Recensione: Sale Nero, di Marco Aime, Stefano Pensotti e Andrea Semplici, ****

Sinossi

Taudenni e Ahmed Ela: due "non luoghi" africani, il primo in Mali il secondo nella Dancalia etiope, sono un chiaro esempio di quelle società "diversamente sviluppate" dove il modello è ancora quello della cultura materiale. Per entrambi è grande l'importanza che continua ad avere il commercio del sale, l'uso dello stesso per gli scambi commerciali è ancora ampiamente diffuso. 

Il libro racconta con testi e fotografie l'ambiente "umano e geografico" che le carovane attraversano: comunità, culture, ambienti naturali. Mette in rilievo le comunità che vivono di questa economia, i rapporti che si intrecciano, le strutture sociali e parentali delle popolazioni, l'esperienza umana. Chi sono questi uomini, quale la loro esperienza?


Recensione

Un libro insolito, il cui il protagonista è una materia prima alimentare, la sola roccia che faccia parte della nostra alimentazione da sempre. Ed è anche merce di scambio in tutte le culture del mondo. L'aspetto economico cruciale del sale è che di solito deve essere trasportato per centinaia o anche migliaia di kilometri dal punto di produzione al consumatore. Il sale, ovviamente, è bianco, ma qui siamo in Africa...

Book Review: Buddhism Without Beliefs, by Stephen Batchelor, ****

Synopsis
The author points out that Buddha was not a mystic and his awakening was not a shattering revelation that revealed the mysteries of God or the universe. What the Buddha taught was not something to believe in, but something to do. Buddha challenged people to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, realize its cessation and create a certain way of life and awakening. This awakening is available to all of us, and Batchelor examines how to work realistically towards it, and how to practise and live it every day.

Review
This book immediately rang a bell with me. I have long felt close to Buddhism, among other reasons, because it does not require believing in any dogma. As someone who has been educated in science, I always felt uneasy with beliefs. I prefer to know, or to accept I don't know. I am an agnostic. This book spells out very clearly how Buddhism traces the path to inner peace without requiring anyone to "believe" in anything.

For example, we have no real answers to metaphysical questions (the origins of the universe and such unanswerable eternal open issues) so Buddha stopped asking them. On the ethical plane, the dharma is the logical conclusions one reaches by reasoning on what is good, not some kind of given commandment. The closest thing I can find in Western philosophy is the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant, whom I regard as the greatest thinker of Western civilization.


You can find more books by the same author by clicking on this link.

Film Review: The Swimming Pool (1968), by Jacques Deray, ***

Synopsis

Contains the French version and the original English spoken version in FULL HD resolution !!! Classic 60's French drama, the Blu-ray features the full HD version of the originally in English spoken and recorded movie. Starring screen legends Alain Delon (Lost Command, Borsalino, Mr Klein, Swann In Love), Romy Schneider (What's New Pussycat, Ludwig, Deathwatch), Jane Birkin (Blow Up, Death On The Nile, Dust) it's the story of two lovers, Marianne and Jean-Paul who are spending their vacation in a sumptous villa near St.-Tropez. After a visit Marianne invites former lover Harry and his teenage daughter Penelope to stay. With the swimming pool the main centre of action, tensions soon rise and passion turns to deadly violence.


Review

It must have been pretty shocking in the late sixties to see Schneider's naked breasts, but somehow it's not the same 45 years later :) A classic story of possessive love and obsessive lust. The movie makes me sort of detest Alain Delon, a spoiled brat in the story and perhaps in real life? In the disc there is an alternative end to the story, with policemen coming up to ... well I won't spoil it here, but somehow my disc was defective and the alternative end is cut off. There is also a short extra with an interview to the two protagonists just before the shooting of the movie.

What I found most interesting here is the lifestyle of the sixties, the clothing, hairstyle, smoking habits...

Film Review: Midnight in Paris (2010), by Woody Allen, ***

Synopsis

This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better.

Film Review: Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), by Michael Anderson, ****

Sinopsys
Phileas Fogg bet his fellow club members that he can circle the globe in eighty days. That may not be impressive today, but in 1872, it was nearly impossible. Accompanied by his valet, Passepartout, and the wandering Princess Aouda, Fogg crosses Europe, India, Japan, the Pacific and the United States.

Winner of several Academy Awards, this was written by John Farrow (Mia's dad) and S.J. Perelman, based on Jules Verne's 1873 classic. The fun part is the razzle-dazzle. Todd knew what he was doing with all those exotic locales and over 40 cameo appearances, including Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, José Greco, Peter Lorre, Buster Keaton, Frank Sinatra, and Red Skelton. A very young Shirley MacLaine was painted and dyed to play a lively Indian Princess. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Review
Five Oscar winner film from 1956, the only one ever produced by Michael Todd, third husband of Elizabeth Taylor, who died soon afterwrds at 48. Nice box with two DVDs in English and French, with subtitles in Spanish as well. A pleasant panoramic view of the world's cultures, where the real protagonist is Passpartout, while Phileas Fogg embodies English pleghm in front of every and all adversity and unforseen circumstances. Surely some scenes appear rather improbable (in the book and in the film) but we should keep in mind that Verne was writing in the XVIII century and the film was made in the 1950s technology, no CGI here! But the movie flows well and leads the viewer by the hand around the world for a lively and at times even sparkling journey.

Of course, it is highly advisable to read the book as well, Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. There are several editions available on Amazon if you click here.

Recensione Film: Il Giro del Mondo in 80 Giorni, di Michael Anderson, ****

Sinossi
Dal romanzo di Jules Verne, l'epopea di Phileas Fogg che con il suo maggiordomo per scommessa tenta di fare il giro del mondo in un tempo record. Cast d'eccezione con una cinquantina di grandi star dell'epoca coinvolte con ruoli cameo (Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Ava Gardner, Fernandel, Buster Keaton, John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Gorge Raft, Victor Mclaglen, Ronald Colman).

Recensione
Film del 1956 e ben 5 volte premio Oscar. Curioso che fu l'unico film del produttore Michael Todd, terzo marito di Elizabeth Taylor, che morì poco dopo a solii 48 anni! Bel cofanetto con due DVD in italiano ed inglese originale, con sottotitoli a scelta in entrambe le lingue (ma non in altre lingue come riportato su Amazon). Una carrellata della culture del mondo, dove il vero protagonista è il fedele assistente Passpartout, mentre Phileas Fogg incarna la flemmaticità inglese davanti ad ogni avversità ed imprevisto. Certo alcune messe in scena appaiono oggi come alquanto improbabili (nel libro e qui riportate pari pari) ma ricordiamo che Verne scriveva a metà ottocento! Comunque il film scorre bene, e fa vivere, con la fantasia, un bel viaggio!

Naturalmente è consigliatissimo leggere il libro di Jules Verne. Ce ne sono varie edizioni disponibili su Amazon cliccando qui.

Il cofanetto contiene anche numerosi extra sulla realizzazione del film.