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Drawing the line in times of war

May 28th 2009 03:07
North Korean soldiers in Joint Security Area

The basic idea of war is to have two opposing forces meeting at a point of contact, which becomes the main front, or the line of conflict. This concept is readily dissolved by guerrilla warfare, which takes away the line, and puts the area of engagement into a rapidly shifting, chaotic form.

In Mel Gibson's "The Patriot", we see a clear idea of how this works out: the American troops, fighting for independence, struggle to meet the British army on their own terms: standing in lines of gunmen, exchanging fire. When Gibson's character loses his family home, he hunts down the British soldiers from the dark shadows of the forest trees, using his knowledge and mobility to help him terrorize the foreign troops.

This works exceedingly well in the film, but it's interesting to read that this strategy has been effective in human history, even until now. Malcolm Gladwell, writing in the New Yorker, noted that the underdog has an unusually high winning percentage, if they play against the rules.

Gladwell writes about T.E. Lawrence and David vs. Goliath:

"Lawrence hit the Turks, in that stretch in the spring of 1917, nearly every day, because he knew that the more he accelerated the pace of combat the more the war became a battle of endurance—and endurance battles favor the insurgent...

...David broke the rhythm of the encounter. He speeded it up. “The sudden astonishment when David sprints forward must have frozen Goliath, making him a better target,” the poet and critic Robert Pinsky writes in “The Life of David.” Pinsky calls David a “point guard ready to flick the basketball here or there.” David pressed. That’s what Davids do when they want to beat Goliaths."

In cinema, this type of warfare is often glorified. In addition to Gibson's nauseatingly nationalistic epic, we've seen the underdog fight its way against the big, bad horde in the Star Wars Trilogy, "Pan's Labyrinth" and "300". Showing the big fight in the little guy is an easy method of drawing sympathy for the audience, who, no matter what background, can always shed a tear for the fallen rebel soldier.

In a battle between evenly matched sides, though, this strategy is discarded in favour of straining to keep the line. While the lines in the Middle East shifted in the Cold War - leading to the arming of the Taliban in Afghanistan - the Iron Curtain didn't even shift an inch, both sides staring grimly over the breach.

Sadly, though, wars of ideology usually leave fields of fallen soldiers, holding a gun in the name of some philosophical idea, while the metal of a bullet pierced through parchment to rend flesh.

The sci-fi film "Enemy Mine" told the unusual story of a human pilot stranded on a rocky planet. He finds another survivor on the planet, but it's one of the aliens that he's meant to be fighting, and they become reluctant friends.

Here, the line was drawn between species, as if we must be incompatible. The film was really an allegory for racism, but, by using a reptilian race, the division seemed much more repugnant, especially when the seemingly male alien gave birth to a newborn reptilian child. Despite the flaws of the film, it boldly attempted to cross the line, giving the audience a look at the idea of crossing that most hated line.

The line of war is nowhere better drawn than between North and South Korea, with a demilitarized zone (DMZ) fixed between the two sides, both sides parading their military strength at that place, called the Joint Security Area (JSA).

Filmmaker Park Chan-Wook describes this razor-sharp line in his 2000 film, "Joint Security Area (JSA)", a dark mystery about an incident on the North Korean side, where several N. Korean soldiers were inexplicably killed by a S. Korean soldier.

Was he kidnapped? Did he go hunting across the border? The most important question seems to be - why was in North Korea?

The answer, which we find out after a tense, hurried introductory act, is poignant and moving. Sgt. Lee, a S. Korean soldier, is on guard duty with his squad one night, when they've realized that they've crossed the line. The squad hurries back, but Sgt. Lee, relieving himself, discovers that he's standing on a tripwire, and is stuck there.

Luckily, two N. Korean soldiers find him, and after a tense moment with sweat and drawn guns, help him out.

This leads to a hesitant, but gradual friendship between the soldiers on the two sides, and eventually, Sgt. Lee crosses the DMZ to meet his N. Korean friends.

"JSA" is an extraordinary film, capable of deliver big emotional moments and powerful images. Separated only by the idea of communism-vs-capitalism, the two sides meet, drink and become incredible friends. The filmmaker must be praised for not succumbing to the easy path of making the 'commies' look like villains; here, they're funny, charming and with an incredible sense of honour.

In one remarkable scene, during the day, the North and South Korean forces face each other at the physical line between the sides. Sgt. Lee faces his N. Korean friend, pretending to stare each other off, but, in reality, holding in his laughter. They spit at each other, and it's all they can do to stop laughing.

What a moment! With one simple scene, director Park Chan-wook manages to, with a sense of levity, dismiss this physical line. These soldiers have nothing between themselves, except the uniforms that mark them... even the line is meaningless once crossed.

Has it really been almost 10 years since "JSA" was released? Have the tensions not eroded even a little? How tragic it must be for those Korean families, caught in the middle, one side stranded in faux-communism, the other in faux-capitalism.

At this moment, the news headlines tell me that North Korea is rapidly arming up, and there are threats of action. It's far removed from me in Australia, but that haunting image of "JSA" stays with me, a line separating two countries, and how easily it could be crossed if people wanted to cross it.



*this image is from this review of JSA.
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Star Trek Crew Abrams Quinto Pine


Spoilers! To be read if you've seen the movie, or are thinking about NOT seeing it!

Greedily, I hastily accepted an invite from Paramount to see another preview screening, before "Star Trek" comes out this weekend.

Why would I do that? Well, after seeing a couple of clips on the net, I remembered that I really enjoyed the film, enough to write two reviews about it. Read my review here, and my spoiler-laden shrieks on this page.

I was interested in finding out if I was just biased... did the grandeur of the Opera House and all the finely dressed guests, the shapely women in their slinky dresses, the murmur of excitement in the crowd... was I seduced by the tantalizing taste of celebrity hysteria?

No - under a second examination, it seems that I enjoyed "Star Trek" even more the second time, and I concentrated on finding out what, exactly, I enjoyed.

Readers of 20/20 Filmsight will recognize that I often chafe at big budget action flicks, and, though I'm a great fan of sci-fi, there has hardly been anything in the sci-fi world, cinematically-speaking, to hold my attention.

I suspect that JJ Abrams, the director of "Star Trek", is the missing ingredient - and please let me explain before Matt Shea gets up in my grill about laying false praise on directors.

Abrams has admitted that he wasn't a fan of the original franchise - and I think that's the key. A real "Trekkie" or "Trekker" might have lain too close to the tracks laid by the original television series and its offspring - instead, Abrams came up with some dynamic and spirited. He took the elements of the Shatner-Nimoy show, ramped it up and then laid it out there.

Abrams also noted that the use of lens flares, where an onscreen or offscreen light spills over the image, was ridiculous, but his reason is almost magical

"I love the idea that the future was so bright it couldn't be contained in the frame"

Additionally, where most big budget pictures shy away from long duration shots and closeups, Abrams uses both techniques. We get some fluid steadycam work on the bridge of the Enterprise, making the audience feel thrown into the action.

Even better, the camera doesn't shy away from the actors' faces, especially Pine and Quinto, who hold the movie together, each as a child of a world that seems to reject him. There's a moment when Kirk and Spock realize how valuable the other is - the camera holds them at opposite sides of the screen, and as they move closer to speak, the camera shoots in closer. That's a technique commonly used to add weight to a scene - but rarely used with such efficacy.

I heartily applaud Abrams' efforts because, truthfully, the script is a quite roughshod and the entire film could have been a dismal mess. There's far too much happy coincidence and sappy parting words, but Abrams zips past it all, leaving it out there like detritus... instead, he saves his jelly and jam for the particular moments.

The tense ship battles. The away team skydiving to land on a mining station. Desperate gun battles in an unknown ship.

It's a remarkable film, and one that I have no problem recommending to audiences as a good evening of action, character development and bouts of humour. If you can't laugh in future, there's no point waiting around for it.


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Chris Pine Kirk sits in the captains chair Star Trek 2009


Warning! This post contains spoilers on "Star Trek" and should be read only after you've seen the film!
[ Click here to read more ]
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Paul Kalkbrenner sunset Berlin Calling

This week, I reviewed "Berlin Calling", an entertaining, introspective look into a fictional DJ played by real life DJ Paul Kalkbrenner. Directed by Hannes Stohr, the film steps away from glorifying the lifestyle of drugs and sweaty bathroom stall sex, but manages to avoid the pitfalls of proselytizing against the pursuit of pleasure.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Und So Weite: If You Are the One

January 10th 2009 07:38
Warning! Films on Und So Weite contain spoilers!

Shu Qi white collared shirt blind date

[ Click here to read more ]
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Kurt Russell in The Thing
If Christmas for you is anything like it is for me, you'll need to prepare an emergency entertainment kit for the two weeks you'll be visiting the folks.

Yep, Christmas means back-to-back family dinners, making small talk with uncles that give you financial advice and eating fruitcake that you know was originally made years ago


[ Click here to read more ]
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Days of Darkness L'Age des tenebres

Warning! Posts on Und So Weite contain massive spoilers!

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Fitzcarraldo Klaus Kinski
Warning! Posts on Und So Weite contain spoilers!

Yesterday, I reviewed Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo", an epic film that smacks the viewer in the face with the raw power of the production; Herzog tells the tale of an Irish merchant who pulls a 350-ton steamboat over a mountain, in order to access the rich rubber plantation on the other side


[ Click here to read more ]
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Und So Weite: Aguirre was a Madman

August 19th 2008 00:20
Warning! Posts on Und So Weite contain spoilers!

Lope de Aguirre Basque conquistador
Yesterday, I reviewed Werner Herzog's incredible film in the heart of the Peruvian jungle, "Aguirre, Wrath of God". Klaus Kinski plays Aguirre, the famed Basque conquistador, and he looks absolutely bestial doing it


[ Click here to read more ]
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IT Crowd piracy advertisement
Film bloggers are rolling their eyes en masse as we sit down, sigh and read Elizabeth Wurtzel's hole-ridden editorial in the Wall Street Journal. It's called:

The Internet is Ruining America's Movies and Music
[ Click here to read more ]
111
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Robert Downey Jr as a black man in Tropic Thunder

This week, I was surprisingly entertained by Ben Stiller's latest comedy, "Tropic Thunder", a movie about the making of a movie that goes native in the jungles of Vietnam.

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Do audiences want auteurs?

June 4th 2008 23:46
Shyamalan directing in Signs

This week, Geoff Egan posted a comment on the 'need' for a director on a given movie. He wonders what classic movies might look like if directed by someone else.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Warning: Posts on Und So Weite discuss the movie in detail and contain spoilers! Read only if you've seen the movie!

Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford

[ Click here to read more ]
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Manhattan Bridge scene Woody Allen
An exhaustive look at Woody Allen's career on The Cinematic Art, a thoughtful film blog that excels in criticism and analysis.

Seeing the iconic image of the Brooklyn Bridge, filmed by Allen for "Manhattan", it's hard not to be overwhelmed by the director's love for New York City, and his raw zeal for the moving image


[ Click here to read more ]
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