Film -- The Elephant Whisperers

J and I keep a running list of movies and shows we might want to watch, and as you'd expect of an aspirational project, it's dominated by the critically acclaimed, the artsy, and the culturally essential. (I note that Freddy Got Fingered was recently added as part of the first category—not that we actually categorize—due to an A. O. Scott retrospective, so we are not trying to be complete snobs.)

But sometimes you just want to watch something short, beautiful, and chill, and The Elephant Whisperers succeeds on all three counts.

Short: it clocks in at 39 minutes.

Beautiful: I was struck by the often casually presented natural beauty of the location. There are some "breathtaking" shots—sweeping jungle vistas from on high, that sort of thing—but for the most part the camerawork feels unobtrusive and natural, and the lush richness of the environment comes through. Also: elephants!

Chill: there's no big drama or conflict or anything like that, just a simply presented story of an indigenous Tamil couple whose passion is raising young orphaned elephants.

The basic deal is, due to industrialization and other human activity, elephants in this region are increasingly feeling compelled to seek water and food from villages, involving longer journeys and greater risk. Often calves become separated—despite elephants' well known focus on caring for their young as a herd—and at great risk of death.

The film does not go into detail, but it is clear that successfully raising an orphaned calf to adulthood is no easy feat, and one that typically fails. But this film shows how Bomman and Bellie, the middle-aged protagonists, successfully raise two calves—the second being slowly and carefully integrated into the life of the first—and in the process form a closer bond with each other, eventually getting married. It seems their activities are part of a government conservation program, which sadly takes away the older elephant, Raghu, once he is somewhat grown.

The film touches on the religious significance of elephants—the couple view them as manifestations of a god—but focuses on the simple passion the couple have for ensuring that the elephants are well-fed, socialized, have ample playtime, and are living their best lives.

Film -- The 400 Blows

Take

One of the amazing things about living in NYC—one of the things you're paying for—is access to myriad cultural institutions, including a number of artsy/indie movie theaters, a handful of which are located in or around the Village.

I'm not much of a cinephile—I'm often the guy who elicits "really? you haven't seen that?", and I never took a film class or even read a book on film—but I love seeing movies, especially in theaters, and am glad we poked around and decided to watch this one. 

I was easily convinced based on Truffaut's reputation and the glowing Wikipedia reception section, including Kurosawa's statement that The 400 Blows is "one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen." But still I wasn't really expecting to be blown away—I figured the cultural and temporal distance, and my limited perspective, would prevent the sort of engrossed captivation I have felt during more intense and modern films such as—this is very offhand—Breaking the Waves (utterly bleak realism) and Pan's Labyrinth (powerful fantasy in a darkly real context—fascist Spain—that had me on edge from start to finish).

Anyway, this movie to my surprise sucked me in and held me there the whole time. Basically, it's the story of a delinquent teenager and his troubles at home, school, and (eventually) juvenile prison. He is a willful and confident kid who carries himself with a bit of swagger, but also seems to engage in arbitrary self-destructive behavior. It's as if some things he does, understandably, for kicks or to rebel, and others just because he is lashing out on account of the fact that his parents and society are failing him. His mom is having an affair and his parents struggle to communicate with him, despite making something of an effort (they are neither absent nor monsters); the rigid and disciplinarian educational system only serves to rouse his wrath. Eventually he runs away from it all, living with a fellow delinquent friend and then hiding out in a warehouse, until the law catches up with him. And then he manages to escape from there as well, and the final scene of him running along the countryside to the ocean he always longed to see is utterly compelling.

But underneath this wild exterior one gets the sense this kid has more complicated thoughts and is not lacking in introspection or self-awareness, and this eventually comes out towards the end when he is interviewed in juvie. 

Overall I found that the main character's performance and the pacing of the film just grabbed me, and I left hopeful that he would figure out his way in the world, though perhaps there were no real signs this was likely.

Afterthoughts

Man, I did not do this movie justice, particularly with respect to how it was shot, noteworthy scenes, the protagonist's charisma, the tone, and the pacing. (Note to self: when you've only got 10 minutes, skip the rambling intro.) In fairness, I saw it last fall, and my longer-term memory isn't so hot. C'est la vie!

Film/Music -- Stop Making Sense

I wasn't sure what today's hot take was going to be about, and then I saw that Stop Making Sense was trending on Twitter, I clicked on it, learned it had been acquired by A24 and is going to be released in theaters, and thought, and said to more than one person, "ohh shitt!"

And, I mean, oh shit is right. The first time I saw it, just the first few songs, I was in my cramped Village law school housing apartment with a couple visiting college friends, we were all in a state primed for musical appreciation, and one of them broke out the DVD and said, "dude, you gotta check this out." I somehow had not gotten into Talking Heads at all, so this was basically my introduction to them, period, and I was immediately grabbed (I had heard "Psycho Killer" before, but I wasn't super familiar). The only thing that stopped us from sticking with it was the laptop speakers and our desire for food.

I think the second time was on my friend's desktop, with respectable computer speakers, and I remember bouncing around in my chair and tapping my feet for probably 90% of the performance. The grooves were just so infectious and compelling. Everything was money—the melodies, the chord progressions, the guitar patterns, the sick basslines (only much later did I learn that Tina Weymouth initially joined the band because she was dating Chris Frantz, didn't know how to play an instrument, and proceeded to teach herself the bass), the singing (David Byrne sounds less thin and twitchy, more dynamic and rich, than on the albums, and the backup singers/dancers add some awesome depth and harmonies), the multiple percussionists, the funky keyboards, and of course the fantastic songwriting.

Briefly, some favorite moments:

• Byrne rolling up with a boombox and saying, "Hi, I've got a tape I want to play"
• The way the backup singer in "Heaven" is not shown and it seems her voice is coming from on high
• The way band members keep being added throughout the first several songs
• The righteous groove of "Slippery People"
• The intensity and energy of "Burning Down the House" and "Life During Wartime"
• The physicality and weirdness of "Swamp"
• The best version of "This Must Be the Place"
• The incredibly catchy Tom Tom Club interlude "Genius of Love"

Film -- My Octopus Teacher

Take

This post contains spoilers, I suppose. (I'm reminded of my old joke—spoiler alert: I left your fridge open!)

Here we go. This is a unique and engaging nature documentary, and one gets the feeling that a lot is left unsaid. It features a videographer (I think that's what he does) and marine conservationist who lives by the coast of South Africa, near a fecund kelp forest teeming with life. He's dealing with burnout, and perhaps a midlife crisis, and he responds by taking up swimming and free-diving in his front yard, making it a daily ritual. He brings a video camera, and apparently a drone, naturally. (It's hard to tell just how teched-out this all is, but the footage is quite good for something that feels homegrown compared to Planet Earth.)

At some point he encounters a common octopus, and he is fascinated, or perhaps captivated is the right word. One gets the sense his heartstrings were ripe for the tugging, and he seems to take on the mission of attempting to get closer to the creature, to make her comfortable with his presence, and to learn more about her life.

And what an amazing life it is! I think what most stands out to me about the octopus is the remarkable variations in her colors, textures, and shapes. Her ability to camouflage herself, at the drop of a hat at that, is impressive. Just watching her move around, hide from predators (pyjama sharks haunt these waters), and ambush prey is compelling viewing.

On top of this is the fact that she is highly intelligent. But it is a different type of intelligence from what we are used to; it feels more physical, more immediately reactive—and this is due in large part I imagine to the fact that she has a very decentralized nervous system, with some large percentage of neurons in her arms (which, we learn, can regrow completely).

The most impressive moment of the film is when she has to evade a particularly large and determined shark, and she uses a remarkable array of tools and cunning, including ink, quick bursts of movement, getting up and out on to the land briefly(!), contorting herself into crevices, and quickly gathering lots of shells around her to serve as a shield, and then, having defended herself and confused the shark, jumping and clinging onto its back—a safe space—until it is sufficiently befuddled that it gives up and swims away.

Afterthoughts

Crikey, I had more to say! I have a feeling these afterthoughts are going to be a mainstay—so much for my whole premise/promise of not demanding much of my time or yours. [UPDATE 3/14 @ 7:04pm: I've decided that going forward I will not be using afterthoughts to provide any additional "take" material, such as the below, as that defeats the purpose of this project. Rather, I will limit them to commentary or other meta-talk, or anything else of note that is decidedly not a take.]

But hey, just because I'm not on the clock doesn't mean I can't keep it brief. The main thing I didn't get around to addressing is the end (of the film). Early on it is disclosed that the common octopus only lives for about a year, and every time a new day of footage is shown, the number of days since the guy first met the octopus appears on the screen. Pretty soon we're into the 300s, and you start to wonder. But she has shown no signs of senescence, just continuing to go about her solitary but engaged life, hoodwinking both predator and prey.

I found myself wondering how such an intelligent creature could deal with being surrounded by such idiots (mammalian friend aside), and then we learn that her only encounter with a member of her species is the mating that leads to her death. Hundreds of thousands of her eggs are fertilized, and the demand on her body is overwhelming: she retreats into the back of her den and gives over all but her most vital bodily functions to providing for her young, which hatch and disperse along the currents, tiny octopuses serving as their parents' genes' lottery tickets. Those same currents drag the octopus' now threadbare and blanched body out into the open, where the scavengers begin to have their way with her, while she clings to life. It's a sad spectacle, and I was relieved to see a shark carry her away, only able to get the better of her with the deck so stacked. She kicked some serious ass. 

Another angle of the film is how the guy's love of the octopus brings him closer to his son, who takes a growing interest in marine biology and conservation, and starts joining him on dives. One gets the impression that the octopus has taught him to better appreciate the wonder of nature and the transience of life.

"You're telling me an octopus fried this rice?! No wonder it's so good!"