Real-life characters from the "Killers of the Flower Moon"

 

Real-life Mollie Burkhart (right) with her sister Anna Brown (left) and their mother, Lizzie Q.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" by Martin Scorsese (2023)

Looking back, it must have been the trailer that caught my attention - one of those skilful trailers that intrigue but don't show everything at once - and I purposely avoided reading anything about it beforehand, because wanted to approach it as tabula rasa with clear mind and without prejudices. If I did read about it, I would know about the film's immense running time (3 and a half hours) and controversies about it - when friend informed me about the length of the movie, I just wanted to die. Suddenly I remember, yes, Martin Scorsese of course, the guy whose recent "The Irishman" I refused to attend for this very same reason. Why I didn't think about it? This is what happens when you refuse to know anything about the movie. Well, it was too late - tickets bought anyway, so we went to cinema feeling like we are going to the gallows - I declined any food & drink, taking care of my capricious bladder and expecting long & silent suffering. It was anything but suffering! 

First of all, let me admit that usually I have a solid nap during the first 30 minutes in the cinema - it is what it is, probably because I feel so warm & cozy & comfortable, this is who I am and I actually don't have problem with it. Later I wake up and catch up with the movie. But this was the first time in ages that I didn't had a nap - in fact, the story was so interesting that it kept me watching (the audience was also totally mesmerised) and I was planning to whisper to my comrade "This is actually not bad at all" but we were both too busy to talk. I can't say that nobody noticed the length of the movie because it was not true - but it faltered only in the last 30 minutes, when we all start feeling a bit exhausted and just wanted it to finish. No break, of course. 

It is not my intention to discuss too much of the plot or to give away the story itself - its happening in the early 1920s (judging by the original scratchy 1921 recording of Mamie Smith whose "Crazy Blues" I am familiar with) when Osage Native Indians find themselves suddenly wealthy from the oil and the subtle, sinister ways whites were abusing them, all the way pretending to be their protectors. I must say that everything, from the script, original music and acting was top notch - and I don't even like Leonardo DiCaprio (I always felt he was product of the publicity industry) but here he was genuinely good, playing a simpleton who was manipulated by his uncle, crime lord Robert De Niro in one of his best roles ever. There is also a wonderful Native Indian actress Lily Gladstone as real-life Mollie Kyle (because this was based on a real-life story) and now unrecognisable Brendan Fraser as a nasty attorney corrupted by baddies. It is almost a pity that the controversy over its length might overshadow how good the movie actually is, Scorsese could honestly just edit it better, shorten the damn thing and make it more watchable. The way it is, I am sure that lot of people react the same as me and refuse to be pinned down in cinema for such a long time.

"Kim" by Rudyard Kipling (1901)

Of course, I know who is Rudyard Kipling - the British author who created Mowgli and The Jungle Book (and inadvertently, Tarzan that was inspired by them) - but I have actually never read anything by him. He might have not been the top of priority of translated authors in my country, in fact, a quick glance at online library catalogue lists "Kim" being translated and published only twice, in 1928. and finally again in 2019. The Jungle Book was a little more represented, but it never caught my attention since as a kid I was familiar with Disney cartoon version, hence it worked against the novel(s). Its only because I have never read Kipling, that I have selected this novel. I thought it might be good introduction to his writing style and I was not disappointed.

"Kim" won me over instantly, on a very first page. There is a beauty and magic in approaching the book without any knowledge about it, without any prejudices or preconceptions, just facing the opening page and discovering the storyteller's voice. And this voice said: "His nickname through the wards was ‘Little Friend of all the World’; and very often, being lithe and inconspicuous, he executed commissions by night on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of fashion. It was intrigue, of course,—he knew that much, as he had known all evil since he could speak,—but what he loved was the game for its own sake—the stealthy prowl through the dark gullies and lanes, the crawl up a water-pipe, the sights and sounds of the women’s world on the flat roofs, and the headlong flight from housetop to housetop under cover of the hot dark."

The storytelling itself was wonderfully old-fashioned and occasionally long-winded as expected from a Victorian novels - in many ways it reminded me of "The Coral Island" by R. M. Ballantyne - another creaky, dusty old adventure novel that comes from another time and it might be offensive to readers who are searching for things to be offended by. I was not offended by anything, because I perfectly understand that in his description of India under British rule, he was never malicious but actually genuinely affectionate towards the place where he was born and spent his youth. The novel is about plucky orphan Kim and his friend, elderly Tibetan lama Teshoo Lama  who are together travelling trough India in search of mysterious ″River of the Arrow″ (which might not even exist, as lama is very religious and follows his own paths), while there are many war-related spy intrigues around them. It sounds fairly straightforward, but Kipling has a deliciously old-fashioned way of writing so it takes a while to get trough the novel, I was busy with it forever but now very glad that I have finished it. I genuinely loved both main characters and cared for them.

Vacation time: Athens

I have actually never went somewhere for vacation since I moved here - initially I had no interest to travel since for many years prior I had to travel for work + I was glad to be in one place + this is the city I always wanted to live, so during vacations I simply enjoyed being free from work and was often house sitting for friends. Than Covid came and nobody could travel anyway. And finally, this year, I actually made a big step and traveled somewhere else as a proper vacation.

Of course I have been to Athens a hundreds of times - but it was always rush, always just a few hours before my ship would sail away and my time there was limited to a search for Wi Fi place, supermarket and perhaps quick visit to a particular place. This was the first time in my life that I actually had a proper time to enjoy Athens in my own pace - naturally I wanted to see everything and this is understandable since this was the first proper journey after Covid experience - so at certain point it turned out exhausting and we had to take a random day off, when we just relaxed and slept, because otherwise this whole "vacation" would be just running around.

Here I also must say that as much as vacations are nice, the whole process of traveling itself was extremely exhausting and we did not enjoy going from place to place - there were always some sorts of delays, crowds, nervous people, the journeys never lasted as planned and usually sucked all the fun from the trip itself - if we could just teleport ourselves to a certain place that would have been great, but waiting for the delayed train and delayed flight again & again was just nightmare. After experience of traveling to see Meteora which was extremely exhausting (since we depended on public transport) we decided not to bother with visit to islands because this is vacation after all, islands can wait. 

Some observations: 

- Tiny pavements that serve as nothing but decoration. There is no way you can walk on the pavements and everybody is forced to simply walk in the middle of the road

- Contrary to other big cities, people were extremely nice & friendly almost everywhere (except occasional pushy waiter demanding the tip). It was so obvious that we were actually genuinely shocked and surprised that people were so nice to a complete strangers, this is definitely not the case in Amsterdam where locals are openly impatient and rude to everybody.

- Outside of the most famous landmarks, city is not beautiful - its simply too huge for its own good and sometimes I even felt that the pressure on infrastructure might be too heavy. Millions of people all over and the houses are often simply growing like mushrooms without any aesthetic plans or considerations. 

- As always, I was totally in love in decrepit and old houses that have some history behind them and could not care less for "proper" buildings but loved everything that was obviously ruined, old and deserted.

- For such a famously Mediterranean location, they serve a surprisingly trendy, international food - we were naively expecting a diet of Olives, Feta, Moussaka and Souvlaki but actually everybody was enjoying Salmon, Quinoa and things that one would expect in the North. 

- The biggest food discovery was something so natural and simple but it never occurred to me: combination of thick, creamy Greek Yoghurt with fresh fruit and honey on top of it. We tasted it on the spectacular terrace of Acropolis Museum right after our early morning visit to Acropolis and it was so delicious, refreshing and divine that I said this must be food for Gods. We are eating it ever since.

Besides chaotic traffic, we ourselves did everything proper: we were always on time, planned accordingly and the best of all, we packed extremely cautiously - I have never packed as good as this time. Each of us had a backpack and a small suitcase that fitted above our heads in a plane. Underwear to last us for a week, some shirts, two trousers and I actually had only one pair of shoes, whatever we needed we bought there. On departure, my small suitcase was actually half empty and pleasure to carry around (on departure just slightly less so, but still it was a small suitcase and not the monstrosities that other people carry with them). 

Best of all, the return home was wonderful - even though the flight was exhausting (again delays, crowds and chaotic organisation) - it was a huge relief to sleep in our own bed and to simply be home, even though its totally Autumnal here now and a huge difference in temperature. It makes you appreciate home even more!