Mogi is well on his way to a full recovery. We are halfway through day 6, post-op, and so far doing well. The vet called today, and the report given was all positive. Let it be said, however, that Mogi is still not impressed with his cone. After eating he tries to wash himself, and we have to watch with sadness as he licks the plastic cone, with his paw held up just beneath it. Anyway, here is an updated photo from today that shows his improvement. 9 more days of cone life, however.
Looking much better on Day 6. Still not a pretty sight, though.
In movie news, Deb's short film "King of the Cats" has placed first in the Gold Star Movie Awards, winning the micro-short category! I wish we had a thousand dollars for every festival she has won with one of her movies. We wouldn't be rich, but we'd have thousands of dollars....
In Criterion film news, Deb had chosen The Ninth Configuration, a film from 1980, as her going away soon choice. We had seen it many years ago and liked it, so we tried again. It stars Stacy Keach, who I usually don't like very much, but is quite good in this one. He plays Killer Kane, a marine who went psycho in Vietnam, killing so many people that he seems beyond help. He is sent to an isolated military asylum, mostly filled with draft dodgers faking insanity to escape the service, but first appears as a psychiatrist there to help the other men. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your beliefs), it becomes tangled in a kind of Christian redemption theme, something that usually doesn't work too well in film. And the redemption comes via a sadistic biker in a bar, who taunts Kane to his breaking point, a very painful episode to view. So, mixed reviews for this one, also hampered by the overdone antics of the inmates trying to prove their insanity. From the novel "Twinkle Twinkle, Killer Kane," and by the author of "The Exorcist."
Showing on Criterion until April 30th.
For my regular choice of the week, I chose two short films by Ousmane Sembene, everyone's favourite Senegalese filmmaker. He made his directorial debut with a 20' film called Borom Sarret, a totally brilliant little film about a day in the life of a man with a horse drawn cart in Dakar. Two extras came with the film, which seems to encapsulate so much about developing African countries, and the way so many people have been left behind.
Now showing on Criterion.
Next came his 1966, 59' feature called Black Girl, about a girl who is hired by a French couple to look after their three children. However, when they take her back to France, she becomes a live-in slave, without friends, and is put to work full time as maid, cook, and babysitter. The film, which we have seen before, is a harsh look at colonial attitudes in the 60s, and makes a good pairing with the previous film, above. Both films have been newly restored with the aid of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project. I am slowly working my way through all of these world films. There are three extras with this film, including a contemporary interview with the lead actress.
Now showing on Criterion, as part of the World Cinema Project.
Mapman Mike
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