Month: September 2020

Silence

Posted on by manthanadmin

THE MOVIE:

Martin’s Scorsese’s film Silence is an intensely powerful film which forces to us look deep within ourselves: faith, purpose, emotions, morality and the choices we make. The film is a sensorial experience that needs to be relished with a personalized dose of reflection and contemplation.

THE DIRECTOR:

We all known Scorsese as a master-director who has rarely made a bad film. He studied to become a priest, but luckily for us film-buffs, he unleashed his talents upon the world of movie-making. Unlike his other films about crime, mafia, showbiz and glitz, this film seems intensely personal.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

The film is based on the 1966 novel by Shûsaku Endô. In 17th century Japan, where Christianity was forbidden, intrepid Jesuits priests sought to spread their faith. The film poses many questions surrounding faith, religious conversion, and the (lack of) omnipresence of god. It is almost Buddhist in spirit: the soul of a seeker looking for an answer.

THE MAIN CHARACTER(S):

Two padres from Portugal (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) look for their mentor (Liam Neeson) who is supposed to have committed apostasy by stepping on the image of Christ, under duress from local Japanese officials. Issei Ogata plays an official in charge of eradicating Christianity from Japan and he torments the priests with extreme torture and humiliation.

Garfield excels in bearing all the punishment and pondering over the meaning and mercy of god. Is god indifferent to suffering? Can a man renounce god and still find a way to salvation? There are references to Christ suffering on the cross. There are many more questions, including some from the Japanese point of view: why should I stop believing in my god? I am perfectly happy with him.

MY IMPRESSIONS:

The movie is a prayer to silence. Instead of music it uses sea-waves, wind in the grass, crackling firewood, burning flesh and other such nuances to establish the setting required for deep reflection. The movie is a visual beauty which appears to magnify the contrast of the sufferings depicted in the film. No wonder that it was an Oscar nominee for Best Achievement in Cinematography.

If you enjoy reflective, soul-searching sagas that question the purpose of life on earth, you will not be disappointed.

The overview effect

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“I’m on the top of the world, lookin’ down on creation and the only explanation I can find…”

“…is the love that I’ve found ever since you’ve been around. Your love’s put me on top of the world.”

You have to be of a certain vintage to remember this lovely old Carpenters song.

But it was not love that put me on top of the world. It was a call from the office of the richest man on the planet, the Bezos himself. With an invitation to an event at Vegas, re:MARS. I didn’t decline the invitation. There were many, many highlights to the trip. Some of the robotics on display were truly mind-bending. But for me, the greatest thrill was the Blue Origin Shepard Capsule. The original – named after Alan Shepard, the first American to go into space – is a reusable suborbital system designed to take astronauts beyond the Kármán Line – 100km above Earth which represents the border between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.

What they had at re:MARS was a replica which gave you a good feel of what an astronaut in the capsule goes through.

So you go through the countdown, feel the engines ignite and push you into space. The windows give you the view as you rise above. Then the engines cut off and the capsule separates from the booster rocket. Then you feel the stillness and the weightlessness as your capsule floats in space. You look out at the Blue Planet below and you get a semblance of what astronauts call the Overview Effect.

The Overview Effect, reported by several astronauts, is the cognitive shift in awareness while viewing our home from outer space. When you see this blue dot floating in space, without the borders and boundaries we have divided ourselves with, without our linguistic and cultural differences, without our old and new bigotries, you feel this urge to protect your home.

This is best explained in the worlds of the astronaut Michael Collins from Voyager 11: “The thing that really surprised me was that it [Earth] projected an air of fragility. And why, I don’t know. I don’t know to this day. I had a feeling it’s tiny, it’s shiny, it’s beautiful, it’s home, and it’s fragile.”

Being on top of the world is a truly wonderful feeling. #robotics #reMars #bezos #space #astronauts #planetearth

Walking down a street in Havana, am reminded of Compay Segundo and Guantanamera

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Have you heard Compay Segundo sing Guantanamera? If you haven’t, let me tell you a story. 20 years ago, in those ancient days before streaming services and YouTube, I came across a documentary called Buena Vista Social Club. The social clubs were the highlight of Havana’s indulgent nightlife, the hub for musicians and performers. Then came the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and the first President, Manuel Urrutia Lleó – a devout Christian – did what all Puritan forces do, shut down all signs of joy. That was the beginning of the end of the golden era of Cuban music.

The American musician Ry Cooder and British music producer Nick Gold came to Havana in the ‘90s and revived the leading club of the ‘60s, the Buena Vista Social Club. To their surprise, they found that many of the eminent musicians of the ‘60s were still around. They got them all together and released an album called Buena Vista Social Club in ’97 which went on to become the biggest selling Cuban album in history, clocking over 8 million copies. Then came the documentary of the same name, directed by the legendary Wim Wenders.

What stood out for me was Compay Segundo singing Guantanamera. And this man on the doorstep, reminded me of Compay Segundo (who passed away in 2003). Guajira Guantanamera is probably the most famous Cuban song ever. And the most popular lyrics are by the Cuban poet and patriot José Marti. I share here the three renditions I like best – Compay Segundo, Pete Seeger and how can I not mention Joan Baez. This has given me many hours of joy. Gracias Compay!