No honey...

I have a few things to rant about today, so for brevity and precision point making, I will indeed be using a list.

1. I went to Cafez again on Saturday. It is a ritual my mother and her friend have. It is assumed I will always come, but that is another rant. I decided against a latte considering the last misadventure. I thought, "today I will have chai". Tea that is. Although chai means tea. Whatever. So chai I order and I get something vaguely resembling chai. I think it was all spices and no actual tea leaves. When I poured it into the cup and then added milk it looked like milky water. However, the greatest faux pas was that no honey was delivered with my mildly spiced hot water. NO HONEY? I asked if I could have some and was told that they did not normally serve chai with honey! Now I can drink chai without honey- in fact am happy to do so. However, the honey is what makes the chai so wonderful and smooths the spices so well. If I am wrong with the compulsory honey serving, then I will stand abashed.
   
2. 2:37. Now I have not looked up any information about this film. I am going on the dvd and the interviews with director/writer, producers and cast. I have one question. Who is the person that this film is dedicated to? I heard Murali say that he tried to kill himself and when that failed he decided to write a film. Sorry if that sounded trite. I enjoyed the film - well as much as you can enjoy a film about horrible things. However, and there are a few howevers. Firstly, I got the impression that I was watching a play/film written by a high school student. The dialogue was contrived and the directing was indulgent and obtuse. The subject matter was very involved and quite unbelievable. I thought perhaps the point was that we can never know who might commit suicide - we can never really see it coming. However I thought Murali was also saying that people who want to commit suicide should at least tell people they are upset at something. I think it might stem from the idea that people should be able to recognise the people around them. I saw the sympathy in the film, but I also saw a little nasty edge to it. Maybe it is only me. Now for the suicide ending. Horrible. Just horrible. Well filmed, well acted and quite poignant, but just awful to watch. I am not sure why it was relevant that we watched this person make this decision the way we did. The set up of the film is a mystery. Everyone in the film has a reason to kill themselves. Or so we are led to believe. The body is found but not identified at the beginning of the film and we try to determine who it is through a serious of flashbacks. Lovely technique - simple film, stunning steadi-cam and incredible music. Does everyone have to be so 'involved' in something hideous? All the character's issues are so heavy and so involved and so much. Teenage drama. Although, I guess it is about teenagers - but who is the audience? Anyway, the depiction of this suicide makes it look like it is a good decision to make. Now I am not saying that the film needed to or was obliged to make a moral stand, but I will say it was done without care. The character's motives were not explored nor were they even highlighted. I guess this works for the setup of not knowing who could commit suicide, but in this case, and with it being tied in with a graphic scene, it sours it for me. As for my criticism of the directing - most of the actors/characters I saw as part of that teenage poetry over-dramatic arm waving/wailing scene that befalls the young. I did it I am sure. However, when I saw it on screen I kinda went - boring! This is not what people think about or what they say. They certainly do not reveal that they are abused. And this is where I have my final issue with the film. The construction. So it goes: 1. find the body. 2. flashback to earlier in the day. 3. intersperse flashback with doco style characters talking to camera, revealing plots and secrets. 4. intersperse this with rewinding and seeing the same scene again from another viewpoint. OK, got it? So we realise late in the film that these doco clips are done after the suicide, and are specifically made regarding the suicide. 1. we then see a doco style clip of the suicidee when in logical fact, this would not have actually occurred. (note: this was one of the best doco clips with the best dialogue in it). 2. as said previously, the reveals the characters do/say in the doco clips are contrived and unbelievable, both as plot device and as dialogue. I am repeating myself. Oh well. Maybe I am so old now I do not know what young people say or not. Maybe I am being hyper-critical cos it is an Australian film. Anyway, I have to say that the boys were all really great in the film, particularly Charles Baird. Last note: I have not seen Elephant, but from what promos I have, this borrows very very heavily from the look + sound of that film. Steadicam beauty. Thanks Gus. As for Murali. I do think he has lots to offer Australia. I would love to see him do someone else's film and see how he handles it. I love that he did lots of rehersals and allowed to actors to contribute to the film. As a director, I wish him well. I will note him down for my own future reference. I'd like to see him do something with gritty urban violence.
   
3. Matrix Revolutions: Its great and for those of you who say it sucked, well you dont know what great film making is. I know that this sounds pig ignorant, especially compared to hyper-critical comments from above, but I can.
4. Children: I have come to realise that children learn best from stories. And not stories that are overtly moral. They have to be interesting and don't make them sound like they are from your own life and you are lecturing them with your own tales. I guess its an old and tried and true technique. It is strange that I find myself in this situation - as story teller to a child. I am hoping that what I asked her to reveal about herself through stories was not that traumatic. I did not shout, I simply asked for the truth. Hopefully this worked.
   
5. My mother is INSANE.