So the heartiest congratulations are in order - to Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker :-D
It is strange this Oscar business (otherwise known as movie-making). The winners are not necessarily winning for 'best acting' per se, its more for 'best portrayal' of someone else.
Gandhi was immortalised in film, as was Jack the Ripper! So it seems as if a movie will be made for a life-less-ordinary - good or bad no bar. You dont have to be extraordinary - just uncommon.
So if Spielberg or Scorsese came knocking one day, I would say :"Yes, where do I sign?!'.
"And pray tell, why would they come for you?" you ask. Agreed, I am no Ugandan 'ruler' with a (unconfirmed?) fetish for human flesh nor am I the Queen. Agreed that nobody would want to make a movie about a twenty something year old student living, of all possible places, in Canberra on (nearly!) minimum wage. Can my current existence be turned into a 'life' by any stretch of the imagination - I ask myself. Any suggestions? I did'nt think so.
To digress: I finished reading the Kiterunner. I will take a moment to describe the atmosphere. A storm was brewing outdoors. I settled into bed, prepared to read for quarter of an hour, no more. I was halfway through the book and things had just turned very interesting. Soon the storm turned well-brewed and hail beat down on the tin roof of the carport outside my window. Any last 'ambitions' of sleep were lost and I continued reading. Emotions continued to rage within the pages as did the hope for redemption. My sister knocked on the room door and informed me that she will be sleeping on the couch for all the racket outside. I mumbled in acknowledgement. Last pages, it is turmoil, calm followed by storm and the cycle continues.
The Kiterunner is a powerful book. In the same league as 'Diary of Anne Frank' or 'Life is Beautiful' in its portrayal of atrocities on mankind, but told with a slight tinge of detachment which, by some twisted reverse psychology, makes it more real. I guess the trick is in adopting the same point-of-view. The writer is as much a bystander, a witness to the goings on, as the reader. While the events are described in the writer's language, his feelings and reactions are not imposed on the reader. So one is free to choose - react, feel and conclude. It is uniquely interactive, for a book. Read it!
It is strange this Oscar business (otherwise known as movie-making). The winners are not necessarily winning for 'best acting' per se, its more for 'best portrayal' of someone else.
Gandhi was immortalised in film, as was Jack the Ripper! So it seems as if a movie will be made for a life-less-ordinary - good or bad no bar. You dont have to be extraordinary - just uncommon.
So if Spielberg or Scorsese came knocking one day, I would say :"Yes, where do I sign?!'.
"And pray tell, why would they come for you?" you ask. Agreed, I am no Ugandan 'ruler' with a (unconfirmed?) fetish for human flesh nor am I the Queen. Agreed that nobody would want to make a movie about a twenty something year old student living, of all possible places, in Canberra on (nearly!) minimum wage. Can my current existence be turned into a 'life' by any stretch of the imagination - I ask myself. Any suggestions? I did'nt think so.
To digress: I finished reading the Kiterunner. I will take a moment to describe the atmosphere. A storm was brewing outdoors. I settled into bed, prepared to read for quarter of an hour, no more. I was halfway through the book and things had just turned very interesting. Soon the storm turned well-brewed and hail beat down on the tin roof of the carport outside my window. Any last 'ambitions' of sleep were lost and I continued reading. Emotions continued to rage within the pages as did the hope for redemption. My sister knocked on the room door and informed me that she will be sleeping on the couch for all the racket outside. I mumbled in acknowledgement. Last pages, it is turmoil, calm followed by storm and the cycle continues.
The Kiterunner is a powerful book. In the same league as 'Diary of Anne Frank' or 'Life is Beautiful' in its portrayal of atrocities on mankind, but told with a slight tinge of detachment which, by some twisted reverse psychology, makes it more real. I guess the trick is in adopting the same point-of-view. The writer is as much a bystander, a witness to the goings on, as the reader. While the events are described in the writer's language, his feelings and reactions are not imposed on the reader. So one is free to choose - react, feel and conclude. It is uniquely interactive, for a book. Read it!
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