Mourning - Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima

Today is a National Day of Mourning in Australia. We remember those 200+ people who were killed by the rampant bushfires that swept many parts of the State two weeks ago; we mourn the loss of home, town and belongings to the hundreds and thousands; we remain on alert as fires continue to burn and men and women continue to put themselves in harms way to protect others.
(Mark Knight, editorial cartoon, Herald Sun)
The devastating effect of these fires has had not only a very real impact on many of our countrymen, but a psychological impact on everyone else. The day the fires started in earnest was the hottest day in Victoria’s history : 46 degrees C. This hot, dry onslaught was not easier to accept just because it came by natural means.
Australians pride themselves on “helping a mate in need.” Within a week of this disaster, millions upon millions of dollars had been raised for the Red Cross and others. Food, clothing and household items have been donated in such vast supply that the agencies literally cannot accept any more. They have enough goods to help the needy for years to come.
It is little wonder then that the ferocity and devastation of the fires has been likened to a war zone. We had booked to go camping in Marysville at Easter. The aerial photographs of this country town, set in the once green hills of a State forest, show that the whole town has been razed to the ground. Black stumps by the score show where trees used to grow. Dark shapes outline where buildings stood.
In Clint Eastwood’s companion films, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters from Iwo Jima, he tells the stories of the men who fought on each side of the battle for the tiny volcanic island Iwo Jima in the Pacific.
The black volcanic rock of this island means that very little grows here. In the latter days of WW2, the American Marines landed there in their thousands to take the island. The Japanese, holed up in their rock hewn bunkers, kept them out for days before the greater numbers overwhelmed them. The fighting was fierce and ruthless.
Flags of Our Fathers tells the story of the iconic image of the raising of the flag on the top of Iwo Jima. Some of the young men who were on the island at that time were sent home to rouse a public into buying war bonds. They were marked as heroes in the press and in the public consciousness despite the men’s protestations that they were only doing their bit, neither great or glorious. Eastwood poses the question, for whom do we create heroes ? Is it for the men who served and gave their lives ? Or is it for everyone else who desperately need someone or something to believe in.
Letters from Iwo Jima is a more intimate tale of the Japanese men who are forced to leave their families to defend this island. If the Americans captured it, then their planes would reach the Japanese mainland. They also know that they will die there. The Japanese Navy has been destroyed by the Allies, and reinforcements are being deployed elsewhere. There is no back-up.
In this film, Eastwood portrays what it means to have honour. The traditional Japanese version of honour is to commit suicide if you fail in your mission. The officer in charge, played with dignity and reserve, Ken Watanabe, prefers to see honour in remaining true to yourself, to your family and to your mates.
On this unique day of mourning across Australia, we try to shut out the invasive and insensitive commercial news reporters who like to build up every sentiment and create heroes of ordinary people facing incredible odds. Instead we pray for the families in distress, for comfort and peace. For the volunteers who risk their lives and are the only ones standing between the next town and the fire, we ask for courage, resilience and stamina. For the public we ask for ongoing sensitivity, generosity and respect.

Things I Like #3 - The Borek Stand

What makes Thursday the best day of the week? Reading the Green Guide certainly. But what else? On Thursday I buy fruit at the Queen Vic Market, to feed the hungry monkeys at my house for the next week. For lunch I buy simply the best lamb kebab souvlaki (with garlic sauce) from the Borek stand, in the Deli. And for only $6.
The Turkish ladies who serve are the toughest and most hard working vendors on the site. They are constantly serving boreks ($2.50 each) to a pressing crowd, often 6 wide and 5 deep. They know who is next in line, who has ordered what and how much each owes. (I do not eat the boreks simply because the chilli is no good for me. Otherwise I love them too).
Having feasted there every week for a year or more, I am now greeted with a knowing smile. “Lamb garlic ?” “Yes, thank-you.” No more needs to be said. Happiness awaits.

Things I Like #2 - Risk

Another of the activities I enjoy is playing the game of global domination, RISK. A board game that combines strategy with the roll of the die. Best played with four or more, the downside to this game is the infrequency with which that number of like minded fellows can be organised in the one location to play. As such one must enjoy the opportunities as they arise and makes victory even sweeter. The attached picture is half-way through the most recent battle; my green army is amassing in North America for its eventual rout through LB's South America and on to Africa and the world! Bwahahahaha.

Holiday House

Fancy a break from it all ? Want to take a holiday along the Great Ocean Road ? Interested in a special Valentines Day ? Then head for Apollo Bay and stay in a "neat and tidy house with partially fenced yard [at] such a great location" !
Link here for full details.

Hockey debut

At age 38 I have proudly made my hockey debut for Hawthorn in the summer comp. I played out on the wing to do as little damage as possible since my actual hockey skills are low-to-non-existent. I played alongside my brother who has played hockey since age 6 and he ensured I kept running to the right spot. My legs are a little sore, not having done much hard running since footy season last year. All in all though I enjoyed the outing and may play again ! Oh yes, and we lost 5-2. Que sera sera.

Things I Like #1 - Podcast

My favourite podcast is News Radio’s Star Stuff, hosted Stuart Gary. While I don’t really know my quarks from my dark matter, the technical segments (such as on gamma ray bursts, or GRBs for those in the know) are always very well explained from either Gary himself or any of his ‘go to’ experts. The program also spends a lot of time on the latest rocket launch from all round the world, whether it’s the first ever (very wealthy) tourist into space, Chinese tests, or American trips to the international space station. I find it endlessly fascinating and Gary’s enthusiasm makes for invigorating listening.
The link to the podcast is here.

Slumdog Millionaire movie review

In cricket, who has scored the most first class centuries? Is it, A) Sachin Tendulkar, B) Ricky Ponting, C) Michael Slater, or D) Jack Hobbs ?
If you know the answer then you could win the million dollars in India’s ‘Who Wants To be a Millionaire?’ At least, that’s the million dollar question for Jamal in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
This film is an almost perfect mix of comedy, drama, romance and action and my pick for Best Picture winner at this year’s Oscars(*).
Some of the early scenes of this film reminded me of Fernando Meirelles’ City of God, a very fine picture that follows the youths of a slum (in Rio de Janeiro) and their inevitable descent into gang life. Slumdog Millionaire is similarly set in the slums, of Mumbai, but rather than follow the path of violence and destruction, it allows itself to be leavened by the impish behaviour of brothers, Salim and Jamal. That is not to say however that this film ignores the reality of their impoverished circumstances or the susceptibility to criminal behaviours. It does however follow the life of Jamal who escapes from these pitfalls.
Narratively the story is a series of flashbacks as Jamal answers questions on the gameshow and we see how he came to know the answers. At the end however you come to realise that the emotional thread that holds this film together is Jamal’s love for Latika, and his continuous search to be reunited with her.
The highlight of the film for me was the Bollywood dance scene involving the whole cast run during the credits. It had the feel of a cast party – unexpected but joyous. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the telling of the story but because we had come to know these characters, ridden the emotional wave of ‘will they/won’t they’ : to break out into dance seemed the most appropriate way to celebrate the end of the film.
Highly recommended. 5 out of 5.
(*)This does not mean I think it will win, although it might. I simply have no idea who will win. As you all well know, Oscar winners have only a little bit to do with how good they are and a lot to do with other things.

Gran Torino movie review

So tenderly your story is
nothing more than what you see
or what you've done or will become

There are moments in my life when I reflect and wish I had been a little braver, a little more forthright, or alternatively, wished I’d demonstrated a little more wisdom and just shut up. Last year I had an opportunity to do the right thing.

standing strong do you belong
in your skin; just wondering

Last year I was travelling home on the train a little later than usual. The train was about half full, so plenty of spare seats. Everyone was minding their own business. An inebriated man got on and started talking to a year 7 boy (13 yo) with a Melbourne Grammar School uniform on, who had his head down reading a book. This man was not being threatening as such but the young boy was intimidated and embarrassed. The man tried to be ‘humourous’ by imitating the boy’s Vietnamese heritage with the schoolyard classic, ‘slanty eyes’.
At this point I asked the man to sit down like everyone else and to stop disturbing the young fella because he was scaring him. I spoke in a respectful but firm way, taking the focus off the boy and on to me. “I was just trying to be friendly” said the man. He sat down though, somewhere else. I think he recognised he had acted foolishly.

gentle now the tender breeze blows
whispers through my Gran Torino
whistling another tired song

Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is at the end of his life. He has seen death through his involvement in the Korean war and carries those images inside his head. He knows he’s not perfect – he’s not proud of the disconnect between him and his two sons, and their families.
But he doesn’t regret much in his life – he has only three things to confess to the priest. This is not hubris so much as knowing that rightly or wrongly, he has lived his life, knows where he comes from, and knows what he can do.
He is the last remaining white man in the neighbourhood, as the original inhabitants have slowly packed up and moved away. In their place many immigrants from South East Asia : Vietnam, Laos, China, have moved in.
Walt is the archetypal grumpy old man – he just wants to be left alone, drinking beer on his porch with his dog for company. The area has gang trouble however and Walt finds himself standing up to these bullies to protect his younger and more vulnerable neighbours. This draws him into the world of his neighbours.
The Gran Torino in the title is Walt’s prized 1972 Ford motor car. This is not a ‘car’ movie but does provide a starting point for how Walt becomes an unlikely mentor for his young neighbour, Thao. In return, Walt finds friendship with Thao and his sister Sue. Walt teaches Thao that being a man involves having a vocation, providing for your family, and ultimately making your own way in life, that is, thinking for yourself and not following the pack.
This is a very fine picture by Eastwood. Hopefully it is not his last although rumours abound (he is 79 years old after all). It is similar in style to his Oscar winning Million Dollar Baby although I prefer this one, albeit without the acting presence of a Hilary Swank or Morgan Freeman.

engine hums and bitter dreams grow
heart locked in a Gran Torino
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long

My headmaster at school implored us to “be our own man.” This is Eastwood’s message to young men everywhere. 4 out of 5.

'Gran Torino' music by Jamie Cullen, vocals by Clint Eastwood

Revolutionary Road movie review

Have you ever felt trapped by life? Is your marriage everything you hoped for? Do you fight often, or have you moved passed that into a sullen silence, covering intimacy with a blank smile and finally to indifference?
For April Wheeler (Kate Winslet), the “perfect” life – successful husband, big house in the suburbs, two kids – is a perfectly constructed prison which she and husband Frank (Leo DiCaprio) have fashioned for themselves, in Revolutionary Road.
In deconstructing films like this where a key relationship is in focus, it is helpful for the filmmaker if the script writer contrives to have the reality of everyday life muted or better still, removed. This film is set in the 1950s and yet we do not see any of the extra-curricular activities that occupied the housewives of the day – the church groups, the tennis club, the whatever else that could give a woman a sense of purpose and prestige in the community, outside of cleaning house and raising children. The children, of which Frank and April have two, are absent for long stretches, presumably staying over at “friends houses.” Naturally this hard headedness misses the point of the film and so, by removing these realities, allows the tense, incommunicative relationship to disintegrate before our eyes.
Their relationship experiences a reprieve for the summer. April decides they could move to Paris in the fall, in September. April could work as a secretary, she thinks, and Frank would have the time to discover what he really wants to do. Their dream of a new start replaces the fights. Passage is reserved on a steamer. Boxes are slowly packed. They tell their friends, who can’t understand why anyone would give up their perfect life in the ‘burbs.
But this dream is just a dream. Frank is offered a promotion at the office and this allows him the chance to slip back into the comfort zone of the familiar. For April, unable to find freedom and unable to break the marriage or leave her children, descends into an desperate hell.
The men in this film are ‘typical’ of their time and do not know how to give emotional support or even perceive when its necessary. This imbalance, the woman trapped by circumstance and the man blinded by it, leads to the irretrievable breakdown. It is a literary touch I think that names the main character “April”, while placing her dream in faraway September while Frank is anything but.
Kate Winslet won the “Best Actress” award at the Golden Globes for her troubles here and she brings a maturity to her character. She is married and had children in real life (to director of this film, Sam Mendes) and this adds depth to her performance.
Mendes previously won Best Director for American Beauty and this film shares some similarities – the “American” dream of pursuing the house / the wife / the car by way of a “better” job is an empty pursuit if meaning and purpose are forfeit.
While not a ‘happy’ film, it is well made, well acted and worthy of those who enjoy a serious, relationship drama. 3 out of 5.
Many thanks to ABC radio for the preview.

Post script
Scanning the Oscar nominations, which have just been announced, the only mention for Revolutionary Road (of the “big 6” awards) is that of Best Support for Michael Shannon.
Shannon plays John Givings, a neighbour who plays Lear’s fool to Frank and his rationale for firstly agreeing to move to Paris, and then not. He sees Frank and April as we, the audience do, and pushes and challenges them, often in colourful language, which serves the dual purpose of releasing the tension by amusing us for a moment and providing a counterpoint to the words that they don’t say to each other.
Revolutionary Road has also been nominated for Best Achievement in Art Direction and Costume Design.