'Things which are equal to the same things are equal to each other. A Euclid's common notion one read; once learnt, it stayed learnt.' Abraham (Abe) Lincoln is chatting two teleprinter operators even as the Civil War is surely losing less blood on the fields. There is another moment in the 2012 film by Steven Spielberg; his son is sleeping on the floor of the White House; Lincoln, done in style with the Lincoln stoop by Daniel Day-Lewis, lies down with him. President Abraham Lincoln in January 1865 is keen on the 13 th Amendment freeing blacks (now Afro-Americans); he does everything a politician does to get the requisite Democrat votes to okay the 13 th Amendment. He manages the votes though the haggling is not pretty. Son Ganesh posted the film on the computer; seen it twice for the camera telling of a famous moment in American life. In the 1960s, Fr. Turmes in St. Xavier's College passed on a book to read: Lincoln the Unknown by Dale Carnegie. Triggered regular trips to USIS (United States Informatio Service) library, free, in Chowringhee and nearly read most of Linclon books they had. The Gettysburg address: ' Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that 'all men are equal....'; still stirs being ever relevant to humanity. Particularly in 2015 India. Lincoln finished the speech before cameramen could put up their equipment, goes the story. Choice of critical moments by Steven Spielberg keeps the film tight; no waste of film rolls. Contrast is Gandhi by Richard Attenborough; the film goes on and on; Ben Kingsley is no Gandhi when Day-Lewis is Lincoln; there are no particulary standout shots; the Indian Independence history is not well told; the Pietermaritzburg moment in Gandhi's life is sloppily shot. As son Ganesh remarked, an Indian actor should have been chosen for Gandhi --- a Naseeruddin Shah or Om Puri or Soumitra Chatterjee. Switched to The Iron Lady and thought Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher did better than Lady Thatcher in life. Many dislike Margaret Thatcher, the longest serving Prime Minister of UK in the 20 th century; not me favourite; but the economic fact is UK economy revived under her. Lincoln and The Iron Lady are competently edited; an aged Iron Lady towards the end, drooping to a political non-acceptance, the quitting... are done well by director Phyllida Lloyd. From Kramer vs Kramer to The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep; she does not need to act; she is the character and the film star; she morphs easily. Have for long been keeping away from western films as the dialogues are hard to grasp; with English sub titles, the watching is fun again. Films are back on the menu.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Lincoln
'Things which are equal to the same things are equal to each other. A Euclid's common notion one read; once learnt, it stayed learnt.' Abraham (Abe) Lincoln is chatting two teleprinter operators even as the Civil War is surely losing less blood on the fields. There is another moment in the 2012 film by Steven Spielberg; his son is sleeping on the floor of the White House; Lincoln, done in style with the Lincoln stoop by Daniel Day-Lewis, lies down with him. President Abraham Lincoln in January 1865 is keen on the 13 th Amendment freeing blacks (now Afro-Americans); he does everything a politician does to get the requisite Democrat votes to okay the 13 th Amendment. He manages the votes though the haggling is not pretty. Son Ganesh posted the film on the computer; seen it twice for the camera telling of a famous moment in American life. In the 1960s, Fr. Turmes in St. Xavier's College passed on a book to read: Lincoln the Unknown by Dale Carnegie. Triggered regular trips to USIS (United States Informatio Service) library, free, in Chowringhee and nearly read most of Linclon books they had. The Gettysburg address: ' Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that 'all men are equal....'; still stirs being ever relevant to humanity. Particularly in 2015 India. Lincoln finished the speech before cameramen could put up their equipment, goes the story. Choice of critical moments by Steven Spielberg keeps the film tight; no waste of film rolls. Contrast is Gandhi by Richard Attenborough; the film goes on and on; Ben Kingsley is no Gandhi when Day-Lewis is Lincoln; there are no particulary standout shots; the Indian Independence history is not well told; the Pietermaritzburg moment in Gandhi's life is sloppily shot. As son Ganesh remarked, an Indian actor should have been chosen for Gandhi --- a Naseeruddin Shah or Om Puri or Soumitra Chatterjee. Switched to The Iron Lady and thought Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher did better than Lady Thatcher in life. Many dislike Margaret Thatcher, the longest serving Prime Minister of UK in the 20 th century; not me favourite; but the economic fact is UK economy revived under her. Lincoln and The Iron Lady are competently edited; an aged Iron Lady towards the end, drooping to a political non-acceptance, the quitting... are done well by director Phyllida Lloyd. From Kramer vs Kramer to The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep; she does not need to act; she is the character and the film star; she morphs easily. Have for long been keeping away from western films as the dialogues are hard to grasp; with English sub titles, the watching is fun again. Films are back on the menu.
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