Bloodbuzzed gets graduated!

Certified! Photos: Bloodbuzzed

Ok, a not very "serious", "self-referential", post today (apologies)... Hey! At least has to do with the blog, due to the field of study...

Yesterday afternoon I received the online certificate, so I can proudly say that Bloodbuzzed is now "officially graduated" (with distinction, I must add, If you wish I can give you the exact, and pardon my immodesty, pretty ace qualification) in Rock History (Part I) by the University of Rochester! I have to mention that my professor, Mr. John Covach is a great, very cool teacher.

The course, offered by the Coursera platform (what an excellent idea), began with the origins of rock to then focusing its lessons on American-British music on the period from 1955 to 1969. It is the first half of a two-course sequence. Needless to say, I'm also enrolled on Part II, that just started last week with the 70s (including progressive, jazz-rock and theatrical rock, I know, I know, ugghh) and should finish with the post-Nirvana era. So much fun ahead!

"A Good School", sad learnings from high school

A Good School- Richard Yates

It already happened to me when I read, then reviewed "A Special Providence". The emotion of having another book from master Richard Yates, being engaged by it while devouring it, and once the times come for the analysis, finding it a minor piece from the author.

Being honest, I'm pretty sure that sort of (minor) let down is the consequence of Yates being responsible of two undeniable masterpieces of modern contemporary literature: "Revolutionary Road" and "The Easter Parade". "A Good School" cannot compare with these two amazing novels. But still, we are in front of another very solid work, and of course, really recommendable.

Yet another factor in these aforementioned let down could be the lack of originality on the premise and development of the novel. How many remarkable books have been constrained into the walls of boarding schools? Salinger and Tobias Wolff to name just two unmissable authors. But that judgement would be a bit unfair. Yates, as expected from such a unique writer is capable of transmitting something completely personal to the book: a genuine sadness. In my imaginary world of music and literary connections, The National composed "Sorrow" for Richard Yates. 

From the very beginning, the reader will have the feeling student William Grove is some sort of Yates' alter ego, something that is almost confirmed at the end of the novel. And from page one, the chronicle of the high school years at the Dorset Academy are marked by sadness. Despite II World War has a direct effect on the students, wouldn't say this is a dramatic book, because Yates style, always using the perfect sentence, without wasting words and letting the reader "fill the gaps", avoids digressions and unnecessary floridnesses. No, the sadness I'm referring its primarily intrinsic to the characters, to the Academy as a whole. 

Yates gives space to various stories to evolve within the novel. Professors trapped into their damaged bodies and hearts, kids that doesn't seem to fit anywhere else, aspirations that are truncated or were just impossible, and the threat of constant failure, finally becoming a reality for the institution. The Dorset Academy is an isolated microcosms, that for a while seems completely separated from real world. But this will hit the place hard in the end, mercilessly. William Grove's story there is one of frustration and lost until he finds his own place: the school newspaper. But this is not a heroic tale of growing up, our leading character finally manages to surface and find his own way almost alone, almost creating a world of his own, full of deadlines and writings, inside of the Dorset small universe.

I can't clearly point out what's lacking on "A Good Novel". The stories seem to converge one final tragedy, that Yates solves again with an incredible, clinical precision, taking benefit of the journalistic sub-plot of the book, and then ends. My guess is that he just wanted to capture a glimpse of, a slice of life, teenage years that abruptly ended, forced by major circumstances and a fated destiny. Or maybe he was just trying to look back to those formation years without any anger or desolation. As I said, recommendable as everything Yates wrote, but far from his masterpieces.

SCORE: 6,75/10 

"Carnage", the darkest verbal comedy

Carnage

Verbal comedy. Is that a movie category? Because that definition fits "Carnage" incredibly well. The film is a dialectical battle of two couples, the Cowan, Nancy and Alan, and the Longstreet, Penelope and Michael, gathered to resolve, as the civilised and sanctimonious people they are, a quite serious "issue": the Cowan's son has beaten the Longstreet's kid with a stick, seriously injuring the latter's teeth. But soon the viewer will realise the four are not what they suppose/presume to be...

"Carnage" is clearly the screen adaptation of the play "God of Carnage" (Yasmine Reza, the original author, also co-writes the film script). Wait, it is more than that. It looks as if t we were watching the play itself. It all happens in virtually one room (the Longstreet's living room), in one afternoon and (almost) with only the four characters being on screen. And this fact has several virtues, as well as a few limitations.

Director Roman Polanski has to be praised for not "throwing" his ego on the film. The short length and straightforward timing in "Carnage" are key elements that allow the film to exude rhythm and dynamism. Together with the simplistic setting and lack of grandiloquence serves the comedy very well. What matters are the characters and its collection of one-liners and bourgeois traumas. I also liked Polanski's clinic eye to give, with subtle and noteworthy talent, such importance and presence to the objects on the Longstreet's apartment.

Of course, if we talk about characters, a major factor are obviously the actors. And Polanski relies on a very experimented and reliable quartet. Penelope Longstreet, played by Jodie Foster, is the more histrionic of the four, a passive-aggressive wife really wanting to push the boundaries of her guests as she is not only the concerned mother of the injured son, but a moral watchdog of Western civilisation. She is the hardest role to play and Foster's mannerisms are arguably the more dubious. Foster is closely followed by Nancy Cowan, performed by Kate Winslet. She, as the stressed mother of the "abuser" kid wants to be nice at first, but she turns, on the most extreme transformation of the lot, into an uncontrolled beast, physically speaking too.

In my opinion, the husbands are the most satisfying characters. Michael Longstreet, played by John C. Reilly starts being the kindest and accommodating person of the quartet, then evolving into a much more complex character, and amalgamation of frustration and resignation. Reilly excels in giving a natural and convincing force to Michael. And then we have Alan Cowan, performed by Christoph Waltz. He probably steals the show with his mobile phone addiction and his aggressive-aggressive, malicious nature. He for sure has the best and funniest one-liners of the film.

Unfortunately, "Carnage" also suffers from the "play structure" constrictions. For sure, the spectator has to make an effort and believe on the credibility on such an awkward situation. The first half of the film is funny and subtle, as we know that each character is hiding (well, except Alan Cowan) his/her real nature for the sake of showing her/his good manners. We could say the film shines for what it insinuates and not for what it shows, in one word: tones of hypocrisy. But the turn of events and evolution of the characters on the second half of "Carnage" is a social example of the "snowball effect" taken to a hardly credible extreme. Funny still, and somewhat understandable as we are in front of a play, but the conversation derives into a very different territory from the initial abuser-victim too quickly. Hard to believe such solid social masks would crumble so easily after a couple of whisky shots (enough said). But hey, the truth is that before you will start complaining, the movie will reach its end. So overall, there's not a lot to regret after a straightforward, smart, funny and entertaining dark (very dark) verbal comedy, packed in less than 80 minutes.

SCORE: 6,75/10

"Ms. Hempel Chronicles", teaching, learning, living

Ms. Hempel Chronicles- Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

As soon as you start reading "Talent", the first of the eight short stories of "Ms. Hempel Chronicles", you'll find yourself instantly engaged by the very peculiar voice of Beatrice Hempel, an unorthodox teacher still in her twenties, confused while she grows, as we all do, figuring out what she wants to do with her life, and longing for something, deep inside. The difference is while she tries  to discover what she's looking for, she's also a middle school literature teacher. 

Author's Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is a magnificient one. I'm impressed about the way she's capable of balancing tones without hurting the fluidity of the book. A dreamy paragraph might be followed by a lightweight one, but the next sentence can be a "heavy", dramatic one. It all sums to build a solid portray, and create a genuine and refreshing character. Ms. Hempel is a believable, complex character, and at at the same time, a quite charming women.

After "Talent", we reach the highest peak of the book with its second story, "Accomplice", a wonderful love letter to literature, with a sense of magic, wonder and hope. Holden Caulfield, Tobias Wolff, a father in the "shadows", the fear of of being using the kids to explore her longing to go further, to reach something she can't clearly define. As The National would say, "she waits for the click, she waits but it doesn't kick in". What a haunting story.

But "Accomplice" is also the curse for the book, as the next four stories are nowhere near these fabulous beginning. The school and Beatrice relation with her class is sacrificed for her family and personal life. Bynum is very good writer and her skilled but surprisingly natural prose keeps you reading. There's also a more bitter, personal grey zone, an anxiety for being "stucked" that is quite appealing, but the sense of the magic and wonder, of reading something special, is gone, replaced for a more unoriginal recreation of the past.

Luckily, Bynum rescues "Ms. Hempel Chronicles" with the two last stories, "Satellite" and "Bump", which are again superb. Contrary to the previous central chapters, in "Satellite", she doesn't explain the story of her family. Instead, what she explains reveals her famliar story. And "Bump" concentrates, in a unique way, "defying gravity", with a simple, unexpected encounter where past meets present, and what could have been meets the future. Thanks to that powerful end, once you close the book, although unbalanced and imperfect, it works as a whole. You won't forget Beatrice. And for sure, we shouldn't forget Sarah Shun-lien Bynum.

SCORE: 6,5/10

"The Wave", fascism is just around the corner

The Wave (Die Welle, German original title)

It's not easy to find films with a sociological perspective, or with the aim of being thoughtful, even getting political, without the usual fault of being too discursive or seriously slow. In that sense, "The Wave" is refreshing, being seriously profound while at the same time is vibrant and really absorbing. And the fact the whole idea is based on a real "experiment" makes the movie even more attractive (also scary).

The whole premise is based on the aim of giving a very special class, miles away from the usual lectures on an historical/political time or concept, that Reiner Wenger (powerfully performed by Jürgen Vogel), an unorthodox but committed German high school teacher has to give his students. The subject? Autocracy.

Director Dennis Gansel starts the fire in a very credible way. The kids are bored and don't want to hear about Nazism again. They argue that "it is impossible to fall into something like that again" to justify their demand to change the development of the class. Then Reiner proposes them a simple yet unusual experiment to prove their students they are so wrong. What he intends is to show the students the virtues, idiosyncrasy and practices associated to an autocracy. And the kids follow him blindly and become quickly obsessed by the experiment, transforming the classroom into a social entity with its own life, structure and codes. "The Wave" is born.

There's something really powerful and challenging on how "The Wave" is constructed. The film takes its time to focus the story in some students, reflecting how different is the reaction in front this sort of proposal depending on the student character and his/her social background, but also how are the social dynamics of a class (leaders, outsiders) and how the roles are modified or aggravated by the experiment. The elements of an autocratic regime are also displayed: a name, an image, a gesture, a uniform... Kids seems to get into it as if they were playing some funny game, but soon they are trapped by its rewards: a sense of community, protection, belonging. Wenger, the teacher, also gets enthusiastic with the level of interest his students are showing, being unaware of the influence he is having on them.

But very quickly, the game spins awfully. It gets out of control as "The Wave", as every authoritarian regime or religion does, defines itself as "us" against the "others". Exclusivity and exclusion appear, and the ones that criticise the group are rejected. The threat of violence is also there.

Despite how appealing the movie is, that fast developing into a "little-scale" fascist unit would be my only complaint about the film. The monster is created too fast to being entirely credible. It is hard to assume such a reaction could happen with this sceptical youth, which, as showed in the film, is also quite smart. The activity Reiner proposes to his pupils is quite innocent to turn into a night of vandalism the same day. One could argue they are just a few students acting like that. True. But then it gets hard to believe they can influence a whole classroom so dramatically when we also see not everyone is buying "The Wave".  

Anyway, despite my doubts in the development of the story, this film should be overtly praised. Because it deals with a very delicate topic with dynamism, tension and an engaging interest. Because it shows how attractive and engaging this system could be, and as you keep watching, it is hard not to understand the reasons why students like it. And because it shows how easily society could fall into fascism. Now if I make  the simple exercise of watching the national (and international) news, or reading/hearing the political slogans of some political parties in my country (yes, I'm referring to PP, CiU and obviously to minor fascist parties like Plataforma per Catalunya), the European extreme right or the American Tea Party, its clear to see how the hatred speech, the "us" against "them" is so popular again. Fascism is just around the corner.

SCORE: 7,25/10