Extremely loud & a little sentimental

Film maker have always used key moments in history to make a statement. In 10 years since 09-11 there have been 4 movies to tackle this subject. Stephen Daldry is offering takes the human drama approach with some success.

 

OnSeptember 11, Oscar schell (Thomas Horn) mysteriously leaves his school early while his mother Linda (Sandra Bullock) is still at work. When Oscar gets home, he finds 5 messages from his father saying that he is in the World Trade Center on the 105th floor of the North Tower.  In the next few seconds Oscar learns of the Twin Towers attack by seeing footage on the TV news. Oscar starts looking in the New York phone book for the name BLACK and finds 200 families with the last name BLACK; he then decides to visit all of them one by one to see if they knew his father.
 

The title "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close “makes clear what we, the audience, are supposed to feel, but in reality, It is a manipulative film.  The movie looks directly at the emotional emptiness left in the world’s heart after 9/11, by focusing specifically on a young boy, we are supposed to feel very strongly and emotionally about 9/11 to re-memorize this very sad moment, but almost the only thing we see is Oscar desperately looking to find some information about his father. Give us the facts please and let us make our own decisions.

 

Flashback reveals an intimate relationship between Oscar and his father. When his father is taken from him, Oscar’s life is shattered, leaving him alone with his mother. However some of these scenes are rather unoriginal, a fault that lies clearly with the director.

The public has pre-existing sentiments about the 9/11 tragedy which was not assumed in the movie.

 

The movie fails a little here by focusing so much on Oscar and his own intimate feeling of loss. We know, who watched the global disaster unfold, just how much trauma was caused at the deaths of almost three and a half thousand people.

 

 All the actors gave really good performances especially Oscar.  It is not the actors fault that audiences have not responded to the movie; it's probably just that the audience expected something mysterious and different, after the first ten minutes.

Thomas Horn gave a rich performance with feeling and love. I’m very impressed with his performance as Oskar. He played a fantastic role as an autistic child; It's not every day we see a movie about a youth’s experience with 9/11, is it?

 Sandra Bullock, and Tom Hanks offer up pretty solid performances. At times Sandra Bullock seemed like she was overacting or forcing it, while at others her performance was very good.

 

 

Thomas Horn’s grandfather Max Von Sydow had a great role too. This is a man, whose entire character’s history is drawn onto his face, carrying emotional scenes to great effect.  His comic timing was a pleasure to watch.

 

Not the best movie of the year; but it certainly wasn’t the worst. Thomas Horn’s honest performance Stands out, along with Max Von Sydow’s excellent comic turn. ***

 

The Beauty and the Beast

Imagine if you, your daughter, grand-daughter, sister or niece were shot at, for simply wanting to go to school. It is a human right many of us take for granted, but for girls in many parts of the world, it is dangerous to even want an education. Think for a second, and imagine how much we are blessed to live in a country where education, which is a fundamental right for everyone, isn't divided between girls and boys. It could not be divided anywhere in the world because it is not written in any holy-book. What needs to change is man’s mind-set.

14-year-old Malala is not an ordinary teenager.  For the first time when she was 11, she was given a national peace award. Since then she has been an outspoken champion of education for girls in Pakistan. She was driven to fight for this right when the Taliban took over and banned female education, destroying schools and killing anyone who protested. On October 09 2012, Taliban fighters stopped and boarded her school bus, before demanding to know her identity. They then shot her.  She is now fighting for her life. Thankfully, on the 31^st of October, Malala is improving day after day. Her father defies the Taliban and said: ‘Malala fell down temporarily but she will rise again’.

The gender bias is so severe that, from the cradle to the grave, women have to deal with a discriminated life.  Every year 135,000 women die during childbirth in Pakistan. Only 21% of women have access to modern medical facilities during childbirth.

A man can have as many wives he wants, but women can’t; if she even looks at another man, her husband can beat her, disown her and is even within his rights   to kill her. Even small things (to you or I) such as wearing make-up or nail polish can result in the most severe punishment.

 In many areas, women are dependent on their husbands, so they can treat them in whatever way they want, as there are no rules or rights for women. Think about that for a moment. In most of the urban and rural areas in Pakistan, Women are not only banned from getting education, getting a job or having access to medical health, they are also targeted for sexual ‘use'; they are brutalised by their fathers, brothers or husbands.

It is said history repeats itself. True or not, history can present some powerful symmetries. On January the 3rd 2009, Malala posted her first entry about the “life under the Taliban”, to the BBC Urdu blog. She was protected and known as Gul Makai (1). She was told by her teachers not to wear school uniforms anymore, but rather plain clothes that would not attract attention. On January the 15th 2009, the Taliban announced their intention to ban and shut girls schools, then proceeded to begin blowing them up particularly in the North West of Pakistan (composed of 14 cities including Swat).  Malala continued to protest for girls rights for going to school and against The Taliban’s regime, on her blog. She received 5 awards in 2011 and 2012 for her braveness for and standing up for what she believed.

1. Sun Flower

Malala’s courage is in standing for the right of all young girls, not only in Pakistan, but also in others countries where girls’ education is still less than important. The attack on her was not only  planned to stop her thinking but also to frighten other young girls who would  step up behind Malala, and also to  warn parents to keep their daughters at home and away from school. Fear became a tool.

Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said by telephone: “my group was behind the shooting. She was pro-West, she was speaking against Taliban and she was calling President Obama her idol, we will target her again if she survives because she is a secular-minded lady”.

Because the Taliban know that strong, thinking, educated women could only mean one thing, regime replacement.

‘I want to change the political system so there is justice and equality and change in the status of girls and women’.

Malala Yousefzai

Thanks to girls like Malala, it can’t come soon enough.

According to the official statistics released by the Federal Education Ministry of Pakistan a desperate picture of education for all, especially for girls is presented.

The overall literacy rate is 46 per cent, while only 26 per cent of girls are literate. However The UNESCO, place the overall literacy rate at just 26 per cent and the rate for girls and women at 12 per cent, contending that the higher figures include people who can handle little more than a signature. There are 163,000 primary schools in Pakistan, of which hardly 40,000 provide to girls.

 Poverty is also a big hurdle in girls' education. According to UNICEF, 17.6 per cent of Pakistani children are working and supporting their families. Indeed, children working as domestic help are a common phenomenon in Pakistan, and this sector employs more girls than boys. Of course. 

Malala Yousafzai has a vision of Pakistan 

where modern education for all children, 

including girls, is a cornerstone of the future.

In a glass of his own

Dale demonstrating his busy brush piece

                   





'Somebody once said that people become artists because they have a certain kind of energy to release, and that rang true to me. It’s not the kind of energy you can work off in the weight room. It must have an outlet—it must be released to someone. That’s really why I draw’. 

Dale Chihuly

        

 Dale Chihuly’s exhibition in the Halcyon gallery started on 5th of December 2011 and will last till 21st of April 2012, in New Bond Street, central London. Dale Chihuly was born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington. After studying as an interior designer and architect, in 1961, Dale became a rush chairman where he learnt to melt and fuse glass. In 1964 while he was still a student, he received an award for innovative use of glass and fibre. In 1967, Dale visited the world exposition in Montreal and was inspired by the architectural glass works of Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová at the Czechoslovak pavilion. His visited Europe in 1974, and made his first significant purchase of art, La Donna Perfecta, an art deco glass mosaic.

 Around 1979, Dale started drawing and demonstrating his approach. In 1986, his glass art exhibited in the Palais de Louvre in Paris, Dale became one of only four Americans to have had a one-person exhibition at the Louvre. He then received honorary doctorates from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma. In 1988 Dale received another honorary doctorate from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland.

 Chihuly's Sunset Boat

Following these successes he    became an internationally celebrated personality in art and design for using glass.

Dale got married to Sylvia Peto in 1987 and was divorced in 1991. He got married for the second time in 2005 to Leslie Jackson with whom he shares his life until now.

 His art contains unforgettably pleasing; captivating and charming colours; and is full of light which dares the viewer to walk away. It’s unbelievable how the poetry   of colour and movement is  brought into shape. All the essentials of light, its fragility and power seem to be captured.

 One quality that makes Chihuly’s art really different and important is you ask yourself if the art is manmade or straight from nature. For a moment looking at the title piece, I was not sure myself.


 His examples of incredible glass work can now be seen in a number of major cities across the globe.

Chihuly’s Mille Fiori

In each of his installations the colour, form and light unite to create something really magical. All his exhibitions are full of life and happiness. 



 “Glass is the most magical of all materials. It transmits light in a special way ... I'm pleased that my art appeals to so many people of all ages. As a parent and an artist, I'm especially looking forward to leaving a legacy at The Children's Museum, a place where I hope my work brings joy to children who visits from all over the world.” 

 Dale Chihuly