Monthly Archives: April 2012

Vi kan leve med usikkerheten

Jeg skriver om Breivik, galskap og ekstremisme i Dagbladet i dag:

Mange tror at spørsmålet om Anders Behring Breivik er psykotisk, og dermed utilregnelig, er nøkkelen vi trenger for å forstå terrorangrepet han utførte 22. juli 2011. Var det bare en gal manns verk, eller et naturlig resultat av høyresidens innvandringsretorikk? Begge deler er feil, og vi kan leve med usikkerheten.

Det er nemlig to sannheter den første rettspsykiatriske vurderingen ikke rokket ved, og som neppe vil bli det av den andre vurderingen heller, når den kommer.

Les resten hos Dagbladet.

1950s movies marathon – part 78

The Last Frontier (1955, USA, Mann)

Westerns are full of frontiersmen and soldiers, but the ones in this movie are among the first that actually feel like the sort of undisciplined, independent men you’d expect to find wandering about in the great American wilderness, and the kind of tough, disciplined murderers you’d expect to find in an army. Watched it all. This is one Mann western that doesn’t feature James Stewart, and it’s better for it.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955, USA)

One way of looking at Rebel is as the first in a proud tradition of dramas about teenagers behaving badly & sadly, (the standard of which today is defined by the UK version of Skins). Another way of looking at it is as the parents of 1955, who grew up during the Depression and the Second World War, might have looked at it: As a story about a generation of ungrateful whiners who wouldn’t have lasted five seconds in the War. I’m not saying that’s the right way of looking at it, but it’s more fun than the usual one, especially the scene where Dean berates his father for not knowing what it means to be a Man. Why, his father probably stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima, and murdered hundreds of Japs with his enormous flame thrower. Watched it before, and again now.

1950s movies marathon – part 77

Dementia / Daughter of Horror  (1955, USA)

Horror movies lost something when sound was invented, the ability to portray the world as fundamentally evil. This is one of the first movies to recapture that. It’s not scary, just perversely fascinated with the all the awfullness that life has to offer. Watched it all.

Kvinnodröm / Dreams (1955, Sweden, Bergman)

For a few moments, this is one of the most visually interesting movies I’ve seen .. and then the characters start speaking, the usual Bergman dialogue, ruining everything. Watched: 8 minutes.

Piagol (1955, South Korea)

The Communist Party of North Korea is EVIL, evil I tell you. (Well yes, actually, it was, and still is.) Watched: 14 minutes.

East of Eden (1955, USA)

Preliminary hypothesis: The movies of James Dean are remembered today mostly because they were the only ones he got to act in. Hypothesis now disproven. Watched it before, and again now. I didn’t pick up on the Biblical allegory the first time, which is embarassing, considering that it’s right there in the title.

Guys and Dolls (1955, USA, Mankiewicz)

Musicals are supposed to be phony, but the right kind of phony, you know? Like this. I think Good News ruined me for musicals. Ever since I saw it, I’m always waiting for the Joan McCracken scene. And there isn’t any. She only really played in that one movie, and then she died in 1961. I miss Joan McCracken. I think I’ll go watch Pass That Peace Pipe again. Over and over again. Anyway – watched: 18 minutes.