Latest on Fri, 09:25 am
Europecinema – part 1: Food.
A very learned man, not even half my age, was on the Telly last night. Though he is a sociology professor, he had quite a lot of interesting things to say on strategies to exclude minorities. But I will not go into them here and now. However, to my dismay he joined the choir of pessimists when he referred to the near future of Europe as a museum only.
I don’t agree at all. The present political mood may not be what sensible people would want it to be, but to me the continent is still dynamic and vigorous. Yet unquestionable it is true that we are surrounded by 2500 years of breathtaking artifacts in all kinds of realms. Ranging from ancient Greek architecture to modern cinematographic art. As a matter of fact I, as a composed lover of movies, for instance definitely prefer European cinema to Hollywood and Bollywood. In that sense, and in that sense only, I second Willem Schinkel.
By way of example: culinary Indonesia and Japan may be my world champions, but the three best movies in which food plays a major part, are European: “La Grande Bouffe”, “Babette’s Gaestebud” (Babette’s Feast) and “The cook, the thief, his wife and her lover”. At least these are the best I’ve seen.
“In Bruges”, a terrific movie.
An introduction.
“In Bruges†is a movie about two Irish hitmen [an agonizing, wild and boyish young man Ray ( the brilliant Colin Farrell) and the calm, genial-with-a-sting Ken ( a superb Brendan Gleeson)] who have to spend a fortnight in the old Flanders city of Brugge (Bruges in French and English) after a killing in Dublin which went terribly wrong. One of them really enjoys the cultural atmosphere, the mediaevel architecture and museums of the city, the other one seems to be bored to death by this “shithole” and prefers a drink, a girl and some coke. These are criminals suffering from fatigue, a conscience or a peculiar principle. Within a few days the tension between the two men who are in a father – son relationship of a sort, mounts and ultimately reaches a bloody climax. Yet, it’s a primarily hilarious movie with brilliant lines, dazzling scenes and superior acting.
If you don’t want to believe us, look/listen to this review by an anonymous on YouTube who, unlike us in perfect English, tells why you should not skip the movie:
The director himself, Martin McDonagh*, alludes in the movie to an other masterpiece: “Don’t look now“, which was set in an other, probably the most famous of all mediaevel European cities: Venice. Reviewers also talk about Tarantino ( “Reservoir Dogs†and “Pulp Fiction“). Others recognized the influence of the witty “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels“.
Quickie 2: Seven Strong Women
What happens when you love literature and strong women? Well, at one moment in your life you are bound to hit upon a selection of books about (fictional) strong women. Well, actually it happened several times. And here is the last one. In this case only about Anglo-Saxon books and strong leading characters. The list was composed by stine jensen , who, I guess, is a strong lady herself. I very much tend to agree with her choice. Some of her “ten best†I never read however, so I’ve no own opinion on them. The rest is, if you would ask me, very good or excellent indeed. But I should confess at the outset that my order of rank and motivation slightly differ from hers.
To tickle a taboo
One of the most effective ways to address taboo’s is by getting the laugh on one’s side. That is what, at least at first sight, Quickie Express (2007) promises to do. This Indonesian movie, directed by Dimas Djayadiningrat, claims to take on all kinds prejudices about the country’s minorities, the “tribal†system and the sexual morale. Quite a number of touchy issues one might say – the storyboard leaves no doubt about it. To cut it short: it looked like it could be almost two hours of the quintessence of humour and even better: it was shown in a local cinema. Because it is a rare opportunity to see a South East Asian Woody Allen or Monty Python, we held a small family conference and immediately decided to go.
Actually we did see a well made film. This was funny entertainment about a guy and his pals who delivered sexual services to well to do milfs with too much leisure time on their hands. And here is the trailer: