Gabi's Narnia

Animated history lesson2

My Palestinian friend/schoolmate in England at the time, Amar, spoke about the war atrocities that Ariel Sharon had committed (had been blind and deaf about) and how insane it was to appoint him as Israel's prime minister. That was early 2001. At the time I didn`t quite get it and knew nothing of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. I didn't know that Phalangists were Christians by label.
I suppose just as Satrapi did with hers, we are going to hear more of these personal accounts of war/terror horrors in the future, told in the form of animation. I yet await a Bosnian/Croatian, a Curdish and free to choose* African version of it. *sadly

Ultimately, it is history lesson through a middle-aged man's glasses. Yes, I know, my Mom has already criticised my concept of age groups when at 34 I simply called people her age "old". Let it suffice to say Ari Folman is around 46 now.

If you are fluent in Hungarian (that doesn't necessarily mean that you are a Hungarian, seeing what the average person in this country gets educated on), read the JP skinny. In case you are still wondering what I am talking about, it's Waltz with Bashir.

The rest I inserted from the official website of the movie.

Foam Bath by Kovásznai

Br is a Kovásznai Meisterin and it was such a pleasure to see the Foam bath (Habfürdő) today. Witty and entertaining, depicting characters in a rather unassuming, still powerful and to the point manner. This 79-minute-long animation gives the impression that things haven't really changed the last 30 years. The amazing piece of picture and music feat came out the year I was born... Kovásznai was a genious. My medical student friend particularly enjoyed the "preparation for the admission to the uni" song. I hated the ordeal about unfair and hidden motivations for getting married and at the end the personal defeat of Klári didn't bring about catharsis either. Instead, I felt disgusted at society's state of my birth year just as I am with the present one. Would be much easier to draw a cartoon without colours and we wouldn't even be humans. Too bad. Cleanse me, wash me white as snow.

Live and become

This post could really get into all kinds of directions. I could talk about the authenticity of learning certain practices and over time becoming one with them or the system they are part of, meaning full identification, internalisation of the formerly external practices.
Or I could write about the falasha people and their hardships of identity. Questions of such genre, of course, I am always more than prone to discuss! How tragic it is to be branded as a Jew in Africa, bearing the same colour and marked as a Cushi in Israel.

It's a wonderful-beautiful movie on sacrificial love, roots, belonging, acceptance, personal fight through oppression, child-rearing and favoritism, racism among racially tormented people, ethnic differences in a democratic nation, hiding truth for fear, finding your calling, becoming one, lying to save lives, lying out of fear of losing the most precious, waiting, believing, learning, studying, bar mitzvah and the kibbutzim with Mandala and loads and loads of liquid grace. Immense amounts.
Watch Va, vis et deviens, more on Port.hu. And prepare tissues, I badly needed them.

No German lesson tonight

And the result is Tarsem with Christ Martin. Having danced around the flat, having consumed my glass of red wine with the proper complementary ingredients, I am now smiling. God put a smile on my face.

Russian film club so far

Yes, I am still obsessed with Russia, especially the Crimea and St Petersburg. Therefore it must be easy for you to guess what great joy I felt when the marom announced their Fall-Winter Russian movie club, organised in the Sirály.
No disappointment in that, the least to say!
My anticipation was to get a deeper glimpse into the "Russian soul" which I have been trying to dig into for quite some time now. Of course as anyone else, I expected movies with messy father figures. Spiritual fatherlessness and the heavy grace I am so thrilled by. Not only this, but much more came!

The first movie Koktebel was intense in pictures, but somehow lacked cohesion. Still, it pictured the untrustworthiness of the father-figure who in the end proves to be loving and as usual, I was happy to get the wonderful scenery a journey to the Crimea entails and was on a mental pilgrimage while staring at the screen.

The film this last Sunday was The Vozvraschenie (Return). This is a movie to watch. I don't even know where to start... it's exciting, with thriller-like features and sooo rich symbolism that it might take me ages to jott them down. Therefore in a cattywampus style, here they are, but before that here is Wiki:
-the movie follows the order of Creation... with 7 days of action, the Father dying on Friday!
-the Father appears from nowhere, and he seems to have always existed. Just like a "Father".

Human Rights Doc Film Fest

The 5th Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival

Verzio brings you an extended film program, from November 4th - 9th at Toldi Mozi and Cirko-gejzir Mozi. Expect powerful thought-provoking films from across the globe, all shown in English. A festival pass costs 4,500 HUF.

HT: Funzine, the best.

White Palms (long due post)

As I am browsing through my desk and discard movie, theatre, opera, exhibition and various other tickets I felt an urge to post about this movie.

If you are interested in the Eastern European mind this is the movie to watch after or before Kontroll. You might not even get what it means to be training under Feri bacsi and how prevalent his infamous educational approach used to be and in certain places and by certain people it still is... and how that shaped the character of someone who grew up in the early 80s. The New York Times says it all. here

Here is what RottenTomatoes has on the plot:

Miklos Dongo is an Olympic gymnast whose career was ended by an injury. He comes to Canada to begin a new life as a coach. Miklos is assigned to train one of Canada’s most gifted young hopefuls. But the young man is vain and volatile and Miklos has difficulty establishing a rapport with him. Miklos comes to understand that if he is to establish a working relationship with the young man, he must overcome his own fears and confront his past, in which he suffered under the brutal training regimen of a diabolical coach.

Of course it would be nice to say something myself. Here are my notes which I jotted down during the movie... about two years ago. (Would you be so kind as to not interrogate me about how frequently is it that I organise the papers on my desk?!? Thank you!!!) :p

-East-West comparison (great combination with the language also)

-although the guy doesn't actually win, it is a success in itself that he dared to face himself, his biggest enemy

-insight into why Hungarians are so talented, still lack self-confidence

-Western confidence - Hungarian pessimism

-just like in Kontroll the movie ends with a personal victory that is seemingly a failure to the rest of the world

-the desire to live and compete, survive is strong in humans

Strongly recommended :)

Decapitating the monster

Have you ever typed so much that you start mixing up words? Not the kind with a mistake here or there, but when you want to write flower and your fingers punch tweed just because your brain is either lagging behind or running ahead?
Anyway, I hope Mr. Lengyel really wins with his script and it's going to be made into a movie... partly because Ági helped me so much and she deserves the best seat at the premiere! No, I didn't send it to Scott whom I consider one of the most literary savvy man who is also familiar with medieval terms...  Ági made a careless offer that I exploited to the fullest... Now, the script is gone, at least for a week or so, then a final check and I will never ever again take a translation job that has to do with sacrilege, tribunal, sexual deviance, torturing etc. At least this is what I'm saying now. Gosh, I want to go running, swimming, meeting with my friends and get a very very very very good massage... And finally sleep at proper times... And get back to blogging properly... let's see :)

Pang...pang

Gosh, I had a very rough start for the weekend. Emotionally I was so drained that just after two glasses of red wine at Bar Ladino (JP here) I was more than okay... surrounded by great friends whom I respect and treasure... and the third glass shouldn't have ever reached me. Anyway, the rest of the weekend continued to be emotionally trashy, highlights were (the result of) the combat with the new vacuum cleaner, the short nap in my flatmate's armchair on the balcony (sunshine!), playing volleyball on Margitsziget with the guys, Christina's delicious Indian 'Sday nite dinner' and going on a walk with Keszi and Mom after church in the gorgeously sunlit streets of Budapest.
Afterwards went to see a movie...  with a girl with whom we have more than an interesting history... Had we known 8 years ago that we were to meet again and were going to return to the same movie theatre and we would be sharing life like this... Anyway, back to the topic. We watched Juno. No frowning please. I was interested,  but didn't get the anticipated sajt (in Scottish, pls) ;) so here is my takeaway: Girls, do not watch this movie!!! You'll want to have a kid and will be crying at the proper motherhood/pregnancy scenes. BTW, this movie has a lot to say about family values. I loved the father's and the stepmother's figure (grace, forgiveness, acceptance prevailed) no matter how unreal their behaviour could seem like in ordinary life. Too much heavy emotion for such a short time.
It's almost midnight on Sunday and I'm finally smiling again.

Persepolis

Cannot think of a greater way to convey a nation's history than telling a story. Since it's the 21st century, let it be a comic... and use the sweetest graphic solutions to depict the natural and unnatural events of a girl's life who thinks, feels and makes herself and her family's pain accessible just as Art Spiegelman did in the Maus, which I happened to read through almost in one sitting this Saturday and which by the way propelled Marjane Satrapi to write the Persepolis, at least this is what I heard.
Whether true or not, Persepolis is a treasure in itself and should be used to teach contemporary history in elementary schools, just as the Maus has become required reading in some EU countries.
I'm so happy to enjoy all these great treaures!