For a movie in the 1930's, Lewis Milestone's adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front, based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel, follows the book reasonably well. However, rather than starting with the soldiers lining up to get the cook Ginger's stew per the novel (that part comes later), it starts with Paul Baumer's school teacher telling him and his fellow students that they are the light of the Fatherland, the iron men of Germany, the brave heroes who will repulse the enemies when called to do so. In other words, he's exhorting them to enlist, which they do, pressed into patriotism in what was initially thought to have been a quick war with small losses.

From the start, the recruits are eager to get into uniform and to the front, and are puzzled by the behaviour of burned-out experienced soldiers like Tjaden and Kat. This latter, a large, pleasantly ugly man has a knack for scrounging for food and finding enough for the group, and soon, all the recruits stick with and respect this man, especially after their first bombardment. When one of the recruits realizes he has wet his trousers, Kat tells him not to worry about it, as it's happened to better men.

The stages of attacking, the bombardment, attack, counterattack, and repulse, is presented in graphic detail for that period, with the shots of men dying by artillery shells, being bayoneted, or machine-gunned. Some recruits go crazy waiting in the bunker during the bombardment, and one of them rushes outside, only to get cut down by bullets. And the aftermath isn't pretty for some. Franz Kemmerich ends up in the infirmary and has his leg amputated. From the grueling experience of phantom limb pain to the realization that one has lost his limb, the greed of some like Muller who wants Franz's nice boots, to the unconcern of the doctors who see Franz's death as another free bed, war is hell.

War changes people's perspectives. Paul fights and stabs a French soldier at close quarters in a foxhole, and he pleads and apologizes to the dying man, telling him that without these uniforms, they could be friends, and promising to write to his wife. And on leave, Paul is clearly alienated from the older civilians who have no clue that war has burned out his soul, and just keep telling him to give those Frenchies a licking and push on to Paris. I'd go for Tjaden's solution to war: get the politicians and generals wearing just their underpants into a big field and fight it out with clubs. But the discussion of the soldiers yields something still relevant: manufacturers want a war to sell more arms.

The subplot involving the butterflies is new, but the shot of the soldier reaching for the butterfly before being shot by a sniper symbolizes a soldier's whose burned out soul is suddenly heartened as seeing something beautiful, and suddenly thus illuminated within, reaches toward it.

All Quiet On The Western Front deservedly went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in the US. However, Joseph Goebbels' antics in Berlin demonstrates how Germany was in a state of war denial. The incident at a theatre of the second night showing of the movie involved Goebbels' men starting disturbances and yelling anti-Semitic epithets that resulted in the film's termination after ten minutes. Goebbels hadn't even seen the film; he merely wanted to demonstrate Nazi power in Berlin and discredit Albert Grzesinski, Prussia's Interior Minister who was a Social Democrat. When the film was banned by the Board of Censors because it "endangered Germany's image abroad", the headlines of Goebbels' newspaper Der Angriff (German for The Attack) read "Grzesinski Defeated."

One of the few war films I'll watch due to its pacifist message, denouncing the glorification of war. The prologue at the movie's beginning, taken from Remarque's book, says it all: this story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all, an adventure. For death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men, who even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.

With the departure of lead singer Al Kooper, Blood Sweat & Tears inducted David Clayton-Thomas as a replacement, which was fortuitous for him, as he presided over what was Blood Sweat & Tears's masterpiece album of 1969. This album topped the charts, garnered the Best Album Grammy and it's not difficult to see why. Blood Sweat & Tears's fusion of funk, rock, and jazz signalled an innovation in music from the guitar-dominated rock of the early to mid-60's. The horns, bass, and piano prevalent in jazz music add much to a blues-based rock sound that had emerged with the British-led blues revival of the 60's.

The album itself begins with lilting and reflective flute melodies of atonal composer Erik Satie's "Trois Gymnopedies" of which Blood Sweat & Tears do variations on a theme based on the first two movements, the latter which has the horns kicking in. The variation on the first movement also closes the album, not including the bonus tracks.

They do quite a few cover songs, and they add horns and a funky beat to the psychedelic organ of Traffic's "Smiling Phases," originally on their Mr. Fantasy album. Those inclined will be "amazed at the gaze on their faces."

The relaxed and lyrically introspective remembrances in "Sometimes In Winter" includes organs, a burst of horns at an orchestral level, which is mixed with yearning for "memories in a spring that never came," a remarkable contrast to the strong horn attack, intense organ, and gritty and belting blues vocals of the rocking "More And More."

The next four songs comprise the majestic centerpiece of this classic album, as three of the four became hit singles. "And When I Die" is a cover of a Laura Nyro song from her first album More Than a New Discovery, beginning as it does with a harmonica, then thrusting into a summery skipping soul/country beat with vocals tempo to match. Despite the title, it has an upbeat outlook on death, as it's where one figures out of if there's a heaven. The wishes of a just life is given in the sole request to live a life without chains. The cover of the Billie Holliday standard "God Bless The Child" incorporates 60's-style organs with the blast of horns and is a welcome interpretation. And then, "what goes up, must come down." Given their career afterwards, those opening words in "Spinning Wheel," the song most associated with the group, seems ironic. The song itself is replete with the funky beat, horns, distorted vocals, and the finale, which features a flute solo incorporating the nursery ditty "My Little Augustine" and a carnival-like swirl of noises. Dr. Farrell played "Spinning Wheel" in our jazz/rock/blues class to demonstrate the jazz/rock sound incorporated by them and Chicago. Finally comes their cover of Brenda Holloway's "You've Made Me So Very Happy," which has been covered by the likes of Honeycone and Gloria Estefan. Clayton-Thomas's gravelly voice belies the soul roots of this song, but it's the rich horn flourishes that give this rendition that extra punch.

"Blues Part II" is a lengthy jam incorporating an organ solo that's space age, (an influence on Philip Glass on the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack, perhaps?) other times baroque, before it gives way to a meandering bass solo, a masterful sax reminding the listener of the group's jazz influences, but with the backing bass and drums signalling the rock influence. And then, I hear the bass plucking out a familiar melody, before the crashing horns repeat it. Yes, it's Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love." Finally, Clayton-Thomas belts out some vocals for a final touch.

As for the bonus tracks, live versions of "More And More" and "Smiling Phases," the latter has a beginning the swirl of horns doing their thing, warming up per a classical concert for nearly five and a half minutes before the organ and vocals kick in, but also including a lengthy organ and later bass jam.

A pity they peaked early, leaving only this masterpiece album behind, following it up with releases that didn't measure up. All in all, this CD, a birthday present from Eric Andrews, has made me so very happy.

With the departure of lead singer Al Kooper, Blood Sweat & Tears inducted David Clayton-Thomas as a replacement, which was fortuitous for him, as he presided over what was BS&T's masterpiece album of 1969. This album topped the charts, garnered the Best Album Grammy and it's not difficult to see why. BS&T's fusion of funk, rock, and jazz signalled an innovation in music from the guitar-dominated rock of the early to mid-60's. The horns, bass, and piano prevalent in jazz music add much to a blues-based rock sound that had emerged with the British-led blues revival of the 60's.

The album itself begins with lilting and reflective flute melodies of atonal composer Erik Satie's "Trois Gymnopedies" of which BS&T do variations on a theme based on the first two movements, the latter which has the horns kicking in. The variation on the first movement also closes the album, not including the bonus tracks.

BS&T do quite a few cover songs, and they add horns and a funky beat to the psychedelic organ of Traffic's "Smiling Phases," originally on their Mr. Fantasy album. Those inclined will be "amazed at the gaze on their faces."

The relaxed and lyrically introspective remembrances in "Sometimes In Winter" includes organs, a burst of horns at an orchestral level, which is mixed with yearning for "memories in a spring that never came," a remarkable contrast to the strong horn attack, intense organ, and gritty and belting blues vocals of the rocking "More And More."

The next four songs comprise the majestic centerpiece of this classic album, as three of the four became hit singles. "And When I Die" is a cover of a Laura Nyro song from her first album More Than a New Discovery, beginning as it does with a harmonica, then thrusting into a summery skipping soul/country beat with vocals tempo to match. Despite the title, it has an upbeat outlook: "and when I die, and when I'm gone, there'll be one child born in this world to carry on" and the figuring out of if there's a heaven by dying. The wishes of a just life is given in "all I ask of living is to have no chains on me." The cover of the Billie Holliday standard "God Bless The Child" incorporates 60's-style organs with the blast of horns and is a welcome interpretation. And then, "what goes up, must come down." Given their career afterwards, those opening words in "Spinning Wheel," the song most associated with the group, seems ironic. The song itself is replete with the funky beat, horns, distorted vocals, and the finale, which features a flute solo incorporating the nursery ditty "My Little Augustine" and a carnival-like swirl of noises. Dr. Farrell played "Spinning Wheel" in our jazz/rock/blues class to demonstrate the jazz/rock sound incorporated by them and Chicago. Finally comes their cover of Brenda Holloway's "You've Made Me So Very Happy," which has been covered by the likes of Honeycone and Gloria Estefan. Clayton-Thomas's gravelly voice belies the soul roots of this song, but it's the rich horn flourishes that give this rendition that extra punch.

"Blues Part II" is a lengthy jam incorporating an organ solo that's space age, (an influence on Philip Glass on the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack, perhaps?) other times baroque, before it gives way to a meandering bass solo, a masterful sax reminding the listener of the group's jazz influences, but with the backing bass and drums signalling the rock influence. And then, I hear the bass plucking out a familiar melody, before the crashing horns repeat it. Yes, it's Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love." Finally, Clayton-Thomas belts out some vocals for a final touch.

As for the bonus tracks, live versions of "More And More" and "Smiling Phases," the latter has a beginning the swirl of horns doing their thing, warming up per a classical concert for nearly five and a half minutes before the organ and vocals kick in, but also including a lengthy organ and later bass jam.

A pity they peaked early, leaving only this masterpiece album behind, following it up with releases that didn't measure up. All in all, this CD, a birthday present from Eric Andrews, has made me so very happy.

Beautiful, adj. 1. Having beauty; delighting the senses and mind. 5. The ideal of beauty.

So says Webster, and given that, Mona Hibbard of Naperville, Illinois does not embody that quality on the inside. Mona has had a drive to be beautiful and from her pre-teen years, has worked hard, getting her teeth straightened, going to a grace school, and befriending Ruby, who has learned to sew from her grandmother. From watching beauty pageants on TV, she herself enters a beauty pageant and wins for best costume. The trouble is, her parents are far from supportive, and she herself shuts them out of her life. Her mother keeps saying she's getting aggravated from her behaviour, and even when Mona gets a consolation medal reading "participant," she merely says that she didn't get anything. On the other hand, the egocentric Mona's no angel either. She has a room with posters full of beauty pageant memorabilia, and a sign on the door reading "knock first" When her mother asks her if she wants some pizza, Mona refuses to answer because her mother didn't knock first.

Years later, Ruby and Mona are firm friends. Ruby and her grandmother still help make costumes for Mona, who still has the same dream, and will do anything to get it. In one scene smacking of black humour and slapstick, she sabotages a rival's equipment when that girl steals Mona's routine and is lucky enough to go first. This has grave ramifications later on, which I won't reveal. However, when Mona discovers she's pregnant, it's bad news, because women who are mothers or legal guardians are disqualified from entering the Miss American Miss competition. But she's so desperate to prove herself beautiful, she has Ruby pose as the mother of her child, a girl named Vanessa, while she becomes her own child's aunt. This helps her win Miss Illinois, which makes her a contestant for Miss America Miss pageant. In the meantime, there are the expected public appearances to promote her.

However, fate plays a cruel trick on Ruby, leaving Vanessa in Mona's care, something neither is chuffed about. Mona sees her own daughter as A) an inconvenience, and B) someone to take photos of her to mold her image as a caring, heroic, role model. But what makes a real role model? Mona's "campaign slogan" is "empowering America's youth for a brighter America." A pity she doesn't embody that ideal toward her own soccer-loving seven year old daughter.

In Mallrats Joey Lauren Adams played the smarter advice-giving girlfriend to Claire Forlani. As Ruby, Adams is the hard-working, grounded, patient friend who works hard to help Mona reach her goal even to the extent of being the mother to Vanessa, and treating her like a real mother would, making this her best role since Chasing Amy. Hallie Kate Eisenberg (Vanessa) is quite the delight here as the very insightful girl who ends up being more mature and abler than her birth mother. Indeed, when she asks Mona how come she looks so much like her, it's more than just physical appearance, but more on personality. One only has to look at the way Mona's own mother treated her to see how Mona treats Vanessa, with lack of sympathy, support, and as somewhat of an inconvenience. Her other question to Mona, "where do I belong?" is something that Mona herself is struggling with, to belong somewhere. Adams and Eisenberg really make this movie worth it.

Actress Sally Fields' feature film directorial debut was much panned by critics, and perhaps it's Minnie Driver's character, who isn't that likeable until the final twenty minutes or so of the movie. All the same, one is aggravated by her egotistical self-centered behaviour, while at the same time wanting her to not only grow up, as Ruby tells her in a moment of exasperation, but to be, in the words of Webster, to become beautiful.

Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,

Doctor Vivian Bearing, a tough, intellectual professor specializing in 17th century literature, takes on the challenge to undergo eight months of experimental chemotherapy and a combination of drugs to battle advanced metastatic ovarian cancer, in which she is in Stage 4, a cancer for which there is no Stage 5. She will also be studied by medical students, her illness being a significant contribution to knowledge. To be something studied, as opposed to a human being, yes, there's the rub, to quote the Bard. But she is a tough woman, never one to shirk a challenge.

For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

Most of the story has Bearing's soliloquys, spoken to the viewer from her hospital bed, bald-headed and wearing a hospital gown, describing what she's thinking and feeling, and she does so with wit. One learns of her fascination with words, her past history as a student and academic, how she has preferred research to humanity, and her tough style of teaching, which she got from her mentor, Professor E.M. Rumford. There's a fascinating discussion between Bearing and Rumford, where the original punctuation at the end of Donne's "Death Be Not Proud" included a comma in the line, "death, thou shalt die." In other words, a comma separates life from life everlasting. Yet when Rumford tells her to go hang out with her students instead of going to the library Bearing goes to the library. Later, when a young doctor, Jason, tells her how he's fascinated by cancer due to its smartness, calling it "immortality in culture," it's ironic that she wishes he would be more interested in humanity rather than research.

From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,

As for flashbacks, there are times when we cut to a scene when she's a five year old reading a Beatrix Potter book, that she alternates between her five-year old self and as she is now, bald and in the hospital gown, symbolizing how fragile she seems despite bearing up.

And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.

She presents her illness in a paradox in the manner of Donne himself, when she says that with her immune system down, everything is a hazard, especially the health care professionals. She isn't in the isolation ward because she has a grapefruit-sized tumor, but because her treatment imperils her health. But she revels in the paradox, seeing it as an intellectual game. But when the cancer spreads elsewhere, she begins to get frightened, realizing her intellectual abilities isn't going to help her, but that she seeks simplicity and kindness, and that makes her regret she had been sympathetic to some of her own students. Fortunately, she finds that in Susie, the nurse, with whom she has a rapport with.

Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,

Juxtaposing this movie with my mother's recent battle with cancer did ring some emotional chords due to similarities. My mother wasn't as open as Dr. Bearing in her feelings when undergoing CT Scans, ultrasounds, colonoscopies, or the IPT chemotherapy. But she too looked for kindness and simplicity, and when a certain hospital worker wheeled her chair to a spot of sunshine on a cold day after a CT scan, my mother realized that maybe she was wrong in being too tough, and that she had hurt some people in her past.

And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;

This is by far Emma Thompson's best role ever, but Audra McDonald as Susie lends strong support as the very human and compassionate nurse, who sees Bearing as a human being, not a subject for study. Those who have just lost a dear one to cancer may find this painful going, others will find this a study of reflection one experiences when near the portals of mortality.

One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

What I am about to part is Classified information, info on Bond's third studio album that is. The foursome have not departed from their tried and true formula of strings and pop syrup of oontsa-oontsa techno beats and drum machines. Granted, there are some triple digit BPM numbers, but when it comes down it, this has been ground already covered in full on Born and Shine, their first two albums, and much better.

The allegro, rhythmic and symphonic cadence of the action movie-theme of "Explosive" opens the album, showing a strong opening track that later closes the album.

However, the upbeat and Latin-flavoured "Samba," replete with whistles and vocals from the ladies, a first for them, veers more to conventional pop-techno, the strings being more or less classical window-dressing. They also cover the Silver Convention's classic disco standard "Fly Robin Fly," and violinist Eos Chater and cellist Gay-Yee Westerhoff do some singing there, but why bother doing a retread scarcely distinguishable from the original?

If the slow, dreamy rhythm of "Midnight Garden" is familiar, it's because Bond is using the melody from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, the Danse de Cygnes segment. However, in looking at the writing credits, I see to my horror that Piotr Ilyich is NOT credited whatsoever, which is also the case for his "Waltz Of The Flowers" from the Nutcracker in "Dream Star." Oh, but there's more. Their upbeat and skirt-swishingly danceable "Hungarian" is taken from Johannes Brahms' gypsy-like Hungarian Dance No. 5 given the drum machine backbeat, and "Senorita," which incorporates the slow, measured ballet-like "Habanera" melody from Bizet's Carmen. A selection from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite serves as the inspiring melody for "Dream Star." And the dreamy and pleasant "Lullaby" is a reworking of Pachelbel's Canon in D, uncredited again! Now that rap artists are required to give credit to music and lyric samples, one would think Bond would know better, given that classical crossover acts such as Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church, Hayley Westenra, and Myleene Klass have done so. And Bond did too on their first two albums. What happened here?

Their foray into Middle Eastern sounds first explored in Shine continues in "Scorchio" which has some vivacious symphonic strings of a Liszt or Brahms sound, and the soaring "I'll Fly Away" written by cellist Westerhoff.
At least they gave credit where credit was required in "Adagio For Strings," which sprinkles random techno noises on Samuel Barber's funereal piece that might lead one to start looking for a razor or turning on the gas oven if one isn't of hale heart and mind. "Highly Strung" incorporates Aram Khachaturian's "Saber Dance," itself a dizzying whirling dervish of adrenaline, with some Duane Eddy-sounding surf guitar.

I don't mind the reworking of classical tunes with techno and electronic drum fills. My main issues with this involves proper credit-simply signifying "Copyright Control" in the credits, just does not do-and a sound that doesn't show much evolution from their first two albums. The only thing that shows evolution is their transition to FHM or Maxim models with a sickly magazine gloss on the album cover and inner sleeve, as if someone sprayed something on the ladies, which sadly detracts from the fact that they are talented string players. Summer dresses and bikinis, fair enough, but lose that model gloss! Something more innovative next album, okay?

What I am about to part is Classified information, info on Bond's third studio album that is. The foursome have not departed from their tried and true formula of strings and pop syrup of oontsa-oontsa techno beats and drum machines. Granted, there are some triple digit BPM numbers, but when it comes down it, this has been ground already covered in full on Born and Shine, their first two albums, and much better.

The allegro, rhythmic and symphonic cadence of the action movie-theme of "Explosive" opens the album, showing a strong opening track that later closes the album.

However, the upbeat and Latin-flavoured "Samba," replete with whistles and vocals from the ladies, a first for them, veers more to conventional pop-techno, the strings being more or less classical window-dressing. They also cover the Silver Convention's classic disco standard "Fly Robin Fly," and violinist Eos Chater and cellist Gay-Yee Westerhoff do some singing there, but why bother doing a retread scarcely distinguishable from the original?

If the slow, dreamy rhythm of "Midnight Garden" is familiar, it's because Bond is using the melody from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, the Danse de Cygnes segment. However, in looking at the writing credits, I see to my horror that Piotr Ilyich is NOT credited whatsoever, which is also the case for his "Waltz Of The Flowers" from the Nutcracker in "Dream Star." Oh, but there's more. Their upbeat and skirt-swishingly danceable "Hungarian" is taken from Johannes Brahms' gypsy-like Hungarian Dance No. 5 given the drum machine backbeat, and "Senorita," which incorporates the slow, measured ballet-like "Habanera" melody from Bizet's Carmen. A selection from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite serves as the inspiring melody for "Dream Star." And the dreamy and pleasant "Lullaby" is a reworking of Pachelbel's Canon in D, uncredited again! Now that rap artists are required to give credit to music and lyric samples, one would think Bond would know better, given that classical crossover acts such as Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church, Hayley Westenra, and Myleene Klass have done so. And Bond did too on their first two albums. What happened here?

Their foray into Middle Eastern sounds first explored in Shine continues in "Scorchio" which has some vivacious symphonic strings of a Liszt or Brahms sound, and the soaring "I'll Fly Away" written by cellist Westerhoff.

At least they gave credit where credit was required in "Adagio For Strings," which sprinkles random techno noises on Samuel Barber's funereal piece that in its pure form might lead one to start turning on the gas oven if one isn't of hale heart and mind. "Highly Strung" incorporates Aram Khachaturian's "Saber Dance," itself a dizzying whirling dervish of adrenaline, with some Duane Eddy-sounding surf guitar.

I don't mind the reworking of classical tunes with techno and electronic drum fills. My main issues with this involves proper credit, which if not given, becomes plagiarism-simply signifying "Copyright Control" in the credits, just does not do-and a sound, which is vivacious, soaring, and infectious, that nevertheless doesn't show much evolution from their first two albums. The only thing that shows evolution is their transition to FHM or Maxim models with a sickly magazine gloss on the album cover and inner sleeve, as if someone sprayed something on the ladies, which sadly detracts from the fact that they are talented string players. Summer dresses and bikinis, fair enough, but lose that model gloss! Something more innovative next album, okay?

The athletes of the British running team who went with hope in their hearts and wings in their heels in the VIII Olympiad in Paris in 1924 is the focus of this movie, but there's also the dynamics of what it means to be English, and the reconciliation of one's soul and religious convictions in the Modern Age. Three of them are students from Cambridge. There is the quiet and soft-spoken Aubrey Montague, Lord Andrew Lindsey, and Harold Abrahams. As the head of Caius (pronounced Keys) College tells them when they first attend in 1919, they are the first post-war generation who have inherited the dreams of a generation that perished on the fields of France, a generation embodying "goodness, zeal,...and intellectual promise."

The two main athletes here are a contrast from one another. One is Harold Abrahams, a Jew who wants to be seen as English as the fellow next to him. Hence his enrolling in all these clubs and fraternities in Caius College, from track, tennis, and even the Gilbert and Sullivan glee club-he wants to enter the Christian, Anglo-Saxon corridors of power, i.e. the old school tie. He succeeds in getting to an English girl in the form of Sybil Gordon, who doesn't mind he's Jewish. He can run like the wind, and nothing would fulfill his dream of being English more than winning so he'll be accepted, but he's so driven, hinging so much of his success on his winning, that he acts like its his own funeral when he loses in a race. He engages Sam Mussabini, a private and professional coach, which is contrary to the implied rules of Cambridge. When the heads of Trinity House and Caius House, (Sir John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson) use their prep-school mentality to chastise him, saying Cambridge prided itself on the amateur attitude as opposed to the professional, and an esprit de Corps as opposed to individual glory, Abrahams tells them off.

Scottish Eric Liddle, on the other hand, is a missionary born in China, who plans to return there to continue God's work, but the "muscular Christian" runs like a wild animal. With religion as a metaphor, he compares faith to running a race, describing the energy of the soul, the elation of breaking that tape, but he says that the power comes from within. "If you commit yourself to the love of Jesus Christ-that is how you win a straight race." To win is to honour God, and the gift he was given. His faith is tested twice, between the missionary work and running, and his respect for God and running on the Sabbath. He's clearly more Victorian, but also a Scot, choosing God over country instead of the more secular British. But will his faith help him triumph over favoured Americans Jackson Scholz and Charles Paddock?

The slow-mo shots of the running athletes, the looks of elation, the disappointment of those who didn't qualify shows the various reactions of the soul. And New Age composer Vangelis Pathaniossou made his mark with his score, during the races and the scenes of Americans training, but especially the moving main theme that opens and closes the movie as the athletes are running along the ocean shore. This sequence itself is repeated twice, once where we know nothing about these athletes on who the cameras pan in on, but by the end, when the camera does its work, we know these people better, and they have names, as the credits identify actor and role. This was an early role for Nicholas Farrell (Montague), who was Horatio in Branagh's Hamlet. But Ben Cross as the driven Abrahams, Ian Charleson as the debonair blond Christian Liddell, Nigel Havers as Lindsay, Ian Holm (Mussabini), and Alice Krige (Sybil) do well. And yes, the Head Porter at Caius College is Richard Griffiths, best known as Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon, and quite thinner too.

As the winner of four Oscars including Best Picture, Chariots Of Fire remains an unpretentious film where the finish line is a moral, spiritual, and of course a physical goal, and how one must be true to oneself to reach that goal.

"The sanity of a town full of men against the insanity of one man," says Hercule Poirot while the police are keeping a sharp lookout for a killer who has already murdered one person and threatens to kill another. The trouble is, what does a madman look like? Especially a madman who writes the following letter to Poirot:

You fancy yourself don't you, at solving mysteries that are too difficult for our thick-
headed British police? Let us see, Mr. Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be. Perhaps you'll find this nut too hard to crack. Look out for Andover, on the 21st of this month.

Yours sincerely

A.B.C.

The first of what could have been twenty-six letters addressed to Poirot results in one of the Belgian detective's most renowned cases. After a six month dearth of cases, the letter serves to remove the rust from Poirot's neglected "little grey cells," and the return of his friend Captain Hastings from the wilds of Venezuela teams them up once again.

Sure enough, there is a murder in Andover, the only clue being an ABC Railway Guide, which is a detailed booklet listing trains going to and from one city to another, indexed by city. And within the scope of ten days, there is a total of three murders. Poirot thinks there is some connection to the murders, despite the murderer's penchant with the alphabet. Is he right? Poirot has assistance from the relatives of the murder victims, all determined to catch A.B.C. Chief Inspector Japp isn't too impressed, though, as he believes Scotland Yard is good enough.

The viewer is also introduced to a tall lonely man with glasses, shabby coat, and a stooped back named Mr. Cust. He has been mentally affected by his service in World War I, and has been reduced to selling stockings, a sad reminder of how veterans were unable to get decent jobs during the interwar economic slump. In fact he laughs crazily when someone tells him the difference between diseases and wars is that the latter can be prevented.

Some padding in the original novel is left out, all very well, but that is replaced by a comedic subplot of Hastings trying to tell anyone who'd listen about a caiman he shot while in Venezuela and had stuffed. It's all the more funnier when we learn that Hastings brought this as a gift for Poirot, and its large grotesque presence clashes with Poirot's sense of aesthetics. Also, the ABC Guide is for the year 1936. In the original novel, the first letter Poirot gets is dated 21 June 1935. Clearly, the movie's a year off. And Chief Inspector Japp has a more substantial role here than in the novel, that being given to Inspector Crome.

Most of the characters bear great similarities to the novel. Of the guest cast, Donald Sumpter does best as the good but weak-minded Cust. Apart from the regulars, Nicholas Farrell (Don Fraser) is the only other well-known actor, appearing in Chariots Of Fire, and Branagh's Hamlet as Horatio. His hair's not red per the novel, but he exudes the jealous boyfriend character well, even if he's older than the novel's Fraser. However, the novel's Franklin Clarke is described as a "big fair-haired man with a sunburnt face," a far cry from the character shown here, clearly in his 60's.

Other than that, this is one of the best Poirot feature-length adaptations, as key parts of Agatha Christie's dialogue from the novel is reproduced. Indeed, the question remains-what does a madman look like? A tall sinister person with a beard, furtive eyes, wearing a black hat, or someone like you and me?

I can attest to the adage that the first person one falls in love with is forever, regardless of whether that person gets married to someone else or not. Well, in Snow Falling On Cedars, that sort of past comes back to haunt young reporter Ishmael Chambers when he discovers the husband of his first love Hatsue is being tried for the murder of fisherman/husband/father Carl Heine. The case for the prosecution is that Kazuo, Hatsue's husband, murdered Carl with a flat wooden object, such as a kendo stick (wooden swords used in stick fighting), and all because of the loss of seven acres of land owned by Kazuo's father when Kazuo's family was interned during WW2. Kazuo had demanded the return of the land, but because of two payments missed, his family forfeited the land, which came into Carl's possession. He is defended by an elderly lawyer, Nels Gudmundsson (veteran Swedish actor Max von Sydow in a strong performance), who as a Scandinavian, detects the race issue here. Pearl Harbor has not been forgotten, in other words. All the while, Ishmael sits high up on the balcony of the trial room, observing the defendant and his wife. He is clearly still bitter about the past, as he might have ended up with Hatsue had not circumstances dictated otherwise. This bitterness is manifested when he sits on some information key to Kazuo's defense.

Set in the fishing village of San Piedro, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, the film shuttles back and forth between the present, in the 1950's, and the past, in the late 30's to 40's. The film shows Ishmael falling in love with Hatsue Imada, a Japanese girl, and both their mothers disapproving of interracial relationships. The overall overcast setting lends to the forboding, oppressive atmosphere, but it works well in the forest, where Hatsue has a little hidey hole in the depths of a large cedar tree, a clandestine meeting place for the young lovers. However, the dizzying array of echoed and repeated voices, and montages connecting various bits of the past can be rather trying.

Of course, the attack on Pearl Harbor stirs up anti-Japanese sentiments, setting the stage for what has been called the largest wholesale violation of civil rights in US history: the rounding up of Japanese-Americans from their homes, confiscation of anything traditional, called "old country", and mass deportation to camps like Manzanar, which is the camp the Miyamotos end up in.

However, Ishmael's father, Arthur, the editor of the local paper, is very progressive, and protests the roundups, which leads to threatening calls and cancellations of subscriptions. At the time of the trial, his father has died, and he discovers to his discomfort that his father's liberal reputation is overshadowing him.

The Japanese traditions of girls being groomed to be graceful, e.g. sitting on one's knees without moving, the wearing of kimonos, etc. is something my late mother could relate to, as she too was Japanese. Hatsue's mother is one forbidding her relationship to Ishmael. Similarly, my mother's father, had he lived, would never have allowed her to marry my father, otherwise your humble reviewer's race would have been different.

While Ethan Hawke does well as the brooding Ishmael, he's overshadowed by other performers, such as von Sydow, Youki Koudoh (Hatsue), and Sam Shepard (Arthur Chambers). As the film progresses, one begins to understand his bitterness.

I haven't read Guterson's novel, so I don't know how closely the movie follows it. Regardless, it's a slow-paced movie, but not grabbing at times; somehow, the mixture of adolescent romance, and racial courtroom drama that lacks punch. But the message of learning to let go of the past, and the conditions that would allow one to let go, comes through towards the end.