Three Films with Low IQ Heroes

"Charly" (1968) film with Cliff Robertson in the titular role, was inspired by a science fiction short story "Flowers for Algernon." Charly had an IQ of 69 & was working as a janitor in a bakery. On undergoing a brain surgery, his IQ triples & his life undergoes a change also. But unfortunately it proves short-lived & after a few months, he regresses to his former self. Music for this film was provided by Ravi Shankar.

"Rainman" (1988) starring Dustin Hoffman tells the story of a man, heir to a fortune, institutionalised with an IQ of 87. After his father's death, his selfish greedy brother kidnaps him & accidentally discovers that he can gamble successfully. Meanwhile the asylum doctor arrives & claims custody. Initially opposing the asylum's claim, the selfish brother has a change of heart & accepts the "Rainman" as only his brother.

"Forrest Gump" (1994) memorably played by Tom Hanks, had an IQ of 75 & was rejected by the Army. But unfazed, he engages  himself in various enterprises, succeeding in all of them. While doing so, he also gets involved in various key events in 20th century American events. The film ends happily with Forrest proudly seeing his son off on his first day at school.

Diabelli Variations & The Orange Plot Mysteries

The Austrian composer & music publisher Anton Diabelli composed a waltz tune & invited 51 contemporary composers to contribute a variation on it. Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart's son & the then 8 year old Liszt were among those who contributed. Diabelli published the whole collection. But Beethoven, on his own, composed 33 variations on the theme, which are now known as the Diabelli Variations, & are more famous than the collection of the variations of the 51 composers.

During the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, the weekly magazine "Sunday Dispatch" commissioned six authors to write a story on the plot "One night a man picked up an orange in the street. This saved his life."

One of the six was Nicholas Blake, the pseudonym under which the Irish poet Cecil Day Lewis wrote detective fiction. The publisher, William Collins also contributed the last of the stories. All the six stories are published in book form for the first time in "Bodies from the library" Volume 3, selected & introduced by Tony Medawar.

Unfinished Masterpieces

Charles Dickens' "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", where the eponymous protagonist is killed, ends before the culprit is unmasked, because of the author's death. But most of the clues point to Edwin's uncle John Jasper being the murderer, the reason being his attraction to Rosa, the beloved of his nephew. Many lesser authors have tried completing the novel. The 1935 film with Claude Rains playing Jasper also completes the story.

Nikolai Gogol's classic humorous novel of Tsarist Russia, "Dead Souls", also ends literally in the midst of a sentence. But before doing so, it presents a panoramic view of the Russian society of that time. It also presents in Chichikov, the ultimate scamster. who though unmasked, wriggles out of a tight corner & replaces his new suit of "smoke & flame", a literal as well as a  metaphorical symbol of his ill-gotten prosperity, fall from grace & resilient bounce-back. 

In the world of music, the most famous example is Franz Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony" in B minor. Though he composed the later "The Great C major", he chose not to add to the two movements of the earlier one. Probably he felt, like the later musicologists, that the two movements themselves constituted an artistic whole.

Pets in Detective Fiction

Agatha Christie's "Dumb Witness" is actually named after Bob, the fox terrier, owned by the murdered woman. He was fond of playing with a ball & once left it at the top of a staircase. His mistress stepped on it & took a tumble down the stairs but fortunately had only minor injuries, & recouped within a week. But later she succumbed to poisoning. Christie humanises the dog & transcribes his thoughts for the readers. At the end of the novel, Bob, playing with his ball again  is presented to Poirot, but his friend Hastings claims him, stating that Poirot cannot look after him.

In Ngaio Marsh's "Final Curtain", Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn, dramatically first encounters the cat Carabbas at his burying by a crying little girl Panty, who is singing a funeral dirge. Otherwise a spoiled brat, Panty is really grieving for her only friend & abusing her aunt, who accused Panty of transmitting ringworm to the cat. Actually Panty prophetically says she hates her aunt & wants to kill her, when at the end of the novel, the aunt is unveiled as the murderer.

In another Marsh novel, "Tied up in Tinsel", the reader comes across Slyboots & Smartypants, the two cats (Marsh was a cat-lover!), the pets of the cook. When they are found in the bed of Cressida Tottenham, guest & fiancee of the host, she raises a ruckus, as she hates cats. After the inevitable murder in the novel, Cressida has to dree her weird & is unmasked as the perpetrator.

Scriptural Canines

In Rigveda, Panis (demons) stole the cows belonging to Angirasas, sons of Sage Angiras, & hid them in a cave. The Angirasas approached Indra & other gods to help them. Indra ordered Sarama, a bitch in his court to find out where the cows were. She did & negotiated with the Panis, who initially were stubborn. When she related Indra's might, they tried to bribe her with a share, saying she was like a sister to them. She said that she was nobody's sister & returned to Indra, who raided the cave & recovered the cows.

In Semitic literature also, there is the story of the Seven Sleepers in the Christian tradition (not in the Bible). These were seven Christian men who hid in a cave to avoid persecution by the Roman Emperor, who sealed the entrance. After about 200 years, when Christianity was established, the cave was opened. The seven, who were sleeping, came out & like the later Rip Van Winkle, thought they were asleep for only a short time!

A reference to this is in the Qur'an also, but the duration is about 300 years & the number of sleeping men is not specified. But a dog, probably named Al-Raquim was also stretched out at the mouth of the cave. (Surah 18, Verse 9). All were supposedly alive.

Vedas & Upanishads

Many books are available of these earliest texts of Hinduism. But because of their esoteric nature, they may not be reader friendly at the present time.

One of the books which overcome this limitation is "Vedas & Upanishads for children" by Roopa Pai. Though it may be over the heads of most children, it is certainly accessible to nerdy teens & adults. Emboldened by her success with her earlier book on Gita for the same audience, the computer engineer turned author has done an astonishing feat in producing a page turner in this book.

Though the writing is cool & groovy in its approach to suit the targeted age group, she never dumbs down the content to suit them. For example she uses the "Happy Birthday" tune & Maria teaching the children music in "The Sound of Music", to illustrates the metre (chandas) of the Vedic hymns.

The first 124 pages of this 412 page book is devoted to an overview of the Vedas with all necessary background information. The rest of the book deals with the ten principal Upanishads in some depth. How the Upanishad teaching can be applied at home, school & workplace is also delineated. She exhorts the readers to "Don't settle for being human - discover the God that you really are."

Illustrated by Sayan Mukherjee, it is beautifully printed in dark type (eye-friendly) by Hachette publishers with an eye-catching colour cover. The footnotes, usually in smaller type at the bottom of the page in other books, is printed in normal type after the paragraph in the main text, with an eye-catching special marginal border. As this book, acquired for young readers may be a guide to them life-long, a hard cover edition with colour illustrations would be very welcome.

Possessive Blood Relatives in Literature

It is quite common for a wife to be possessive of her husband & she, it should be remembered is not related by blood.

The most famous example of a possessive mother is Gertrude Morel in D.H.Lawrence's "Sons & Lovers". Disappointed in her husband's & eldest son's love, she hung onto Paul, her artist son as the last hope.

In Thomas Hardy's heartbreaking short story, "The Son's Veto", Sophy Twycott, a servant, marries the vicar & has a son Randolph. After her husband's death, she wants to marry her former beau, Sam, a trader. But Randolph, educated to be a priest, forbids his mother to marry below his rank as a priest. She spends the rest of her life as a lonely abandoned widow.

In Agatha Christie's last novel "Sleeping Murder", Dr.Kennedy was so possessive of his step sister, Helen, that he prevented her social life, going as far as to prolong the infection of her injured foot, by dressing it himself. Finally to stop her from marrying, he kills her & kills others also, who suspect him.

In a reversal of the above story, Somerset Maugham's story "The Book Bag" tells of siblings Olive & Tim being very close with no thoughts of romantic lives. Suddenly Tim meets, falls in love, marries & brings his bride home. Though outwardly Olive takes the news calmly enough, just before the newlyweds arrive, she shoots herself dead.

The Wittiest Couple in Shakespeare

These are Benedick & Beatrice in "Much ado about nothing." Their charming fencing with words is the highlight of the play. Both are against marriage for most of the play. Benedick says;

"That a woman conceived me, I thank her;

That she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks;

But (to think I will go further), all women shall pardon me."

Beatrice: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than hear a man swear he loves me.

Benedick: What my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?

Beatrice: Is it possible Disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signor Benedick?

When Benedick goes to war, Beatrice has such a poor opinion of his prowess that she promises to eat anyone whom he kills!

Finally, their friends set a trap & convince Benedick that Beatrice is dying of love for him. Then Benedick thinks "If I do not take pity on her, I am a villain."

When a similar game is played on Beatrice, she thinks "Farewell, contempt & scorn,& maiden pride, adieu! Benedick, love on; I will requite you, taming my wild heart to your loving hand."

Marriage Sacraments

In Islam, it is mostly a civil contract, where the man has to look after the woman.

In Christianity, the marriage should hold good even in adverse circumstances, "in health & sickness" etc. The man should "love & cherish" the woman & she has to "honour & obey" him.

Only in Hinduism is marriage linked with the "Purusharthas" or goals of human life. The four goals are Dharma (righteousness), Artha (material possessions), Kama (Desire) & Moksha (Liberation). The wife is called "Dharma Patni" & most tellingly "Saha Dharmini." The primacy of Dharma is emphasised in this. She is a partner in the path of righteousness. She is not called "Saha Arthini" or "Saha Kamini". However attainment of Moksha is an individual effort for which no partner is required.

Unfortunately, this teaching has been reversed & wives behaving as they are not called are accepted as normal. Further, in many cases, they are even deflecting the man from the path of Dharma. Even Queen Kaikeyi in "Ramayana" did this though reasonably she was insisting on a promise given to her, she did deflect Dasharatha from the path of Dharma.

This may also be the reason behind the rising cases of divorce, being due to a warped sense of priorities.

Three Texts on Music Appreciation

"Music" by Daniel T. Politoske is divided into nine parts, comprising 30 chapters, being comprehensive in its coverage. The highlight of the book is each period of music is complemented by art essays drawing on the painting & sculpture of the age, presenting a holistic picture of beauty in music & the arts. Profusely illustrated both in photographs & staff notation excerpts, it also contains over 50 Listening Guides to many works which analyse threadbare the structure of the pieces.

"Invitation to Listening" by Richard L.Wink & Lois G.Williams also uses art works to highlight & compare similar abstract ideas present in music. For example Peter Mondrian's "Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue & Black" (which comprises just blocks of these colours put together) is used to illustrate the idea of Music being an abstract art. Divided into 12 chapters, the first 10 provide an introduction to music theory & forms of composition. Musical examples quoted in text are given in staff notation in the last 40 pages of the book.

Probably the most beautifully designed book is "Listen" by Joseph & Vivian Kerman, which won the Merit Award at the New York Book Show. All the people involved in the production of this book are accomplished musicians themselves. This volume, lavishly spread over 21 chapters also integrates the relevant art works of the period to the music being discussed. The second colour works wonders to clarify diagrams, music examples & listening charts. The 22 Listening Charts, an unique feature gives the time indication in minutes & seconds of what is going on in the music, hand-holding the reader/listener throughout the piece.

Two Texts on Film Appreciation

The first is Louis D. Gianetti's "Understanding Movies." Divided into chapters on Picture, Movement, Editing, Sound, Drama, Literature, Theory & profusely illustrated (including colour plates), it presents an excellently organised overview of all noteworthy aspects of films.

For example, to impress the importance of constructive editing, it presents 24 stills of the iconic scene from Hitchcock's "Sabotage", where a wife, realising her husband's role in the death of her younger brother, stabs him at the dinner table.

Antonioni, a master of colour, excelled himself in the symbolic use of colour in his "Red Desert", which is illustrated here in 12 typical stills.

"Film Art, An Introduction" by Bordwell & Thompson, also organises it's material in chapters entitled, Work of Film Production, Significance of Film Form, Narrative & Non-narrative Formal Systems, The Shot: Mise-en-Scene, The Shot: Cinematographic Properties, The Relation of Shot to Shot: Editing, Sound in the Cinema, Style as a Formal System, Film Criticism: Sample Analyses & Film Form and Film History. This is also profusely illustrated with 16 colour plates to illustrate the creative use of colour. It also has Hitchcock's masterly use of editing in the petrol bunk scene from "The Birds" along with the shooting script.

Books like these, present film appreciation in an organised way to educate film viewers to maximise their understanding & enjoyment of the films they watch.

Listening to Hindustani Music

Chetan Karnani's "Listening to Hindustani Music" was the first of its type to be keyed to the LP records of the musicians so that the reader can access the music being written about. But he resorts to facile generalisations & is not quite accurate in a few places, besides being opinionated.

Sandeep Bagchee's "Nad" starts from the fundamentals & dives deep into the subject. Meticulously researched, the fundamentals are presented exhaustively, before analysing the unique "Gharana" system of both vocal & instrumental schools. The icing on the cake is however the eight popular Ragas selected for detailed analysis, each being illustrated with a recorded performance on LP, where the writer handholds the reader throughout the performance, as it were.

Rajiv Nair's "A Rasika's Journey through Hindustani Music" succeeds in transmitting his infectious enthusiasm for the genre to the reader. After a general introduction to the various forms within the genre, short bio-data of the leading practitioners are given, highlighting their specialities. But unfortunately, here also the author (like Karnani) allows his prejudices to get the better of him, depriving the reader of an objective value-based analysis.

Even though the following does not bear directly on the subject of this essay, it may help to set the record straight on the Ravi Shankar & Vilayat Khan controversy. (The following info. is from Namita Devidayal's "The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan.") Despite Vilayat Khan immodestly advertising himself as "The World's Greatest Sitar Player" in posters, his concerts in USA were never housefull, unless he was accompanied by Zakir Hussain. The fact is in the Alap & Jod portions of serious ragas, none were in the same class as Ravi Shankar, not even Nikhil Banerjee.

Film Studies: A Select Bibliography

Film appreciation as a course is offered in many western universities. In India also FTII, Pune offers such a course. There are many books specifically designed for such studies. However, there are many seminal books on this subject which are considered below.

The first & most important is the two volume set of "What is Cinema?" by Andre Bazin, published by the University of California Press. As Pauline Kael, another iconic film critic wrote, "What is Cinema" joins that small company of books on movies that do not exploit interest in movies but intensify it."

Rudolf Arnheim's "Film as Art" (from the same publisher as above) puts forward the provocative thesis that the peculiar virtues of film as art, derive from an exploitation of the limitations of the medium.

"Film: A Montage of Theories" edited by Richard Dyer MacCann is a selection of essays by Pudovkin, Hitchcock, Bergman, Zavattini et al on various aspects of film craft arranged theme-wise.

V.F.Perkins, in his "Film as Film", shows how a synthetic theory can shape raw cinematic experience & create a framework for constructive criticism. Also, most importantly, he points out the limits of criticism.

A more comprehensive volume than the above is "The Cinema as Art" by Ralph Stephenson & J. R. Debrix, which applies the philosophical concepts of time-space continuum & the nature of reality in analysing films, with over 300 examples taken from world cinema.

Notable film critics include Pauline Kael & Bosley Crowther (whose magisterial reviews in the New York Times could make or mar a film.)

Children in Upanishads

Even though the Upanishads are the apogee of esoteric wisdom, children do figure prominently in them.

In Katha Upanishad, Vajasrabasa, hoping for divine favour, performed a rite giving away all his posessions. But actually he was giving away only his useless cattle. Nachiketa, his young son, noticed this & asked his father "I also belong to you.  To whom will you give me?" His father, angered, said "I give you to Death." So Nachiketa went to the God of Death & waited for an audience. Death, pleased at his perseverance, granted him boons. Nachiketa asked that when he returned home, his father should recognise & accept him. It was granted & Nachiketa asked for knowledge of Brahman. Though Death was reluctant to impart this supreme knowledge, Nachiketa held fast, obtained it & returned home.

In Chandogya Upanishad, two children feature. Satyakama wanted to get spiritual guidance & asked his mother as to his family name. Jabala, his mother told him that she worked in many places as a servant & did not know who his father was, & could call himself Satyakama Jabala. He went to Sage Gautama & wanted to be his disciple. Gautama asked him his family name & Satyakama repeated his mother's words. Gautama was very pleased & said "Only a true Brahmin will be so truthful" & accepted him.

In the same Upanishad, when Svetaketu was 12 years old, his father Uddalaka asked him to go & acquire learning. So Svetaketu went to a teacher, studied the Vedas for 12 years & returned home a proud man. But when questioned by his father, it was evident that Svetaketu had only acquired conceit & not learning. So his father taught him the supreme knowledge embedded in "tat tvam asi" (Thou art that).