It is about domination!

Benediction (2022)
Director: Terence Davies

In my formative years of childhood, I often wondered what it meant to be strong and have others follow your instructions. With my parents’ teachings, I assumed it came with age. Just as I was told to respect my elders, I assumed power and strength came automatically as I grew up. I thought maybe my deeds would carry me through. The Universe would balance off everything in the end. How naive? Bad things happen to good people and vice versa. There is no fair game.

My bubble finally burst. Nobody gave me two hoots about my age. Everybody was trying to dominate the other with the power of articulation or wealth. Eskimos would be sold ice, and drinking water could be sold to unassuming naive dwellers of the tropics. As if nobody caught it when Evian spelt backwards is naive!

Then I caught people selling the idea that time is cyclical and birth is repetitive. This birth is the punishment for the past and a test-bed for the future. Bunkum, I say. Any kind of lesson would require the student to know his mistakes and make amends. How can I improve if I have no absolute knowledge of past karmic ratings? It is kind of self-defeating as the students just repeat the past again and again. The worse thing is he is just thrown into different dens at different birth and expects to do the ‘right’ thing.

As a child also, I realised that by killing more soldiers, one can assert his point of view. The bigger one’s army or the deadlier one’s ammunition is, the better the chance to carry his will. It is not about truth always prevails. God does not decide anything, but the minions made in His image do.

In the meantime, all the collateral damage that both sides are sacrifices made to defend the arbitrary piece of geography or insignia. What a crude way to prove a point? Whilst all these injustices go unnoticed, who is to take notes for the Day of Judgement, if ever there is one. Not to forget the pain, the loss of appendages, property, dignity and sanity; who will be paying for this?

This anti-war movie is about a British post-WW1 poet, Sigfried Sassoon, whose gallant deeds won him the Military Cross but went strictly ant-war afterwards. He defied a direct order but averted being court-marshalled by pleading shell-shocked (that is PSTD in those days). He started mixing with the artistic crowd then (TS Eliot is mentioned somewhere) and established himself as an anti-war post. In keeping with the times, to appease the woke generation, the filmmakers had to insert explicit gay scenes to tick the boxes. 

Disabled 
Wilfred Owen

He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the parkVoices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,Voices of play and pleasure after day,Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.About this time Town used to swing so gayWhen glow-lamps budded in the light-blue treesAnd girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,—In the old times, before he threw away his knees.Now he will never feel again how slimGirls’ waists are, or how warm their subtle hands,All of them touch him like some queer disease.There was an artist silly for his face,For it was younger than his youth, last year.Now he is old; his back will never brace;He’s lost his colour very far from here,Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race,And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.One time he liked a bloodsmear down his leg,After the matches carried shoulder-high.It was after football, when he’d drunk a peg,He thought he’d better join. He wonders why . . .Someone had said he’d look a god in kilts.That’s why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts,He asked to join. He didn’t have to beg;Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years.Germans he scarcely thought of; and no fearsOf Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hiltsFor daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.Only a solemn man who brought him fruitsThanked him; and then inquired about his soul.Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes,And do what things the rules consider wise,And take whatever pity they may dole.To-night he noticed how the women’s eyesPassed from him to the strong men that were whole.How cold and late it is! Why don’t they comeAnd put him into bed? Why don’t they come?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

For political survival

Chanakya, Machiavelli and Bismarck had one thing in common. They were all master tacticians. They have the best ways to wriggle themselves out of tight situations. In other words, they were Houdinis of realpolitik. 

Politics is a strange animal. There is a thin line when a politician morphs to be a statesman. Churchill is hailed as a statesman, but tell that to the people of Bengal who perished in one of the world's most enormous man-made famines. Washington was a statesman too, but tell that to slaves who were uprooted from their villages and endured a torturous voyage across the Atlantic to be sold off as a commodity.

Some people would classify politicians as diametrically opposite to statesmen. Politicians work with the next elections on their minds, whereas statesmen think of the future, supposedly, of the region he represents. His interest is, in a way, self-absorbing. He is not bothered about doing the humane and fair thing or how his actions will affect the rest of the world. It is no skin off his nose.

Nationalism is just a weapon and strives to uphold the dignity of their territorial control. Along the way, anything and everything can be roped in to serve self-interest, be it race, religion, common enemy, denominations, political leanings or environment.

Some of the following quotations by past leaders will give us an idea of how geopolitics actually works.

• Your friends are three: your friend, your friend's friend and the enemy of your enemy.
• And your enemies are three: your enemy, your friend's enemy and your enemy's friend.

Imam Ali in Nahj-albaga circa 700CE 

• The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
• Never share your secret with anybody. It will destroy you.
• A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.

Chanakya/Vishnugupta/Kautalya in Arthashathra 4th Century BCE

• It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.
• Politics have no relation to morals.
• He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.

Niccolo Machiavelli

• Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied.
• Anyone who has looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.

Otto von Bismarck

I'm ready to work with Dr M, says Muhyiddin.

Things mere mortals will never comprehend. A protege becomes a foe, then a partner, become arch enemy, then to be equal yet again for a noble cause, it seems. In the immortal words of Tamil cinema comedian, Goundamani, all these things are expected in politics.

all these are common in politics.
அரசியலிலே இதுல்லாம் சகஜம்

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Be a man!

Kiss of the Spider Women (1985)

Director: Héctor Babenco

Against the backdrop of a despotic Latin American regime and people's uprising, this story looks not at the cruelty of man against a fellow man but at the question of what makes a man a man. 

Two men of opposing characters are confined in the same cell. The characters reflect what society defines men then and now, biologically or psychologically, or in modern terms, assumed gender! Is a man judged by his character or words based on a handshake? 

 

Valentin is the epitome of machoism as defined by society. He is a tanned, hirsute, testosterone-driven hot-blooded member of the revolutionary resistance who is caught for subversive activities against the military dictatorship. The authorities are trying very hard to infiltrate his movement but in vain. 

His cellmate is Luis Molina, an effeminate man, an unabashed homosexual, and a window dresser, who was arrested for corrupting an underage youth. 

In the beginning, Valentin cannot stand the sight of Luis being pushed over, not being assertive, having no self-respect as a man and being quite apathetic about politics. He thinks Luis is a hopeless romantic living in a make-believe world of celluloid characters, as they frequently converse about movies he has watched. 

Meanwhile, Valentin is slowly being poisoned by the authorities to help Lios build a bond and retrieve valuable information about Valentin's underground movement. And Luis has cut a deal with the jailers for freedom in exchange for information about Valentin's movement's next action plan. 

As the story progresses, both men slowly understand each other's situation. Being a man is not all about being macho but is a composite of many things. One must be man enough to do what is right, stand up for his beliefs, and fight against atrocities. Being a man is about something other than being gung ho with action-packed manoeuvres; he can also do it on the sly without much fanfare.

P.S. "Kiss of the Spider Woman" has nothing to do with the Spider-Man franchise. It is not only about the changing nature of the relationship between two very different, totally opposite men in every way who have been locked together in the same cell. Day-to-day experiences open their perspective of the other and develop a common bond.

P.S.S. Thanks to @Tutu Dutta for the introduction to this movie.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Justifying your wrongdoings?

You (Season 1-4; 2018-23)
Miniseries

In 'Crime and Punishment', Dostoevsky writes, "If he has a conscience, he will suffer for his mistake; that will be punishment — as well as the prison." The only escape from this personal punishment, then, is to ask forgiveness of mankind and of God.

Therein lies the conundrum. If there was no God or Man refuses to believe in the presence of a Higher Being, he has to carry all the guilt of his actions or inactions. As there are no means of cleaning his slate via redemption, his plate will always be full of regret and shame. This burden may be too overwhelming that it may affect his psychological well-being. Religion gives an exit clause option. He can convince himself that he is flawed and carrying his ancestors' sins. In other instances, he tells himself that God forgives. Another door is open when one is shut.

Depending on an individual's mental makeup, the wrongdoer may also be reliving the events of his wrong-doings and suffer from various complexes and ailments, physical or psychological.

Like Frederich Nietzsche's Ubermensch theory, whether God falls in the equation, some people feel they have the right to perform such vigilante actions as murdering an unscrupulous pawnbroker for the greater good, arguing multiple times that murder is okay if done in the pursuit of the greater good.​ They may invoke God's name to carry out His work. Alternatively, Man's action is for the good of humanity, not of any divine plan. And he justifies his crime. He carries plundering, killing and lying without an iota of guilt.

This miniseries is addictive. You go on a binge, enjoying the antics of a serial killer in his quest to find true love and remove all obstacles that fall on his path. He sometimes has to kill off some annoying nuisance like his beau's boyfriends and even his ex-girlfriends when they lose flavour to win his love.

As the serial killer is a bibliophile and a bookshop manager, the series is peppered with many quotations from classic books to keep the interest going. The protagonist, who is not an anti-hero anymore, grows on you. Growing up in foster homes after killing an abusive stepfather, Joe Goldberg is adopted by a strict bookshop owner. All through the seasons, he stalks his beaus, hacks into social media profiles, gatecrashes into their daily lives and eliminates whatever obstacles that come his way. In the second season, he calls himself Will after leaving his New York base after replanting himself in California. His dark past follows him and recoils into his wayward ways. In the 4th season, the setting moves to London. He rebrands himself as an academic, Jonathan Moore. He moves along the London high society, and his evil past again follows him.

Through the season, we can compare and contrast the mannerism and mindsets of people in these different regions. There is a general feeling that people have a herd mentality and a generally predictable one. The show also mocks society and its many idiosyncrasies. It is worth binging into its 40 episodes, each lasting about an hour.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In war, everyone loses!

Ugetsu Monogatari (Japanese, 雨月物語, Rain-Moon Tales; 1953)
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi

Geopolitical strategists will want us to believe that war is a necessary evil the human race must endure to advance. For a nation, a race or whatever name we give to a group of people with the same thinking to survive, they must engage in combat to stay relevant. Failing which, their ideology will have to change to suit the aspirations of the victors.

Again and again, we see wars are started by great powers to create business. The whole military-industrial complex thrives on it. Citizens sleep well, knowing their neighbours will not overpower them anytime soon. Leaders think they are serving the nation excellently by marching into wars. They purposely overlook the pain, destruction, sorrow and inner demons that it brings out to devastate humanity. Families are torn apart. Food production is disrupted. Peace of mind is broken into pieces. Social mores are shredded. Human values take a backseat.

This is one of the movies that put Japanese cinema on the world map. And it is also one of Martin Scorsese's favourite films. Kenji Mizoguchi holds a special place in Japan, comparable to legendary moviemaker Akira Kurosawa.

This film is set in the Samurai era (1568-1600) when civil war was spreading all over. Genjūrō, a potter, and his brother-in-law, Tōbei, lead a simple life. Genjūrō is all out to make profits with his blossoming business. Tōbei dreams of being a samurai. As hostility is imminent, Genjūrō's wife posters him to leave the village, but Genjūrō goes off anyway to make one last sale before leaving. He goes off with his Tōbei to town. It proved to be a big mistake.

Genjūrō's wife is stabbed by soldiers. Genjūrō is charmed by a ghost and almost marries her. In the confusion of the civil war, Tōbei became a samurai by presenting a severed head of a general as his killing when he merely stole it from a warrior. Tōbei is feted as a samurai and goes places only to find his wife working in a brothel. They return home to lead their old life. Genjūrō returns home to find his wife and son. The following day he realises it was just his wife's apparition.

In the wise words of Lao Tze, everybody loses in a war, especially the common man. The tranquillity and growth achieved all the peaceful years go down the drain, and a reset button is started, littered with tragedy, death, destruction and disappointments.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Catch 'em young!

Adipurush (Primordial Human, 2023)

Director: Om Raut

Growing up immersed in many devotional movies, I concluded they were all too uninspiring. I remember Dasavaratham (1976) was a bore with song after song. Then some stories were unbelievable, like Aathi Parasakthi  (1971), where a new moon day becomes full with the Goddess' divine intervention. I was not impressed. I was seeking a scientific explanation, which I have yet to find. 

As an adult, I was once called bewildered by a Christmas production by a local church. It was produced, choreographed, stage-managed, and sound-checked all by the teenage members of its church. And the musical accompaniment was theirs too. Now, I told myself, that is what draws (or keeps) members in their fold. It fulfilled their contemporary needs - staying attuned to the times and keeping them 'entertained'.

That was where it stood. Hindu narratives remained myths, and the hidden life lessons were lost in translation. Times have changed, and Hindus are returning with a bang. This film can be considered one of their tools to capture the minds of young Hindus.

The story is the one we all know. Rama, with Sita and Laxman, is exiled to the jungles. In her journeys, Raavan's sister, Shurpanaka, sighted a spunk in Rama. Her advances were rejected, and he slashed her nose when she could not accept rejection. She ran crying to her brother. She enticed him with Rama's wife. Then the kidnapping, Jentayu, Rama's meeting with the Vanaras (ape-like jungle people), the invasion of Lanka and Sita's rescue.

The above was depicted in impressive CGI against possible cinematographic depictions of what a primordial Bharat would have looked like. It piqued the young Hindus' interest, making them open their Amar Chitra comic books and watch or make Youtube presentations. Otherwise, they will still go on with life thinking that avatar is an American word created by James Cameron. 

Depending on which side of the camps one stands for, this movie was either an epic disappointment or a phenomenal collection at the box office. 

I am surprised that many states in India and even Nepal is requesting for screening ban in their vicinity. Whilst non-BJP-ruled states in India are worried about the spread of Hindutva in their states, Nepal is offended that Sita is described as India's daughter. The jokers failed to remember that in ancient Bharat, there was a vast spread of land from present-day Pakistan to Myanmar and Afghanistan to Lanka, following the teachings of Sanarta Dharma. In fact, if not for Pandit Nehru, for all his wisdom when he blockaded Nepal's entry into the Union of India, Nepal would have been part of India. 

Then many quickly point out that this film version deviates from the 'original' Ramayana. The million-dollar question is, which is referred to as the original one? There is Vyasa's Ramayana, Tulsidas' version, Kamban Ramayanam and more in India. Many interpretations are seen outside India in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Indochina and as far as Japan. Various versions of Ramayana are told in their puppet shadow play of Wayang Kulit. Is one more authentic than the other?

Politicians in the South who subscribe to the now defunct 'Aryan Invasion Theory' insist that the story of Ramayana is the tale of invasion by an army from the North to crush a prosperous Dravidan monarch is in for a surprise. Some quarters assert that Raavan originates from a kingdom in present-day Uttar Pradesh, the Northern part of India. On his visit to the view of the kingdom ruled by Kuberan, he usurped power. 

Do not believe the cyberspace ratings on the film. Google gave it a 4.4/100 rating, which is basically a dud. All those burning the box office and laughing all the way to the bank cannot be idiots!

P.S. If 'Adipurush' refers to primordial man, logically, it should be Manu, the 'Adam' of the Hindu scriptures. Interestingly, the term Adipurush also includes Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, is deemed the first human being to have embodied the qualities of righteousness, truth, and compassion in their purest form.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.