paulszymkowicz

This 1:18 movie documents the toxic effects of military live ordnance testing on Isla de Vieques in Puerto Rico. Flora and fauna, including the people living there, have exhibited much higher levels of heavy metals in their systems. Residents display higher incidence of neurological disorders, liver and kidney disease, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes but courts refuse to hear their cases. It's very sad, especially the scene where a goat is tethered and then exposed to some toxic material and falls over in apparent agony. It's not really entertainment but this story is a cautionary tale for us all.

This movie offers a concise encapsulation of issues relating to impending change. The declining American empire is discussed in the historical context that all empires rise and fall.

Americans need to change. Our success has been predicated on the myths of ever-expanding debt. Eventually, the bills come due. Our financial institutions have failed us. Capitalism needs new paradigms to survive.

Americans consume more resources than we need. How can we prosper without being resource hogs? Oil as a source of power is convenient and relatively cheap but pollution from spills and effluence from refineries are damaging our environment. We need to do better. Alternative, cleaner energy must be pursued and use of polluting technologies must be reduced.

Clean water is designated as the real crisis. We have polluted fresh water resources, and even our oceans, such that potential food resources living there have become toxic to us. We need clean water to survive! Its importance cannot be exaggerated.

Consideration of these issues and the formulation of viable solutions to problems we are facing are vital to our continuing survival. This movie is a call to all of us to wake up!

This film is the final installment of director Hiroshi Inagaki's "Samurai Trilogy," three films covering the life of Musashi Miyamoto (Takezo,) Japan's most famous swordsman of the early 17th century and perhaps of all time.

He was an icon of the warrior-philosopher model. He survived numerous duels to the death and retired to painting and writing. His best known work is the "Book of Five Rings," a book which gained popularity recently when it was championed by the Harvard Business School.

All three films of Inagaki's trilogy, made in 1954, 1955, and 1956, are part of the elite Criterion Collection of classic films.

Briefly, this movie resolves the conflict of the two women in Takezo's life, Otsu and Akemi, and leads up to Musashi's showdown with the second most famous swordsman of the day, Sasaki Kojiro. This is the famous Duel at Ganryu Island of the title.

Although I cannot appreciate the Japanese language and must rely on the English subtitles for the meaning of dialog, I do appreciate the beauty of this early widescreen color film. (I believe Tojoscope is a Japanese version of cinemascope.) One could take almost every frame of this film and it would make a stunning still. The costumes and the sets reflect an attention to detail of color, lighting and composition.

For its sense of rather understated action, I particularly enjoyed the opening scene. Sasaki Kojiro demonstrates his signature Swallowtail Turn, a move whereby he severs the tail feathers of this notably swift and agile bird in flight. It's not the portrayed animal cruelty that I enjoyed; it's the human quickness and skill that would be required to accomplish such a feat. I certainly hope that no birds were actually harmed in the making of the film.