M&M: A Hidden Life

A while ago I watched the movie “A Hidden Life” from the year 2019 for the first time. It was on my imdb.com list of movies that I wanted to see and tells the story of the farmer Franz Jägerstätter from the small town St. Radegund in Austria, who refused to fight for the Nazis during the second world war.

Franz Jägerstätter really lived. Which was one of the reasons, why I decided to watch this movie. Normally I'm not at a point where I'm skeptical about watching “Nazi movies” or movies set around that time and avoid them. It should be noted that this movie is almost 3 hours long. One of the reasons why I hesitated watching it.

Franz Jägerstätter is played, convincingly, I think, by August Diehl. Valerie Pachner took the role of his wife Fani and I thought of her as equally fitting. As for the other actors, I didn't know anyone other than the one playing the priest Fr. Fürthauer, namely Tobias Moretti. Jägerstätter is conscripted to fight for the Nazis once, but is send home to his wife and three daughters. When a second letter for conscription arrives, he talks to Fr. Fürthauer, but quickly notices that he won't get much support from him for the resistance to fight in the war. So he has to go to war. When he refuses to swear on Hitler, he gets arrested. Fani and Fr. Fürthauer as well as others try to talk him into swearing on Hitler. The Nazis won't care what he really feels and thinks and his death because conscious objection will basically be inconsequential and therefore unnecessary. It's suggested he can go do medical service instead of being a soldier and fight. He refuses all of that. That's how important it is for him to truthfully and openly defend his point of view. First his wife and children at home get support, but then they all feel the hate from the other town people and they become outsiders, who have to work hard to keep doing their farm work without a husband and father to keep the farm going. In August 1943 Franz Jägerstätter is finally executed.

The movie starts by showing the calm and peaceful family life. Although set in a war time and being an exceptionally long movie, the viewer doesn't see a single shot fired. On the internet I read reviews that Fani should have fought harder and should have convinced her husband more to do what's necessary to stay alive. Watching the movie I did get the feeling that she tried for him to keep on living. His point of view and showing it openly was more important to him than his own life.

During my school time our religion teacher was enthusiastic about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who also resisted the Nazis and paid with his life for that. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Protestant priest, so it's not surprising my religion teacher liked him. I personally was more impressed by the simple farmer Jägerstätter and how he stood his ground and wasn't even going to pretend something else, if he didn't want those things. I don't want to badmouth Bonhoeffer or belittle him. I do believe however that for a priest the belief in god and acting according to his will is in the end a logical decision. The decision of farmer Jägerstätter to abandon his wife and children to defend his own view is rather impressive to me.

It's easy for outsiders to look back on this terrible time period and say, “I would have refused, too.” or “I would have been one of the good ones.” It's easy for us to say as our life right here and right now is not threatened. I believe that whoever makes those statements or similar ones recklessly, doesn't really have an idea about the general atmosphere of the people and the pressure people were under at that time.

The movie is long and takes its time. This seems fitting for me though in the depiction of the country life in contrast to the hectic city life and later also during the time in prison where just not much was happening. Although I was aware of the unusually length of the movie from the beginning, I didn't feel bored and it didn't seem long winded to me. I'm sure one could have cut an almost three hour movie somewhere. I wouldn't know where I would have cut it though. I didn't know Jägerstätter before the movie. Then again, he was Austrian and we didn't talk about people, especially people in the reistance movement, in other countries in school. According to the trivia comment section on imdb.com to this movie Jägerstätter and his fate wasn't known outside St. Radegund for a long time anyway and he was discoved by accident. The American Gordon Zahn came to St. Radegund in the 1970's and uncovered Jägerstätter's history and made it known. Now there are several movies about him.

M&M: Stand and Deliver

This movie from the year 1988 was based on the true life of mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante. Don't moan just yet without watching it first. This movie came before some of the others, sadly better known “real-life teacher stories”. By the way, the real Jaime Escalante is quoted on imdb for saying that the movie is “90% truth and 10% drama”, which seems pretty good to me.

Jaime Escalante was a really tough teacher. He had to be, teaching a class of Hispanic immigrant teenagers. He's played by Edward James Olmos. Some of you may know him from Battlestar Galactica where he was William “Bill“ Adama. Olmos got an Oscar nomination for his role as Escalante. The movie mostly focuses on the mathematics classes. But we do get to see glimpses into Escalante's private life. He's got a son, who is played by Olmos' real-life son, Bodie Olmos.

Escalante has to teach those teenagers mathematics and he's really passionate about it, which certainly also helps the teenagers to get interested and pay attention during those classes. He's honest with the students and tells them that they have two strikes against them: their name and their complexion. That will make the world assume they know less than they do. Their bosses at work won't care about their problems, so neither does he. He still ends up helping out one of the girls in class when he finds out her parents took her off school and talks to the father. Of course the class also has a trouble maker. Escalante calls him “Finger Man” for obvious reasons. I like the way Escalante deals with him by teaching him some cool mathematics with his fingers. Judging from Youtube comments, I'm not the only one wishing that my teacher taught me that trick. You'll know what I mean when you watch the movie and get to that scene.

The students get well enough to do the AP Calculus in their senior year. Escalante has his students take summer classes in advanced mathematics in preparation for this. The other teachers start being cynic towards Escalante. They don't think the students are capable of it. But Escalante and the students prove them all wrong. They take the test and pass it, too. However the Educational Testing Service doubt the results. They accuse the students of cheating, since several students have the same mistakes. Escalante believes there is a racism problem behind this. In a short scene where they try to question the some of the students, one of them seemingly cracks and has just the right answers. Among the people questioning them is a fairly young Andy Garcia as Dr. Ramirez, by the way. You can clearly see him fight not to laugh along with the students, but at least he shows a short smile, before he and his colleagues go away. Escalante suggests the students take the test again. They're granted that wish with only one day to prepare for it.

How did they do the second time with the exam? See for yourself. Really, go watch the movie. I know it's an old one, but it's got some great scenes in it. Well worth it in my opinion.

M&M: In The Heart Of The Sea

It seems fitting, after writing about a whale with over 80 plastic bags in its stomach, to now review a movie about whales and the sea: “In The Heart Of The Sea”.

This movie from 2015 was directed by Ron Howard, who with “Apollo 13” and “A Beautiful Mind” already did movies based on true stories.

“In The Heart Of The Sea” is a bit similar to “Titanic” from the year 1997: a true ship accident and a (supposed) survivor telling other people the story. The movie here essentially tells the story behind the world classic “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville. The sinking of the whale ship “Essex” in 1820 was in part inspiration for the novel. The movie “In The Heart Of The Sea” is based on the book “In The Heart Of The Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex written by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Around 1800 whales were excessively hunted. On August, 12^th 1819 the Essex started with a crew of 21 men. It should be mentioned that just 3 days after that, the ship capsized. The last captain of the Essex was George Pollard (played by Benjamin Walker). According to the movie Pollard got the position as captain not because he was skilled, but because of his family history and was sort of born into this position. Petty officer second class Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) doesn't like that at all. Mostly because he is truly skilled and longs to be captain himself. This leads to tension between the two of them. Also on board is Henry Coffin (Frank Dilane) as ship boy. Coffin, only 17 years of age, was Pollards cousin.

On November, 20^th 1820 the crew finally found a group of whales. A whale attacked the boats so forcefully that the crew had to cut the leash. As they wanted to go back to the Essex later, they found the boat at an angle that part the bottom of the ship was showing. The crew worked hard to return the ship to an upright position, but was attacked by a whale several times. The force of the attack was so strong that some of the planks burst. The crew was able to get some food supplies from the Essex into the catchers, before on November 22^nd the Essex sank.

The problem with what followed was that the 3 catchers weren't build for long rides on deep sea, which lay ahead of the crew. Catchers are build for short, fast rides.

Owen Chase (the first helmsman) and Thomas Nickerson (the ship boy) were among the 8 survivors of the originally 21 crew members. Herman Melville hired on a whale ship in 1841. Which is how he came to meet the son of Owen Chase, who gave Melville his father's journal to read. Inspired by these writings, Melville wrote the novel “The Whale”, which today is known as the world literature “Moby Dick”. In the movie Melville (Ben Wishaw) goes to Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson),in other words a direct survivor, to be told what happened on the Essex. It probably makes more sense to tell the movie in flashbacks from a survivor. This meeting never took place though.

By the way, I saw the movie “Moby Dick: Heart Of A Whale” from the year 2015 directed by Jürgen Stumpfhaus. In it they suggest that some certain sounds whales make to communicate with each other were similar to workings the blacksmith did on the harpoons on the Union in 1807 and also the dinghy repairs of the Essex in 1820. Maybe the whales have misinterpreted the repair noises for whale sounds and that's why both of the ships were attacked.

M&M: Murder In The First

The movie from the year 1995 is based on true events. More later on just how true those events really are.

The plot begins in 1938. It tells the story of Henri Young (wonderfully played by Kevin Bacon), who is imprisoned as a criminal in Alcatraz, the famous prison on the island off San Francisco. The first 20 minutes are not necessarily easy to watch. Because Young is in solitary confinement after an attempted escape and is treated really badly, if not to say tortured. After several years in solitary confinement he's released to the general population again. At lunch time he meets another prisoner, Rufus 'Ray' McCain (David Michael Sterling), who had been with Young at the attempted escape back then. Young lunges at McCain with a spoon and eventually kills him, which in return leads him back to solitary confinement again.

The young attorney James Stamphill (Christian Slater) is supposed to defend Young at court for the murder of McCain. The story is actually told from his point of view. The case seams clear and nothing special at first. But it takes Stamphill a while to get Young to open up and in fact speak at all. The dialogue between the two, especially when Young is called a witness and forced against his explicit wish, to answer questions, are wonderful dialogues with much fun and humour, which speaks to me a lot personally. A beautiful interaction between Kevin Bacon and Christian Slater.

After Henri Young spent years in solitary confinement, it's hardly possible to speak of resocialisation, and in the end not only Henri Young has to explain himself at court, but also the guards and especially the warden have to justify themselves.

In the movie Henri Young is depicted as almost innocent, caught when he stole 5 dollars to provide for himself and his sister and otherwise, apart from the murder of the fellow prisoner, not a criminal. The reality is a little different.

Henri Young really existed. As well as the fellow prisoner Rufus McCain. Together with others they did attempt to escape the prison. That much is true. (Although according to wikipedia it was a year later than in the movie, namely in 1939.) But Henri Young was far from innocent. Even before he came to Alcatraz, the “real” Henri Young was a convicted bank-robber, who in fact was known to be aggressive with hostages. So there can be by far no talk of just stealing 5 dollars to provide for himself and his sister and being caught.

The argumentation in the movie is that it wasn't Henri Young, who was responsible for McCain's death, but the detention conditions and prolonged isolation, was really the argumentation of the defence. I won't anticipate the end of the court case in the movie, but will say this much: that Henri Young's life did not end the way Stamphill (Christian Slater) tells. The truth is that Henri Young was transferred to another prison in 1948. Henri Young's wikipedia entry talks about him “jumping parole” in 1972. Which means that he was allowed to leave the prison for while and under certain conditions. But he never came back from that release and his whereabouts to this day are listed as “unknown”. Having been born June, 11^th 1911, Henri Young would be over 100 years old, if he is still alive today.

The movie is really good and worth watching. Even though, as stated above, the first 20 minutes are not nice to watch. It's to be expected that a movie “based on true events” is often told fairly freely. However I find the very bold deviation quite frustrating. Especially since the end tells something that is absolutely not the truth, namely that Henri Young was in part responsible for Alcatraz being closed. The truth is that Alcatraz was closed in 1963, which was a good 20 years after Henri Young had spent time there. Also Alcatraz wasn't closed because of dubious detention conditions and/or in the end no longer allowed solitary confinement. There are many documentaries from 2000 or later about solitary confinement. Even though such detention conditions are just as dubious as they are depicted in the movie back then. By the way, it is just as wrongful depicted in the movie and stressed several times that the purpose of Alcatraz was resocialisation. In the German wikipedia-article there is the following note (my own translation):

“Alcatraz had 2 purposes:

1. Transfer of troublemakers from other prisons, to prevent escape, violence and suicide attempts.
2. Transfer from prisoners, to send them back to another prison with better behaviour. There was never talk of resocialisation.” (Emphasis mine.)

By the way, the reason to close Alcatraz, among others, was that the salt water affected the building over the years and the maintenance and repair was simply too costly and extensive. The reason was not at all the conduction of the prison.

With this generally good movie, I find it's a pity just how much the facts are twisted, Henri Young's life as well as the history of Alcatraz. I personally would have liked the note of Henri Young's disappearance without a trace, most of all because it would have been closer to the truth and in my opinion also more positive for Henri Young in the movie as well. Maybe it wasn't heroic enough for the movie makers. Then again, the real Henri Young was never a hero from the very beginning anyway.

What the... hypnosis

Dear reader,

hypnosis is when someone is swinging a pocket watch back and forth in front of you, counting and telling you that at some point, you won't be able to keep your eyes open and sleep. That is at best how many think about stage-hypnosis.

This was supposed to be a post to introduce you to some hypnosis-people, especially hypnotherapists, meaning people, who use hypnosis for therapy, combined with a bit of history of hypnosis. That's what I had planned for February. As you can see, as a result I didn't write anything at all in February.

The truth is that I have barely any knowledge about the history of hypnosis. I have read two or three general books on hypnosis. Of course they had bits about the history and names of famous people of the past, thanks to YouTube I was able to watch interviews with hypnotists and hypnotherapists and see demonstrations or seminars. But apart from Dr. Milton Erickson, I hardly know more than the name of most people.

In addition to that I noticed during the past couple of months that I forgot now things I knew quite well, say half a year ago or so. Including terms I was able to explain or at least use without any problems back then. Am I getting old? Or am I becoming like Sherlock Holmes, who doesn't know that the earth goes around the sun, because it's irrelevant for his life?

Here comes what I'd like to share with you, for which I don't have to consult (my) books: my history of hypnosis. (Confession: I didn't use a book, but I did look up the dates on wikipedia.)

The name used very often as the sort of father of hypnosis or hypnotherapy is Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). Years ago I liked the actor Alan Rickman a lot. I like him still today, but I'm not that much familiar with his more recent works now as I was years ago. In any case, he was in the movie “Mesmer” playing him in 1994. The frame story of the movie is a court hearing, which Mesmer has to go through. The treatment method of the doctor are so unconventional for his time that many thought he was a charlatan. That's why he was in court for. Later I read a couple of books about Mesmer to find out, what parts of the story in the movie had really happened. Without knowing it, this was my introduction to hypnosis, I guess. Although Mesmer didn't call what he did hypnosis. At first he worked with magnets. In one book I read that story that he was taking part in a sort of parade, when someone came up to him asking for help, because no other doctor was so close and available. He went and was lead to the ill person and only realised when he was there, that he had left the magnets in the coach at the parade. If lifeless stones and magnets were able to help, surely he, Mesmer, a warm living being full of energy, must be able to help with touch and strokes with his hands. Indeed he was able to help, so he didn't use the magnets anymore after that experience. He called what he did “animal magnetism”. Today it's also known as “mesmerism”. His name even became an adjective in English as “mesmerising” (to describe something as being fascinating or hypnotising).

Independently from Mesmer back then, also the Chinese medicine assumes an energy, known as chi or qi. Reiki is a method practised to this day, in which the hands are used to heal.

But Mesmer wasn't quite the beginning. Even the Egypts and Greeks knew sleep temples. Priests, who at that time were also functioning as doctors, healed a variety of illnesses through rites with putting the sick into a healing sleep.

The miracle healings of Jesus, his apostles and the early Christians came most likely often with hypnosis, too. Imposition of hands and fixation of the eyes (fixation) e. g. with a shining metal plate, are typical practices.

Another surgeon one should know is the Scotsman James Braid (1795-1860). He too studied magnetism and coined the term “neurypnology”, so still not “hypnosis” as a term. In Braid's time anaesthesia was still in its infancy. His book is called: Neurypnology; Or, the Rationale of Nervous Sleep Considered in Relation with Animal Magnetism.

James Esdaile (1808-1859) on the other hand reminds me a bit of Erickson. Esdaile had asthma and he moved from Great Britain to India in the hope that the climate there would be better for him. Erickson got vaccinated after a bike accident, but he got an anaphylactic shock from the vaccination, which nearly killed him and as a result he developed allergies. Therefore he moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Anyway, it shouldn't surprise you that Esdailes book title is: Mesmerism in India and Its Practical Application in Surgery and Medicine.

Another doctor, who should be mentioned is the psychiatrist and neurologist Hippolyte Bernheim (1840-1919), who studied the reactions to suggestions. Suggestions are also an important aspect with hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Consequently his form of therapy was the “suggestive therapy”, on which he wrote several books, for example: Suggestive Therapeutics: A Treatise on the Nature and Uses of Hypnotism.

By the way, the so called Russian miracle healer Rasputin (1869-1916) also used hypnosis to help especially the tsar son, when he had one of his bleedings again. I find it inappropriate, to call the treatments of the tsar son miracle healings though. Because Rasputin didn't heal him from hemophilia. He only stopped the immediate bleedings. More on Rasputin in another entry later.

Many people certainly don't know that Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) studied with the neurologist Jean-Martin Charco (1825-1893) and used hypnosis before he invented his psychoanalysis. Later he turned away from hypnosis. Surely in part to spend more time with his own ideas and psychoanalysis. I could also imagine that in part he also didn't like being close to clients and maybe even touch them, since one aspect with psychoanalysis is precisely that of keeping distance and interfering as little as possible.

If I had to write more detailed, I could write a book and would have to look up things more after all. For now this should be enough with the people mentioned to start with. Should hypnotists, hypnotherapists or hypnosis-enthusiasts read this post, I'd be happy to read your additional names and comments.

Until next blog,

sarah

M&M: The Fall

Dear reader,

today I want to tell you about a film that plays is situated in Los Angeles of the 1920's in a hospital. The film industry back then is still in its infancy. Hardly anybody knows, what a stuntman is or does. One of them however is just in that hospital for treatment after having an unfortunate fall during a shooting and is now unable to walk with an injured leg. Also in the hospital is a bright girl with a broken arm. The stuntman begins telling her a story of five heroes. (One of them is himself, another goes by the name of Charles Darwin.) At first it's all totally harmless, but behind all that is the idea that the stuntman might get the girl to steal morphine for him. She does eventually and for that she has to climb a cupboard. Unfortunately she falls very unluckily and has to get head surgery. The stuntman recognises how egoistic his behaviour has been. She wants to break the contact with the girl. That means he's got to bring the story to an end. And what an end it is! I read on the internet that some men, who usually barely shed a tear could hardly hold them back then. I won't tell you anything more about the ending of that story. Watch the film and make up your own mind.

The girl is played by Catinca Untaru, a rumanian, who at the time of filming, in 2006, was only 9 years old. I saw the film in english and was quite impressed how good that little girl was speaking english for her age. The stuntman is played by Lee Pace. In the film he writes down the name of the drug he wants: "Morphine". However he writes the "e" in such an angular shape, that Catinca Untaru actually read it as "3", which worked into the film. I especially thought that the visuals of the film were particularly inspired. Of course the girl has a vivid imagination. Cinematically this is underlined by the fact that quite soon we don't see the two of them in the hospital, but the story is also shown in images with especially sceneries, costumes and over all colours that just really impressed me a lot. The word surrealistic comes to my mind, although that probably isn't quite correct. Quite amusing for the viewer also is the fact how the girl works people she meets and sees in the hospital into the story. For example back in those days it was common for doctors taking x-rays in metal suits, complete with helmet in metal, which also covered the face. Once the girl sees some of those people covered all in metal walking down the halls. These people look like knights! No surprise then that when the stuntman tells her about evil knights, that those look like the x-ray knight doctors in her head. Who can blame her.. A wonderful movie!

Until next blog,
sarah

M&M: Victoria Wood's Nice Cup of Tea

Dear reader,

for all of you, who enjoy to drink tea or are interested in tea, I've got this month's documentation:

"Victoria Wood's Nice Cup of Tea" is a BBC production produced in april 2013. In this two part program Victoria Wood follows up the history of tea and why the british love tea so much. The first part is about how tea, which originally came from china, came to great britain. The british eventually wanted to be independant from the chinese. India seemed a good enough substitute, especially since india was a former british colony. But what could the british have to trade with the indian? The answer to that question surprised me a lot and I wasn't expecting it at all.

The second part deals with why tea means so much for the british. Victoria Woods speaks with construction side workers, taxi drivers, the actor Matt Smith (known as the 11th Doctor of "Doctor Who"). Tea helped the british win the war, according to some discussion partners. Towards the end of the second part of this documentary Victoria Wood asks the question, if tea has a future at all, with Starbucks and all the sorts of coffee and coffee mixes. Does tea have a future? What could be the future of tea? By the way also worth a thought why in english they talk about a "nice cup of tea" so often. Why "nice"?

Youtube has got both parts online, at least for now. Here are the links:

part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOwWTFh_y9E (59 minutes)
part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4I47_vXBtU (58:44 minutes)

Until next blog,
sarah