TRAVEL TUESDAY 258 - STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

“Stockholm is surely an urban planner's dream. Everything works. Everything looks good.” - Janine di Giovanni 

 

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Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the Nordic countries; About a million people live in the municipality, approximately 1.5 million in the urban area, and 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. The city is spread across 14 islands on the coast in the southeast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago and the Baltic Sea. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by a Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the capital of Stockholm County.

Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country's GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. It is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe's top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city's most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia.

The Stock Exchange Building (Swedish: Börshuset) is a building originally erected for the Stockholm Stock Exchange between 1773 and 1778 from construction drawings by Erik Palmstedt. The stock exchange moved out of the building completely in 1998. It is located on the north side of the square Stortorget in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, and owned by the city council. Since 1914 it has been the home of the Swedish Academy, which uses the building for its meetings, such as those at which it selects and announces the name of the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The building also houses the Nobel Museum and the Nobel Library.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #39 - STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

“Good wishes alone will not ensure peace.” - Alfred Nobel

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel!

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us! Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous city in the Nordic countries, with 925 934 people living in the municipality, approximately 1.4 million in the urban area, and 2.2 million in the metropolitan area. The city is spread across 14 islands on the coast in the southeast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago and the Baltic Sea. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by a Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the capital of Stockholm County.

Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the country’s GDP, and is among the top 10 regions in Europe by GDP per capita. It is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europe’s top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

It hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the city’s most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited non-art museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is well known for its decoration of the stations; it has been called the longest art gallery in the world. Sweden’s national football arena is located north of the city centre, in Solna. Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city.

The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Australia. Stockholm is the seat of the Government of Sweden and most government agencies, including the highest courts in the Judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Minister’s residence is adjacent at the Sager House. The Stockholm Palace is the official residence and principal workplace of the Swedish monarch, while the Drottningholm Palace, a World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Stockholm, serves as the Royal Family’s private residence.

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MUSIC SATURDAY - JOHAN HELMICH ROMAN

“Many people spend more time in planning the wedding than they do in planning the marriage.” - Zig Ziglar

Johan Helmich Roman (26 October 1694 – 20 November 1758) was a Swedish Baroque composer. He has been called “the father of Swedish music” or “the Swedish Handel”. He was the leader of Swedish Opera through most of Swedish Opera’s Age of Liberty.

Roman was born in Stockholm into the family of Johan Roman, member of the Swedish royal chapel. The family name “Roman” may be derived from the Finnish place name Rauma, since Johan’s ancestors lived in Finland. The boy probably received his first music lessons from his father. He joined the royal chapel in 1711 as violinist and oboist. Around 1715 the King granted Roman permission to study abroad, and the young composer spent some six years in London. He almost certainly studied under Johann Christoph Pepusch, met Francesco Geminiani, Giovanni Bononcini, and, most importantly, George Frideric Handel, whose music made a lasting impression on Roman.

Roman returned to Sweden in 1721. He was soon appointed deputy master of the royal chapel, and six years later he became Chief Master of the Swedish Royal Orchestra. Roman’s life during the 1720s was full of organisational activity which led to much improved standards at the chapel, and, in 1731, the first public concerts in Sweden. Roman’s only work published during his lifetime, a collection of 12 sonatas for flute, violone and harpsichord, appeared in 1727. In 1730 Roman married, but his wife died just four years later.

In 1734 the composer left Sweden to visit several European countries—Austria, England, France, Germany, and Italy. He returned to Stockholm in 1737, bringing back a wealth of music by various composers for the royal chapel to perform. In 1738 Roman married again. In 1740 he was elected a member of the newly established Royal Academy of Sciences.

Roman’s successful career took a turn for the worse in early 1740s. The composer’s greatest patron, Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden, died in late 1741. In 1742 Roman’s activity was greatly hindered by health problems. In 1744 Roman composed one of his finest works, “Drottningholm Music”: A large orchestral suite for the wedding of the Crown Prince Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Ironically, it was due to Adolf Frederick's and Louisa Ulrika's efforts that Roman’s career suffered. The new crown princess had different tastes in music, and her husband set up a very strong competing chapel. Finally, Roman's second wife Maria Elisabeth Baumgardt died in 1744, leaving the composer with five children.

In 1745 Roman retired from his post as leader of the royal chapel due to deafness, which had progressed rapidly during the previous years. He settled in the parish of Ryssby, on the estate Lilla Haraldsmåla, near the city of Kalmar in south-east Sweden. Apart from a single visit to Stockholm in 1751–52 to direct the funeral and coronation music on the accession of Adolph Frederik, Roman's last years were dedicated to translating European theoretical treatises into Swedish, and adaptation of sacred texts into Swedish language. He died at Haraldsmåla in 1758. His work has never been forgotten, for already nine years after his death the Royal Academy of Sciences held a commemorative ceremony, where Roman’s achievements were documented; copies of Roman’s works are found in manuscripts from as late as 1810.

Here is Roman’s best-known compositions, the “Drottningholm Music”, or “Music for a Royal Wedding”. It consists of a collection of 24 short pieces ranging in length from about one to six minutes. Roman wrote this music for the wedding in August 1744 of the Crown Prince Adolf Frederick of Sweden and his bride Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Their wedding took place at the palace of Drottningholm (hence the modern title). The festivities lasted four days. The pieces of the “Drottningholm Music” were apparently selected and arranged as befitted the occasion. Roman also kept eight pieces in reserve. These pieces are known as the Suite in D major, sometimes referred to as the Little Drottningholm Music, or Shorter Drottningholm Music. Both are modern terms invented by Swedish conductor and musician Claude Génetay.

MOVIE MONDAY - ÄNGLAGÅRD

“A conservative is someone who makes no changes and consults his grandmother when in doubt.” - Woodrow Wilson

We watched an old Swedish film last weekend, the 1992, Colin Nutley movie, “Änglagård” (“House of Angels”), starring Helena Bergström, Rikard Wolff, Sven Wollter, Reine Brynolfsson and Ernst Günther. This was a pleasant, entertaining and bittersweet movie that concerned itself with prejudice, small town mentality and conformity vs individuality. The film is very Swedish, even though it is directed by an Englishman and takes place in a lovely part of the Swedish countryside.

A small, conservative village in Västergötland, Sweden is turned upside-down when an elderly, lonely old man dies and his mansion with surrounding land and woods, called “House of Angels”, is inherited by his grand-daughter, Fanny, whom he had never met. Fanny a vivacious and free-spirited young woman comes to the village riding on a big black motorcycle with her best friend Zac, wearing black leather and spikes.

The village people do not welcome this unorthodox city girl, although she manages to win some over with her open, sunny nature. The local well-to-do entrepreneur and village kingpin, Axel Flogfält had expected that he would be able to buy the mansion for a good price, but now it seems that Fanny and Zac have come to stay there. The village is divided into two camps, one for and one against them…

The film is quite a lot of fun, and while the story does not break any new ground, it is a study of human nature. As Fanny gathers information provided by the townspeople about her dead mother and her grandfather, she learns more about herself. The prejudice, fear of the unknown and the different, and the small-mindedness of the Swedish village people is captured well by Nutley. Small communities the world over have similar attitudes and similar characters. The themes of forgiveness and self-knowledge subtly unfold as Fanny interacts with the people of the village, but also as she re-evaluates her relationship with Zac.

The acting is good, the direction light as befits the movie and the music well-suited to the action. The cinematography is beautiful and highlights some of the summery countryside of a lovely part of Sweden. We enjoyed seeing this light and fluffy sleeper of a movie, on a DVD which sort of fell in our lap. It is the first of a trilogy of films, the second being “Änglagård - Andra sommaren” (1994) and the third, “Änglagård - Tredje gången gillt” (2010). I can’t say we’ll actively look for the sequels, but if we come across the DVDs, no doubt we’ll watch them sometime…

MOVIE MONDAY - TAKE 10

“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” - OrsonWelles

For Movie Monday, here are ten films I’ve watched all beginning with the letter “A”. They are all notable in some way and some of them are extremely enjoyable. See what you think of my list, and if you like, construct a similar list of titles of films you’ve seen and liked beginning with the letter of your choice!

Allegro non Troppo (1976; Italy) – An enthusiastic filmmaker thinks he’s come up with a totally original idea: Animation set to classical music! When he is informed that some American named “Prisney” (or something) has already done it, he decides to do his own version, using an orchestra comprised mostly of old ladies and an animator he’s kept locked in a dungeon. Several different classical pieces are animated, while the animator plots his escape. A humorous and rather whacky take on Disney’s “Fantasia” by Bruno Bozzetto.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074121/)

America, America (1963; USA) – It is somewhere around 1900. We watch a young Greek who lives a miserable life in Turkey, selling ice in the town market. Although the Greeks are oppressed by the Turks, they refuse to leave the land of their ancestors. But, our hero has a different opinion: Sick of being humiliated in a daily basis, he decides to gather some money, and travel to Constantinoupolis. From there he will be able to fulfil his dream of “escaping” to America... A classic film by Elia Kazan.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056825/)

Angels and Demons (2009; USA) – Despite his notorious relationship with the Church, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is once again called upon to decipher the clues to a catastrophic conspiracy. The Pope has died, and before conclave can begin to determine his successor, the four preferitti (primary hopefuls for the papacy) are kidnapped. An ominous threat of their hourly demise, along with the complete annihilation of Vatican City, is issued as an elaborate revenge scheme for a persecuted group known as the Illuminati. With their meagre time limit steadily counting down, Langdon, accompanied by beautiful physicist Vittoria Vetra, must travel throughout Rome to unravel the carefully hidden signs that will lead them to a terrifying adversary, a harrowing discovery, and the shocking truth. Ron Howard’s thriller, riding on the wake of “The Da Vinci Code”.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808151/)

Anna Karenina (1935; USA) – Clarence Brown’s version of the Tolstoy classic. This version of the novel lingers longer in Moscow during the weeks that follow the initial meeting of the starstruck lovers-to-be Vronsky and Anna Karenina. The story as it unfolds, also focuses on Kitty, a young woman who is related to Anna’s sister-in-law whose marital rift has brought Anna to Moscow. Until Anna shows up, Kitty had hopes of getting Vronsky, who is single and well connected, to propose to her. Ignored by Vronsky, Kitty turns her attention to another suitor, a man who seems to have a lot in common with Tolstoy.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026071/)

Après Vous (2003; France) – Antoine is a maitre d’ in a Paris brasserie, ‘Chez Jean’, and is so very conscientious and so loves being of service to others that he can’t say ‘no’. Late for dinner with his girlfriend, Christine, he takes a shortcut home through the park but finds a stranger, Louis, in the act of committing suicide by hanging. Louis is distraught by the loss of his girlfriend, Blanche, and is so grateful that he attaches himself to Antoine. Antoine arranges a job for Louis - as a sommelier at ‘Chez Jean’ and sets about trying to repair Louis’ life... Light French comedy by Pierre Salvadori.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344604/)

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944; USA) – Mortimer Bruster is a newspaperman and author, known for his diatribes against marriage. We watch him getting married at city hall in the opening scene. Now all that is left to do is a quick trip home to tell Mortimer’s two maiden aunts the good news about the nuptials. While trying to break the news, he finds out his aunts’ hobby; killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar. It gets worse for poor Mortimer… A classic, riotous farce from Frank Capra.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/)

As it is in Heaven (2004; Sweden/Denmark) – A successful international conductor suddenly interrupts his career and returns alone to his childhood village in Norrland, in the far north of Sweden. It doesn’t take long before he is asked to come and listen to the fragment of a church choir, which practises every Thursday in the parish hall. “Just come along and give a little bit of good advice”, he is asked… He can’t say no, and from that moment, nothing in the village is the same again. The choir develops and grows. He makes both friends and enemies. And he finds love. A delightful romantic comedy from Kay Pollak.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0382330/)

Atonement (2007; UK/France/USA) – Joe Wright’s dark tale of false accusations and childish piques that change the courses of several lives. When Briony Tallis, 13 years old and an aspiring writer, sees her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner at the fountain in front of the family estate she misinterprets what is happening thus setting into motion a series of misunderstandings and a childish pique that will have lasting repercussions for all of them. Robbie is the son of a family servant toward whom the family has always been kind. They paid for his time at Cambridge and now he plans on going to medical school. After the fountain incident, Briony reads a letter intended for Cecilia and concludes that Robbie is a deviant. When her cousin Lola is raped, she tells the police that it was Robbie she saw committing the deed…
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0783233/)

Autumn in New York (2000; USA) – A May-December romance. He’s 48, on the cover of New York magazine, an upscale restauranteur, and a womaniser who rejects ideas of love. She’s 22, living with her grandmother, artistic, facing a tumour that’s life-threatening, which she tells him about the morning after their first night, when he tells her not to expect permanence from him. Will finds Charlotte unprecedented and unpredictable, and experiences feelings of love, but she packs him off when he’s casually unfaithful. He’s stung, and he’s also flummoxed by the appearance of a young woman from his past. Can he convince Charlotte to take him back, and can he help her through her illness and change his irresponsible ways? A dark chick flick from Joan Chen
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0174480/)

Avanti! (1972; USA) - Wendell (Jack Lemmon) goes to Italy to pick up his father’s body after an automobile accident. He soon finds that his self-righteous elderly father had been having an affair with Pamela’s (Juliet Mills) mother for the past 10 years. The two parents were known as the model romantic couple at the hotel contrary to the image that the two offspring had of them. Wendell and Pamela embark on a journey where they discover who their parents were, but also learn much about themselves… Billy Wilder’s fond adieu to the 1960s romantic comedy genre.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068240/)

MUSIC SATURDAY - ALL SAINTS' DAY

“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” - C. S. Lewis

All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows, Solemnity of All Saints, or Feast of All Saints is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by the Catholic Church and several Protestant denominations, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown.

The liturgical celebration begins at Vespers on the evening of 31 October and ends at the close of 1 November. It is thus the day before All Souls’ Day. Hallowmass is another term for the feast, and was used by Shakespeare in this sense. However, a few recent writers have applied this term to the three days from 31 October to 2 November inclusive, as a synonym for the triduum of Hallowtide.

In Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in Heaven. It is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. In the Catholic Church and many Anglican churches, the next day specifically commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached Heaven. Christians who celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day do so in the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the “Church triumphant”), and the living (the “Church militant”).

Other Christian traditions define, remember and respond to the saints in different ways; for example, in the Methodist Church, the word “saints” refers to all Christians and therefore, on All Saints’ Day, the Church Universal, as well as the deceased members of a local congregation, are honoured and remembered.

The image above is a detail from John August Swanson’s “The Procession”. John August Swanson (born January 11, 1938) is an American visual artist working primarily in the medium of serigraphy, as well as oil, watercolour, acrylic, mixed media, lithography, and etching. Swanson studied with Corita Kent at Immaculate Heart College. He is the recipient of a Doctor of Humane Letters degree honoris causa from California Lutheran University. He has collaborated on a number of books.

The son of a Mexican mother and a Swedish father, Swanson’s art reflects the strong narrative influences of his cultural upbringing. His works frequently depict scenes of community life, as in “Festival of Lights” (2000), “Tales of Hoffman” (2001), and “Psalm 85” (2003). Swanson’s images are optimistic and colourful, with a strongly humanistic feel. Swanson is perhaps best known for his biblical imagery. Combining the flat, stylised look of iconography with the bright palette and strong narrative sense of his background in Latin American folk art, pieces such as “Daniel” (2000), “Good Samaritan” (2002), and “Washing of the Feet” have proven popular among collectors of religious artwork around the world.

Here is Guillaume de Machaut’s “Messe de Notre Dame” sung by the Gilles Binchois Ensemble, under the direction of Dominique Vellard in the Thoronet Abbey.

MOVIE MONDAY - LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

“Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke.” - Benjamin Disraeli

We watched the 2008 Tomas Alfredson film “Let the Right One In” yesterday. This is a Swedish film based on the John Ajvide Lindqvist novel, and stars Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson and Per Ragnar. It is an unconventional vampire tale, but the vampirism is not the main theme, it’s almost incidental. There is subtle horror and tragedy, however, the film is about mainly friendship, loyalty. love and schoolyard bullying.

The film is set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982 and concerns Oskar (Hedebrant), a bullied 12-year old boy. He is quite powerless to face up to the bullies as he lacks courage, only being able to dream of revenge. He meets Eli (Leandersson), a peculiar girl who lives in the flat next door. She is really strange: She doesn’t seem to feel the bitter winter cold, can’t stand the sun, is unable to eat food and in order enter a room she must to be invited in. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realises that Eli needs to drink other people’s blood to survive he is faced with a tough choice. How much can Oskar forgive once he becomes aware that as well being repelled by Eli, he also loves her…

The young lead actors are remarkable, giving performances that are restrained, subtly nuanced and displaying perfect chemistry between them. Similarly, production values are wonderful, with excellent technical care throughout. Lighting is fantastic, the original music by Johan Soderqvist quite appropriate, and Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography is remarkable. This is not a cheap thrills horror movie, but a carefully crafted Hitchcockian tale with a tense psychological underpinning.

Although there is considerable violence in the film, it is not of the gratuitous type and one feels that it is absolutely necessary for the telling of the tale. The use of children to convey the gristliness of the tale is quite a masterstroke and one is reminded constantly of how cruel childhood can be. But there is also the yearning for friendship and acceptance and love that children (as well as adults!) need. The film is quite masterful cinematically, and thematically one almost rues the fact that a vampire has to be involved in the story – it somehow cheapens it, and yet it absolves the heroine in a wayward manner.

The film begs comparison with other vampire tales and movies. However, it would be doing it an injustice to be compared with the likes of the popular and quite dreadful “Twilight” series or the old and now rather caricature-like Hammer horror battle-axes. The 2010 remake “Let me In” by Matt Reeves is the one film that one should compare it with, however, I have not seen this one. If one gives credit to IMDB scores, the original Swedish film is scored at 8.0, while the remake is scored at 7.2. Perhaps I shall have a look at the new version in a few months time…

Do have a look at the original Swedish version, it is quite good and represents excellent film-making, although it is slow and it does deal with a strange mixture of themes and myths. It goes to show, I guess, that one can make an engaging and wonderful film about anything at all. Rather like Mozart setting his laundry list to exquisite music.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

“Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged.” - Samuel Johnson

We watched the third and final part of the Millennium Trilogy, comprising three movies based on the Stieg Larsson novels. This was the 2009 Daniel Alfredson film, “The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”. This was a long film, running at just under 150 minutes and having relatively less action and less nail-biting sequences than the previous two (see my reviews: “The Girl who Played with Fire” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”). This film was taken at more relaxed pace and there was a lot more explaining and tying up of loose ends that had been left dangling from the previous two movies.

The same cast makes its return and the level of acting and production were good, although I must say that I was a little disappointed with the quality of the image in several scenes here and there (we were watching a BluRay disc). The film is a worthy conclusion to this trilogy, however, and to get the full effect one must watch the three movies in rapid succession, possibly over three nights. I don’t think I could bear to watch all of them on the same day! They are tough going, quite violent and confronting films. However, they are all closely tied to one another and one must watch them in close sequence to truly understand what is going on.

The plot picks up where the previous film left off: Lisbeth has been shot in the head and while being treated in hospital, she is under close supervision. As she recovers, She is set to face trial for attempted murder. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Lisbeth must prove her innocence and sanity. Powerful political enemies, conspirators on a governmental level, spies as well as Lisbeth’s ghosts from her own tormented past, surface and threaten not only Lisbeth’s life but also that of her friends.

One needs to concentrate when watching this film as the explanations of what motivated Libeth’s adversaries are convoluted and not always stated obviously (so could be missed!). The critics disliked this movie and they compared it unfavourably with what they considered was the best of the three films, the first one. However, I found this movie a worthy conclusion to the trilogy and once we started watching it, we were hooked. The courtroom drama that takes place in the latter half of the movie is extremely well done and one cannot help but become involved with Lisbeth who has been very much the victim of such a huge conspiracy, as well as suffering abuse from a number of perverted individuals.

Watching this series of films one cannot but be overawed by the brutality of one human against another, especially the crimes committed by the powerful on the powerless. The catastrophic consequences of such monstrous actions on the lives of those affected by such treatments are explored by Larsson and through his clinical exposé of society’s indifference to many such crimes and criminals, he rings alarm bells wishing to rouse us from our apathy. By superimposing one terrible act upon another, a violent image after another, one atrocity followed by a worse one, he challenges our detachment as observers and encourages our basic humanity, urging us to react and become personally involved. These terrible acts must be prevented from occurring by active intervention, just of the kind that Lisbeth’s champion Mikael engages in.

Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth was perfect casting for the role and by far the best actress in all three films. She brought the character of a damaged woman to life and we could feel her pain as we came to understand how deeply the scars of the damage had disrupted her whole consciousness. Although she looked fearsome and feral –someone you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley, she was also vulnerable and her suffering was palpable in many scenes. This diamond hard exterior hiding a gooey soft internal world was amazingly well-portrayed.  A fine actress indeed! The remainder of the cast does an excellent job also, but these are Noomi’s films.

The whole trilogy is gritty, horrific, violent, realistic (unfortunately!) and extremely challenging. These are not films to watch and be entertained by, to pass the time with, but rather they are there to make us think and to challenge the status quo of our politics, our social and cultural norms, our values and personal responsibilities. Well worth investing the time in watching all three of these!

MAMMOTH - MOVIE MONDAY

“Parenthood remains the greatest single preserve of the amateur.” -  Alvin Toffler

At the weekend we watched the 2009 Lukas Moodysson film “Mammoth”. It starred Gael García Bernal, Michelle Williams and Marife Necesito, although there were some good supporting performances, especially so from the three children, Sophie Nyweide, Jan David G. Nicdao and Martin de los Santos. Moodysson wrote the screenplay as well as directing the movie, so he is responsible to a very large extent for this overly long (125 minute - and often tediously didactic) movie.  Don’t get me wrong, the premise of the movie was promising and should have made a very good movie, however, cinematically this is dull and pompous filmic fare.

The plot revolves the idea of parenthood and what makes a good parent. The subplot is affluence in the decadent West contrasted with poverty in the developing East. Leo (Bernal) and Ellen (Williams) are a successful New York couple, he a web wiz, she a surgeon. They have a daughter, Jackie (Nyweide), who is being raised by Gloria, their Filipina nanny (Necesito). Gloria has two children back in the Philippines, Salvador (Nicdao) and Manuel (Santos), who are being looked after by her mother and brother. Gloria sends money to them so they can build a house and live a better life. When Leo goes to Thailand on business, he has a revelation and wants to change his life. Meanwhile, Ellen experiences a revelation of her own when she realises that Gloria has become the de facto mother of Jackie. When tragedy strikes back in the Philippines, Gloria rushes off and abandons both Ellen and Jackie to each other. Just in time for Leo to return, and attempt to salvage their lives, suitably chastened from his experiences in Thailand.

This film preaches; quietly, but preaches nevertheless. It does so heavy-handedly, although only wielding a feather. It is slow and cinematically flawed, but one is immediately aware of the point it wants to make. There are no surprises, no overwhelming climax and the sheer predictability of the ending wearies the viewer. We discussed the film in detail after seeing it and our attitudes were ambivalent. Yes, the film deals with important topics such as the social inequality between rich nations and poor ones, the different types of parents that there are: The good, the bad and the indifferent, and also the way that we each prioritise our lives. However, other films have said it more eloquently and poignantly. Other directors have tied everything together much more cinematically and the viewer was kept interested and engaged.

A comparison begs to be made with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2006 “Babel”, in which Bernal also played with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. This was a tighter, more rapidly moving film that tackled similar themes much more effectively. The direction is masterly and the interlocking stories that reveal the common thread that ties families together makes a much better film.

“Mammoth” tries to be ‘great’ and is just mediocre. The actors do a good enough job but their performances are laboured. I had great difficulty with Bernal who was quite unconvincing in his role. Williams was more believable but could not do much with what she was given. Necesito played in a restrained fashion and with dignity in what perhaps was the best performance of the three.

The “Mammoth” of the title refers to a mammoth ivory inlaid pen that Leo is given as a gift by his colleague. It costs $3,000 but its value is nil, as we are shown at the end. This is a movie to watch with caution. If I had to choose between “Mammoth” and “Babel” I would overwhelmingly choose the latter. Watch “Mammoth” if you have heaps of time and patience and forbearance.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

“We have rudiments of reverence for the human body, but we consider as nothing the rape of the human mind.” - Eric Hoffer

Last Saturday we watched the second of the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy, director Daniel Alfredson’s 2009 movie of “The Girl who Played with Fire”. We had already watched the raw and powerful first film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and when this second movie appeared on the video shop shelves we were keen to watch it also. The Swedes have a tradition in movie making, internationalised and widely applauded through the work of Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007). There is also a rich tradition in literature, with August Strindberg (1849-1912), Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940), Hjalmar Bergman (1883-1931) and Pär Lagervist (1891-1974) being some of the shining lights. The success of the Millennium Trilogy as books and then as films therefore, is no surprise.

The books of Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) may not be of Nobel Prize standard (as represented by the Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1909, Selma Lagerlöf, for example) but they have been very popular and if nothing else are extremely powerful documents against violence towards women. Larsson, was disgusted by sexual violence this being because he witnessed the gang rape of a young girl when he was 15. He never forgave himself for failing to help the girl, whose name was Lisbeth – like the young heroine of his books, herself a rape victim. These books are written as testament to the real Lisbeth’s ordeal and as Larsson’s redemption for his weakness or cowardice.

The story picks up straight after the end of the first film in the series, when Lisbeth Salander returns to Sweden after spending a year abroad. She calls on her court-appointed guardian to remind him of his promise to submit satisfactory reports on her behaviour. Mikael Blomkvist continues as an editor of Millennium magazine and the journalists there are onto a major story about prostitution and trafficking of women from Eastern Europe. When the investigative journalist and his girlfriend working on that story are brutally killed, the police announce that Lisbeth is their prime suspect. Lisbeth and Mikael work independently trying to find out who is really behind the murders. They not only learn the identity of the culprits but also some of Lisbeth’s own family secrets.

I think we enjoyed the first movie better, although this one also had quite a lot of action and surprises. It did give the feeling, however, of repetitiveness and wasn’t quite as engaging as the previous movie. There were quite a few bridging flashback sequences from the previous movie and overall I felt that this second I the series was a weaker one than the first. Nevertheless, we watched it with interest and we were entertained, although once again there was much violence and bloodshed (although not as confronting as in the first movie – maybe it’s a bad sign: Are we getting immune to it all?).

Overall, a good film with plenty of incident, action, memorable characters. Mikael Spreitz makes a formidable villain and both Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace do an excellent job of playing the main characters, Mikael and Lisbeth. The cinematography, music and editing are of good standard and the film flows well. Recommended, but if given a choice I would go for the first installment, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. See my review of this movie here.

MOVIE MONDAY - THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

We watched the 2009 Niels Arden Oplev movie “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” at the weekend. The film is from Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name, and part one of the “Milennium Trilogy”. I haven’t read the book and I am always a little reluctant to see a movie before I read a book, especially in the case where the book is a best seller and there has been so much publicity surrounding both book and movie. However, as I don’t have time at the moment to read the book and seeing that that the movie was on special at our DVD store, it was to be an exception to the rule. To this end, this is a film review and not a book review.

First, this is Swedish film and hence subtitled. I love subtitles, but realise there are many people out there who hate them with a passion. I often find that I have to watch even English-speaking film with subtitles nowadays, as the diction and accents are so bad and the sound effects and/or music so loud, that trying to make sense of what everyone is saying is an effort. In fact I always ensure that there are subtitles with all DVDs we buy. We are rather spoilt that way now with DVDs…

Swedish films of course have a great legacy – all I need to mention is the magic name Ingmar Bergman – and all new Swedish films have a certain yardstick with which one measures them. Having said that, let’s forget all about it! This is no Bergman movie, although it is a very good movie. Bergman’s films were about relationships and emotions, human nature and character, with little action and yet curiously absorbing and riveting. “The Girl…” is an action-packed thriller, violent and raw. It explores the dark beastliness of ugly humans and lays bare cruelty, madness, brutality, sadism, perversion, ruthlessness and lack of basic humanity. This is not a film for the squeamish and explores those black parts of the human soul that most of us hunt for within us in order to eradicate. But, as one of the characters says in the film: “Everyone has secrets…”

The story (and I won’t spoil it for you) centres around Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative reporter for a current affairs magazine, who is convicted for libel after being framed. As he is waiting to serve his sentence he is approached by the elderly Henrik Vanger, of the filthy rich Vanger clan. Henrik wants Mikael to investigate the murder of his young niece, Harriet, a crime that happened 40 years previously. The reluctant Mikael accepts and just when he thinks the task is impossible, given the tight-knit protectiveness of the inimical Vanger clan and the length of time that has elapsed from the crime, he gets a cryptic email that presents to him the first clue towards finding out the truth. The email is from Lisbeth Salander, a troubled young woman (yes, she has a dramatic dragon tattoo on her back) who makes a living as a computer hacker/private investigator with no scruples, it seems. The two are brought together and begin to uncover the dark secrets of the Vangers.

The film is directed impeccably by Niels Arden Oplev, and gentleness is superimposed with violence, cruel rapes contrasted with scenes of immense tenderness, passion with stirrings of love. The actors are all excellent and the cinematography wonderful. Top marks go to the starring duo of excellent actors, Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace who play Mikael and Lisbeth, respectively. The music by Jacob Groth supportive and appropriate, never intrusive. We enjoyed the film, although it was a full 152 minutes long (the Swedish version is three-hours long). It is an excellent thriller, although replete with violence and images that shock and disturb. I recommend it to adult viewers who are not shocked by violence and confronting themes.

Now, will read the book? Probably not! However, I look forward to watching the other two parts of the trilogy: “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl Who kicked the Hornets’ Nest”.