NANKING CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH

This film had been rejected for the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals , it suddenly burst into a deserved popularity when it won a top honour in the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The issue of the Nanking Massacres is hotly contested in Japan and academia there has sullied itself by coming up with denials which border on the desperation we see in Europe from some holocaust denying apologists and latterly champions of Israeli military actions in Lebanon and Gaza.It is a profoundly disconcerting phenomenon when Zionists are reduced to espousing re-hashed tired discredited excuses used by Nazis and the Japanese Imperial Army to justify their unspeakable actions against civilians as well as medical and food distribution infrastructures.

From a film-making point of view the subject has been hard to portray as it is still seen as a national humiliations within China , and a brutally painful reminder to how exposed was the fate of China to external machinations of foreign powers, at the turn of the 19th Century China was under the yoke of military occupations from over a dozen nations , as well as civil wars among the imploding old ruling dynastic groupings, not to mention an unhealed long-running festering wound because it has never been recognised by Japan or the International community at large in the same way that Germany have been made to atone for the actions of the Nazi rule.

You can see the trailer of the film below , it formally comes out in late March and April.




One of the main stumbling blocks which prevent Japan to even accept the massacres today , and the West to side with China in this issue stems from the fact that the Japanese Imperial Army at the time of the rape of Nanking was commanded overall by Price Asaka , not only the relative of Emperor Hirohito , but directly appointed by him to take command of the Army as it prepared to take Nanking in 1937.When the war was over and Japan signed the unconditional surrender to the US , Emperor Hirohito and his relatives , including Prince Asaka were give full immunity from prosecution as well as given the right to remain as Emperor for the sake of continued stability as post -war Japan was brought in the the US orbit.It stems from this that for Japan to admit , or recognise the crimes of Nanking will be tantamount to accusing the current Emperor through his ancestors of war crimes worthy of appearing in court , even though the Emperor in 1937 had signed a declaration stripping all Chinese from the protection of International treaties to which Japan may be liable.From the side of the West it would be seen as abandoning modern Japan and siding with Communist China if they openly recognise the Nanking massacres and put any undue pressure for Japan to accept and play its part in rectifying past wrongs.

The film can be viewed in its entirety on youtube , see this link.
If you look at the Nanking massacre information on the internet you will be taken aback by the many entries from the Japan media side which do not recognise any undue killings over and above military operational casualties , In fact the whole period in Japan is only referred as the Nanking INCIDENT.

It is in this background one must appreciate the unique achievement of making this film at all.It has drawn condemnation within China for giving a Human Face to some of the Japanese soldiers , the reaction from Japan has been a massive propaganda exercise to put doubt on and nullify any evidence China has garnered and put in the public domain.The best evidence from International investigations is that the Chinese total of 300,000 killed by the Japanese Imperial Army is not far of the mark , certainly nowhere near the numbers claimed by some Japanese commentators today of less than 40,000 which are disrespectful to the memory of those killed as well as being academically deeply insulting.

Here is a particularly moving scene , as well as extraordinarily brilliant cinematic direction.It begins with the Japanese hero shooting a woman in the form of a mercy killing at her own request , you have to recall this is as good a bout of heroism a member of the Japanese Imperial Army during the reducing of a enemy city can be likely to display.Then we have the triumphant Victory March of the victorious Imperial Army through the devastated streets of Nanking looked upon by the few living relatives of those killed by the thousands, todays equivalent would like the British Army doing a victory parade in the streets of Derry accompanied by the Orange order to celebrate the Derry massacre.

CAPITALISM A LOVE STORY at the GFT

From the very beginning Michael Moore asks the question - Is Capitalism evil , a host of life experiences after , general considerations of the administrators in the game and testimonies from Religious authorities later he comes up with the obvious answer that the original question is a rhetorical one.And whats more , there is not much counter-argument you can make to his premise.

This moving film is based mainly on the experience of capitalism as it affects People within in United States , it does not even begin to explore what keeping the only world superpower at the top of the tree means in terms of overseas interference and military actions , apart from a telling reminder that capitalism needs to completely obliterate other rivals industrial base once in a while to keep up differentials.

The Guardian Newspaper has an excellent and highly thoughtful review from the opening night at the Venice Film Festival.

Michael Moore also gave a deep and interesting interview on the film and its themes for the alternative internet news channel Democracy Now.It comes in five parts and is very worthwhile to watch and learn..In it he gives out harrowing figures such as a repossession notice goes out every 7 seconds in the US today , and the vast majority of repossessions are due to People being unable to make medical care payments.He also discusses his deeply held religious faith and principles.


And below is a trailer which only skims the very surface of a brilliantly crafted and deeply searching film.

JAMES EARL JONES in Conversation at the GFT

James Earl Jones was very kind to grace us on his day off from a London production in which he is starring in a version of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof.

James had the experience of playing the stage role , for which he won a grammy award , for the play The Great White Hope into a film version.He found the transition from the stage to celluloid strips the performance of the poetry you get in the theatre but does not translate to the screen.The stage is the place where the bond between performer is alive and all there.

He has been a powerful Shakespearean actor for many decades and would be one of the most qualified to judge the role of Othello.His take on it is the Woman who have directed the many productions he has acted in have come up with the best results in that they have a deeper understanding of the conflicts of Desdemona which most Men see as trifling superficial concerns.

He started life being a stammerer and a mute , an astonishing beginning for someone who has the most famous voice in film history.To him this is not unusual as strengthening the weakest muscle often results in the very weakpoint becoming the strongest dedicated worked on component.

The video below tells of the details of his upbringing:




The advice he had for People who suffer stagefright in that it is there to assist you and not trip you up.Over time such a naturally recurring condition will help to re-focus one into giving richly satisfying performances.

Below is a reading from his best role Othello:

AMERICAN THE BILL HICKS STORY at the GFT

Bill Hicks draw and appeal many years after he died can be can be summed up in the fact this screening of a British made documentary was completely sold out.Im glad i managed to get tickets quite a while beforehand.

Like many Jazz and Blues Singers of previous generations , Bills art was so far ahead of what the American mainstream could palate that is was more valued and understood in Britain than the States.The British quite simply got him, having seen the success and failings of Empire and knowing victory does not last forever and crippling defeat is sure to come.

A true comedian is really a philosopher as opposed to a gagteller , the role of a comedian in our society is to tell the truth politicians do not want the public to realise.

Bill , after many adventures , reached a special boundary a genuine true artist reaches when the inner self is at communion with the external expression.He was in , as they say , the zone at a time when the country to which he had the patriotic duty to tell the basic truths , which are always universal and last forever , was not prepared to countenance or even listen.

This documentary is , ironically , an attempt by devoted British filmmakers to make Bill Hicks as big and respected a figure in the US as he is here.

After the showing there was a Q&A session with the filmmakers who stated the film was eventually whittled down to a manageable length from over 325 hours of taped video interviews.

One final late tribute to Bill Hicks was when the one show that gave a mainstream platform but then unfairly cut his set because they felt is was too much for the audience to handle made a very belated amends by airing , 15 years too late , the very sketch that was cut.In a way it is an emotional reminder to how much Bills legacy has pierced the mainstream and also how much the demand for the alternative non-establishment narrative the American Public craves has changed what the Big channels are willing to broadcast.

It comes in 3 parts:

THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR by GOGOL

A quite brilliantly adapted and directed performance of a play that has been making audiences laugh , and directors getting shot , as happen to one by Stalin during 1940 , for over a 170 years.

The supreme quality of this play is that is captures universal Human traits.
The play has a unique place in the cannon of the dramatic arts as it was the first expression of a trend in which there is no specific central love interest and there are no heroic virtuous characters.

This is why the brilliant direction of Gerry Mulgrew can have individuals playing with familiar regional dialects , like the geordie one of the health commissioner , to give the audience more ownership of the sentiments of the play yet be still true to the ageless universality of the greedy power lust of the characters portrayed.

A PROPHET at the GFT

This superb piece of quality dramatic theatre put on celluloid will keep French filmmaking , if not the whole of Europe going for a couple of decades at least.Already it has heightened the reputation of the ability for non-US cinema to produce excellent quality scripts allied with faultless matching behind the camera production and all -round technical expertise.On the back of this one film many European based film makers should have the confidence to see projects they could only dream about come to a miraculous profound fruition.

The film has rightly garnered a host of top awards and the debut performance of lead actor Tahar Raham is , albeit ironic considering the title of the film, a revelation.

You can see a trailer of the film below:



Reviews have followed almost a political line with those finding the theme that Europes 2nd and 3rd generation Muslims can find salvation by going back to their Islamic roots finding much of the film to be unbelievable and unimpressive, and those who see a less dogmatic way of resolving social issues seeing much heartwarming redemption.

You can also see the website for the film , it true French style the headers appear at the bottom of the page.