Things I Watched: Burning

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I’m a big fan of Haruki Murakami. 

I consider the Wind-up Bird Chronicle to be high on my favourite books of all-time. One of the reasons I like it so much is because it deals with the concept of overcoming past trauma. It’s arresting in its exploration of that uncomfortable state of being that comes from not being fully in control of one’s environment. 

Lee Chang-dong’s Burning — itself inspired by a Murakami short story called Barn burning — shares a whole heck of similarities. In my opinion, it’s an absolute masterclass of film-making!

Set in modern day Seoul, the film follows aspiring young novelist, Lee Jong-su. One day he bumps into an old friend, Shin Hae-mi, working a dead-end job as an event promoter. He doesn’t recognize her at first because of she’s recently undergone plastic surgery – fairly popular in South Korea. 

Later they sleep together and she tells him about the ‘great hunger’ she’s seeking in life. This leads to a spontaneous trip to Africa whereupon she meets Ben, an elusive nouveau-riche type. 

The three then become embroiled in a complex love triangle culminating in Hae-mi’s disappearance. All the while Jong-su’s estranged father is facing judicial reprimand owing to an attack on a government official.

I know it’s lapse of me to say without explaining but I can’t understate how loaded the film is with metaphors. Central to this is distrust, especially towards figures in power. This is most evident through Ben, the privileged ‘Gatsby’ type who informs Jong-su one day of his proclivity for burning greenhouses – ‘nobody will miss them’. 

After a figurative goose chase, it becomes obvious that it’s a metaphor for power. The way Jong-su becomes embroiled in the situation gives heady weight to the turmoil that comes from him losing trust in others. 

The film, like many of Murakami’s books, expertly considers the personal impact of it, alongside other potent themes including class disenfranchisement, love, family tension, and politics.

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Things I Listened To: Remain In Light

Remain in Light is an album that, according to one astute amateur YouTube critic hasn't 'aged a minute'. I very much agree with that summation and find it interesting because that's very much the point of this feature - finding music I, for some reason, have overlooked.

Talking Heads are a band I've listened to a whole bunch in the past but am ashamed to admit only through select choices. Namely their 'greatest hits' album Best Of (Once in a Lifetime) released in 1992. Remain in Light (1980) is the first time I've sat through a full proper studio album. It's super uplifting and fun, featuring what is probably my absolutely favourite track by them, Once in a Lifetime. There's a great video for that one.

I wish I had more to say but I can't think of much right now. Much like myself, lead Singer David Byrne suffered with a bout of writer's block prior to recording it. He got through it by seeking inspiration from a wealth of sources, including rap and postcolonial African literature. For me it explains why the album has a hazy quality to it. 

It takes further inspiration from polyrhythms, funk and looping grooves, which you can sense from the very first track, Born Under Punches.

Take a look at these hands.

I'm a government man.

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How's Yer Social Media Presence?

I got into a conversation last night with my housemate about our preferred social media platforms. For him it's Twitter which he uses mainly to liaise with people in his specialism (design). He likes to reach out to them for instance to organise a podcast that he hosts. However, he added the caveat that it's inevitable everybody becomes something like a brand online.

I agree with which is why for me the answer is (almost) none of them. I've largely been decreasing my social media presence over the past few years because I find the upkeep too much hassle. I find they've all become all a bit impersonal to the point where they seem about curating highly specific image of how one wishes to appear to others. 

The price we pay for a non-neutral avatar, I suppose.

We got into a further debate about the value of Instagram. Now, I don't really it use it because the idea of 'liking' people's selfies in front of their mirrors doesn't appeal much to me. We decided though that so much of online behaviour is guided by a form of passive reciprocation. 

Put simply, if you like other people's posts, then they tend to like yours more often. You feel good about yourself and it becomes a lot like game where the end goal is to received mutual feedback.

My housemate is also running a personal experiment where he compares the amounts of likes he gets when he posts a picture of himself versus when he post a picture of something neutral - arguably a more impressive picture from a technical point of view. 

The answer so far if is that the personal images outrank likes by a ratio of 3:1. He asked for my opinion about why that might be and I said it's because people probably feel they're engaging with you personally when they can see your face.

I find this whole subject fascinating because obviously I run this blog. I also use Reddit and forums a lot. I hold steadfast to the view that my motivation to do so is mainly about 'information gathering'. 

For this blog though, I suppose it's about the joy of putting together content. Posts are things I can go back to at a later date to find out what I thought at a particular moment. 

By comparison, the type of posts you find (and are expected to make) on Facebook, Twitter, etc don't really allow for it.

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Things I Listened To: The Modern Lovers

I haven't blogged much lately so you'll have to forgive the tardiness of this post. I fell out of love with writing for a couple of months owing to moving to a different city. Good news though, I'm back, and with a new idea - listening to a new album each day and reflecting on the results.

First up is The Modern Lovers debut album, erm, The Modern Lovers.

The Modern Lovers are a fairly well known band so I'm loathe to sound like I'm addressing something new and interesting. They were influential on the Punk Rock genre and followed another well known band The Velvet Underground in pioneering the style. Their debut album was released in 1976. It's 35 minutes long and, in my opinion, really fucking good.

To describe it succinctly, it's rough and ready. It muses on artists, living life in rough parts of town, and the lead singer's relationship between modern living and what he describes as the 'old world'.

One of the main aspects that stands out is the fascination with girls and dating. It sounds very much like the emotional bellyaching of a teenager but with enough refined sensibility that it doesn't succumb to idle cliches or anything too soppy. It's reflected so well by the imperfect raspy vocals of lead singer, Jonathan Richman.

My favourite song is Hospital, which really cuts to the core of problematic relationships. I love the bittersweet line that reads, 'I still get jealous of your old boyfriends in the suburbs sometimes'.

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