To thine own self be true

(photograph and handwritten copy from In Flanders Fields by Lt.-Col.John McCrae, M.D., Toronto: William Briggs ed.)

McCrae used “grow” instead of “blow” in this copy/version.

Everything that you didn’t want to know about war and were afraid to ask. A must-see anti-war film for anyone 14 and older, male or female. Winner of two AA’s including Best Picture (1930) very deservedly. A tremendous adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novella. Hard to believe it’s now 85-years-old and as relevant and necessary as ever.

Although the fictional material is a German take on WW1, this is really a comprehensive, archetypal take on twentieth-century war, period. It’s all there: the phony-baloney jingoism and patriotism espoused by elder males, the propaganda of “Dulce Et Decorum Est”, the rough transition into soldierhood, the first reconnaissance and deaths in combat, the sudden loss of friends, the catalogue of mud, trenches, rats, lice, starvation, madness, PTSD, constant noisy bombardment, the grisly hospital realities with amputations, the need for female comfort, the problems of leave and homecoming, the gap between soldiers and civilians, the lack of true understanding of war in anyone who has not served, and the huge, tragic, absurd, inevitable losses. Yes, director Lewis Milestone created the archetypal war film of all war films.

Lew Ayres is handsome, likable and believable as the essentially good teenager Paul who is the fated tragic protagonist–himself an observer and apprentice to war. It is through his eyes that the waste and meaninglessness of war is amply illustrated and revealed.

The effectively-chosen episode blackouts create a connected pall and bleak atmosphere about the events and reactions in each episode. The soundtrack is unsettling with numerous bombs going off and the perpetual din and cacophony of war battlefield noise. The viewer is very much into the thick of things well before the halfway point when the enemy breaches the trenches and starts killing the German soldiers.

The last scenes at Paul’s house and the bar in his hometown as well as at the school and with his war ‘mentor’-friend are knockouts leading to one of the great poetic conclusions in all of film, foreshadowed by Paul’s earlier love of Nature and beauty.

Although war technology has changed, this film covers the basic  ‘boots-on-the-ground’ essence of land warfare. It is an eternally true film which captures the experiences of raw young recruits as well as male experiences of war. For anyone 14 or older, male or female, it is, has been, and will continue to be basic information about the hell and pity of war. The ironically-titled All Quiet on the Western Front is a bona-fide classic, now available in the beautifully-restored Universal DVD issue of pictured above. A film to own.

Halloween cat connects with a plasma globe and Mr. Science. World of Wonders: an early tech lesson. “The readiness is all”.

(carved pumpkin mage of her Siamese Fighting Fish aka Beta aka Sir Isaac Newton; large pretty blue fish in aquarium)

(the same pumpkin illuminated with a blue light in a dark room)

(another pumpkin carving)

turns out to be acceptance of: self (no. 1), others, contexts, past choices, and life’s innumerable imperfections and Nature’s beauties. This is accompanied by and made possible to a large extent by ‘letting go’ (especially of ego, fear, and distrust). That way lies peace, satisfaction, fulfillment, and bliss.

(“Laughing Men” sculptures, Vancouver)

(getting in the way of another photographer by Seasons restaurant, Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver)

(‘reverse’ picture-window selfie on balcony at Bighorn Resort, Radium Hot Springs)

(1967–my gr. 12 class, obliviously on left talking music with a musical friend I’m still in touch with, while ‘brute neighbors’ plays with a class chick in our class)

(a meta-design by South African’s Norman Catherine featured on a Johnny Clegg shirt)

(fall backyard pic inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s “Trodden Weed”)

(personal installation re. time and death featuring famous picture “All is vanity”)

(at home anywhere; here with “Lunch Break” sculpture on park in Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton)

…ensured the development of my acute, perpetual sense of irony about myself, others, and life process. My attitude, sensibility, ‘style’, and choices all evolved from this lifelong process. I would not change a thing for (knowing) who I am and what I’ve learned along the way.

is worth two in the bush. That and lower blood pressure.

“One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin.”–Shakespeare

You’ve heard of people dealing with the hand life or fate has given them. Thus, it is with context and situation. One is always, always responding to the moments and episodes of a day or at certain points in life process, which are simply made up of a zillion contexts.

And I might as well say it. One is always having to make choices or decisions as to how to respond. These contexts and choices, naturally, define us and our life process, too. From all of this emerges something resembling an attitude based on those many choices, suggesting often, values, beliefs, and preferences we have at a much larger, deeper level.

But absolutely nothing happens without that ‘first domino falling’–a context which includes situation and whatever other background. And, inevitably, there must needs be a response.

(“conferring her own crown of greatness and genius”: Joni Mitchell’s clever self-portrait based on a van Gogh painting)

Ingrid Bergman

Juliette Binoche

Deborah Kerr

Vanessa Redgrave

Elizabeth Taylor

Virginia Woolf

Agatha Christie

Jane Austen

Emily Dickinson

Willa Cather

Alice Munro

Gabrielle Roy

Margaret Laurence

Emily Carr

Camille Claudel

Joan of Arc

Florence Nightingale

Mother Teresa

Helen Keller

Amelia Earhart

Jane Goodall

Rachel Carson

Joan Baez

Janis Ian

Suzanne Vega

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Joni Mitchell

Judy Collins

……………………..

I wonder how many young women out there today would name any of the above, and, if so, which ones and why.

Likewise, which ones, if any, men of various ages would cite.

(Olive Films/Paramount DVD with interesting interview with the original playwright who comments on the rough road to stage and then screen)

This is a successful Broadway play filmed on a movie-stage by Robert Altman in one of his comebacks. The themes of this movie include real change and adaptation vs. preferred non-changing self-narrative, the psychological excesses of fan worship, clinging to preferred fantasy and self-images, church ‘morality’ vs. modern ‘sin’, the importance of acceptance of uniqueness and differences, and gender confusion.

The plot concerns the 20th reunion on Dean’s death date of a small Texas James Dean chapter consisting of several women and one man. All members show up and old lying and self-deluding conflicts are played against truth and reality. In many ways, this timeless movie echoes the games, lies, intensity, and masks of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

The cinematography and dual use of a reflecting/transparent store mirror mixes past and present with transitions which may, initially, be confusing, but actually provide perspective and show the relevance of the club’s past on their present hang-ups, conflicts, and changes. The music, consisting of old fifties girl-songs, serves as an ironic counterpoint to many scenes and moments.

Director Altman has made one of the best, strongest, most realistic women’s pictures of any time; the problems and issues of the various women are all common and believable. In many ways, Cher is the featured funny, crude-mouthed character who hides secrets much like the other main characters. Sandy Dennis is sufficiently flaky as Mo who, in many ways, resembles the prudish Juanita, an older bible-thumping woman who manages the store.

Stealing the show with a extremely edgy, risky, but amazingly believable performance is Karen Black who plays Joanne, in an uncanny dual role that ties the painful past to the equally painful present.

(Spoiler: Mo’s son, Jimmy Dean, who never appears, is one of the key mysteries at the heart of this script.) Indeed, the invisible men–including the real James Dean, the adolescent ‘Jimmy Dean’, Sissy’s ex-husband, Joe the only fan club boy member, and Juanita’s dead alcoholic husband–are as fully characterized as the women characters onstage.

Come to the 5 and Dime is an entertaining, powerful, intriguing, cleverly put-together film adaptation of the stage play. This is simply one of Altman’s best and easily one of the top ten films of 1982. A strong women’s movie with lots of psychological conflict and dead-on terrific acting. Highly recommended.

ps/ Look for a younger Kathy Bates as an effectively foul-mouthed, obnoxious returning member who provides some comic relief along with Sissy.