Stagecoach
Tokyo, 2006

My view of the 19th century “West” was largely shaped by the popular movies of 60’s – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly; For a Few Dollars More; Once Upon a Time in the West. It was a glamorous land full of macho gun-totting men – some bad and some good. There would be saloons, poker, alcohol, girls and gunfights. The glamour of “The West” was so strong and widely acknowledged that Chiranjeevi made a Western in Telugu, an Andhra Western in the 80’s (the Gult fascination with the “West” is nothing new).

John Ford’s Stagecoach presents a de-glamorized view of the same epoch. Stagecoach shows real places inhabited by real people – some brave, some kind, some vulnerable, some selfish – facing severe hardships of a hostile environment. It shows families and friends, social structures and prejudices, hatred and kindness. Just like any other place in the world. What Stagecoach is most memorable for is its depiction of a world from a long time ago - a world that is lost to us – buried under the scientific “advances” of later years. Like a good period film, Stagecoach holds up the past to us and makes us wonder what we have “thrown-away” as we “progressed” through the years.

A fable from Orson Welles' "Mr. Arkadin"
Tokyo, 2006

A scorpion wanted to cross a river, so he asked a frog to carry him. "No," said the frog. "No, thank you. If I let you on my back, you may sting me, and the sting of the scorpion is death." "Now, where," asked the scorpion, "is the logic of that?" (for scorpions always try to be logical.) "If I sting you, you will die and I will drown." So the frog was convinced and allowed the scorpion on his back. But just in the middle of the river he realized a terrible pain and realized that, after all, the scorpion had stung him. "Logic!" cried the frog as he started under, bearing the scorpion down with him. "There is no logic in this!" "I know," said the scorpion, "but I can't help it - it's my character."

I was mesmerized by Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. I watched it again and again. The more I watched, the more I was fascinated. I am reading an interview-book of Welles by Peter Bogdanovich (This is Orson Welles) and his views on films and film-making are just as fascinating. I wonder how a person of Welles' talent got around struggling for survival as a film-maker. I wonder if the fable from "Mr. Arkadin" has some clues.