Plaint of Icarus

Lovers of prostitutes, in crowds,
Are sated and content and cheery,
But as for me, my arms are weary
Because I have embraced the clouds.

It is thanks to the peerless stars
That flame in the depth of the sky
My devoured eyes can now descry
Only the memories of suns.

In vain I had at heart to find
The centre and the end of space;
Beneath some burning, unknown gaze
My wings are crumbling bit by bit.

And burned because I beauty love,
I shall not know the highest bliss
And give my name to the abyss
Which waits to serve me as my tomb.

- Baudelaire in Flowers of Evil

Battle of Algiers

When I lived in Paris, I remember always being surprised by the lack of general or critical discussions on the issue of the France- Algeria conflict. I remember asking an Algerian about this and if there was any public debate in his country. He argued "In France they are afraid of destroying the Douce France pictures the world has and in Algeria we are afraid of bringing back the Tead".

As I am not compelled to protect France's culture nor obliged to take Algeria's grief in consideration, I would like to give you La Battaglia di Algeri (Battle of Algiers) (1966). I reckon it to be well worth of your time, as it is by far the best movie ever made on the subject and argued to be one of the best films ever made.

Plot: La Battaglia di Algeri show the Algerian revolution from both sides. The French foreign legion has left Vietnam in defeat and has something to prove. The Algerians are seeking independence. The two clash. The torture used by the French is contrasted with the Algerian's use of bombs in soda shops. A look at war as a nasty thing that harms and sullies everyone who participates in it.

Really astonishing, mark my words

Zappa

As for entertainment... a virtuous musician no need for introduction as his name is Zappa!

The documentary is about 50 minutes, with some Dutch (yes that insignificant language spoken only in the shire in the Lord of the Rings) through it.

Enjoy!

Kissinger: Cyprus, Turkish, Greek issue

I was pointed out that the documentary below did not include Kissinger's dubious role in the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey on July 20, 1974. I must admit that I am not fully aware of Kissinger's role in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, though I hope that the following sheds more light on the issue and his role.

After the Turkish coup, Kissinger’s actions proved his complicity in the coup and invasion. First, he refused to denounce the coup while Great Britain and most (if not all) of the world’s democracies, denounced it.

If Kissinger had denounced the coup, it is assumed that the Greek junta would have fallen and the crisis ended. However, Kissinger wanted to oust Makarios (first President of the Republic of Cyprus). Moreover, Kissinger directed the US ambassador to the UN to postpone the July 15 1974 emergency UN Security Council session on Cyprus, to July 19 1974. This gave Turkey time to prepare to invade Cyprus.

In fact it has been argued that he, actually told the New York Times on Wednesday July 17, 1974 that the State Department was leaning towards Sampson, whom the coup leaders installed as President of Cyprus, over Makarios. This gave the Turks an excuse to invade, as they opposed Sampson.

Hope this was not too far from general opinion of what has actually happened in Cyprus, if it does - go ahead and nail me down in the comments!

There is a pretty good book out there for who wants to know more. It would also be good to counterbalance and get a Turkish stance on this.

Kissinger, "hero or scum?"

Today? Today we go political, in fact we will question the servings of a man considered as one of the highlights in American foreign political success (of which there are not so many recently). No, I am not talking about Bush (naturally), but about the driving force of many current and historic decision making in American politics. Yes, in fact I am talking about Henry Kissinger. For those that unfamiliar with his name and reputation - get more information here (official Nobel Prize Winner's site), here (Britannica) or here (Wiki).

This little known, but very critically stimulating, documentary shows Henry's other side. His role involvement in America's secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969, the approval of Indonesia's genocidal assault on East Timor in 1975, the assassination of a Chilean general in 1970, and his involvement in the 1969 Paris peace talks concerning the Vietnam Conflict. In other words, a must-see for all those considering themselves critical.

Plot: Part contemporary investigation and part historical inquiry, documentary follows the quest of one journalist in search of justice. The film focuses on Christopher Hitchens' charges against Henry Kissinger as a war criminal - allegations documented in Hitchens' book of the same title - based on his role in countries such as Cambodia, Chile, and Indonesia. Kissinger's story raises profound questions about American foreign policy and highlights a new era of human rights. Increasing evidence about one man's role in a long history of human rights abuses leads to a critical examination of American diplomacy through the lens of international standards of justice.

The Trials of Henry Kissinger (2002) - give the documentary some time to load

Stalker, the making of

Stalker was made under very harsh conditions. The movie was actually shot twice, as the first tape got, "mysteriously enough", lots... Moreover, the crew was shooting near Tallinn in the area around the small river Pirita with a half-functioning hydroelectric station. Up the river was a chemical plant, which poured out poisonous liquids downstream. There is even this shot in Stalker: snow falling in the summer and white foam floating down the river. In fact the last surviving member of the crew said it was some horrible poison. Many women in our crew got allergic reactions on their faces. Tarkovsky (the Russian director) died from cancer of the right bronchial tube.

It is suspected that the 1957 accident in the Mayak nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, which resulted in a several thousand square kilometer deserted "zone" outside the reactor, may have influenced this film. Seven years after the making of the film, the Chernobyl accident completed the circle. In fact, those employed to take care of the abandoned nuclear power plant refer to themselves as "stalkers", and to the area around the damaged reactor as the "Zone.

Some photos taken during the shootings

The crew and actors
Tarkovsky and one of Kaidanovsky (one of the leading actors)
Tarkovsky giving instructions

Stalker

Staying in tune with post modernist/ structuralist thoughts earlier, I found a movie that quite fits the occasion. I have seen a lot of movies, some meaningless, some interesting, boring, shocking, etc., but this one is very special and definitely in my top 5 list. I am talking about Tarkovsky's Stalker.

Plot in a couple of words (though there is much more...): Near a gray and unnamed Russian city is the Zone, an alien place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers. Over his wife's numerous objections, a man rises in the Tead of night: he's a stalker, one of a handful who have the mental gifts (and who risk imprisonment) to lead people into the Zone to the Room, a place where one's secret hopes come true. That night, he takes two people into the Zone: a popular writer who is burned out, cynical, and questioning his genius; and a quiet scientist more concerned about his knapsack than the journey.

The Room is a place that means different things to the people who journey there, and the stark, ravished landscape they must journey through consists of the phobias and anxieties that they can hardly bear to face. The expedition the men experience is a long and often maddening one, and there are many scenes where the camera lingers on a beautifully composed shot so that the viewer can take time to understand how the characters fit into the settings and how those settings form both natural and supernatural obstacles.

Dont mind the long opening scene, as a true gem is about to be seen

Pasolini

I am a great admirer of Pasolini (poet, director, writer and perhaps a philosopher). He was both feared and loved; he knew fame and notoriety and was controversial for his blasphemy and stance towards Marxism, homosuexuality among many other things. In fact, you might call him a hero.

I chose this documentary (sorry in Italian, but its easy to understand) and this post (together with the previous one) to bring to light how important it is to mentally liberate yourself from all that happens around you. I believe that Pasolini has tried to do this all his life and that, that attributed to his most apparent enlightenment (even now, 32 years after his edath).

I'm Glad

(English)

In the roughness of Saturday night
I'm glad to watch people
outside laughing in the open air.


My heart also is made of air
my eyes reflect the joy of the people
and in my hair shines Saturday night.


Young man, I'm glad with my miserly
Saturday night, I'm happy with people
I am alive, I am happy with the air.


I am used to the evil of Saturday night.

-------------------------------------------------

(Friulian Dialect)

Ta la sera ruda di Sàbida
mi contenti di jodi la int
fôr di ciasa ch'a rit ta l'aria.

Encia il me côr al è di aria
e tai me vuj a rit la int
e tai me ris a è lus di Sàbida.


Zòvin, i mi contenti dal Sàbida,
puòr, i mi contenti da la int,
vif, i mi contenti da l'aria.


I soj usât al mal dal Sàbida.

- P.P. Pasolini

David Harvey

People that are into Marxism, have the highest appreciation for him. People that consider themselves post-modernists or post structuralists disfavour him for his critique in " The Condition of Modernity". Finally, economic liberals fear him for his critical analysis of our present neo liberal political economic climate. I am talking of course about David Harvey.

For especially those unfamiliar with him, but also those that did indeed hear of him, I reckon it is well worth spending a couple of minutes listening to his account in "A brief history of Neo Liberalism".

Opinion or comment? Drop them in the comment box!

Part I


Part II


Part III


Part IV


Part V

Zombie Movie

Sorry for not posting yesterday - try to make it up posting a bit more than normal, today.

First off, Zombie stuff (story, but I really like them!). The one below is only 15 minutes long and it gave me a good slapstick laugh.

Enjoy Zombie Movie (15 minutes, which you have to give some time to load)

Begotten

Ever heard of "Elias Merhige"? If not, then you are in for a ride... Prepare for some controversial art- nouveau images, because I selected one of his flicks... "Begotten".

Before I am going to give you Begotten check out this clip of a more commercial movie he made not so long ago - "Shadow of the Vampire". It looks really nice, is short (about a minute or so), but breathes Nosferatu (I really liked the atmosphere and the expression of the vampire in the fragment, hope you do too!)


Than there is Begotten

Plot: "God disembowels himself with a straight razor. The spirit-like Mother Earth emerges, venturing into a bleak, barren landscape. Twitching and cowering, the Son Of Earth is set upon by faceless cannibals".

Weird? The movie has no traditional storyline and no dialogue; visually, the film looks as though it has been stressed into high contrast; and the characters, such as they are, were credited as “God Killing Himself” and “Mother Earth.”

An acclaimed and controversial film that is a visual poem about metaphysics, Creation, the Teath of God, and the birth of nature. Filmed in deep, rich black and white, this film has continually caused divisions among those that see it.

Enjoy?

Postmodernist Witches

I started a new job today, nothing big just earning some money to eat more than just noodles with salt and pepper. The job is not that interesting, I mean pretty straightforward market research BS. Its about interviewing small and medium sized Dutch enterprises and their interest in "Managed Voice and Data Appliances" (in regular English that is phone and Internet!). The only reason for the company hiring a quasi Marxist and semi postmodernist (i.e. me) is because I speak that unspeakable language.... DUTCH!

Anyways, I am concurrently studying my butt off at uni. I started today on a postmodern perspective of money and the financial domain. Don't worry, I will not bore you with all kinds of post structuralist, historically discontinuous analysis of what normal people refer to as "CASH"! However, I do want to stay with postmodernism, in a very different matter though, namely.... through witches!

I came across of this documentary, made in 1922, which is about....

Plot: the history of witchcraft, told in a variety of styles, from illustrated sideshow to dramatised events of alleged real-life events, right up to the early twentieth century (when the film was made). Fans of "The Blair Witch Project" should take notice, especially considering that the Danish title of this film is "Haxan", also the name of the movie company that created "Blair Witch".

Häxan (allow the movie some time to load)


Note: "Yes, yes I will continue my hitchhiking stories soon enough!"

Nuclear stuff

Sorry for the short break in posting, but academic life is busy at the moment. I am currently doubting whether I should go for a Postmodern or Marxist perspective for my China-Globalisation analysis. Help!

Anyways. Studying at the political and international relations Department, allows you also to come across people that are in "security studies" - things like nuclear weaponry, wars and all that kind of "stuff". Sometimes it is possible to have really engaging conversations and other times they can be absolutely disappointing. However, such studies are nevertheless be important for political policymakers to gain permission to invade perilous countries (not calling any names) and devastate economies, cultural life and kill a few here and there. Of course, I know, I know, not all is so black and white!

Anyways (once again), a movie that discusses such important issues - By Dawns Early Light

Plot The crew of a nuclear bomber attack the Soviet Union while the President of the United States tries desperately to regain control of his military after his helicopter crashes during a limited nuclear exchange in this film with a scenario similar to Dr. Strangelove. Originally a made for cable movie, it concentrates on the relationship between a veteran pilot and his female co-pilot and the president's attempt to wrest control away from a war-mongering successor.

Chess fever - Shakhmatnaya Goryachka

I love Chess and I love this movie (even though I can`t read Cyrillic). For those really into chess; the great Capablanca stars in "Chess Fever" of "Shakhmatnaya Goryachka" (1925). Enjoy!

Plot: With an international chess tournament in progress, a young man becomes completely obsessed with the game. His fiancee has no interest in it, and becomes frustrated and depressed by his neglect of her, but wherever she goes she finds that she cannot escape chess. On the brink of giving up, she meets the world champion, Capablanca himself, with interesting results.

Allow the movie some time to load

Bob Dylan

After some poetry, some more poetry, but this time in a more visual from. I am a real fan of Bob Dylan, but I understand that you really have to be a big fan to appreciate "Eat the Document".

Plot: The documentary is about a Dylan tour made by a camera held in a very shaky hand. The film is about Dylan's tumultuous and historic 1966 tour of Europe with the Band - the one where he was roundly booed and reviled for "going electric" (and from which the recently released "Royal Albert Hall" album was taken). The legendary nature of these shows alone makes it worth having a document of them. Dylan himself re-edited this movie (it was originally a straightforward concert film intended to be shown on ABC-TV) into a bizarre mish-mash of music, surrealism and cinema verite vignettes of Dylan and his companions' offstage antics.

Enjoy!

Beacons

Rubens, garden of idleness watered by oblivion,
Where quick flesh pillows the impotence of dreams,
Where life's affluence writhes in eddying abandon
Like air in the air, or water in streams.

Leonardo da Vinci, deep mirror of darkness,
Where angels appear, their smiles charged with mystery
And tenderness, within the shadowy enclosures
Of pines and glaciers that shut in their country.

Rembrandt, tragic hospital re-echoing round a sigh;
A tall crucifix for only ornament
Traversed obliquely by a single wintry ray
Through which prayers rise, exhaling from excrement.

Michelangelo, no man's land where Hercules and Christ
Are at one; where powerful phantoms in crowds
Erect themselves deliberately in darkening twilights,
With pressed, rigid fingers ripping open their shrouds.

Rage of the wrestler, impudence of the faun;
Puget the convict's melancholy emperor,
Caging the lion's pride in a weak, jaundiced man,
Deducing beauty from crime, vice and terror.

Watteau, carnival where many a distinguished soul
Flutters like a moth, lost in the brilliance
Of chandeliers shedding frivolity on the cool
Clear decors enclosing the changes of the dance.

Goya, nightmare compact of things incredible:
Foetuses fried for a witch's sabbath feast;
An old woman at a mirror, a little naked girl
Lowering an artful stocking to tempt a devil's lust.

Delacroix, blood lake haunted by evil angels
In the permanent green darkness of a forest of firs,
Where under a stricken sky a muffled sigh fills
The air like a faintly echoed fanfare of Weber's.

Such, O Lord, are the maledictions, the tears,
The ecstasies, the blasphemies, the cries of Te Deum
Re-echoing along labyrinthine corridors:
A dream for mortal hearts distilled from divine opium,

The watchword reiterated by sentinels
A thousand times, the message whispered from post to post,
A beacon burning on a thousand citadels,
A call of all the hunters lost in the great forest.

For is this not indeed, O Lord, the best witness
That our dignity can render to Your pity,
This tide of tears which age after age gathers
To fail and fall on the shore of Your eternity?

- Charles Baudelaire

(Not quite) religious poetry

But now when I gaze
at the framed postcard
of Ganesh on the wall,
I also picture a rotting carcass
of a beheaded elephant
lying crumpled up
on its side, covered with bird shit
vulture shit -

Oh that elephant
whose head survived
for Ganesh -

He died, of course, but the others
in his herd, the hundreds
in his family must have found him.
They stared at him for hours
with their slow swaying sadness...
How they turned and turned
in a circle, with their trunks
facing outwards and then inwards
towards the headless one.

That is a dance
a group dance
no one talks about.

- Sujata Bhatt, from 'What Happened to the Elephant?'

Hitchcock

Tonight some suspense, some Hitchcock. Let's start off with Perfect Crime (1957).

Plot: An arrogant detective, Charles Courtney, prides himself on never having committed a single mistake in his long and distinguished career. He keeps a shelf of labeled mementos from each of his cases. On the shelf there is an open space and a blank tag for what Courtney calls "The Perfect Crime". One day a defense lawyer stuns Courtney when he confronts him with evidence that the detective helped convict an innocent man who has since been executed. Courtney kiills the lawyer, bakes him in a pottery kiln, and places the vase in the open space on his shelf as a memento to his perfect crime



And the Gentleman Caller (1964), personally introduced by Mr. Hitchcock himself

Plot: Gerald Musgrove shoots and kiills a night watchman while stealing $100,000 from a bank. On the street nearby, while eluding police, he meets elderly Emmy Rice, and befriends her. Since he is on parole, he must launder the loot, so he stows it in some of Emmy's old magazines. Gerald then prods impoverished Emmy into writing a will, awarding all money found in her apartment to himself. He tries to muerder Emmy three times, but she survives, and arranges for the arrest of Milly Musgrove for attempting to gas her to daeth. Gerald is apprehended too, when he realizes that Emmy gave all her magazines to a junk collector, and blurts admissions of guilt. Emmy, however, kept one magazine in cold storage, containing all of the purloined bills

Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!

Of course, I would not dare to let you suffer without a good movie tonight. Therefore, I found this good old flick, which inspired Tarantino himself. I am talking about "Faster Pussycat Kil Kill!".

Superwomen! Belted, buckled and booted!

The Plot: Three strippers seeking thrills encounter a young couple in the desert. After dispatching the boyfriend, they take the girl hostage and begin scheming on a crippled old man living with his two sons in the desert, reputedly hiding a tidy sum of cash. They become houseguests of the old man and try and seduce the sons in an attempt to locate the money, not realizing that the old man has a few sinister intentions of his own.

Movie Stills

Movie (please allow it some time to load, depending on your own internet speed)

Come back - Leamington Spa

I am sorry about the short blogging pause, but I finally moved to England! I found a cheap, dodgy place in Leamington, which is actually a very small, pretty town close to Coventry and Warwick. I just had my first meeting with my PhD supervisor, which went ok (I think).

I don`t have a student card yet, neither do I have a bank card, nor Internet at home (hot water either...). In other words, I am busy organising everything, on top I also need to find a job or I can forget about staying here for more than a couple of months!

Anyways, some pictures of (the nicer parts) of Leamington Spa!

Next time I hope to have made some pictures myself, cos these are all from the Net and don`t do the town justice...

Howl's Moving Castle

I love Miyazaki's movies! Who? Miyazaki, the guy that directed Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking animation in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan. I am going to give you Howl's Moving Castle tonight :)

A love story between an 18-year-old girl named Sofî, cursed by a witch into an old woman's body, and a magician named Hauru. Under the curse, Sofî sets out to seek her fortune, which takes her to Hauru's strange moving castle. In the castle, Sophie meets Hauru's fire demon, named Karishifâ. Seeing that she is under a curse, the demon makes a deal with Sophie--if she breaks the contract he is under with Hauru, then Karushifâ will lift the curse that Sophie is under, and she will return to her 18-year-old shape.

Enjoy (give the movie some time to load)

Roshomon

Akira Kurosawa's Roshomon (1950) is considered to be one of the best movies ever made. It certainly is a historic masterpiece, produced with both philosophical and psychological overtones.

In 12th century Japan, a samurai and his wife are attacked by the notorious bandit Tajomaru, and the samurai ends up Tead. Tajomaru is captured shortly afterward and is put on trial, but his story and the wife's are so completely different that a psychic is brought in to allow the murdered man to give his own testimony. He tells yet another completely different story. Finally, a woodcutter who found the body reveals that he saw the whole thing, and his version is again completely different from the others

Enjoy history! (give the movie some time to load)

Thanks Josh

Yesterday I received a great gift from one of my friends in Paris. Thanks a lot Josh for the big donation you gave me, you really suprised me!

Godard

After Pink Floyd there is Godard...

This is Godard's documentation of late 1960's western counter-culture, examining the Black Panthers, the role of the media, the mediated image, A growing technocratic society, Womens Liberation, the May revolt in France and the power of language. Cutting between 3 major scenes, including the Rolling Stones in the studio, the film is visually intercut with Eve Democracy (Wiazemsky) using graffiti which amalgamates organisations, corporations and ideologies. Godard also examines the role of the revolutionary within western culture. Although he believes western culture needs to be destroyed, it can only be done so by the rejection of intellectualisation.

"There is only one way to be an intellectual revolutionary, and that is to give up being an intellectual"

Sympathy for the Devil


More Godard?

Alphaville is an attack on the syndrome of Science Fiction films full of flash and color but devoid of ideas. An excessively weird although constantly engaging futuristic film, there is plenty to enjoy in it, even though might sometimes a bit hard to understand. Godard makes brilliant use of shadows and lighting to set up a scary atmosphere, and negative images are used effectively throughout to create a sense of awe and provide a feeling of a foreign environment. The sets are very creative, taken from existing buildings in France, and the music used throughout the film fits in delightfully.

Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution

Pink Floyd

The lightning system. The songs. The sound.... A band that decides to hide beneath the complex riggings and supports (what a welcome relief!). Perfection, indeed. This is the best concert video footage I've ever seen in my life. The moment I saw it I could not stop watching it (it was too late at night, and I wanted to get some sleep) for all the right reasons.

Suffice to say, I don't think I'll ever see a concert as incredible as that one. The moment when they play the encores (Wish you were here / Comfortably Numb / Run like Hell) qualifies as the stuff dreams are made of. Laser lights, explosions, a huge rose hanging from the ceiling with a disco ball inside, huge reflectors onstage, a dancing circular screen, a dancing light stage, lights at the bottom flashing messages and to the music... I couldn't have imagined a more complex light show. Or better tunes. Or better playing.

Pink Floyd Live at Earls Court (1994)

Free Burma

I have decided to pause my blog activities for one day out of solidarity for the People of Burma.

Please support this worldwide effort and sign the petition here.

Free Burma

The World's Hypocrisy

Fucking Åmål

I will not be posting anything tomorrow, because of this. So, I decided to give you some extra material to keep you busy!

Plot: Fucking Åmål is a rather controversial, but I remember how much I liked it when it came out.

Åmål is a small insignificant town where nothing ever happens, where the latest trends are out of date when they get there. Young Elin has a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to guys, but the fact is that she has never done *it*. Another girl in her school, Agnes, is in love with her but is too shy to do anything about it. For different reasons, Elin ends up at Agnes' birthday party as the only guest. They have a girl's night out together but after that Elin desperately avoids Agnes, refusing to even consider her own homosexuality

Lilya 4 EVER

Today a lesser known Russian movie, how much I love those!

Plot Lilja (Oksana Akinshina) lives in the former Soviet Union and sixteen year old Lilja is very happy, because her mother is moving to the USA with her boyfriend. However, Lilja is left alone, without money or family in a very poor apartment. She spends her time with her only friend, the rejected boy Volodya (Artyom Bogucharsky). Lilja begins to prostitute in a nightclub to survive, and she meets a young man, Andrei (Pavel Ponomaryov), who seduces her and invites Lilja to move with him to Sweden with a promise of a job and lodging. When she arrives in Sweden, reality is not exactly as dreamed.

Lilya 4 EVER

Pan's Labyrinth

To satify your hunger for more, I present you today a pretty movie which just missed the Oscar it actually deserved.

In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

"A dark, brutal fairytale, chillingly set in the real world but full of hope and warmth"

"El Laberinto Del Fauno" or in plain English "Pan's Labyrinth"

Thank you Google!

Revolutionary Ideas

I am sorry not to post so much lately, I have been incredible busy working and updating my other blog with relevant information on the current Burma crises. I think it is more important to update the world with relevant information from a country that suffers from repression than updating a poor student's blog.

However, I reckon that the following movie is very suitable for my mood at the moment. I hope you appreciate it and if you want to thank, thank Google!

I hope to be able to post better messages soon again!