insomnia

As an admirer of the Italian neo-realist film director Francesco Rosi, I was delighted when a friend mentioned that he'd obtained a copy of Rosi's long forgotten film, "More Than A Miracle." Released in 1967, it only lasted for a couple of weeks (which explains why I missed seeing it back then), before quickly disappearing from sight. Now, forty-five years later, I finally sat down to watch it. I knew that "More Than A Miracle" was a fairy tale set in 17th. Century Spain. And that it starred Omar Sharif as Prince Ramon and Sophia Loren as the peasant girl, Isabella who the Prince falls in love with. I'm not a huge fan of fairy tales. However, as this was a Francesco Rosi film, I figured it would be a cut above films tackling similar subject matter. Prince Ramon has refused to choose a bride from the seven marriageable princesses whom his mother has selected as most deserving of becoming his wife. Out on his horse he comes across a monastery, and meets friar Brother Joseph who amuses the local children by leaping into the air and flying about the countryside. The friar presents the Prince with a donkey and a bag of flour and instructs him to search for a woman who will make him seven dumplings. Despite trying to remain 'engaged' with the film, I soon found myself checking how long still had to run. Seeing a peasant girl picking vegetables, he orders her to make seven dumplings from the bag of flour he gives her. Which she dutifully does, but overcome by hunger, she eats the seventh dumpling. To punish her for her disobedience, the Prince feigns death and then disappears. While I understood that it was after all just a fairy tale, my attention was beginning to wander. I must have dozed off, as I was woken up by a sharp poke in the ribs from my wife. On the TV, Isabella was being rescued from a wooden barrel by a group of street urchins. By then, Francesco Rosi or no Francesco Rosi, I'd had enough and went to bed. Next morning, my wife insisted on telling me how it all ended. Apparently, Isabella ended up marrying the Prince and they both lived happily ever after. Born in 1922, Francesco Rosi directed some of the finest neo-realist films to come out of Italy. Such classics as "Hands Over The City", Salvatore Guiliano", "Moment of Truth" and "The Mattei Affair" Those alone elevate him to the Pantheon of Italian film directors. To me, "More Than A Miracle" was just a "glitch" and in no way detracts from his reputation as a great film director.

Anyone, even those with only passing interest in American politics, should see the HBO film "Game/Change" It's 2008. The polls show that Republican presidential hopeful, John McCain, is being outspent, and out manoeuvred by the Democrats nominee, Barack Obama. Worse, McCain has yet to decide on a running mate. Nobody is happy with the names being put forward for the Vice Presidency. McCain's strategist, Steve Schmidt, tells McCain that he needs a 'game changer' Despite his being the choice of the Republican Party to beat the Democrats, his stand on the issue of abortion, is anathema to the religious right – whose votes he desperately needs if he wants to become President. Somehow, the name Sarah Palin comes up as a distinct possibility. Nobody in the McCain retinue have heard of her. Sarah Palin is Governor of Alaska. She is deeply religious, very conservative, anti abortion, and believes it's every American's right to use guns to defend one's life and property. Oh, she also likes to kill Moose. At first, it seems the McCain Camp has made the right choice. The religious right love her. It seems she can do no wrong. Sarah Palin however, is used to getting her own way. As Governor, she demands unflinching loyalty. Anyone who disagrees with her soon find themselves out of a job, ostracized, or both. Like the proverbial elephant, Sarah Palin never forgets. Every perceived slight, real or not, that's made against her: this includes the people who work for her, the reporters who write about her, in fact anybody - even those people most close to her, the day will come when Sarah gets her revenge. It isn't long before the McCain people begin to wonder whether selecting Sarah Palin was the right choice. Differences about how she sees her role as Vice Presidential and how the McCain people see her role begin to emerge, and soon, it's Sarah Palin who appears to be calling the shots. Still, it's too late now for McCain to even think about anything, except hoping it will turn out all right in the end. What makes "Game Change" really 'work', is the inspired piece of casting by having Julianne Moore in the role of Sarah Palin. Not only does she look uncannily like Sarah Palin (at times, I honestly couldn't tell the difference), but she seems to have Sarah Palin's mannerisms down to a't' - a remarkable piece of acting. Julianne Moore is ably supported by Woody Harrelson as strategist Steve Schmidt, and Ed Harris as John McCain. This is a terrific film. To my mind, the scariest about this film is that John McCain was seventy-two at the time he made his run for the Presidency. During the Vietnam War he was captured and severely tortured by the Viet Cong. He had had cancer, so his health wasn't the best – not the ideal circumstances for taking the role of President of America. If he suddenly died while in office, Sarah Palin would have instantly become President. That's what's really scary. Thankfully John McCain lost. For that I am eternally thankful.

One of the best films about America's involvement in Vietnam is undoubtedly Emile De Antonio's "In The Year of The Pig." Similarly, "Millhouse: A White Comedy", is, I believe, the best film about the life of disgraced former U.S. President, Richard Nixon In 1974, Emile De Antonio turned his attention to the work of the "abstract expressionist" painters, who blossomed and flourished in New York, primarily between the years 1940 and 1970. The resulting film, "Painters Painting" has finally turned up on DVD. The film consists of interviews conducted by the filmmaker with such famous artists like William de Kooning, Barnett Newman, Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Rauschenberg, as well as famous gallery owner Leo Castelli, art critics Clement Greenberg and Thomas Hess, plus John Hightower, of the Museum of Modern Art, Henry Geldzahler of The Met, and collectors, Robert and Ethel Scull. Unfortunately, the film is let down by some very sloppy camera-work and the conversations, especially the ones recorded in the studios of the artists themselves, is very poorly recorded – this may be due in part to the acoustics of the studios, with their high ceilings and cavernous floor space. The film jumps from colour to black and white for no discernible reason. Many of the shots appear to be repeated. The names of some of the artists have been omitted entirely. In short, what could have been a dynamite film about some of the giants of 20th. Century modern art is, overall, a travesty, which is a crying shame when one realises that the majority of them have long since died.