Trying to master The Master

It was an elongated, twisted and repetitive tale of 2 damaged men, dependent on each other to fulfil their own ego needs. Yes it was an impressive relationship that lasted through time but for what purpose? The Master continued to brainwash, manipulate, and re-programme a man that seemed on the surface to show progress, but underneath stayed true to himself, while achieving an improved day to day existence from being the teacher's pet.
Was it really inspired by Scientology - even if it was, it would not seem useful to admit it.. So we are left wondering, but in the end, not caring whether this particular form of brainwashing is one that is in anyway related to that used in Scientology-to me it really does not matter!
So I am still slightly frustrated that I endured 2.5 hours waiting for something profound to happen, I guess it shows persistence and the willingness to trust that there could have been a moral message...guess I was too trusting on this one...

Rust and Bone - passion without emotion

I was ready for a film about misfits connecting amidst the daily drudgery. Rust and Bone is another brilliant french film that has impressed at so many levels. Superb music, great scenery along the southern French coast, superb cinematography and special effects and so many inter connected story lines.

Party girl Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) meets novice security guard Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) when he rescues her from a fight in a nightclub. The next day Stephanie returns to training killer whales and is involved in a tragic accident. Later, depressed and reclusive, she contacts Ali on a whim. Somehow his casual yet frank approach to sex and bare-knuckle fighting attracts and alarms her. It seems that Ali is both interested and indifferent. Themes of emotional damage are pervasive but there is a chance for deep awareness and redemption...

still loving James Bond

Adele's theme song Skyfall impressed me several weeks ago, and even more when I realised that she had written it! I must admit that the hype for this movie is quite over the top and very un-English. Perhaps it is the 50th anniversary of James bond, or the 23rd film in this amazing series that warrants it. I did enjoy the classic chases and stunts - we have seen so many fights on the top of trains, but it was the motorbike race across the rooftops of the Grand Bazaar that really made me laugh.

This time Bond investigates an attack on MI6, or perhaps M herself, by a former MI6 operative, Raoul Silva, played by a very blonde Javier Bardem. It has all the usual elements with beautiful places and people across the globe - but this time there is a very real contrast between the old style of glamorous and international spies with the new computer geek led cyber espionage. Age was a recurring theme and the willingness or not to change strategies was a constant threat for M and James. So it was brilliant when James uncovered his old Aston Martin to drive to his old family home in Scotland (strangely named Skyfall Lodge) via the starkly stunning Glencoe valley. So I shall say no more except that the other big recurring question was could James really trust M?

living art - Tino Sehgal in the Turbine Hall

Can something experiential be art, without any longstanding existence? The evidence will only be in people's memories, and to some extent cameras. But they can never capture the whole experience and the uncertainty in the audience about whether what they were seeing was art...British born german artist Tino Sehgal offers the ultimate challenge. When we entered the gigantic space of the turbine hall, there were a few people sitting around on the sloping floor. We walked towards the far end through empty space and as we turned round to return we were faced with an army of 'artists' all walking backwards in unison. We could walk through and round them... but it seemed that the visitors waited along the edges of this space, while the troupe started walking forwards again, at an agonisingly slow pace. We had heard stories about the 'artists' interacting with the public and I observed one artist breaking free from the group and talking to the family beside me. I tried to eavesdrop but he turned his back to me, so I figured his story was for that family only... We walked back slowly disappointed, when we were approached by an older American man, who 'told' us a story about his parents - it was very complete and somewhat scripted - but it was delivered in a soliloquoy and in a way that we were not able to ask the obvious questions or to engage with him in any way! o well Later in the day we saw the 'actors' running around between the visitors, who seemed to be ignoring them. Then they congregated again and began a long and systematic chant which seemed to turn the darkened hall into an old cathedral... It was really a thoughtful experience - how was this art? how do you charge for this? how much creative freedom do the actors have? and finally how will this all be remembered?

the tanks at Tate Modern

It was great to catch the last day of exhibitions in the tanks at the Tate Modern. They were only opened this year. They are giant underground tanks which held oil when the Tate Modern was a power station. These underground galleries have retained the derelict and industrial feel of raw concrete spaces and this is now being channeled into large and complex film and video installations.

It seems they have at least 4 different spaces to use as they choose. I was particularly impressed by 2 creations. Light Music is an innovative work by Lis Rhodes that was created in response to the lack of contemporary female composers. It is formed from two projections facing one another on opposite screens in a hazy room. I found the visual experience so much more profound than the musical! As the two patterns of black and white lines pass through the projector they are ‘read’ as audio, creating an intense soundtrack, forming the aural equivalent to the flickering patterns on the screens. Instead, I was fascinated by the way in which the two beams of light traverse one another and in the space between these two projections, people play with their own ethereal sculptural forms comprised of light, shadow and theatrical smoke. I loved the way we all moved between the screens, engaging with the projection beams, enjoying the images, and taking photos...

The other piece I really loved was titled Crystal Quilt. On 10 May 1987 in Minneapolis, 430 women over the age of 60 gathered to share their views on growing older. The resulting performance, the creation of a duplicate design of tables in a large urban shopping centre, to match a bed size quilt was captured on video. The process was guided by a desire to represent diverse ethnic and social backgrounds alongside life experience and achievements. The author Suzanne Lacy created a complementary video, documentary, quilt, photographs and sound piece, and they are all available to experience. It was great to be able to piece them all together by yourself to recapture an understanding of the whole impressive project.

On the road - a classic book cum movie

This current film adaptation of a cult novel by Jack Kerouac tries to bring together a feeling of life in the 1950's with a sense of literary history. Having neither read the book nor being familiar with 1950's America, I enjoyed some of the universal themes. 2 young men meet, bringing together a deep search for a good story with a life of hedonistic rebellion. Both are searching for something more, and ultimately provide the perfect counterpoint for each other... The film tells the provocative story of Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), a young writer whose life is shaken and ultimately redefined by the arrival of Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a free-spirited, fearless, fast talking Westerner and his girl, Marylou (Kristen Stewart). I enjoyed the experience, in quite a cognitive way, and found that like so many American films, the good guy always wins out in the end...

Untouchable - but seriously engaging

The French film Les Intouchables, translated as Untouchable, is way better than the title suggests. Based on a true story, Phillipe has a high level spinal cord injury after a paragliding accident. He is a wealthy aristocrat who can re-engineeer the life he wants. Despite his obvious penchant for risky adventure, he seems cocooned by a terribly conservative team of well meaning staff. Somewhere along the way he lost his wife and he strikes me as being seriously alone and in search of a new challenge. He sets up this challenge by hiring an endearing black ex-con who was only looking for a signature to get the dole. Despite a very limited life growing up in an overcrowded family, Driss is still pretty enthusiastic and open to experiencing the alternatives of aristocratic and disabled lifestyles. The script is well written and both actors very accomplished - so that they systematically and humourously demolish stereotypes about race and social class through enjoying discovering their common humanity. I really could enjoy the way they both uncovered and eventually respected each others' worlds; something very close to my heart and my life experiences. There is a real beauty is appreciating something that is seen as normal and everyday to someone else! The humour was subtle and the message was deep and significant. While there has been some criticism about the cultural contrasts, I cannot bear to think about a proposed American remake - this would need to be avoided!