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| Palestinian Market View |
Tuesday 31 May 2011
എന്റെ കുഞ്ഞ് സമാധാനം മണക്കുന്നു
എന്റെ കുഞ്ഞിനെ പുണരുമ്പോള്‍
അവന് മണക്കുന്നതു സോപ്പിന്‍ സുഗന്ധമല്ല.
എല്ലാ മനുഷ്യരും സമാധാനം മണക്കുന്ന കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങളാണ്.
(ഈ നാട്ടിലെങ്ങും ഇനിയും തിരിയുന്ന
ഒരു തിരിക്കല്ല് പോലും അവശേഷിച്ചിട്ടില്ല).
ഓ ! തുന്നിച്ചേര്‍ക്കാനാവാത്തവിധം പിഞ്ചിയ തുണിപോല്
ചിന്നഭിന്നമായ നാടേ....!
ഹോ കഠിനം, മഖ്പെല ഗുഹകളിലെ ഏകാകികളായ പിതാക്കന്മാരെ...
സന്താന രഹിതമായ നിശബ്ദത!!!
എന്റെ കുഞ്ഞ് സമാധാനം മണക്കുന്നു.
ദൈവത്തിന് ഞങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് നല്കാനാവാത്തത്
അമ്മയുടെ ഉദരം അവന് കൊടുത്തു.
(Yehuda Amichai)
മഖ്പെല: അബ്രാഹമടക്കമുള്ള ഇസ്രയേലിന്റെ പിതാക്കന്മാരെ സംസ്ക്കരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന ഹെബ്രോനിലെ ഒരിടം.
Monday 30 May 2011
എന്റെ കാലത്തിന്റെ നശ്വര കവിത
ഹിബ്രു രചനകളും അറബിരചനകളും കിഴക്ക് നിന്ന് പടിഞ്ഞാറേക്ക്‌ പോകുന്നു.
ലത്തിന്‍ രചനകള്‍ പടിഞ്ഞാറുനിന്നും കിഴക്കോട്ടും.
ഭാഷകള്‍ പൂച്ചകളെപ്പോലെയാണ്
അവയുടെ രോമങ്ങളെ എതിര്‍ദിശയില്‍ തടവരുത്.
മേഘങ്ങള്‍ കടലില്‍ നിന്നുയരുന്നു, ചുടുകാറ്റ് മരുവില്‍നിന്നും.
മരങ്ങള്‍ കാറ്റില്‍ വളഞ്ഞാടുന്നു,
നാലുദിക്കുകളില്‍ നിന്നുള്ള കാറ്റിലും കല്ലുകള്‍ പറക്കുന്നു
അവ എല്ലാ ദിക്കുകളിലേക്കും പറക്കുന്നു.
അവര്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു -
ഇക്കര അക്കരയെയെറിയുന്നു, അക്കര ഇക്കരയേയും.
പക്ഷെ, കരയെന്നും കരയില്‍ തന്നെ തിരിച്ചെത്തുന്നു.
അവര്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു-
അതിനെ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കാനെന്നവണ്ണം
അതിന്റെ കല്ലുകളെ, മണ്ണിനെ;
എന്നാല്‍ ഒരുനാളും നിനക്ക് കരയെ വിട്ടുപേക്ഷിക്കാനാവില്ല.
അവര്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു; എന്നെ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു
1936-ല്‍, 1938-ല്‍, 1948-ല്‍, 1988-ല്‍.
സെമറ്റിക്കുകള് സെമറ്റിക്കുകളെ എറിയുന്നു, ആന്റി - സെമറ്റിക്കുകള് ആന്റി - സെമറ്റിക്കുകളേയും.
ദുഷ്ടര്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു; നീതിമാന്മാരും കല്ലെറിയുന്നു,
പാപികള്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു; പ്രലോഭകരും കല്ലെറിയുന്നു,
ഭൌമശാസ്ത്രജ്ഞര്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു; ദൈവശാസ്ത്രജ്ഞര്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു,
പുരാവസ്തു ഗവേഷകര്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു; സാമുഹ്യദ്രോഹികള്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു,
വൃക്കകള്‍ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു; പിത്താശയം കല്ലെറിയുന്നു.
തല കല്ലാവുന്നു, നെറ്റിത്തടം കല്ലാവുന്നു, ഹൃദയം കല്ലാവുന്നു;
അലറുന്ന വായ് പോലുള്ള കല്ലുകള്‍
കണ്ണടകള്‍ പോലെ കണ്‍കുഴികള്‍ക്ക് ഇണങ്ങുന്ന കല്ലുകള്‍.
ഭുതകാലം ഭാവിയെ കല്ലെറിയുന്നു.... അവയെല്ലാം ഒരുമിച്ച് വര്‍ത്തമാനകാലത്തില്‍ വിഴുന്നു.
കരയുന്ന കല്ലുകള്‍, ചിരിക്കുന്ന പൊടികല്ലുകള്‍.
വേദഗ്രന്ഥത്തിലെ ദൈവം പോലും കല്ലെറിഞ്ഞു,
അവനെറിഞ്ഞ ഉറിം തുംമിം നീതിയുടെ മാര്‍ച്ചട്ടയിലാണ് ഉടക്കിയത്
ഹേറോദും കല്ലെറിഞ്ഞു, ഉരിത്തിരിഞ്ഞതാകട്ടെ ഒരു ദേവാലയവും.
ഓ ! കല്ലുപോലെ കടുത്ത സങ്കട കവിതയെ....
ഓ ! കല്ലുകളുടെ പുറത്ത് എറിയപ്പെട്ട കവിതയെ....
ഓ ! എറിയപ്പെട്ട കല്ലുകളുടെ കവിതയെ....
ഈ മണ്ണില്‍ എവിടെയെങ്കിലും ഒരു കല്ലുണ്ടാകുമോ-
ഒരിക്കലും എറിയപ്പെടാത്ത ഒന്ന്?
ഒരിക്കലും പണിയുകയും മറച്ചിടപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്യാത്ത ഒന്ന്?
ഒരിക്കലും മൂടപ്പെടുകയും അനാവരണം ചെയ്യപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്യാത്ത ഒന്ന്?
ഒരിക്കലും മതിലില്‍ നിന്ന് വിലപിക്കുകയും, പണിക്കാര്‍ ഉപേ
ഒരിക്കലും കുഴിമാടങ്ങളെ അടക്കാത്തതും, പ്രണയിനികളുടെ അടിയില്‍ കിടക്കാത്തതുമായ ഒന്ന്?
ഒരിക്കലും മൂലക്കല്ലായി മാറാത്ത ഒന്ന്?
ദയവായി ഇനിമേല്‍ കല്ലുകള്‍ എറിയാതിരിക്കു-
നിങ്ങള്‍ നാടിനെയാണ് നീക്കം ചെയ്യുന്നത്
വിശുദ്ധവും, സമഗ്രഹവും, അതിര്‍വരമ്പുകളില്ലാത്തതുമായ നാടിനെ.
നിങ്ങള്‍ അതിനെ കടലില്‍ എറിയുന്നു
കടലിനാകട്ടെ അതു വേണ്ടതാനും
കടല്‍ പറയുന്നു: "എന്നില്‍ വേണ്ട".
ദയവായി കൊച്ചുകല്ലുകള്‍ എറിയൂ-
ഒച്ചിന്‍ തോടുകളും ചരലുകളും,
മിഗ്ദല്‍ സെദെക്കിന്റെ കല്‍മടകളില്‍ നിന്നും നീതിയോ അനീതിയോ;
മാര്‍ദ്ദവമുള്ള കല്ലുകള്‍ എറിയു, മധുരമുള്ള മണ്‍കട്ടകള്‍ എറിയു,
ചുണ്ണാമ്പ്കല്ലുകള്‍ എറിയു, കളിമണ്ണ് എറിയു,
കടല്‍ത്തിരത്തെ മണല്‍‍ത്തരികള്‍ എറിയു,
മരുഭുമിയിലെ പൂഴി എറിയു, തുരുമ്പ് എറിയു,
മണ്ണ് എറിയു, കാറ്റ് എറിയു,
വായു എറിയു, ശുന്യതയെറിയു,
നിങ്ങളുടെ കരങ്ങള്‍ മടുക്കുവോളം ...
യുദ്ധങ്ങള്‍ മടുക്കുവോളം...
സമാധാനം മടുക്കുവോളം... അങ്ങനെ സമാധാനമാകുവോളം!
(Yehuda Amichai)
Notes:
* Urim and Tumim: In the Hebrew bible (Old Testament) it is a means used by the High priests/men of God to know the will of Yahweh. Urim and Tumim were twelve precious stones assosicated with the vestaments of high priest which were casted in important matters of Justice to discern divine Judgment.
* Migdal Tsedek: is an old historical site in Israel. On the southeastern edge of Rosh HaAyin is Migdal Tsedek (lit. Tower of Justice), a white Ottoman-era building marking the site of a fortress used by the Jewish rebels who fought the Romans in 66-70 CE. The building was constructed over Byzantine and Crusader remains. A Byzantine doorway topped by a Greek inscription still survives. (Wikipidea)
ഒരിക്കല്‍ ഒരു മഹാപ്രണയം
പൊയ്പ്പോയ വര്‍ഷങ്ങള്‍ എന്നെ ശാന്തനാക്കി, ഹൃദയത്തിന്റെ മുറിവുണക്കി, കണ്ണുകള്‍ക്ക്‌ വിശ്രമം തന്നു.
" സമുദ്ര നിരപ്പ്" എന്നെഴുതിയ
യുദയാ മരുഭുമിയിലെ ചൂണ്ടുപലകയില്‍ നോക്കിനില്‍ക്കുന്നവനെപ്പോലെയാണ് ഞാന്‍-
അവന് സമുദ്രം കാണാനാവുന്നില്ല, എങ്കിലും അതുണ്ടെന്ന് അവനറിയുന്നു.
അതുപോലെ ഞാന്‍ എല്ലായിടത്തും നിന്റെ മുഖമോര്‍മ്മിക്കുന്നു
നിന്റെ "മുഖ നിരപ്പില്‍".
(Yehuda Amichai)
O Lord, I pray, Never again....
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| From Dachau Nazi Concentration Camp in Munich, Germany. Today this historical site of human cruelty is a place for prayer and meditation for world peace. After having knelt in prayer to ask pardon to my brothers and sisters who suffered the cruelty of our history in a Carmelite Nunnary Chapel.... |
Saturday 28 May 2011
Blue stolen from the Sky
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| From Shepherd's field in Bethlehem A Palestinian Wild Flower against Israeli Sky |
Friday 27 May 2011
മുന്‍പ്....
പടിവാതില്‍ അടയും മുന്‍പ്,
അവസാന ചോദ്യം ഉന്നയിക്കപ്പെടും മുന്‍പ്,
ഞാന്‍ ഇവിടെ നിന്ന് മാറ്റപ്പെടും മുന്‍പ്,
ഉദ്യാനത്തില്‍ കളകള്‍ നിറയും മുന്‍പ്,
ക്ഷമയില്ലാതാകും മുന്‍പ്,
ചാന്തുകൂട്ടു കട്ടപിടിക്കും മുന്‍പ്,
പുല്ലാംങ്കുഴലിന്‍ ദ്വാരങ്ങള്‍ മൂടും മുന്‍പ്,
സാധനങ്ങള്‍ അറയില്‍ അടക്കപ്പെടും മുന്‍പ്,
നിയമങ്ങള്‍ കണ്ടുപിടിക്കും മുന്‍പ്,
സംഗ്രഹം വിഭാവനം ചെയ്യപ്പെടും മുന്‍പ്,
ദൈവം തന്റെ കരം അടക്കും മുന്‍പ്,
നമ്മുക്ക് നില്‍ക്കാന്‍ ഒരങ്കുലം മണ്ണ് ഇല്ലാതാകും മുന്‍പ്....
(Yehuda Amichai)
Wednesday 25 May 2011
ഒരുവന്‍ അവന്റെ ജീവിതത്തില്
മനുഷ്യന് അവന്റെ ജീവിതത്തില് സമയമില്ല,
എല്ലാറ്റിനും സമയം കണ്ടെത്താനായി.
അവന്റെ എല്ലാ ലക്ഷ്യങ്ങള്‍ക്കും കാലം കണ്ടെത്താന്‍
ആവശ്യത്തിന് ഋതുഭേദങ്ങളില്ല .
സഭാപ്രസംഗകന് തെറ്റിയിരിക്കുന്നു.
മനുഷ്യന് ഒരേ സമയം തന്നെ സ്നേഹിക്കുകയും വെറുക്കുകയും ചെയ്യേണ്ടിയിരിക്കുന്നു,
ഒരേ കണ്ണുകള്‍കൊണ്ട് തന്നെ കരയുകയും ചിരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യേണ്ടിയിരിക്കുന്നു,
ഒരേ കൈകള്‍കൊണ്ട് തന്നെ കല്ലെറിയുകയും അവ ശേഖരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യേണ്ടിയിരിക്കുന്നു,
ഒരേ സമയം തന്നെ യുദ്ധത്തില്‍ സ്നേഹിക്കുകയും സ്നേഹത്തില്‍ യുദ്ധംചെയ്യുകയും ചെയ്യേണ്ടിയിരിക്കുന്നു.
വെറുക്കാനും പൊറുക്കാനും, ഓര്‍മിക്കാനും മറക്കാനും
അലങ്കരിക്കാനും അലങ്കോലപ്പെടുത്താനും , കഴിക്കാനും ദഹിക്കാനും
ചരിത്രത്തിന് വര്‍ഷങ്ങള്‍ വേണ്ടിവരുന്നു.
മനുഷ്യനാകട്ടെ ഒന്നിനും സമയമില്ല.
നഷ്ടപ്പെടുമ്പോള്‍ അവന് അന്വേഷിക്കുന്നു
കണ്ടുകിട്ടുമ്പോള്‍ അവന് മറക്കുന്നു.
മറക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അവന് സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നു
സ്നേഹിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അവന് മറക്കാന്‍ തുടങ്ങുന്നു.
അവന്റെ ആത്മാവ് വളരെ ഔദ്യോഗികമായി പരിവപ്പെടുത്തിയെടുത്തിരിക്കുകയാണ്.
അവന്റെ ശരീരം മാത്രമേ എല്ലാകാലത്തും നൈസര്ഗീകത നിലനിര്‍ത്തുന്നുള്ളൂ;
അതു ശ്രമിക്കുകയും നഷ്ടപ്പെടുത്തുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു,
കളങ്കപ്പെടുകയും എന്നാല്‍ ഒന്നും പഠിക്കാതിരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു,
മദ്യപിക്കുകയും അതിന്റെ സുഖത്തിലും വേദനയിലും ഉന്മാദംകൊള്ളുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു.
ശരത്തില്‍ മരിക്കുന്ന അത്തിമരങ്ങളെപ്പോലെ അവനും മരിക്കും,
സര്‍വ്വാഡംഭരങ്ങളും പൊഴിച്ച് ഉണങ്ങിയങ്ങനെ.
ഇലകളൊക്കെ മണ്ണില്‍ ഉണങ്ങിവളര്‍ന്നുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കും,
നഗ്നമായ ശിഖിരങ്ങള്‍ മാത്രം വിരല്‍ ചൂണ്ടി നില്‍ക്കും,
എല്ലാറ്റിനും സമയമുള്ള ശുന്യമായ ഒരിടത്തേക്ക്....
(Yehuda Amichai - Israeli poet)
Tuesday 24 May 2011
ദയാപൂര്‍ണനായ ദൈവം
ദൈവം ദയയുടെ പൂര്‍ണതയല്ലായിരുന്നെങ്കില്‍
ലോകത്തില്‍ ദയയുണ്ടാകുമായിരുന്നു,
ദയ മുഴുവന്‍ അവനില്‍ മാത്രമായി ഒളിപ്പിക്കാതെ.
കുന്നുകളില്‍ നിന്ന് മൃതശരീരങ്ങള്‍ താഴേക്കു വഹിച്ച,
എനിക്ക് പറയാനാവും ഈ ലോകം ദയാരഹിതമെന്ന്.
മാലാഖമാരുടെ ചുവടടികളെ എണ്ണിയവന്‍,
ഭയാനകമായ മാത്സര്യത്തില്‍ വിഹ്വലതകളുടെ ഭാരം എടുത്തുമാറ്റിയ ഹൃദയമുള്ളവന്‍.
എനിക്കറിയാം ദൈവം ദയയുടെ പൂര്‍ണതയല്ലായിരുന്നെങ്കില്‍
ലോകത്തില്‍ അല്പംകൂടി ദയയുണ്ടാകുമായിരുന്നു,
ലോകത്തില്‍ ദയയുണ്ടാകുമായിരുന്നു,
ദയ മുഴുവന്‍ അവനില്‍ മാത്രമായി ഒളിപ്പിക്കാതെ.
കുന്നുകളില്‍ നിന്ന് പൂക്കള്‍ പറിച്ചെടുത്തുകൊണ്ട്
താഴ്വാരങ്ങളിലേക്ക് മിഴിപാളിച്ച,കുന്നുകളില്‍ നിന്ന് മൃതശരീരങ്ങള്‍ താഴേക്കു വഹിച്ച,
എനിക്ക് പറയാനാവും ഈ ലോകം ദയാരഹിതമെന്ന്.
ഞാന്‍, കടല്‍ക്കരയിലെ ഉപ്പിന്റെ രാജാവ്,
ജാലകപ്പടിയില്‍ സന്നിഗ്ദ്ധനായി നില്‍ക്കേണ്ടിവന്നവന്‍,മാലാഖമാരുടെ ചുവടടികളെ എണ്ണിയവന്‍,
ഭയാനകമായ മാത്സര്യത്തില്‍ വിഹ്വലതകളുടെ ഭാരം എടുത്തുമാറ്റിയ ഹൃദയമുള്ളവന്‍.
ഞാന്‍, നിഘണ്ടുവിലെ അല്പമാത്രം പദങ്ങള്‍ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നവന്‍.
ഞാന്‍, സമസ്യകളെ വ്യാഖ്യാനിക്കേണ്ടവന്‍,
വ്യാഖ്യാനിക്കാന്‍ എനിക്ക് മനസ്സാവുന്നില്ല.എനിക്കറിയാം ദൈവം ദയയുടെ പൂര്‍ണതയല്ലായിരുന്നെങ്കില്‍
ലോകത്തില്‍ അല്പംകൂടി ദയയുണ്ടാകുമായിരുന്നു,
ദയ മുഴുവന്‍ അവനില്‍ മാത്രമാക്കാതെ.
(യഹൂദ അമിച്ചായ്)
Thursday 19 May 2011
Villa Phamphili
Villa Phamphili
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| The Villa Doria Pamphili is a seventeenth century villa with what is today the largest landscaped public park in Rome, Italy. It is located in the quarter of Monteverde. |
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Wednesday 4 May 2011
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Thursday 14 April 2011
Friday 1 April 2011
വിരഹം
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| ഇലകൊഴിയും ശിശിരത്തില്‍ ചെറുകിളികള്‍ വരവായി മനമുരുകും വേദനയില്‍ ആണ്‍‌കിളിയാക്കഥ പാടീ മറഞ്ഞു പോയീ ആ മന്ദഹാസം ഓര്‍മ്മകള്‍ മാത്രം ഓര്‍മ്മകള്‍ മാത്രം ഇലകൊഴിയും ശിശിരത്തില്‍ ചെറുകിളികള്‍ വരവായി മനമുരുകും വേദനയില്‍ ആണ്‍‌കിളിയാക്കഥ പാടീ ഒരു കൊച്ചുസ്വപ്നവുമായ് ഒരു കൊച്ചു മോഹവുമായ് ഇണക്കിളി ഈ നെഞ്ചില്‍ പറന്നു വന്നൂ പൂക്കാലം വരവായീ മോഹങ്ങള്‍ വിരിയാറായ് അവളതിനായ് ആ കൂട്ടില്‍ തപസ്സിരുന്നു എരിഞ്ഞു പോയീ രാപ്പാടിപ്പെണ്ണിന്‍ കനവുകളും ആ കാട്ടുതീയില്‍ പ്രേമത്തിന്‍ മധുരിമയും വിരഹത്തിന്‍ കണ്ണീരും രാപ്പാടീ രാവുകളില്‍ തേങ്ങിയോതീ വര്‍ഷങ്ങള്‍ പോയാലും നിനവേറെ വന്നാലും ആ ശിശിരം മായുമോ ഓര്‍മ്മകളില്‍ മറക്കുവാനാകുമോ ആ ദിവ്യരാഗം ആദ്യാനുരാഗം ജന്മങ്ങളില്‍ |
ഒരു കുഞ്ഞുപൂവിന്റെ ഇതളില്‍ നിന്നൊരു തുള്ളി മധുരമെന്‍ ചുണ്ടില്‍ പൊഴിഞ്ഞുവെങ്കില്‍...
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| ഒരു കുഞ്ഞുപൂവിന്റെ ഇതളില്‍ നിന്നൊരു തുള്ളി മധുരമെന്‍ ചുണ്ടില്‍ പൊഴിഞ്ഞുവെങ്കില്‍ തനിയെ ഉറങ്ങുന്ന രാവില്‍ നിലാവിന്റെ തളിര്‍മെത്ത നീയും വിരിച്ചുവെങ്കില്‍ എന്റെ തപസ്സിന്റെ പുണ്യം തളിര്‍ത്തുവെങ്കില്‍ കുടവുമായ് പോകുന്നൊരമ്പാടിമുകില്‍ എന്റെ ഹൃദയത്തിലമൃതം തളിക്കുകില്ലേ പനിനീരുപെയ്യുന്ന പാതിരാക്കാറ്റിന്റെ പല്ലവി നീ സ്വയം പാടുകില്ലേ കുഞ്ഞുപരിഭവം താനേ മറക്കുകില്ലേ എവിടെയോ കണ്ടു മറന്നൊരാ മുഖമിന്നു ധനുമാസ ചന്ദ്രനായ് തീര്‍ന്നതല്ലേ കുളിര്‍കാറ്റു തഴുകുന്നൊരോര്‍മ്മതന്‍ പരിമളം പ്രണയമായ് പൂവിട്ടുവന്നതല്ലേ നിന്റെ കവിളത്തുസന്ധ്യകള്‍ വിരിയുകില്ലേ തളിര്‍വിരല്‍ത്തൂവലാല്‍ നീയെന്‍ മനസ്സിന്റെ താമരച്ചെപ്പു തുറന്നുവെങ്കില്‍ അതിനുള്ളില്‍ മിന്നുന്ന കൗതുകം ചുബിച്ചി - ട്ടനുരാഗമെന്നും മൊഴിഞ്ഞുവെങ്കില്‍ അതുകേട്ടു സ്വര്‍ഗം വിടര്‍ന്നുവെങ്കില്‍ |
Friday 4 March 2011
Monday 14 February 2011
The Best of Youth (Epic of Ordinary Life)
The story opens in 1964, with both boys in college under the watch of their doting father. What captures our attention is the similarity and the differences between the two in nuanced ways. Matteo, for example, is discovered alone, locked in a room, studying furiously, and he brusquely brushes off his father's request to help with a chore, claiming the importance of a looming exam. But we understand instantly that there's some pathology in Matteo, not only in his self-enforced solitude but also in his extreme discomfort with his father's open fondness. Emotions, we will learn, are not Matteo's strong points.
But when the proud papa enters the next room, he finds the outgoing Nicola studying with two buddies, Carlo and Vitale, and Nicola jumps to the task of helping his dad, quickly enlisting his friends. Thus are patterns graven in stone: the loner Matteo, who rejects every human approach, and the sociable Nicola, warm and winning but perhaps too eager to please. Yet at the same time, we understand that the two, so different, love each other passionately. The strength of true and lifelong friendship is yet theme develops in the movie. Nicola is supported by two of his childhood friends in all ups and downs of his life
In the course of the story each boy will chart his own way, yet they will swoop together periodically for encounters with sibling and family. Alongside we the developments with their parents, their friends, their lovers, their children, all of whom grow and change, leave and return, succeed and fail, live and in some cases die over the years.
The initial narrative follows as the reluctant and hostile Matteo destroys himself at college by disputing a pompous professor, then kidnapping a young woman, Giorgia, and engaging his brother in a mad scheme to return her to her father. Giorgia brings in one of the movie's primary concerns, which is mental illness. She is an institutionalized schizophrenic for whom Matteo has been caring as a part-time job. Upset to discover burn marks from the electroshock therapy the institution had been using, he seeks to liberate her. Nicola also becomes deeply engaged in her plight. The brothers' exposure to the young woman will change and charge each young man for life. The experience motivates Nicola, naturally empathetic, to become a psychiatrist, dedicated to bettering the lot of the mentally ill.
Matteo, shattered by the pain and guilt he feels at her loss, will seal himself off even more: Matteo leaves the army to join the police force. He accepts an assignment in Sicily, a place corrupted by the Mafia.
Back to the story of Nicola, undergoing different adventurous events of life he meets his future bride Giulia during a voluntary service in the flooding of Florence and starts wooing her. Nicola would marry (not formally) her and they have girl child Sara. Gulia later becomes a Red Brigade terrorist, and Matteo is assigned to a squad tasked with hunting Red Brigade terrorists. She would be also tasked with murdering the best friend of her husband.
Showing a different side of the personality their father die out of sickness.
In Sicily matteo meets a photographer in a caffè named Mirella. She wants to be a librarian, and he advises her to work at a beautiful library in Rome. Because of his temper, Matteo is forced to leave Sicily. He decides to reside in Rome but refuses to visit his mother. Years later Matteo walks into that same library and sees Mirella for the second time. They fall in love. Mirella meets with Matteo with news for him, but he behaves so harshly to her that she does not tell him that she is pregnant with his child. On New Year's Eve, Matteo decides to finally visit his mother. Everyone is there to celebrate. Instead of waiting for the traditional toasts, however, Matteo decides to leave early and, at midnight, jumps off the balcony of his apartment and kills himself. The odd personality of Matteo tried to hide his emotional fragility behind a facade of pure macho force. He knows that if he lets himself feel anything, it will be too much.
Nicola, feeling that he could have saved Matteo and not wanting to make the same mistake again, arranges for the capture of Giulia to prevent her from killing someone else or from getting killed. She is sentenced to 17 years in jail. During her jail term, Nicola visits Giulia and proposes to her but is rejected.
Nicola finds a photograph of Matteo taken by Mirella. He is encouraged by Giorgia to meet with Mirella which, after some hesitation, he agrees to do. When he meets Mirella, Nicola learns about her son (Andrea) and that Matteo was the father. Nicola breaks this exciting news to his mother and they visit the boy in Sicily. Inspired by new meaning in her life, Nicola's mother decides to stay with Mirella and her grandson. She will die there, some years later. In all the bitterness of life their mother stands as a strong character, but very affectionate and ideal typical of a mother.
Meanwhile, Sara, now in her early twenties, is still struggling with the poor choices her mother has made. She decides to move to Rome to study art and becomes engaged to Mimmo. During this time, Nicola finds out his mother has died and, as a result, travels to Sicily to visit Mirella and pay his respects.
Having finally moved past the death of Matteo, Nicola and Mirella fall in love. Sara, now happy and strong, is encouraged by Nicola to confront her mother and try to patch things up. Giulia, now out of jail and in desperate need of love, embraces Sara, but is not ready to open up completely. The movie ends with Matteo's son, Andrea, visiting Norway (N. Cape), which is where his father and Nicola ventured to go at the beginning of the movie, but never completed their journey.
Although the story reveals the political turmoil of Italy, it keeps a great credit for its neutrality: this is neither a leftist nor a rightest screed; it doesn't see causes or economic oppression or heroic police action but people caught up in compelling if confusing circumstances. Nobody is guilty because nobody is innocent; people are just people.
Giordana (the script writer) keeps the story so fiercely realistic that one can easily make peace with the issue of probability and simply enjoy -- or mourn -- a family that seems as real as your own relatives.
(Edited from reviews articles from Stephen Hunter, Washington Post Staff Writer, and Wikipedia film review)
The Best of Youth (Epic of Ordinary Life)
The story opens in 1964, with both boys in college under the watch of their doting father. What captures our attention is the similarity and the differences between the two in nuanced ways. Matteo, for example, is discovered alone, locked in a room, studying furiously, and he brusquely brushes off his father's request to help with a chore, claiming the importance of a looming exam. But we understand instantly that there's some pathology in Matteo, not only in his self-enforced solitude but also in his extreme discomfort with his father's open fondness. Emotions, we will learn, are not Matteo's strong points.
But when the proud papa enters the next room, he finds the outgoing Nicola studying with two buddies, Carlo and Vitale, and Nicola jumps to the task of helping his dad, quickly enlisting his friends. Thus are patterns graven in stone: the loner Matteo, who rejects every human approach, and the sociable Nicola, warm and winning but perhaps too eager to please. Yet at the same time, we understand that the two, so different, love each other passionately. The strength of true and lifelong friendship is yet theme develops in the movie. Nicola is supported by two of his childhood friends in all ups and downs of his life
In the course of the story each boy will chart his own way, yet they will swoop together periodically for encounters with sibling and family. Alongside we the developments with their parents, their friends, their lovers, their children, all of whom grow and change, leave and return, succeed and fail, live and in some cases die over the years.
The initial narrative follows as the reluctant and hostile Matteo destroys himself at college by disputing a pompous professor, then kidnapping a young woman, Giorgia, and engaging his brother in a mad scheme to return her to her father. Giorgia brings in one of the movie's primary concerns, which is mental illness. She is an institutionalized schizophrenic for whom Matteo has been caring as a part-time job. Upset to discover burn marks from the electroshock therapy the institution had been using, he seeks to liberate her. Nicola also becomes deeply engaged in her plight. The brothers' exposure to the young woman will change and charge each young man for life. The experience motivates Nicola, naturally empathetic, to become a psychiatrist, dedicated to bettering the lot of the mentally ill.
Matteo, shattered by the pain and guilt he feels at her loss, will seal himself off even more: Matteo leaves the army to join the police force. He accepts an assignment in Sicily, a place corrupted by the Mafia.
Back to the story of Nicola, undergoing different adventurous events of life he meets his future bride Giulia during a voluntary service in the flooding of Florence and starts wooing her. Nicola would marry (not formally) her and they have girl child Sara. Gulia later becomes a Red Brigade terrorist, and Matteo is assigned to a squad tasked with hunting Red Brigade terrorists. She would be also tasked with murdering the best friend of her husband.
Showing a different side of the personality their father die out of sickness.
In Sicily matteo meets a photographer in a caffè named Mirella. She wants to be a librarian, and he advises her to work at a beautiful library in Rome. Because of his temper, Matteo is forced to leave Sicily. He decides to reside in Rome but refuses to visit his mother. Years later Matteo walks into that same library and sees Mirella for the second time. They fall in love. Mirella meets with Matteo with news for him, but he behaves so harshly to her that she does not tell him that she is pregnant with his child. On New Year's Eve, Matteo decides to finally visit his mother. Everyone is there to celebrate. Instead of waiting for the traditional toasts, however, Matteo decides to leave early and, at midnight, jumps off the balcony of his apartment and kills himself. The odd personality of Matteo tried to hide his emotional fragility behind a facade of pure macho force. He knows that if he lets himself feel anything, it will be too much.
Nicola, feeling that he could have saved Matteo and not wanting to make the same mistake again, arranges for the capture of Giulia to prevent her from killing someone else or from getting killed. She is sentenced to 17 years in jail. During her jail term, Nicola visits Giulia and proposes to her but is rejected.
Nicola finds a photograph of Matteo taken by Mirella. He is encouraged by Giorgia to meet with Mirella which, after some hesitation, he agrees to do. When he meets Mirella, Nicola learns about her son (Andrea) and that Matteo was the father. Nicola breaks this exciting news to his mother and they visit the boy in Sicily. Inspired by new meaning in her life, Nicola's mother decides to stay with Mirella and her grandson. She will die there, some years later. In all the bitterness of life their mother stands as a strong character, but very affectionate and ideal typical of a mother.
Meanwhile, Sara, now in her early twenties, is still struggling with the poor choices her mother has made. She decides to move to Rome to study art and becomes engaged to Mimmo. During this time, Nicola finds out his mother has died and, as a result, travels to Sicily to visit Mirella and pay his respects.
Having finally moved past the death of Matteo, Nicola and Mirella fall in love. Sara, now happy and strong, is encouraged by Nicola to confront her mother and try to patch things up. Giulia, now out of jail and in desperate need of love, embraces Sara, but is not ready to open up completely. The movie ends with Matteo's son, Andrea, visiting Norway (N. Cape), which is where his father and Nicola ventured to go at the beginning of the movie, but never completed their journey.
Although the story reveals the political turmoil of Italy, it keeps a great credit for its neutrality: this is neither a leftist nor a rightest screed; it doesn't see causes or economic oppression or heroic police action but people caught up in compelling if confusing circumstances. Nobody is guilty because nobody is innocent; people are just people.
Giordana (the script writer) keeps the story so fiercely realistic that one can easily make peace with the issue of probability and simply enjoy -- or mourn -- a family that seems as real as your own relatives.
(Edited from reviews articles from Stephen Hunter, Washington Post Staff Writer, and Wikipedia film review)
Tuesday 8 February 2011
നഗ്നന്‍
ഇതാണെന്റെ ആദിമവസ്ത്രം
നിങ്ങളെന്നെ അണിയിച്ച ചേലകള്‍ക്കും
തൊങ്ങലുകള്‍ക്കുമപ്പുറം
നിഷ്കളങ്കതയുടേയും നിര്‍ഭയതയുടെയും പ്രാഗ് രൂപം.
നിങ്ങളെന്റെ ഉറ്റിയിലിറ്റിച്ച തൈലത്തിനും
നെറ്റിയില്‍ ചാര്‍ത്തിയ വര്ണങ്ങള്‍ക്കുമപ്പുറം
നിര്‍മ്മമതയുടേയും വിടുതലിന്റെയും പ്രഖ്യാപനം
"പിതാവേ, ഇതാ ഞാന്‍ നിനക്ക് മുന്‍പില്‍
ഒട്ടും കുടുതലോ കുറവോ ഇല്ലാതെ."
ചൂടിയ തണലുകള്‍ക്ക് ഞാന്‍ വിട നല്‍കുന്നു.
ഇനി ആകാശമാണെന്റെ തണല്‍.
ധരിച്ച പാദുകങ്ങളേ വിട
ഇനി ഭൂമിയാണെന്റെ പാദുകം.
പിന്നെ, ഈ നഗ്നത
അമ്മയുടെ ഉദരത്തില്‍
ശിശു ഏതു വസ്ത്രമാണ് ധരിക്കുക?
അവന്റെ കരവലയം എന്നെ
ആ ആദിമഗര്‍ഭത്തിലേക്ക്
ആവാഹിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.
ചിറകുകള്‍ക്ക് കരുത്തുറക്കുന്നതുവരെ
ഞാനിവിടെ വിശ്രമിക്കട്ടെ.
(Somy Abraham)
നഗ്നന്‍
ഇതാണെന്റെ ആദിമവസ്ത്രം
നിങ്ങളെന്നെ അണിയിച്ച ചേലകള്‍ക്കും
തൊങ്ങലുകള്‍ക്കുമപ്പുറം
നിഷ്കളങ്കതയുടേയും നിര്‍ഭയതയുടെയും പ്രാഗ് രൂപം.
നിങ്ങളെന്റെ ഉറ്റിയിലിറ്റിച്ച തൈലത്തിനും
നെറ്റിയില്‍ ചാര്‍ത്തിയ വര്ണങ്ങള്‍ക്കുമപ്പുറം
നിര്‍മ്മമതയുടേയും വിടുതലിന്റെയും പ്രഖ്യാപനം
"പിതാവേ, ഇതാ ഞാന്‍ നിനക്ക് മുന്‍പില്‍
ഒട്ടും കുടുതലോ കുറവോ ഇല്ലാതെ."
ചൂടിയ തണലുകള്‍ക്ക് ഞാന്‍ വിട നല്‍കുന്നു.
ഇനി ആകാശമാണെന്റെ തണല്‍.
ധരിച്ച പാദുകങ്ങളേ വിട
ഇനി ഭൂമിയാണെന്റെ പാദുകം.
പിന്നെ, ഈ നഗ്നത
അമ്മയുടെ ഉദരത്തില്‍
ശിശു ഏതു വസ്ത്രമാണ് ധരിക്കുക?
അവന്റെ കരവലയം എന്നെ
ആ ആദിമഗര്‍ഭത്തിലേക്ക്
ആവാഹിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.
ചിറകുകള്‍ക്ക് കരുത്തുറക്കുന്നതുവരെ
ഞാനിവിടെ വിശ്രമിക്കട്ടെ.
(Somy Abraham)
Wednesday 2 February 2011
മതിലുകള്‍ = ശത്രുക്കള്‍ (THE LEMON TREE -Israeli film: 2008)
ഒരു രാഷ്ട്രീയക്കാരന്‍ ലോകത്തെ രണ്ടായി തിരിക്കുന്നു: ഉപകരണങ്ങ ളും ശത്രുക്കളും. (ഫ്രെട്രിച് നീഷ്ചെ)
Israeli director Eran Riklis's 2008 film “Lemon Tree” is based on a real life incident. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz moved to the border within Israel and the occupied territories and security forces began cutting down the olive trees beside his house, arguing that it could be used by terrorists as a hiding place. The Palestinian family who owned the trees sued the minister and took the case all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court. They lost, and their trees had to be cut down. Riklis watched a news blurb about the case online. He then developed the story further in a fictional setting.
“Lemon Tree” opens with the Israeli Defense Minister moving into a new house right next to the Green Line dividing Israel from the West Bank. The Secret Service forces him to cut down the lemon grove of his widowed Palestinian neighbor, for his family’s safety and "because a terrorist might cross into Israel through the grove." The protagonist, 45-year old Salma, has grown up with the lemon grove that her father planted 50 years earlier. Besides remittances from her son in the US, it is her only source of income. When it is decided that it must be destroyed Salma fights it all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court.
Salma feels isolated given that her son has moved to Washington, D.C. and her daughters are now married. The local village elder Abu Kamal advises her to give in, but Salma decides to work with the young lawyer Ziad Daud. They take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Mira Navon, the minister's wife, sympathizes with Salma. The court case receives notable media attention, and Mira gives a news interview that her husband regrets. Mira believes that the Israeli military overreacted, and she also shares Salma's sense of personal loneliness. A complex, though not always evident, human bond develops between the two women. As the Palestinian cause is dismissed, Mira moves out, and a concrete wall is built between Salma's land and the Defense Minister's house. A final camera shot reveals the lemon trees to have been cut down.
(Edited from Wikipedia and Jane Rubio’s blog “From Beirut to New York”)
കാണാത്തവര്‍ സമയം കിട്ടിയാല്‍ കാണുമല്ലോ. youtube -ല്‍ ഉണ്ട്. സമയം നഷ്ടമാവില്ല; ഉറപ്പ്!
“Lemon Tree” opens with the Israeli Defense Minister moving into a new house right next to the Green Line dividing Israel from the West Bank. The Secret Service forces him to cut down the lemon grove of his widowed Palestinian neighbor, for his family’s safety and "because a terrorist might cross into Israel through the grove." The protagonist, 45-year old Salma, has grown up with the lemon grove that her father planted 50 years earlier. Besides remittances from her son in the US, it is her only source of income. When it is decided that it must be destroyed Salma fights it all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court.
Salma feels isolated given that her son has moved to Washington, D.C. and her daughters are now married. The local village elder Abu Kamal advises her to give in, but Salma decides to work with the young lawyer Ziad Daud. They take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Mira Navon, the minister's wife, sympathizes with Salma. The court case receives notable media attention, and Mira gives a news interview that her husband regrets. Mira believes that the Israeli military overreacted, and she also shares Salma's sense of personal loneliness. A complex, though not always evident, human bond develops between the two women. As the Palestinian cause is dismissed, Mira moves out, and a concrete wall is built between Salma's land and the Defense Minister's house. A final camera shot reveals the lemon trees to have been cut down.
(Edited from Wikipedia and Jane Rubio’s blog “From Beirut to New York”)
കാണാത്തവര്‍ സമയം കിട്ടിയാല്‍ കാണുമല്ലോ. youtube -ല്‍ ഉണ്ട്. സമയം നഷ്ടമാവില്ല; ഉറപ്പ്!
മതിലുകള്‍ = ശത്രുക്കള്‍ (THE LEMON TREE -Israeli film: 2008)
ഒരു രാഷ്ട്രീയക്കാരന്‍ ലോകത്തെ രണ്ടായി തിരിക്കുന്നു: ഉപകരണങ്ങ ളും ശത്രുക്കളും. (ഫ്രെട്രിച് നീഷ്ചെ)
Israeli director Eran Riklis's 2008 film “Lemon Tree” is based on a real life incident. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz moved to the border within Israel and the occupied territories and security forces began cutting down the olive trees beside his house, arguing that it could be used by terrorists as a hiding place. The Palestinian family who owned the trees sued the minister and took the case all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court. They lost, and their trees had to be cut down. Riklis watched a news blurb about the case online. He then developed the story further in a fictional setting.
“Lemon Tree” opens with the Israeli Defense Minister moving into a new house right next to the Green Line dividing Israel from the West Bank. The Secret Service forces him to cut down the lemon grove of his widowed Palestinian neighbor, for his family’s safety and "because a terrorist might cross into Israel through the grove." The protagonist, 45-year old Salma, has grown up with the lemon grove that her father planted 50 years earlier. Besides remittances from her son in the US, it is her only source of income. When it is decided that it must be destroyed Salma fights it all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court.
Salma feels isolated given that her son has moved to Washington, D.C. and her daughters are now married. The local village elder Abu Kamal advises her to give in, but Salma decides to work with the young lawyer Ziad Daud. They take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Mira Navon, the minister's wife, sympathizes with Salma. The court case receives notable media attention, and Mira gives a news interview that her husband regrets. Mira believes that the Israeli military overreacted, and she also shares Salma's sense of personal loneliness. A complex, though not always evident, human bond develops between the two women. As the Palestinian cause is dismissed, Mira moves out, and a concrete wall is built between Salma's land and the Defense Minister's house. A final camera shot reveals the lemon trees to have been cut down.
(Edited from Wikipedia and Jane Rubio’s blog “From Beirut to New York”)
കാണാത്തവര്‍ സമയം കിട്ടിയാല്‍ കാണുമല്ലോ. youtube -ല്‍ ഉണ്ട്. സമയം നഷ്ടമാവില്ല; ഉറപ്പ്!
“Lemon Tree” opens with the Israeli Defense Minister moving into a new house right next to the Green Line dividing Israel from the West Bank. The Secret Service forces him to cut down the lemon grove of his widowed Palestinian neighbor, for his family’s safety and "because a terrorist might cross into Israel through the grove." The protagonist, 45-year old Salma, has grown up with the lemon grove that her father planted 50 years earlier. Besides remittances from her son in the US, it is her only source of income. When it is decided that it must be destroyed Salma fights it all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court.
Salma feels isolated given that her son has moved to Washington, D.C. and her daughters are now married. The local village elder Abu Kamal advises her to give in, but Salma decides to work with the young lawyer Ziad Daud. They take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Mira Navon, the minister's wife, sympathizes with Salma. The court case receives notable media attention, and Mira gives a news interview that her husband regrets. Mira believes that the Israeli military overreacted, and she also shares Salma's sense of personal loneliness. A complex, though not always evident, human bond develops between the two women. As the Palestinian cause is dismissed, Mira moves out, and a concrete wall is built between Salma's land and the Defense Minister's house. A final camera shot reveals the lemon trees to have been cut down.
(Edited from Wikipedia and Jane Rubio’s blog “From Beirut to New York”)
കാണാത്തവര്‍ സമയം കിട്ടിയാല്‍ കാണുമല്ലോ. youtube -ല്‍ ഉണ്ട്. സമയം നഷ്ടമാവില്ല; ഉറപ്പ്!
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Malayali Linguist Genius: K. Luke (1927-2010)
K. Luke after having obtained two Licentiates (from Gregorian University of Rome) joined the Divinity School of Chicago University (1966) and did his doctoral studies in Orientalistics. In 1971 he successfully completed his doctoral studies. His doctoral dissertation is titled “Non-Paradigmatic Forms of Weak Verbs in Masoretic Hebrew.” He had mastery over 42 languages (Mastery in the sense of speaking fluently more than 15, and mastery in the sense of knowing the grammar and syntax – all the rest). At the completion of his doctrinal studies he was offered the chair of Philology (Literary study or classical scholarship) in the University of Chicago in 1972, which he humbly rejected in view of teaching in his own land, back in India. Such was his greatness that while living practically a very few knew of him, never did anything for publicity, (I had to search a lot for one of his photos because he never agreed to pose for a snap), quite unassuming, ever ready to help others, and spent old age so meekly without complaints or demands immersing himself fully in research works right upto last months of his life ( I heard that in the beginning of the year of his death - June 10, 2010- he was learning a new language).
With great reverence to my great honorable professor (The Heavens blessed me for that!) here I upload a photo of him from the collection of rarities. His mortal remains are interred in the vault of the cemetery of Assisi Ashram, Bharananganam
Malayali Linguist Genius: K. Luke (1927-2010)
K. Luke after having obtained two Licentiates (from Gregorian University of Rome) joined the Divinity School of Chicago University (1966) and did his doctoral studies in Orientalistics. In 1971 he successfully completed his doctoral studies. His doctoral dissertation is titled “Non-Paradigmatic Forms of Weak Verbs in Masoretic Hebrew.” He had mastery over 42 languages (Mastery in the sense of speaking fluently more than 15, and mastery in the sense of knowing the grammar and syntax – all the rest). At the completion of his doctrinal studies he was offered the chair of Philology (Literary study or classical scholarship) in the University of Chicago in 1972, which he humbly rejected in view of teaching in his own land, back in India. Such was his greatness that while living practically a very few knew of him, never did anything for publicity, (I had to search a lot for one of his photos because he never agreed to pose for a snap), quite unassuming, ever ready to help others, and spent old age so meekly without complaints or demands immersing himself fully in research works right upto last months of his life ( I heard that in the beginning of the year of his death - June 10, 2010- he was learning a new language).
With great reverence to my great honorable professor (The Heavens blessed me for that!) here I upload a photo of him from the collection of rarities. His mortal remains are interred in the vault of the cemetery of Assisi Ashram, Bharananganam
Sunday 23 January 2011
Every man is an Island
"If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake. That will be punishment-as well as the prison." (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)
The Island is 2006 best Russian film. It is a biographical film on the life of a 20th
century monk who lived in an Eastern Orthodox monastery.
Plot Summary: During World War II, the sailor Anatoly and his captain, Tikhon, are captured by the Nazis when they board their barge and tugboat which is carrying a shipment of coal. The Nazi officer leading the raid offers Anatoly the choice to shoot Tikhon and stay alive which Anatoly reluctantly takes, and Tikhon falls overboard. The Nazis blow up the ship but Anatoly is found by Russian Orthodox monks on the shore the next morning. He survives and becomes a stoker at the monastery but is perpetually overcome with guilt.
Thirty years pass. Anatoly now has the gift of clairvoyance and healing. But the other monks do not really understand him. People come to see Anatoly for cures and guidance, but even now, he remains in a perpetual state of repentance. He often gets in a boat and goes to an uninhabited island where he prays for mercy and forgiveness.
A prominent admiral arrives to see Anatoly with his daughter. The daughter is possessed by demons but Anatoly exorcises them. The admiral turns out to be Tikhon. It is revealed that Anatoly only wounded him during the war. Tikhon forgives Anatoly.
Anatoly announces a death by Wednesday; the monks provide a coffin. Dressed in a white garment such as Jesus wore, he lies in the coffin, wearing a crucifix. Monks, one carrying a large cross representing the risen Christ, are seen rowing the coffin away from the island. (from Wikipedia)
Monk Anatoly is self-awareness is great that he doesn't regard him as being clever or spiritual, but blessed "in the sense that he is an exposed nerve, which connects to the pains of this world. His absolute power is a reaction to the pain of those people who come to it;" while "typically, when the miracle happens, the lay people asking for a miracle are always dissatisfied" because "the world does not tolerate domestic miracles."(by the director Pavel Lungin) There is also something interesting about Pyotr Mamonov who played the character of Monk Anatoly. He was formerly one of the few rock musicians in the USSR, later he got converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the 1990s and lives now in an isolated village. Pavel Lungin said about him that "to a large extent, he played himself" in the film.
"Go at once, this very minute, stand at the cross-roads, bow down, first kiss the earth which you have defiled, and then bow down to all the world and say to all men aloud, 'I am a murderer!' Then God will send you life again. Will you go, will you go?" (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)
“The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.” (Thomas Merton)
Every man is an Island
"If he has a conscience he will suffer for his mistake. That will be punishment-as well as the prison." (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)
The Island is 2006 best Russian film. It is a biographical film on the life of a 20th
century monk who lived in an Eastern Orthodox monastery.
Plot Summary: During World War II, the sailor Anatoly and his captain, Tikhon, are captured by the Nazis when they board their barge and tugboat which is carrying a shipment of coal. The Nazi officer leading the raid offers Anatoly the choice to shoot Tikhon and stay alive which Anatoly reluctantly takes, and Tikhon falls overboard. The Nazis blow up the ship but Anatoly is found by Russian Orthodox monks on the shore the next morning. He survives and becomes a stoker at the monastery but is perpetually overcome with guilt.
Thirty years pass. Anatoly now has the gift of clairvoyance and healing. But the other monks do not really understand him. People come to see Anatoly for cures and guidance, but even now, he remains in a perpetual state of repentance. He often gets in a boat and goes to an uninhabited island where he prays for mercy and forgiveness.
A prominent admiral arrives to see Anatoly with his daughter. The daughter is possessed by demons but Anatoly exorcises them. The admiral turns out to be Tikhon. It is revealed that Anatoly only wounded him during the war. Tikhon forgives Anatoly.
Anatoly announces a death by Wednesday; the monks provide a coffin. Dressed in a white garment such as Jesus wore, he lies in the coffin, wearing a crucifix. Monks, one carrying a large cross representing the risen Christ, are seen rowing the coffin away from the island. (from Wikipedia)
Monk Anatoly is self-awareness is great that he doesn't regard him as being clever or spiritual, but blessed "in the sense that he is an exposed nerve, which connects to the pains of this world. His absolute power is a reaction to the pain of those people who come to it;" while "typically, when the miracle happens, the lay people asking for a miracle are always dissatisfied" because "the world does not tolerate domestic miracles."(by the director Pavel Lungin) There is also something interesting about Pyotr Mamonov who played the character of Monk Anatoly. He was formerly one of the few rock musicians in the USSR, later he got converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the 1990s and lives now in an isolated village. Pavel Lungin said about him that "to a large extent, he played himself" in the film.
"Go at once, this very minute, stand at the cross-roads, bow down, first kiss the earth which you have defiled, and then bow down to all the world and say to all men aloud, 'I am a murderer!' Then God will send you life again. Will you go, will you go?" (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)
“The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.” (Thomas Merton)
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