Peter Murmann

Diary, Politics, Travel, Europe

Will King Boris lead the the UK to fall apart

PM: My own sense is that the likelihood of the UK breaking apart has increased substantially with Boris Johnson becoming the prime minister of the UK. Here is a good summary of we know about King Boris.

Boris Johnson can’t be found out: we all know he’s bluffing
by Fintan O’Toole in The Guardian

The new PM’s rise to No 10 is the carefully managed product of three decades of a show stage-managed by and about himself.

Toni Erdmannn

This film is billed as a comedy. Yes, there are moments that are extremely funny. But mostly Toni Erdmannis a subtle meditation on the relationship between a parent and a child—here a father and daughter. The father is introduced from the first scene as a practical prankster. A few scenes later the daughter is introduced at a celebratory gathering of the mother who has a new partner. As the father arrives the daughter is in the garden where she pretends to make important phone calls for her consulting job.

Diary

The Demolition Artist: 3 Critics Debate Ivo van Hove

Peter Murmann: Inspring dicussion of the work of theatre director Ivo van Hove in the NY Times (Jan. 9, 2019)

By Ben Brantley, Elisabeth Vincentelli and Jason Zinoman

Who is Ivo van Hove and why are theatergoers saying such (thrilling) (furious) (mystified) things about him? How did the unassuming Belgian director, who since 2001 has made the theater company Toneelgroep Amsterdam his base of operations, turn into the most important auteur on the international stage circuit — and now a three-time Broadway director?

Movies, Drama, Phantasy

The Shape of Water

This is a fairy tale like no other I have seen before. It feels like a Beauty and the Beast inspired Sci-Fi film set during the Cold War USA of the early 1960s. There is real beauty in the love story between a mute woman and a male creature that comes across as a mixture between a mermaid and robot. He also cannot talk but clearly has intelligence and feelings. The film at times becomes rather annoying when the portrayal of the US government and its personnel becomes a caricature rather than a realistic portrayal what the USA military was like during the conflict with the Soviet Union.

Diary, Politics

This week with Trump

All eyes and ears are what Cohen said this week about been directed by Trump to pay hush money. Pecker cooperating with the special council is clearly worrisome for Trump. The New Yorker reports other interesting facts that suggest to me that Trumps chance of getting elected another term of gone down substantially down this week.