'Little Bee': Better late than never

"Britain is proud of its tradition of providing a safe haven for people fleeting [sic] persecution and conflict."
-- from Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship (UK Home Office, 2005)

Finally caught up to the highly acclaimed 2009 novel, "Little Bee," by Chris Cleave, a columnist for The Guardian newspaper in London.

Little Bee is the name of a young Nigerian girl who escapes the terror of her homeland,. caught up in mad violence over vast oil deposits, and lands in a detention center for illegal immigrants and refugees.

The other main character in the novel, Sarah O'Rourke, is a British magazine editor who lives in the gentrified suburbs of London, has a Batman-costume-wearing 4-year-old son and a lover named Lawrence who's as plain vanilla as his name.

Sarah's husband, Andrew, a smart, opinionated newspaper columnist has just committed suicide and that forces Sarah to take a hard look at her selfish existence and make some choices -- about actually being "present" for son Charlie, about continuing the affair with Lawrence and, above all, whether she has any obligation to help Little Bee apply for asylum.

Little Bee, you see, had encountered the vacationing Andrew and Sarah on a beach in Nigeria several years earlier. The couple's attempt to patch their relationship instead resulted in a life-or-death standoff with armed men who had terrorized Little Bee's village and now were threatening to kill her and her older sister.

I won't reveal anything more about that, except to say that Little Bee survives that encounter and flees to Britain. The only people she knows of are Andrew and Sarah and, after escaping the detention center, she shows up on the O'Rourkes' doorstep.

The author, Cleave, takes on the challenge of writing in the voice of both Little Bee and Sarah and taking us inside their minds, one having grown up in a place where "Top Gun" was the only American movie available, the other having every conceivable privilege. He spent his early childhood in West Africa and did a great deal of research on Britain's immigration removal centers, so he is able (for me, anyway) to write convincingly about the inter-ethnic conflicts and harsh conditions in the centers.

In doing so, he gives the lie to the UK Home Office's claim of being "a safe haven" for asylum seekers. Of course, Britain is hardly alone in taking a hard line against illegal immigrants. It's a universal and ages-old story of people seeking freedom from repression -- or simply a better life for their families --  and running into official resistance and racist backlash from ordinary citizens.

I'm reminded of "Illegal," a movie that I saw earlier this year at the Portland International Film Festival, about a Russian immigrant living illegally in Belgium. And years before that, "El Norte," the story of a teenage brother and sister who flee Guatemala and head for Los Angeles, hoping to start a new life in The North.

As long as we have repressive governments, we'll have stories like these. The power of a personal narrative like "Little Bee" is that it can break through the dehumanization and demonization that too often characterizes the millions of faceless refugees around the globe. In this case, Cleave juxtaposes Sarah's comfortable life with that of Little Bee's desperation and resourcefulness to pose some important moral questions about selflessness and sacrifice.

Bottom line: an excellent book. See the New York Times review here. For other reader reviews, see www.goodreads.com

A trio of movie reviews

Saw three movies in three nights at the end of last week and thought them each worthy of a brief comment:

"Of Gods And Men." This film won a grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival so I was expecting greatness. I left feeling dissatisfied and thinking it was probably me more than the film itself. The story is an interesting one. A group of French Catholic monks who live near a poor Algerian community are faced with a huge decision. Should they stay or should they flee in the face of a fundamentalist uprising?

Some want to leave, arguing they never signed up to be martyrs in someone else's civil war. Others argue for staying put, that it would be wrong to abandon the impoverished villagers who've come to depend on them. It's a great moral question, complicated further by the Algerian government's strong urgings that they leave or risk becoming targets. As things play out, you realize they're in a no-win situation where both the government and the revolutionaries see the monks as collaborating with the other side.

Inevitably, there is a raid on the monastery. All but a couple are captured; the ones who survive by hiding then face yet another set of moral issues -- of cowardice vs. courage, of self-preservation vs. loyalty to the group. This all sounds compelling but it was a slow-moving film (Lori and I both nodded off at different points) and one that utterly failed to develop individual characters that you really cared about.

"Rabbit Hole." Nikole Kidman was nominated for Best Actress at this year's Oscars on the basis of her performance in this film. I've tended to think of her as overrated, but this film has me rethinking that. She is outstanding in this story about a young married couple trying to cope with the  death of their 4-year-old son.

Becca (Kidman) and her husband Howie (Aaron Eckhart) grieve in very different ways, he wanting to preserve remembrances of their son in their house and she wanting to remove those signs. She reaches out to the teenager who ran over their boy when he ran into the street; he looks for solace and companionship in a woman who attends the same support group for grieving parents.

The movie is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire. The story is intriguing, the script is sharp and the entire cast is superb in conveying confusion, despair, anger, resignation and, ultimately, hope. A very, very good film.

"Bridesmaids." After two very serious movies, we were ready for something silly. This just-released film, starring Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig, delivered big-time.

It's the goofy story of Annie, a down-on-her-luck woman whose lifelong friend, Lillian, asks her to be maid of honor in her wedding. Annie resents Lillian's new friend, Helen, who is beautiful and rich and seems to delight in insinuating that she, not Annie, is Lillian's dearest and closest friend. Of course, rivalries ensue. But that's just one of the threads tying this fun film together. It's part physical comedy, part hilarious dialogue.

You can't help but feel sorry for Annie, even as you laugh at her, as she makes one bad move after another involving romance, work and roommates. Ultimately, it's a story about the enduring strength of a childhood friendship, all wrapped up in a feel-good Hollywood ending. Go see it. And be prepared to be swept off your feet by Melissa McCarthy in the role of Megan. Funny!

Another fork in the road?

We went to see Jake Gyllenhaal's new movie ("Source Code") this weekend -- and, oddly enough, this futuristic flick echoed the key question at the heart of an Anne Tyler novel that I just finished:  If  you had the chance, would you go back and take another fork in the road, knowing you would lead an entirely different life?

"Source Code" is one of those mind-bending films that is best enjoyed when you suspend belief. In other words, forget about the plausibility of the plot. Ignore the confusion over past, present and future. IMDb (Internet Movie Database) summarizes it as "An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train."

Yeah, right.

In any case, there comes a point where Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) ponders the fork-in-the-road question. With rising urgency, he asks his future love interest: "What would you do if you knew you only had one minute to live?"

In that moment, it made me think of "Back When We Were Grownups," Tyler's 15th novel (published in 2001), and its main character, Rebecca Davitch. She is a 53-year-old grandmother who became a widow six years into her marriage and suddenly was faced with the challenge of raising three stepdaughters along with her own biological daughter. Later, the brother of her late father-in-law also moves in after the death of his wife and, nearing his 100th birthday, he's probably the biggest burden of all.

Rebecca is the sun around which all the other family members orbit, taking care of everyone's needs, running the family business, constantly trying to smooth over tensions and misunderstandings, rarely stopping to think about how she came to lead the life she is living.

The novel begins: "Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person."

And the first chapter ends, "How on earth did I get like this? How? How did I ever become this person who's not really me?"

As the story unfolds, Rebecca is given a second chance. Her high school boyfriend, Will, the one she expected to marry until she met and married Joe Davitch, is living nearby and is divorced. She looks him up and calls him one night. They meet at a restaurant. They eventually start seeing each other again. She invites him over to meet her extended family. He invites her to dinner to meet his teenage daughter. She's known him since childhood.

Is this the man she was meant to be with? How different would life have turned out had she chosen Will over Joe? With all four daughters grown, is there anything stopping her from belatedly taking another fork in the road?

They are intriguing questions and Lori and I talked about them over dinner -- homemade fish tacos, enjoyed in the quiet of an early evening, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window from the second floor of our condo. No, we agreed, we have no regrets about the path we chose to travel together after we met as college students in the mid-70s. Yes, we realized, we have friends and relatives who essentially gave themselves a second chance when they remarried. It's worked out for most, but not all.

Interestingly, I had a similar reaction to the movie and the book. Both were OK, but hardly stellar.   "Source Code" is pure Hollywood: lots of explosions and special effects, tense moments and a happy ending. "Back When We Were Grownups" took a while to get into, mainly because there were so many characters to keep track of, including Rebecca's daughters (nicknamed Biddy, Patch, NoNo, MinFoo), their husbands and children. Rebecca's epiphany comes late in the novel, though, and more or less makes up for any weaknesses in the storytelling.

Even if you never see the movie or the book, it's an interesting exercise to imagine the alternative life you might have led by following another fork in the road.

Photograph: thriveable.com

'You are not normal'

Those spiteful words are written in simple block letters on the dusty passenger side door of a pickup truck in a scene from the movie "Normal."

And they are at the heart of a stirring movie, made in 2003 for HBO, that we watched last night. Lately, the films we've seen on Netflix have been OK but nothing memorable. This one, starring Tom Wilkinson (Roy) and Jessica Lange (Irma) as a married couple in conservative, rural Illinois, was an exception. It's a film, based on the play by Jane Anderson, that's well-acted and covers a lot of emotional ground.

The plot: Just after their 25th wedding anniversary, Roy breaks down and tells Irma that he's got "gender identity disorder" -- a feeling he's battled for years that he was born into the wrong body. The surprise announcement sends ripples of shock, denial, resentment, confusion and anger through their church and community, and forces Irma and the couple's son and daughter to confront their notions of what it means to be a transsexual.

The questions: How will Roy's boss and co-workers react? How can Irma deal with a belief that she's been deceived or done something wrong herself? Will she continue to live with him after his sex change? Does his condition make her a lesbian? Can their children accept a father who wears dresses and has grown breasts? Is there any hope that a love forged over 25 years can prove stronger than society's prejudices?

I've become very comfortable with the issues surrounding homosexuality, seeing family members, friends and co-workers leading ordinary lives and expressing the same needs, wants and quirks as anyone else. But I have to admit that I've never really understood the phenomenon of transexuality.

Every so often, though, along comes a movie that truly illuminates a condition in a way that's honesdt and transformative. I think back to "Rain Man" and autism; "A Beautiful Mind" and schizophrenia; and, yes, "Boys Don't Cry" and transgenderism. In my view, "Normal" deserves to take its place among movies of that quality. Wilkinson and Lange are superb in their roles. And the story's arc will leave you with the conviction that human beings are capable of adapting, and even embracing, the unfamiliar.

View the 35-second trailer on YouTube.

PIFF 2011: 'Illegal' invites compassion

Ivan and Tania

I left Tuesday night's journalism discussion with enough time to hustle down to Southeast Portland and catch one more Portland International Film Festival screening: the Belgian film "Illegal."

After seeing two five-star films within a week's time, it would have been asking too much for a third. Still, I'd give "Illegal" a solid 3 to 4 stars.

It's a serious subject, obviously, illustrating the plight of a single mother, Tania, a Russian national who's living illegally in Belgium with her teenage son Ivan when she is arrested on his birthday. Tania (played by Anne Coesens) is taken to a detention center, where her initial terror at being separated from Ivan eventually recedes enough for her to befriend fellow detainees in the midst of inhumane treatment.

Director Olivier Masset-Depasse could have made this a film about the politics of immigration but instead he keeps the story focused on Tania and her desperate efforts to avoid deportation. She  stonewalls authorities about her real identity only to later complicate her situation by giving the name of a friend -- a tactic that suddenly has her facing deportation to Poland.

Tania makes for a sympathetic character if you happen to believe in liberal immigration policies. If you don't, well, I can imagine you'd say she gets what she deserves.

One thing that stood out to me is that Tania is often presented to us in near-darkness, an effective metaphor for someone living in the shadows of society.

The film was Belgium's nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. It didn't make the final five and I imagine that's a fair assessment. It was good but not great, a film that strives to be passionate but is also predictable in some ways. 

Photograph: www.indiewire.com

PIFF 2011: 'Aftershock' grips and doesn't let go

We've dutifully seen all but one of this year's Oscar-nominated films for Best Picture. We've caught up with some mostly second-rate films on Netflix. So now is the time of year when we indulge in the randomness of the Portland International Film Festival.

Last night we went to see "Aftershock," billed as the most popular film in Chinese box office history and nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It did not disappoint. I gave it five stars (highest rating possible) on the audience feedback form and strongly recommend it to anyone who appreciates a drama that transcends boundaries of language, geography and culture.

The film tells the story of the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan that killed 240,000 people and its devastating aftermath. The scale of that much death and misery is often hard to grasp when it happens thousands of miles away from us. But when a storyteller engages us in the lives of a single family, it can bring understanding and compassion.

That was the winning approach taken by director Feng Xiaogang and his terrific cast. The movie features a little of everything: special effects that grab you by the throat; skillful acting that makes you invest in the characters; scenes of everyday China; a haunting story reminiscent of "Sophie's Choice"; dashes of humor, passion and longing that reinforce the universal truths in our lives as parents, children and siblings, no matter where we were born or what language we speak.

The plot revolves around the quake that kills a father and seriously injures his wife and two young children. In the chaos of the rubble, brother and sister are buried beneath the debris, and rescuers tell the mother Yuanni (played by Xu Fan) she must choose between the two because both cannot be safely extricated. We feel Yuanni's agony as she makes an impossible choice, and her guilt as she lives in solitude, forever loyal to her husband's memory and haunted by her decision.

If you don't have the means to attend PIFF, which continues through Feb. 26, be sure to look for this film on Netflix at some point. It's a movie that leaves you marveling at the strength of the human spirit.

Image: www.imbd.com

Best of 2010

My bride since 1975

In no particular order...

Movie: "The Social Network" as a mirror of our times -- greed, genius, capitalism, technology, all rolled into one. Honorable mentions: "Winter's Bone" for thrusting me into the Ozarks' meth culture and "Black Swan" for a mesmerizing performance by Natalie Portman.

Book: "The Poisonwood Bible." Yes, I know it's several years old but I didn't read it until this year. Barbara Kingsolver is just a fabulous writer. Honorable mentions: Richard Russo's "Bridge of Sighs" and  Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Superb works of fiction and non-fiction, respectively.

Concert: A tie: Patty Griffin at the Crystal Ballroom, doing material from her new CD, "Downtown Church." Camera Obscura, with their wonderful frontwoman Tracyanne Campbell, at Berbati's Pan.

Vacation: Pittsburgh! Of course, any trip to Orcas Island is soothing for the soul but the few days spent last fall in western Pennsylvani's largest city were a revelation. So much to see and do (and eat) and with similarities to Portland and San Francisco.

Family milestones: The satisfaction of seeing Nathan land and excel in a marketing job while also developing a strong relationship with a lovely young woman, Sara. The pride of seeing Simone enroll in graduate school and thrive at Carnegie Mellon while writing a whole new chapter in her life, far from home, with Kyndall. The comfort of having Jordan and Jamie close to home again after transferring from Texas to Washington state for the next couple years of his Army enlistment.

Marital milestone: 35 years of marriage to Lori. We marked the occasion twice -- on the actual date (Sept. 6) and again over a period of days in Pittsburgh, concluding with a fabulous pan-Asian dinner.

Road trip: Six days and five nights on the interstate system in July with Simone, sharing father-and-daughter time with lots of laughs, each other's music and memorable meals, capped off by a visit to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum.

Fun and games: Nothing beats Tuesday nights, when I join my fellow Broken Taco Shells, for a night of bowling...except for Saturday night poker and pizza with my buddies. Call it a tie. 

Politics: Repeal of  the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. If this barrier can fall, will we see same-sex marriage legalized in several more states -- if not across the country -- in my lifetime? One can hope.

Photograph: Taken by George on the Portland Tram to OHSU Hospital

Educating America's kids

Yesterday brought a triple blast of perspectives on one of the most important things in the world to me -- and, I wish could say, to our country. I'm talking about public education.

Why do tolerate such unevenly distributed resources, which lead to unequal opportunity? Why can't we apply what works to more cities and towns -- and speed up the pace of change? Most of all, why can't a solid majority of Americans even agree that these are worthwhile goals? When did we become so selfish and short-sighted in not doing more to help the less privileged among us succeed?

1. I started the morning looking at the Sunday Opinion section -- yes, my own editorial judgment and contacts staring back at me from the page. I selected a piece by Paul Kihn and Matt Miller, consultants for McKinsey & Company, "Let's choose teachers from the top of the class," in which they ask: "Why don't more of our smartest, most accomplished college graduates want to become teachers"

The authors point to Finland, Singapore and South Korea as three top-performing countries that recruit 100 percent of their teachers from the top one-third of their high school and college students -- in sharp contrast to the United States. It's a valid question and I asked six people around the state to read the piece and respond with a short comment. Among them: fellow blogger Aki Mori, a Beaverton school teacher who's often commented on these Rough and Rede posts.

2. We got some exciting news yesterday afternoon from our daughter, Simone, in Pittsburgh. She and three classmates at Carnegie Mellon placed second in a regional competition for graduate students sponsored by the state Department of Human Resources. Each interdisciplinary team is given a real-world problem related to delivery of human services and must analyze it and present it to judges within 48 hours. Aside from another award for their resumes, the four teammates shared a $1,500 cash prize.

Most important? Such recognition gives a boost to Simone's still-evolving desire to work in education policy, exerting an insider's influence in making the kinds of policy changes needed to improve public education in America. She's already had experience working with Latino teenagers in a leadership program and at-risk students in alternative high schools, helping them obtain a G.E.D. or diploma and steering them to community colleges and other options.

3. Simone's news was a perfect set-up for going to see the documentary "Waiting for 'Superman' " at a neighborhood theater. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, the same guy who directed Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," it is a gripping narrative, following five children and their families as they seek to rise above the bureaucracy and low expectations that threaten to kill their dreams before they even hit middle school or high school.

They are five kids whose names and faces I won't soon forget: Anthony, a fifth-grader from Washington, D.C.; Francisco, a first-grader in the Bronx; Bianca, a kindergartner from Harlem,  Emily, an eighth-grader from Redwood City, Calif., (yes, mediocrity thrives even in affluent Silicon Valley schools) and, most of all, Daisy, a fifth-grader from Los Angeles.

In Daisy's brown eyes and brown face, I could see myself, diligently doing her homework at the kitchen table, dreaming of careers -- a physician or a veterinarian -- her parents could never imagine for themselves. I'm certain that my young peers and I in Union City, Calif., -- the sons and daughters of Mexican American blue-collar workers -- were dismissed as "not college material," But with the encouragement of parents who never attended high school, attentive teachers and my own initiative, I made it. And I want Daisy and Anthony and the millions of kids they represent to have the same chance to realize their potential.

It's heart-breaking to see these children and their parents -- often single parents advocating for their kids or trying to scrape together money for private school -- reduced to hoping their number is called during a lottery for a limited number of slots in public charter schools, where a combination of excellent teachers, longer school days and high expectations have translated to huge gains in classroom performance and success.

Some critics of public education have used this film as an opportunity to bash teacher unions. Granted, they're not portrayed particularly well in the documentary. But they are certainly not the one and only reason we have such disparities amongst our public schools. More important than pointing fingers is rallying around proven models that do work. With the inspiration from this film, I'm going to drop one of my nonprofit board commitments and sign up again as a reading tutor at a diverse, high-poverty school. I've done it before and I'd like to return to the S.M.A.R.T program with a renewed sense of urgency.

Follow your passion

How often have you heard it said, "Follow your passion." We say it to teenagers and college students. We say it to laid-off workers. We say it to artists of all types and non-conformists. We say it to encourage people to make career choices or explore paths they might not otherwise.

That was the dominant message of two films we saw recently, courtesy of Netflix -- "Departures," a Japanese film that won the 2009 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and "This Is It," the recent release starring Michael Jackson.

In both cases, I had no expectations so it was doubly rewarding to say both were enjoyable, though in wildly different ways.

"Departures" is the story of a young cellist who finds himself out of work after his orchestra is dissolved and has to find a new way of making a living. He answers an ad for "Departures," thinking it's a job with a travel agency, only to find himself hired as an "encoffiner," someone who prepares bodies for cremation. Though the story involves death, it's the graceful way that the pre-burial rituals are carried out -- with sensitivity and respect for the deceased and survivors alike -- that draws you in as a viewer. We found ourselves silently cheering for Daigo as he follows his new-found passion despite his wife's misgivings about the low social status associated with the work.

A few days later, we watched "This Is It," the documentary/concert film that was cobbled together from video footage of rehearsals for a series of London concerts Jackson was scheduled to perform beginning in July 2009. Jackson died less than two weeks before the first concert and the film was released in October, four months later.

Think what you will about Jackson -- I have no doubt he was a serial child molester -- but this film  cements his reputation as a singular talent, a musical genius and an extraordinary dancer/choreographer. He had an instantly recognizable voice, a gift for composition, and an incredible, electric way of dancing that just made your jaw drop. At one point, I marveled at the sight of this skinny 50-year-old man matching every move of the 11 young dancers hired to perform with him.

We're all familiar with the dark side of M.J. -- the abusive father, the fantasy land he lived in (typified by his Neverland estate), the multiple cosmetic surgeries, the various lawsuits alleging molestation. It's a shame his personal life was such a disaster. As an entertainer, he defined passion.

Short Stuff: November

Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network

Seems the more I write on this blog, the longer the posts have become. That isn't what I intended and it certainly isn't what a blog is supposed to be. Maybe an occasional helping of "Short Stuff" will give me a little more discipline...

A riveting film: Yesterday, before the trick-or-treaters came around, Lori and I went to a Sunday matinee and watched "The Social Network." Excellent movie about the founders of Facebook. Well acted by a mostly no-name cast, superb screenplay Aaron Sorkin of "The West Wing" and an engaging story about mass marketing in the Internet age. It's about genius and greed, creativity and ego, with glimpses into two opposing but complementary cultures -- Harvard and Silicon Valley -- that epitomize privilege and power in America.

Double identity: Last month, as the plane carrying me from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Dallas, Texas, landed, I reached into the pocket in front of me to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. I pulled out a boarding pass and did a double take: The guy who occupied my seat on the previous flight segement, like me, also had 10 letters in his name -- and a Spanish surname. His frequent flier number also was on the ticket. Made me think about Jose Saramago's masterful book, "The Double," in which a depressed, divorced history teacher sees his exact likeness in a rented video and decides to pursue his double. Complications ensue. How easy would it have been to create havoc for my "seatmate" had I tried to access his personal information through the frequent flier number? I didn't, of course. Made me realize I need to be sure to keep that sort of data close to the vest.

Photograph: www.imbd.com

A film worth seeing

Dark. Foreboding. Menacing.

Those are just a few adjectives that pop to mind in describing "Winter's Bone." If that's not your cup of tea at the movies, then by all means, stay away. But if you appreciate a film that draws you in from the start and keeps you there with superb storytelling, authentic dialogue, regional music, great characters and tight editing, this may be one for you.

Nathan and I saw it last night and, boy, I can see why it won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. This is one of those independent films that puts Hollywood to shame and deserves all the acclaim it receives. It's filmed in Missouri and takes you deep inside a sinister subculture that revolves around meth, violence and a distrust of authorities so entrenched that it engulfs members of an extended family. Ultimately, though, it's a tale of a young woman's perseverance and integrity, of resilience and fierce love for her younger siblings.

Until a few weeks ago, I hadn't heard of the movie or its star, Jennifer Lawrence. But thanks to a blurb in Esquire's June/July issue, I was at least aware of it. When I learned it was in Portland theaters and had made Shawn Levy's "High Five" (he's The Oregonian's film critic), it stoked my curiosity even more. Here's Shawn's synopsis:

"A gripping drama about an Ozark Mountains teen trying to keep a hold on her family home in the wake of her father’s disappearance. The young actress Jennifer Lawrence is remarkably tough, smart and daring in the lead, and John Hawkes is terrifying as the crank-addicted uncle to whom she is forced to turn for help. Director/co-writer Debra Granik (“Down to the Bone”) pares the thing to essentials while leaving room for poetry and the vagaries of an often non-professional acting corps. The film braves an environment and a story that are minefields of cliché and never puts a foot wrong. The result is an engaging tale, a fascinating heroine, and a truly memorable film."

Here is David Katz's take in Esquire on Jennifer Lawrence, whose performance IMHO is worthy of an Oscar nomination.

"The film is a bleak family mystery set in the Ozark Mountains. She plays Ree Dolly, a survival-minded teenager who has to find her meth-head dad in order to save her family home. It's her movie, no question — she's in every single frame — but she almost wasn't in it at all. The producers initially rejected her because she was too attractive. Director Debra Granik (Down to the Bone) was savvy enough to cover up her pretty lead with a wool cap pressed low on her head for much of the movie. But Lawrence's role demanded a lot more than some uglying-up. She handles her character with a balance of rural resignation and girlish fear, and she never loses her grip. It's the kind of place-specific performance Daniel Day-Lewis would spend a year cooking meth in the mountains to get just right."

Here's a trailer:



And now, if I can find the time, I'd love to check out "Inception," Restrepo" and "Cyrus."

Photo by Sebastian Mylnarski

Quick Takes for June

Whoa. The year is half over. Time to wrap up this month with a few odds 'n' ends.

A quirky book. I always look in a bookstore's bargain bin to see if something might catch my eye at a good price. That's how I recently wound up reading "Spook: Science Tackles The Afterlife." I was familiar with the author, Mary Roach, because I knew her previous book, "Stiff," was the basis of the popular HBO series "Six Feet Under," which I thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, I'd seen Mary speak at a workshop in Portland a few years ago on narrative nonfiction writing and she was full of hilarious anecdotes as well as good information.

In "Spook," she brings her characteristically droll approach to the question of whether there is life after death and an examination of scientists' efforts to prove it. She travels widely in search of answers -- from India to Canada to England to rural North Carolina and numerous university labs -- and plumbs the depths of the scientific literature, exploring weird and fascinating topics that include: reincarnation; ectoplasm; mediums; ghosts; "soul-weighing" and "psychoacoustics." It's well reported, with a healthy dose of skepticism, and pretty entertaining -- a nice diversion from my usual fare of contemporary novels and nonfiction/current events.

"Simply put, this is a book for people who would like very much to believe in a soul and in an afterlife for it to hang around in, but who have trouble accepting these things on faith," Roach writes. "It's a giggly, random, utterly earthbound assault on our most ponderous unanswered question. It's spirituality treated like crop science."

She'll be in Portland in August to promote her new book, "Packing for Mars."

A sweet movie. "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" were so well done, so stylish and entertaining, that I was doubtful that yet another sequel could deliver the same quality as its predecessors. Happily, I was proven wrong. Lori and I went to see the new Pixar release on Sunday and came away thinking it just might have been the best of the three. Woody and Buzz are endearing as ever and the script crackles with humor, wit, suspense and redemption. No spoiler alerts here or plot descriptions. Just a strong recommendation that you go see it. And before or after you do, check out this thoughtful essay by David Hajdu, "The toys are us: Watching slow the footsteps of playthings."

New friendships. One of the nice things about spending time on Orcas is that we are gradually expanding our circle of friends on the island. Because we only go up a handful of times each year and because our place is so remote, there aren't a whole lot of opportunities beyond our immediate community in Eagle Lake. Weekend potlucks are hit and miss, so it was nice to spend time again with Jennifer Brennock, a fellow writer who's involved in the arts community and who worked briefly as a reporter for the weekly newspaper serving Orcas.

I actually met Jennifer last year when she led a writing workshop that I attended at the public library. In March, she joined us for dinner before serving as emcee at the Artsmith Salon Series at Doe Bay Cafe. This time, Lori and I met her for lunch at the Olga Cafe, known for its Shaker lemon pie and other treats, and had a wonderful conversation that covered kids, island life and food, specifically organ meats. (You had to be there.)

That same evening we joined our friends Carl and Juliana Capdeville, caretakers at Eagle Lake, and our newest acquaintances, Patty Miller and Ray Chavez, for dinner and dessert. Patty is Juliana's sister (both grew up on the island) and is running unopposed to represent the east end of the island on the county council. Ray is her partner and the least likely island transplant I would have imagined -- a sassy New Yorker of Dominican heritage. Can't wait to get back up to the island in August and water the seeds of these new friendships.

Photograph of Jessie, Buzz and Woody: The Associated Press/Disney Pixar

Tipping Points, I and II

How odd that I would pick up a 10-year-old book, Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point," and the very next day after I finish it, I go see a new movie, "The Joneses," which has everything to do with some of key points in the book.

Except for the coincidence that they address the same topic, the book and movie are completely unrelated. And while neither ranks as among the most memorable things I've read or viewed, together I can say they do reinforce each other's message -- namely, that major changes in our society and/or buying habits are often the result of well-planned campaigns that rely on a relatively small set of influencers.

By campaign, I don't mean a generalized mass-market pitch that's so broad in its pitch that it misses most of its targets. Rather, as Gladwell (above) points out, there are particular personality types "who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon word of mouth."

These are the people who are socially well connected and who, by sheer force of personality and natural tendency to want to tell others of cool new products or great deals, wield an influence far out of proportion to their numbers. They may not even knowingly set out to start a trend -- or a "social epidemic" as Gladwell calls it -- but by the very clothes they wear or the restaurant or movie they recommend to a circle of friends, they wind up having spheres of influence. Essentially, these are the people who are at ground zero when a YouTube video goes viral.

I had barely absorbed the final pages of "The Tipping Point" when I noticed a blurb for "The Joneses" and, speaking of influential people, a positive review by Roger Ebert. It was enough for me to persuade Lori to join me at the Monday night movies at the Hollywood Theater.

The film introduces us to a perfect family who seem to have it all -- money, looks, a bodacious home in a new subdivision and lots of leisure time. David Duchovny and Demi Moore are cast as Steve and Kate Jones, and two lesser-known actors, Ben Hollingsworth and Amber Heard, (neither of them hard on the eyes) play their teenage son and daughter.

All four blend effortlessly into their new community and, as if they were channeling Gladwell, exert an outsized influence on their neighbors' buying decisions. People struggle to literally keep up with the Joneses. Turns out the Joneses aren't exactly who you they think are, however. To say more would spoil the ending. Suffice to say they are the epitome of Gladwell's "connectors" who help things reach critical mass -- or their tipping point.

Photograph of Malcolm Gladwell: http://blogstra.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/malcolm-gladwell-esque-thought-of-the-day/

Man without a jaw finds his voice

If you're like me, you may be at once repulsed by and drawn to the photograph here.

It's Roger Ebert, half of the famed film critic duo, Siskel & Ebert.

Eight years ago, he underwent surgery for thyroid cancer. A year later, his salivary glands were partially removed. In 2006, the cancer came back in his jaw and he had a section of his lower jaw removed. After he had recuperated and was in his hospital room packing up to leave, his carotid artery burst. He would have bled to death had it happened anywhere else, but doctors worked frantically to patch him up. He underwent a tracheotomy and was left with much of his lower face hanging slack.

So, for more than three years, he has lived with a hole in his throat, unable to eat, drink or speak. Pretty bleak, you would think, for one with so much to say. This is a guy, after all, who along with the late Gene Siskel brought movie reviews -- with their signature "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" ratings -- into our living rooms with humor, insight and passion.

Think again.

In one of the most inspiring profiles I've ever read -- "The Last Words of Roger Ebert" in the March issue of Esquire -- Ebert says (er, writes) that no one should feel sorry for him. Communicating through handwritten notes on blue Post-its and his laptop computer, Ebert, at age 67, has become even more prolific as a writer and blogger. And that's saying something for someone who won the Pulitzer Prize way back in 1975, becoming the first film critic to win journalism's most conveted honor, and has written several books and thousands upon thousands of reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times.

His blog, rogerebert.com, has had 92 million visits and a quick stroll through the site reveals why. He's got more than a dozen categories, ranging from reviews and commentary to the Oscars, festivals and his personal journal, Roger Ebert's Journal. He answers readers questions directly and often responds to the thousands of comments left on his blog.

In a recent entry, he acknowledges that the Esquire profile was both intimate and personal and says it was "inexplicable instinct" that led him to agree to the interview with writer Chris Jones.

"When I turned to it in the magazine, I got a jolt from the full-page photograph of my jaw drooping," Ebert writes. "Not a lovely sight. But then I am not a lovely sight, and in a moment I thought, well, what the hell. It's just as well it's out there. That's how I look, after all."

It's that kind of clear-eyed acknowledgment of the truth, coupled with remarkable wisdom packed throughout, that makes the piece so memorable. Jones writes:

"We have a habit of turning sentimental about celebrities who are struck down -- Muhammad Ali, Christopher Reeve -- transforming them into mystics; still, it's almost impossible to sit beside Roger Ebert, lifting blue Post-it notes from his silk fingertips, and not feel as though he's becoming something more than he was. He has those hands. And his wide and expressive eyes, despite everything, are almost always smiling.

"There is no need to pity me, he writes on a scrap of paper one afternoon after someone parting looks at him a little sadly. Look how happy I am.' "

Later in the piece, there is this:

"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problem, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."

I'm tempted to call Roger Ebert a hero. But I know we often and too quickly delude ourselves into thinking we know celebrities, or at least those who are in the public eye. Still, I think a good profile reveals something of a person's essential character. Along with a wonderful piece that Tom Junod wrote years ago on Fred Rogers (he of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"), Chris Jones' profile of Roger Ebert ranks up there as the best I've read.

Photo: Ethan Hill

PIFF!

After missing last year's program, it was a treat to take in a couple of days of the 33rd annual Portland International Film Festival.

First up, a five-star recommendation for "John Rabe," a compelling drama based on the true story of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38. The lead actor, Ulrich Tukor, starred in "The Lives of Others" -- one of best films I've ever seen --and he was stellar in this one.

German director Florian Gallenberg is masterful in presenting the story of an ad hoc coalition of international residents -- led by Rabe but also including an American doctor and a French school headmistress -- who join forces to create a safety zone to protect civilians during the Japanese occupation of Nanjing. The film won four German Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Actor.

For Americans accustomed to the usual European/German/Nazi focus on World War II history, this is a rare but needed excursion into the complicated politics and history involving Japan, China and Germany. During the so-called Rape of Nanking, the Japanese Imperial Army slaughtered 300,000 people and raped an estimated 20,000 to 80,000 women.

The film certainly depicts viciousness and callousness but it also inspires with its portrayal of humanity, courage and caring. Rabe and others repeatedly demonstrate resourcefulness, guile and sheer will as they manage to save thousands of lives in the face of utter brutality. It's available through Netflix. Rent it.

Secondly, we saw "Short Cuts IV: International Ties," seven shorties ranging from 4 to 23 minutes and featuring entries from Ireland, New Zealand, Hungary and more. The beauty of this format, obviously, is the variety and the compact presentation. It's like a buffet, with animation and film, humor and drama, and storytelling from children's and adults' points of view.

The best ones?

-- "This Is Her," (New Zealand). “This is me. This is my husband. And this is the bitch who will one day steal him and ruin my life.” 12 minutes.

-- "This Way Up,"(Great Britain). Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble. 9 minutes.

-- "Short Term 12," (United States). Denim, the supervisor for a residential facility housing 15 kids affected by child abuse, begins to realize that, in a lot of ways, he is no different from the children he tries to help. 22 minutes.

With 75 films showing over 17 days, we had a wealth of choices. Wish we had time to take in more than two shows. Next year, we'll try to do more.

"Persepolis"

I'm not into graphic novels but watching the film "Persepolis"earlier this week made me open my mind to the possibilities.

The movie had come up in our Netflix queue and somehow I'd missed the buzz that surrounded it when it was nominated for a 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature. After seeing a string of lackluster American movies churned out by the Hollywood studios, this French film was a refreshing change in terms of its subject, originality and form. (Click here to see the trailer.)

The U.S. version, of course, is subtitled and presented in black and white animation. Yet, it doesn't take long to immerse yourself in the story and empathize with the main character, Marji. The movie is based on an autobiographical graphic novel, and the plot is expertly summarized by IMBd:

"In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi [pictured above] watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study for a better life. However, this change proves an equally difficult trial with the young woman finding herself in a different culture loaded with abrasive characters and profound disappointments that deeply trouble her. Even when she returns home, Marji finds that both she and homeland have changed too much and the young woman and her loving family must decide where she truly belongs."

It's a terrific film, with lots of emotional swings as you root for Marji, a young woman yearning for the freedom to be herself.

By sheer coincidence, I had lunch this week with a former summer intern -- let's call her "Marjon" -- whose family immigrated from Iran. Marjon would often visit relatives who still live there, but she hasn't been able to go in recent years because of the political situation. She told me of a cousin who was arrested around the time of the June 12 elections that sparked worldwide protests after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory in the face of obvious fraud. Her cousin, she said, was almost certainly tortured but doesn't want to talk about it.

Marjon works as a reporter at a daily newspaper in the Southwest U.S. She is one of the kindest, gentlest people I know, so I could only imagine the depth of her feeling and passion for justice when she told me she'd like to return to Iran, despite the obvious danger, to work for change. If that's not possible, she said, she'd like to fulfill a lifelong dream and work with the international group Doctors Without Borders.

How tragic that a buffoon like Ahmadinejad can command international attention with a speech at the United Nations ths same week that I sit across from a gracious, intelligent young woman who represents the flower of that troubled country. History, I'm sure, will vindicate the brave people who took to the streets of Tehran to protest the June election and earned the respect and support of freedom lovers around the world.

Screen on the Green at Chateau Gahan

Last night Chateau Gahan hosted the high school youth of our church for an outdoor movie night. We had 20+ kids who spread out on blankets under the stars, surrounded by the sweet intermittent glow of lightening bugs. Once the movie was over, I stoked up the chiminea and the crew got to making s'mores.

NOTE: If you've ever thought about getting a chiminea, treat yourself. One of the best things about my patio. We use it all year round. Since I love being host to Harleigh and her friends, it's an instant source of relaxation and good chat time for teens. Who doesn't love staring at a crackling fire?

I used pillows and oil lamps from last weekend's shower. Popped a bunch of popcorn, loaded big metal tubs with ice and sodas. Harleigh even re-purposed the sarees and outdoor rugs from the shower to decorate the treehouse.

I've done zero plantings this Spring and Summer because I've been so absorbed with house fiascos, so this event jump-started a little gardening just to make the porches and yard look nice.

If there is one thing you treat yourself to this week . . .

. . . make it be the 3D version of Coraline. Magical, dark and visually spectacular beyond any animated movie I've seen. Not for children by any means. The theater was packed full of them and they were more interested in their Skittles.

Don't wait for this one to come out on video. Needs to be seen on the big screen, preferably the 3D version.

Sunday Warm-Fuzzy

Harleigh told me about this, we watched it, I cried like an idiot.

It's about time . . .

We've been singing the soundtrack here at Chateau Gahan for years now. When I got an email today from Ticketmaster about Wicked coming to the Fox theatre here in Atlanta in October, I jumped at the chance to see the musical that Harleigh and I know by heart. Date day for the Gahan Girls coming up! A nice lunch out and then a matinee performance. Can't wait.