Madness…

The word History refers to events that took place in the past. We learn from the past so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes. But in our country, periodically, especially during election campaigns, we pull out the past and cause death, destruction, and mayhem. Even now. So what have we learnt? And with what face do we go to our places of worship? The Creator made all people the same. No differences. But what have we done? Instead of living in peace, instead of living and letting others live, instead of respecting all life, we kill and loot and destroy, shaming our Creator… Then what progress are we talking about? What ‘strides of mankind’ are we referring to? Damn those who instigate the people because I do believe that left to ourselves we, the simple, ordinary people, will never kill or destroy our brother or sister. Daily life in our country is so challenging, that just keeping it together is hard enough. Why cause this kind of insanity to happen… Too, too sad…

Nodame Cantabile…

is one of those fantastic Japanese manga series which plays on Netflix. To say that the music is fantastic is to say less. What a series! And what music!! Once again I am totally and completely zapped by the way the East Asian countries have mastered Western Classical Music. Simply amazing….. and I feel that the depth they have been able to give Western Classical Music is unparalleled. They have not only learnt and become supremely proficient in an art form that has been the sole prerogative of the Western world, but have internalised it and I feel, they have added their cultural depth to it, colouring and shading it with their own heart, for music is first and last of the heart…I feel the difference - when I listen to a piece of Western Classical music played by the best philharmonic orchestras of the world, it speaks to me in one way, speaks to my brain, but when I listen to it as part of a K-drama series or a Japanese movie or series, played by Korean or Japanese musicians, it totally engulfs my heart… I have also heard Chinese students of Western Classical Music play the piano - it’s a totally different experience…

Shōgun…

is a fantastic series. I have been fascinated by this character right from my youth. In fact, samurais and the concept of samurais has always held my heart and my brain. 

Shōgun is a Japanese theme and so regardless of the foreign directors, and producers, I thought it would be an authentic series. Of course they have tried to be as real as possible but unfortunately there is one explicit sex scene which I felt took away from the series. It was totally not necessary to show that scene. The Korean and Japanese films that I have seen till now have shown love, attachment between men and women, and even physical attraction between men and women in a very elegant and appealing way. The actors have been able to convey deep feelings without taking off their clothes….The passion has come through without showing the sex act. To my mind this sex scene in Shōgun detracted from the movie. 

I have always believed that cinema is a very powerful medium and as such they influence and shape our thinking. One does not have to use the f word to express emotions, nor does one have to show sex scenes to add to the story. Good acting is convincing, and can express the whole range of emotions in a sane, normal, compelling, aesthetic way. 

The West had started losing its charm some years back, but for want of good cinema, I would watch Western Cinema with a lot of fast forwarding. Then I felt it was not worth even this effort. And finally I stopped watching Western films totally. 

Korean, Japanese, and even Chinese films (though I have seen only very few Chinese films), have shown that the deepest feelings and thoughts, both negative and positive, can be expressed in perfectly good, dynamic and eloquent language and aesthetic visuals. Their power of expression is truly superlative. May they never go down the Western way…

Western Classical Music…

I’ve been very fortunate in finding the most eclectic and beautiful selection of Western Classical Music in some of the books by Japanese authors, as well as by some Korean authors. Whenever I come across a piece of music that the author has referred to, I check it on Spotify, and I have to say that each piece has been germaine to what the author is writing about. Incredible. A couple of times the music referred to is something that I know but still when I play it on Spotify and read the page along with it in the background, the whole meaning comes alive…it’s like the music is needed to read that particular page or chapter…. And I just love it! 

And again the question comes up — how do they - the Japanese and Korean filmakers and authors - use Western Classical Music so effectively…