Short Answers

Last week I did some work for this chap, Andy Bannister. Amongst other things, like writing and debating, he makes these little "Short Answers" videos about various aspects of Christianity. I've been thinking about which one to post up here as a sample. I suppose the best would be these two as they are about Jesus himself, the heart of the faith. They are nicely made, and only a few minutes each. There's loads more  of these online here, where I've just noticed you can ask a question too.   

Tonight's Sunset in Perth

Film Notes: Son of Saul

Son of Saul, is without any doubt, the most horrific film I have ever seen. It left me numb,and in shock, while my wife felt physically sick. Watching it is something of an endurance test for the viewer - and yet despite this, it has won countless accolades including the Cannes Grand Prix, and the 2015 Academy Award for best foreign language film. What is it that made the film juries, and the countless critics who's scores accumulate to 95% approval on the Rotten Tomatoes meta-critic site, so endorse this appalling spectacle? There are several reasons:

The first is that this is a film about truth. The action takes place over two-days in the heart of the Nazi's death-camp at Auschwitz. Using the best first-hand account of how the industrial scale murder-factories looked, were run, staffed and organised, the details of the story-line might be fictitious; but they are rooted in truth. Life in the camps has been depicted before, in films like Schindler's List,  where the viewer thought for a moment that they were going to be asked to watch a mass murder by gas; but are spared at the last second. Likewise, I've seen disturbing depictions of the labour-camps before; but Son of Saul, is set right in the heart of the killing. László Nemes might just spare us the sight of the asphyxiations themselves, but he does not spare us the victims screams - and hopeless banging on the gas-chamber doors.

The central character, Saul Ausländer (Géza Röhrig), is a Hungarian Jew. imprisoned in the death-camp. Primo Levi, in "The Drowned and The Saved", his Auschwitz memoir, describes the various roles prisoners were given. The useful like him, were put to hard labour, others were selected for medical experiments, while others were condemned to what he called "The Gray Zone", that is joining the Sonderkommando. These most wretched of souls gained a few months of life, by running the death-machine. Saul, was a Sondercommando, and we first meet him herding fellow Hungarian Jews to their death, taking their possessions for the Nazi's, hauling out the naked bodies from the gas-chambers, and scrubbing them clean for the next train-load. This is so intense, so incomprehensible, that it is hard to watch. However, the fact that this happened, as recently as in my parents' lifetime, means that it has to be faced.

The second reason that the film has been so lauded is the extraordinary cinematography. In interviews, László Nemes has described shooting the film in a messy way, all from human-eye-level. The fact that the narrow depth of field means that the main characters faces are in focus, but the background is constantly out, is also remarkable. It creates initially a sense that Saul has his head-down, trying to avoid seeing, what is all around him; the eye-level filming drawing the viewer right into the hell. The strangely muffled sound-track adds to this curious sense of the recoiling-self seeking to protect itself through a form of cognitive dissonance. This technique also allows the filmmaker to allow the horror of the gas chambers to appear on screen - while seeking to avoid the gratuitous, or prurient details the focus of the shot. Saul, has to help remove the naked corpses of the newly-slain from the gas-chambers. Yet, while the bodies are dragged, with no ceremony or dignity whatsoever; László Nemes places them just beyond the focal length of his cameras. The result is visually striking, absorbing and deeply, deeply disturbing.

The third, and most important reason that Son of Saul resonates so powerfully with audiences and critics, is that it is ultimately a film about humanity. The underlying narrative is that the Nazis denied that the Jews were human; and treated them in accordance with this twisted view - and as a result lived in complete denial of their own humanity. I was sickened by the way the Nazis called the dead "pieces", unable to face up to, or even comprehend what they had just done. I believe it was Auschwitz survivor Rabbi Hugo Gryn (1930-1996), who says that he never once asked "Where God was in Auschwitz"; but was constantly asking, "Where is humanity?". Despite the loss of his liberty, dignity, morality, hope and the abject denial of his humanity, Saul, of the Sonderkommando, holds onto one tiny shred of his personhood. Without spoiling the plot, Saul is determined to find a Rabbi, amongst the prisoners, and give a proper burial to one small dead Hungarian-Jewish boy from the holocaust. This one body, like that of the 'unknown soldier' of WWI, comes to mean much more than just itself; but a representative of wounded humanity. Saul's bewildering desire to commend his 'son' to the earth and to God, is a powerful portrait of a man clinging to some shred of humanity, while living in a hell-on-earth. The one thing with which he will not be parted, is his desire to give one little human the right departure, and to commend him to God with some dignity. 

That beautiful, yet minute thread of light, is the only hope found in this horrendous depiction of evil. I'm sure that watching it was the right thing to do. I don't think I could watch it again though.

Through The Chalamain Gap to Lurcher's Crag

Creag an Leth-choin, or Lurcher's Crag, is a wonderful top, high in the Cairngorm plateau. Apparently, it was once considered to be a Munro in it's own right; but now is simply listed as a 'top'. I have previously blogged 'in defence of Munro-bagging', but the down-side of it is equally obvious; walks like Lurcher's Crag are missed-out, when they are so worth doing.

We began our walk at the 'Sugarbowl' Car Park on the road from Rothiemurchus up to the Ski Centre. Our oldest has left for university, so it was just the three of us, who crossed the road and followed the well-engineered path down into the gorge of the Allt Mor, and across the wooden footbridge. Here we caught up with a group of fifty or so folks walking up, with guides, to visit the reindeer enclosure in Glenmore. The guides were carrying sacks of feed, and were happy to chat about the 60+ years of reindeer in these hills, since re-introduction; how the tourists pay far too much for guided trips to see them, and how they control their numbers through surgery (!), not culling.

The Chalamain Gap

Our conversation was brought to an abrupt end, as they took the right fork in the path to the enclosure, while we veered left; across open country, towards the famous Chalamain Gap. Without the large group in our way, we were able to pick up speed and follow the excellent path, uphill all the way into it. The Chalamain gap was carved by post-glacial overflow at the end of the last ice age; in a very short space of geological time; when vast quantities of meltwater, trapped behind the retreating ice-sheet found a run-off from the Lairig Ghru to Glem More. What is left is a steep, boulder-lined defile, cutting into the side of the mountain - through which access to the Lairig Ghru can be gained.

I've been through the gap once before, many years ago, on my way through to mighty Braeriach. Scrambling through the boulders in first-light, the moon was framed in the gap.... a sight I'll never forget. This time is was bright, sunny and very cold, as we ascended through the increasingly rocky terrain. My younger son and I enjoyed the rough ground; my wife and daughter did not! However, the excitement is short-lived and a good path resumes, from the exit from the gap, all the way down into the LairigGhru - through which I walked just a few weeks ago. 

Across the Lairig Ghru

The path up Lurcher's Crag is very easy to miss, from the main track. A tiny cairn, above a bog to the left of the path marks it's start; but it soon becomes an obvious route - only petering out on the rocky ground on the summit. The view though, get better as the ascent continues, not just of the Cairngorms, but of everywhere to the North of them initially; and then from the summit, right down the great Lairig Ghru itself; between Ben Macdui to the left and Braerich to the right, with the Devil's Point just visible at the back.

Down the Lairig Ghru

Were it not for my daughter's complaining, we would have continued along the tops, around to Cairngorm; however she was at her tolerance point for hillwalking (mental I should add - physically she could walk for ever, if motivated!) and so we planned a route down. Rather than retrace our steps, we traversed to the Lairig Ghru viewpoint at 1010m, and the around to the Miadan Creag an Leth-Choin ridge, from which there is a path back to the ski-centre. By this stage is it was bitterly cold, and large hot chocolate drinks at the ski lodge were in order, before the trek back down the road to the car. 

Meall a' Bhuachaille

Meall a' Bhuachaille is a delightful Corbett, set amongst the high Munros of The Cairngorm, offering a lovely easy, family walk - with one of the best viewpoints in the National Park. As if that wasn't enough, it has the added advantage of being accessed via the delightful footpath  Ryvoan Pass with it's charming green 'fairy-lochan'.

The track continues past the lochan, climbs slightly and breaks free of the woods, revealing expansive views south and east across the Nethy River and on to Glen Avon. We took the left hand fork, towards the Ryvoan Bothy, but whenever I pass this spot I cannot help but remember a trip down the right fork to climb Bynack Mor, with the late, great, Kevin McPhee.

Behind the bothy, a well-engineered footpath takes to the hill - twisting and turning its way around various obstacles until a massive cairn is reached. The Great Cairngorm peaks of Cairngorm itself, along with it's giant neighbours from Braeriach to Beinn Mheadhoin fill the sky to the south, while beautiful Loch Morlich glistens in Rothiemurchus to the North-west.

It's possible to return by the ascent route, but a circuit can be made by dropping Westwards to the bealach between Meall a' Bhuachaille and the adjacent Creagan Gorm, from where a path descends back to the roadside through the gentle woodlands. A  felled section of woodland, on the way down, created a large glade - which was being patrolled by a huge bird of prey (probably an eagle) which we stood and watched as it's broad wing cast a wide shadow, moving through the land.

What a marvellous place!

Film Notes: Rome, Open City

Sometimes when films are billed as "classics", or "unmissable" they fail to live up to the hype. My Mum is likewise always suspicious when the reviews of a book use the word "achievement"in the publisher's blurb. Roberto Rossellini's "Rome, Open City", is somewhat weighed down with heady reviews, which both elevate expectations and make objective appreciation of the film difficult. 

The film, made in 1945, concerns the Nazi occupation of the city during the latter stages of The Second World War - after the decline of the Italian Fascist State; and during the Allied Invasion of

Italian territory. The ruthless rule of the Nazi occupiers is depicted, along with the exploits and sufferings of the Italian Catholic and Communist resistance movements; as they joined forces against a common foe. Marcello Pagliero and Aldo Fabrizi lead the cast as the communist resistance leader, Georgio Manfredi and Catholic Priest (and document forger, and resistance messenger) Dom Pietro, respectively.

Without giving away to many spoilers, Rossellini uses these characters (their lives, loves, families, etc) to write a a fictional account of life under occupation - which is based on real events. It is a tale of live, loss, betrayal, cruelty, death, defiance, painted against the backdrop of the inevitable destruction of the Third Reich.

Old films, especially those which date back this far, can seem desperately slow and contrived to contemporary audiences. Rome, Open City shows its age, but isn't slow or clunky; but is absorbing and moving - mostly due to the compelling acting of characters like Anna Magnani (as Sora Pina - embroiled in the struggle, as she is marrying into the Resistance), and Maria Michi (as Marina Mari), struggling with drug addiction, compromised loyalties, and treachery. The acid test for me in so any films is whether the plot and characters and good enough to make me care about the outcome. Rome, Open City passes this test absolutely.

Two aspects of the film will trouble contemporary audiences. The first is the bizarre staging of the

Nazi head office, with offices, torture chambers and drinking clubs being three adjacent interconnected rooms. Perhaps such a strange place existed (almost anything is possible); but it did look rather odd - even if it facilitated easy scene changes. The second is that the two most sadistic Nazi villains, Harry Feist as Major Hartmann and Giovana Galletti, as Ingrid; are to varying degrees portrayed as homosexuals. This is obviously going to be interpreted today as the stereotyping of a minority community in overtly evil terms, and summarily rejected. Perhaps though it can be interpreted within an Italian context in 1945 in slightly more sympathetic terms, (while we would want to avoid endorsing such stereotyping obviously). I think the filmmaker is referencing the decline of the Roman Empire which is characterised as being decadent in its power - with the final throes of the Nazi Empire in Rome, - using cultural mores from the 1940s as a device. Many viewers today, are still going to find that aspect troublesome however.

Rossellini brings his film to a climax, which is something akin to the New Testament gospels. As Manfredi is tortured in front of Dom Pietro; his sufferings and wounds (which he chooses to bear, rather than betray his fellow resistance fighters), save lives, and are deliberately filmed in a way which evokes the passion of Christ. (Spoiler alert!) Prior to the torture scene (which earns the film a (12) certificate - but which might disturb many an adult), the Nazi commander expressed his total confidence that a Nazi torturer could beat an Italian resister - on the basis of racial superiority. The fact that he then betrays no-one is not referenced, but the unspoken implication of the fallacy of racial theories thunders though the end of the film. Evil is once again trounced, not by superior fire-power but through redemptive suffering. This aspect of the film is powerful and profound.

The film, it is often claimed, was written in order to re-brand Italians in the wake of their calamitous experiences in the war, under Mussolini, Nazism, and Allied occupation. Rossellini wanted to make a film in which Italians were 'good', and who suffered for their goodness, alongside the other victims of Nazism. Tales of the French Resistance were well-known at this point, and the sufferings of the Jews and others in the camps was soon to come to light too. Rossellini wanted to make sure that the world knew that there were Italians too, who were suffering in order to redeem Europe from evil. Historians have made much of the fact that in order to achieve this he downplayed the role of the Italian fascists, and over-estimates that of the Nazi occupiers. Perhaps so, but nevertheless he achieves his goal of producing a gripping, sympathetic reading of Italian resistance to Nazism and Fascism.

On a personal side-note, my Grandfather fought in the Second World War, and spent the final part of it, guarding POW's in various camps in the UK, including one in Scotland. He told me that while some of the POW camps were high security, the job guarding the Italians was easy. In general, he said, the Italian POWs were relatively content to be there, had no desire to escape, let alone fight any more; and shared the universal opinion that Mussolini was a fool, best avoided until peace came. I suspect my grandfather would have understood Rossellini's remarkable film, better than me.