The Departed
The Departed is an exceedingly well-craft piece of work. But I left the theatre disappointed because the story feels repetitive and fundamentally wrong. Just as in many of his films, Sorcese suggests that violence for violence’s sake is the general condition in America. With question America is violent. Too violate for my taste. But no society can survive for 200 years in which the average members of society believes it is normal to kill innocent people. Scorcese’s superb film Gangs of New York has perhaps even more bloody scenes than The Departed but the historical narrative arrives at the crucial point that the modern state triumphed over the capricious violence of one member of society of the next. The Departed makes no sense. Scorcese assembles a superb cast whose acting is impeccable. But Jack Nicholson and company cannot compensate the absence of a story worth telling.
The Devil Wears Prada
The Devil Wears Prada does not offer any meaningful drama but it gives a wonderful peek into the world of high fashion magazines. . If you read fashion magazines regularly, you will enjoy this behind the scenes look. If you never open such magazines, you will probably enjoy getting to know this world. I did. Based on a book about the long-term editor of Vogue, Meryl Streep plays satan at the top fashion magazine in the world. And she does it well. But don’t expect any real drama except feeling every more acutely during the course of the movie your wardrobe is totally inadequate!
Just My Luck
If you have thought deeply about the role of fate in life, Just My Luck is not going to offer you any new insights. If you are looking for a nice little romance movie that you can let your kids watch, this is just the right movie for you. I suspect that kids don’t mind a plot where good and back luck can be turned on and off by a small kiss.
Little Miss Sunshine
For most of its history, the United States has existed in the minds of people from all around the world as the place of freedom and unparalleled economic opportunities. Real as they always were, these opportunities never fell into everyone’s hands in equal amounts. Nonetheless, America has produced millions of success stories that coalesced into the myth of unlimited opportunities. Little Miss Sunshine tells the story of a family that tries hard to participate in this American dream. The father is hatching a plan to make millions through selling self-help books and videos. The daughter is practicing with granddaddy to win a beauty contest for little kids. The teenage son decided to stop talking to anyone, while he is focusing on becoming a fighter jet pilot. In the meantime, Mommy has to work all day to keep the family afloat and bring food to the table while daddy is trying to make his business work. The only problem this American family is that they have no skills to make their dreams come true. In the competitive American world, they appear to be total losers. Not surprisingly the family life is a bit stressful because it is not clear how they will continue making a living. It is much easier to tell (and watch) heroic tales of people who overcome their challenges and succeed. The genius of Little Miss Sunshine is that it can turn the camera onto the lives of a disintegrating family without merely depressing you. It turns out that the parents don’t have the cash at hand to fly with their daughter to children’s beauty pageant to California. Yet when the family decides to make this long trip by car you want to go on the road trip with them and see who they fare in their struggle to make a living in contemporary American society. Except for the ending, the film is brilliant.
McLintock!
Drawing on the plot of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, Mclintock shows you what the fourth of July was like in the Wild West. They did not have fireworks but plenty of fun. The Wild West in this film is a comedy land. The place is Arizona and it is dry. My historical knowledge is inadequate to understand why the West was so romanticized in American culture. The land from from Utah to California is not particularly lushes. Why would I want to move there if I am on lushes green land on the East Coast? Perhaps it was the availability of free land that gave a lot of people the opportunity to become economically self-sufficient, which was not possible in Europe. How little I new about the historical Wild West became clear after I read the article on the subject in the Wikipedia.
Barcelona, Spain
Flashback: Entering the visitor center of the Temple of the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, I was greeted by two young believers who welcome everyone with a warm and open heart. 
I could sense right away why this religion is expanding vigorously: It is offering you a family and community feeling that promises to shelter you from the impersonality of modern life. We really would like you to join, Peter. We have been waiting for you. This is the spirit conveyed methodically. Entering the Cathedral in Barcelona I am not greeted by a human being but rather by picture of the cold bureaucracy of Roman Catholicism. 
If all the Church of Peter can tell when you come to visit is that must not show too much skin, it is no wonder that people in Europe are turning their backs onto the church. The spirit of Jesus has been driven from this house. The dark and tall cathedral feels like a Mausoleum and I am glad when I am out on the street again, going for a walk along the architectural marvels of the boulevard Garcia. Barcelona resonates me much more deeply with me than Madrid. Why not live in Catalan city by the sea for a while?
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Japan’s Biggest Elvis Fan
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan giving an Elvis impersonation during a tour of the house of his emotional King. This must be one of the most honest moments in the life of a politian that I have ever seen. His amused audience are, besides George Bush, the former wife and daugher of Elvis.
Continue ReadingWhere is Paradise?
The Economist reviews two books on the idea of paradise throughout human history. By historical standards, people in the industrialized countries are close to paradise in a material sense. The trick is to feel spiritually this way. The Germans have proven in the past few weeks that possessing a good national soccer team helps a long way to take the final step. But then the Italians, who seem to be closer to God with the Vatican in Rome, showed the Germans that full Paradise remains one step, that is one small goal away.
Chinatown
While the dialogues in Chinatown are well crafted, the drama of this detective story falls a bit flat after 30 years. Roman Polanski has a penchant for psychological stories, but his art is at a much higher level in The Pianist and Death and the Maiden. If you want a little history lesson of LA without too much history, the film captures well the city’s precarious habitat: it is built in a semi-desert and requires imported water for its sustenance. Water politics are central to this history of the city to this day. Watching the film, I could never shake the feeling that I already knew the mood of the film. With the help of the web learned that The Two Jakes was a sequel to Chinatown. Both films don’t make it my must-see list.
Fitzcarraldo
Growing older has its pleasures. I was bit nervous about renting Fitzcarraldo (1982) with Klaus Kinski in the lead role. I remember seeing Kinski as a teenager in a film depicting a strange riverboat trip. At the time I thought the film was boring and Kinski crazy. In my memory the action took place on the Nile, but after searching for any evidence of the film on the Internet this morning, I am forced to conclude: It was Fitzcarraldo that the teenage me rejected as boring and crazy. The adult me, by contrast, enjoyed every single one of the 158 minutes in which a lovable crazy Fitzcarraldo (Klaus Kinski) tries to bring opera to the backwaters of Peru. This film, set at the turn of the 20th century, is not for everyone, especially not teenagers who will find the pace too slow. If you like opera, nature, and people who are a bit crazy in their quest to experience life in its fullest, you will not be disappointed.
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