Another twenty four hours when it could appear that all I have done is watched films, the experience of life of others artificially created. Sometimes I do feel that my life is like that even when I am not watching a film.
Yesterday, that is Christmas Day, the film was about an old man old man who had fought in World War II and encountered another old man, and they were able to share the nature of the horror they had experienced which cannot be shared with anyone else who has not experienced the shock and the horror of war. At least now there is now excuse for anyone not knowing this and at least there are indications that the new Western armies are not treating the lives of their colleagues so cheaply as was done throughout almost the whole of the twentieth century. This man has also known what it is to bury a wife and to share with her the loss of children childhood and the loss of children when they grow up and leave home, or just grow up and become themselves. In his instance he had the attention and interest of a daughter who was slow but knew how to run a home and because she was slow and three children when of these died in an accident while not in her care, the other two were taken into care and the old man and to love with the grief which he knew his daughter felt. The old man had a brother with whom they had been close and spent the summer nights together talking under the stars making the most of things before the harsh winter months returned to dominate their existence, and then in later life as they approached old age brothers being brothers they fell out and did to communicate for a period of ten years. And then the old man learnt that on top of his difficulty in walking and picking things up from the floor he had to change his ways, including the smoking of cigars which had become his one joy in life although he had given up the alcoholic drink. And so he decides it is time to make peace with his brother who lives just over the border of the state across the Mississippi river but also involves a trek across his home state and this poses a problem because his poor sight means he can no longer drive a car on the road and he cannot bear being driven by others for long distance so what does he do?
He attempts to make the journey on his ancient lawn mower, pulling a makeshift camper which comprises a coffin type box to sleep in, on top of other boxes for food, clothes, tools and his walking sticks. Of course he does not get very far when the vehicle breaks down beyond repair and he has to return just like home made boats which attempt to cross oceans and home made planes that jumped of cliffs in order to try and fly like the birds, so what did he do, he uses his savings to buy another second hand lawnmower up to the task of driving at five miles an hour up and down hills for six weeks. This is the Straight Story made in 1999 and directed by David Lynch and based on the feat of Alvin Straight. It is the kind of film which the majority of today's film going generation will find boring, where is the action man? Or the sex?
A similar kind of stubborn determination to finish a task is the subject of the Tom Hanks 2004 starring film The Terminal. However because it is Tom Hanks and there is a romantic interest with the delicious Catherine Zeta Jones many more of twentieth century film goers will have enjoyed this tale of another stubborn man who decides try and fulfil a simple forty year ambition of his recently deceased father, involving a trip from his homeland to the United State and New York and when the task could be completed with moments of locating the whereabouts of one individual. Unfortunately he is not given an entry permit and then finds that his [passport is no longer valid because of civil war back home and he is imprisoned in the JFK airport for month upon month. In this instance the film does not claim to have been based on a true situation which went on for years when an Iranian was required to live at the Paris airport Charles De Gaulle, not for months but for years because his refugee status papers were stolen while in transit, and in fact trhere has been film with a similar story line called Lost in Transit. In this film there are several stretches of the incredulity but the film has the kind of charm and sensitivity of experience that can be expected from Steven Speilberg and while the man completes his mission he does not get the girl, who although she knows her own problem and its solution knows that only one person can break down the walls and release her from the chains, and he does not wish to do so while she remains the delicious woman that she is. The film is harmless entertainment which leaves one feeling good about human beings who will do the right thing when push comes to shove.
The reality of us was not long acoming, first with the second of the Clint Eastward's two films about the taking of the Japanese island rock of Iwo Jima. The first in Japanese provided their viewpoint as to how they fought and died and was based on the discovery years later of a stack of letters written home, but which had become unintentionally hidden.
The second film Flags of our Fathers focussed on the reality of the battle which last thirty five days and the truth of what happened when a handful of men, six, raised the USA flag on a hill overlooking the bay where the vast force has disembarked from the vast navel fleet. The first was a spontaneous gesture which inspired a nature which longed for a meaningful victory over an enemy which had inflicted Pearl Harbour and which occurred only five days into the battle, during which three of the six died. When a fight arose over the ownership of the flag and the need for some permanent record a second flag raising episode was created with a new flag. Thousands of men lost their lives or were maimed for life by the battle and those who raised the original flag while the battle raged as well as those who repeated the venture under order were not heroes because of this action, but were heroes for being part of the force which won the battle against a well defended and organised Japanese force who knew they would lose and die but wanted to do their duty and forestall the US advance for as long as they could.
James Bradley grew up without his father ever talking about what he did in the war or revealing that he was the one naval person seen in the photograph which has become the symbol of American heroism and victory. It was only after the death of his father that he discovered the story and that his father had received the naval cross for valour. He decided to find out about the five other men and the battle.
The Island was of strategic importance in terms of its navel and airbase facilities for both sides and as stated on the fifth day the flag was erected on Mount Suribachi and the Naval Secretary of State, a politician knowing the significance of the action requested that the flag be sent to him as a souvenir and the six men who put up the photographed replacement became the heroes especially when three died in the subsequent fighting without knowing anything of the popularity of the action. Bradley's father has been responsible for arranging for the corpses to be brought home and therefore he quickly learnt how bodies are mutilated war, and in particularly the tortured body of his best friend. By not talking about the experience he was able to marry his grade school girlfriend and become a prosperous undertaker raising a normal family as part of a local community. The film is concerned about how the three survivors were used on their return home to persuade the public to invest in War Bonds. One was a native American Indian who was the subject of segregation and abuse along with the black Americans , while the other was never provided with work opportunities offered when he was today's news worthy man. Controversy also centred over the identity of the sixth soldier with parents only subsequently learning who he was and whom he was not. The film provides universal truths about the nature of war and wartime and its aftermath. The men, and now the men and the woman are required to perform a role and are honoured if they die. The treatment of those who are maimed physically and mentally has remained questionable, because the general public want to forget the reality and subsequently generations do not want to know, and those who did the fighting and he surviving do not want them to know.
The fourth film was at the depressing end of the reality of human nature. The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. For the most part it was unbearable Boxing day viewing with perhaps only one of the adults surviving the tale with any integrity or honour. At the core of the story is the willingness of most adults to exploit children, including their own, and the willingness of children to try and do what their parents want, irrespective of how they are treated. Now we like to think this was only a situation during the 19th century and not something which was carried on in varying degrees throughout the twentieth. Unsurprisingly the behaviour of the adults to each other was no better.
I spent the morning listening to radio Gibraltar who covered the Boxing Day swim organised by the Caletta hotel and given the size of the Gibraltarian population the reported numbers were commendable comparing favourably with the 1000 fancy dressed mostly young people who participate in the swim organised by Sunderland Lions at my former home beach of Whitburn sands at Seaburn. A number of prizes were on offer for anyone who answered one of three questions which included the name of the Sunderland football manager who would be shaking the hand of Sur Alex Ferguson at the Stadium of Light. On my 2004 visit to Gibraltar I had had lunch a couple of times at the Man U supporting club close to the former church of my mother and father as well as visiting the Toon on the Rock a grander pub given over to Newcastle United. Part of my email was read out including my prediction that Sir Alex would be the disappointed man at the handshake. Later in response to a request from the programme presenter I gave a more honest assessment anticipating that we might lo a couple of early goals and then fight back during the second half. This proved to be the case although we gave away a third before half time and were never able to master their defence, giving away a fourth and only escaping a home humiliation by good luck and one suspects Man U staying in second or third gear for the greater part of the game. The gulf between the two teams was evident and it is evident the pack will have to be significantly shuffled in January if an immediate return to the Championship is to be avoided. The match of the day was at Chelsea where Aston Villa nearly brought off, and some will say should have brought off the first home defeat in the Premiership for close on four years after going 2,0 up at half time but overall the 4.4 draw was a fair result with Chelsea down to 9 men and the Villa to 10 by the end of the game.
Yesterday, that is Christmas Day, the film was about an old man old man who had fought in World War II and encountered another old man, and they were able to share the nature of the horror they had experienced which cannot be shared with anyone else who has not experienced the shock and the horror of war. At least now there is now excuse for anyone not knowing this and at least there are indications that the new Western armies are not treating the lives of their colleagues so cheaply as was done throughout almost the whole of the twentieth century. This man has also known what it is to bury a wife and to share with her the loss of children childhood and the loss of children when they grow up and leave home, or just grow up and become themselves. In his instance he had the attention and interest of a daughter who was slow but knew how to run a home and because she was slow and three children when of these died in an accident while not in her care, the other two were taken into care and the old man and to love with the grief which he knew his daughter felt. The old man had a brother with whom they had been close and spent the summer nights together talking under the stars making the most of things before the harsh winter months returned to dominate their existence, and then in later life as they approached old age brothers being brothers they fell out and did to communicate for a period of ten years. And then the old man learnt that on top of his difficulty in walking and picking things up from the floor he had to change his ways, including the smoking of cigars which had become his one joy in life although he had given up the alcoholic drink. And so he decides it is time to make peace with his brother who lives just over the border of the state across the Mississippi river but also involves a trek across his home state and this poses a problem because his poor sight means he can no longer drive a car on the road and he cannot bear being driven by others for long distance so what does he do?
He attempts to make the journey on his ancient lawn mower, pulling a makeshift camper which comprises a coffin type box to sleep in, on top of other boxes for food, clothes, tools and his walking sticks. Of course he does not get very far when the vehicle breaks down beyond repair and he has to return just like home made boats which attempt to cross oceans and home made planes that jumped of cliffs in order to try and fly like the birds, so what did he do, he uses his savings to buy another second hand lawnmower up to the task of driving at five miles an hour up and down hills for six weeks. This is the Straight Story made in 1999 and directed by David Lynch and based on the feat of Alvin Straight. It is the kind of film which the majority of today's film going generation will find boring, where is the action man? Or the sex?
A similar kind of stubborn determination to finish a task is the subject of the Tom Hanks 2004 starring film The Terminal. However because it is Tom Hanks and there is a romantic interest with the delicious Catherine Zeta Jones many more of twentieth century film goers will have enjoyed this tale of another stubborn man who decides try and fulfil a simple forty year ambition of his recently deceased father, involving a trip from his homeland to the United State and New York and when the task could be completed with moments of locating the whereabouts of one individual. Unfortunately he is not given an entry permit and then finds that his [passport is no longer valid because of civil war back home and he is imprisoned in the JFK airport for month upon month. In this instance the film does not claim to have been based on a true situation which went on for years when an Iranian was required to live at the Paris airport Charles De Gaulle, not for months but for years because his refugee status papers were stolen while in transit, and in fact trhere has been film with a similar story line called Lost in Transit. In this film there are several stretches of the incredulity but the film has the kind of charm and sensitivity of experience that can be expected from Steven Speilberg and while the man completes his mission he does not get the girl, who although she knows her own problem and its solution knows that only one person can break down the walls and release her from the chains, and he does not wish to do so while she remains the delicious woman that she is. The film is harmless entertainment which leaves one feeling good about human beings who will do the right thing when push comes to shove.
The reality of us was not long acoming, first with the second of the Clint Eastward's two films about the taking of the Japanese island rock of Iwo Jima. The first in Japanese provided their viewpoint as to how they fought and died and was based on the discovery years later of a stack of letters written home, but which had become unintentionally hidden.
The second film Flags of our Fathers focussed on the reality of the battle which last thirty five days and the truth of what happened when a handful of men, six, raised the USA flag on a hill overlooking the bay where the vast force has disembarked from the vast navel fleet. The first was a spontaneous gesture which inspired a nature which longed for a meaningful victory over an enemy which had inflicted Pearl Harbour and which occurred only five days into the battle, during which three of the six died. When a fight arose over the ownership of the flag and the need for some permanent record a second flag raising episode was created with a new flag. Thousands of men lost their lives or were maimed for life by the battle and those who raised the original flag while the battle raged as well as those who repeated the venture under order were not heroes because of this action, but were heroes for being part of the force which won the battle against a well defended and organised Japanese force who knew they would lose and die but wanted to do their duty and forestall the US advance for as long as they could.
James Bradley grew up without his father ever talking about what he did in the war or revealing that he was the one naval person seen in the photograph which has become the symbol of American heroism and victory. It was only after the death of his father that he discovered the story and that his father had received the naval cross for valour. He decided to find out about the five other men and the battle.
The Island was of strategic importance in terms of its navel and airbase facilities for both sides and as stated on the fifth day the flag was erected on Mount Suribachi and the Naval Secretary of State, a politician knowing the significance of the action requested that the flag be sent to him as a souvenir and the six men who put up the photographed replacement became the heroes especially when three died in the subsequent fighting without knowing anything of the popularity of the action. Bradley's father has been responsible for arranging for the corpses to be brought home and therefore he quickly learnt how bodies are mutilated war, and in particularly the tortured body of his best friend. By not talking about the experience he was able to marry his grade school girlfriend and become a prosperous undertaker raising a normal family as part of a local community. The film is concerned about how the three survivors were used on their return home to persuade the public to invest in War Bonds. One was a native American Indian who was the subject of segregation and abuse along with the black Americans , while the other was never provided with work opportunities offered when he was today's news worthy man. Controversy also centred over the identity of the sixth soldier with parents only subsequently learning who he was and whom he was not. The film provides universal truths about the nature of war and wartime and its aftermath. The men, and now the men and the woman are required to perform a role and are honoured if they die. The treatment of those who are maimed physically and mentally has remained questionable, because the general public want to forget the reality and subsequently generations do not want to know, and those who did the fighting and he surviving do not want them to know.
The fourth film was at the depressing end of the reality of human nature. The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens. For the most part it was unbearable Boxing day viewing with perhaps only one of the adults surviving the tale with any integrity or honour. At the core of the story is the willingness of most adults to exploit children, including their own, and the willingness of children to try and do what their parents want, irrespective of how they are treated. Now we like to think this was only a situation during the 19th century and not something which was carried on in varying degrees throughout the twentieth. Unsurprisingly the behaviour of the adults to each other was no better.
I spent the morning listening to radio Gibraltar who covered the Boxing Day swim organised by the Caletta hotel and given the size of the Gibraltarian population the reported numbers were commendable comparing favourably with the 1000 fancy dressed mostly young people who participate in the swim organised by Sunderland Lions at my former home beach of Whitburn sands at Seaburn. A number of prizes were on offer for anyone who answered one of three questions which included the name of the Sunderland football manager who would be shaking the hand of Sur Alex Ferguson at the Stadium of Light. On my 2004 visit to Gibraltar I had had lunch a couple of times at the Man U supporting club close to the former church of my mother and father as well as visiting the Toon on the Rock a grander pub given over to Newcastle United. Part of my email was read out including my prediction that Sir Alex would be the disappointed man at the handshake. Later in response to a request from the programme presenter I gave a more honest assessment anticipating that we might lo a couple of early goals and then fight back during the second half. This proved to be the case although we gave away a third before half time and were never able to master their defence, giving away a fourth and only escaping a home humiliation by good luck and one suspects Man U staying in second or third gear for the greater part of the game. The gulf between the two teams was evident and it is evident the pack will have to be significantly shuffled in January if an immediate return to the Championship is to be avoided. The match of the day was at Chelsea where Aston Villa nearly brought off, and some will say should have brought off the first home defeat in the Premiership for close on four years after going 2,0 up at half time but overall the 4.4 draw was a fair result with Chelsea down to 9 men and the Villa to 10 by the end of the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment