An Attempt at Structure – Young Man Shouts at Cloud
ft. There Will Be Blood, Waltz With Bashir, The Lost Honour of Katharina Bloom, The Social Dilemma, Fahrenheit 11/9
Last week I wrote about how
quickly the days pass by in this bizarre state we live in and then I blinked,
and now I am sat in front of my laptop beginning to write another one of these
a week later. The days just seem to disappear and I’m sure a lot of people can
relate to this feeling that this year feels like a never-ending nightmare that
went by ridiculously quickly. I've been busy and nowadays that is more than a
luxury, the constant stream of work is healthy but as I have said before it doesn’t
at all feel like university life. I think it is a fair assumption to say the
mood across most students is one full of anger and frustration, we were
basically tricked into travelling across the country only to be locked in and
spending most of the time paying 9 grand for a series of zoom meetings. This
has been the year that universities have revealed whole heartedly that they are
a business first and an educational institute second, we were tricked into
coming here to make them more money. I always strive for independence and the
idea of coming to university was a welcome relief during a pandemic but paying
the ridiculous amount of money I'm paying to do something I could have easily
done at home is increasingly aggravating. We were told that there would be in
person teaching and an attempt at proper university life, but evidently, I am 5
minutes away from my campus and I have visited it twice. There has been
petitions, there has been protests and nothing has come from it, in the grand
scheme of atrocities it pales in comparison, but it looks like this will once
again be swept under the rug.
I probably sound like a broken
record as I consistently use this platform to complain about things beyond my
power but in all honesty, what else am I meant to do? I've been thinking a lot
about this rumbling generational change, the youths of this country are angry
and vocal, we've been gaslight by the older generations, and it brings me hope
to hear my generation loud and clear. Maybe it is just the circles I associate
with and a simple reflection on what I am seeing, but we are a loud and
passionate generation who are fed up with being undermined by those in power.
Perhaps I am being idealistic and the reality is not the same as what I see but
we have the capacity to orchestrate so much change, I'm aware of the irony of
calling for change from a blog don’t worry. Will the world look different when
I'm 40? Of course! Will it look better? I don't know. Will it be my
generation's doing? I can only hope.
There Will Be Blood
I have been meaning to watch
this film for far too long and after a bit of a dull day I finally decided to
sit down and enjoy it. Of course I absolutely adored 'There Will Be Blood' from
the opening second to that incredible final scene, It is just one of those
small miracles in filmmaking where everything comes together basically
perfectly, the two and a half hours pass but without notice and each second is
rewarding and captivating. The slow and subtle unravelling of the protagonist
is done in a way that isn’t pretentious or self-obsessed (*cough*) it is done with precision
and honesty, prioritising realism and dedication above plain and simple social
critique. Daniel Day-Lewis is just a powerhouse in this film, his attention to
detail in this performance is extraordinary and he never wastes a second, every
second can be an important second. But an overlooked performance is that off
Paul Dano, an actor I have always loved giving it his absolute all in this
captivating and outstanding role. Johnny Greenwood's score is perfect, PTA's
script is perfect, Robert Elswit's cinematography is perfect and I instantly
fell in love with this film.
Waltz with Bashir
Now this a film that requires a
bit of a disclaimer. This incredible animated documentary is a beloved work of
art that is politically.... complicated. Filmmaker Ari Folman retraces his lost
memory of the events in the Lebanese war, interviewing friends and following
leads to work out why he has supressed this memory. The main point of
contention is the fact Folman is an ex-IDF soldier and the film is essentially
an attempt at explaining and portraying these soldiers as sympathetic
individuals. I really enjoyed and appreciated the film; the animation is
beautiful and there are sequences that left me speechless throughout. But I am
nowhere near educated enough on the complicated and contentious politics of the
Lebanese War and Israeli/Palestine relations, so I honestly don't feel like it
is my place to chip in on the controversy behind the film. All I can say is
that is a really personal and emotional film, following Folman himself and
there is very little political bias throughout outside of the unavoidable. It
is worth a watch from a craft perspective for sure.
The Lost Honour of Katharina Bloom
Weirdly, this is the first film
I have watched that was openly criticised and not necessarily portrayed in an
objective light. Which I find fascinating because we have had to study some
dreadfully dull films. I didn’t the dislike the film as much as some people
did, but I didn’t love it either, it is a very fine and average 70s political
melodrama. This adaptation of the novel by the same name follows Katharina
Bloom, a young woman who has her life destroyed by the media and members of the
police and state, resulting in her slow unravelling. It serves its purpose,
makes its point and does it in a somewhat intriguing and inventive way, it can
be a bit silly and over the top, often politically simplistic and
stereotypical. I wouldn’t really recommend it because it isn’t that effective
outside of context, but it certainly didn’t deserve the constant criticism
levied at it.
The Social Dilemma
After watching Waltz with Bashir,
I had a real hankering for some documentaries, so I had a look at the one that
everyone was talking about. I hated this. I downright hated this. One of the
most ironic messes I have ever seen and for a film pretending to be a woke call
to arms, it is a bizarre manufactured and a transparent product. The film is an
exploration into how we are all addicted to our phones and that social media
companies are evil for designing products that thrive on our attention. I know.
We all know. 'Social Media Bad' isn’t a revolutionary statement and the most
frustrating thing is that the entire documentary is pointing out a problem with
very little ambition. It is so clearly an attempt at creating the 'next big
Netflix documentary' that everyone talks about for a while. The outlandishly
ridiculous fictional recreations are painful to sit through, over simplified
and yet so over the top. Pointing out this problem is nothing new and doing it
with absolutely no nuance is criminal.
Fahrenheit 11/9
In order to get the taste of
'The Social Dilemma' out of my mouth I decided to go back to the documentary
safety net of Michael Moore. A really renowned figure in American Politics and
documentaries, Moore has been pumping out social critique after social critique
with his unique wit and biting arguments. A reference to his iconic documentary
about Bush, this film goes in deep into the world of Trump's America, focusing
on case studies showing the deep corruption throughout American Politics. one
of my favourite things about the documentary is how it appears to be an obvious
criticism of Trump but goes on to draw attention to the crisis in Flint
Michigan and a call to arms against corruption. It is incredibly biased and
perhaps a little simplified, but Moore covers his ground and really makes some
fascinating points, on the surface it appears to lack focus but there is a
clear conclusion and thesis in the closing act. Well worth a watch.
And that about does it! Next
week we are out of our lockdown and I cannot wait. Thanks for reading!