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This film was not what I expected, but nonetheless enjoyable and thought-provoking. A brief glance at the cinema brochure, which revealed that Eric Cantona was playing himself, gave the impression that this was a very light, whimsical piece, perhaps not altogether in Ken Loach's usual mode of gritty realism. This was not the case: the audience was treated to a very hard-edged portrayal of life on the mean streets of Manchester. It would be an interesting exercise to count the number of times the 'F' word was used in the film: it must have been at least two hundred, I'd say. In some scenes, every single sentence contained a variant of the 'F' word. Apart from the strong language and the emotive situations, however, there was hardly any actual violence. There were also many scenes of tenderness to counterbalance the harshness.

The basic scenario is that Eric, an aging postman with charge of two difficult stepsons (and with no woman in his life), finds himself going through a particularly rough patch. Fortunately, he is blessed with a supportive group of friends (mostly from work, and all fellow Man United supporters) who persevere at trying to jolt him out of his rut. One of these friends suggests a visualisation exercise, in which participants are asked to imagine someone they really respect and admire, and imagine being that person. Of course, Eric imagines his namesake, the French footballer Cantona. From that point on, the footballer enters his life rather like a guardian angel. Imaginary conversations with the sporting superstar help Eric work out how he should deal with the various challenging situations he faces. This device (the magical mentor) has a bit of a pedigree in cinema history, gong back to Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946), and with many modern incarnations including Luc Besson's Angel A, released in 2005. Cantona's penchant for off-the-wall proverbs annoys Eric at first but quickly becomes part of their friendship. Their conversations are humorful and full of warmth. Cantona cannot really be said to be acting as he is, after all, just being himself, but there is an understated lightness of touch (and self-irony) about his self-portrayal which is very effective.

There is a fairly large cast of characters, including Eric's ex-wife Lily, and various minor parts like Eric's football-loving friends, but it remains an intimate and personal film. The big crisis comes when one of Eric's stepsons is threatened by a local gangster, and faces a terrifying dilemma that has repercussions for the whole family. Eric eventually finds a solution by following Cantona's advice to 'trust his team' (i.e. his mates), and together the friends find an ingenious and hilarious way to teach the gangster a lesson he won't forget. The way this is done owes much to Cantona's style of football, which blended surprise and wit with grace and teamwork. The climax of the film is masterfully handled by Loach, and releases a feeling of euphoria in the audience that in some ways mimics the feel-good sensations a football crowd experiences. It is all the more effective for the relatively slow and careful build-up throughout the film. My main quibble with the film is that it presents a bit of a rosy-eyed view of working-class life, relying rather heavily on the stereotype of working-class communities (men down the pub) helping each other out in a spot of trouble and triumphing over the bad guys of their world. In reality, I suspect that it is much less easy to combat the power of the underworld figures stalking modern society, though there is always hope I suppose. I also wondered whether, in reality, a self-absorbed and morose character (which Eric is at the beginning of the film) would be able to sustain a circle of supportive and caring friends as he does in this film. Cynically, one suspects that most of his friends would have given up with him a long time ago. To some extent, Eric rediscovers the charming and loveable side of himself (the prize-winning dancer and passionate husband he had been in his youth) who has been buried under layers of self-loathing and despair, but the transformation is rather sudden. The film's title alludes to the process of self-discovery just mentioned as well as to the establishment of a psychic connection with the footballer. It is an optimistic film, and leaves the audience cautiously hopeful.

**** (out of 5)

Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone have just announced that the Common Engine for F1 2010 will be a Wankel rotary engine.

This will be coupled with the KERS system. The common engine system will therefore be known as WAN-KERS . (I thank you. I thank you.)

This just in from "the artist":

Due to the overwhelming support I have received over the past few days
- and many requests for prints/originals from my avid collectors in
India and abroad - I have decided to create three limited edition
giclee prints of Tyler Juett - Bulwell Solja, in a print run of 100
each.

Bulwell Buddhist

Pop Juett

Tyler Om

These prints are available from my usual sources and distributors in
India - or you can also mail me at the usual address (dudaiyan@nofear.org).

I am also having a 30% sale on the prints - so you can now pick up for
discount prices!
i. in simple poster format (signed)/framed - £20/£40
ii. hand embellished (signed) posters/framed - £50/£70
iii. hand embellished (signed) print mounted on canvas - £200

I have already pre-filled almost half the orders already - so hurry -
while stocks last (as they say)

D.Udaiyan 2009

After much deliberation over the weekend over whether I should respond
to fight clubs very own Tyler Durden, Mr Robbo, Baz and the rest of
the neocons. I decided to write this small piece about the essence of
human nature. I truly believe that there is a marked division within
mankind - on the one hand we have Hutu militiamen, Islamic fanatics,
Northern league Nazis and South American death squads, etc... and on
the other hand you have Zen Buddhists, Sufis, non violent vegans,
humanists, tantric Hindus, Gnostic Christians and various other
groupings. I know which camp I belong to - and I think I understand
where your allegiances lie Messrs Duden and Co.

The question I struggle to comprehend is: why do people join such
right wing organisations and support their actions. Just reading the
over the comments and replies to my deeply felt plea to humanity shows
why these people exist. In its most basic form it is simply pettiness
of the worse kind. For example: By Mr Baz : "If any of your other
kids wind up in my house trying to rob things that I've f***ed worked
hard for, don't expect to ever hear them speak again either. "

How sad that is. That you would be prepared to take someone's life-
(and essentially corrupt your own soul) for the sake of a TV set, an
mp3 player, a toaster or whatever it is you hoard in your palace. The
fact that you would kill a child hasn't escaped my attention also Mr
Baz.

My painting of Tyler was not just about the murder of a child - it was
about the state of humanity - the division, the schism between man and
beast. I am firmly in the camp of humanity - where do you stand?

My advice to Durden, Baz, Robbo is this. Meditate. Just try it...
create a visual poem about Tyler Juett. Paint his picture and at the
same time, try to enter into HIS state of mind as well as yours. Can
you really condemn someone without understanding his background, his
journey and his philosophy! From one act you have painted a universe
about Tyler Juett... but now you must repaint that vision of hell into
something less soul corrupting and into something purer.

You need to paint yourself as the Bulwell Solja

Peace
Udaiyan

This response caused some more discourse on the subject of Solja Boy Juett, so here we append Udaiyan's further considered response (below the new painting):

My dear, dear Tyler - what has happened to you! What has your journey
been like? Where have you travelled to and what is the end
destination? Can you not see that all this anguish and hate will lead
nowhere? You are running around in circles and you haven't even left
the starting blocks yet? I pity you and thus I want to help you - but
you need to help yourself first. Open your mind! It is so frustrating
to see that I am holding the door for you and yet you hesitate still!
Step out of your shadow Tyler and live! Live as if it were your last
day and then cry out with joy that you were liberated at the end.

Ok, but before that liberation begins, I must now address your points
as succinctly as possible (as I do need to complete a few commissions
by the end of July - I am a very slow painter.)

Durden wrote: "if we, as a collective voice, are against thieves - we
are by definition, right wing sympathisers? - "How the *** does that
work..."

How does it work indeed! Have you never considered this simple
question: Why do we have thieves? Why would someone steal something?
What drives a human to take an object from someone else? Or to put it
simply - why do people have things and others do not? Why am I
drinking a fine bottle Chateau Pichon Longueville while others drink
dirty water from an open well in the middle of the desert. When you
have enough courage to answer that question Tyler (and I do mean real
courage) - then, and only then - will you understand how "it works"
and thus how everything works!

Ps/I find this statement very interesting?
"By the way, would you define the I.R.A as Christian Extremist Fundamentalists?"

I am (as you have probably gathered) a pacifist. Not a supporter of
terrorism or violence of any form. But the IRA has now renounced
violence - and they are now showing us the way. They are walking hand
in hand with their Loyalist brethren and marching for peace, love,
beauty and all things truthful. Can you not see that now? Can you not
see how the Republican Army has been transformed into an object of
serenity and calmness? An Army of Love in fact! Of course there are
still people who would wish harm to their neighbours due to some
misguided perception of difference - but the Army of Love has
triumphed in the face of such adversity. Surely, something you must
commend them on, Mr Durden?

Mr Durden also wrote: "Your 'Art' is still amateur shit and you're a
f**ing clueless rhuemy eyed snivelling ***."
Dearest Tyler - I can assure you that my art is not in the least bit
amateur. In fact, you may be interested to know, I have actually sold
my paintings of Tyler Juett to one of my collectors in India with
their antithesis piece: Heptameron

http://udaiyan.nofear.org/images3/heptameron.jpg

I have now commissioned a new piece entitled: Bulwell Redux (see the
painting above). I think you are beginning to understand where I am
travelling to and what my final destination will be.

Won't you join me?

Udaiyan's art of Tyler Juett seems to have sparked some controversy. Here is his first public response to the outrage expressed in some of the comments:

I am not going to respond to the other comments about my work - they are just plain
silly. But I will respond to you Palexile. I am deeply and humbly
sorry to say that this is not a spoof, or that anyone would ever
believe it to be. This is as far from a spoof as is spiritually
possible! This is a genuine response to the murder of a child, to the
murder of an ideal, to the very murder of humanity's soul.

One could say that in its most basic form - this is a murder of
freedom and liberation. The liberational state of the proto-anarchist
striving to free themselves from this mundane capitalist existence.
Tyler Juett has become a martyr to the concept of freedom, or to be
exact: my belief in freedom. Believe me when I tell you Palexile - I
am not the only one that thinks this.

Now - I must address the second point - the hidden point in your mail.
I do not believe you understand the concept of the painting process...
the act of stroking a loaded brush on canvas. The meditative act of
imagining a scheme - and placing that mindset before one. If you did
have an ounce of knowledge about such things - would you say that this
is a spoof? What would be the point of it? I haven't been painting for
thirty years to waste my time on such trivialities!

What you need to do now Palexile is enter that contemplative state...
that place deep within oneself where is it silent. So silent in fact
that you are able to formulate a question.

And the answer to that question is Tyler Juett - Bulwell Solja .

I think you are beginning to understand what it means to be human now

Peace
Udaiyan

On the face of it this film's subject matter appears almost impossible to turn into anything other than a dry and languid affair; the subject being recording a television interview with the then deposed US President Richard M. Nixon.

What makes this film work are the characterisation and the dialogue of the script. Ron Howard brings together a really good cast of actors to make this film. British television presenter David Frost (being played by Michael Sheen - of 'The Queen' and looking remarkably like Tony Blair once again) hatches a plan to interview Richard Nixon when he realises that "the numbers" would be amazing. Using a little archive footage to put the film in context we are soon introduced to Frank Langella as Nixon, a distinguished actor who most will recognise but fail to place. For me discovering that I last saw him in 'The Ninth Gate' was quite a surprise. Frost gets together a team of people to research and produce the interview and gets down to dealing with the controversial political figure. The film came across as very humorous at first and then gradually became more serious and "thrilleresque" towards the end. In fact I was gripped. Excellent support comes in the shape of the actors Kevin Bacon, Matthew Macfadyen, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, and Toby Jones briefly steals the show as Swifty Lazar.

The film pacing is good, as a viewer I did not feel rushed off my feet, but at the same time there was plenty to concentrate on.
It would be interesting to know what people who had seen the original interview would make of the portrayal of it within this film. The other point it makes is that it is possible for media to act as a potential safeguard against political corruption, and raises the question of who will police those who have governed us recently and at the present time.

A very enjoyable and engrossing film. (***** out of 5)

Despite all the hype I managed to avoid all but the briefest of synopses of this film before getting around to seeing it. I feel that Danny Boyle has created what is surely going to be his most profitable film to date.

In essence this film's plot is very simple, Jamal Malik is arrested by police after making his appearance on the Indian version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' This is inconvenient, as he is due to return to the studio the next evening to be asked the jackpot question. The police interrogate Jamal believing that he has cheated somehow. Being from the slums they doubt his ability to have answered so many questions correctly. The film recounts Jamal's life in flashback as he describes how he knew the correct answers.

Made on a relative shoe-string Danny Boyle employed an Indian crew and shot largely on location in Mumbai. Filming in the second most populated city in the world must have been a challenging experience for Boyle but the crew has obviously done an amazing job. The atmosphere captured in the initial scenes from young Jamal's life are what made this movie for me. As the film progresses the theme of Jamal losing and searching for "the love of his life", Latika, repeats itself. As a Westerner I found the film particularly interesting as it illustrated the transformation of Bombay into Mumbai - how the locals would feel about this aspect of the film I would be interested to know!

The visual impact of the film was quite something on the big screen, coupled with the rapidity of editing this meant that it did not allow one to study the beauty of what was being shown on occasion. However, this did not stop the movie being what it was ultimately, a roller coaster feel-good experience.

Towards the latter half of the story I had figured out which direction the plot was going to take, I think that this will be the main issue with the film as time marches on. At present the immediate impact is causing hype, awards and rave reviews. On balance I think that in a few years Slumdog Millionaire will be regarded as a very good film but not the revolution in cinema that some commentators are suggesting it is now. Most of the elements that make the movie have been seen in such films 'City of God', and the story telling aspect of the film is very reminiscent of 'The Usual Suspects'. As for the Bollywood question, I think most of the elements that make a Bollywood film were captured faithfully, music, dancing, a love story element, the obligatory rain scene, and of course one of the principle characters being covered in poo!

****1/2 (out of 5)

The Cohen Brothers are really churning them out now; sadly 'Burn After Reading' did not strike me as such a good work as their previous film 'No Country for Old Men'.

Set around characters in Washington D.C. the film opens with C.I.A. officer Osbourne Cox (John Malkovitch) being fired from his post. Returning home in a state of irritation he sets about writing his memoirs. Meanwhile on the other side of town gym administrator Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) fantasises about affording plastic surgery and meeting someone decent from an Internet dating web site.

When Linda's co-worker Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) unwittingly come into possession of a CD with Osbourne's memoirs they hatch a plan to extort money and change their lives for the better.

The essence of the plot is complicated still further by other characters who have various relationships with the key players. George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and David Rasche (remember him from gun-toting 'Sledgehammer' in the 80s?) all contribute considerable acting talent and plot twists to boot.

Essentially this is a comedy-thriller of the sort that Cohen Brothers fans will be familiar with. The film was well made and there were some really good scenes in it. However, at only 96 minutes long it felt like something was missing. I suspect that some serious editing had taken place to bring the story to a close in a neater way. Unfortunately despite the comedy, pace, and brilliant cast, when the credits rolled I thought, "Is that it?"

**1/2 (out of 5)