ray pool

MURDER MOST FOUL

by ray pool

Saturday 26th January 2019 4:51 pm

Successive stars have forged their name

in the heat of the cinema killing game.

Sylvester Stallone stands alone for

rampant destruction for a worthy cause;

Liam Neeson has added a frisson

of genuine grievance to other's malfeasance.

The list is endless but there'll always be

the biters of bullets for you and me.

The English have an admiration

for more subtle means of expiration;

poisoning, blunt instruments, stillettos,

the unseen but sensed unholy ghettoes.

In any shape or form it seems,

murder must be part of our dreams.

🌷(7)

◄ ENDINGS

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS ►

Comments

raypool

Wed 30th Jan 2019 22:26

David , you make salient points about voyeurism , cinema itself has that fascination often enough, perhaps also TV; are we to be constantly weaned on it. Apparently so. Your link was quite riveting and stylish. Low key lighting helps the effect too. Thanks for that.

It's fair to say I think that the high churches rely largely on the middle classes to carry the banner these days. I noticed choristers are all from educated families. Not a criticism , but one can sense the separation from the poor in such ways . The frustrations of poverty must be closer to violence.

Mark, agreed about Hitchcock who I'm sure had more than enough voyeuristic tendencies himself. That's why he was good at the art. Note the spyhole in Norman's painting !

I can't honestly get involved in considerations of John Wayne, except to say that he seemed to me a pastiche figure who served the purposes of the studios. You and David have explored him more effectively than I could. I don't think that the reality of killing can ever be adequately portrayed on the screen dramas, though a seeming detachment of emotion might come close to it, as perhaps a sort of psychosis might be necessary in the act.
But I don't really know. Thanks for your thoughts.

Thanks all for liking: Big Sal, Dave and Anya(welcome back).

, Ray

M.C. Newberry

Wed 30th Jan 2019 14:10

Wayne was an actor and playing service roles was part of the job;
as was playing western characters - for which he became famous.
Popular with the US public of the day for the way he portrayed his
various characters, he responded as any actor would - by making
himself available for public appearances - not always successfully
it seems. But that's part of the job he knew and did so well on the
screen for so many years. The way he conducted himself in his
late years, stricken by the cancer that would ultimately kill him
provides another way of seeing him..

M.C. Newberry

Wed 30th Jan 2019 00:25

I recall the report that Alfred Hitchcock of "Psycho" fame was
personally unsettled by the sight of a policeman. But the notorious
shower murder scene in his most famous film was a masterpiece
of editing & music scoring that, when examined frame by frame,
does not show the deadly deed but, like the best of its genre,
leaves the viewers' imaginations to fill in the gaps.
Not sure about John Wayne being a "fraud". He was a top
screen actor who made more money for his studio than any in
film, and at the age of 35 was reported to be anxious to continue
a tempestuous 3yr love affair with Marlene Dietrich. His roles in
films that featured the armed services always brought credit
and good faith to the various characters he portrayed and he's on
record saying that he would never play "petty" or "mean". USO
appearances were booed but the audiences considered that he,
along with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Al Jolson, were just
Hollywood entertainers looking for good PR. Sinatra also
suffered a similar reception from forces personnel in those days.

raypool

Mon 28th Jan 2019 15:54

Thanks for all the likes Isobel, Jon and Farawla.

Hi Big Sal. I wasn't aware of the DiCaprio film - but I enjoyed No Country as being quite perverse and the usual black humour serving. Amazing how John Wayne became such an American hero - they still keep on coming. Bond is good fantasy stuff in its way. Bias should be ok everyone has a place.

Cheers David. Yes, I thought the audio was quirky, but sort of suitable in context. Take away my humour and I am naked I must admit (not a pretty sight). An endless yearning seems to exist for how humans can be disposed of even in official sanctioned ways. I suppose its curiosity really. To think that Nilssen was influenced by the death of his grandfather and longed to replicate that feeling. I suppose the tie between murder and art could be said to be a real thing, as it has often been portrayed through the centuries, e.g Goya's works very graphic. I take your points about the national element - there is a suffocating atmosphere within that European period in their society that cries out for release perhaps with undertones of sexual expression. Deep waters here.
I must admit to an increased sensitivity to watch horror films lately, a sense of disgust maybe crept in. It is the voyeur that is always served best by cinema I suppose.
Are you referring to Guillermo del Torro the director in one of his own films? I find his work fascinating.
I'm rushing back to my early Hammer DVDs for safety !

Mark, a good point . Personal influences must always affect opinions and how they might be formed. We could apply that argument to pornographic films too - I personally think the link is too tenuous to be proved . We all need a release (or perhaps a cause to hide behind). Bring back Mrs Whitehouse I say.

Alan, thanks. Directors like Mike Leigh and Ken Loach have tried that, but always a niche market sadly. Poverty will never be exciting, so perhaps that is the answer. On another level, any attempt to draw attention to that will be viewed by many as hypocritical, so it is a no win situation (IMO).

As an afterthought, I find Midsomer Murders farcical yet beloved by the public. They are in a way safe, in the way humour was safe in the Carry on films. The unravelling of the motives by messrs plod would never happen in reality, not in front of an audience anyway.

I'll get my coat.

With respect to all who take the trouble . Ray

Alan Travis Braddock

Mon 28th Jan 2019 14:58

Currently, Ray, the English - that's our government, that we voted for (not me but...) are killing people by poverty. Nobody is making nice exciting films about THAT.

M.C. Newberry

Sun 27th Jan 2019 18:19

I recall the respected UK film critic Barry Norman defending the
film industry against the accusation that its depiction of violence
(perhaps better defined as the gratuitous sort) was instrumental in
affecting the unbalanced easily influenced mental state that some
possess and which might be encouraged by what is seen on the
screen as some sort of justification for what they feel they can
commit In "real life". His defence didn't sit easily with me - and
still doesn't. But, in fairness, his father Leslie Norman was an
influential figure in an earlier British film industry. .

Big Sal

Sat 26th Jan 2019 18:01

Bang, bang, goes the gun.?

Cowboy movies suck I think, most are cliched beyond saving. The one saving grace for me is “No Country for Old Men” by the Coen Brothers (don’t know how cowboy it really is though). A couple others worth mentioning, Django Unchained was a good one. DiCaprio played a sadistic Candy.??

Even the old James Bond movies are still kick ass by today’s standards though. But hey i’m a biased little bastard today.?

If you wish to post a comment you must login.

Please consider supporting us

Donations from our supporters are essential to keep Write Out Loud going

Bringing poetry to people

Click here to donate now