You hear that, Mr Andersen?

FF Day 12

Weird. I just logged into my MCS account, and there was no spam - not on my blog, not in my inbox. Am I dead?

***

One of the things I've noticed while going to the Festival is that there are some weird gaps in the sweet aisle. For example, I've yet to run across a supermarket that stocks Tangy Fruits. And boiled sweets are remarkably absent - there are a few sugar-free varieties, and Heards, and there might be the occasional hard outside/chewy center, but no pulled-sugar ones with the satin sheen or striped ones. And you don't seem to be able to get Clinkers (those chocolate-covered crunchy candies) except in the Guidedog Appeal snackbox.

I'm tempted to go into Moore Wilsons solely to find out if they have Tangy Fruits, but I suppose I don't really need more candy. :)

***

I nearly went into work today, but in the end flaked and stayed in bed reading for an hour or so, then rang Mum to see if she wanted to have lunch (she didn't), and meandered slowly into town in time for my first movie, Birth. This movie was about a ten year-old boy who tells a widow of ten years that he's her reincarnated husband, and that she shouldn't marry the new man in her life. This had a number of recognisable Hollywood faces, including Nicole Kidman, Anne Heche and Lauren Bacall; but it certainly wasn't a straightforward movie. For example, we only hear the husband in voiceover, and only see him from a distance, either from the back or in shadow. I liked it a lot, and think I could probably learn a lot from it, but I don't think I'll be buying it. One thing that I was thinking while watching it was that it would be a lot creepier and harder to empathise if the sexes were reversed.

Next up was a great big break, where I wandered around town and bought a bunch of stuff (like a few Kurosawa films, another old Latin textbook I used to have, and the fifth season of The West Wing). It's probably good that I don't normally have enough spare time between movies to go wandering into shops - well, good in a "shouldn't be spending money" way. ;)

Finally, I started my "Terrorist Tuesday" - Omagh, followed by Paradise Now. The first is a dramatisation of the 1998 "Real IRA" bombing a Northern Ireland border town (and the aftermath), while the second follows two Palestinians who've been chosen to be suicide bombers. These made an interesting pair, looking at terror bombings from the different sides in two quite different but well-established conflicts, one in the final throes of winding down (I sincerely pray), and one that's much less... mature?

Omagh is really all about the families of those who lost someone in the bomb blast, more than anything else - their quest to see those responsible bought to justice. It's said that there's strong evidence that the respective governments knew that a bombing was going to take place, and did nothing to stop it - it's even suggested (by a character, not the movie) that the government allowed the bombing to go ahead, in order to discredit the Real IRA and bring them to the negotiating table in a weaker position, and that the Real IRA's subsequent declaration of a ceasefire was bought with an agreement on the part of the governments not to pursue those responsible. While I'm hesitant to see conspiracy where incompetence would suffice, I'd be massively undersurprised to find the first part true; I suspect that the second part is more to do with the difficulty in finding hard evidence than anything else. But the piece of the movie where the ombudsman's report is read out is still quite true - the villains in the piece are those that phoned in warnings that herded shoppers into the blast zone, and then attempted to kill as many of them as possible. This was a good movie, and made me think a lot about at what stage people should go unpunished for their crimes in order to make it possible to find peace.

The second movie had, to me at least, a bit of a mixed message. It was certainly sympathetic to the Palestinians, and its portrayal of those who arm the "matyrs" and send them off was not flattering... but it shows the young men who are wired up as human bombs as being motivated by despair, and the belief that no other action will make a difference. I wonder how true that is? People have volunteered for wars without feeling that the situation at home is hopeless - witness the eagerness with which NZ sent its young men to fight in South Africa and the world wars - and I could easily believe that some of them go with a great hatred of Israel, but not because they're tired of and defeated by life. The situation in Israel/Palestine saddens me, and I don't think that the Israelis have handled things well; but killing civilians by either group just strengthens hardliners on both sides.

Oh yeah, the film - very well made, good film, even though I feel a little ambiguous about some parts of the message. There was no sound as the credits rolled - no-one talked, and very few people left immediately. It got applause, too, though even that was subdued.

***

Full plate tomorrow, but I've got a break from 7:40pm-9pm to have dinner, if anyone is in town at that time - I'll be leaving a movie from the Paramount. I merely mention it on the off-chance... :) I'll turn my phone on between movies, so text me if I should hang around.

It took me two hours to get through my work email. I think I need another end for this candle that I'm trying to burn. :) Goodnight, all!

Posted by svend at July 27, 2005 2:01 AM