A character and a gentleman

David Bowie 1947 - 1969

I met David Bowie in Hong Kong in the late 1970s. He was en route to perform in Australia and I was a Government official who was required to speak to him about his entry and stay. Mr Bowie was part way through a long and tiring journey and his manager wanted to spare him the nuisance of personal attendance to this matter.

As an internationally renowned celebrity Mr Bowie could have been irritated by this bureaucratic 'intrusion' into his day to day business. He could have spat the dummy or he could have sought special and priority treatment in some display of self importance. That would have been the behaviour we so often hear about from those whose lives seem to exist in some superior world.

None of this was the case when I met Mr Bowie. He was polite, respectful and simply...a nice 'bloke'.

I have never forgotten that half an hour meeting.

David Bowie; a character and a decent man.

Bridge

Tonight, 51.39%, 4/9

Suffragette

I wasn't looking forward to seeing 'Suffragette' expecting it to be heavy going and perhaps turgid.

As it turns out this film which focuses on a group of women who became drawn into the suffragette movement in Britain in the early twentieth century seeking the vote for women and some equality of rights with men is a solid drama detailing matter of factly the inequity of women's lives and the class barriers of the time.

It is a fight that is not over to this day, a fact alluded to in the end credits. All classes and groups of discriminated against individuals would connect with this film.

★★★★

Youth

'Youth' is like one of those slow release pills. At first you do not notice any impact but then over time the effects start to take hold.

The film's setting is a health and holiday type resort in the mountains of Switzerland. Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel are amongst the guests and although the resort seems at first to be a facility for the elderly there are guests and staff of all ages present.

The film is a series of images, carefully composed, embellished with music of many varieties although classical music dominates.

There is little action as such, although a plot develops eventually as pieces of information are revealed. There is a well concealed twist near the end.

This is bum numbing stuff, slow and overlong, but if you prefer deliberate style to action then this is a film for you.

The Director and Writer is Paolo Sorrentino who also directed and wrote 'The Great Beauty'; a film of very similar style.

★★★

Brisbane

Yes, once again I am in Brisbane. A belated Christmas come New Year reunion with good friends dating back from our days on posting together in Beijing. A friendship now more than thirty five years old.

One of the main events organised for this gathering was a couple of nights attending the Brisbane International tennis tournament. For some years MT has wanted us to spend time in Melbourne at the Australian Open tournament but this always looked too expensive for some of our Brisbane based friends. Having caucused unsuccessfully about a Melbourne visit MT last year suggested the Brisbane alternative and this was agreed to and organised.

In one of life's ironies MT fell quite ill and was hospitalised last weekend on the eve of our gathering. She has missed out entirely on this visit of which she was the principal architect. She has been discharged from hospital and appears to be on the mend but her doctor vetoed her travel and so she has ended up watching the tennis from home on television instead. At her insistence we've had to describe the colour of the clothes we are wearing so she can pick us out in the crowd scenes. Unsurprisingly she has not seen us on either night.

It was of some little consolation to MT that the seats she booked for us were excellent. Here is the view we had on the first night;

We saw Bernard Tomic play Radek Stepanek. Local 'boy' Tomic won but his performance was not exactly stellar. However the play was very close and the likely outcome looked uncertain until the final points.

RS, who ate sushi purchased at the courts, fell violently ill the next day with food poisoning. Our reunion was starting to look jinxed!

The next night - and with a substitute attendee for the recovering RS - we had these seats. Just a little to the right of where we had sat the previous night and still a very good view.

This time we watched Roger Federer play Tobias Kamke. The quality of play - especially from Federer - was a class above what was on show the earlier night but the match itself was less interesting simply because the tension of wondering who would win was absent. Nonetheless it was a treat to see a champion player performing in the flesh.

None of us purchased sushi for dinner this night.

I'm returning to Sydney tomorrow.

King Lear

(Sydney Theatre Company)

Shakespeare's King Lear is presented in contemporary dress and on a sparse stage in this production from the Sydney Theatre Company.

Geoffrey Rush is Lear, the King who abdicates in favour of two of his three daughters thus setting up a power play between them and their partners as his own power declines.

This is an excellent production, beautifully performed.
★★★★

Joy

'Joy' is based, I guess loosely, on Joy Mangano who invented the squeeze mop and became a business tycoon. Oops, probably allowed a spoiler through there but then this is a matter of history so scarcely a surprise twist in Joy's story.

The film begins by detailing Joy's keen inventive mind as a child and how she toiled to provide for her extended family. Having established how downtrodden Joy is the film then depicts her struggle to establish herself against the odds.

The film relies on Jennifer Lawrence's performance in the title role. Lawrence is impressive in a film that otherwise didn't really win me over.

The Director and Writer is David O Russell who has established a reputation for creating films which seem to straddle art house and mainstream sectors without quite winning over either side, let alone both. It is the quirky elements of Russell's films that supposedly lift them. In 'Joy' the quirky element is his inclusion of soap opera scenes. I don't think it worked very well.

★★1/2

Cambodia Day 18 - Siem Reap and flight home

Departure day. No official activities. Our flight out was not until late in the day. We took a walk around the streets surrounding the hotel.

The King

The King is aged in his sixties, is unmarried and once studied ballet dancing. Not drawing any conclusions from this.

The cleanup from the previous two days of the River Festival and water races was getting under way this early morning.

Later that afternoon we flew to Singapore.

Then on to Sydney.

Landed at Sydney Airport

Cambodia Day 17 - Siem Reap

This was the last full day of our trip. We were bused to Tonle Sap Lake which we were told is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia. During the monsoon season the lake expands to four times it usual size. The lake is the home of both permanent resident water people and seasonal workers who return each season to set up temporary homes from which to carry out their seasonal work.

A village alongside the lake.

Reaching the lake we glimpsed races to celebrate the second day of the country's River Festival.

Life on the lake.

 

We returned to Siem Reap and in the evening - the final night of the trip - we travelled by a fleet of Tuk Tuks to a restaurant for our farewell dinner. We got caught for ages in the gridlock of traffic leaving town after the day's River Festival activities and each Tuk Tuk lost sight of the others for the best part of forty-five minutes.

Eventually each of the Tuk Tuks cleared itself from the traffic jam and on into the dark back lanes of suburban Siem Reap then as if by magic arrived one by one at the gates of the restaurant.

Bridge

Tonight, 53.75%, 5/13

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I saw 'Star Wars' (as it was then titled before it later became 'Star Wars' Episode 4 - A New Hope') in 1977 whilst in Hong Kong where the English language soundtrack was drowned out by the noise of a raucous local audience who had no need for it as they read the Chinese sub titles. Consequently I had only a vague idea of what was happening based on the visuals. It didn't matter as I enjoyed the visuals and the general notion of good versus evil came across well enough.

I never saw the subsequent prequel and sequel episodes produced in the intervening years.

And now we have 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'. I couldn't resist the marketing 'force'.

Its the same basic plot as that first episode, seven films ago. I suspect all seven films follow the same template. Good struggles against evil and the odds until eventually triumphing.

The technical images are still stellar, the weird characters still weird and as oddly adorable as before and  the explosions are as fiery as ever. The film, as up to date as it is, delivers much of its subtle pleasure from techniques common in 1940/50s B-grade cliff hangers.

For the casual viewer of the franchise like myself it is a bit ho hum.

★★★

Cambodia Day 16 (Part 2) - Angkor Wat - Siem Reap

Continuing our day visiting the extended Angkor Wat site.

Gibbon enjoying a banana

A temple with numerous Buddha faces. How many can you see?

Sightseers around every corner

Ancient and modern

We spent the evening in Siem Reap's vibrant bar and restaurant district.

We ate at this restaurant.

99 Homes

Goodness '99 Homes' is a harrowing film. A real estate broker has become rich ruthlessly evicting mortgage defaulters from their homes after buying the homes cheaply from the banks. One of those evicted becomes an employee of the broker hoping to regain his family home.

Watching the film my mind bounced between heartache for many of the evictees and fury at the abuse of process and what passes for justice in these situations.

This brilliantly acted film plays like a documentary so natural are the images and portrayals.

This is not a film for enjoyment but it is very compelling.

★★★★

Happy New Year