Guest opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. Ed
Watched – Departures, DVD
Every now and then, I have the supreme pleasure of discovering something that’s completely and unexpectedly wonderful. This unflashy Japanese film is a gem.
I can’t disclose too much about it without revealing spoilers, but I’ll try. It’s about a young Japanese man who has fulfilled his dream – of working in an orchestra. The film starts with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and the concert hall is half-empty. When the orchestra is disbanded he is forced to go back to the small town he grew up in with his wife and try to find a job. He reads an advert in the local newspaper about a job in ‘Departures’, well-paid, no experience necessary. So he applies and is hired, but he thinks the job is something about holidays or travelling.
What the job is really about is an eye-opening and extraordinary thing, and involves him and everyone round him in a journey of self-discovery that is amazingly affecting. I laughed and cried all through it, and it instantly became one of my all-time favourites.
Masahiro Motoki plays Daigo, the main character, with great sympathy and timing, and makes his character unforgettable. If you get a chance to watch it, please do, it’ll amaze and delight you.
Watched – The Butler, Cinema
A lot has been said about this film, and it has a lot going for it. It tells the story of America’s journey from the Civil Rights Movement to the election of their first black President through the life of a black butler at the White House, and it’s a very interesting and worthy subject.
It covers many aspects of the struggle, from non-violence and Freedom Riders to Black Panthers and race riots, and juxtaposes Cecil Gaines’s life of service against the attitudes and actions of his sons. Forest Whitaker plays Gaines with great dignity, and Oprah Winfrey matches him as his wife.
It was horrifying and painful to watch the early scenes, witnessing the bravery of the (black and white) civil rights protesters, and there were notable cameos of various presidents, especially Alan Rickman playing Ronald Reagan. This film is well worth watching, and if I have a criticism it’s that I thought the director, Lee Daniels, was occasionally overawed by the earnestness of the subject.
Watched – Gravity, Cinema
Once again, I can’t say much for fear of spoilers. I remember 1968, when I queued up to watch 2001 – A Space Odyssey at my local cinema with the wide-screen.
I sat all the way through with my mouth wide open, completely gobsmacked by the sheer wonder of what I was watching up there. Never mind that the ending was weird, and that nobody understood what was supposed to have happened, in the words of the period, it blew my mind.
Just like 2001, Gravity has completely rewritten the book on how you can make films, especially films set in space. This is not a science fiction film. It’s a disaster movie and a thriller, setting a group of humans against a vast inhospitable background and then throwing all sorts of unimaginably dangerous perils at them.
The thrills come from the nature of the perils and wondering what’s going to happen to the protagonists, but the two triumphs of the film come from the special effects. First, everything you see looks amazingly real, as real as we imagine Space can look when we haven’t been up there ourselves.
Second, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock manage to make us care and fear for their characters even though all we ever see is their faces, often obscured by their spacesuit visors. It was only 90 minutes, but it felt like it was one minute and several days. Always a sign of a really exciting and absorbing movie.
Listened to – Daft Punk Random Access Memories, CD
I like going to libraries and borrowing CDs. Most of my music comes from recommendations or from liking the look of CDs and taking a punt. I’ve borrowed some terrible stuff over the years, and some rather wonderful music that I would never have encountered any other way.
I don’t listen to music radio, so that isn’t a source for me. But occasionally a CD insinuates itself into my consciousness and I feel myself desiring it even though I’ve never listened to it and know nothing about the band. This happened recently with Random Access Memories by Daft Punk.
I acquired a brand new copy in an entirely legal manner, and stuck it in the slot in my car. And it was bliss. Not because I’m a fan (per se) of electronic synth dance funk music generally, you understand, but because it’s a joyous lively lovable mix of tributes to all sorts of styles and types of music, and even features a monologue by the great Georgio Moroder.
It won’t change the world, but it’ll bring a smile to your face and make various bits of you jiggle whenever you play it. I haven’t had so much simple musical fun since I discovered Goldfrapp and Koop.
Image: James Whatley under CC BY 2.0
