Last night I watched Ingmar Bergman's 1957 classic film Wild Strawberries, one of his lighter bleak looks at modern life, particularly modern life in Sweden. Bergman spent most of his career rebelling against organized religion, government, and even God him (her) self. In this film we spend a day with a 77 year old doctor who is receiving a national award for his service. From his early dreams to his last dream of the evening, he relives vital and often painful moments from his life. Much of this happens as he is driving several hundred miles to the ceremony with his daughter-in-law, the incandescent Ingrid Thulin. Along the way they pick up three young hikers who provide a fresh contrast to the old man's isolated views. They are also met with a near-death experience when an arguing couple lose control of their car. These two are so obnoxious they are finally evicted from the old man's car.
The doctor's dreams are strongly influenced by familiar surreal images: clocks without hands, faces without full features, a casket falling and disgorging (no surprise) the body of the doctor himself. More important are his memories of his youth where he watches his brother seduce his intended and his unhappy wife have an affair. Throughout all of these experiences, the doctor learns that he has become a cold, unfeeling man who has passed on his coldness to his son, a man who believes in nothing.
Bergman creates a film that has more humor and light than one would expect from such a plot. Unlike his heavier films (The Seventh Seal, The Virgin Spring), Wild Strawberries holds possibilities for healing and redemption. The young hikers sing a farewell blessing for the old man, his formerly cool daughter-in-law warms to him and he to her, and his son seems more human. The last scene is a dream in which the doctor is returned to his childhood and welcomed like a prodigal coming home.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Whispers and Lies
In the past few weeks, we have witnessed a supposedly whirlwind of anger, shouting, and downright rudeness concerning the government's attempts to improve national health care. What is so surprising is that few of these protesters seem to realize several truths.
1. Medicare IS a government program and covers the majority of the senior citizens who are screaming about government interference. One woman famously shouted that she did not want any government involvement in her health care and then said, "But don't take away my Medicare!"
2. Our nation's health care system is the most expensive in the world and that cost is growing at an uncontrollable rate.
3. Of the major developed countries, the U.S.A. ranks considerably lower in almost every area of health care, including infant mortality.
4. There is no health care bill as yet. Everything is still in committee.
5. There will be no death panels, as Silly Sarah said on her face book page. Therefore, I and many other grandparents are safe!
6. Without the public option, insurance costs will continue to skyrocket and fewer people will receive coverage.
7. Under an effective system, insurers cannot deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
SO WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE SCREAMING?!
1. Medicare IS a government program and covers the majority of the senior citizens who are screaming about government interference. One woman famously shouted that she did not want any government involvement in her health care and then said, "But don't take away my Medicare!"
2. Our nation's health care system is the most expensive in the world and that cost is growing at an uncontrollable rate.
3. Of the major developed countries, the U.S.A. ranks considerably lower in almost every area of health care, including infant mortality.
4. There is no health care bill as yet. Everything is still in committee.
5. There will be no death panels, as Silly Sarah said on her face book page. Therefore, I and many other grandparents are safe!
6. Without the public option, insurance costs will continue to skyrocket and fewer people will receive coverage.
7. Under an effective system, insurers cannot deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
SO WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE SCREAMING?!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Must Sees: FROZEN RIVER, PUBLIC ENEMIES
Surely one of the reasons the Academy decided to expand its Best Film category from 5 to 10 films has to be Frozen River, a 2008 independent film directed by Courtney Hunt. Nominated for Best Actress, Melissa Leo plays a woman desperately trying to better her life and the lives of her two sons after her husband has deserted her. The river of the title is on the border of the U.S. and Canada. When life comes crushing down on Ray Eddy, she resorts to carrying illegal immigrants across the frozen river. Her partner is an outcast Mohawk girl who declares that a white driver will never be stopped by the police. The complications that ensue create a realistic drama filled with tension and tragedy. Now, if this sounds like a real downer, it is. But it is also one of the most involving films I have seen since In the Bedroom, another family drama that enthralled many of us a few years ago. In both, the characters are fully believable beings stretched to their breaking points, and in both the acting is superior to that of many award winners. Frozen River and In the Bedroom are both available on DVD.
On the big screen Johnny Depp is blazing away in Michael Mann's smart and shiny new gangster film Public Enemies. It's plural for several reasons. First, it is not to be confused with James Cagney's classic film from 1931. And, John Dillinger, who Depp plays with a rough suaveness that this guy probably never had, is joined by a rather dense Pretty Boy Floyd and a crazed Baby Face Nelson. But this movie concentrates its energies on sleek cars, tense bank heists and escapes, and a touching love affair. Dillinger's moll is played by the superb French actress Marion Cottiard, who won one of the most deserved Oscars in film history as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. The camera loves both of these people and they recall the great days of key lighting and shimmering images of Tyrone Power, Greta Garbo, and many more. Some criticized this film as being cold and lifeless. Perhaps they sat through Transformers 2 and went to sleep. Public Enemies has all the virtues of Mann's best works: Last of the Mohicans, Miami Vice(the tv series), and Manhunter. Mann's visual and aural sensibilities are beautifully attuned to his subjects, yet style never overwhelms substance.
Not a shot is wasted in this fast, slick melodrama. Whether it is the parade of polished vintage cars or Marion Cottiard's flickering, tear-filled eyes, Mann is first and foremost a teller of beautiful tales. Both Cottiard as Dillinger's woman and Johnny Depp as the man himself manage to be both larger than life fashion icons as well as believable human beings. Mann also gives fair time and understanding to the law with Billy Cruddup almost stealing the film as a steely but pompous (and potentially dangerous) J. Edgar Hoover and a stern, close-mouthed Christian Bale as the chief investigator. Public Enemies is a feast for the eye and the mind.
Do we still care what happens to Harry Potter? You Betcha! In the sixth installment of this phenomenally popular film series, Harry and his friends are beset by death-eaters, an unsettling Draco, a fiendishly amusing Helena Bonham Carter, and raging hormones. Not much happens in Half-Blood Prince, yet it is consistently entertaining, suspenseful, and heartfelt. Yes, one of our major characters dies at the wands of the evil ones, but as he puts it, it was meant to be. There is also a great deal of humor in this episode, particularly driven by the awkwardness of friends in a boarding school falling in love. In that closed enviornment (I taught at a Hogwarts for 46 years!), everyone snoops or knows what the latest snog story is.
Amazingly, this series has grown up and its audience has grown with it. Now any person from kids to the retired set can enjoy Harry and his growth. All you need is imagination.
On the big screen Johnny Depp is blazing away in Michael Mann's smart and shiny new gangster film Public Enemies. It's plural for several reasons. First, it is not to be confused with James Cagney's classic film from 1931. And, John Dillinger, who Depp plays with a rough suaveness that this guy probably never had, is joined by a rather dense Pretty Boy Floyd and a crazed Baby Face Nelson. But this movie concentrates its energies on sleek cars, tense bank heists and escapes, and a touching love affair. Dillinger's moll is played by the superb French actress Marion Cottiard, who won one of the most deserved Oscars in film history as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. The camera loves both of these people and they recall the great days of key lighting and shimmering images of Tyrone Power, Greta Garbo, and many more. Some criticized this film as being cold and lifeless. Perhaps they sat through Transformers 2 and went to sleep. Public Enemies has all the virtues of Mann's best works: Last of the Mohicans, Miami Vice(the tv series), and Manhunter. Mann's visual and aural sensibilities are beautifully attuned to his subjects, yet style never overwhelms substance.
Not a shot is wasted in this fast, slick melodrama. Whether it is the parade of polished vintage cars or Marion Cottiard's flickering, tear-filled eyes, Mann is first and foremost a teller of beautiful tales. Both Cottiard as Dillinger's woman and Johnny Depp as the man himself manage to be both larger than life fashion icons as well as believable human beings. Mann also gives fair time and understanding to the law with Billy Cruddup almost stealing the film as a steely but pompous (and potentially dangerous) J. Edgar Hoover and a stern, close-mouthed Christian Bale as the chief investigator. Public Enemies is a feast for the eye and the mind.
Do we still care what happens to Harry Potter? You Betcha! In the sixth installment of this phenomenally popular film series, Harry and his friends are beset by death-eaters, an unsettling Draco, a fiendishly amusing Helena Bonham Carter, and raging hormones. Not much happens in Half-Blood Prince, yet it is consistently entertaining, suspenseful, and heartfelt. Yes, one of our major characters dies at the wands of the evil ones, but as he puts it, it was meant to be. There is also a great deal of humor in this episode, particularly driven by the awkwardness of friends in a boarding school falling in love. In that closed enviornment (I taught at a Hogwarts for 46 years!), everyone snoops or knows what the latest snog story is.
Amazingly, this series has grown up and its audience has grown with it. Now any person from kids to the retired set can enjoy Harry and his growth. All you need is imagination.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Time to retire the Tudors!
No other historical family of the past has received as many dramatic renderings as has the Tudor line. The incarnations of Henry, his wives, and Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots are almost countless. Yet they keep coming. If we go back to the 1930's, we have Katharine Hepburn playing a regal but petulant Mary who pouts all the way to the block. Bette Davis under tons of white make-up faced off against a dashing Errol Flynn in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX, one of Warner's first color epics. Guess who won. Almost 20 years later she took on the role again, this time falling for Walter Raleigh.
In the 1960's a glowering Richard Burton took on the role of Henry VIII in ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS. Rolling his eyes with lust, he chased down a fiesty and sympathetic Genevieve Bujold as Anne Boleyn. This was perhaps the most fully realized view of Henry's second bride. Not to be outdone, a youthful Vanessa Redgrave played a highly engaging Mary Queen of Scots opposite an imperious Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth. No, they didn't meet in real life, but in reel life they do. In the same decade, Robert Shaw, who was just entering his prime, strutted across Fred Zinneman's stately but rather slow A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, giving the film strength and vitality. His scenes as Henry trying to convince Paul Scofield to give up his principles was one of the film's best. The director used dazzling golden light to give Henry an almost godlike quality. Dressed in a golden outfit, Shaw contrasted with Scofield's drab, gray Thomas More.
Television, especially PBS, has kept the Tudor legacy alive with superb series about Henry and an especially fine series devoted to each of his hapless wives. Dorothy Tutin's Anne Bolyen was a highlight as was Glenda Jackson in her own series as Elizabeth. Sharing the screen with Jackson is an intimidating challenge, but the English system of grooming top actors for virtually any role helped make this series one of the best.
As we come to the recent past, we have yet another flood of Tudor mania. First Judi Dench stole an Oscar for about five minutes of emphatic English pronunciation in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. Then there was Kate Blanchet's bold interpretation of the young Elizabeth in the film of the same name. Later she returned in THE GOLDEN AGE, a spectacular but clumsy film not worthy of its cast. Not to be outdone, the grand dame of English TV and stage, Helen Mirren played the monarch as she defeats the Spanish and worries about her loss of sex appeal. It's better than it sounds. On the low end of this spate of English history is THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL with the thankless, totally bland Scarlet Johannson in the title role.
But the nadir of all this Tudor revivalism is HBO's THE TUDORS, an unashamedly sleazy, blatantly historical incorrect series starring movie bad boy Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who storms through the role with little variation of his standard pout. There is a great deal of sex in every episode and some violence, but the most bothersome element is the complete lack of historical accuracy.
So let's give the Tudor family a rest. Surely there are some other lusty, conniving historical families out there. How about the Borgias? Or the Kennedys?
In the 1960's a glowering Richard Burton took on the role of Henry VIII in ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS. Rolling his eyes with lust, he chased down a fiesty and sympathetic Genevieve Bujold as Anne Boleyn. This was perhaps the most fully realized view of Henry's second bride. Not to be outdone, a youthful Vanessa Redgrave played a highly engaging Mary Queen of Scots opposite an imperious Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth. No, they didn't meet in real life, but in reel life they do. In the same decade, Robert Shaw, who was just entering his prime, strutted across Fred Zinneman's stately but rather slow A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, giving the film strength and vitality. His scenes as Henry trying to convince Paul Scofield to give up his principles was one of the film's best. The director used dazzling golden light to give Henry an almost godlike quality. Dressed in a golden outfit, Shaw contrasted with Scofield's drab, gray Thomas More.
Television, especially PBS, has kept the Tudor legacy alive with superb series about Henry and an especially fine series devoted to each of his hapless wives. Dorothy Tutin's Anne Bolyen was a highlight as was Glenda Jackson in her own series as Elizabeth. Sharing the screen with Jackson is an intimidating challenge, but the English system of grooming top actors for virtually any role helped make this series one of the best.
As we come to the recent past, we have yet another flood of Tudor mania. First Judi Dench stole an Oscar for about five minutes of emphatic English pronunciation in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. Then there was Kate Blanchet's bold interpretation of the young Elizabeth in the film of the same name. Later she returned in THE GOLDEN AGE, a spectacular but clumsy film not worthy of its cast. Not to be outdone, the grand dame of English TV and stage, Helen Mirren played the monarch as she defeats the Spanish and worries about her loss of sex appeal. It's better than it sounds. On the low end of this spate of English history is THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL with the thankless, totally bland Scarlet Johannson in the title role.
But the nadir of all this Tudor revivalism is HBO's THE TUDORS, an unashamedly sleazy, blatantly historical incorrect series starring movie bad boy Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who storms through the role with little variation of his standard pout. There is a great deal of sex in every episode and some violence, but the most bothersome element is the complete lack of historical accuracy.
So let's give the Tudor family a rest. Surely there are some other lusty, conniving historical families out there. How about the Borgias? Or the Kennedys?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Michael, We hardly knew you.
Pop Culture has a way of throwing its followers curve balls and spit balls, but last night's announcement of the death of "the King of Pop" was a real slicer. Putting aside all the strangeness that attended Michael Jackson's life after "Thriller," one cannot deny his incredible impact on popular music. When we listen to the fragmented, often unintelligible music of today, we can appreciate how Jackson united blacks, whites, Hispanics, everybody with songs like "Billie Jean." His music and performances had a seething energy that expressed both sex and innocence. The infectious arrangements made almost all of us want to get up and dance. What music today does that? Is it rap or the wailings of semi-talents on Amercian Idol? I don't think so. The 1980's was the last era of music bringing us together, just as the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra did in past generations. So farewell, Michael, and farewell to an audience that responds spontaneously as one group, despite its backgrounds.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Two delights in a baleful summer.
My friend and I managed to take in the new Pixar film Up and Sam Raimi's comic horror show Drag Me to Hell within two days. My wife Betsy accompanied us for the first but skipped Raimi.
What do these two have in common? A concerted effort by all concerned to entertain. Granted, Up is the far more memorable and effective film. The directors have have had the nerve to create an adventure led by a grumpy old man and an overweight, annoying child. No, there are no amusing fairy tale creatures, robots, monsters, toys, or Eddie Murphy. Instead, we have a tender story in which we see a man and a woman meet, grow, and grow old with each other and their dreams, all in a terrific 15 minute montage. Then the action begins, as the man and the boy are carried aloft by balloons to South America and Angel Falls. There they meet the famous explorer who inspired the man as a boy and a strange and beautiful bird that the explorer wants to trap. Naturally, humorous and exciting adventures insue, and the old man and boy come to depend on each other and love each other. Up is careful never to sink into cheap sentimentality or drum the messages into our heads. Instead, through superb animation and editing and the wonderful voices (Ed Asner as the old man), it sticks with us.
Drag Me to Hell, which is Raimi's return to his Evil Dead trilogy, pulls out a scary, campy bag of tricks that are mostly hoary but hugely entertaining. After a chilling prequel, we meet Alison Lohman as a bank employee longing for a promotion. When she turns town an ailing old woman with nasty nails and teeth, she receives a curse that she naturally ignores, but in the next three days she is visited by ghastly visions from demons that only she can see. Most of the fun comes from the sharp editing which often fools us just when we think we know what to expect. And the happy ending...oops, did I say happy ending? The surprise ending is a corker. Enjoy!
What do these two have in common? A concerted effort by all concerned to entertain. Granted, Up is the far more memorable and effective film. The directors have have had the nerve to create an adventure led by a grumpy old man and an overweight, annoying child. No, there are no amusing fairy tale creatures, robots, monsters, toys, or Eddie Murphy. Instead, we have a tender story in which we see a man and a woman meet, grow, and grow old with each other and their dreams, all in a terrific 15 minute montage. Then the action begins, as the man and the boy are carried aloft by balloons to South America and Angel Falls. There they meet the famous explorer who inspired the man as a boy and a strange and beautiful bird that the explorer wants to trap. Naturally, humorous and exciting adventures insue, and the old man and boy come to depend on each other and love each other. Up is careful never to sink into cheap sentimentality or drum the messages into our heads. Instead, through superb animation and editing and the wonderful voices (Ed Asner as the old man), it sticks with us.
Drag Me to Hell, which is Raimi's return to his Evil Dead trilogy, pulls out a scary, campy bag of tricks that are mostly hoary but hugely entertaining. After a chilling prequel, we meet Alison Lohman as a bank employee longing for a promotion. When she turns town an ailing old woman with nasty nails and teeth, she receives a curse that she naturally ignores, but in the next three days she is visited by ghastly visions from demons that only she can see. Most of the fun comes from the sharp editing which often fools us just when we think we know what to expect. And the happy ending...oops, did I say happy ending? The surprise ending is a corker. Enjoy!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Been a long time.
Gosh, it's been since Feb. since I have posted. Life is busy. During that time I turned 70, visited grandkids and parents in Maryland, took Indonesian and Thai students on a tour of D.C. As May approached, we realized that we actually were going to be redundant in less than a Month (the Brit term for retirement). At least we made the decision. After 46 years for me and over 30 for Betsy, it's time. I still love the classroom, the freedom to teach concepts and stir up debate, and the students, but the old energy level is not what it used to be. It doesn't help that I often go to sleep listening to Sinatra's "September of My Years" album! I have been extraordinarily blessed with a loving wife, three terrific daughters and their partners, four beautiful grandkids, and a new heart in 2001. How many retirees can say they loved what they were doing (in the classroom, on the stage set, etc.)? Face it, I got to blather on about O'Connor, Hitchcock, and Caravaggio, to name a few, while enjoying them again and again.
Now what? No formal plans as of now, but we will get to D.C. when Kristin's new baby boy arrives in mid-June and we hope to take a month's driving tour of the west with a long stop north of L.A., where Chris, Cat and the boys are moving this summer. We wish all of you well in the months and years ahead.
Now what? No formal plans as of now, but we will get to D.C. when Kristin's new baby boy arrives in mid-June and we hope to take a month's driving tour of the west with a long stop north of L.A., where Chris, Cat and the boys are moving this summer. We wish all of you well in the months and years ahead.
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