Stand With Russia / Stand With Putin [2022)

Are you curious about what is going on with Ukraine?

[Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, 2. Largo]

Well, you should be.

I am.

But I am going to attempt to explain what is going on.

First of all, NATO are a bunch of fucktards.

NATO was formed to defend against the Warsaw Pact (which no longer exists) countries and against the Soviet Union (which also no longer exists).

When did the USSR collapse?

December 26, 1991.

Thirty years ago.

Did NATO disband when this happened?

Did they dissolve?

Of course not.

Why?

Because they are warmongers in disguise.

Why do I say this?

Because NATO was not satisfied to keep the amount of members it had in 1991.

Nooooooo.

It ADDED members.

And it moved in a certain direction.

Which direction was that?

Eastwards.

Towards Russia.

And now they are right on Russia’s doorstep.

Imagine if China or Russia formed a mutual defense treaty with Mexico…or even Guatemala.

And China or Russia put troops and weapons there.

To “protect” those countries against the USA.

Do you think the USA would consider that a threat?

Of course we would.

And before you say the USA is no threat…

[Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8, 1. Largo]

to Mexico or Guatemala, let’s not forget the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and/or the CIA coup in Guatemala (1954…aka Operation PBSuccess).

So let’s review what NATO has done for the past 30 years.

1999- former member of Warsaw Pact CZECHIA (Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic) joins NATO

1999- former member of Warsaw Pact POLAND joins NATO (borders RUSSIA, BELARUS, and UKRAINE)

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact BULGARIA joins NATO

2004- former region of Soviet Union ESTONIA joins NATO (borders RUSSIA)

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact HUNGARY joins NATO (borders UKRAINE)

2004- former region of Soviet Union LATVIA joins NATO (borders RUSSIA and BELARUS [the constituents of the Russian Federation])

2004- former region of Soviet Union LITHUANIA joins NATO (borders BELARUS and RUSSIA [the constituents of the Russian Federation])

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact ROMANIA joins NATO (borders UKRAINE)

2004- former member of Warsaw Pact SLOVAKIA (Czechoslovakia) joins NATO (borders UKRAINE)

2004- former region of communist state Yugoslavia SLOVENIA joins NATO

2009- former member of Warsaw Pact ALBANIA joins NATO

2009- former region of communist state Yugoslavia CROATIA joins NATO

2017- former region of communist state Yugoslavia MONTENEGRO joins NATO

2020- former region of communist state Yugoslavia NORTH MACEDONIA joins NATO

[Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, II. Adagio sostenuto (performed by Sviatoslav Richter)]

[Borodin String Quartet No. 2, 3. Notturno]

[Stravinsky Rite of Spring: Harbingers of Spring (Dances of the Young Girls and Boys)]

Let’s not forget that NORWAY (a NATO member) borders RUSSIA.

[Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, I. Non allegro]

So do you see why Russia is worried?

In addition to Norway, NATO began to further border Russia within eight years of the USSR’s collapse (with the accession of Poland).

That was 1999.

2004 was a major year of provocative, aggressive actions by NATO.

THREE MORE countries WHICH DIRECTLY BORDER RUSSIA were added to the mutual defense pact: Estonia, Latvia, and Lituania.

NATO by 2004 had added FOUR COUNTRIES to its membership which DIRECTLY BORDER RUSSIA.

The Soviet Union had ceased to exist for a mere 13 years by this point.

While it is true that NATO has not (yet) added ANY MORE states that border Russia, it has nevertheless continued to add members (mostly from the former Yugoslavia [but one former Warsaw Pact member]): Albania (Warsaw Pact), Croatia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.

[for those keeping score, five (!) NATO countries border Russia]

Albania in 2009 was, in some ways, the most audacious (provocative) move.

[Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues for Piano Op. 87, Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major (performed by Keith Jarrett)]

Why?

Because Montenegro (a 2017 accession to NATO) is actually TO THE WEST!

NATO was playing checkers.

They skipped over Montenegro.

Only to gobble it up as well eight years later.

And what is east of Albania?

North Macedonia.

A mere two years ago (2020), NATO moved further east with the accession of North Macedonia.

What is east of Europe?

Russia.

For 30 years, in an almost-uninterrupted train, NATO has moved EASTWARDS in a provocative, slow-motion attack on Russia.

Again, remember my metaphor.

What if China or Russia put troops and installations and weapons in Canada?

Oh, they can’t: because Canada is in NATO.

So let’s choose a different metaphor.

Remember when Russia put nukes in Cuba?

It was a big deal, right?

Why?

Because Havana is a mere 228 miles from Miami.

The city of Russia most closely associated with Europe is St. Petersburg.

Warsaw, POLAND (in NATO since 1999) is 729 miles from St. Petersburg.

Vilnius, LITHUANIA (in NATO since 2004) is 448 miles from St. Petersburg.

Riga, LATVIA (in NATO since 2004) is 357 miles from St. Petersburg.

Tallinn, ESTONIA (in NATO since 2004) is 230 miles from St. Petersburg.

[Prokofiev Visions Fugitives, 1. Lentamente]

[Mieczysław Weinberg Piano Quintet, 1.  Moderato con moto]

But to reiterate: there are FIVE NATO COUNTRIES that are ASS-TO-FUCKING-ASS with Russia:

Norway

Poland

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania.

I was in the middle of watching Convoy.

The Canadian Freedom Convoy had made Trudeau enact the Emergencies Act.

Truckers were (and are) headed to D.C. for the Peoples Convoy.

The COVID narrative was falling apart.

Omicron had brought the major risks of the pandemic to an end.

More damning information was emerging every day on Fauci, Moderna, Pfizer, CDC, FDA…

Here is but one example:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10542309/Fresh-lab-leak-fears-study-finds-genetic-code-Covids-spike-protein-linked-Moderna-patent.html

But now none of that matters, right?

Are you seeing any news about the truckers?

Remember they were THE ONLY FUCKING THING GOING ON IN THE WORLD just a week ago.

Every country had their own trucker protest.

[Prokofiev Symphony No. 1, I. Allegro]

Did all of that just stop?

We were up to 12,122 reports of death to the HHS VAERS system in relation to the administration of the COVID vaccines in the USA (according to the CDC’s criminally-parsed data).

Open VAERS had it at 23,615 reports of death.

And remember that these numbers should be multiplied by a factor of 10 because of the historical underreporting to the VAERS passive surveillance system.

Take a look at Kawasaki disease.

A perfect example of how, historically, LESS THAN ONE PERCENT of vaccine adverse reactions (including serious ones like Kawasaki disease) had made it into the VAERS system.

So we are talking about 121,220 deaths.

Or, probably, 236,150 deaths.

And that was as of a week ago.

But that doesn’t matter anymore.

Anyone who rammed through these #NeitherSafeNorEffective vaccines are going to pay no price for their crimes against humanity.

Why?

Because the situation in Ukraine has rendered everything else moot.

Why?

Because Russia has nukes.

And they will probably move nukes into Belarus (as that country ditched its status as nuclear-neutral today).

So the whole world is fixated on Ukraine…because if dumbass Biden and dumbass NATO somehow end up shooting at Russia, there could (pretty quickly) be a nuclear exchange.

The situation could devolve rapidly into all-out nuclear war.

What a way to make everyone forget about the past two years, right?

Why were the truckers even in Ottawa?

Because of the killer vaccines and the stupid fucking mandates.

But the threat of death and incineration by nuclear weapons has totally wiped the memory of citizens on planet Earth.

But there is something more insidious going on.

EVERY NEWS SOURCE ON THE PLANET IS MAKING ZELENSKY OUT TO BE A HERO.

AND MAKING UKRAINE OUT TO BE VICTIMS.

No mention of the backstory I gave you.

No mention that NATO has moved eastwards (for no good reason) for 30 years.

So I say, fuck Zelensky!

Fuck Ukraine!!!

I pray every night for the children and elderly of Ukraine.

But I gotta tell you something.

Ukraine fucked up.

They could have investigated Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.

But they didn’t.

And that’s a big reason why Biden is President today.

So congratulations, Ukraine!

You got the President you wanted.

Joe Motherfucking Biden.

[Kalinnikov Symphony No. 1, IV. Finale. Allegro moderato]

We are now at Defcon 2.

Some people think Defcon 5 is bad…like an F5 tornado.

Defcon 5 means the U.S. is at a state of readiness associated with peace.

Defcon 1 means the U.S. state of readiness is that of wartime or imminent nuclear threat.

A couple of days ago we were at Defcon 3.

Not great, but not horrible.

Yes, it has deteriorated.

We are now at Defcon 2.

According to public OSINT analysis.

The actual Defcon level is not made public.

https://www.defconlevel.com/

[Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture]

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Because in September Ukraine’s new publicly-released National Security Strategy included their express desire and intent to join NATO.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/russia-as-aggressor-nato-as-objective-ukraines-new-national-security-strategy/

Russia has had enough.

Russia was patient for 30 years.

Why else did Russia invade Ukraine?

Because “hero” Zelensky publicly announced approximately one year ago that his goal was to MILITARILY take back Crimea from Russia. And how was he gonna do that? By joining NATO, of course.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3214479-zelensky-enacts-strategy-for-deoccupation-and-reintegration-of-crimea.html

So Zelensky is certainly, while not in the traditional sense, a comedian.

And his joke is his foreign policy.

Which has now led to the deaths of many of his countrymen.

What a punch line!

Let me explain one further thing.

Russia is fighting NOW so that they don’t have to fight a bigger, deadlier war LATER.

Ukrainians are stupid fucking idiots that don’t realize (or care?) that their corrupt country had a major role in looking the other way so that Joe Biden could be elected/installed.

Those dying for Russia are heroes.

Those dying for Ukraine are morons…in service to a moron government.

Russia is not communist.

Are they a little heavy-handed?

Yes.

Why?

Because pricks like George Soros try to overthrow all the countries (Georgia, for instance) in their region.

And don’t forget the recent overthrow of the Kazakh government.

Aside from Ukraine (which was the “bread basket” of the former Soviet Union [as Zbigniew Brzezinski described it]), Kazakhstan was the most important Soviet Republic.

Don’t forget that Russia went into Kazakhstan on a “peacekeeping” mission.

And they were very successful.

So Russia is heavy-handed.

Putin is heavy-handed.

Because, otherwise, Russia will cease to exist.

Putin is doing his job.

I perceive that he loves his country.

His first responsibility is TO HIS PEOPLE.

He is the leader of RUSSIA.

He is not trying to win a popularity contest.

So to all the Russians who wanna protest, get the fuck out of Russia.

Go to the paradise of the European Union.

Claim refugee status.

Whine and complain that Putin is so bad.

But Putin is protecting your culture and your people.

Let me reiterate.

RUSSIA IS NOT A COMMUNIST STATE.

China is.

Fuck China.

And Russia is far from perfect, but NATO needs to BACK THE FUCK OFF!

As an American, I suggest this:

the USA needs to immediately leave NATO.

The USA needs to also immediately expel the United Nations from New York City.

And the USA needs to exit the United Nations.

If Europe wants their own military, fine.

Call it NATO without the USA.

Donbas and Luhansk asked for Russia’s help.

Putin said yes.

Has Putin gone further than helping these two regions?

Yes.

Why?

Here is one possible reason:

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/12/10/putin-says-conflict-in-eastern-ukraine-looks-like-genocide-a75780

Putin has a responsibility to help those of Russian extraction if he can.

He could.

So he did.

Would you expect Israel to help Jews in some place in the world if they were in trouble?

Yes, you would.

What if those Jews were in a country bordering Israel?

Would you expect Israel to intercede?

Yes, you would.

Being Russian is no less special than being Jewish.

And that is why I have made this playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6m9ArhvB67gGDRosUFD78b?si=987de9a823154d80

You must get to know the works of Dostoyevsky.

Karamazov.

You must get to know the composers.

I have put them on a silver platter for you.

Like beluga caviar.

Have some egg.

Some onion.

On a cracker.

Have some champagne.

But, by all means, have some vodka while you are reading Karamazov.

[Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 18]

You must get to know the films of Eisenstein.

They transcend communism.

It is art.

Potemkin is one of the best films ever made.

And Shostakovich made brilliant, tortured music…IN SPITE OF COMMUNISM!

Gaze upon the paintings of Chagall.

Born in Belarus.

[Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker (Suite), IIb. Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy]

It is no less special to be Russian than it is to be Jewish.

And, believe it or not, one can be both.

https://tass.com/russia/1405599

[Stravinsky The Firebird Suite, Finale]

Who really started the attack?

Was it really Russia?

What about this vaunted “false-flag” that the USA government gushed about?

Did Ukraine actually start this conflict?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-22/ukraine-power-plant-damaged-during-two-days-of-shelling

2/22/22

Was Ukraine going to irradiate the region by using Chernobyl as an asymmetric weapon (a giant dirty bomb)?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chernobyl-nuclear-russia-attack-ukraine-b2022444.html

Why was Russia so insistent about taking it over?

Russia has nukes.

Russia has uranium, plutonium, etc.

Russia doesn’t need nuclear material to terrorize a region.

It already has nuclear material.

I suspect something was awry at Chernobyl.

Do you think the FSB and GRU are able to decrypt Ukrainian communications?

I do.

What are the new accessions to NATO saying?

Czechia was very enlightened to drop their vaccine mandate a few weeks ago.

But who was on the front lines of the “get Russia” parade?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/czech-president-russia-cut-off-102059014.html

For NATO, and its former Soviet/Warsaw-Pact members, it is not enough that the USSR fell apart in 1991.

THESE PSYCHOPATHS WANT THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION AND ANNIHILATION OF RUSSIA.

That is not peace.

That is not a peaceful mutual-defense organization.

NATO is the aggressor.

Russia has (finally!) acted in self-defense.

This is the last opportunity Russia has to act without the repercussions being GUARANTEED nuclear war.

Putin made the right choice.

[Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 1, 1.  Grave – Allegro ma non troppo]

China was right to side with Russia.

And I fucking hate China.

And Russia was right to side with China.

Why?

Because NATO and the moronic foreign policy of Biden forced them into it.

https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/china/ukraine-crisis-china-russia-war-us-b2022237.html

Remember when Biden was barely in office and he called Putin “a killer”?

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/03/joe-biden-calls-vladimir-putin-killer.html

What kind of diplomacy is that?!?

Did he go to the Rex Tillerson school of foreign policy???

But let’s get one other thing straight.

[Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade, The Story of the Kalender Prince]

There are only two mRNA vaccines approved anywhere in the world.

Ever.

In world history.

And both of them are COVID vaccines.

We are talking about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Are they approved in China?

No.

Not at all.  Not even for emergency use.

Are they approved in Russia?

No.

Not at all.  Not even for emergency use.

Why?

Because Russia and China developed their own COVID vaccines (many of them the traditional inactivated-virus vaccines).

Russia has four COVID vaccines:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_V_COVID-19_vaccine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_Light

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EpiVacCorona

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoviVac_(Russia_COVID-19_vaccine)

[the final one is an inactivated-virus vaccine]

As I have proven in many articles, the COVID vaccines available in the USA are neither safe, nor effective.

Same for those of the U.K., Australia, etc.

What do the vaccines have to do with Russia invading Ukraine?

Use your brains.

Why would Russia and China not approve the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines AT ALL in their countries?

Isn’t it interesting how they (China and Russia) have also aligned themselves in regard to foreign policy?

What do the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have to do with their shared foreign policy (if they do at all)?

So Russia has one inactivated-virus vaccine for COVID and ZERO mRNA vaccines.

You can see what China does and doesn’t have here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_COVID-19_vaccine_authorizations

But let’s get back on topic.

Have you seen Biden brag about getting Viktor Shokin (a Ukrainian prosecutor) fired while Biden was Obama’s Vice President?

Now why would Biden be so interested in a Ukrainian prosecutor?

Why would he execute a quid pro quo using American taxpayer-funded loan guarantees to extort Ukraine into firing Shokin?

Listen for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=UXA–dj2-CY

[Pauly Deathwish “Россия”]

Why, indeed?

What was Hunter Biden doing over in Ukraine?

Was he on the board of directors for Ukrainian gas company Burisma?

Was Burisma under investigation by Shokin?

Did the New York Post break this story during the 2020 U.S. election cycle?

Did Twitter lock the New York Post (third-highest circulation in the USA) out of its Twitter account for publishing and sharing the story on Twitter?

https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/

What story did the New York Post publish the next day?

https://nypost.com/2020/10/15/emails-reveal-how-hunter-biden-tried-to-cash-in-big-with-chinese-firm/

Yes, Joe and Hunter Biden are even more corrupt in specific relation to China than they are to Ukraine (if that is even possible).  But, of course, China did nothing about this.  Because they wanted a President they could control.  So they could take Taiwan (which they will shortly do).

https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2019/11/04/report-joe-biden-pressured-ukraine-to-fire-top-prosecutor-after-burisma-lobbying-effort/

So Ukraine had the goods on Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.

But they swept it under the rug.

Because they wanted Joe Biden to win.

So that they could join NATO.

And retake Crimea by military force.

[Prokoviev Alexander Nevsky, VII. Alexander’s Entry into Pskov]

[Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, The Great Gate of Kiev]

So, I hate to say it, dear Ukrainians, but you should have been more involved in the politics of your country.

You, in effect, “voted” for Joe Biden.

Congratulations.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ukraine-prosecutor-biden-burisma-back-off-state-department-files

Are you wishing now that you had exposed Joe Biden for the corrupt piece of shit that he is?

It’s a little late, maybe, to be researching this.

But you know who else knows about this?

The U.S. military.

Where is the bravery of the U.S. military?

Are you just gonna zip your lips and go fight another pointless war so that Joe Biden can cover his ass for all the mistakes he has made during his first year in office?

https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/468886-ukraine-to-fire-prosecutor-who-led-investigations-into-company

In case YouTube (owned by Alphabet Inc. [the owners of Google]) decide to take down the video link I posted above.

Here it is, once again:  Joe Biden BRAGGING that he got a Ukrainian prosecutor fired by dangling billions of dollars in loan guarantees over their heads.

https://rumble.com/v7u8sd-joe-biden-admits-to-getting-prosecutor-fired.html

This is not a conspiracy theory.

It is a conspiracy.

It is a factual conspiracy.

Conspiracy fact.

Joe Biden conspired to get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired.

Why?

Was that prosecutor investigating Burisma gas company–a Ukrainian company on whose board his son Hunter Biden sat?

Yes.

Shokin was investigating that.

Until he was fired.

At Vice President Joe Biden’s behest.

https://jonathanturley.org/2022/02/04/report-diplomat-complained-that-hunter-biden-was-undercutting-anti-corruption-efforts-in-ukraine/

The counterargument will be that Burisma was under investigation BEFORE Hunter Biden joined the board.

So there is nothing wrong with Joe Biden getting the prosecutor fired.

In fact, Joe Biden was actually trying to PREVENT corruption in Ukraine.

Give me a fucking break!

Joe Biden was the “point man” for Ukraine AND China during the Obama years.

Does his son, Hunter, taking a job on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that was under investigation for corruption sound like an above-board thing to do?

Never mind whether they were under investigation or not.

Why the fuck did his son join the board of Burisma while his dad was the “point man” for Ukraine?

And look at the second New York Post link I posted above.

Who was “the big guy”?

10% set aside for “the big guy”?

Hunter Biden did a big deal for a hedge fund after he and his father flew on Air Force 2 to China.

So who is “the big guy”?

Who was getting 10% of the “finder’s fee” for this deal?

Was it Vice President Joe Biden?

I think it fucking was.

That’s called SELLING THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Joe Biden was never fit to be President.

These are disqualifying CRIMES that he committed.

And Ukraine could have done the right thing and exposed it.

But they didn’t.

Great job, Ukrainians.

Thanks a lot.

Every news service in the world covered for Joe Biden.

Those same news services that are calling Zelensky a “hero” and vilifying Putin.

That same ugly chorus.

https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/01/25/fact-check-ap-says-biden-getting-ukrainian-prosecutor-fired-to-protect-hunter-is-false-narrative/

Viktor Shokin has spoken up.

There was an assassination attempt made on him.

Three shots from a sniper’s rifle.

Bulletproof glass on his office window saved his life.

https://dailycaller.com/2019/09/27/report-affidavit-ukrainian-prosecutor-joe-biden-removed-burisma-investigation/

Giuliani told you all this.

But you didn’t believe him.

You wanted to believe that Trump is a bad guy.

And maybe he is.

But Biden is far worse.

https://www.newswars.com/audio-released-of-joe-biden-pressuring-ukraine-president-to-fire-prosecutor-investigating-son-hunter/

I am no longer in support of Trump.

Because Trump has supported these moronic vaccines.

https://www.westernjournal.com/report-former-ukraine-prosecutor-files-complaint-charging-biden-not-trump-abused-power/

Wake me up when Trump calls the neither-safe-nor-effective vaccines bullshit:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3VXsCvRbs1B6BmsVoeAvrQ?si=d8b08ba45df4415a

By the way, this wasn’t just any prosecutor that Joe Biden got fired.

It was essentially the Ukrainian Attorney General.

That’s a pretty fucking big deal, right?

Did Joe Biden, whose son saw fit to cash in on his dad being Obama’s Ukraine “point man” by joining the board of Burisma, really have the moral “high ground” to tell Ukraine who should or shouldn’t be their top prosecutor?

https://www.westernjournal.com/joe-biden-probe-ukraine-top-prosecutors-firing-report/

Does the U.S. military leadership love their country (our country) as much as Putin loves his?

We should just vote Joe Biden out, right?

Three years from now.

Biden hasn’t done that bad during his first year, has he?

I mean, WWIII being imminent is no big deal, right?

https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/463307-solomon-these-once-secret-memos-cast-doubt-on-joe-bidens-ukraine-story

I mean…we can make it to the mid-terms, right?

And then Joe Biden’s power will be lessened, right?

So we can make it basically another year with an imminent WWIII hanging over our head.

No problem.

I’m sure Biden will handle this with the same finesse that he handled the Afghanistan withdrawal.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/documents-heighten-scrutiny-on-biden-ukraine-dealings-indicate-hunter-may-have-made-millions

Speaking of which…General Lloyd Austin (who forced our troops to take neither-safe-nor-effective vaccines) and Mark Milley (who did nothing to stop Secretary Austin’s treasonous actions) did such a great fucking job getting us out of Afghanistan.

I’m sure Putin is shaking in his boots.

But here’s an interesting thought.

Putin is a man of ACTION.

His country was/is threatened.

He acted.

What has our U.S. military done to protect OUR country?

They just take orders, right?

Just following orders.

https://thepostmillennial.com/state-department-memos-contradict-democrats-ukraine-impeachment-narrative

I have a bad feeling that they will be following Joe Biden into oblivion…and dragging us all down with them.

The U.S. military can’t take action.

Because there’s never been a military coup in the USA.

And we wouldn’t wanna ruin that record.

If we’re gonna be nuked, might as well go out with a pristine record of civilian control of the military.

Is Joe Biden fit to be President?

Is he a criminal?

Did he sell the office of the Vice President to Ukraine and China?

How about his mental fitness?

Is he cognitively fit to be Commander-in-Chief?

I’m sure if he weren’t, people like Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten (and their two newborns [their dads’ vaginas must be aching!]) will make the right decision and take one month of paternity leave (two fathers!) rather than two…to make sure the supply chain is functioning properly and ports are working well and there aren’t any cargo ships anchored off the coast of, oh, I don’t know, Galveston, or something…and Mayor Pete (who is a WEF Young Global Leader) will invoke the 25th Amendment because Biden is cognitively not fit to lead.

And then we would have dumbass Kamala Harris as President for the next three years.

Pretty rosy picture, eh?

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/biden-boomerang-newly-released-state-memo-casts-doubt

If Biden was removed via the 25th Amendment and Kamala was impeached (just give her time), then our President would be Nancy Pelosi.

That is the outlook for the next year.

Anyone wondering if Joe Biden really got the most votes in the history of the USA?

81 million votes.

More votes than Obama.

Because he was THAT popular!

He was extraordinarily popular in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit, but didn’t do all that well with the black populations in other major U.S. cities.

Anyone find that a bit odd?

He did REALLY, REALLY WELL in those four cities.

Like, abnormally-well.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/corruption-ukraine-joe-biden-son-hunter-biden-ties.html

He was probably carried by Kamala.

Who left the Democratic Primaries due to her popularity with voters.

She was polling at less that 1% when she dropped out.

So you got the President you wanted, Ukraine!

You made a pretend effort to rectify things.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ukraine-police-closes-biden-probe-initiated-ousted-prosecutor-n1247320

Let’s not forget about Jan. 6 (which was worse than 9/11 or Pearl Harbor).

Do you Ukrainians think you are experiencing terror and carnage?

You have no idea what AOC went through on January 6.

https://republicbrief.com/russia-threatens-military-consequences-for-2-more-countries/

Let’s just make one thing clear.

Russia is not fucking around.

Is Sweden gonna join NATO?

Not if Russia has anything to say about it.

Is Finland going to join NATO?

Over Russia’s dead body.

Russia has had enough.

They have let NATO expand–right up to their very doorstep–for 30 years.

Ukraine is the line in the sand.

“Hero” Zelensky said he wanted (and intended) to take back Crimea by military force.

He said that 11 months ago.

Then, in September, Ukraine released their national security strategy:  a stated desire and intention to join NATO.

Putin gave Biden and the West (Macron, et al.) a chance to call off the dogs.

Biden and NATO would concede nothing.

So Putin attacked.

And Zelensky is the “hero”.

And Putin is the bad guy.

And we just got out of a 20-year war in Afghanistan, so I guess it’s time for us to go fight in Eastern Europe.

In Ukraine.

How’s that Mexican border looking?

Wall finished?

Oh, we’re just gonna let immigrants walk across the border forever, right?

Because we only have 10% inflation.

So we can, obviously, afford to just take in and house the world.

Fuck it!

And Joe Biden NEEDS these voters.

These are DEMOCRAT voters.

They want socialism.

They NEED socialism.

They are poor as fuck.

And the socialism in their countries (like Mexico) was not working so well.

So they came here…to upgrade to a better socialism.

Except for the fact that we didn’t become a wealthy country because of socialism.

Quite the opposite, actually.

But anyway…send our military to Ukraine.

Make sure Ukraine’s sovereignty is protected.

And fuck American soverignty, right, U.S. military?

But how about the biolabs?

Were there biological (and chemical?) weapons in Ukraine?

Did Putin just bomb the sites?

Was the real “false-flag” gonna be a bioterror release by NATO to take over (close) the Bosporus and occupy Ukraine?

Was NATO going to release a bioweapon in Ukraine?

Were United Nations “peacekeeping” forces going to occupy Ukraine?

Did Putin preempt this plan by blowing up their biolabs?

https://www.opindia.com/2022/02/russia-ukraine-invasion-bioweapons-labs-patrushev-putin-wuhan-coronavirus/

If Fauci (and Daszak and Baric) was involved in the creation of COVID-19, then it wasn’t solely China’s fault.

China stood to gain.

Always ask, “Cui bono?”

But who were the American players?

If DARPA did indeed refuse the EcoHealth Alliance (Daszak) proposal to develop a “bat vaccine” (which was to be sprayed into caves in China), did NIAID (under Fauci) accept the proposal?

Was EcoHealth Alliance a front for the CIA?

What about the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir?

Why do they still have an ongoing contract with EcoHealth Alliance to study bat-borne disease in “Western” Asia?

Hm.

Western Asia, eh?

Like Ukraine???

Turkey is key.

Dividing line between Europe and Asia, right?

And St. Petersburg is a European city.

But what is really the dividing line of Europe and Asia in respect to Russian territory?

Where does Europe end and Asia begin?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9717133/Congress-demands-investigation-2019-Wuhan-Military-Games-athletes-showed-COVID-symptoms.html

What about the World Military Games?

Do you trust China?

I don’t.

But is there something to this story that COVID-19 started WAY BEFORE December 2019 (January 2020 in the USA)?

Are a bunch of people just trying to cover their asses?

Who planned the plandemic?

If it were a murder investigation (and it should literally be), the three prime suspects should be:  Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates, and Anthony Fauci.

Beyond them, I would throw in Pope Bergoglio and Prince Charles as very strong suspects.

But of those three–Schwab, Gates, and Fauci–they had the trifecta:  means, motive, and opportunity.

They were, to extend the metaphor, caught red-handed at the scene of the crime.

Throw in Peter Daszak.

Throw in Stephane Bancel of Moderna.

What about Ralph Baric?

And don’t forget the Chinese in Wuhan.

“Bat lady”.

The only relevant thing Trump has done recently was to “praise Putin”, but then he turned around and called Zelensky a hero.

https://www.infowars.com/posts/trump-praises-putin/

Trump has made himself completely irrelevant with his stance on the COVID vaccines available in the USA.

But, hey:  if you’re French, I have good news for you:

https://www.infowars.com/posts/france-deactivates-covid-vaccine-passports-months-ahead-of-expiration-in-effort-to-force-people-to-get-booster-jab-sooner/

There’s only one problem:

https://www.infowars.com/posts/video-canadian-mp-accused-of-spreading-disinformation-for-pointing-out-wefs-corrupt-influence-over-trudeaus-govt/

is Putin controlled by Klaus Schwab?

Schwab brags in a video (in the above article) that Putin was a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF [Davos]).

Who are the other big feathers in Schwab’s cap?

Merkel, Trudeau, Macron, Ardern, De Croo, Sanna Marin…

It is possible (as of last week) to verify Macron, Ardern, De Croo, and Sanna Marin (as well as Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, and Maria Bartiromo) here:

https://www.younggloballeaders.org/community

My gut tells me that former-Stasi (KGB) operative Vladimir Putin went to YGL to COLLECT INFORMATION.

Same with Maria Bartiromo.

As for the rest?

Fuck ’em!

Gabbard?

A fucking fake.

-PD

The Man Who Knew Too Much [1956)

Netflix seems to be down tonight.

I tried several times.  Several movies.  Several fixes.

And so it is only fitting that history should trump the ephemeral stages of technological development.

Yes, time for a good old VHS tape.

And not a film about which I’ve previously written.

While I have surveyed many of the early Hitchcock films, I never wrote about the original version of this film.

1934.

To my knowledge, this is the only film of Alfred Hitchcock’s early career which he chose to remake.

Just on this fact alone, it would seem that the story was either very dear to the auteur or that he couldn’t resist something about the plot.

Granted, the two films are considerably different.

Even on a surface level, the 1934 version was (of course) in black and white.

But this was a VistaVision, Technicolor production.

1956.

22 years later.

For better or worse, I was familiar first with the earlier version.

It is a film I should revisit.

But it was not what I would call a “home run”.

The one aspect of the original which one might miss in the remake is the presence of Peter Lorre.

But we must move on to the future.  The present.

1956.

Jimmy Stewart plays the leading male role.  A doctor from Indianapolis.

Doris Day plays his wife.

The action is set for a good bit in Morocco.

Specifically, Marrakesh.

Indeed, the beginning of the film is a sort of travelogue.

In other words, its a good excuse to show off the exotic locale in North Africa.

Camels.  Veils.  [that one’s important]  The social tradition of eating with the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand.  While leaving the left hand in the lap.

All very edifying and exciting.

But Doris Day is suspicious from the start.

If we knew nothing of Hitchcock, we’d say her paranoia was unfounded.

But, in fact, it’s Jimmy Stewart’s ease which is the fateful misstep early on.

And so this movie is about suspicion.

Who can we trust?

In this age of anxiety (thank you W.H. Auden), everyone and everything is suspect.

The only true bliss is ignorance.

[and perhaps my only wisdom is that of paraphrase]

One thing which escaped me the first time I saw this version of The Man Who Knew Too Much (in the theater…lucky me) was a funny detail about Brenda de Banzie.

Yes, dear readers (and fans of Peter Sellers), Ms. de Banzie would later appear as the annoying, flamboyant Angela Dunning in The Pink Panther (1963).

Indeed, her role as the terror of Cortina (d’Ampezzo) was her second-to-last film.

But here she is a much more mysterious character.

I will leave it at that.

We get some interesting things in this film.

“Arabs” in disguise.

Which is to say, certain personages of the spook variety in brown makeup (and native garb).

One need not look very far back in history to find a poignant parallel.

Consider, for instance, the “Basra prison incident” of 2005.

I’m guessing that T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) would provide another example, though I am no expert on this matter.

As are almost all Hitchcock films, this one is a tense affair.

Doris Day, in particular, does a surprising job of portraying the personal terror of her character.

Perhaps most notable about this film is the musical component.

As an accomplished percussionist in my own right, I heartily appreciate Hitchcock’s attention to the intricacies of an orchestral percussion section.

Indeed, the film begins with a close-up of this little-featured “choir” (in addition to the three trumpets and three trombones at the bottom of the frame).

What is most remarkable is Hitchcock’s use of the musical score (in various permutations) to tell this unique story.

Funniest is the shot of the cymbalist’s sheet music.

It is nearly a complete tacit…save for one fateful crash.

I fondly remember (with some measure of anxiety) a time when I manned the cymbals for the overture of Verdi’s La forza del destino.

It was a similar affair.

Interminable waiting.

And if you miss your one crash?  Even in rehearsal?

Well, you are screwed!

The judging stares of oboists are enough to melt a man…

But the musical score appears elsewhere.

In the private box.

Perhaps a page-turner for an assassin.

Most vividly, Hitchcock makes the score come alive in a fascinating series of extreme close-ups.

It is like a very erudite version of “follow the bouncing ball”.

So yes…some of our action happens at the Royal Albert Hall.

In an interesting twist of fate, usual Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann garners copious screen time as the conductor…OF ANOTHER COMPOSER’S WORK!

Were it Beethoven, I’d understand.

But the piece is Storm Clouds Cantata by Arthur Benjamin (who?) and D.B. Wyndham-Lewis (not to be confused with [Percy] Wyndham Lewis).

And yet it is a moving piece.

The London Symphony Orchestra sounds lovely (really magical!) in their on-screen segments.

But the real Leitmotiv of our film is “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”.

Speaking of magic…it is always a gossamer thing to hear Doris Day sing this song in The Man Who Knew Too Much.

I remember a time when I didn’t know this song at all.

Being in a studio with Corinne Bailey Rae and hearing a playback of her wonderful band own this song.

And my discovery of Sly and the Family Stone’s inimitable version (sung by Rose Stone).

But few movie music moments equal Doris Day in her Marrakesh hotel room singing “Que Sera, Sera…” with little desafinado Christopher Olson.

The only ones which come close are Rita Hayworth (actually Jo Ann Greer?) singing the Rodgers and Hart masterpiece “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” the next year (1957) in Pal Joey and Ms. Hayworth “singing” (actually Anita Kert Ellis) “Put the Blame on Mame” in Gilda (1946).

An interesting note about this version of The Man Who Knew Too Much…

It seems to be a sort of forgotten classic, wedged as it is between the first of my Hitchcock “holy trinity” (Rear Window, 1954) and the other two perfect films (Vertigo, 1958, and North by Northwest, 1959).

Actually, this was a period of experimentation for Hitchcock.

Our film most precisely follows the odd comedy (!) The Trouble with Harry (1955) and precedes the black and white hand-wringer The Wrong Man (released later in 1956).

But The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) should not be forgotten!

It is such a beautifully-shot film!

Robert Burks’ cinematography is divine.

And George Tomasini’s editing is artfully deft.

Like To Catch a Thief (which is actually on Netflix in the U.S. [last time I checked]), The Man Who Knew Too Much is a film which perhaps needs multiple viewings to be truly appreciated.

-PD

Amadeus [1984)

In these waning hours of Christmas, I give you…

a fucking masterpiece.

Indeed, I regret that I cannot express myself at this time without resort to expletive, but this film by Miloš Forman is truly bone-chilling.

And it is especially so for me:  a former composer.

Oh, there is always still time.

To set pencil to paper (or pen, if [like Mozart], you make no mistakes).

And so we shall take under consideration the director’s cut of Amadeus as our subject.

This later, R-rated version is from 2002 and adds 20 minutes to this magnum opus.

Yes, dear friends…we shall consider many things.

The uncanny embodiment of Tom Hulce.

The deft, dastardly thespian skills of F. Murray Abraham.

And even the indispensably aghast facial expressions of Richard Frank.

You might wonder why I have chosen this film to honor God on this day rather than a movie like Ernest Saves Christmas.

I will let you ponder that one for a moment.

But in the meanwhile, we shall press onwards with the young Salieri.

Please remember the pious of Western classical music.

J.S. Bach.

Antonio Vivaldi.

Haydn.  Handel.

Ok, perhaps not so much the latter.

Because he too, like Mozart, was a man of the world.

Of the earth.

A joyful sinner.

A composer with a dirty mouth.

Yes, there are miracles in this film.

Too many to count.

Salieri’s father choking on a fishbone.

For starters.

But let us consider the whole city of Vienna a miracle on assumption.

Wien.

A city in which one could dial the number 1507 and receive an A (435 Hz) with which to tune an instrument.

We have long appreciated this bit of trivia from scholar Norman Lloyd.

It has always endeared Vienna to our hearts.

A place where [it must] music flows through every pipe and connects the city in divine harmony.

But that time period for which we yearn…that “common practice” period is just the era in which Mozart is plopped down with his hilarious little giggle.

Jeffrey Jones is magnificent as the judicious statesman the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II.

Which brings us back to Christmas.

A child was born.  To a woman by the Holy Spirit.

Yet the child had an earthly father:  Joseph II (not to be confused with the Old Testament Joseph).

Mozart was a child.

Childish.

A hellion.

Yet I would choose him over Shakespeare and Einstein when it comes to true genius.

I had heard it.

With my own ears.

In my days of getting my bachelor’s of music in music theory and composition.

I had heard that Symphony #39.  I played it.

I was inside the music.

And it is like none other.

I had discovered the ingenious counterpoint in Mozart’s Symphony #41.

What lightness!  What architecture!

What a vision of the beyond…

It takes memory to succeed.

And we guard our memories.

But it takes observation to create memories.

An eye.  An ear (in the case of Mozart).

Yes, Mozart’s prowess for hearing something once and then playing it back or either writing out all the parts (if a mixed ensemble) is legendary.

His fame grew with these stunts.

His novelty tours with father Leopold and sister Nannerl (not pictured).

I had at least one Harvard/Stanford-trained Dr. of music warn me about the historical inaccuracies in this film.

But this is Hollywood.

Of course there will be changes.

And yet, it is an incredibly moving picture.

To borrow a programmatic description from Richard Strauss, this film becomes (for much of it) a symphonia domestica.

Which, let me just say, happens to grace us with the presence of genius beauty:  Elizabeth Berridge.

But always in life (even into the bubble of music) creeps in business.

Economics.

Finances.

Debt.

Mozart was gifted with a once-in-humanity talent, yet he did not have the self-marketing skills to always position his talent at the best place in the market.

Meanwhile, Signor Salieri activates a little psychological warfare (captured by Forman’s camera lit by little gaslights all around…).

And so it is machinations versus manifestations of God’s glory.

The story is rich.

That a composer might write his own Requiem mass…and that the writing of that mass might just kill him.

We know how cursed the 9th symphony became after Beethoven (Bruckner, Dvořák, Mahler, Schubert…).

Musicians are subject to powerful forces which attack their necessary imaginations.

Superstitions.

Salieri’s character proves that those closest to us are not necessarily to be trusted.  His disingenuous psyop has Mozart working himself to death.

And that is a scary thing.

To push and push and push.

And yet, who will be remembered?

The expert in psychological warfare?

Or the symphonist?

Times have changed, but it is still the creator who has the benefit of creating goods.

Super-warriors aren’t even creating bads.  They are creating nothing.

But, it might be argued, that they are doing the most good in this world which no longer appreciates the music of its heritage.

Yes, European classical music is on life-support.

But we return to Mozart, who is in not-much-better condition.

Part of me longs for the treatment of Ingmar Bergman in his underappreciated film version of Trollflöjten (The Magic Flute in Swedish).

But Miloš Forman does everything else right.

The scene in which Mozart and Salieri are working on the Requiem is masterful!

And still…Mozart doesn’t realize that his greatest enemy is posing as a friend to help him compose his own death from exhaustion.

It’s only when they’re throwing the lime on you that you get real perspective.

But by that point, you’re wrapped up.

It is thus a fitting Christmas story…that hatred and jealously are futile.

And that a naive genius had the keys to the musical kingdom.

For his 35 short years on Earth.

Perhaps Mozart was not a pious man, but Salieri (who burned his own crucifix in the fireplace) consistently recognized the voice of God in Mozart’s music.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season and that your hearts will be filled with melodies which could make the heavens weep.

-PD

Au Hasard Balthazar [1966)

If life has no meaning, then do not continue to the next sentence.

Thank you.

For those of you still reading.

You must excuse my reliance on 1/3rd of the trivium (to the detriment of the remainder).

It must be rhetoric which I employ.

Like a donkey.

No.

It doesn’t work that way.

But for those of us in poverty and misery.

How do we express our futile existences?

By affirming their meanings.

Their meaningfulness.

You have not worked your whole life for nothing.

You worked to survive.

But you survived for others.

You loved.  You cared.

You were curious.

Too curious to let the human race go.

And so, slow and easy does it goes [sic]…the autumn of your years.

Perhaps.

Another spring.

Hope.  Eternal.

Robert Bresson slips a note under our door.

A key.

At first viewing it is dull.  Ugly.

Like a donkey.

Yes.

But Bresson knew Beethoven.  Concision of expression.

Economy of means.

It is no wonder that we hear Schubert throughout this film.

And no wonder that Schubert is Philip Glass’ favorite composer.

Those ostinati.  Figured bass.

Even simpler than Alberti.

More like a rail fence transposition.

Or a Caesar shift cipher.

Ostinato.  Obstinate.

Like the donkey.

But I have patiently borne the humiliation.

I am still a youthful beast of burden.

And yet I know my hooves.

I am a genius.

A four-legged mathematician.

Give me three digits…and a single digit.

And I multiply.

I fecundate the field with feathery flowers.

Four digits.

Do I hear five?

With a memory like an elephant.

A stare like a tiger.

And a harangue like a polar bear.

But look how he shivers.

The donkey.

So humble as to not say a word.

Perhaps it was the wisdom of salt.

Salt of the earth.

A wise ass.

Yes, forever in trouble.  With my pride.

Getting kicked in the rump.

But these are really nasty assaults.

The other side of James Dean.

François Lafarge as Gérard is a real asshole.

Not enough love at home.

Feels a need to punch donkeys.

[pause]

Quite literally…the world comes to life through Bresson’s filmmaking.

Prostitutes pop up.

Pimps prance and preen.

But here we have “merely” sexual assault.

A first step in losing the ability to feel anything.

Numb.

And we have rape (through allusion, of course).

Gérard toots his horn.

Literally.

The other side of the James Dean coin.

The underside of Jean-Paul Belmondo.

A disproportionate riposte courtesy of the one filmmaker with the balls to be simple.

So simple.

On first glance it is nothing.

A donkey.

But live a few years.

And then revisit.

It is a novel.

It contains everything.

We can’t catch it because it doesn’t pop out at us in color.

One way would be to say that no one has ever looked more sad on screen than Anne Wiazemsky here.

Before Godard.

Perhaps a first conversation.

A nervousness.

It was through Wiazemsky that Bresson told this tale.

To teach the New Wave.

They hadn’t learned all the lessons yet.

He wasn’t done speaking.

The quiet tone of an old man…

I want to tell you more more more.

But this is best secret.

To appreciate the simple things.

Before they are gone.

The patient animals.

So gentle in their existence.

Not presuming.

Not running.  Not hustling.

The pack-animals.

We know this look.

In cats.  In dogs.

This wisdom.

We laugh at their carefree insolence.

But they have shown the way.

Such resilience!

Such love…

And we are taken in.

Our hearts are melted.

Yes.

Few moments in cinema feel more lonely than the end of Au Hasard Balthazar.

It is almost unbearable.

The quiet dignity of humanity being shamed.

How could we ever forget our love.

For even a second.

When we rub two sticks together at such an eyelevel perspective, the meaning of life is very clear.

But unutterable.

 

-PD

Prenom Carmen [1983)

If Jean-Luc Godard had never made another film after 1983, this one would have been his best ever.  It is that good.  But perhaps you doubt?  Let me tell you why I believe this to be the case.

This may have been the film where Godard really nailed down his mature style.  Really, there is no putting a date on such things.  He has continued to progress to the current day.

But let us focus on a few salient elements.

Beethoven.

The sea.

One might expect a French (Swiss) director to pick Debussy and call the elements connected (we refer here to the orchestral piece La Mer).  But Godard was always very analytical.  And so Beethoven is a more natural choice.

But what Beethoven?  Which Beethoven?  It is the string quartets.

Must it be?  It must be.  It must be.

Godard began (continued?) to make films more like a composer than a movie director.

The art film genre allowed him to do this.  And in many ways he formed and shaped this genre from the beginning.

To call art films a genre is generally not in keeping with standard film criticism practice.

But I don’t care.

If it helps to call it a genre here, then so be it.

But does it help?

It makes no difference (as Rick Danko sang).

But let us not neglect the ocean…the sea.

“I salute you, old ocean,” as Lautreamont said in Maldoror.

Indeed, Godard has some of that proto-Dadaist perversion in this movie.  Perverse, as opposed to perverted.  Both.

What is remarkable beyond Beethoven and the sea is Godard as an actor.

That’s right, Godard himself plays a prominent role as (what else?) himself.

It is really a caricature of himself.  Or is it?

To wit, Godard plays a director who has gone crazy.

Early on we see him in an insane asylum.

There is something slightly frightening and menacing about him from time to time, but generally he is hilarious.

Humor.

This film is replete with humor.

But it is not a comedy.

Sometimes a comedy of errors.

And so, Carmen?  Yes, like Bizet.  We remember Brahms being so taken with this opera.

Was it the music or was there perhaps an attractive alto in the production?

Alto.  Viola in French is alto.

And who is our alto?  Only one of the greatest actresses to ever live:  Myriem Roussel.

I must at this point beg forgiveness from the universe for not even mentioning her in my review of Passion.

I blame Wikipedia (as I always do).

I admit laziness (as per usual).

Frankly, I knew it was her in Passion by the poolside.  It is a small-but-striking role.  Mainly because she is nude.

It is all very artistic, yet I see why Godard would cast the beautiful Roussel in revealing roles over the course of several films.

Yet here, Myriem is merely a violist.  The viola in my life.  Morton Feldman.

But it is neither Godard nor Roussel who carry the bulk of the dramatic action here.

For that we must credit Maruschka Detmers and Jacques Bonnaffé.  The acting from these two players is outstanding!

Detmers plays the titular Carmen.  Indeed (keeping with the hanging sonority), it is Detmers who spends a fair portion of this movie nude.  But, to Godard’s credit, so does Bonnaffé.

But this is not just a gratuitous European pseudo-art film.  This is the real thing.

The most beautiful moment occurs during a bank robbery.

A struggle for a gun.  A man and a woman.  Carmen.  She has robbed the bank with a band of professional thieves.

And Joseph (Bonnaffé)…the gendarme responding to the violent robbery.

He leaves his post in front of the bank and exchanges gunfire with the trigger-happy gang.

And so it is that Carmen and Jo (Joseph) struggle for an automatic weapon.  Both having been shot.

They crawl over each other.  Win at all costs.  To lose is death.  High stakes now.

And climbing over each other in spurts of faint energy, they abruptly stop and begin passionately kissing.

They give up.

It is the moral.

Ah, but they DON’T give up!  They join forces.

And so Joseph goes from cop to thief.  All for love.

Lust.  Love.

Oh no, I’ve said too much (as Michael Stipe once intoned).

But no…

Carmen needs to pee.  Joseph has tied her wrist to his using his necktie.  [What kind of gendarme doesn’t have handcuffs?]

And so they stop at a shitty roadside gas station.

The moral of the stop:  even France and Switzerland have shitty roadside gas stations.

Away from the tourists.  Off the beaten path.  Where people actually work for a living.

And we have the most poignant scene.  The most bizarre.  A fat man has pocketed a jar of baby food (?) and proceeded to the restroom to eat it lustily with his fingers.  Put another way, here’s a poor schmuck whose life at this moment (for one reason or another) has been reduced to shoplifting to sustain his life force.

And the poor schmuck gets a treat.  Carmen needs to pee.  So does Joseph.  Joseph won’t untie her.  And so she uses a urinal.  And the shoplifter continues to make slobbery sounds as he licks his fingers while eating baby food in front of the bathroom mirror…nonplussed by the action.  But he sneaks a peak…ah, whatever.  He is entirely involved in his “meal.”  Somehow this scene makes sense of the whole universe.  It is hilarious, disgusting, and believable.  The mark of genius is on this film throughout.

I must add one last thing.  Just when the strains of Beethoven have become commonplace–just when the crossfaded splosh of waves has been drowned out by our psyches…it is at this point which Godard throws us the most gut-wrenching curveball:  “Ruby’s Arms” by Tom Waits.  Bonnaffé hugs the TV…resting his weight on the crappy 80s hotel console…and the screen is tuned to snow…static…fuzz…phasing lines of nothingness.  Between channels.  And as the song plays, Bonnaffé caresses the screen…caresses what might have been.

It is a most touching evocation of lovesickness.

Carmen is fond of repeating the line from the American movie, “If I love you, then that’s the end of you.”  She may not work at a cigarette factory nor dance the habanera, but she is still the prototypical femme fatale.  Yes, Jo…love is a rebellious bird.

-PD