Movie Review – Woman in the Dunes (1964) Dir. by Hiroshi Teshigahara, from the book by Kôbô Abe

Woman in the Dunes

Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Writers: Kôbô Abe (novel and screenplay)

Tonight our local Arts Centre The Cut had its weekly cinema night. The movie was the Oscar Best Picture 1966 nominated Woman in the Dunes directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara with screenplay written by the author of the novel of the same title,  Kôbô Abe. I read the book several years ago see my blog post. At the time the book had quite an impact on me I borrowed it from our local library  @HalesworthLib – I gave it 4* , so when I saw the movie was to be shown I had to go. I was not disappointed. A fantastic arts cinema movie full of exacting cinematography, stunning close ups of sand grains, dunes, skin, facial pores, bodies, hands. Filmed in black and white, the movie is full of light and shade, shifting landscapes, contours, curves both of the sand dunes and people. The score is trident, sharp and cutting, never letting you as the audience settle. Very apt.  For a great review of the movie you can't beat Roger Ebert’s which I think is spot on. Not a full house but well done for whoever choses the movie selection at The Cut for this brave and beautiful choice. A great cinematographic experience.

@newcut.halesworth @CutHalesworth

The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy

The Sunset Limited

by

Cormac McCarthy

Astounding. I listened to the excellent Audible version with Ezra Knight reading Black and Austin Pendleton reading White. It is like reading a stage play and made me go get the faithful to the book movie version which has Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones teaming up with Jones directing with which it compares very favourably. What struck me about the writing was the way McCarthy's dialog beautifully creates a realistic intimate atmosphere between the two men who discuss the meaning of life after Black has stopped White from suicide on the station platform that morning. Their two perspectives are the result of differences in their race, their class, their educational background, their belief and non belief, their life experience as ex-con v professor, their attitude of eternal hope v despair and cynicism. Can Black save White? Can Black understand White's view? Can Black convince White? They hear each other out, but Black cannot stop White heading out to his date with death leaving Black still believing, till intending to be there for White on the station platform again tomorrow but asking his God "why didn't you give me the words?"  It leaves the reader wondering if they are two sides of the one persona, perhaps even America itself.

Footnote: I researched the train name and found that The Sunset Limited was a transcontinental train that crossed the American south from Atlantic to Pacific.

ashramblings verdict 4* astounding dialog, powerful performances. Highly recommended reading

A weekend of Zhang Yimou

I’m a huge Zhang Yimou fan and especially his films with Li Gong from the very first one I saw which was Raise the Red Lantern, so this week has been a trip down memory lane.

 

Red Sorghum was his first film in 1987 and their first together. His shots of the wild sorghum fields are somewhat reminiscent of Tarkovsky. Li Gong plays the strong female lead who takes over control of the winery of the man she had been forced to marry when he dies. Narrated by her grandson, the story starts with her journey to marry the leper, her attempt to return to her family after having stopped the consummation of the marriage, and her return to the now dead leper’s winery, persuading the staff to stay on, their successful wine harvest and the arrival of the Japanese army to build a road and their destruction of the sorghum fields.  The films shows signs of what was to come from both director and leading lady.

 

Curse of the Golden Flower 2006 show just how far they had come together. Li Gong has mastered her craft. I am always particularly struck by her portrayal of strength and vulnerability, and this is brilliantly put to use in her role here as the Empress plotting overthrow of her husband and Emperor (played by China cinema’s legendary Chow Yun Fat) in attempt to put her eldest son and his second son on the throne. The Emperor however did not get to his position for no reason. He is trying to poison her at the same time. The intricate plot twists and the powerplays continue to the end. Yimou direction comes into its own with the battle scenes in the Imperial Palace grounds – huge numbers of warriors in scenes which according to imdb took 20 days to film  and which in my opinion rival Lord of the Rings in end effect – and in the marvellous introductory sequence as the thousands of Palace servants ready  themselves for the Emperor’s return from war. There are beautiful customs (it was nominated for a 2007 Costume Design Oscar but lost out to Marie Antoinette which I have not seen) and great choreography throughout – its just epic! If you missed it watch it now!

Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame, 2007 Dir. Hana Makhmalbaf

Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame 

(Buda as sharm foru rikht)

2007

Director: Hana Makhmalbaf

This is the first feature film from the then 19 year old daughter of the renowned Iranian film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and wow what an opener.

The story is set in the town of Bamian in Afghanistan where the Taliban demolished two 100 foot high, 2000 year old statues of Buddha carved into the cliff face in a wonton act of historical and cultural destruction.

It tells of the perils one little girl has to face in her attempt to get to school because she wants to “learn funny stories” and her letters like Abbas, the boy next door does. Her determination in the face of everything thrown at her see her overcome poverty, indifference and violence. It is particular galling to watch how the young boys bully her, making her take part in their war games, as they mimic first the Taliban and then the Americans, ripping out pages of her notebook to make paper planes, digging her grave, putting a paper bag on her head, and taking her hostage to lure Abbas into a muddy hole.

The dialog is simple and straightforward and the youngster who plays Baktay is very engaging. The viewer really empathises with her: first as she struggles to sell her eggs in order to buy the required notebook, as she ingeniously uses her mother’s lipstick when she cannot afford a pencil and how these two items get her into trouble. The perilous nature of the landscape of her walk to the market, the inherent difficulties of crossing the river to the girls’ school on the other bank are subtly handled by the young director.

Although I couldn’t help but smile as Baktay played hopscotch in the circles of gravel the boys drawn round her to imprison her in, the childhood terror of bullying and her tearful not wanting to play their war game brings home to the viewer just how cruel children can be and how much they mimic what they see in adult behaviour such as the restrictions on education for girls, the horror of stoning as punishment, the destruction and violence of war. This film is a moving, symbolic portrayal of the problems of poverty, illiteracy and social reconstruction faced by a post Taliban Afghanistan

ashramblings verdict 4* : Amazing debut, watch for this directors subsequent movies

Never Say Goodbye

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

(Never say goodbye)

Directed by

Karan Johar

 

The greats of Bollywood cinema Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee,come together again in this film. The plot is classic Bollywood boy (Shah Rukh Khan) meets girl (Rani Mukherjee), they fall in love, but obstacles abound. In this case the obstacles are their two marriages to other people. Have a large pack of Kleenex to hand as hearts are broken left right and centre as life’s twists take the pair apart, fling them together again, only to wrench them apart again. As normal the hero get his girl but just because we know that is going to happen does not distract from the enjoyment of what is after all a stylise art form. The best of the forms set dances pieces in my opinion are “Rock and Roll Soniye” with real life father and son Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan leading the routine, and “Where’s the party tonight”, a Bollywood take on the Disco dance scene . Coordinated colour abounds as you’d expect from Bollywood numbers which make you want to get up and dance, cuddle into your own love, and cry your eyes out. It’s long over 3 hours but plenty of eye candy for old and young, male and female and perhaps the nearest you’ll get to a sex scene in Bollywood cinema.

 ashramblings verdict 3* Typical Bollywood artform

Where did all the circuses go?

Water for Elephants

 

Directed by

 

Francis Lawrence

 

First of all a really good story line, with solid performances from the leads Reese Witherspoon as Marlena, Robert Pattinson as Jacob, and Christopher Waltz as August.

Its funny how sometimes you are drawn subconsciously to films with the same actor in them. I recently watch Twilight, just to see what the phenomenon was all about, and then I picked up this one not realising Robert Pattinson was in both. He has that certain something of a screen presence: be it as the Edward Cullen, the vampire at school or Jacob Jankowski, the young naive child of Polish immigrant parents and  would be vet. However the performance that drew me was  that of Christopher Waltz as the effervescent, somewhat demonic showman struggling to keep the show on the road or more accurately the rails, dishing out cruelty to animals and performers alike, whilst being besotted by his wife as she and the young Jacob fall in love, brought together by their mutually caring for the animals. The story of Jacob’s falling in love with the circus and with Marlena is told Titanic style as Jacob the old man (Hal Holbrook) recants the untold story behind a  circus disaster from 1931 to a young big topper.

I did not know the director at all and was surprised to find he  is a music video director and has made only a handful of feature films. Impressed by this rendering which brought back memories of circuses coming to town as a child I have made a mental note to check out his others

ashramblings verdict 4* A polished (no pun intended) rendition of a good story. Highly recommended

Be Kind Rewind

Be Kind Rewind

Directed by

Michel Gondry

Remember when you used to rent video tapes and how it was so infuriating when the previous user did not rewind the cassette even when the sticker said Be Kind Rewind?

Comic caper with a touch of redemption set around the inadvertent wiping of all the tapes on the video store when the owner is away. It tells how two bumbling attendants, played by Jack Black and Mos Def , set out to remake, without any money, every film their customers want. Their home made “sweded” versions of standard like Ghostbusters &  RoboCop push up rental sales for the store. How they do it provides the comedy. The impact of their actions provides the redemption part as their down at heel neighbourhood rallies round and community spirit shines through.

I struggled with the early part of this film (it is not my sort of comedy) but it slowly grew on me. There’s support from Mai Farrow as the somewhat eccentric neighbour, Danny Glover, as the store owner with a soft spot for the music of Fats Waller and some good small parts for some young actors and actresses. I was particularly taken with Mos Def as the less wacky one of the pair who is left in charge of the store.

ashramblings verdict: 3* In many ways it is a vehicle for Black, so if you like his style then have a look see, but if you don’t Be Kind to yourself bypass it.

A class act on the Home Intrusion theme

The Strangers

Written & Directed by

Bryan Bertrino

2008

I was impressed!  The writer/director looks very young in his imdb photo and I couldn’t find out very much about him but I think he did a stunningly good job on this film. Ok as readers of this blog will know Horror films are not normally my cup of tea, but every so often one just hits the spot. This one has shades of Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange and Michael Haneke’s Funny Games about it and Yes I think it holds it own amongst these class acts.

You know from the beginning what the end is, but I was on the edge of my seat waiting for how it was going to get there. The reasons for Doll Face and the other masked intruders is never explained, indeed the only hint of an explanation is the “It will be easier next time” line near the end. So yes there is gratuitous violence but it comes late. It is suspense that the movie is full of, not horror. It is atmospheric throughout as we watch the young couple(played beautifully by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) dealing with a pivotal point in their relationship, face the unknown terror of intruders. Its blend of suspense creating moves (like the looping record, the alternately friendly – menacing intrusions of the masked trio, the moving of the mobile phone etc) balance nicely with some intensely emotional scenes as they try to repair the relationship breach. For the most part, there is only these two actors on screen. Their performances are riveting. Many internet sites did not rate this movie highly but not me. I really liked it.

ashramblings verdict : a stunning debut. A young director to watch (4*)

Independence day without the humour

Battle Los Angeles

 

Directed by

 

Jonathan Liebesman

 

Fast action thriller following basically the same premise as other alien invasion movies, with gritty determined band of brothers taking down the alien’s command and control centre. The usual civilians are picked up along the way, but the love interest is played down, there are no happy reunions with loved ones at the end, only solidarity with the staff sergeant the group did not initially want but came to understand, respect and follow. The film is heavy on effects, but interestingly sparse on real close ups of the aliens, save the makeshift autopsy, or much sense of the wider battle ranging beyond. The viewer is totally with this one small group of marines, in their isolation from the rest of humanity, as they make critical decisions, with limited information and little time. I was surprised to find myself on the edge of my seat with this movie.

 

ashramblings verdict : a good enough rainy afternoon thriller (3*)

Sci-fi blast from the past!

Forbidden Planet

 

Directed by

 

Fred M Wilcox

 

One of my childhood dreams was to  travel, to travel to the stars. I was awestruck by the heavens, by the likes of Telstar, Sputnik. Then, I could name you all the Soviet and American astronauts, men, women and dogs! I even sat in a Gemini capsule! I have no idea really where this craze originated from but it found its way through DC Comics, to Thunderbirds, to Doctor Who, to Star Trek, to Babylon 5, and beyond and to every sci-fi movie I have ever seen. The first one I remember was “Forbidden Planet” and I still have a fondness for this movie even now 55 years after it was made. Robby the Robot was I suppose the 1950s equivalent of Honda’s Asimo, and defined the genre. His classic response to a request to synthesise whisky of “will 60 gallons be sufficient?” still gets  me . Whoever wrote Robby’s lines had a wicked sense of humour. The film has a Hollywood ending when the captain gets his girl, and good triumphs over evil, and yes the plot is flawed in that a man of Dr Morbius’ intelligence should have realised what was generating the monsters, but a fan forgives. It is after all inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest. Looking at it now I love the  artwork of the scene sets of the desert landscapes where the spaceship lands, the green sky with its two moons. I read that there is going to be a remake of the movie for release in 2013, and inevitably there is a lot of hype surrounding it. I wonder if it will be as ground breaking, genre setting and long lasting as the original ?

ashramblings verdict : a classic 4*

When Dreams Go Bad

Requiem for a Dream

 

Directed by

 

Darren Aronofsky

 

I felt I needed something more substantial movie wise this weekend. I have long been waiting to watch Requiem for a Dream, having first encountered its director from watching Black Swan which impressed me greatly. Investigating, I found he had directed Ellen Burstyn in two movies and this meant I just had to see more. Burstyn starred in one of my all time favourite movies, the very romantic, personally poignant, Same Time Next Year with Alan Alda. Now at an age when major good parts for mature women actresses are few and far between (the film was made in 2000, she was born in 1932, and is still going strong) , here she was centre stage.

The storyline is simple, drugs ruin lives. Four people spiral out of control as their addictions late hold: the youngsters on smack; the mother ( Burstyn) on quack prescription pharmaceuticals to aid weight loss in the vain hope of becoming a TV quiz show contestant. The opening scene with her son stealing and selling her television sets up the storyline, the culmination of which for all four people is disastrous ……SPOILER, death, incarceration and  prostitution.

The camera tempo for the good times is smooth and normal. For other times it is very jarring, fast and furiously shifting to and fro. There is a juxtaposition of graphical images of drugs flowing through veins, of hallucinations, of the high and the lows, of the energies and the depressions, of the paranoia, of the withdrawal. There is some humour - I’ll never look at a refrigerator in quick the same way again especially when it makes an unexpected noise  :) – but these only serve to show how bad it gets.

This may be a hard film for some people to watch, but this is quite possibly the best anti drugs movie I have ever seen. If I had kids I’d  watch it with them and then discuss. But it is adult in its content, so judge for yourselves first.

 ashramblings verdict: Simply exceptional! 5*

A weekend for silly love songs

 

 “You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs

but I look around me and I see it isn't so.

Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs

and what's wrong with that? I’d like to know”

 

Paul and Linda McCartney

 

 

 

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Borrowed from a friend, never heard of it, didn’t know what to expect. A teenage adventure into love: dumped boy, still besotted, meets new girl. Old girl has new boy, but gets jealous. Boy realises new girl is best but new girl has boyfriend. New girl also realises new boy is best and dumps old boyfriend. So goes the tracks on the playlist of moments  during one night in the city that never sleeps, New York, as we are taken on a journey through the ups and downs of love.

  ashramblings verdict:  (2*) a pleasant enough little jaunt through the ups and downs of young love

  Over her dead body

One of those films that tries to do a Ghost, but without the stars, and without the characters, and ends up reminding one of the click of the fingers comings and goings of Q in Star Trek. The premise here is woman gets killed in freak accident on wedding day before the ceremony. Man can’t get over it, so sister takes him to see a medium who she convinces to help con the guy out of his grief using his beloved diary entries. Problem is the psychic and the guy fall in love. Then the psychic actually start seeing the ghost of the dead fiancée who is bent on stopping her getting her man. Some good funny moments, others seemed too staged and forced. I liked the energy that Lake Bell brought to the part of Ashley the psychic, reminiscent of Julia Roberts. A small key character part for Stephen Root done with characteristic brilliance.

ashramblings verdict:  (2*) quirky tale with bright moments

Happiness is knowing who you really are, what you really want to do and being committed to doing it

A little late in posting about the weekend movie treats, so here’s the scoop – 3 stories of the rollercoaster of life, its ups and downs en route to finding your self , your place in the world and attempting to make it a better one.

 

Valkyerie
This was a wooden performance from Cruise – why doesn’t he take more risks and refine the talent shown in Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut? The supporting “best of British” actors are the better ones here  – look for  the always good Bill Nighy as the procrastinating General Olbricht and equally so Tom Wilkinson as General Fromm;  add to that Kevin McNally, Eddie Izzard, Tom Hollander, Terence Stamp, Kenneth Brannagh as the key players in the plot to assassinate Hitler and you have a movie worth a watch
  ashramblings verdict: run of the mill thriller (3*)
The House Bunny
Being dependent upon borrowing movies from other volunteers one ends up watching things one never would have otherwise watched . Sometimes these can be delightful new discoveries, but often they are not.  This was one of the nots! A silly romp around a US university sorority house – never did get this concept, and probably never will. A complete waste of space movie
  ashramblings verdict:  leave it in the wastebin (0*)
 The Pursuit of Happyness
The misspelling  of Happiness comes from the day care where Chris leaves son Christopher in the hands of a Chinese nanny as he rushes back and forth across SF struggling to make a living from selling portable bone density scanners to hospitals. A chance encounter leads him to the world of stock brokers and so down to his last few dollars he undertakes a competitive unpaid 6 months internship. As his luck drains anyway father and son, loose their car, home, bank account and finally end up in a church run overnight rest stop for the homeless. With humour deftly added via scenes where the final scanners are stolen by the cities hippies and down and outs and recovered, repaired and  resold by Chris as he struggles to keep body and soul, father and son together, and financially solvent. The film portrays a good role model for black american youth. I actually enjoyed Will Smith’s performance through which one truly feels the emotional rollercoaster of Chris’s life fuelled by a fierce determination to maintain his relationship with his son and to succeed in order to do that. Naturally the film has a Hollywood ending but then it is based on the true story of  Christopher Gardner who eventually set up Gardner Rich & Co
  ashramblings verdict: (3*) adequately told inspirational story

Saturday night at the movies

This week’s ramble through the old movie collection saw me revisit a favourite , follow the disintegration of a relationship, laugh at multiple murder and watch a great car chase whilst listening to one of the best “voice candy”!
   
The Break Up – mediocre film about the downhill spiralling of a relationship break up running out of control. The one positive thing about this film was that it caught how it is the little things (here 3 lemons) which blow up out of all proportion that kill a relationship. But otherwise it is a lightweight.
 ashramblings verdict: Lightweight watch if nothing better on  (1*)
Very Bad Things – ‘5 go killing’ – or some ‘bad things happen on the way to the altar’ – a comic turn on the murder cover up theme with Christian Slater and Cameron Diaz was strangely enjoyable
It wasn’t until I was part way through that I realised these two apparently unrelated films both had actor Jon Favreau in them – as the the husband to be in Very Bad Things, and as best buddy of the husband in The Breakup
 ashramblings verdict:  Likeable romp (2*)
Taken The Luc Besson and Robert Marc Kamal writing team with direction by Pierre Morel to deliver a satisfying thriller around the well told story of father (Liam Neeson) seeks abducted daughter (Maggie Grace)  . This got mix reviews but I liked it – Ok I’ll admit to loving Liam Neeson’s voice so I can forgive the convenient way the pipework works loose to facilitate his escape as he traces the Albanian traffickers through Paris. But that aside, the story line is credible enough to hold you through and there’s a great car chase, maybe even better than the set pieces done for Bond movies. Watch out for Famke Janssen (Jean from X Men) as the mother, and yes the actress playing the seventeen year old who one minute is an excitable spoilt child, ditzy naive teenager on the brink of womanhood is Shannon from LOST ( amazing what difference hair colouring can make for an actress!) One to put the feet up and just watch. 
 ashramblings verdict:  Good Thriller (3*)
Perfume A hypnotic movie based on Patrick Suskind’s fantastic best seller of the same name. John Hurt narrates the story of Jean Baptiste Grenouille and his search to capture the essence of being in perfume. Nice set piece character performance from Dustin Hoffman as the old dried up perfumiere Baldini and Alan Rickman as the loving vengeful father with that mixture of love and hate he portrays so well. I read the book years ago, and had forgotten how good the film is. Such a pity films cannot deliver odours as well as sounds to the viewer.
 ashramblings verdict:  Hypnotic classic (4*)

A weekend movie ramble – "Into the Wild", "District 9" and "2012"

A massive movie fan I have been borrowing from other volunteers movie collections when here aiming to catch up on films I always wanted to see missed in the cinema, ones I’d never heard of, and some,well best described as to be left on the shelf! I thought I’d start adding my own personal take on these into this blog
This weekend’s movies were
  
Into the Wild is directed by Sean Penn. Penn is, in my opinion, an extremely good, capable of being great, actor and director. I like that he does things he is passionate about. I’ve particularly enjoyed his performances in The Game, Hurly Burly, and more recently was enthralled by him in I am Sam.
I came to Into the Wild not knowing the background to this story and perhaps that is the best way, so I shall say very little about it here save that there is no Hollywood ending, that the ending is great if that is the right word to use given what it is. It has touches of Jim Jarmusch about it. Penn gets a riveting central performance out of actor Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless.
It is a road movie with Christopher heading off into the unknown, travelling through the USA, and ending up in Alaska. But it’s also a story about running away from a dysfunctional family, a place of lies and deceit to search for the truth and to try and refind happiness lost after childhood. It’s the story about giving everything up to find out what really is important.  He finds companionship along the way with folks of all ages, and learns a lot about himself. He goes through the “I want to be alone” stage to rediscover that happiness needs to be shared. It is a story about one young man’s search for identity – he discards his name and takes the alias “Alexander Supertramp” only to find that truth comes from calling and naming things by their real name. He goes through the “I hate you” stage to find eventually that he can forgive. The pivotal point comes quite ate in the movie and its second half is heart wrenching mix of success and failure , of happiness and sadness: the viewer does not know whether to cry or not.
 ashramblings verdict: One of those quiet films with lasting impact (4*)
District 9
I’d never heard of this movie before, but noting the Peter Jackson production tag I thought it would be worth a watch.
At first I was not at all sure whether I was watching a serious sci fi movie, a spoof or a comedy, whether it was akin to Doctor Who in its depictions of the alien “The Prawns”, or whether it was an Alan Partridge like comedy. I later read the trivia on the films page on www.imdb.com and found the following explanation of the central character’s last name

“In South Africa, the last name "van der Merwe" really is a fairly common surname … but it would also be recognizable to most South Africans as the common name in a whole genre of jokes about stupid, bumbling, oblivious, or incompetent Afrikaaners. The fact that the Wikus van der Merwe character is (at least at the beginning of the film) an ineffectual, catastrophically clueless bureaucrat is immediately communicated by the screenwriters' decision to give him that particular name.”

The first half shows the authorities trying to evict the alien population of District 9 or Jo’berg for resettlement far outside the city in District 10 – it cannot be amiss that this is set in South Africa, that it is an apartheid that is inflicted on the aliens.
 ashramblings verdict: A sci fi take on political satire comedy? Interesting! (3*)
2012
Joining the ranks of  humanity survival sci fi movies, this film tries to do a Deep Impact on a different sort of extinction level event with a take on the Noah’s Ark idea. If you like a film full of special effects but lacking much else beyond  the cliché this is the movie for you! 
BUT and here comes a huge BUT, if not, then this film is worth watching for the 10 minutes or so in total that Woody Harrleson appears on the screen as Charlie Frost, the doped out, ex hippy turned radio station operator who reports from a ringside seat as the world’s newest volcano erupts in Yosemite. His nicely judged over the top depiction of  a spaced out fanatic steals the show and is arguably the best performance he has ever given.
It left me wondering why he never got an award  or even nomination for this ? Is there some minimum length of time a character has to be on screen to qualify as a supporting role? I’m thinking here about show stealing performances like that of the magnificent Katherine Hepburn as Ginny in the otherwise mediocre Love Affair with Annette Benning and Warren Beatty which was nominated for a Razzie award as the worse remake.  Come on film buffs help out here – is there a minimum screen time? Are there other “missed” performances linger in the wings because they are such small parts?
 ashramblings verdict: fast and furious special effects (2*) overtake all but Woody Harrelson’s “best in show” small part (4*)

Kuch kuch hota hai

Kuch kuch hota hai is one of my favourite Bollywood movies, the storyline is a bit of a twist of the love triangle spun across the generations. Typical Bollywood slush but non the less brilliant.  The title song is well known all over India and here is my landlady Shushila singing it. You can find the lyrics here…….

Tum paas aaye yun muskuraaye
Tum paas aaye yun muskuraaye
Tumne na jaane kya sapne dikhaaye
Abto mera dil jaage na sota hai
Kya karoon haye kuch kuch hota hai
Kya karoon haye kuch kuch hota hai……

Kool Koraput & a Corny Oriyan Movie

This has been Dussera, a major puja holiday here in Orissa, and I took up an invite from fellow volunteers Corey and Gina to spend a few days of it with them in Koraput. Koraput is at an altitude of about 2000 feet so is always cooler than down here in Rayagada, usually about 8 degrees I reckon, so it is always a merciful respite from the heat. It is also only 4 hours away by train, making it the nearest place to get to.
The Thursday evening train however was running exceptionally late so I ended up sitting at Rayagada through the heat of the afternoon, through the peak mosquito time of dusk and into the dark. By the time the 4:25PM train actually arrived and left it had gone 7PM. Luckily it made up a little bit of time and got into Koraput just after 11PM instead of the usual 8:30Pm. By this time the number of auto at the station was much reduced and the first one I went to tried to overcharge me, so I walked off and found another shared auto. So after dropping everyone else off at the bus station in the town centre it took me to "backside hospital" where "mora sanga-ra ghara achi" It was a cold evening, everyone was wrapped up in scarves and jackets, it had started to rain, and the auto drivers clearly wanted home for the holiday. By my arrival time the promised aubergine lasagna was never going to be eaten that evening and so had to wait for lunch the following day. It was the case of a quick cup of tea , a short chat and then sleep.
I am always surprised by how quiet Koraput compared to Rayagada - no train noise. I slept like a log and didn't wake up till gone 9AM! The day was written off to rain, it rained ALL day "bursa haba, haba, haba" It rained, and rained and rained! But the windows were open it was cool, I wasn't sweating, I'd slept without a fan on, but did need a light blanket - what a great start to my weekend. Fellow volunteer Kevin came round in the evening, braving the downpour in complete head to toe wet weather gear, bringing bottle of beer - nice man! Corey prepared a mean cornflakes encrusted deep fried chicken with mash and steamed carrots - excellent The man is a good cook. Both food, beer and conversation went down well. Such a change for me.
Saturday saw Corey having to work and Gina and I went shopping. Gina had some errands to run in town and I wanted to visit Omar's (whose shop ex volunteer Hilary named The Best Shop in Koraput). He always has something I cannot get in Rayagada - all imported stuff so relatively expensive but I have to stock up at every opportunity. He came up trumps again this visit - not just the usual nuts and breakfast cereals but also pasta, coconut milk and dried apricots - oh my goodness, how one's mouth waters at the thought. I am now having visions of pasta with walnut sauce! Then Gina came  up with a present of a tin opener and a potato masher - two kitchen items I have been struggling to find and their lack recently saw me prising open a tin of coconut cream fellow volunteer Brooke brought me from Delhi with the saw attachment on my Swiss Army knife like tool kit set - don't try this at home!
Saturday evening dinner was with a staff member from the VSO India Programme Office who was in town for the meetings which Corey had been attending and was therefore my only Indian meal of the whole weekend end , but only after Corey, Gina and I had paid a visit to the recently refurbished and reopened Koraput Cinema. I was amazed how big it was - maybe 500 seats. It was not anywhere near full, but the seats were classic cinema seats with the base which springs up and padded! Comfort I had not expected. Although there was no AC or fans, it was OK, although I think I'd skip it if it was full.
The film was in Oriya, it was my first Oriya film - definitely the way to improve your language ABHIMANYU - THE LOVER WARRIOR. You don't need subtitles to understand the movie. Just like Bollywood movies they are classic tales of good v evil, love conquers all, complete with the obligatory song and dance scenes. In this one the hero ends up working for a local gangster in order to pay for his mother's medical operation, he meets a girl, she doesn't know what he does until etc etc I enjoyed it. I have been talking with my landlady about going in Rayagada and had been saying we should go to a Hindi movie, but now I am not so sure, I think Oriya ones maybe more corny but also more beneficial language wise.

Waste disposal - pictures

I ask about this to be met by blank looks and am always told just to put it out. I’m incredible self conscious just dumping my rubbish although as you see local garbage collectors of all shapes and sizes abound. Some how I can’t see that the taste of plastics and cardboard boxes as being appealing even to them! The food waste maybe, but the rest?

I am reminded about a movie  Divine Intervention by Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman which contains a scene about neighbour squabbling over one neighbour flinging his rubbish over his garden wall but into the garden of the other. At least my neighbours are garbage eaters and  so far they haven’t strayed into my house or flung the garbage back at me! I think this manner of waste disposal is one of the things I shall find hardest to come to terms with and in some ways I hope I don’t so that I do not become a “fly tipper” once I am back at home.