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blackkudos · 5 years ago

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Cecil Taylor

Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929 – April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet.

Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex improvisation often involving tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His technique has been compared to percussion. Referring to the number of keys on a standard piano, Val Wilmer used the phrase "eighty-eight tuned drums" to describe Taylor's style. He has been referred to as being "like Art Tatum with contemporary-classical leanings".

Early life and education

Taylor was raised in the Corona, Queens neighborhood of New York City. As an only child to a middle-class family, Taylor's mother encouraged him to play music at an early age. He began playing piano at age six and went on to study at the New York College of Music and New England Conservatory in Boston. At the New England Conservatory, Taylor majored in composition and arranging. During his time there, he also became familiar with contemporary European art music. Bela Bartók and Karlheinz Stockhausen notably influenced his music.

In 1955, Taylor moved back to New York City from Boston. He formed a quartet with soprano saxophonist, Steve Lacy, bassist Buell Neidlinger, and drummer Dennis Charles. Taylor's first recording, Jazz Advance, featured Lacy and was released in 1956. The recording is described by Richard Cook and Brian Morton in the Penguin Guide to Jazz: "While there are still many nods to conventional post-bop form in this set, it already points to the freedoms in which the pianist would later immerse himself." Taylor's quartet featuring Lacy also appeared at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, which was made into the album At Newport. Taylor collaborated with saxophonist John Coltrane in 1958 on Stereo Drive, now available as Coltrane Time.

1950s and early 1960s

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Taylor's music grew more complex and moved away from existing jazz styles. Gigs were often hard to come by, and club owners found that Taylor's approach of playing long pieces tended to impede business. His 1959 LP record Looking Ahead! showcased his innovation as a creator as compared to the jazz mainstream. Unlike others at the time, Taylor utilized virtuosic techniques and made swift stylistic shifts from phrase to phrase. These qualities, among others, still remained notable distinctions of Taylor's music for the rest of his life.

Landmark recordings, like Unit Structures (1966), also appeared. Within the Unit, musicians were able to develop new forms of conversational interplay. In the early 1960s, an uncredited Albert Ayler worked with Taylor, jamming and appearing on at least one recording, Four, which was unreleased until appearing on the 2004 Ayler box set Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70).

By 1961, Taylor was working regularly with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, who would become one of his most important and consistent collaborators. Taylor, Lyons, and drummer Sunny Murray (and later Andrew Cyrille) formed the core personnel of the Cecil Taylor Unit, Taylor's primary ensemble until Lyons' death in 1986. Lyons' playing, strongly influenced by jazz icon Charlie Parker, retained a strong blues sensibility and helped keep Taylor's increasingly avant garde music tethered to the jazz tradition.

Late 1960s and 1970s

Taylor began to perform solo concerts in the latter half of the 1960s. The first known recorded solo performance was "Carmen With Rings" (59 minutes) in De Doelen concert hall in Rotterdam on July 1, 1967. Two days earlier, Taylor had played the same composition in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Many of his later concerts were released on album and include Indent (1973), side one of Spring of Two Blue-J's (1973), Silent Tongues (1974), Garden (1982), For Olim (1987), Erzulie Maketh Scent (1989), and The Tree of Life (1998). He began to garner critical and popular acclaim, playing for Jimmy Carter on the White House Lawn, lecturing as an artist-in-residence at universities, and eventually being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991.

In 1976, Taylor directed a production of Adrienne Kennedy's A Rat's Mass at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village of Manhattan. His production combined the original script with a chorus of orchestrated voices used as instruments. Jimmy Lyons, Rashid Bakr, Andy Bey, Karen Borca, David S. Ware, and Raphe Malik performed in the production as the Cecil Taylor Unit, among other musicians and actors.

1990s and the Feel Trio

Following Lyons' death in 1986, Taylor formed the Feel Trio in the early 1990s with William Parker on bass and Tony Oxley on drums. The group can be heard on Celebrated Blazons, Looking (Berlin Version) The Feel Trio and the 10-disc set 2 T's for a Lovely T. Compared to his prior groups with Lyons, the Feel Trio had a more abstract approach, tethered less to jazz tradition and more aligned with the ethos of European free improvisation. He also performed with larger ensembles and big band projects.

Taylor's extended residence in Berlin in 1988 was documented by the German label FMP, resulting in a box set of performances in duet and trio with a large number of European free improvisors, including Oxley, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, Tristan Honsinger, Louis Moholo, and Paul Lovens. Most of his later recordings have been released on European labels, with the exception of Momentum Space (a meeting with Dewey Redman and Elvin Jones) on Verve/Gitanes. The classical label Bridge released his 1998 Library of Congress performance Algonquin, a duet with violinist Mat Maneri.

Taylor continued to perform for capacity audiences around the world with live concerts, usually playing his favored instrument, a Bösendorfer piano featuring nine extra lower-register keys. A documentary on Taylor, entitled All the Notes, was released on DVD in 2006 by director Chris Felver. Taylor was also featured in a 1981 documentary film entitled Imagine the Sound, in which he discusses and performs his music, poetry, and dance.

2000s

Taylor recorded sparingly in the 2000s, but continued to perform with his own ensembles (the Cecil Taylor Ensemble and the Cecil Taylor Big Band) and with other musicians such as Joe Locke, Max Roach, and Amiri Baraka. In 2004, the Cecil Taylor Big Band at the Iridium Jazz Club was nominated a best performance of 2004 by All About Jazz. The Cecil Taylor Trio was nominated for the same at the Highline Ballroom in 2009. The trio consisted of Taylor, Albey Balgochian, and Jackson Krall. In 2010, Triple Point Records released a deluxe limited-edition double LP titled Ailanthus/Altissima: Bilateral Dimensions of Two Root Songs, a set of duos with Taylor's longtime collaborator Tony Oxley that was recorded live at the Village Vanguard.

In 2013, he was awarded the Kyoto Prize for Music. He was described as "An Innovative Jazz Musician Who Has Fully Explored the Possibilities of Piano Improvisation". In 2014, his career and 85th birthday were honored at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia with the tribute concert event "Celebrating Cecil". In 2016, Taylor received a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art entitled "Open Plan: Cecil Taylor".

Taylor, along with dancer Min Tanaka, was the subject of Amiel Courtin-Wilson's 2016 documentary film The Silent Eye.

Ballet and dance

In addition to piano, Taylor was always interested in ballet and dance. Taylor's mother, who died while he was young, was a dancer and played the piano and violin. Taylor once said: "I try to imitate on the piano the leaps in space a dancer makes." He collaborated with dancer Dianne McIntyre in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1979, Taylor composed and played the music for a twelve-minute ballet "Tetra Stomp: Eatin' Rain in Space", featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Heather Watts.

Poetry

Taylor was a poet, and cited Robert Duncan, Charles Olson, and Amiri Baraka as major influences. He often integrated his poems into his musical performances, and they frequently appear in the liner notes of his albums. The album Chinampas, released by Leo Records in 1987, is a recording of Taylor reciting several of his poems while accompanying himself on percussion.

Musical style and legacy

According to Steven Block, free jazz originated with Taylor's performances at the Five Spot Cafe in 1957 and with Ornette Coleman in 1959. In 1964, Taylor co-founded the Jazz Composers Guild to enhance opportunities for avant-garde jazz musicians.

Taylor's style and methods have been described as "constructivist". Despite Scott Yanow's warning regarding Taylor's "forbidding music" ("Suffice it to say that Cecil Taylor's music is not for everyone"), he praises Taylor's "remarkable technique and endurance", and his "advanced", "radical", "original", and uncompromising "musical vision".

This musical vision is a large part of Taylor's legacy:

Playing with Taylor I began to be liberated from thinking about chords. I'd been imitating John Coltrane unsuccessfully and because of that I was really chord conscious.

Personal life and death

In 1982, jazz critic Stanley Crouch wrote that Taylor was gay, prompting an angry response. In 1991, Taylor told a New York Times reporter "[s]omeone once asked me if I was gay. I said, 'Do you think a three-letter word defines the complexity of my humanity?' I avoid the trap of easy definition."

Taylor moved to Fort Greene, Brooklyn in 1983. He died at his Brooklyn residence on April 5, 2018, at the age of 89. At the time of Taylor's death, he was working on an autobiography and future concerts, among other projects.

#03/25 #04/05

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daphnedtv1 · 2 years ago

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freesearchengines-blog · 6 years ago

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Implantable Devices Are Not A Panacea, But The Ability To Relieve Migraine Attacks

Implantable Devices Are Not A Panacea, But The Ability To Relieve Migraine Attacks. An implantable motto cryptic in the nape of the neck may average more headache-free days for people with severe migraines that don't respond to other treatments, a original study suggests. More than 36 million Americans get migraine headaches, which are marked by impetuous pain, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and vomiting, according to the Migraine Research Foundation bhai ko viagra khilakar chudayi karwayi. Medication and lifestyle changes are the first-line treatments for migraine, but not each and every one improves with these measures. The St Jude Medical Genesis neurostimulator is a short, skinny strip that is implanted behind the neck. A battery horde is then implanted elsewhere in the body. Activating the device stimulates the occipital nerve and can slow-witted the pain of migraine headache testmedplus.com. "There are a large number of patients for whom nothing works and whose lives are ruined by the regular pain of their migraine headache, and this device has the potential to help some of them," said bone up author Dr Stephen D Silberstein, director of the Jefferson Headache Center in Philadelphia. The study, which was funded by signet manufacturer St Jude Medical Inc, is slated for debut on Thursday at the International Headache Congress in Berlin, and is the largest study to date on the device penis spray buy oman. The actors is now seeking approval for the device in Europe and then plans to submit their data to the US Food and Drug Administration for rubber stamp in the United States. Researchers tested the new device in 157 mortals who had severe migraines about 26 days out of each month. After 12 weeks, those who received the unfamiliar device had seven more headache-free days per month, compared to one more headache-free day per month seen in the midst people in the control group. Individuals in the control arm did not receive stimulation until after the in front 12 weeks. Study participants who received the stimulator also reported less severe headaches and improvements in their calibre of life. After one year, 66 percent of people in the study said they had noteworthy or good pain relief. The pain reduction seen in the study did fall short of FDA standards, which petition for a 50 percent reduction in pain. "The device is invisible to the eye, but not to the touch". The implantation method involves local anesthesia along with conscious sedation so you are awake, but not fully aware. There may be some gentle pain associated with this surgery. Study co-author Dr Joel Saper, institutor and director of Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, and a associate of the advisory board for the Migraine Research Foundation, said this therapy could be an important option for some colonize with migraines. And "There were numerous patients who did benefit in terms of pain control and quality of life. We don't have any always effective therapies for migraine, so we don't ever expect everyone to have extraordinary results, but for those few that it works in, it's life-changing". But "it is surgical and there are risks to surgery, and there are unknowns such as how extensive the effects will last". Risks of the new neurostimulation procedure may include infection and the machine can sometimes dislodge. Saper has not received any compensation from the device manufacturer. "Occipital nerve stimulation is a curing of great promise for patients with intractable chronic migraine," said Dr Richard B Lipton, kingpin of the Headache Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and a advisers member of the Migraine Research Foundation. He is not affiliated with the new study. "Eliminating a solid week per month of headaches is a huge gain for chronic migraine sufferers and translates into big improvements in care satisfaction and quality of life. This treatment will make a huge character for millions of migraine sufferers with chronic migraine". The results do mirror what Lipton has seen in his practice. "This shows that the remedying can give chronic migraine sufferers their lives back". Dr Robert Duarte, top banana of the Pain Center at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Manhasset, NY, said that the remodelled device should not be considered a first-line treatment for migraine, however. "You lack to be evaluated by a headache specialist, and make sure all treatment options are tried before installing a stimulator, but it is an choice and there is definitely evidence that it works". Duarte is not affiliated with the new study. "It is not a cure, but a healing option that can reduce frequency and intensity of headaches in some people" online consultation for herbal tea. Doctors can also do a trial run using an exotic stimulator to see if it will work before implanting the device.

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kuwaiti-kid · 5 years ago

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20 Lesser-Known TV Mini Series – You Should Definitely Watch

If you’ve already binged your way through Netflix’s Narcos, HBO’s Succession, or Hulu’s Big Little Lies and you’re looking for something new to watch — you’re in luck!

We have compiled a list of twenty of the best lesser-known mini-series that you can stream today. Many of the series star familiar faces and some of the biggest names from the past two decades.

Top 20 Lesser-Known TV Mini-Series

The Night Manager (2016)

Genre: Drama Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Coleman, and Elizabeth Debicki Streaming On: Amazon Prime

The six-episode British series was based on John le Carré's novel “The Night Manager”. The crime drama follows the work of former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston).

Pine, a hotel night porter, is contacted by an intelligence operative who asks for his assistance to spy on international businessman Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). Pine attempts to infiltrate Roper's inner circle, by becoming a felon, all the while keeping his mission a secret from his hotel colleagues and girlfriend.

The Shadow Line (2011)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston, Kierston Wareing, and Richard Lintern Streaming On: Pluto

The seven-part British miniseries follows a murder investigated from both sides of the line – police, and criminals. It delves into the opposing methods they use to solve it and the lines of morality between each character and how far they’re willing to go.

London Spy (2015)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery Cast: Ben Whishaw, Edward Holcroft, Charlotte Rampling, Mark Gatiss, and Harriet Walter Streaming On: Netflix

The series follows Danny (Ben Whishaw) as he delves into the suspicious death of his lover Alex (Edward Holcroft), an MI6 code genius. Scottie (Jim Broadbent) guides him through the shady world of espionage and helps Danny as he steps outside of his comfort zone into a world of danger.

Inside Men (2012)

Genre: Crime, Drama Cast: Steven Mackintosh, Ashley Walters, Warren Brown, and Kierston Wareing Streaming On: Pluto

The four-episode British series centers around John Coniston (Steven Mackintosh), the manager of a cash counting house. He leads a normal life until one day he discovers that £50,000 has gone missing from the counting house.

He suspects the security guard Chris (Ashley Waters) and Marcus (Warren Brown) is responsible for the missing money. Instead of turning them into the authorities, he joins them in a plan to execute a multimillion-pound money heist.

The Game (2014)

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller Cast: Tom Hughes, Brian Cox, Paul Ritter, Shaun Dooley, and Chloe Pirrie Streaming On: Google Play

The BBC miniseries is set in 1972, during the high tension Soviet plot to bring down Britain. Joe Lambe (Tom Hughes), a young MI5 operative, attempts to defect to the Soviet Union to be with his Russian contact and lover, Yulia (Zana Marjanović).

The plan goes awry, leading to Yulia’s death. Joe balances trying to learn more about the KGB enforcer who murdered Yulia, while leading a team in the investigation of Operation Glass, tracking down enemy sleeper agents before it's too late.

The Enfield Haunting (2015)

Genre: Biography, Drama, Horror Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Rosie Cavaliero, and Timothy Spall Streaming On: Amazon Prime

The miniseries is based on real-life events that took place in a North London home in 1977. Novice paranormal researcher Maurice Grosse (Timothy Spall) hears of a family reported being terrorized by supernatural forces.

After the recent death of his own daughter, Maurice is drawn into the family's story, which involves a young girl. Maurice enlists the help of experienced investigator Guy Lyon Playfair (Matthew Macfadyen) to help him research the haunting. At first, Guy Lyon believes the case to be a scam until he comes into contact with the malevolent presence.

A Young Doctor's Notebook (2012-2013)

Genre: Comedy, Drama Cast: John Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rosie Cavaliero Streaming On: Amazon Prime

The dark comedy is based on a series of short stories written by Russian playwright Mikhail Bulgakov, as he recounts his semi-biographical experiences as a young physician in a small village at the dawn of the Russian Revolution.

The fictional physician, Dr. Vladmir Bomgard is portrayed by both John Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe at different points in his life, leading to a series of comic exchanges between the two men.

Accused (2010-2012)

Genre: Crime, Drama Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Capaldi, Andy Serkis, and Sean Bean Streaming On: Amazon Prime

This British television anthology series tells a different story each episode, following a different alleged criminal as they await their verdict in court, telling the story behind how they find themselves accused.

The main appeal of the show is that each episode the accused is portrayed by a notable actor.

Secret State (2012)

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Charles Dance, Douglas Hodge, Rupert Graves, and Ruth Negga Streaming On: Amazon Prime

Inspired by Chris Mullin's novel “A Very British Coup” the story follows Deputy Prime Minister Tom Dawkins (Gabriel Byrne) as he vows to take on the American petrochemical company Petrofex following a devastating accident on British soil.

After the Prime Minister dies in a suspicious plane crash, Dawkins' understated political ambitions are tested as Ros Yelland (Sylvestra Le Touzel) and Felix Durrell (Rupert Graves) vie for the role of Prime Minister.

This Is England ‘86 (2010)

Genre: Crime, Drama Cast: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure, and Rosamund Hanson Streaming On: Amazon Prime

An off-beat spin-off miniseries set three years after the award-winning film This is England. Rather than focusing on the skinhead subculture, it focuses on the mod revival scene with the gang variously adopting an eclectic mix of clothing styles.

As Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) completes his last school exam, he realizes that he will have to find his own way in the changing world. Two subsequent series were released which focused on 1988 and 1990.

Injustice (2011)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller Cast: James Purefoy, Robert Whitelock, Lisa Diveney, Dervla Kirwan, and Nathaniel Parker Streaming On: Amazon Prime

Defense barrister William Travers (James Purefoy) has never fully recovered from a traumatic series of events that left him without faith in the legal system.

Despite his hesitation, he returns to the courtroom to aid his friend Martin Newall (Nathaniel Parker) as he finds himself facing murder and conspiracy charges. The series is a psychological thriller that examines morality and grapples with the question of guilt.

State of Play (2003)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery Cast: David Morrissey, John Simm, Kelly Macdonald, Bill Nighy, and James McAvoy Streaming On: HBOGo

While investigating the murder of a fifteen-year-old teenager in what appears to be a drug-related killing, journalist Cal McCaffrey (John Simm) and his colleagues Della Smith (Kelly Macdonald) and Cameron Foster (Bill Nighy) find a connection with the death of Sonia Baker, a young researcher for MP Stephen Collins (David Morrissey).

As their investigation progresses, they uncover a conspiracy with links to the corruption of high-ranking British government ministers.

The Company (2007)

Genre: Drama, History, Romance Cast: Chris O'Donnell, Alfred Molina, Michael Keaton, and Alessandro Nivola Streaming On: Sony Crackle

Based on Robert Littell's best-selling novel, the miniseries chronicles the saga of the CIA from the perspective of three idealistic young college friends.

Jack McAuliffe (Chris O’Donnell) trains in Berlin with cynical mentor Harvey Torriti (Alfred Molina) while his best friend Leo Kritzky (Alessandro Nivola) navigates his way through the power maze of “the Company” in Washington.

The Kill Point (2007)

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama Cast: Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Hyatt, John Leguizamo, and Tobin Bell Streaming On: Tubi

The American miniseries follows a group of recently returned from duty U.S. Marines, led by Jake “Mr. Wolf” Mendez (John Leguizamo), as they come together to pull off a major bank heist of a Three Rivers Bank branch in Pittsburgh.

The bank robbery goes horribly wrong and they come under fire from some law enforcement and private security personnel. Forced to retreat back into the bank when their getaway driver is wounded, they take on hostages who end up helping them attempt to escape from the police who have the bank surrounded.

Im Angesicht des Verbrechens (“In Face of the Crime”) (2010)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller Cast: Max Riemelt, Ronald Zehrfeld, Marie Bäumer, and Mišel Matičević Streaming On: MHz Choice

Set in the 1920s, this German miniseries delves into the world of Marek Gorsky (Max Riemelt), a Soviet Jewish immigrant, as he becomes a police officer who is determined to to solve the murder of his brother.

While investigating the Mafia and his brother’s death Marek falls in love with a young Ukrainian, who is forced to work as a high-class prostitute in Berlin.

The Take (2009)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller Cast: Tom Hardy, Shaun Evans, Kierston Wareing, and Charlotte Riley Streaming On: Tubi

Freshly released from prison, Freddie Jackson (Tom Hardy) is ready to use the connections he made behind bars. His younger cousin, Jimmy (Shaun Evans), dreams of making a name for himself on Freddie's coattails into a life of crime. Behind the success of their growing criminal empire sits Ozzy (Brian Cox), a legendary criminal godfather who manipulates Freddie and Jimmy's fates from the comfort of his prison cell.

Unforgiven (2009)

Genre: Drama Cast: Suranne Jones, Siobhan Finneran, Peter Davison, and Douglas Hodge Streaming On: Amazon Prime

Ruth Slater (Suranne Jones) is haunted by her past, after being released from fifteen years in prison for murdering two policemen when she was a teenager.

Through the course of three episodes, Ruth searches for her sister who she learns had been adopted and had her name changed following the murders. Her search is met with dead ends, hard feelings, and a plot for revenge.

Deutschland 83 (2015)

Genre: Drama, History, Romance Cast: Jonas Nay, Maria Schrader, Florence Kasumba, and Sylvester Groth Streaming On: Amazon Prime

The German-American television series is set in West Germany in 1983. Martin Rauch (Jonas Nay) code name Kolibri is a border patrol guard from East Germany, who goes undercover as a murder soldier for the HVA. He is sent into West Germany to be an oberleutnant and aide-de-camp to Major General Edel (Ulrich Noethen).

Kampen Om Tungtvannet (“The Heavy Water War”) (2015)

Genre: History, Drama, War Cast: Espen Klouman Høiner, Christoph Bach, Anna Friel, and Pip Torrens Streaming On: Amazon Prime

The Norwegian/Danish/British co-production miniseries dramatically recount one of the most exciting periods of time during the Second World War. The series follows the German nuclear weapon project and the heavy water sabotage in Norway, with a particular emphasis on the role of Leif Tronstad.

It also delves into the Nazis' efforts to develop an atomic bomb and the Allies' desperate struggle to prevent it from happening. Although the series is based on real events, apart from Aubert, all other Nazi collaborating Hydro-directors were purposely not named.

Occupation (2009)

Genre: Drama, War Cast: James Nesbitt, Stephen Graham, and Warren Brown Streaming On: Amazon Prime

The miniseries follows three British Army soldiers, as they find themselves pulled back to Iraq for a different reason. Each soldier was inspired to return to Basra for different reasons: one leaves his wife and returns for love, one seeks a fortune for monetary gain, and one for his belief that he can help the people of that war-torn country.

Bottom Line

Hopefully this list helped you find your new favorite miniseries that you otherwise may have been unfamiliar with. If it didn't, be sure to check out one of the countless free streaming services and find something new to binge today!

The post 20 Lesser-Known TV Mini Series – You Should Definitely Watch appeared first on Your Money Geek.

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drjacquescoulardeau · 8 years ago

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MATT DAMON – ANGELINA JOLIE – ROBERT DE NIRO – THE GOOD SHEPHERD – 2006

NEW REVIEW in 2017

It was a nostalgic film in 2006 when the wars started by George W. Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq were turning stale and sinking in the quagmire of all colonial and imperialistic wars. It was of course a comment on these wars like when Edward Wilson says “We are trying to make wars small.” That is sure right if we can say so without sounding sarcastic, even at the time. They were in the process of getting their fingers into Vietnam after the defeat of the Bay of Pigs and Cuba. Of course far worse was to come, precisely Afghanistan and Iraq. They financed Al Qaeda in Afghanistan against the Soviet who pulled out rather fast. And now the USA have to face them and some dissidents or alternative factions in the fields George W. Bush decided all by himself and like a big boy to invade.

That was a time when intelligence was important against Hitler but they met with Soviet spies in Germany and they did not necessarily have the upper hand. In fact, they were infiltrated very early after the war and in spite of what the film implies, that was not the cause of their lack of success and their future failures. They failed because the objective was wrong: they wanted to manipulated governments and states in other countries, hence their objective was imperialistic and that went against the grain of history that was witnessing the fall of all big colonial empires and the withering of any kind of imperialistic ambitions. They also went against the grain of the new phase of our human development that was and still is based on economic growth and welfare state policies.

But the film shows far too well that the life of such spies is not a human life. Far from home, far from wives and children, entangled in all kinds of affairs and constantly the target of rival spying factions that try to get some information and leverage over you by getting something about you that should not become public (blackmail) or by menacing your spouses or your children.

The film is well performed by seasoned actors though the shifting in time is at times difficult to follow in spite of the places and dates given now and then, though not all the time (where is the scene in Africa: Ivory Coast or Congo Kinshasa?). The most difficult problem was simply Matt Damon who was running in the film from the late 30s to the early 60s and he really was the same man not looking in anyway younger when necessary and older when needed. It is surprising because nowadays the make-up department of any studio can do a better job.

At times here and there we have some extremely arrogant and irritating remarks that are supposed to be pieces of humor like the following:

Richard Hayes: I remember a senator once asked me. When we talk about "CIA" why we never use the word "the" in front of it. And I asked him, do you put the word "the" in front of "God"?

That’s the arrogance of George W. Bush who was pushed aside by Obama for eight years in 2008 who in his turn tried to have diplomacy prevail, though he was obsessive and obsessional about cyber security and cyber intelligence and had everyone in the world eavesdropped upon by the CIA. Note I must be old fashioned and from outside the institution because I do say THE CIA, but also THE FBI and a few others.

The film will tell you how foolish of Trump if he were to start another front somewhere in the world. But there is no one more foolish than, a populist politician or a circus clown. The difference is that when the populist politician falls on his face it is in the midst of maximum destruction and mass killings, whereas a clown falls on his face to make children laugh. Sooner or later Trump will be the monster in the closet that will come out “if you do not go to sleep immediately.” How many lateral, bilateral and collateral victims will you count in six months? Already several thousands in just a few weeks.

Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

OLD REVIEW, MANY YEARS AGO

This is an essential film to understand where the world stands and where it is going in the present period. De Niro signs here a severe and ruthless denunciation of the methods of the US government in the world since they started the CIA at the end of the 30s. A young man, the son of a dead-by-suicide officer of some sort, is recruited by the FBI to find out the identities of the members of a fascist group that is in fact in the hand of an American agent unknown of the FBI. He will then become an essential agent in London during the war and in Berlin after the world, covered as a commercial agent, and it is trade and nothing else, to exchange some fascist scientists who are not too important for the Jewish scientists the Soviets are getting rid of.

This will lead the main character who is the head of the office in Berlin to recruit a KGB agent into his service. What is very strange is that the CIA does not find out this agent is being recruited under the name of another KGB agent (the CIA was un-informed on the subject which means they did not cover the whole world and had weak points, just like the Soviet should not have used the name of another KGB agent) and it is done with the complicity of an English agent. This man will become the mole in the CIA when Cuba becomes communist and when the US tries to organize the re-conquest in the Bay of Pigs.

The failure is so enormous that they decide that there must have been a mole. And they start looking for it. The Soviet then start playing cat and mouse with the main character and manage to compromise his son in the business by making him fall in love with a woman in Africa, or at least have a sudden desire for the woman that turns into love but this woman is one of their agents. That titillates the man and he really digs out what he can dig out and finds out the real mole by some simple action: to check a book that was offered to that mole by some English agent when he was finally recruited by the CIA.

That book should have been checked and was not. Negligence and non-professionalism. And this ex-KGB agent is never the object of the slightest doubt even when another KGB agent arrives and pretends he is the man carrying the name the ex-KGB agent has been recruited under. It is the son who will pay, and pay dearly, for the amateurish caper, indirectly for sure since the woman will be eliminated. So much for love among spies. But what is left after this action is finished, a tremendous action with numerous intertwined though clearly identified flashbacks over the whole period from the 1920s to the mid 1960s?

First that this CIA was born in super-patriotic and super-nationalist secret groups in the US, groups that ignore democracy and in a way human dignity, since the new members have to go through a fight in the nude, in mud and with the older members eventually pissing on them. These circles and groups are dangerous. What's more they are so closed up onto themselves that they lose somewhere the necessary objectivity and a negligence becomes possible and a double agent can infiltrate the whole system. The second lesson is that this CIA is supposed to reshape the world in conformity with what the US wants.

This is also very dangerous, and there the film is totally idealistic: the CIA can do what they want they can only slow down change in the world, not reverse it, Latin America being the best case ever. It has never been so nearly unanimously on the left, dark and deep pink if not completely red, and only as a reaction to the US's use of the CIA to manipulate people. These agents are also extremely inhuman. They have to forget all links with family, friends, relatives, or any acquaintances.

They must be ready to betray all these in the name of their mission and purity and kill every time it is necessary. They are kept under constant surveillance either by the other side or by people on the US side that no one knows. The film finally gives you one example of the El Ghraib torturing methods and that really makes you shudder and shiver. And the tragic end will be all the more pathetic when we know the victim was right and telling the truth. A film you must see absolutely.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

#CIA #spy obsession #cold war #Cuba #Bay of Pigs #spy war

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