Film review: Kama Sutra, a Tale of Love (1997), by Mira Nair ****

Synopsis

If you're looking for a deep, intelligently romantic movie with complex characters and a richly rewarding plot, don't bother with Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. On the other hand, if you're feeling sexy and in the mood for a lush, seductive, and visually stunning film set in 16th-century India, this one will please you like the best foreplay you've ever experienced. Or it will relax you like a full treatment at a pampering spa--either way, you're gonna feel pretty fantastic. Okay, okay... maybe we're getting a little carried away, but there's no denying that director Mira Nair (best known for her acclaimed film Salaam Bombay!) has crafted a sumptuous film for the eyes if not the head. Its melodramatic plot is involving enough to elevate the movie high above soft-core adult fare, so you won't feel guilty after watching it. 

Kama Sutra is the story of a young woman named Maya (the stunning Indira Varma) who has always been lower on the social scale than her well-born friend Tara (Sarita Choudhury), and has always lived in Tara's shadow, wearing her used clothes and being made to feel inferior. When Tara is betrothed to the handsome King Raj Singh (Naveen Andrews, from The English Patient), Tara sneaks into the king's tent on the eve of the wedding and seduces him. Later, after being trained to master the Kama Sutra's many "lessons of love," Maya will be the king's courtesan, and emotions will run high between the former best friends. But the plot is of secondary importance here (a fact that resulted in many mixed reviews), and so Kama Sutra works best as a colorful and irresistibly sexy story that is worth seeing just for the startling beauty of the film and its cast. --Jeff Shannon for Amazon

Recensione: Seta, di Alessandro Baricco, ****

Sinossi

La Francia, i viaggi per mare, il profumo dei gelsi a Lavilledieu, i treni a vapore, la voce di Hélène. Hervé Joncour continuò a raccontare la sua vita, come mai, nella sua vita, aveva fatto. "Questo non è un romanzo. E neppure un racconto. Questa è una storia. Inizia con un uomo che attraversa il mondo, e finisce con un lago che se ne sta lì, in una giornata di vento. L'uomo si chiama Hervé Joncour. Il lago non si sa."

Recensione

Un libro che racconta con una serie infinita di viaggi, intrapresi per affari ma trasformatisi in un disperato inseguimento dell'amore. O forse di un infatuamento. Si può veramente amare una persona che non si conosce?

Il libro fornisce anche un quadro interessante del Giappone che si apre gradualmente al mondo durante la seconda metà del XIX secolo, con la restaurazione violenta dell'impero centralizzato e l'apertura dei commerci internazionali.

Un finale tragico ma, forse, istruttivo per ciascuno di noi. Anche se forse l'insegnamento non sarà uguale per tutti. Ma tutti dovremo riflettere sull'amore, sull'infatuazione, sulla responsabilità, sulle priorità fondamentali della nostra vita insomma.

La prosa di Baricco corre veloce come il protagonista nella steppa, io ho finito il libro in poche ore.

Poi ho visto anche il film che pure consiglio ma di cui al momento non vedo disponibilità di DVD o BD.

Di Alessandro Baricco ho recensito "Novecento" su questo blog.

Book Review: The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner, by Timothy Flaney, *****

Description
The true story of a pioneering sailor who travelled the world at the end of the 18th century. In his many voyages, the Scottish-born John Nichol circumnavigated the globe, visiting every inhabited continent. He participated in many of the greatest events of exploration and adventure. He battled pirates, traded with Native Americans and fought for the British Navy in the American and French Revolutions; he also travelled on the first female convict ship to Australia, was entertained in Hawaii by the king's court, days after the murder of Captain James Cook, and witnessed the horrors of the slave system in Jamaica.

Book Review:The Floating Brothel: the Extraordinary True Story of An Eighteenth-Century Ship And Its Cargo of Female Convicts, by Sian Rees, *****

list of names of convicts shipped to Australia

Synopsis

In 1789, 237 women convicts left England for Botany Bay in Australia on board a ship called The Lady Julia, destined to provide sexual services and a breeding bank for the men already there. This is the story of the women aboard that ship.

Book Review: Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, by John Gray, *****

Man and woman in a Sikh temple

Synopsis

A practical guide for improving communication within relationships, helping both sexes get what they want from love and friendship. The author encourages readers to accept the other gender's particular way of expressing love and helps men and women accept each other's emotional needs.

'A treasure', 'a bible' and 'an heirloom' are some of the words used to describe the book that has saved countless relationships and improved innumerable others. Now repackaged to relate to a new generation of readers, this phenomenal book continues to carry its legacy of understanding and trust into the world.

Since its first publication, over a staggering 15 million copies of MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS have sold globally to single men and women looking for guidance on how to find the perfect partner, married couples seeking to strengthen their bond, and divorcees hoping to fathom where it all went wrong. Gray's insights into how to allow your other half to "pull away" like an elastic band, prevent your emotional baggage from polluting your current relationship, and translate the phrases of the opposite sex are as relevant now as when they were first published.

With straightforward, honest writing from that precious male perspective, Gray unlocks the secrets hidden in your partner's words and actions to enable you both to reach true mutual understanding and a lifetime of love. Discover for yourself why thousands believe that MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS should be mandatory reading for everyone.


Review

This is one of the most important books I have ever read. It succintly puts together the reasons why men (all men) are different from women (all women); why this creates problems of communication in a couple; and what to do about it. I found it fascinating reading and illuminating for its insights. This is a summary table I have written based on the book. I think it summarizes the main thrust of the argument Gray makes and is spelled out  in the video by Paul Dewandre (in French) Les hommes viennent de Mars, les femmes de Vénus.

Man	Woman
values competence	values relationship
reasons in sequential mode	can do multi-tasking
wants to resolve a problem alone	wants to talk about a problem
is rational	is emotional
needs trust	needs attention
needs appreciation	needs understanding
is like a dolphin, wants a fish when he gets something done	is like a garden, wants to be mantained every day no matter what

For alternative arguments on the same topic, read my reviews of the books by Cordelia Fine and Allan and Barbara Pease

Film review: Smoke (1995) by Paul Auster, *****

Synopsis

Departing from the conventions of Hollywood story-telling 'Smoke' is constructed like an emotional jigsaw puzzle: pieces interweave and interconnect to form an intricate whole. Unrelated characters - a New York cigar store manager (Harvey Keitel) who has taken photographs in front of his store at the same hour every day for 14 years; a novelist (William Hurt) unable to go on writing after his wife is killed in a random act of street violence; a man (Forest Whitaker) who ran away from his past and tries to start over after accidentally killing his wife. These characters, amongst others, making their way through the lonely urban landscape, might seem to have little in common. But in the couse of this motion picture they cross paths by chance and end up changing each other's lives in indelible ways.


Review

I first saw this movie when in came out in 1995 and then bought the BD in 2012. It is still am amazing film about human nature, love and New York. This kind of stuff could only happen in New York. People of entirely different backgrounds crossing paths for an incredible series of adventures and misadventure. Yes, incredible, but then again this is a movie.

However the emotions that play out in the story are very real, and no doubt will resonate with many viewers.

One last note about the title: smoke is the common denominator of all the stories that intertwine in the course of the film, which is centered around daily life in a cigar store. A pretty unique place where the owner, disenchanted with life, can meaningfully put together a series of albums of four thousand pictures of the same place. I won't tell you why this actually makes sense so as not to spoil the film for you.

And, how do you weigh smoke? You actually can, really, just watch the movie!

A good bottom line from the various stories: stealing is giving, lying is telling the truth.

A deep, captivating, dry humor, no nonsense film not to be missed.

Love stick of Palau

 

What is a love stick?

Duck, moon and stars

After our usual morning classes we go for lunch at another "Duck Place", i.e. the restaurant Kmicic. I eat my usual duck, kaczka. Somehow there is never want of ducks in Warsaw.

In the evening we all go to a party at the home of a certain Leszek, also called Dyndol. Lots of friendly people and kanapki and vodka abound. People start behaving funny. A certain Jan sets up a barricade of furniture for the purpose of cornering Ann and making clear his predilection for her. This despite the fact that he is married, his wife Bozena is pregnant and everyone at the party is aware of this. I try to make some sense of this hitherto unheard of (to me) behavior but Alina explains to me that this is normal: "Jan is used to Bozena", she says, and it is natural that he is looking for fun with other women. All Poles do this, apparently, once they "get used" to their partner, and make no apologies for it. I will hear this expression on a number of occasions in the next couple of months. Apparently it is standard operating procedure.

Ann is a bit confused because at the same party Vadim promises "the moon and the stars" if she agrees to accept his love. Well, in the end the matter is resolved innocently and harmlessly, and we all go home safe, if a bit perplexed.