What makes you cry at the movies? Farewell scenes like the one between Kirk Douglas and Jean Simmons in Spartacus? Joyous reunions like the one at the end of Dodsworth? Or maybe the death of a child (The Marrying Kind) or someone struck down in their prime by a terminal illness as in Dark Victory or Terms of Endearment? No matter what you come up with though, nothing works on a more primeval level for me than an on-screen animal death. Yes, it's sad to see humans die too but animals, particularly pets, seem so much more innocent and defenseless, especially when they meet their end at the hands of men. And probably the first film to really leave a scar on my psyche was Old Yeller which I saw as a child during its original theatrical release.  

Old Yeller (1957)

I haven't seen it since and have no idea how it would hold up now but I still have very clear memories of the movie because it was more intense and dramatic than any live-action children's film I had previously seen. Part of its appeal was identifying with the two boys, Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran, left to help their mother (Dorothy MacGuire) manage their Texas farm while the father (Fess Parker) was away on a long cattle drive. The real emotional connection, however, was between Kirk and the stray dog his family adopts. What child couldn't relate to that? What I didn't expect - from a Walt Disney movie, no less - were scenes of frightening intensity; Kirk being attacked by a wild hog, his dog being wounded while attempting to protect him, and an attack by a rabid wolf later in the film which gives Old Yeller rabies. The most upsetting part, of course, was watching the dog go mad and try to attack his owners, resulting in an ending where Kirk has to shoot and kill his beloved companion. What a nightmare scenario for a boy and his dog. It might as well have been a Greek tragedy considering the profound emotional impact it had on me. It also sparked an intense but short-lived obsession with rabies and the fear of getting it.  Thanks to Movie Morlock RHS, I am now hooked on Polish film posters so I have to include this one of Old Yeller. 

The Yearling (1946)

A few years later I was enjoying a summer film series for kids every Saturday at the Westover Theatre in Richmond, Virginia. It was a great lineup with Jerry Lewis in The Geisha Boy, The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad, The Littlest Hobo and others but one film stood out from the rest and didn't seem to belong in the series at all. I didn't have the words to describe it at the time but morbid and depressing will do just fine in expressing my feelings about it. The Yearling also felt like a movie for adults, not children, and the specter of death hovered over the entire film. One of my most vivid memories of the movie is the character of Fodderwing (Donn Gift), the crippled friend of Jody (Claude Jarman, Jr.), whose premature death is followed by a string of tragedies. After Old Yeller, though, I was prepared for the worst in regards to "Flag," the fawn who becomes Jody's constant companion. When "Flag" becomes a threat to the family's corn crop, the deer must be destroyed. And part of Jody's passage into manhood demands that he put his pet out of its misery after his mother seriously wounds it with her gun. The Yearling was probably the blackest day of my kiddie matinee moviegoing. I couldn't even shed a tear over Flag's death because I was too numb.  

 Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

I haven't seen too many films where a duck figured prominently in the plot but this exciting fantasy-adventure based on the Jules Verne novel (and currently in theatres as a 3-D remake starring Brendan Fraser) introduces a character named Hans (Peter Ronson), who joins an expedition into the bowels of the earth and brings along Gertrude, his pet duck. As they journey into the unknown, they are stalked by the evil, corpulent Count Saknussem (Thayer David) who wants to sabotage their mission in order to establish his own reputation as a discoverer. Desperate circumstances force the explorers and the Count to team up and, Gertrude eventually becomes the Count's dinner after a particularly exhausting encounter with giant lizards and a centrifugal force field leaves everyone exhausted and asleep. Luckily, we are spared the sight of Gertrude's slaughter but we do see the tell-tale trail of bloody feathers that Hans discovers after the fact. And despite the just desserts awaiting the Count, I missed Gertrude's presence the rest of the movie. 

The Three Lives of Thomasina (1963)

This one may be a bit of a cheat since the title character doesn't actually die but has a near-death experience. Thomasina is a cat that roams a bucolic village in Scotland and is instrumental in altering the lives of several characters in it. After she is injured in an accident and slated for extermination by her owner (Patrick McGoohan), a veterinarian who believes the cat has tetanus, Thomasina is "brought back to life" by Lori (Susan Hampshire), a mysterious local healer but not before having a major out-of-body experience in cat heaven...or more appropriately in some waiting room outside cat heaven. This sequence is bound to raise all sorts of questions with kids such as "Is there a separate heaven for cats than dogs?," "Will I be reunited with Snowball (insert your favorite cat name) when I go to heaven?," "If there's a cat heaven, is there a cat hell?" Of course, it's clear to me that cat afterlife - at least according to Walt Disney - is some crazy pagan fantasyland mixing up Egyptian iconography with Michael Powell fever dreams like A Matter of Life and Death. I remember not caring for Thomasina's voiceover narration or Karen Dotrine as Mary, the little girl who loves her and becomes deathly ill after her cat's disappearance. The intriguing thing about the movie was the passionate relationship that develops between Karen's uptight, repressed father and the beautiful, free-spirited Lori and is brought to an emotional head in a tearjerking finale accompanied by thunder, lighting and Thomasina's reappearance. 

The Victors (1963)

Although critics were particularly hard on this sprawling, episodic war epic - calling it pretentious and sanctimonious - I perceived it as an important and profound film as a teenager, having not yet seen more eloquent reflections on the futility of war such as Kubrick's Paths of Glory. One incident, in particular, haunted me for years. Weaver (Peter Fonda), a naive, young recruit, befriends a stray puppy and then his outfit has to depart for combat.. The puppy faithfully tags along after the truck and Weaver's jaded comrades-in-arms decide to get in a little target practice. We see the whole cruel episode played out on Weaver's shocked and incredulous face.

Kes (1969)

Still considered one of Ken Loach's finest films, Kes is a harsh, unsentimental and ultimately heartbreaking story about Billy, a fifteen-year-old working class youth who lives in the industrial town of Barnsley, Yorkshire. Alternately abused and ignored at home, Billy's life at school isn't much better until he discovers the nest of a kestrel falcon and adopts one of the fledgings, learning to raise and train it with the encouragement of a schoolteacher. While on the surface Kes appears to be a simple story of a boy and his pet falcon, Loach's film cuts much deeper in its exploration of England's class-conscious education system which gives economically deprived students like Billy little hope for the future or preparation for it. The boy's real education begins when he teaches himself how to care for his falcon; it's a relationship that gives meaning to his life for the first time and also instills in him a confidence he never had before. Though the film ends on a tragic, emotionally devastating note - Loach gives you tough love all the way - there is still a glimmer of hope that Billy will persevere and continue on his road to independence.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Mad Max's dog"][/caption]

The Road Warrior (1981)

 

 

It's hard to pick a favorite character in George Miller's colorful, adrenalin-charged action-adventure but I lean toward Mad Max's scruffy mutt with no name who has the survival instincts of a ninja and the demeanor of a junkyard dog. It never occurred to me that he might not make it to the end of the movie so his demise had an unexpected punch to it. At least Miller had the decency to shield us from his heartless murder by crossbow. You see the dog, growling and prepared to protect his severely wounded master, as a barbarian assassin approaches with the weapon. The villain aims it, fires and we only hear a quick, piercing yelp. That was one arrow to the heart that I really felt and I feel it every time I see the movie, one of the great escapist fantasies of the eighties. 

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

I already knew in advance that this dramatization of Dian Fossey’s life and her work with the wild gorillas in the rain forests of Rwanda was going to be emotionally manipulative and a total downer. Yet the simian deep inside me compelled me to see it…but it was painful,.as if I was being forced to relearn a lesson I already knew. Do you think it’s wrong to cut off gorillas’ hands and market them to tourists as cigarette ashtrays? Do you think it’s wrong to kill adult gorillas and sell their children to zoos? Do you see gorillas as animals with any discernable human traits? The problem with movies like Gorillas in the Mist is that they only attract audiences already sympathetic to their viewpoint and the poachers of the world could care less. Still, my fascination with my furry ancestors compelled me to sit through this and toughen up for the inevitable tragedy that lay ahead. Fossey’s discovery of Digit’s body – his head and hands are cut off – is an overpowering moment even if you try to maintain an emotional distance from the horror. It might be only a movie but the reality is that it really happened and is still happening in places where the mountain gorillas are unprotected from poachers. 

Project X (1989)

This is a lighthearted entertainment compared to Gorillas in the Mist but it shares a thematic concern with the latter film in its condemnation of man's exploitation of primates for their own interests. In this case, the Air Force is conducting a secret experiment that tests how pilots are affected by radiation levels in the event of nuclear war. Of course, real pilots aren't used. Instead, chimpanzees are the guinea pigs and you've never met a more lovable group of monkeys. There is a romantic subplot involving Helen Hunt, one of the chimp's trainers, and Matthew Broderick, an Air Force pilot assigned to the project as punishment for insubordination but the movie is more effective in dramatic terms when it focuses on the endangered chimps. The scene that tears my heart out is one where we see one of the chimps in a flight simulator test and then, in a series of slow-motion shots, see his fear turn to sudden shock and pain as lethal amounts of radiation are sent through his body in waves. The scene doesn't need James Horner's sad, emotionally manipulative music to drive home the tragedy and coax your tearducts to open but it's guaranteed to reach the bawling baby inside you.  

I'm sure I'm overlooking several other famous tearjerking scenes involving animal deaths in movies although I did consider mentioning the pigeon slaughter scene in On the Waterfront as well as sadly memorable moments from Birdman of Alcatraz and the recent documentary, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005).

=//= Events at Bowl Court and Rampart =//=

The programme of events for the Festival of Useful Openings so far is;

TUESDAY 15TH JULY

This afternoon: Pool Table Making workshop
7PM: Pedal Powered Washing Machine workshop.

WEDNESDAY 16TH JULY

All Day and into the night: the perfect combination of Punk 'n' Ping Pong
In the afternoon: Flight of kites and other flying objects
6PM: Meet your neighbour; a radical bicycle tour of the City

THURSDAY 17TH JULY

All Day juggling workshop
In the afternoon: rocket stove making
8ish onwards: Freeze the City: DJ Freeze takes a stroll...

That is all that is planned as of yet, but if you have any ideas for other events, drop us a line at bowlcourt@riseup.net or just come along!

----

## FRIDAY 18TH JULY

9PM @ Bowl Court / www.dissidentisland.org
see http://www.dissidentisland.org/NextShow.html for info closer to the time

== And events you might be interested in elsewhere ==

## TUESDAY 15TH JULY

London Climate Camp Night
POGO Café
76 Clarence Road
Hackney, London E5 8HB
An evening about the upcoming climate camp. see our website for more details.
http://www.pogocafe.co.uk

## WEDNESDAY 16TH JULY

8:15AM @ Business Design Centre, Islington. 52 Upper St, London N1 0QH

Demo against E.ON, - Join the Greenwash Guerrillas to show that E.ON'S greenwash won't wash! We will be cordoning off the area and warning summit delegates about the high levels of toxic greenwash leaking from the building. (We suspect its source to be E.ON Managing Director Bob Taylor, who's got a top spot on the panel.) This should be a fun, subversive demo, with the Camp for Climate Action, Rising Tide, People
and Planet, Earth First! and WDM all helping to spread the word. Bring if you can: a white painter's/boiler suit and any home-made greenwash detecting devices you can think up (eg. part of an old hoover, a remote control, a hair dryer painted green – get creative!) If you can't bring these things, not to worry, extras will be on hand.

Phone: 07961 917 535
Email: info@climatecamp.org.uk
Web: www.greenwashguerrillas.org

## WEDNESDAY 16TH JULY

7PM @ Housmans Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Road, King's Cross, London, N1 9DX
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil - Film screening and talk.

This film is a key text in the Transition Towns projects. You might expect a film about Cuba to be a homage to Fidel Castro, but this inspirational film celebrates a more anarchist, grass-roots approach to solving the growing problem of our age: producing food without oil.
Luis Santamaria of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign will be introducing the film and running a question and answer session afterwards.

Phone: 020 7837 4473
Email: nik@housmans.com
Web: www.housmans.com/events
http://www.powerofcommunity.org
http://www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk

## THURSDAY 17TH JULY, 1pm

Squeezed by Debt, Taxes and Cost of Living?

Rise Up and Resist the Giants of Global Capitalism

Join in On a Global Day of Action Against One of the Oldest's and Largest Private Equity Firms in the World: KKR (Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts)
Thursday, July 17th meet 1:00 PM in Trafalgar Square (near the lions)

- help deliver a giant invoice of debt to KKR executives -

You may not be interested in private equity…but private equity is very interested in you!

Did you know that in the UK?
- Over 3 million workers or 1 in 5 private sector workers now works for company that is owned by a private equity fund.

- * Five of the 10 largest private equity-owned companies in the UK effectively paid not a single penny of UK corporation tax in 2005/06. Despite combined sales of more than £12bn and operating profits of more than £400m, in total the 10 companies received a £11m corporation tax credit from the exchequer*

More and more companies around the world, including hundreds here in the UK, are being bought up and sold off by a type of firm that takes pride in their lack of transparency, ability to rack up debt, cut costs and jobs and exploit the tax system so they pay little or no tax. The volume of private equity deals has grown 600% in the last five years. In 2006, private equity firms spent US$725 billion buying out companies. Today, they can potentially mobilise more than US$2 trillion – enough to buy McDonalds 38 times over!

Private equity companies have gained massive influence, power and wealth because they've stayed invisible to public attention and scrutiny. It is time for that to change!

On Thursday 17 July 2008, thousands of trade unions, community organisations, environmentalists, workers and activists will be taking part in a global day of action against KKR - are actions planned in 100 cities in 25 countries. These actions will send a loud and clear message to private equity firms like KKR that we are sick and tired of a few people getting even richer and ruining our lives and the planet in the process.

In London on July 17, the Private Equity Creative Action Network (PECAN) will be bringing a creative and strong message to the executives of KKR, including the delivery a giant invoice that makes it clear that KKR has a long overdue debt to our community and world. To help make this action a success and to kick off a summer of actions against private equity, we are inviting people to participate and to get involved on the day (in particular we are looking for:

video artists, anti-capitalist cheerleaders, independent media makers, musicians, DJ's, clowns and of course - activists).

Contact PECAN – Private Equity Creative Action Network

Email: privateequitysucks@googlemail.com

Website: www.privateequitysucks.com

Mobile: 07501768682
* according to analysis of Companies House filings by The Daily Telegraph.

## SATURDAY 19TH JULY

12:00H from Pudding Mill Lane DLR Station
:::: the :::: I love 2.37bn :::: tour ::::

The 11 miles long blue fence and what there was, there is and there will be happening inside might have attracted most of our attention until now but many other things are still moving in the edge of this fortified space.

While gardeners, travellers, former inhabitants, future inhabitants, nearby neighbours and all sort or creative-industries-related subjects keep an eye on the development of the situation, the 'I love 2.37bn' tour will try to take a look at different processes around the limits of the Olympic Park, from the nostalghia of the past to the impossible futures and the probable comings.

Limited good view seats, please to confirm at ilove2.37bn@gmail.com
Strict tourist dress code. Drinks will be available but bring your own food

## MONDAY 21ST JULY

7 - 9PM @ Myth Bar, upstairs at The Hope & Anchor 123 Acre Lane, Brixton

Film with Q&A: A Convenient Truth
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1018804/
The benefits of localisation after Peak Oil Then with Q&A

## MONDAY 21ST JULY

7:30PM @ Pogo Cafe, 76 Clarence Road, Hackney, London E5 8HB

"Land and Freedom" The Spanish Civil War which started on 18th July 72 years ago told through the eyes of an English volunteer:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114671/

I have to admit I was a bit worried when I heard Channel 4 were making a film about Bobby Sands and the Maze hunger strike. Having sat through shite like Ken Loach and Rebecca O'Brien's 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' I feared the worst. But 'Hunger', by Turner Prize winner Steve McQueen, is an artist's film of intense emotional impact and real insight. And it belongs on the big screen, its compositions and rhythms fill the space. That it is a London born film-maker, a black film-maker, that provides such insight into so fraught and sensitive an Irish story is all the more remarkable.

It was commissioned by my colleague Jan Younghusband, Commissioning Editor for Arts and Performance at Channel 4. She is a woman with a purist and committed approach to art, as I learned from working with her on projects like Big Art Project and 4mations. 'Hunger' was five years in the making and conception. Through her work on the Turner Prize Jan came into contact with McQueen, hooked up from time to time in a cafe on Old Compton Street and gradually homed in on this most demanding of subject-matter. Film 4, in the person of Peter Carlton (who I worked with last year on My Movie Mash-up/Faintheart, which amply demonstrated his ballsy approach) came in to back the film as a theatric offering. I have to say, having just emerged from a viewing of the finished film, I couldn't be prouder to be part of an organisation that creates a work like this.

I walk past Bobby Sands regularly in the form of a Christ-like statue of him in Newry, the town in County Down where my wife was born. She grew up in Northern Ireland in the 70s and early 80s - I can hardly imagine how she and her sisters will watch this film. Whatever you feel about the politics behind Bobby Sands (of which most of our (British) population is incredibly ignorant, and was so back in 1980 - as a suburban London teenager it was right off my radar beyond what I gleaned from Stiff Little Fingers) the portrayal of political conviction and of inhuman bigotry is as powerful as it comes. Thatcher's voice, heard in voice-over punctuating the film from time to time, comes across as truly monstrous. Everything about its coldness and stridency speaks of the huge cultural gulf between the Lincoln grocery and a family gathering in West Belfast or Gweedore, Donegal (where the key flashback scene of the film takes place) or pretty much anywhere in Ireland or an Irish home.

My wife recalls how her life and the lives of all around her were overshadowed by the hunger strike. A time punctuated by the staggered deaths (they deliberately spaced the starts of their hunger-strikes two weeks apart to maximise the impact of their sacrifice). Looking back from the last few years it is only now she truly recognises what a troubled, hard childhood she and her contemporaries lived through. A couple of years ago we were in the (old) Tate with the children. They were copying some of the pictures in the Pop Art rooms. As we emerged from the gallery I noticed my wife was really upset. I asked her what was up and it turned out walking through a room of Richard Hamilton images of soldiers on the streets of Belfast [The State 1993] had really disturbed her and awakened ghosts. (Richard Hamilton of course also portrayed Bobby Sands draped in blanket in his picture 'The Citizen' [1981-83].)

When I first visited Newry in 1986 I was greeted by the most surreal of experiences - walking down the high street I watched British troops, armed with machine guns and equipped with radios, ducking in and out of shop doorways between little old ladies struggling along with their shopping bags. Nothing in my North London childhood had given me the slightest clue that such dark comedy was to be had on the streets of 'my country'.

On my way out of the screening I met a woman who looked pretty shaken by the experience (naturally enough). It turned out her daughter works at the Channel and she comes from Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh. Needless to say she knew the one family I know in Crossmaglen, as that is the way of Ireland. I knew the hospital she was born in in Newry, Daisyhill aka Crazyhill, as my wife was born there too. I knew her school in Kilkeel as my wife went there too. It's a small, connected place. In her family home this woman I got talking to has some of the tiny notes smuggled out of the Maze - that's how connected it is.

I thought the starvation in Sean Penn's 'Into the Wild' was painful to watch and moving but it goes nowhere near the forensic observation of this film. The skeletal bodies are resonant of Auschwitz - and the crucifixion. And yet the film captures something incredible, something transcendent about the human spirit and will.

Towards the end of the film we see a flashback of the Belfast boy on a coach traveling over the border into Donegal to attend a cross-country race put on by the Christian Brothers (purveyors, as Pete McCarthy amusingly put it, of "the carrot and stick method of Education - only without the carrot"). Behind the face of the young Bobby is a blurred swoosh of gold, low sunlight on the ferns and bogland. It represents a paradise to the starving man.

Recalling when I first went to that place - Gweedore - brings a smile to my lips. I'd followed the roadmap and came to what I thought was not far from Gweedore. I stopped at a junction, reminiscent of where Cary Grant gets off the bus in 'North-by-Northwest' and gets attacked by a crop-spraying plane. There was a small shop at the junction, outside of which stood an old fella in a flat cap. I wound down the window and asked him where Gweedore was. You're in it. Where? All around. He was trying to explain the concept of a 'townland' which was foreign to me. 'Town' I get. 'Land' and 'country' I get. But this was something in-between, half way to the imagination, between the word on the map and the ground beneath me was a cultural gap and an imaginative leap. 'Dhun na nGall' (Donegal) means 'fort of the foreigners' - foreigners have given the people there a tough time since way back - from the marauding Vikings (who probably explain my wife's love of the battle and fighting scenes in 'Gladiator') to the screws beating the living shit out of Bobby Sands and fellow prisoners with their truncheons and tattooed knuckles. The same shit these men smeared on the walls of their cells in an astonishing act of defiance for over 4 years, the shit McQueen turns into a kind of circular abstract painting in one scene. The ability of people to survive that kind of degradation and brutality for the sake of an idea is ultimately uplifting. The ability to inflict that kind of degradation and brutality is to be the subject of one of my next posts (bet you can't wait ;-) inspired by Philippe Sands' recent book Torture Team about torture in Iraq, where Steve McQueen served as a war artist in 2003.) So shifting Sands from Bobby to Philippe - not easy subjects but then 7/7 isn't an easy day...

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald

Director: Ken Loach

Genere: drammatico /storico            Produzione: Irlanda/Francia/Gran Bretagna 2006

InVoto: 8

La storia di due fratelli e dei loro amici che combatterono per l'indipendenza dell'Irlanda: la vicenda passa attraverso la rivoluzione anti-inglese del 1916 e la guerra civile fra le due fazioni di ribelli irlandesi successiva. Ragazzi destinati ad altro, che per amor della loro terra si arruolarono per combattere contro l'oppressore straniero. Ed un tempo uniti, si ritroveranno a combattersi a vicenda, gli uni favorevoli al trattato di pace con gli inglesi, che prevedeva la divisione del paese e la permanenza dell'Irlanda nel Commonwealth, gli altri contrari al Trattato, e favorevoli al proseguimento della lotta per una cacciata degli inglesi che non fosse solo formale, ma sostanziale. Il film mostra i primi passi che hanno portato, nel corso degli anni, il governo irlandese alle posizioni filobritanniche che sussistono attualmente. Mostra come la "mossa" britannica di appoggiare, nonostante fossero stati appena sconfitti, una fazione di rivoluzionari irlandesi contro un'altra, fornendole appoggio logistico ed armamenti, fu una mossa vincente i cui effetti si vedono ancora oggi.

Attuale, attuale. E non solo per la metafora dei fratelli che avevano combattuto insieme fino al giorno prima, e che non recederanno di un passo dal combattersi ferocemente il giorno dopo (oggi: Provos e Dissidents?) fino alle estreme conseguenze. Cosa c'è di più attuale di un compromesso che fa solo il gioco degli occupanti (l'Accordo del Venerdì Santo del 1998 come il Trattato di Pace angloirlandese?), e divide, anzi frammenta, il movimento repubblicano rivoluzionario? Il fermare una rivoluzione a metà, e l'abbandonare i propri fratelli (gli irlandesi del nord ieri, i POWs dissidents oggi?) al loro destino. Cosa c'è di più attuale? Ken Loach ha sempre dipinto magistralmente la classe operaia ed i diseredati della Gran Bretagna. Questa volta ha colto perfettamente quello che è stato ed è in parte ancora oggi il dramma di un paese che ha sempre lottato per l'unità e che ha sempre finito col dividersi.

"E' facile capire contro chi si combatte. Meno facile è capire per che cosa si combatte"

Buona visione!

Larry: Can anyone explain to me why someone's got to make a profit every time you boil a kettle, every time your kid has a drink of water or every time a pensioner has a warm by a gas fire?

La depressione poi...

Susan: Do you ever get depressed?
Steve: No, depressions are for the middle classes, the rest of us have got an early start in the morning.

Riff-Raff (1991)

2006. Ireland. Unrated. Directed by Ken Loach. Starring Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald and John Crean.

.

I was really excited about Ken Loach's The Wind that Shakes the Barley -- it won the Palme D'or at Cannes, it's a war movie (which I generally like), it stars one of my favorite actors, Cillian Murphy -- everything just fit into the "overlooked foreign film" label. Not only would I enjoy the movie, but I could feel cool for enjoying it before everyone else. Unfortunately, it was not to be, for while it has its moments, it falls well short of being memorable.

The story of the Irish War of Independence and the following Irish Civil War, The Wind that Shakes the Barley follows two brothers, Damien (Murphy) and Teddy (Delaney) from the starts of the struggle against the English "Black & Tans" to the problems that follow. Teddy is the leader of the local faction of guerrillas and Damien eventually becomes his right-hand man before ideological struggles tear them apart. That's about all I can say about the plot -- it's not that I don't want to spoil anything, but there's really not a whole lot to it. There are some character conflicts (which are essentially political debates spoken by the characters) and some poorly directed scenes of guerrilla warfare, but the plot is really thin.

So while the film looks great and the performances pretty solid, especially Delaney's, the problem is a weak script and uneven direction. There is very little in the way of character background or development, with the main characters making decisions convenient to the plot rather than staying true to how they had been prior. Besides Damien, Teddy, their close friends Dan and Chris, all the other characters are interchangeable and totally wasted.

For example, Damien is so easily convinced to throw away his future as a doctor to join the guerrillas that you wonder why they even bother to make it an issue in the beginning, especially because the audience knows what he'll do, otherwise there'd be no movie. It would make sense if he struggled with this decision the rest of the movie -- but no, it's barely even brought up again.

There's also a lame, unnecessary romantic subplot that develops really quickly, essentially out of nowhere, and then flames out, thrown in there to try and add gravity to the film's conclusion.

Even more disappointing is after a really terrific opening scene with the Black & Tans, filled with tension and drama, the remainder of the action and battle scenes are duds. The major ambush scene is so poorly directed and framed that you can barely tell what's going on and additionally, there's no explanation of why that particular battle or road or whatever is important to the campaign for independence.

I understand that by focusing the conflict on a smallish community it allows the audience to see how it affected everyday people, but there's no sense as to what the war is about, other than the English are bad, the Irish are good, and then the Irish aren't so good anymore. It's an interesting history (I read about it afterwards) and if Loach had focused on one aspect -- either the War of Independence, or the Civil War, instead of what feels like two movies in one -- it may have been more successful.

As it stands, The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a mediocre film with some good scenes (mostly towards the beginning), good performances and beautiful shots of the Irish countryside. You'd be better off reading the history of the wars in question, then taking a trip to Cork, but assuming that's not possible, I guess this film is an allright replacement.

Grade: C+

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E ora per rallegrare l'articolo, ci infilo una lunga lista degli incidenti sul lavoro racimolati dal web... sono sicura che cercando se ne trovano molti altri (per l'originale clicca su questo indirizzo) !

E se avete ancora tempo da perdere (eheheh!!!) navigate un po' tra gli articoli di quest'altro sito, e vi verrà tanta tanta voglia di incazzarvi....

Infine vi consiglio un interessante film di Ken Loach: "Paul, Mick e gli altri", girato ormai parecchi anni fa, dalle prime scene vi sembrerà una storia di oggi! Purtroppo ci stanno facendo fare parecchi passi indietro!

8 gennaio 2007 - Due operai muoiono a Pegognaga (Mantova) dopo una caduta nell'imbuto di un silo di una azienda agricola, durante operazioni di pulizia.

12 Marzo 2007: due operai romeni muoiono travolti dalla ghisa fusa nella Fonderia Anselmi, a Camposampiero (Padova).

16 marzo 2007 - Padre e figlio muoiono a Cogollo di Tregnago (Verona), uccisi dalle esalazioni provenienti dalla cisterna in cui si erano calati per eseguire lavori di manutenzione.
23 aprile 2007 - Una fabbrica di fuochi d' artificio esplode a Gragnano (Napoli); muoiono il titolare e due nipoti che lavoravano con lui.
11 maggio 2007 - Due morti, e 32 feriti, per un'esplosione in una fabbrica di fuochi d'artificio a Piane di Montegiorgio (Fermo).
24 maggio 2007 - A Correggio, due muratori sono uccisi dal crollo del muro di un vecchio fienile da ristrutturare.
18 giugno 2007 - Il crollo di un cornicione di un albergo in ristrutturazione a Ischia travolge un'impalcatura: muoiono due operai rumeni.
6 dicembre 2007 - Incendio alla Thyssen Krupp a Torino: sette operai, fra i 26 e i 54 anni, muoiono nel giro di 24 giorni. E' il piu' grave incidente degli ultimi anni.
18 gennaio 2008 - Due operai addetti ai lavori di pulizia della stiva di una nave a Porto Marghera (Venezia) muoiono asfissiati dalle esalazioni di gas.
6 febbraio 2008 - Quattro persone, tutte appartenenti alla stessa famiglia, muoiono nell'esplosione di una fabbrica di fuochi d'artificio nel comune di Orvieto.
3 marzo 2008 - Cinque persone muoiono a Molfetta (Bari) per le esalazioni liberatesi durante la pulitura della cisterna di un camion. Nella cisterma muoiono tre dipendenti e il titolare dell'azienda 'Truck center', calatisi successivamente nella cisterna nel tentativo di salvare i colleghi, mentre un altro lavoratore muore in ospedale il giorno seguente.
16 aprile 2008 - A Cornate d'Adda, due operai dipendenti dell'azienda Masterplast muoiono per l'esplosione di un macchinario per la lavorazione della plastica; le vittime sono un italiano ed un cittadino del Burkina Faso. Un terzo operaio resta ferito.
22 aprile 2008 - Il titolare di un'azienda di trasporti e un suo parente muoiono folgorati in un incidente a Schiavonia d'Este (Padova), mentre lavorano alla pulizia della cisterna di una betoniera.

10 Giugno 2008: Verona, rumeno viene BRUCIATO per riscuotere il premio assicurativo

11 Giugno 2008: Pordenone, operaio romeno muore, mentre lavorava su un tetto che ha ceduto sotto il suo peso

Qs will be here soon

]]> http://alinihatekenblog.wordpress.com/?p=183 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:45:38 +0000 Ali Nihat Eken http://alinihatekenblog.wordpress.com/?p=183

Discussion Questions for Sweet Sixteen (Ken Loach, 2002)

• As far as monetary values are concerned, what message(s) could be conveyed in the opening moments of the film where the children pay Liam and Pinball to see the stars?
• As far as human relationships are concerned, what could be the irony in the use of first, the telescope and later the binoculars in the film?
• Comment on Loach and Laverty’s depiction of the streets and the interiors in the film. In what way could they contribute to the story?
• What does the caravan represent in the film? Why is it placed in an idyllic location?
• Discuss the character of Pinball in light of what he says to Liam after he hits the car into the health club: “I would have done anything for you”. In light of Pinball’s words, also think about Liam and his mother.
• What could the knife Douglas gives Liam represent?
• What could the flat Douglas gives Liam represent?
• What could the vast sea at the end of the film represent?
• What could be the significance of a toothless grandfather in the film?
• What does Chantelle represent in the story? What does she mean to Liam? What does she represent in a capitalist context?
• What is the significance of the song “I’ll Stand by You” (performed by the Pretenders) in the story?
• Identify some important steps in Liam’s personality transformation and discuss them in light of the social and economic factors as presented in the film.
• Why could Liam be regarded as an anti-hero?
• Audiences outside Britain (and even some in Britain) may have difficulty understanding the dialects and accents in the film. Why do you think Ken Loach and Paul Laverty (the scriptwriter) keep these dialects and accents in Sweet Sixteen?
• Discuss the irony in the title of the film. [Remember the irony in Loach’s It’s a Free World]
• According to Branston & Stafford (1996), some of the typical characteristics of a Ken Loach film are as follows: “use of actors who are not stars”, “naturalistic acting style”, “location shooting”, “documentary filming techniques”, “scenes in narrative sequence to encourage the involvement of the audience”. Why do you think Loach gives priority to these as a filmmaker? Discuss these characteristics in relation to Sweet Sixteen.
• What could be Ken Loach’s motive for making this film? What is your reaction to the social issues depicted in the film?

© Ali Nihat Eken, Istanbul, June 2008
Photo credit: Sixteen Films

Set in 1920s County Cork, this Palme D'Or winner chronicles two brothers as they rise up at the hands of the brutal Black and Tans, join the IRA, and ultimately end up on opposite sides of Home Rule. A wonderful but difficult-to-watch portrait of the strength of the Irish people, this film covers the gamut including politics, religion, family, starvation, nationalism, suffering, pride, and the steadfastness that so characterized a people with nothing to lose. 

Director Ken Loach gives us Cillian Murphy in yet another brilliant performance as the idealistic doctor Damien, who must confront his principles and question his commitment at every turn on the bumpy road to civil war. Murphy has so many truly difficult scenes and he plays them all with the skill of a virtuoso; he's a pleasure to watch.

Murphy is backed up by spectacular performances across the board, including several wonderful female performances, surprising in such a male-dominated film. Loach delves into the lives of the women who supported the IRA, running secret messages, cooking for them, and sheltering them always in the face of ugly consequences.

Complicated, thoughtful, imperfect, but utterly hopeful, The Wind That Shakes The Barley is a thrilling addition to the paeon of Irish filmmaking.

Grade: B+

Discussion Questions for It’s a Free World (Ken Loach, 2007)

Director: Ken Loach
Screenplay: Paul Laverty
Production credits & Cast

• According to Quart & Kornblum (2001), Ken Loach is a social-realist filmmaker who “makes films that depict working-class characters confronting oppressive labor conditions, indifferent unions, and callous government bureaucracies” (p. 117). In what ways is this valid for It’s a Free World? Would it be possible to say that Loach's treatment of contemporary labor issues is slightly different in this film and if so, is it due to Loach and Laverty's treatment of Angie? Why? Why not?
• Discuss the depiction of Angie in the film. How is she represented at the very beginning? In what way(s) does her representation change later? How do you react to her?
• What could Angie’s father represent in the film?
• What could Rose represent in the film?
• How do Loach and Laverty represent the economic system in the film?
• Discuss the irony in the title of the film.
• According to Branston & Stafford (1996), some of the typical characteristics of a Ken Loach film are as follows: “use of actors who are not stars”, “naturalistic acting style”, “location shooting”, “documentary filming techniques”, “scenes in narrative sequence to encourage the involvement of the audience”. Why do you think Loach gives priority to these as a filmmaker? Discuss these characteristics in relation to It’s a Free World.
• What could be Ken Loach’s motive for making this film? What is your reaction to the social issues depicted in the film?
• What gender issues are dealt with in It’s a Free World?
• Does the film provide any solutions to the issues raised? If yes, in what ways. If no, why not.
• Discuss the following words/phrases in relation to the film: business ideology, free market, flexible employment, profit-seeking, voice, Ken Loach and Gordon Brown, global exploitation, victimization.

© Ali Nihat Eken, Istanbul, May 2008
Photo credit: Sixteen Films.

Relevant link: About Ken Loach (in Turkish)

Les palmarès du Festival de Cannes auraient-ils la fâcheuse tendance de prendre le pouls des tensions (inter)nationales? Petite anti-chronologie condensée des 4 derniers vainqueurs.

Je suis peut-être de mauvaise foi mais mes oreilles ne m'ont pas trahies, Sean Penn, président du jury de la cuvée 2008 avait annoncé clairement ses intentions : "cette année, le Festival sera politique".

Résultat : une grève de profs en colère et un appel du Club des 13 - Pascale Ferran et consort y dénoncent la difficulté du cinéma français à financer ses "films du milieu" - non lu par Christine Albanel plus tard, c'est Laurent Cantet qui est porté au Panthéon.

J'irai voir avec plaisir son adaptation d'Entre les murs, un roman gentillet du tout aussi gentillet François Bégaudeau (auteur d'un essai intéressant sur Mick Jagger). Ceci dit, impossible de ne pas garder à l'estomac cette petite aigreur d'un palmarès cannois une nouvelle fois social-oriented.

L'année dernière, Christian Mungiu est récompensé pour son terrible 4 mois, 3 semaines et 2 jours scellant ainsi l'adhésion de la Roumanie dans l'Union Européenne, soit.

En 2006, Ken Loach - le tommy favori de la gauche-bourgeoise-qui-lit-Télérama - triomphe avec le Vent se lève, émettant par là-même un message d'espoir non dissimulé aux conflits qui gangrènent les relations de l'Angleterre et de l'Irlande. Une belle intention certes mais qu'en est-il de la création et du 7eme Art à proprement parler? Faut-il nécessairement calquer le scénario d'un film sur des faits réels pour bâtir une oeuvre émouvante?

En 2005, petite accalmie, L'enfant des Frères Dardenne n'attaque que collatéralement les conditions de vie précaire d'un jeune couple belge.

2004 : apothéose. Tarantino décors Michael Moore et son Farenheit 9/11, petite pépite de cinéma orienté, façon "si-t'es-pas-d'acc-je-t'écoute-pas" sur fond d'invasion américaine en Irak...

La liste est longue, à tel point qu'on peut s'interroger sur l'évident corrélat que les 4 dernières Palmes d'Or affiche entre le cinéma dit d'auteur et les messages dont il se fait le hérault. A chaque époque ses maux, Pialat - dernier français récompensé à Cannes - avait adapté Bernanos dans le sulfureux Sous le soleil de Satan. La religion serait-elle devenue trop touchy pour être montrée au cinéma ?

En tout état de cause, la machine cannoise offre un bel avatar de notre époque et après tout, n'est ce pas aussi le rôle du cinéma que de laisser la société prendre la parole?

    آخرين فيلم كن لوچ، فيلم تلخيست. «اين يك جهان آزاد است» روايت غريب مهاجرانيست كه به جهت شرايط نامساعد وطنشان –عموماً از اروپاي شرقي- راهي كشورهاي اروپاي غربي ميشوند. داستان فيلم در انگلستان ميگذرد، كشوري كه امروزه قوانين ضد مهاجرين در آن بيش از ساير كشورها به كار گرفته شده و نمود دارد. نقش اصلي فيلم يك زن است به نام انجي، زني كه كارمند يكي از بنگاههاي كاريابي است و خسته از ظلم و جوري كه بر پناهجويان و متقاضيان كار ميشود و در پي بروز مشكلاتي در شركت، از كار بركنار ميشود. در ادامه او تصميم ميگيرد به كمك دوستش پايه گذار يك بنگاه كاريابي خوب و مطمئن شوند ولي در اين مسير با مشكلات و اتفاقات سختي مواجه مي شوند.... در بخشي از فيلم انجي با يك زوج جوان ايراني مواجه مي شود كه با مشكل اقامت مواجه هستند و به آن دو به همراه دو فرزندشان پناه مي دهد. جوان ايراني خود را از صنف كتابفروشان معرفي مي‌كند و مي‌گويد پدرش پيش از انقلاب و خودش پس از انقلاب بابت فروش برخي كتب سياسي از سوي حكومتهاي وقت مجازات شده‌اند و به زندان رفته‌اند.

     وقتي اين فيلمها رو بعضاً آگاهانه انتخاب مي كنم و ميبينم ياد توصيه‌هاي يه بنده خدايي مي افتم كه ميگه آخه مگه مريضي تو اين وضعيت داغون ميشيني با اين فيلمها غصه بقيه رو هم ميخوري. البته خودش هم وضعيتش بهتر از من نيست. ولي به هرحال هر از چند وقتي آدم به شدت نياز پيدا ميكنه بزنه تو خط فيلمهاي كمدي تين ايجري هاليوود كه بعضاً سوژه‌هاي مهمي رو هم مطرح ميكنند (مثل Knocked Up و يا 40year-old virgin).        

No, it's not the title of an insensitive Channel 4 documentary about Alzheimer's but rather a nod to a recent, possibly disturbing trend in theatres. Stage revivals of classic sitcoms seem to be all the rage at the moment, Steptoe & Son made a tonally confusing comeback on the boards a wee while ago and now with Peter Kay rumoured to play Fletch in Porridge, Allo' Allo' all ready to go, and Leslie Grantham inexplicably in a Dad's Army adaptation, it seems anything's possible.

Well, if this is what you want, spruced up versions of knackered old sitcoms featuring stunt casting or inappropriate shifts in tone or format, have a gander at these little doozies.

Because of You: Jacko's Return

Ken Loach resuscitates Esmonde & Larbey's mid-tier chuckle inducer Brush Strokes. Karl "Flash" Howman is back in the part that made him, as once-lovable rogue Jacko. Changes to the original programme see Jacko down on his luck as an embittered racist railing against the influx of Polish painters and decorators, watching his life unravel as his sexual escapades serve to demean him and those around him, spending his time between Elmo's Wine Bar and the alley behind scoring crack. Peter Mullan gamely takes on the part of Elmo Putney, transforming the once lovable landlord into a terrifying local crimelord.

Fools!

Only Fools & Horses goes West End musical, featuring songs penned by Elton John and John Sullivan. "Rodney You Plonker" "He Who Dares Wins" and "Shut Up, You Tart" feature on the toe-tapping soundtrack.

The Magnificent Ambroses

It's back down to Peckham and lively barbershop Desmond's for another round of tonsorial hilarity. With the sad passing of Norman Beaton a few years ago, it's down to Bruce Forsyth to fill some mighty big shoes indeed.

Rigsby!

Rising Damp gets the jukebox musical treatment as Darren Day steps in Leonard Rossiter's shoes as the hapless landlord. "Me and Mrs Jones" "Knock Three Times on the Ceiling" and "Vienna" are used to devastating effect. With Lily Allen as Miss Jones, and Richard Blackwood as Phillip. 

這首詩其實也是一首歌, 原曲來自愛爾蘭樂隊U2的一首歌[凡.敵民之地](Van Dieman's Land, 愛爾蘭民謠中也有一首同名的歌曲) ,另外我自己又加了一段音樂。

凡.敵民之地，即是今日的特斯文尼亞島（Tasmania），在十九世紀，是大英帝國的殖民地，也是流放政治犯的地方。

U2的〔凡．敵民之地〕是紀念1848年愛爾蘭大飢荒後與民眾一起揭竿起義的詩人John Boyle O'Reily。O'Reily被抓後判以死刑，後又改為流放凡．敵民之地，當時他只有二十歲出頭。

愛爾蘭人民經歷超乎一世紀要求脫離英格蘭的歷史，要求在政治、經濟與文化上獲取獨立。用大民族主義的目光，常常以為全體愛爾蘭人都不過要求民族獨立，卻不知道，當中牽涉的，是根本的貧窮問題，是英國人對愛爾蘭人的經濟剝奪；而愛爾蘭的一些當權民族主義份子，恰恰就是在1921年的和約中，出賣了愛爾蘭窮人的尊嚴和權利。

在U2的歌詞中，有一段是這樣的： [Now kings will rule and the poor will toil／And tear their hands as they tear the soil／But a day will come in the dawning age／When an honest man sees an honest wage]。

最近香港國際電影節所放映的一齣影片，英格蘭導演堅．盧治（Ken Loach）的影片〔風吹麥動〕，就對上世紀二十年代的這段英／愛關係，有著身為英格蘭人的一份誠實而深刻的反省－－大量貧窮的出現，並非個人品格問題，而是根本的社會結構不公義問題。當大量的愛爾蘭人投票支持搞和約的人，而讓這個和約變成「具民主效力」時，片中的男主角問：「當大軍壓境，生存受到威脅時，投票的公平基礎到底在哪兒？」如果「自由」的定義必須包括一個人可以「自決」的意義的話，我們必須問，到底這個世界為那些人提供了「自決」的基本條件，而又剝奪了那些人的基本「自決」條件？－－當時大英政府一面要脅毒氣戰爭，一面拋出讓愛爾蘭不具全面獨立意義的方案，迫使愛爾蘭人發生內戰，這種分而治之的統治技術abc，對香港的弱勢社群來說，本來是理應並不陌生才對。

我想，認識過去，有助我們知道，我們到底踩著多少人的犧牲所舖成的路，才享有今天我們有的自由。那麼，站在今天的我們，又如何透過再認識歷史，而重新用不同的角度看待和創造明天的歷史呢？

自由的滋味其歌:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs31KLwLFUU

L’idea della Fiera Internazionale del Libro di invitare lo Stato d'Israele come ospite d'onore, in occasione dei sessant'anni dalla sua fondazione, cosa, fra l’altro, che la Fiera fa ogni anno dedicando particolare attenzione alla letteratura di un Paese in particolare, ha comportato l’annuncio del boicottaggio della kermesse da parte di vari intellettuali arabi, Paesi arabi e dei nostrani forum per la Pace in Palestina e via marciando in kefiah. Non è una novità. Il democratico boicottaggio, o il dissenso civile degli intellettuali della meglio gioventù è quasi un riflesso pavloviano quando si parla di Israele. Ricorderete i casini all’università di Firenze quando doveva parlare l’ambasciatore israeliano o il boicottaggio proposto da Ken Loach contro il Festival del Cinema di Tel Aviv. Ha sottolineato Bertinotti che bisogna distinguere fra la politica del governo di Israele, discutibile, e lo Stato, con il suo fisiologico diritto all’esistenza; ma in realtà è proprio nel non voler riconoscere alcuna legittimità allo Stato che si annida il cancro antisemita, nascosto dietro la foglia di fico dell’antisionismo. Che colpa avrebbero i vari Oz, Yehoshua o Grossman per meritare un boicottaggio, se non la colpa fattuale e deresponsabilizzata di essere ebrei? Con il nazismo, la logica amico-nemico fa, per così dire, un salto qualitativo: dal nemico razionale, in quanto contrario ai miei interessi, si sostituisce il nemico ontologico: tu sei mio nemico solo perché sei comunista, nero, ebreo: e questo non dipende dalla tua volontà, ma dalla tua semplice esistenza.

Questa è la logica dell’antisemitismo che sopravvive pericolosamente nelle nostre società: purtroppo ammantata da una sorta di legittimità ideologica fatta a suon di intellettuali che firmano appelli.
Mario Calabresi, allorquando intervistò i maitre a pensee che addossarono al padre la morte di Pinelli, riporta che quegli stessi intellettuali in parte ammisero di aver firmato per conformismo o perché “negli anni 70 così facevan tutti”. Ma possiamo ancora credere nella buona fede di questa casta di bramini che si legittima facendo comprare i propri libri agli studenti universitari, quando già dal 2003 l’Unione Europea - attraverso l’Osservatorio Europeo dei casi di razzismo e xenofobia ed il lavoro dei ricercatori Bergmann e Wetzel - ci ha dimostrato che il ruolo più pernicioso nelle attuali strategie antisemite è svolto, oltre che dai picchiatori nazisti, proprio da questa intellighenzia da Rive Gauche pronta a firmare gli appelli pro Chavez ed ad assistere alla nuova lectio magisralis di Oreste Scalzone?

Ritorniamo, infine, al Consiglio ONU: un grave disastro che mina alla base gli sforzi fin qui fatti per creare una cultura giuridica che renda azionabili universalmente i diritti umani; validi erga omnes, anche contro il proprio Stato d’origine, attraverso l’erosione di quel particolare aspetto della sovranità statuale che definiamo domino riservato. Ovvero la possibilità, per uno Stato, di fare quello che gli pare dei propri cittadini, anche imprigionarli ed ucciderli. La crema dei giuristi e dei politici a tutt’oggi si interroga ottimisticamente sulla possibilità che i diritti universali diventino subito azionabili, ad esempio, innanzi alla Corte di Giustizia Internazionale. Ma la speranza che il Consiglio ONU possa rappresentare un passo nell’edificazione di questa civiltà giuridica è vana. Il Consiglio fu istituito sulle ceneri della sputtanatissima Commissione ONU per i Diritti Umani, monopolizzata da un cartello di potenze sorte dalla decolonizzazione e largamente governati da dittature che orientavano i giudizi dell’esecutivo in termini politici. Oggi il Consiglio è nello scacco dell’Organizzazione della Conferenza Islamica che propone un giorno si e l’altro pure mozioni contro Israele. Contro i Qassam arabi sparati sugli israeliani non si solleva una voce. L’Islamic Conference ha il Consiglio in pugno: e l’Europa che fa? Nel migliore dei casi, si astiene. Forse, varrebbe la pena mandare in pensione anche il Consiglio.

Alessio Postiglione
(pubblicato su Notizie Verdi)

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Last night I watched a film called The Wind That Shakes the Barley. It is the story of a group of IRA soldiers in Ireland’s revolution/civil war of the 1920s. The film was directed by Ken Loach and stars a cast of Irish actors and extras including Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, and Orla Fitzgerald. Oh yeah, it also won the Palme D’Or at Cannes in 2006.

The film was great. The acting, costumes, script, casting, and cinematography were all excellent to my eye and ear. They created an Ireland that I found thoroughly convincing and genuine. But I don’t really feel that I have the vocabulary or erudition to discuss the technical aspects adequately or accurately–that is, in any meaningful way. But the movie was gut-wrenching and I had several strong realizations while watching it.

In the opening scene a rough but friendly game of field hockey transitions to an act of extreme injustice. The British are portrayed as savage thugs and the Irish as innocent victims. The scene got to me. I was appalled, enraged. But then I began to wonder about the filmmaker’s intentional placement of my emotions. I wondered about the historical accuracy of the event I was watching. I wondered what atrocities the Irish had committed to bring this down on themselves. I wondered if the events were really so one-sided. Surely all (even most!?) British soldiers were not like these thugs, and surely all Irish Republicans were not as innocent and helpless as these appeared. For example, the game of field hockey that opens the movie creates the impression that the Irish were peaceably minding their own business. I felt that I was maybe entering into another victim/victimizer film where your affections are decided for you and there is only one possible way to view the ultimate and inevitable martyrdom. (I must interject that those films can be good too!) But the next scene corrected my misunderstanding.

Here is what did it: An ancient Irish woman sitting in a rocking chair at a funeral singing a folk-dirge over a dead boy. This scene blasted me out of my misguided questions that ask about all British soldiers and all Irish Republicans. If you do a Google search you will find there are plenty of interviews and debates over the historicity of the film, and critics were quick to label it anti-British upon its release. But these debates and views miss the heart of fiction and of narrative arts. It doesn’t matter one iota whether most British soldiers and Irish Republicans were like the ones depicted in the opening scenes, because these were. A boy lies dead–murdered–and his people mourn him. To take a specific story of specific people and expand it to the level of news broadcast abstractions is an abuse of narrative. When IRA soldiers die in this film, they are not “four IRA militants killed in a confrontation,” they are “Jack, Milcheail, Benny, and Collin shot down in the heather.” This changes everything. And this in essence is the power of fiction. It takes us out of abstractions, out of the judgment seat, out of that place where deciding right and wrong is so easy, so objective, and puts us in that rocking chair with that ancient woman, feeling her bereavement. If then the issues become clean cut again, if we find ourselves thirsting for the blood of the British, sick with rage at the injustice, then we have connected with the suffering of these characters.

The second realization came near the end of the film. I read on an IMDB message board one viewer who called it a rip-off of Braveheart, and it was clear which film he thought was inferior. I seek to make no judgment between the two, only to say that a comparison beyond setting is completely dense. In Braveheart William Wallace is pure hero, and when he is executed in the end it is as a holy martyr. There is no sin to taint his victory. While the opening scenes of The Wind may have feinted toward an ending in the same vein the actual development of the film was the exact opposite. As a viewer, at the beginning of the film the objects of our sympathies are unified and clear. But as the story progresses the IRA retaliates, and then the British retaliate, then spies are executed, then traitors emerge on both sides, then Irish kill Irish, then women are targeted, then factions form. When every character is pushed to the breaking point, our sympathies, like Noah’s dove, have a hard time finding a place to perch. All that remains clear is the sincere disagreements of the characters. They all remain intensely real and tragic yet not a one of them innocent. This is the great power of the film–and let me tell you, it will rip you up.

There was a scene late in the film where I thought there was going to be an act of grace, a salvific martyrdom, or undeserved mercy to redeem the whole thing. If this movie had been a big budget 90s flick like Braveheart or a product of Hollywood’s golden era there would have been. Braveheart sees a problem and sees it very clearly. It is dramatic and moves us deeply. Good and evil are like night and day. The solution is clear–we can see it coming like the dawn. Like many people today, however, The Wind That Shakes The Barley sees the problem intensely, empathetically, and from all sides, but it knows of no solution. I see this as a growing trend in film–identifying the problem acutely, but casting doubt on the traditional solutions. Often times redemption comes small, as a tiny gesture, or half a smile. There may even be no redemption at all. Just a deep testament to our brokenness and need for something to break in from outside the story we are watching. No redemption–just the stage brilliantly set. 

El británico Ken Loach se llevará para su casa un hermoso camello blanco como primer premio en la quinta edición del Festival Internacional del Sahara (FISahara) fallado el pasado 20 de abril. El camello pretende simbolizar "la cultura e identidad saharaui", en palabras de los organizadores. El cineasta, que no se encontraba en el certamen, presentaba su última película 'En un mundo libre'. Según el presidente de un jurado formado por 15 miembros elegidos entre el público, no se han tenido en cuenta "el contenido técnico como tál", sino la opinión de los propios espectadores.

Javier Corcuera, director del festival fue en encargado de recoger 'el premio' y recordó el compromiso de Paul Daverti, guionista de la película, con un festival del que ha sido miembro "fundador".

Trailer de la película 'En un mundo libre', ganadora del Camello Blanco en FISahara '08

El segundo y el tercer premio fueron para la española 'El Sáhara no se vende' y la cubana 'Futuro de ayer', respectivamente. Luis Arellano, codirector de la película española y monitor del taller de fotografía habilitados para el Festival, aspira a que su película sirva "para sensibilizar al pueblo español" de la realidad en la zona.

El acto de clausura se inició con la lectura de los actores y cineastas españoles que asistieron al certamen -Javier Bardem, Carmelo Gómez, Fernando Colomo, Luisa Martín y Guillermo Toledo, entre otros-, de un manifiesto en el que se establecen como plataforma de apoyo a los saharauis refugiados y que solicita al gobierno de España que reconozcan a éstos un estatus diplomático. Rosa María Sardá, encargada de leer el texto, aseguró tener "una familia en Dajla (el campo de refugiados donde se celebra el festival)".

La nota de humo la puso Javier Bardem cuando a una niña se le cayó uno de los trofeos honoríficos de los que entregaban a los artistas y se le rompió en varios pedazos. El actor, ganador de un Oscar, dijo de forma espontánea "ese para mí".

El popular intérprete tambien protagonizó la velada anterior cuando descubrió al público asistente a un concierto su faceta más desconocida hasta la fecha: la de músico. Bardem fue uno más de los miembros del grupo formado por Manu Chao, el argelino Akli D y la cantante venezolana Dazmira. Sentado en una esquina del escenario (el remolque de un camión), Bardem tocó, de manera más que digna y muy entregado, la darbuca, una especie de timbal pequeño. El recital, en acústico, fue un recorrido a los principales temas del músico hispano-francés como 'Desparecido', 'Clandestino', '¿Qué horas son?' o 'Me gustas tú'. El concierto culminó con la canción del grupo Estrella Polisario 'Tu y yo queremos un Sahara libre' que causó el delirio de todos los espectadores congregados en una hermosa noche de luna llena.

• Página Web de FISahara
• Asociación de Amigos del Pueblo Saharaui de Madrid

Luis Alberto Álvarez (CC)

]]> http://aarkangel.wordpress.com/?p=182 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:40:00 +0000 ArkAngel http://aarkangel.wordpress.com/?p=182

I think it was Sartre who said: "You've got to be philosophical about it." Well, I was trying my best last night at the TV BAFTAs after Big Art Mob lost out to Spooks in the Interactivity category. I tried to put on my least bitter look, so more mandarin than lemon but not really peachy.

That said, I had an enjoyable enough evening. Besides my co-nominees (Alfie Dennen of Moblog and Clifford Singer of Edition, who showed an admirably rigid upper lip) at my table was the dapper Peter Kosminsky, writer and director of Britz (for Channel 4), which caused the biggest upset of the night by stealing the Drama Serial category from hot favourite Cranford. He gave a lovely acceptance speech acknowledging his late father, an aspiring writer who never achieved recognition. Accompanying Peter was his wife Helen who works for Artichoke, the outfit behind The Sultan's Elephant - which I had the great pleasure of stumbling on by accident as I left a meeting at the ICA, one of those unexpected pleasures which make life worth living.

The two leads from Britz were also at our table, Riz Ahmed and Manjinder Virk, the former filling us in on his non-acting activities as Riz MC - I've just downloaded a track (The Post 9/11 Blues) and it's a jolly little choon with a nice twist of politics. Talking of twist, he told an illuminating story about coming back from the Berlin film festival (where Britz won the Silver Bear) and being detained and roughed up by British immigration when he reacted with incredulity to their bizarre full-on questioning as he arrived home-sour-home.

Among our number was also a trio of filmfolk - David Aukin, formerly head of FilmFour (in the Trainspotting era) who told us a bit about his new movie that kicked off production yesterday starring the marvelous William Hurt (The Big Chill, Altered States, Smoke); Rebecca O'Brien, Ken Loach's long-time producer; and Kierston Wareing, up for best actress for It's a Free World (not bitter either), who was sitting on the other side of a large clump of decorative foliage from me so never had the pleasure of engaging with her beyond admiring her LBD+ (second only to Joanna Lumley's flowing tangerine Grecian number).

Otherwise caught up with Ben Miller (of Miller and Armstrong) who co-wrote MindGym with Tim Wright and me. The best thing about working with him was that he insisted on performing the stuff he wrote before he would hand it over. He was also being philosophical about things having lost out in the Comedy category to C4's Phonejacker.

Another philosopher was Matthew MacFadyen who, having missed out on Best Actor (in his role in Secret Life) to Andrew Garfield (Boy A), confirmed it's all a pile of crap (the classic default position until you triumph), backed up by his Mrs Keeley Hawes who confirmed it's all down to who's in the room the day they do the judging (the back-up default position).

Other highlights of the evening included having a piss beside the Top Gear boyz Richard Hammond and James May which impressed the Enfants Terribles no-end (they're Dave addicts); getting picked up from my gaff by a chauffeur-driven posh Audi (driven by an off-duty road cop from Northampton) - I took as long as I could decently do getting from the front door to the car for maximum neighbour-exposure; meeting various Skinsfolk including Tony and the late Chris; and spotting a psycho-stalker-autographhunter (complete with two cameras round his neck, the cover of an Emmerdale video among his equipment, and seriously deranged teeth) as we went into the Grosvenor bash, who, together with the red carpet experience before the Palladium show, made you happy not to live the celeb life-style and truly content with the Simple Pleasures.

Si asa, ca o completare: filmul care va inchide festivalul este `It`s a free world`

Regia: Ken Loach
Cei care sunt amatori ai filmului au avut posibilitatea de a-l cunoaste pe regizor si la festivalul de la Sf. Gheorghe, anul trecut. Am ramas cu un interviu in Bookmarks, acesta.
Filmul il recomand de dragul diversitatii punctelor de vedere si pentru a puncta faptul ca `some things never change`, nici chiar cultura, societatea, educatia diferite nu pot altera unele constante ale omului ca si fiinta sociala.

Vencendor da Palma de Ouro em Cannes em 2006 por este filme, Ken Loach continua a transitar pela história da Irlanda e sua forte crítica social/política. O filme se passa no início do século passado no conflito de separação da Irlanda da Inglaterra iniciado pelo IRA. Cillian Murphy (Café da manhã em Plutão)está bem em intrepretação rude como protagonista,  e o boniton(e até então desconhecido) Padraic Delaney também merece destaque. As cenas de violência são tão realistas que haja fôlego. Um filme que tem que se preparar o estômago antes de assisti-lo.

Ken Loach - Raining Stones, 1993

El año pasado, se exhibió en Lima El viento que agita la cebada, película que ganó la Palma de oro en el Festival de Cannes 2006. La cinta, dirigida por el cineasta británico Ken Loach, trataba sobre el nacimiento del IRA, el ejército republicano irlandés. Las mayores virtudes de la película se encontraban en su estilo para mostrar los momentos más terribles de la lucha en Irlanda: Loach mantenía la cámara alejada, observando a través de planos largos como la violencia hacía su aparición. No había ningún golpe de efecto o recurso dramático que buscara generar tensión o dramatizar la escena: la violencia aparecía de la nada, de la forma más normal y natural del mundo. La fuerza de esos momentos era lo que hacía que El viento que agita la cebada fuera una película de gran interés.

El cine de Ken Loach siempre se ha caracterizado por tener una mirada fuertemente social y comprometida políticamente. Loach, trotskista de la línea dura, dirigió en el año 1993 Raining Stones, película que le valió un importante reconocimiento internacional. La resaca que habían dejado los 11 años en el poder de la conservadora Margaret Thatcher estaba todavía muy latente, y Raining Stones busca justamente retratarla, darle forma y nombres a aquellos que se vieron más golpeados por las políticas neoliberales de la "Dama de hierro".

La película nos narra la historia de Bob, un desempleado que no puede conseguir trabajo y que se ve obligado a robar ovejas para tratar de ganarse algo. Su hija está muy próxima a realizar su primera comunión, y por lo tanto se empeña en comprarle un nuevo vestido. Todo se le complica cuando le roban su furgoneta, quizá lo único que le daba alguna chance de conseguir algo que hacer. Es así que Bob buscará hacer todo lo posible para poder comprar el vestido a su hija, incluso pidiéndole dinero prestado a personas no muy confiables.

Lo social y como afectan las características más básicas de la vida cotidiana de las personas es la base de Raining Stones. Loach pone énfasis en la vida familiar de Bpob para justamente retratar como es que la situación difícil que se vive durante el gobierno de los conservadores en Inglaterra afecta lo más cotidiano de la vida de las personas. La anécdota que sirve de base a la película (el protagonista luchando por conseguirle un vestido a su hijita) revela y desnuda los aspectos más difíciles de la vida cotidiana en el país británico.

Lo más interesante de la cinta es como Loach va cambiando constantemente el tono sin afectar el resultado final: la película pasa del humor más negro (el comienzo, con Bob y du mejor amigo robando ovejas) a la violencia más crispada (el enfrentamiento final entre Bob y su prestamista) sin necesariamente variar el ritmo de la narración. Loach mantiene siempre su cámara a una cierta distancia de los personajes, dejando que las acciones discurran de forma casi natural. Loach nunca marca el acento cómico en las escenas graciosas ni tampoco aumenta la tensión en las escenas dramáticas: todo aparece naturalmente ante nuestro ojos, dejando que la espontaneidad de la escena misma sea la que marque el tono de la situación. Es así que lo divertido como lo trágico, lo agradable como lo violento, lo bello como lo desagradable conviven no sólo en la película, sino incluso en una misma escena, en una misma situación. Loach marca la fragilidad con la cual viven sus protagonistas a partir de los constantes cambios de tono que nacen no de una manipulación de la puesta en escena, sino de la fluctuación misma de lo cotidiano. es esa sensación de fragilidad, de que uno puede pasar de reír a llorar en cualquier momento el mayor mérito de la película.

Pero esta hiostoria tan cotidiana, como ya lo hemos dicho, le sirve a Loach para hacer una radiografía de los efectos que tuvieron las políticas thatcherianas. De por sí la puesta en escena, al hacer que lo cómico y lo trágico aparezcan en un mismo saco, normaliza cualquier situación que pueda producirse, por terrible que sea. La violencia aparece de la nada, casi como un elemento más dentro de la vida cotidiana de los protagonistas. Pero es muy interesante ver, por ejemplo, como la película trata a la iglesia, una institución que justifica una muerte porque es lo mejor para todos. Al final, vemos a Bob comiendo su ostia como buen feligrés después de haber tomado la justicia por sus propias manos. Loach parece querer decirnos que los valores son relativos, que todo parece dar igual en Inglaterra. Y lo hace a partir de una puesta en escena que, como lo hemos dicho, jamás enfatiza. La muerte como la vida son filmadas por Loach de la misma manera tan natural, y eso resulta inquietante.

La película se resiente un poco cuando los personajes explicitan sus opciones políticas y sus visiones sobre los problemas sociales, pero eso no perjudica el resultado final de un film muy interesante.

 Rodrigo Bedoya

Well, the evening sky is bluing deeper, with a shapeless chunk of half-chewed moon glowing all the brighter in the orangy post-sunset light, and it's time to try to watch RED ROAD. I ritually dust the TV screen -- no sense letting this be any more unpleasant than it has to.

Andrea Arnold's RED ROAD is an extremely attractive film, which is obvious from the get-go. An opening title announces GLASGOW and my prejudices kick in. But the imagery is really nice, making excellent use of the particular qualities of digital. Kate Dickie works in a room full of TV monitors, as a kind of benevolent Big Brother, watching the video piped in from the city's security cameras. The cameras can zoom and pan in jerky, computerized motions, while the "live" footage of Dickie is loose and hand-held. Both kinds of material exploit the photogenic qualities of long-lens photography. Both partake of the observational aesthetic of Ken Loach, which I'm not to keen on. It's a definite look (RED ROAD is much more concerned with creating a pleasing cinematic surface than Loach) and it fulfills a clear function in terms of realism, I just usually prefer being involved in a scene, as opposed to spying on it from afar.

Seven minutes in and we get the statutory joyless intercourse scene, which no Scottish film can be without. I suspect The Film Council is trying to make the Scottish people vasectomize themselves out of existence in sheer horror at the ugliness of human procreation. The most radical and shocking thing a Scottish film could do nowadays would be to create the mood of romance you can find in early Bill Forsyth. But even he doesn't do that anymore: GREGORY'S TWO GIRLS opens with the terrifying spectacle of John Gordon-Sinclair's "Oh Face," followed by a closeup of the damp aftermath of his wet dream on bedsheets. Thanks for that.

So far the only thing wrong with the film, per se, is a tendency to overemphasise Dickie's reactions to the security camera footage. A man has a funny dog: she smiles warmly. It's not bad acting, it's bad direction, I think. REAR WINDOW uses this kind of situation, and proves that the person watching needn't show any particular reaction at all, since the context gives us the meaning. Kate Dickie laughing at a dog won't make the dog any funnier. Although it's nice to see she CAN laugh.

Fiona reminds me that our chum Morag McKinnon, who's directing the Dickie in ROUNDING UP DONKEYS right now, says that she has a really good sense of humour, is fun, etc. "Yes, but she keeps it off the screen," I say.

There's a good bit when Dickie finds herself on the street next to a man she's spied on earlier. There's an edge to the encounter and the handheld look really works for it, and the ability of digital to film basically by streetlight makes for glossy, strangely coloured beauty, augmented by eerie Muslim show tunes on the soundtrack.

A mystery is announced! Dickie is obsessed with a man she sees on cam, who's on early release from a ten year prison sentence (Dickie keeps the old newspaper with the headline in a bag in her closet). This puzzling set-up, emerging twenty minutes in, seems rather late to act as a plot motor (it's a common misinterpretation of the three-act structure that the story starts at the END of the first act, rather than the beginning) and evokes only a vague curiosity. The central character seems to have no successful relationships or clear goals, so apart from the desire to figure out why we're watching this, it's hard to figure out why we're watching this.

I'm pretty sure an American movie would start by coming right out and telling us what the mystery man did and why it effects Dickie's protag, and then we'd be watching not to get the puzzle cleared up, but to see what consequences this will all have. But it's too early to say whether this film would work with that approach. All that can be said is that there's not enough going on to create a compulsion to watch: at 24 minutes I feel an ocean of gloom closing in with the night, so I stop the disc. But I didn't hate it, I will return for more tomorrow. Stay tuned. 

(Old people -- a boon to any film, because they have learned to be themselves.)

Footnote: my DVD suffers appalling combing when I try and frame-grab images, so apologies for the distorted stills, which don't give an accurate portrayal of the lustre of Robbie Ryan's photography.

What is the matter with British Filmakers? Ken Loach, David Lean, Terence Davies (Mike Leigh of course, who also made the gigglefest masterpiece that is Naked) all have this aptitude to craft pure unadulterated misery.

Of course I enjoy British Films immensely, when we want we make (certainly have made) the greatest films in the world, putting aside the Hitch and Chaplin-directors that went oversees, and had much more fun with their genre -Michael Powell probably ranks as the most accomplished filmmaker ever. Yet we still have this kinky penchant to make these deeply introspect dialogues that examine the minutiae of (usually) parochial British existence.

But Vera Drake must take the biscuit for being the most ceaselessly bleak and unremittingly depressing film ever made, it makes All is Quiet on The Western Front seem like Airplane. There isn’t any one aspect of this film that is cheery, by the time it’d finished I felt like drinking a bottle of gin and taking a hot bath clutching a knitting needle. Christ help us.

Regular readers may have noticed that I’ve not mentioned Cunt in while. It would seem, now the flat is on the market, that his 5-year noise campaign has achieved its objective. He can now relax. Mission accomplished. I sincerely hope my successors are a large physically disabled family, partially deaf, hugely obese and with a psychotic devotion to Country and Western. Having said that I spoke to James over the weekend and my situation with Cunt was put somewhat into perspective.

James has a 3 month old son, he and his wife have put their house on the market, it’s not a big house and it’s in a dubious area of sarf London so… time to go. James’s neighbour is a single ‘mother’ with a son in his early teens, from the outset James and his missus have been privy to this poor sod being verbally abused by his sponsor and a succession of Bill Sykes type ‘boy’friends. Apparently it’s very upsetting, especially as the kid never says a word back.

Last week James came home to find a hole in his fence, it could’ve only been the neighbour that did it (only person that had access to the fence) and James suspected it was ‘revenge’ because his son is a baby and has this habit of crying… James went to ask her about the fence and before he’d a chance to say a word was subject to a tirade of verbal abuse and threats of violence. If this wasn’t bad enough from then-on every time his son cries this fucking bitch (take note dear reader, ‘bitch’ is a word I never use to describe a woman unless I really mean it) whacks her stereo up at ear splitting volume…

Speaking of volume, I’m seeing the Jesus and Mary Chain this evening. Let’s hope they play longer than 7 minutes when I last saw them back in the 80’s when I was, er, 7.