The Ozarks

This is one of my favorite series of all time. I guess the stuff we watch is a lot like the music we listen to. It tends to represent a season in our lives storing it safely in our subconscious for future reference. 

In my view it is one of the best descriptions of rural America and the different strata that make up this complex societal organism. 

There is a sense in which the overall theme of this piece is family. Everyone no matter how flawed eventually returns to this one structure as a refuge. You watch almost every individual struggle with the challenges of living as a whole in the midst of pain but when push comes to shove the series individual families each resort to the default settings that consist of family. Even if in the last episode of this complex story you are forced to take pity on the children (now grown up) you realize that they are too intricately tied into their stories to leave. 

The story revolves around about four families. These are in my view a useful summary about life in Rural America. The families are:

1. Byrds 
2. Langmores
3. Snells
4. Navarros

The Byrds represent the American Dream. The house, the white picket fence, the car and the 2 1/2 children. It is really the middleclass that some argue is quickly becoming extinct. The Father is an accountant while the mother works as a campaign manager for a popular politician. The Byrds have dreams of rising up the success ladder but so is the challenge of falling and losing their place in society. There are many who lost access to their houses after the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. Others are disillusioned after the events in 2001 in New York. The 2020 Election it is fair to say hass split the nation right in the middle. So the Byrds represent a group that is awefully close to losing its conscience with the difficulties of living. 

The Langmore’s on the other hand are really bottom of the barrel. They have had the short end of the stick all their lives. But they are really misunderstood. Lack of education and a life in crime and the cycle of incarceration and release and reoffence has them stuck in a system that is against them. There is a popular (in my view) comedian who makes fun of the Nascar loving-Jeans loving-beer belly bearing-non fashion aware group, but like the Langmore’s this group is really street smart and very rich in traditional values. It is this group that is also possibly more prone to favor Maga as their moto and that embraces  Country Music. As you will see in the series this group will rise slowly in a complex world of change by not really changing much or compromising on their values. 

The Snells are a step above the Langmores. They are also traditional but have strong historical roots and attachments to the land. Do a little research and you will probably find that their ancestors were probably linked to some aspects of slavery. The Snells have values but more than that they have wealth and a strict code. They will stop at nothing in maintaining the delicate balance that has kept them where they stand. They are not showy in their approach to life and have probably never stepped into a traditional university. But they are not poor. 

Then you have the Navarros. They have strong family bonds probably a mix between indegenous Mexicans and Spanish Conquistadores. They have a no holds barred appoach to leadership. They are intertwined in a historic war between the South and North America but they understand the economics of the narcotics trade. They will stop at nothing to maintain their control on the dynamcis of their trade. They are not stuck in the past…far from it they know the past and are taking advantage of that knowledge to frame the future. They know the importance of education and so have had their sons and daughters study at top ivy league schools. They have money they need cleaned and have identified people accross the border to help them achieve that. Perhaps the most troubling part of this is the possibility that they may be integrated into traditional areas such as tech and the Venture Capital World…a truth that Mr. Byrd is about to find out! 

As stated before the series is about Family. It helps explain some of the reasons why we are the way we are. It for example explores the story of Wendy Byrd as she tries to hold the family together giving the audience a glimpse into her life and the relationship she had with her brother. One of the best parts about the series was the little flyer that Mr. Byrd receives at the beggining of the show when he has little or no knowledge that this piece of paper would save his life. 

Get Netflix if you can. They have invested a lot in buidling a system that has changed the way we interact with media. 

3096 Days

Here is an amazing film based on a true story. An interesting aside that i must add, is that the new generation of influencers are probably going to be those who provide come sort of social commentary about film and make recommendations for their followers on social media. These will act as bridges between distributers and traditional film studios with audineces. Most of what i am watching now has come from interaction with people on Facebook, Twitter and to a lesser extent Instagram. 

So, the story is about a young girl who is struggling with a relationship with her mum. As fate would have it someone who has been watching this all play out walks in and begins and series of negative events that is going to last for years. 

The tales of kidnap and romance between captor and captive have since been called Stockholm Syndrome after another unfortunate event. You do have a back and forth between the young girl and her nemesis but most of what is shared is just a desperate attempt to get a meal or to stop the beating. 

One of the best scenes in the movie is the part where the young girl looks at the screen and directly lets you know that she is hungry. The director makes you feel like you are the culprit. It is you that has her in this unfortunate dungeon. 

There are some echoes of 1939-1945 where we are told certain families created secret rooms where they hid Jews to protect them from Nazis. But this is slightly different. 

Under the surface there is an attempt to understand the young man by showing the audience glimpses into his relationship with his mum. Is he flawed because of this? What about the absent father? 

By the Way i wonder if there is a plan to turn the story of Ingrid Bettancourt. 

Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Thure Lindhardt. Cinematography was by Michael Ballhaus while the film was written by Bernd Eichinger. 

Samanya 40 Days

Samanya 40 days is an interesting take on the life of a policeman fighting crime. There are quite a number of references to the pioneering work of Wakaliwood’s Ramon Film Production (and the Wakastars who are now all grown up) which made films like Who Killed Captain Alex, Million Dollar Kid and Ani Mulalu (who is the crazy one). RFP became popular a few years ago and was referred to as Uganda’s Quentin Tarantino. 

Samanya is a story revolving around a young officer rising in the ranks of his crime fighting unit and the challenges that he and his family face. There are really several plots in one and quite a number of characters and a span of time that is a breath of fresh air at least in terms of film style. The writter who also stars in the film tackles a number of themes such as child abuse, tragedy, corruption, torchure, fate, the interconnectedness of life and much more. To be fair i felt like there was a lot more that could have emerged from this film. Maybe the writter and director (Segawa Abbey) can be approached to expand the story and add multiple authors as do other production studios. Also starring in this story are Mugera Godfrey, Jackie Tumusime, Ramc Tabu, Nyanzi Liz and 

Ssozi Patrick. 

Bala Bala Ssese

Here is another interesting one his time with no VJ. The movie as described on the packaging is really about forbidden love or at least the love that those with less means seek in the presence of others who are better placed financially. But there is more to this film. I really liked the story telling tone that the film has with Ashraf Ssemwogerere doing his part very well with well chose phrases of the Ganda language. He also makes an appearance in the movie a little like Stan Lee used to like to do in the Marvel Movies. Mr. Ssemwogerere if you will remember once wrote some challenging theatrical pieces about government and leadership which did not go down well. The next few days for him were frightening. We read in the daily about how he had dissapeared and then appeared again mysteriously. 

Anyway we have Michael Kasaija and Natasha Sinayobye playing besides each other as love interests. It is interesting to see how well they jump into these roles when they are clearly city raised. They are both amazing dancers and ofcourse are well known by the entertainment community for their contribution to the industry both locally and internationally. Fiona Birungi also plays her role well and captures the story of so many women who are caught up in the struggle to survive in challenging environments often at the mercy of wealth men. Ah but the writer has a lot more under his belt and if you think that all that is available in this piece is a simple love story, brace yourself for more. Look out for an amazing performance by Raymond Rushabo who also featured in a recent and well made production called Leilah. I think one of the other refreshing things about this movie is the idea that the ‘score’ was created by an international artist…or at least more than one. APass and Kenneth Mugabi if i am not wrong. 

The Last of us

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay. 

Created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckman

We clearly entered into a new age of entertainment. The time of one and a half hour movies is long gone and now what we have is an extension of this to eight shows or twelve where you get to lengthen the experience and the tension we once enjoyed over a few minutes to months and weeks if you like or to just a matter of days if you are into binge watching. 

The time we live is has also brought about an emergence of themes that have sought to bring real world situations into the cinema. Global tragedies such as nuclear disasters and environmental concerns have thrust us into a time where many are beginning to think and embrace the dystopian view of the future. 

In addition to the merger between history and the future, we are also seeing an inter link between previously unrelated forms of leisure. Gaming is now connected with the film and the combined numbers in terms of revenue are staggering. 

The last of us is the fulfillment of all those ideas and then some. Right at a time when the population is still primed and thinking about epidemics, something goes out of hand when a fungus begins to attack humanity. An expert is called in to make her assessment and her conclusions are that the whole country should be nuked. In the meantime a man and his daughter are on the run and trying to make their way out of a city when tragedy strikes. Ah enough of the spoilers. The movie then continues but with this loss of life at the heart of this man’s life. He is trying to survive but is also trying to heal. This is what most of us are really about. Navigating life and trying to fix ourselves while facing the horrors of our past. In the meantime, in a post apocalyptic world there is a government that emerges and that tries to bind everything together while at the same time a resistance also forms. These are scattered across all sorts of geographies and the protagonist as least in some of the episodes is found trying to make his way through hostile environments. The series splits up into several sections (each episode is about one hour long) and tackles complex subjects such as love and identity and sexuality. It places the characters I rough situations and turns the hardest of men into simple broken beings. It also explores religion and faith and survival and what can go wrong when people are living together in a cruel world while also trying to survive. There is an undertone  that plagues the series at least for me where I wonder about the role of a father as well as that of necessity when two people are stuck together and bound together in a world that could have only the two of them left…to populate? But that’s just me thinking about Lord of the Flies (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100054/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 ) and Blue Lagoon (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080453/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 ) at the same time. That and the story of Lot and his daughters is the Bible (Gen. 19:30-36).

Entebbe Ya Nyinimu

Here is another surprisingly delightful piece of entertainment from one called Phillip Omwana W’Abandi. Entebbe ya Nyinimu loosely translated “as the seat that belongs to the head of the house” is about a mysterious three legged chair that holds spiritual significance in the home of a certain family. The director/actor is Phillip Omwana W’Abandi and he plays the role of patriarch. We also have Phionah Nalubegga, Akram Mubiru, Fahad Waligo and Sophia Namwanje. 

The story is about a family that has some secrets. There is a son who refuses to go see his father. A sister and brother who are looking to are looking to get ahead. A medicine man who has the pulse on the challenges in his community. A brother in law who is struggling to find relevance in the family he married into. Children who seem invisible and who play with the invisible (plot spoiler).

I enjoyed the story because there were lessons about history and consequence. Some insights into the supernatural and how the netherworld can intervene in the lives of humanity. Even if I have been critical of the guys who do voice overs, they offer interesting depths into cultural nuances that you may be unfamiliar with as you watch the presentation. In addition to this, anyone who wants to make sense of life in Uganda especially in the villages where traditional religious belief reigns, will do well to study some of these theatrical works for perspective. 

Citadel

 

I have posted the standard Wikipedia summaries that I usually enjoy in this piece. What we have done differently is simply release them as images. So you have a very brief image describing the show as well as the central characters and then you have what some of the critics said about the film. 

In my view it was a good show. The action scenes were really intense. You could say they were ‘Johnwickesqe’ clearly the style of close shooting in the series featuring the famed actor from the a John Wick movies was employed here. The rapid fire shots to the head and the gore that emerges from this. The use of multiple fighting styles that seems to almost be dance like. Then there is the choice of characters. Stanley Tucci is amazing with his one liners his wit and his nonchalance. Lesley Manville excels in her presentation of a brutal and calculating minister with a history in the world of espionage and abound to pick with her adversaries. She is conniving and cruel. The twins I like the most with the bearded look they are an unusual pair of viscous villains. We are accustomed to other types of antiheroes…maybe slightly thinner and taller with darker hair. We might even see the occasional white haired or even black tall bad guy. But a bearded one is a fresh look and the actor does this role justice. I like the way the film takes you through the complex histories of the main characters and the decisions that they have to make. I like the love story that is woven in the series and the issues that divined those who chose a life in service of a greater good. This is what the show portrays the life of espionage involving the greater good of not just nations but serving on a global scale. There is an interesting line in the series in which the two doomed lovers are confronted with their feelings and a statement is made to the effect of “you cannot be a spy and a saint at the same time”. 

Then there are other issues such as memory that are explored. Maybe even the idea of life after death in the sense that those who go and maybe return must make the choice to live on or relive their past lives and meet their old loves in a new frame? There are also interesting explorations about memory and the idea that these can be preserved and maybe even wiped by the push of a button. 

Overall I would say maybe 80% for me. For the combination action, history, the exploration of science, global dynamics, relationships, love, broader themes like justice and equity.