Directors I Admire Part II

This blog post is a sequel to a post I wrote last year or the year before about film directors who inspire me (Check out Part I here). Naturally, I have discovered and watched many more “new” (only in the sense that I had not watched their films before) directors since that list, so I felt like it was time to revisit the concept. There will probably be a Part III so stay tuned for that whenever it drops lol.

Steve McQueen

Originally a video artist, McQueen broke into the film industry with his impressive feature-length debut Hunger, a harrowing tale of Bobby Sands a member of the IRA who went on a hunger strike and ultimately died while in prison. But for me, it was Shame that made me really take notice of his talent. Once again starring Michael Fassbender, Shame tells the story of a sex addict who’s meticulous lifestyle is interrupted by the reappearance of his bold and lively sister. And of course, it would be impossible to not mention 12 Years A Slave, which is honestly one of the most excruciating and powerful films I have ever watched.

I haven’t actually seen McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series which is available on BBC iPlayer (UK) and Amazon (Everywhere else?) but I’m sure I will shortly.

Thomas Vinterberg

Vinterberg is a Danish director and was responsible for co-creating the Dogma-95 movement alongside Lars Von Trier (another Danish auteur that I think is brilliant). The ten rules of Dogma were created to strip back filmmaking and make it simple and honest. Out of those rules, Vinterberg created his breakout film Festen (The Celebration) which won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1998 and many other awards. Vinterberg has since shed the dogma doctrine and has gone on to make some phenomenal films, but there is still that sense of purity that remains in his filmmaking which I think is one of the reasons why I like his films so much. It’s safe to say that I am very much looking forward to his next film Druk (Another Round) on which he reunites with his Jagten (The Hunt) lead actor Mads Mikkelsen (TBH I will watch anything Mads is in 😍but that’s beside the point as I think this film could be Vinterberg’s magnus opus!).

David Fincher

Fight Club is one of my favourite films and its one that you can return to over and over again. And despite being a complete bibliophile, I actually think the film is better than the book it was based on, sacrilege I know! I have watched most of Fincher’s other films and have enjoyed them, but Fight Club stands out from the rest of them, for me anyway.

Luca Guadagnino

Guadagnino creates gorgeous looking films just watch any of his most recent efforts: Call Me By Your Name, A Bigger Splash or Suspiria, and it’s obvious why he would inspire anyone. But for me, it was particularly CMBYN that made me really interested in his work, I love the mood he creates in the film, he shoots Italy most beautifully, and it makes me nostalgic for a time and place I never have and will never be.

Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins came onto my radar through his oscar-winning film Moonlight. It’s a powerful examination of a young man at different stages in his life coming to terms with his sexuality and what it means to be a black man in America. The film is based on a play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue (written by the co-writer of the film’s script) and Jenkins plays with this striking visual motif throughout the film by showing Chiron at his most vulnerable when he is in the moonlight. I am yet to watch If Beale Street Could Talk, but it is high up on my list, and I will be reading the James Baldwin novel it is based on before watching it.

Autumn de Wilde

Autumn de Wilde’s Emma. is a tour de force of aestheticism and pure literary joy. Wilde is a photographer turned director with currently only one film under her belt, which is what makes Emma. so great, it’s an artists film. Everything tells a story, from the costumes to the set design. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Wong Kar-Wai

Like with a lot of the directors on this list I have only watched one of Wong Kar-Wai’s films, however, I am utterly obsessed with it. In the Mood for Love is one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema I have ever watched and it has very quickly become one of my favourite films. The use of colour, the framing of shots, the soundtrack, the writing, the acting. The whole film is a masterpiece. I can’t wait to watch more from Wong and luckily I recently nabbed a copy of Chunking Express on eBay that wasn’t extortionately priced!

Céline Sciamma

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is pure art; there is no denying it. I wrote a rather gushing review on the film after watching it because it blew me away so much and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, in fact, I still think about it now, what can I say I’m a sucker for unfulfilled romances. Films like this make me fall even deeper in love with cinema (if that’s even possible).

Yorgos Lanthimos

Lanthimos has quickly become synonymous with dark and quirky films thanks to The Favourite, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Dogtooth. It is clear that Lanthimos is a visionary and has a very specific film aesthetic, and I found that I was hooked on his films ever since watching The Lobster. Lanthimos is a huge inspiration for me as he started making films on practically no budget, and now he is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. His most recent film is a short called Nimic, and at 12 mins long, it’s phenomenal and so freaking creepy!

Let me know in the comments section who your favourite directors are.

Reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time: Part 1 - The Fellowship of the Ring 💍

I have watched the movies a billion times, but this was my first reading of the first novel in the trilogy. I tried many years ago, but I found the print too small, and I would get a headache nearly immediately. I didn’t realise that I needed glasses at this point. Fool of a Took!

After I got glasses, I was then put off because I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the books, as if the hype of J.R.R Tolkien and the brilliance of the movies might not come through in the books. An example of this is Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I had watched the movie (several times) long before reading the source material and found that I hated the book, it was dull and boring, and the huge deviations from the plot that Ridley Scott had made in the film made it so much better, so so much better. Could Peter Jackson have done the same? Perhaps, was all that was on my mind, so a few more years passed until I finally picked up the book this past month.

And I can wholeheartedly say that I absolutely loved it! Much to my relief. However, a part of me felt sorrow that I hadn’t read it sooner. But I know for sure that I will re-read this book many more times throughout my life. Moreover, perhaps if I have children (very unlikely) or in my role as an Aunt to my (almost certain) future nieces and/or nephews, I will read these books to them.

The magic that Tolkien weaves is not only in the fantastical plot and the cast of characters (elves, wizards and dwarves) but also within the way he crafts the story and describes the settings. I want to visit The Shire, Rivendell and Lothlórien because of how beautifully realised they are and Tolkien’s keen love for nature really shines through in his descriptions of these places. Furthermore, It is easy to see how much work and time went into creating his middle-earth, a lifetime really and its magnificent. The scope and mythology permeate every line, and the charming (though often disliked) song interludes only add to this.

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Narratively, The Fellowship of the Ring is a solid beginning to the adventure, and it’s obvious that the trilogy was originally intended to be one whole book, and I kind of still view it that way, same for the movies; the extended editions feel like a whole mini-series rather than three separate movies.

Tonally, I love how Tolkien writes. There is a seriousness and gravity to the story, but there is also great lightness and humour, especially at the beginning; I found myself chuckling aloud at the drama of Bilbo’s dealings with the Sackville-Baggins family. Another thing that felt better in the books was the passing of time. In the movies, the fellowship’s journey doesn’t seem to last anywhere near as long as it does in the book, and that’s because those epic aerial shots in the films don’t last anywhere near as long as Tolkien’s descriptions. And rightly so, different mediums have different ways of telling a story, and a film can’t dwell on the small details for as nearly as long as a book can.

However, one thing I will say against the book is that I kind of found Tom Bombadil a bit shit. There I said it. In my opinion, Jackson did well to leave him out of the movies as he doesn’t really serve much purpose to the wider story thus far anyway (does he even come back again?). I know there’s a divide between Lord of the Rings fans about Bombadil, and I must say that I am on the side that sees him as a non-entity. Maybe that’s harsh, but I also feel in further re-reads I’ll probably skip his chapters! Perhaps, it’s his selfishness that irks me, as it’s clear that Bombadil is too wrapped up in his own life to worry about what might happen if the ring gets into the wrong hands. Even stoic and eternal Elves, ancient Ents and the majestic eagles help despite their ‘oldness’, so to have Tom Bombadil sit out the most important fight for middle-earth just exposes him as an absolute arsehole. That's the tea ☕

As for the rest of the characters, I love them all, though not equally. Samwise is so bloody wholesome, Aragorn is equally as charming and valiant as he is in the movies, but perhaps a little graver, and I have to admit that since I was like 8, I’ve had a massive crush on the character (of course, who wouldn’t when he is portrayed by the dashing Viggo Mortensen lol).

Frodo is perhaps less annoying than he is in the movies; Legolas is as cute as always and more interesting as in the movies he’s kind of just there to look cool and state obvious things. Gimli is just Gimli; Merry and Pippin are perhaps not as mischievous as they were in the movies? And Gandalf, you ruddy legend, though his ‘you cannot pass’ doesn’t hold the same gravitas as ‘YOU SHALL NOT PASS!’.

Lastly, Boromir, he’s a bit of a twat, a broken record if you will, and I must say in the movies, I preferred his brother Faramir, but of course, we won’t meet him until later in the trilogy. But his purpose of demonstrating the weakness of man in the face of the one ring is still very much pertinent and just as brilliant as Sean Bean portrayed it in the movies.

Overall, I have loved reading the first part of The Lord of the Rings, and I can’t wait to pick up the next book and continue the journey. This story is so familiar to me because of how many times I’ve watched the movies, but I equally like the surprises of how the source material differs from its cinematic adaptation.

I also feel like I’m on a journey with firm friends, and it’s lovely to read a story in such uncertain times that sees the slow and arduous triumph of good over evil. It’s a comfort book that makes me feel all cosy and warm inside, and wishing I could be reading it on a chaise lounge in the middle of Rivendell. Wouldn’t that be something?

Flash Fiction Friday: Beige

I have meant to “publish” some short fiction on my blog for quite some time, but I’m always too much of a chicken to do it. And to be honest, I’ve struggled to write anything last year (thanks, COVID, well I think I can blame you for my writer’s block…), but the other day I just started writing something, well, this story, to be precise, it came out of nowhere, and it’s probably not great, but I guess it’s a start.

Also, don’t crucify me for the bad formatting, turns out this ‘avid reader’ has no clue how to format a story properly!

I’m going to make this a semi-regular habit (posting short fiction), just to push myself to write fictional content because while it’s important to me, I find myself finding excuses not to write. Granted, my 9-5 job is writing, and I write film reviews and book reviews on here regularly too, but I think my true passion lies in stories, so I need to hone that skill and put in the work to become better at it.

Beige.

His apartment was sparse. Only the essentials and a few plants to liven the place up a bit. All the furniture was made out of wood, which he had handcrafted himself after taking a carpentry workshop one summer. The walls were beige, the linen was beige, and most of the clothes hanging in his wardrobe were beige. He told me that this was to purify his mind; if he occupied a world of colour, then he couldn’t paint.

I looked out of the window over the vast urban sprawl; identical high rises dominated the view. I wondered whether the people living in those buildings were like him, all locked up in their colourless worlds.

            ‘Hungry,’ he said; his tone sounded more like a statement than a question.

            ‘Um, yeah, I could eat,’ I said.

            ‘I’m not in the mood to cook,’ he huffed and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘I’ll order something.’

            ‘Ok,’ I said, tracing my fingers lightly over the goosebumps forming on my arms.

He picked up his phone and wandered off into another room. It was a strange habit, but he never spoke on the phone in front of other people. On our first date, he told me that his worst nightmare was to work at a call centre; he feared that more than death. I replied that there was a ring in hell specifically for the painfully shy, where the sinner would have to sit at a table in a packed auditorium answering call after call for eternity. He grimaced for a moment but soon returned to his soup. I’m still surprised he asked for a second date.

I unpacked the takeaway on the coffee table while he grabbed some beers from the fridge. We sat cross-legged on the floor with the modest banquet laid out between us. He opened both beers. I always took pleasure in the sound of a can being opened, that moment when the pressurized gas escapes. It was a sound of relief, like an exhalation or a gasp. It had been a while since I had felt that release of pressure myself. Even now, after months of dating, I was still sitting up tall, sucking in my stomach and minding my opinions of modern art. The restrictions I put on myself didn’t stop with him; they could be found throughout my life. Smile, don’t say anything when your boss tells you that your arse looks nice in that dress—that kind of thing.

After dinner, we sat on the small balcony, one by one, the windows of the other apartment buildings burst into light like little fireflies as the sky darkened. I leaned my head on his sturdy shoulder, and despite finding no comfort in this connection of our bodies, I kept my head there as I didn’t want to offend him. He wasn’t the warmest of people, in fact, his economy with words and lack of physical contact made him extremely cold, but I wanted his adoration anyway. I guess if I could win over a man like him, it must mean that I was somehow special. After a while and after my neck had gone completely numb, he spoke.

            ‘I want to paint you,’ He said.

Seizing the moment to move, I sat up and looked at him in what I hoped seemed like surprise. But the truth was that I had been expecting him to say this to me ever since I found out he was a painter. I had this fantasy of what it would like to be an artist’s muse, but a part of me knew that expectation and reality were highly unlikely to align.

            ‘Really,’ I smiled.

He nodded without shifting his gaze from the horizon.

            ‘When?’

            ‘This weekend if you're free,’ He said.

            ‘Okay,’ I said.

He applied paint to the canvas erratically, a gentle sweep in one direction and a thrusting jerk in the other; it was as if he was in a strange dalliance with the canvas. His palette was a muddle of colour, and an array of jars with varying volumes and shades of murky water surrounded him. Any attempt on my part to speak was quickly stifled by an abrupt shushing and a wave of his hand—my time as his muse could not end quick enough.

 After hours passed this way, the final reveal was upon me. He stood back beaming.

            ‘You’re gonna love it,’ he said as he approached me and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead ‘close your eyes.’

He took my hands and pulled me to my feet. As he guided me over to the canvas, I felt like a toddler learning to walk for the first time; I stumbled a few times but thankfully didn’t meet the floor.

            ‘Open your eyes.’

The painting looked as if a Francis Bacon and a Jackson Pollock painting had merged. A hideous love child born out of witchcraft. Was that how he saw me? I felt sweaty, and a burn rose in my throat. But before I could control myself, three words escaped my mouth.

            ‘It’s…fucking hideous.’

He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t need to. He had expected me to fawn over him and tell him that he was a genius; that’s what the gaping mouth told me. A minute or two passed this way. I slowly shuffled out of the room and grabbed my bag, and left. I never saw him again. The joke was on me, though; he held an exhibition three months later, and that painting of me, which he dubbed Tactless, sold for a rather large sum and earned him a magazine front cover. I’m not really that bothered; I'd rather live in a world of colour.

The End

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments; constructive criticism is always welcome. 😊

Book Club: The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas

This month we are heading to Norway, and the book that I have picked to take us to this beautiful Nordic country is The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas.

‘He was being given sweets like a child – although he knew about great things like shattered trees and lightning and omens of death’ - Tarjei Vesaas

The Birds follows Mattis, a naive young man who many consider to be ‘simple’. Mattis lives with his sister Helge, together they live in a peaceful lakeside cottage and she protects him from the harsh realities of the world. But when Helge falls in love it looks like Mattis’ life will also change forever.

So, why The Birds? Well, actually I nearly chose Book 1 of Karl Ove Knausgård’s popular My Struggle series, but I decided to choose something a little less depressing as the first book is called Death in the Family (in England anyway), and well, I’m not feeling that right now, especially as Spring has arrived to save us all from the doom and gloom of Winter!

Instead, I chose a book that felt a little more gentle and mellow (I could be wrong, lol). It’s a modern classic of Norwegian literature, and as a bonus, the cover is just stunning; the illustration is by the fabulous Taiwanese artist Hsiao-Ron Cheng. Also, Knausgård actually gave high praise to the novel, saying that 'Tarjei Vesaas has probably written the best Norwegian novel ever, The Birds.'

Where to purchase your copy of The Birds

Secondhand: Abebooks

New: Bookshop.org, Waterstones 

Just check back here at the end of each month to discuss the book and find out what we’ll be reading the following month.

The journey so far…

March Books

The Dark Forest (黑暗森林) by Liu Cixin

I sped through The Three-Body Problem, the first book in Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t quite know why nearly a whole year has passed before I picked up the second book tbh. I really liked this one too and read it rather quickly, not as fast as the first one but we’ll get into that in a minute. Actually, let’s get into that now, this book had a massive flaw, the whole dream woman subplot.

I found Luo Ji’s whole romance storyline incredibly cringe-worthy, the idea of him dreaming of a woman and then her existing, in reality, is just stupid and a bit too Pygmalion for my liking, and it doesn’t add anything to the plot. If anything it just shows up Liu as not being able to write a decent female character. Although, someone on the r/threebodyproblem subreddit makes a compelling argument as to why this happens in the novel, and yeah I’m inclined to agree with them, however, that doesn’t excuse how badly written she is, like does she even have a personality? If anything she is just a glorified plot device and there to make a tongue in cheek comment on ‘the dream woman’ cliche.

But let’s forget about the bad because this book has some phenomenal moments, especially when it gets into philosophy and ethics. The whole Zhang Beihai storyline took an amazing turn and really demonstrated how far people are willing to go to survive! And the theory/metaphor of the universe being a dark forest is so disturbingly brilliant.

I also have to replicate these quotes from the book because I got chills reading them 😂

'If I destroy you, what business is it of yours.'

'Darkness was the mother of life and of civilisation.'

'Don't say where we are! Once we know where we are, then the world becomes as narrow as a map. When we don't know, the world feels unlimited.'

Can’t wait to finish the trilogy and read the mammoth tome that is Death’s End, and I will be reading this soon as I am in such a Sci-fi reading mood at the moment!

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi - Sága Book Club Review

This book is not like any other book I have read. I was mesmerised, and still am by how Emezi weaves her prose, it’s poetic and energetic, brimming with life. The story is fascinating and devastating in equal measures and I think I will have to re-read it another few times to fully grasp its complexity, or perhaps I never will as I am a white cisgender female. I also loved how Emezi explored African folklore and gender identity throughout the novel and I think this is the kind of book that needs to be taught in schools, it’s imaginative and informative so there are naturally lots of things to learn from its pages and so much room for analysis.

Ultimately, Freshwater is a book that will stay with you, but beware that some elements such as rape, suicide and self-harm may be a bit too much for some people as these themes are triggering, so if you haven’t read it yet or if you’re thinking of recommending it to someone bear that in mind. I think I have so much to say but I just can’t find the words to say it. I love when that happens with a book because that’s when you know that you’ve just read something remarkable, I also think that after mulling it over for a week or two I’ll be more coherent in my thoughts.

But right now, I’m going to hand it over to BBC Africa's Princess Irede Abumere and guest reviewer media specialist Yvette Uloma Dimiri.