Life in Singapore… keeping up appearances
Gotta keep up appearances. So goes life in Singapore
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
on my way for further studies
I just picked up tickets and visa for China, and am on my way back to Shanghai for further studies.
And…
I still haven’t even finished posting the articles I wrote from my previous stay!
Uh-oh.
I’ll try to get busy and have that done before I really get started in my new course load.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Omkara
Omkara
is a nicely adapted, modernized version of Shakespeare’s Othello. It is set in modern India, and uses cell phones, guns, and contemporary politics to retell the story set on the page by Shakespeare so many years ago. The tale translates smoothly into this new setting.
is a nicely adapted, modernized version of Shakespeare’s Othello. It is set in modern India, and uses cell phones, guns, and contemporary politics to retell the story set on the page by Shakespeare so many years ago. The tale translates smoothly into this new setting.
The violence of the relationship between Omkara and Dolly is a nice mirroring of Othello’s odd behavior in the play. In the setting of the film, his jealousy seems somewhat less irrational than it sometimes does in the written version that we have of Shakespeare’s play. Perhaps that is a good reminder that it is helpful to always think of these texts as performance-oriented. When enacted, it doesn’t seem quite as crazy as it appears on the page. This really serves to heighten the sense of tragedy — the pattern of a great man fallen because of his tragic flaw.
Langsda, the Iago character, is also depicted as having some motivation for his own evil schemes. This has long puzzled critics of the play, but again, the film makes his motivation a bit clearer. While his actions are still overblown, very out of proportion to the motivating factors, at least one can see why he has some ill will toward Omkara. The depiction of Kesu being made the general, and his subsequent foolishness, casts the Iago character into a mode of revenge and ambition. This is something available in the text on the page, and the film does a nice job of taking that material and running with it.
Omkara is a good adaptation of Othello, reminding me to some extent of The Banquet as a retelling of Hamlet or Ran as a retelling of King Lear. These movies are not strictly speaking performances of these plays, but rather resituating the tales into different settings and models. In one sense, this is very much like Shakespeare’s plays’ relationship with the original source materials from which they were drawn.
All in all, Omkara is a good movie, and should be of interest to anyone who is into Asian film, or into adaptations of Shakespeare’s works into modern forms. It is especially interesting since it came from the former jewel of the British Empire. That whole dynamic always adds an interesting twist on Shakespeare-related films coming out of India.
Monday, September 1, 2008
OK, so I am a lousy blogger….
It didn’t turn out like, I wanted, my reporting on the Olympics in Beijing and all. Real life seemed to getting in the way of all my best blogging intentions. With little hiccups here and there, I didn’t even get to watch as much of the Olympics as I wanted to, completely missing the Closing Ceremony when my train got stuck for an hour and a half on the tracks waiting for some little problem or the other to be cleared up. By the time I got to the place I was staying in Seremban, the Closing Ceremony was completely finished.
Still, overall it was a beautiful Olympic Games, and China played the role of host perfectly. It was fun to watch, and will be fun to continue to watch where China goes from here in its dealings in the international community.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Haven’t Kept Up Like I Wanted
I haven’t been able to keep up with the Olympics the past couple of days like I wanted to, catching nothing but a bit of synchronized swimming on TV. That one isn’t quite one of my favorite events.
Silken has been keeping up with gymnastics some recently. I’ve mostly only been able to keep up via second-hand input like this, but even that is fun.
The best update I recently got was from a friend who got some free tickets to a baseball game over the weekend. Taiwan was playing, so the support from the Chinese crowd was really high-energy. My friend isn’t very familiar with baseball, so asked me for a run-down of the rules before the game. I sent her what I could, and she said it was enough to help her and those with her feel involved in the game. (I think the Olympic atmosphere is enough, no matter what the event!)
My friends also got tickets to watch Italy play in the football match on Saturday. Their busy schedule of watching baseball and football made it so that they didn’t get to go see the Bird’s Nest and the Swimming Cube, but they still said the trip was memorable. (And it gives us something to see when we go to Beijing together at a later date.)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Women’s Table Tennis
The women’s table tennis gold medal contest was a fun one, and one that was bound to test my loyalties, with China playing against Singapore. Actually, it wasn’t a hard choice for me at all. I always pull for the underdog, so Singapore was bound to be the team I would pull for.
The ladies making up Singapore’s team couldn’t pull it off. They never even really came close, though I think they competed well throughout the match. The team from China was simply better, and that showed up several times throughout the event.
The Singapore team achieved something great for the nation, bringing home a silver medal for us. It is the first medal Singapore has won in 48 years, and we are proud of the team for winning it!
Not an Olympic event, but still, this is something relevant and worth pointing to: take a look at this review of The Concrete Dragon
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Watch Them Fly!
I got to watch the women’s track and field events this morning. Wow! Those 100m prelim races were great! I loved watching them fly. The US team was very impressive for the women’s 100m.
And the men’s races were just as exciting. It has been a fun day for track and field events, and promises to continue to impress in the days to come.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Keeping Up With Asian Cinema
Here’s a few spots to help you keep up with movie-makers in Asia:
Bollywood Mantra for all of the latest out of the subcontinent
Kung Fu Cult Cinema for regular reviews of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai films
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Disappointed New Zealanders, but France is Pleased
Yesterday evening I got to watch the qualifiers for women’s swimming at the Olympics in Beijing. The women’s 4×200 relay was very exciting. The New Zealand team swam in a time that would have marked the national record for NZ. Unfortunately, they were disqualified when one swimmer took off a little too early. That must be heartbreaking for them!
France, on the other hand, must be quite pleased with their women’s 4×200 relay team. They set a new Olympic record! Congratulations, France.
I didn’t get to see the finals this morning, but plan to catch the recap on the news tonight. Last night’s race was very, very exciting.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Singapore’s Tao Li
Yesterday morning at 10:24 am, many TVs in Singapore were tuned in to watch the Olympics. Singapore’s Tao Li was competing in the 100m butterfly finals.
She came in fifth, and made Singaporeans proud. It is hard for a nation whose population would make it nothing more than a small-scale city if it were located in countries like China to compete with other nations that have massive populations from which to raise up athletes. But today Tao Li did a nice job of representing Singapore on the world stage.
I’m with all those who would like to say thanks to Tao Li for representing Singapore well.
