http://www.altfg.com/blog/directors/pedro-almodovar-receives-italian-commendation/ thinking film Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:07:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://www.altfg.com/blog/directors/pedro-almodovar-receives-italian-commendation/#comment-217279 John Truman Lardner Sun, 05 Aug 2007 05:35:16 +0000 http://www.altfg.com/blog/directors/pedro-almodovar-receives-italian-commendation/#comment-217279 I'm trying to find purchase in the spiritual soil of my beloved little counrty , New Zealand . Here , alone and cullturally adrift in a heaving southern ocean we 4million people have , what might appear to be a untopian life . We are safe from those with big guns and bombs . We're safe from horror and oppression . And yet we have stalled in our process of social evalution . We are a country of rugby players and keen business people and yet we have some of the worst reputations for dysfunction in the industrialised world . Suicide rates , anti depressant use , recreational drug use ( Particularly extreme anti social drug types like methamphetamines . ) So I ask myself why ? The answer is obvious to me . Neoliberalism .The New right economic cult that is called neoconservatism in the USA . And when I watched the film ' Volver ' directed by Pedro Almodovar I realised what we'd lost as a society . It's what we sold for a few dollars . We've sold our souls . I saw , in that film , a rich and deep vein of human spirit . The life expressed by and drawn from within the characters was stupendous . I watched the interviews with the cast and the director and that made me yearn for Spain . The kissing , the food , the time spent , the rich colours , washing dishes as an art form , the celebration of women as wonderful , powerful , gentle , loving , intellectuals . Pedro Almodovar , you are a genious and a treasure . One day , hopefully well into the future when you expire you should be set in resin and put on display so as you might be viewed as an exponent of the exhilleration of the human spirit . Viva Espana ! and from me ... See you later mate ! Good on ya ! Johnny Lardner . Freelance Film Scout and Locations manager . I’m trying to find purchase in the spiritual soil of my beloved little counrty , New Zealand . Here , alone and cullturally adrift in a heaving southern ocean we 4million people have , what might appear to be a untopian life . We are safe from those with big guns and bombs . We’re safe from horror and oppression . And yet we have stalled in our process of social evalution .
We are a country of rugby players and keen business people and yet we have some of the worst reputations for dysfunction in the industrialised world . Suicide rates , anti depressant use , recreational drug use ( Particularly extreme anti social drug types like methamphetamines . ) So I ask myself why ? The answer is obvious to me . Neoliberalism .The New right economic cult that is called neoconservatism in the USA .
And when I watched the film ‘ Volver ‘ directed by Pedro Almodovar I realised what we’d lost as a society . It’s what we sold for a few dollars . We’ve sold our souls . I saw , in that film , a rich and deep vein of human spirit . The life expressed by and drawn from within the characters was stupendous . I watched the interviews with the cast and the director and that made me yearn for Spain . The kissing , the food , the time spent , the rich colours , washing dishes as an art form , the celebration of women as wonderful , powerful , gentle , loving , intellectuals . Pedro Almodovar , you are a genious and a treasure . One day , hopefully well into the future when you expire you should be set in resin and put on display so as you might be viewed as an exponent of the exhilleration of the human spirit . Viva Espana ! and from me … See you later mate ! Good on ya ! Johnny Lardner . Freelance Film Scout and Locations manager .

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