Respect

I was going to write this post in my film blog…but then I realized I had more to say than what my film blog is about…which is simply my subjective view of films Ive seen…and not so much beyond that. This film requires a bit more.

Last weekend I watched ‘The Dark Knight’ and I cannot remember having been more frightened by an actor. The scariest actor to me has always been Christopher Walken. I don’t know why, but the guy scares the crap out of me. The way he plays bad guys makes the little hairs at the back of my neck rise in fear…But after having seen Heath Ledger as the joker…Chris has an equal match.

Ive been looking forward to ‘The Dark Knight’ for about a year now…I absolutely loved ‘Batman begins’ and the thought of a sequel in the same dark, gothic style had me shaking with anticipation. Don’t get me wrong, I dig ‘Batman (1989)’ and even ‘Batman returns (1992)’ but they are completely different films. Theatrical and colorful characters, insane but somehow less intimidating than they easily could be. ‘Batman begins’ was way darker, moodier and more serious. It also tried to explain why there are so many wild characters in Gotham, -an explanation I had been looking for. So as soon as ‘The Dark Knight’ premiered, I made sure to get tickets.

I have to admit I was skeptic to all the hype around Heath Ledger. Not because I have any doubts about Ledger as an actor. He was a terrific actor. I first noticed him in ‘A Knight’s Tale (2001)’ and I have followed him since. My skepticism was more based on the attention that naturally follows a type of tragedy that was the case with Ledger. History is full of amazing people being praised after they’re no longer with us. People who had the skills and talent to be recognized while still alive, but due to competition and over-exposure to other talents, somewhat drowned in the masses. In situations like this, it is not until the person is no longer here, that they get acknowledged and sometimes even over-praised. I believe that most people are good, and when a good person goes away, you wish to say something nice about that person. So to clarify, I did not doubt the skills of Heath Ledger in ‘The Dark knight’, I simply had doubts that he was as amazing and world-altering as the reviews said he was.

There was however no reason for doubt.

I found myself being almost bored with Christian Bale and the other characters of the film (I say “almost bored” as I wasn’t bored at all…but you know…trying to make a point here). …not because they didn’t do a good job, they did, but because Heath Ledger was in a league of his own far above the others. And I say this as a person who loves, loves, loves both Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. I have never seen a more shocking performance by an actor before. Heath who has played a knight (A Knight’s Tale, 2001), a fighter of mythical beings (The Brothers Grimm, 2005), a ladies’ man (Casanova, 2005) and a men’s man (Brokeback Mountain, 2005) outdid himself as the Joker. A character so completely different from anything else he has done and he shines stronger than ever.

I left the theater all excited and worked up, yet deeply, truly sad. Excited because Heath Ledger has never been better. Sad because he will never have a chance to be that great again. This guy truly died at the top of his game and it is with sad realization I accept the fact that we will not have the fortune of following his growth as an actor. Imagine how great he would have become with even more experience…

I look forward to watching his very last performance in Terry Gilliams (one of my favorite directors); ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’ but somehow I feel ‘The Dark Knight’ and Heath’s version of The Joker will be the most memorable performance of his career.

And what a performance it is…

Forgotten joys

My shoes actually fell apart today. Literally speaking.

We are going through a major heat wave in western Norway these days…its awful and wonderful all at once. Awful by the fact that we are not used to this kind of heat and wonderful because of that very same thing. So, Ive been wearing my favorite sandals the past couple of days, sandals which my feet are not used to and which therefore chafe my feet…between the toes…very sexy…Hence, today I had to dig deep into the back of my closet and clean the dust of my old trusty Adidas slippers. These slippers have been in my possession for at least 10 if not 15 years…and they have been wonderful. They have been good to me. I did a quick inspection of them and noticed a small gap in the rubber sole on the left one, but it didn’t look serious and I thought nothing more of it.

I have about a 20 minute walk to uni and I was enjoying my walk with my comfy non-chafing slippers when I suddenly, half way to uni, lost one of the slippers. At first I thought perhaps I had kicked it off while walking and felt a little dumb as I picked it up again. –But on closer inspection I noticed that the small gap in the sole had caused the entire cross band to loosen on one side of the shoe…and we are talking slippers here. No cross band, no shoe. With a slightly confused and somewhat amused face I walked over to the nearest bench to figure out what to do next.

I find a large rubber band in my bag (note to guys: Gentlemen! This is why we, the ladies, always have a lot of crap in our purses. You never know when it might come in handy) and tie it around the slipper…hoping it will hold all the way back home. So I start walking home again when after about 15 feet I notice something coming off the slipper. It is still stuck to my foot, but something fell off. So I turn just to see the back half of my slipper laying 2 feet behind me. I am now wearing half a slipper stuck to my left foot by the help of a rubber band. As I find this intensely amusing I decide to inspect the right slipper as well, knowing that if irony is playing its usual joke on me, this one will be falling apart as well. And sure enough; the front half of my right slipper is about to come off, held together only by half an inch of rubber. At least the cross band was still intact…

I decide that it will look way dumber limping all the way home on the front half of one slipper and the back half of the other, than it will look walking barefoot. So that’s what I do. I walk barefoot in the middle of the city on a sidewalk next to traffic. And I love it.

I simply love it. I have not walked barefoot since I was a little girl playing with my friends in the streets (streets entirely without traffic…can you believe it?) running around with a water balloon in one hand and an ice cream in the other. I had forgotten how comfortable it is walking on hot, dry asphalt in the middle of summer on your bare soles. Its surprising how soft your feet are if you give them a chance to support your body without the confinement of shoes. I would have walked all the way home had it not been for the fact that I was in the middle of a busy city where you may suddenly find yourself stepping in glass or on some unfortunate souls’ used syringe…(although, to Bergen’s defense, it is a very clean city and I saw no glass nor any syringes on my way) so I walked to the nearest shopping centre with a huge smile on my face.

With new slippers on my feet (slightly more feminine than the adidas ones…) I could finally get back to my original schedule, but with a surprisingly good feeling inside. It is amazing how life can throw you a bone suddenly and unexpectedly…and usually when you need it the most.

Asante sana

Imagine this;

Early morning. The temperature is cool, yet warm enough for a thin sweater. You know the sun will overcome the thin morning mist any time now as you’re driving, along a dirt road, with all the windows open and no roof. Suddenly you notice the tall grass move on your left side and you stop the car. A small yet lumpy face takes a curious look at you from in between the grass, before it decides to get scared and take off. The face and its adjoining compact body makes a quick turn and runs into the bushes with a thin tail pointing straight up like a radio antenna on an automobile. You’ve just seen your first wild warthog…the laugh is spontaneous, and you cannot help grinning from ear to ear as you watch the thin erect tail disappear in the grass.

Let’s stick to this image a little longer…

You start the engine again and continue down the road until you reach a narrow path just wide enough to fit the car. The sun is out now and it is warm enough for you to take your sweater off. As you are struggling to get the jersey over your head you sense the car stopping again. The driver turns off the engine and everything gets quiet. Then suddenly you hear a roar followed by a light growl. The roar makes you a little uneasy so you hurry with the clothing, almost desperately tearing it off. What you see once you get the sweater off your head is something you’ve never seen before.

The car has stopped in the middle of a lion pride. The roar came from the dominant male who is sitting by a pond trying to drink. A young cub is climbing on him and was just told by daddy to “get the fuck off” (human translation). Everywhere around the car are lions. You count 11, one male, 7 females and 3 cubs. One of the females is only 3 feet away…and you sit there in your car feeling very small as you have eye contact with her…the window is open and all she has to do is sit up and lash out. But she doesn’t. She just looks at you. You can almost read her mind by looking into her beautiful yellow eyes.

“What are you? Why are you sitting in this metal thing? You bore me”.

You expect “daddy” to get uneasy about your presence. You expect him to stop drinking and move towards your car, letting you know your presence is unwanted. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t care that you are there. He is not afraid of you and it seems almost like he is completely unaware of your existence. The driver tells you how most animals view the car. Apparently the car is just another large animal…beings inside the car is just a part of the car. Simple as that. You drive away with a desire to leave these beautiful creatures alone…feeling smaller than you ever have in your entire life.

This image…or fantasy or whatever you wish to call it, is not a dream. Not anymore. This has been my reality the past week. I have had the incredible fortune of spending a week in what I now regard as one of the most beautiful countries in the world; Tanzania.

I knew little about the country before our arrival. I knew it was a poor country in Africa with an average income of $250 a year, making it one of the 25 poorest countries in the world. I knew there would be spectacular wildlife. I did not know how spectacular. I did not know how amazing the people would be. How generous and giving they would be despite of abject poverty.

The week went by so very fast…a week filled with smells, visions, sounds and tastes so very different from the usual ones.

It is hard to describe the feeling you are left with. Perhaps the biologist in me was hit way harder than the average non-biologist…but I have never felt more insignificant and unimportant than I have these past 7 days, and I have never felt better. It is a bit of a contradiction, isn’t it? Feeling insignificant yet happy and satisfied. It is a sense of happiness that comes from acknowledging your own bliss and fortune in life. As well as the feeling of joy that comes from witnessing some of the world’s true wonders.

(pictures: http://pixelsandstuff.blogspot.com/2008/08/tanzania.html)