Stricken as I am this weekend with laryngitis, I am shunned even by Dr. Dragonspeak, so I am not in pain, but reduced to typing only. Aren't you glad I can't write cursively over the net? Or, maybe not...is that a double negative, as I fear? (I can do long strings of negatives- I've got "great lumps of it 'round the back!!!"
I thought it might be mildly interesting, to me at least, if I let das blogn'reader know what I am currently reading, as I did a few months back:
"Berlin Diaries 1940-1945" by Marie Vassiltchikov and the newest bio on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, both of which I have mentioned recently. Both were involved in plots to kill Hitler but only she survived; also Chuck Colson's version of Watergate written after his conversion; Francis Schaeffer's "No Little People"; "The Merry Wives of Windsor"; and I am "getting very near the end" as the Beatles once sang, of "The Plague". What a relief that will be--now if I could just get rid of my mini-plague!
Being of largely German extraction I am again fascinated by Germany's worst years, and it occurred to me again that, "Uneasy is the head that wears the crown." Time magazine recently featured an Afghan woman on the cover who had had her nose, among other parts mutilated, cut off by yonder Taliban. This was journalistic speculation as to what may happen, again, to women if we totally give up in that region. Anyone who has seen "The Kite Runner," has a good feel for what is being presented in Time--but will it be "in time?" I have been reading Nat Henthoff's series on drone warfare; which totally undercuts the whole "hearts and minds" thing....better the devil you know next door than the aliens swooping without warning out of the sky.
I cannot really delve into the Afghan much less the Muslim mind; but I can say I know what it is like to be religious and hyper-religious, pretty much from both sides of the Sanhedrin or our current halls of Congress.
But my observations from history is that once one moves from being excluded to the point of being in significant power and especially in possession of lands and landmines, organizations and great halls -see Beowulf- one becomes totally a target for hit and run raiders and terrorists who see our possessiveness of our privileges as the weakest element of our humanity. Once the Taliban was "out", it was "in"!!! And we are no sooner "in control" than we are out of control. It's easy to see the Eastern doctrine of maya-illusion and the parallel Western existential/absurdist response as valid, except that the very complexity of life mitigates against such over-simplifications. But..will yonder Taliban outlast yonder Babylon???!!!
Against such a background it might be easy to be pessimistic-- but if one holds everything with a loose hand, then there is a kind of freedom that certainly evades most of us, who would rather imagine ourselves sitting at the right or lift hand of Master Damocles....but then there's that pesky stewardship issue and our very real impact on those whom we care about, and whose care is entrusted into our hands; withdrawl is not only illusion but the privilege of the rich and idle who delight only in providing guru-guidance for the rest of us--been there, done that, ain't gone back.
Mendota may be a backwater, but I rarely question any more as to "where I belong" or "who I am"; the more relevant question is, Whose I am.
Right, dear? Yes, dear!
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I have always been interested in foreign films and with the advent of Netflix I am finally able to indulge myself. My wife and daughter's think I am abnormal for watching movies where you have to read subtitles to understand the movie. I have not imparted on them the importance of watching movies by foreign directors to have an understanding of the different cultures. I find that rather trying to create Hollywood spectacles foreign movies seem to have more of a reason for being. In other words the director is trying to educate us as to some social or political problem in his culture.
ReplyDeleteSince like myself you enjoyed "The Kite Runner" I would highly recommend this movie...
"The Stoning of Soraya M."
2008R116 minutes
Set in 1986 Iran at the start of Khomeini's reign, director Cyrus Nowrasteh's drama tells the true story of Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), whose husband plots to have her falsely accused of adultery so he can divorce her and marry a young girl. French journalist Freidoune (Jim Caviezel) is pulled into Soraya's tragic story when he meets a desperate woman named Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo).
Ah yes how "Time"ly. I was just given a 3 month subscription to Netflix for my b-day and I am wondering how to use it. However I need to find something Flo would like to see also. Anything you and Jean have watched that you both enjoyed? I was going to start with the Russian film series of "War and Peace" which I understand is one of the best made in Russian cinema. Flo doesn't care for anything violent, gratuitous or not, nor of course films that sound like Chicago street talk, in any language. I realize that for current cinema that really narrows it down but I would like to see some classics I missed.
ReplyDeleteYour input is always honored and valued; even though we are of course both odd ducks!!!
(So..vat's not to like, yes?)
De gustibus non est disputandum
ReplyDelete(There is no accounting for taste)
Concerning choices in movies I have learned to just pick what I enjoy and let the girls pick their own. Mostly inane chick flicks....lol
I have so many great foreign movie favorites that the list would fill your blog. A good way to start is to use Netflix and Rottentomatoes.com to help find good movies. Both have lists you can use to filter out the good from the bad. Check out the film festival winners as well as the Oscar nominees for best foreign films.
I have learned to pick the directors who I have enjoyed movies by and watch their other films. Since you have been to India you should love a trilogy by a Canadian Indian female director Deepa Mehta. "Earth", "Fire", and "Water" show many of the social problems in India especially back in the time of the English rule.
"Lagaan" is another good movie that even your wife might enjoy, it's also about India.
I have been watching a lot of Akira Kurosawa's movies. He is the the Japanese director who filmed "The Seven Samurai" which was the basis for "The Magnificent Seven" movie.