‘Bugonia‘ is apparently a relatively ‘light’ film in Yorgos Lanthimos‘ filmography. It’s a remake of ‘Save the Green Planet!’, the 2003 black fantasy comedy by Korean director Jan Joon-hwan, who appears as an executive producer on the American film’s credits. The film is ‘light’, of course, only on ‘Lanthimos‘ scale. ‘Light’ in the sense that it’s a relatively accessible film, perhaps his most accessible since ‘The Favourite’. About two-thirds of the way through this film, I had the impression that I was watching a technological anticipation thriller combined with a satire of conspiracy theories and those who adopt them as a way of life and purpose in life. And then something happens, and perspectives begin to flip, so that by the end of the film (and even after the end of the film) we will continue to debate with other viewers and with ourselves about the logic of what we saw and about the characters on screen. The way the story is structured and especially the ending make me believe that Yorgos Lanthimos had more serious aspirations in what he wanted to convey as a message. But can we be sure about the message when it comes to Lanthimos? He is one of those creators who even when he wants to say something very bluntly, he does it through a huge metaphor. In addition, as always, he keeps part of the cards close to his chest and leaves to viewers the freedom to imagine and decide.
Michelle Fuller, the powerful CEO of a pharmaceutical concern and cousins Teddy and Don live in parallel worlds that should never intersect. And yet, their destinies collide when the two kidnap the rich and arrogant woman and keep her prisoner in their dilapidated house, somewhere, in a disadvantaged area, without a name and identity. The two men are followers of conspiracy theories according to which aliens from the Andromeda galaxy have taken over key positions on Earth and are actually leading the destinies of humanity. They do not ask for a ransom, but want the woman – who they are convinced is ‘Andromedan’ – to lead them on the aliens’ interstellar ship, in order to negotiate with their emperor their withdrawal and non-interference in the internal affairs of the earthlings. The kidnapped woman has no other thought, of course, than to escape. A large part of the film consists of the dialogue between the two men and the captive woman, in their attempt to convince her to transport them into space and in her attempts to find ways to escape from the terrible situation she is in.
However, things are more complicated than they seem. I will avoid spoilers and will not tell about the surprises that await the heroes and the viewers. The last third of the film slips into horror, with Lanthinos-style twists and turns of perspective. Emma Stone (who is also a co-producer), at her fifth collaboration with the Greek-born director, manages to create a character from the gallery of female characters who go through terrible trials (see also Coralie Fargeat’s ‘Revenge’). But I liked Jesse Plemons‘ creation even more. He is pathetic and impressive in the role of Teddy, the young man with a destiny marked by trauma and prisoner of conspiracy theories, a role so representative of our times. The decision to cast Aidan Delbis, a young and talented autistic actor, in the role of Don was also very courageous and courage paid. Delbis plays with intensity a character who represents the sole element of logic and human decency in the plot. ‘Bugonia’ is not an easy film to watch, those who dislike intense scenes or topics should avoid watching it, but as with all Lanthimos‘ films, viewers will leave the screening slightly changed from who they were when than they entered it.
‘Bring Him Down to a Portable Size‘ (2025 – in Japanese the title is ‘Ani wo mochihakoberu saizu ni‘) by Ryôta Nakano reminded me of another Japanese film that deals with funeral details – ‘Departures’ (2008 – in Japanese the title was ‘Okuribito’) by director Yōjurō Takita. If that film explored the beauty and dignity of funeral rituals in Japan despite the associated stigmas, Ryôta Nakano‘s film deals less with the ceremonial parts (although they are not completely absent) and more with the separation of the family from the deceased from an unusual angle – with a combination of humor, empathy and a thrill of fantasy that could be characterized as Japanese magical realism, by association and with all the differences from Latin American magical realism. It is a very original film and I think that the feeling of novelty comes not only from the cultural differences between Europe and Japan. I dare say that many Japanese viewers may also have been surprised by the approach. I hope they were as delighted as I was.
Riko Murai, the film’s main heroine, is a writer. She lives a comfortable and fairly happy life with her husband and two boys in their early teens. In the scene that opens the film, Riko receives a phone call from the police in a remote prefecture in eastern Japan informing her, with typical Japanese politeness, that her older brother has died and that she is asked to come and deal with the cremation ceremony, receiving the cremated remains (‘at a portable size’) as the ‘chief mourner’. Her brother had been divorced and was one of his two children – a boy in the 4th grade – was under his care, while the older girl lived with his ex-wife. Riko’s relations with her brother had not been good. There had been a childhood rivalry between the two siblings, and the departed brother had had a disorderly lifestyle, without a stable job, living off their mother and then the better-off sister. Funerals are usually a ceremony of separation, but the separation between the departed and his sister, wife and children will be different than the characters and the audience expected.
Sometimes we know the missing better after their death than during life. This could be one of the film’s mottos. The way this story is told is very special. We are dealing with fantasy combined with humor and everything wrapped in that Japanese politeness that to us, Europeans, seems excessively ritualistic. That is precisely why the humanity of the characters appears all the more profound and surprising. The film also has a literary aspect – the main heroine is a writer and this story will generate a book that is practically written before the eyes of the viewers. The actress who plays the main role is called Kô Shibasaki and she plays with sensitivity and without ostentation, as does the entire team of actors. I think this film added to my understanding not only of the culture but also of the Japanese soul.
We are pretty much used to remakes of Japanese or Korean films that are produced in the United States or Europe. Sometimes, however, the phenomenon of remakes also works the other way around. This is the case of the film ‘Tokyo Taxi’ directed by veteran Japanese director Yôji Yamada, which is a remake of the Franco-Belgian film ‘Une belle course’ (titled ‘Driving Madeleine’ in the international distribution). I have not seen the original, so I cannot make any comparison, and perhaps this is even better, because I am thus able to judge what I have seen for its own qualities and flaws. Yôji Yamada is 94 years old and has 94 films in his filmography, 8 of which were made in the last 10 years! “Tokyo Taxi” is a film about old age and about a character who knows that he is at the end of his life, but judging by the quality of his cinematography, I would say that Yôji Yamada is a director who still has a lot to say and says it well. If nature helps him, this will not be his last film.
Kôji Usami is a self-employed taxi driver. He and his wife work hard to provide for their teenage daughter, who has won admission to a prestigious but expensive music school through her musical talent. When a colleague asks him to take his place on a long journey transporting an elderly woman to a seaside retirement home, he accepts the job and the chance to earn more than the usual. It will be the occasion of a meeting with Ms. Sumire Takano, a woman whose personal biography spans 85 years of Japanese history, from the tragedy of war, through love stories and personal tragedies, to the final journey they travel together in Tokyo and Yokohama, in search of memories and of what survived landmarks in the ever-changing landscape of Japan. Kôji and Sumire will get to know each other and, during the trip of a day, will form a bond that transcends generations.
‘Tokyo Taxi’ is a beautiful road movie, in space and time. Geographically, the film takes us through the touristic Tokyo with its suspended highways and with some of its famous landmarks, but also through seemingly banal places, but loaded with meaning for the old lady who visits perhaps for the last time the places where she lived her life. Historically, it is also an opportunity for Sumire to share her biography marked by turbulent history and some of the major problems of her country during the period she had gone through: the war and the destruction caused by the bombings, a difficult economic period and the rebirth called the ‘Japanese miracle’ that took place with progress but also with cultural shocks, the Korean immigrants and their repatriation to North Korea at the end of the Korean War, domestic violence and the inferior status of women in Japanese society. Chieko Baishô is 85 years old and has 64 years of career on the screens, ‘Tokyo Taxi‘ being the 177th title in her filmography. Her role is formidable and she manages to create the portrait of Sumire with precision and sensitivity. Takuya Kimura, the actor who plays the driver, is, from what I’ve read, an older collaborator of director Yôji Yamada and this role is very different from those played in other films. The action flows fluidly and even if the story is a bit predictable (I whispered to my wife what the ending would be about half an hour before the end of the movie and I wasn’t wrong) it is emotional and brings closer to us both the Japan of today and that of the last 80 years.
‘Memory‘, the 2022 film directed by Martin Campbell, has bigger ambitions than just being another action movie. Campbell, who has an uneven filmography in quality (if we measure it by the stars awarded by critics or the ratings on IMDB) but who makes films that appeal to the public, used a script that is a remake of a Belgian film, in turn a screen version of a novel. The story of a professional assassin whose memory begins to be eroded by Alzheimer’s disease is an interesting enough theme to have attracted the attention of stars like Liam Neeson and Monica Bellucci, who probably hoped that ‘Memory‘ would not be another production in the category of not very successful movies made after the peaks of their careers. Unfortunately, the screenwriters and the director preferred to develop merely the action thread and thus the opportunity to make a quality psychological thriller was missed.
The story is set in a Texas town on the Mexican border and in Mexico, but much of the filming took place in … Bulgaria during the pandemic. Liam Neeson plays a hitman who begins to have memory lapses. He knows the reason, because his brother is hospitalized in a specialized institution, in an advanced stage of dementia. When he refuses to carry out a mission that exceeds even the limits of his morality as a professional assassin, he himself becomes the target of the organizations that had paid him for his crimes until then. Between him, those who pursue him, the corrupt local police and FBI agents, a deadly game begins, strewn with many corpses.
It is worth noting the presence in the cast of Guy Pearce, an excellent actor who played in another film in which the hero suffers from amnesia, ‘Memento’ – Christopher Nolan’s second film. Liam Neeson and Monica Bellucci do pretty much what is expected of them. The result is a fairly well-written and made action flick, better than others in the series of films of this genre that featured Liam Neeson over the past decade, but the very part that could have been the most interesting is relegated to the rank of pretext. Action movie lovers will be satisfied, I think. Those interested in psychological thrillers should also look for the original – ‘The Memory of a Killer’ by Belgian director Erik Van Looy.
I’ve discovered my favorite in the race for the Best Picture Academy Award this year. I wrote ‘favorite’ meaning the film that I liked the most out of the ten nominated (well, out of the six I’ve seen – I still have three to watch and one I’ll never watch). It’s ‘Marty Supreme‘ directed by Josh Safdie. Apparently it’s a sports film about a sport – ping-pong – that seldom appears on screens, except for one of the famous episodes in ‘Forest Gump’. Rather, it’s the biography of a champion of this sport, loosely inspired by a real character, born in New York and internationally recognized as a master of table tennis a decade after the end of World War II. As in his previous films, especially those made with his brother Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie‘s new film proposes a hero who does not find his place in the society around him, endowed with immense talent and an even more impressive ambition, constantly daring and taking risks, making mistakes after mistakes and making catastrophic decisions one after another, a hero that as a viewer you cannot help but love.
Marty is a New Yorker, just like other heroes in Josh Safdie‘s films. However, it is about New York in the 1950s in a neighborhood with a large Jewish population which had gone through the tragedy of the Holocaust only 10-15 years earlier (some were survivors, most had families that had disappeared or been destroyed). Marty is a young man, extremely talented at ping-pong – perhaps the best in New York or in all of America – and at business the way a young man raised on the streets understands business. The big international competitions take place abroad – London, Paris – and to get to them, he has to get the money by any means necessary. Any means can mean theft, seducing the wife of a tycoon who sponsors sports events, or accepting humiliations that would deprive others of their own dignity. At a competition in London, Marty wins everything until the finals where he faces and is defeated by a Japanese champion, representing another nation trying to raise up from the ashes of war. The rematch means a trip to Tokyo, but Marty has quarreled with everyone who could help him: his family, the boss he worked for, the tennis federation. However, the impossible is not acceptable to the hero of the film and he will risk everything to reach the confrontation at the top.
New York in the 50s has been depicted in many other films from those years to today. But never like this. The reconstruction is meticulous, but the nervousness of the editing is modern and the soundtrack belongs more to the last decades of the century. Understanding the game of ping-pong is an advantage, but it is not key – the tension of the confrontations crosses the screen anyway. Timothée Chalamet enters the role formidable and the comparison with Al Pacino or Robert De Niro, who played similar roles of young rebels on the streets of New York, is inevitable. He is a typical and atypical American hero at the same time. He has a dream and to achieve it he is ready to do anything, including destroying himself and those around him. I am a big fan of Gwyneth Paltrow and her return to the screen in … the role of a star returning to the stage delighted me. I hope it is the sign of a lasting return, because I believe that she still has many wonderful roles waiting for her. I would also mention the name of Odessa A’zion, a young actress, with a special physiognomy and full of talent, who transforms a ‘small’ role into a significant one. Not since Tarantino have I seen such raw realism on screen, but in Josh Safdie‘s violence (not just physical) is not sought for show or ratings, but justified by the story and the context his characters find themselves in. With ‘Marty Supreme‘, Josh Safdie has become one of my favorite directors.
The poster, the credits and the promotional campaign for ‘Catane‘ (2025) insist on emphasizing the fact that it is a feature-length debut film. I don’t know exactly why the director and screenwriter Ioana Mischie, together with the producers, insist on this aspect. Maybe to emphasize the fact that the film had an extremely long gestation period, setting a kind of record, at least in Romanian cinema? The script, which was the filmmaker’s diploma work at Romanian Theatre and Film Art University in 2011, was refined and perfected in several creative workshops and festivals and has already generated at least two short films that I have identified in Ioana Mischie‘s filmography. In the meantime, she has made a name for herself in the creative introduction and exploitation of various digital techniques and virtual reality in film, video art and games. If this is an excuse for the quality of the film or for some possible visible clumsiness due to lack of experience, then that is really not the case. ‘Catane‘ is a mature film, which experiments with courage, which aims to say something and does it with aplomb and creativity. At one point, halfway through the film, I even had the impression that I was watching one of the most remarkable Romanian productions in recent years. My enthusiasm waned in the second part of the film, the main problem from my point of view being precisely that script that was so much worked and processed. Maybe too much.
The story is extracted from news broadcasts in recent decades by the Romanian media. In a remote village in the heart of the mountains, all the inhabitants receive social pensions for the most different kinds of disabilities. The situation contradicts all statistics and comes to the attention of the department in charge of pensions for people with disabilities in Bucharest. Almost everyone is on leave for various reasons, so the staff of the ministry’s inspection service themselves are forced to go to that village to check the situation on the spot. The team of bureaucrats is composed of a tyrannical boss, a long-legged young lady who undertakes – despite her lack of qualifications – the position of the unavailable physician, and a young, ambitious and servile intern. Arriving in the village located on a mountaintop in an idyllic landscape, the incompetence of the inspection team meets the cunning of the villagers guided by the mayor Pamfil. It would seem that the stratagem succeeds, but something always happens to ruin the best-laid plans. The ruthless inspectors will soften when they understand that the villagers had no other solution than to resort to deception in order to survive the negligence of successive governments. A love story between the female inspector and the one-legged (or maybe two-legged?) forester adds color to the whole situation.
‘Catane‘ is an aesthetic achievement. The music is composed by the Italian Emiliano Mazzenga and manages to synthesize Romanian folk sounds with elements of naive music that accompany and accentuate the rhythm of the action. The spectacular cinematography created by George Dascalescu uses the natural environment and combines the colors of the landscapes with sophisticated costumes. The props play an important role, some of them being authentic products of the local industry created by the villagers. The film starts off excellently. The three heroes from Bucharest arrive in a different world, with its own flow of time and laws, and as spectators we witness a combination of farce with magic, original and unique in Romanian films. Unfortunately, from a certain point onwards, the edifice begins to totter. The screenwriter seems to have not known how to resolve the conflict other than through a solution borrowed from classical Romanian comedies combined with a reconciliation and spiritual conversion of the ‘bad’ inspectors who are too little psychologically justified and seem forced. A helicopter also lands with the President (or maybe he is just a presidential candidate, it was not clear to me) who gives a filmed speech, but this scene seems inserted from another film. Part of the actors established names (Costel Cascaval, Iulia Lumânare), other are two screen veterans that I always enjoy watching (Mihai Mãlaimare, Mihai Dinvale) together with a team of amateur actors, residents of the village where the filming was done, excellently integrated. ‘Catane‘, in my opinion, missed the opportunity to have been a great film, but there are enough good reasons to go and watch it and I think many categories of viewers will like it. I am waiting for Ioana Mischie‘s next films and I just hope that 15 years will not pass between the script and the release on screens.
‘Good Time‘, the 2017 film by brothers Benny and Josh Safdie, was for me one of those films that left me glued to my seat at the end and when the credits rolled I asked myself: ‘What did I just see?’. A very different experience than watching another action film or another film noir or another film about the most catastrophic day and night in the life of a hero. ‘Good Time‘ could fit into any or all of these categories, but it is different – a film that captivates and disturbs, a film with a hero who commits one bad act after another and makes fatal mistakes, but who you can’t help but sympathize with. The only association that seems valid to me is the one with films about the New York underworld of the ’70s, with its famous or common mobsters, with the violence that seems gratuitous to many but which is a way of life for these men. A world without hope and a hero who, even when he intents to do good, only manages to get himself into even worse misfortune and crime.
The story unfolds at a fast pace, in tune with the events on the screen, except for the opening and the ending. In the scene that opens the film, Nick Nikas, a developmentally disabled young man, is undergoing a psychotherapy session, probably imposed by the court because he assaulted his grandmother. He is visibly stressed when his brother, Connie, bursts into the room and takes him out. Shortly after, the two rob a bank and leave with a bag full of money, but the police are on their trail and Nick is captured. Will the disabled boy survive in prison, among the violent policemen and inmates? Connie is ready to do anything to free him, including finding 65 thousand dollars to pay the bail. Legal means of obtaining this money are quickly exhausted. Less legal opportunities take Connie to the dark streets of New York, on a night full of violence and unexpected encounters. The disaster will be visible in the light of the morning. The storm is over and Nick returns to psychological treatments.
The Safdie brothers’ cinematic style is very original for an action film. More than half of the frames are close-ups, which allows the audience to get to know and understand the characters. The actors are formidable. Benny Safdie plays the difficult role of Nick and completely enters the psychology of the character. For Robert Pattinson, the role of Connie is, I think, one of the best of his career. A man with the best intentions, but who has only known crime and violence and therefore does not know how to channel even his best intentions. Everything ends in catastrophe for him. Several secondary characters are excellently drawn. ‘Good Time‘ exposes one of the possible versions of hell located a few blocks away from where some of the richest and happiest people in the world live. A disturbing film, a film that should be depressing, but is so well made that it’s hard not to be absorbed by its dark magic.
Albert Einstein a introdus și generalizat conceptul de relativitate în fizică. El însuși și filosofii care au dezbătut și interpretat teoriile sale au aplicat relativitatea altor diferite domenii ale gândirii și cunoașterii. În opinia mea, dezbaterea nu este nicăieri mai actuală și cu implicații profunde decât în cel al istoriei și – derivat de aici – al științelor politice. De aceea mi s-a părut extrem de interesant să aduc în discuție în rubrica CHANGE.WORLD contribuțiile și publicațiile istoricului Rob Boddice, căruia publicistul Gal Beckerman i-a dedicat un eseu în numărul 1/2026 al publicației ‘The Atlantic’.
Rob Boddice s-a născut în 1977, în apropierea orașului industrial Burton upon Trent, dintr-o zonă minieră din centrul Angliei. Pe pagina sa Web se definește ca scriitor, istoric, alergător (peste 3 000 km anual, inclusiv 6 curse de maraton în palmares), muzician (îi place să fie fotografiat cântând la chitară) și călător. Își împarte timpul între Montreal în Canada și Tampere în Finlanda. Este autorul sau editorul a 15 cărți de non-ficțiune istorică, precum și a zeci de articole, capitole de carte și recenzii. Lucrările sale au fost traduse în 12 limbi. De asemenea, a scris eseuri populare pentru revistele Aeon, History Today și Psychology Today. Domeniul de expertiză și l-a creat în mare parte el însuși. Este cunoscut în principal ca istoric al emoțiilor, experienței, științei și medicinei, cu un interes special pentru istoria bioculturală a ființei umane. Este, de asemenea, expert în studiile durerii, istoria experimentelor medicale și implicarea interdisciplinară. Format ca istoric britanic modern, și-a extins domeniul de activitate de la antichitate până în prezent, tinzând geografic spre o acoperire globală. Londra anilor 1880 este însă locul și timpul în care se simte cel mai confortabil.
Boddice este unul dintre liderii Centrului de Excelență în Istoria Experiențelor, cunoscut sub prescurtarea HEX, fondat în 2019 și găzduit de Universitatea Tampere, din Finlanda. El a încercat să orienteze acest domeniu de studiu al istoriei spre o direcție radicală. Emoții și simțuri se referă la o abordare a istoriei concentrată mai puțin pe faptele trecutului și mai mult pe trăirile oamenilor din diferite perioade, cum ar fi mirosurile unui oraș din secolul al XIX-lea, plin de mii de cai, sau sentimentele de durere exprimate în scrisorile văduvelor din timpul Primului Război Mondial. Boddice este interesat de o metodologie mai profundă, mai vastă, care cuprinde tot ce ține de modul în care este percepută realitatea, îmbinând emoțiile și simțurile într-un concept pe care l-am putea exprima prin cuvântul „experiență”. Teoriile sale nuanțează și poate chiar intră în polemică cu teorii standard din psihologie. În anii 1960-70, psihologul american Paul Ekman (1934 – 2025) identificase șase sentimente („feelings”) care ar fi codate în orice ființă omenească: fericire, tristețe, teamă, furie, surpriză și dezgust. Dacă veți căuta emojiurile (pictogramele) folosite de mesagerii sau rețele sociale pentru a exprima reacții la mesaje sau postări, veți găsi exact 5-6 asemenea răspunsuri ‘standard’. Imaginea pe care o propune Boddice este mult mai nuanțată, diferită de la om la om, de la cultură la cultură, de la o perioadă istorică la alta. Perspectiva pe care o propune este multilaterală și multidisciplinară, ceea ce se reflectă și în structura echipelor de cercetare și a profilurilor colaboratorilor institutului. Doar o minoritate dintre ei sunt istorici cu diplomă, printre ceilalți numărându-se biologi, psihologi, medici, critici de artă, fizicieni, teologi și experți în genetică. Munca de coordonare și sinteză a istoricului emoțiilor și sentimentelor seamănă mai degrabă cu truda unui mare romancier care scrie o frescă despre o perioadă trecută sau contemporană lui, cercetând, descoperind, imaginând, îmbinând și sintetizând fațetele multiple ale personajelor și vremurilor în care acestea trăiesc.
Istoricul englez este autorul a două cărți în care dezvoltă fundamentele teoriilor sale și pune bazele unei noi discipline a studiilor istorice: Istoria emoțiilor, apărută în 2017, și Istoria sentimentelor, apărută în 2019. Ceea de-a doua carte analizează unul dintre sentimentele exprimate în cuvântul cu care începe Iliada – una dintre cele mai vechi și mai fundamentale cărți ale culturii clasice europene:
„Mânia, zeiță, cântă-mi a lui Peleu fiu, Ahile!”
Primul cuvânt al poemului în versiunea originală, precum și în traducerea românească a lui Dan Slușanschi exprimă un sentiment omenesc aparent ‘universal’ – mênin / mânia. Dar era oare sentimentul experimentat de Ahile la moartea prietenului său Patrocle același cu sentimentul pe care astăzi îl definim ca mânie? Era vorba despre o furie calculată și bine stăpânită sau despre o dezlănțuire violentă de proporții epopeice? Desigur, Platon și Aristotel se refereau în operele lor care au supraviețuit timpurilor la sentimente cum ar fi mânia sau frica, dar nu trebuie să presupunem că aceste noțiuni sunt similare cu ceea ce simte un om din contemporaneitatea noastră.
Una dintre colaboratoarele lui Rob Boddeye se numește Piroska Nagy, e născută în Ungaria și e expertă în istoria medievală. Tema lucrării sale de doctorat a fost plânsul. Nagy a studiat semnificațiile acestui gest aproape exclusiv uman în istoria ultimilor 1 500 de ani. Cercetările sale revelează faptul că plânsul era un mod de exprimare mai mult colectiv în Evul Mediu și avea, pe lângă exprimarea durerii fizice, a deprimării și a presiunilor psihologice, și o interpretare religioasă, indicând o apropiere de divinitate. Aceasta semantică a emoției s-a pierdut în timp.
Lucrările lui Boddice au dezvăluit și felul în care dictaturile secolului XX au modificat percepțiile senzoriale. Ce au simțit locuitorii Moscovei și ai Petrogradului – se întreabă el – în anii revoluției? Cum au perceput ei schimbările care se petreceau în jur? Prima impresie era pentru mulți dintre ei la nivel senzorial: trotuarele pe care pășeau erau acoperite de cojile semințelor mâncate de ‘mujicii’ care invadaseră metropolele rusești; culoarea roșie devenea dominantă, inspirând speranță și avânt revoluționar, în sufletele unora, și depresie și teroare, în mințile altora; zgomotele familiare ale clopotelor bisericilor care dominaseră peisajele sonore ale orașelor timp de secole dispăreau aproape complet. Dictatura nazistă, în schimb, părea să fie obsedata de simțul mirosului. Dușmanii reali sau imaginari și în special ‘sub-oamenii’ aparținând raselor considerate inferioare erau asociați cu murdăria, bolile, epidemiile, animalele și insectele care le propagă, tumorile și putrefacția. Eșecul acestor dictate senzoriale ale regimurilor totalitare demonstrează că ființele umane sunt suficient de diferite pentru a rezista agresiunii uniformizărilor simțurilor și a emoțiilor.
Se poate spune că Rob Boddice este un extremist în refuzul acceptării conceptului de universalism. El, de altfel, amintește în multe ocazii că universalismul este o creație intelectuală relativ recentă, inventat de intelectuali europeni, în saloanele secolului al XVIII-lea. Mai târziu, psihologia freudiană a redus și ea dinamismul minții umane la o mașină (în sensul automatelor deterministe), având ca intrări impulsuri comune și ca ieșiri, comportamente previzibile. Dar chiar dacă am merge pe această linie, astăzi, în cultura noastră globală, nu interpretăm la fel pe orice meridian un cântec latino-american sau un film de groază sud-coreean. Unul dintre colegii de generație ai lui Boddice este Javier Moscoso, cercetător și profesor de istorie și filosofie a științei la Institutul de Filosofie al Consiliului Național de Cercetare din Spania (CSIC). Între cei doi există o rivalitate plină de respect reciproc. Adoptând stilul și o parte dintre metodele lui Boddice, Moscoso îl contrazice, căutând și găsind în felul în care oamenii din diverse locuri și epoci istorice răspund unor fenomene similare mai degrabă continuitate decât disonanțe permanente. Printre exemplele numeroase pe care le dă, istoricul spaniol descrie poveștile de dragoste nefericite care par a se repeta aproape ca tipare în lucrări literare de la Metamorfozele lui Ovidiu, trecând prin legendele chinezești și până la povestea Romeo și Julieta, în interpretări clasice și moderne.
Generalizarea conceptelor relativiste și respingerea universalismului au implicații în studierea și receptarea istoriei, dar și rezonanțe politice. Istoriografia are, cred eu, de câștigat din abordarea multi-disciplinară. Avantajele nu sunt însă doar metodologice, ci și legate de felul în care este predată în școli sau receptată în public istoria. Imaginați-vă lecții de istorie care nu se rezumă la a înșirui elevilor date despre dinastii și regi, nume de eroi și de locuri în care au avut loc bătălii, și le completează și îmbogățește pe acestea cu perspective, ipoteze și întrebări despre emoțiile, sentimentele și experiențele oamenilor care au trăit în trecut. Poate că atunci lecțiile de istorie vor deveni mai populare, iar înțelegerea noastră despre trecut mai umană și mai imersivă. Politic însă, respingerea universalismului aduce cu ea o doză de pericole reale. Dacă natura istoriei este subiectivă, dacă înțelegerea și reprezentarea noastră asupra trecutului nu sunt fixe, ci se schimbă în funcție de perspectivă, context și informațiile disponibile, la fel cum relativitatea lui Einstein a modificat fizica arătând că spațiu-timpul nu este absolut, nu înseamnă acestea că nici valorile fundamentale ale democrației, inclusiv drepturile omului și egalitatea tuturor ființelor umane în fata lui Dumnezeu și a legilor omenești, nu sunt neapărat absolut adevărate oriunde și oricând? Mărturisesc că răspunsul dat de Boddice autorului eseului publicat de ‘The Atlantic’ nu m-a convins până la capăt: Am fost motivat nu doar să arăt bogăția și nefamiliaritatea experiențelor trecute, ci și să încerc să le ofer oamenilor instrumentele necesare pentru a interoga politica sentimentelor în prezentul lor.” Nici Gal Beckerman nu pare să fi fost complet câștigat. În paragrafele finale ale articolului, el îi acordă lui Rob Boddice meritul principal de a-l încuraja pe fiecare dintre noi să ne uităm în ochii celor din jur sau să ne imaginăm că ne uităm în ochii celor care au trăit în trecut și să-i întrebam, pe fiecare în parte, cum simte și ce emoții trăiește din perspectiva personală. Până la urmă, diferența fundamentală dintre specia umană și alte specii ar putea fi curiozitatea despre alți oameni. Sau, aș adăuga eu, studiul istoriei.
Articolul a fost publicat inițial în revista de cultură ‘Literatura de Azi’
What is Chloé Zhao‘s true voice? When she describes American reality from the perspective of characters who are not very favored by fate, as she did in ‘The Rider’ and ‘Nomadland’? In superhero films like ‘Eternals’? Or now, when she dives into historical fiction with ‘Hamnet‘, the screen adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell‘s best-selling novel about the origin of Shakespeare’s masterpiece? I went to the cinema hall with high expectations, taking into account some of the reviews and the eight nominations the film received for Academy Awards. I can’t say that I left it disappointed, but I can’t either give maximal rate to this solid, professionally made film, with some impressive moments, but nowhere near (in my opinion) a masterpiece or even one of the best films of the awards season.
So little is known about Shakespeare’s life that the field is open to imagination to all those who choose to make the Bard a fictional hero. Almost three decades ago, Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard imagined the woman with whom Will Shakespeare falls in love in London and who becomes his muse, in ‘Shakespeare in Love’ directed by John Madden. Maggie O’Farrell found in the documented (as far as it is known) life of Shakespeare the love of his life in the figure of Anne Hathaway, his wife and mother of his children. In the film she will be called Agnes. O’Farrell and Chloé Zhao‘s Agnes is actually the lead character of the film – a woman connected to nature and with witch talents, a mother ready to make any sacrifice and any magic to protect her children, a devoted wife who cannot oppose her husband’s vocation even if for a while she does not understand his fascination with theater. In the vision of the two authors of the film, the death of the son – common for those times, but so tragic for the parents – becomes the event that triggers the creative storm that became the Bard’s work as a playwright and poet. The story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is the form in which the playwright chooses to keep alive in eternity the name of the son whom fate had taken away.
This film would not be what it is without the exceptional acting creation of Jessie Buckley. I had already noticed her in ‘Lost Daughter’ where she created from short flashbacks, sometimes only a few seconds long, the young version of the main character played by Olivia Colman. Her Agnes is a woman who really lives only in the forest, who tames hawks and chooses to give birth to her first child there, who has a magnetism that is not that of a witch but of a lover and a mother who fiercely protects her children. Paul Mescal bravely enters the role of Shakespeare, as he did in the lead role in ‘Gladiator 2’ and seems to be diligently building his star status without ever shining. It is always a pleasure for me to watch Emily Watson again. In general, the film is well acted and filmed, several scenes are memorable and the atmosphere of the crossroads between the 16th and 17th centuries is brought to the screen in a believable, sometimes cruelly realistic way. And yet, something seems to be missing. The family drama of the Shakespeare couple, no matter how strongly melodramatic it is played, did not manage to be a solid enough foundation for Shakeaspeare’s masterpieces for me. The lovers and the grieving parents are on the screen, but the genius who created the characters and unique lines is not really present. The scene from the performance of ‘Hamlet’ is formidable cinematically, but the Shakespearean verse does not connect with the rest of the story. And I have not yet discovered the real Chloé Zhao.
‘Focus‘ – written and directed in 2015 by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa – is a pure entertainment film, from the category that Americans use to call ‘caper movies’ – films with picturesque and likeable villains, who plan robberies or scams. The main characters are a couple of con artists who meet, fall in love, break up, meet again, and are involved together in the next hit on seemingly opposite positions. It matters a lot that Will Smith and Margot Robbie are cast in the lead roles. The entire film, in fact, is written for them and happens around them. They are also the principal reason why, looking for an entertaining action film, I chose to watch ‘Focus‘ ten years after its appearance on the screens. The second reason was the names of the two filmmakers (writers and directors) who also made ‘Rabbit Hole’ – one of the most captivating TV series I have seen in recent years.
The story begins in New York around Christmas. Jess, a novice con artist and pickpocket, has the misfortune (or maybe luck?) of choosing Nick, an expert in the art of conning, as a victim for a blackmail. The master easily figures out the attackers and then gives the beautiful blonde some free professional lessons. He even decides to invite her to join his team that is planning a series of ‘hits’ in New Orleans, before the Super Bowl. As Jeff learns the secrets of the trade, the relationship between the two heats up and gets to the place where all the viewers expected it to go. After another original, well-planned, but risky final hit that doubles the con artists’ winnings, Nick leaves Jess. The reason (or pretext?) – his father (the one who initiated him into the secrets of the trade) had instructed him not to get romantically involved with ‘colleagues’. Three years later, we find Nick in Buenos Aires, planning another scam in the world of car racing teams. Jess seems to be the girlfriend of the man who bought his services, but Nick is preparing to cheat on him. Will the flame between the two be rekindled? Or will Nick succeed in following his father’s precepts?
I liked the first half of ‘Focus‘ better because I love the genre of films that expose scams, illusionist tricks, plans based on skill and daring. Two memorable scenes (the choreographed thefts on the streets of New Orleans during the carnival and the one at the Super Bowl) also take place in this part of the film. The second part has a completely different style and atmosphere, closer to a classic action comedy with some elements of technological thriller. Will Smith and Margot Robbie do their job well, they look gorgeous and the relationship between them is believable on screen. And yet, especially in the second part, something is missing. ‘Everybody lies’ was the mantra of the hero of one of my favorite series – ‘House M.D.’ -, and this applies to all the characters in this film. However, the mystery dissipates towards the end and what started out as a great film turns into just another nice action comedy that I’m afraid I’ll forget quickly.
