writing and reading, two different worlds

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alexia, BBC, BBC One, documentary, Dr. Oliver Sacks, Howard Engel, neurology, reading, sight, The Man Who Forgot how to Read and Other Stories., writing

Imagine waking up one morning in a house filled with books and discovering you had forgotten how to read. This may seem a very unlikely scenario but it happened to Canadian crime writer Howard Engel in the year 2000.

Engel discovered he had suffered a stroke during the night and was diagnosed with a rare condition called alexia, also known as word-blindness. The stroke had effected his visual cortex, making it inaccessible for his brain to recognize letters, rendering it impossible for him to read.

However he soon discovered that while reading was no longer possible, he could still write. So write he did: in 2001 he published two books – more since then. Interstingly  he could briefly read what he had just written, but within a few minutes even his own handwriting turn into a mystery to him.

As time went by Engel discovered if he allowed his hand to retrace the letters he couldn’t visually identify, his brain could translate the unrecognizable symbols through movement into words, and he could understand, read. Maybe slowly, but the world of reading was no longer a closed book to him.

Engel then developed a technique in which he traces the letters he sees on a pages with his tongue pressed up against his teeth. By doing so his brain identifies the movement and translates it, allowing him to read, still very slowly but no longer impossible.

This fascinating story was just one of the incredible tales world famous neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks talked about in the unusual BBC documentary: The Man Who Forgot how to Read and Other Stories. The documentary looks at how we as humans translate the visual world around us and how it effects who we are.

Dr Oliver Sacks was an incredible inspiration for all who long to understand what makes our minds work. And while his recent death is a great loss to the world of Neurology his stories, like in the BBC documentary will live on.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012b42j

Film Review: The Irish Pub

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Alex Fegan, documentary, Dublin, entertainment, film review: The Irish Pub, film reviews, Films, Ireland, Irish heritage, Irish Pub, pubs, The Irish Pub

All around the world Ireland is famous for it’s pubs and for many the reason to visit the Emerald Isle.  They want to sit around a turf fire and listen to traditional music, have a pint of the black stuff and remember a time gone by.

Sadly these kinds of pubs are slowly disappearing and that was the reason why filmmaker Alex Fegan thought it was time to document them before they become another part of lost Irish heritage.

Travelling all around Ireland Fegan met third generation pub owners and lets them tell their stories, no script and no need for one. The Irish Pub is a joyful and melancholic love letter to publican houses all over Ireland.

What may surprise is that no matter where in Ireland a pub may be, they all have a lot in common. They seem to favour an eclectic collection of bits and bobs as decoration, never letting anything go, documenting time in the shape of a wellington-boot hanging from the ceiling, old portrait photos nailed to the walls and pots, pans, mole traps and other contraptions lining the selves.  The owners see their pubs as an extension of their living-room, their paying costumers as part of the family, their jobs as a service to the community.

Fegan has found some interestingly wonderful and quirky characters who talk about their points of view, creating a very Irish and authentic charm to this unique documentary.

And while everything is filmed within the pubs the storytelling is never really about drink. It is about chatting to friends, community life, the importance of having a place to go to and life in general.

The Irish Pub may at times be little bit twee, but as the publicans and local are constantly telling a new story, singing a song or serving a pint, the moment never last long and it never becomes boring.

So if you enjoy a few jars, a little bit of craic and a great story The Irish Pub truly does deliver, a beautiful film that celebrates Irish life at its very best.

Film review: The Act of Killing

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award winning, documentary, entertainment, Film Review, Film review: The Act of Killing, film reviews, genocide, indonesian society, Joshua Oppenheimer, movie review, the Act of Killing Indonesia 1965

Director Joshua Oppenheimer’s surreal and harrowing documentary The Act of Killing takes an unusual look at the mass murders of suspected communists in Indonesia in 1965.

After a military coup the paramilitary took over and small-time” movie-theater gangsters” turned into ruthless executors. They modeled themselves on their silver-screen heroes and like the men in the mafia movies they felt no remorse or pity when doing the most horrendous of acts.

In The Act of Killing Oppenheimer gives these unrepentant murderers the opportunity to tell the story from their point of view by making a film about their past. This creates a bizarre and surreal mix of factual interviews with death-squad leaders and politicians interspersed with staged murder scenes, colourful musical numbers and random western sequences.

What is most shocking about this unusual documentary is how very casual the men and Indonesian society are about their past. The perpetrators seem to revel in their past acts and obviously enjoy recreating their ‘glory days’.  They talk about the importance of preserving history and how what they did was right. They are treated like national heroes while describing how they slaughtered men, chopped of their heads and raped young girls.

At times it could almost seem gimmicky the way Oppenheimer approaches this unconfronted past, however it turns out that, by allowing the men to re-enact and recreate their actions, it brings them face-to-face with a past they never thought needed revisiting or questioning.

This isn’t the case for one former death-squad leader, Anwar Congo. He admits, the only one who does, to having problems with his genocidal past. And when he puts himself into the place of a former victim of his something begins to change.  After avoiding the experiences of his past for so many years Congo is confronted with acts he can no longer hide from.

The Act of Killing is not an easy film to watch and may prove too much for some. However it tells a story about a past only few know about and gives an insight into Indonesian society that is very revealing. An unusual, award winning film that is very honest, unexpected and well worth the ticket.