Todd Haynes‘ ‘Far from Heaven‘ (2002) is a bold and highly successful stylistic and thematic exercise. From the beginning of the film, from the opening credits, you have the impression as a viewer that you are watching an American film from the 50s that is either very well preserved or excellently restored. There were several sources of inspiration, but the main one is the social melodrama ‘All the Heaven Allows’ directed in 1955 by Douglas Sink. That film, which starred Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson, tackled one of the moral taboos of the era – relationships between mature women and much younger men. However, Todd Haynes, who is also the author of the screenplay, uses the style of narration and filming of that period to address two other taboos of the society of the 1950s, which American cinema had not yet dared to attack by that time: interracial love affairs and homosexual relationships. Not only does Haynes bring both themes into the same story, he does more – he brings them into the same marriage. He does not, however, do so from the perspective of the 45 years that have passed since the events described in the film, nor does he introduce any lessons learned from the civil rights revolution of the ’60s or the revolution of acceptance of homosexuality that would take place about a decade later. He films as if he were a 1950s director who dared approach the themes. The authenticity effect is overwhelming.
The story begins in the fall of 1957 and takes place in the city of Hartford, Connecticut. The couple Frank and Cathy Whitaker seem like model American success story in that decade of economic prosperity after World War II. Frank works as head of advertising at a prosperous firm and earns well enough to have a nice house with maids and for Cathy to be able to stay at home and devote her time to raising her two children and socializing with other women of the same bed well-off social. Behind the appearances, however, a secret is hidden. Frank is gay and he has a tough time hiding his preferences, starts risking visits to gay bars and even has an affair at work. The marriage goes into crisis when Cathy discovers the situation and Franl decides to resort to a ‘treatment’ to ‘fix’ what was still considered an illness at the time. The ‘treatment’ doesn’t quite work, Frank is confused and becomes violent. The desperate Cathy finds support and platonic solace in her friendship with Raymond, a widowed African-American gardener and father of a little girl. Inter-racial relations, even at social level, are a taboo at least as unaccepted by the mentality of those times as gay relations and a much more visible one. Both communities in the city – that of the whites and that of the blacks – reject them. Segregation is not only legal (laws that would change in the next decade), but also or especially in the mentality. Although Cathy and Raymond had committed no infidelity, the very fact that they were meeting and socializing in public condemns them to ostracism. Under this pressure of prejudice, neither the marriage nor the bond forged against the conventions have much chance of survival.
Todd Haynes carefully studied and brought back to work some of the tools in the arsenal of filmmakers from the decade in which the story takes place. To faithfully recreate the film colors of the era, Haynes, along with his faithful collaborator, cinematographer Edward Lachman, used the film and lighting from the studios of the period. The action begins in autumn and the foliage colors are combined with the red and green of the ladies’ dresses for an idyllic symphony of colors. As we progress through the story, the more garish colors and the darker corners of the city appear. The chill of winter is interrupted only by the heroes’ New Year’s vacation filmed under the warm Florida sun. In the ending, which takes place in the spring, flower buds appear on the trees, but the future is uncertain. For the film’s soundtrack, Haynes chose to collaborate with Elmer Bernstein, a composer with half a century of experience who had already been active writing film music during the period the story takes place. It would be his last collaboration on a feature film. The role of Cathy Whitaker is played by Julianne Moore. This is, I think, one of the best roles of her career, a complex role of a woman whose world collapses under the pressure of the events and prejudices around her, a woman who tries to cope with dignity with the situation and save her family while keeping her own integrity and who pays a huge price for this. Unfortunately, the roles of the two men in Cathy’s life are less well-defined, although each represents a complex and equally interesting case. Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert both act well, but I was left with the impression that their two characters are not sufficiently explored. The final is far from a happy ending. For each of the three heroes, the fight is just beginning.
Some of the most interesting films I’ve seen lately come from directors who have nothing left to prove. Wim Wenders is one of them. He will be 79 this year and has made films like ‘Wings of Desire’ and ‘Paris, Texas’. He can probably get financing for whatever movies he wants, or maybe he even has enough resources to finance himself whatever dream or fantasy he wants to bring to the screen. Thoughts of retiring seem distant or non-existent to him. In the last 10 years he has added 18 titles to his filmography: short and feature films, fiction and documentaries, music videos of the music he loves and films about the visual artists he admires. Not only does Wenders seem like he has no intention of stopping, he’s always on the lookout, rejects clichés and the beaten path, and always has something interesting to say and something new to experience. ‘Perfect Days‘ is a tribute to Japan by an artist who deeply loves and respects this country, its people and its culture. It is a wonderful film about loneliness and about simple and sometimes invisible people, with a deeply human message: the world is made up of as many worlds as there are people, and everyone has their place under the sun and their life worth living. The film has already received several awards, but I think the most significant of them is the decision to be chosen to represent Japan at the Academy Awards this year. It is, I believe, a confirmation that the Japanese themselves had a great opinion about the quality and sensibility of the film according to their own criteria. It doesn’t even matter much whether the film wins the Oscar or not.
The original scriot is written by Wenders along with Takuma Takasaki. Hirayama, the main hero of the film, is an aging man who works in the cleaning service of public toilets in Tokyo. Anyone who has visited Japan knows how impressively clean Japanese toilets are. Their maintenance should therefore also be an honorable job. We follow Hirayama’s daily routine: he wakes up in his modest studio apartment in the big metropolis, rolls up his mattress that most Japanese people traditionally sleep on, brushes his teeth and trims his moustache, goes out into the street and looks up at the sky to see what the weather is like, buys an iced coffee from a vending machine, gets into his car old enough to be equipped with a tape player, and goes to work. The day’s work routine is interrupted by a break in which he rests in a park, eats a sandwich, looks at the people and especially at the trees that he photographs. He uses a film camera, seems to be a fan of decades-old devices, and listens to music on a cassette player, like the one I used to when I was a teenager many decades ago. His musical tastes are also retro – pop hits of the 60s and 70s. When he finishes work he goes to the public bath and then to a street restaurant. Always the same public bath, always the same restaurant. In the evenings, he reads novels by Faulkner or Patricia Highsmith in second-hand paperback editions bought for 100 yen. Life flows with small joys caused by details sought in nature or fleeting connections with those around, usually no more than glances or greetings. Events happen. A young co-worker asks for his help in winning over a girl, who in the end seems more interested in Hirayama’s music. His niece runs away from home and takes refuge with him for a few days, an opportunity to reunite after many years with his sister, a woman rich enough to afford a chauffeured limousine. In the bar where he drinks a glass of something stronger each weekend, the owner sings a Japanese version of ‘House of the Rising Sun’. Hirayama speaks little, but radiates empathy and a smile that will win all viewers towards the end.
One could say that ‘Perfect Days‘ is a film without a story, but how exciting it is for the viewers to watch what is happening on the screen! Every detail is studied and placed in its place, as happens in Japanese interiors or parks. The characters in ‘Perfect Days‘ are lonely people but their loneliness has a thousand shades, all rendered with discretion and thoroughness. Tokyo, the city that seems overwhelming to most tourists, is beautifully filmed and brought back to human dimensions. The music is great, but I’m being subjective here, as it’s the music of my generation. Wenders describes here that territory of intersection between Japanese and Anglo-American culture, which I observed in many Japanese colleagues when I visited Japan. About the acting creation of Koji Yakusho, I can only say that the fact that he is not nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor seems scandalous to me. Good thing at least he was recognized and awarded at Cannes! ‘Perfect Days‘ is for me, so far, the best film of the year. I think it’s also one of those movies that holds up well and really grows in time.
Am reușit să ajung, cu mare întârziere, la romanele lui Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Romancierul spaniol face parte dintre acei autori ale cărui cărți le-am cumpărat de-a lungul anilor, le-am găsit un colț bun în bibliotecile mele și le-am amânat lectura. Mereu au existat noutăți fierbinți, urgențe cauzate de dezbaterile internetice, obligații contractuale și evenimente de viață care au amânat lectura. Mai sunt câțiva scriitori și scriitoare în această categorie, numele lor celebre pot fi furnizate la cerere. Știam, din cele citite despre autor și despre cărțile sale, că atunci când ne vom întâlni nu mă va dezamăgi. Și așa a fost.
Scriitorul s-a născut la Barcelona în 1964, unde a trăit până în anii ’90, când și-a mutat reședința la Los Angeles. O moarte timpurie l-a răpit în 2020, nu înainte de a publica șase romane care l-au consacrat ca pe unul dintre cei mai importanți scriitori contemporani în spațiul literar de limba spaniolă și cel mai vândut dintre ei în primele două decenii ale mileniului. ‘La sombra del viento’, publicat în 2001, a fost romanul care l-a făcut celebru pe Zafón. S-a vândut în milioane de exemplare în întreaga lume, bucurându-se de succes la public și de elogii din partea majorității criticilor literari. Era capul de serie al ciclului ‘Cimitirul cărților uitate’ din care mai fac parte alte trei romane și o carte de povestiri. A fost tradus în limba română de Dragoș Cojocaru cu titlul ‘Umbra vîntului’ (ortografia editorilor) și publicat de Editura Polirom. Eu am citit o ediție tradusă în engleză în 2004 de Lucia Graves (fiica poetului Robert Graves) și publicată în Marea Britanie de Editura Phoenix cu titlul ‘The Shadows of the Wind’.
Romanul este un pasionant mister literar care se petrece în Barcelona într-o perioadă care acoperă peste jumătate de secol din istoria Spaniei și a orașului de pe malul Mediteranei. Eroul principal este Daniel, care în primul capitol al cărții are zece ani și este de nu multă vreme orfan de mamă. Tatăl, care este librar și anticar, proprietar al unui magazin de cărți, îl duce – pentru a-i mai alina melancolia și dorul de mama pierdută – într-un loc magic, o imensă bibliotecă în care sunt adunate toare cărțile rare, interzise, uitate sau pierdute. Câte un exemplar din fiecare este adus aici pentru a fi salvat de la ștergerea definitivă din memoria istoriei.
‘This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens. This place was already ancient when father brought me here for the first time, many years ago. Perhaps as old as the city itself. Nobody knows for certain how long it has existed, or who created it. I will tell what my father told me, though. When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader’s hands. In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend. Now they only have us, Daniel. Do you think you’ll be able to keep such a secret?’ (pag. 3-4)
Fiecare vizitator poate alege din Cimitirul Cărților Uitate o singură carte, de care va avea grija tot restul vieții și care-i va marca destinul. Daniel alege un roman cu titlul ‘Umbra vântului’ scris de un scriitor necunoscut pe nume Julián Carax. Romanul îl pasionează și încearcă să afle mai multe despre autor. Acesta pare să fi dispărut împreună cu orice altă copie a ‘Umbrei vântului’ și cu majoritatea celorlalte cărti semnate de el. Daniel începe să investigheze pentru a afla ce s-a întâmplat cu autorul romanului și cu cărțile sale. Nu este singurul care pare interesant de Julián Carax. Un bogat colecționar de cărți rare, un malefic inspector de politie, un necunoscut desfigurat care cumpără și arde orice carte a lui Carax și un vagabond întâlnit pe străzile Barcelonei par toți fie interesați să pună mâna pe acest, poate, ultim exemplar al romanului sau să-l descurajeze și să-l intimideze pentru a-l determina să-și întrerupă cercetările. Investigațiile îi dezvăluie o poveste plină de secrete și mistere, iubiri nefericite și crime, prietenii și trădări, care începe cândva, pe la începutul secolului 20 și are ramificații până în anii în care se petrece acțiunea, poveste în care sunt implicate câteva dintre cele mai bogate familii ale orașului.
Nu altul decât Stephen King scria apreciativ despre ‘Umbra vântului’ și îl considera ca aparținând genului ficțiunii gotice, adică un amestec bine dozat de poveste de iubire cu mister și horror. Carlos Ruiz Zafón știe să țină permanent alert interesul cititorilor. Unul dintre secretele reușitei sale în această direcție este faptul că inventează un roman în roman. Nu doar titlurile cărții descoperite de Daniel și al romanului lui Zafón sunt identice, dar și destinele lui Daniel și al lui Julián Carax par să se oglindească unul în celalalt. Pe măsură ce adolescentul avansează în investigație, el descoperă secrete din trecut care par să aibă rezonanță în propria sa biografie – de exemplu este luat sub tutela unor patroni bine situați și binevoitori, cel puțin în aparență, până când se îndrăgostește de fiica acestora. Supraviețuitori ai trecutului lui Julián par să vadă în Daniel o reîncarnare a acestuia. ‘Umbra vântului’ pare a avea puteri magice și chiar malefice.
Atenția cititorilor fiind captată, autorul dezvoltă de-a lungul celor peste 500 de pagini ale cărții câteva dintre temele sale preferate. Pe una dintre ele am menționat-o deja, este vorba despre pasiunea pentru cărți și despre puterea magică a acestora. Daniel moștenește librăria tatălui sau și profesiunea de anticar, și niciodată nu pare să se gândească la un alt traseu în viață. O altă temă este însăși maturizarea eroului, pe care îl urmărim vreme de zece ani, trecând de la copilărie la adolescență și apoi la maturitate, trăind prima poveste de dragoste care nu are cum să fie altfel decât o nefericită dezamăgire, găsindu-și iubirea adevărată și luptând pentru ea când riscă să o piardă, tocmai pentru a nu repeta destinul nefericitului Julián. Zafón este excelent și în cele câteva pagini de erotică din roman, dar mai ales în redarea trăirilor tânărului îndrăgostit:
‘I waited until Bea had gone into the building and then set off briskly, turning to glance back at every step. Slowly I became possessed by the absurd conviction that anything was possible, and it seemed to me that even those deserted streets and that hostile wind smelled of hope. When 1 reached Plaza de Cataluña, I noticed that a flock of pigeons had congregated in the centre of the square, covering it with a blanket of white feathers that swayed silently. I thought of going round them, but at that moment I noticed that the pigeons were parting to let me pass, instead of flying off felt my way forward, as the pigeons broke ranks in front of me and reformed behind me. When I got to the middle of the square, I heard the peal of the cathedral bells ringing out midnight. I paused for a moment, stranded in an ocean of silvery birds, and thought how this had been the strangest and most marvellous day of my life.’ (pag. 187-188)
O altă temă recurentă este Barcelona. Zafón este evident îndrăgostit de orașul în care s-a născut, a copilărit și a trăit o mare parte a vieții. Străzile orașului, portul, dealul Montjuic și mai ales clădirile solide sau în ruină, blocurile de apartamente ale burgheziei sau acele faimoase ‘mansions’ (vile) construite de cei mai avuți la sfârșitul secolului 19 și începutul secolului 20, constituie mult mai mult decât un fundal pitoresc al poveștilor sale. Ele participă la legendă, impregnează povestea cu senzații și sentimente diverse, de la energia nevinovată a tinereții urmată de pasiunea iubirilor, la decăderea cauzată de ruinarea puterii și de prezența morții:
‘My notions of Victorian literature suggested that the most logical place to begin searching was the cellar, which must have once housed the ovens and a great coal bunker. With this idea in mind, I spent almost five minutes trying to find a door or staircase leading to the lower floor. I chose a large door made of carved wood at the end of a passage. It looked like a piece of exquisite cabinetmaking, with reliefs in the shape of angels and a large cross in the centre. The handle was in the middle of the door, under the cross. I tried unsuccessfully to turn it. The mechanism was probably jammed or simply ruined by rust. The only way that door would yield would be by forcing it open with a crowbar or knocking it down with an axe, alternatives I quickly ruled out. I studied the large piece of wood by candlelight and thought that somehow it looked more like a sarcophagus than a door. I wondered what was hidden behind it.’ (pag.313)
Cea mai mare parte din acțiunea cărții se întinde intre 1915 și 1955 – o perioadă de mare zbucium pentru Spania și pentru întreagă lume, care cuprinde în ea cele doua războaie mondiale și cumplitul război civil care a sfâșiat Spania și a fost un preludiu al celui de-al doilea război mondial. Istoria este tot timpul prezentă, chiar daca nu este vorba despre un roman în care politica reprezintă una dintre temele principale. Este evidentă antipatia autorului față de stagnarea, opresiunea și fățărnicia religioasă a regimului de dictatura al lui Franco, instaurat după victoria fascismului în războiul civil. Nici extremele comuniste și anarhiste nu par însă să-i stârnească entuziasmul, desi probabil că personajul care se apropie cel mai mult de ideile scriitorului este Fermin Romero de Torres, vagabondul cules de pe străzile Barcelonei, fost deținut politic, care devine cel mai bun prieten, confidentul și complicele lui Daniel în ancheta sa. Unul dintre detaliile comune ale biografiilor paralele ale lui Daniel și Julián este pericolul încorporării în armată, ocazie de a-și exprima opoziția față de orice atitudine care ar sugera militarismul. Ceea ce lipsește cu desăvârșire din acest roman este vreo referință la identitatea catalană distinctă a Barcelonei și a unei părți importante a populației orașului. Asta m-a mirat puțin, dar poate că aceste contradicții naționaliste nu erau la fel de acute în prima jumătate a secolului 20, sau poate că Zafón, care era etnic catalan, dar a ales să scrie în limba spaniolă, le-a abordat explicit în alte cărți ale ciclului.
‘Umbra vântului’ m-a pasionat. Combinația de mister, romantică și istorie este întotdeauna câștigătoare pentru mine, dar aici am întâlnit și un scriitor de calitate, care știe să construiască o intrigă de mister și să creeze personaje de care cititorului îi pasă, un scriitor care abordează teme majore și interesante și le înserează într-o poveste complexă, cu ritm și suspense. Lectură recomandată.
Those who ask about the point of traditional TV and its chances in the increasingly fierce competition to create content on various mediums can be answered with references like ‘Appropriate Adult‘. The two-episode miniseries produced by ITV, which premiered in 2011, is an excellent example of the specific value that can be created by independent television studios. It is a psychological drama, a police investigation story, and a horror movie without any violent scenes, based on a real and highly publicized case in England in the 90s. The script is written by Neil McKay and directed by Julian Jarrold.
The story starts in Gloucester in 1994. Fred and Rosemary West became murder suspects somewhat by accident, following a complaint of domestic violence. The man was initially arrested and, as communication with investigators was difficult, the police requested the services of an ‘appropriate adult’ – one of those specific functions in the British legal and police system. This is a social worker position that may be requested by investigators or suspects when there are communication issues. Janet Leach was a psychologist and social worker, mother of two, whose partner suffered from bipolar psychological disorders. She had just graduated from the ‘appropriate adult’ training when she was called to help with the investigation which seemed quite mundane at first. At the first interrogation she assists, Fred West confesses to a murder. In particular, knowing that Janet cannot share confidential information, he confesses to Janet that there have been multiple murders along the years. The police continue to investigate, the number of bodies is increasing, and so are the number of confessed crimes. Meanwhile, a strange connection develops between the serial killer and the psychologist called to assist him in the interrogations. Can anything be sincere about this relationship, or is it just psychological manipulation on the part of a villain who seeks to hide his crimes, and when that is not possible, to protect his complicit wife? Janet’s life, already complicated by the psychological problems of her life partner, begins to be influenced due to contact with the world of crime and the pressure of journalists reporting on this case that has become famous.
Much of the story takes place in the police interrogation rooms during Fred West’s interrogations and then in the courtroom where Rosemary West is on trial. The very special quality of the series is given by the performances of the actors. Emily Watson, a leading actress of British cinema, is formidable in the role of the dedicated woman who wants to do her professional and civic duty and whose personal life is invaded by the dimensions of the case in which she is involved. Dominic West, who starred in ‘The Wire’, one of the best series in television history, is impressive as the criminal with a dark personality and charisma, who plays his fate in a complicated game with his investigators. Last but not least, Monica Dolan plays the role of Rosemary West, with a glacial sobriety, building an aura of horror around her person just from silences and looks. ‘Appropriate Adult‘ is a gem among many TV mini-series of this kind, a film that deserves to be seen if you have the chance.
‘Chocolat‘ (2000) is one of those very successful films that I should have seen at their time and that somehow I missed, caught up in the whirlwind of my previous lives. I kept putting it off, but now its turn has come. It’s a film that I probably would have been much more enthusiastic about at the time, and I can understand why a lot of people liked it then, but watching it now I felt a little disappointed.
Swedish director Lasse Hallström had his first brush with fame in the 1970s, when he directed most of ABBA’s videos, including a feature-length one about a world tour of the then-most popular pop band known in the world outside England and the United States. A few feature films in his native country followed that were successful enough to attract the attention of critics and festival organizers. Invited to work in the United States, starting with the mid-80s, he made most of his films from there. ‘Chocolat‘ is one of his most famous films, an international success with an outstanding cast, a feel-good movie that exemplifies what was best in films of this kind produced by American studios (Miramax in this case) but with international themes, filming locations, actors and technical teams, but also draws attention to several weaknesses that made many of these films ‘pleasant’ but not exceptional productions.
The story takes place in 1959 in a picturesque French village, placed on a cliff by a river. On a blizzard night with the winds blowing from the north (the north wind will return at key moments of the story), a woman and her little girl, dressed in red hooded cloaks, arrive in the village to rent an abandoned shop in the square from the center of the town, opposite the church. In a few weeks, the woman, who goes by the name of Vianne, proves to be hardworking and skilled and manages to transform the place into an attractive chocolate shop, the likes of which had never existed before in the village. Vianne is also a good connoisseur of customers’ tastes and personalities, managing not only to guess what kind of candies or exotic chocolate-based drinks suit each one, but also to understand what their problems and pains are, offering to help The problem is that we are in the fasting period before Easter and the opening of a chocolate shop may tempt the parishioners of the Catholic town, and besides, Vianne doesn’t even go to church. Between the woman who had opened the chocolate shop and the mayor, who is the descendant of the counts who had ruled the village, a conflict arises and grows proportions that make it seem difficult to reconcile. The appearance on the outskirts of the village of a community of gypsies who came by boat on the river further complicates the situation, putting the conservative inhabitants of the village in contact with a foreign way of life, which seems to them a threat.
The story of the film can be seen as a variant of a social conflict between the traditional way of life (Catholic with feudal overtones) and secularism, between puritanism and the pleasures of life. A French film based on the same plot would probably have looked quite different. The Hollywood approach, however, seemed inauthentic and too Manichean from the beginning, which made the final twist seem forced, even for a ‘feel good’ film. However, many of these minuses are compensated by the acting interpretations and especially by the formidable creation of Juliette Binoche, who radiates beauty and kindness, in one of those roles of a woman you can’t help but fall in love with, roles that only a few great actresses can create: Audrey Hepburn or Audrey Tautou, the latter with her formidable role in ‘Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain’, a film similar in many respects, made a year later. A few more great actresses contribute with outstanding creations: Judi Dench, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lena Olin. We also get to see Johnny Depp as a character that predates the series of negative roles that would follow in his career. Alfred Molina plays the negative role of the count, a character that seems coming straight out of a Buñuel film, but drawn too thickly and unconvincing in the final conversion. Finally, the Irish actor Hugh O’Conor plays the role of a priest just out of adolescence, so far from the context that I was not sure if it was a brilliant creation or just mis-casting. The film is beautifully shot, the music adds charm (with manouche jazz tunes and some sequences with Johnny Depp on guitar), but I felt that the ending dilutes even more the sharpness of what we saw before. If Juliette Binoche and Audrey Tautou are on the same level, the film ‘Amélie’ far surpasses in emotion and authenticity what ‘Chocolat‘ offers. Too much chocolate consumption is risky, we all know that.
I believe that any fan of French cinema of the last 70 years would like to have witnessed in the studio the filming of ‘8 femmes‘ (‘8 Women‘) made in 2002 by François Ozon. It is a perfect exemplification of the concept of ‘all-stars movie’, with the added value that the entire cast is composed exclusively of women, most of them leading actresses of the French screen from the 30s to the beginning of our millennium. The meeting of these great stars who are each a reason enough to watch a film in which they appear in the credits resulted in an entertainment the likes of which are few in the history of cinema. All in a relaxed atmosphere, giving us the feeling that the director and his actresses had a great time during the filming.
If someone in Hollywood had decided in the 1930s or 1940s to make a period musical based on one of Agatha Christie’s detective novels, this is what the result would have looked like. However, the film adapts a French theater play, so some French hot sauce – that is, humor – can be added. The action takes place in a mansion in the country, it is snowing heavily outside, the telephone lines are cut, the roads are closed and in a short time the isolated building becomes the perfect stage for a ‘whodunit’ with a finite number of characters. The corpse belongs to the owner of the house, an industrialist and the only male in the cast. He had lived surrounded only by women: his mother-in-law, his wife, two daughters, a sister-in-law, a sister, a cook and a chambermaid. The dogs did not bark on the night of the murder, so the murderer is one of the eight women. Each of them carries with her a mountain of secrets, of those that include enough reasons to have been, each of them, the authors of the crime. There is no Hercule Poirot or any other detective, so the women must discover the identity of the murderer themselves by talking to each other. And singing.
The script is well written and the plot holds up well enough as a ‘whodunit’. The musical numbers are of good quality, the best belonging to Firmine Richard, who was perhaps the least known of the eight actresses. The presence on the same screen of Danielle Darrieux, Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert and Emmanuelle Béart is of course a unique event and the main attraction. The female cream of French cinema gathers in a unique performance. Even Romy Schneider is present and honored with a still photo. The abundance of quotes and details, many alluding to the careers of the actresses and their previous roles, will delight knowledgeable viewers. There is, however, a danger that ‘8 femmes‘ will not hold up well over time, when the brilliance of the stars on the screen will begin to be forgotten. The theatrical style of the text and acting is also emphasized by the final scene where the actresses line up to greet their audience on an imaginary ramp. As spectators, we can only respond to them by bowing back to them with respect.
2024 va fi, este deja, anul alegerilor. 49% din populația globului va fi chemată să-și aleagă conducătorii și reprezentanții în alegeri naționale. Desigur, gradul de democrație reală și de transparență diferă de la țară la țară, și sunt diverse și implicațiile politice dincolo de frontierele naționale. Ochii lumii sunt îndreptați spre Statele Unite, Marea Britanie și Uniunea Europeană. Și în România vor avea loc alegeri în acest an. S-ar putea însă ca cele mai importante alegeri ale anului 2024, cele cu un impact istoric maxim pentru anii sau chiar deceniile care vor urma, să fi avut loc deja.
Este vorba despre alegerile din Taiwan, care au avut loc sâmbătă, pe 13 ianuarie. Miza cea mai importantă a fost cea a alegerilor pentru postul de președinte, care au avut loc pentru a opta oară de când Taiwan a devenit o democrație, în 1996. Sistemul electoral în această țară stabilește că președintele este ales prin alegeri directe, într-un singur tur. Cele două partide care au dominat alegerile din 1996 încoace sunt Partidul Democratic Progresiv (DPP) și Partidul Naționalist Chinez – Kuomintang (KMT). Cei din urmă sunt descendenți ai partidului lui Chiang Kai-shek, fondatorul Republicii Chineze de pe insula Taiwan. Paradoxal poate (sau poate nu), desi KMT este un partid conservator de centru-dreapta, iar DPP este poziționat social și economic la centru-stânga, preferații Beijing-ului sunt tocmai KMT – urmașii fostului inamic. Motivul este că DPP are o linie politică liberală și naționalistă, promovând drepturile omului, dar și identitatea națională taiwaneză, în timp ce KMT, în ultimele decenii, a favorizat apropierea de China comunistă. Victoria în alegerile din 13 ianuarie i-a revenit lui Lai Ching-te, candidatul DPP, care a primit 40,2% din totalul voturilor. Hou Yu-ih, candidatul KMT, a primit 33,49% din voturi, iar candidatul Partidului Popular din Taiwan (TPP), Ko Wen-je, a primit 26,45%. Au participat peste 14 milioane de persoane, ceea ce înseamnă că prezența la vot a fost de puțin peste 71%. Pentru prima dată în istoria Taiwan-ului democratic președintele a fost ales cu mai puțin de 50% din voturi, în urma prezentei unui al treilea candidat cu putere semnificativă. Tot pentru prima data, unul dintre partide – DPP – obține un al treilea mandat consecutiv. Lai Ching-te îi succede doamnei Tsai-Ing-wen, al cărei vicepreședinte a fost timp de zece ani. Campania electorală agitată, o ilustrare a democrației vibrante din Taiwan, a fost dusă pe teme diverse, de la probleme economice și legate de nivelul de trai la problema spinoasă a relațiilor cu vecinul gigantic, China, condus de partidul unic, care sub liderul Xi Jinping a devenit din ce în ce mai puternic și belicos. Rezultatul arată că o majoritate a alegătorilor susțin opinia DPP, conform căreia Taiwan este o națiune suverană de facto care ar trebui să-și întărească apărarea împotriva amenințărilor Chinei și să aprofundeze relațiile cu țările democratice, chiar dacă asta înseamnă sancțiuni economice sau intimidare militară din partea Beijingului. Ceea ce se va întâmpla între China și Taiwan este mult mai mult decât un conflict regional și, desigur, nu doar o problemă internă a Chinei. Conflictul din Marea Chinei are potențialul de a deveni punctul critic în relațiile dintre cele două supraputeri ale secolului XXI, SUA și China, și dintre blocurile care se conturează în jurul lor. Implicațiile sunt globale: politice, militare, economice, tehnologice.
Economia Taiwanului este a 8-a ca mărime din Asia și a 20-a ca mărime din lume, permițând Taiwanului să fie inclus în grupul economiilor avansate. Taiwan este unul dintre cei mai importanți fabricanți de produse din tehnologiile informației și a comunicațiilor din lume. Principalele exporturi din Taiwan sunt produse electronice, metale și produse din metale, materiale plastice și cauciuc, produse chimice și mașini. Produsele electronice și tehnologia informației (IT) reprezintă 35% din producția industrială. Industria din Taiwan constă, în principal, din multe întreprinderi mici și mijlocii și câteva întreprinderi mari. Industriile tradiționale intensive în forță de muncă sunt exportate și înlocuite cu industrii intensive în capital și tehnologie. Proiectul „e-Taiwan” lansat de guvern urmărește să utilizeze 1,83 miliarde USD pentru a îmbunătăți infrastructura informațională și de comunicații din Taiwan în cinci domenii majore: guvernare, calitatea vieții, afaceri, transport și comunicații în bandă largă. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) este cel mai mare producător de cipuri la comandă din lume și produce aproximativ 90% din semiconductorii de mare performanță, utilizați pentru Inteligența Artificială (AI) și aplicațiile de calcul cuantic. Taiwan este cel mai bine cunoscut pentru semiconductorii de mare performanță, dar firmele taiwaneze produc și alte componente de bază, de la plăci de circuite imprimate la lentile avansate pentru aparate fotografice și de filmat. Pandemia și barierele vamale între SUA și aliații săi, pe de-o parte, și China, de cealaltă parte au crescut importanța Taiwanului în economia mondială. Problema este însă că însăși firmele din Taiwan au operațiuni uriașe de asamblare a dispozitivelor în China continentală. Relațiile dintre cele doua Chine vor influența și economia Taiwanului, și pe cea globală.
Să trecem Strâmtoarea Taiwanului și să aruncam o privire asupra unei industrii în care China dobândește din ce în ce mai mult statutul de lider global: producția de automobile electrice. Cu câteva săptămâni în urmă, pe unul dintre panourile publicitare cele mai mari din orașul în care locuiesc, a apărut reclama unei firme de automobile al cărei nume nu-l cunoșteam. După ce am văzut reclama, când am ajuns acasă și am căutat pe Internet, am aflat că este vorba despre una dintre firmele cele mai mari de producție a vehiculelor cu tracțiune electrica din China și din lume. Automobilele chinezești invadează piețele occidentale. Fenomenul este destul de important pentru ca prestigioasa revistă săptămânală The Economist să-i dedice coperta și grupajul principal de articole, în cel mai recent număr al său. Cu doar cinci ani în urmă, China exporta doar un sfert din numărul automobilelor produse de Japonia, atunci cel mai mare exportator din lume. Acum, industria chineză susține că a exportat peste 5 milioane de mașini în 2023, depășind totalul japonez. Cel mai mare producător auto din China, BYD, a vândut 0,5 milioane de vehicule electrice în al patrulea trimestru, depășind Tesla. Industria automobilistică din China este puternic încurajată, cu alte cuvinte subvenționată din bugetul de stat. În octombrie, Comisia Europeană a deschis o anchetă asupra industriei mașinilor chinezești. În SUA, administrația Biden ia în considerare creșterea tarifelor vamale pentru mașinile importate din China (deja de 27,5%) și subvenționează industriile locale. Sunt acestea metodele potrivite pentru a face față concurenței chineze percepute ca o amenințare? Creșterea producției chineze este vizibilă mai ales în domeniul automobilelor electrice. Piața este imensă. În 2022, 16-18% dintre mașinile noi vândute în întreaga lume erau electrice. În 2035, Uniunea Europeana va interzice vânzarea de mașini noi cu motoare cu ardere internă. Prin urmare, adoptarea mașinilor chinezești cu prețuri mai mici ar putea ușura tranziția spre emisii nete zero. Cel mai ieftin vehicul electric vândut în China de BYD costă în jur de 12 000 USD, comparativ cu 39 000 USD pentru cea mai ieftină Tesla din America. Exista și precedente. Lecția de la ascensiunea producătorilor de mașini japonezi și sud-coreeni în anii 1980 este că concurența determină firmele locale să-și îmbunătățească procesele, în timp ce concurenții din afară stimulează industria locală în dorința de a apropia producția de consumatori. Deja BYD deschide o fabrică în Ungaria și mulți producători chinezi de automobile caută locații în America de Nord. The Economist apreciază că factorii de decizie politică ar trebui să-și înfrâneze instinctele protecționiste și să-și facă griji doar în cazul improbabil în care producătorii de mașini occidentali ar imploda cu totul. În aprecierea lor, nu este de temut o cotă de piață importantă pentru producătorii de automobile chinezi, dacă aceasta revigorează o concurență mai largă. Dacă China vrea să cheltuiască banii contribuabililor subvenționând consumatorii globali și accelerând tranziția energetică, această tendință este salutară. Mai îngrijorătoare este, în opinia mea, dependența într-un grad mare a întregii industrii de vehicule electrice de bateriile produse în China. Acestea reprezentau în 2022 79% din totalul producției mondiale, iar prognoza pentru 2025 este de 65%.
China devine concurentul cel mai important al Statelor Unite și la celălalt pol al industriei transporturilor – vehiculele spațiale. Acum două săptămâni avertizam în articolul meu din rubrica CHANGE.WORLD despre faptul că datele prevăzute pentru lansarea expediției Artemis 2 sunt preliminare și că pot interveni amânări. Din păcate, această tradiție negativă a fost confirmată de anunțul făcut într-o teleconferință marți, 9 ianuarie, de conducerea NASA, care a declarat că misiunea sa principală, Artemis 2, va fi amânată din noiembrie 2024 până în septembrie 2025, iar misiunea de aselenizare Artemis 3, vizată inițial pentru sfârșitul anului 2025, are acum ca dată țintă septembrie 2026. Principalul motiv al amânării este siguranța echipajului. Experții au explicat că problemele scutului termic pe care le-a întâmpinat capsula Orion a lui NASA în timpul zborului de testare fără echipaj Artemis 1 în jurul Lunii, la sfârșitul anului 2022, au reprezentat o preocupare majoră pe măsură ce sunt analizate datele din acea misiune de succes. Scutul termic l-a protejat suficient pe Orion, dar o mare parte din el s-a carbonizat. Această amânare înseamnă însă că Statele Unite vor fi depășite de China în actuala – a doua – cursă spre Lună și astronauții chinezi vor ajunge pe suprafața astrului nopții, în acest mileniu, înaintea celor americani? Șeful NASA, Bill Nelson, apreciază că șansele sunt foarte reduse. Atât Statele Unite, cât și China vizează pentru aselenizări zona polului sud lunar, o regiune despre care se crede că este bogată în gheață. Pentru a-și duce echipajele acolo, agenția spațială a Chinei intenționează să testeze noua sa navă spațială pentru transportul echipajelor până în 2027 sau 2028. Fiecare expediție chineză implică două lansări pentru a ajunge pe Lună – una pentru a plasa un vehicul de aselenizare pe orbită și alta pentru a trimite echipajul. Acest plan cu două lansări ar depăși handicapul tehnologic de lungă durată al Chinei, care nu are o rachetă grea suficient de puternică pentru a trimite atât astronauți, cât și o sondă de aselenizare. Chiar după planurile actuale, Statele Unite au încă un an sau doi de avans, iar programele Chinei pot întâmpina și ele dificultăți și suferi amânări.
Un domeniu în care China a depășit clar Statele Unite este cel al cercetării științifice universitare, cel puțin din punct de vedere statistic. În 2022, cercetătorii chinezi au semnat 26,9% din totalul articolelor apărute în jurnalele de știință și tehnologie, față de 13,7% semnate de cercetători americani. Cantitatea nu este neapărat proporțională cu calitatea și cu impactul pe termen lung al acestor comunicări, dar decalajul este semnificativ. Interesant că pe locul 3 în acest clasament se află India cu 6,2%. Dacă vorbim despre alegeri, Narendra Modi, prim-ministrul Indiei, nu are astfel de griji, el obținând în 2023 un nou mandat la conducerea celuilalt gigant asiatic, care a devenit cu câțiva ani în urmă și cea mai populată țară din lume. India a înregistrat mari progrese în multe domenii, inclusiv în cercetarea spațială, devenind a patra putere care a realizat o aselenizare lină, inițiind o foarte interesantă expediție de explorare a Soarelui și planificând primul zbor cu echipaj uman pentru 2025. Semnificative sunt progresele în domeniul biomedical și în special al cercetării și producției de vaccinuri. Serum Institute of India a devenit în timpul pandemiei COVID-19 cel mai mare producător mondial al vaccinelor Oxford și AstraZeneca, iar în 2023 a obținut aprobarea Organizației Mondiale a Sănătății (WHO) pentru vaccinul contra malariei, la care este co-inventator. Guvernul indian a inițiat un program de încurajare a cercetării post-universitare și a doctoratelor, al domeniilor fundamentale și a câtorva domenii aplicative importante. Va fi interesant de urmărit ce rezultate vor avea aceste investiții. Creșterea Indiei ca putere tehnologică și științifică, pe lângă progresul economic, poate avea un impact în configurația globală geo-politică viitoare, care poate că nu va fi exclusiv bi-polară.
(Articolul a apărut iniţial în revista culturală ‘Literatura de Azi’ – http://literaturadeazi.ro/)
I rarely get a chance to see Brazilian films, but the ones I get to seem all to be special. This is also the case with ‘Bacurau‘ (2019), written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho – a well-known director with several internationally acclaimed films – in collaboration with Juliano Dornelles. It is a violent and impressive film that bears the stamp of Brazil but manages to raise issues and deliver messages that are valid anywhere. A film that will be hard to forget by those who will have the opportunity to see it.
The story takes place in Bacurau, a small imaginary town in an imaginary state of the immense Brazil. The name is that of a night bird from the tropical fauna of South America. The village seems quite poor and is also in conflict with the populist politician who controls the region, due to a dam that deprives it of its water supply. Despite all the poverty, there is solidarity between the people and a community spirit that helps them overcome hardships and that will be put to the ultimate test when strange phenomena begin to happen – mysterious at first, macabre later. The cistern that brings water to the village is attacked and pierced by bullets. Studs of horses and bikers in bright costumes cross the streets of the village. Bacurau is disappearing from digital map apps. Cell phone services and electricity are down. Then people start dying. Has Bacurau, completely isolated from the world, become a playground for the whims of clients rich enough to pay for the pleasure of killing? We see the assassins – a group of Americans armed to the teeth – but we never know why they do it. The villagers are forced to resort to means from their violent traditions and history to respond to the gratuitous violence and defend themselves.
The Filho – Dornelles couple does not leave the viewers many moments of relaxation. Something interesting is happening all the time, and almost every scene holds a surprise or a change of perspective. ‘Bacurau‘ starts as a social satire with magic-folkloric elements, but as the signs of external attack begin to appear, the story accumulates tension and the film turns into a violent confrontation, in the genre of judicial westerns. The cinematography makes effective and spectacular use of the surrounding natural landscape, and the music processes themes from John Carpenter’s films, horror films in which the director also created his own music. The entire film is also a tribute to the American composer-director. The team of actors is very well chosen, with special mentions for Bárbara Colen, a beautiful and talented actress whom I hope we can see in the future in more consistent roles, the well-known Sonia Braga and the German actor Udo Kier in his sixth decade of activity with a haunting ‘bad guy’ role. Carefully, the screenwriters-directors set their story “a few years from now”, but it is about a near future that is an extension to the present, a present in which the social conflicts between the oppressed categories and the local or external oppressors – sometimes in cahoots with each other – are more and more acute and take more and more violent forms. In fact, what we see on the screens in movies like ‘Bacurau‘ is nothing different than some of the recent news of our violent present. The film can also be seen as a warning, but a warning that may come too late.
‘Metronom‘ (2022) by the Romanian director Alexandru Belc is not a film about the legendary radio show ‘Metronom’ from Radio Free Europe but about the Metronom generation. For viewers who were lucky enough not to know what the life of the youth in a communist dictatorship meant and what role music played in the disintegration of propaganda and the collapse of the system in Eastern Europe, I recommend as a prelude or documentary material Leslie Woodhead’s film ‘How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin’. Alexandru Belc started planning for such a non-fiction film, but during the documentary process he decided to change the direction and make a fiction film instead, his debut as director in this format. The generation of Romanian teenagers from the beginning of the 70s had the chance to listen to the shows of DJ Cornel Chiriac, who broadcast from Munich about pop music and about a free world, where young people had access to all kinds of music, literature, art, culture they wished and could chat and even travel freely anywhere. For the Metronom generation, these radio shows were lessons in music and freedom. I also belong to this generation. I will try to write objectively about ‘Metronom‘, but I can’t promise that I will succeed.
The story takes place in Bucharest in the autumn of 1972, in the month of October. Romania was playing in the Davis Cup final against the USA, and snippets of the tennis matches will be shown on TV at the party that is at the center of the plot. The participants are final grade high-school students who take advantage of the absence of a girl’s parents to gather, talk, smoke (tobacco) and drink, but above all to dance and listen to the music they love: Romanian pop tolerated by censorship and the Metronom radio shows of Cornel Chiriac. The young folks write a letter to Radio Free Europe in which they complain about the ideology that oppresses them and demand for their musical preferences to be broadcast. The love story between Ana (the main heroine of the film) and Sorin takes place against this background. Ana knows that Sorin will soon travel abroad and that he will not return. She wants to convince herself of his love and seal it with her first sexual experience. Sorin is behaving strangely and suddenly leaves the girl and the party. A few hours later, the Securitate invades the apartment, arrests the young people it finds there and takes them to a brutal investigation. Listening to Western music was not forbidden by law, but sending a letter to a foreign radio station was a crime in communist Romania, a crime punishable by imprisonment, with the prohibition of rights, with the impossibility of studying in a university. With violence, threats and blackmail, the security policemen try to force the young people to denounce each other and sign statements pledging to become security informers. Ana, who had come to the party to meet Sorin, finds in her the resources to resist. The investigator tells her that Sorin was the one who denounced them all. Perhaps this was his way of buying a passport to freedom? Lie or psychological pressure? Released after a nightmarish night, Ana will try to find Sorin and find out about the truth.
Alexandru Belc was born eight years after 1972. He had the chance to live through communism for only about nine years, so it cannot be said that this film conveys the result of a direct personal experience. And yet the reconstruction of the era is very accurate – the streets; the Bucharest apartments with limited spaces, full of heavy furniture and books; tape recorders and pickups used at parties; the clothing, including the hideous school uniforms with the appalling matriculation numbers. However, the reconstruction of the psychology of the characters is what impressed me the most. I think that Alexandru Belc managed to build a memorable character through Ana, helped of course by the special interpretation of the actress Mara Bugarin. I think he did very well by also looking for inspiration at his generation and the youth of the same age today. Then as now, young people wanted freedom, to listen to the music they want, to discover the world around them, to explore themselves, to love. Ana in the film has the innocence of the young woman who knows she has the right to freedom despite the lies that surround her, the dignity to resist blackmail, and the courage to live her romantic relationship despite the betrayal. Sorin’s character is less fleshed out and that’s a shame, because he represents the other side of the youth back then. Vlad Ivanov, always an impressive actor, also appears in the film, and the only complaint I could make is that he repeats here a type of role that he has played many times before. I liked ‘Metronom‘ because it says a lot of true things about my generation and times that some idealize, others demonize, and which were much more complex than one extreme or the other. The ending is awesome. The young students passed the baccalaureate and seem, apparently, to have returned to the ‘norm’. It is actually an open ending and even a false ending. Have they been called again to Securitate? Did some of them agree to become Securitate collaborators? What is for sure is that they will be in the streets 17 years later, among those who will destroy the system. Cornel Chiriac and his Metronom won in the end.
In 1982, when he made ‘The Draughtsman’s Contract‘, Peter Greenaway was 40 years old. You could say it was a debut in a way, as it was his first feature length fiction film. And yet Greenaway was already a mature and multilateral artist. He had studied fine arts, but had been fascinated by architecture and especially cinema. He had worked in film editing and directed numerous experimental short films. He had already made a feature film, ‘The Fall’ in the genre that would be called ‘mockumentary’ some two decades later. ‘The Draughtman’s Contract‘ is a period film, is a detective mystery, a social comedy and an erotic farce, but it is above all the first of a series of films that Greenaway would make over the next decade, films with a unmistakable personal touch, which would establish him as one of the most important directors of his generation in England and world-wide.
The year when the story takes place is clearly stated – 1694 – and this is not an aleatory choice. This is the year in which England, in a period of transition between dynasties, introduces a series of reforms allowing women to enter into contracts and receive inheritances. The main hero, the painter Neville, will conclude a very special contract with Mrs. Herbert, for the two weeks while her husband will be away from home. He will create 12 drawings of their impressive mansion and in return will privately enjoy the lady’s favors to his ‘satisfaction’. Soon after, Mrs. Hebert’s daughter, unsatisfied in her marriage and desiring to get pregnant, will also sign a contract with the multi-talented artist. During the 12 days, however, strange phenomena begin to happen: things appear where they shouldn’t be, a moving statue that changes its place shows up in the garden, etc. All culminate in the disappearance of Mr. Herbert, who soon appears as a corpse. Conveniently for them, the two women inherit everything. The drawings made by the artist become a kind of evidence in the mystery of the killer’s identity. The cuckolded son-in-law and the other men in the women’s entourage will seek revenge on the artist.
‘The Draughtman’s Contract‘ is a complex film that can be seen and interpreted on multiple levels. On the surface it is a detective mystery in period costumes, although the identity of the murderer is very obviously suggested and does not seem to concern the film’s heroes too much. It is also a social satire that says a lot about the relations between social classes, with an obvious sarcasm towards the morals of the nobility. The main theme that preoccupied Greenaway, however, is, as in all his films from this period, art and the relationship between the artist and society. Socially regarded as belonging to the lower classes and forced to struggle to secure economic independence, the artist in the film resorts to other compensatory means through the contract at the heart of the story. The film is imbued with the atmosphere of the Baroque era, from the dialogues which are influenced by the literature and by the epistles of the time recited in the metric of the post-Elizabethan theatre, passing through the music of Michael Nyman who processes Baroque themes and develops them in the style and with the instruments of the period, to to the cinematography that is influenced by the light (and obscure) and by the colors of the paintings of artists such as Caravaggio and Georges de la Tour. The camera is permanently fixed like the draftsman’s easel, and the grids through which the artist sees reality resemble the frame of the camera. The film is an aesthetic delight, with themes and details that resonate with the art of the period in which the story takes place. If there had been movies in the Baroque period, they would probably have looked like this.
