Wag The Dog

If you like your political commentary humorous I've just watched for the first time Wag The Dog. Despite the gravity of the subject Dustin Hoffman's irrepressible Hollywood producer character made me laugh quite a few times with memorable lines such as 'it's all a change of wardrobe'.

Set in the 90's the movie eclipses domestic events when Clinton was bombing essential medicine factories in the Sudan to distract from sexual scandal at home. This war  crime act was responsible for destroying 50% of Sudanese medicines and 90% of critical drugs which killed thousands upon thousands of babies, the elderly and the the sick. Wag The Dog also needs a diversion abroad and so the U.S. picks on Albania as a new "Terror threat" with a suitcase bomb. This was before 9/11 and the accuracy of how the media is used to hypnotize us all into demonizing the enemy is extraordinary. The genius of the movie is it makes us laugh and think at the same time. Hoffman's performance is unbeatable. When he's good he's really good.

There are lots of torrents available to watch this movie through this and other search engine findings. There's a song rustled up during the movie to keep sentiment high. It's extraordinary how close it is to what was later produced at the 9/11 NY Charity Rock Concert. People should be angry about how they were duped but I don't think most can handle the truth so that obligation will be forced on them at some point.

Serpico

There's a definitive Golden Period for movies in American Cinema that roughly extends from the mid to late sixties through to the mid seventies. I got thinking about this again last night as I downloaded Network on the advice of Tariq Ali and at first wasn't convinced but I stuck it out as Faye Dunaway was looking absolutely hot (even in Beige), and then when the Howard Beale (Peter Finch) started to get Messianic I realised that it was going to be some straight shooting commentary on the United States. The feedback on Twitter was very positive and it seems that it's a favourite for many of you. 

It also unveiled a contrast on the other Network movie I coincidentally caught this week which was The Social Network.  A movie I couldn't complete it was so banal, as I could see that it only worked because Facebook is worth Gazillions otherwise it would be a straight to video affair of the 'Breakdance' and 'You've got mail' genre. Generally spindly attempts by Daddy "Capital C" culture to parasitically subsume the stuff we do to break away from it. Also sometimes called 'Counter culture' and which Madison Avenue hoovers up relentlessly.

I've previously written why Culture (capital C) is most definitely not your friend, though recently I listened to the most comprehensive and devastating explanation of why culture is everything we are not, or even as humans. Sounds illogical but the enlightenment is worth a listen from one Joseph Chilton Pearce. I'm going to name check a couple of bloggers I think should listen to this stuff too so Robert and Johnnie please make time to listen to these three podcasts when/if you can: 1, 2, 3.

I really do procrastinate don't I? I haven't even mentioned Al Pacino in Serpico. The reason it's such an iconoclastic movie in Thailand is that the cops are so corrupt that when the movie was aired here in Thailand, it was an incredible success. The real life story of Frank Serpico as played by Pacino was instantly adopted as a folk hero against corruption and greed by the cops. His sticker was mass produced and paraded on pickup trucks and motorbikes because invariably they are the people that the parasitic police most penalise with petty fines, while leaving the better off problem-free for the same minor law transgressions. 

It was a counter culture "fuck you" to the police that a White Boy parachute planner in Thailand would never get to know. Particularly if they're dropping into middle class bourgeoisie planner-land that is telling them a buffalo is an insult in Thailand, when in point of fact to the majority pro red working class, it's like the "nigger" word amongst blacks. 

A point of perverse pride. 

In any case, this is all rather a dramatic build up to "Collapse" which is a documentary Lee Maschemeyer in New York brought my attention to some time back. I didn't download it because, hard to believe, I don't get off on pessimism porn as much as you might expect. But as it resurfaced in my data stream, I put off the washing up, and it's really good. The music is well arranged and poignantly appropriate for a documentary interview style , making it compelling.

Most enjoyable for me was correcting a false perception I'd had for a while now when estimating Michael Ruppert. He's an ex-cop who was hounded out of the force for blowing the whistle on CIA drug dealing (yes they deal drugs, get over it) but I always assumed he was probably not on the smart side of things, and that is why he lost his job. I know from repeated experience that most cops aren't paid because they are clever but instead are paid to be loyal. 

I wrongly assumed Michael was one of those kind of cops, but instead I learned earlier that like Serpico he was one of the finest and bravest cops that the LAPD ever had in their ranks. His academic credentials are excellent, his story telling is blunt and rivetting and even though I don't know any more than you as to precisely what the future holds for us, I do know that if you refuse to see that the times they are 'a changing, then it's highly likely you're planning ability is flawed. Particuarly if you're a planner defending the Corporate Ancien Regime on the flimsy basis that it pays the bills.

Here's the first part. Inform yourself.  Because You're Worth it.

I've had to post the second part seperately for html embed ju jitsu reasons that you don't need to know about. So look above or look to 'newer posts' if you're coming back from the future so to speak.

And The Spring Comes - 立春

I've just had the amazing good fortune to watch an important Chinese movie in all its cinema glory. I'm a film fan but pathetically handicapped about what I can watch and so the last full movie I saw was the awesome German Language 'Counterfeiters' on the flight from London to Shanghai in November last year. I'm back in love with movies after this because there is so much in this work that will help anyone trying to understand China, while at the same time telling a moving and relevant story.

It's quite a surprise that this film, And the spring comes - 立春 which is principally about artists and art in China, made it through the censors (SARFT) as although there are only a couple of scenes where the State reveals its ugly and invasive side the operatic leitmotif is pretty much that art is everything about truth and beauty the State has reason to fear the most. It's the unveiling of the human spirit in its purest and most uncontained form isn't it?

Aside from the homosexuality and sexual craving, even the mild partial nudity comes as a surprise in this movie after the recent blacklisting of Lust and Caution star Tang Wei from working in China. I found the operatic parts hugely moving with the end super bringing tears to my eyes. I don't want to say that its completely brilliant throughout as the narrative on occasions was a little patchy although sometimes deliberately so judging by the colour palette on the film poster

The photography, while good isn't say on a par with my favourite director Wong Kar Wai, although I think I could easily die quite happy if I expired while immersed in a scene from 'In The Mood For Love'. The colours in this film are a little washed out in the way that the light in Beijing really is most days. It's captured depressingly accurate, although when Beijing is unpolluted and shines it really does.

The lead actress Jiang Wenli is nothing less than a tour de force with one of the most powerful performances I've seen in a long time. She is married to the director Gu Changwei (Farewell my Concubine) and I understand put on considerable weight to fulfil this role. She acts so well that its difficult for other cast members to come across as better than average.

I want to give some additional thought to the scenes that I think are most important and so I'll probably come back with an update to this post but in the meantime here is a no subtitles clip from Tudou the Chinese version of Youtube and a strong urging that you try and see this important and definitive movie that encapsulates so much of what I love about the Chinese and yet why freedom of expression has yet to be fully understood and also why until it is fully embraced, movies like this will largely be a rare exception. More here too.