a system of self-discipline as a manner of control.

The biggest aspect of Foucault’s theories that we see in V For Vendetta is the Surveillance and Control. Surveillance, in Foucault’s thinking is an important means of controlling people and practices. The “gaze” is an expression of power, and the idea has been reiterated in many different areas, for example, George Orwell’s “1984”, from which the iconic phrase “Big Brother is watching” originated from. This idea is reiterated in V For Vendetta. The Chancellor (a term we would most commonly associate with Adolf Hitler.) Adam Sutler is seen only on a large TV screen as a powerful, forceful individual, until the end of the film when we meet him for the first and last time in the flesh, as a terrified, weeping little man. One of the main questions regarding surveillance is the line between safety and privacy. What are security CCTV camera’s intended to achieve? The answer to this question is control. Foucault viewed the body as a centre point for social control. In V For Vendetta, the Government is run in sections, with different names assigned to different aspects of policing. The Finger consists of a Gestapo like force that polices the streets, and issues immoral punishments as we see at the beginning when the two men attempt to rape Evey. The other sections are made up of the Ear, which is sound surveillance; the Eye, visual surveillance; and the mouth, which is the TV Company that partakes in pro-government propaganda. Foucault views institutions such as prisons, armies, schools, hospitals, etc, as institutions through which control can be implemented.  The aim of these institutions is the production of Docile and Useful bodies. These institutions therefore, acted as tools for shaping the identity of a person. There was a shift from bodily domination and control to patterns of self-regulation and discipline. In the film we learn of testing that is taking place on the patients. This is where the vendetta story begins. We learn that the patient in Cell Number Five, i.e. – V in Roman numerals, is not responding to any of the tests, while many others have died. From V’s blood, a virus is extracted, and a cure developed. This virus is later used by the government to inflict fear in the people of the country. The cure is “miraculously” discovered after the Norsefire government comes into power.

One of the most interesting aspects of this film is the interpretation of identity. Evey begins the film as a media worker trying to live beneath the radar, not drawing attention to herself. We learn that her parents were killed during riots before Norsefire and she believes that her parents chose their political activism over her. She is afraid to speak out because she claims that every time she has seen the world change it has always been for the worse. We could go as far as to say that Evey is abjecting the idea of freedom at the beginning of the film. Evey’s “self” is one of fear, and the “other” is the idea of freedom. This is an interesting idea because we can also see aspects of Orientalism in the film, as we look at the people who are imprisoned in the detention/concentration camps. It is only after Evey meets V and faces her death that she loses her fear, and becomes free. It is a role reversal from the beginning of the film. When Evey pulls the lever at the end of the film, she is abjecting fear and embracing freedom.

As previously mentioned, the comic book was very much a critique of the 1980’s Thatcher England. The movie adaptation moves towards a critique of the present Bush administration in America. While the original comic book was written during the era just before the end of the Cold War, the movie is released while the “War on Terrorism” is very much in full swing. The context of the story has changed since the 1980’s. While the comic book critiqued the Thatcher government in the 80’s, the 2006 film version very much solidifies the present political structures and issues that we, in the present day are affected by. It is interesting also then, to note, that the writer of the original comic book, Alan Moore demanded that his name would not be associated with the film adaptation. His comic book dealt with the happenings of the 80’s, whereas the film is very much an Americanisation of that story, even though it is set in Britain. By many, the film is seen as a critique on the Bush government, using an already constructed template. The theme of terrorism plays a huge part in the film, with V being described as a terrorist by the authorities. Also, the elements of surveillance seen in the film very much mirror the American psyche since 9/11. An intense feeling of paranoia surrounds the detective in the film, as; indeed it surrounds American society, and even the rest of the world. The fact of the film is, that even though it is fictional, the scariest fact is, that none of the incidents are terribly far from reality. None of the hideous crimes of the government in the film are so hideous, that they couldn’t possibly happen in present times.

All in all, V For Vendetta shows a bleak outlook of a totalitarian future that is not too distant. Some may suggest that it is already upon us. Indeed when we look at how the comic book framed its view on the society and the context it was set in, it is almost scary to think that the film adaptation is doing the same thing, for the present day.

[2] Stephen Rea; Freedom! Forever! Making V For Vendetta.

[3] http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theory54.htm

[4] http://www.california.com/~rathbone/foucau10.htm

[5] Barry, Peter; Beginning Theory

[6] Fromm, Erich; The Fear of Freedom, pp 139.

[7] http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theory54.htm

La talentosa actriz Natalie Portman asistio a la premiere organizada por The Cinema Society para la porqueria Luna Nueva en New York, vistiendo muy casual pero no por eso mal arreglada, al contrario dejaba al descubierto su belleza natural.

click en las pics para agrandar

I’ve had a pretty steady “love-love” relationship with the filmmakers, Larry and Andy Wachowski. Their first major stab at writing/directing, BOUND, was a magnificent thriller/noir movie that just happened to feature women as both the anti-hero(ine) and the femme fatale. With a great performance from both women (Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly, respectively), and the main villain of the piece, Caesar (played by the irascible Joe Pantoliono, who I have followed and loved through his career, in the similar role of the pimp in RISKY BUSINESS, to the sidekick of Tommy Lee Jones’ Federal Marshall in the THE FUGITIVE movies, and finally to his appearance in the Wachowski’s THE MATRIX.), the movie is stylish, sleek and most of all gave us the introduction to these movie-makers that I don’t know if their previous screen-writing venture did, in ASSASSINS.

Of course, then THE MATRIX, and it’s sequels, came along and changed everything. It changed the state of science fiction movies, the way action was done – either earnestly or as satire, and most of all these two men, sparked another filmic universe; that has really been equalled in my eyes by Peter Jackson, Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock. (I’m sure there’s more, but those are the main ones I could think of.) You can tell a movie made by the Wachowski Brothers, from the way certain things are shot, from dialogue (in the Wachowski’s case, there always tends to be the quasi-zen, bullshit philosophy), and a repeating of certain actors. Whether it’s Pantoliono, Hugo Weaving (MATRIX and V FOR VENDETTA), Randall Duk Kim (MATRIX SEQUELS) and now the Korean pop star Rain, who was featured in SPEED RACER and now is the lead in the Wachowski Brothers’ produced, James McTeigue directed (same setup as V FOR VENDETTA, only the Wachowski’s didn’t write this screenplay) NINJA ASSASSIN.

It’s necessary to mention the V FOR VENDETTA setup, because this gives us our second – or third if you count the apparent refilming of the Nicole Kidman movie THE INVASION, which is a remake of  the tried and true idea of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS – look at the directing chops of McTeigue. V FOR VENDETTA also stands out as the Wachowski’s foray into literal adaptation – as their no arguing that their previous movie were “inspired by” other’s works before, V FOR VENDETTA was based off the great graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The action moved away from the patented Wachowski-inspired look of bullet time, and instead gave us blade lines. A tradition stooped in comic book art, but something that took what had become played out, and added another level to it. V FOR VENDETTA has become my favorite movie of these filmmakers; despite it’s going astray of the comic book’s intentions; and being more vital than their own work in THE MATRIX universe. (It might be said that the sequels lessened the impact or tainted the work of the original, but I just think that VENDETTA is more about trying to create a new world, and THE MATRIX is more about destroying an old one. And there is a fine line, and possibly a non-sensical viewpoint in that opinion.)

Written from an original story by Matthew Sand, and then gone over again by screen-comic book-television writer J. Michael Straczynski, NINJA ASSASSIN sadly lacks some of the finer points that we’ve gotten in the past from the creative minds behind this movie (and oddly, that even includes Strazcynski’s previous Oscar contender, CHANGELING). There’s certainly the action, the stylized violence – that most closely resembles V FOR VENDETTA – and there’s a little of the dialogue that I’ve come to expect (something about how a tattoo reveals not who the man is, but what kind of man he is…Not completely sure), but the storytelling is off. Even without it being a movie with the creative pedigree it has, there’s a fine action movie here, but there’s just something in the incorporation of the woman government agent out of her depth, the needless training montage of our hero in his apartment alone flinging around throwing stars and blades on chains, and even some of the hackneyed plot devices, that makes the movie less than the sum of it’s parts.

The movie only really works in it’s basest form. The action, and fight scenes between good ninja and bad ninja, ninja against military forces, and the numerous training flashbacks showing us this secret clan that kidnaps children turning them into deadly assassins. The opening five minutes of the movie really are kind of the peak of the piece. The top of a man’s head is chopped off, leaving us to see his lower jaw and tongue flopping, before he falls down dead and a flurry of super-speed throwing stars come through and eviscerate an entire gang of incessant, wannabe gangsters. I thought that this was a setup for a movie that would continue to raise the stakes, and take us even further into the world of, well, ninja assassins. Instead we cut from that to two government agents talking about ninjas; played by the ever watchable – both for talent and for looks – Naomie Harris (who you might not recognize from the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies and Michael Mann’s MIAMI VICE retread) and Ben Miles, who was the television secretary for the government, Dascomb, in V FOR VENDETTA. From there we cut to a scene of Raizo (Rain), doing laundry and a vague fight, that we only see a few moments of and then the vague outcome. Then it’s back to the Europol agents, talking. Then Raizo again, in his apartment, training. Needless to say, I understand that the movie can’t be wall-to-wall ninja mayhem, but this really kind of killed the flow of the movie.

Luckily, we then get the insight into where Raizo came from, the harsh conditions he was trained in – and this movie spares no children the brunt of physical violence – and then finally, it seems the inevitable meeting between Harris’ agent, Mika, and Raizo. When we do get our first glimpses of the ninja, momentarily in the opening scene, and then in the attack on Mika; there’s some awesome cinematic and special effects tricks used to show the stealthiness of how the ninjas move and blend into shadows. There’s a touch of fantasy in the way they turn into blurs and seem to move faster than the camera – or eye – can see; how they can materialize out of shadows that shouldn’t be able to contain a human form, and of course the mass amounts of mayhem.

One thing that came to mind as I watched masses of both ninja and military forced being dismembered and shredded to pieces either by bullets or bladed weapons, was the difference in how I felt about the violence; especially in contrast to say 2012, where we’re basically treated to the obliteration of the human (and I’d dare say all life’s) population. In that movie it was really disconcerting to see all this destruction on a screen (rated PG-13, nonetheless), and the main point of view we followed was the near hijinks of a few – argumentatively undeserving – souls, outrunning earthquakes, falling skyscrapers and big wave surfing aircraft carriers. In NINJA ASSASSIN, we see every person that dies, on-screen, or we see the results of this violence in the form of (barely) survivors being carried away from the battlefield.  It was a strange feeling, and I’m not entirely sure what, or how I feel about it.

But, NINJA ASSASSIN is worth seeing if you love ninjas, oceans of blood and body parts; but if you’re looking for a real story – even one as ham-handed as the Wachowskis can be – probably better to pop in that V FOR VENDETTA dvd again, instead. It’s a far more rewarding experience.

**And as much as one of my favorite moments in the trailer is the ninja being run over by the car, at the end, that whole scene is just ridiculous to think that ninjas wouldn’t think of a better way of catching their prey, than by running through the streets of a major city. Just seemed silly.

That’s right, just when you thought she couldn’t get any hotter!

This is an older post but because of copyright issues, most of the videos on Youtube have had the embedding disabled. On another note, I finally watched V For Vendetta yesterday… It was good, but, I think it could have done with a few minor cuts here and there. And there.

I was sent an interesting link from Huffington Post yesterday.  In her article, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein brings to light the UN “fat map” in response to the growing hunger taking over the world.  Her article makes many good points and is worth reading, especially as those of us in the U.S. prepare to gorge ourselves on Thanksgiving Day.

While the U.S. and Australia look like they are going to explode, their land mass hides the bloated size of Europe, Japan, and several Middle East countries.

I have read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I have seen Food, Inc., Blue Gold, and King Corn, and I recommend that all of us who live in these lands of affluence do the same.  If not for our own health, for the sake of others.  To be sure, the book and documentaries are not fool-proof, but they are vital to our understanding of our food systems and their ramifications.  Hopefully they will also get people to thinking about where they fit into this globalized world of ours.

I think when people consider buying non-processed and non-industrial food, they will see their financial position is further down the ol’ totem pole than they thought.

But what I find most interesting about the Princess’ article is the princess herself.  She resides in Dubai, one of the most unsustainable habitats on this planet.  From indoor ski slopes, to multi-million dollar islands, to a hidden slave population that keeps building it ever higher, Dubai consumes and pollutes in its effort to become “a Shangri-La in the Middle East” says Johann Hari in his long but eye-opening article in The Independent.

Dubai is not just a city living beyond its financial means; it is living beyond its ecological means. You stand on a manicured Dubai lawn and watch the sprinklers spray water all around you. You see tourists flocking to swim with dolphins. You wander into a mountain-sized freezer where they have built a ski slope with real snow. And a voice at the back of your head squeaks: this is the desert. This is the most water-stressed place on the planet. How can this be happening? How is it possible? The very earth is trying to repel Dubai, to dry it up and blow it away. The new Tiger Woods Gold Course needs four million gallons of water to be pumped on to its grounds every day, or it would simply shrivel and disappear on the winds.

So how does a princess, a recipient of the wealth being dumped into Dubai, tell the world it needs to cut its calorie consumption and expect to be taken seriously?

She doesn’t, and neither do the politicians driveling on in speech after speech about the moral imperative we have to feed the starving people of the world.  With massive conglomerate corporations lining the pockets of politicians, nothing will change.

After watching the documentaries and doing a little research into the subsidies given to farmers who dump food into world markets and destroy local economies exacerbating the hunger crisis, you might feel a little overwhelmed and think the problem is too big for us.

May I suggest another movie?

-mike

Okay, as you probably know by now: I’m a fan of Superman Returns. I may or may not be listening to the soundtrack right now.  But YOU probably hated it so now I have to think of who else I’d want to direct another Superman movie. Fortunately, since V for Vendetta, James McTeigue, director of the upcoming Ninja Assassin, has been at the top of my list, and, pretty much since V for Vendetta came out, he hasn’t stopped talking about what HE would do with the movie.  And what would HE do with a Superman movie?  Well to  sum it up for him:  make it awesome.  And I’m okay with that.  Read more!

Next up on my fanboy wishlist is Len Wiseman, director of Live Free of Die Hard.  I don’t know what the hell he’s been up to since and I’m too lazy to look it up (I lied — not much.)   I’d also be interested in somebody like Paul Haggis getting a crack at a tent-pole like Superman.  Or I might give up my first born for Alfonso Cuarón.

If given the opportunity to post a pic of V on my blog, I'll take it.

Det fantes et sted i Vest-Berlin hvor trikkeskinnene forsvant rett inn i Muren. Dette ble for meg det beste symbolet på delingens brutalitet. (Foto: Oda Bhar, august 1989)

Hvordan få ekte spenning ut av kampen mellom det gode og det bedre? Dette dilemmaet møtte filmskapere i DDR. Jeg har vært på historieseminar med professor Jens Becker, regissør og lærer ved filmhøyskolen i Babelsberg.

– Filmskolen i Babelsberg lå direkte i Murens skygge. I min hukommelse var det alltid høst på skolen. Den stemninga preget også filmene våre, de var tunge, melankolske, noe som slett ikke passet med DDRs kulturpolitikk.

Hvordan ble man filmstudent i DDR? Opptakskvoten ble bestemt etter prinsippene for planøkonomi. Det ble gjort avtaler med tv om hvor mange filmarbeidere som trengtes, derfor var det lurt å jobbe for tv først, og skaffe seg en avtale om framtidig arbeid. Fantes det uavhengige filmskapere i DDR? Nei, fordi all film måtte gjennom samme framkallingssted. Det var kun to laboratorier i landet og all film som fantes var registrert. Den som prøvde seg på noe uavhengig kunne fort få besøk av Stasi.

Sensur

Skolen lå ved bredden av en sjø på grensa mot Vest-Berlin, forteller Becker. Det fantes et vakttårn for å holde utkikk over grensa, og grensevaktene skulle se mot Vesten, men likte bedre å kikke på de søte filmjentene som hadde pause. Filmstudentene var nøye utvalgt til det som var DDRs nest dyreste utdanning, etter pilotutdanningen. Dette medførte en forpliktelse til seinere å lage filmer i god sosialistisk tradisjon – men i praksis var dette ikke noen vanlig holdning. Tvert imot ga det status å lage noe som kanskje kunne bli forbudt.

For å omgå sensuren benyttet skolen ulike strategier. Mot slutten 1980-tallet, da Jens Becker var student, ble filmene delt inn i to typer: Sendefilmer og øvingsfilmer. Studentene var unge og frekke og ville endre verden, og lagde iblant filmer som ikke gikk gjennom sensuren. Da skyndte ledelsen seg å kalle det en «øvingsfilm», noe som forhindret at studenten ble utvist. Noen «stjal» sine egne filmer og viste dem hemmelig, gjerne på ungdomsklubber. Stasi visste om dette, men det ble stort sett akseptert.

Selv trafikklysene var spesielle i Øst-Tyskland. (Foto: Oda Bhar, august 1989)

Skiftende tider

Filmstudioene i Babelsberg har vært sentrale i europeisk filmhistorie. Becker kaller dem «et magisk sted hvor filmkunsten ble medoppfunnet». Opprinnelig var bygningene et gartneri, men ble ombygd til filmstudio. Glasshusene ga godt lys, noe som på begynnelsen av 1900-tallet var helt nødvendig for å lage film. Først ble det lagd stumfilmer, seinere kom de legendariske UFA-filmene. Etter 2. verdenskrig ble Babelsberg nystartet under navnet DEFA-Ateliers, delvis på ordre fra den sovjetiske administrasjonen. Lenin mente nemlig at film var den viktigste kunstarten, fordi den kunne påvirke massene.

I årene fra 1954 til 1989 sto politikken langt fra fast. Filmhøyskolen merket godt svingningene i storpolitikken, og ved hvert klimaskifte ble rektor byttet ut, for å passe til tidsånden. Iblant kunne man lage «frekkere» film, i andre perioder ble det slått ned på mer uskyldige ting.

Rett etter krigen var det to strømninger i DDR, borgerlig og sosialistisk realisme. Begge var klart antifascistiske, noe som ikke var like uttalt i Vest-Tyskland (BRD). De to retningene eksisterte side om side fram til 1952, da staten DDR ble mer uttalt «demokratisk sosialistisk». Mange forlot DDR på denne tida. I 1961 ble Muren bygd, og brått befant Babelsberg filmhøyskole seg rett på ei stengt grense. Gateadressen endret navn 3 ganger på 1900-tallet, fra Keisterstr, via SA-str, til Karl Marx-Str. Mange gamle filmer ble straks forbudt.

I 1968 kom en liberalisering under Praha-våren, men håpet ble raskt slått ned. Deretter fulgte sterk innskjerpning med nytt slagord: «Den som ikke er for oss, er mot oss.» Filmstudentene var usikre. Hvem kan jeg snakke fritt med, hvem tyster til Stasi? Perioden 1968-1973 var verst. Deretter fulgte et nytt tøvær, da Erich Hoenecker avløste Walter Ulbricht som stats- og partisjef. DDR ble nå mer anerkjent i verden og fikk FN-medlemskap.

Sosialistiske slagord og oppbyggelige veggmalerier var en del av bybildet. Propagandaen kalte Berlin Fredens By, «Stadt des Friedens». (Foto: Oda Bhar, august 1989)

Kampen mellom det gode og det bedre

For å forstå kulturlivet i DDR, sier Jens Becker, må vi se hvilke dogmer som lå til grunn. De kunne utfordres og brytes, men du måtte forholde deg til dem. Han lister opp 7 grunnsetninger.

1. Arbeiderklassen er den ledende klasse som bestemmer historiens gang.
2. Historien er klassekampens historie, og sosialismens seier er lovmessig.
3. Kapitalismen kommer til å dø, og all kunst som bruker borgerlige verdier er reaksjonær.
4. Partiet har alltid rett, og er samfunnets spydspiss.
5. Motstanderen sover ikke. Den som ikke er med oss er mot oss, og får smake partipisken.
6. Kunst er klassekampens våpen, den skal tjene folkets beste, og hva som er best bestemmer partiet.
7. I sosialismen finnes bare kampen mellom det gode og det bedre.

Særlig det siste medførte et stort problem for dramaturgien. Kunst springer ut av konflikt, sier Becker, men her måtte konflikt dysses ned. Hvordan få ekte spenning ut av kampen mellom det gode og det bedre!?

«Film i DDR handlet om den sosialistiske helten i kampen mellom det gode og det bedre.» (Jens Becker, østtysk filmregissør og professor)

Før studentene ved filmhøyskolen begynte å filme måtte de gjøre knefall for Politbyrået, og love å rette seg etter de sosialistiske dogmene. Vanligvis skjedde det frivillig, for mange i DDR trodde genuint på de sosialistiske idealene, spesielt på 1950- og 60-tallet. Etter hvert ble enigheten mindre entydig, spesielt når det gjaldt praktiske løsninger.

Surrealisme og humor

Mens de systemtro filmene oftest benyttet hyperrealisme og slagord, ble systemkritikk gjerne uttrykt gjennom surrealistime og absurd humor. Et eksempel fra Murens siste år er Zug in die Ferne (1989) av Andreas Dresen. Han er idag en av Tysklands viktigste regissører. Tidligere i år har jeg skrevet om hans seineste to filmer: Whisky mit Vodka (2009) og Den niende himmel (2008).

«Zug in die Ferne er en vennlig film fra ei tid hvor alle var rasende. Den er en hyllest til de som ble, og en hyllest til filmen.» (Jens Becker om Andreas Dresens film.)

Dresens filmer har gjerne en vennlig, humoristisk tone, noe som også gjelder denne. Ifølge Becker av mange filmskapere i DDR på 1980-tallet Bergman-inspirerte, noe som i Zug in die Ferne merkes på drømmesekvenser og lett surrealisme. Noen mennesker venter på en jernbanestasjon, blant annet en eldre mann og en ung kvinne, men alle tog er forsinket fordi ekspresstoget fra Vest-Berlin skal passere. Det såkalte Intersohnenzug var et vestlig tog som fikk lov til å passere over østtysk mark, men måtte kjøre enormt fort slik at ingen DDR-borger skulle kunne kaste seg på. Ellers gikk ingen tog spesielt fort i DDR, noe som forsterket følelsen av et enormt lufttrykk når det suste forbi. Den eldre mannen på plattformen påstår at hans kone er med lyntoget, hun skal reise til Vesten i begravelse til ei tante, som de deretter skal arve, kanskje, og isåfall skal han komme etter til Praha, kanskje. Endelig kommer toget, men den unge jenta ramler av lufttrykket. Mannen må hjelpe henne, og rekker ikke vinke til kona. Vel, sier han, forhåpentlig så hun meg i det minste. Men like etter kommenterer stasjonsmannen: Du forteller alltid samme historie.

Brandenburder Tor lå i øst, men så nær Muren at ingen privatpersoner fikk lov å komme nær. (Foto: Oda Bhar, september 1988)

Realisme med begrensninger

Dokumentaristene i DDR droppet gjerne kommentarspor i filmene sine, fordi propagandaen ble forventet å ligge i kommentarene. Uten voiceover kom du unna med mer, fordi budskapet ble mindre synlig. Østeuropeiske kunstnere ble flinke til å si ting mellom linjene. Verre var det å ikke kunne lage film om uperfekte sider ved samfunnet. Arbeidsløshet og psykososiale problemer skulle nemlig ikke finnes under sosialismen.

En av studentene ved filmhøyskolen, Thomas Heise, lagde likevel en film om såkalte Assis, «asosiale tilfeller», dvs folk som falt utenfor, ble småkriminelle eller bare var ungdom i opposisjon. Filmen het Wozu denn über diese Leute einen Film (1980), «hvorfor lage film om slike folk», etter innvendingene han møtte fra lærerne. Filmen fikk så mye oppmerksomhet under filmingen at den ikke kunne forbys, ikke før den var ferdig og godkjent, men da ble den forbudt, og Heise ble exmatrikulert. Han begynte å jobbe ved DEFA-studioene som assistent, og lagde etterhvert flere filmer som også ble forbudt. Idag lager han fremdeles såre, sinte, smertefulle filmer, sier Becker, og har det antakelig ikke enklere med filmskapingen sin enn han hadde i DDR-tida.

Liberalisering på 1980-tallet

I 1986 seilte Gorbatsjov opp som den store overraskelsen, og filmhøyskolen fikk ny rektor igjen.

Lothar Bisky var helt annerledes enn de foregående rektorene. Uformell og vennlig, alltid med åpen dør – og dus med studentene, noe som var uhørt i tysk sammenheng! Hvis det kom klager fra sensuren lot han som ingenting: Beklager, da må det ha skjedd en feil. Likevel forbød propagandasjefen alle filmene i 1987, men Bisky lot dem vises «hemmelig». Han fikk nye klager og lot som han angret, «det skal aldri skje igjen», men neste år gjentok det seg. DDR prøvde nå å holde på sin egen konservative linje, og distansere seg fra Sovjetunionen, men rektor beskyttet filmstudentene. (Idag er Bisky leder for det venstreradikale partiet Die Linke, og er omstridt pga anklager om å ha vært informant for Stasi.)

I 1989 ble det klart at noe stort var i ferd med å skje i DDR. Grensene ble åpnet sørover mot Tjekkoslovakia og Ungarn, og mange forlot landet, også fra filmhøyskolen. De øvrige ble oppfordret til å dokumentere den «fredelige revolusjonen», og dermed startet en enormt produktiv tid. Studentene drev journalistisk aktivitet, de var ute og filmet i gatene hele tida, det foregikk knapt undervisning.

Idag er gatebildet på Under den Linden helt annerledes enn dette. Republikkpalasset til høyre er revet, det er flere og helt andre biler, og reklameplakater finnes overalt. (Foto: Oda Bhar, september 1988)

Et system klapper sammen

Jens Becker er født i 1963. Han var 26 år og avgangsstudent da Muren falt. Siden har han jobbet både med film og tv, i tillegg til undervisning. Men langt fra alle har vært like heldige. Generelt greide mange fra øst seg dårlig etter gjenforeningen. Det tok minst ett år før noen kunne orientere seg på nytt, sier Becker, og mange har aldri greid å omstille seg. Det var ikke bare friheten som økte, usikkerheten ble også av en helt annen art enn før. Gjenforeningen av Tyskland handlet ikke om å slå sammen to likeverdige land. Det var ett land som overtok ett annet. Østtysk ungdom hadde vokst opp i et land som ikke lenger eksisterte, og ble nødt til å greie seg i et helt fremmed system. Alle erfaringer og nettverk ble meningsløse over natta, mange utdanninger ble verdiløse. Hvem hadde bruk for en planøkonom i en verden av kapitalisme?

Ved filmhøyskolen i Babelsberg ble 1990 et år av depresjon. Etter den hektiske journalistiske tida i 1989 falt produktiviteten nå helt sammen. Plutselig kunne alt sies, ingenting ble lenger sensurert. Men dermed ble kulturinstitusjoner som filmhøyskolen mye mindre viktige enn før. Det er slik i dårlige tider, sier Becker, at folk prøver å si gjennom kultur det de ikke får lov å si rett ut. Derfor blir kulturlivet enormt betydningsfullt.

«Dårlige tider er alltid gode for kunsten.» (Heiner Müller, østtysk forfatter)

For filmarbeiderne forsvant produksjonsmulighetene brått, siden DDR-tv og alle filmstudioene i Øst-Tyskland ble avviklet. Etter ei stund ble nye tv-kanaler og produksjonsselskaper opprettet, men lederne var vesttyskere. Lenge var det usikkert om skolen i Babelsberg ville bli nedlagt, siden det allerede fantes andre filmhøyskoler i Vest-Tyskland. Men den lot seg redde, og er idag den teknisk best utstyrte filmhøyskolen i Tyskland.

Studioene i Babelsberg har også fått en renessanse, og nylig vært åsted for innspillingen av filmer som V for Vendetta (2005), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Flammen og Citronen (2008), Valkyrie (2008) og Inglourious Basterds (2009).

Nye tabuer

At den statlige sensuren var borte etter gjenforeningen betydde ikke ubegrenset frihet. Også i markedet ligger sensurpotensiale, selv om reglene ikke er uttalt eller formalisert. Østtyske filmskapere oppdaget at nye tabuer oppsto, en ny type historier lot seg vanskelig fortelle.

Et slikt tabu var Treuhand, selskapet som ble dannet for å privatisere de statlige eiendommene i DDR. I ettertid føler mange seg lurt, fordi «arvesølvet» deres ble solgt for en slikk og ingenting. Det handlet om store verdier, siden DDR var et land hvor nær sagt alt tilhørte staten. Slike historier var ikke populære i det nye markedsorienterte Tyskland. Kapitalistene i filmindustrien var ikke interessert i å støtte dem, og mange østtyske filmskapere fikk aldri lage film igjen.

Hva står igjen som Jens Beckers viktigste erfaring?

– Jeg vet nå at et system veldig fort kan klappe sammen og bli borte. Dette er en viktig bevissthet, for det kan også gjelde dagens samfunn. Dermed er det alltid lurt å ha kamera klart. En erfaring kan når som helst bli historisk.

Jens Becker på Cinemateket i Oslo, januar 2008. (Foto: Oda Bhar)

Alle bilder i denne artikkelen er ©Oda Bhar.

Det faglige stoffet er hentet fra et seminar på Cinemateket i januar 2008: «Det undergravende blikk – filmstudenter betrakter DDR.»

Jeg legger ved filmografien fra kurset, hvis noen ønsker fordypning.

(Artikkelen blir også publisert på Montages.)

Filmografi fra seminar om DDR-film

Fiksjon

1. Die erste Seite einer Chronik (1961), regi Kurt Tetzlaff.
2. Sorgenkinder (1961), regi Helmut Nitzschke.
3. Wilkommen in der Kantine (1988), regi Peter Welz.
4. Leb wohl, Joseph (1989), regi Andreas Kleinert.
5. Zug in die Ferne (1989), regi Andreas Dresen.

Dokumentar

1. Solang’ noch untern Lindern (1958) regi Kurt Tetzlaff.
   
2. Alarm (1958) regi Werner Wüste.
3. Was jeder muß (1988) regi Andreas Dresen.
4. Mehr als das Übliche (1969) regi Dieter Jäger/Gerhard Knopfe.
5. Karl Marx – Dr Henne (1968) regi Alexander Ziebell.
6. Rote aus der Demo raus (1989) regi Jens Becker.
7. Die Kinder von Golzow (dokuserie) regi Winfried Junge.
8. Notwendige Lehrjahre (1960) regi Jürgen Böttcher.
9. Wozu denn über diese Leute einen Film (1980) regi Thomas Heise.
10. Aber wenn man so leben will wie ich (1988) regi Bernd Sahling.

I needed a catchy title for this blog post and a homage to V for Vendetta (great film!) fitted the bill perfectly. Or maybe I should have coined, in true V fashion, ‘Voila! Voluptuous voice to vocalise Venetia!’

Enough of the alliteration for the moment, let’s get down to the news – the fabulous news -that Richard Armitage, he with the voice like liquid chocolate, is to read Georgette Heyer’s Venetia for Naxos audiobooks. Richard’s reading of Sylvester for Naxos was a huge success and now he’s to tackle Rake Damerel et al. *Happy sigh* I confess that when those of us on the C19 Georgette Heyer group were discussing which Heyer novel we would like Richard to read next, Venetia came top of the list. It seems Naxos thought the same :0) I love Venetia. It’s Heyer’s ‘grown up romance’ and even though there’s not an explicit sex scene in sight, the passion fairly sizzles on the page. A pity this audiobook will be abridged but perhaps that’s one reason Richard has managed to fit the reading into his busy filming schedule.

I’ve been a fan of Richard’s since 2004 when he appeared as John Thornton in the BBC production of North and South. Since then his career has gone from strength to strength. He’s appeared in the Vicar of Dibley, Robin Hood and Spooks, among other things. Richard’s voice talents are as astonishing as his on screen acting abilities, though, and now he’s winning new fans for his delightful reading of Georgette Heyer.

Venetia by Georgette Heyer and read by Richard Armitage is available April 2010 and can be pre ordered on Amazon UK, Amazon.com and The Book Depository. If you follow the links on RichardArmitageOnLine you will also be making a contribution to one of Richard’s chosen charities.

I predict the verdict from the vox populi vis-a-vis this velvet voiced version of Venetia will be that it is a veritable gem …

I was thinking about film today, as I do pretty often, wondering what I’d pick if I tried to come up with a combo list of slightly strange sci-fi movies including some post apocalyptic stuff.  Films I liked.  Films that had an impact on me… couldn’t forget scenes from them, made me think a bit… that sort of thing.  This is what I came up with…. in no particular order.

2001: A Space Odyssey (68)

2010 (84)

A Boy and his Dog (75)

A Scanner Darkly (06)

Bicentennial Man (99)

Blade Runner (82)

Brave New World (80)

Capricorn One (77)

Cherry 2000 (87)

Damnation Alley (77)

Dark City (98)

Demolition Man (93)

Dreamscape (84)

Escape from New York (81)

Gattaca (97)

Handmaid’s Tale (90)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78)

Jacob’s Ladder (90)

Liquid Sky (82)

Logan’s Run (76)

Mad Max Movies (79-85)

Matrix Trilogy (99-03)

Metropolis (27)

Minority Report (02)

Mission to Mars (00)

Omega Man (71)

On The Beach (59)

Planet of the Apes Films (68-73)

Quatermass and the Pit (68)

Scanners (81)

Red Planet (00)

Silent Running (72)

Soylent Green (73)

Stargate (94)

Tank Girl (95)

The Running Man (87)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (51)

The Island (05)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (77)

The Andromeda Strain (71)

The Time Machine (60)

They Live (88)

The Thing (82)

V for Vendetta (05)

Total Recall (90)

Videodrome (83)

The Warriors (79)

Waterworld (95)

Westworld (73)

Zardoz (74)

We live in a world where surrounds us all kinds of sickness, illness and disease. And as a defense to all of this, each year a new medicine is found as a specific cure. Else life would not continue to function.

Now the problem lies that each year there’s a new whole monster of disease to face and to try to avoid. Like for example, last year there was bird’s flu. We discovered it and with time found some ways to cure from it. But nothing compared to this year, the year of 2009 swine flu. This flu really made the headlines. It even made everyone panicked, and till now finding a cure. Or what I mean is that a cure was found, but still it has not been tested to see its efficiency. So I wonder what the hell! Our lives have become a whole new phase of panic from the person next to you if he has any itsy bitsy symptoms of flu. If the person sneezes, you immediately wonder does he have swine flu!

For example, the other day my little cousin had a sort of sore throat along with coughing and varied high temperature, so our minds immediately produced the sound of “Ching ching, watch out, she may have the swine flu.” So what’s with that? I mean highschools have been closed from the increase numbers of swine flu. People’s lives were delayed because of this swine flu. Literally when you think of it, you think it’s a new monster of disease that’s delaying us more from moving forward, as if we need any more delays in our lives! Numbers of swine flu carriers keep increasing more and more; yesterday they reached in Jordan around 2,000 something and more than few deaths increasing. So is this normal! I wonder.

Call me crazy, but do any of you recall watching the movie “V for Vendetta?” Anyways, in this movie, this hero, who calls himself V, fights and wants to take revenge from politicians and important people, who once injected a virus into people as a sort of testing it, and eventually they died. So is this what is happening to us? I mean I know it’s only a swine flu, and it’s a true cause. But hold your horses and think for a minute; highschools are being closed because of this virus, meaning no more education for children. This is for the first reason. Second, I wonder how a medicine called TamiFlu went up from being around $7 to $70? Wow. By the way, the price of the medicine may not be accurate, but still its price jumped instantly in one day and one night. Third, why when you go to the U.S there is no mentioning whatsoever about swine flu? Why this panic of swine flu only exists in the Middle East? Did you ever wonder about that? Well, I did that’s why I’m going crazy.

Anyways, it may be eventually a normal disease, or it may be an injected one for a specific medication to be marketed, who knows! As a matter of fact, I’m not here to accuse, I’m only here to share my thought out loud. In the end,  I have the right to speak.

Last week, US television launched a new series called “V”, which is a remake of a series from the 80s. The premise is that aliens (the Visitors) have come to planet earth in mammoth spaceships and they have nefarious plans for humanity. Like “Independence Day”, but without the immediate extermination.

I was excited when I saw the promos for the show come up, because the new “V” looked like a major quality upgrade from the old version.

Two weeks into the show’s run:

• Because the Visitors appear to be both extremely powerful and benevolent, there is an interesting spirituality theme in the show. Should people assume that the Visitors are our saviors? Or should we question their motives more closely?  In a review of V, Christianity Today talks to the power of devotion, and how a man of faith grapples with it. Worth a read.
• The Visitors look and behave identical to humans and pose as humans. Deb commented that this parallels with the remake of “Battlestar Galactica”.  Like the Visitors, the Cylons have inserted themselves into humanity, raising the paranoia level that people you thought you could trust is in reality an enemy.
• Recent events have made this “Trust Nobody” paranoia more personal for us in the US, with an Army doctor committing mass murder. What a sad coincidence.
• It was fun that the new “V” debuted just two days before November 5, which is Guy Fawkes Day, which calls to mind another “V” in the popular culture with “V for Vendetta”. In this case, another “V” is the hero in the fight against tyranny, another theme from the TV show.
• It’s really fun to see some of the actors from Fox’s “Firefly” and the movie version, “Serenity”, playing in totally different kinds of roles.

I love this song and it fits so well with this movie…

A terrible tragedy. 13 killed. Over 40 wounded. The man suspected: Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. Read more and watch live here.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims and those at the memorial today. As America has always done, we will embrace this tragedy, and rise up from its ashes and strengthen yet again.

Ironically, I thought of V for Vendetta today, for the massacre happened on Nov. 5th, also known as Guy Fawkes Night:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

In no means am I comparing the movie and the event. I just thought it was interesting. I will remember the 5th of November, but now with a completely different outlook to our fallen soldiers.

According to reports, Hasan had raised many “red flags” and had tried to contact Al Qaeda. He had also attended the same mosque as two of the 9/11 hijackers did. If this is all true, I’m severely disappointed. Again, we could have prevented a tragedy from occurring, and also realize that Al Qaeda is a real threat. Enough of this political correctness with saying “enemy combatants” and not saying “the war on terrorism.” This is what I have to say:

America, terrorism is real and not a fairy tale. In regards to Fort Hood though, I wish it were. RIP.

On Saturday evening we drank Framboise and watched V for Vendetta. There was a bit of an issue with a scratched disk but Paul saved the day. We had actually watched the first half of this at my brother’s the night before but I started falling asleep (- very typical of me).  I liked that movie, but it was better the first time.

I used self-timer for both of the shots that I’m in. Obviously I still need some work with that.; )

*click images for full view

In this world that we live in today it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the life we have created for ourselves. We become so focused and entrenched in our work, relationships, and personal life that we sometimes lose sight of life’s big picture. This is not a relatively hard thing to accomplish as the picture is so big and detailed that it is very easy to fixate our attention in one area, forgetting that it’s just a tiny fraction to the whole masterpiece and in fact, the entire picture is just one among endless amounts of other pictures hanging on the wall. As we step back, divert our attention elsewhere or even analyze the very fabric for which the picture was created on we might find that “what ‘matters’ most” is nothing more than the thought we put behind it into making it a reality.

All that exists in this physical world we live in is made up of matter. Protons, Neutrons and Electrons are of course made up by quarks (to over simplify the process) and this is what makes up every thing that exists. Modern physicists are now supporting that these basic building blocks for matter are in fact NOT solid. In fact 99% of an atom is empty space. Countless experiments have been conducted to show that solidity is only a trick of the mind at the macroscopic level.  This was first brought to the public eye by a scientist named Ernest Rutherford in an experiment he did passing particles through gold. I am sure we will be hearing even more about this concept as CERN (Council for European Nuclear Research) is about to kick off its billion dollar project to further investigate the fabric of existence.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4484053n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

For those of you whom this is a new concept to, I can imagine that you are skeptical to believe that something you can touch is not solid. This contradicts everything we’ve learned throughout our lives. However, modern science is beginning to expound into the “paranormal” and “unexplainable” to possibly repeat history and as time showed the world is not flat and the sun does not revolve around the earth we shall begin to become conscious that what you see and touch is not the end all be all for what exists and who/what we really are.

We are all energy. Our bodies emit light and heat. Our brains produce thoughts that emit waves that manipulate the “physical” world in which we live.  This is not such a strange concept when you think about the fact that our bodies are coexisting with all kinds of different frequencies such as television, radio waves, numerous other frequencies, some probably still undiscovered. Just because you can’t see them at the moment doesn’t mean they do not exist or are not present.  They exist in the same space the mind and body does. One must only find the proper medium to access the information and decode it into information our brains can interpret.   There is more to the human being than the physical bodies in which we live because in fact the majority of our body is once again just a bunch of nothing. We exist on many different levels, dimensions and frequencies. For numerous reasons we have lost touch with our ability to realize our full potential as beings and have forgotten that we are eternal and have always been.  Our minds and bodies vibrate at different frequencies corresponding with the thoughts and emotions we are feeling at the time. This might sound like a bunch of spiritual pish-posh and may make one uncomfortable but if you allow yourself to lower the predetermined constructs of your mind it will all make sense, even logically.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/biggestsecret/andtruthfreebook/truthfree00.htm#introduction

Our thoughts are our most powerful and equally crippling tool we possess. Our thoughts define our actions and our actions shape our experiences in this reality.  Our “reality” is a reflection of what we think about ourselves and what we hold onto dearest. It is this great ability to think that we can manipulate to make our lives more pleasant or less favorable.  This is a beautiful thing because once you realize that this is true and is a universal law that we are not taught in school or church (coincidence?), you begin to look inside yourself and out at your current situation and see that it is only you that has put yourself where you are,  and it is only you (and a good thing too since you won’t have to worry about anyone else letting you down) who can use that information to bring about desirable changes. Once we realize that the only one to blame for our problems and our unhappiness is ourselves (not anyone or thing) we can begin to take responsibility for our actions, learn from our mistakes, change our thought process and continue in a new found direction.

This law works simply by like attracting like. Positive attracting positive. Negative attracting Negative. This is the one rule to making this work. The law does not care whether you are emitting positive or negative energy, it will bring you what you desire. Now one might say, no one would want to attract negativity into their life, however, there are people who are consciously making the world a more negative/worse place, but for the moment I am speaking of the people who are probably not aware they are attracting negativity with even the tiniest negative thoughts. One rule that I find works for me, is think simple. If you can apply something on a small-scale and it works, then it will translate to the big picture. It is because of this that we must be careful with what we say and what we are thinking. Little things, eventually add up to big things, good and bad. Think about what you think about yourself and where the majority of your thoughts lie. Are you constantly saying things like “Nothing good ever happens to me”, “I hate…”, “I can’t…”, “Oh woe is me, I’m just a little nobody, working at a job I hate, to pay rent in a too small of house, with a nagging spouse, and too many bills, and I just can’t ever seem to get anything right”, “Nobody likes me” blah blah garbage!! If you think like that you will only be focusing on the negative things in your life, and the positive ones, which still exist will be phased out by your focus on negative ones thus attracting even more negativity into your life. However if you always choose to look at the positivity in things (even though negative ones still may exist) they will be phased out and you will attract even greater happiness into your life. I could not even begin to tell you the thousands of people and things big and small, that I have attracted into my life since learning about this universal law.

I encourage anyone interested in this to check out this movie and research “The Law of Attraction”

People are skeptical to think that you can get whatever you want in life or change any situation you are in simply by thinking about it because a lot of times they don’t realize that although 90% of it is just knowing what you want and thinking about it you still have to put that positivity in alignment with your actions. When those two things are in perfect harmony: 1. knowing what you want, 2. and taking the proper actions to get it: you can literally do anything or recieve anything! Thoughts become things!  The beautiful thing is that no one can stop you but yourself. You just have to stay positive and keep believing that good things will come because they will. The law is always at work. It seems so simple and logical when you break it down on an individual level, however most people in the world are completely oblivious. [I will write a full blog post on this subject with examples from my life and others at a later date]

It is because of this great law and our true “freedom”, which unfortunately I am not talking about the freedom we think we have as Americans, but our true freedom is the power of choice. At the end of the day, in any situation, rational or irrational, it is oneself who always has the ability to make a choice. That being said, those choices always have consequences of less favorable outcomes or favorable/tolerable outcomes but each person always possess the power to choose.  At the end of the day no one can make the decision but themselves. This is something I have had a hard time accepting but now better understand that happiness and fearfulness are choices. Choices that we each make each day, defined by our thoughts, carried into actions, actions that shape the outcome of our life and influence the state of the world. The world is the way it is today because of the thoughts that others before us and now us have had and turned those thoughts into actions or done nothing while our world was manipulated into a state of fear.  It is us who have chosen to live in this world of fear, to accept that it is inevitable that the world can only get worse.  It is us who have so quickly fallen to our knees in looking to the sky for answers to problems, all the while there are people among us whom we’ve never met that are manipulating this false movie-like reality we call life, while we tune out, obey, be silent and do nothing.

The human brain is a very complex and magnificent organ that functions on so many levels most of which we have barely even begun to tap into. However most of us tend to not ever put it to good use and instead allow pop culture, the media and movies to program how we think. There is a small part of our brain called the reptilian brain which functions on basic instincts and survival that most of us never allow ourselves to think outside of. This part of the brain is very primal in that, it allows us to let things like fear, selfishness survival, dominance, and sexual thoughts govern our life. The mainstream media, movie producers and global elite know this and have set our worldly lives up to be stimulated and manipulated like this. It is so much in the forefront of our society that you almost can’t see it because it is in just about everything and we have let ourselves become blinded by the overwhelming exposure to it, accepting it for “just the way it is, honey”, or “always has been always will be.” garbage.

This powerful weapon of manipulation can be seen every time you watch the news, hear a commercial, drive past a billboard, rent a movie, go to war, vote for political figures, listen to the radio, or surf the internet. It’s just about everywhere and it is not by coincidence. Fear is an immobilizing thing. Fear can cripple a person keeping them from ever really doing anything. Fear is a good way to keep people out-of-the-way and influence them to do what you want. However, Fear isn’t real. It is true, the only thing to fear is fear itself. Fear is nothing more than a product of unfamiliarity. A mental road block in your mind. We are afraid of things we do not understand and unfortunately in today’s society we have such a go-go mentality that we don’t take the time to understand or figure out why we’re afraid or what there is to even be afraid of.  We are such a society full of repeaters that world society as a whole never stops to critically analyze happenings in the news around the world and how they are connected. You have to look extremely hard to find a true journalist, or true news source. And of course people have been programmed not to accept an alternative because it is not a “credible” source, most certainly lacking the fancy cameras, graphics and people we’ve become accustomed with.

Here is a good example of how the media works:

If we want to talk about the real fear in this world and the people responsible for this false sense of reality, after we point the finger in the mirror we need only look to the little picture box that sits at the center of our favorite rooms. This must have item was designed for nothing more than programming of mass numbers of people into fearful, insecure, subordinate, consumers and is responsible for the numbing and culturing of misinformed sheep people (sheople). TV has convinced everyone that what you see on it is reality. That you are not this or that if you don’t have this thing or that thing. It has given us all programmed memories. I can’t remember a lot of days from my past but I remember just about every episode of Fresh Prince, Family Matters, Full House and Boy Meets World. I remember how quickly a life changing story breaks on the news, watching the hours of coverage and hearing the story change and everyone accepting the new version and carrying on with their daily lives. The majority of us accept what we hear and see on TV and take comfort in it.  A little something like this:

Pardon his language, but as Gandhi said “Even in a minority of one, the truth is still the truth”.

WE MUST CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY

As a whole our society is afraid of numerous things: terrorism, violence in our neighborhoods, flu, death, our safety, other religions, communism, people with brown faces, socialism, drugs and endless other things. TV has systematically instilled prejudices and for many people have given them their opinion on certain ethnic groups, religions, and countries before we even take the time to see experience the world with our own eyes, ears and feet. This is something traveling the world has brought to my attention. As Michael Jackson once said “never ever pass judgment on anyone or believe anything you hear on TV until you’ve had the chance to sit down, look the person in the eye and hear what they have to say for themselves.” And based on personal experiences he couldn’t have been any more right. There are a lot of misconceptions about the world that we average Americans hold. Instead of believing this capitalist/nationalist propaganda, that we are the greatest country ever and its our way or the highway we need to take the time to think about where these easy sayings and programmed responses we recite come from.

In the early 1900’s a psychologist  by the name of Edward Bernays changed the course of modern human history by taking his knowledge of psychology and teaming up with big corporations to what would inevitably become the market and advertising scam as we know it today.

The people at the top are not stupid. They know exactly what they are doing and it is only by playing dumb and taking advantage of people’s trust and ignorance that we let them accomplish the evils they do. But the time is coming when they will be exposed and will be held accountable.

How is it possible that they could get away with these acts? The simple truth is because each one of us allows it to happen. The global elite have successfully created a system in which we are all born into to enslave the population. They accomplish this because they have managed to create a prison that you can neither see, touch or taste: A prison for our minds. They have turned society as a whole into a flock of sheep.  Only they have done one better. Sheep at least still need a sheep dog to keep them in line and move them where necessary. We are one worse than sheep in that we don’t need a visible sheep dog (or tyrant) to constantly keep us in line. The elite have managed to ingeniously program the very sheep themselves be their own sheep dogs. We police ourselves.  It is now a crime in this society to be different or speak out against the herd. People are so concerned with what the Jones’ will think if they do this, or say that, or don’t have this, that we refuse to speak up, about what is really on our minds to do/be something unique. Instead we are more concerned with the weather and who’s gonna win the super bowl this year that generations let time pass and the world worsen, never doing a thing about it. Dave Matthews hit the nail precisely on the head.

We must wake up from this long slumber our people have been in and realize the truth: that there is something bigger going on in this world and it is sinister and evil; and that the only reason it continues to happen and worsen is because we let it. We must get off of our knees, stop thinking with a small-minded brain centered on fear, and expand our conciousness to channel the infinite amount of love that is available to free ourselves from fear, hate, perversion and bondage that 90% of the world is trapped in right now.  We must not fear the quest for truth, even when the truth turns out to be stranger than fiction.

“People avoid the truth because the first bit of truth uttered and lived would draw more truth into action and so on indefinitely and this would rip most people right off the customary track of their lives. But people, basically, know what is true and what is not, even if they so often render help to the lie. They support the lie because the lie has become a crutch. Therefore, in common human intercourse, the truth and not the lie is suspected as being phony.”

-Wilhelm Reich, “The Murder of Christ”

We must collectively raise this world from vibrating lowly in a state of fear to soaring high in a state of love and happiness.  The answer starts right at home. What can I do?  Once we begin to change our thought patterns this physical world around us will realign itself with a positive outlook. We want to make the world a better place for those that will be arriving here after we’ve left our physical bodies. Remember that we are not defined by our name, occupation or financial status. We are infinite consciousness experiencing life on planet Earth in the third dimension.

INFINITE LOVE IS THE ONLY TRUTH EVERYTHING ELSE IS ONLY ILLUSION.

(more to come next monday…)

LET THIS SONG RING TRUE!

Masks that supposedly resemble the visage of Guy Fawkes, make popular in the movie V for Vendetta. (Photo from The Daily Blank)

Today I was published at The Daily Blank, Chicago’s only satire site that focuses on local issues.

For your enjoyment I’ll paste the entire article below, because their licensing allows it. Enjoy! …And I have one more piece in the queue, so look out.

Daley to ‘pull an Obama’ to fund CPS

In two about-face moves Tuesday, Chicagoans banded together to stand up to the Daley administration, and the Mayor decided to listen to the majority voice of the people.

Following a protest, Mayor Richard M. Daley issued an edict that every corporate executive who had received preferential treatment under the TIF program would voluntarily cut his or her income by 90 percent.

The mayor did not say what the consequences would be if said executives disobeyed, except that “the shit will hit the fan,” he told the throngs of cheering lower-middle-class people before him.

The Obama administration recently announced that top employees of the seven companies receiving the most bailout money would cut their cash pay by 90 percent. All would be forced to cut their total pay by at least 50 percent, several media outlets reported.

Prompted by recent news of extreme inequality in Chicago Public Schools, almost a million Chicagoans dressed in black and wore masks of Guy Fawkes, a British revolutionary, to march on City Hall Tuesday morning.

At press time it was unclear just how the masses coordinated the sit-in.

The mayor stood on City Hall’s green roof for much of the forty-two minutes during which protesters had the building surrounded. At the end of the standoff, Daley gave up and came outside with a laptop and projector.

“I hear you,” Daley said over the din. “This is your city, not mine.”

He proceeded to project a hastily-arranged PowerPoint onto the side of city hall, diagramming exactly what actions he would take, down to the dollar.

The program goes as follows:

• All CPS schools would receive equal spending-per-pupil. To accomplish this, the higher spenders’ budgets would be cut marginally, while the lower spenders’ budgets would be drastically inflated.

• Money would come largely from the $1 billion “shadow budget” of TIF money said to be in the hands of the Mayor. Any executive who refused to cut his or her pay will lose TIF support.

• Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky of the Chicago Reader would become co-chairs of a new department, called the Department of Uber Accountability.

Once the throngs cleared from the downtown area, officials noticed they had left behind several items of mob paraphernalia, including torches, pitchforks and 800,000 plastic masks.

“You had better believe that we’re gonna recycle these,” said Suzanne Malik-McKenna, commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Environment. “Put the word down the chain,” Malik-McKenna told a woman to her left.

Reality

Rather than ruminate on how long it’s been since I last posted on this forum (17 days – I’ve been spending my “writing block” on translation projects, my dissertation and a filmography for a book), I will elaborate on a few of the major events that have marked the last two weeks.

Our film AOP, a mockumentary about a secret West German fetish, debuted at the HFF “Konrad Wolf” as part of the end of orientation festivities on Friday October 23rd.  It went over lukewarm compared with the other “Knaller” made by the other nine groups (at least 3 of which took place in a bathroom), but director Maurice M. Mohn swore to me that the film “wasn’t unsuccessful” at the party afterwards.  Speaking of THAT party:  it was held after 11:00 p.m. at a sketchy, illegal club in Kreuzkölln with no fire exits, no windows, a sketchy fridge full of bottled beer and nothing but techno beats (the latter being a plus against the other factors).  I sort of plowed my way through the packed bathroom line to reach the exit around 2:30 after quaffing a few cheap beers and yelling my way through several conversations in the smoky darkness.  An experience, to be sure.

I went to a wonderful Fulbright brunch on Sunday October 25^th held by the generous Luisa Greenfield and Ming Tsao in Kreuzberg, where I met Jacob Comenetz, a former Fulbrighter now working at the Bundespresseagentur (more on him to come) and got a pile of great book recommendations from Ming about writing about the electronic music aesthetic (you want that list? Send a comment my way!).  Later that day, I picked up Kat at the Berlin Tegel airport, who successfully got her very heavy baggage out of the terminal without a cart (or my help, since that’s how European airports work) and we ate out at Tuk-Tuk, the Indonesian restaurant down the street from us.

Having Kat around has been great for many reasons.  Here are a few:

* Cessation of married-man-long-distance loneliness;

* More satisfying sleep;

* The apartment is now warmer;

* Increased intake of generally nutritious food that tastes good;

* New impulse to plan social events and outings, and I can show her all the old stuff I’ve gotten to know;

* Celebrating birthdays and holidays is much more meaningful again!

In the first week (Oct. 26 – Nov. 1st), I purposefully overscheduled us with many social events, including coffee with Kira and Beverly and dinner with the same, carving pumpkins with Katie Weeks and Hilary Bown, Luisa’s film screening on Friday night, and a Fulbright alumni Halloween party at Joe’s Bar in Prenzlauer Berg on Saturday night with Jacob.  I did so to make Kat feel at home and connected here, which also conversely made me feel more at home and connected here as well.  Speaking of Luisa’s screening, we had a great turn-out for the two shorter, more experimental films (Light and Bridegroom… see below) but, since we started over an hour late, over half the audience missed the wonderful mess that was John Ford’s Seven Women (1966).  We hope that everybody returns for our continuing Ford/Straub pairings, as well as other assorted film gems we manage to procure.  As for the Halloween party, Kat and I went as a vampire-zombie duo who hated each other through our expressions on our T-shirts:  “Vampires Bite” and “Zombies Need Brains.”  Ha ha.

This last week has presented us with opportunities to walk around and shop (such as in Kreuzberg’s famous Bergmannstrasse), watch movies together (many reviewed below) and get our visas (by waking up at 3 a.m. and surmounting the evil LABO).  All in all a good time, and I anticipate more to come.

Professionally speaking, I’ve had some ups and downs the last two weeks.  Ups:  I spent four hours with Herr Dieter Kosslick, director of the Berlinale, and two hours with Dr. Gottfried Langenstein, director of ARTE; I’ve found hundreds of newspaper articles with revealing insights on the reception of the Indianerfilme in East Germany; I’ve met up with Reinhild Steingröver of the University of Rochester and established contact with several other scholars working on parallel topics to my dissertation.  Downs: I lost my first month’s worth of book/film notes due to a faulty data back-up attempt, so I’ve got another 10 hours of work to do in reconstructing it.  This is the way it goes.

And one final note:  if you’re ever on Akazienstrasse in Schöneberg, DO NOT eat at the South Indian restaurant called Chennai Dosai, not only because their food is not particularly good, but because they played the opening track from the Hrithik Roshan sci-fi Bollywood film Koi Mil Gya (2003) on a loop THE ENTIRE TIME WE SAT THERE.  It was a unique form of tourist torture, though I’m sure they weren’t expecting a customer who knew the film.

Fantasy

Posse (dir. Mario van Peebles, USA 1993)

Woody Strode, Big Daddy Kane, and many other prominent African-Americans star in this somewhat violent, misogynist and cliché Western.  Its primary contradiction lies in its seeming original mission – to re-insert African-Americans into a Western film tradition absolutely dominated by actors coded as “white” -  and its aesthetic outcome – a cheap Leone treasure/revenge plot with a lot of melodramatic cheese and macho strutting from Van Peebles.  The fact that I couldn’t really read the blocky explanatory text at the end didn’t really detract from the palpably saccharine coating that Van Peebles put on this piece of macho-masculine self-glorification.

The Treasure of Silver Lake (dir. Harald Reinl, FRG/France/Yugoslavia 1963)

The film that started the whole Euro-Western trend, and a completely necessary entry in the cinema books next to adventure films such as Errol Flynn’s Captain Blood (1935)or Lucas’ and Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).  The superhuman duo of Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker) stumble upon an injustice committed (the murder of Götz George’s German immigrant father) and a treasure to discover.  Let’s just say that, on a superficial level, the film absolutely delivers:  colorful landscapes, bold action sequences, and plot twists that still convince the 8 year-old inside of you.  You only think about the crazy exoticism of the whole charade afterwards…

The Sons of Great Bear (dir. Josef Mach, GDR 1966)

The East German response to Reinl and Wendlandt’s Winnetou films, The Sons of Great Bear is the most “historically accurate” of all the DEFA Indianerfilme and also one of the most visually compelling.  That being said, Mach had little idea how to direct an action sequence, so the ending fight scene is confusing and frustrating to say the least, not to mention more-or-less tacked on to Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich’s original source material.  The press reviews made sure to note how much actor Gojko Mitic’s physique looked like the “real-life” Shoshone, though their basis on which to judge that comes from other Westerns’ portrayal of Native Americans.  Hmmm….

Little Big Man (dir. Arthur Penn, USA 1970)

Thomas Berger’s picaresque about the only white survivor of Little Bighorn, a man brought up by the Cheyenne (a.k.a. the human beings) named Jack, is expertly executed by Penn, if awkwardly assembled as a whole.  General Custer’s portrayal in the film is nothing short of brilliant – an arrogant prick more than a proper villain – and the Cheyenne are given a lot of positive screen-time.  Of course, Dustin Hoffman’s Jack dominates the majority of the film, with mixed results.

Battleship Potemkin (dir. Sergei Eisenstein, Russia 1925)

Restored 35mm print containing all the original scenes?  Check.
Live accompaniment by an adept pianist?  Check.
Kat’s first time seeing a leftist modernist classic?  Check.
I really can’t say anything more, other than that the Kino Arsenal has a special place in my heart.

Trick ‘r Treat (dir. Michael Dougherty, USA 2008)

A kind of Four Rooms treatment of Halloween, Trick ‘r Treat is a very smooth movie with regard to horror clichés, playing on one’s expectations, and the usual twists and turns one expects of even the slasher genre nowadays.  One should watch this with one’s tongue firmly in cheek, even through all the horrifying bits.  I say no more.

The Omen (dir. Richard Donner, UK/USA 1976)

Um… Gregory Peck’s character is kind of dumb?  This is at least what the film suggests, after one is led through a constant barrage of corroborating evidence that demonstrates his son is the antichrist, and he still doesn’t seem to get it.  Oh well:  there are many other films with evil children that work with the formula that The Omen put forth, so I suppose it’s influential.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (dir. Stephen Norrington, USA 2003)

This was the second time I’ve seen the film, and the second time I’ve seen it in Berlin (the last time was with Mary Brandel in 2003 – and I hated it then too.)  Alan Moore’s excellent graphic novel was to be transformed into a grand piece of pulp, and instead turned into a nightmarish gobbledy-gook of lame special FX (including the atrocious Venice sequence), too many characters running around (including “Tom Sawyer,” their worst revision), and sequel-baiting (the *ahem* “ending”).  Stuart Townsend is about the only redeeming feature of this feature, and that’s because he’s so damn charming in any case.

V for Vendetta (dir. James McTeigue, UK/Germany 2006)

Another slightly second-rate “good” film from the Wachowski Brothers, V for Vendetta continuously bills itself as a smart action thriller which raises bits of moral ambiguity for the postmodern cinema-goer, but is ultimately far too utopian about the power of the masses to stomach.  Alan Moore wasn’t nearly as idealistic as this, and far more critical of the respective places within society that Evie, V and the masses inhabit.  You can tell through the exquisite detail of the sets that the Babelsberg people worked on this one, though.

Genau Gleich (dir. Burkhart Wunderlich, Germany 2009)

A film that I’m currently subtitling for Burkhart about an incestuous relationship between German-Polish twins and an old woman on a bench waiting for Elvis.  An absolutely brilliant concluding shot is likely to give this one high marks at the Berlinale if, indeed, we manage to get the film into competition.

Light (dir. Marie Menken, USA 1964)

Dizzying Christmas lights, spinning motion, elliptical editing.  The lost American avant-garde.  Shall we see it again?

The Bridegroom, the Comedienne and the Pimp (dir. Jean-Marie Straub, Daniele Huillet, FRG 1968)

I must’ve seen this film something like eight or nine times since I’ve come to UMass.  Nevertheless, the mixture of prostitutes against an industrial backdrop, Ferdinand Bruckner’s “The Pains of Youth” by Fassbinder’s antitheater group, and the intense chase/marriage sequence at the end never fail to incite thoughts of alternatives to mainstream cinema and new spatial configurations of narrative.

Seven Women (dir. John Ford, USA 1966)

Ford’s last film is an outright laugh riot starring Anne Bancroft as a self-confident doctor who winds up in a doomed community of American missionaries in Mongolia.  Oh wait – this wasn’t supposed to be funny?  Then perhaps there’s too much Sirkian irony in this overstuffed, full-color studio epic, which is probably why the film was buried after its creation:  Ford’s film is trapped between gender and a hard place.   Oh yeah, and there’s actually eight women, but one of them happens to be Chinese…

Coraline (dir. Henry Selick, USA 2009)

Coraline is a well-executed animated feature in glorious 3D that was screened at the HFF as part of our overall 3D research project.  Many of the fantastic landscapes, both interiors and exteriors, are enhanced by the 3D effects, but these effects don’t overwhelm the adaptation from the original text.  What does overwhelm the adaptation is the inclusion of a male character who has to save Coraline’s butt in the end, classifying it as yet another film with a strong female character who needs a man to both tame and save her.  Why can’t Hollywood ever be done with its male heroes?

G-Force (dir. Hoyt Yeatman, USA 2009)

Most 3D films rely on re-vamped spatial relations that make tighter spaces seem even tighter and wide open spaces seem glorious.  So what better means of exploring tight spaces and big vistas than making a supremely small cast, through whose eyes we must view the world?  Such is the visual premise of G-Force, which has guinea pig commandos saving the world from a silly plot in a classic Jerry Bruckheimer fashion.  Nevertheless, the effects are convincing and most of the side-plots are not particularly annoying.  I would say:  Mr. Yeatman’s background in visual FX for advertising and trailers paid off in a big way for the film, though its effects scenes are so pronounced as to make all of the dialog sequences seem drawn-out and dull.  Definitely a movie that attempts to satiate a hyper-active age group.  Critics who don’t fully “get” 3D films and who are thoroughly in Pixar’s camp are liable to hate it,  but I can root for it from the sidelines.

I know that some of you are interested in the film V for Vendetta so go here for a short discussion guide.

שלשום היה ה-5 לנובמבר, אמנם, אך זה עדיין לא מונע ממני להקדיש לתאריך זה פוסט. לאלו אשר יודעים או לא יודעים (או במילים אחרות מי שראה את הסרט V For Vendetta או לא ראה) היום נקרא ליל גאי פוקס, והוא מציין את ניסיון ההתנקשות במלך ג’יימס הראשון על ידי קבוצת קושרים קתוליים, בשל אי-מתן זכויות שוות לקתולים ולפרוטסטנטים, או כפי שנהוג לקרוא לכך – מזימת אבקת השריפה.

המזימה אמנם נכשלה, אך המורשת שלה נמשכת עד היום ומשפיעה, מאות שנים אחרי. הסיבה לכך היא העקרון שמאחורי המזימה – התאגדות ההמון, העם, האנשים הפשוטים, כנגד השלטון בכדי לשנות ולהשפיע, במקום לשבת בשקט, להתמרמר וללכת כצאן אחר הרועה. כיום ניתן לראות את צבא גלעד ואת המהומה הציבורית הגדולה בסוגית החייל השבוי, כולם מתאגדים למען הרצון המשותף לשחרר את גלעד. הסוגיה תופסת מקום נכבד בתודעתנו, רובנו כבר שמענו או הצטרפנו אליהם. אך מדוע אין אנו שומעים על התאגדות כנגד מטריאליסטיות, אלימות, ברבריות, שלטון האוליגרכיה, בורות הציבור בתאולוגיה, הדלדלות הערכים, השחקות המוסר ועוד. אלו דברים אשר דנים עליהם כבר עשרות, חלקם אפילו מאות שנים. חלקם יותר רגישים וחלקם קצת פחות.

ובכן, אנו כן נחשפים אליהם, כמעט כל אחד יכול להעיד שהוא נחשף לתכנים בנושאים כאלו ואחרים. עם זאת – אנו לא רואים משהו ‘מיוחד’ ומרחיק לכת אשר נעשה בכדי לשנות משהו בנידון, או לפחות לא מרגישים זאת. מדוע? האם התייאשו או התעייפנו מלדון על דברים מיושנים שנדמה כי לעולם לא ישתנו? או שמא חילוקי דעות גורמים לנו לדון בחדרי חדרים מחשש לביקורת, אולי אין אנו סובלים מכך יותר מידיי ומסתפקים במצב כפי שהוא? תהיה התשובה אשר תהיה, הנכונות שלנו להצטרף על מנת לשנות ולהשפיע לא נראית כה מזהירה.  אם זה קורה, זה רק כשזה נוגע בנושא שהתגובה אליו ‘ברורה’ – חייל נחטף, מוחאים כדי להחזירו חזרה. זה גם סוג של גאווה לאומית, הזדהות אישית עבור חלק, ועוד סיבות שגורמות ללב שלנו לפעום כשאנו מביטים בגלעד, אשר אין אנו מכירים אותו כלל וכלל אישית, בקלטת – חיי ונושם. אם כי אני בספק גדול אם באמת כל האנשים אשר מוחאים להחזרתו של גלעד באמת אכפת להם מתחתית ליבם לגבי החייל השבוי, או שמא הם נתונים ללחץ חברתי, או רוצים להצטרף לזרם המקובל ולא להיות שונים (קל וחומר שיש גם כאלו) אך נעזוב את זה לבינתיים.

משתמע ממה שאני אומר שיש אדישות מוחלטת בנוגע לנושאים משמעותיים וידועים אשר נמנים ברשימת ‘תחלואות המין האנושי’, אך אין זה נכון. יש פעילות מתמדת בנושא, הנקודה שלי – האם זה מורגש? קראו בחדשות, התעדכנו בסטטיסטיקות, לא דרוש הרבה זמן בכדי להבין היכן אנו עומדים.   ארגון נקים, לדוגמא, מוחה כנגד השחיטות. אין לי ספק שהם מתמידים ודובקים במטרתם, אמנם – לא נראה כי הם הולכים לתפוס את הכותרת הגדולה מחר ולמחות את השחיטות מהשלטון. אין בידם הכוח המספק. מהו אותו כוח? תמיכת ההמון. סצנה יפייפיה מהסרט V For Vendetta מראה כמות עצומה של אנשים במסכות, פועלים יחדיו למען אותה מטרה. הם מורידים את המסכות לנוכח הפיצוצים המרהיבים, וחושפים את פניהם. הדבר גורם לי לחשוב – הייתכן שאנשים באמת לא נרתמים לעזור בשל העדר המסכה? האם יהיה לנו קל יותר לנקוט מעשה ולהלחם עבור הרעיון שלנו תחת גלימת האנונימיות? לא קצת יצא לי לראות אנשים אשר כותבים בסתר רעיונותיהם, דעותיהם למגירה, ככשאלתי אותם מדוע הם לא הולכים אחר מה שהם דובקים בו הם מלמלו, לא היו בטוחים בעצמם מדוע. כאילו הם רוצים בשינוי אך אינם מוכנים לפעול למענו. מצב מעיק, אני חייב לומר. לפעמים אני תוהה, האם אין אנו צריכים מזימת אבק שריפה משל עצמנו. ניתן לכתוב על כך עוד המון, אך אני חושב שאין זה יועיל. שכחו את כל הפוסט מצידי, רק זיכרו את הכותרת, וחרטו אותה במוחכם. ייתכן שיבוא יום בו נאלץ למות על משפט דומה.

אני רוצה לסיים את הפוסט בשיר של ג’ון לנון, זכור, ובציטוט:

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
gunpowder, treason and plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
‘twas his intent
to blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow
By God’s providence he was catch’d
With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

A penny loaf to feed the Pope,
A farthing o’ cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him,
Burn him in a tub of tar,
Burn him like a blazing star,
Burn his body from his head,
Then we’ll say ol’ Pope is dead,
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah!

Yesterday I wrote an article on the movie V for Vendetta. I fogot to save, so all was lost. Yesterday was November 5th, so I watch the movie for the at least 20th time on my life. It’s soooooooooo goood! It’s a must see! By the way if you have already seen the movie, the men, Guy Fawkes, all the story behind this men is true! I learn that when I’ve make som search on the men

Hier j’ai écouter pour la millième fois le ilm V pour Vendetta, quel bon film je me tanne jamais. J’avais écrit l’article hier mais j’ai oublié d’enregistrer, alors tout s’est perdu, juste un billet pour vous dire d’écouter se film si ce n’est déjà fait! Si j l’ai écouter un 5 novembre ce n’est pas pour rien! En passant l’homme au début du film sur lequel tout est basé, Guy Fawkes, il à bel et bien déjà existé et tenté de faire sauter le parlement. C’est donc basé sur un fait vécu!

Naïm Guessous

Yesterday was the 5th of November. Guy Fawkes Day. Over the last several years, Jude and I had made it a tradition to celebrate with a screening of “V For Vendetta”. But after our little spat we had the other day, I wasn’t planning on it this year. Ethan was working, and I just wasn’t in a mood to hang out with anyone else.

So, there I was, sitting on the couch, working. (I work from home, doing freelance graphic design work, BTW). I’d spent the entire day doing various chores and trying to get motivated to exercise. As the sun was setting, I finally come to terms with the fact that I needed to get a little work done. I was sketching out an idea for a potential client, listening to the local news.

A break in the investigation of the attack that happened on Halloween night. The police are now disclosing that the bite marks found on the victim appear to be human. So this person may have gotten rabies from another person who had rabies. Come on. That’s fucked up, right? That shit is only supposed to be transmitted through animals. And even if it is rabies, that’s supposed to take more time to kick in, right? The fact that this victim is already having to be restrained and trying to attack people is doubly weird. To top it all off, this crazy infected person is still on the loose in this town. Police are advising that we not be out after dark if we can avoid it, and to go out in groups if we are, even in the day. Like a group of people is going to scare off a swollen-brained lunatic who wants to bite your flesh off.

The news story had just changed to some fluff piece when there was a knock at my door.

It was Jude, holding up a copy of “V for Vendetta” and a bag of microwaveable popcorn. I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned against the doorframe, looking up at him.

A moment of silence passed as we looked at each other, before he finally broke the silence.

“I’m sorry.”

I considered that for a moment before responding. “Dumbass.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

I met his eyes, which were a brilliant green, and all of our history weighed down on me. I was ready to let this go. It just wasn’t worth being mad about anymore, and I missed my friend. I held the door open wider so he could come in. He slipped past me and tossed the movie onto the couch.

“I’ll make the popcorn,” he said.

And we’re back.