RKS 2024 Film: “Fireworks”: Hunting Rabbits and Homosexuals

“Fireworks” is set in a small Sicilian town in 1982. The film has a rabbit hunting scene at its beginning and near its end and at its end the last hunt is left to your imagination.

Teenager Gianni (Samuele Segreto) is a shy fellow working as a mechanic for his stepfather. Gianni has had some past incident that put him in a reformatory and as his mother says “ruined a boy’s life”. He is taunted and harassed as a “fairy” by the young crowd hanging out at the local bar.

Nino (Gabriele Pizzurro) is a teenager working with his father setting up and operating firework shows. His sexuality is initially not determined but a mutual attraction slowly develops between Nino and Gianni. As life goes in small rural towns Nino and Gianni are “discovered” and the fireworks begin. Nino’s father goes berserk with anger as does Gianni’s. Gianni is badly beaten in front of the local bar and the assailants escape in a car driven by Nino’s uncle.

All was fine between Nino’s family and Gianni until it was discovered he was involved with their son Nino then a total about face.

“Fireworks” is more a story of discovering homosexual love than it is about coming out and in small town Sicily in 1982 homosexuality is dangerous. Very community minded people recoil at the very notion of homosexuality.

Beautiful cinematography and clever soundtrack. No message overtly preached. In fact giving the film a tag as an LGBTQ film perhaps misses the point and misrepresents it. Yes there are two young gay lovers but embedded in that is the stories (or lack of) of the other characters all interesting in their own right.

“Fireworks” is a masterful Italian epic set in a summer. It should rank with “Cinema Paradiso” as a great Italian epic film. Pegging this film as an LGBTQ film simply does no justice to its magnificence.

You can view the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=MnVgPPPQIOw

Directed by Giuseppe Fiorello. Written by Giuseppe Fiorello, Andrea Cedrola and Carlo Salsa.

Available on 18January2024 on DVD and VOD.

The film is based on a true story and arguably jump started the Italian Gay Rights movement in 1981.

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 96/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: The Great Lambrusco Fright: The Bad Boy of Italian Wine?

I can’t see any customer lining up to purchase the latest release of Lambrusco. I suppose there is a very high percentage of wine drinkers who might think Lambrusco is the current Prime Minister of Italy. At times the stark purpleness of Lambrusco could send a wine drinker into the horror zone.

On the other hand there are the odd few, like me, who look forward to a new Lambrusco to try. I expect a grapey concoction and pray it is not sweet!

The heart and soul of Lambrusco is in Emilia-Romagna in Italy.

Riunite Lambrusco was introduced into the United States in 1967. In 1976 it climbed to the number one import into the United States and remained in that position for 26 years.

We try an 1813 Otello Ceci Nerodilambrusco. All Lambruscos are made from the Lambrusco grape but there are least 13 different varieties plus dozens of clones.

Aroma: Definitely a grapey spirit running in the halls of this Lambrusco but equal parts blackberry, blueberry and cola.

Palate: A gentle fizz with a big blueberry and blackberry punch and not without some light tannic influence. Short finish.

Personality: I may have had a reputation as the bad boy of Italian wine but that was years ago. While inferior Lambruscos are sweet quality Lambruscos are dry and savory. I am one of those quality Lambruscos.

Food Match: Hearty sausages cured meats and rich meat sauced pasta.

Cellarbility: Drink by 2024-year end.

Price: $20.95 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100. David Lawrason 93.

(1813 Otello Ceci Nerodilambrusco, Cantine Ceci, Torrile, Italy, 750 mL, 11%).

RKS Literature: The Three Stages of Intoxication (Dickens)

“Most public characters have their failing; and the truth is that Mr. Snevellicci was a little bit addicted to drinking; or, if the whole truth must be told, that he was scarcely ever sober. He knew in his cups three distinct stages of intoxication-the dignified-the quarrelsome-the amorous. When professionally engaged he never got beyond the dignified; in private circles he went through all three, passing from one to the another with a rapidity of transition often rather perplexing to those who had not the honour of his acquaintance.”

Charles Dickens “Nicholas Nickleby”, 1837

RKS 2024 Red Wine: A Bordeaux from a Co-Op: “Bois Royal”

Looks like there are co-operatives in Bordeaux and a “Bois Royal” emanates from one of them. At $15 it is not going to break the bank.

Aroma: Lots of cherry. Some blackberry, black cherry and chocolate wafer cookies. Hints at immediate approachability.

Palate: On the light side not necessarily a strike against it. Should all red wines be heady and full of power? No. However this wine is a bit thin with fruit just too diffuse. The tannins appear to be fighting for recognition without much success.

Food Match: A Friday night wine…..you know what I mean.

My Personality: I smell real nice but I just lack any power to speak of. Careful or I will easily be lost in the crowd.

Cellarbility: Drink now.

Price: $15 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Red Wine Rating: 84/100. Jamessuckling.com91.

(Bois Royal 2020 Bordeaux, AC Bordeaux, Union de Producteurs, France 750mL, 13%).

RKS 2024 Documentary Film: Palestinian Voices: “From Under the Rubble” (2017)

The Gaza Strip is 28 miles long, and 3-7 miles wide with a population of 1.7 million. In January 2009 Israel’s army and air force invaded Gaza in an incursion called “Operation Cast Lead” which is also known as “The Gaza Massacre” where three weeks of shelling and experiments with flesh melting white phosphorus resulted in 1,417 deaths a mere scratch for the Palestinian body count in 2023 but a portent of today’s unpleasantries.

What gained international recognition was the story of a Palestinian family, the Samouni family in the farming district of Zeitoun heavily hit and occupied by the IDF. Preteen Amal Samouni recounts the execution of her father and brother by the IDF in front of their house. The extended Samouni family, 100 of them, took refuge in a house receiving assurances from the IDF they would not be shelled but they were killing 21 members and the survivors including Amal were trapped under the rubble for 3 days as the IDF prevented ambulances and rescue efforts from reaching the collapsed house. Amal has numerous pieces of shrapnel in her head too dangerously located to undergo surgery.

Interviews with survivors, many children, a former United Nations official, Palestinian paramedics and a volunteer Norwegian doctor Dr. Mads Gilbert point to egregious Israeli IDF behaviour with a U.N. report, The Goldstone Report concluding Israel forces committed war crimes during Operation Lead Cast. The Goldstone Report was later partially retracted with the objections of some of the committee members that wrote the report.

Horrific hospital scenes of terror, fury, maimed bodies including those of little children. Street scenes show the instant destruction of buildings by Israeli missiles and bombs.

It is the view of Dr. Gilbert the massacre was the result of the international community failing to insist upon a political solution instead of permitting a military resolution.

The Samouni children drew pictures for the animated sequences that punctuate various segments of the documentary.

Matters in Gaza now are far worse but will now be the time that a political solution is demanded by the international community. Yes the hostage taking by Hamas militants is inexcusable amounting to war crimes but the retaliation by Israel has been disproportionate.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMApvqrQeO4

RKS 2024 Documentary Film Rating: 90/100.

RKS 2023 Wine: 3 Red Wine Clunkers of 2023

Nor’Wester by Greystone Pinot Noir 2020 (New Zealand) 55

Vina del Pedregal 2018 Kidia Reserve Carmènére (Chile) 56

Meia Serra Jaen 2018 Casa Santos (Portugal) 59

RKS 2024 Film: Palestinian Voices: Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy

The anger and hate in the War on Palestine is noisy and grating. Whomever can shoot and kill becomes the winner. Of course, cultural eradication is the biggest victory and one senses in Sansour’s Sci-Fi Trilogy (of shorts) Palestinian culture survives and quietly and effectively makes its point without resorting to RPGs.

Can you imagine the first Palestinian to walk on the moon? Well you can see that in “A Space Exodus” (2008). Given the difficulty in a Palestinian leaving Gaza through two very restrictive bureaucratic and politically controlled border crossings and the fact Gaza City has no airport the thought of a Palestinian walking on the moon is absurd. But absurdity can often be a simplistic and humorous way of making a point. “A small step for Palestine, a giant leap for mankind.” References to Kubrick’s “Space Odyssey” are front and centre and the recognizable music scores of the 1968 science fiction film are changed to arabesque chords matching the surreal visuals of the Sansour film.

“Nation Estate” (2012) reveals a Palestine state contained within an office tower with each floor opening to a town, or crucial Palestinian bureaucratic or architectural site. The office tower is enclosed by a cement wall. Love that poster in the elevator “Gaza Sushi: Best Sushi on the Block”. Is Sansour messaging us that Palestine is not a state but an “estate” within Israel?

In “In the Future They Ate From the Finest Porcelain” (2015) a resistance leader muses over the death of her younger sister killed by “them” often constrained by a straitjacket as a narrative terrorist. The legitimacy of Israel as a state is challenged by the resistance leader stating at some point the death of a single person is not about the single life lost but rather the Palestine people as a whole that qualify them as targets. Then there are “those descendants claiming land of their fictional ancestors”. A forceful statement quietly made.

Your best chance of seeing these shorts would be in a documentary film festival.

All shorts were directed by filmmaker Sansour who has approximated the nature, reality and complexity of life in Palestine and the Middle East to visual forms normally associated with entertainment and televised pastime and her grandiose and often humorous schemes clash with the gravity expected from works commenting on the region. You can watch the trailer of “A Space Exodus” here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1YhTUtC6SI&t=1s

RKS 2024 Film: “Between Two Crossings”: Caught in the Israeli-Egyptian Vice

My late Portuguese friend was a diplomat based in Toronto when I met him. He taught me many things and helped instill my love of Portugal. I last enjoyed his company in Estoril a decade ago and he had retired and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch on the boardwalk. He loved to say, “It’s complicated” with a keen political eye. And I will use this phrase to describe what is transpiring in Gaza.

At a time when Gaza was not lying in ruins Nour, a twenty year old Palestinian,  is awarded a scholarship to Portland State University to study business administration. Whilst we Canadians can easily leave Canada and travel freely in most countries Nour plans for months to leave Gaza requiring Palestinian approval then either leave Gaza City through the Israeli crossing at Erez or at Rafah the Egyptian crossing. Nour suffers disappointments with hundreds of Palestinians trying to leave to pursue their dreams. Stifling bureaucracy at all levels enforcing the imprisonment of Palestinians with nowhere to go because they can’t leave their “prison”. Nour is finally successful at the edge of simply giving up but thousands of fellow Palestinians failed. Nour makes a telling statement saying she is only looking for a better place for opportunities and she wants to return to Gaza as a role model. Her aspirations would appear to be dated as who would want to return to the rubble? The drone shots show Gaza City in 2018 as a true massive city but today a pile of blood-soaked rubble.

Imagine the frustration of the many Nours and the increasing frustration of millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Can Israel ever “win” the war. Most likely it will but dashed expectations and disproportionate casualties justified by “hostages” wears thin. A huge new crop of extremists is being created.

Director Yassir Murtaja was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper while filming a demonstration in Gaza City on 6April2018. Co-director Rushdi Al-Sarraj was killed on 22October2023 by a targeted bomb from an Israeli jet dropped on his house.

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 90/100.

RKS 2024 Porthead Alert: Croft Reserve Tawny Port:

Not to augment my authenticity but I am a knight in Portugal without a castle. Yes I am in the army of the Port Brotherhood. That is a very long story. It started with coverage on Portuguese television in 2014. Psychedelic berries, precipitous cliffs, poetry at 02:00 at Quinta Vargellas, 250 Ports in 6 days, a bottle of German sparkler at 7 a.m. on Lufthansa at 35,000 feet after sleeping for two hours and spitting out more Port than toothpaste at 05:21. A happy blur but I say I have paid, very happily, my dues. We are working on the movie as we speak! I will be back in Porto in February to finish filming the documentary “Canadian Boy Swept Up By Port Luxury”. Paul Giamatti will be narrating.

Aroma: There is a huge decadent richness wafting up luxury at an affordable price. Blueberry, black cherry, rhubarb, Portuguese roasted almonds.

Palate: Forget thinking of tannins instead think of a tsunami of fruit! Raisins, rhubarb, toffee, date squares, prunes and orange peels on steroids.

My Personality: Just sniff and sip and I will win you over. No need to be intimidated by Port. Really, trust me and RKS 2024 Wine!

Cellarbility: This will sail into 2026 nicely.

Food Match: Port and beef? Just try me with a Prime Rib! Of course, not being so adventuresome some soft Portuguese cheese and roasted almonds with some Azorean marmalade will do.

Price: $ 18.95 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 90/100. Wine Spectator 90.

(Croft Reserve Tawny Port, Quinta Vineyard Bottlers, V.N. de Gaia, Portugal, 750 mL, 20%).

RKS 2024 Wine: One Disaster Should Not Lead to a Global Taint

In these days the corporate and governmental fantasy of Global Inclusion runs amok and in real terms necessitates Global Exclusion of others. So I had a bad experience a few months ago with a New Zealand North Canterbury Pinot Noir by the name of Nor’wester. A disaster but I do not need the Global Inclusion police reminding me to avoid excluding all Zealie Pinot Noirs because being able to think free and clear of propaganda I made a choice to keep trying Zealie Pinot Noirs.

So we try a Zealie Pencarrow 2020 Pinot Noir from Martinborough in the North Island. Not that this means much but there was a rather noisy pop when unscrewing the Stelvin cap. Fear of volatile acidity?

Aroma: The Nor’wester seemed choked by too much wood. Unfortunately heavy oak is on the edge of holding this wine hostage and a bit strange as it has spent 10 months in French oak of which 25% was new. It almost smells like American oak. Putting the oak flotsam aside classic Pinot Noir with raspberry, cherry and strawberry.

Palate: Gentle but certainly not invisible tannins and we can’t blame “Pop” with the unscrewing of its cap on acid as it is certainly harmonized in the wine. Notes of raspberry tart and burnt pie crust with a slight bitterness in the aftertaste. Where has the fruit gone. Short brackish finish.

My Personality: Seems to me there is some exclusion occurring here. Is someone confusing of the style of the wine with its quality. Call the Global Inclusion Police as this writer hates oak, French Oak and Zealie (as he flippantly refers to New Zealand as) Pinot Noir. Best you read Luca Macaroni or James Suckingup for a honest and fair review!

Food Match: To match the smoke in the wine Cabbage rolls with smoked paprika!

Cellarbility: Drink now.

Price: $30 CDN (New Zealand).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 84/100. Sam Kim 93.

(Pencarrow 2020 Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand, Palliser Estate Wines, Martinborough, New Zealand, 750 mL, 14%).