To be read as a direct continuation of Part 2; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-oscars-2021-part-2.html
The Father: One of the main characters in; "Minari" was Yi Soon-ja. The paternal Grandmother. Who suffered a Stroke and then began displaying symptoms of Dementia.
The main character in The Father is; "Anthony" played by Anthony Hopkins. A man who is suffering from very advanced Dementia.
This has caused him to become trapped in a Grand Delusion. That he is living in his own home. Battling with his children who want to move him into a care facility.
In reality he is living in his daughter's home. Where he is causing chaos as the proverbial Cuckoo in the nest.
This is obviously very relevant to America's current political situation.
In Joe Biden they have a man who is clearly suffering from the early symptoms of Dementia.
However, rather than challenging it. A section of society has decided to indulge his Grand Delusion. That he is the President, living in the White House.
Dementia is also an increasingly important issue across the developed world.
Advances in medical science have meant that more people are living longer than ever before. As a result more of them are developing, often age related disorders. Such as Dementia.
This means that there are huge sums of money available. For people who can devise and develop treatment methods and protocols for these type of disorders.
Britain hoped that I would devise these treatment methods and protocols for them. For free.
By subjecting my paternal Grandmother to systematic abuse in order to induce symptoms similar to Dementia. Then sit back, watch and take notes as I solved the problems that caused.
Almost as an afterthought. They also hoped this would force my Grandmother into a care facility. The bills from which would force a fire sale of her home to a local 'Progressive' Housing Association.
They couldn't even manage that. As my Grandmother - we use the term; "Mamgu" - died following a series of catastrophic Stokes. Before her cash ran out. Something I'm still convinced she did on purpose.
At times it seems that COVID-19 has been the universe's vengeance on Britain for that. The way we've responded has certainly raised issues to do with elderly care.
People who work in elderly care know that it can be extremely tragic. The way that we're able to keep people's bodies going long after their minds have gone.
There is a phenomenon known as; "The Winter Harvest." In which winter respiratory diseases - often Coronavirus' - simply reap away the elderly and frail. Which, if you've seen it, is often far from being a tragedy. More of a kindness.
In 2020 the Winter Harvest came in the Spring. However that year was the first time we decided that lifecycle which has existed for thousands of years was unacceptable.
So we pushed the Spring Harvest back into the Winter. Where it was so much worse.
Since my Grandmother's death Britain has simply decided to repeat the same, failed strategy with my Father. They hoped that concerns about his health would be the centrepiece for the 2020 Brexit negotiations.
Having toured the European film festivals through 2019 and 2020. This movie isn't a commentary on that strategy. It is a part of that strategy. So you'll excuse me if I'm far from a huge fan.
Then, of course, COVID-19 came along. In the first, Spring, wave both my Father and I caught it. Suffering such mild cases that my Father didn't actually notice that he had it. We then both developed immunity.
Meaning that Britain couldn't use concerns about my Father's health as a centrepiece for the 2020 Brexit negotiations. Despite 2020 seeing the biggest global health emergency in 100 years.
Which, obviously. I found hilarious.
Never being ones to accept the reality of their situation. Britain has actually been ramping up its campaign against my Father, especially for the Oscars.
On Oscar Sunday (25/4/21) they invited him into hospital for an MRI scan. That's the one where it sounds like you've put a bag of kittens in a tumble drier.
They've really been carrying on like that ever since. Bombarding the deaf person with, supposedly anxiety inducing, telephone calls. Which obviously he can't answer. So they immediately become my problem.
Put simply. Dementia destroys the memory. Including the memories which make up a person's identity.
I think there's one scene in the movie where Anthony tells a visitor to the house that he used to be a professional dancer. At which point his daughter corrects him. Pointing out that he used to an engineer. Just like my Father.
Obviously it is a huge challenge for an actor. To take on the identity of someone. Whose defining characteristic is that they have lost their identity.
The Oscars heaped praise on Julianne Moore when she accomplished the same feat of acting in 2014's "Still Alice." Portraying a woman in the very early stages of Dementia.
Around the time of the 2020 Oscars this led me into a discussion of Ruth Wilson. Who found fame in America in the TV show; "The Affair."
She really made her debut in the British one off TV drama; "The Doctor Who Hears Voices." Playing a junior Doctor who develops, possibly Schizophrenia related, Psychosis.
As with portraying someone with Dementia this is a huge challenge for an actor. The defining element of Psychosis is that the person's brain just isn't functioning in the same way a normal persons is.
Over the years I've had experience of countless people in the grips of Psychosis. Even I found Ruth Wilson's portrayal to be extremely, almost unsettlingly, accurate.
From that you can get into a discussion about how mental illness is portrayed in movies.
Often these portrayals are very negative and damaging. The sort of Hannibal Lecter-like cartoonish supervillian. However even when it is being done sympathetically it is still often done badly. Simply due to how difficult it is to do right.
The point I was trying to make though. Was that Ruth Wilson seems like the sort of person the Academy would want as a member. Particularly as it strives for gender equality.
The problem is that Ruth Wilson is primarily a stage and TV actor. So hasn't done the film work that would make her eligible for Academy membership.
The rise of Internet Streaming has blurred the lines between TV and Movies. So I thought there was a discussion to be had. Over whether Ruth Wilson's work on The Affair could be counted as something making her eligible for Academy membership.
Obviously in 2021 COVID-19 has utterly destroyed the line between TV and Movies. Or moved it to the point where cinemas no longer exist.
Allowing us all to pause movies in the middle. So we can go to the toilet. A godlike power that surely no cinema can ever compete with.
The Father actually caused one of the biggest stirs of this year's Oscars. When Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor.
The Black Lives Matter crowd were convinced this award would be given to Chadwick Boseman. They even believed that the award had been moved to being the last one handed out as a special honour to him.
There was shock when it went to Anthony Hopkins. Who didn't even bother to turn up. Choosing to stay at home in his native Wales.
The show of course was opened by Regina King. Star of the 2019 hit TV show; "Watchmen."
Really driving home the point to the Black Lives Matter crowd.
That Watchmen isn't an aspirational American TV show.
It's a dystopian Welsh TV show.
Sound of Metal: This centres around "Reuben and "Lou". Played by Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke respectively. Two heavy metal musicians who travel around America in a van playing gigs at small venues.
As such it touches on similar ground to Nomadland. It also highlights the plight of people in the entertainment industry, particularly the live entertainment industry, during the pandemic.
While members of the Academy are probably secure enough that they don't need to work. People in the TV and movie industry have still been able to work during the pandemic.
That has not been the case for people working in theatre and live music. People who are much further down the food chain. So don't have the option of going for a year without work.
In a World of, really self-inflicted, suffering. It seems strange to focus on people in the entertainment industry above all others.
However the Academy is a professional body for the entertainment industry. So it is right they acknowledge the people who have been suffering within their industry.
Reuben and Lou's careers are also interrupted. Not by a pandemic but by Reuben discovering that he has lost his hearing.
This contributes to the Black Lives Matter debate. Whether the calls for "inclusivity" really mean the inclusion of marginalised groups. Including the physically disabled.
Or does "inclusivity" simply mean giviing Black people awards they haven't earned and don't deserve.
What is exceptional about Sound of Metal is its Sound Design. Drawing attention to what is often an overlooked area of movie making.
It's easy to dismiss Hollywood and the performing arts as lacking in substances. However it actually involves an awful lot of what is termed; Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
I can't remember exactly which movie, "Interstellar" from 2014 or "Birdman" also from 2014. Possibly both. However the type of camera they needed to make the movie didn't exist. So they first had to go out and invent it.
That is no less scientific. Than a company like Nikon inventing a new type of camera in one of their laboratories.
The sound design in Sound of Metal attempts to show you the world from Reuben's perspective as his hearing deteriorates. So you hear what it is imagined he hears.
Deafness is not something that is binary. It's not a matter than you can either hear or you can't. Different ranges of audio frequency get impaired to different extents and in different ways.
So the preferred term is; "Hearing Impairment" rather than; "Deafness." That's not a matter of political correctness. The term; "Deaf" doesn't go into the level of detail you need to discuss the issue.
In allowing you to hear the world from Reuben's perspective. The movie incorporates this extent of impairment across a range of audio frequencies. Something that requires deeply technical work on the part of the movie's audio department.
That technical work also provides a base for how cinema going can become more inclusive. Opening it up to hearing impaired people who are normally excluded. Due to subtitles/closed captions being unavailable.
As I've mentioned my Father is hearing impaired. So this is actually an area I've given a lot of thought to.
His hearing clinic can now provide him with extremely detailed digital mapping of his hearing impairment. Showing the extent of impairment over the range of audio frequencies.
You can now also get very precisely, digitally, programmable home speaker systems. Soundbars as they're known.
I keep thinking that surely it must be possible to input the digital map into the digital speaker. So it adjusts to precisely counter the hearing impairment.
To explore the idea further I would need my Father's co-operation. However he seems to have absolutely no interest in improving his situation. In any way.
Obviously I will need a tech partner. To shrink the technology down to something the size of a cellphone. The sort of thing hearing impaired people, could bring with them to the cinema. Listening through headphones or hearing aids.
Sound of Metal also makes a point of including the subtitles/closed captions hearing impaired people rely on. This provides a base for a discussion about how things like subtitles are considered in other aspects of TV and movie making.
I think I can even stretch that into a #MeToo discussion. About the sexualisation of actors, particularly women, within the industry.
I've recently been watching a lot of the US TV show "MacGyver." Mainly for the reason that is absolutely trash.
One element of its trashiness. Is that the director seems fixated on the thighs, bum and crotch of the main female character. Played by Tristin Mays. In every scene the camera seems focused on those parts of her body.
However in framing these shots they've given absolutely no thought to where the subtitles will appear. So as far as I'm concerned Tristin Mays is a woman who has an waist and who has knees. With nothing in between.
Heavy Metal music is often used as something of a metaphor for war. Due to the roar of the cannons and all the shrapnel flying about.
Another US TV Show I've been watching is "SEAL Team." One of the characters is actually nicknamed; "Heavy Metal." He is the team's grenadier. The guy who's always firing of the big bazooka or the grenade launcher.
Hearing loss is actually a major problem amongst military veterans. America is currently seeing its largest ever class action lawsuit. As military veterans sue 3M over the less than effective ear defenders they sold the US military.
There is one song in particular that seems relevant to America's current political situation. "The Fighting 69th." With the Dropkick Murphy's version being the most appropriate here.
It's about the 69th Irish Brigade who fought as part of the Republican, Union forces. Against the Democrat, Confederate forces. During the US Civil War. It features the lyric; "Here's to the boys who fear no noise."
It's well established that the Democrats stole the 2020 US Election. By completely disregarding election law to allow them to commit fraud. Particularly in Pennsylvania.
So rather like the song, which references; "Sylvain Shores." A group of men and women who fear no noise had to storm the US Congress on January 6th (6/1/21). To prevent the certification of a false election result.
Unfortunately Republicans in Congress badly misread the situation. Opting to commit treason by certifying a false election result.
There is only so long that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will be able to avoid hearing the issue. Something which will leave them with no legal option other than to declare the election result fraudulent and the current regime illegitimate.
The longer SCOTUS delay is only going to make matters worse for them. By increasing the amount of legislation and budget spending they will have to also invalidate.
America's longest war, of course, is that in Afghanistan. Which is now into its twentieth year. Following the 9/11 attacks in September 2001.
If COVID-19 worked out really well for me and Chloe Zhao.
Then 9/11 worked out really well for Riz Ahmed.
Suddenly he became everybody's go-to guy for; "Vaguely Afghan Muslim Terrorist."
The global spokesman for all things Islam. Many people's one Muslim friend.
It almost goes without saying. Sound of Metal won Best Film Editing and Best Sound.
Part 4 to follow.
19:40 on 6/5/21 (UK date).
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