I have decided that it would be wrong to continue this writing without making mention of the situation which has developed in one of the ancient civilizations on earth, Egypt. It is impossible to come to judgement based on eyewitness reports of media commentators, official statements being made by the present Egyptian regime or from individual participants. All I feel confident about doing is to report on the information and issues that I have noted over the past 12 hours when I have given increasing attention.
The most important aspect is that the revised government appointed by the long standing President is not in control of the capital city of Cairo with its estimated 20 million inhabitants, about a quarter of the total population or in port city of Alexandria with a population 4 million and was to featured in my re-consideration of the four novels of Lawrence Durrell , known as the Alexandrian Quartet. While the army is on the streets it is taking no action to prevent people peacefully protesting and calling for the end of the present regime. The hated police disappeared of the street but are officially said to be returning today to establish some order. However it is not clear if they will be allowed to function as the people have responded to official calls for them to take p arms to protect their lives and their homes from gangs of looters and criminals who escaped from one jail. How far the police will be used to help prevent looting and apprehend the criminals or enforce the curfew and stop the protests should emerged over the next 24 to 48 hours. One elder female was quoted last night as saying that if the troops opened fire on the people it would be the end of the regime and if they did not it would be the end of regime.
It would also appear that the USA which continues to fund the Military at over I billion dollars a year and also other aspects of the government, together with Britain and other Western leaders has been challenged by the development. There is the justified concern that whatever the motives and intentions of those on streets once a repressive regime departs there is a power vacuum and no one can predict the outcome. One has only to look at the varying outcome of the breaking up of the Soviet Union ranging to the positive democratic and economic development of Poland to the anarchy in Albania or the stagnant poverty in others to appreciate that no two situations will change in the same way.
The great concern is the impact of any change on the stability of the Middle East and the development of peaceful relations with the State of Israel. Whatever the shortcomings of the President and his domestic policies, he has recognised Israel and supported the axis of the USA and European nations in seeking a non violent solution to the conflicts and differences. Saudi Arabia and Jordan which also border Israel are not democracies or beacons of individual human rights or in narrowing the gap between the wealthy and middleclass and the rest of population who survive in poverty.
Last night in bed rather than attempting to sleep I listened to several individual accounts of their experiences over the past few days, some in planning to leave the country and others in a dilemma about what to do One could not listen without being moved and wishing that there was an immediate solution which will satisfy them and other interests. I fear this will no be so and as one Egyptian activist said, there is now no going back, it may have to get worse to get better. The British government with is special historical interest in Egypt which remains a major tourist destination has an important role to play, a role it needs to exercise with the greatest of care and sensitivity. The future of the whole Middle East as well as of the Egyptian people in in the balance.
30th January rapidly turned into woe Sunday after three good days and an overall good month as I developed into a good routine of swimming, art working, good television and good food and computer game play. My weight continues to be a problem which requires greater self discipline that has been shown over the past two months. I will leave the causes of the woe until later.
I have viewed several films, four of which I wish to write about, Max Payne, Ronin, Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll and A star is Born.
It is usual for a game version to be created of successful adventure movies. Max Payne is an exception because the award winning video game first appeared in 2001 and it was because of its success that the decision was taken to create the movie which made over 100 million dollars at the box office but was generally disliked by critics and in particular by those disappointed because of the significant differences between film and game.
I have not played or viewed the game but what struck me about the film is that while their are lots of action sequences, shoot outs and explosions the is an underlying serious story as a film noir in which the wife and baby of Max are brutally and horrifically murdered shortly before he arrives home from work as a police detective. Their killing has the appearance of a robbery and while he manages to kill two of the murderers a third escapes and is not caught. Max overcome with grief and anger for revenge takes on back room task of administering the Cold Case records, which could not be brought to prosecution but are stored in the hope that they be solved or the crime admitted to in the future. He has also created his own record store in a large container in self storage which eh has equipped with storage units and filing boxes similar to those I used to transfer my books and papers from my former home, Newland House, to here and where I still have between one and two hundred two sort out as well as using others to store created artwork project sets.
In the game Max is working undercover for a Mafia boss trafficking a designed drug called Valkyr. The drug has hallucinatory effects as well as enhancing abilities. The three individuals who murdered his wife were on this drug. In both forms of media Max is drawn to the Metro underground by a tip off which involves his first shoot out. This is not as good a lead as he hopes.
The video game is said to commence with Max on top of skyscraper building as police units arrive whereas in the film he appears to be drowning, we later learn in icy cold water as the action has taken place in below zero wintry conditions with heavy snow falling and accumulated and which adds to dark and dangerous atmosphere of much of the film.
Because the opening shoot out does not produce anything which progresses his search he calls on the contact who provided the information as he is hosting he is hosting a party at which the drug is being used. He encounters an alluring young woman who then has an argument with another woman to is disclosed as her sister and who appears to be part of armed gang.
In the film he takes the young woman to his home to question her but she offers herself sexually and he tells he to leave. She is then brutally murdered in a grim, stark area between buildings and Max becomes a suspect because his police credential are found among the body remains, having been stolen by the girl. A former work colleagues who investigated the murder of his wife follows up a query from Max asking about a tattoo on the arm of the murdered girl and he finds the same emblem in a photo a photo of the murdered wife.
He contacts Max and arranges to meet him at his home with the information but on arrival Max finds the man also murdered. This alienates Max from the police colleagues and the man’s wife who blames Max because of his obsession to find the third killer of wife and baby. Max is then taken prisoner by the sister of the murdered girl under the impression he is responsible for her death, Max is able to convince her to join forces and search of the killer who he believes also killed his wife..
When Max is in hospital recovering from being knocked senseless as he discovered the death of the investigating detective, he is visited by another former colleague and friend who is now head of security at the pharmaceutical firm where the murdered wife worked and which has given a scholarship in her memory by the female chief executive of the organisation.
Max breaks into the office of the murdered officer who was investigating the case and in the file of the girl finds a name which appears to be a lead and together with the sister they go in search of the man who they locate in a derelict building but who appears very frightened and falls to his death in some hallucination although as this point it is not clear if it is a hallucination or some sinister bird like creature which was also evident before the death of the sister. Max is always being watched by a man from the roof tops thus giving the possibility that the man can change himself into some form of flying terror. Max and the girl visit a Tattoo parlour to make enquiries about the design found on the two murdered girl. It is explained as a protection emblem in Norse mythology but this is a red herring or sorts because later we learn that the emblem is that of the company where she worked. I discovered the full explanation for the reference to Norse mythology in the Wikipedia article on the game.
The Valkyries in Norse mythology are warrior women who looked over the battlefield and took those who died in valour. In both film and game the drug Valkrie was secretly developed by the firm under contract with the US military because of its fighting enhancing energy and confidence. In Norse mythology those taken by the Valkyries would fight for the Gods in their wars.
In the film the contract was ended following test uses made in the 1991 Gulf War but its production is continued to be sold as a recreational drug and used by some of the former soldiers who are in the pay of those running the continuing Valhalla enterprise. The computer network at the Valhalla centre is called Yggdrasil which is the name of the tree which connected the nine world in Norse Cosmology. The firm where the wife worked uses the same motif as the Tattoo for its corporate logo and is called Aesir and this is the name of the primary pantheon of Nordic Gods. The chief Executive of the firm has the surname Horn with a horn used in the myths to announce the start of the apocalypse, the Ragnarok and the Gothic nightclub in the game is called the Ragna Rock. The great snowstorm in which the events take place is a reference to an epic Winter which precedes the Ragnarok. In the game there is also a character called Wooden whose surname refers to Woden a version of Odin, the Norse God and there are also other references. These are not referred to in the film which concentrates on the relationship between his former friend as the Security Chief who has become the responsible for the Valhalla drug manufacture and distribution and which the Chief Executive also appears to have knowledge if not direct responsibility.
When Max goes to the firm to try and find out the link between his wife and emerging discoveries he learns from an executive of company about the drug and its uses and that his wife had found out and expressed concerned. This is the major fault with the storyline because given that Max was a detective and his reported closeness to his wife, she would have immediately shared any concerns with her husband so he would have known about the involvement of the firm and made known the murder was intentional.
In the film he then goes in search of the Valhalla enterprise without the help of the sister of the murdered girl and her armed gang. This is the second plot weakness. It enables Max to make the discovery, there is much shooting and a confrontation with the soldier who has been trailing him and is used as a red herring in terms of the identity of the third killer. The soldier is responsible for the death of sister and his detective friend cutting them to pieces with a sword. It is only at this point that Max finds out that the third killer was his former colleague and friend and present head of security at the firm. Max is captured and is about to be thrown into the river weighted down when he breaks free and dives into the water as he appears suspended and dying or dead at the start of the film. However he overcomes the cold to get out and fully armed he makes his way back to the firm where there is the last spectacular gun fight towards the end of which the security chief makes his way to the helicopter pad calling for help to the owner of the firm who ignore his call. The main henchman of the security chief manages to blow up several floors of the building causing a major fire, but nevertheless the police who have realised the criminal nature of the firm’s security organisation manage to get to the top of the building where Max has fought out with the man he now knows killed his wife and baby. There is a moment when it appears that Max who is also shot appears to have died and joins his wife and child in their new dimension. However after the credits here is a scene with him meeting the sister of the murdered girl and she shows him a newspaper article where the stock of the firm is rising accompanied by a photo of the chief executive. Does this suggest the intention to have a sequel?
There is one aspect of the film which I have intentionally left out until now in that in the film the sister of the murdered girl is a Russian assassin. In the game She and her sister are the daughters/relatives of the Mafia boss and both are killed. Also in the game Max joins forces for a time with a Russian Mafia gang who are at war with the other Mafia organisation. It is the aspect of the Russian mafia which is the connecting link to my second film of the past three days, called Ronin.
A Rónin was a freelance Samurai, often an outcast because he not committed hara kiri when his master died. The concept of a man apart, a mercenary is the theme of the second action move of recent days directed by John Fankenheimer and distributed in 1998. Robert De Nero plays a main character along with Jean Reno. Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce also have roles along with Natasha Skarsgárd.
She is a young Irish woman who is a Council member of the Republican Army although this is not disclosed to the special forces and intelligence operatives she hires for an action at the rate £5000 pounds a week for four weeks with a bonus of £20000 which means an expenditure of £160000 plus considerable expenditure on weapons and technical devices. The purpose of the action is to steal a comparatively small hand held metal box which is known to be conveyed in a convoy of vehicles full of armed professional security operatives, although what is in the box, when and where the action is to take place is to be revealed later.
The meeting of the men with Natascha takes place at a small bar on the outskirts of Paris where she works as a bar maid and after the men have been taken to a dormitory type room holding area she goes to meet her boss played by Jonathan Pryce and who we later learn is the a leader in the army and who is on the international wanted list. Sean Bean is exposed as someone without experience when the men go to collect the required arms from a dealer and realise it is a trap to get hold of the cash without giving any arms. He leaves so that there are only three left who complain that they will need at least two others.
This is refused because the IRA chief has told Natascha that the Russian mafia has arranged to purchase the case and they have to act quickly. They move to small hotel above a bar in Nice where they observe the villa where the box is held and plan to ambush the convoy on its way to meet the Russian buyers. How they know this is not disclosed.
There is a good ambush, gun fight and car chase with the usual thrills and spills and then one of the men, a Russian does a nifty switch and hands his colleagues a duplicate looking box filled with explosives intended to destroy the rest of the group and the man makes off with the box for the Russian Mafia who like the IRA sponsored team want the contents without making any payment. This aspect is not clear.
One of the trio of Rónin is shot in leg and is patched up and functions as a driver because of the disability. The trio continue to search for the box but with the objective of catching up with the Russian. Mercenaries used to acting only in their own interests now have a shared cause. They find out that there is a deal to sell the box using the Roman built arena at Arles as its backcloth. There is a gun fight and although the Russian escapes he is captured by the IRA Leader who has killed the already wounded Rónin in the car. Di Nero who has been shot in his body and Reno exit the arena to see Natascha leaving with the Russian and another, and the body of their comrade in arms dumped at the roadside. Now their objective has become revenge. Before this Di Nero is taken to a contact where his would is addressed.
The remaining Rónin then use contacts to successfully locate the whereabouts of the two IRA individuals and the Russian who has mailed the case to himself in Paris. When they locate the trio there is another car chase which ends with the vehicle with the trio falling from a motorway over pass to construction work below. The Russian escapes with the case and the two IRA officials are rescued by the construction workers, alive.
It is at this point that the Rónin works out that the case is similar to that used for ice skates and that a Russian company is performing in the French capital, We the audience already know this is so and that the lead Russian skater and Olympic Champion is the girl friend of the Russian behind the purchase. First the case is exchanged for cash but then the purchaser pulls a gun on the seller who warns that there is a sniper fixed on the ice skating girlfriend who will be killed if he does not signal he has the money and is on his way. He is shot and he skater is shot causing pandemonium in the stadium.
The IRA duo arrive and the man shoots the Russian for the case and then there is a gun fight with the two Rónin one of whom is wounded before killing the Irishman. They tell the girl to get away. There is a radio report of peace in Northern Ireland following the death if the IRA leader in Paris. The two remaining Rónin then are seen back in the cafe with Di Nero hoping to have contact with the IRA woman. When she does not arrive they depart their separate ways wishing each other well, but without knowing the contents of the case or caring. Now did I care about any of this? No. What is the point of the film? Well Rónin are Rónin, Security people are intentional mercenaries and criminals and terrorists lead a precarious life for money or some cause. One wonder how they get on with their parents and what kind of parents they would make!
This was the question I also asked of Ian Drury whose biographical story I also viewed entitled Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll. There is an excellent performance by Andy Serkis(Gollum Lord of the Rings) as the troubled entertainer. However it is difficult to believe that the feel will appeal to anyone other than fans of the performer. The film tries to explain his anarchistic and authority hostile life in which in one instance his son gets hold of drugs used by Ian and his associates. In flashbacks the suggestion is made that he was always a rebel, throwing a fish at a master at school which he did not want to eat resulting in the cane.
According to Wikipedia he had a working class father and mother from a middle class background. His father was a boxer and a bus driver who became a Rolls Royce Chauffer and was an absentee husband for long periods resulting he his wife taking the boy to live with her parents in Cornwall coinciding with World War II. The family as a unit then moved to Switzerland where his father worked for a millionaire. His mother then returned to England to live with her sister and while father made visits the couple did not live together again.
Aged seven he contracted polio, probably at a swimming pool where he lost the lower part of his leg according to film and was disabled with a limp consequentially. His aunt arranged for him to attended the Royal Grammar school Hugh Wycombe where he remained leaving the sixth form at 16 years gaining GCE’s in Englush Language and Literature as well as Art . I also gained the first two plus Mathematics. He then went to the Walthamstow School of Art and the Royal College of Art bur although he did some teaching he never became a professional artist because he realised he would not be good enough.
The past three days have been good ones I have immersed myself in reading the King’s Speech and making my notes in three parts. I stayed home today Friday 28th January rather an go for the early morning swim because I wanted to make progress and with the swim, even returning early for the Australian Tennis Semi Final involving Andy Murray, I would be tired for the morning and not at my best.
I debated the wisdom of the decision as soon as the match started as Murray seemed nervous, lacking the confidence to play his shots from the outset and for the great part of the first two sets they were well matches with both having the opportunity to break service of each other game after game. His opponent, the Spaniard David Ferrer conqueror of Nadal seemed to have the edge and took the first set and was in a point of taking the second. I switched away at that point. During this time he married his first wife and they had to children while in the film he appears to only have a son.
He then embarked on his subsequent life as a performer and song writer. He was a shouter more than a singer and he went in for earthy lyrics which some regard as having a poetic quality while others crude. He appears to have made infrequent visits home and according tot he film met someone on the road who became his mistress and subsequent his second wife although he remained on friendly terms with his first wife.
It was when he formed the Blockheads as a New Wave band that he became popular nationally although his strength was in his theatrical live performances in which he was something of a clown. The most famous number was Hit me with your rhythm stick followed by Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll. The Blockheads lasted five years and then reformed in 1987. His battle with cancer commenced in 1996 lasting for four years dying in March 2000 aged 57 years. He remained a larger than life character on and off the stage. I am not sure the film does him any favours.
As has been mentioned before I am taking the opportunity of HD TV to see again films from the past seven decades and although familiar with A Star is Born and the performance of Judy Harland my attention this occasion was directed to James Mason. She was nominated for the best actress Oscar which was one by Grace Kelly. She was sin hospital giving birth to her son Joey at the time. Mason was also nominated for an Oscar and with Judy won Golden Globes. She took a Bafta also in that year.
Mason plays Norman Maine a matinee idol whose career is in decline and has taken to drinking binges in which he becomes aggressive and difficult to control. He crashes on to the stage of a show where Garland in performing and she behaves as if he part of the act and arouses applause for the appearance. He is grateful and watches her perform in an after hours club and tells her she has talent and should stay rather than go off with the band where she is the soloist. He triggers the ambition within her and she stays although doe snot expect he will follow up his offer to introduce her to his film studios.
He is serious in his intention but is called away to begin location filming and although he tried to get into contact he cannot remember her address. His effort to find her fail until he hears a voice over commercial he is successful this time and arranges an audition at the film studios where she is taken on as a contract artist. This means a weekly pay cheque and access to studio facilities and media but not necessarily a major move part, Knowing that the studio are looking for a lead in a new musical he arranges for the studio head to hear her sing and she gets the part, is given a name change, the film is a success and she becomes internally famous. The relationship between the two develops and she takes the initiative in suggesting marriage which he is hesitant knowing his problems and track record. Te film hen shows them having a wonderfully happy relationship as she becomes an internationally recognised actor and performer and his career comes to an end and he loses himself in alcohol.. The problem reaches a climax when she receives an Oscar and in a drunken state attempts to join her on stage and accidentally hits her in the face, He enters a recovery centre and with her support makes progress.
In the past he has used his position to tell the studio publicist what to do and refused to cooperate in planned publicity for their marriage. When they meet up at a race track he his taunted by the publicist about his situation and they fight, goes on a drinking binge and is arrested. He is taken home and goes to bed but overhears his wife saying she plans to give up her career to care for him. He breaks down at the thought of what he has done to himself and his wife and walks into the nearby ocean to drown. She becomes a recluse in her distress and a friend asks her to honour a previous commitment to appear at a Charity show and when she appears she is invited to say a few words to the international audience. She says Hello everybody, This is Mrs Norman Maine and the audience bursts into a standing ovation and the films ends with understanding that she continues in the career which is what her husband wanted.
The back story is that the Director George Cukor wanted Cary Grant in to play Maine but he refused because he did not want to appear with Garland who had become a drug addict and her reputation for unreliability. Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra and Stewart Granger were all considered before the British actor was offered and accepted the role. The film was originally three hours in length and then cut down to two and a half hours. The film manages to combine the best of the Hollywood musical of the era with a drama about a subject which continues to ruin lives at all levels of society.
At the outset of writing on Sunday I mentioned sporting woes in that England who restricted Australia to 250 runs then collapsed in a disgraceful display of batting. This was then followed by another dismal performance of Andrew Murray who had reached his third Grand Slam final, a feat no equalled since Fred Perry over 75 years ago. I far the psychological damage as he was beaten by a close friend who was himself not in the best form. It was a great anti climax. More encouraging was the success of non league Crawley Town who reached the last sixteen of the FA Cup and found they had the dream draw of playing Manchester United at Old Trafford. They are likely to be humiliated but will have the time of their lives and bring the club a great a pay day with their share of TV and gate receipts and only enhance their ambitions to become a league club.
I have been enjoying American Idol without Simon Cowell and Lark Rise. There has also been an excellent new series of Michael Portillo Train Travels with one covering Newcastle and the creation of the first steam trains and railways, the now demolished Marsden Mining community at South Shields and the privately owned railway station at Chester Le Street, before moving to Yorkshire Whitby. York and Leeds. There was then another excellent tour around Kent including Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel and Canterbury. Earlier there were travels around London and the Light Railway to Greenwich and into Norfolk bring back many memories of my visits to the towns and countryside in the past.
I have also enjoyed my food, too much and this week tried the gammon shank which although significant better than the piece of lamb the previous week compared unfavourably with the joint which can be obtained for the same price and provides two to three meals. I should reach the monthly work target later today.
The most important aspect is that the revised government appointed by the long standing President is not in control of the capital city of Cairo with its estimated 20 million inhabitants, about a quarter of the total population or in port city of Alexandria with a population 4 million and was to featured in my re-consideration of the four novels of Lawrence Durrell , known as the Alexandrian Quartet. While the army is on the streets it is taking no action to prevent people peacefully protesting and calling for the end of the present regime. The hated police disappeared of the street but are officially said to be returning today to establish some order. However it is not clear if they will be allowed to function as the people have responded to official calls for them to take p arms to protect their lives and their homes from gangs of looters and criminals who escaped from one jail. How far the police will be used to help prevent looting and apprehend the criminals or enforce the curfew and stop the protests should emerged over the next 24 to 48 hours. One elder female was quoted last night as saying that if the troops opened fire on the people it would be the end of the regime and if they did not it would be the end of regime.
It would also appear that the USA which continues to fund the Military at over I billion dollars a year and also other aspects of the government, together with Britain and other Western leaders has been challenged by the development. There is the justified concern that whatever the motives and intentions of those on streets once a repressive regime departs there is a power vacuum and no one can predict the outcome. One has only to look at the varying outcome of the breaking up of the Soviet Union ranging to the positive democratic and economic development of Poland to the anarchy in Albania or the stagnant poverty in others to appreciate that no two situations will change in the same way.
The great concern is the impact of any change on the stability of the Middle East and the development of peaceful relations with the State of Israel. Whatever the shortcomings of the President and his domestic policies, he has recognised Israel and supported the axis of the USA and European nations in seeking a non violent solution to the conflicts and differences. Saudi Arabia and Jordan which also border Israel are not democracies or beacons of individual human rights or in narrowing the gap between the wealthy and middleclass and the rest of population who survive in poverty.
Last night in bed rather than attempting to sleep I listened to several individual accounts of their experiences over the past few days, some in planning to leave the country and others in a dilemma about what to do One could not listen without being moved and wishing that there was an immediate solution which will satisfy them and other interests. I fear this will no be so and as one Egyptian activist said, there is now no going back, it may have to get worse to get better. The British government with is special historical interest in Egypt which remains a major tourist destination has an important role to play, a role it needs to exercise with the greatest of care and sensitivity. The future of the whole Middle East as well as of the Egyptian people in in the balance.
30th January rapidly turned into woe Sunday after three good days and an overall good month as I developed into a good routine of swimming, art working, good television and good food and computer game play. My weight continues to be a problem which requires greater self discipline that has been shown over the past two months. I will leave the causes of the woe until later.
I have viewed several films, four of which I wish to write about, Max Payne, Ronin, Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll and A star is Born.
It is usual for a game version to be created of successful adventure movies. Max Payne is an exception because the award winning video game first appeared in 2001 and it was because of its success that the decision was taken to create the movie which made over 100 million dollars at the box office but was generally disliked by critics and in particular by those disappointed because of the significant differences between film and game.
I have not played or viewed the game but what struck me about the film is that while their are lots of action sequences, shoot outs and explosions the is an underlying serious story as a film noir in which the wife and baby of Max are brutally and horrifically murdered shortly before he arrives home from work as a police detective. Their killing has the appearance of a robbery and while he manages to kill two of the murderers a third escapes and is not caught. Max overcome with grief and anger for revenge takes on back room task of administering the Cold Case records, which could not be brought to prosecution but are stored in the hope that they be solved or the crime admitted to in the future. He has also created his own record store in a large container in self storage which eh has equipped with storage units and filing boxes similar to those I used to transfer my books and papers from my former home, Newland House, to here and where I still have between one and two hundred two sort out as well as using others to store created artwork project sets.
In the game Max is working undercover for a Mafia boss trafficking a designed drug called Valkyr. The drug has hallucinatory effects as well as enhancing abilities. The three individuals who murdered his wife were on this drug. In both forms of media Max is drawn to the Metro underground by a tip off which involves his first shoot out. This is not as good a lead as he hopes.
The video game is said to commence with Max on top of skyscraper building as police units arrive whereas in the film he appears to be drowning, we later learn in icy cold water as the action has taken place in below zero wintry conditions with heavy snow falling and accumulated and which adds to dark and dangerous atmosphere of much of the film.
Because the opening shoot out does not produce anything which progresses his search he calls on the contact who provided the information as he is hosting he is hosting a party at which the drug is being used. He encounters an alluring young woman who then has an argument with another woman to is disclosed as her sister and who appears to be part of armed gang.
In the film he takes the young woman to his home to question her but she offers herself sexually and he tells he to leave. She is then brutally murdered in a grim, stark area between buildings and Max becomes a suspect because his police credential are found among the body remains, having been stolen by the girl. A former work colleagues who investigated the murder of his wife follows up a query from Max asking about a tattoo on the arm of the murdered girl and he finds the same emblem in a photo a photo of the murdered wife.
He contacts Max and arranges to meet him at his home with the information but on arrival Max finds the man also murdered. This alienates Max from the police colleagues and the man’s wife who blames Max because of his obsession to find the third killer of wife and baby. Max is then taken prisoner by the sister of the murdered girl under the impression he is responsible for her death, Max is able to convince her to join forces and search of the killer who he believes also killed his wife..
When Max is in hospital recovering from being knocked senseless as he discovered the death of the investigating detective, he is visited by another former colleague and friend who is now head of security at the pharmaceutical firm where the murdered wife worked and which has given a scholarship in her memory by the female chief executive of the organisation.
Max breaks into the office of the murdered officer who was investigating the case and in the file of the girl finds a name which appears to be a lead and together with the sister they go in search of the man who they locate in a derelict building but who appears very frightened and falls to his death in some hallucination although as this point it is not clear if it is a hallucination or some sinister bird like creature which was also evident before the death of the sister. Max is always being watched by a man from the roof tops thus giving the possibility that the man can change himself into some form of flying terror. Max and the girl visit a Tattoo parlour to make enquiries about the design found on the two murdered girl. It is explained as a protection emblem in Norse mythology but this is a red herring or sorts because later we learn that the emblem is that of the company where she worked. I discovered the full explanation for the reference to Norse mythology in the Wikipedia article on the game.
The Valkyries in Norse mythology are warrior women who looked over the battlefield and took those who died in valour. In both film and game the drug Valkrie was secretly developed by the firm under contract with the US military because of its fighting enhancing energy and confidence. In Norse mythology those taken by the Valkyries would fight for the Gods in their wars.
In the film the contract was ended following test uses made in the 1991 Gulf War but its production is continued to be sold as a recreational drug and used by some of the former soldiers who are in the pay of those running the continuing Valhalla enterprise. The computer network at the Valhalla centre is called Yggdrasil which is the name of the tree which connected the nine world in Norse Cosmology. The firm where the wife worked uses the same motif as the Tattoo for its corporate logo and is called Aesir and this is the name of the primary pantheon of Nordic Gods. The chief Executive of the firm has the surname Horn with a horn used in the myths to announce the start of the apocalypse, the Ragnarok and the Gothic nightclub in the game is called the Ragna Rock. The great snowstorm in which the events take place is a reference to an epic Winter which precedes the Ragnarok. In the game there is also a character called Wooden whose surname refers to Woden a version of Odin, the Norse God and there are also other references. These are not referred to in the film which concentrates on the relationship between his former friend as the Security Chief who has become the responsible for the Valhalla drug manufacture and distribution and which the Chief Executive also appears to have knowledge if not direct responsibility.
When Max goes to the firm to try and find out the link between his wife and emerging discoveries he learns from an executive of company about the drug and its uses and that his wife had found out and expressed concerned. This is the major fault with the storyline because given that Max was a detective and his reported closeness to his wife, she would have immediately shared any concerns with her husband so he would have known about the involvement of the firm and made known the murder was intentional.
In the film he then goes in search of the Valhalla enterprise without the help of the sister of the murdered girl and her armed gang. This is the second plot weakness. It enables Max to make the discovery, there is much shooting and a confrontation with the soldier who has been trailing him and is used as a red herring in terms of the identity of the third killer. The soldier is responsible for the death of sister and his detective friend cutting them to pieces with a sword. It is only at this point that Max finds out that the third killer was his former colleague and friend and present head of security at the firm. Max is captured and is about to be thrown into the river weighted down when he breaks free and dives into the water as he appears suspended and dying or dead at the start of the film. However he overcomes the cold to get out and fully armed he makes his way back to the firm where there is the last spectacular gun fight towards the end of which the security chief makes his way to the helicopter pad calling for help to the owner of the firm who ignore his call. The main henchman of the security chief manages to blow up several floors of the building causing a major fire, but nevertheless the police who have realised the criminal nature of the firm’s security organisation manage to get to the top of the building where Max has fought out with the man he now knows killed his wife and baby. There is a moment when it appears that Max who is also shot appears to have died and joins his wife and child in their new dimension. However after the credits here is a scene with him meeting the sister of the murdered girl and she shows him a newspaper article where the stock of the firm is rising accompanied by a photo of the chief executive. Does this suggest the intention to have a sequel?
There is one aspect of the film which I have intentionally left out until now in that in the film the sister of the murdered girl is a Russian assassin. In the game She and her sister are the daughters/relatives of the Mafia boss and both are killed. Also in the game Max joins forces for a time with a Russian Mafia gang who are at war with the other Mafia organisation. It is the aspect of the Russian mafia which is the connecting link to my second film of the past three days, called Ronin.
A Rónin was a freelance Samurai, often an outcast because he not committed hara kiri when his master died. The concept of a man apart, a mercenary is the theme of the second action move of recent days directed by John Fankenheimer and distributed in 1998. Robert De Nero plays a main character along with Jean Reno. Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce also have roles along with Natasha Skarsgárd.
She is a young Irish woman who is a Council member of the Republican Army although this is not disclosed to the special forces and intelligence operatives she hires for an action at the rate £5000 pounds a week for four weeks with a bonus of £20000 which means an expenditure of £160000 plus considerable expenditure on weapons and technical devices. The purpose of the action is to steal a comparatively small hand held metal box which is known to be conveyed in a convoy of vehicles full of armed professional security operatives, although what is in the box, when and where the action is to take place is to be revealed later.
The meeting of the men with Natascha takes place at a small bar on the outskirts of Paris where she works as a bar maid and after the men have been taken to a dormitory type room holding area she goes to meet her boss played by Jonathan Pryce and who we later learn is the a leader in the army and who is on the international wanted list. Sean Bean is exposed as someone without experience when the men go to collect the required arms from a dealer and realise it is a trap to get hold of the cash without giving any arms. He leaves so that there are only three left who complain that they will need at least two others.
This is refused because the IRA chief has told Natascha that the Russian mafia has arranged to purchase the case and they have to act quickly. They move to small hotel above a bar in Nice where they observe the villa where the box is held and plan to ambush the convoy on its way to meet the Russian buyers. How they know this is not disclosed.
There is a good ambush, gun fight and car chase with the usual thrills and spills and then one of the men, a Russian does a nifty switch and hands his colleagues a duplicate looking box filled with explosives intended to destroy the rest of the group and the man makes off with the box for the Russian Mafia who like the IRA sponsored team want the contents without making any payment. This aspect is not clear.
One of the trio of Rónin is shot in leg and is patched up and functions as a driver because of the disability. The trio continue to search for the box but with the objective of catching up with the Russian. Mercenaries used to acting only in their own interests now have a shared cause. They find out that there is a deal to sell the box using the Roman built arena at Arles as its backcloth. There is a gun fight and although the Russian escapes he is captured by the IRA Leader who has killed the already wounded Rónin in the car. Di Nero who has been shot in his body and Reno exit the arena to see Natascha leaving with the Russian and another, and the body of their comrade in arms dumped at the roadside. Now their objective has become revenge. Before this Di Nero is taken to a contact where his would is addressed.
The remaining Rónin then use contacts to successfully locate the whereabouts of the two IRA individuals and the Russian who has mailed the case to himself in Paris. When they locate the trio there is another car chase which ends with the vehicle with the trio falling from a motorway over pass to construction work below. The Russian escapes with the case and the two IRA officials are rescued by the construction workers, alive.
It is at this point that the Rónin works out that the case is similar to that used for ice skates and that a Russian company is performing in the French capital, We the audience already know this is so and that the lead Russian skater and Olympic Champion is the girl friend of the Russian behind the purchase. First the case is exchanged for cash but then the purchaser pulls a gun on the seller who warns that there is a sniper fixed on the ice skating girlfriend who will be killed if he does not signal he has the money and is on his way. He is shot and he skater is shot causing pandemonium in the stadium.
The IRA duo arrive and the man shoots the Russian for the case and then there is a gun fight with the two Rónin one of whom is wounded before killing the Irishman. They tell the girl to get away. There is a radio report of peace in Northern Ireland following the death if the IRA leader in Paris. The two remaining Rónin then are seen back in the cafe with Di Nero hoping to have contact with the IRA woman. When she does not arrive they depart their separate ways wishing each other well, but without knowing the contents of the case or caring. Now did I care about any of this? No. What is the point of the film? Well Rónin are Rónin, Security people are intentional mercenaries and criminals and terrorists lead a precarious life for money or some cause. One wonder how they get on with their parents and what kind of parents they would make!
This was the question I also asked of Ian Drury whose biographical story I also viewed entitled Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll. There is an excellent performance by Andy Serkis(Gollum Lord of the Rings) as the troubled entertainer. However it is difficult to believe that the feel will appeal to anyone other than fans of the performer. The film tries to explain his anarchistic and authority hostile life in which in one instance his son gets hold of drugs used by Ian and his associates. In flashbacks the suggestion is made that he was always a rebel, throwing a fish at a master at school which he did not want to eat resulting in the cane.
According to Wikipedia he had a working class father and mother from a middle class background. His father was a boxer and a bus driver who became a Rolls Royce Chauffer and was an absentee husband for long periods resulting he his wife taking the boy to live with her parents in Cornwall coinciding with World War II. The family as a unit then moved to Switzerland where his father worked for a millionaire. His mother then returned to England to live with her sister and while father made visits the couple did not live together again.
Aged seven he contracted polio, probably at a swimming pool where he lost the lower part of his leg according to film and was disabled with a limp consequentially. His aunt arranged for him to attended the Royal Grammar school Hugh Wycombe where he remained leaving the sixth form at 16 years gaining GCE’s in Englush Language and Literature as well as Art . I also gained the first two plus Mathematics. He then went to the Walthamstow School of Art and the Royal College of Art bur although he did some teaching he never became a professional artist because he realised he would not be good enough.
The past three days have been good ones I have immersed myself in reading the King’s Speech and making my notes in three parts. I stayed home today Friday 28th January rather an go for the early morning swim because I wanted to make progress and with the swim, even returning early for the Australian Tennis Semi Final involving Andy Murray, I would be tired for the morning and not at my best.
I debated the wisdom of the decision as soon as the match started as Murray seemed nervous, lacking the confidence to play his shots from the outset and for the great part of the first two sets they were well matches with both having the opportunity to break service of each other game after game. His opponent, the Spaniard David Ferrer conqueror of Nadal seemed to have the edge and took the first set and was in a point of taking the second. I switched away at that point. During this time he married his first wife and they had to children while in the film he appears to only have a son.
He then embarked on his subsequent life as a performer and song writer. He was a shouter more than a singer and he went in for earthy lyrics which some regard as having a poetic quality while others crude. He appears to have made infrequent visits home and according tot he film met someone on the road who became his mistress and subsequent his second wife although he remained on friendly terms with his first wife.
It was when he formed the Blockheads as a New Wave band that he became popular nationally although his strength was in his theatrical live performances in which he was something of a clown. The most famous number was Hit me with your rhythm stick followed by Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll. The Blockheads lasted five years and then reformed in 1987. His battle with cancer commenced in 1996 lasting for four years dying in March 2000 aged 57 years. He remained a larger than life character on and off the stage. I am not sure the film does him any favours.
As has been mentioned before I am taking the opportunity of HD TV to see again films from the past seven decades and although familiar with A Star is Born and the performance of Judy Harland my attention this occasion was directed to James Mason. She was nominated for the best actress Oscar which was one by Grace Kelly. She was sin hospital giving birth to her son Joey at the time. Mason was also nominated for an Oscar and with Judy won Golden Globes. She took a Bafta also in that year.
Mason plays Norman Maine a matinee idol whose career is in decline and has taken to drinking binges in which he becomes aggressive and difficult to control. He crashes on to the stage of a show where Garland in performing and she behaves as if he part of the act and arouses applause for the appearance. He is grateful and watches her perform in an after hours club and tells her she has talent and should stay rather than go off with the band where she is the soloist. He triggers the ambition within her and she stays although doe snot expect he will follow up his offer to introduce her to his film studios.
He is serious in his intention but is called away to begin location filming and although he tried to get into contact he cannot remember her address. His effort to find her fail until he hears a voice over commercial he is successful this time and arranges an audition at the film studios where she is taken on as a contract artist. This means a weekly pay cheque and access to studio facilities and media but not necessarily a major move part, Knowing that the studio are looking for a lead in a new musical he arranges for the studio head to hear her sing and she gets the part, is given a name change, the film is a success and she becomes internally famous. The relationship between the two develops and she takes the initiative in suggesting marriage which he is hesitant knowing his problems and track record. Te film hen shows them having a wonderfully happy relationship as she becomes an internationally recognised actor and performer and his career comes to an end and he loses himself in alcohol.. The problem reaches a climax when she receives an Oscar and in a drunken state attempts to join her on stage and accidentally hits her in the face, He enters a recovery centre and with her support makes progress.
In the past he has used his position to tell the studio publicist what to do and refused to cooperate in planned publicity for their marriage. When they meet up at a race track he his taunted by the publicist about his situation and they fight, goes on a drinking binge and is arrested. He is taken home and goes to bed but overhears his wife saying she plans to give up her career to care for him. He breaks down at the thought of what he has done to himself and his wife and walks into the nearby ocean to drown. She becomes a recluse in her distress and a friend asks her to honour a previous commitment to appear at a Charity show and when she appears she is invited to say a few words to the international audience. She says Hello everybody, This is Mrs Norman Maine and the audience bursts into a standing ovation and the films ends with understanding that she continues in the career which is what her husband wanted.
The back story is that the Director George Cukor wanted Cary Grant in to play Maine but he refused because he did not want to appear with Garland who had become a drug addict and her reputation for unreliability. Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra and Stewart Granger were all considered before the British actor was offered and accepted the role. The film was originally three hours in length and then cut down to two and a half hours. The film manages to combine the best of the Hollywood musical of the era with a drama about a subject which continues to ruin lives at all levels of society.
At the outset of writing on Sunday I mentioned sporting woes in that England who restricted Australia to 250 runs then collapsed in a disgraceful display of batting. This was then followed by another dismal performance of Andrew Murray who had reached his third Grand Slam final, a feat no equalled since Fred Perry over 75 years ago. I far the psychological damage as he was beaten by a close friend who was himself not in the best form. It was a great anti climax. More encouraging was the success of non league Crawley Town who reached the last sixteen of the FA Cup and found they had the dream draw of playing Manchester United at Old Trafford. They are likely to be humiliated but will have the time of their lives and bring the club a great a pay day with their share of TV and gate receipts and only enhance their ambitions to become a league club.
I have been enjoying American Idol without Simon Cowell and Lark Rise. There has also been an excellent new series of Michael Portillo Train Travels with one covering Newcastle and the creation of the first steam trains and railways, the now demolished Marsden Mining community at South Shields and the privately owned railway station at Chester Le Street, before moving to Yorkshire Whitby. York and Leeds. There was then another excellent tour around Kent including Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel and Canterbury. Earlier there were travels around London and the Light Railway to Greenwich and into Norfolk bring back many memories of my visits to the towns and countryside in the past.
I have also enjoyed my food, too much and this week tried the gammon shank which although significant better than the piece of lamb the previous week compared unfavourably with the joint which can be obtained for the same price and provides two to three meals. I should reach the monthly work target later today.
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