A review of the recent independent film “Monsoon”
December 5th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
The story in this film – a search for a sense of cultural identity – is loosely inspired by the experience of writer and director Hong Khaou whose family was forced to flee Cambodia so that he was brought up in Britain.
Kit – played by Henry Golding in a more mature role than in “Crazy Rich Asians” – is a British-Vietnamese who had to leave Vietnam when he was six as his parents made a new life in Britain. He returns to the country of his birth over three decades later to visit where his parents lived (Ho Chi Minn City which was then Saigon) and where they were brought up (Hanoi).
The film was short entirely on location in Vietnam (I’ve visited both cities) and it is beautifully photographed from the opening scene of traffic at a busy crossroads. But the pace of the narrative is slow, even languid, and the dialogue is spare with little explanation of motivation, so ultimately this is a work in which style triumphs over substance.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
A review of “Ten Lessons For a Post-Pandemic World” by Fareed Zakaria
December 3rd, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Zakaria is an Indian-American political scientist who hosts CNN’s flagship international affairs show. His book – published in October 2020 with information as recent as July 2020 – is immensely topical, informative and thought-provoking, even if there is nothing terribly original or radical in it and too few proposals for practical change. My effort at summarising the 10 lessons is as follows:
- Global capitalism is so open and so fast that it is inherently unstable, promoting a clash between people and nature that has caused zoonotic diseases like Covid-19, and we need to build in some security and resilience through measures like better regulation of markets, stronger public health systems and a new carbon tax.
- In the United States, the weakness of the federal government and the multiplicity of state and local units has made a concerted effort to tackle issues like coronavirus almost impossibe, so that the country needs not so much larger government as better government with more professional expertise and better learning.
- Reliance on free markets to provide comprehensive health, access to education & training, and social mobility – the Reagan-Thatcher model – is not working and a better approach is the ‘flexicurity’ model of Northern European economies (classically Denmark) based on high taxation, substantial welfare provision, and social cohesion.
- The pandemic has revealed how the less educated and less wealthy feel alienated from the elite, but people should listen to the experts who know best how to respond to such a crisis and, for their part, the experts should show empathy and listen to the people.
- New technologies – most notably artificial intelligence – will utterly transform the world of work, so that we will have to consider ideas like a universal basic income or topping up the wages of low-income workers.
- Covid-19 will not lead to a decline in urban living because people thrive on real life contact, but it could encourage a reimagining of cities with more walking and cycling and ideas like ‘the 15 minute city’.
- Coronavirus has highlighted and worsened the inequalities in societies and economies with poor and (in the US especially) black citizens suffering the most, but meanwhile countries with less inequality and higher levels of trust seem to have handled the crisis best.
- In spite of what some commentators may think, the pandemic will not result in the death or even the decline (except perhaps a small and temporary one) in globalisation because the forces are too great and the benefits too large.
- The world is becoming bipolar as the historic ascendancy of the United States is increasingly being challenged by the growing economic and military power of China but, while bipolarity is inevitable, a new cold war is a choice.
- The ‘liberal international order’ created by the United States after the Second World War has brought unprecedented peace and prosperity, but is now under threat from America’s abdication and China’s expansionism, yet there are strong practical reasons why it can survive.
If one had to reduce this book to one sentence, it would be: “the pandemic will not reshape history so much as accelerate it”. Overall it is a profoundly positive work but, Zakaria does warn, especially in the relation to climate change, that “the next crisis could be the last”.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “Hillbilly Elegy”
November 30th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
‘Hillbilly’ is a term (often derogatory) for people who live in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks and this film is set in such a community in Kentucky.
It does not examine why such Americans are so poor and disadvantaged but tells the (true life) story of how one young man (J D Vance) managed to escape such contraints to get to an ivy league university and become a venture capitalist and the movie is based on his best-selling book of the same title.
J D survived and surmounted the tough love of his mother Bev (played by Amy Adams) and grandmother Mamaw (Glenn Close). It is a world of physical and substance abuse which, on occasions, makes for some uncomfortable viewing.
More than most, this film has divided opinion. Once one accepts that this is a personal story and not an insight into a whole community, the movie has a powerful and ultimately uplifting tale to tell. I thought the acting by Adams and Close – both of whom wear facial prosthetics and wigs – convincing and impressive.
For me, the problem is in the direction, although this is work of the acclaimed Ron Howard. There are simply too many flash-backs (or flash-forwards depending on your perspective) so that the narrative is excessively disjointed and at time unclear.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Word of the day: semiquincentennial
November 25th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Semiquincentennial (also called sestercentennial or quarter millennial) is the 250th anniversary of an event.
I find it really difficult these days to find semiquincentennial birthday cards.
On the other hand, I’m looking forward to the semiquincentennial or 250th anniversary of the 1776 establishment of the United States of America which will fall on 4 July 2026.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the novel “Winter In Madrid” by C J Sansom
November 21st, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Christopher John Sansom is a British writer of historical crime novels best-known for his Matthew Shardlake series set in Tudor England. He has written two standalone novels: “Dominion” (2012) which I read first and “Winter In Madrid” (2006) which I read rather later.
While “Dominion” is set in a fictional Britain of winter 1952 when Britain has made peace with Nazi Germany, “Winter In Madrid” is largely set in 1940 just after the conclusion of the Spanish Civil War when Britain was concerned that Franco might take take his country into the Second World War on the side of Hitler and Mussolini who had assisted him during the civil war.
There are a limited number of characters, primarily three former students of Rookwood boarding school: Harry Brett who is recruited by the British secret service to establish the details of a suspected source of gold in Franco’s Spain, Sandy Forsyth who is believed to be a key player in the development of a gold mine in the country, and Bernie Piper who was a member of the International Brigades in the civil war and long missing presumed dead.
The devastated city of Madrid, with its appalling poverty and blatant corruption, is almost a character in itself and there is much mention of cigarette smoking and coffee drinking. As with “Dominion”, Sansom does not hide his political stance which, in this case, is anti-fascist and pro-republican but critical of the revolutionary Left.
It has to be said that the historical portrayal of post-civil war Spain in this novel is more convincing than the plot which is very slow-burning with a rather downbeat ending. Sansom – who has both a BA and PhD in history – really does his research but his literary style is quite plain and his narrative is too thin. However, at over 500 pages, it was a satisfying enough read for the second lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the 2019 film “Dark Waters”
November 20th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
There is a sub-genre of drama movies that tell true-life stories of how powerful private corporations produced products that seriously harmed consumers and/or citizens, covering up the information and denying responsibility in the face of brave and tenacious individuals who sought to reveal the truth and hold them accountable. I think, for instance, of “Silkwood” (radiation in a plutonium processing plant), “Erin Brockovich” (chromium 6 in water) and “The Insider” (nicotine in cigarettes).
This film is an account of how a corporate defence laywer Robert Bilott used his legal skills to expose the mighty DuPont corporation for its use of a carcinogenic chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the manufacture of Teflon. After a twenty-year legal battle, Bilott won three multimillion-dollar settlements against DuPont, forcing the company to settle the remaining more than 3,500 disease cases for $671 million.
It is a wonderful cast headed by Mark Ruffalo as Bilott, a role a million miles away from his casting as the Incredible Hulk in the Avengers series, with supporting roles filled by Anne Hathaway as Bilott’s wife and Tim Robbins as his boss. Furthermore it tells an enormously important story because PFOA and similar compounds are forever chemicals (chemicals that do not leave the blood stream and slowly accumulate) and everyone on the planet has been exposed to them in some way.
The problem is that cases of this kind typically take many years to research and prosecute and the evidence is voluminous and complex. This means that it is hard to make the narrative exciting but not all movies can be action-packed blockbusters.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
A review of the new Italian film “The Life Ahead”
November 19th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
Like my mother, Sophia Loren is an Italian who grew up in Naples. However, Loren has lived longer (she is now 86), she has had a rather more illustrious career (she has won two Academy Awards), and her son Edoardo Ponti has been more successsful than me (he directed this Italian-language film).
Although based on a French-language novel which has previously been made into a French-language film, this particular adaptation is set in the seaside town of Bari at the foot of Italy. Loren plays Madame Rosa, a Holocaust survivor and former prostitute, who now looks after children of deceased sex workers. She is persuaded to take on responsibility for a 12 year old orphan boy from Senegal called Momo, wonderfully portrayed by Ibrahima Gueye.
The changing dynamics between these two characters – so different in so many ways but both needing something vital from the other – is the emotional heart of the narrative, but there are other delightful supporting roles in a genuinely moving story. This is Loren’s first cinematic role in 11 years and it is one of her best ever.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Why are coronavirus infection rates and deaths so much lower in Africa than in the rest of the world?
November 17th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
According to an article in the “Independent” newspaper, it was a year ago today that the first coronavirus case was recorded in China. Since then, the global pandemic has infected 55.1 million and killed 1.33 million.
Every nation on earth and every part of the globe has been impacted by the virus, but surprisingly the continent of Africa – in spite of its poverty and poor health systems – has suffered proportionately fewer infections and lower deaths than other parts of the world. Why? It is still too soon to be sure, but there are five possible factors.
- Most African governments took early action to combat the virus.
- Public support for safety measures has been high among Africans.
- The continent has a young population with few care homes for the aged.
- Higher temperatures in Africa have helped mitigate the spread of Covid.
- Many African states have developed good community health systems.
You can find a more detailed discussion of these five factors in this BBC article.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the 2017 film “Mother!”
November 13th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
I should have done my homework but, in the middle of the second lockdown of a global pandemic, I was struggling to find an interesting film that I hadn’t already seen. Then I found this movie with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead and I’ve been a huge fan of hers since “Winter’s Bone” a decade ago. Plus the support cast – Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kristen Wiig – was stellar.
Only at the end did I find that the work was both written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. Now I’ve seen six of his earlier films and so I know how strange some of his work can be. But it was too late. “Mother”” starts like a weird dream and slowly morphs into a fiendish nightmare with some truly disturbing scenes. And I have no idea what it all means. But Lawrence is excellent.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
When he becomes President, expect a flurry of Executive Orders from Joe Biden
November 12th, 2020 by Roger Darlington
This time of year four years ago, I was on a flight to Washington DC. The Americans had just had their four-yearly presidential election and, to the amazement of the world, Donald Trump had beaten Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College although not in the popular vote.
By chance, I was seated next to an American who had voted for Trump. He was young, educated and articulate, so I was surprised at his choice. In conversation, I learned that he had two particular gripes with the Democrats: first, he had a visceral hatred of Clinton (which I did not understand) and, second, he believed that as president Barack Obama had made hugely excessive use of Executive Orders (which I contested).
An executive order is a means of issuing federal directives and it is used by a US president to manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources, but they are sometimes criticised for being an abuse of power or simply as a show of activity without real change. Any executive order can be revoked by another president.
Executive orders were used very sparingly until Abraham Lincoln who issued 48. Theodore Roosevelt issued 1,081, while Calvin Coolidge issued 1,203. The record, though, is held by Franklin D Roosevelt with 3,522. He served four terms and it was the Great Depression which explains this number.
So, was my American fellow flyer right to be angry at Barack Obama’s use of executive orders? Obama issued 276 during his eight years in office. That was actually a bit less than his Republican predecessor George W Bush who issued 291 in his eight years in the White House. And what about Donald Trump? In his four years in office, he has used executive orders 193 times. Although Trump has made a big show of signing such orders, his use of them has not been much more frequent than other recent presidents.
Remember all this early next year when President Joe Biden issues a flurry of executive orders to reverse some of Trump’s terrible decisions and to start the process of making America sane again. The Republicans will accuse him of abusing his powers but he will be acting constitutionally and in accordance with precedent.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (1)