Jerry-Kurjian

I don't really have anything to say about Hero of the Wild other than, about 46 minutes into it, we cut to a scene of someone dropping down into a cave to break free the hero and suddenly, like catching the glint of Sparticus' wrist-watch, we hear the distinctive metallic pulse of Pink Floyd's Echoes. The snippet last just long enough for Gilmour's undulating lead and Wright's patter of organ notes to become audible, and then it's gone. It's an oddity. One wonders if the band knew their music had been linked, however fleetingly, to the doomed rebel struggle to return the Ming to power. How the world would have been different had they succeeded.

Extremely good value for folks interested in the history of science, history of rationalism, or mid-renaissance thinkers and culture. Rossellini's very sober Cartesius is a chronicle of Descartes' life and times, following him through Europe as he develops his ideas about science and existence. Rossellini shows us the genius Descartes, but also shows us quietly that he could get things wrong and that he was a product of his times.

The production has some weaknesses as well as some strengths. The music, as another reviewer has mentioned, is odd and over-used. The acting is adequate but never more than that. There is a tableau quality to scenes throughout the film – the people are stiff and come across as conduits of the dialogue rather than actually speaking. There are some real pluses too. During the entirety of one scene in which Descartes is describing his philosophy to a printer, two men work a printing press – one placing the blank pages on the type set that he has daubed with ink, and the other turning the screw a half turn, then back. There are several other scenes that show craftspeople engaged in their work. Finally, I found it refreshing that everyone, French, Dutch, and English, spoke Italian - leaving me to figure out nationality by clothing styles and names.

If Cartesius turns out to be your cup of tea, you may like Potop (The Deluge), directed by Jerzy Hoffman, set in Poland around the time of Descartes (and Gustav Adolph). While a very different approach to filmed history, it is a colourful and interesting story.

A disappointing film – neither fish nor fowl. Although it's a Le Carre story with George Smiley in the leading role, it's not a spy story. Instead, it's a conventional detective story set in a stuffy English public school. The characters and their motivations are not complex or shadowy. Nor is there anything original about the plot. If you extracted Smiley and inserted Poirot you'd hardly notice the difference, except maybe for the vagueness of the period – is MoQ set in the 1940s, 50s, 60s? If you're expecting a film on par with Spy who Came in from the Cold or Looking Glass War, you'll likely be disappointed. I was.