Archive for March, 2022
A review of the Italian novel “The Lost Daughter” by Elena Ferrante
March 14th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Although I had previously read four novels by Ferrante (the Neapolitan Quartet), I did not read this earlier and shorter work until after I saw the film version. Told in the first person, this is the story of Leda, an Italian teacher of English literature who is a middle-aged divorcée and mother of two grown […]
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A review of the new blockbuster movie “The Batman”
March 12th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
This is the ninth Batman movie since 1989 and I’ve enjoyed them all, but such a regular rebooting needs something new each time and, in that respect, “The Batman” delivers with a very respectable addition to the canon, although the three Christopher Nolan films (2005, 2008, 2012) were the best in my book. The director […]
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As the Covid-19 pandemic runs on, how bad is it looking?
March 11th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
An article in today’s “Guardian” newspaper reports a new estimate of the Covid-19 global death toll: “The Covid-19 pandemic may have claimed 18.2 million lives around the world, more than three times the official death toll, a new study suggests. The higher figure is a better estimate of the true global casualty figure to the […]
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A review of the 2020 film “Quo Vadis, Aida?” about the massacre at Srebrenica
March 10th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
The break-up of the former Yugoslavia led to a number of brutal conflicts of which the worst was the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992-1996 – a country which I visited in 2007. Hollywood has shown no interest in this war but there was a British-made film in 1997 called “Welcome To Sarajevo” about the four-year […]
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A review of the history book “On The Cusp” by David Kynaston
March 9th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Distinguished British historian David Kynaston has embarked on a formidable project to produce a post-war history of the country under the banner “Tales Of A New Jerusalem” which will eventually cover the period 1945-1979. The distinctive style of this historical record is his use of contemporary records such as diaries, letters, and news reports. By […]
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A review of the 2010 film “East Pray Love”
March 5th, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Successful American writer Elizabeth Gilbert left an unhappy marriage and an unsatisfying relationship before deciding to spend a year finding herself through travel in Italy (eating), India (praying) and Indonesia (loving). In 2006, she published a chronicle of this year of “spiritual and personal exploration” which has gone on to sell over 12 million copies […]
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Have you heard of the “bald-hairy” joke in Russian political discourse?
March 3rd, 2022 by Roger Darlington
“Bald-hairy” is a common joke in Russian political discourse, referring to the empirical rule of the state leaders’ succession defined as a change of a bald or balding leader to a hairy one and vice versa. This consistent pattern can be traced back to as early as 1825, when Nicholas I succeeded his late brother Alexander as the […]
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A review of the new Danish film “Flee”
March 2nd, 2022 by Roger Darlington
Animated films for adults can deal with difficult issues in a powerful way. This was true of the French “Persepolis” (2007), which looked at life in Iran, and the Israeli “Waltz With Bashir” (2008), which depicted war in Lebanon. Now (2021) we have a Danish animated feature which, like the other films mentioned, tells a […]
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A review of the 1957 classic film “12 Angry Men”
March 2nd, 2022 by Roger Darlington
If this American film on the jury system were made today, all of the dozen jury members would not be male and white, but the work remains a classic because it is so well written and acted and because its messages remain so resonant: the majority is not always right, discussion can change minds, and […]
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