The morphing teenage mind...

Anantaram (Monologue, Thereafter, 1987)

Written and Directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Adoor Gopalakrishnan is said to be a director of such standing only comparable to doyens of the new wave cinema like the Great Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. His works are a joy to watch. Still, they may appear a tad too slow for some people's liking. This one is a story of a teenager who slowly evolves to be psychologically disturbed. It showcases, rather clearly, how a bubbly, bright child who seems to excel in everything transforms gradually into a mesh of a confused young adult. It stars Mammothy, Shobana and the protagonist, Asokan.

Children are all born beautiful, with a chest full of hope, just bursting with ambitions to change the world. The world is their oyster, and the sky is the limit of what they can achieve. To seal their confidence, their parents jump at every milestone of his achievement. They think they have with them a genius who is going to go places and make them proud one day. Then reality hits! Like a head-on crash with an oncoming train, it does.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan

The child morphs into a different species altogether. What happened, you wonder. The child with a promising future ahead of him has spiralled down a rabbit hole so deep and dark it leaves him in a complex maze of mesh. The raging teenage hormones interplay with the developing brain opening many confusing frontiers that blind the young adult.

The parents are in a dilemma. "Is it nature that is at fault," they ask as they scrutinise each other's family tree to fingerprint its possible origin of a defective gene. As always, matters of the mind are not straightforward. They hurt each other's sentiments. "Or is nurture," they ponder. Both will wiggle their fingers at each other's lack of parental skills or absenteeism in parenting.

They wonder if they had overlooked the company the child kept with. Could they have been more proactive? After so many questions and much soul searching later, they will accept the whole transformation as fate or karma. They would then try to do the best of the resources available at their disposal.

Ajayan (Asokan) is an orphan infant left behind by his mother at the maternity hospital. He is adopted by the doctor there. He grows up a loner, often left to his own devices. He seems a quick learner but quickly gets bored. Ajayan narrates his life story, but soon everything becomes disjointed as he falls prey to the dark shadow of the black dog. We, the audience, get confused between reality and falsehood. A good movie.

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Do we really know?

Drive My Car (Japanese; 2021)
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Based on Short Story by Haruki Murakami

I have not read any of Murakami's works; I guess I should. His body of work is said to reflect the deep, dark corners of human consciousness. After watching this highly engaging movie, I think I should engage time to appreciate his writings.

As in all good movies, the viewers are clueless for a good one hour into the film. I was wondering where the story was going. Why was the protagonist, Kafuku, a theatre actor, who was acting in 'Waiting for Godot', keeps driving around? Why did he not react when he caught his wife, Oto, sleeping with another man? What is this about Oto and telling stories? Then there is the history of a dead child. And then the wife dies too.

Two years on, Kafuku is on a directing stint in Hiroshima. The company insists that they hire a chauffeur for him to drive his 1987 Saab Turbo. The chauffeur, Misaki, a young 20 something woman, seems to carry a massive burden upon her shoulders. She had lost her mother in a landslide. There is more to that.

The man who was seen in bed with Oto earlier, Kōji, auditions for the play and is selected. The play is Chekov's 'Uncle Vanya'. The crux of the story is how all these characters resolve their respective deep-seated unresolved issues by their actions or inactions. Just like the pandemic that jolts us from the lull of comfort, at the end of the film, the reboot button is set.

We think we have an explanation for everything. Yet, many things do not make sense. We seek clarity but still, the answers elude us. Peace of mind is disrupted by carrying these unresolved matters in our psyche. Maybe, we should let it be. Move on.

(P.S. Another introduction to another of Russia's many talented writers, and considered to be one of the world's greatest writers of the world, Anton Pavlovich Chekov. A doctor by profession, he wrote stories to support his family. Famously is quoted to have said, 

"Medicine is my lawful wife, literature, my mistress."

.)

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What is the bottomline?

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022)

Netflix documentary

Whenever I see the tagline at a particular private medical centre that reads "We Care", I cringe. I tell myself that it should be reading "We Care, right! - Only for your money!" Somehow when a business entity says such a thing, it sounds ingenuine. More and more, we notice these foolhardy manoeuvres hiding behind informed consent and pages of indecipherable agreement terms.

Multinational companies move in with their big budgets and high-rolling executives to portray an image of purity and magnanimity, teaching smaller firms how to practise fair trade. In reality, they are no more than fly-by-night snake oil salesmen who would disappear at the crack of dawn. Over the past few years, the shenanigans of Boeing, the mega-conglomerate which made more than half of the world's planes, has come to light.

First, in late 2018, a brand new Boeing 737 Max belonging to Lion Air of Indonesia went plunging down into the Java Straits at full throttle soon after takeoff. Boeing executives were quick to deny that a brand new Boeing could be anything but faulty. They alleged, condescendingly, that the pilot did not know how to fly. 189 people perished.

Five months later, in 2019, another Boeing 737 Max crashed in Ethiopia. Soon after takeoff, with minimal warning, it took a nosedive into some hills killing all 157 onboard. The executives, this time, said that the pilots did not read or understand the flying manuals.

Only after their black boxes were found did a possibility of a significant design flaw be entertained. Boeing started cutting corners in their zest to stay afloat and maintain profitability after its merger with McDonnell Douglas. To continue the lion's shares in the aeroplane building business over its European rival Airbus, but not able to produce a new design, Boeing kept churning out bigger 737s. It introduced the 737 Max series with the MCAS system. The MCAS was a device working in the background of the array of plane computers to keep this big machine stable in the air. The trouble was that it had the power to control the ship independently, and the worse part was that none of the Boeings pilots was ever made aware or trained on MCAS.

In both of the cases, the MCAS sensors went faulty. The plane engines went rogue and just crashed with no chance for the captains to realise what went wrong and react. It all happened in mere 10 seconds.

The biggest worrying thing about the whole affair was that Boeing knew about their products' fault but maliciously decided to pay importance to money over safety. They continued denying culpability. This was discovered from the bipartisan Congressional hearings and extensive investigative journalism.

Boeing rested on its past laurels and long tradition of being the pioneer in churning out fighter planes in World War. It exerted its dominance by demonstrating a condescending attitude towards its Asian and African clientele. Even when China, some Asian and European countries grounded their Boeing fleets, the haughty Boeing did not budge. Even the American Federal Aviation Authority maintained no fault in the 737 Max. For the first time in American history, its President, Trump, of course, had the gumption to ground American planes on its soil with immediate effect.

The hearing saw an explosive revelation of a business with many shortcomings. Their internal memos clearly showed their realisation of a faulty MCAS system, but they continued anyway, placing profitability over safety. Its CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, was clearly disgraced in front of a gallery of gobsmacked pilots, the family of the crash victims and the world at large. The company culture of profit and deception over safety was bare for scrutiny.

The documentary narrates in an understandable manner the descent of a giant company that emphasises engineering marvels to spiral down the decadent rabbit hole of greed. Its computer generated possible imagery of the final moments of the ill-fated flights are just devastating.

For failing to recognise safety risks and allowing the company to cut corners to get the planes to market, the CEO, Dennis Muilenberg, was dishonourably sacked, losing Boeing's stock worth $14.6 million but not without his pension and stock benefits of about $62 million.

Boeing ex-CEO, Dennis Muilenburg

The whole fiasco only highlights a straightforward fact. The West has lost its fervour. The rest of the world has awoken to the demand of the new world's needs. Yet, the West still bask in the glory of its tainted history and gunboat diplomacy. For example, take space exploration. It used to be a big boys' club exclusively in the domain of select Western countries. Wham! Escaping West's radar, China quietly launched a spaceship to the dark side of the Moon without much fanfare, and India sent a vessel to Mars at a fraction of their cost. The West is gobsmacked, and naturally, they are resolved to bring the others down at any price, but they would not admit it but instead put up a rather nonchalant attitude.

Now, they cry foul. They complain about CCP's unethical practice, human rights and environmental degradation as if they were not guilty of these in annals of history.

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You need to make the unconscious conscious!

Nightmare Alley (2021)
Nightmare Alley (1947)

Based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham (1946)

In the spring of youth, we all think we are invincible. We believe we were sent to change the world. We go on a crusade to achieve these desires. Somewhere along with our lives and we should realise who we really are. We should know our capability, what role we play in the world. Only then can we set camp and grow laterally instead of reaching for the unattainable. The trouble is that this realisation may come early in some, at 20, 30 or some so much later in life. Some just roll down the cascade of their entire length of existence without realising it, ending it without collecting any moss.

The original offering in 1947.

Carl Jung is quoted to have said that until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate. Or karma. "Know thyself" - like it is inscribed at the courts of Temple of Apollo at Delphi. In 'The Art of War', Sun Tze mentions something to the effect of "know others and know thyself and you will not be endangered by innumerable battles".

This film came to my radar after its Academy Award nomination. Then I realised that there was an earlier version made in 1947. The story is based on William Lindsay Gresham's book of the same name. For comparison, I decided to watch both versions of the movies. Despite the technological advancements in film-making and storytelling over the years, sadly, in my opinion, the earlier version topped in terms of entertainment value and audience-gripping score.

Both movies start from different starting points. In the older version, the protagonist, Stanton Carlisle, begins as a helper in a travelling carnival. We do not know much about his past. In the latter, he has an overhanging dark secret. He commits a murder (we later find it was his alcoholic father) and starts life anew as a helping hand in a carnival. Both versions were set in the 1940s.

The novel

As the story progresses, we see Stanton going out of his way to learn the trait of a mentalist and trickery. He makes himself an indispensable asset to the troop. He smooth talks a cop who turned up to inspect their act as they were reported to be abusing people to perform heinous acts. In reality, part of their act involves what they call a geek. A geek is usually a drunk or substance addict fed with their cravings in exchange for gruesome acts like eating a live chicken. A human being cannot go lower than being a geek. He loses his dignity to carry out inhumane acts.

Stanton befriends Zeena, a Tarot reader and a seer and her alcoholic partner, Pete, who had seen better work prospects as a mentalist when he was sober. After learning the craft of 'mind reading', which is actually communicating with the assistant in codes, he poisons (accidentally, in the 1946 version) Pete. He marries Molly, a fellow performer, and makes it to the big city.

Stanton and Molly (as a reluctant partner) have roaring appearances as stage mind-reading performers in the city. They prey on grieving millionaires who lost loved ones. A stunt goes wrong, and Stanton runs from the long arms of the law. After being cheated by a psychologist who initially fed him with the necessary information, he becomes a fugitive. He ends up a drunk and has to work as a geek to sustain himself.

In keeping with the sentiments of the times, the 1946 one had to end with an ending that gave a sense of redemption. Stanton reunites with Molly, albeit with profound regret. In the 21st century bleak version, in keeping with the current tone of cancel culture, there is a downward spiral down the rabbit hole for Stanton.

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When nationalism comes together with science!

The Rocket Boys (Season 1, Ep 1-8; 2022)

Director: Abhay Panu

Network: SonyLIV

The Jataka Tales tells of a kingdom named Vishaili, hailed as the first republic in the world. This was in circa 400 BCE. It is said that there was no one king, but every subject had a say in the running of the state. It seems that everybody had an opinion of how to rule, but nobody took the mantle to take the lead. It was all somebody else's problem, and it ended with nobody doing anything. Pretty soon, the kingdom lost its lustre. Lord Buddha is said to have visited Vishaili thrice in his lifetime.

Vishaili's neighbour was the Magadh Kingdom. It was ruled by a monarchy with a big army. One day the Magadh King attacked Vishaili. The chaotic Vishaili, with no one taking charge, falls down with a whimper. It seems Lord Buddha, who was there meditating (the timeline is questionable, though), frowned when Vishaili was annihilated.

As all stories from the Jataka Tales carry a message, the lesson here is that to keep the peace, a kingdom has to be fully prepared for war as well.

In 1962 when China attacked India, India was in a position comparable to Vishaili. All holding hands, singing kumbayah and ‘Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai’. Buddha would have frowned!

So when Indira Gandhi gave the green light to the BARC Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1972 to detonate their first atomic bomb, the project was aptly coded 'Smiling Buddha'. The fact that it was set off on Buddha Pournami was a side issue. Hence, the message passed to the Indian PM upon its successful launch was 'Buddha has finally smiled', implying that after their 1962 humiliation, the frowning Buddha had finally smiled.

It is unbelievable that upon independence, Nehru actually thought that India did not need its own armed forces, in keeping with India's stance on pacifism which got its freedom in the first place. Actually, historians disagree. They believe that the Indian Navy mutiny of 1946 and the people's dissatisfaction over the trial of the INA soldiers were the lynch pinch of Britons' exit from India.

The recent turn of events reinforced this notion. To keep the peace, the nation needs to show its aggressive side. The world is not a level playing field. If you think it is humane to preach non-violence and abhor destruction, you will end up being the fool. If only Ukraine did not agree to disarm its nuclear arsenal, Russia would not have the gumption to start a war. It will be the 'Prisoner's Dilemma' that will be haunting Putin - will you engage a cheat in a one on one game of Russian roulette?

The Ukraine debacle taught us this. It does not pay to be goody two shoes and live obediently by the rule of law. Of course, being humble, abhorring violence, not resorting to bullying tactics or afflicting discomfort upon your neighbour are all considered noble traits in a civil society. In reality, it does not take us far. The intelligent thing to do is to agree with all of the above but be prepared for eventualities. After all, power is a zero-sum game. To prosper, one nation has to be one notch above its neighbours.

The 1940s were dizzying times for Indians. Blessed with opportunities to sound education laid out by the British, India teemed with Nobel prize materials in sciences. There was Meghnad Saha, an astrophysicist, who gave us the Saha Equation to determine the contents of stars. Then there was CV Raman, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Physics in the field of light scattering. SN Bose, who collaborated with Einstein to find Einstein-Bose condensate, were their contemporaries.

Combined with unbridled nationalism and raw energy to mark their presence in the world, many young scientists were out to prove their worth. This miniseries is a story of India's first rocket launch, its nuclear facilities' subsequent development, and the detonation of its atomic bomb.

With much liberty of creative licence, the storytellers tell the story of Homi Jahangir Bhabha, the architect of India's nuclear programme, and Vikram Sarabhai, the father of India's Space Programme. APJ Kalam, the pioneer of India's rocketry science, is also portrayed. The end of World War 2 saw the Americans holding the helm as the only country with nuclear bombs. As the First World countries scurried to develop their own atomic bomb, young Indian scientists joined the bandwagon, albeit in their own backyard. This is their life story.

Critiques of this miniseries cite the unnecessary creation of fictitious characters and bending of the truth. There was no need to create a Reza, a conniving inferior-complex filled scientist out to falter Bhabha's efforts. Bhabha's assistant Madhur never existed. In real life, Sarabhai's wife, Myralini, was an established Bharatnatyam on her accord. She did not need her husband's approval to dance again after starting their family. In an interview, their daughter, Mallika Sarabhai, mentioned that she spent much time with her father in her early years as her mother was too busy with her performances. That is showbiz for you. I guess the lives of men of science must be pretty mundane, Hence, the need to spice up things.

Sekhar Gupta of The Print, India, opines that there is no need to create a Muslim and a communist-leaning villain named Reza. In reality, Bhabha had professional disagreements with Meghnad Saha, his contemporary. Bhabha and Saha tried to hog the spotlight, but both came from opposing backgrounds. Bhabha was born in a privileged background and had overseas education, whilst Saha came from a disadvantaged caste and strived hard for his education. Saha had socialist leanings, which got him into financial troubles, and he eventually was elected to the Indian Parliament on a socialist ticket.

Bhabha mysterious died in a possible mysterious air crash near Mont Blanc in 1966. It remains a mystery to conspiracy theorists. The suspicious hand of the CIA is clearly implicated in his demise.

Nevertheless, it is a very engaging flick. The sepia-hued backdrop is nostalgic, and the wardrobe and hairstyling arrangements are perfect. It is highly recommended. 4.5/5.

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Conquering the unconquerable?

War Machine 2017
Written & Directed by: David Michôd

Just a bit of trivia. Afghanistan indeed does get mentioned in the Mahabaratha. In fact, Shakuni, the villain from the Gaurava clan, is known to have had used biased dice to cheat the Pandavas blind in a dice game, is from the kingdom of Gandhara, the old name for Afghanistan. He is the brother of the Queen of Kauravas, Gandhari, who is the mother of the Kaurava brothers of Hastinapur. The town of Kandahar in Afghanistan is said to have been derived from its old name.

Afghans are proud people. They do not like to be told what to do. That is what every superpower of the world seems to be doing, from Alexander to Mongols all the way to the British, Soviets and recently the Americans. Perhaps Maharajah Ranjit Singh of Punjab is the only King in living history to successfully conquer such fierce mountain people.  

The recent turn of events in Kabul saw American troops just absconding from the scene, leaving all their military equipment and facilities on a platter for the Taliban to utilise to their satisfaction. Twenty years of American 'occupation' of Afghanistan with the premise of bringing a semblance of peace and democracy to this war-ravaged country brought nothing except dropping it where it was before their arrival. The de facto leader of Afghanistan had absconded overseas with his loot. A brand new modern military airbase complete with military hardware was just there for the Taliban soldier to use. Formerly underground organisations like ISIS have started rearing their ugly head, and more deadly terror groups like IS-Khorasan have sprung from nowhere. In short, it is pre-9/11 Taliban Afghanistan all over again.

1975 Vietnam once more?

This movie is a sarcastic look at the American fiasco in Afghanistan. It showcases the constant bickering between the gung-ho American generals who perpetually ask to increase their troops and the American leaders who are interested in lip service and maintaining a positive image as the world's only superpower. Here, a 4-star General who genuinely thinks that the US Army will make a change to this war-torn region into a healthy Western-style democracy finds out the hard way that his endeavour is futile. Venting candidly to the media is a double-edged sword. The press is brutal in painting a picture suited to the agenda.

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The tale behind the old wound...

HUSM, Kubang Kerian, 1986

Ask any medical student in HUSM Kubang Krian around 1986-88. Invariably, everyone would have learned everything there is to know about fistula-in-ano from one particular patient. He was a chronic long-staying in-patient with an intractable condition used in many surgical medical student final examinations. The chap was so knowledgeable about his condition that he would coach medical students on the correct questions to ask.

This patient had quite an engaging story about how he acquired his debilitating condition. He was a peasant in the interiors of Cambodia during the civil war. He was apprehended by the soldiers and underwent unspeakable tortures. Traumatic insertion of blunt objects into his posterior end eventually led to his situation.  

A patient is not just a person with a medical condition but the sum of the ups and downs of his existence. Hence, a medical student should never fail to paint a composite picture of his whole being. We knew he was not a Malaysian but a Cambodian, but he carried a Malaysian 'blue' identity card (ID) with him. Naturally, we probed as proud inquisitive Malaysians who do not like others to have access to anything.

What we found is illustrated precisely in this old Filem Negara propaganda footage. PERKIM, the Malaysian Islamic Welfare Board, as part of their dakwah, a mission to help out fellow members of the Ummah who were in trouble, oppressed by non-believer rulers. It did not matter that their own backyards were in tatters or that their own kind in the Muslim kingdom was suffering. They took it upon themselves to meddle in other people's affairs, unsolicited, to reinforce the state pity-seeking victimhood of its members. These Cambodian refugees were rescued at sea, given a new lease of life, a new name, a new religion, maybe, and a new identity as citizens of a generous charitable Muslim government. 

All of these were done with the active participation of the leaders going through the usual due process. Everything was hush-hush and fast-tracked under the cloak of secrecy.

RETROSPEKTIF : BERLINDUNG DI MALAYSIA (PERKIM) (1976)

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