Loss

“We lose our youth as we grow, we’re all losing our parents, losing people we know; we’re losing all the time. There’s a deep sense of loss. It’s what I’m dealing with in my work. … It hurts me to see these things die, fall down, collapse, decay. … But then I see the beauty in that, the sense in that.” -British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy in the documentary Rivers and Tides

Danny Leiner’s “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle”

Note: My thoughts on this movie were originally posted in my sidebar and was written a few weeks ago.

Yes, the “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” is silly, but it’s refreshing to finally see a film that doesn’t feature an Asian male as The Nerd, The Japanese Mafia Guy, The Martial Arts Expert, The Immigrant or The Restaurant/Laundry/Cornerstore Owner.

The fact that two Asian males are the leads make this film even more remarkable to me. I feel that here’s finally a movie that reflects my experience, i.e., people of color as average Americans. (I also liked how the film touches upon the issue of racism. At one point in the movie, one of the “villains” snears at Harold and Kumar, “Better luck tomorrow!”)

Ethical Lapses in Recent Procedures

I keep meaning to post about the world’s first partial face transplant, which was performed in France earlier this month. Of course the procedure would be pioneered in France, I thought. One of the most disturbing films I’ve ever seen — Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face — came out of France. The movie is about a man who kidnaps a succession of young women so he can transplant their faces onto his daughter’s disfigured one.

Now the New York Times reports that there might have been ethical lapses in the case. The face donor might have committed suicide, and the patient might have tried to commit suicide as well, raising questions about whether she was mentally stable enough to consent to such a risky surgery.

The article also says this about the patient:

Whether her overdose was a suicide attempt or not, Ms. Dinoire’s doctors say that she had argued with one of her daughters earlier in the evening before taking the pills. She passed out on a sofa in her apartment as the pills took effect and her black Labrador, Tania, apparently tried to wake her, pawing at her face and eventually biting and chewing at her lips, nose and chin.

I can’t help but think of the movie Hannibal!

Questions have also been raised in another pioneering operation, this one in South Korea and involving stem cell research. I don’t know that much about it, only that there are questions about the egg donors (one of whom was? or possibly might be? a junior member of the research team, leading to speculation that she might have been pressured to donate). NPR also reported yesterday that one of the paper’s co-authors wants to remove his name from the paper due to his concerns about its accuracy.

"Cronicas" and "Awful Normal"

I’ve seen two films about child molesters in the past two days, which makes for depressing viewing. The first is Cronicas, directed by Sebastian Cordero and starring John Leguizamo. I remember hearing an interview with Leguizamo about this movie — he speaks Spanish throughout most of the movie, which, if I remember correctly, is a relatively new experience for him — and thinking that the premise was intriguing.

A man in an Ecuadorian town accidentally kills a boy with his truck. Leguizamo is a star reporter from Miami on assignment in Ecuador to report on a serial child rapist and murderer. While Leguizamo is out chasing interviews, he witnesses an angry mob try to lynch the man who struck the boy. He interferes, saves the man’s life and is subsequently hailed as a hero. But that proves to be just the beginning of the story.

The movie’s a thriller, but it also concerns the power of the press and the role of journalists.

The second movie that I saw is Awful Normal, directed, written and produced by Celesta Davis. The movie’s a personal documentary of sorts, as Davis prepares to confront the man who sexually abused her when she was five.

Unfortunately the film has not gotten much of a distribution because Davis has not been able to secure insurance covering possible lawsuits brought against the film. Apparently theaters and cable channels won’t show any films that don’t have this insurance. (The movie is being released on DVD, however, which are available here.)

The movie is powerful, though, and important I think because so many children are abused and so many people who have been abused as children have never reported it. I’ve read about the numerous lawsuits involving priest molestation, but this movie made it personal by allowing me to understand what the individual sexual abuse victim goes through. It’s really amazing that the viewer is with Davis every step of the way as she talks about the abuse with her family, makes a plan to confront the man and then puts the plan in motion. By granting viewers such access, she will hopefully make it easier for other people to come forward with their stories.

Stanley Kubrick’s "Lolita"

Note: My thoughts on Lolita were originally posted in my sidebar and was written a few weeks ago.

I really enjoyed Kubrick’s 1962 version of Lolita. Shelley Winters blew me away as Charlotte Haze, Lolita’s mother. I’d seen Winters in The Night of the Hunter, another great movie, but she wasn’t onscreen for very long. Winters played Charlotte as both a disgusting and pitiful woman.

James Mason was also excellent as Humbert Humbert. His Humbert struck me as being a much more despicable than Jeremy Irons’s Humbert in Adrian Lyne’s version of the story. Now that I think about it, I would say the same goes for the two Lolitas. I could sympathize with Dominique Swain’s Lolita, but as far as I can remember, Sue Lyon’s Lolita was closer to the precocious brat depicted in Nabokov’s novel.