Well Meaning Translator

I love this character. He doesn't speak a lick of Japanese, but is willing to act as translator, first for the money and to be helpful, but then because he catches the vision of what Takata, the protagonist, is trying to accomplish.

When adopting in Vietnam, my translator was a student who couldn't speak English very well. We were in a world of hurt because our ten day trip ultimately turned into six weeks and for some of that time the twins were taken from us inexplicably. My translator and I would sit face to face with dictionaries in hand and using everything in us would try to communicate. He became my advocate and friend. 

Not One Less

Tenacity can strike in the most unusual ways. As tunnel vision sets in, perspective flies out the window. 

A few years back I was on a trip with my brother on the Oregon coast. He had left early for a jog and was late coming back, too late. He hadn’t been doing well, hence the trip, and the further I searched for him along the beach, the more I was convinced he was not okay. I arrived at a vast boulder field and because it was now high tide I was cut off from the beach beyond, so the only way to get past it was to go through. Driven by fear, I clambered over those rocks for a long time. Neither pain nor logic held any sway with me as I continued on. 

It was despair that finally stopped me in my tracks and sat me down. Slowly as my head cleared I realized that the chance of him being on the other side of the field was pretty slim and there must be a better explanation. I had a lot of time to think about tenacity while I picked my way back across those rocks and along the beach. Such powerful driving emotion had shut down my rational thinking and had replaced it with blind determination. He was at the room when I got there and was fine, but had gone running along the highway and ran too far before turning back.

That’s a long story just to make a connection to a film, but when I watched it, I was back on those rocks as the young teacher searched for her student. I kept thinking what she was doing was folly and that there was no way she would accomplish her task, but sometimes tenacity is perfect in its foolheartedness.

I never told my brother what I’d done, because I didn’t want to add to his sadness and was more than embarrassed by my foolishness. I did learn something about the capacity of my heart that day though and watching the film today and the love and determination of the teacher reminded me that a heart, as illogical as it is, holds its own kind of perfection too.

Thank you Martin for the beautiful film. 

Twelveth Night (1996)

There’s something I love about British films, in particular costume dramas, and it has to do with the pool of fine actors who get stirred around and put into seemingly endless combinations—a loose repertory if you will. The fun is to see who gets chosen and how they interact in that configuration. 

This time around there is an abundance of greatness—Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Ben Kingsley, Imelda Staunton, Toby Stevens and the list goes on. Two standouts (if that’s possible) are Imogen Stubbs and Nigel Hawthorne. Imogen’s Viola is so conflicted, that I keep rewinding to watch her play out her scenes again. I wasn’t as enamored with her in Sense and Sensibility, but will watch it again to see if it's her or her annoying character. Nigel Hawthorne pulls off the impossible. 

Is there a more difficult role than Malvolio? Nigel carries him from euphoria to really dark despair—as memorable a character as in The Madness of King George.  I can’t wait to see what blend of talent I’ll get next.

Tremors

On the surface Tremors is the ultimate Universal Studios ride… 

just a minute… 

Yep, a Universal film as well. 

The jumps and “how are they going to get out of this mess” were plentiful. The forward motion was constant as well, with only a few lulls to catch their (and my) breath. 

If this was low budget, I’m doubly impressed. I never felt like I was being cheated out of special affects, in fact the graboids were pretty impressive. They reminded me of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors and of course the Dune sandworms. Under the terra firma horror (or is it sci fi?) structure is something just as interesting. 

The reluctant (and questionable) heroes make good and surprise even themselves. Sometimes it takes a crisis with insurmountable odds to reveal character. 

All in all it was way better than anything I experienced in Florida.

Miller's Crossing

When a man's an empty kettle, he should be on his mettle and yet I'm torn apart, just because I'm presumin' that I could be kind of human...

The heart is a tricky thing, when you're a thinking man. It gets in the way and then all that thinking has to work double time, to offset the mess of mercy. 

My, isn't Tom smart. They should have called him Alexander, since he solves the puzzle by expertly pulling that Gordian knot out of its pole pin. Yeah, he's thinking circles around everyone else, but you know what happens with unknotted knots? They unravel... and the ties that bind are no more.

Barton Fink

I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream...because you see the thing is gone from me. *

Each line of dialogue in my head is audible, as is the cry of the fishy Mundt, "I'll show you the life of the mind!" 

But, watching the cursor blink on and off on this white screen, I'm at a loss. 

Do I love the film? Yes! 

Am I both disturbed and enthralled by it? Most definitely. 

Do I see all the explorations of high brow vs. low brow, Hollywood's machinations and writer's block as a type of hell? I think so. 

But, can I find a way to write anything about it? No, not really.


* Daniel 2:3,5

My Guilty Pleasure: Strictly Ballroom

"A life lived in fear is a life half lived." 

A slight tongue twister or a profound mantra? I would argue that it is a bit of both. 

The movie is so silly and over the top and it is a powerful lesson on nonconformity. Scott wants to dance like no one else. His creativity bubbles up inside him, but has no support. Fran sees his genius, but no one sees her. 

Together they tear down all the walls including his perceptions and her self doubt and then--
they fly!

A Film I Watch to Feel Good: Sense and Sensibility

This film was my favorite for a solid decade until Pride and Prejudice came along and knocked it off its pedestal…
No, that’s not right. It was gently removed and lovingly placed on alower tier. 

I love the idea of a Chinese director tackling a beloved English story and then giving it the attention and care that it deserves. I’ve been known to turn it on just to have it playing in the background as I go about my work. Like an old friend, it instantly cheers me up and “troubles melt like lemon drops.” 

The pull between sense and sensibility is alive and well in me daily as I try and come to terms with both traits—restraint or exuberance, passion or patience. That dance plays out on screen, exploring the conflict, reaching resolution and in the process restoring me.

Princess Mononoke

A more apt title would be Ashitaka the Liaison. And, it's a thankless job. All he wants is for everyone to get along. Is that too much to ask? The humans are acting beastly and the animal gods are acting all too human. To top it off, Ashitaka is having troubles of his own. His cursed arm keeps getting in the way of his negotiation skills and the girl he is falling for thinks she's a wolf.

Thanks Ideathy for a super recommendation! I'm still visualizing the costumes and creatures.

All in all, this reminds me of the complexity of our journey and the people we come in contact with. Are we treading lightly and taking the time to comprehend others' perspectives? 

Little Dieter Needs to Fly

(Werner Herzog voiceover)  Men are often haunted by things that happen to them in life, especially in war or other periods of great intensity. Sometimes you see these men walking the streets or driving in their car. Their lives seem to be normal, but they are not.
 
From that beginning point on, I watched with great interest to see how Dieter Dengler, a man who put on the face of normalcy, lived and coped in a post traumatic world. I was interested because not everyone is able to put on that face.  From opening and shutting doors, storing long term provisions, to building his home high on a hill with walls of windows, Dengler’s coping skills were impressive.

Herzog had Dengler travel back to Laos, where he had been shot down, and staged some reenactments. Even though they were wooden and the men looked uncomfortable in their roles, it brought about one of the most moving moments in the film. 

(Spoiler alert) When a man became troubled while Dengler conveyed an especially harrowing moment, Dengler stopped, put his arm around him and said “It’s just a movie, don’t worry about it. You still have your finger.” (end spoiler)

Tactility inter-played throughout the film. Dengler comforted the cast, touched the tools and buildings, and explored the jungle. He explained that while the monsoons had raged he and Duane would hold each other for “warmth and friendship in this misery.”  My mind wandered back to a moment when I had met two Vietnam Veterans at a concert. I had brought my Vietnamese twin toddlers and the men asked if they could pick them up. They held the children and talked to them and cried. I had stepped away to give them some space, so I don’t know the words that were spoken. Even if only a little, they had found a tangible way to heal. Did the documentary do the same for Dengler?

Herzog gets out of the way just enough to allow Dengler to tell the story in his own redemptive way. But Herzog is there, in voice, in musical choices, in contextual connections and the prolonged ending shot.  Knowing it was the end, I wanted more—more details, more understanding, more time with Dengler. Perhaps Herzog had a similar reaction, motivating him to retell the story in a different format.
 
Side note:
The first time I heard of Dieter Dengler was when I was asked to help supplement the high school curriculum for a tribute band for veterans. My job was to compile a sample list of war movies for each of the major American wars (Boy, could I have used this forum!). When it came to the Vietnam War, I was stumped. Green Berets was not going to land on my list, but neither could I use anything aged above the students. Luckily I found Rescue Dawn and was able to submit my recommendations. I wanted to know the story after the story, so I put Little Dieter Needs to Fly in the queue. Well, other interests came and buried the documentary—until now.

A Life in the Theatre

A tale told in chiasmus, ending where it begins—bookended by the theater ghost light.

Two stars; one rising, one falling, “metaphorically” meet at the center--a scene in a cemetery.

There, Robert (Jack Lemmon), ponders a plaque. Fittingly, the same memorial lies in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon:

We counterfeited once for your disport
    Men’s joy and sorrow: but our day has passed.
We pray you pardon all where we fell short
    Seeing we were your servants to this last.
                                      Rudyard Kipling,
                                      Actors

The film is full of Mamet Speak, or should I say talk?

It’s just like Jack Lemmon to find humanity in such an insufferable character.