Recensione: 700 ore in India - sulla scomoda sella di una Royal Enfield 500 (2013), di Giuseppe Santucci, *****

Sinossi

Questo libro parla di un viaggio. In India. Da solo. In motocicletta. Una Royal Enfield 500 Bullet Machismo. Monocilindrica. Tremila chilometri, divisi tra la parte sud ovest della catena dell’Himalaya (la zona in cui scorrono le sorgenti del Gange) e i deserti del Rajasthan. Conditi da duecentocinquantamila colpi di clacson (circa). L'autore Giuseppe Santucci è professore associato all' Università degli studi di Roma “La Sapienza” e tiene corsi di Ingegneria Informatica. Questo è il suo secondo libro che non ha nulla a vedere con il suo lavoro. Né con il suo primo libro.

Recensione

Breve ma emozionante libro che racconta un viaggio in moto. L'autore prende per mano il lettore, se lo carica sulla motocicletta e lo porta in giro per l'India per tre settimane. La narrativa è coinvolgente al punto che l'autore, contrariamente a quanto scrive ripetutamente, non viaggia più da solo ma fa sentire il lettore come se fosse seduto sulla sella, dietro di lui, a cavalcare le buche delle strade indiane.

Questo libro non è, e non pretende di essere, un saggio analitico sul paese e neanche una guida su come visitarlo in moto. Riesce però a trasmettere un'esperienza, con dovizia di particolari, che ti far venir voglia di partire. Ho visitato personalmente, in vari viaggi intrapresi negli anni passati, tutti i luoghi percorsi da Santucci con la sua Enfield e mi ci sono ritrovato. Ad ogni curva ho rivissuto la mia esperienza (in auto, iin treno, a piedi) e posso garantire l'autenticità delle descrizioni.

Il libro centra dunque l'obiettivo che si è prefissato: raccontare un viaggio. Un viaggio difficile, che avrebbe potuto essere diverso e che sarebbe sicuramente diverso per chi decidesse di intraprenderlo. Ma questa è la differenza tra un saggio analitico ed un racconto. Ho letto questo volume in poche ore, è difficile metterlo giù, vien quasi paura che la moto non riparta! Consigliatissimo a chi conosce l'India ma anche a chi, non potendoci andare di persona, ha voglia di assaggiarla restando seduto a casa.

Recensione film: La Guerra dei Fiori Rossi (2006) di Zhang Yuan, ****

Il piccolo grande Qiang!

Sinossi

Nella Cina post-rivoluzionaria degli anni '50, il piccolo Qiang viene mandato all'asilo a tempo pieno. A soli quattro anni ha già sviluppato un'indole ribelle e fatica ad abituarsi alla vita in comune con gli altri bambini. Nonostante tutto, però, cerca di fare del suo meglio per ottenere i tanto desiderati fiori rossi che le maestre danno in premio agli alunni più meritevoli, anche se lui fallisce in ogni occasione.

Qiang comunque ha ottenuto il rispetto dei suoi compagni ed è riuscito a convincerli che la direttrice è un mostro mangia bambini che deve essere assolutamente catturato, ma quando il piano per prendere prigioniera la donna fallisce, Qiang si ritrova solo e abbandonato.

Film cinese con montatore e colonna sonora italiani. Ottima la musica di Carlo Crivelli.


Recensione

Storia di bambini in Cina, ma non solo. Il film non ha una vera trama, ma è un flusso continuo di circostanze

Appare una non tanto sottile critica politica quando appare nel film un funzionario del comitato centrale del Partito Comunista, il padre di un bambino. Suo figlio studia poco e per questo ha ricevuto pochi fiori rossi, che sono dati in premio ogni giorno a chi studia e si comporta bene. Il padre se ne rammarica e le maestre, preoccupatissime, si affrettano a sottolineare che suo figlio sta migliorando molto e per non rischiare di irritarlo si inventano che proprio quel giorno si era meritato un fiore rosso che non gli avevano ancora dato.

Una lettura del film potrebbe essere di approvazione alla ribellione contro l'oppressore, rappresentato dalle arcigne mastre. Io però non credo l'autore sostenga che Qiang fa bene. La sua ribellione non è premiata e non porta a nulla. Credo piuttosto che il messaggio ponga più domande che risposte: le maestre sono rigide e perfino un po' ottuse, ma non del tutto irragionevoli e con punti di vista diversi tra di loro. Il bambino si ribella ma non è ovviamente in grado di proporre un'alternativa a quello che contesta. La situazione in cui si trovano spesso i paladini della libertà in contesti autoritari.

Negli extra appare Marco Mueller, che ci racconta la storia della produzione del film e le difficoltà a fargli passare la censura cinese. Cosa che alla fine riesce, ma non prima che il regista sia costretto a tagliare la scena finale, nella quale il ribelle Qiang fa la pipì di fronte ad una parata di lavoratori modello che vengono premiati.

Interessante che il film abbia ricevuto il premio Bresson, amministrato dal Vaticano. La cosa è stata vista da alcuni come un segnale di distensione nei rapporti tra i due stati, in mancanza di relazioni diplomatiche. (Il Vaticano è uno dei pochi stati, e l'unico in Europa, che a tutt'oggi riconosce il governo di Taiwan come il leggittimo governo cinese!)

Puoi vedere un trailer del film qui su Mymovies. Ed una scheda in inglese qui su IMDb.

Compre il DVD qui

Film review/recensione: The lover /L'amante (1992), by Jean-Jacques Annaud, *****

testo italiano di seguito

Synopsis

The Lover is director Jean-Jacques Annaud's adaptation of Marguerite Duras' minimalist 1984 novel. Set in French Indochina in 1929, the film explores the erotic charge of forbidden love. Jane March plays a French teenager sent to a Saigon boarding school, while Tony Leung is a 32-year Chinese aristocrat. They look at each and they both see a blinding white flash; it's kismet. He offers her a ride in his limousine and soon they meet in his "bachelor room" where they revel in a wide variety of creative sexual encounters. However, they both realize their love is doomed.

She comes from a troubled family that includes a mentally-disturbed mother (Frederique Meininger) and drug-addicted brother (Arnaud Giovaninetti). It also appears that her family would not approve of an interracial tryst. But then neither would his family, since in order to inherit his father's wealth, he must not break from a traditional Chinese arranged marriage.


Review

A high-quality erotic movie, of course, and a deeply romantic one. Deep passion intertwined with surrepetitiousness and sin. Very exciting.

But for me the main picture was that of colonian life in Vietnam in the French colonial time. Here we see as Asian man in control of a beautiful European lady. He is Chinese, not the colonized Vietnamese, but still an "Asian". Despite his wealth and sophistication he is still considered a second tier person by the white colonizers. But here he is in control. And she, too, frees herself from the constraint of her condition as a white lady at a boarding school, and takes her liberties with the man she loves. Or maybe does not love, but desires.

Duras said her book was partly autobiographical, which adds interest and lends credibility to the story.




Sinossi

Sul finire degli anni venti, in Indocina una ragazza di quindici anni, figlia di una donna povera, conosce l'uomo piu' ricco della regione. Fra i due nasce una grande passione, ma le rigide convenzioni sociali finiranno per prevalere sull'amore.

Recensione

L'Amante è un film di grande sensualità ed intensità emotiva. Passione e trasgressione si mischiano per creare una miscela esplosiva. Molto eccitante. Questo è il primo messaggio che recepiamo dal film.

Tuttavia per me il secondo, e forse più importante, messaggio è quello di farci vedere la vita nell'Indocina colonizzata dai francesi negli anni venti del XX secolo. Vediamo un uomo asiatico (un cinese, non un vietnamita colonizzato) che controlla una bella donna bianca del paese colonizzatore. Nonostante la sua ricchezza e la sua sofisticata classe, egli è pur sempre un asiatico e come tale considerato una persona di seconda categoria. Ma qui è lui che domina la situazione. Ma anche la ragazza si libera delle costrizioni imposte dalla sua condizione di bianca e si prende le sue libertà con l'uomo che ama. O forse che non ama, ma che vuole.

Duras ha scritto che il suo libro è in parte autobiografico, il che accresce la credibilità e l'interesse per la storia qui esposta.

Versione italiana del DVD

Book Review: The Secret Piano (2012), by Zhu Xiao-Mei, ****

Synopsis

Zhu Xiao-Mei was born to middle-class parents in post WW II China, and her musical proficiency became clear at an early age. Taught to play the piano by her mother, she developed quickly into a prodigy, immersing herself in the work of classical masters like Bach. She was just ten years old when she began a rigorous course of study at the Beijing Conservatory, laying the groundwork for what was sure to be an extraordinary career. But in 1966, when Xiao-Mei was seventeen, the Cultural Revolution began, and life as she knew it changed forever.

One by one, her family members were scattered, sentenced to prison or labor camps. By 1969, the art schools had closed, and Xiao-Mei was on her way to a work camp in inner Mongolia, where she would spend the next five years. Life in the camp was unbearable, thanks to horrific living conditions and intensive brainwashing campaigns. Yet through it all Xiao-Mei clung to her passion for music and her sense of humor. And when the Revolution ended, it was the piano that helped her to heal.

Review

Compelling story about music, China and love. Music helped the author through terrible times in Mao's re-education camps and somehow kept her sanity in the face of protracted brain washing by the authorities. The figure of her mother is present as a fixed star that helped her steer her way amidst chaos and upheaval.

We learn curious tidbits about how the Chinese Communist musicians at the Conservatory saw Western classical music: Bach was too religious, Chopin a sentimentalist, Debussy an idealist and of course Beethoven was egoist, but somehow Mozart was OK (loc. 739 ebook)

More generally, the author takes us by the hand and shows how the Party saw the role of culture, the relationship of sons and daughters with their own parents, the deep mistrust that was instilled in their brain for anything that was not in Mao's red book.

All of the above takes part in the first part of the book, until the author leaves China. The second part is her life in the US and France as a pianist trying to make a living. This is interesting too, but it is really another book.

This is her recording of the Goldberg variations, which inspired her book more than any other piece of music.

This is where to find the book:

Live recording of Goldberg's variations performed in Leipzig at St Thomas's church, the final resting place of J.S. Bach. The DVD also contains a 1-hour documentary on Zhu's lifelong relationship with music and her special relationship with Bach. She sees Bach as a very Buddhist thinker. The 30 variations begin and end with the same melody, and it is not by chance. (In any case, hardly anything is by chance in Bach's music.) She thinks Bach wanted to indicate that the end is a new beginning. It is Bach's Christian faith about the afterlife, but it is even more so the essence of Buddhist philosophy. It is a similar view to that taken in the book "Goedel Escher Bach", which referred to the musician's work in similar terms twenty years earlier than this recording.

Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art, British Museum, London 3 October 2013 – 5 January 2014

Creative sex

One can't have everything

Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art

3 October 2013 – 5 January 2014

Explicit and beautifully detailed, these works, produced between 1600 and 1900, have continued to influence manga, anime and Japanese tattoo art. The exhibition sheds new light on this taboo art form within Japanese social and cultural history. Parental guidance advised for visitors under 16.

You can buy the exhibition's catalogue here:




And here is a less expensive book:




Very interesting exhibition about erotic Japanese art. It was produced as of the 17th century but was long banned in Japanese after the Meji restoration, it has recently been rediscovered.

You can watch a trailer of the exhibition here, and the curator's presentation here.

You can watch some videos here, here, here and here.

Recensione: Ombra Bianca (2013) di Cristiano Gentili, *****

Albino model in a Tanzanian blog

Sinossi


C'è un luogo nel cuore dell'Africa, dove non arrivano gli echi chiassosi del turismo, dove non ci sono resort né safari per viaggiatori in cerca di avventura, dove un giorno una giovane donna posa sulle ginocchia di un uomo europeo una neonata dai lineamenti africani ma dalla pelle bianca come il latte. Lui è un ricco proprietario di una miniera d'oro, discendente di coloni inglesi. Lei è una bambina africana albina, un'anomalia per i suoi conterranei. Entrambi lottano per sopravvivere in un ambiente ostile fino a quando, per un capriccio del destino, le loro vite s'intrecceranno in una spirale di dipendenza reciproca dove la posta in gioco è la vita stessa. È l'inizio di un'avventura in cui saranno messi a confronto amore e odio, emarginazione e riscatto, magia nera e fede. Un viaggio nell'Africa misteriosa e nei meandri delle più intime emozioni umane, sullo sfondo di una cultura strangolata da un capitalismo senza morale che affonda le sue radici nel colonialismo moderno.

Albinos in Africa, read more here.

Recensione

Questo è un romanzo ma potrebbe essere considerato un saggio. Perché, oltre a raccontare, spiega. Spiega che non c'è solo la grande Africa nera ma anche quella bianca, piccola, nascosta, ostracizzata. L'Africa bianca non è quella dei colonialisti europei o dei mercenari, neanche quella dei missionari o degli esploratori. Invece è quella degli albini Bantu, quella che siamo abituati a considerare nera. Quella di cui era orgoglioso Senghor quando parlava di "negritude".

Film review: Sliding Doors (1998), by Peter Howitt, *****

Synopsis

Having been fired from her job at a PR company, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) runs to catch an underground train. Two storylines then unfold: in the first, Helen catches her train, meeting the charming James (John Hannah). Upon arriving home, Helen discovers her boyfriend Gerry (John Lynch) having an affair. She leaves Gerry and begins seeing James. Their relationship is placed in jeopardy, however, when Helen realizes that she is pregnant. In the second storyline, having missed her train Helen does not meet James and arrives home too late to catch Gerry. Gerry continues his affair with former girlfriend Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn), even when Helen becomes pregnant with his child.


Review

Historians, economists and many others keep asking this question. Most of the time no one really has an answer. A good degree of serendipity in life is unavoidable. And yet in this film, in the end, man reaps what man saws. This seems to be the moral of the story here. So when something goes wrong don't whine about "what if" and try and build a future instead! It is a fun story, unpredictable and a very original debut behind the camera for the director. Acting is great. This is as good as a rom-com can get.

Film review/Recensione: Finding Forrester (2000) by Gus Von Sant, ****

testo italiano in fondo

Synopsis

Talented basketball player Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) has dreams of becoming a successful writer, and finds help in the form of William Forrester (Sean Connery), a reclusive novelist who lives in his neighbourhood. The pair meet when Jamal breaks into Forrester's flat, but a warm student-teacher bond soon develops between them, with Forrester helping Jamal improve his writing and Jamal helping Forrester overcome his reclusiveness. However, when Jamal rewrites a piece of his new friend's work for a school assignment, his vindictive professor Robert Crawford (F. Murray Abraham) accuses him of plagiarism, a charge which could seriously effect his school career.


Review

Finding Forrester is a movie that is hard to categorize. I would say most of all it is about human relationship and how an open mind to the unexpected can open the heart. Agoraphobic writer Forrester had locked himself up in his apartment and basically given up on life when he meets young James Wallace, to whom he can teach a lot but from whom he picks up a new lease on life, to the point that he wants to go back to his native Scotland to die. He then relates how this was the happiest period of his life, his Sunset, which is also the title of his second and final novel he leaves on his desk, unpublished, waiting for James to write a preface.

It is also about hope in the face of seemingly unsurmountable odds, as James, a black from the Bronx destined for crime and a life in the streets, can use his intelligence, his basketball skills and not a little luck to make a real life for himself.

The movie also says a lot about life in the Bronx (though things have improved there since) and about how elite American schools are ready to close an eye on academic performance to attract athletic talent in their recruitment process.

A good line to remember:  to impress a woman, give her an unexpected gift at an unexpected time. Well we all knew that, kind of, but good reminder.

This is the next to last appearance of Connery in a film before his retirement.









Sinossi

Da una piazzetta del Bronx, dove giocano a pallacanestro, alcuni ragazzi di colore guardano le finestre di un appartamento sovrastante. Lì abita sotto falso nome un misterioso individuo che da anni non esce più di casa. Un giorno uno dei ragazzi, Jamal, accetta per sfida di andare a vedere chi c'è veramente in quella casa. Si introduce, viene scoperto, scappa ma dimentica lì lo zainetto con libri e quaderni. Intanto un esclusivo liceo di New York ha messo gli occhi su di lui e gli offre una borsa di studio, soprattutto per le sue doti nella pallacanestro. Ricevuta indietro la propria roba, Jamal si accorge che sulle cose scritte nei quaderni ci sono correzioni e giudizi. Il ragazzo, 16 anni, va nella nuova scuola, comincia gli studi e scopre che quell'individuo è William Forrester, scrittore vincitore anni prima di un Pulitzer e poi misteriosamente scomparso.

Book review: Bangkok, the story of a city (1970), by Alec Waugh, ***

Royal Thai Dynasty

Synopsis

In Bangkok, Alec Waugh has created a most fluent, truthful and affectionate portrait of the dynasty and culture which created it. Cutting through confusion and veiled mystery, he unravels the plots, coups, wars, assassinations, invasions and counter-coups of three hundred years of history as if it were this evening's street gossip. This loving description of the genius, fascination and enduring vitality of Thailand is told with Waugh's customary delight in life and sensual appreciation. The story is brought up-to-date with an afterword by Bruce Palling, former "Times" correspondent in Thailand.


Review

King Rama V Chulalongkorn (1853-1910)

This is a book mostly about the ruling dynasty of Thailand. I was a bit disappointed because I expected a history of the city of Bangkok, which this book is not, even though of course the dinasty resides in the capital. Waugh relies more on anecdotal stories and personal experience than on methodical historical research. He does infuse his narrative with a full flavor and unbound passion however, and just for this it is worth reading this volume. The reader will understand much about intrigue at the court. I would have liked to know about the people of Bangkok, their economic and social issues and the problem they have faced in their everyday life throughout history.

Bangkok Thai food cooking class

Food is an essential part of any culture, and when I travel I always make sure I taste local delicacies so as to be able to better appreciate the country that's hosting me. If you can learn a bit on how to prepare that food, instead of just eating it, all the better!

My Chinese girlfriend is usually not so keen on cooking, so she was a bit perplexed when I proposed to spend a half day with an apron around our waist, learning hot to cook Thai food. But she was game, I love her curiosity for new things.

After an internet search I opted for a half-day class at the Baipai Thai Cooking School. They promised to "introduce you to the wonderful world of Thai flavors allowing you to take your knowledge home with you so you can make authentic Thai dishes back home in your own kitchen." And they warned that their menu does not cater to vegetarians, which was fine by me.

Thai food, of course, is renown worldwide for its complexity, its lively taste and the careful blend of Indian and Chinese influences. This is not called Indochina for nothing. It can be quite spicy, but does not need to be soo spicy to be good.

I had had limited experience of eating in Thailand before. While I did try many Thai restaurants around the world, I am also aware that these usually cater to the local clientele of wherever they happen to be, often at the expense of the original recipes. This in not just true of Thai restaurants: I have tasted quite a number of inedible "Italian" dishes in many countries, until the day when I decided never again to eat Italian food outside Italy. (There have been a few exceptions to this rule and they are described in this blog!)

Our class was held at The Baipai Thai Cooking School. In their words, which I found to be accurate, it is "an ideal home-style learning environment that aims at cooking a style of Thai food that is different from most of the hotels and restaurants in Thailand".

We spent the morning learning to prepare 4 authentic Thai dishes: veggies, fish and chicken. First of all we visited their vegetable garden and learned about the spices and herbs we were about to use.

We later learned how to grate coconut meat from a nut, the fluffy white stuff that the Thais use in so many recipes.

We then moved to to their open space cooking area, where we had plenty of space and lots of equipment to implement the instructions that were imparted by the chef and her assistants.

At the end of it all, we ate the fruits of our labor together with the other course participants and were quite satisfied with the results. I am not sure I will ever even try to reproduce the results at home, but this was fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat when I am back in Thailand.