A Separation

This morning I received this dvd in the post, much to my excitement. Few things entrance me as much as Iranian New Wave cinema, and this particular title has won so many awards that scrolling through the list on wikipedia will make you go cross eyed, so I was even more anxious to see this film than most. And it did not disappoint.

A separation is the sort of film that can keep you riveted to the screen throughout the most ordinary or domestic setting. This is common of many Iranian films, such as the White Balloon for example, where the viewer is simply watching a little girl trying to buy a goldfish for 90 minutes, or Ten, which is filmed entirely from the dashboard of one woman's car as she drives ten passengers around Tehran. Yet this simplicity never once seems boring, in fact it's the amazing realism that makes it so compelling. Like all good neorealism the film excels at making gripping drama out of the very ordinariness of life, because that's what we all know. This film has no chase scenes or special effects, there isn't even an ominous soundtrack, yet there are scenes in this film that are as enthralling as in any thriller.

For starters the acting is so totally real that it almost feels like a documentary, and in fact one of the film's two main settings (an Iranian divorce court) makes it very similar to the award winning and startling documentary Divorce, Iranian Style by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini. It's this total honesty and realism that makes many of these scenes so intense.

The story focuses on a couple filing for divorce, the reason? Because the wife Simin, does not want her 11 year old daughter to grow up under the current Iranian regime yet the husband, Nader, refuses to leave the country in order to look after his elderly father who has Alzheimer's. If this isn't a ripe enough bed for drama to develop, things take a major turn for the complicated when an accident in the home involving the father's young nurse leads to all manner of sticky situations, slowly unravelling both families, exposing the many tensions of a fractured Iranian society in the process. In this way it can be seen as a searing critique of the arbitrary judicial system and the inhuman laws of the country without ever mentioning politics. It shows the difficulties Iranians must face through their situations. No character ever even mentions the government. And it's precisely what this film doesn't say that has enabled it to be such a massive hit in its homeland, unlike the vocally anti-government Persepolis for example, which was banned.

And it's also this lack of politics that enables the story to transcend it's unique setting and become something more resonant in all cultures. Maybe this also helped it swoop the Golden Globe for best film not in the english language. Not to say it couldn't win simply on its merits as a film, because it truly is an exquisite drama, but given the current climate of hostility between Iran and the USA, it certainly was encouraging to see such a major award go to an Iranian film, which have usually been overlooked by American mainstream award panels.

Not only this, but visually this film also excels, using the framing and colour of images in a truly poetic way that is at times oddly calming and plaintive. Look out for the many symbolic ways in which the two main characters are positioned.

Consequently I would say this, along with The Artist, is definitely the finest film of 2011 that I've seen. A truly impeccable and refined drama that vividly depicts the pain and sadness of a family going through hard times, yet also the strength and humanity that hold them all together, making a lasting impression on the viewer. Unmissable.

The Hit List

Here's some new(ish) music. Some of it's good, some it's shit. Yay.

Sleigh Bells ~ Comeback Kid

Well well well! This has had me excited for a while. The prospect of a new Sleigh Bells album is the sort of news that makes me use gratuitous amounts of exclamation marks. I shall try to restrain myself as I listen to this song for the third time in fifteen minutes. Hmm, I like it, I really do, but I think my expectations and excitement are far too high right now to form my thoughts into words. Needless to say, it has some awesome noises and riffs and it's starting to take hold. I can imagine myself jumping around my house and endangering my neck to it. That's what Sleigh Bells is made for. I am literally pissing myself with excitement for the album now. REIGN OF TERROR. VALENTINE'S DAY!

Niki & The Dove ~ DJ Ease My Mind

Coming ahead of their imminent debut album, Niki & The Dove release a new song that further establishes them unavoidably as a sort of common ground between The Knife and Florence & The Machine. That's not to say they lack originality, their track Mother Protect is one of the most beautiful electronic pop songs Ive heard in a long time, but it is an arguable comparison. Their music isn't quite as angular and stark as that of Karin and Olaf Dreijer, but it also lacks the hystrionic shrieking of Florence Welch, making them a lovely combination of the two. Basically, this is the sort of music Fever Ray would make if she was ever in a good mood. Very much looking forward to their album.

Michael Kiwanuka ~ Home Again

Winner of the coveted Sound of 2012 prize, this refreshingly talented London born Ugandan singer songwriter is tipped for big things this year. This is a delightful song from a no doubt delightful album. It doesn't thrill me exactly, but music isn't always about being cutting edge or inventive, sometimes it's just about writing really good songs and being able to perform them really well, in this age of smoke and mirrors, it's easy to forget that sometimes. Also, he plays sitar, which is awesome, and brings us nicely onto...

Anoushka Shankar ~ Dancing in Madness

Acclaimed sitarist and fusionist, Anoushka Shankar has released another sublime album, entitled 'The Traveller' in which she masterfully blends classical Indian music with raw Flamenco rhythms and Spanish guitar. It's an amazing and hypnotic album, as this track shows, and not to missed by anyone who considers them a fan of 'world' music.

DJ Fresh ft Rita Ora ~ Hot Right Now

Someone should probably tell DJ Fresh that it's not summer for bloody ages yet! He's only gone and released a massive summer anthem in January! His last two big hits Gold Dust and Louder were on festival overkill in 2010 and 2011 respectively and it looks like he's probably gonna be everywhere again this year. It's about as mainstream as drum and bass can get without becoming too exploitative, but it's undeniably infectious and movement-inducing all the same. Big!

The Ting Tings ~ Hang It Up

The Ting Tings, after the riotous success of their monotonal hit 'That's Not My Name' back in 2008, obviously didn't feel like changing the formula too much. But listening to this, I can't help but think that they should maybe have thought about exploring the possibilities of using more than three notes... This song's complete lack of melody genuinely becomes painful after about 30 seconds. Avoid.

[update] Ok, i was a bit harsh, this song is kind of a grower...

Pitbull featuring Chris Brown ~ International Love

Sounding like they're rapping over an instrumental of a rejected Estonian Eurovision entry from 1995, Chris Brown and Armando Christian Perez (aka 'pit bull') unload a whole mess of tacky misogynistic lyrics about women all around the world wanting to have sex with them (as well as constantly reminding us of how much money they make in doing so) which is a bit weird given that Chris Brown has been arrested for beating a woman and that Pitbull has the sleazy presence of a man who traffics 13 year old girls out of Chechnya. Unpleasant.

Cher Lloyd ft. Astro ~ Want U Back

Cher Lloyd continues her meteoric rise to, er, something with this bouncy piece of urban bubblegum. She keeps shouting "UURRRRGH!" and then does an impression of a helicopter. It's annoying and has a child from the american x factor rapping in it (clever cross promotion there!) but unlike her jealous mentor Cheryl Cole's boring soulless music, this is actually a lot of fun as well, which would explain why she's doing so much better in the US than Cheryl did... It's still shit mind you, but it's a piece of shit that smiles at you and knows it's shit, rather than a piece of shit that pouts it's lips at you and tries to be sexy, not realising that it's a piece of shit. Ahem.

will.i.am ft. J.Lo & Mick Jagger ~ T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)

I can't quite believe what I'm seeing or hearing. This is dreadful. A car crash from start to finish. And it's called 'THE'...?!

Does will.i.am actually believe all that stuff he says about himself? The fact that he's been employed by Pentium Intel as creative director suggest lots of people do, which is worrying when he's dropping lyrical nuggets of wisdom such as; "I woke up in the morning/hard like morning wood/in the morning" (insightful) and "I get stacks of cash/you get cashews" (hurtful will, really hurtful).

Although, maybe he's not as stupid as he sounds, the lyric "imma go hard like a mother fuckin boner/imma make a beat to put the people in a coma" suggests a level of self deprecation as yet unheard in his work; to finally admit that listening to his music repeatedly will leave the listener in need of a life support machine!

Anyway, Jennifer Lopez comes on and says some stuff but it's a bit boring really and she may as well not have bothered, pretty uninteresting video you might think but then, it gets weird. Mick Jagger appears, seemingly beamed in by will.i.am's patented intel htc sponsored blackberry lazerbeams that he invented with his super mind, and totally upstages them all, but only in that the words coming out of his mouth are mildly less idiotic than those that have preceded him. Well, apart from the bit about trigonometry.

"You can go hard, or you can go home" they all repeatedly chant. I know which I'll be choosing.

Alaa Wardi is awesome!

This is my new favourite musician! His videos are so well made; kinetic and exciting multi tracked awesomeness! Some people may say he is just an Arab version of Michael Tompkins, and don't get me wrong, Michael Tompkins is a very talented young man, but at least Alaa Wardi doesn't process and auto tune his voice to the point where he sounds like an army of evil Glee clones...

This is fresh, uplifting new music coming out of a generation of young Arab musicians, who have suddenly found themselves getting a lot more attention overseas after a year of uprising and global solidarity.

Check out his youtube channel and like his Facebook page for more cool videos, songs and remixes!