philosophy in film

Based on actual events.

The class struggle in Iran. But, really, it makes no difference where you go – capitalist, socialist, Christian, Muslim – there are the rich and the poor. And different ways in which to rationalize it.

What then becomes crucial [for democracy] is 1] the extent to which a burgeoning middle class is able to manifest itself and 2] the extent to which there is legal tradition rooted in the separation of church and state. You always need both. And a way to hold off the scourge that is ideology.

Allah, apparently, takes these gaping disparities in stride. As [so it seems] do the Ayatollahs.

IMDb

[b]This film was never distributed to Iranian cinemas because it was considered too “dark” by Ministry of Culture of Iran. Therefore, it was not able to be considered as the Iranian entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2003 Oscars because it was not released in Iran.

The director refused to have his fingerprints taken for a temporary visa and, therefore, did not attend the American premiere.[/b]

wiki

Hossein Emadeddin, who plays the lead role, was not a professional actor but an actual pizza delivery man and paranoid schizophrenic, who made filming very difficult by destructiveness and noncooperation. After completion, the Iranian Ministry of Guidance insisted that cuts be made to the film, which Panahi refused, leading to the film being banned in Iran, even for private screenings.

trailer: traileraddict.com/trailer/cr … ld/trailer

CRIMSON GOLD [Talaye Sorkh] 2003
Directed by Jafar Panahi

Much of this is just bullshit to me. The idea of a “heritage”. That we come from a particular country or culture or ethnic group or religious background etc. and that somehow this is crucial in order to understand who we are. It’s all just indoctrination. Children brainwashed to forget that first and foremost we are all human beings who just happen to be “thrown” adventitiously [as dasein] into a particular demographic situated in a particular historical and cultural context.

It’s the cause of so much grief in the history of the species. And yet it allows people to be anchored to a whole reality…so I don’t expect it to change anytime soon. The modern world is an endless tug of war between the two narratives.

Same with a “namesake”. That we were named after someone might become meaningful in our lives or it might not. It is all existential.

At least the parents here aren’t reactionaries. The father in fact is downright libertarian. But there is always the contrast between India where the extended family is more or less intact and America where the forces of capitalism tend to splinter the family in all directions. One can only expect India [eventually] to follow. For now though God and ceremony and ritual still holds sway.

trailer: youtu.be/3M5TM94lqYY

THE NAMESAKE [2006]
Directed by Mira Nair

[b]Mother [to Ashima]: Your life is about to change. Embrace the new. But don’t forget the old.

…

Ashoke [to Ashima in America]: You won’t believe it. Our rickshaw drivers dress better than professors here.

…

Ashima: I want to go home. I don’t want to raise Gogol in this lonely country.
Ashoke: Think of Gogol’s future. This is the land of opportunity, Ashima. He can become whatever he wants, study whatever he desires. You know, options are limitless here. Don’t you want to give him that?

…

Friend: Welcome to suburia, Ashoke. Everything here is bought at a yardsale.

…

Ashima: In this country the children decide. He wants to keep Gogol and not Nikhil as his good name. No big deal.
Ashoke: With a president named Jimmy, there is nothing we can do.

…

Gogol: Did you guys know all this stuff about him when you decided to name me? That he was paranoid, suicidal, friendless, depressed?
Ashoke: You forgot to mention that he was also a genius.

…

Moushumi: I detest American television.

…

Ashoke: We all came out of Gogol’s overcoat. One day you will understand.

…

Ashima [riding in rickshaw]: Why don’t you get in my American son? Sonia can sit on my lap. Come on.
Gogol: No. Because being pulled by another human being is feudal and exploitative, and I don’t want to be part of something like that.

…

Ashima: …Besides, what kind of a girl is called Max, huh?
Lydia: This is America. Maybe it’s a boy.

…

Gogol [to Maxine]: There are some things you should know. Um, no kissing, no holding hands. My parents are not Lydia and Gerald. I’ve never seen them touch, let alone anything else.

…

Ashima: You know, by the time I was your age, I had already celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary.
Gogol: This is America, Ma. People have twins when they’re 60.

…

Ashima: I know why he went to Cleveland. He was teaching me to live alone.

…

Moushumi [on wedding night]: I’ve already begun to publish under my name. No one would know me. Oh come on, Nikhil. What if somebody ask you to change your name?
Gogol: I already have, remember?

…

Gogol: Who’s Pierre?
[silence]
Gogol: Are you having an affair? Are you?
[more silence]
Moushumi: Maybe it’s not enough that we are both Bengali.
Gogol: That’s not why I love you.[/b]

Hey, it’s the modern world.

Ashoke [remembering his father’s words]: Pack a pillow and blanket. Go, see the world. You will never regret it, Gogol.

A man’s life begins to unravel when his mistress brings him a bag of cash…

When a film revolves around such things – around contingency, chance and change – there is always the potential for it to be absorbing. Here the plan starts out simple and then morphs into the mother of all FUBARs.

The stuff we don’t know about folks we think we do know inside and out. And here it’s like people interacting in parallel crimes.

This is what they call a “taut thriller”. Really taut.

trailer: youtu.be/u7DHO_HK_OA

THE SQUARE [2008]
Directed by Nash Edgerton

Billy: Life’s strange, isn’t it? The things we do.

And then the unintended consequences of the things we do. Strange ain’t the half of it.

[b]Carla: Ray, we have killed someone. We are murderers!

…

Carla: He knows the money wasn’t in the house. And it’s not just Greg, Ray. I think I know who saw us the other night. What have we done?[/b]

In other words, what have they set in motion. Unwittingly, as it were.

[b]Gil: One man points his dick in the wrong direction and here we are.

…

Gil: Now I know why you were in such a hurry to cement over that square.[/b]

No, as a matter of fact, he doesn’t.

You watch this and then shudder to think: What if men ran the world?!

Enough said?

Maximus wanted nothing more than to return to his farm, to his home and to his family. But that’s not what is glorified here is it?

One thing never changes: the scheming among those who jostle for power. And the expendable pawns in their games. And the seeming futility embedded in all idealism.

Here is a narrative packed with cynicism. Right up to the Hollywood ending. And as we wind down from the Super Bowl here in America we realize just how little really has changed. Bread and circuses. Though the “warriors” on the gridiron are surely more…civilized?

IMDb

[b]Like modern day athletes, ancient Roman gladiators did product endorsements. The producers considered including this in the script but discarded the idea as unbelievable.

On visiting the real Colosseum, Ridley Scott remarked to production designer Arthur Max that it was “too small,” so they designed an outsized “Rome of the imagination” which was inspired by English and French romantic painters, as well as Nazi architect Albert Speer.

The script had called for a battle scene between Maximus and a rhinoceros. Since it was too difficult to train and CGI could not make it realistic enough, the rhinoceros was omitted.

Joaquin Phoenix got so involved in the scene where Commodus murders his father that he actually fainted afterward.[/b]

Fact and fiction:

wiki

[b]The film is loosely based on historical events. In making the film Ridley Scott wanted to portray the Roman culture more accurately than in any previous film; to that end he hired several historians as advisors. Nevertheless, some deviations from historical fact were made to increase interest, some to maintain narrative continuity, and some for practical or safety reasons. Due to previous Hollywood movies’ affecting the public perception of what ancient Rome was like, some historical facts were “too unbelievable” to include (according to Scott). At least one historical advisor resigned due to the changes made, and another asked not to be mentioned in the credits (though it was stated in the director’s commentary that he constantly asked, “where is the proof that certain things were exactly like they say?”). Historian Allen Ward of the University of Connecticut believed that historical accuracy would not have made Gladiator less interesting or exciting and stated: “creative artists need to be granted some poetic license, but that should not be a permit for the wholesale disregard of facts in historical fiction”.

Marcus Aurelius died of plague at Vindobona; he was not murdered by his son Commodus. So, while in the movie, Commodus strangles his father Marcus Aurelius, in historic truth Marcus Aurelius allowed his immoral son to become emperor, knowing of his moral faults. Thus, the great philosopher emperor ended the beneficent tradition of previous Adoptive Emperors. The character of Maximus is fictional, although in some respects he resembles the historical figures Narcissus (the character’s name in the first draft of the screenplay and Commodus’ real-life murderer), Spartacus (who led a significant slave revolt), Cincinnatus (a farmer who became dictator, saved Rome from invasion, then resigned his six-month appointment after 15 day and Marcus Nonius Macrinus (a trusted general, Consul of AD 154, and friend of Marcus Aurelius. Although Commodus engaged in show combat in the Colosseum, he was strangled by the wrestler Narcissus in his bath, not killed in the arena, and reigned for several years, unlike the brief period shown in the film.[/b]

GLADIATOR
Directed by Ridley Scott

[b]Maximus [watching the negotiator riding headless towards the army]: They say, “No.”

…

Quintus: People should know when they are conquered.

…

Maximus: At my signal, unleash hell.

…

Commodus: Have I missed it? Have I missed the battle?
Marcus Aurelius: You have missed the war.

…

Marcus Aurelius: So much for the glory of Rome.

…

Marcus Aurelius: If only you had been born a man. What a Caesar you would have made.[/b]

A sop to the feminists, perhaps.

[b]Marcus Aurelius: Enough of politics. Let us pretend that you are a loving daughter and I am a good father.

…

Maximus: Five thousand of my men are out there in the freezing mud. Three thousand of them are bloodied and cleaved. Two thousand will never leave this place. I will not believe that they fought and died for nothing.
Marcus Aurelius: And what would you believe?
Maximus: They fought for you and for Rome.
Marcus Aurelius: And what is Rome, Maximus?..There was a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile.[/b]

Bullshit like this always prevails in Hollywood.

[b]Marcus Aurelius: When was the last time you were home?
Maximus: Two years, two hundred and sixty-four days and this morning.

…

Maximus: You don’t find it hard to do your duty?

…

Cicero: Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to.

…

Commodus: You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues: Wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. As I read the list, I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, father. Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to excel. Resourcefulness, courage, perhaps not on the battlefield, but…there are many forms of courage. Devotion, to my family and to you. But none of my virtues were on your list. Even then it was as if you didn’t want me for your son.
Marcus Aurelius: Oh, Commodus. You go too far.
Commodus: I search the faces of the gods…for ways to please you, to make you proud. One kind word, one full hug…where you pressed me to your chest and held me tight. Would have been like the sun on my heart for a thousand years. What is it in me that you hate so much?
Marcus Aurelius: Shh, Commodus.
Commodus: All I’ve ever wanted was to live up to you, Caesar. Father.
Marcus Aurelius [gets down on his knees]: Commodus. Your faults as a son is my failure as a father. Come.
[Gives Commodus a hug]
Commodus [Commodus hugs Marcus and cries]: Father. I would have butchered the whole world…if you would only love me!
[Commodus begins to asphyxiate Marcus while they hug, Marcus grunts]

…

Juba: Don’t die; they will feed you to the lions. They are worth man than we are.

…

Proximo: Can any of them fight? I’ve got a match coming up.
Slave Trader: Some are good for fighting, others for dying. You need both, I think.

…

Gracchus: Fear and wonder, a powerful combination.
Falco: You really think people are going to be seduced by that?
Gracchus: I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they’ll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they’ll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it’s the sand of the coliseum. He’ll bring them death - and they will love him for it.

…

Proximo: Some of you are thinking that you won’t fight. Others, that you can’t fight. They all say that, until they’re out there. Thrust a sword into another man’s flesh, and they will applaud and love you for that. You may even begin to love them for that.

…

Gracchus: But the Senate IS the people, sire. Chosen from AMONG the people. To speak FOR the people.
Commodus: I doubt if any of the people eat so well as you, Gracchus. Or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius.

…

Gracchus: I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. He will conjure magic for them and they will be distracted. He will take away their freedom, and still they will roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble floor of the Senate; it is the sand of the Colosseum. He will give them death, and they will love him for it.

…

Maximus: I am required to kill, so I kill. That is enough.
Proximo: That’s enough for the provinces, but not enough for Rome.

…

Maximus: My name is Gladiator.

…

Lucilla: Today I saw a slave become more powerful than the Emperor of Rome.
Maximus: The gods have spared me? I am at their mercy with the power only to amuse a mob.
Lucilla: That is power. The mob is Rome and while Commodus controls them, he controls everything.

…

Comodus: They tell me your son squealed like a girl when they nailed him to the cross and your wife, moaned like a whore when they ravaged her again, and again, and again.

…

Proximo: I know that you are a man of your word, General. I know that you would die for honor, for Rome, for the memory of your ancestors. But as for me? I’m an entertainer.

…

Lucilla: My brother hates all the world and you most of all.
Maximus: Because your father chose me.
Lucilla: No. Because my father loved you.

…

Commodus: If you’re very good, tomorrow night I’ll tell you the story of emperor Claudius who was betrayed by those closest to him, by his own blood. They whispered in dark corners and went out late at night and conspired and conspired but the emperor Claudius knew they were up to something. He knew they were busy little bees. And one night he sat down with one of them and he looked at her and he said, “Tell me what you’ve been doing busy little bee or I shall strike down those dearest to you. You shall watch as I bathe in their blood.” And the emperor was heartbroken. The little bee had wounded him more deeply than anyone else could ever have done. And what do you think happened then, Lucius?
Lucius Verus: I don’t know, uncle.
Commodus: The little bee told him everything.

…

Commodus: Lucius will stay with me now and if his mother so much as looks at me in a manner that displeases me, he will die. If she decides to be noble and takes her own life, he will die. And as for you…
(he turns to Lucilla)
…you will love me as I loved you. You will provide me with an heir of pure blood so that Commodus and his progeny will rule for a thousand years. Am I not merciful?..AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!

…

Commodus: Do you think I am afraid?
Maximus: I think you’ve been afraid all your life.

…

Maximus: I knew a man who once said, ‘Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.’[/b]

Baxter is dog. He narrates the movie.

He tries his best to learn from human beings. And you know what that means.

John Waters says this is one of his favorite films. Take that to mean what you will.

trailer [of sorts] youtu.be/DqJtJL6bSRg
Or watch the whole movie: youtube.com/watch?v=_fZN69FKVeY

BAXTER [1989]
Directed by Jérôme Boivin

[b]Baxter [narrating]: I wasn’t happy living in a cage with others of my breed. Even then, my dearest wish was to live with humans, to try to understand the astonishing things they sometimes do.

…

Baxter [narrating]: Then the old lady will come and get me. This can’t go on! She’s got to learn it is dangerous to make a creature unhappy. Especially if that creature is stronger than you.

…

Baxter [narrating]: The old lady didn’t understand my warning. She’s too weak and not very smart.

…

Baxter [narrating]: I’d never seen anything so weak and mindless. It was damp, toothless and almost hairless. I thought they were so ashamed of it that they were apologizing. But when I looked at them, they seemed happy.

…

Madame Deville [voiceover]: Why are you so stubborn, Andre? Who cares anymore what you think or feel? Nobody, Andre, not even your daughter. Let the young run the world as they please, since that’s how they want it. Let them have their own tragedies and disappointments. Weve had our share, haven’t we? Come on, let go, Andre. Go on. Put your head on my shoulder. Let yourself slip away. It’s so nice. You’ll see how nice it is.

…

Baxter [narrating]: The boy isn’t like the others. He’s taught me lots of sounds. When he wakes up, I can’t move until he makes the calling sound. When he does, it feels like a chain tightening around my neck. It hurts, so I obey. But there’s more to it. It gives me…pleasure, the greatest pleasure I’ve ever had. He commands, I obey. And I have no more unnatural thoughts.

…

Baxter [narrating]: The sounds that reach me are hushed. The first snow will soon fall and there will be a moment, as everybody awakes, when there will be absolute silence. They’ll feel uneasy. They’ll think about the silence of death.

…

Charles: I hear them laugh and shout, but soon the street will be quiet. That’s when I’ll stand by the window to observe the lights in their house. By concentrating hard, I’ll hear the noises they make and imagine things. What if my parents had an accident? What if their house suddenly burned down? The young couple would love me. I’m sure of it. They see love everywhere. And if they saw it in Baxter, they’ll see it in me.[/b]

To the best of my knowledge this is not based on a true story. But in some parts of New York City [and after hours] it no doubt could be.

Is it too surreal or not surreal enough? You decide.

Very funny. Very strange. Very…dreamlike. But more a gray than a black comedy. These people are spooky but we can never really quite put our finger on the reasons why. There’s just something about being off the beaten path that can never be pinned down. But for most of them, that’s the whole point.

As for the point the film is making…pick one.

wiki

The dialogue between Paul and the doorman at Club Berlin is adapted from Kafka’s “Before the Law”, a short story that is part of his novel The Trial.

trailer: youtu.be/lLHM-wPecz0

AFTER HOURS [1985]
Directed by Martin Scorsese

[b]Paul: Is Marcy here?
Kiki: She had to go to the all-night drugstore.
Paul: Is she all right?
Kiki: It’s under control.

…

Paul: You have a great body.
Kiki: Yes. Not a lot of scars

…

Marcy: I was raped once. As a matter of fact it happened right here in this very room. I lived here once. He came in through there on the fire escape. He held a knife to my throat and said if I made a move, he’d cut my tongue out. He tied me to the bed…he took his time…six hours.
Paul: My god…Was he, uh…did they get this guy?
Marcy: No. Actually it was a boyfriend of mine. To tell you the truth, I slept through most of it.

…

Marcy: My husband was a movie freak. Actually, he was particularly obsessed with one movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” He talked about it constantly. I thought it was cute at first. On our wedding night, I was a virgin. When we made love - you’ve seen the movie, haven’t you?
Paul: “The Wizard of Oz”? Yeah.
Marcy: Well, whenever he - you know, when he came…
Paul: Yeah.
Marcy: …he would scream out, “Surrender Dorothy!” That’s all! Just “Surrender Dorothy!”
Paul: Wow.
Marcy: Instead of saying something normal like, “Oh, God,” or something normal like that. I mean, it was pretty creepy! And I told him I thought so, but he just, he just couldn’t stop, he just, he just couldn’t stop, he just…couldn’t stop.

…

Paul: Could we have the check?
Peter: It’s on the house.
Paul: Really?
Peter: Sure. What the hell. Different rules apply this late. Know what I mean? It’s like after hours.

…

Paul: What type of pot is this?
Marcy: Colombian.
Paul: That’s a lie.
Marcy: What?
Paul: This isn’t Colombian. I don’t even think it’s pot.
Marcy: That’s what the guy who sold it to me said it was…
Paul: Well, the guy who sold it to you is a liar. So are you.
Marcy: Don’t get upset, I just won’t buy it from him anymore.
Paul: That’s horseshit.
Marcy: Are you all right?
Paul: Where are those plaster-of-Paris paperweights, anyway? That’s what I came down here for. That’s what I want to see now.
Marcy: What’s the matter?
Paul: I said I wanna see a Plaster of Paris bagel and cream cheese paperweight, now cough it up.
Marcy: Right now?
Paul: Yes, right now!
Marcy: They’re in Kiki’s bedroom.
Paul: Then get 'em, cause as we sit here chatting, there are important papers flying rampant around my apartment cause I don’t have ANYTHING to hold them down with.

…

Subway Attendant: Fare went up to $1.50 as of midnight.
Pauk: You’re kidding. Look…I’ve got 97 cents.
Subway Attendant: No.
Paul: It’s raining like mad out there.
Subway Attendant: No.
Paul: Would you just give me a break? I really just wanna go home. Couldn’t you just give me one token, please?
Subway Attendant: I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I may lose my job.
[Paul looks around and sees no one else in the station]
Paul: Well, who would know…exactly?
Subway Attendant: I could go to a party, get drunk, talk to someone…who knows?
Paul: Would you just give me a goddamn token?!
Subway Attendant: No, goddamn it! I cannot give you a token. Those tokens are $1.50. I can’t sell for 97 cents. We’d lose money that way.
Paul: There’s the train! There’s the train! Come on! Give me a token!!

…

Horst [dressed in bondage gear]: That was rude of you before, Paul. You really ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Paul: I am. I don’t know what could have come over me.
Horst: Lack of discipline.

…

Paul [after witnessing a murder through a window]: I’ll probably get blamed for that.

…

Paul [down on his knees beseeching God]: What do you want from me? What have I done? I’m just a word processor, for Christ sake!

…

Paul [telling his story to a guy he bumped into on the street]: …so she’s pissed off at me, and for this, I don’t blame her at all…for the way I treated her friend. It was inexcusable. So I march right in there to apologize, but she’d already killed herself. I was too late…He was about to give me the money, when all of a sudden, his phone rang. His girlfriend killed herself tonight. Is that a coincidence? No, because the same girl who I came downtown to see was dead, too. That’s because they’re the same person! They’re both dead! I couldn’t believe that…He didn’t know that I came down to, you know, see his girlfriend because he would have taken my face and he would have smashed it…Luckily, there was this girl, who saw everything, who let me use her phone. Really nice about it, too. Let me use the phone. That was it. Just use it. Pick it up and put it down. She’s the one in the Mister Softee ice-cream truck who’s trying to kill me. They’re all trying to kill me! I just wanted to leave my apartment maybe meet a nice girl. AND NOW I’VE GOT TO DIE FOR IT!!

…

June: Why are you doing this?
Paul: What?
June: You flirt with me. You share your cigarette with me. You dance with me. You’re nice to me. Why are you doing this?
Paul: I want…to live. I just want to live.

…

Pepe: Is it worth taking this thing?
Neil: Are you crazy, man? This is art.
Pepe: Art sure is ugly.
Neil: Shows how much you know about art. The uglier the art, the more it’s worth.
Pepe: Then this must be worth a fortune, man.

…

Computer screen: Good morning, Paul.[/b]

Gangsters, thugs, an atrocity, revenge. Or there abouts. A million movies like it at least. But some are still really good ones. Even if cartoonish at times.

The good guys here are just more thugs. And not good like Dexter either.

Wouldn’t you do it though if you could?

Hit men going after hit men going after more hit men still. Things always being more complicated if you notice that they are. At least everything is out in the open. In other words, where things can get murkier still. But this is still a world where, even after avenging the past, the future never really makes it go away. You get your satisfaction but no one returns from the grave. And there are a whole set of different folks in pain.

You see, the hit men have families too.

Is it possible we can ever live in a world where this sort of behavior [however cartoonish] is absent? Personally, I don’t think so. And certainly not in my lifetime. Not as long as men still walk the earth.

Look for Leonard Shelby.

trailer: youtu.be/beD4E_uVpOs

VENGEANCE [Fuk Sau] 2009
Directed by Johnnie To

[b]Fat Loc: We should have killed the white guy.

…

Kwai: Who are you?
Costello: A chef.
Kwai: A chef my ass.

…

Costello: But why the children?
Fung Hit Man: They saw our faces.

…

Costello: I have been shot before. The bullet is still in my brain. The doctor said I will lose my memory. I don’t know how much time I’ve got left. But I must take revenge before I forget everything.

…

Mr Fung [on phone to Kwai]: Three of my men got shot. I need you to go and help them.
Kwai: How many enemies?
Mr. Fung: Three Chinese guys and a white man.[/b]

Yep. We saw that coming. Fung is behind the atrocity.

[b]Fung hit man: Why does Mr. Fung want us dead?
Kwai: This has nothing to do with Fung. It’s just a coincidence.

…

Costello: Did they say who ordered the hit?
Kwai: Our boss.

…

Kwai: You want revenge. Don’t you remember this?
Costello: What is revenge?

…

Kwai: What does revenge mean, when you have forgotten everything?
Chu: If Costello had a choice, you think he’d choose to forget?[/b]

How you feel about the film will obviously depend in large part on how you feel about The Troubles. And that is an enormous sinkhole of politics and religion. Depending of course on how you feel about that. I used to take sides but now I only just sort of do.

Based on a true story. On the other hand…

wiki

Martin McGartland disowned the film as was reported in the Sunday Times on March 29, 2009. He told the Sunday Times that “they are saying it was based on a true story, but what is the definition of ‘based on a true story’? Is it 50% true, 70% true, 10%?” The Sunday Times further reported that McGartland contended “that the movie is fundamentally a lie that misrepresents his career and his motivation. He believes that if Kari Skogland, the director, had stuck closer to the account he gave in his book and in a BBC documentary, then she would have had a better film.”

What is particularly surreal here is how the men who make these political commitments have to somehow strike a tenuous balance between the personal and the political. Their family and The Cause.

And no qulams about torture here. Everybody uses somebody else to serve their own purpose. It’s a fucking snakepit. A seething malestrom of conflicting goods.

Martin MacGartland at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_McGartland

trailer: youtu.be/qmQU9R1wYNE

50 DEAD MEN WALKING [2008]
Written and directed by Kari Skogland

[b]Fergus [narrating]: His name is Martin McGartland, and when I met him he was an unemployed Catholic hood selling stolen goods.

…

Fergus [narrating]: Jobs were generally controlled by the Protestants, which meant most of the young Catholic men were unemployed, and angry about it. Martin and Sean have lived on the edge for so long they didn’t know any other way.

…

Fergus [narrating]: I was a peeler. That’s what they call the police in Belfast. I was a Handler with the Special Branch. My codename was Fergus. You see, by 1988, Belfast had been a battleground for 20 years. The Irish Republican Army against Unionist Ulster Defense Force. Both were illegal armies. It was about freedom.

…

Fergus [narrating]: Unionists want Northern Ireland to stay as part of the United Kingdom. Catholic Republicans want free of British rule. Both sides were willing to kill for their cause. By 1969, violence was so bad British troops were sent to keep the peace. They’ve been there ever since. To the IRA, they were also an occupying army.

…

Fergus [narrating]: We had real respect for the IRA as a military force. we sealed the communities. Protestants one side of the wall, Catholics on the other. The reality was we couldn’t stop what was happening… because we didn’t have the minds of the people. In war, truth is the first casualty, and information is as powerful as bullets. Growing up an Irish Catholic lad in a Republican community… where police and security forces were not trusted, Martin had few choices.

…

Fergus: They’re terrorists, killers who’ve found a cause to kill for.
Martin: Terrorists? Is that what you think, huh? Terrorists? Well, I don’t see anyone tearing up your house because you’re lrish…hauling your arse onto the street…getting the shit kicked out of you by soldiers for fun? The Brits have never been in lreland by invitation, so who’s the terrorist?

…

Martin [to Lara]: Look, how did we get from me being thrown out of school to suddenly my belief in God, anyway? Like, I want to know about you, like. Like, what’s your favourite band? Okay, I’m not saying I don’t believe in God. Like, I do believe in God… but He’s probably not a Catholic God. I don’t think God’s sitting on a cloud trying to figure out whether He’s Protestant, or Catholic…or fucking Buddhist either. Everyone’s got these big opinions about how you should live and who you should love. The government, the peelers, the Catholics, the Protestants, the Brits. Any of them is full of it if they think that they know more about you…or that they know more about me or of God than anybody else.

…

Sean: Look…you got to expect a bit of killing and a bit of dying in a revolution. That’s the way things work. Besides, you’re not a man unless you’ve got a cause.

…

Fergus [to Martin]: You don’t get to pick and choose. This is all in. Because I finger you, you’re dead. You finger me, I’m dead…

…

Fergus: I want to show you something.
[He shows him the corpse of a young man]
Fergus: He has a kid. A ma, a da.
Martin: ls he a tout?
Fergus: A tout? He saved at least 30 lives, probably more. He’s a goddamned hero. Your mates tortured him for seven days, 168 hours until we found him. A 400-pound bomb was your mate’s latest gift to the city of Belfast. Seven people died, and you don’t want him arrested?
Martin: Sean is my mate. He’s got two kids from two different women…
Fergus: Aw, give me a hankie.[/b]

But for the radicals it always comes down to the First Cause. And that is their own rendition of what started it.

[b]Fergus: Do you know they’ll hold your head under water till your eyes are spinning? Again and again, for a couple of hours. They’ll squeeze your balls with a pair of pliers. They’ll twist your thumbs out of their sockets…

…

Donovan: Marty…Marty, come here. He’s a tout. He’s a tout. Stuff him.

…

Martin: You knew this was going to happen.
Fergus: And you didn’t? They completely trust you now.
Martin: I had a gun at his head. You said I couldn’t do it. You said I didn’t have murder in me. Yeah, well, I was so scared, I swear to God, I might have done it.
Fergus: I lied. We all have murder in us. The hunters become the hunted, yes.
Martin: Is that what you tell yourself to make it all okay?
Fergus: The price of a conscience is death. None of us can afford it.

…

Lara: Don’t bullshit me. You think I don’t know what you do? It’s the RA, and if not them, the peelers. Between the two, you’ll end up either dead or in jail…You’re going to have to decide, Martin, because we’re not waiting around for the call that they’ve found you in a ditch with a bullet hole in the head.

…

Martin: I’m taking you to Scotland, that’s it. I’m just going to take you and leave. we’re going to get away from all this political shit.
Lara: You’re never going to leave the lRA.
Martin: Oh, no? I’ll do whatever you want me to do at this point. I’m yours.
Lara: Because you’re captured by the anarchy of it all, like the rest of them.

…

Martin: I’m starting to, you know, think that they’re onto me.
Fergus: You wouldn’t be here if they were onto you.
Martin: I’ve not got a good feeling about it. My car’s definitely marked, right?
Fergus:
Yeah, of course. Go home. Hug your wife and baby.

…

Sean: You fucking bastard, you. You’re a fucking tout! You fucking bastard! I’m going to kill you!!

…

Fergus: Oh, so that’s it, is it? That’s how this is going to go down? Ml5 step in, screw up, and I get to eat the bullshit?
RUC Agent: It’s a big picture thing. It was supposed to be an easy bait and switch…and your boy shouldn’t have walked out of there but he did and now there’s a mess to clean up. Don’t be forgetting, you’re one of the good guys. A man of the law.
Fergus: Since when? Since when did this become about the law?

…

Mother: Marty, what’s going on?
Martin: It’s fine, Ma. Listen, it’s all right.
SeanL He’s a tout, Mrs. McGartland.
Mother: There’s no way that’s true. Marty?
Sean: The Special Branch don’t want him anymore.

…

Fergus: If the RUC don’t protect him, Ml5 will leave him exposed…a gift to the lRA… a bait and switch to deflect attention from a plant higher up.
Agent: What’s your stake in this?
Fergus: He was my operative.
Agent: Shit…Look, there’s no way I can get involved in this, for fuck’s sake.
Fergus: Well, how about I go to the press, and we debate this in public?
Agent: You won’t live long enough to do that, and you know it.
Fergus: Martin. That’s his name. Martin. He saved, I’d guess, 50 soldiers, RUC officers, prison wardens. Ml5 turns him into a bargaining chip. He has a girlfriend…a son, and another baby on the way. Look…we uphold the law and break the law in the name of the law. Is that why you signed up?[/b]

Cynicism doesn’t get more calculated than this. The pawns are everywhere. On both sides and within both camps.

[b]Fergus: Call Lara. See if she’ll like the idea of getting married in Scotland.
Martin: You know, you look me in the eye, okay and you tell me what kind of life you think she’d have. No hope, no friends, no community. Always looking over our shoulder, scared to death for them kids. I can’t do it. I really can’t do it. I won’t do it. You know, I thought I was saving lives.

…

Titlecard: Once he was compromised, Martin McGartland was relocated. He cahnged his name and address monthly, yet in 1999 he barely survived being shot 6 times at point blank range by an IRA hitman. In 2003 the Stevens Report concluded there was collusion between loyalist and British interest that led to the murder of innocent people in the 1970s and 1980s. Later that same year it was revealed that a high ranking member of the IRA, who is implicated in the murder of over 40 people, was working for the British during the heights of his IRA activity. Martin is still on the run.[/b]

I think there is a tendency for children to trust folks who are able to figure out how to say the things they want to hear. Then it all becomes a matter of their intentions. Why do they want to tell kids things they have surmised they want to hear? For sex? Well, if it’s a complete stranger telling a kid these things on line in a chat room, yeah, probably.

Next up, Chris Hanson?

Close:

The text exchange Will is having online is a transcript from a real conversation between “fleet_captain_jaime_wolfe” and “sadlilgrrl” and is fully available on the web page Perverted Justice. IMDb

This film is bursting at the seams with “typical teens” in America. And that’s scary enough: I just got invited to a cool girl’s party

Also, the film exposes just how preoccupied American culture is with sex. It’s everywhere. Her father’s job. Billboards. Pictures in the mall. Teens are routinely sexualized up one side and then down the other.

Here’s the thing though: Does this film serve to deter or to encourage this sort of behavior in men? Especially in a culture awash in sexual commodities. They put this beautiful young teen in the hotel room dressed in the skimpiest [sexiest] of lingerie. Was that really necessary? And the guy is never caught.

trailer: youtu.be/lhufUDjSKyQ

TRUST [2010]
Directed by David Schwimmer

Dad [watching daughter chat on line]: Who are you talking to?
Annie: Charlie. He’s a junior in high school in California.

Nope.

[b]Charlie [texting on line]: I’m really 20. Sophmore at UC Berkely. I said I was in high school because I didn’t want to sound preachy giving you advice because I play college volleyball. Do you hate me?
Annie [after long pause mulling it over…and a look over her shoulder to see if Dad is around:] No, it’s okay. I still like you.

…

Serena [to Annie at party]: Come join us. We’re teaching Alexa how to give a blow job. She sucks. She keeps gagging.[/b]

This is the menality of so many of them. Rich, spoiled and narcissistic.

Mom: Does, like, Serena say “like” all the time too? Because, like, you never used to. You don’t have to dumb yourself down for guys, like Serena.

Unfortunately, most of the other parents are, like, vacuous too.

They meet:

[b]Charlie: Annie?
Annie: Yes?
Charlie: It’s me. Charlie. Hey, you. God, I can’t believe it’s really you. Look at you. You’re gorgeous.
Annie: Is this a joke?

…

Annie: You’re not 25.
Charlie: Hey, it’s me Charlie. The same guy that you’ve been talking to every day and every night for the last two months. I love you. And I don’t get how age has to change that.

…

Charlie [in the hotel room]: It’s okay, Annie. Don’t worry. I’m just going to take these things off.[/b]

Later…

[b]Annie [texting Charlie]: Why aren’t you calling me back?

…

Lynn [mother]: How long will this take?
Doug: It depends if we get enough genetic material to run a profile.
Will [father]: And if there is, how long?
Doug: Right now, there’s a nationwide backlog. In Illinois alone, we’ve got 2,000 unopened kits sitting in freezers waiting to be processed. Some people have been waiting a year.
Lynn: How is that possible?[/b]

Indeed, if the government had the political will here it would not be so. Everything is a matter of priority. Of politics.

[b]Will: You won’t believe this. This is the National Sex Offenders Registry. These perverts are all over Willmette, not just Chicago. See this? All these red dots. They’re everywhere.
Lynn: Oh, my God.

…

Will [handing Lynn the IM transcript he stole from Doug Tate]: Read it.
Lynn: What is it?
Will: Just read it. “I can’t stop thinking about it. You inside me. I get wet when I picture it.”
Lynn: Okay, stop.
Will: Out daughter wrote this. Annie. “How big are you? I bet you taste good.”
Lynn: Will, stop it.
Will: “I want to see it, right now”. I mean, she’s 14. Where the hell did she learn this?
Lynn: She is 14. She didn’t make this happen!
Will: We’re gonna have to talk to her about this.
Lynn: You are not going to talk to her about this.
Will: But look at it! Our daughter sounds like a fucking porn star!

…

Annie: Everything would have been fine if everyone would have just chilled out.
Will: What are you talking about?
Annie: Charlie and me. Are you the crazy one! Checking my phone, bringing out sickos on the web.
Will: I’m trying to find the scumbag.
Annie: He’s not like that! You don’t even know him!
Will: My God, you’re protecting him. The guy raped you.
Annie: He didn’t rape me!..Get out, get out of my fucking room now! I hate you. get out![/b]

The thing is we know the guy is a scumbag. But she won’t admit this to herself. And theoretically, it is always possible that some 14 year olds are precocious enough, emotionally mature enough, to handle the situation if the man really isn’t a scumbag. But the law can never take chances here. And I don’t think it should.

[b]Will: Even if he was in jail I wouldn’t be happy.
Gail: Why?
Will: Because I would still want to rip his fucking head off.

…

Gail: We can’t control what happens to us or our loved ones. What happens when Annie goes to college?
Will: What are you saying?
Gail: People get hurt. There’s only so much we can do to protect ourselves, our children. The only thing we can do is be there for each other when we do fall down to pick each other up.[/b]

Is this true? Again, it always depends on the context. On the people. On what we think we know is true.

Another slice of life most of us don’t have the vaguest clue regarding. We hear of the “immigration problem” in Europe and all we can do is to think of it in the most general way.

Still, this is just one story though. So, in the end, we are still largely ignorant of all the many moral and political facets involved.

One thing for sure: Just as it is in America it is over there: a tale of political economy. And power.

I like films where the protagonist aims to con someone into thinking he is someone he is not [for selfish, ulterior motives] and then along the way becomes that person. Of course “the cause” here is just.

There are people whose lives are almost completely in the control of others. Some can fight back. Others cannot. Justice anyone?

wiki

[b]The debate about illegal immigration intensified after French Immigration Minister Éric Besson and film director Philippe Lioret debated the issue during the popular French television discussion show “Ce soir ou jamais”. Lioret took the opportunity to ask for an amendment to French law depenalising those who help refugees. “If such a thing passes on [amending] this article, it will be a victory”, he declared.

The French member of parliament Daniel Goldberg introduced a proposition to decriminalize aiding illegals. The proposition was hotly debated. The amendment was discussed but did not become law. Goldberg said he intended to introduce further measures to amend the law. Another proposition was tabled by a group of Communist senators, but never discussed.[/b]

trailer: youtu.be/t40ANH4Pe14

WELCOME [2009]
Written and directed by Philippe Lioret

[b]Bilal [explaining his panic in the truck]: When I left Iraq the Turkish Army caught me.They tied my hands and put a black bag over my head. And they left the bag on me for eight days.

…

Marion: Do you know what barring people from shops means? Do you want me to buy you a history book?

…

Simon [to Marion]: The tall one’s a nutter. He wants to swim to England. He wants me to train him.

…

Marion [on phone]: Simon, it’s me. I’ve been thinking. You can’t shelter those Kurds. It’s heavy shit. The police watch everyone. You could get a five-year jail sentence!

…

Simon [to immigration inspector]: Okay. I sheltered and trained him. I gave him the wetsuit and he paid me—1000 euros. Satisfied? And I fucked him…So leave her out of it.

…

Immigration official: I have bad news for you, Mr. Calmat.
Simon: Where is he?
Immigration official: Here. The Brits sent him back to us in a plastic bag.[/b]

There are generally two kinds of horror films. The first revolves around one or another supernatural element: ghost, monster, creature etc. Not particularly effective if you don’t believe in that sort of thing.

But, in the second, we are the source of the horror. And these are often called “psychological horror” films because the horror is derived from the mind of someone who is very, very real. Just [for one or another reason] very, very twisted too.

And they can scare the shit out of you because, however unlikely, it is not entirely out of the question that you won’t stumble into one. Someone, for example, who, as a child, is brutalized. It can leave their psyche in tatters. Then you come along. She’s the monster here. But it makes perfect sense that she would be. You are just the collateral damage.

And each time the film cuts to the man in the canvas bag that’s where your mind heads.

IMDb

[b]When the film was screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival 2000 it had a record number of walkouts. At the Swiss premiere someone passed out and needed emergency room attention.

The dog bowl of vomit fed to Asami’s (Eihi Shiina) prisoner is in fact the actual vomit of actress Eihi. Takashi Miike claims that Eihi is a method actress and insisted on doing this.

Takashi Miike wanted to end the film at the onset of the torture scene that the film is now famous for. However, one of the producers told him to “be a man and see it through to the end.”[/b]

Audition at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition_(1999_film

trailer: youtu.be/b7SEjkIwLAw

AUDITION [Ôdishon] 1999
Directed by Takashi Miike

Shigeharu: I’d like to see many women then choose my ideal one.
Yasuhisa [a film producer]: I have an idea. Have an audition.

In the guise of, say, casting a movie.

[b]Yasuhisa: I intend holding the audition next week. Choose 30 applicants.
Shigeharu: 30 applicants?
Yasuhisa: That’s right. And don’t trust the pictures. The composition can be much more useful.

…

Shigeharu: Your writing says that quitting what you love is almost similar to accepting death. I was highly impressed. I think everybody has similar experiences. In your lifetime when you have something beyond your control. What can you do but accept it? I think that’s life. I mean I was amazed a young girl like you understands that. I think you live your life in a very thoughtful way.

…

Yasuhisa: You decided on her before the audition.
Shigeharu: She really impressed me.
Yasuhisa: I’m sure she’s a serious type of girl. She is better than her photo and may also be good hearted. But I don’t like her.
Shigeharu: What’s wrong with her?
Yasuhisa: Can’t say exactly what’s wrong. I just don’t like her.

…

Yasuhisa: About Ms. Yamasaki. Without suspicion, I called Ace Records. It’s no big deal, but something didn’t seem right.
Shigeharu: What is it?
Yasuhisa: Director Shibata isn’t at the company. To be precise, he isn’t there anymore. He’s been missing for a year. He just disappeared.

…

Asami: Living alone was a hassle, I have nobody to talk to. You are the first one who is really warmhearted and tries to accept me and tries to understand who I really am.
Shigeharu: It’s hard to overcome that experience, but, someday you’ll feel that life is wonderful.

…

Asami: Please…Look at my body. I burnt myself when l was little. I want you to know all about me.
Shigeharu: You are very beautiful.
Asami: Please love me. Only me.
Shigeharu: I understand.
Asami: Everybody says so. But l hope you are different from the others. Only me. OK? Only me. Please love me. Only me.
Shigeharu: Yes.

…

Hotel manager [on phone]: This is the front desk. I’m terribly sorry. You must be in bed. We tried calling many times but there was no answer. The thing is, your partner left. We want to confirm your stay.
Shigeharu: Left?

…

Shigeharu: Asami was supposed to work here 3 times a week.
Man at Stone Fish bar: Some kind of a mistake.
Shigeharu: Excuse me…Why was the owner killed?
Man: I’m not sure but people talk about some sort of man problem. She used to be associated with a music industry guy. She used drugs too.
Shigeharu: Did she get murdered here?
Man: The body was chopped up completely. It’s a 28 year old building. The whole thing is tilted. We saw her blood flowing through a gap in the door. The other mystery was…The police tried to recompose her body together. Three extra fingers and an ear came up. An extra tonque as well. Isn’t it a terrible world?[/b]

Oh, I’d say so.

[b]Asima: When l was little, my parents got a divorce. I was sent to my uncle’s house. That was a terrible place. I only remember being abused.

…

Asami: You guys collect many girls from auditions. Make them fail. You contact them later. Just wanting to have sex. Everybody is the same.

…

Asami [pushing long needles into him]: Painful? Words create lies. Pain can be trusted. This is the most painful point. Then here too. Here as well. Right? Here we go. Underneath the eyes is also very painful.

…

Asima: You can’t go anywhere without feet. And this wire can cut through meat and bone easily.[/b]

Romania, 1987, the brutal Ceausescu communist regime is in place; birth control is illegal and abortion is a crime punishable by death.

Imagine enduring the trauma of an unwanted pregnancy back then and there. Or, perhaps, imagine women enduring it again here and now. Here in America if the political reactionaries prevail.

The abortionist is basically all about the money [and, as it turns out, sex] and the patient is not exactly prepared for what’s coming.

But this guy is a real scumbag. And when men and women talk about these things it is sometimes as though they are in 2 different worlds.

IMDb

Based on a real-life account an old acquaintance told the director.

FAQs at IMDb: imdb.com/title/tt1032846/faq?ref_=tt_faq_sm

At wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Months,_ … and_2_Days

trailer: youtu.be/xzitmvuOLKE

4 MONTHS 3 WEEKS 2 DAYS [4 Luni, 3 Saptamâni si 2 Zile] 2007
Written and directed by Cristian Mungiu

[b]Mr. Bebe: What month are you?
Gabita: Third.
Mr. Bebe: On the phone you said second.
Gabita: Yes, it was second then, now it’s the third.

…

Mr. Bebe: What did you expect? When you called me, I thought you’d decided.
Gabita: I have, but…
Mr. Bebe: But what? Young lady, this isn’t a game. We could go to prison for this. Both of us. Only I would face a longer sentence. We’re not fooling around here. Once it starts, there is no turning back.

…

Otilia: How long will the abortion take?
Mr. Bebe: It could take 2 to 3 hours or 2 to 3 days. It depends on how the body reacts. Each one is different.

…

Mr. Bebe: How many months did you say?
Gabita: 3
Mr. Bebe: I suggest you pay attention. What was your last period…?[/b]

Turns out she was actually closer to 5 months than to 2.

[b]Mr. Bebe: You’re playing games with the months! It’s a new offense after the fourth. They get you for murder! Five to ten years!

…

Mr. Bebe: I don’t judge you for what happened. In life, we all make mistakes. I asked you nothing. It’s none of my business. I’ve hidden nothing. I came in my car, I left my ID at reception. If the police come, they’ll get me first. I’m risking my freedom. I have a family, a child of my own. So if I’m nice to you, if I help you, you should be nice to me too, right? Do you think I’d risk 10 years in jail for 3,000 lei.

…

Mr. Bebe: Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll go to the bathroom. When I come out, you give me your answer. If it’s yes, tell me who goes first. If it’s no, I get up and go.

…

Otilia: Shit Gabita, sometimes you drive me crazy!![/b]

You have to sympathize with her here. From start to finish Gabita has made this all so much worse than it had to be. But then what do I know about being in this predicament.

[b]Adi [after Lotilia and he discuss Gabita]: I said I was sorry.
Otilia: You apologized. But do you know what for? Tell me. Why did you apologize?

…

Gabita: I got rid of it. It’s in the bathroom.[/b]

And there it is, the aborted fetus laying on the bathroom floor. And it looks just like a…

[b]Gabita: You will bury it, won’t you? Promise?
Otilia: I won’t just dump it.

…

Gabita: Did you bury it?
Otilia [after pause]: Do you know what we are going to do? We’re never going to talk about this again.[/b]

Love and memory in the netherworld between fantasy and reality. And each of us, when push comes to shove, makes it up as we go along. Which is to say that each of us will understand the narrative here from a point of view.

Though, of course, nothing like this actually exist in the here and now. We’re still stuck with what we have always had—crude exchanges like this one.

And, it goes without saying, these people are all gorgeous. The ones that count anyway.

Everything is all about them though. It is as if the rest of the world did not even exist. And some of us really are able to live that way, aren’t we?

The photography [and the music] here are nothing short of luxuriant.

IMDb

[b]The title of the film refers to the last year before the 50-year period the Chinese Government promised to let Hong Kong remain as it is. Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997.

Each character speaks their own languages. Mr. Chow speaks Cantonese, Bai Ling speaks Mandarin, and Tak speaks Japanese even when talking to each other. Even so, they seem to understand each other perfectly.[/b]

2046 at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2046_(film

trailer: youtu.be/vfNe3zFT9rk

2046 [2004]
Written and directed by Kar Wai Wong

[b]Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: Everyone who goes to 2046 has the same intention, they want to recapture lost memories. Because in 2046 nothing ever changes. But, nobody knows if that is true or not because no-one has ever come back. Except me.

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: His company in Japan had sent him to Hong Kong When he got here he checked into this hotel.
Mr. Wang [to his daughter]: The world is full of men! Why do you have to choose a Japanese? Get rid of him! I will never meet him! You want my blessing? Not while I’m alive!
Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: It had been going on for ages. Mr. Wang’s family suffered under the Japanese in the war. So they had to break up.[/b]

Here love [or its absense] is clearly “out in the world”. The trick is in realizing it is only a narrative. There may be ways around the obstacle. Or the obstacle may disappear. Or, sadly, there maybe no real options at all.

[b]Bai Ling: So people are just time fillers to you?
Chow Mo Wan: I wouldn’t say that. Other people can borow my time to.
Bai Ling: And tonight? Are you borrowing me, or am I borrowing you?
Chow Mo Wan: No difference. Maybe I borrowed you earlier, now you are borrowing me.
Bai Ling: Ridiculous.

…

Bai Ling: I’m sleeping here tonight.
Chow Mo Wan: An overnight stay is expensive.
Bai Ling: No problem. Name your price. I’d pay anything to be with you.
Chow Mo Wan: Every day Retail is fine. Wholesale is out of the question.

…

Bai Ling: I don’t mind you having other women. But I won’t be treated the same as them. I don’t care if you love me or not, I’II Love you anyway. Since we got together I haven’t brought other men back. I hoped you’d think the same way. Will you promise me that?
Chow Mo Wan: No.
Bai Ling: I see…Then we’re through. I’ll never bother you. And I don’t ever want you in my room again! Here. $10. Tonight, I’m paying!
Chow Mo Wan: Thank you. If you’re ever in the mood feel free to come over. I’ll charge you the same.
[she storms out of the room…and back to whoring]

…

Mr. Wang: Our cabin attendants are superbly designed…But there’s one problem: when they’ve served on so many long journeys, fatigue begins to set it. For example, they might want to laugh, but the smile would be slow to come. They might want to cry, but the tear wouldn’t well up till the next day…

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: I slowly began to doubt myself. Maybe the reason she didn’t answer was not that her reactions were delayed but simply that she didn’t love me. So at last, I got it. It’s entirely beyond my control. The only thing left for me…was to give up.

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: Love is all a matter of timing. It’s no good meeting the right person too soon or too late. If I’d lived in another time or place my story might have had a very different ending.

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: Watching her taught me something. When you don’t take no for an answer, there is still a chance you’ll get what you want.

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: I didn’t want to spend the Christmas of 1969 in Hong Kong, so I visited Singapore and went back to the casino. I waited for several days but Black Spider never turned up. No one knew where she was. Some thought she’d gone back to Phnom Penh. Others thought she was dead.

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: It struck me that her past was like the hand she always kept gloved: A mystery with no solution.

…

Chow Mo Wan [to Su Li-zhen]: Take care. Maybe one day you’ll escape your past. If you do, look for me.

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: In love you can’t bring on a substitute.

…

Chow Mo Wan [ending the story]: He didn’t turn back. It’s as if he boarded a very long train headed for a drowsy future through the unfathomable night.

…

Chow Mo Wan [narrating]: Everyone who goes to 2046 has the same intention, they want to recapture lost memories. Because in 2046 nothing ever changes. But, nobody knows if that is true or not because no-one has ever come back.[/b]

Ballast: “Anything that gives mental, moral, or political stability or steadiness.”

Some need it more than others. Some have it more than others. And one may have nothing to do with the other.

Imagine, for example, your twin brother commits suicide. What do you do? Try it yourself? That’s what he does. And comes this close to succeeding.

From then on it’s trying to close the gap between your own life and the lives you see unfolding on the screen. For me the gap is considerable. These folks are mainly working class blacks struggling to survive from day to day down in the Misssissippi Delta. And way out in the sticks too. Race isn’t really a factor here so much always there somewhere in the background.

It’s hard to believe but these are just local non-professional actors.

trailer: youtu.be/s1lOiy3j-K0

BALLAST [2008]
Written and directed by Lance Hammer

[b]James [holding a gun on Lawrence]: Where’s his wallet?
Lawrence: It’s next door.
James: Go get it. So how did he die?
Lawrence: He took pills and fell asleep.
James: On purpose?
Lawrence: Yes. So how does that make you feel?
James: Just give me the wallet. I don’t feel nothing. He was an asshole and a fucking coward.
Lawrence: Did your mama tell you that?
James: You both are.
Lawrence: I know you think a lot of ugly things about Darrius, but he really loved you.
James: No, he didn’t. He never even came to see me once.
Lawrence: He couldn’t, James. Your mama asked the court to make it illegal for him to see you. You didn’t know that?

…

Lawrence: I’ll give you money if you need it, but you have to tell me what it’s for.
James: Just give it to me!
Lawrence: If it’s to buy drugs, I ain’t giving you any.
James: Just give it to me!
Lawrence: Not for that. You’re all fucked up now, aren’t you?
James: You want me to shoot you?
Lawrence: You can shoot me if you want.
James: I’ll shoot you!
Lawrence: I don’t care.[/b]

Hell, hadn’t he just shot himself in the chest?

[b]Marlee [James’s Mother]: He fired me. He said I couldn’t work this way. I had to take a sick leave. And I’ve already had too many, so I’m out! He said I couldn’t work like this 'cause it’s disturbing for the clients. Like the motherfuckers even know I’m there! I’m invisible to them! I’m so sick of this shit!

…

Marlee: James, we can’t afford to feed no dog right now, especially theirs.

…

James [trying to figure twins]: If you’re almost the same person and have the same feelings as my dad, did you love my mom too?
Lawrence: No.
James: Did she love you?
Lawrence: No.

…

James [to his mother]: Did you ask the court to make it illegal for my dad to see me?
Marlee [to Lawrence]: You no good motherfucker, you never stop, do you? How the fuck you gonna tell James I had Darrius barred from seeing him?
Lawrence: 'Cause it’s the truth.
Marlee: He left us first. Why the hell you didn’t tell him that truth? How you gonna fill his head with some fucked-up bullshit about his father loving him…making him out like some goddamn hero and me some crazy woman? He left us like a fucking coward!

…

Lawrence: It took our dad a whole lifetime to save up enough to buy this property and you just think you can walk in our lives in one day and piss that all away? That’s a pretty fucked-up kind of love, don’t you think?
Marlee: A fucked-up kind of love? Let me tell you what’s a fucked-up kind of love…Being so terrified of your brother wanting…
Lawrence: You were an addict, Marlee. Where was that money really going to?
Marlee: Fuck you! You were so terrified of him having something out of life, wanting something different…you was willing to destroy his whole damn family! Huh? Weren’t you? For what? To be caught in some sick little prison of yours? That’s a truly fucked-up kind of love!
Lawrence: You will never comprehend my love for him.
Marlee: You call that shit love? That bullshit you whispered in his ear about me was love? Look what your love did to him![/b]

And there we are. Trying to sort through the narratives, trying to figure out who is lying to the other more or less than they are lying to themselves. But then, necessity being the mother of invention, they work things out.

Marlee: I know that the things you been doing with James are genuine. It’s confusing, but it makes sense. I mean, genetically and all. That’s why I’m saying I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m saying, but…
[they hug and Lawrence tries to kiss her]
Marlee: What the fuck you doing? Shit! Is this what it was all about? Is this what you was after?

The ending is just ambiguous enough to let you know you have barely scratched the surface in understanding these folks.

What does it mean to have the emotional depth and the social skills necessary to make it in the Big City? Especially when, by and large, you come from a sheltered upper middle class family rather far removed from the perils and predicaments of the Big City.

Let’s explore that…

After all, no one seems to have them here.

But first let’s explore the part about paying the bills. Without, for example, having to call dad for the money.

Nothing really happens here. People just talk. And emote. And stumble about all around each other. Just hoping that something will stick. It speaks volumes regarding the sort of people our culture mass produces these days. Where oh fucking where is the Sixties! Maybe pretentious at times. Maybe hopelesly idealistic and ponderous at other times. But anything is better than this.

Some people hated this film and that doesn’t surprise me. But you have to view the characters ironically. At least I hope that’s the point.

wiki

Mutual Appreciation is a 2005 independent film by Andrew Bujalski who previously directed Funny Ha Ha (2002). The script is primarily dialogue between a group of young people as they try to determine where they fit in the world. It is considered part of the mumblecore movement.

the mumblecore movement:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumblecore

trailer: youtu.be/BwyaexHA9tk

MUTUAL APPRECIATION [2005]
Written and directed by Andrew Bujalski

A chance encounter and the real estate shark tumbles back into the world of music. The world of the artiste. The world of the classical pianist. But no less the crook and no less the thug.

The past and the future begin to tug fiercely at him.

One pays better though. And it might work if one chose to actually let go of the past. But when you tug it into the future with you day after day [and it’s filled with corruption and the potential for violence] it’s just too jarring a leap. The mother is long gone but the father is right there. His head is always in two places.

Dad’s got to go. But is that enough?

trailer: youtu.be/p2OhGLNvyAg

THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED [De Battre Mon Coeur S’est Arrêté] 2005
Written and directed by Jacques Audiard

[b]Conservatory Professor: You last played when?
Thomas: About ten years ago.
Professor: Ten years without practice?
Thomas: I practice. I never gave up comletely. I play for myself, when I’m in the mood, or for friends.
Professor [with barely disguised sarcasm]: And now you are auditioning?
Thomas: That’s right.

…

Thomas [walking away from the professor]: Fuck you, prick.

…

Robert [father]: Remember that favor I asked you?
Thomas: What favor?
Robert: The couscous jerk who owes me 6 months rent.
Thomas: Sorry, no time.
Robert: No time? Time to see that fag and get psyched up about pianos, but not twenty minutes for me?

…

Thomas: Hold it. Doesn’t she speak French?
Jean-Pierre: She only just got here. She speaks Chinese, Vietnamese and a little English.
Miao Lin [as Thomas lights a cigarette]: No smoking.
Thomas: No smoking, no talking?

…

Sami: Playing piano is making you flip. Stop it now!
Thomas: Nothing is making me flip. I’m not flipping. I’m having a ball. I feel fantastic, dont’ you see? It’s important, I’m serious about it.
Sami: You gonna make dough from pianos?
Thomas: Not pianos, the piano! It’s not about making money, it’s about art.
Sami: What’s in it for us? You coming to meetings all, ‘Hi guys, I’ve been playing piano.’ Shit, I’ll take up the banjo.
Thomas: It’s over your head.[/b]

The truth not only can be adjusted, it is done all the time. And you don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to see that. You just have to be a capitalist. It’s the nature of the beast. The bottom line. It’s only a matter of how you rationalize it. If you bother with that at all.

And ironically the biggest scams revolve not around crooks like these but around the things that are all perfectly legal.

So, every now and then another one of these big corporate scandals – Hooker Chemical, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Exxon, Shell – hits the front page. But nothing really changes. Not systemically. It all just becomes absorbed in the best of all possible worlds that it’s claimed to be.

Would that “real life” could have an ending like this one.

Michael Clayton [2007]
Written and directed by Tony Gilroy

[b]Arthur: Michael. Dear Michael. Of course it’s you, who else could they send, who else could be trusted? I… I know it’s a long way and you’re ready to go to work… all I’m saying is wait, just wait, just-just-just… please hear me out because this is not an episode, relapse, fuck-up, it’s… I’m begging you Michael. I’m begging you. Try and make believe this is not just madness because this is not just madness. Two weeks ago I came out of the building, okay, I’m running across Sixth Avenue, there’s a car waiting, I got exactly 38 minutes to get to the airport and I’m dictating. There’s this, this panicked associate sprinting along beside me, scribbling in a notepad, and suddenly she starts screaming, and I realize we’re standing in the middle of the street, the light’s changed, there’s this wall of traffic, serious traffic speeding towards us, and I… I-I freeze, I can’t move, and I’m suddenly consumed with the overwhelming sensation that I’m covered with some sort of film. It’s in my hair, my face… it’s like a glaze… like a… a coating, and… at first I thought, oh my god, I know what this is, this is some sort of amniotic - embryonic - fluid. I’m drenched in afterbirth, I’ve-I’ve breached the chrysalis, I’ve been reborn. But then the traffic, the stampede, the cars, the trucks, the horns, the screaming and I’m thinking no-no-no-no, reset, this is not rebirth, this is some kind of giddy illusion of renewal that happens in the final moment before death. And then I realize no-no-no, this is completely wrong because I look back at the building and I had the most stunning moment of clarity. I… I… I… I realized Michael, that I had emerged not from the doors of Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen, not through the portals of our vast and powerful law firm, but from the asshole of an organism whose sole function is to excrete the… the-the-the poison, the ammo, the defoliant necessary for other, larger, more powerful organisms to destroy the miracle of humanity. And that I had been coated in this patina of shit for the best part of my life. The stench of it and the stain of it would in all likelihood take the rest of my life to undo. And you know what I did? I took a deep cleansing breath and I set that notion aside. I tabled it. I said to myself as clear as this may be, as potent a feeling as this is, as true a thing as I believe that I have witnessed today, it must wait. It must stand the test of time. And Michael, the time is now.

…

Michael: Mr. Greer, you left the scene of an accident on a slow week night, six miles from a state police barracks. Believe me. If there’s a line, you’re right up front.
Mr. Greer: I can get a lawyer any time I want. I don’t need you for that. We’re not sitting here for forty five minutes for a god damned referral.
Michael: I don’t know what Walter promised you but…
Mr. Greer: A miracle worker. That’s Walter on the phone twenty minutes ago. Direct quote, okay, “Hang tight, I’m sending you a miracle worker.”
Michael: Well, he misspoke.

…

Mr. Greer [pointing to the ringing phone]: That’s the police, isn’t it?
Michael: No. They don’t call.

…

Michael: What can I tell you? Don’t piss off a motivated stripper.

…

Arthur: Six years, Michael. Six years I’ve absorbed this poison. Four hundred depositions, a hundred motions, five changes of venue…85,000 documents in discovery. Six years of scheming and stalling and screaming, and what have I got? I’ve spent 12 percent of my life defending the reputation of a deadly weed killer!

…

Karen: This is totally unacceptable. This is a 3-billion-dollar class-action lawsuit. In the morning, I have to call my board. I have to tell them that the architect of our entire defense has been arrested for running naked in a snowstorm, chasing the plaintiffs through a parking lot.
Michael: I understand.
Karen: What sickness is he talking about?
Michael: I don’t know. It could be a number of things.
Karen: Well, give me one.
Michael: Frostbite.
Karen [shocked]: You think this is funny!

…

Marty: We’ve got 600 attorneys here. We’ve got to find out who’s an expert on psychiatric commitment statutes.
Michael: I can tell you who that is: Arthur.

…

Arthur [on the phone with Anna Kaiserson]: Isn’t it what we wait for? To meet someone… and they’re, they’re like a lens and suddenly you’re looking through them and everything changes and nothing can ever be the same again.

…

Gabe [regarding Michael’s gambling debts]: Do everyone a favor. Get out the treasure map and start digging. You got a week.

…

Arthur: Michael, I have great affection for you and you live a very rich and interesting life, but you’re a bag man not an attorney. If your intention was to have me committed you should have kept me in Wisconsin where the arrest report, the videotape, eyewitness reports of my inappropriate behavior would have had jurisdictional relevance. I have no criminal record in the state of New York, and the single determining criterion for involuntary commitment is danger. Is the defendant a danger to himself or to others. You think you got the horses for that? Well good luck and God bless, but I’ll tell you this: the last place you want to see me is in court.
Michael: I’m not the enemy.
Arthur: Then who are you?

…

Authur: Yes! Here we are, all together. Is everyone listening? 'Cause this is the moment you’ve been waiting for, a very special piece of paper, so let’s have a big, paranoid, malignant round of applause… for United Northfield Culcitate Internal Research Memorandum #229! June 19th, 1991. “Conclusion: The unanticipated marketing growth for Culcitate by small farms in colder climates demands IMMEDIATE cost-benefit analysis.” Hah. Would you like a little bit of legal advice? NEVER let a scientist use the words “unanticipated” and “immediate” in the same sentence. Okay? Okay. “In-house field studies have indicated small, short-season farms dependent on well water for human consumption are at risk for toxic, particulate concentrations at levels significant enough to cause serious human tissue damage.” Well, this is a long way of saying that you don’t even have to leave your house to be killed by our product, we’ll pipe it into your kitchen sink. “Culcitate’s great market advantage that it is tasteless, colorless, and does not precipitate, has the potential to mask and intensify these potentially lethal exposures.” Now, I love this. Not only is this a great product, it is a superb cancer delivery system. “Chemical modifications of Culcitate product, or the addition of a detector molecule such as an odorant or a colorant, would require a top-down redesign of the Culcitate-manufacturing process. These costs, while assumed to be significant, were not summarized here.” Which, loosely translated, means “it’s going to cost a fortune to go back on this, and I’m just an asshole in a lab, so could someone else PLEASE make the decision?” “CLEARLY, the release of these internal research documents would compromise the effective marketing of Culcitate, and MUST be kept within the protective confines of United Northfield’s trade secret language.” You don’t need me… to tell you what that means. Goodbye!

…

Karen: Okay.
Wet Man: Is that, “Okay, you understand,” or “Okay, proceed”?

…

Michael: What if Arthur was onto something?
Marty: What do you mean? Onto what?
Michael: U North. What if he wasn’t crazy, what if he was right?
Marty: Right about what? We’re on the wrong side?
Michael: Wrong side, wrong way. Anything. All of it.
Marty: This is news? This case reeked from day one. Fifteen years in I gotta tell you how we pay the rent?
Michael: But what would they do, what would they do if he went public?
Marty: What would they do? Are you fucking soft? They’re doing it! We don’t straighten this settlement out in the next twenty four hours, they’re gonna withhold nine million dollars in fees. Then they’re gonna pull out the video of Arthur doing his flashdance in Milwaukee, they’re gonna sue us for legal malpractice. Except there won’t be anything for them to win, because by then the merger with London will be dead and we’ll be selling off the goddamn furniture!
[hands Michael an envelope]
Marty: That’s eighty. We’re calling it a bonus. You’ve got a three year contract, that’s your current numbers, that’s assuming this all works out.

…

Michael [to Karen]: I’m not the guy that you kill. I’m the guy that you buy. Are you so fucking blind you don’t even see what I am? I’m the easiest part of your whole goddamn problem and you’re gonna kill me? Don’t you know who I am? I’m a fixer. I’m a bagman. I do everything from shoplifting housewives to bent congressmen…and you’re gonna kill me?

…

Karen: Five is easier. Yeah, 5 is something that we could talk about.
Michael: Good. And then the other 5 is to forget about the 468 people that you knocked off with your weed killer.
Karen: I’ll talk to…
Michael: Do I look like I’m negotiating?

…

Michael: You’re so fucked. Here let me get a picture while I’m at it.
Karen: You don’t want the money?
Michael: Keep the money. You’ll need it.
Don: Is this fellow bothering you?
Michael: Am I bothering you?
Don: Karen, I’ve got a board waiting in there. What the hell’s going on? Who are you?
Michael: I’m Shiva, the God of death.

…

Taxi driver: So what are we doin’?
Michael: Give me fifty dollars worth. Just drive.[/b]

Ten years in the making this particular revenge is served up very cold indeed. But it is a strangely problematic portion. Depending on how much emphasis you place on intentions. Or the lack of discretion. Or even common courtesy.

But this was, after all, the most important moment in her life.

On the other hand, I draw the line at collateral damage. Especially children.

trailer: youtu.be/fANWrJPhqWw

THE PAGE TURNER [La Tourneuse de Pages] 2006
Written and directed by Denis Dercourt

[b]Jean [to Melanie]: There’s something I want to tell you before I go. My wife is a pianist. She plays in a trio. They’re giving a concert next week. A very important concert. You need to know that two years ago, she was in a car crash. Somebody drove into her. It was a hit-and-run. Since then, well, it made her fragile. She started getting stage fright. All performers get stage fright but hers is quite crippling. That’s why she needs support. It’s important that you’re here all the time.

…

Ariane: You read music?
Melanie: Yes. I used to play the piano.
Ariane: You gave it up. That’s a pity.

…

Ariane: Did you know Melanie plays the piano?
Jean: No. Do you?
Melanie: I did, a long time ago.
Ariane: Well, she reads music perfectly. She’s turning for me at the radio concert.
Jean: That’s a big responsibility! A page turner can throw everything off balance. Horowitz said this, not me.

…

Ariane: I’m going to ask her to turn at the concert. It’s a little risky but she’s quite at ease. She reassures me.
Virginie: Notice how she watches you?
Ariane: How?
Virginie: Intently.

…

Tristan [rubbing his arm]: I have a pain here.
Melanie: Don’t worry. It happens. It’s a secret. Not a word.
Ariane: What’s a secret?

…

Ariane: How did it happen?
Virginie: Cellos are heavy. He said he lifted it up to retract the spike. It slipped, I suppose. But I’ve never heard of such an accident.

…

Melanie: There’s one thing I’d like to ask you for. You’ll think it’s weird.
Ariane: No. Go on.
Melanie: I’d like your autograph.[/b]

The title is an anagram of “vampire”. It’s a movie about the making of a movie that is a remake of an earlier silent film. It’s a movie about the workings of the French film industry at the time. Or one man’s particular take on it.

Is it art more or less than it’s a commodity?

Maggie Cheung plays herself. She’s to star in the film if the film can ever be made. Like here, however, egos abound. And when they do, they clash. And there are lots of things about making a movie that almost no one ever thinks about. Which means lots of reasons to clash.

And that’s before you get to the sexual politics.

trailer: youtu.be/z_S0LxwXmkk

IRMA VEP [1996]
Written and directed by Olivier Assayas

This is a world we don’t get to see everyday: An illegal mining operation in Northern China.

Morality here doesn’t get much murkier. In other words, not the sort of Communism envisioned by Marx and Mao. But clearly the sort of capitalism many reactionaries would like to see exported over here. Profits way before people.

But even here the grifters can ply their trade. And this con is deadly.

One way or another, the fix is in. It’s only a matter of just how illegal it is.

wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Shaft

trailer: youtu.be/a4LmmUEgaAU

BLIND SHAFT [Mang Jing] 2003
Written and directed by Yang Li

[b]Manager: Boss, why bother? Why not just kill the two of them?
Boss: You crazy? We can’t take any chances now.
Manager: Just get in touch with your police chief pals.
Boss: No way. These cronies gotta take a hefty cut. A hundred grand ain’t enough for them.

…

Boss: It’s almost the New Year. A corpse lyin’ around isn’t auspicious.

…

Song: Next time it’s your turn to mourn.

…

Prostitute: Mister, pick a song.
Song: He doesn’t know how to sing. He only knows how to fuck you.
Yang: Go to hell! I was in the front row when our commune sang. We sang “Long Live Socialism.” Put the song on.
Prostitute: Mister, that song became old-fashioned ages ago.
Song: Let him sing it.
Yang: “Long live socialism, long live socialism/Socialist countries high atop/Reactionaries overthrown/The imperialists run away their tails behind…”
Prostitute: Hey, you hick, those words changed long ago.
Yang: How’d they change?
Prostitute: “The reactionaries were never overthrown/The capitalists came back with their US dollars/Liberating all of China”

…

Yang [to Yuan]: Would I lie to you?

…

Song: You’ve fucking found a kid!
Yang: I don’t care if he is a child, just as long as we make money. You feel bad for him, but who feels bad for you?

…

Boss: Have you been down a mineshaft?
Yang: Yep.
Boss: Why’d you stop working?
Yang: The roof caved in and crushed workers.
Boss: What’s a few deaths? One shits after eating. One might die down the shaft. If you’re afraid, then don’t work here.

…

Boss: Take it or leave it. China has a shortage of everything but people.

…

Song [to Yuan]: You still want to work? Don’t work here if you are afraid of death.

…

Yang: Okay, today we’ll get him laid and tomorrow we kill him.[/b]

Nope. Oh, sweet, sweet irony.