Legacies

Mythology has often been used in Cinema to represent morality and the duality of Good versus Evil.

From the Ancient Greeks with their half men half beasts to the Red Indians and Incas with their depictions of men transforming into animals and back into humans again, these themes were and are often still used in films as powerful tools to tell the story of the victory of Good over Evil.

The Medusa with her serpent's head is one of the main characters in the recently released 'Seventh Son'.
The protagonists in the film are men with powers and legacies; men who from birth are aware that their visions of struggle and victory are an indication of a destiny which is their legacy to fulfil.

Although the story of Seventh Son is hardly memorable and I am sure most of us would have forgotten the sequence of scenes and the script within an hour of leaving the screening, it does nonetheless have a lot to offer in terms of entertainment value but also in the sense that this use of Mythology in the film and the characters on both sides of the equation are powerful symbolic icons representing the real struggle between Good and Evil in the real world as much as in Theology and the spiritual realm.

Magic maybe a concept very few understand unless experienced first hand in our daily lives. This can take many forms but the essence of it is seeing an unbelievable or extraordinary manifestation which we can only sometimes understand after deep soul searching and with an objective eye all the while being open to the fact that all things are not always known by human beings or controllable through actions. Some manifestations are living proof that a higher order of existence can guide our mundane lives.

From the point of view of entertainment, the film's visual effects and graphics are strong. The quick sequences depicting movements of the natural elements as well as the combat between the characters are well drawn out and fleshed out with colours and smoothly flow with good editing.

This certainly reminds one of the apprentice film released a while back, in terms of the characters in both movies but this film still has its own identity if not in content at least in visual graphics and effects.
Worth seeing if you are in the mood to be reminded that Fate shows its face to us in its own time giving us each legacies to fulfil.

Be you a seventh son or a first daughter, you may be 'charmed' each in your own way following the path which is yours and meeting other 'charmed' ones on your journey.
And even for those cynics who do not believe in the non physical world, you may still enjoy the pure visual aesthetics of the film.

'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,than are dreamt of in our philosophy' (Hamlet)     

Rebel with a great cause

Not purposefully meaning to play on this pun bringing to mind the old James Dean film, but somehow this seemed most apt for a title to the description of the film Insurgent.

As a sequel to Divergent it keeps up both the quality and the pace in the story but what I found most intriguing about the sequel was that behind the racy action scenes, high jumps, low blows and edge of your seat sequences there was actually a message within a message.

The obvious one of course is that social segregation is created by powerful leaders in order to selfishly maintain their own positions but there was a very subtle underlying message too which for me was even more powerful; it is that each individual with the right amount of courage and heart is capable of changing a mountain of events and bringing worlds that seem very much apart together.

There is of course in the movie the feminist angle of the hero being a woman, the man being supportive and loving yet strong and active. This is an Oppressive City genre of film where the hero has to overthrow the unfair social and political system.

It also lays before us the very raw issues of psychological distinctions in people i.e: each person leans more towards a certain type of behaviour or emotion in their genetic and social set up or setting but that these diverse psychological personality traits in a very select few are equally present in the psyche, creating a perfect balance between mind, spirit and body.

This film is indeed full of substantial insights into human nature and its many faces but within all of this content the very subtle beautiful message is that if one or a few of us are able to balance or join all these facets of humanity in one then we are able to bring together worlds that are apart, unite different realms of existence and somehow create a new world which is liberated and all encompassing.

It reminds me funnily enough of a dream I once had of creating a substance or object from a stone and a peach, two very different substances somehow creating a third which makes no sense on the surface to the naked eye but which in fact is a symbol of unity between two very different worlds, so a reality which is in fact much more than the sum of its parts.
Its not a just stone peach (soft and hard, fruitful sweet and at the same time unmovable or solid; it is a new and wonderful thing, newly imagined and yet to be discovered.

This is the essence of creation and Art or of musical composition; it's the genius in extreme combinations and of having the courage to dream.

Its not just the hero fighting to free the different factions or to bring together the different political and social groups (Hunger Games), it is an extraordinary individual having the vision to see something completely new, born of very different elements.

Find your Peaches and Stones and don't be afraid to imagine a way to 'glue' them together..

Randa 

Loveable Lou

Cine Lumiere is one of my favourite movie theatres in London and it does offer much in terms of non commercial films of value.

An original piece of creative audio visual work was the French film 'Lou' which I saw this week.

Although on the surface a very simple story of matriarchs down the generation line, it in fact offers a very fresh outlook on projecting emotions and situational dynamics in a very visually stimulating and colourful way.

Originally based on a comic book it seems a very dynamic pictorial work of art in that every scene is overloaded with vibrantly colourful retro objects and designs as well as luminous costumes and intimate close ups of very detailed facial expressions throughout the film.

The vibrancy in fact is symbiotic with the characters themselves, the way they express emotions in relationships and their feelings towards one another.

The main characters are Lou a 12 year old 'cool' and creative girl, sensitive, intelligent and loving, her mother, an affectionate, clumsy but capable woman,  and some of the girlfriends all extreme cases in their own way as well as the grandmother who is austere severe but deep down very honourable.
They all interact with one another very originally and even wildly in an outside the mould setting or outside the box way, very transparently but also very adorably and become endearing in that they share their feelings in a very honest and genuine way, almost childlike in its innocence.

Lou is the most fabulous character in that she is good to all and still happily looks to every future event as the next big step in her life despite disappointments, delays or embarrassments.

The male characters in the story seem peripheral and play a supporting role to the female characters but are essential in their romanticism nevertheless.

All in all a very happy upbeat kind of visual comic drama, part love story part coming of age, imbued with comic scenes amongst the emotional drama,  and with a very good graphic arts animation type sequence which is in fact the fantasy world or Lou's mother who is empowered at the end of the film, becoming the conquering heroine and the all loving being she was born to become.

The real and fantasy worlds seem to join hands and this is the crux of the feel good element which brings the audience to a climax of bubbly playfulness at the end of the film.

If comic books can end well so can real life and if we believe in our dreams we can make them concrete and overcome obstacles and disappointments accepting them as part of life.

End
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Manners Maketh Hero

I had some serious doubts about the creative value of yet another spy like 007 movie genre but I was pleasantly surprised by Kingsman this week.

A slight move away from the all out action chase scenes and suave 007 persona, Kingsman offered a slightly more complex take on the spy movie genre by presenting important social and political layers to the content.

Does social class influence success? Do social gradients have stigma attached to them?
Do we judge fairly based on appearances, elocution, education, gender and age?
How do we overcome our beginnings and do we in fact rise above social differences to unite as one in the face of danger or political unfairness and greed?

Such were the questions running through my mind for the duration of this presentation of Kingsman.
The acting was fairly predictable but pleasant never the less and the new faces were well cast for the roles they were given, although we may agree that Colin Firth does not need to prove anything with his acting at this point in his career, having played similar roles a few times in the past. His type cast suits him well, but I did wonder if the funny gentle type role might be best left behind at this point for a risky venture into new waters for him. Another type of character perhaps? A little less stiff and humorous, although such risks are too great for certain type cast artist such as he but it might be a good shock value for those of us who are looking to see our favourite actors doing something slightly outside the box for a change.

All in all a fairly well thought out and well rounded script, well tied together in terms of editing, scene durations and style of shots; nothing extraordinary in terms of denouement or content, except for the treatment of social class issues within the Hero worship mould that we are so used to attributing to white collar types.
A new precedent in such film genres looking to make us identify with the less highly educated hero and the more down to earth down trodden type who makes it in the end despite all obstacles.
A message for the audience perhaps or just another step into the realm of a socialist type  hero, one who the latest James Bond has been moving towards lately.

Born with or without a silver spoon in his or her mouth this type of hero is the one who overcomes all in the name of justice and finds a middle ground balancing the odds between those who have and those who have not.
A definite strong social message here albeit disguised within funny action banter.

Ladies and Gentleman, the stage is set! 'Suit up' and roll camera!

Scavenger Hunt

Since the dawn of time, nothing shakes the brain cells and pumps the heart valves more than a juicy bit of news, but for the purpose of innovation and creation lets start this written word with the idea that not all published news is worthy of its name and for this reason my blog as a trial or a taster will attempt to review or positively critique all things artistic, creative, musical and visual such as film and perhaps even with an attempt at spiritual insight.

The process of film making and film critique has a technique of course but as a laywoman I will start with style and refine with process.

Today's audio visual word winks at the newly released: Into the Woods

Fairy Tale or Dark Fiction? Into the Woods might be better described as an innovative new genre of dark fantasy film making, partly loyal to the fairy tale genre but also extremely realistic and pragmatic in its exposure of human nature both as good and bad.

Disney has evolved much in the last few years and although the musical side of the film reminds one of short adolescent films made by Disney for a growing pains audience, this in fact takes the growing pains idea to a new level.

The characters are neither black nor white but grey in every real sense of the word.

Mistakes are made and the notions of love and happiness are well tempered with the feelings of regret, loss, sadness, anger and revenge.

Adultery as well as parenting and coupling are explored in the film through the main idealised characters (prince and princess, witch and children)

Meryl Streep is glorious as the believable grey witch, the blamed bad character and yet the lovable realistic parent who holds on to the motherhood role for as long as she can doing the best that she can.

The prince isn't all he is cut out to be,just an ordinary man with ego and Cinderella is both feminist and nurturing, dreaming and realistic.

Red riding hood is an evolving adolescent and jack is a growing boy, both discovering the magic of learning in life.

Rapunzel as the witch's adopted child is seen as both strong and vulnerable, feminine but resigned and the two princes as brothers provide some comedy albeit in the greater name of Love

Johny Depp, yet again wows us with his theatrical performance as the wolf and in view of his roles in the Pirates films and in Charlie and the chocolate factory, one wonders why he doesn't take to the stage. Theatre is the mother of all acting and he is certainly capable of stage acting and huge theatrical performances if his role as the wolf is anything to go by. He plays the naturally dark and predatory wolf to perfection but with a hint of the amiable friend and the hopeless predator, obliged as it were to be who he instinctively is.

Into the Woods can easily be described as into the stages of life, where the woods may represent the places in our lives where we make mistakes and let ourselves go, in order to discover, explore ourselves and grow into knowing who we are and who we can be.

See it if only for the musical score which is interesting and rhythmic as well as the extraordinary performances of Streep and Depp and the surprising twists showing us that life isn't Disney World but Disney is about life with all its good and evil characters but most importantly that none of us are either one or the other but both at different times in our lives perhaps.

Enter the Woods..Happy hunting soul searchers.