It turns out that it is not just my
imagination (running away with me). A quick Google search of “Seattle rain
records” yields such cheery results as a January 29th CNN headline IT’S
SUNLESS IN SEATTLE AS CITY WEATHERS ONE OF THE GLOOMIEST STRETCHES IN RECENT
HISTORY and a Feb 1stSeattle P-I story slugged with SEATTLE
BREAKS RECORD WITH RAIN ON 30 DAYS IN A MONTH. Good times!
February was a bit better: 15
rainy days with 4.1 hours a day of average sunshine. But hey-I didn’t move to
the Emerald City to be “happy”. No, I moved to a city that averages 300 cloudy
days a year in order to justify my predilection for a sedentary indoor
lifestyle.
In fact it was a marvelously gloomy,
stormy Sunday afternoon in late January when I ventured out to see Japanese
anime master Makato Shinkai’s newest film Weathering with You (yes, this
is a tardy review gentle reader…but what do you expect at these prices?).
Gregory’s Girl meets The Lathe of Heaven in Shinkai’s romantic
fantasy-drama.
I probably should have taken notes;
some of the finer narrative details have slipped what’s left of my addled mind.
But I remember the rain. There’s lots of rain. In fact the film opens with a
rainstorm; a rather tempestuous one that tosses our young protagonist, a
teenage runaway named Hokada (voiced by Kotaro Daigo) into the drink (he’s
hopped on a ferry, fleeing his rural island home to lose himself in the
bustling metropolis of Tokyo). He’s saved by a man named Keisuka (Shun Ogari),
who hands Hokada his business card.
Rain-soaked Tokyo is a less-than-welcoming
new home for the likes of Hokada, who finds himself sleeping in alleys for a
spell, with naught but the clothes on his back and a growling stomach. One day,
he encounters a compassionate girl around his age named Hina (Nana Mori), a
fast food worker who gives him a free meal. Hina and Hokada are bonded by
family difficulties; with Hokada being a runaway and Hina recently orphaned
(she barely supports herself and her young brother with her meager McDonald’s
wages).
Fate continues to bounce Hokada
around like a tennis ball. Still living on the streets, Hokada crosses paths with
a Yakuza; he barely survives the encounter and stumbles across a gun, which he
decides to hang onto for protection. Still, he’s buoyed by his burgeoning friendship
with Hina and decides to look up his rescuer from the ferry. Turns out his
savior runs a somewhat dubious news stringer agency out of a cramped office.
Keisuka’s sole employee is his flirty
20-something niece, Natsumi (Tsubasa Honda), who convinces her uncle to hire Hokada
on spec to see if he can help them chase down stories to sell to tabloids.
Hokada’s first assignment is to dig up some background for Keisuka’s article-in
progress on a local legend regarding so-called “Sunshine Girls”, who allegedly
have supernatural abilities to stop rain events purely through concentration
and prayer.
One day by chance, Hokada is shocked
to espy his new friend Hina being shepherded into a seedy exotic dance club by
a less-than-savory looking character. Hokada pulls out the gun that he found earlier
and confronts the man, who has intimidated Hina into working for him. Hokada and
Hina flee to the rooftop of an abandoned building, where there is a Shinto
shrine. Hina convinces Hokada to toss his gun away and reveals that she has the
ability to stop rain with prayer. I know-that’s a lot to unpack in just one afternoon.
Therein lies the film’s main weakness…there’s
too much to unpack in one afternoon (by the way, there are more developments to
the story-so I haven’t spoiled anything). Shinkai can’t decide what he wants to
convey: a coming-of-age tale, a social “message” drama, a fantasy, a statement about
climate change. This may be an unfair comparison, but the narrative is not as focused
and cohesive as in his previous film, the outstanding 2017 film Your Name.
That said, this is a very different type of story, and more ambitious in scope.
Still, there’s a lot to like about Weathering You, especially in the visual department. The Tokyo city-scapes are breathtakingly done; overall the animation is state-of-the-art. I could see it again. Besides, there are worse ways to while away a rainy Seattle afternoon.
Clearly, I was diggin’ the super sounds of the 70s. On shift at KFAR-AM, ca. 1978
I'm livin' in the Seventies Eatin' fake food under plastic trees My face gets dirty just walkin' around I need another pill to calm me down
- from "Living in the 70s" by Skyhooks
If
you’ve grown weary of your hippie grandparents getting misty-eyed over “the 50th
anniversary of the Beatles on Sullivan”, “the 50th anniversary of
the Summer of Love” or “the 50th anniversary of Woodstock”, I have
good news for you. The 60s are finally
over.
The
bad news is …welcome to the 1970s!
When
it comes to music, the 1970s were pretty, pretty, good. In fact, I have to say
that some of the finest music known to humanity was produced during that
decade. Now there are some who subscribe to the theory that one’s “musical
taste” is formed during high school and thenceforth set in stone. Full
disclosure: I graduated from high school in 1974.
I still say some of the finest music known
to humanity was produced during that decade.
In
the several years following the release of the Beatles’ game-changing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album
in 1967, the genre broadly referred to as “rock ‘n’ roll” progressed by leaps
and bounds. You could say it was “splintering”. Sub-genres began to propagate;
folk-rock, blues-rock, progressive rock, country rock, hard rock. By the time
the new decade rolled around, you could add more variations: Latin rock,
jazz-rock, funk-rock, and polar extremes that would come to be dubbed as “soft
rock” and “heavy metal”.
I’ve lost my curly locks (ditto aviator glasses) and there are a few more lines on my face, but I’d guess around 70% of the music that I still listen to was created in the 1970s. (Oh god here he goes now with the anniversary mention) It’s hard to believe that 1970 was (ahem) 50 years ago …but there you have it. With that in mind, here are my picks for the 10 best rock albums of 1970, a year that offers an embarrassing wealth of damn fine LPs.
All
Things Must Pass– George
Harrison
1970
was an interesting year for the four artists formerly known as “The Beatles”.
The belated release of the less-than-stellar Let it Be (actually recorded prior to 1969’s Abbey Road) was overshadowed by solo album debuts from all four ex-bandmates.
While John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band,
Paul McCartney’s McCartney, and Ringo
Starr’s Sentimental Journey certainly
contained fine material, I don’t think anybody
saw this one coming (always watch out for the “quiet ones”). George Harrison
had been “quietly” stowing away some very strong material for some time-at
least judging by this massive 3-record set (although one could argue that the 3rd
LP, comprised of 4 meandering jam sessions, was excess baggage). Produced by
Phil Spector and featuring a stellar list of backing musicians (Eric Clapton, Ringo
Starr, Badfinger, Billy Preston, Gary Wright, Bobby Keys, Peter Frampton, Gary
Brooker, Alan White, Ginger Baker, Dave Mason, et.al.) Harrison delivers an
astonishing set of songs, many of which have become classics.
Choice cuts: “I’d Have You Anytime”, “My Sweet Lord”, “Isn’t it a Pity (Version One)”, “Let it Down”, “What is Life”, “Beware of Darkness”, “All Things Must Pass”, “Art of Dying”.
Bitches
Brew– Miles
Davis
Miles
Davis is considered a “jazz” artist, but first and foremost he was an artist; one who defied categorization throughout
his career. The influence of this 2-LP set on what came to be called “fusion”
cannot be overstated. But be warned: this is not an album you put on as background;
it is challenging music that demands your full attention (depending on your
mood that day, it will sound either bold and exhilarating, or discordant and
unnerving). Miles always had heavyweight players on board, but the Bitches Brew roster is legend: including
future members of Weather Report (Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul), Return to
Forever (Chick Corea, Lenny White) and The Mahavishnu Orchestra (John
McLaughlin, Billy Cobham) – who are all now acknowledged as key pioneers of fusion.
Album
1, side 1, cut 1: Howling wind, driving rain, the mournful peal of a bell, and
the heaviest, scariest tri-tone power chord intro you’ve ever heard. “Please God help meee!!” Talk about a
mission statement. Alleged to have been recorded in a single 12-hour session,
Black Sabbath’s eponymous debut album blew teenage minds, scared the bejesus
out of the clergy and ushered in a genre of rock that showed no fear of the
dark.
Simon
and Garfunkel went out on a high note with their swan song album (figuratively
and literally…if you factor in Art Garfunkel’s soaring vocal performance on the
title cut). The album not only features one of Paul Simon’s finest and most
enduring song cycles, but outstanding production as well by engineer and
co-producer Roy Halee. Halee picked up a Grammy for Best Engineered Recording;
the album was festooned with an additional 5 Grammys (including Album of the Year
and 4 wins for the title track alone). Simon went on to enjoy a highly
successful solo career, and while Garfunkel continued to record and perform
(including a reunion or two with Simon), his focus shifted to acting.
Choice cuts: “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “El Condor Pasa”, “Cecilia”, “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright”, “The Boxer”, “The Only Living Boy in New York”.
Greg Lake was not only one of the gods of prog-rock, but for my money, owned the greatest set of pipes in any musical genre.
That voice has captivated me from the first time I heard “In the Court of the Crimson King” wafting from my radio back in 1969. Even through a tinny 4″ speaker, that beautiful, cathedral voice shot directly through my medulla oblongata and took my breath away.
Prog-rock’s
first super-group not only had “that voice”, but the keyboard wizardry of Keith
Emerson (The Nice) and the precise drumming of Carl Palmer (The Crazy World of
Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster). ELP’s eponymous debut showcases the trio’s virtuosic
musicianship and seamless blending of folk, rock, jazz and classical
influences.
Choice cuts: “The Barbarian”, “Take a Pebble”, “Knife-Edge”, “Lucky Man”.
Fire
and Water– Free
On an episode of his AXS-TV interview series, former AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson described the voice of his guest Paul Rodgers thusly: “Velvet chocolate, with a splash of whiskey if required.” Perfect. Speaking of “perfect”, Free’s third studio album is damn-near. Fire and Water is an apt title for this strong set of elemental R&B-flavored blues-rock; propelled by Simon Kirke’s powerful drumming, Andy Fraser’s fluid bass lines, and Paul Kossoff’s spare yet dynamic guitar playing, topped off by Rodgers’ distinctive vocals (possessing a voice like that by 21 can only be attributed to “a gift from beyond”).
Choice cuts: “Fire and Water”, “Oh I Wept”, “Mr. Big”, “Don’t Say You Love Me”, “All Right Now”.
Led
Zeppelin III – Led Zeppelin
For
their third album (my favorite), Led Zeppelin continued to draw from the well
of Delta blues, English folk and heavy metal riffing that had informed the
“sound” of Led Zeppelin and II the previous year, but indicated they
were opening themselves to a bit of new exploration as well. Robert Plant and
Jimmy Page were taking an interest in Eastern music, most evident in the song
“Friends” which features an exotic string arrangement that hints at future
forays into world music like “Four Sticks” (on IV) and “Kashmir” (on Physical
Graffiti). While not bereft of straight-up rockers, this album is also
their most “acoustic”, with folk and country-blues influences sprinkled
throughout (Page even throws in some banjo for their arrangement of the
traditional folk ballad “Gallows Pole”).
Choice cuts: “Immigrant Song”, “Friends”, “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, “Gallows Pole”, “Tangerine”, “That’s the Way”, “Bron-y-aur Stomp”.
The
Man Who Sold the World– David
Bowie
You
could say that David Bowie invented
the idea of “re-invention”. It’s also possible he invented a working time machine,
as he was always ahead of the curve (or leading the herd). He was the poster
boy for “postmodern”. If pressed, I’d have to say my favorite Bowie “period”
would be the Mick Ronson years (1969-1973). When he released his third album in
1970, Bowie was on the precipice of outer space and transitioning to a harder
rock sound. Mick Ronson’s crunchy power chords and fiery solos feel like a
warmup for Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders
from Mars, which was just around the corner.
Choice cuts: “Width of a Circle”, “All the Madmen”, “Black Country Rock”, “After All”, “Running Gun Blues”, “The Man Who Sold the World”.
Rides
Again– The James
Gang
One
of the most majestic and melodic hard rock albums of the 70s, in a realm with Who’s Next. It was the second of three
studio albums with Joe Walsh on lead vocals, guitar, and keyboards (Walsh
departed the band in 1972, and bass player Dale Peters and drummer Jim Fox
would go on to recruit several more guitarists and lead vocalists throughout
the decade, including the late great Tommy Bolin). This is one of Walsh’s
finest moments; especially in the Abbey
Road-style suite on side 2 (Walsh continued a partnership with producer
Bill Szymczyk; working with him on 7 of his solo albums between 1972-1992).
Choice cuts: “Funk #49”, “The Bomber: Closet Queen”, “Tend My Garden”, “Garden Gate”, “There I Go Again”, “Thanks”, “Ashes, the Rain and I”.
Tea
for the Tillerman– Cat
Stevens
To paraphrase from one of the tunes on this album, Cat Stevens had “come a long way” from his first charted hit “I Love My Dog” in 1966 to this beautifully crafted song cycle in 1970. After a life-threatening bout with TB in 1969 that left him hospitalized for months, Stevens went through a spiritual and creative transformation that ultimately inspired him to produce an amazing catalog of compositions within a short period of time (his 1971 follow-up Teaser and the Firecat is equally outstanding). Several songs from this album ended up on the soundtrack for Hal Ashby’s 1971 film Harold and Maude.
Choice cuts: “Where Do the Children Play?”, “Wild World”, “Miles From Nowhere”, “On the Road to Find Out”, “Father and Son”, “Tea for the Tillerman”.
Bonus Tracks!
Here are 10 more 1970 releases worth a spin:
After the Gold Rush – Neil Young
Alone Together– Dave Mason
Benefit – Jethro Tull
Ladies of the Canyon – Joni Mitchell
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs – Derek and the Dominos
Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround – The Kinks
I know …Valentine’s Day was yesterday. But at least I remembered. OK, I’m on the couch.
Anyway. I’ve combed through my review archives of the last decade or so and assembled a “top 10 list” of romantic comedies that may not have set the box office on fire, but are definitely worth seeking out. You may even fall in love with a few of these. Alphabetically:
Blind Date – Is there a level of humor below “deadpan”? If so, I’d say that this film from Georgian director Levan Koguashvili has it in spades. A minimalist meditation on the state of modern love in Tbilisi (in case you’d been wondering), the story focuses on the romantic travails of a sad sack Everyman named Sandro (Andro Sakhvarelidze), a 40-ish schoolteacher who still lives with his parents. Sandro and his best bud (Archil Kikodze) spend their spare time arranging double dates via singles websites, with underwhelming results. Then it happens…Sandro meets his dream woman (Ia Sukhitashvili). There’s a mutual attraction, but one catch. Her husband’s getting out of jail…very soon. This is one of those films that sneaks up on you; archly funny, and surprisingly poetic. (Full Review)
Emma Peters – As she careens toward her 35th birthday, wannabe thespian Emma (Monia Chakri, in a winning performance) decides that she’s had it with failed auditions and slogging through a humiliating day job. She’s convinced herself that 35 is the “expiry” date for actresses anyway. So, she prepares for a major change…into the afterlife. Unexpectedly lightened by her decision, she cheerfully begins to check off her bucket list, giving away possessions, and making her own funeral arrangements. However, when she develops an unforeseen relationship with a lonely young funeral director, her future is uncertain, and the end may not be near. A funny-sad romantic romp in the vein of Harold and Maude, from Belgian-American writer-director Nicole Palo. (Full Review)
Hot Mess – Comedian-playwright Sarah Gaul does an endearing turn in writer-director Lucy Coleman’s mumblecore comedy about a 25 year-old budding playwright and college dropout who suffers from a lack of focus in her artistic and amorous pursuits. She expends an inordinate amount of her creative juice composing songs about Toxic Shock Syndrome. She becomes obsessed with a divorced guy who seems “nice” but treats her with increasing indifference once they’ve slept together. And so on. The narrative meanders at times, but when it’s funny, it’s very funny. (Full Review)
Let the Sunshine In – The best actors are…nothing; a blank canvas. But give them a character and some proper lighting-and they’ll give back something that becomes part of us, and does us good: a reflection of our own shared humanity. Nature that looks like nature. Consider Julilette Binoche, an actor of such subtlety and depth that she could infuse a cold reading of McDonald’s $1 $2 $3 menu with the existential ennui of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 123. She isn’t required to recite any sonnets in this film (co-written by director Claire Denis and Christine Angot), but her character speaks copiously about love…in all of its guises. And you may think you know how this tale of a divorcee on the rebound will play out, but Denis’ film, like love itself, is at once seductive and flighty. (Full Review)
Liza, the Fox Fairy – If David Lynch had directed Amelie, it might be akin to this dark and whimsical romantic comedy from Hungary (inspired by a Japanese folk tale). The story centers on Liza (Monika Balsa), an insular young woman who works as an assisted care nurse. Liza is a lonely heart, but tries to stay positive, bolstered by her cheerleader…a Japanese pop singer’s ghost. Poor Liza has a problem sustaining relationships, because every man she dates dies suddenly…and under strange circumstances. It could be coincidence, but Liza suspects she is a “fox fairy”, who sucks the souls from her paramours (and you think you’ve got problems?). Director Karoly Ujj-Meszaros saturates his film in a 70s palette of harvest gold, avocado green and sunflower orange. It’s off-the-wall; but it’s also droll, inventive, and surprisingly sweet. (Full Review)
A Matter of Size – When you think “star athlete”, it invariably conjures up an image of a man or a woman with zero body fat and abs of steel. Then there’s Herzl (Itzak Cohen), the unlikely sports hero of this delightful comedy from Israel. Sweet, puppy-eyed and tipping the scales at 340 pounds, he lives with his overbearing mother, Mona (Levana Finkelstein) and works at a restaurant. After being cruelly fired for (essentially) his overweight appearance, Herzl falls into gloom. But when he experiences a mutual spark of attraction with a woman in his weight watchers group (Irit Kaplan) and finds a new job at a Japanese restaurant, managed by an ex-pro sumo coach (Togo Igawa)-his life takes unexpected turns. It would have been easy for directors Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor to wring cheap laughs from their predominantly corpulent cast, but to their credit (and Danny Cohen-Solal, who co-scripted with Maymon) the characters emerge from their trials and tribulations with dignity and humanity intact. (Full Review)
Mutual Friends – I’ve always found dinner parties to be a fascinating microcosm of human behavior; ditto genre films like The Anniversary Party, The Boys in the Band, and my all-time favorite Don’s Party. Sort of an indie take on Love, Actually, director Matthew Watts’ no-budget charmer centers on a group of neurotic New Yorkers (is that redundant?) converging for a surprise party. In accordance with the Strict Rules of Dinner Party Narratives, logistics go awry, misunderstandings abound, unexpected romance ensues, and friendships are sorely tested. Despite formulaic trappings, the film is buoyed by clever writing, an engaging ensemble, and cheerful reassurance that your soul mate really is out there…somewhere. (Full Review)
A Summer’s Tale – It’s nearly 8 minutes into this delightful 1996 Eric Rohmer film (which had a belated U.S. first-run in 2014) before anyone speaks; and it’s a young man calling a waitress over so he can order a chocolate crepe. But not to worry, because things are about to get interesting. In fact, our young man, an introverted maths grad named Gaspar (Melvil Poupaud) will soon find himself in a dizzying girl whirl. It begins when he meets the bubbly Margo (Amanda Langlet) an ethnologist major who is spending the summer working as a waitress at her aunt’s seaside crepery. In a way, this is a textbook “Rohmer film”, which I define as “a movie where the characters spend more screen time dissecting the complexities of male-female relationships than actually experiencing them”. Don’t despair; it won’t be like watching paint dry; even first-time Rohmer viewers will surely glean the late French director’s ongoing influence (particularly if you’ve seen Once,When Harry Met Sally, or Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy). (Full Review)
2 Days in New York– Writer-director-star Julie Delpy’s 2012 sequel to her 2007 comedy 2 Days in Paris catches up with her character Marion, who now has a son and a new man in her life, a long-time friend turned lover Mingus (Chris Rock) who has added his tween daughter to the mix. The four live together in a cozy Manhattan loft. Marion and Mingus are the quintessential NY urban hipster couple; she’s a photo-journalist and conceptual artist; he’s a radio talk show host who also writes for the VillageVoice. Marion is on edge. She has an important gallery show coming up, and her eccentric family has just flown in from France for a visit and to get acquainted with her new Significant Other. The buttoned-down Mingus is in for a bit of culture shock. And yes-Franco-American culture-clash mayhem ensues. Smart, funny and engaging throughout. (Full Review)
Your Sister’s Sister – This offering from Humpday writer-director Lynn Shelton is a romantic “love triangle” dramedy reminiscent of Chasing Amy. It’s a talky but thoroughly engaging look at the complexities of modern relationships, centering on a slacker man-child (Mark Duplass) his deceased brother’s girlfriend (Emily Blunt) and her sister (Rosemarie Dewitt), who all bumble into a sort of unplanned “encounter weekend” together at a remote family cabin. Funny, insightful and well-acted. (Full Review)
The above Tweets were posted in the wake of President Trump’s State of the Union address last Tuesday. The gentleman who posted them was Fred Guttenberg, who was commenting on the incident that got him handcuffed and escorted out of the chamber.
Mr. Guttenberg is an outspoken gun reform activist. His daughter Jamie was one of the students who was killed in a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida in 2018.
Clad in his trademark orange tie and ribbon, the guest of honor had reached his breaking point.
Fred Guttenberg, the father of slain Parkland student Jaime Guttenberg, simmered with anger during President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. Trump discussed immigrants who committed crimes and declared that “human life is a sacred gift from God.”
Guttenberg thought something was missing. What about people killed by gun violence like his daughter, killed in a massacre at her high school in Florida? He leaned over to a fellow guest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and said he was on the verge of losing it.
And when Trump said gun rights were “under siege all across our country,” Guttenberg did lose it, he said, and shouted about victims like Jamie.
“My emotions were stewing,” Guttenberg, 54, told The Washington Post on Wednesday, hours after he says he was handcuffed and detained by Capitol Police. “I was so upset.”
He roared at the tail end of an applause line from Trump, who said, “So long as I am president, I will always protect your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”
In a 2018 post that I wrote in the wake of the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, I opened with this excerpt from a previous 2016 post that I had written in the wake of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida:
But there is something about [Orlando] that screams “Last call for sane discourse and positive action!” on multiple fronts. This incident is akin to a perfect Hollywood pitch, writ large by fate and circumstance; incorporating nearly every sociopolitical causality that has been quantified and/or debated over by criminologists, psychologists, legal analysts, legislators, anti-gun activists, pro-gun activists, left-wingers, right-wingers, centrists, clerics, journalists and pundits in the wake of every such incident since Charles Whitman perched atop the clock tower at the University of Texas and picked off nearly 50 victims (14 dead and 32 wounded) over a 90-minute period. That incident occurred in 1966; 50 years ago, this August. Not an auspicious golden anniversary for our country. 50 years of this madness. And it’s still not the appropriate time to discuss? What…too soon?
All I can say is, if this “worst mass shooting in U.S. history” (which is saying a lot) isn’t the perfect catalyst for prompting meaningful public dialogue and positive action steps once and for all regarding homophobia, Islamophobia, domestic violence, the proliferation of hate crimes, legal assault weapons, universal background checks, mental health care (did I leave anything out?), then WTF will it take?
It was déjà vu all over again.
Further down in the piece, I wrote:
You know what “they” say-we all have a breaking point. When it comes to this particular topic, I have to say, I think that I may have finally reached mine. I’ve written about this so many times, in the wake of so many horrible mass shootings, that I’ve lost count. I’m out of words. There are no Scrabble tiles left in the bag, and I’m stuck with a “Q” and a “Z”. Game over. Oh waiter-check, please. The end. Finis. I have no mouth, and I must scream.
So where are we at today, in the two years since a gunman opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Stoneman Douglas High, killing 17 people and wounding 17 others in just 6 minutes? According to a 2019 AP story, a report issued in February of last year by a student journalism project “…concluded that 1,149 children and teenagers died from a shooting in the year since the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,” citing that the stats cover “school shootings, domestic violence cases, drug homicides and by stray bullets”. Mind you, nearly another year has passed since that report was released.
And that’s just children and teenagers. The mass shootings and other incidents
involving gun violence occur with such frequency in the U.S. that it’s no
wonder the “adults” who make the laws and run the country can’t seem to block
out the time to actually “do” anything about it, what with all the “thoughts
and prayers” that must be attended to first.
Perhaps that explains why it’s
“the children” (for whom legislators always claim they’re “doing this for”) who
have taken the lead, like Parkland survivors-turned activists Emma Gonzalez and
David Hogg. Hogg and fellow survivor-activist Samuel Zeif are among those
profiled in the new documentary After Parkland (on Hulu beginning February
19).
Directed by Emily Taguchi and
Jake Lefferman, the film also spotlights activist parents of Parkland victims,
like Manuel Oliver (who lost his son Joaquin) and Andrew Pollack (who lost his
daughter Meadow). The parents may not be in lockstep on legislative priorities
(e.g. Pollack has become a “go-to” guest on Fox due to his more reactionary
take on the mass shooting epidemic) but share an anguish no parent should have
to suffer.
Politics take a back seat; this could be a deal-breaker for some on either “side” who may go in with expectations of polemical reinforcement. Instead, Taguchi and Lefferman (who filmed in the spring, summer and fall of 2018) have aimed for a candid yet still mindfully respectful portrait of how each family navigates all the inevitable stages of grief, culminating in the impassioned activism that we’ve all seen in the media coverage.
While After Parkland succeeds in conveying the emotional fallout left in the aftermath of tragedy, it becomes a bit repetitious; I think the directors’ decision to remain apolitical ultimately neuters the impact. The most powerful moments are in the beginning, which contains a collage of real-time cell phone audio of the Parkland incident. The chilling sounds of automatic gunfire and students screaming in pain and terror made me think of the Martin Luther King quote ” Wait has always meant Never ”. If every lawmaker was locked in chambers and forced to listen to that audio on a continuous loop until they passed sensible gun reform, perhaps they would all finally reach their breaking point.
# # # #
Special note: On February 12th, there will be hosted screenings of “After Parkland” in over 100 cities in the U.S. to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the Parkland shootings. The screenings are part of a nationwide “Day of Conversation” about gun reform, sponsored by organizations like March for Our Lives, Moms Demand Action, and The League of Women Voters. To locate a February 12th screening near you, or to learn more about the Demand Film project and how you can organize screenings in your city, click here.—DH
This one hurts. Not a shocker at age 103. But still…this one hurts. Beyond a legend…last of a breed. Where do I even begin?
In his 1988 autobiography The Ragman’s Son, Kirk Douglas wrote:
The biggest lie is the lie we tell ourselves in the distorted visions we have of ourselves, blocking out some sections, enhancing others. What remains are not the cold facts of life, but how we perceive them. That’s really who we are.
An astute and particularly self-aware observation for an actor to
make. After all, you could say that actors “lie” for a living, always
pretending to be someone they are not; “blocking out some sections,
enhancing others” to best serve the character. That said, the best
actors are those who can channel this human flaw into a superpower that
brings us face-to-face with “the cold facts of life” when necessary and
reveal universal truths about “who we are”.
Kirk Douglas could do that with a glance, a gesture, a shrug. He was a very physical actor, but you had a sense there was a carefully calibrated intelligence informing every glance, every gesture, every shrug.
He played heroes and villains with equal elan but injected all of his
characters with a relatable humanity. He was one of the last players
standing from the echelon of “classic” Hollywood…a true movie star.
I hope the Academy does him justice with a worthy tribute Sunday night. He deserves one. Ru in shlum, Issur Danielovitch Demsky.
Ultimately, the work speaks for itself. There are so many great
Douglas films, but here are 15 “must-sees” available right now via cable
on-demand and rentals (this is based on my Xfinity package; so
depending on your subscriptions, “results may vary”-as they say).
Spartacus (HITZ on demand)
Paths of Glory (ScreenPix on demand)
Ace in the Hole (Paramount PPV)
Lust for Life (Xfinity PPV)
Seven Days in May (Warner Brothers PPV)
Out of the Past (Warner Brothers PPV)
Lonely Are the Brave (Universal PPV)
Detective Story (Paramount PPV)
Gunfight at the OK Corral (STARZ on demand)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (EPIX, Prime Video, tubi)
Eerily deserted street in Wuhan, China this week (Photo via Reuters)
This city is being closed off in a way that China has never done before — or even any other major modern city, really, hasn’t done it in recent times. [The Chinese government] quickly expanded it to not just Wuhan, but to other cities, so that there were tens of millions of people who were essentially forced to stay at home and not allowed to go out. They’ve just put in place the biggest lockdown that we’ve ever seen and what experts are saying is the biggest experiment in public health that they’ve ever seen.
That may read like a film treatment for an apocalyptic thriller, but it’s from a January 30th NPR broadcast of the New York Times-produced program The Daily. The comment was made by New York Times overseas reporter Javier Hernandez, who was being interviewed by the show’s host, Michael Barbaro. Hernandez was giving a chilling account as to what has been happening on the ground in China in the wake of the outbreak of coronavirus. Barbaro followed Hernandez’s comment with this observation:
It’s hard to imagine most any other country being able to mount that kind of a response. I mean, I’m just trying to fathom an American city somehow being locked down.
[Hernandez] So this is what it looks like when China’s authoritarian system is in full force. There’s no choice for people to leave. Many people are stuck there. They are going to hospitals that are overcrowded, but they can’t get the health care they need. Doctors are complaining about a lack of medical supplies and critical items like masks and goggles. And you get the sense that people are kind of stuck with what they have, and that’s the bargain they’ve made by living in this system. They have no choice but to follow the government’s orders. They can’t push back. They can’t swim against the current here. Everyone’s essentially forced to comply with this mass lockdown. […]
China has built this system, this ruthless system in which if you are an official in the Communist Party, you are expected to be almost perfect. If anything goes bad, you are the one who is going to take responsibility. You are the one who is going to fall. And this has created an incentive system where local officials fear saying anything about bad news. […]
[Barbaro] So by the time something like, say, a medical crisis gets really big, it may be too late for the local officials who have been trying to contain it themselves and keep it from Beijing.
[Hernandez] Exactly. These kinds of dynamics played a huge role in the scale of the SARS outbreak. It was clear in this case that local officials knew exactly what was going on. They knew that people were dying of this illness. But for months and months, they didn’t want to report it up the chain. Instead, they tried to cover it up. They tried to see if they could perhaps deal with it secretly, and maybe nobody would ever find out about it. They hoped that Beijing would know about it. But eventually it broke. […]
[Barbaro] So that [culture of covering up] had trickled down all the way to the frontline health care workers, who are supposed to be treating this and sounding the alarm.
[Hernandez] Right. They’re fearful of being seen as responsible for this crisis. They don’t want to stand out. And when you think about where this virus might be headed next — to other provinces, to other cities — you have to wonder if these same dynamics would be playing out again. If people will stay silent, if they will not report official cases, because they fear for their jobs and they fear for their livelihoods. […]
And so when you look at the culture, you wonder whether China can actually contain these viruses, whether we will continue to live in a world where the internal politics of the party are going to put lives around the world in danger.
Well, that is not…reassuring.
That said, China is not the source of every outbreak. And now that the coronavirus has officially been declared a “global health emergency” by the World Health Organization, any finger-pointing should be put on the back burner for now. Health officials worldwide have mobilized, necessary precautions are being taken wherever practical, and scientific research has begun in earnest regarding the possible development of a vaccine.
In the meantime, wash your hands, eat your Wheaties, and then wash your hands again. Oh BTW-did you hear that the Doomsday Clock is now at 100 seconds to midnight? With those cheery thoughts in mind, here’s a few “viral” films you might want to, erm…catch:
The Andromeda Strain– What’s the scariest monster of all? The one you cannot see. Robert Wise directs this 1971 sci-fi thriller, adapted from Michael Crichton’s best-seller by screenwriter Nelson Gidding. A team of scientists race the clock to save the world from a deadly virus from outer space that reproduces itself at an alarming speed. The team is essentially restricted to a hermetically sealed environment until they can figure a way to destroy the microbial intruder, making this one a nail-biter from start to finish.
Black Death– It is a time of pestilence, monarchs, serfs, and sociopolitical turmoil, ruled by widespread ignorance and superstition. No, I’m not referring to America in 2020…but Europe in 1348, when a plague swept across the continent. That’s the cheery backdrop for this dark period piece from UK director Christopher Smith. Visceral, moody and atmospheric, it plays like a medieval mash-up of Apocalypse Now and The Wicker Man.
Eddie Redmayne stars as a young monk who, at the behest of his bishop, throws in with a “religious” knight (Sean Bean) and his dubious band of mercenaries on an a quest to investigate why all the residents of a particular village seem immune to the “black death” (the Church suspects “witchcraft”).
Screenwriter Dario Poloni blurs the line between Christian dogma and the tenets of paganism, demonstrating that charlatanism and sleight of hand are no strangers to either camp. Whether one places their faith and hope into an omnipotent super-being or a bundle of twigs, perhaps it is that simplest of single-celled organisms, the lowly bacteria, that wields the greatest power of them all.
Contagion– Steven Soderbergh takes the network narrative formula that propelled his film Traffic and applies it to this cautionary vision of sociopolitical upheaval in the wake of a major killer pandemic. Patient Zero is an American (Gwyneth Paltrow) returning to the U.S. from a Hong Kong business trip, who at first appears to be only developing a slight cold as she kills time at an airport lounge.
However, Soderbergh’s camera begins to linger on seemingly inconsequential items. A dish of peanuts. A door knob. Paltrow’s hand, as she pays her tab. Ominous cuts to a succession of individuals in Hong Kong, Tokyo and London, who have all suddenly taken deathly ill, deliver a creeping sense of dread, which only warms you up for the harrowing, all-too plausible globe-spanning nightmare scenario that ensues.
By reining in his powerhouse cast and working from a screenplay (by Scott Z. Burns) that largely eschews melodrama, Soderbergh keeps it “real” (if clinical at times), resulting in a sobering exercise.
The Killer That Stalked New York-Despite dated trappings, Earl McEvoy’s low-budget 1951 film noir (based on a NYC smallpox outbreak in 1947 thwarted by fast-acting city health officials and a cooperative public) still makes for a gripping disease thriller.
Patient Zero is a diamond smuggler (Evelyn Keyes) who has just returned from Cuba. Unbeknownst to her, there’s a Fed hot on her trail; unbeknownst to both of them (initially), she is also carrying the smallpox virus. With its pseudo-documentary approach and heavy use of location filming, the movie recalls The Naked City.
A montage depicting how city officials administer the “Big Scratch” to every New Yorker proves how some things will never change (when a health department worker offers a shot to one distrustful fellow, he says “Ain’t nobody stickin’ a joim in my arm!”).
The Omega Man-This 1971 Boris Sagal film was the second screen adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend (the 1964 film The Last Man on Earth was the first, book-ended by I Am Legend in 2007). While all three adaptations have their strengths and weaknesses, I have a soft spot for this one, with ever-hammy Charlton Heston as a military scientist battling mutated albino plague victims in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles (the locale was switched to New York City in the 2007 Will Smith version).
In the wake of a deadly pandemic attributed to biological warfare fallout from a Sino-Soviet war, Heston injects himself with an experimental vaccine that appears to work. However, the main threat to his health is not so much the virus, but the rabid lynch mob of pissed-off albino freaks who storm his heavily fortified apartment building every night, led by a messianic ex-TV news anchor (Anthony Zerbe, chewing scenery like a zombie Howard Beale). Rosalind Cash is a hoot as a ass-kicking babe in the Pam Grier mold.
Panic in the Streets– While this is another film noir mixing documentary-style police procedural with disease thriller tropes (released in August of 1950, it actually precedes The Killer That Stalked New York by 5 months), it does differ in a few significant ways. For one, the locale is New Orleans. This is also a much slicker production, with a prestige director at the helm (Elia Kazan, who made another New Orleans based story the following year- a little film you may have heard of called A Streetcar Named Desire).
Noir icon Richard Widmark is the “good guy” in this one-a Navy doctor working for the health department, who has 48 hours to track down the killers of a murder victim carrying the Pneumonic Plague. This puts him at loggerheads with the police, who aren’t crazy about the deadline pressure. The deadly virus won’t wait, which gives the narrative its tension. This is one of Kazan’s most stylistically accomplished films, full of Wellesian tracking shots and great cinematography by Joseph McDonald. Look for Zero Mostel in one of his earliest roles, and Jack Palance (this was his big-screen debut).
Perfect Sense– David Mackenzie’s post-apocalyptic drama tackles that age-old question: Can a chef and an epidemiologist find meaningful, lasting love in the wake of a pandemic that is insidiously and systematically robbing every human on Earth of their five senses? This is a malady with a relatively leisurely incubation period. The afflicted have an indeterminate amount of time to adjust to each progressive sensory deficit, so it isn’t necessarily a “death sentence”.
The outbreak brings an epidemiologist (Eva Green) to a Glasgow lab to analyze data as cases escalate. Fate and circumstance conspire to place her and a local chef (Ewan McGregor) together on the particular evening wherein they both suffer the first warning sign: a sudden, inexplicable emotional breakdown. As they have both “taken leave” of their senses, they (naturally) begin to fall in love (insert metaphor here; or as the old Burt Bacharach and Hal David song goes – “…you get enough germs to catch pneumonia.”).
What makes Mackenzie’s film unique in an overcrowded genre is that while there’s still a sense of urgency to find a “cure”, the question becomes not “can humanity be saved in time?” …but rather “can humanity make lemonade out of this lemon it’s been handed?”
Restoration- Robert Downey Jr. gives one of his most underrated performances in Michael Hoffman’s lusty, richly textured and visually sumptuous recreation of 17th-Century England during the reign of Charles II. Downey plays a physician whose burgeoning medical career is put on hold after he “saves the life” of the King’s beloved spaniel. The grateful Charles invites him into his inner circle, encouraging the doctor to avail himself of the perks at his disposal.
Court politics eventually put the doc in the King’s disfavor, and his life takes twists and turns, ultimately bringing him back in London during the Great Plague, where he finds his mojo as a dedicated physician. The verisimilitude of the film gives you a sense of what it must have been like living with the horror and heartbreak of the Plague in that era.
Twelve Monkeys– Another wild ride from the vivid imagination of Terry Gilliam, this 1995 sci-fi thriller (inspired by Chris Marker’s classic 1962 short film, La Jetee) has become a cult favorite.
Set in the year 2035, it’s the story of a prison inmate (Bruce Willis) who is “volunteered” to be sent back to the year 1996 to detect the origin of a mystery virus that wiped out 99% of humanity. Fate and circumstance land Willis in a psych ward for observation, where he meets two people who may be instrumental in helping him solve the mystery-a psychiatrist (Madeline Stowe) and a fellow mental patient (Brad Pitt, in an entertainingly demented performance).
I like the way the film plays with “reality” and perception. Is Willis really a time traveler from 2035…or is he a delusional schizophrenic living in the year 1996? I’m not telling.
28 Days Later– Director Danny Boyle’s speed freak-in-a-telephone booth style of film making has rarely been so perfectly matched with subject matter than it is in this unsettling 2002 shocker.
In a memorable opening sequence reminiscent of The Omega Man, a man (Cillian Murphy) wanders alone through the streets of a deserted metropolis (London). He finds out soon enough that he is in reality not “alone”, and that the folks he runs into are far from human (although they started that way).
The malady is a highly contagious “rage virus”; unleashed by rampaging lab monkeys that have been liberated by unsuspecting animal rights activists. Murphy bands together with others who have managed to avoid contact with the affected, and they head out of the city in desperate search of sanctuary.
Somehow, Boyle’s disparate mishmash of disease thriller, popcorn zombie chiller and “conspiracy a-go-go” coalesces. At once gross and engrossing, it is not for the squeamish.
Really? Another decade slipped by again when I wasn’t looking? This seems as good a time as any to reflect back on the 400+ first-run films I reviewed between 2010 and 2019, and share my picks for the top 10 of the past 10 years. Happy viewing! Alphabetically…
Black KkKlansman –So what
do you get if you cross Cyrano de
Bergerac with Blazing Saddles?
You might get Spike Lee’s Black
KkKlansman. That is not to say that Lee’s film is a knee-slapping comedy;
far from it. Lee takes the true story of Ron Stallworth (John David
Washington), an African-American undercover cop who managed to infiltrate the
KKK in Colorado in the early 70s and runs with it, in his inimitable fashion.
I think this is Lee’s most affecting and hard-hitting film since Do the Right Thing (1989). The screenplay (adapted by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee from Stallworth’s eponymous memoir) is equal parts biopic, docudrama, police procedural and social commentary, finding a nice balance of drama, humor and suspense. (Full review)
Blade Runner: 2049–
So many films passing themselves off as “sci-fi” these days are needlessly loud
and jarringly flash-cut. Not this one. Which is to say that Blade Runner 2049 is leisurely paced.
The story is not as deep or complex as the film makers want you to think. The
narrative is essentially a 90 minute script (by original Blade Runner co-screenwriter Hampton Fancher and Michael Green),
stretched to a 164-minute run time.
So why is it on my top 10 list? Well, for one thing, the “language” of film being two-fold (aural and visual), the visual language of Blade Runner 2049 is mesmerizing and immersive. I imagine the most burning question you have about Denis Villeneuve’s film is: “Are the ‘big’ questions that were left dangling at the end of Ridley Scott’s 1982 original answered?” Don’t ask me. I just do eyes. You may not find the answers you seek, but you may find yourself still thinking about this film long after the credit roll. (Full review)
Certified Copy – Just when you’re being lulled into thinking this is going to be one of those brainy, talky, yet pleasantly diverting romantic romps where you and your date can amuse yourselves by placing bets on “will they or won’t they-that is, if they can both shut up long enough to get down to business before the credits roll” propositions, Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami throws you a curve-ball. Then again, maybe this film isn’t so much about “thinking”, as it is about “perceiving”. Because if it’s true that a “film” is merely (if I may quote Orson Welles) “a ribbon of dreams”-then Certified Copy, like any true work of art, is simply what you perceive it to be-nothing more, nothing less. Even if it leaves you scratching your head, you get to revel in the luminosity of Juliette Binoche’s amazing performance; there’s pure poetry in every glance, every gesture. (Full review)
Computer Chess – The most original sci-fi film of 2013 proved you don’t need a $300 million budget and 3-D technology to blow people’s minds. For his retro 80s-style mockumentary, Andrew Bujalski finds verisimilitude via a vintage B&W video camera (which makes it seem as if you’re watching events unfold on a slightly fuzzy closed-circuit TV), and “documents” a tournament where nerdy computer chess programmers from all over North America assemble once a year to match algorithmic prowess. Not unlike a Christopher Guest satire, Bujalski throws idiosyncratic characters into a jar, and then steps back to watch. Just when you think you’ve got the film sussed as a gentle satirical jab at computer geek culture, things get weird…then weirder. Dig that final shot! (Full review)
The Grand Budapest Hotel– In the interest of upholding my credo to be
forthright with my readers (all three of you), I will confess that, with the
exception of his engaging 1996 directing debut, Bottle Rocket, and the fitfully amusing Rushmore, I have been somewhat immune to the charms of writer-director Wes Anderson. To me, “a Wes
Anderson film” is the cinematic equivalent to Wonder Bread…bland product,
whimsically wrapped.
At the risk of making your head explode, I now have a second confession. I kind of enjoyed The Grand Budapest Hotel. I can’t adequately explain what happened. The film is not dissimilar to Anderson’s previous work; in that it is akin to a live action cartoon, drenched in whimsy, expressed in bold primary colors, populated by quirky characters (who would never exist outside of the strange Andersonian universe they live in) caught up in a quirky narrative with quirky twists and turns (I believe the operative word here, is “quirky”). So why did I like it? I cannot really say. My conundrum (if I may paraphrase one of my favorite lines from The Producers) would be this: “Where did he go so right?” (Full review)
Love and Mercy – Paul Dano’s Oscar-worthy performance as the 1960s era Brian Wilson is a revelation, capturing the duality of a troubled genius/sweet man-child to a tee. If this were a conventional biopic, this would be “good enough” as is. But director Bill Pohlad (and screenwriters Oren Moverman and Michael A. Lerner) make this one go to “11”, by interpolating Brian’s peak period with his bleak period…the Dr. Eugene Landy years (early 80s through the early 90s). This “version” of Brian is played by John Cusack, who has rarely been better; this is a real comeback performance for him. Actually, there are no bad performances in this film, down to the smallest parts. I usually try to avoid hyperbole, but I’ll say it: This is one of the best rock’ n’ roll biopics I’ve seen in years. (Full review)
The Master – As Inspector Clouseau once ruminated, “Well you know, there are leaders…and there are followers.” At its most rudimentary level, Paul Thomas Anderson’s film is a two-character study about a leader and a follower (and metaphorically, all leaders and followers). It’s also a story about a complex surrogate father-son relationship (a recurring theme in the director’s oeuvre). And yes, there are some who feel the film is a thinly disguised take-down of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. I found it to be a thought-provoking and startlingly original examination of why human beings in general are so prone to kowtow to a burning bush, or an emperor with no clothes; a film that begs repeated viewings. One thing’s for sure- the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix deliver a pair of knockout performances. Like all of Anderson’s films, it’s audacious, sometimes baffling, but never dull. (Full review)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – “Surely (you’re thinking), a film involving the Manson Family and directed by Quentin Tarantino must feature a cathartic orgy of blood and viscera…amirite?” Sir or madam, all I can tell you is that I am unaware of any such activity or operation… nor would I be disposed to discuss such an operation if it did in fact exist, sir or madam. What I am prepared to share is this: Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt have rarely been better, Margot Robbie is radiant and angelic as Sharon Tate, and 9-year-old moppet Julia Butters nearly steals the film. Los Angeles gives a fabulous and convincing performance as 1969 Los Angeles. Oh, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is now my favorite “grown-up” Quentin Tarantino film (after Jackie Brown). (Full review)
Samsara – Whether you see Ron Fricke’s film as a deep treatise on the cyclic nature of the Omniverse, or merely as an assemblage of pretty pictures, doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. The man who gave us the similar cinematic tone poems Chronos and Baraka drops a clue early on in his latest film, as we observe a group of Buddhist monks painstakingly creating a sand mandala (it must take days). At the very end of the film, we revisit the artists, who now sit in silent contemplation of their lovely creation. This (literal) Moment of Zen turns out to be the preface to the monks’ next project-the ritualistic de-construction of the painting (which I assume must take an equal amount of time). Yes, it is a very simple metaphor for the transitory nature of beauty, life, the universe and everything. But, as they say, there’s beauty in simplicity. (Full review)
Your Name – I have sat through more than my fair share of “body swap” movies, but it’s been a while since I have experienced one as original and entertaining as Makoto Shinkai’s animated fantasy. The story concerns a teenage girl named Mitsuha, who lives in a bucolic mountain village, and a teenage boy named Taki, who resides in bustling Tokyo. They are separated by geography and blissfully unaware of each other’s existence, but they both share the heady roller coaster ride of hormone-fueled late adolescence, replete with all its attendant anxieties and insecurities. There’s something else that they share: a strange metaphysical anomaly. Or is it a dream? Sinkai’s film is a perfect blend of fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, comedy, coming-of-age tale, and old-fashioned tear-jerker (yes-I laughed, and cried). In short, it’s one of the best animes of recent years. (Full review)
“In Russia, laws are
kind of an iffy question. The strictness of Russian laws is compensated for the
lack of obligation to follow them.”
– Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Citizen K
Early on in Citizen K, Alex Gibney’s documentary about the rise, fall and
(questionable) redemption of exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an
associate of his observes “He had already decided for himself that he wouldn’t
be going anywhere, and if he were arrested, he’d do his time. He’s strange that
way.” If the film is any indication, Khodorkovsky is “strange” in more ways
than one …at the very least, a hard nut to crack.
Khodorkovsky, the first (only?)
of the “Big 7” Russian oligarchs to ever publicly bring into question the ways
and means of President Vladimir Putin’s consolidation of absolute power, did in
fact end up doing “his time”. Arrested in 2003 and accused of fraud and tax
evasion, Khodorkovsky was convicted and spent 10 years in a Siberian prison (when
you consider the fate of many of Putin’s critics, Khodorkovsky is one of the
“luckier” ones).
Not that Khodorkovsky was a
social justice warrior-or anything of the sort. In an archival Russian
television interview from the 1990s, he is asked if he is “a greedy person”.
Wearing a bit of a smirk, Khodorkovsky replies “Definitely, definitely,
definitely. I used to be less greedy, now I’m greedier. It’s a professional
trait.” This “professional trait” was shared by a number of successful practitioners
of the “gangster capitalism” that flourished in the wake of the collapse of the
former Soviet Union during the “Wild 90s”.
The newly democratic country’s
shaky plunge into capitalism created a “free for all” market, making it a
textbook study in chaos theory through the Boris Yeltsin years (he was
President from 1991 to 1999). This is the most engrossing portion of Gibney’s
film, which is a recap of how the “Big 7” oligarchs ended up controlling 50% of
the economy.
It was during the aforementioned
period that Khodorkovsky amassed his wealth, initially seeding it with
financial schemes and culminating with his highly profitable oil company,
Yukos. As the present-day Khodorkovsky recounts with false modesty, “I found a
book: ‘Commercial Banks of Capitalist Countries’ […] I said, ‘Hey, I like
this!’” See? Simple.
Khodorkovsky’s fortunes began to
turn, however once Vladimir Putin became President in 2000. It’s no secret that
Putin owed much of his initial political success to strong backing by the oligarchs,
who as one interviewee in the film observes “…were looking for a successor [to
Yeltsin] who would guarantee their safety and guarantee their wealth.”
That said, Putin cannily gleaned that
if he wanted to consolidate his power, this beautiful friendship could only
continue to flourish if one strict caveat was adhered to: the oligarchs must
stay in their lane and leave all the politics to him. In other words, feel free
to party on in your luxury yachts, but don’t rock the boat. Khodorkovsky rocked
the boat.
While the other oligarchs toed
the line, Khodorkovsky and Putin were at loggerheads from day one. When he took
office, Putin felt threatened by reports that Khodorkovsky had half of the
state Duma (the Russian assembly) in his pocket to protect his oil interests.
“Did this require MPs?” Khodorkovsky cagily responds to Gibney when he asks if this
was true, adding, “It was exactly as it happens in the United States Congress; ‘Will
you support our campaign in the next election?’” Khodorkovsky does have a
point.
Mixing excised footage from a nationally broadcast pre-taped TV special that featured President Putin, Khodorkovsky and other prominent businessmen discussing the state of the Russian economy with present-day play-by-play commentary by Khodorkovsky, Gibney cleverly reconstructs the precise “last straw” moment for a visibly angry Putin, after Khodorkovsky openly (and very boldly…considering) calls Putin out on his bullshit.
Next stop? Siberia. Well, prefacing
Siberia was a series of show trials; Gibney also covers Khodorkovsky’s 10-year
imprisonment and eventual 2013 pardon by Putin (prompted by public sentiment
turning to Khodorkovsky’s favor) The final third of the film deals with
Khodorkovsky’s current exile in London, where he has re-invented himself as a
political dissident and outspoken Putin critic. This is where it gets a bit
gray.
“I am far from an ideal person,
but I’m a person who has ideals,” Khodorkovsky offers, undoubtedly self-aware
of some healthy skepticism regarding an oligarch-turned-champion of the people.
Gibney himself seems uncertain how to position the enigmatic Khodorkovsky-is he
a sinner, or saint? Or is Khodorkovsky playing Gibney like a violin?
To his credit Gibney does ask him
directly about one those “gray areas”, which involves Khodorkovsky’s alleged involvement
(never proven) in the 1998 assassination of Vladimir Petukhov, the mayor of
Nefteyugansk (in 2015 a Russian court issued an international arrest warrant for
Khodorkovsky, officially charging him with ordering the hit). Nefteyugansk was the
Siberian town where Khodorkovsky’s oil company was headquartered at the time. Khodorkovsky
has yet to respond to the summons. However he is aware that living in London
doesn’t guarantee he is out of Putin’s reach; a number of exiled Putin critics
have suffered untimely and rather suspicious deaths in recent years.
While Khodorkovsky remains a
shadowy figure, Gibney’s film does succeed in shedding light on how the
“interesting” relationship between Putin and the oligarchy developed and how it
continues to inform Russia’s ongoing experiment with “democracy”. And considering
the “interesting” relationship that has developed between Putin and Trump, Citizen K may very well prove to be less
of a cautionary tale …and more of a bellwether.
