15.3.06

in the land of do as you please

VI haven't flipped through V for Vendetta for a few years, but I remember it as dark, lyrical and crammed with symbology; from Beethoven's Fifth, to Pynchon's V, to a series of book titles, movie posters, quotations, and of course, TV screens filling the panels. Evey seemed younger and the mood reminded me very much of 1984, and other books written decades ago that alarmingly foreshadowed exactly what is happening in the world today. Alan Moore may have had an idea of it back in the early 80s with V, and as he's become a god of graphic novels, I went into the film wondering if anything would be spoiled and expecting not the best of things as the last two Matrix movies had put me under a wonderful sleeping spell.

As to be expected, things have to be adjusted for film; things left out, things inserted where they weren't before, people seemingly older than they're supposed to be, and so on. With that said, I was satisfied with the film. Natalie Portman's English accent isn't as appalling as Drew Barrymore's, though far from perfect. Hugo Weaving's hidden face keeps us from saying "Mr. Anderson" to ourselves every time he comes up on screen. We know his voice, but it isn't the same one in The Matrix, thanks to his acting ability. John Hurt on the giant closed circuit TV made me think of him in his role in the film version of 1984, but mostly I kept thinking, are those his real teeth or were they meant to look like they're rotting at the gum line?

In all, I liked the dramatic flare (although slow in parts due to exposition); the beating music to signal the rise in tempo of the events to follow as thousands of masked citizens plough through riot police and convene at the House of Parliament (rather than 10 Downing Street) to watch the Fifth of November go down as it should have 400 years ago. The stuff of revolutions - when either lack of fear or stupidity cause you to face armed guards with nothing but your ideas and mask of anger and defiance to bring down the powers that be. It is by no means a revolutionary film, but it will help us remember that we are merely fed stories (and ideas) and it is up to us to decide whether there is truth in them or not. We'll see how Watchmen fares.

4:47 AM | |

9.3.06

here lies love

Here Lies LoveDavid Byrne gives his point of view on the cult of Imelda and the Marcos regime. It makes for a very interesting piece of entertainment/art presentation with music by Byrne and Fat Boy Slim, multimedia images and a performing cast. Always an interesting subject, Byrne traveled to the Philippines to do his Imelda research and reflects on the obvious -- public transportation, karaoke bars and whorehouses amid the apparently still strong influence of our Colonial past that we just can't seem to shake off. It's pop culture at its most interesting from a Talking Head perspective.

4:20 AM | |