Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sixth
Both the recent Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings trilogies baffle me. I thought the first Lord of the Rings film was fantastic. The story built on thousands of years of human mythology and offered visually arresting pictures of a fantasy world inhabited by humans, almost humans, and many other strange creatures that you have never dreamed of. The movie’s special effects went beyond everything that Hollywood had pulled off until then. Since I had not seen any of first three Star Wars movies, my eyes enjoyed the adventure of seeing George Lucas’s vision of what life of the human species in science fiction world on distant stars and out in space would look like. But for me, the second and third episodes in the two trilogies were repetitive and boring. The drama and the script in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sixth are so poor that excellent actors such as Samuel Jackson and Natalie Portman lose their ability to act. Now here is what baffles me. The horrendously boring third episodes draw in more visitors than the much better predecessors. How do you explain that lower-quality films are more successful at the box office than their superior siblings? My guess is: the movies become an event that everyone wants to be a part of and when people go home and tell other people about the film, people evaluate not the films but the social event they were just participating in. The final episodes of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings were marketed into gigantic social events!
Cinderella Man
I have confessed more than once that I don’t like boxing. This is the first movie in which boxing is not pointless trashing of human beings. The true-life story of Cinderella Man captures America during the great depression era and represents Hollywood at its best. The cinematography is superb: you feel like being in the ring yourself, fighting for your own survival. Paul Giamatti is in the running for an Oscar as a best supporting actor. To prepare you for why the boxer Jim Braddock was called “Cinderella Man”, I attach the text of the fairy tale Cinderella recorded from a German oral tradition by the brothers Grimm who also put out the first German-language dictionary.
Cinderella
by the Grimm Brothers
The wife of a rich man fell sick, and as she felt that her end was drawing near, she called her only daughter to her bedside and said, “Dear child, be good and pious, and then the good God will always protect you, and I will look down on you from heaven and be near you.”
Thereupon she closed her eyes and departed. Every day the maiden went out to her mother’s grave, and wept, and she remained pious and good. When winter came the snow spread a white sheet over the grave, and by the time the spring sun had drawn it off again, the man had taken another wife.
The woman had brought with her into the house two daughters, who were beautiful and fair of face, but vile and black of heart. Now began a bad time for the poor step-child. “Is the stupid goose to sit in the parlor with us,” they said. “He who wants to eat bread must earn it. Out with the kitchen-wench.” They took her pretty clothes away from her, put an old grey bedgown on her, and gave her wooden shoes.
“Just look at the proud princess, how decked out she is,” they cried, and laughed, and led her into the kitchen. There she had to do hard work from morning till night, get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and wash. Besides this, the sisters did her every imaginable injury - they mocked her and emptied her peas and lentils into the ashes, so that she was forced to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked till she was weary she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by the hearth in the cinders. And as on that account she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella.
It happened that the father was once going to the fair, and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back for them.
“Beautiful dresses,” said one, “Pearls and jewels,” said the second.
“And you, Cinderella,” said he, “what will you have?”
“Father break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home.”
So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for his two step-daughters, and on his way home, as he was riding through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the branch and took it with him. When he reached home he gave his step-daughters the things which they had wished for, and to Cinderella he gave the branch from the hazel-bush. Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother’s grave and planted the branch on it, and wept so much that the tears fell down on it and watered it. And it grew and became a handsome tree. Thrice a day Cinderella went and sat beneath it, and wept and prayed, and a little white bird always came on the tree, and if Cinderella expressed a wish, the bird threw down to her what she had wished for.
It happened, however, that the king gave orders for a festival which was to last three days, and to which all the beautiful young girls in the country were invited, in order that his son might choose himself a bride. When the two step-sisters heard that they too were to appear among the number, they were delighted, called Cinderella and said, “comb our hair for us, brush our shoes and fasten our buckles, for we are going to the wedding at the king’s palace.”
Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would have liked to go with them to the dance, and begged her step-mother to allow her to do so.
“You go, Cinderella,” said she, “covered in dust and dirt as you are, and would go to the festival. You have no clothes and shoes, and yet would dance.” As, however, Cinderella went on asking, the step-mother said at last, “I have emptied a dish of lentils into the ashes for you, if you have picked them out again in two hours, you shall go with us.”
The maiden went through the back-door into the garden, and called, “You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick
the good into the pot,
the bad into the crop.”
Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at last all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the pigeons nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the rest began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good grains into the dish. Hardly had one hour passed before they had finished, and all flew out again.
Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother, and was glad, and believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to the festival.
But the step-mother said, “No, Cinderella, you have no clothes and you can not dance. You would only be laughed at.” And as Cinderella wept at this, the step-mother said, if you can pick two dishes of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour, you shall go with us. And she thought to herself, that she most certainly cannot do again.
When the step-mother had emptied the two dishes of lentils amongst the ashes, the maiden went through the back-door into the garden and cried, “You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick
the good into the pot,
the bad into the crop.”
Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-window, and afterwards the turtle-doves, and at length all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the doves nodded with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the others began also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good seeds into the dishes, and before half an hour was over they had already finished, and all flew out again. Then the maiden was delighted, and believed that she might now go with them to the wedding.
But the step-mother said, “All this will not help. You cannot go with us, for you have no clothes and can not dance. We should be ashamed of you.” On this she turned her back on Cinderella, and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
As no one was now at home, Cinderella went to her mother’s grave beneath the hazel-tree, and cried,
“Shiver and quiver, little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me.”
Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers embroidered with silk and silver. She put on the dress with all speed, and went to the wedding. Her step-sisters and the step-mother however did not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress. They never once thought of Cinderella, and believed that she was sitting at home in the dirt, picking lentils out of the ashes. The prince approached her, took her by the hand and danced with her. He would dance with no other maiden, and never let loose of her hand, and if any one else came to invite her, he said, “This is my partner.”
She danced till it was evening, and then she wanted to go home. But the king’s son said, “I will go with you and bear you company,” for he wished to see to whom the beautiful maiden belonged. She escaped from him, however, and sprang into the pigeon-house. The king’s son waited until her father came, and then he told him that the unknown maiden had leapt into the pigeon-house. The old man thought, “Can it be Cinderella.” And they had to bring him an axe and a pickaxe that he might hew the pigeon-house to pieces, but no one was inside it. And when they got home Cinderella lay in her dirty clothes among the ashes, and a dim little oil-lamp was burning on the mantle-piece, for Cinderella had jumped quickly down from the back of the pigeon-house and had run to the little hazel-tree, and there she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken them away again, and then she had seated herself in the kitchen amongst the ashes in her grey gown.
Next day when the festival began afresh, and her parents and the step-sisters had gone once more, Cinderella went to the hazel-tree and said,
“Shiver and quiver, my little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me.”
Then the bird threw down a much more beautiful dress than on the preceding day. And when Cinderella appeared at the wedding in this dress, every one was astonished at her beauty. The king’s son had waited until she came, and instantly took her by the hand and danced with no one but her. When others came and invited her, he said, “This is my partner.” When evening came she wished to leave, and the king’s son followed her and wanted to see into which house she went. But she sprang away from him, and into the garden behind the house. Therein stood a beautiful tall tree on which hung the most magnificent pears. She clambered so nimbly between the branches like a squirrel that the king’s son did not know where she was gone. He waited until her father came, and said to him, “The unknown maiden has escaped from me, and I believe she has climbed up the pear-tree.” The father thought, “Can it be Cinderella.” And had an axe brought and cut the tree down, but no one was on it. And when they got into the kitchen, Cinderella lay there among the ashes, as usual, for she had jumped down on the other side of the tree, had taken the beautiful dress to the bird on the little hazel-tree, and put on her grey gown.
On the third day, when the parents and sisters had gone away, Cinderella went once more to her mother’s grave and said to the little tree,
“Shiver and quiver, my little tree,
silver and gold throw down over me.”
And now the bird threw down to her a dress which was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were golden. And when she went to the festival in the dress, no one knew how to speak for astonishment. The king’s son danced with her only, and if any one invited her to dance, he said this is my partner.
When evening came, Cinderella wished to leave, and the king’s son was anxious to go with her, but she escaped from him so quickly that he could not follow her. The king’s son, however, had employed a ruse, and had caused the whole staircase to be smeared with pitch, and there, when she ran down, had the maiden’s left slipper remained stuck. The king’s son picked it up, and it was small and dainty, and all golden.
Next morning, he went with it to the father, and said to him, no one shall be my wife but she whose foot this golden slipper fits. Then were the two sisters glad, for they had pretty feet. The eldest went with the shoe into her room and wanted to try it on, and her mother stood by. But she could not get her big toe into it, and the shoe was too small for her. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, “Cut the toe off, when you are queen you will have no more need to go on foot.” The maiden cut the toe off, forced the foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the king’s son. Then he took her on his his horse as his bride and rode away with her. They were obliged, however, to pass the grave, and there, on the hazel-tree, sat the two pigeons and cried,
“Turn and peep, turn and peep,
there’s blood within the shoe,
the shoe it is too small for her,
the true bride waits for you.”
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was trickling from it. He turned his horse round and took the false bride home again, and said she was not the true one, and that the other sister was to put the shoe on. Then this one went into her chamber and got her toes safely into the shoe, but her heel was too large. So her mother gave her a knife and said, “Cut a bit off your heel, when you are queen you will have no more need to go on foot.” The maiden cut a bit off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the king’s son. He took her on his horse as his bride, and rode away with her, but when they passed by the hazel-tree, the two pigeons sat on it and cried,
“Turn and peep, turn and peep,
there’s blood within the shoe,
the shoe it is too small for her,
the true bride waits for you.”
He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood was running out of her shoe, and how it had stained her white stocking quite red. Then he turned his horse and took the false bride home again. “This also is not the right one,” said he, “have you no other daughter.” “No,” said the man, “there is still a little stunted kitchen-wench which my late wife left behind her, but she cannot possibly be the bride.” The king’s son said he was to send her up to him, but the mother answered, oh, no, she is much too dirty, she cannot show herself. But he absolutely insisted on it, and Cinderella had to be called.
She first washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down before the king’s son, who gave her the golden shoe. Then she seated herself on a stool, drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted like a glove. And when she rose up and the king’s son looked at her face he recognized the beautiful maiden who had danced with him and cried, “That is the true bride.” The step-mother and the two sisters were horrified and became pale with rage, he, however, took Cinderella on his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel-tree, the two white doves cried,
“Turn and peep, turn and peep,
no blood is in the shoe,
the shoe is not too small for her,
the true bride rides with you.”
And when they had cried that, the two came flying down and placed themselves on Cinderella’s shoulders, one on the right, the other on the left, and remained sitting there.
When the wedding with the king’s son was to be celebrated, the two false sisters came and wanted to get into favor with Cinderella and share her good fortune. When the betrothed couple went to church, the elder was at the right side and the younger at the left, and the pigeons pecked out one eye from each of them. Afterwards as they came back the elder was at the left, and the younger at the right, and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye from each. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness all their days.
English translation by Margaret Hunt
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Crash
Not since American Beauty has a Hollywood picture been so surprising. The film is set in LA and evokes a similar mood as Lost in Translation. The first half made me restless: “Dave Chapelle does a much better job composing racist dialogues for his show on Comedy Central. Is this all the film has to offer?” But we are merely set up to be fully unprepared for what descends upon us in the second half. What makes Crash in the end an amazing movie experience is that it creates a car accident in which you first think you know who is the guilty person. It turns out to be much more ambiguous and this ambiguity becomes the dramatic center of a poetic piece of cinema.
Angels in America
The word that arrived at my doorsteps about the HBO miniseries Angels in America was: fantastic. I knew Al Pacino and Meryl Streep were among the cast, but I had no idea what the miniseries was about. This gave me a most pleasant of surprises watching the first of the six episodes. The teleplay was so powerful that I suspected the film had to be based on a play. I was correct. For very good reasons Tony Kushner won a Pulitzer Prize for the play Angels in America. The second and third episode were disappointments given the high bar the first episode had set. Episode 4 and 5 were again much better but final one again suffered from a lack of discipline and a good editing job.
The Manchurian Candidate
I toyed with the idea of watching the remake of this 1962 film that came out last year with Denzel Washington in the lead. Having had bad experiences with remakes, I decided to see the original film instead. Frank Sinatra not only owned the rights to the film but also played a main role. The plot line is simple: The Russians capture an American soldier in Korea, brain wash him, and send him back to America to carry out missions that would help the Soviet cause. Altough we can still detect the tensions of the cold war lurking in the background, the narrative is initiallly much too slow for the contemporary viewer. In the middle the film—almost surprisingly—gets back on track. Freud was clearly at the peak of his influence when the script was put together: at the center of the personal and political drama is the relationship between mother and son who hate each other. The Manchurian Candidate is not a film you have to see.
Ray
If Ray Charles had been a Hollywood rather than a music star, Ray would have cleaned up at this year’s Oscars. Instead, Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and Martin Sorcese’s Aviator about Hollywood director and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes won five and four Oscars respectively. Ray is a labor of love and a much better film than both Million Dollar Baby and Aviator. Every scene is crafted with thoughtfulness and attention to details. Ray is wonderful in every regard and will be the yardstick for any future biographical drama. The only saving grace for the Academy of Motion pictures is that it gave Jamie Fox an Oscar for Best Actor. Fox’s performance is stunning and an extravagant pleasure to watch. Go see and hear Ray. You will experience an extraordinary motion picture event.
Love’s a Bitch
Love’s a Bitch (Amores Perros) received an Oscar Nomination for Best Foreign Film, rave reviews, and prizes at numerous festivals. The film did not resonate with me. I think as an observation about the human condition the film is wrong: yes, love can be a bitch, but it is not always a bitch as the director (Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu) implies. I also found the effort juvenile and lacking in perception. The stories we are told are old stories: a young man is in love with the wife of his brother, a woman loses her body that is so central to her identity, an old man gives up his family for the sake of fighting for the larger social good and finds himself disappointed. If you tell old stories, put them at least in a new light. Otherwise we are better off hearing the originals.
Hotel Rwanda
The film highlights powerfully that in the European and American mind a black African life is worth less than a white life. A catastrophy that kills 500 Europeans is emotionally judged to be worse than the killing of 500,000 Africans. The latter event hardly makes the news. Don Cheadle stars in the true-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsis refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda. The acting is spotty. Cheadle is superb, but Nick Nolte, for example, delivers a ghastly performance as an UN colonel. Roman Polanksi directed The Pianist with a sure hand, showing the right amount of cruelty and brutality to neither trivialize the suffering portrayed in the movie nor to numb the viewer. The ending of Hotel Rwanda trivializes everything you witnessed earlier.
The Incredibles
Would Pixar Studios be able to put out another movie in the league of Finding Nemo? During the first hour I became skeptical but the second hour proved this film to be amazingly good as well. I am awed by the creativity of Pixar. How do these people continue to crank out one commercial and artistic hit after another? The Incredibles manages to mix Superman, Spiderman, Catwoman, Speed, The Matrix, James Bond, and Austin Powers all into one film. Incredible, isn
The Fog of War
Robert McNamara was a cold warrior with a soft heart. He led the Pentagon under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson until the disagreements between Johnson and McNamara over Vietnam became too large. This film is one long interview with McNamara. The subtitle of the documentary is “Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara.” The lessons he has to offer are profound and some of them you have never heard before. I don’t want to give away some of the amazing things that he reports. Anyone living in the 21 century should see what McNamara has witnessed in his lifetime.
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