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ஆசிரியர்:வ.ந.கிரிதரன்                                    Editor: V.N.Giritharan
பெப்ருவரி 2009 இதழ் 110  -மாத இதழ்
 பதிவுகள் 
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அன்பான இணைய வாசகர்களே! 'பதிவுகள்' பற்றிய உங்கள் கருத்துகளை வரவேற்கின்றோம். தாராளமாக எழுதி அனுப்புங்கள். 'பதிவுகளின் வெற்றி உங்கள் ஆதரவிலேயே தங்கியுள்ளது. உங்கள் கருத்துகள் ­ப் பகுதியில் இணைய வாசகர்கள் நன்மை கருதி பிரசுரிக்கப்படும்.  பதிவுகளிற்கு ஆக்கங்கள் அனுப்ப விரும்புவர்கள் யூனிகோட் தமிழ் எழுத்தைப் பாவித்து மின்னஞ்சல் editor@pathivukal.com மூலம் அனுப்பி வைக்கவும். தபால் மூலம் வரும் ஆக்கங்கள் ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளப் படமாட்டாதென்பதை வருத்தத்துடன் தெரிவித்துக் கொள்கின்றோம். மேலும் பதிவுக'ளிற்கு ஆக்கங்கள் அனுப்புவோர் தங்களது சரியான மின்னஞ்சல் முகவரியினைக் குறிப்பிட்டு அனுப்ப வேண்டும். முகவரி பிழையாகவிருக்கும் பட்சத்தில் ஆக்கங்கள் பிரசுரத்திற்கு ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளப் படமாட்டாதென்பதை அறியத் தருகின்றோம். 'பதிவுக'ளின் நோக்கங்களிலொன்று இணையத்தமிழை வளர்ப்பது. தமிழ் எழுத்துகளைப் பாவித்துப் படைப்புகளை பதிவு செய்து மின்னஞ்சல் மூலம் அனுப்புவது அதற்கு முதற்படிதான். அதே சமயம் அவ்வாறு அனுப்புவதன் மூலம் கணிணியின் பயனை, இணையத்தின் பயனை அனுப்புவர் மட்டுமல்ல ஆசிரியரும் அடைந்து கொள்ள முடிகின்றது.  'பதிவுக'ளின் நிகழ்வுகள் பகுதியில் தங்களது அமைப்புகள் அல்லது சங்கங்களின் விழாக்கள் போன்ற விபரங்களைப் பதிவு செய்து கொள்ள விரும்புகின்றவர்கள் மின்னஞ்சல் மூலம் அல்லது மேற்குறிப்பிடப்பட்ட முகவரிக்குக் கடிதங்கள் எழுதுவதன் மூலம் பதிவு செய்து கொள்ளலாம்.
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K.S.Sivakumaran Columns..
Films: Entertaining, Enlightening, Experiencing, Experimenting

K S Sivakumaran

K.S. SivakumaranHaving seen 41 films in Goa and 33 in Kerala (two states in India) during the Festival of International Films held by the Central Government and the State Government of that country respectively during November 22 - December
02 and again from December 12 to December 19, I returned to Sri Lanka on December 21,2008. I spent 40 days in the Indian subcontinent having visited the states of Thamilnadu, Puthuvai ( a separate State, south of Thamilnadu), Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. My visit to Chennai, the capital of Thamilnadu also included a journey to Kanchipuram, a suburban town, a few miles away from Chennai and Coiammuththoor. and Thiruchirapalli. I spent some time in Goa (Panaji) and Karnataka ( Bangalore). I made a trip to receive the blessings of Sri Sathya Sai Baaba in Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh. My last destination was the capital of Kerala (Thiuvananthapuram)

What have I gained by this memorable journey?

Experience while facing unpredictable situations, splendid feeling in bright pleasant atmosphere and situations; meeting different colourful personalities from various parts of the globe ( academics, intellectuals, artistes, artists, teachers, knowledgeable cineastes, and finally acquiring new knowledge on Cinema etc.

Talking about some of the best films in the international scene that include those from India itself, one feels gratified.

However it is impossible for me to write detailed analysis of all the 74 films I had seen.

Nevertheless I could see some significant themes in these films:

In line with the contemporary reality the films try to portray misguided politics and the resultant damages to life and property, clogged perceptions and clueless and chaotic administrations, racial and ethnic tensions, upsetting traditional basic human values, criminality, horrible violence, free and cheap sexual behaviours, drug trafficking and the like took the centre stage in films produced in India and elsewhere.

The two Festivals focused on seriousness and artistic films as far as possible from Asia, Africa and Latin America as the films of Europe, America and Australia were few in number. Such films were categorised under Retropectives and Tributes etc.

The Directorates of these two Festivals had rightly selected packages of films that had the segments mentioned above,

However, as a Lankan witnessing for more than a quarter century the continuous ethnic violence, I personally dislike the replay of violence and the injustice caused to people who fell victim to the onslaughts. And these people belong to the protagonists and the antagonists.

At the same time one noticed that in almost all the films the underlying positive aspect in most of the films was Love and Truth. The kind of love was not only romantic or sexual, but also lost love regained, bonds and re- reestablishment of basic decency and human values. This had a subliminal response within me.

Apart from the content the filmmakers of international cinema, especially the cinematographers take you to places which you have not had the opportunity to visit some distant places in the far end of the globe.

Slices of life and living educate me and make me more empathetic towards humans and even animals that struggle to exist in dire adverse situations and worse predicaments.

I enjoyed most the films that gave a psychological interpretation of characters that figured in the stories and dramas in the medium of artistic cinema. I was enthralled with films that had music as the central component in films.

I shall select a few films that spells out the themes mentioned as illustrations on another occasion.

sivakumaranks@yahoo.com

Ultra-Nationalism, Racism leads to Terrorism

K.S. Sivakumaran


After seeing the Cuban film- The Scent of Oak- at the Russian Cultural centre in Colombo during the Cuban Film Festival last week, it was easy for me to rationalize that Ultra -Nationalism in the name of Patriotism could lead to Racism and ultimately to Terrorism. After seeing the Cuban film- The Scent of Oak- at the Russian Cultural centre in Colombo during the Cuban Film Festival last week, it was easy for me to rationalize that Ultra -Nationalism in the name of Patriotism could lead to Racism and ultimately to Terrorism. In this film Hatred instead of Love pervades among the French rulers in Haiti. A Liberal German in that country is targeted with his black lover whom the rulers contend that the blacks are evils who resort to witchcraft.  All this is due to ignorance of the real potentialities of the 'other'.

Such people also have a conditioned mindset of assumption that the 'other' is inferior and therefore the 'other' should be hated. Such people have a 'pseudo superiority complex'. To their surprise they are overwhelmed by a shocking realization that superiority complex could not be perpetrated when the 'other' is in fact not inferior as they assumed. In fact they had to accept the fact that the 'other' is in fact even better than 'them'.

But such people cannot bear their own showdown and become furious as if they want to annihilate those whom they hated. This results in an act of barbarism and gruesome killing of their enemies. That is tantamount to terrorism.

A brief review of the film would explain what was meant above.

***

Directed by Rigoberto López Pego in 2002 this film is Spanish-speaking with English subtitles.

Although the credits in the films said that the story was imaginative, some sources said that it was based on a true story.

" Scent of Oak is set in the plantation world of 19th century Cuba. Cornelio Souchay, a recently immigrated German merchant, and Ursula Lambert, a beautiful and distinguished black business woman from Haiti, fall in love and join their fates in the productive venture of their coffee plantation Angerona. Both their love relationship and their more humane way of dealing with slave labor are counter to all the social norms of the time."

The erotic scenes were beautiful but I felt that some scenes might have been cut to respond to Lankan morality. The cinematography was marvelous. The scores of classical music of Hayden and Mozart were lyrical in consonance with the nature in the backdrop. The animosity of the ardent French nationalists could not bear to see the native black people could have an orchestra playing western classical music. They felt that a 'black is black' and could not aspire to be 'white'. Hence the hatred and animosity.

Further the German's cousin becomes jealous of a black woman with Grecian propensity of beauty could be sexually attractive because she felt that with her aristocratic manners and beauty her cousin should love her. So she plans to have sex with a young muscular black man and induces him to make love to her. After having satiated with her carnal desires she accuses another black man (because he did not want the real person who had sex with her to die) and makes him killed.

The film ends in tragedy.

Critics said that this is another profound film from Cuba that explores power relations in a society marked by race-based slavery. I agree.

While my reactions to the film as started above remain, I would like the readers to know the story in full as told in a UNESCO release from the socio-political perspective.

***

"The film is inspired by real persons, a mixed couple who in the 1800's in Cuba, set up one of the most important café plantations on the Island - Cornelio Souchay, an idealistic German businessman, portrayed by popular actor Jorge Perugorria, and Ursula Lambert (Lia Chapman), a Creole from the Island of Hispanola, later divided up into Haiti and Dominican Republic, as an independent textile shop merchant.

Their fates cross paths when Souchay spots her around town, finding out where she works and then purchases some cloth in her store. It is clear from first glance, that he is strongly besotted with the proud and elegant Lambert, pursuing her around the colonial city until she succumbs to his genteel courtship and 'old world' charm.

The street-wise Ursula coaches him into staking their (promising) luck on the lucrative coffee trade and establishing a plantation named Angerona, after a pantheistic divinity she believes in (although she frequents the Catholic institutions at hand, as well). Their premise is to create a sort of utopia farm where black workers and slaves are treated with respect and encouraged to cultivate themselves by forming a classical orchestra proficient in Hayden, Mozart and the great European composers. In the way it is run, the observance of humane principles by Cornelio Souchay and Ursula who physically pitch in with the work at all stages too, the endeavour blossoms into a successful and happy venture for all, where the blacks are given hope for the future. But envy and greed arouses in power figures of the local council and neighbours due to the unconventional nature of the project and soon runs afoul with local farmers, Spanish bureaucrats and even members of Souchay's own family - an snobbish blonde female cousin visiting from Germany, who turns out to be the worst imaginable pest, all betraying his friendship, hospitality and all out for his and Ursula's hide.

"The film is a metaphor", explains the director. It is not to be taken realistically and those who only perceive it as a film against racism, miss out on other important messages such as pettiness, persecution of non-conformity with what society deems the norm or 'model role' and stereotyped way of behaving : intolerance.

Both the camera takes and music (by the super-talented Cuban Vitier brothers) produce a refined and polished ambiance of an old Colonial country setting, with breathtaking photography of the slaves mainly dressed in white, playing Hayden in an orchestra in a cave with onlooker workers and the corrupt 'rich guys' perched on ledges on the rocks, contemplating them with awe.

Some details, however, border on pure camp such as when Bertha Hesse, Cornelio's cousin, lures a young black gardener into her bedroom. The bare-torso, broad-shouldered slave gleams in the dark, his muscles oozing with packed-on oil as he stealthily creeps up the stairs.

Near the end, as belligerent bailiffs sent by the court to witness if the black orchestra is real, progressively massacre with a single gunshot, the musicians playing Hayden, seeing them fall one after the other, with no reaction nor resistance, is a tad difficult to stomach. After a career of documentary filmmaking, "Scent of an Oak" is Lopez Pego's first feature film - on the line of the historical Cuban blockbuster with a strong political message: intolerance of cultural differences and racism.

This theme of Cuba's national identity is a subject frequently dealt with in that country and has been previously explored by greats such as Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Humberto Solas. The film comes full cycle again at the closing sequence when we once more see the two modest tombstones standing next to the solid oak tree, which is bleeding now, as the light casts down on the demise of the Angerona plantation and vanquishing of its occupants.With this first feature, Rigoberto Lopez, here signs a meaningful and universal look at the past, inviting us to review our own individual intolerances and perhaps do something about them.

Helen Dobrensky at UNESCO, April 2008, Festival Itinerante Del Caribe. The film is inspired by real persons, a mixed couple who in the 1800's in Cuba, set up one of the most important café plantations on the Island - Cornelio Souchay, an idealistic German businessman, portrayed by popular actor Jorge Perugorria, and Ursula Lambert (Lia Chapman), a Creole from the Island of Hispanola, later divided up into Haiti and Dominican Republic, as an independent textile shop merchant.

Their fates cross paths when Souchay spots her around town, finding out where she works and then purchases some cloth in her store. It is clear from first glance, that he is strongly besotted with the proud and elegant Lambert, pursuing her around the colonial city until she succumbs to his genteel courtship and 'old world' charm.

The street-wise Ursula coaches him into staking their (promising) luck on the lucrative coffee trade and establishing a plantation named Angerona, after a pantheistic divinity she believes in (although she frequents the Catholic institutions at hand, as well). Their premise is to create a sort of utopia farm where black workers and slaves are treated with respect and encouraged to cultivate themselves by forming a classical orchestra proficient in Hayden, Mozart and the great European composers. In the way it is run, the observance of humane principles by Cornelio Souchay and Ursula who physically pitch in with the work at all stages too, the endeavour blossoms into a successful and happy venture for all, where the blacks are given hope for the future. But envy and greed arouses in power figures of the local council and neighbours due to the uncongenial nature of the project and soon runs afoul with local farmers, Spanish bureaucrats and even members of Souchay's own family - an insufferably snobbish blonde female cousin visiting from Germany, who turns out to be the worst imaginable pest, all betraying his friendship, hospitality and all out for his and Ursula's hide.

"The film is a metaphor", explains the director. It is not to be taken realistically and those who only perceive it as a film against racism, miss out on other important messages it vehicles such as pettiness, persecution of non-conformity with what society deems the norm or 'model role' and stereotyped way of behaving : intolerance. Both the camera takes and music (by the super-talented Cuban Vitier brothers) produce a refined and polished ambiance of an old Colonial country setting, with breathtaking photography of the slaves mainly dressed in white, playing Hayden in an orchestra in a cave with onlooker workers and the corrupt 'rich guys' perched on ledges on the rocks, contemplating them with awe.

Some details, however, border on pure camp such as when Bertha Hesse, Cornelio's cousin, lures a young black gardener into her bedroom. The bare-torso, broad-shouldered slave gleams in the dark, his muscles oozing with packed-on oil as he stealthily creeps up the stairs.

Near the end, as belligerent bailiffs sent by the court to witness if the black orchestra is real, progressively massacre with a single gunshot, the musicians playing Hayden, seeing them fall one after the other, with no reaction nor resistance, is a tad difficult to stomach. After a career of documentary filmmaking, "Scent of an Oak" is Lopez Pego's first feature film - on the line of the historical Cuban blockbuster with a strong political message: intolerance of cultural differences and racism.

This theme of Cuba's national identity is a subject frequently dealt with in that country and has been previously explored by greats such as Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Humberto Solas. The film comes full cycle again at the closing sequence when we once more see the two modest tombstones standing next to the solid oak tree, which is bleeding now, as the light casts down on the demise of the Angerona plantation and vanquishing of its occupants. With this first feature, Rigoberto Lopez, here signs a meaningful and universal look at the past, inviting us to review our own individual intolerances and perhaps do something about them.

Helen Dobrensky at UNESCO, April 2008, Festival Itinerante Del Caribe.

sivakumaranks@yahoo.com


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