Two Enduring Movies

 MY LIFE AS A DOG

 

“My Life as a Dog” just became one of my favorite movies. Since Doug hadn’t seen it, I couldn’t wait to watch it a second time with him for a double-dose of enjoyment. It is currently streaming on Prime. 

 

My Life as a Dog is in the Criterion Collection

Doug was restless and could hardly make it to the concluding credits. What is to me a realistic movie that captures the strength and creativity of a youth in calamitous circumstances was to Doug a melancholy movie about a boy with no home. It made him sad.

 

“My Life as a Dog” inspired me and reminded me that genius filmmakers exist (or have existed), though you might not think so, given the usual pablum showing at Columbiana. This is a Swedish movie released in 1987. Some things never grow old.

 

Another movie about a boy that makes no notice of the passing of time is “Empire of the Sun,” as meaningful today as when it was made in 1984. It also has sadness, but this underscores a boy’s courage and endurance in the face of everyday disasters.

 

The spirit of these two protagonists is meaningful today. Rather than become victims of harrowing circumstances beyond their control, Ingemar (in My Life as a Dog) and Jamie (in Empire of the Sun) tackle the circumstances of their life as best they can and never lose hope.

 

2019 oscars

We had several friends over last night to watch the Oscars on TV. We chipped in an ante and awarded a pot of $$ to the person who accurately guessed the most winners. Doug won the pot.

We didn’t necessarily vote for our favorites. The point was to try to guess what winner Hollywood would pick. Though I haven’t seen all the nominees, I was happy to see Green Book win Best Picture (though A Star Is Born is almost as good). 

It’s inspiring to see that five books were made into Oscar winning movies. Five more books were made into movies that received nominations. Meg Wolitzer wrote the novel that became The Wife, one of my favorite movies of the year. I was conflicted about how to understand it. Seemingly the wife had been wronged, but had she?

Inspired by the Oscars, I’m going to see Vice with a couple of friends this week. Christian Bale, who plays Dick Chaney, looks nothing like himself in the previews. The actor, when a young boy, starred in a movie I’ve watched numerous times and still love, Empire of the Sun.

Open Book

Colm Tóibín  

The author Colm Tóibín appeared at the University of South Carolina Thursday night as part of the OpenBook series.

He reminisced about being nominated for a Booker Prize and not getting it, all with deprecating humor—how he attended the awards ceremony convinced he’d take the prize, only to hear another name announced as the winner.

He discussed writing his book, The Master, a creative nonfiction account of the life of Henry James. To get beyond “James was born, he wrote, he died,” Tóibín brought his own reality to the carefully researched details of James’ life. Tóibín’s lecture ranged over literature with the assurance of a college professor, from Shakespeare to Robert Louis Stevenson to James Joyce. 

Irish author Colm Tóibín

 

It was exciting to see Tóibín, who wrote one of my favorite novels, Brooklyn. The book was made into a movie which is the antithesis of Hollywood’s ubiquitous hysterical adventure movies. Brooklyn has no car chases, no explosions, no gratuitous sex, no guns or murders, no gays, transsexuals or deprived blacks. You might call it a miracle.

Time travel

PLOT DISTORTED BY TIME 

Amy Adams plays Louise in “Arrival,” the movie I saw tonight. Alien airships appear at 12 locations on earth causing chaos the world over. The movie veers further into scientific fantasy with a plot in which Time deviates from a linear progression. If we’re given a story in which Time is not linear, the question becomes, “then what is it?” Is it swerving? Intermittent? In this movie, there’s no telling what progression Time takes.

If, according to “Arrival,” Time is not linear, the concept of yesterday, today, and tomorrow changes, though Louise is transported to scenes in her life that can be identified as taking place in the “past” (with respect to what is presented as “present”). This rattling around in time has no rhyme or reason, except as it satisfies the needs of the movie’s plot.

 

This Seth Thomas clock is on my mantel.

There are calculated revelations which save Louise’s life and the world from war. These revelations are timed at moments that are strategic to the plot but are obscure with respect to their origin in Time. Louise discovers a universal language at a critical moment, but why at that particular time? In like manner, she is acquainted with a Chinese diplomat, a relationship she uses to save the world from war. This information is interjected at a timely moment in the movie, but where in the sequence of Time did this become a fact? More fundamentally, if Time is not linear in “Arrival,” what does Louise know at any given moment in the movie?

If Time deviates from linear, what will happen to plot elements such as cause and effect? How will we develop motivation? The spaceship in “Arrival” isn’t as hard to believe as the movie’s portrayal of Time.

Star Trek

 

BEZOS as ALIEN

Amazon’s billionaire CEO Jeff Bezos is an alien in the upcoming Star Trek movie. I loved the original series, but I haven’t followed the sequels. Don’t know how anybody can replace William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Patrick Stewart. Even if the current cast is great, it seems like a betrayal to enjoy their shows. But I may have to watch Star Trek Beyond to see if I can identify Bezos.

What an irony in the world of booksellers! After Amazon put booksellers out of business, it has opened a brick and mortar bookstore in Seattle, Washington; another is due to open this summer in San Diego, and a third in Portland, Oregon this fall.

script

FAMILY MOVIE SCRIPT

While I was at Edisto Island on vacation with my family last week, we filmed a home movie starring four of my grandkids. My daughter-in-law handled the camera (my iPhone) as I directed, using a script I had written. 

I wrote a script specifically for our vacation. It is simple with lines that are easy for the kids to remember (targeted for ages six to fifteen). I planned it around our location (the beach) and with ready-wear costumes (swimsuits). It's comprised of five scenes, more or less, depending on what you consider a scene. 

It was great fun for me and I think the kids enjoyed it, though they did get a bit distracted by the time we finished up. 

FREE COPY OF SCRIPT
I'll give away a limited number of free copies of the script. If you enjoy making home movies, this script gives you a framework for showing off the kids in the family. Enter your email address in the blank to the left ("Enter Your Email Address to Follow New Posts") and I'll mail you a copy.

Below is a scene from the movie. Background: the four kids found a bottle in the sand on the beach with a map inside and are following the clues on the map to find the X-spot.

HOMEMADE ACTION MOVIE

I’m heading to Edisto Island, South Carolina, for a week’s vacation with my family tomorrow. I have six grandkids, none of them ordinary but they can be normal, depending on your definition of normal. Their personalities are as different as sand and rock. This year only four of them will be at the beach with us. My task is to write a script for a movie I’ll make with the four of them. In the photo below, the actor on the right is visiting his Spanish grandparents and won’t be with us. (His three year-old brother hasn’t risen to the ranks yet.)

Stanard Studio Actors

First off, the script has to be short and feature four characters (three girls, one boy). It must be set either on the beach, in a room, or on the island; only in the summer time; only shorts or swimsuits for costumes.

BAD GIRL MOVIE

Last year we shot a movie about a girl who “borrowed” a watch from her friend, accidentally fell into the swimming pool while wearing it and ruined it, and tried to get out of blame for it. After going over their lines and practicing, most of the grandkids stuck with it until we got a final shoot. My husband Doug edited what became a noteworthy independent movie.

SCRIPT WITH DIAMONDS

Here’s what I’m thinking for this year. The kids find a bottle washed up on the beach. It has a map inside. They put their heads together and figure out it’s a treasure map with locations on the island. They follow the map to the golf course or marina or somewhere on the island and find “diamonds” (from Michaels craft store) near the pier. They get into a dispute over who found them first. As they’re standing on the pier, the argument turns into a scuffle, and the diamonds fall over the side into the ocean.

I know... this plot is about as interesting as one of Nicholas Sparks’ novels. We’ll look to the actors to pull out a winning movie.

Last year we used my aged Olympus camera to shoot the film. This year I have a new iPhone, which I’m still learning to use. Filming should be easier. At any rate, I hope the audio is better.

I’ll be back in a week, red as a lobster, exhausted, and five pounds heavier (we have great cooks in the family).  
 

History Behind the Fiction

GETTING THE FACTS RIGHT

“The History Behind the Fiction” is a panel discussion scheduled by the Book ‘Em NC conference* next month (Feb. 28). Patricia Terrell prompts those of us on the panel to think about what research was necessary to get our facts right. “Getting the facts right” has become a hot issue. There’s a spirited public debate about whether historical fiction has an obligation to get the facts right. 

The Guardian newspaper took on the subject and comes to the conclusion that: 

Judging historical fiction is not as simple as 'accurate equals good' and 'inaccurate equals bad'. It depends on whether the inaccuracies are constructive lies or accidental mistakes.**

Most recently movies have made headlines regarding distortions of the truth. “Selma” apparently didn’t follow historical record in its depiction of Lyndon Johnson. There’s been criticism of “The Imitation Game” and its characterization of Alan Turing. “The Hurt Locker” was accused of taking liberties in its portrayal of wartime. Could the Guardian be right when it says:

Too much attention to factual detail is undoubtedly an impediment to literary art.**

Novels have been criticized in like manner, including best sellers such as The Pillars of the Earth, Shogun and Wolf Hall. Historians themselves speculate about the past by way of interpretation. Historical fiction writers concoct even more creative speculations. However, at the bottom lies a core of facts that have withstood authoritative examination. To dirty the fact line may well take risks impacting our sense of culture and justice. In spite of the “fiction” label, some readers know too little history to separate out falsehoods.

Of necessity, historical fiction writers lie. The question becomes a matter of degree and/or impact. A single falsification can have great import, for instance, a novel portraying Frederick Douglas as a white man. Or one giving Custer a victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Even at that, there are those who defend inaccuracies of any magnitude as long as they generate dynamism and an interest in history.

 

I would argue that when we go too far adrift from legitimate historical interpretation, we risk attracting a nasty little bottom-feeder called propaganda. And when inaccuracies are shown to school children for their instruction (as “Selma” was), this is cause for concern.

* http://www.bookemnc.org

** http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/aug/06/lying-historical-fiction

Beware the Movie Of Pity

HATE AND PITY IN 12 YEARS

I watched the movie “12 Years a Slave” with my friend Ginny this afternoon. It was brutal, not a moment of relief from the misery. I’m still trying to overcome the feelings of hate and pity that came from the movie.

I wonder if it will polarize the races, for there was a glaring absence of any decent white Southerners. The white traders and owners were portrayed as men stupid enough to destroy valuable "property" that had cost them hundreds of dollars ($800 to $1200 in 1850s dollars). And the white women were no less vicious.

Worst of all, the slaves were presented as powerless victims, as if they had no influence over their fate. They became pitiful pawns. This approach by director Steve McQueen took away the little integrity slaves were able to create for themselves. They had their ways of resisting their owners—subtle and nonconfrontational. They “accidentally” broke tools; claimed to be too sick to work; “misunderstood” directions; pretended to be stupid; delayed obeying orders. This would have been a better movie if we could have seen some of the clever ways in which they asserted their will. And we could have something to admire. As it is, there’s nothing to admire about either white Southerners or slaves.

To put the book 12 Years a Slave in perspective, the former slave who wrote it did so with the purpose of arousing antislavery sentiment and gaining the support of abolitionists. It is entirely possible he exaggerated his misfortunes. To take it for the literal truth without questioning the writer's motives leads to misguided ideas about our history. Unfortunately, this movie comes across as abolitionist propaganda. This is not to say I excuse any of our slave-owning predecessors, but the “truth” of 12 Years a Slave ignores the shades of gray.