Soccer Madness
Last night qualified for the 2006 soccer World Cup and if the media has its way no-one is going to be allowed to forget it. I'm sure the players played well, but do I want to be sujected to 10 minutes of gushing praise and jingoism on the evening news - no! The majority of Australians couldn't care less about soccer, but one thing that Australians love when it comes to sport is a winner. They're not so enthusiastic about losing of course. When I called Judith last night for a chat Judith couldn't believe that I wasn't watching the game. I've never been a huge fan of sport and even if Australia was in the World Cup final I still very much doubt that I would bother watching.
Onto much more interesting matters. Watched a very beautiful Bengali film called Chokher Bali when I got home from work this afternoon. It's based on a novel by the famous Bengali artist Rabindranath Tagore and was directed by Rituparno Ghosh, who also directed a film called Raincoat, which I saw earlier this year. It also stars (as did Raincoat) the Indian actress Aishwarya Rai, who is turning out to be a very accomplished actor. It was all about love and betrayal in an upper class Bengali household at the beginning of the 20th century and actually it reminded me of the few films of Satyajit Rai that I've had the opportunity to see. The beginning of the 20th century was a time of political protest in India and especially in Bengal (at that time Calcutta was the capital of British India) and there are a number of references to the events of the day - in particular the partition of Bengal into two seperate provinces, the eastern half which later became East Pakistan and ultimately what is now Bangladesh. It's a very beautifully shot film and was a wonderful portrayal of upper class Bengali society at the time and the situation of women - in particular that of widows. Most of the scenes in the film take place in one house and you could feel the narrowness of the characters' world. One to look out for.
Onto much more interesting matters. Watched a very beautiful Bengali film called Chokher Bali when I got home from work this afternoon. It's based on a novel by the famous Bengali artist Rabindranath Tagore and was directed by Rituparno Ghosh, who also directed a film called Raincoat, which I saw earlier this year. It also stars (as did Raincoat) the Indian actress Aishwarya Rai, who is turning out to be a very accomplished actor. It was all about love and betrayal in an upper class Bengali household at the beginning of the 20th century and actually it reminded me of the few films of Satyajit Rai that I've had the opportunity to see. The beginning of the 20th century was a time of political protest in India and especially in Bengal (at that time Calcutta was the capital of British India) and there are a number of references to the events of the day - in particular the partition of Bengal into two seperate provinces, the eastern half which later became East Pakistan and ultimately what is now Bangladesh. It's a very beautifully shot film and was a wonderful portrayal of upper class Bengali society at the time and the situation of women - in particular that of widows. Most of the scenes in the film take place in one house and you could feel the narrowness of the characters' world. One to look out for.
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