A review of the 1982 classic film “Gandhi”
May 5th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
When I first saw this classic film at the cinema, the audience applauded at both the intermission and the end (it is a long work of 188 minutes). Although the narrative covers over five decades in Gandhi’s life, a major segment concerns the the process by which independence of India and Pakistan was brought about and the huge loss of life and massive migrations that resulted. When I saw the events of 1947 portrayed in the 2017 film “Viceroy’s House”, I was encouraged to revisit the earlier film which I think deals with these events more powerfully.
“Gandhi” was a triumph both for Richard Attenborough, as producer and director, who worked for 20 years to bring the story to the big screen and for Ben Kingsley, a man whose father was Indian but who had until then had a minor profile, proving to be a superlative choice for the eponymous role. The cinematography is wonderful, making superb use of local filming in India and evocative of some of the work of David Lean.
The huge cast represents a rich array of British thespianism (as well as American and Indian actors) with cameo roles for stars such as John Mills, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard and James Fox and even a tiny role for Daniel Day-Lewis who would go on to be a towering talent. Finally the script by John Briley works well in communicating essential information with some effective lines.
Arguably the film is a little too reverential and at times it is a trifle ponderous, but these are minor reservations. It went on to win no less than eight Academy Awards.
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Ever heard of the notion of nominative determinism?
May 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work that fit their names.
The term was first used in the magazine “New Scientist” in 1994, after the magazine’s humorous Feedback column noted several studies carried out by researchers with remarkably fitting surnames. These included a book on polar explorations by Daniel Snowman and an article on urology by researchers named Splatt and Weedon.
You can read more about the idea here.
What on earth has led me to think about this notion now? Well. a few days ago, I watched a play called “The Philanthropist” in which a character who was a philologist was called Phil and another character who was an academic was called Don.
My sister – something of an expert on language – told me about the concept of nominative determinism which was new to me.
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A review of the play “The Philanthropist”
May 2nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I don’t go to the theatre anywhere near as often as I should like but I’ve resolved to change this. I recently became one of the last people in the UK to se the musical “Les Miserables”. Then, this weekend, I went to see a play at the Trafalgar Studios in London.
It was “The Philanthropist” which was written by Christopher Hampton when he was just 23 and first produced in 1970. In this revival directed by Simon Callow, the cast is apparently younger than is normally the case with this work. I recognised Matt Berry from the television series “The IT Crowd” and Lily Cole from media photographs.
It is a simple play to put on with merely one set which is just a living room. There are only seven characters and one says absolutely nothing while another has a dead short appearance. None of the characters are endearing, with the main one declaring “I’m a man of no convictions. At least I think I am”.
It is moderately funny but dated in its satirisation of academia and overly cynical for my taste. I’ll do better next time …
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Weekend cinema (1): a German horror film from 1919
April 30th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari”
This wonderfully radical German Expressionist work from director Robert Wiene is unusually wordy for a silent film but then it has quite an intricate plot with a surprise ending. It is not just the story that is original; the stage sets are full of disorientating features such as unnatural angles and and weird shapes. The whole idea is to draw the viewer into the madness at the heart of the narrative.
But this was a very political work: the all-controlling Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) represents the authoritarian figure that has so often dominated German politics, while the somnabulist Cesare (Conran Veldt) who blindly does the doctor’s bidding – even when it involves murder – stands for the German populace that allowed itself to be marched into the Great War.
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Weekend cinema (2): an American sci-fi movie from 2017
April 30th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2”
In 2014, the original “Guardians”was a surprising hit and, like many others, I was totally won over by its original bunch of characters and fresh tone with rich colours, witty script and zippy action. Three years later, the next outing for these space heroes is again directed and co-written by James Gunn so it is very much a case of back to the future.
This sequel does not have the novelty of the initial film but the reprising of style will ensure that it is another massive success. One thing that has changed is that, whereas the first “Guardians” was the break-out role for Chris Pratt as Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord), since then he has become a major star with hits like “Jurassic World” and Passengers”.
There is a wonderful opening with a background battle between four of our superheroes and a giant squid while – a minor twist on the original lineup – Baby Groot dances to ELO’s “Blue Sky”, the first of a succession of musical tributes to the 1970s. The closing credits provide much more than the traditional single clip of other Marvel movies with a host of textual and visual tit-bits.
In between, the action rarely stops with a luscious use of colour for both characters and sets, but for much of the time I had little idea what was going on. I mean: a demi-god called Ego who has trouble sleeping. Rollover, Freud. Best just to enjoy the ride.
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Canadian trial for universal basic income
April 29th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I’m interested in the political idea for an universal basic income and, a couple of months ago, I blogged about the proposal here. Also I’m a believer in evidence-based decision-making including in the sphere of public policy, so I was pleased to see this news:
“The Canadian province of Ontario will launch a trial run of universal basic income with about 4,000 participants this summer, making it the first North American government in decades to test out a policy touted as a panacea to poverty, bloated bureaucracy and the rise of precarious work.
Participants in the three-year, C$150m pilot program will be drawn from the cities of Hamilton, Thunder Bay and Lindsay. A randomly selected mail-out will invite applications in the coming months, with participants screened to ensure they are between the ages of 18 and 64 years and living on a low income.
The pilot will include a mix of those who are working in low-paying or precarious jobs and those on social assistance, with participants able to opt out at any point during the three years.”
This is an extract from a news item which you can read in full here.
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A review of the 1942 film “Went The Day Well?”
April 28th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“Went the day well?
We died and never knew.
But, well or ill,
Freedom, we died for you.”
This week, a friend persuaded me to join him in seeing a British wartime film at the BFI Southbank cinema in London.
“Went The Day Well?” is a British black and white film of 1942 which is an oddity in so many respects. The strange title comes from a short epitaph written about the First World War which appears at the very beginning of the film and the plot was based on a short story by the author Graham Greene entitled “The Lieutenant Died Last”.
We see a takeover of an English village called Bramley End (it was actually shot in part in Turville in Buckinghamshire) by German paratroopers pretending to be English soldiers preparing for an imminent large-scale invasion. In fact, the underlying message of the movie – beware of fifth columnists and strangers – was essentially redundant by this stage of the war since a German invasion was no longer anywhere near likely.
Nevertheless, I guess for a wartime audience it provided an interesting and entertaining storyline which presented the plucky British at their communal best. However, the actors playing the Germans have such perfect English accents and their characters lack basic combat skills, while the action sequences are weak when they are not silly. A similar tale was represented much better by the 1976 film “The Eagle Has Landed”.
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I join the start of the Russian Revolution – well, at least the exhibition
April 27th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
As a blogger, I was invited to this morning’s media preview at the British Library of the new exhibition “Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths” which opens to to the general public tomorrow and runs until 29 August. We were shown around the exhibition by the curators Katya Rogatchevshaia and Susan Reed.
This fascinating exhibition tells the story of the Revolution through posters, letters, photographs, banners, weapons, items of uniform, recordings and film and highlights include:
- 1st edition of Communist Manifesto, published in London in 1848
- Nicholas II Coronation Album from 1896
- Russo-Japanese War cartoon posters
- Photographic images and caricatures of Rasputin
- Leg irons from a Siberian prison camp
- Items of Red Army uniforms
- White Russian counter-revolutionary propaganda posters
- Lenin’s Memorial Book
- Banner gifted to the Shipley Young Communist League
- A letter, dated 1922, from Scotland Yard to the British Museum Library requesting that a selection of Bolshevik literature is not made public due to its incendiary nature
One really interesting feature is not an exhibit but an electronic display: a map of Russia that changes to illustrate the balance of forces in the civil wars over the period from 1918-1922.
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Britain’s poorest households pay more of their income in tax than the richest
April 26th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Britain’s poorest households pay a greater proportion of their income in taxes than the richest, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Analysis of the ONS’ Effects of Taxes and Benefits publication, released this week, found:
- The poorest 10% of households paid on average 42% of their income in tax in 2015/16.
- The richest 10% of households however paid on average just 34.3% of their income in tax
- Council tax and VAT hit the poorest particularly hard, with the poorest 10% of households paying 7% of their gross income in council tax, compared to just 1.5% for the richest, and 12.5% of gross income paid in VAT (5% for rich)
- Despite paying far less of their income in tax, the richest 10% have on average a gross income of £110,632, 10 times that of the poorest (£10,992)
- Post tax (including direct and indirect taxes and cash benefits) the poorest 10% have on average £6,370 and the richest 10% have £72,746
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Word of the day: pareidolia
April 24th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon in which the mind responds to a stimulus, such as an image or a sound, by perceiving a familiar pattern where none actually exists.
Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations or pieces of food or features in nature, the man in the moon, hidden messages within recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing indistinct voices in random noise such as that produced by air conditioners or fans.
Humans are pattern-forming creatures and tend to see patterns everywhere even where none exist or is intended. A classic example is the linking of random stars into constellations even though those stars are nowhere near each other. Today many conspiracy theories see connections where none exist.
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