I can understand the characters who go on the road on their own and I have also taken my car to lands where I did not speak the language and into wild areas where it could have been a problem had the vehicle broken. There are wild places where traffic is intermittent even in England and at times of the day can be non existent. I once went hitchhiking on Boxing Day and there was little difficulty in getting a lift out of London and then a second lift where the driver said he was going only as far as a Midland town. My companion lived his life according to the strictest of beliefs and could not resist in explaining his Vegan principles which annoyed the driver greatly and we were asked to leave the vehicle in the middle of nowhere. My companion explained the cause of what had happened in that one entering the car he had sat on sporting gun.
We had then walk into the nearest town somewhere in the peak district of Derbyshire and although it was early evening around five there was little on the road, and local traffic ignored us. Eventually we arrived at the town late evening which was also deserted with no traffic and no one on the streets. It was 1960. We slept the night in our sleeping bags on the pavement of a bus shelter finding sleep difficult. At point we both heard what appeared to be a large vehicle getting underway so we rushed to where the sound was coming from and had we not both heard the vehicle we would have separately concluded it had been a wishful dream. Cold, still tired and hungry we set off with the dawn and we passed by a milk delivery vehicle. One of the small kind which we ignored but where the driver stopped and asked if we would like a lift, explaining that he would end up at a main road but had to make calls on the way which taking a couple of hours. He offered us some milk which my companion drank but which I had never liked and did not drink the third of pint issued at school. We then had a grand tour of isolated homes in attractive countryside and engaged in a great chat about everything. It was one of the great unplanned experiences of my life to that date and confirmed what I have always believed that the majority of people are remarkable individuals who do hard work, get on with the lives but strongly care about life and other human beings and will stretch out a hand if given the opportunity. When a few months later I had a the choice of going to prison for six months to make a point or accepting a good behaviour undertaking to stop further non violent protests it was people like the driver of the milk round that I was protesting for.
I thought of this last night when watching a road movie called Big River which the is name of a town in the USA although the action takes place in the desert with vivid images of isolation and desolation which governs the lives of the three characters who meet by chance. The first is a resident of Pakistan who not short of a bob or two who has married an American girl, possibly an arranged marriage, taken her back to Pakistan where she was expected to fit into his rigid way of life and where there had been no communication. Eventually he had driven her away back to America leaving her children. He is now travelling across the desert to find her and bring her home and his car breaks down. In the distance, he spots someone hiking across the same desert and attracts his attention, a young Japanese man wanting to explore the country on his way to New York. Fortunately the young man knows sufficient about cars to get it on its way and claims a lift and they continue until the petrol runs out. He sets off with five dollars to find a garage for petrol and on the long journey he sees a car off the road, radio on with keys in the ignition and apparently abandoned. He sits as the female owner returns after taking a nature break and after both recovering from the shock of the situation she agrees to take him to the nearest garage and then back to car, which does not start and requires attention so she gives both men a lift.
She likes to travel. All three find it difficult to communicate their true feelings thoughts and will be regarded as dysfunctional beings preoccupied with their own interests and priorities and making no contribution to society. However they also appear to be doing no harm, They share rented accommodation in a trailer park while the Pakistani man goes off to take his wife back home, but she has made a new life and has no intention of returning to her old one which he finds it difficult to accept. The Japanese young man and the American girl spend a night together and although there is a gulf in communication and cultural experiences she expresses the hope that they will do America together before making it to New York.
I knew someone briefly who shared a similar story where I had no reason to doubt its authenticity. She had travelled alone and not had a conversation with anyone for several days and had encountered a man of her own age also hitching across wild desert land in Europe. They had made love without verbal communication and gone on their way. This story was more likely to have been true than what happened in the film. The main point if this film is that the encounter of three such different characters with such different backgrounds are held together momentarily with the consequence that they are able to take decisions which fundamentally affect the rest of their lives. The man from Pakistan returns home appearing to accept responsibility for what happened in his marriage and we are left with the impression he will become a better parent and human being as a consequence. The young man from Japan is seen continuing on his exploration on foot as the young American woman takes off in her car, but he then throws of the backpack and runs after her, although we are left uncertain that she will look in her rear mirror or decided to stop as some point and turn round and go in search of him as she has done at one point, but are left with the view that he also has come to understand the importance of working at relationships if one wishes to fill part of the void which is within us all.
This was the second of two films watched last night after discovering new film channel on Sky which has appeared since my mini trip. It is called World Movies and is an Australian subscription channel. It is grouped with a couple of African subscription channels which also commenced with free view for a month and then converted so I assume this will become the situation with World Movies, so I intend to make the most of the of opportunity while I can, subject to other existing interests and commitments. Before Big River I watched Travelling Light an Australian movie set in Adelaide in the early sixties when Jack Kerouac was King, I have his novel On the Road and Lonesome Traveller as well as the Subterraneans and Maggie Cassidy, as well as his contributions to Protest, The Beat Generation from which I used to be able recite Howl by Allen Ginsberg. I also have the Beat Scene.
Travelling Light is an odd film as there does not appear to be a big message. It could be argued that this is a film about a dysfunctional family in terms of what was then considered a functional family, or it could be considered a film about caring people wanting to make something of their lives in a dysfunctional society. The family comprises a hard work dad with a wife who suffers from the inability to leave her home although she constantly makes serious and brave efforts to do so. Her father committed suicide something which conceals from her daughters until it is revealed by the grand daughter. One daughter suffers from irrational beliefs and understanding such as refrigerators are damaging to the health as well as too food, and is carted off for electric shock therapy at one point by a husband who appears to care but is unable to tune into the needs and fears of his partner, especially her fear of having children. The central character of the film is a younger daughter who is at teacher training college undertaking practical work placements but is only on the course because it brought parental approval when in fact she is a creative preferring to see life through a camera and yearning to go off to London and become an actress. She is impressed by the visiting American beat poet, who we discover was brought up in the same town and uses the material of others. Her friend works for an Australian commercial TV station and one feature of the film is the extent of control by commercial interests, and the fixing of competition, now weren't they corrupt in times past! The friend accepts an invitation from a gay co worker and then pulls out of the situation. The Beat poet is invited to perform in the live pre Christmas show but is removed when attempts to read a mild ant capitalist corporation diatribe which the young daughter seizes the opportunity to finish reading as a result of the ensuing chaos much to the amazement of her family. This acts frees her from the teaching training bond which appears to have tied her indefinitely to the something she does not want to do. The course did not want to sack her because this meant she would not have to repay the bond so she is made to retake the first year although the school practical work placement head and her course supervisor know she will never fit into the current system and approach to teaching. The act of reading the poem on live TV is the final straw and is sacked and freed from her bond so she is free to follow her dreams. This follows the advice of the beat poet who has explained how Kerouac or someone similar got himself of national service by being mad. I came across an advert for a another film or perhaps it was a TV drama where the argument was that in order to gain release from an Psychiatric institution you had first to admit and be considered to have accepted that you were psychiatrically ill, similar to gain parole from prison you have to admit you were guilty even if you were not. Last night on Any Questions a cross dressing contemporary artist expressed amazement on learning than some 800 bodies including some 400 local authorities have used powers originally established to tackle terrorism and crime syndicate to mount surveillance including internet and telephone surveillance on local people who have fallen foul of the local system and the local political leadership. What amazed me is that someone who describes themselves as a contemporary creative did not know this beforehand.
We had then walk into the nearest town somewhere in the peak district of Derbyshire and although it was early evening around five there was little on the road, and local traffic ignored us. Eventually we arrived at the town late evening which was also deserted with no traffic and no one on the streets. It was 1960. We slept the night in our sleeping bags on the pavement of a bus shelter finding sleep difficult. At point we both heard what appeared to be a large vehicle getting underway so we rushed to where the sound was coming from and had we not both heard the vehicle we would have separately concluded it had been a wishful dream. Cold, still tired and hungry we set off with the dawn and we passed by a milk delivery vehicle. One of the small kind which we ignored but where the driver stopped and asked if we would like a lift, explaining that he would end up at a main road but had to make calls on the way which taking a couple of hours. He offered us some milk which my companion drank but which I had never liked and did not drink the third of pint issued at school. We then had a grand tour of isolated homes in attractive countryside and engaged in a great chat about everything. It was one of the great unplanned experiences of my life to that date and confirmed what I have always believed that the majority of people are remarkable individuals who do hard work, get on with the lives but strongly care about life and other human beings and will stretch out a hand if given the opportunity. When a few months later I had a the choice of going to prison for six months to make a point or accepting a good behaviour undertaking to stop further non violent protests it was people like the driver of the milk round that I was protesting for.
I thought of this last night when watching a road movie called Big River which the is name of a town in the USA although the action takes place in the desert with vivid images of isolation and desolation which governs the lives of the three characters who meet by chance. The first is a resident of Pakistan who not short of a bob or two who has married an American girl, possibly an arranged marriage, taken her back to Pakistan where she was expected to fit into his rigid way of life and where there had been no communication. Eventually he had driven her away back to America leaving her children. He is now travelling across the desert to find her and bring her home and his car breaks down. In the distance, he spots someone hiking across the same desert and attracts his attention, a young Japanese man wanting to explore the country on his way to New York. Fortunately the young man knows sufficient about cars to get it on its way and claims a lift and they continue until the petrol runs out. He sets off with five dollars to find a garage for petrol and on the long journey he sees a car off the road, radio on with keys in the ignition and apparently abandoned. He sits as the female owner returns after taking a nature break and after both recovering from the shock of the situation she agrees to take him to the nearest garage and then back to car, which does not start and requires attention so she gives both men a lift.
She likes to travel. All three find it difficult to communicate their true feelings thoughts and will be regarded as dysfunctional beings preoccupied with their own interests and priorities and making no contribution to society. However they also appear to be doing no harm, They share rented accommodation in a trailer park while the Pakistani man goes off to take his wife back home, but she has made a new life and has no intention of returning to her old one which he finds it difficult to accept. The Japanese young man and the American girl spend a night together and although there is a gulf in communication and cultural experiences she expresses the hope that they will do America together before making it to New York.
I knew someone briefly who shared a similar story where I had no reason to doubt its authenticity. She had travelled alone and not had a conversation with anyone for several days and had encountered a man of her own age also hitching across wild desert land in Europe. They had made love without verbal communication and gone on their way. This story was more likely to have been true than what happened in the film. The main point if this film is that the encounter of three such different characters with such different backgrounds are held together momentarily with the consequence that they are able to take decisions which fundamentally affect the rest of their lives. The man from Pakistan returns home appearing to accept responsibility for what happened in his marriage and we are left with the impression he will become a better parent and human being as a consequence. The young man from Japan is seen continuing on his exploration on foot as the young American woman takes off in her car, but he then throws of the backpack and runs after her, although we are left uncertain that she will look in her rear mirror or decided to stop as some point and turn round and go in search of him as she has done at one point, but are left with the view that he also has come to understand the importance of working at relationships if one wishes to fill part of the void which is within us all.
This was the second of two films watched last night after discovering new film channel on Sky which has appeared since my mini trip. It is called World Movies and is an Australian subscription channel. It is grouped with a couple of African subscription channels which also commenced with free view for a month and then converted so I assume this will become the situation with World Movies, so I intend to make the most of the of opportunity while I can, subject to other existing interests and commitments. Before Big River I watched Travelling Light an Australian movie set in Adelaide in the early sixties when Jack Kerouac was King, I have his novel On the Road and Lonesome Traveller as well as the Subterraneans and Maggie Cassidy, as well as his contributions to Protest, The Beat Generation from which I used to be able recite Howl by Allen Ginsberg. I also have the Beat Scene.
Travelling Light is an odd film as there does not appear to be a big message. It could be argued that this is a film about a dysfunctional family in terms of what was then considered a functional family, or it could be considered a film about caring people wanting to make something of their lives in a dysfunctional society. The family comprises a hard work dad with a wife who suffers from the inability to leave her home although she constantly makes serious and brave efforts to do so. Her father committed suicide something which conceals from her daughters until it is revealed by the grand daughter. One daughter suffers from irrational beliefs and understanding such as refrigerators are damaging to the health as well as too food, and is carted off for electric shock therapy at one point by a husband who appears to care but is unable to tune into the needs and fears of his partner, especially her fear of having children. The central character of the film is a younger daughter who is at teacher training college undertaking practical work placements but is only on the course because it brought parental approval when in fact she is a creative preferring to see life through a camera and yearning to go off to London and become an actress. She is impressed by the visiting American beat poet, who we discover was brought up in the same town and uses the material of others. Her friend works for an Australian commercial TV station and one feature of the film is the extent of control by commercial interests, and the fixing of competition, now weren't they corrupt in times past! The friend accepts an invitation from a gay co worker and then pulls out of the situation. The Beat poet is invited to perform in the live pre Christmas show but is removed when attempts to read a mild ant capitalist corporation diatribe which the young daughter seizes the opportunity to finish reading as a result of the ensuing chaos much to the amazement of her family. This acts frees her from the teaching training bond which appears to have tied her indefinitely to the something she does not want to do. The course did not want to sack her because this meant she would not have to repay the bond so she is made to retake the first year although the school practical work placement head and her course supervisor know she will never fit into the current system and approach to teaching. The act of reading the poem on live TV is the final straw and is sacked and freed from her bond so she is free to follow her dreams. This follows the advice of the beat poet who has explained how Kerouac or someone similar got himself of national service by being mad. I came across an advert for a another film or perhaps it was a TV drama where the argument was that in order to gain release from an Psychiatric institution you had first to admit and be considered to have accepted that you were psychiatrically ill, similar to gain parole from prison you have to admit you were guilty even if you were not. Last night on Any Questions a cross dressing contemporary artist expressed amazement on learning than some 800 bodies including some 400 local authorities have used powers originally established to tackle terrorism and crime syndicate to mount surveillance including internet and telephone surveillance on local people who have fallen foul of the local system and the local political leadership. What amazed me is that someone who describes themselves as a contemporary creative did not know this beforehand.
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