kaljic

This movie is a quiet gem. Ostensibly, it is a movie about a soldier's (Michael Caine) pilgrimage to Omaha Beach at the anniversary of the D-Day Invasion. If there is a downside to The Great Escaper, it is that attempts to do too much. Along the trip to Omaha Beach, it portrays an elderly couple (Caine and Glenda Jackson) coping with their last days on earth together, the soldier's anguish at the death of his friend in the invasion, the soldier's continuing struggle with PTSD. The narrative gets further muddled with a side story of issues with the identical issues of a fellow traveler, . The narrative picks up steam half-way through, however, in Caine's encounter with a group of German soldiers. The scene is moving and memorable, and from there does not loose steam.

This is the last movie of Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson. He announced his retirement when The Great Escaper premiered, and she passed away shortly thereafter. Michael Caine has lost none of his poise and demeanor, and Glenda still has the spunk and spirit which made her an amazing actress. The chemistry between them is engaging and flawless. For all the movie's blemishes, seeing these two seasoned actors as a married couple is all worth the watch. It is a fitting conclusion to the careers of two great actors.

The story of Robert Oppenheimer is a tragic but compelling story, one that has implications to this day. It was a film I had been waiting to see for some time. The tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer has weighed heavy on my mind since watching the superlative documentary, The Day After Trinity, which hit me in the solar plexus since first seeing it years ago. Christopher Nolan has done a good job as in every movie he has made. Nolan's Oppenheimer is chock full of great Oscar-bait performances. The interpretation by Cillian Murphy in the lead role in Oppenheimer is positively ungodly and matches the desperation (but not the profound sadness) of Oppenheimer's psyche. Matt Damen correctly conveys the steely cold-heartedness of Leslie Groves. The rest of the actors are excellent, all which justify repeated watchings.

As good as the movie is, it is not without its faults. I suspect someone first encountering the Oppenheimer story will not fully understand how completely conflicted were many of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. The only ones completely on board to build the nuclear bomb in the beginning were Leslie Groves and for different reasons, Oppenheimer himself. The divided feelings experienced by many of the scientists are touched on in the movie, but not emphasized. Some of the scientists who worked on the Project remained severely depressed for years afterward. Especially Oppenheimer himself. When he passed away in 1967, he was so overcome by dread that he was a shell of his former self.

This is, however, a movie, and not a documentary. Fair enough. However, I found the many many edits in the movie distracting. The camera rarely focused on one scene more than ten, fifteen, or thirty seconds before panning to another angle or another scene. The movie ran like a video game. It was as if Nolan was trying to tell too much of the story in his movie. After the movie ended I was utterly exhausted by all the cuts and edits. ... But then again, perhaps this is the feeling Nolan wanted the viewer to experience.

Despite these minor complaints, Oppenheimer is a movie which deserves to be watched.

Madame Butterfly is one of my favorite Operas. It is certainly Puccini's masterpiece, and Mitterand's movie adaptation does full justice to the Opera. The main characters are perfectly cast. Richard Troxell captures the full spectrum of the brashness and exuberance of his character, Pinkerton. Ying Huang exudes the sensitivity, vulnerability, and wisdom of the named protagonist. The movie gives a richness and realness to Japan that no operatic production is able to do. All the main characters are themselves operatic singers.

Fondly enough, the greatest innovation of this movie are the English subtitles. The subtitles are fresh, modern translations. Prior librettos had always been in stilted, posh, English, leaving the listener to only guess at the plot while enjoying the music. The modern English subtitles of this movie leave little doubt as to what is really going on here.

Yes, it is a love story between an American officer and a Japanese geisha. The actual, real, dialogue, spoken with its blunt honesty, coupled with the superb secondary performances (mainly, the Middleman, Goro), portray the whole Madame Butterfly story as a lurid, depraved example of human trafficking. Pinkerton is young, brash, energetic, and clearly relishing Japan. He makes it very clear from the beginning that he has no intention of staying faithful after marriage to MB and enters his marriage with the clear intention of leaving MB for the United States to marry there, and he sees nothing wrong with that. Huang perfectly plays the vulnerable MB. However, as she states about her life, she was forced to became a geisha because her parents died and she had no other place to go. To make matters worse, she is fifteen years old, and has a son from a husband who left her. You get the impression MB is a geisha because she had no other option to survive.

A geisha you might ask? There is misconception that all geishas are sex workers. Historically, they were not considered to be sex workers, but whose function is to "entertain" men. "Entertaining" consists of being able to carry on a informed conversation-geishas were educated women---play musical instruments, and serving food and drink. Of course, the sex part sometimes, but necessarily always, came into it.

The movie clarifies the role of the Middleman, Goro. This is how he was described in older translations-"middle man," "match-maker," fairly benign. The Goro in this movie is a sinister and conniving. He is not just a match-maker or middleman; he is in the business of selling flesh, if not for "entertainment" purposes. Jingma Fan, who pays Goro, gives new life to the whole MB story. Goro is in the business in selling geishas to his clients. Pinkerton pays Goro to marry MB. The entire transaction is nothing more than a glorified run-of-mill sex trafficking case.

Put all these pieces together changes the entire story. Pinkerton exploits and disrespects MB and gets off Scott free. He is like so many overseas American servicemen you occasionally hear run into problems with the local womenfolk. The tragedy of this story is that MB commits suicide. MB is a Universal symbol of victimized, objectivized, women. Goro is, not a march-maker or middleman, let's face it, he is a sex trafficker. Mitterand's movie presents MB as both a passionate love story and a sordid tale of sex exploitation.