rafasalin

A child is born and that small one to be called Benjamin Button, is already with an aspect of an old-baby. A premature aging, Progenies, could happen but that would have occurred in the uterus, if we want to make that in the rational way. But this is cinema, and one can or not accept others fantasies. One can be riding on several illusions and delusions and select what ever premises are offer to us, the ones that explained to us the meaning of that particular movie. A short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was used as a guideline for the screenplay freely adopted by David Fincher ("Zodiac," "Fight Club").

I think that the perspective that best describes the attitude of Bajamin Button as a human being with such peculiar vital cycle(Interpreted by Brad Pitt, excellence elevated to the seventh power), is like a child attitude about everything. That is without prejudice, accepting, full of tolerance and at the same time enjoying more everything about him. Specially some human functions that he did not have before and then just happened, almost out of the blue, like his sexual initiation. He himself is not surprised of how he looks outside. He also could have a vision of life as an anthropologist, or even an alien, that explorer our human nature from the perspective of what I don't have, until I know that exist and then gained, that is why he accepted things like they are. The story itself is painful because it accentuates the ephemeral of romantic relationships, in this case between Daisy (Cate Blanchett. Even when that is lasted almost a lifetime, it is precisely because they are running in the opposite direction in its trajectory, and to avoid colliding with each other, then they allow to many things and persons before loose each other, because the ultimately goal is to remain like two lovers beside time. There are some events of a century, people crossed as shooting fireworks, and a daughter. For her there are letters ad postcards from abroad in which her mysterious Dad is full of love, and advices for her.

It is a film that requires us to accept the premise of the absurdity of life traveling in opposite direction. The same could be said of "Orlando" novel and film of Virginia Woolf and Sally Potters respectively. The premise is a human being who lived four centuries and alternating gender continues being herself or himself along the centuries, in Benjamin Button, the essence is the total lack of sense of ownership of the other, the love that seeks the happiness of being loved and not the cage, because although that could be made of gold after all it is a prison. The film is about how much we love the others, our friend relatives, lovers, that after all they continue living somewhere on the hard disk of our brains.

Looked through the paper. Makes you want to cry. Nobody cares if the people Live or die. And the dealer wants you thinking That it's either black or white. Thank G-d it's not that simple In My Secret Life.

I bite my lip. I buy what I'm told: From the latest hit, To the wisdom of old. But I'm always alone. And my heart is like ice. And it's crowded and cold In My Secret Life.

In my Secret Life, Leonard Cohen

"Gran Torino" film main them are like part f Leonard Cohen's song "In my Secret Life". That secret is what hooks you up since the beginning and that is what you want to discover along the film. Why that Walt Kowalsky (Clint Eastwood) is is sitting with his dog, drinking beer and preventing that people enter into his lawn?

Like a lonely ranger surrounded by Asian families, what he called "gooks" and "chinks", that bitter and almost permanently angry men is in sorrow because his beloved wife just passed away. But according how his sons behave toward him, the behavior of this retired car assembled line men was like that long before his mother's dead. In fact the name of the movie is because he possesses a Gran Torino Ford, an American product that is in the core of that home standing as the Flag, and Wally.

So Wally is also a Korea's war veteran and in a lot of ways a self made man. So what this man in doing in that area full of non-WASP people? Well , that is the central metaphor of this elegant, well directed and superb acted film of Clint Eastwood. Who for me has become and equivalent of and Akira Kurosawa of Unites States of America. Telling us the American history from the western, hard core detectives, astronauts, boxing girls, and this lonely old ranger.

What is to be an American today? Are they became self contained all the time in order not to kill the Afro-Americans, Koreans, Mexicans or even Arabs which all of them have lived in this country probably along several generations or is to accept that there are other alternatives to the WASP definition?

The other issue showed in the film is related to father and son relationship and role models. Kowalsky own sons are completely into a different frame of values. They are in business, and of course having a Dad like Walt is not easy, especially because he doesn't want to move out of his house, that in that way could be sold by their sons. The "adoption" of Thao and his family is a kind of re-vindication and also a test of his parenthood abilities.

Finally there is the moral issue. Wally is not too much a believer although his wife was and she asked to her priest before passed away, to convince Wally to have a confession with him. Wally didn't confess right away because the Padre is too young to know about issues of life and dead. Because her last will's wife was to get his confession and absolution by that young priest, he became an obsession to the widow. But when confession is made, in Wally's eyes the real sins were more related to everyday life stuff and killing people in Korean war, for instances was completely out of his vision of transgression of "The Ten Commandments." But instead he did a lot of thing for to protect the "gook" family next door. So he doesn't believe that too much in to be good or bad as part of a God regulatory function but himself and in my opinion he did that extraordinarily well. A film that must be seen from a Director and Actor that would be named in other Countries: A Living Treasure.

"BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ" (Fassbinder, Germany,1980).

"We are too miserable for be unhappy".

Charles Bukowsky

The first thing is that person, that comes out from about four years prison: He is Franz Biberkopf (A Superb!!! Günter Lamprecht). He has now to continue in the outside word jail, but now alone. He holds in the chest a guilty wound which seeks to cover with alcohol, prostitutes and disposable women from another main character Reinhold Hoffman (Gottfried John) a psychopath guy with a tin layer of lamb. Fassbinder was fascinated with this two characters, Franz and Reinhold, form Alfred Döbling's novel about the same name, manly because by their latent homosexuality, which was clearly the only explanation of a friendship highly unlikely in other circumstances. Franz Biberkopf murdered his woman, almost without notice, at least the first blow. She cried; face him, hoping that he could do something, in the positive side of a couple mood. But Franz is far away of the emotional side of the brain, and cannot continue shaving himself, with one of those blades that seemed swords of cavalry, and as in a reflex movement, he cut a pit what it cannot handle, like a dermal bump. That act of despicable impulsively, transforms him into a paralyzed being by the possibility of the evil within. Germany is just through an economical crisis after of the First World War. There is a great economic depression, and a lonely man is only under his skin. It is an animal sentimental, but at the same time explosives. In his life stop by different women, but remains, as an angel love, Eva (Hanna Schygulla), which appear like a friend that is in love with him, but is living with a wealthy man. The other woman the he is love with is Mieze (Emilie "Mieze" Karsunke, by a young Barbara Sukowa, that was directed to act like Gelsomina, a Giulieta Massina's character in "La Strada" – 1956. F. Fellini). After all, Franz Biberkof is without job, a pimp sometimes, because he loose one of his arms after to be betrayed by Reinhold, once. Subsequent to being released from jail, he strides, slips, falls from one stretch of his life to the next. He wants to be honest, but circumstances, "bar friends", enroll him again in merchandise robbery, and is betrayed by his companions, not one but several times. He is not allowed to have nothing not even love. Men like Biberkopf are everywhere, are the "Nowhere Man" of The Beatles song. They are just like floating corpses going in the current direction, the flood is their highway, doesn't matter were heading to. The editing and restoration of this film of 15 and a half hours, it was possible thanks to The Criterion Collection. The film was divided into six DVDs with 13 chapters, an epilogue to 2 hours and disk extras. The film, by extension, was shown on television, breaking record of viewers and inaugurated with much and inadvertently, the phenomenon of serial tale. That repeated after with Twin Picks of David Lynch, with decorum. Thanks Reine W. Fassbinder by "Berlin Alexanderplatz" and by all the other wonderful and master pieces that you created!!