Kôji Usami is a self-employed taxi driver. He and his wife work hard to provide for their teenage daughter, who has won admission to a prestigious but expensive music school through her musical talent. When a colleague asks him to take his place on a long journey transporting an elderly woman to a seaside retirement home, he accepts the job and the chance to earn more than the usual. It will be the occasion of a meeting with Ms. Sumire Takano, a woman whose personal biography spans 85 years of Japanese history, from the tragedy of war, through love stories and personal tragedies, to the final journey they travel together in Tokyo and Yokohama, in search of memories and of what survived landmarks in the ever-changing landscape of Japan. Kôji and Sumire will get to know each other and, during the trip of a day, will form a bond that transcends generations.

‘Tokyo Taxi’ is a beautiful road movie, in space and time. Geographically, the film takes us through the touristic Tokyo with its suspended highways and with some of its famous landmarks, but also through seemingly banal places, but loaded with meaning for the old lady who visits perhaps for the last time the places where she lived her life. Historically, it is also an opportunity for Sumire to share her biography marked by turbulent history and some of the major problems of her country during the period she had gone through: the war and the destruction caused by the bombings, a difficult economic period and the rebirth called the ‘Japanese miracle’ that took place with progress but also with cultural shocks, the Korean immigrants and their repatriation to North Korea at the end of the Korean War, domestic violence and the inferior status of women in Japanese society. Chieko Baishô is 85 years old and has 64 years of career on the screens, ‘Tokyo Taxi‘ being the 177th title in her filmography. Her role is formidable and she manages to create the portrait of Sumire with precision and sensitivity. Takuya Kimura, the actor who plays the driver, is, from what I’ve read, an older collaborator of director Yôji Yamada and this role is very different from those played in other films. The action flows fluidly and even if the story is a bit predictable (I whispered to my wife what the ending would be about half an hour before the end of the movie and I wasn’t wrong) it is emotional and brings closer to us both the Japan of today and that of the last 80 years.

The story is set in a Texas town on the Mexican border and in Mexico, but much of the filming took place in … Bulgaria during the pandemic. Liam Neeson plays a hitman who begins to have memory lapses. He knows the reason, because his brother is hospitalized in a specialized institution, in an advanced stage of dementia. When he refuses to carry out a mission that exceeds even the limits of his morality as a professional assassin, he himself becomes the target of the organizations that had paid him for his crimes until then. Between him, those who pursue him, the corrupt local police and FBI agents, a deadly game begins, strewn with many corpses.

It is worth noting the presence in the cast of Guy Pearce, an excellent actor who played in another film in which the hero suffers from amnesia, ‘Memento’ – Christopher Nolan’s second film. Liam Neeson and Monica Bellucci do pretty much what is expected of them. The result is a fairly well-written and made action flick, better than others in the series of films of this genre that featured Liam Neeson over the past decade, but the very part that could have been the most interesting is relegated to the rank of pretext. Action movie lovers will be satisfied, I think. Those interested in psychological thrillers should also look for the original – ‘The Memory of a Killer’ by Belgian director Erik Van Looy.

Marty is a New Yorker, just like other heroes in Josh Safdie‘s films. However, it is about New York in the 1950s in a neighborhood with a large Jewish population which had gone through the tragedy of the Holocaust only 10-15 years earlier (some were survivors, most had families that had disappeared or been destroyed). Marty is a young man, extremely talented at ping-pong – perhaps the best in New York or in all of America – and at business the way a young man raised on the streets understands business. The big international competitions take place abroad – London, Paris – and to get to them, he has to get the money by any means necessary. Any means can mean theft, seducing the wife of a tycoon who sponsors sports events, or accepting humiliations that would deprive others of their own dignity. At a competition in London, Marty wins everything until the finals where he faces and is defeated by a Japanese champion, representing another nation trying to raise up from the ashes of war. The rematch means a trip to Tokyo, but Marty has quarreled with everyone who could help him: his family, the boss he worked for, the tennis federation. However, the impossible is not acceptable to the hero of the film and he will risk everything to reach the confrontation at the top.

New York in the 50s has been depicted in many other films from those years to today. But never like this. The reconstruction is meticulous, but the nervousness of the editing is modern and the soundtrack belongs more to the last decades of the century. Understanding the game of ping-pong is an advantage, but it is not key – the tension of the confrontations crosses the screen anyway. Timothée Chalamet enters the role formidable and the comparison with Al Pacino or Robert De Niro, who played similar roles of young rebels on the streets of New York, is inevitable. He is a typical and atypical American hero at the same time. He has a dream and to achieve it he is ready to do anything, including destroying himself and those around him. I am a big fan of Gwyneth Paltrow and her return to the screen in … the role of a star returning to the stage delighted me. I hope it is the sign of a lasting return, because I believe that she still has many wonderful roles waiting for her. I would also mention the name of Odessa A’zion, a young actress, with a special physiognomy and full of talent, who transforms a ‘small’ role into a significant one. Not since Tarantino have I seen such raw realism on screen, but in Josh Safdie‘s violence (not just physical) is not sought for show or ratings, but justified by the story and the context his characters find themselves in. With ‘Marty Supreme‘, Josh Safdie has become one of my favorite directors.

The story is extracted from news broadcasts in recent decades by the Romanian media. In a remote village in the heart of the mountains, all the inhabitants receive social pensions for the most different kinds of disabilities. The situation contradicts all statistics and comes to the attention of the department in charge of pensions for people with disabilities in Bucharest. Almost everyone is on leave for various reasons, so the staff of the ministry’s inspection service themselves are forced to go to that village to check the situation on the spot. The team of bureaucrats is composed of a tyrannical boss, a long-legged young lady who undertakes – despite her lack of qualifications – the position of the unavailable physician, and a young, ambitious and servile intern. Arriving in the village located on a mountaintop in an idyllic landscape, the incompetence of the inspection team meets the cunning of the villagers guided by the mayor Pamfil. It would seem that the stratagem succeeds, but something always happens to ruin the best-laid plans. The ruthless inspectors will soften when they understand that the villagers had no other solution than to resort to deception in order to survive the negligence of successive governments. A love story between the female inspector and the one-legged (or maybe two-legged?) forester adds color to the whole situation.

‘Catane‘ is an aesthetic achievement. The music is composed by the Italian Emiliano Mazzenga and manages to synthesize Romanian folk sounds with elements of naive music that accompany and accentuate the rhythm of the action. The spectacular cinematography created by George Dascalescu uses the natural environment and combines the colors of the landscapes with sophisticated costumes. The props play an important role, some of them being authentic products of the local industry created by the villagers. The film starts off excellently. The three heroes from Bucharest arrive in a different world, with its own flow of time and laws, and as spectators we witness a combination of farce with magic, original and unique in Romanian films. Unfortunately, from a certain point onwards, the edifice begins to totter. The screenwriter seems to have not known how to resolve the conflict other than through a solution borrowed from classical Romanian comedies combined with a reconciliation and spiritual conversion of the ‘bad’ inspectors who are too little psychologically justified and seem forced. A helicopter also lands with the President (or maybe he is just a presidential candidate, it was not clear to me) who gives a filmed speech, but this scene seems inserted from another film. Part of the actors established names (Costel Cascaval, Iulia Lumânare), other are two screen veterans that I always enjoy watching (Mihai Mãlaimare, Mihai Dinvale) together with a team of amateur actors, residents of the village where the filming was done, excellently integrated. ‘Catane‘, in my opinion, missed the opportunity to have been a great film, but there are enough good reasons to go and watch it and I think many categories of viewers will like it. I am waiting for Ioana Mischie‘s next films and I just hope that 15 years will not pass between the script and the release on screens.

The story unfolds at a fast pace, in tune with the events on the screen, except for the opening and the ending. In the scene that opens the film, Nick Nikas, a developmentally disabled young man, is undergoing a psychotherapy session, probably imposed by the court because he assaulted his grandmother. He is visibly stressed when his brother, Connie, bursts into the room and takes him out. Shortly after, the two rob a bank and leave with a bag full of money, but the police are on their trail and Nick is captured. Will the disabled boy survive in prison, among the violent policemen and inmates? Connie is ready to do anything to free him, including finding 65 thousand dollars to pay the bail. Legal means of obtaining this money are quickly exhausted. Less legal opportunities take Connie to the dark streets of New York, on a night full of violence and unexpected encounters. The disaster will be visible in the light of the morning. The storm is over and Nick returns to psychological treatments.

The Safdie brothers’ cinematic style is very original for an action film. More than half of the frames are close-ups, which allows the audience to get to know and understand the characters. The actors are formidable. Benny Safdie plays the difficult role of Nick and completely enters the psychology of the character. For Robert Pattinson, the role of Connie is, I think, one of the best of his career. A man with the best intentions, but who has only known crime and violence and therefore does not know how to channel even his best intentions. Everything ends in catastrophe for him. Several secondary characters are excellently drawn. ‘Good Time‘ exposes one of the possible versions of hell located a few blocks away from where some of the richest and happiest people in the world live. A disturbing film, a film that should be depressing, but is so well made that it’s hard not to be absorbed by its dark magic.

(sursa imaginii: robboddice.com/2021/02/about-me.html)

Rob Boddice s-a născut în 1977, în apropierea orașului industrial Burton upon Trent, dintr-o zonă minieră din centrul Angliei. Pe pagina sa Web se definește ca scriitor, istoric, alergător (peste 3 000 km anual, inclusiv 6 curse de maraton în palmares), muzician (îi place să fie fotografiat cântând la chitară) și călător. Își împarte timpul între Montreal în Canada și Tampere în Finlanda. Este autorul sau editorul a 15 cărți de non-ficțiune istorică, precum și a zeci de articole, capitole de carte și recenzii. Lucrările sale au fost traduse în 12 limbi. De asemenea, a scris eseuri populare pentru revistele Aeon, History Today și Psychology Today. Domeniul de expertiză și l-a creat în mare parte el însuși. Este cunoscut în principal ca istoric al emoțiilor, experienței, științei și medicinei, cu un interes special pentru istoria bioculturală a ființei umane. Este, de asemenea, expert în studiile durerii, istoria experimentelor medicale și implicarea interdisciplinară. Format ca istoric britanic modern, și-a extins domeniul de activitate de la antichitate până în prezent, tinzând geografic spre o acoperire globală. Londra anilor 1880 este însă locul și timpul în care se simte cel mai confortabil.

(sursa imaginii: https://beyondthestates.com/schools/university-of-tampere/)

Boddice este unul dintre liderii Centrului de Excelență în Istoria Experiențelor, cunoscut sub prescurtarea HEX, fondat în 2019 și găzduit de Universitatea Tampere, din Finlanda. El a încercat să orienteze acest domeniu de studiu al istoriei spre o direcție radicală. Emoții și simțuri se referă la o abordare a istoriei concentrată mai puțin pe faptele trecutului și mai mult pe trăirile oamenilor din diferite perioade, cum ar fi mirosurile unui oraș din secolul al XIX-lea, plin de mii de cai, sau sentimentele de durere exprimate în scrisorile văduvelor din timpul Primului Război Mondial. Boddice este interesat de o metodologie mai profundă, mai vastă, care cuprinde tot ce ține de modul în care este percepută realitatea, îmbinând emoțiile și simțurile într-un concept pe care l-am putea exprima prin cuvântul „experiență”. Teoriile sale nuanțează și poate chiar intră în polemică cu teorii standard din psihologie. În anii 1960-70, psihologul american Paul Ekman (1934 – 2025) identificase șase sentimente („feelings”) care ar fi codate în orice ființă omenească: fericire, tristețe, teamă, furie, surpriză și dezgust. Dacă veți căuta emojiurile (pictogramele) folosite de mesagerii sau rețele sociale pentru a exprima reacții la mesaje sau postări, veți găsi exact 5-6 asemenea răspunsuri ‘standard’. Imaginea pe care o propune Boddice este mult mai nuanțată, diferită de la om la om, de la cultură la cultură, de la o perioadă istorică la alta. Perspectiva pe care o propune este multilaterală și multidisciplinară, ceea ce se reflectă și în structura echipelor de cercetare și a profilurilor colaboratorilor institutului. Doar o minoritate dintre ei sunt istorici cu diplomă, printre ceilalți numărându-se biologi, psihologi, medici, critici de artă, fizicieni, teologi și experți în genetică. Munca de coordonare și sinteză a istoricului emoțiilor și sentimentelor seamănă mai degrabă cu truda unui mare romancier care scrie o frescă despre o perioadă trecută sau contemporană lui, cercetând, descoperind, imaginând, îmbinând și sintetizând fațetele multiple ale personajelor și vremurilor în care acestea trăiesc.

(sursa imaginii: open.ac.uk/blogs/news/arts-social-sciences/classics/from-the-iliad-to-circe-cultures-enduring-fascination-with-the-myths-of-troy/)

Istoricul englez este autorul a două cărți în care dezvoltă fundamentele teoriilor sale și pune bazele unei noi discipline a studiilor istorice: Istoria emoțiilor, apărută în 2017, și Istoria sentimentelor, apărută în 2019. Ceea de-a doua carte analizează unul dintre sentimentele exprimate în cuvântul cu care începe Iliada – una dintre cele mai vechi și mai fundamentale cărți ale culturii clasice europene:

„Mânia, zeiță, cântă-mi a lui Peleu fiu, Ahile!”

Primul cuvânt al poemului în versiunea originală, precum și în traducerea românească a lui Dan Slușanschi exprimă un sentiment omenesc aparent ‘universal’ – mênin / mânia. Dar era oare sentimentul experimentat de Ahile la moartea prietenului său Patrocle același cu sentimentul pe care astăzi îl definim ca mânie? Era vorba despre o furie calculată și bine stăpânită sau despre o dezlănțuire violentă de proporții epopeice? Desigur, Platon și Aristotel se refereau în operele lor care au supraviețuit timpurilor la sentimente cum ar fi mânia sau frica, dar nu trebuie să presupunem că aceste noțiuni sunt similare cu ceea ce simte un om din contemporaneitatea noastră.

(sursa imaginii: open.ac.uk/blogs/news/arts-social-sciences/classics/from-the-iliad-to-circe-cultures-enduring-fascination-with-the-myths-of-troy/)

Una dintre colaboratoarele lui Rob Boddeye se numește Piroska Nagy, e născută în Ungaria și e expertă în istoria medievală. Tema lucrării sale de doctorat a fost plânsul. Nagy a studiat semnificațiile acestui gest aproape exclusiv uman în istoria ultimilor 1 500 de ani. Cercetările sale revelează faptul că plânsul era un mod de exprimare mai mult colectiv în Evul Mediu și avea, pe lângă exprimarea durerii fizice, a deprimării și a presiunilor psihologice, și o interpretare religioasă, indicând o apropiere de divinitate. Aceasta semantică a emoției s-a pierdut în timp.

Lucrările lui Boddice au dezvăluit și felul în care dictaturile secolului XX au modificat percepțiile senzoriale. Ce au simțit locuitorii Moscovei și ai Petrogradului – se întreabă el – în anii revoluției? Cum au perceput ei schimbările care se petreceau în jur? Prima impresie era pentru mulți dintre ei la nivel senzorial: trotuarele pe care pășeau erau acoperite de cojile semințelor mâncate de ‘mujicii’ care invadaseră metropolele rusești; culoarea roșie devenea dominantă, inspirând speranță și avânt revoluționar, în sufletele unora, și depresie și teroare, în mințile altora; zgomotele familiare ale clopotelor bisericilor care dominaseră peisajele sonore ale orașelor timp de secole dispăreau aproape complet. Dictatura nazistă, în schimb, părea să fie obsedata de simțul mirosului. Dușmanii reali sau imaginari și în special ‘sub-oamenii’ aparținând raselor considerate inferioare erau asociați cu murdăria, bolile, epidemiile, animalele și insectele care le propagă, tumorile și putrefacția. Eșecul acestor dictate senzoriale ale regimurilor totalitare demonstrează că ființele umane sunt suficient de diferite pentru a rezista agresiunii uniformizărilor simțurilor și a emoțiilor.

(sursa imaginii: express.co.uk/news/science/1535474/albert-einstein-wrong-theory-of-relativity-flaws-gravity-new-physics-pulsars)

Se poate spune că Rob Boddice este un extremist în refuzul acceptării conceptului de universalism. El, de altfel, amintește în multe ocazii că universalismul este o creație intelectuală relativ recentă, inventat de intelectuali europeni, în saloanele secolului al XVIII-lea. Mai târziu, psihologia freudiană a redus și ea dinamismul minții umane la o mașină (în sensul automatelor deterministe), având ca intrări impulsuri comune și ca ieșiri, comportamente previzibile. Dar chiar dacă am merge pe această linie, astăzi, în cultura noastră globală, nu interpretăm la fel pe orice meridian un cântec latino-american sau un film de groază sud-coreean. Unul dintre colegii de generație ai lui Boddice este Javier Moscoso, cercetător și profesor de istorie și filosofie a științei la Institutul de Filosofie al Consiliului Național de Cercetare din Spania (CSIC). Între cei doi există o rivalitate plină de respect reciproc. Adoptând stilul și o parte dintre metodele lui Boddice, Moscoso îl contrazice, căutând și găsind în felul în care oamenii din diverse locuri și epoci istorice răspund unor fenomene similare mai degrabă continuitate decât disonanțe permanente. Printre exemplele numeroase pe care le dă, istoricul spaniol descrie poveștile de dragoste nefericite care par a se repeta aproape ca tipare în lucrări literare de la Metamorfozele lui Ovidiu, trecând prin legendele chinezești și până la povestea Romeo și Julieta, în interpretări clasice și moderne.

Generalizarea conceptelor relativiste și respingerea universalismului au implicații în studierea și receptarea istoriei, dar și rezonanțe politice. Istoriografia are, cred eu, de câștigat din abordarea multi-disciplinară. Avantajele nu sunt însă doar metodologice, ci și legate de felul în care este predată în școli sau receptată în public istoria. Imaginați-vă lecții de istorie care nu se rezumă la a înșirui elevilor date despre dinastii și regi, nume de eroi și de locuri în care au avut loc bătălii, și le completează și îmbogățește pe acestea cu perspective, ipoteze și întrebări despre emoțiile, sentimentele și experiențele oamenilor care au trăit în trecut. Poate că atunci lecțiile de istorie vor deveni mai populare, iar înțelegerea noastră despre trecut mai umană și mai imersivă. Politic însă, respingerea universalismului aduce cu ea o doză de pericole reale. Dacă natura istoriei este subiectivă, dacă înțelegerea și reprezentarea noastră asupra trecutului nu sunt fixe, ci se schimbă în funcție de perspectivă, context și informațiile disponibile, la fel cum relativitatea lui Einstein a modificat fizica arătând că spațiu-timpul nu este absolut, nu înseamnă acestea că nici valorile fundamentale ale democrației, inclusiv drepturile omului și egalitatea tuturor ființelor umane în fata lui Dumnezeu și a legilor omenești, nu sunt neapărat absolut adevărate oriunde și oricând? Mărturisesc că răspunsul dat de Boddice autorului eseului publicat de ‘The Atlantic’ nu m-a convins până la capăt: Am fost motivat nu doar să arăt bogăția și nefamiliaritatea experiențelor trecute, ci și să încerc să le ofer oamenilor instrumentele necesare pentru a interoga politica sentimentelor în prezentul lor.” Nici Gal Beckerman nu pare să fi fost complet câștigat. În paragrafele finale ale articolului, el îi acordă lui Rob Boddice meritul principal de a-l încuraja pe fiecare dintre noi să ne uităm în ochii celor din jur sau să ne imaginăm că ne uităm în ochii celor care au trăit în trecut și să-i întrebam, pe fiecare în parte, cum simte și ce emoții trăiește din perspectiva personală. Până la urmă, diferența fundamentală dintre specia umană și alte specii ar putea fi curiozitatea despre alți oameni. Sau, aș adăuga eu, studiul istoriei.

Articolul a fost publicat inițial în revista de cultură ‘Literatura de Azi’

So little is known about Shakespeare’s life that the field is open to imagination to all those who choose to make the Bard a fictional hero. Almost three decades ago, Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard imagined the woman with whom Will Shakespeare falls in love in London and who becomes his muse, in ‘Shakespeare in Love’ directed by John Madden. Maggie O’Farrell found in the documented (as far as it is known) life of Shakespeare the love of his life in the figure of Anne Hathaway, his wife and mother of his children. In the film she will be called Agnes. O’Farrell and Chloé Zhao‘s Agnes is actually the lead character of the film – a woman connected to nature and with witch talents, a mother ready to make any sacrifice and any magic to protect her children, a devoted wife who cannot oppose her husband’s vocation even if for a while she does not understand his fascination with theater. In the vision of the two authors of the film, the death of the son – common for those times, but so tragic for the parents – becomes the event that triggers the creative storm that became the Bard’s work as a playwright and poet. The story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is the form in which the playwright chooses to keep alive in eternity the name of the son whom fate had taken away.

This film would not be what it is without the exceptional acting creation of Jessie Buckley. I had already noticed her in ‘Lost Daughter’ where she created from short flashbacks, sometimes only a few seconds long, the young version of the main character played by Olivia Colman. Her Agnes is a woman who really lives only in the forest, who tames hawks and chooses to give birth to her first child there, who has a magnetism that is not that of a witch but of a lover and a mother who fiercely protects her children. Paul Mescal bravely enters the role of Shakespeare, as he did in the lead role in ‘Gladiator 2’ and seems to be diligently building his star status without ever shining. It is always a pleasure for me to watch Emily Watson again. In general, the film is well acted and filmed, several scenes are memorable and the atmosphere of the crossroads between the 16th and 17th centuries is brought to the screen in a believable, sometimes cruelly realistic way. And yet, something seems to be missing. The family drama of the Shakespeare couple, no matter how strongly melodramatic it is played, did not manage to be a solid enough foundation for Shakeaspeare’s masterpieces for me. The lovers and the grieving parents are on the screen, but the genius who created the characters and unique lines is not really present. The scene from the performance of ‘Hamlet’ is formidable cinematically, but the Shakespearean verse does not connect with the rest of the story. And I have not yet discovered the real Chloé Zhao.

The story begins in New York around Christmas. Jess, a novice con artist and pickpocket, has the misfortune (or maybe luck?) of choosing Nick, an expert in the art of conning, as a victim for a blackmail. The master easily figures out the attackers and then gives the beautiful blonde some free professional lessons. He even decides to invite her to join his team that is planning a series of ‘hits’ in New Orleans, before the Super Bowl. As Jeff learns the secrets of the trade, the relationship between the two heats up and gets to the place where all the viewers expected it to go. After another original, well-planned, but risky final hit that doubles the con artists’ winnings, Nick leaves Jess. The reason (or pretext?) – his father (the one who initiated him into the secrets of the trade) had instructed him not to get romantically involved with ‘colleagues’. Three years later, we find Nick in Buenos Aires, planning another scam in the world of car racing teams. Jess seems to be the girlfriend of the man who bought his services, but Nick is preparing to cheat on him. Will the flame between the two be rekindled? Or will Nick succeed in following his father’s precepts?

I liked the first half of ‘Focus‘ better because I love the genre of films that expose scams, illusionist tricks, plans based on skill and daring. Two memorable scenes (the choreographed thefts on the streets of New Orleans during the carnival and the one at the Super Bowl) also take place in this part of the film. The second part has a completely different style and atmosphere, closer to a classic action comedy with some elements of technological thriller. Will Smith and Margot Robbie do their job well, they look gorgeous and the relationship between them is believable on screen. And yet, especially in the second part, something is missing. ‘Everybody lies’ was the mantra of the hero of one of my favorite series – ‘House M.D.’ -, and this applies to all the characters in this film. However, the mystery dissipates towards the end and what started out as a great film turns into just another nice action comedy that I’m afraid I’ll forget quickly.

When his career approaches the abyss, Philip accepts a job at a company that offers a type of service possible, perhaps, only in Japan. The company’s employees play surrogate roles in the lives of those who employ them or their loved ones: groom in a marriage in which the daughter wants to escape from her parents’ house, company for video game enthusiasts, fake mistress on whom the wife can vent her anger instead of the real mistress, etc. The decision to accept the job is not without hesitation, as it is clearly a psychological scam, but the charismatic head of the company convinces him that the influence of appropriate lies is positive in the lives of those who pay for these services. However, two of the roles will involve Philip emotionally more than he expected: that of a journalist who interviews a once famous actor who begins to lose his memory and with it his self-esteem, and that of a father hired by the mother of a little girl who needs the presence of a partner to enroll her daughter in a prestigious school. When the stage is real life, roles that impact the fate of others risk becoming personal problems for the ‘actor’.

In this film that has as its theme the meeting of two worlds, the ‘West’ is represented by
Brendan Fraser, the actor who plays the role of Philip. His tall silhouette and the space that he occupies awkwardly in the crowds of the Japanese capital visually differentiate him from those around him. Fraser, an actor I’ve really liked in other films, adopts a somewhat monotonous expression throughout the film, but very appropriate for a character who makes ‘very best efforts’ to understand and respect the culture he’s immersed in, even if they don’t always succeed and are understood. Director Hikari is an actress by training and this is evident in the way she chose and worked with her actors. The script can be criticized for an excess of melodrama, especially towards the end where the ‘predictable surprises’ appear, but it’s one of those cases where melodrama worked well for me. The modes of expression can be very different in different cultures, but the vibrations of the souls are the same, beyond the differences. The sincerity of the emotion won me over, and the questions about the fragile balances between truth and lies, about the good and bad lies we tell and hear in everyday life, about the actor’s art moved from stages or screens to real life, made watching this film a memorable experience.

The story takes place in 1616 in Flanders under Spanish rule. The animated but peaceful life of the inhabitants of a small town is disturbed by the news that one of the dignitaries of the Spanish occupiers, together with his entourage and military guard, will spend a night in the city. The population fears the robbery and violence that the soldiers of the occupiers bring with them. The men decide to hide their weapons and the mayor will even pretend to be dead to try to fool the Spanish. The women take the initiative and decide to adopt a different tactic: they will organize a party with drinking, music, dancing to amuse and entertain the enemies. Will this stratagem work?

The script, based on a short story by Charles Spaak, a writer very involved in cinema (he collaborated with scripts and dialogues for over a hundred films), offers an alternative of the relations between an aggressor army and the population of an occupied country that was problematic even in the period between the two world wars and is still a good source of debate today. The other conflicting line is that of the relations between men and women, but here there are famous precedents starting with Aristophanes’ ‘Lysistrata’. Are we dealing with a eulogy of collaborationism or a pacifist alternative? In 1935, this film was a co-production and had a German version, which was initially screened in the Reich, only to be banned at the beginning of World War II. The film was praised by some and criticized by others, and the debate can continue today.

Technically, the film is surprisingly sophisticated and interesting. To authentically and picturesquely reproduce Flanders at the beginning of the 17th century, Jacques Feyder built a 1:1 scale medieval town in the studios, designed by the exceptional artistic director Lazare Meerson, a creator who died tragically young, who had also collaborated with René Clair on ‘A nous la liberté’. Marcel Carné was a production assistant, and the cinematography belongs to the American Harry Stradling Sr.. How could Truffaut not notice the outstanding framing, the unique angles and spectacular shots almost a century before the invention of drones, or the use of the mobile camera a quarter of a century before the Nouvelle Vague? Stylistically, the cinematography, sets and costumes recreate the atmosphere of the paintings of the Flemish masters. A painter named Brueghel, involved in a secondary love affair intrigue, is also one of the heroes of the film. The gallery of performers is rich and diverse, even if the style of the boulevard theater of the first half of the 20th century is quite evident. I cannot fail to mention the names of Françoise Rosay (Feyder‘s wife) who creates an assertive and militant feminist character and of Louis Jouvet in a delicious role of a Spanish monk with an inquisitor background. ‘La kermesse héroique‘ is not only an exemplary product of the period of poetic realism in the history of French cinema but also a film-spectacle that can be enjoyed with delight even today.