Saturday, May 17, 2014

Rashomon

Seeing it for the third or fourth time over the years, it was revisiting a cherished and half forgotten place. It is a riveting drama that takes place on the stage of a glade hidden from the policing eyes of society, where primal human nature-lust, anger, greed, even goodness-have unrestrained play. It is a deep, timeless, human study.

Monday, May 12, 2014

The Weekend 2013

Old age is the best of times. The body may show wear and tear, but the mind is steadier, and the experience and learning of a lifetime can be relished and savored. There is little left to lose. As the population grays, it is natural that there are more and more movies about old folk. In this melancholy-sweet film, both are professors, married for thirty years, celebrating a brief expensive holiday. The film dissects the portrait of a particular marriage, thread baring the intimate details with some restraint. The woman is the dominant partner, and contempt vies with affection.. Steering skillfully through a sequence of non events, this melancholy picture of old age ends on a buoyant note, with the couple set on to confront life together. There is no such thing as getting to know a person, however many years one may have spent.

Friday, May 9, 2014

The Unknown Known

Errol Morris, 2014
A riveting documentary, worthy of its celebrated director. It is an interview with Rumsfeld,who was close to the helm of affairs from US side during the Middle East events in the first decade. Morris with great skill is able to snapshot from many angles the mental workings of this very intelligent decision maker, He is, of all things, a "dictionary addict", a person alive to the importance and power of words. We also learn the essential element of unpredictability of life, all calculation notwithstanding, which makes war, sport and even business, so endlessly fascinating. Another thing which appears is the absence of any significant ethical dimension in the thinking of even sophisticated intellectuals.