Black Swan

Having been a ballet student in younger days, I was persuaded to go and see the movie "Black Swan", starring Natalie Portman. Although the ballet scenes were well done, the rest of the movie left me cold. Portman wears the same pained expression on her face for most of the time, except during one scene where she is persuaded to indulge in alcohol and drugs, and has a whiny little girl voice. In this visually dark and gothic horror story, the lines between fantasy and reality are so well blurred at times it is quite difficult to realise which is which. Nina (her character) is seriously disturbed and pyschologically manipulated by both the lecherous director of the ballet and her domineering mother, who gave up her career as a ballerina to bring up her daughter. The characters are very two dimensional, and it is impossible to warm to any of them. In her dancing, Nina never manages to show that spark of seductive passion that the director has called for to give life to the character of Odile, the Black Swan and daughter of the evil enchanter Von Robart, but she is certainly gripped by madness. In the final scenes, we realise that she has stabbed herself whilst fantasising that she is stabbing her key rival, and as the blood spreads across her abdomen through Odette's white tutu, we do not know whether she lives or dies; merely that she is calmly satisfied that her performance was 'perfect'. Portman is to be congratulated for bringing her dancing to such a high level, but whether the rest of her performance is worthy of an Oscar remains to be seen.

Too much to do, not enough time ...

So far I've enjoyed my tutoring experience - twice a week facilitating 'problem-based learning' for medical students. A good opportunity to keep one's own medical knowledge up to date! Other than that, my volunteer work for ski patrol has expanded to fill the available time and then some, but I must also now turn to focus on some long-standing unfinished personal matters. Yesterday it was nice to sing with my church choir again for the first time since Christmas - due to being away in the country I didn't get there very often last year so it will be nice to be a more regular participant again this year. Afterwards I had a special deal voucher for an Asian-style banquet at Chilli Padi, and with one exception the food was fantastic. The Szechuan Hot and Sour soup with chicken and wood-ear mushroom was a great starter with a lovely blend of flavours, but the chilli oil was fiery! Apart from the Pad Thai Seafood (bland, watery overcooked noodles) the main courses were delicious - Beef Rendang, steamed John Dory fillets with a ginger sauce, pan-cooked scallops and a Duck Red Curry with lychees, cherry tomatoes and pineapple (with a rice accompaniment). The only other disappointment was that there was no Chinese tea included with the banquet, but water was provided. The serves were quite generous, and as the voucher cost $20 compared to the normal $45 price of the 'Premium Banquet' it is impossible to complain, but just to make a note not to choose the noodles next time! (Voucher through 'OurDeal').

The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest

Within the past week I have finished my twelve-month Critical Care medical job in the country, passed my Viva exam, packed up and moved back to town, started a new part-time job as a university tutor and started catching up on my voluntary work as a Ski Patrol educator.

Last night I attended a charity screening of the film of the third book in the Stieg Larsson 'Millenium' trilogy - "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest". I haven't had time to read the book yet, but the film is definitely the best of the three. It certainly helps to have either seen the previous two ("The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played with Fire") or read the books in order to have the background to the story, but it is probably not essential. Mostly shot under dark and gloomy skies during Autumn, there is plenty of intensity and pace, and the musical score often mirrors that of a horror movie. During a couple of key moments of climax it makes you jump in your seat. The plot is very clever, bringing all the loose ends together with some interesting twists and turns, and justice more or less prevails in the end, with some murky ethical choices aiding its arrival. I was able to recognise streetscapes from Gothenberg and Stockholm and from my own experiences could appreciate the brooding darkness of the apartment building porticos and stairwells. As always, the quixotic Salander does what she needs to in order to survive but remains a deeply flawed heroine, and it would not surprise me if she suffers from Asperger Syndrome. I could understand a reasonable amount of the Swedish, and the subtitles were fairly faithful to the script, but the occasional subtlety was glossed over. All the characters are very human, warts and all, and one of the great strengths of the trilogy is that the key roles are played by very ordinary looking actors, making it all the more believable. It is not your typical Hollywood 'beautiful people' undertaking. Although there is a Hollywood version of the first book in the offing, I cannot imagine that it will be as good as the Swedish version, just as was the case when the original Kurt Wallander Swedish crime series was remade with English actors - it just didn't work as they could not recreate the inherent sense of 'Swedishness' that comes from the combination of language, culture and stereotypical facial appearances. 'The Eagle' was another fine Scandinavian crime series, and it is a pity that the writers chose to end it after a limited number of episodes.