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“Mental illness leaves a huge legacy, not just for the person suffering it but for those around them.” - Lysette Anthony
Today, at 4.42 pm, a 4-wheel drive vehicle attack on a busy pedestrian crossing in Melbourne’s Flinders Street (at the T-intersection with Elizabeth St) left 19 people in hospital, six of them critically injured. A pre-school-aged child who was injured with severe head trauma is now stable.
Police have announced that they believe this attack was the work of a mentally ill drug addict and it is not being treated as terrorism. The driver is thought to be a mentally ill man with a history of addiction to the drug ice. It is understood he has no known links to extremism and is not known to counter-terrorism authorities.
A second man pictured arrested at the scene was unconnected to the attack. He was video-taping the incident and was arrested because police found three knives in a bag in his possession. No other weapons were found in the offender’s car, the vehicle itself of course being weapon enough in the driver’s control.
In these days right before Christmas there will be many households in our city that will be affected by this horrible act of violence. The families and friends of the victims first and foremost of course, but also the family of the offender who must grieving not only for their child but for all those he injured. Add to them every other rational human being who observes this and similar senseless acts of violence and cannot help but feel revulsion, abhorrence and outrage.
All we Melburnians feel rather numb seeing this is the second incident of this type that has occurred in our city this year. On January 20 earlier this year, a car running wild in the Bourke Street Mall caused the death of six people and injured 28 others. The driver, Jim Gargasoulas 27 years old was charged but has pleaded “not guilty”, his defence being “mental illness”.
Our city is changing, our world is changing, people are changing and I’m afraid that things are not changing for the better. Melbourne was a beautiful city, its people mostly friendly, courteous and law-abiding. In the last 30 years we have seen Melbourne, The Large Modern City – the Most Livable City in the World slowly becoming Melbourne the Post-Modern Megalopolis: Overcrowded, noisy, congested, riddled with crime, corruption, and home of violence related to drugs, mental illness, homelessness, racial tensions, and the ever-present threat of terrorism hanging above our heads.
We have created a monster by allowing our city to become this. Corporate and individual greed, political expediency, public insouciance and a misguided desire to be a “World City” has brought us here. Now we pay the price. Melbourne you have come of age, now you belong there with all the other megalopoleis of the world. Megalomania deserves its own special reward - the loss of soul. I hope against hope that this incident is the last that we shall see, but logic says otherwise - more such incidents are to follow, I think...
“Social justice
cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.” -
Pope John Paul II
Snowtown (2011) Docudrama
- Directed by Justin Kurzel; starring Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise
Harris. – 7/10
This is a movie
based on the infamous Snowtown Murders (also known as the “bodies-in-barrels
murders”), which were a series of murders committed by John Bunting, Robert Wagner,
and James Vlassakis between August 1992 and May 1999, in South Australia. A
fourth person, Mark Haydon, was convicted for helping to dispose of the bodies.
The trial was one of the longest and most publicised in Australian legal
history.
Only one of the
victims was killed in Snowtown itself, which is approximately 140 kilometres
north of Adelaide, and none of the eleven victims, nor the perpetrators were
from the town. Although motivation for the murders is unclear, the killers were
led by Bunting to believe that the victims were paedophiles, homosexuals or
“weak”. In at least some instances, the murders were preceded by torture, and
efforts were made to appropriate victims’ Centrelink social security payments
and bank funds.
Although
initially the notoriety of the murders led to a short-term economic boost from
tourists visiting Snowtown (, it created a lasting stigma, with authorities
considering a change of the town’s name and identity.
The film centres
on sixteen-year-old Jamie, who lives with his mother, Elizabeth, and his two
younger brothers, Alex and Nicholas, in a housing trust home in Adelaide’s
northern suburbs. Their home is but one of many cramped, dirty, badly
maintained houses crammed together in clusters where the disenfranchised people
are placed by a society that needs to have them out of sight and out of mind.
Elizabeth’s current boyfriend abuses her three sons and she lashes out, and
finds support in a group of people that have been affected by similar
experiences.
Jamie longs for
an escape from the violence and hopelessness that surrounds him and his
salvation arrives in the form of John, a pleasant and approachable man who
unexpectedly comes to his aid. As John spends more and more time with Jamie’s
family, Elizabeth and her boys begin to experience a stability and sense of
family that they have never known.
John moves from the role of Jamie’s
protector to that of a mentor and father figure, indoctrinating Jamie into his
world, a world brimming with bigotry, righteousness and malice. Like a son
mimicking his father, Jamie soon begins to take on some of John’s traits and
beliefs as he spends more and more time with him and his select group of like-minded
friends. Disaster and tragedy then follows…
This is a bleak
and horrifying film, containing shocking some scenes of violence and torture,
but not as much as in the standard “gore and guts” horror flicks. It is a raw,
confronting, and chilling movie, which relies on the psychological suspense and
emotional journey of the characters for its shock effect. It is not a film for
the faint-hearted, but unfortunately we live in dire times and crimes such as
the ones depicted in the film (or worse!) are all too common nowadays. Watch it
with trepidation, but preferably cuddling someone who loves you and you love
very much.
“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.” - Bruce Feirstein
Sebastian Bodinus (ca. 1700 – 19 March 1759) was a German composer about whom very little is known. Bodinus was born in the village of Bittstädt in Saxe-Gotha and trained as a violinist. It is known that in 1718 he entered the service of the Margrave Karl III of Baden-Durlach at the court in Karlsruhe. Bodinus worked elsewhere but always returned to Karlsruhe and was concertmaster there for two periods.
He left Karlsruhe in 1752, returned in a disoriented state in 1758 and was committed to an insane asylum in Pforzheim where he died. His compositions include concertos and symphonies but there are predominantly chamber works in the late Baroque style, including not only solo and trio sonatas but also quartets, a considerable rarity at the time he composed them in the 1720s and 1730s. Of his quartets it has been said that this “minor master appears to have written first-rate music.”
Here are his “Divertissements” played by Camerata Köln:
1. Siciliana En Pastoral
2. Adagio
3. Giga, Allegro
4. Allegro Assai
5. Adagio Ma Un Poco
6. Giga, Presto/Allegromente
7. Allegromente
8. Adagio
9. Presto
10. Allegro
11. Adagio
12. Allegro
13. Presto
14. Adagio Un Poco
15. Allegro
16. Adagio Ma Un Poco, Allegro
17. Andante E Non Adagio
18. Allegro
“A writer is
someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” ―
Thomas Mann
We watched an
old movie the other day and enjoyed it quite a lot as it was a tense
psychological thriller with two sterling performances. It was the 1990 Rob
Reiner movie “Misery” starring James Caan, Kathy Bates and Richard Farnsworth. William Goldman wrote
the screenplay, based on a Stephen King novel. Although Stephen King often
writes novels on supernatural themes, this one is a believable, “real-life”
scenario, which is quite entertaining and keeping the reader/viewer guessing as
to what is going to happen next.
The plot
revolves around author Paul Sheldon (Caan), who has made his fame by writing best
sellers, especially his series of novels called “Misery”. The books are about a
woman in the old days who goes through difficult times and shares her pain and
strength with the readers. When Sheldon finishes his last “Misery” book, he
decides to celebrate and heads back home for his daughter’s birthday. On the
way there a terrible blizzard cause him to have a nasty car accident, from
which he is saved by Annie (Bates). He wakes up in a bedroom with his legs
badly broken, but hears a soft, charming voice reassuring him: “You're going to
be just fine. I’m your number one fan!”.
Annie tells
Sheldon she is a nurse and she will look after him until the storm abates and
an ambulance can come for him. Annie is the perfect nurse until she reads
Sheldon’s last “Misery” book, which infuriates her as she finds out that he’s
killing off Misery and continuing onto new, more dramatic stories. She forces
the author to write a new “Misery” book where the heroine is resurrected. Sheldon
finds he now has to satisfy every whim of his captor if he is to stay alive. It
becomes apparent that Annie is quite paranoid and he tries to escape. However,
Annie seems to be a step ahead of him every time…
Rob Reiner
directs this film at a brisk and taut pace, with tension and jim-jams kept at a
high level throughout, making it an excellent thriller. Reiner also directed
another Stephen King novel made into an excellent movie, “Stand by Me” (1986)
so this was a good follow-up.
What makes the
movie are the stellar performances, especially the one by Kathy Bates as the
paranoid Annie. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in “Misery”
at the 63rd Academy Awards in 1991. And a very well-deserved win it was too! This
must really be one of her finest performances, displaying her acting talents to
perfection and giving a performance with the nuances of a very complex
character. James Caan work well with Bates and manages to be convincing as the
powerless injured author at the mercy of his captor.
The film
contains some really nightmarish scenes and can shock some sensitive viewers
because of the violence it depicts, but even in the most horrible such scene,
we found ourselves chuckling as there is humour there as well. Nevertheless, be
warned if your liver is tinged lily-white. Great film to watch with a big tub
of popcorn!
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” - Albert Einstein
September 21st is the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the Vernal Equinox for us in the Southern Hemisphere. It heralds the official arrival of Autumn and Spring respectively. Equinox implies equal periods of light and darkness on this day, with (at the appropriate latitude, 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night from sunrise to sunset).
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world also on 21st September. The United Nations General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Partnerships for Peace – Dignity for All” which aims to highlight the importance of all segments of society to work together to strive for peace.
The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by resolution 36/67PDF document of the United Nations General Assembly to coincide with its opening session, which was held annually on the third Tuesday of September. The first Peace Day was observed in September 1982.
As it is Movie Monday today, I’d like to review a classic film that has its theme war, and delivers a strong anti-war, pro-peace message. It is Mike Nichols’ 1970 film “Catch-22” starring Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jon Voigt, Orson Welles, and Bob Newhart. Everyone conversant with English knows and probably often uses the phrase “catch-22” to describe a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions. Many people who use this phrase may not know its origin. It is the title of a brilliant satirical novel, “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller that mocks war, the military, and politics. The movie is based on this novel and it is an excellent book-to-film adaptation.
The plot concerns Yossarian (Alan Arkin), a bombardier who realises the impossibility of ever completing the required number of bombing missions to be rotated out of harm’s way. This is because his commanding officers (Balsam and Henry) are constantly upping the number of missions required once anyone gets close to that number. Yossarian decides his best bet is to try for a medical disqualification for flight under the grounds that it’s insane to fly these missions, and since he’s flying them, he must be insane. But the flight surgeon (Jack Gilford) declares anyone who realises the insanity of the situation must, by definition, be sane, and therefore must continue to fly – Catch-22!
I read the novel in the second form of High School and then watched the movie a couple of years after it was made. I enjoyed both immensely then, and since then have re-read the novel and watched the film recently, as an adult. The enjoyment has increased, as (obviously) has my understanding of both.
The movie shines in terms of film-making: The wonderful cinematography (shot in widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1), the sharp editing, the crisp sound, the great pacing, the excellent casting, the flawless acting, the incredibly complex staging of many scenes: all done to perfection. Mike Nichols has directed relatively few movies, but his list of titles is impressive: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, “The Graduate”, “Carnal Knowledge”, “The Day of the Dolphin”, “Biloxi Blues”, etc.
"Catch-22" is very funny and tragic at the same time. The script and dialogue are witty and intelligent, and the theme is clear without needing to be shoved into the viewers’ face. Comparing this anti-war film with some recent similar films can only make one wax even more lyrical about “Catch-22”. Anyone who has had anything to do with the military, I think, can appreciate the insanity depicted and the futility and terrible waste that war is. You must watch this film and read the book if you have not done so!
