Sirens movie review

SIRENS

Sirens (1994), written and directed by John Duigan, is a film similarly close to it's Greek mythology title, but with a modern feminist twist.  There are beautiful sirens , or models, who lure men in and seduce them, but the world they live in is the international, lucrative modern art world.  The movie is based on a true story about the controversial, feminist, Welsh artist, Norman Lindsay (Sam Neill), who paints a portrait of his nude wife, Rose (Pamela Rabe), on a crucifix.  Lindsay enters the portrait, "The Crucified Venus" (1912), into an international art exhibition in Australia, only to have the religious and moral world community plead for him to withdraw the portrait from the show.  Ironically so, because this true story takes place during the morally conservative interwar period, between WWI and WWII.

Anthony Campion (Hugh Grant), an Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald), are tasked with the job to visit Norman's estate in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.  They must convince the artist to retract his portrait from the show.  Being that Norman is an internationally respected artist, they need to convince him of the portraits blasphemous nature and it's affects on the moral mindset of the world.  They can't just tell him to do it or they will enact a backlash from the wealthy world art community.

Anthony is an Oxford educated Englishman with extensive knowledge in the fine arts.  His hope is to appeal to Norman on an intellectual level.  He has heard that Norman likes a good political or moral debate. 

Upon their arrival in this little out of the way, back country town, Anthony and Estella quickly realize they have their work cut out for them.  They see that despite the people in the towns around them ostracizing Norman and his companions, because of his nude portraits and feminist ideals, Norman is still defiant against the moral high ground everyone seems to project on him.

When they arrive at the estate no one is home.  They lay on the ground and fall asleep after their long and difficult commute to the estate.  They wake up to find Norman's clan standing above them after their picnic together.  We meet Lindsay's two young. mischievous daughters, Jane (Julia Stone) and Honey (Ellie MacCarthy) who speak their minds and a few curse words here and there,  Pru (Tziporah Malkah), the realist, Giddy (Portia de Rossi), the house maid and idealist, and Sheela (Elle Macpherson) the pot stirrer and truth teller.  All three nude models that Lindsay based his portraits on.

As the discussion between Anthony and Norman begins, he learns that Rose, Norman's wife, is actually the model for the crucifix portrait.  In learning this, Anthony has a realization of why Norman entered the portrait and is refusing to pull it from the art show.  It is a collaboration between he and his wife, but also, Norman's love song to his independent wife and her beauty.

While waiting to return to England, Estella and Rose, as well as the models and the ex- boxer/maintenance man/model, Devlin (Mark Gerber) start interacting.  The models befriend Estella and open her mind beyond her naive, provincial, buttoned up thinking.  We realize Norman, Rose and the models don't see their portraits as blasphemous, but they see them as giving women moral freedom and independence in a world who insists that women be controlled and also, control themselves.  These portraits out in public push the envelope and give women the right to be more themselves and less who society thinks they should be.  An effect Norman Lindsay called a "Wowizer" in real life.

This spawns Estella's sexual curiosity as she begins to explore these female relationships and her own independence and individuality.  She begins to see her sterile sexual relationship with clergyman Anthony as boring.  She starts to try new things, to the joy of her new friends.  Norman catches her exploring and sees her new realizations.  He is pleasantly amused.  As a result, Anthony becomes a part of the exploration himself.  Thus, his opinion starts to change about whether it really matters, if the portrait is taken out of the show or not.

In the end, Norman Lindsay and the art he created was not only his love letter to his strong, independent wife and daughters, but it was also his love letter to women as a whole.  His art sparked women's liberation and freedom around the world.  As well as, everyone's sexual freedom as human beings.  He wanted everyone to be happier and healthier. 

Norman saw religion as a way to control, not only the masses around the world, but particularly, a way for men to control women and tie them down.  His goal was to free women kind.  He was really one of the first feminist of our time. 

Norman could not understand how past artists, like Michelangelo, were revered for their nude sculptures and portraits in church cathedrals, yet present day artists were being stifled from showing, not only the beauty of the human body, but also the extreme beauty of women's bodies and their independent spirits within. 

This movie embodies that independent spirit and introduces us to the amazing talent and personality of Norman Lindsay and the strong women in his life, his wife, daughters and the models he worked with.  He helped to advance feminism and take women beyond being wrapped up, pinned up, controlled housewives to the independent women they are today. 

Thank you, Norman Lindsay!  And thank you Sirens for introducing us to his artistry and his activism, during a time when it was not easy to be a man who was a Feminist.  This movie is a must see for all, but particularly women and girls.  You will enjoy meeting Norman, his strong wife and this cast of characters.

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Watch it free on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/463250/sirens

Ondine movie review

Ondine

Ondine (2009), directed and written by  Neil Jordan, was shot in the coastal town of Castletownbere, Ireland.  It is a seaside Irish romantic escape into a fairy tale, set in the present day.  The story sweeps us into said fairy tale about a selkie, an old Irish folklore about a mythical character, male or female, who can change from a seal to human form on land.  Once in their human form, they are very attractive and desirable.  They may fall in love or even marry and have children with the human they encounter, but their true self will always long for the sea.  They will eventually leave their human life and all who love them to return to the sea that pulls at their hearts daily.  Or so the story goes.

The fairy tale is told through the eyes of 3 characters, the romantic, dashing hero, Syracuse (Colin Farrell), the damsel in distress, Ondine (Alicja Bachleda), and the wide eyed child who believes, Syracuse's 12 year old daughter, Annie (Alison Barry).

In the opening of the movie, we meet Syracuse, a fisherman, who is pulling in the catch of the day on his boat from his nets.  One net holds something he was never expecting...a beautiful woman!  Ondine, barely holding on to life.  He rushes to retrieve her from the net, once he realizes she might actually be alive. 

Once revived, Ondine's concerns are threefold, not to be seen, trying to gain her perspective on where she is and wondering how she is alive.  Syracuse asks her where she came from and how she arrived in his net, but she will not divulge her secrets, of which she apparently has many.  He wants to take her to a hospital, but she refuses.  She continually insists, "I cannot be seen by anyone!"  So, he resolves to help her.  The fairy tale begins to unfold. 

Syracuse takes Ondine to the house where his mother, a lifetime loner and recluse, used to live overlooking the sea.  He tells her it is a place where no one will find her  Losing his mother was hard for him, which is probably why he keeps her house, but he cannot bear to live there himself.  So, Ondine can make this her home.  This also shows us that Syracuse is an accepting, loyal, generous and loving individual who Ondine sees as someone she can trust with her very life.

As the story progresses, we meet Syracuse's daughter, Annie.  He has to leave Ondine to rush back to make it in time to take Annie to the doctor's office for her dialysis.  Annie is tied to a wheelchair as a result of her illness, so she has to be carried from place to place.

We meet Annie's mother, Syracuse's ex-wife, Maura, (Dervla Kirwan), who is a bitter alcoholic that berates her ex- husband while living with her very married boyfriend, Alex (Tony Curran).  She calls Syracuse a clown and circus then rides him for always being late and never having enough money to pay for anything for his daughter.  Yet, we get the idea that Syracuse, who is an alcoholic in recovery, gives his ex all he can.  She and the boyfriend drink the money away, mired in their addiction.  We learn later that Syracuse has sobered up, so that his daughter has one responsible parent.  He is also trying to gain custody of his child to get her out of her current situation.

While supporting his daughter at dialysis, Annie asks Syracuse to tell her a story.  He proceeds to tell the tale of pulling a mermaid like creature from the sea with his net and how she sings to the creatures in the water.  His well read daughter connects the dots between his story and the Irish childhood fairy tales she has learned.  She deems he is telling her the tale of a selkie.  She cannot decipher if his story is half truth or half fairy tale, which spawns her curiosity to find out. 

At the end of the dialysis, the nurse takes her to the new motorize wheelchair the insurance has provided for her.  Now his curious, mischievous daughter, with a mother who doesn't really keep an eye on her, is mobile and determined to find out about the mysterious selkie woman her dad tells her about.  Is she real or just a story her father has created in his mind?

We also see a dark character enter the picture, Vladic (Emil Hostina), who seems to be looking for Ondine relentlessly.  Yet, he will not approach her in the open or a crowd.  Very mysterious, but we get the feeling he is ominously dangerous.

We are taken along a ride of fantasy mixed with mystery.  You are never quite sure what is real and what is not.  The story weaves in and out until even Syracuse is not sure, if what he is witnessing is real.  He knows he can see and touch Ondine, but is she just a figment of his imagination that he needs to believe exists?  Is the mysterious man following her even real or the effects of his past addiction on his brain?  He even speaks to his local priest (Stephen Rea), whom Syracuse sees as his addiction counselor/sponsor of a sort, to help him verify, if he is just imagining Ondine or if she is real.

Ondine is a surreal, magical story that takes you from fiction to reality and then back again.  But at its heart, it is a story about love and trust, between ex's, a father and a daughter, a priest and his friend and finally between Ondine and Syracuse.  Do these two need each other more than they realize?  Watch the movie to find out.  You will not be disappointed!  And you will enjoy a beautiful cultural Irish story passed down through time while you do.

©2019 All Rights Reserved

Watch it here for free:  https://tubitv.com/movies/438020/ondine?tracked=1

The world can learn from Norway: Renewable Lifestyles

I have been concerned about climate change and the human race wasting the resources of the planet for years.   Every time it seemed the world community was finally going to do the right thing and change the carbon footprint of the human race, the tide would turn to larger SUV's, more travel in fuel guzzling cars and planes, etc.  It looked as if the people of the world would never realize true climate awareness.

Recently, I was bopping around on social media, when I commented on a post about climate change, what to do with plastic bottles and what humans can do as a whole to change the trajectory of our planet.

• Article:  With appallingly low recycling rates, some Britons want a deposit return scheme implemented, while others say it would never work. But what if this whole debate misses the point?

I started reading other peoples' comments on this article when I came across a comment from a Norwegian woman.  She spoke about how Norway recycles everything and has no landfills.  I was intrigued.  We started messaging back and forth about how Norway has literally transformed their country decreasing their carbon footprint and using only solar and wind energy when possible.

She mentioned Dutch environmentalist would still like to see so called "statiegeld," their word for return fees, on cans and plastic bottles implemented.  Many are thrown away on streets and in nature reserves far too often. 

Yet, in Norway they separate everything and then recycle glass, clothes paper and combustibles.  There are no landfills.  Apparently it is the same in Germany and Scandinavian countries.  Again, I was intrigued.  Why can't we do this in all countries?

In Norway, used paper is so prevalent that it is sold to China to produce recycled paper products and cardboard, etc; used to export their products.  Plastics and metals are recycled into new products. 

Old refrigerators, washing machines and other appliances go to special facilities where they are dismantled for their components.  They are not allowed to throw away any appliance, phone or batteries.  It must be recycled. 

Collecting systems and stations are in place throughout the country. Larger appliances will be traded in by the shops that deliver new appliances.

Norway provides special bins (shown below) in every neighborhood, usually near shops, community centers etc. for different items such as paper, glass; with separate shoots for white, green or brown glass. 

Used cooking oil is also recycled for bio-fuel, as well as small appliances and clothes. 

Every household has three bins.

• One for the trash that does not belong in any category, which still gets sorted at the garbage disposal facilities before it goes to the incinerator. 
• One for plastics and metal and Tetra packs. 
• One for combustibles. 

Large plastic and beer bottles have a return fee on them.  In supermarkets you can dispose of batteries and energy saving light bulbs, LED light bulbs.  Normal light bulbs have not been sold in Norway for about 5 years.

Later this year they will have four bins, with the addition of a paper bin.  The paper is currently collected once a month, but on a rainy day it gets wet.  Wetness degrades the quality of the paper and it weighs much more.  They are hoping adding a paper bin will alleviate this issue. 

RECYCLING BINS

• Blue:  paper and cardboard
• Yellow:  plastic and metal
• Green:  compostables
• Grey:  Everything else. For instance used pens, small sandwich bag, hoover dust bag, etc.  

People who are new to the country and may not be accustomed to the recycling system or the elderly will sometimes put everything in the grey bin.  And that is OK.  It will all be sorted before incineration.

Some areas in larger cities with small apartments will adopt an underground container system on each block. (below)

• Clothes
• Glass:  Three openings to separate white, green, brown glass
• Small appliances
• Used cooking oil
• Paint and other toxic substances etc. 
• Paper:  Some areas will choose to include paper

The system is meant to be intricate.  More than 85% of the citizens comply with the system.  But even if they fail to do their part, all trash is sorted before incineration.  Therefore, most reusable materials are salvaged.

What is not usable or salvageable is still used to generate electricity in the incinerators.  Yes, the incinerators produce electricity!  The incinerators are made to be environmentally friendly, with multiple filters to keep harmful smoke and particles from escaping into the atmosphere. The waste is incinerated at high temperatures where almost nothing remains.

The garbage collecting trucks all run on bio-diesel, which is the cooking oil, etc. collected from citizens.  Thus, completing the recycling, reusable circle.

Used or outdated medication is taken to the pharmacist, so it does not end up in the sewage or in the environment.

Plastic bags are prohibited. Everyone uses small bags, nets, mason jars, boxes etc. to put loose fruit and vegetables, cheese and nuts in. Many bake their own bread, which is stored in a linen bag. 

Milk is purchased at an organic farmer nearby. My friend said she has a special enamel reusable container to transport her milk in, to cut down on waste.  The lid fits tightly, so no spillage, even if it is transported by bicycle.

My friend also makes her own yogurt in seperate pots, and bakes her own bread at home, making her waste footprint quite a bit lower than the normal citizen.  

Also, this is quite refreshing to learn, the vast majority of Dutch people will go shopping, to work or to school by bike!  Most bikes have bags and baskets to put their shopping, etc. in.  Biking is so prevalent, they have bike traffic jams.  And notice that everyone looks healthy and in shape. (Watch below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0lvE5GYmh8&app=desktop

I asked about their plumbing and how popular grey water systems are.  Grey water systems are becoming more popular, but not the norm at the moment.  Toilets with low flow water to conserve have been popular for over 30 years. Water saving low flow shower heads are used in every house.  Most homes, including more expensive homes, have one bathroom with no bathtub, but only a shower.  Their toilet is in a separate room.  The very rich do have more rooms and bathrooms, etc; but most people try to conserve.

And if that isn't enough to admire this country for what they are doing to fight climate change, Norway has officially decided to make all homes energy neutral by 2020.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09654313.2011.638492?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=ceps20

Along with banning all petrol/gas for cars by 2025. 

http://insideevs.com/netherlands-moves-to-allow-only-all-evs-by-2025-no-more-gas-diesel-sales/

More than half the homes in the Netherlands are rentals.  Most are excellent quality public housing.  My friend lives in a 1759 barn conversion rental thatched farm house. The windows are high efficiency double glazed throughout. The heating/air conditioning is a high efficiency eco brand.  This year, the insulation will be improved under the floor and extra outer walls.   

Next year, solar panels will be installed, with one solar panel delegated to heat the hot water for showers, the washing machine, etc.   A low temperature radiator will be installed.  All of this will make her home totally energy neutral!  The best part?  The rent will not go up!  

Currently, she is using 1/3 of the energy (electricity and natural gas) that the previous single occupant was using.  She purchases Windenergy and CO2 gas to compensate during low winds.   Almost half the Dutch households only buy Windenergy and CO2.  

This is a country committed to change and fighting climate change.  And they are succeeding.  Wildly!  It only shows that we all could do the same.  I am sure many around the world want to be part of the change.  To have solar and wind energy that can power their homes for far less money and with a zero carbon footprint.  

We need to stand up the corporations and countries who profit from oil, gas, etc.  It is no longer about money and power.  It is about the survival of our planet.  We need to come together and push back against the naysayers.   Let them know we are changing to renewable energy and recyclables in an effort to change the planet and save the world around us.  

Publish information that can help people build their own systems and do the right thing for their communities.  Vote to allow more solar, wind and renewable energy sources to grow and be built in your states and countries.  It can be done.  We can change the world for the better.  Norway is a shining example of that.  They are leading the world into a better tomorrow.

Images and credit: My Norwegian friend.  :)

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