Film and Pie Friday

  

     Ok, I have a confession to make. I had great plans for a fabulously witty post today (what other type do I have?) but, like all best laid plans, this one has been thwarted by a late, late night last night and the subsequent hangover today. To give you an illustration of the severity of this slump, you should probably know that I could be found in my kitchen in the early hours spreading the Kalle’s Kavier that I brought back from Sweden on a still slightly frozen pitta bread and feeding parts of it to the eponymous Tolstoy…Lacking both the strength and ability to engage brain now, I will ramble for a minute and then wish you all a wonderful bank holiday weekend (except if you're in Scotland, haha). 

     Having been somewhat overwhelmed by the lazy bug this last day or so I've managed to see both 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' and 'The Girl who Played with Fire' in the last 24 hours. I was excited by both - Scott Pilgrim because I like Michael Cera and the team behind it and I thought the concept was pretty cool; GWPWF because I love the whole series of books and was keen to see the next instalment on screen - and, as so rarely happens, I was very impressed with them both. I enjoyed them in the way they ‘enjoy’ things in Scott Pilgrim, with purple hearts and cloudy pink writing, although with GWPWF I guess those hearts would be rage-filled and the writing would be tattooed and black.

      Saying that, ‘enjoy’ might be the wrong word to use in relation to GWPWF. It was shockingly violent and there were several times that I jumped or had to turn my head away so I didn’t create nightmare fodder in my subconscious, but I think that's the way that film HAS to be to really convey the severity and horror of the themes at hand. I guess a conversation about the violence in this film is a continuation of the 'The Killer Inside Me' debate: yes, the violence is hideous, but isn't violence against women hideous? Yes. And doesn't seeing it portrayed in horrific detail really drive that point home? Yes. I'm sure I'm not the only person who would be readier to donate to a crisis shelter or a hotline the moment a film like that ends than at any other time.

     I do wonder how the violence will be handled in the English language remake of the Millennium series. I can't help but think it will be toned down for the sake of making it more commercially accessible and marketable, especially if they can lower it to a '15' or something, but I think the film would suffer for that, for the reasons mentioned above. A film about violence against women must include scenes of violence against women, however uncomfortable, as otherwise I think there's a danger that audiences will leave the cinema with the impression that if they are shielded from it by the makers because of who they are/the language they speak etc. then they might be automatically shielded from it in real life, which sadly is not always the case. That might have an impact on people's attitudes towards reporting it, for instance: who wants to put themselves in that 'other' group? Especially if, due to the quietly Imperialistic idea of English as superior (whilst else would they automatically start to plan the remake?), the ‘other’ group could be thought of as the ‘foreign’ one too. A horrible thought. Anyway, I can’t help but think the English language films will be inferior to the Swedish in a number of ways…in any case, they’ll have to go some way to deal with the subject matter at hand in a more adult and unflinching way.

     Anyway, small upsetting meander over, and onto Scott Pilgrim. I've (hopefully) added some of the soundtrack to my page and I'll leave it there for a day or so to entertain you whilst I nurse my aching head. I was really impressed by the originality of this film and the shameless geek/computer appeal. I love that stuff. I also thought having to battle the 'evil exes' was a nice metaphor for having to wrestle with the pasts of people you love, and I'm pretty sure a death match would be a highly efficient way to vanquish the ex who you've convinced yourself is prettier/cleverer/more interesting than yourself. Did anyone else think Knives was actually the better match for him though? I found Ramona fine, but a bit blah. Not someone you'd automatically fall in love with anyhow. Changing hair colour does not a personality make.

     Ok, I think that's today’s limit, so I shall sign off here. I think next week I might begin the serialisation of my first proper short story (exciting!) so in preparation for that I'd like to ask everyone who likes my blog to officially become a 'follower' of mine and to maybe share it with a friend or family member who you think might like it too. Thanks!

     P.S. The photo above is of the berry and meringue pie that I just about managed to make this afternoon, in readiness for my parents' visit tomorrow. Ganz lecker, mmmm!