Music and big blue men
If anybody thinks we are having a lazy retirement in Israel and there isn't much to do in this quiet place, think again. Apart from the weather being wonderful, we are kept busy. On Saturday night we went to see the Herzliya Chamber Orchestra as part of our subscription. The concert was music associated with Leipzig, and we had the conductor of the Liepzig Gewandhous Orchestra conduct music by Bach, Schumann, and Mendelsohn. The orchestra played beautifully and it was a lovely concert.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, on Sunday night we went to a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance," in Ra'anana. But, it was great fun, the singers were excellent, and the whole performance was so well done, amateurs acting professionally. It was put on by an English-speaking company called Encore from Jerusalem.
Then we skipped the "singing Rabbi" to go to the movie "Avatar" which we saw on Monday. Directed by James Cameron, this was a very special experience as a result of the novelty of 3d and the amazing computer graphics. It tells the story of the 9 foot blue-coloured Na'vi who inhabit the planet of Pandora where there is a valuable element that humans want to mine. In order to do so they are prepared to destroy the environment and the Na'vi themselves if necessary. But, the plot is an age-old story that has elements of other movies that have appeared in the past.
In my mind "Avatar" is a cross between "Dances with wolves" and "The Matrix." "Dances with wolves," because it too was the story of a man who abandons his own people in order to help a more "primitive" people (the Lakota Sioux tribe) to survive the coming of the destructive white man. The parallel of the Na'vi with the native Americans was clear, right down to the bows and arrows. "The Matrix" because it too deals with alternative realities, the "real world" and the world of the Matrix, or in "Avatar" the military-industrial complex and the blue giant that the crippled marine becomes when he is transformed electronically into his avatar.
In all three movies, an individual is "sent" by destiny to lead the persecuted tribe and ensure their survival. When the avatar of the marine calls on the Na'vi to fight for their land, there could not be an Israeli in the audience who did not make the connection. Just as "Zion" was the home of the real people in the Matrix, so the Na'vi had to fight to retain their native homeland. Maybe many peoples can identify with this predicament, but none more so than the Jews, and possibly the native Americans, but they lost their wars while until now the Israelis have won.
Of course, there are many messages or lessons that can be taken from this movie. One is that bad people always lose in the end, another is that technology can only take you so far and that sheer guts and a lot of luck can defeat technology. Since technology is so sensitive to environmental conditions, one should never wholly depend on it, echoes of "Jurassic Park." And the final lesson is that if you see a tall blue man running towards you, take cover.
From the sublime to the ridiculous, on Sunday night we went to a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance," in Ra'anana. But, it was great fun, the singers were excellent, and the whole performance was so well done, amateurs acting professionally. It was put on by an English-speaking company called Encore from Jerusalem.
Then we skipped the "singing Rabbi" to go to the movie "Avatar" which we saw on Monday. Directed by James Cameron, this was a very special experience as a result of the novelty of 3d and the amazing computer graphics. It tells the story of the 9 foot blue-coloured Na'vi who inhabit the planet of Pandora where there is a valuable element that humans want to mine. In order to do so they are prepared to destroy the environment and the Na'vi themselves if necessary. But, the plot is an age-old story that has elements of other movies that have appeared in the past.
In my mind "Avatar" is a cross between "Dances with wolves" and "The Matrix." "Dances with wolves," because it too was the story of a man who abandons his own people in order to help a more "primitive" people (the Lakota Sioux tribe) to survive the coming of the destructive white man. The parallel of the Na'vi with the native Americans was clear, right down to the bows and arrows. "The Matrix" because it too deals with alternative realities, the "real world" and the world of the Matrix, or in "Avatar" the military-industrial complex and the blue giant that the crippled marine becomes when he is transformed electronically into his avatar.
In all three movies, an individual is "sent" by destiny to lead the persecuted tribe and ensure their survival. When the avatar of the marine calls on the Na'vi to fight for their land, there could not be an Israeli in the audience who did not make the connection. Just as "Zion" was the home of the real people in the Matrix, so the Na'vi had to fight to retain their native homeland. Maybe many peoples can identify with this predicament, but none more so than the Jews, and possibly the native Americans, but they lost their wars while until now the Israelis have won.
Of course, there are many messages or lessons that can be taken from this movie. One is that bad people always lose in the end, another is that technology can only take you so far and that sheer guts and a lot of luck can defeat technology. Since technology is so sensitive to environmental conditions, one should never wholly depend on it, echoes of "Jurassic Park." And the final lesson is that if you see a tall blue man running towards you, take cover.
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:09 PM
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