RKS Film: “Arranged Marriage”: No Simple Generalizations with “Arranged Marriage”

The film “Arranged Marriage” is not easily categorized into a specific genre of film. It shifts from genre to genre which may leave a viewer initially to say, “What the hell is going on here?” Not in an annoying or frustrating manner because the genre switch is creative and quite frankly at times amusing. But the end result is a very clever both immensely entertaining and thought provoking.

23-year-old Kamali Matthu (Megha Sandhu) is a student living at home with strict Punjabi parents in a California neighbourhood. By strict they believe in arranged marriages as are done back home in India. Kamali wants nothing to do with it but fails to convince the family unit a marriage of the heart should prevail.

Her father (Kavi Raz) is a charming psychopath who beats to death or arranges for the murder of Kamali’s friends and lovers that stand in his way of finalizing an arranged marriage. The family unit and friends are a ruthless killing machine.

The film launches an attack on arranged marriages in Indian culture and the mindset behind proponents of arranged marriages such as the parents knowing better what suits their children than the children themselves. There is a great tragedy in the film and it is honour killing. As much as you might have been chuckling now and then the film’s end is chilling.

The film also probes racism in an uncomfortable way. Initially Kamali’s boyfriend Clive is a paragon of cross-cultural understanding but as the murder toll whirling about Kamali’s friends augments he turns into a raving racist demeaning Kamali. Kamali’s family is no better with their mockery and hatred of American society. A club to them where men and women dance together in skimpy clothes is a whorehouse. How progressive! There is mockery of Caucasian Americans in scene where Kamali’s family attempts to deceive a police officer by dressing in exaggerated American clothing and feeding the policeman macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and carrots. 

Then there is the insertion of Bollywood dance numbers totally out of synch with the times they appear. In fact their insertion is so inappropriate they seem comedic. In fact the film can be interpreted as a very dark comedy.

The film has a strong streak of horror embedded in it as the murder count rises and its final intended victim is Kamali. It is a horror of a cultural nature. After the first murder we wonder who is next so we have suspense as well.

As her friends are murdered and defect leaving Kamali alone will she surrender to an arranged marriage? If so at what cost?

A shocking ending delivering a crushing blow not so much to arranged marriages but against a culture that has its sickening flaws that extend beyond arranged marriages. And if you think the ending is totally fictious it is not. And is starts again at the conclusion of the movie. It has happened more than once in Canada! It will take many Kamali’s to end the brutality and stupidity in the arranged marriage culture. Sadly Kamali’s younger sister embraces arranged marriages so it may take generations to squash arranged marriages. Arranged marriages may be harmless if both parties freely consent to it but in Kamali’s case there was coercion and intimidation.

The film is laced with satire throughout and there nothing that can’t be spoofed and silently mocked and that includes the nativity of western liberalism. Love the policeman with a Hitler mustache questioning Kamali.

Hats off to writer and director Anoop Rangi as both writer and director. Perhaps a hackneyed topic but a brilliant approach. Your initial impressions may this is a scattered movie but it melds beautifully. A daring and brilliant approach.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/695279783

Kavi Raz as Kamali’s father is the ideal psychopath a real Punjabi Ted Bundy. And grandmother (Balinder Johal) is Satan reincarnated.

The film opens in Canadian theatres on August 12th.

RKS Film Rating 94/100. 

“Virus # 26” : Director’s Cut : Chapter 15 “Lessons Learnt from the COVIDs: Obedience and Fear”

One of the best ways to control a population is through fear and it is even better when it involves their life. Stalin had executions and Siberia. Mao and Pol Pot had re-education camps. Canada had the residential school system. In this case the cause of your death if you were not obedient was sold as being your life. Not washing your hands could be a fatal mistake. Oh fear! Oh shiver! Don’t obey the commands of “public service” messages you are stupid, rude and ignorant.

Hence on the advice of the medicos social distancing was the umbrella concept and that meant curtailment on freedom of association and a right to make a living but as I said medicos aren’t concerned with such inconvenient truths and neither did they have much compassion for the collateral damages caused by much of their advice although the politicos framed all decisions as political decisions on the advice of their “medical team” so if matters went askew there was someone the politicos could blame. The medicos as human shields for the politicos. My job as a physician is heal the patient not cajole and terrify them.

Of course at some point they miscalculated that the vast overdoing of their propaganda made it close to meaningless hence the crowded beaches off the Alabama coast in the United States on Memorial Day in 2020 and the infamous partying at Trinity-Bellwood’s Park in Toronto on the same week-end. Poor Millennials vilified by the politico medico elite. Democracies are a bit flabby when it comes to effective propaganda. Both these incidents caused a huge case surge in Alabama and in Toronto and considering it was youth that wasn’t so bad as it sped up herd immunity. When it comes to propaganda you can fool some of the people some of the time but you can’t fool them all the time so you have to freshen up the propaganda playbook to be most effective. The next ruse was vaccinate, vaccinate and vaccinate! A social duty and no vaccination no right to dine out or watch a movie. Seems trivial but in reality a momentous violation of freedom of association. Dare criticize the party line the so called independent media would label you as naughty “anti-vaxxers” with a goal of equating you with a leper.

There was also fear of the COVID police who could fine you a substantial amount for violating social distancing rules. In some countries you could even be imprisoned and given the hotspots prisons were as congregate settings COVID that just about amounted to a death sentence.

And the good honest citizens who cowered in fear in their homes could, along with some politicians, express their indignation at such irresponsibility leading to social ostracization of the irresponsible. Little did these good citizens realize they would be cannon fodder for subsequent waves of COVID-19. What is that expression, “There is no goodness in virtue”?

The propaganda campaigns were so effective that in Canada 64% of the population expressed anxiety at some point in leaving the house. What a gift for the subsequent wave of COVID that attacked those hidden away in fear so they could not hasten herd immunity!

Some of fellow physicians went so far as to suggest the insertion of microchips for those vaccinated so as to better track the unvaccinated. Stalin and Hitler would have been proud of them. All in the name of the common good! My colleagues as stoolies.

“Travels to a Different Time ” : 11August2000: Epidavros, Greece: Ancient Theatre of Epidavros and Bandit French and Dutch Campers

After breakfast took a 35-minute bus trip to the ancient theatre of Epidavros. Very dry country and up and down hills with pine forest throughout. There are roadside memorials to those killed on the road. A little shrine with pictures of the deceased and a candle that can be lit along with flowers. Nothing new in my European travels but jarring nonetheless. The outdoor theatre can sit 17,000 people and its acoustics are legendary. You can sit up at the last row of seats and hear people speaking on the stage. And the view is spectacular. Went to see the ruins nearby and a museum. There are so many ruins in Greece you get accustomed to them. Lunch of some too meaty moussaka which was tasty along with a wonderful tomato salad. Walked around after the late lunch and worked up an appetite so went to Paradise Pizza for a mushroom pizza. Good pizza but some Greeks have a penchant for salt and that was apparent with the pizza. Not much to see on the walk but stopped at the docks and a few yachts were there one from London and the other from Delaware. A little bit down from the yachts there were some 15 campers illegally parked and the police had to ask them to move. Strange that it is the Dutch and French that you see with campers. Very unEuropean!  No doubt this Winnebago mentality bothers the locals. These freeloaders have to be moved out every night. What a Dutch Treat for the locals! The police car here is a wreck unlike the shiny ones in Athens. On the pier there were several Africans hawking cheap trinkets (not imitation Louis Vuitton) .

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: Richard Brautigan’s “A Confederate General from Big Sur”

“The dinner we had that evening was not very good. Some salad made from greens and jack mackerel. The fellow who owned the place had brought the jack mackerel for the cats that hung out there, but the cats wouldn’t eat it. The stuff was so bad that they would sooner go hungry. And they did.

Jack mackerel tears your system apart. Almost as soon as it hits your stomach, you begin to rumble and squeal and flap. Sounds like a haunted house during an earthquake tear horizontally across your stomach. Then great farts and belches arriving out of your body. Jack mackerel almost comes through the pores.

After a dinner of jack mackerel you sit around and your subjects of conversation are greatly limited. I have found it impossible to talk about poetry, esthetics or world peace after eating jack mackerel. “

Richard Brautigan “A Confederate General from Big Sur”, 1964

RKS Wine: A Couple of Borsao Wines from Campo de Borja

Robert Parker wrote in 2016, “My favourite value winery not only in Spain, but in the world, is Bodegas Borsao in the up-and-coming appellation of Campo de Borja.” Well that was 6 years ago and no doubt he has found a new favourite value winery since then. Such is the life of wine where nothing is static except perhaps for mass consumer taste that moves at a glacial pace?

In the last year two friends have remarked how they like a Grenache from Campo de Borja called “Tres Picos”. Grenache from Campo de Borja has a reputation of being on the feisty side. Karen MacNeil’s Wine Bible states that the Grenaches of Campo de Borja, “…are not delicate, restrained wines. Black, dense, chewy, and lip-smacking, they have irresistible, big thrusts of Kirsch-berry fruit, minerals and spice. “

The Tres Picos has aromas of black cherry, kirsch, blueberry and a hint of dark chocolate. Spicy and nippy tannins. The acidity and tannins seem to be fighting each other for dominance which makes me uneasy. In my opinion a top red wine should have a harmony of these two components. Lots of spice on the palate with strawberry on steroids.

This is not a sipping wine with its spicy and nippy character. Sausage comes to mind as well as grilled lamb as is a favourite in Ribera del Duero west of Campo de Borja. It would match a bruschetta made with fresh field tomatoes or a simple vegetarian pasta sauce once again made with fresh tomatoes. The acidity of the fresh tomatoes could be a good foil to the nippiness of the wine.

Quite frankly the Tres Picos does not impart Parker euphoria. I have never been a proponent of red wine with noticeable acidity. But pair with the right foods perhaps you won’t be as disappointed. I suppose this is what I get for noticing what Robert Parker says. No I am not being catty. MEOW!

(Tres Picos Garnacha 2019, DO Campo de Borja, Bodegas Borsao, Borja, Spain, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 27348, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 88/100).

The white available at the LCBO is called Borsao Selección Blanco 2020 and it has a nose of apple, pear, citrus, pineapple and tangerine. On the palate this wine lacks much character. It is quaffable and would be one of those wines by the glass to sip in the evening in the main square of Bilbao on a hot summer evening as families have some wine and tapas with their children playing nearby. The label refers to the creaminess of the wine. Can’t see any of that here.

Suitable for simply prepared sole, flounder or turbot. Light meets light.

A blend of Chardonnay and Macebo.

(Borsao Selección Branco 2020 DO Campo de Borja, Bodegas Borsao, Borja, Spain, $13.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25533, 750 mL, 13.5%, RKS Wine Rating 80/100).

RKS Film: “We Are Living Things”: Dazed and Confused

Was “Dazed and Confused” a Led Zeppelin song? It just may describe my mental state after watching “We Are Living Things”. This state could be attributed to a meaty film justly capable of being interpreted in many ways or a poorly made film lacking artistic cohesion. For “We Are Living Things” I go with the former and throw the compliment to co writers Alex Lora and Antonio Tibaldi.

In a nutshell Mysterious Soloman (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) is an illegal Mexican migrant working in a recycling plant in Brooklyn. He claims his mother had abandoned him shortly after his birth in Mexico City and travelled to Arizona where she was abducted by aliens. He believes in aliens as does Chuyao (Xingchen Lyu) who has fled China after her father can’t accept her “ridiculous” belief in aliens and spaceships and her assertion she has been abducted by aliens. Chuyao works in a Brooklyn nail salon with forged identity papers.

Soloman also is a maintenance man for a tenement and when in Chuyao’s apartment repairing a pipe he notices a large picture with an alien craft. Ah he is drawn to Chuyao like a moth to a flame. Chuyao is pimped out by “Uncle Bo” who in addition to his pimping to clients looking for the bizarre runs migrant smuggling operations. After a particularly kinky encounter where Chuyao is drugged into unconsciousness and violated wearing a spacesuit Soloman exacts a horrible revenge on Uncle Bo and as immigration is after Chuyao they flee to Arizona in search of aliens.

So how does one interpret the film in a fashion that holds water?

  1. These are weird alien believers caught up in their alien obsession. Ok that flies in the context of the question of do they connect with aliens in Arizona?
  2. The film is a collection of allegory, parable, simile and metaphor. Solomon and Chuyao are aliens in America not being accepted by mainstream America. Their social isolation and exploitation creates such gross alienation they are in fact aliens although not from another planet.
  3. The film explores the concept of spirituality. While Soloman and Chuyao have no visible religious beliefs there is a shared spirituality with higher beings such as aliens.
  4. The film unapologetically critiques and exposes exploitation of “illegals”.
  5. The film explores the void between those who believe in aliens and those who do not.

Take your choice of any or all of these and you won’t be laughed out of theatre as the film opens in Canada commencing on August 12, 2022.

Directed by Antonio Tibaldi.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/708307704

There are no weak links in this cast and Lyu and Guerrero shine both with roles that are complex.

RKS Film Rating 90/100.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 9August2000: Epidavros, Greece: On the Flying Dolphin: Partying Until 2 a.m.

Woke up early and left Hotel Stanley in Athens to Piraeus to catch the hydrofoil Flying Dolphin to Epidavros. A very raunchy and decrepit taxi driver ripped me off “accidentally” taking me to the wrong dock. Finally reached the right dock and cursed the crook just making the boat. The boat is more like a passenger train or airplane so different than the many boat trips I have taken in Greece. I thought the Flying Dolphin would skim over the waves but it was like a fast boat. You still feel the swells but far less than in a traditional ship. It is a quarter of the time a bus from Athens would have taken. The trip was about 90 minutes. Arrived and checked into a tiny room at the Hotel Christina with a great view of the harbour. The shower is extremely low pressure! Walked to the ancient amphitheatre with such fantastic acoustics no speakers are required. Epidavros is a small town of about 2,000 people with a good natural harbour surrounded by hills. For such a small town it has so many hotels and restaurants that cater to the many Athenians that come here to holiday or watch ancient Greek plays in the ancient outdoor theatre. The local beach pales in comparison to the beaches of Samos. But a swim is better than no swim. Ate at a local unpretentious restaurant at the edge of town far removed from the touristic centre of town. The grilled chicken was excellent and the wine served in tin cups was the best in Greece so far. In no time a group started sitting all around me to the point there were some 25 people with a few Greeks and mostly German tourists including a retired theology professor and a very soused German olive grower. Summer is a big socialization time for Greeks so they often stay out late drinking wine and eating mezze which are little plates of this and that including very popular fried eggplant. It was 2 a.m. and time to leave before you knew it. In fact the vast array of mezze is more like a cumulative dinner. Most Greeks will have a large lunch and a light supper.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 7August2000: Athens, Greece: Mount Lycabettus and Kolonaki the District to Be In!

Monday is a slow museum day and attraction wise in Athens as many are closed. Got in the mood with a late breakfast. Fried eggs replaced by scrambled eggs and cinnamon buns replaced croissants. The dining room at the Hotel Stanley is huge but as breakfast was late the tour groups from Canada, USA, Spain, Turkey and Hong Kong are long gone for the day. Off to Mount Lycabettus at 277 metres above sea level with a pine forest nestled below. The neighbourhood I passed through to get the funicular to take me to the top is called Kolonaki and it is very snazzy. High priced condos and high-end shops, restaurants and cafés. Tree lined streets. Took the funicular to the top of Mount Lycabettus and visited the St. George Chapel which was very simple. The view of Athens is nothing but spectacular. Lunch at Kolonaki Pizzeria with tables and chairs on a slope as it is located on the slope up to Mount Lycabettus. There are few tourists in Kolonaki and its trees provide welcome shade. Eating my Calzone I could hear classical music drifting through a nearby open window. Passing down through Kolonaki saw a McDonald’s and no there is no McSouvlaki at least yet. Saw some African guys selling fake Louis Vuitton’s they had placed on a shawl then the police came and they wrapped up their goods and tore down the street with the police chasing them.  Headed off to the National Gallery but it was undergoing a 850,000,000 drachma renovation and was closed. Dinner at a taverna in the Plaka was average and half the price of my dinner last night at the Hotel Stanley. Had a drink at the rooftop bar of the Stanley and watched the Acropolis all nicely lit up

RKS Film: “River Road”: Plot Line Uplifted by Supporting Actors…Really Uplifted!

“River Road” presents the viewer with arguably somewhat of a stale storyline but am I corrupted for having been around since the days of Woodstock? Drugs and musical fame and fortune shattered or altered negatively by drugs is nothing new in real life and in film. Gene Kruppa with Mary Jane. Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole with heroin. Hendrix, Joplin, Brian Jones, Elvis, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Prince etc. etc. Mamma Cass with a ham sandwich?

Matters took a twist with “Sid and Nancy” where poor Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols was introduced to heroin by Nancy Spungen not that he would have avoided it without her!

In “River Road” an up-and-coming Canadian musician Travis is fresh off a gruelling three-month tour with his band and he’s been snorting a heck of a lot of blow. So upon returning to Vancouver he decides a break is required so he goes to his aunt’s Delta British Columbia home in the woods to rejuvenate. His aunt is in Mexico for a sabbatical. It is going well as Travis exercises, meditates, downs smoothies and goes to the gym. He reads in the afternoon and works on lyrics He regularly goes to a lookout point and watches the sunset where he “meets” Zoe a cute American girl who is not so innocent as she looks. They fall for each other and in Spungen fashion she introduces Travis to smack. It’s a wonderful first-time trip and their relationship is just humming along. The heroin moves from casual and recreational to habitual. Both Travis and Zoe predicably get very raunchy looking and more dysfunctional. Anything new here? Their desire for smack and lack of funds is a dangerous and destructive combination.

But wait a twist I haven’t seen before in the downward spiral ( “Drugstore Cowboy” excepted) flavored movies is that Travis and Zoe pack a pistol and go on a “Bonny & Clyde” petty crime spree. How low can rock bottom go? Well with smack death! So what do these desperate people do? They rob their dealer Fresno (Steven Roberts). Fresno is an unforgettable character a product of Canadian filmmaking and great natural talent. Canadian film has grit and roughness and it shines with Roberts. He is a very bad man but one with morals and one with morals can become very angry (and amused) when those morals are breached. His brief performance is so compelling it fortifies the plotline if not bolstering it to a “must see” film. Slight memories of “City of Vultures II”. I would compare Roberts’s amazing performance in “River Road” to that of William S. Burroughs’s (Tom the Priest) in “Drugstore Cowboy”.

Then there is a sleazy all-around hood and music producer “Cash Dirty” (Sunee Dhaliwal) who is both terrifying and comedic. In fact he is a comedian off screen! And what a maniacal brief performance he gives. It is riveting and coupled with Roberts’s performance again I will say again this is a “must see” film.

Cody Kearsley as Travis and Lexi Redman as Zoe deliver the goods but Dhaliwal and Roberts deliver it with a big shiny ribbon.

Will “River Road” be a classic in Canadian film?

“River Road” will be available to stream on Apple TV on August 3, 2022 followed by Amazon and Google Play on August 12th.

Written and directed by Rob Willey.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UyLVTfjRDs

RKS Film Rating 84/100.

RKS Wine: Portugal’s Delaforce 2015 Touriga Nacional

Exaggerating somewhat the red grape Touriga Nacional for Portugal is the equivalent of what apple pie is for the United States! Unfortunately I mention this grape to non-wine professionals and I receive blank stares except from Port drinkers who are always familiar with this grape of the Holy Grail. From what I have seen and tasted one is more likely to see the grape in a blend but on occasion you find it as a single varietal.

Having met with the producers years ago I just couldn’t resist reinvigorating some memories.

The aromas are heavily steeped in dark fruit particularly blackberry, black currant with a tad of black cherry. Although this is a table wine it evokes what your nose may experience in a more concentrated fashion with Port. The tannins are in the medium range. On the palate there is no doubt this is big wine that has been substantially tamed by a few years in the bottle. It has some spice and pepper with a cutting edge. Mostly blueberry!

The wine is a bit cloudy without any description that it is unfiltered so for me a warning sign the wine is a bit long on the tooth and must be consumed by the end of 2022. I would also note the fruit on the palate seems to have faded. No it is not flawed, at least yet, as it simply is in advanced age and will handle a good slab of grilled beef or Douro roast pork with potatoes and perhaps a bit of cabbage on the side.

Given its declining condition it is overpriced.

(Delaforce Touriga Nacional 2015, DOC Douro, Real Companhia Velha, Villa Nova de Gaia, Portugal, $20.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 324517, 750 mL, 14%, RKS Wine Rating 86/100).