Departed

I really fail to follow the enthusiasm of the critics about Martin Scorsese's new film "The Departed", a remake of the Hongkong Crime Thriller "Internal Affairs". It's the story of two cops and the attempts of the police force to get control over the powerful Irish Mafia.

One of the two cops works as an undercover agent in a Mafia organization (Costigan - Leonardo DiCaprio), the other (Sullivan - Matt Damon) as a policeman who informs to the Mafia. For some time they know about each other without meeting. Head of the "organization" is Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Costigan works his way into Costello's inner circle, Sullivan has to find the informer before things get out of hand. Each man has to work feverishly to reveal his counterpart.

Ekkehard Knoerer in Sign and Sight speaks of mirror-image doppelgangers, with two father figures on both sides, Costello and the head of the police department. Also, communication methods are similar - a lot of crucial information is transferred via cellphones. Additionally, they love the same woman, the police psychologist.

I cannot see a quality connection to - in the meantime almost legendary and intriguing - films like "Godfellas", "Taxi Driver" or "Raging Bull", "Gangs of New York", or the Dylan film "No Direction Home". It's quick, brutal, violent, to some extent entertaining, certainly a thriller - but what happened to aesthetics, to the psychological and fascinating camera work you could almost always take for granted with Scorsese? I heard the f-word about 150 times. Maybe that's why I couldn't find the humour and wit some of the critics praise.

Depressing.


For those who speak German:

There's now a digitalized edition of "Die Fackel", satirical magazine, edited and authored by the famous Austrian writer, playright, satirist, aphorist and journalist Karl Kraus ("The Last Days of Mankind"),from the Austrian Academy of Sciences. See also my blog in German, Junctions.

The Soul of Europe

Wim Wenders, German filmmaker, delivered a notable speech at the conference "A Soul for Europe".

Leading Man

rudy the little monster
Originally uploaded by francessa_Rich.

This new superstar can be seen in Francis Ford Catzolas film "Always Starving".

Three Photographers

What are holidays for? Reading, of course, being in Germany, playing, doing lots of nonsense, going to exhibitions like the Caspar David Friedrich exhibit in Hamburg - finally! - and working through the Christmas gifts.

For a long time I have admired both photographers Andreas Feininger and Andreas Gursky. But only a few days ago I made the connection - there are similiarities between those two, the densitiy, choice of motives (America), the German origin, and only today I realised they share the same first name.

As I have heard today from secret sources there will be a Gursky exhibition in Munich from February 17 to May 13. We just might go there ....


Talking about photographers. I got the beautiful "A Photographer's Life 1990 - 2005", by Annie Leibovitz as a Christmas gift.

Portraits and photographs of Johnny Cash, Michael Jordan, Keith Richards, the Clintons, Nelson Mandela, Jack Nicholson, and many more, as well as astonishing family compositions.