Django Unchained

  



   I found myself an unexpected Quentin Tarantino fan with his Inglourious Basterds (2009). It was gory, violent and hard-hitting but absolutely terrific. I was able to appreciate the ways Tarantino plays with you as a spectator and what you have come to expect from movies. He drags out dialogue, shows you things in close-up that are not necessarily relevant or important to the movie as a whole and portrays characters with such depth that you find yourself admiring even the bad guy. I approached Django Unchained with the feeling that even if I shut my eyes at the goriest bits I would still be able to appreciate Tarantino's artistry and mastery as a director.

   The opening of Django gives an excellent introduction to Jamie Foxx's character Django as we embark with him and his fellow slaves on a journey to be purchased by rich white slave owners. We don't just get suggestions of how long and difficult a journey they were forced to undertake, but we are thrust into every part of this tiresome treck. We see the men's aching, cracked and bloodied feet, see the sweat pour down their whip-scarred backs, are given close-ups of their calloused ankles ripped by the heavy shackles. We encounter their relationship with white slave owners, and witness the maltreatment, abuse and disrespect that they receive. The opening sets the film up incredibly well wtih cool music, cool scenery and poignant images, giving the impression that this film is going to offer something cool and different.

   But unfortunately, when we are introduced to some of the dialogue, the film suddenly seems a bit sluggish. The biggest piece of dialogue that we are first introduced to is from Christoph Waltz's Dr. King Schultz. This is a man who I much admired in Inglourious Basterds, his Hans Landa was chilling, unnerving, violent and funny, a complex character upon whose every word you hang in nervous suspense. In Django, though, his dialogue is long and convoluted and even a little indulgent. It is nice to see him play the good guy for a change, but I can't help but feel that his complexity of character is wasted on the good. Or perhaps simply that Tarantino has written an extremely complex dialogue for a good guy, without giving much of his history away. All we know is that he is a good guy who makes his money by killing bad guys. How complex can a good guy really be? Despite this, thanks to Waltz's natural charm, he still remains hugely likable throughout the film.

   The relationship between Schultz and Django is one of the highlights of the film. It is in parts funny, emotional and powerful, and the training montage in the snow is the best scene in the film. At this point in the film the story has been in turns emotional and entertaining. Tarantino juxtaposes the hilarity and utter ridiculousness of the Ku Klux Klan, who's masks have been hand-sewn by their wives and pose great difficulty to their vision, with moments of real seriousness. Beneath the satirical humour is a real judgement about the KKK and all the powerful white men who thought themselves superior. Here they appear belittled and ridiculed, but still capable of perpetrating great violence. This hilarity is also sandwiched between moments of real heartache and harrowing viewing, such as the whipping and abuse of Django's wife Broomhilda, played by Kerry Washington. Tarantino invites you to laugh at these stuffy white men and their silly masks, but at the same time constantly reminds you of the terrible deeds that are committed at their hands.

   Despite the graphic violence, the film is essentially a beautiful love story, like something out of a German fairytale, as Django embarks on a mission to rescue his beloved wife Broomhilda from slavery. The journey sees him assume the role of Schultz's Mandingo adviser who surveys fighters and judges which will be the strongest and most likely to win a fight. This is where we meet Leonardo DiCaprio's Calvin Candie of the Candyland estate, a man who makes his living hosting Mandingo fights and buying and selling Mandingo fighters. And he also happens to own Django's wife as a slave.

   As always, DiCaprio is a wonderful character actor, imbuing Candie with a malice teetering on the edge of an otherwise friendly outward appearance. A man who is fiercly intelligent when it comes to business but whose ego and weakness for flattery renders him a little naive. He isn't the sharpest tool in the box but he could sure as hell kill you with a blunt one anyway.

   DiCaprio's otherwise brilliant portrayal of Candie is hugely undermined by Samuel L. Jackson's Stephen, Candie's long-serving and senior slave. His character serves as the comical respite in the otherwise tense and foreboding relationship between Candie and Django, but at times he was simply overbearing and quite simply not funny. DiCaprio's intensely complex performance was always underpinned by an unnecessarily stereotypical sassy diva remark from Stephen. Everything was followed by a "mhmm", "daym right" that I wouldn't have been suprised to hear a "oh no he didn't" thrown in there as well. I understand that Tarantino probably did this as a deliberate method of usurping what you have come to expect from movies and adding humour where it doesn't normally seem appropriate. This stops you from falling so deeply into DiCaprio's performance, constantly jerks you out of the make-believe of the story and keeps you focussed on the morale of the film as a whole. Nevertheless it was frustrating and did an injustice to the emotion of this scene.

   As this part of the film follows through, of course we know that the rescue mission going smoothly is too good to be true and there's going to be a show-down between Django and Candie. If the film had been brought to a conclusion in this scene I might have been more favourable of it. But Tarantino would not let you think it was over that easily. Instead we essentially watch the whole plot of the film again in the last half hour, by which time you care far less if Django manages to free his wife or seek revenge on those who have hurt him most.

   The film reaches its peak very early on and drags from there on in.  Overall the film just doesn't quite hit the mark. Other than the luxurious and catchy Django song in the opening sequence, the music is disappointing; the dialogue is cluttered and fussy; the film a half hour too long and just a little too much slapstick flying guts. However, there are some brilliant performances, from Foxx and DiCaprio especially, as well as from Kerry Washington, and Waltz is as charming and watchable as ever despite being loaded with such lengthy dialogue. Foxx is one cool guy, and that is one constant throughout the film. DiCaprio's performance at the dinner table when he cuts his own hand is one of the most intense I have ever seen, as he literally trembles with anger, pumped up with such adrenaline that he doesn't even feel the pain. He leaves you frightened and unsure of what evil he might be capable of.The film has its moments, and it treats slavery with such integrity that it is refreshing when most movies would rather brush over the grittier details of what really happened behind the grand doors of the white landowners estates. It makes a lot of social and moral comments, and at the very base is actually a rather sweet love story, but there's just something that isn't engaging enough to make it an instant classic.

Les Miserables

The Beautiful Misery of Les Miserables

   Les Miserables begins with the powerful image of a ship being wrenched into its concrete port by hundreds of overworked and desperate prisoners using nothing but their bare hands, brute strength and yards of coarse rope. The prisoners heave and ho, battered by sea water, belting out the deep and chilling notes of "Look Down" in angry unison. This opening scene is one of the most impacting of any movie, instantly setting the mood and the theme of struggle, providing a gloomy prophesy of the trials and tribulations that are still to come.

   The music of the stage version of Les Miserables has always been one of it's strongest and most powerful assets, and this filmic adaptation does not disappoint. One of the aspects of a movie musical that audiences can often find frustrating is the uneasy transition from spoken dialogue to the characters bursting into song. For some, on stage it just works, a shared live experience between the audience and the performer. On stage it seems spontaneous and heartfelt, while on film it can often come across a little jarring and contrived. This is something that director Tom Hooper attempts to address in this version of Les Miserables, as the actors provide us with a live rendition of their songs. The songs have not been pre-recorded in a studio for the actor to mime to, but recorded live on set. What the songs might lose in pitch-perfection and faultless singing they more than make up for in raw emotion. The singing is heartfelt and is an incredible outlet of the pent up miseries and frustrations of the characters. The songs include every croak, every tear-strained note, every pause for breath and passion of the actor. While it might make for a less-enjoyable soundtrack to listen to on your CD player or iPod, it produces an utterly gut-wrenching experience for the spectator.

   This is felt none more so than during Anne Hathaway's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream". This was not about judging whether Hathaway could do justice to such an iconic song, but instead being completely and utterly lost in her performance. Hathaway's Fantine stirs up emotions far deeper than anything I have ever experienced before. She made me more than just a bit weepy, she made me downright hysterical, calling forth emotions that seemed to come from the very depths of my soul. You didn't just sympathise with Fantine, you simply ached for her and the pain she suffered.

   A further way in which Hooper attempts to redress the sometmes jarring combination of dialogue and singing in movie musicals was the decision to have the dialogue entirely sung by all the characters. Each line was delivered in spoken song which was interesting, if divisive. On the one hand it helped form the film into one coherent melody that continuously underpinned the action without seeming cheesy. It took a while to adjust to this convention, but over time it felt more natural and the songs led themselves more naturally to the story. However it also had the negative effect of causing the songs to lose their impact. With one song blending into the next, the overall impact of songs like "Bring Him Home" and "On My Own" was slightly reduced and left me craving spoken dialogue and relishing the few spoken words the film did contain.

   Despite this, every single word was uttered with such integrity that it was impossible not to feel deeply for all the characters involved. This is not a happy movie. The setting of Les Miserables is bleak, the divide between rich and poor is extreme and the people of France strictly governed by a merciless military. The movie depicts the grim reality of French civilian life as the streets are infested with poor families riddled with lepracy, malnourished and angry, huddled in dirty streets full of crime and prostitution. The people lament that at the end of the day you are just another day older, sinking into an apathy of miserable acceptance. You can understand why these people believe there is such little hope for them, frightened as they are into submission by the military. However, a small band of revolutionists are forming who will attempt to overthrow the government. Although some support the revolution, many are fearful of the repurcussions. This is perfectly exemplified in the movie through the tragic moments of warfare between the goverment and revolutionists when the people shut their doors and windows to the frantic rebels, refusing to offer shelter lest they be punished for aiding this valiant yet doomed revolution.

   Nevertheless, the band of young revolutionists fronted brilliantly by Eddie Redmayne and Aaron Tveit as Marius and Enjolras, are so passionate and valiant that you cannot help but hope for their victory despite the odds stacked against them. They are outnumbered and under-armed, but remain stoic and brave and determined to stay true to their fight for justice. Towards the end of the movie as this group confront their fate, the image of the rebels trapped into a corner in the room they once used to voice their liberal ideals and freedoms is nothing short of heart-breaking. The men resign themselves to their fate, remaining brave and loyal to the bitter end despite the doomed certainty of their fate.

   One of the most incongruous aspects of the film is how vast and yet how limited the locations of the film feel. On one hand we see a vast concrete expanse where the convicts heave the warship into port; a towering precipice where Russel Crowe stands and looks out upon a wonderfully dark and Gothic Paris skyline and the huge sanctuary where Hugh Jackman's Valjean takes refuge. Yet on the other the set feels tiny and stage-like, such as the small corner where the rebels have barricaded themselves that has the theatrical dimensions of a set-piece and the look of a painted back-drop. There are surely many arguments for this staging convention but upon first viewing is slightly disorientating and breaks up the immersive flow of the film.

   Another lower point in the film is the rendition of Master of the House. With no disrespect to Helena Bohnam-Carter and Sascha Baron Cohen's performances, which are both highly entertaining and a welcome distraction from the misery of the other songs, I cannot help but feel that I have watched them play these characters in this situation before in Tim Burton's Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

   Despite this, I always judge a good film on its power to play on your mind even days after first viewing it. This film did exactly that. The songs were powerful and the story and performances so emotional that you cannot help but question how you would feel if it was you or your brother, your son, your father, your mother, your child in this situation. It produced in me a feeling of despair that seem to come from the very depths of my heart. Empty Chairs At Empty Tables was my highlight of the film, exemplifying the fleetingness of life; how quickly all the passions of those young men who fought for justice have been wiped away; the importance of seizing life and happiness while we can, and remaining hopeful that at the end of the day life is more than just another day over. 

   Emotional from start to finish, not faultless, but gut-wrenching and haunting and the beginning of a new era in movie musicals.

The Relay on the Road: A history within reach?

Little did I know that when my dad asked if I would take a stall for my jewellery at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston in aid of the Motability "Under One Roof" exhibition that I would find so much reference to the Olympics and especially the Torch Relay.

I went with my dad to work to help him set up the hall. When we first arrived the hall was a vast, cold empty space with nothing but a few cables and fire extinguishers. Then the various cars began to arrive for the Motability motor show, from BMW to
Nissan, Volkswagen and Alfa Romeo. The cars were then carefully arranged in almost regimental fashion and polished and shined up to perfection. Upon closer inspection (and admiration) of the cars I noticed that the BMW cars all sported a cardboard Olympic Torch (an official one) and a sign that promoted the arrival of the Torch at the Eastern Motor Company in Edinburgh on Saturday the 9th of June, where visitors would be able to get their pictures with the Torch and autographs from various athletes as well. The blurb on the other side of these advertisements read that the Torch would provide "History within Reach". Without sounding brainwashed from corporate advertising, I happen to think this slogan just about sums up what the Torch Relay might provide for local communities, but also the reasons why people might find it a little limited. The Torch Relay is making history, a once in a lifetime opportunity for people to see the Torch pass through the very streets, villages, shops and offices where they live and work on a daily basis. A chance to stand on the same pavements they stand every day of their lives to see the historic torch pass through, carried by someone specially selected to represent their area. But history within reach also suggests that it is just that: reachable, but not touchable. So we can go out and stand behind our gates and be kept back by authorities and we can watch the Torch pass us by, we can take pictures of it and remember it forever through the lens of a camera, but a quick glimpse is really about all we will ever get to reaching it. We can reach but we can't touch. Unless of course we were lucky enough to carry it. Or rich enough to buy it on Ebay!

I also randomly got to see the limited edition London 2012 Mini, which on first inspection I thought was a really sweet and subtle nod to the year of the Union Jack. The car is a gorgeous Royal blue, with a red, white and blue strip down the front left hand side of the bonnet, the interior is leather with a red, white and blue strip around the head rests, and the most stunning part of all is the London skyline on the front of the glove compartment. What better symbol of London than the Mini? And here's a specially made London edition of the Mini, it can't get much more London than that! And then I saw that it was only £49 for a deposit on the car. So here's a specially designed limited edition Mini and it is a little bit cheaper than all the rest! Then I saw the roof top of the car. And emblazoned on the top is a huge London 2012 official Olympic symbol and suddenly the cheaper car begins to make sense.

 It seems to me that if you ever wanted a physical answer to the question of how big and lasting an impact will the London Olympic games have on Great Britain, then here it is. How long, really, would you want to drive about in a car with a huge Olympic logo on the top? It was a really sweet car until I saw the logo. I'm not against the logo, I don't have issues with it, but this car looked like it belonged on the road, driving behind the Relay, a sponsored car for this special event, not something you would ever want to own, nor be able to drive on the roads without a little bit of embarassment. It would probably last the two weeks the Games are on and then you would want to either sell it or hide it in your garage in the hope that it might be worth something more some day. Unless of course you could get the logo removed and it would be a really cool London Mini, but then that might just defeat the point of it being an official Olympic car...

My mum and I then went about setting up our stall (what I was actually there to do), talking to the visitors, chatting about the motor show. Some time passed and then my dad notifies me that there will be a Team GB althlete making her way to the motor show shortly. And I can't really believe my luck! Here I am randomly at an event that I didn't expect to have much connection with the Olympics and I am inundated with Olympic references and now I might just get the chance to speak to an athlete! I thought this would be great material for the #CitizenRelay project.

One of the organisers of the event, a lovely lady called Fiona, even introduces me to Lynsey Sharp, Team GB middle distance runner, and I pluck up the courage to ask if she wouldn't mind doing a quick interview with me. So I spend five or so minutes thinking up some questions then we go and have a chat about her involvment in the Torch Relay, the pressures of the Games being on home turf, the lasting impact of the games and if it encourages fitness and better sport facilities for the people of Scotland.

Lynsey was very lovely to talk to and extremely helpful with her answers, and I can only wish her all the best of luck for the future! If you would like to know a little bit more information about her then you should check out this website http://www.inthewinningzone.com/wz/Magazine/September-2008---Paralympic-Special/Committed-to-Excellence/349/

Lynsey has shown extremely inspirational dedication to her sport, and there is no better example of this than the fact that she has been training in an old railway tunnel in Edinburgh because, as she says in her interview with the Daily Record:


“I hate running on the treadmill and didn’t want to risk injury on the icy pavements.
“My mum remembered an old railway tunnel near Edinburgh’s Commonwealth swimming pool from her training days and we went to see if it was still there.
“It was, and it has been my alternative racing track since. It’s dark, dingy and smelly, but it’s nearly 700m long and protects me from all types of weather.”
(http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2012/01/01/scots-sprinter-goes-underground-to-chase-her-olympic-dream-86908-23672476/)

What better legacy then could the London 2012 games leave than to have the opportunity to provide better training facilities for up and coming athletes like Lynsey to perform to their full potential without having to train in this environment. Although this kind of environment proves that Lynsey is tough and dedicated to her sport, perhaps the London Games and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 will help to provide facilities at a more professional level for athletes who aim high toward their Olympic dream. As Lynsey mentions in our interview, there have already been examples of this with the completion of the reopening of an athletics pool in Glasgow in time for the Commonwealth Games. And perhaps this Olympic pool will allow new generations of athletes to train in much better facilities and perhaps even perform even better in future professional games. This is something that is very much a promotional tool for the London 2012 games, with much of the building work for the London games claiming to be "with legacy in mind" http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2012/01/01/scots-sprinter-goes-underground-to-chase-her-olympic-dream-86908-23672476/. This is all fantastic to imagine but the age-old saying "only time will tell" is extremely applicable here, and will be something interesting to watch unfold (and possibly even report on in the future!).  

What a random day it was for me, I didn't expect to get any #CitizenRelay content at all but there I was with an interview with an athlete and lots of photographs to take with me! It also makes me really glad to have undertaken this project because it just goes to show that you can report from anywhere, at any time, using such little equipment as a pen and paper and a decent smart phone! You don't have to have the full package of fancy cameras and recording equipment, and you don't need to have a connection with a big media organisation like the BBC to be able to talk to people and report on your findings. If you would like to follow more community relay stories then follow #CitizenRelay on Twitter for up to the minute stories and photographs of the Relay!

Putting the United in United Kingdom?

The Olympic Torch has officially begun its journey around the United Kingdom in the build up for the 2012 London Games in July. Apparently the atmosphere in London is something close to electric as people begin their double celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee on June the Fourth, and in preparation for the Games. But what about the rest of the United Kingdom? Is there a buzz in the air for people in Scotland about the Olympics? Is the Torch Relay generating excitement here? Is it helping to keep the 'United' in United Kingdom? Well, operating as a #CitizenRelay reporter, I asked a couple of locals from the Falkirk area what they felt about the Torch Relay and the Olympics as a whole:

As you can tell from these responses, there is a feeling amongst people in Scotland that there isn't really much to do here for the Olympics, other than the Relay going past a few places, and that the London Olympics are very much just that, London's Olympics. And this opinion is entirely justified, if you don't feel that you are involved, and if you aren't much interested in sports, then why should you get excited about it? And these are some of the reasons why some people decide that they aren't interested in doing anything for the Relay themselves.

But I happen to have a slightly different view point to this, which can of course be disputed too. One of the biggest factors that has drawn me to this project is the idea of community, and getting the chance to chat to people in my local area about their views on the Olympics. I know it is understandable that if you haven't been actively engaging with the Relay as I have, then you might be tempted to think that there isn't really much for us to do here to celebrate the Olympics. But aside from the torch passing through every living room in every home in Scotland, the Relay couldn't really do much more than it is already doing, surely?

To me, the definition of community means a group of local people coming together in unison in support of a particular idea, argument or event. And that's exactly the way I feel about the Relay. Surely as a community coming together to share this historic event, we don't need official organisers to help us do this. We don't need someone to say "At 12:15 on the 13th of June such and such a street and such and such a street will have an Olympics party at such and such place." That's just insulting to us anyway. If the community want to feel a part of it then they can make themselves a part of it. If we don't feel like they are bothering about us then let's make them bother about us. If you are interested in celebrating the Olympics then why not have a street party? Or a BBQ? A dinner party? An Olympics themed quiz night with friends?

The thing we are all most excited about is the fact that this is something that will probably never happen again in our lifetimes. When will the Torch ever pass through my neighbourhood again? Chances are, never. So instead of feeling unincluded, let's make ourselves included. When your Grandkids say "What did you do when the Torch came past your street all those years ago?" do you want to say "Oh, nothing, there was nothing happening for us in Scotland". Or would you rather say "Well, actually, we had an Olympics party and we all got together and watched the torch coming past our street and had an Olympic themed day at work..." Even if you don't much like sport, the Olympics are about countries coming together bringing their best athletes to compete in a competition that celebrates our strengths, hard work and talents, not only in athletics but in many other areas too, such as architecture, art, tourism and schools. So if you want to feel a part of that then make your own celebrations!

However, from my own observations I will say that the community projects that are organised by officials are very geared towards the younger generation. And of course this is important because if it teaches kids about fitness and encourages them to get active then that can only be a good thing for a future healthier Scotland. Recently I acted as an official witness for Big Dance 2012, a series of organised events across the UK to celebrate the diversity of dance, in hundreds of different places such as schools, high streets and parks. This is all part of London2012 Festival, which is the culmination of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

http://www.bigdance2012.com/

The particular event I attended was at a local primary school where pupils from Primary 1 to 7 joined schools across the UK to participate in a danceathon using various Olympic themed dances, such as swimming, running and cycling, in order to beat the Guinness World Record for most dancers dancing at the one time! The pupils in the school I visited were extremely excited as their normal Physical Education classes had been taken over by learning these dance routines for the record for the past few weeks. And as if they weren't all hyper enough, as soon as it was announced that someone from the Falkirk Herald had come to take their photograph, they went absolutely beserk! And this was the moment that touched me the most, and made me forget about all the economic arguments about the Olympics and worrying about how involved Scotland feels. It made these kids' day to know that what they were doing was important enough to be in the Falkirk Herald! It made them feel special and significant and super excited! Somebody cared what they were doing enough to take their picture! And maybe there are things in the bigger picture to think about, but for that one minute this little community felt like someone cared about them, and to me, if the Relay makes even just one person from one little community feel special then it can't be such a bad thing to want to get involved!

I do agree though with much of what my interviewees said about the lasting impact of the games. Whilst it is encouraging that an ethos of fitness and healthy lifestyle is being generated by excitement surrounding the games, how long might this last? Will we indeed just think about the next Olympics as soon as this one is over? What will happen to the stadiums? Is it wrong to think about the end before it has even begun?

My First Blog

Hello hello

So, I have finally gotten around to starting up my own Blog. I have been encouraged to do this for some time now but have always felt "why me?" what have I got to say that is so great?

I am a recent University graduate trying to make a path for myself in the arts industry during a double-dip recession? What's with that? Who's idea was that? Oh yeah hang on...

So after being basically unemployed for the past while, offering my services on a voluntary basis hoping to get some form of experience, I stumbled upon an opportunity to do some citizen reporting for the Olympic Torch relay around Scotland.

Working through media organisation #CitizenRelay, I want to hear about the Olympic Games from the voices of the community. My quest is to find out what local communities have planned for the torch relay as it makes its historic journey through Scotland. I want to know how involved people in Scotland feel toward the Olympic Games?

Basically I want to hear the communities' voices telling me what the Olympics means to them, and in turn might just find out what it means to me.

Here's me holding the Olympic Torch last year. Very exciting moment!

So thanks for reading my very first blog. I might realise eventually that I was right, I don't have anything worthwhile to say. But I'm going to give it a good go anyway.