M&M: The Hour of the Lynx

A young man arrives in a snowy small town and seemingly without reason brutally kills an elderly couple in a house. The man, by the name of Drengen, is caught and brought to the high security area of a prison. There the young psychologist Lisbet does an experiment by giving the inmates pets. Among them Drengen, who gets a red furred cat. Another inmate gets jealous during yard exercise time and throws the cat over the fence. Surprisingly Drengen has bonded a lot with the cat and ends up killing the other inmate in anger. The cat is found again. But Lisbet has to abandon the experiment. Since it's the last time with the pets, Drengen gets the cat back to say good-bye. But he claims that it's not his cat. He's convinced that god is speaking to him through the cat and pushing him to commit suicide. Lisbet doesn't know what else to do but involving the priest Helen.

Drengen is totally withdrawn and there's nothing they can get out of him that makes much sense. Helen persuades a guard to lock her in with Drengen in his cell over night. In the night Drengen starts talking and things start to make sense when he begins to talk about his past. You've got to watch yourself to find out what he's telling. The original title of this Danish-Swedish movie by the way is I lossens time.

As you can see above, Drengen is a young man, who is not afraid to use brutal force. So this movie isn't a totally easy one. Apart from those two murders however, the movie impresses by being markedly calm and makes one wonder, even well after the closing credits are over, about topics like blame, forgiveness and belief.

By the way, the source material for this movie was a theatre play The Hour of the Lynx (original title: Lodjurets Timma) by the Swedish writer Per Olov Enquist and is a play for five people, which premiered in April 1988 in Stockholm. The premiere for the German version was in 1992 in Ingolstadt. In 1991 the Hessische Rundfunk (Hessian Broadcast) and Sachsen Radio (Saxony Radio) together produced a radio play version of the theatre play.

M&M: Stay

Dear reader,

in 2005 the movie “Stay” came out, one of my favourite movies. The story is somewhat dark and the ending is frustratingly open. What I like most though are the visual elements: the use of colours and transitions from one scene to another. Also I like Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling, who are both playing the lead roles in this movie.

Ryan Gosling is playing Henry Letham, a young man, who we see driving a car at the beginning. Then a tire blows and an accident happens. Cut. He's sitting on the street and as the camera moves away from him allowing us a wider view of the scene, we see the car burning behind him. He stands up and just walks along the street.

The psychiatrist Dr. Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) had a bad night and overslept. But this should only be the beginning of a couple of very strange days for him. On the university campus he meets his friend and teacher Lila (Naomi Watts), who asks him what's wrong. The neighbours baby kept him awake. Lila is confused. The neighbours are 80 years old. Sam takes over for a sick colleague, among her patients is also Henry. He doesn't like the fact that suddenly someone else is his therapist. Is his therapist unable to cope with him and let that other one take over? But eventually Henry opens up and tells about his plan: “Saturday. Midnight.” That's when he's going to kill himself. On his 21^st birthday.

Over the course of this movie, we see Henry and others driving in a car. Those scenes in the car are from a different time or indeed a different world(?) than the rest and in fact most part of the movie. I think I don't anticipate too much, when I write, that Henry in fact was badly injured during the car accident and is about to die. The psychiatrist “story” is all in his head and is his way of thinking whether he wants to live or die. He wants to live really. Otherwise he wouldn't have gone to Sam for help, who is in reality the driver of another car and now is giving first aid. Another woman, who Henry in his mind makes to be Sam's girlfriend, checks the car and tells him that the others are dead. Many things and people in the movie are twisted in Henry's head and used for the reality in his mind. Finding those things, what is used and how and finding what's reality, makes the movie fun and interesting for me. Henry's full name is Henry Letham. Letham being an anagram for Hamlet. A young woman, who served Henry a couple of times in a diner and could maybe help Henry is also actually rehearsing for a Hamlet play.

Some wonder about the ending and what Henry's choice was in the end. Because we never actually see whether he is dead or alive. Many are certain that his decision is obvious however. Watch the movie and make your own decision about that. For those of you who like rather calm soundtracks “Stay” might be one for you. It was written and played by Asche & Spencer.

Until next blog,

sarah

M&M: Gun Shy

Dear reader,

in 2000 the actor Liam Neeson had the leading role as the DEA agent Charlie in the film „Gun Shy“. Charlie comes back from an undercover mission, which has gone horribly wrong. It ended in a disastrous shooting, in which Charlie's colleague got killed and almost got him killed as well. Instead Charlie ended up head first in a water melon. Needless to say that he hates melons since then. From that moment on he has severe digestive problems as well as anxiety. There's nothing he wants more than retirement and the view of the ocean.

On his flight back, Charlie meets the therapist Dr. Jeff Bleckner (Michael Mantell). He notices how uncomfortable Charlie is and offers him help. Dr. Bleckner suggests Charlie goes to do some group therapy. During those sessions Charlie finds out that he's far from being the only one unhappy with his (professional) life. As he tells the others about his problems, he falls on sympathetic ears. Charlie has to take on one last job to stop the scary mafia boss Fulvio and his money laundering business. Charlie is so nervous meeting Fulvio the first time, that Dr. Bleckner prescribes him some pills. The therapist makes it very clear to Charlie only to take one pill. But Charlie is so nervous and the effect doesn't come fast enough for Charlie. So he takes a second. That leads to Charlie not only being calm during the meeting, but he very much not to fall asleep. In the end Charlie can't fight it any longer and just falls asleep in his chair as he is. Fulvio is enthusiastic and impressed how Chrlie can go to sleep and just sleep peacefully.

Charlie and Fulvio become friends for real. That's how Charlie realises that the mean mafia boss is just a show. Fulvio's wish for life is to grow tomatos. He only plays the mean mafia boss, because that's what everyone seems to expect him to be like. So Fulvio is just one more person, who is unsatisfied and with totally different dreams for how his own life should be. Charlie decides to help him.

Charlie consults the beautiful Judy Tipp (Sandra Bullock) about his digestive problems, who not only is able to help him with alternative medicine about his bodily problems. He's also infected by her optimism and the to of them come closer.

All in all this film can't be taken too serious and is far from what might happen in real life. But the film has much humour and it's much fun for me to watch all those great actors. The characters were written which much love and care, even the smaller parts and I enjoy it a great deal to see them all with their quirks and their problems they are fighting with and do their best to stick to their dreams and come closer to fulfilling them. At the end of this turbulent adventure especially Charlie and Fulvio clearly learned something for themselves and have been through quite some changes and achieved things for themselves.

Until next blog,
sarah

M&M: Takin' Over The Asylum

Dear reader,

something new today, which I hope I'll be able to do once a month: M&M: Movie of the Month. With that I want to introduce you to a movie, I know and like.

To start this of: the mini series „Takin' Over The Asylum“. This is a series of 6 episodes, each about 50 minutes long, which came on tv in 1994 and brought fame to the two main actors Ken Stott and David Tennant. I didn't know Ken Stott before and looking back I only watched a couple of movies he was in, which are listed on his imdb.com profile. Because I was and am watching lots of Doctor Who, I certainly knew David Tennant very well. Although it was quite amusing and strange seeing him that young: 23 years old.

The characters and story:

One of the most important persons is Eddie, played by Ken Stott. Eddie is salesman for double glazing windows and he's got an alcohol problem. His passion is being a radio D.J. Right at the beginning of the series, he gets fired from his job as a D.J. however. Although he is offered a new job at the St. Jude's hospital, which once had a radio station and they want to start it again. Eddie agrees to help and can tell his colleagues, who are standing with him after the termination notification that, “He didnae dump me. I've been promoted, if you must know.” The colleagues want to know where he will work. He tells them, St. Jude's. They start laughing. Eddie asks them why they are laughing. “St. Jude's is a loony bin!”

When Eddie goes to St. Jude's the first time, he meets Campbell (David Tennant). He shows Eddie the radio station, which looks more like a storeroom. Campbell tells Eddie that the station was working once. But rumour has it that the next day 122 patients went to their shrinks saying they were hearing voices. They prescribed about £ 6000 worth of major tranquillisers, before they realised it was the radio and the radio station was closed after that. Campbell doesn't believe it though. He can't believe 122 patients could not be watching television at the same time.

Campbell is a manic-depressive (bipolar). Although in the series we only see him manic and totally enthusiastic about the radio station. Eddie teaches him to be a D.J. and Campbell finds not only his job, but quite possibly his calling, too. One time Eddie asks Campbell, “Are you sure you're not manic?” Campbell: “I'm inspired, Eddie!” Eddie: “What's the difference?” Campbell: “Inspired is when you think you can do anything. Manic is when you know it.”

Rosalie (Ruth McCabe) is compulsive. She often makes lists and is cleaning all sorts of things. When Eddie arrives at the radio station the second time, Campbell and Rosalie have cleaned it all up and put things in order in just one day. “Much as I hate to take advantage of someone's illness, but she did insist”, says Campbell. Eddie asks, if they really did all of that in just one day. “Don't you wish, you were manic?”, asks Campbell. Eventually Eddie appoints Rosalie to be the station manager. One time there's a health day. Since the radio station needs a new mixer and that needs financing, the group decides to use that day to do some fund-raising. Who's organising the day? Rosalie, of course, who finally can use her lists for some good and pretty much assigns everyone at the station with tasks to do and hands them lists for what to do exactly.

Francine (Katy Murphy) is very depressed and also self harms. Eddie once sees her putting out a cigarette on her arm. “I couldnae find an ashtray”, she says about that. Later on she does use an ashtray Eddie hands her. Francine, too, gets training from Eddie to D.J. Francine and Eddie like each other and become friends.

Another important role for the radio station is with Fergus (Angus Macfadyen). He's a schizophrenic electrical engineer, who helps the group with everything electronical. Every now and then he'd run away from the station to come back some time later the same day. At first he just goes away, because he's bored. Over the course of the series however he runs away in more or less spectacular ways to get a new mixer for the radio station and other stuff.

Apart from the hospital there are some more people worth mentioning: Eddie's grandmother (Elizabeth Spriggs), with whom he's living together. She's from Lithuania and has her very own thoughts about Eddie's future. For example she's not that sad when he tells her that he got fired from his D.J. job. And at the age of 38, he should please marry soon! When Eddie tells her, he just didn't find the right one yet, his grandma replies with, “You think I find the right one? You think your mother find the right one? All blue eyes and itchy feet. We find misery. But God put us on this Earth to suffer. That's how He invent Stalin.”

And then there are also the colleagues and the boss of the sales company. All highly motivated. Eddie keeps that job with more luck than brains for that job and it's a real miracle that he becomes the “salesman of the month”. But sometimes one may wonder if Eddie's colleagues should be the ones in the mental hospital and the group from there should be the ones out.

In the series there are some quite serious psychiatric illnesses shown. Personally I think, they totally do not stultify it though, but do it with the appropriate seriousness for the illnesses and yet in a funny way. For me the group of the radio station is very likeable, especially with and because of their quirks, each of the illnesses brings with them.

Until next blog,

sarah