Spiraling into Isolation in "Incendiary"

(image credit)

I love Michelle Williams.  I saw her in `Shutter Island, `Blue Valentine and of course `Brokeback Mountain.  But it wasn't until `Deception and `Incendiary that I fell in love with her face and began to relish her acting.

In `Incendiary, she had to sidle from motherly and homely, to flirtatious and sexual, to obsessed and grieving.  I enjoyed how the film captured the psychology of her character so movingly, that we are caught up in it and swept along with it, while offering it a tangible and relevant context: that is, terrorism in the United Kingdom.  

Williams is a devoted mother but neglected wife.  She weaves herself into a highly erotic, albeit short-lived, love affair.  But losing her son in a terrorist attack gradually spirals her into isolation, and fantasy, and self-neglect.  

`The Box is another compelling film that had so much potential for exploring the philosophy of choice and consequence.  But unfortunately it degenerated into supernatural scenes that at best diluted and at worst cheapened its moral power.  By contrast, `Incendiary avoids that sort of degeneration, and keeps the drama taut and the pain real.  

Extremes and Sensuality in "Perfume"

I used to not like the trailers that preceded a film on DVD, and often fast-forwarded or skipped them entirely.  Over the past year, though, my sentiment has done a reversal.  The trailers, as I see them now, point to films that look intriguing but that I haven't seen, yet.  `Perfume: The Story of a Murderer was fortuitously one of those trailers I saw, which I simply had to watch in full and which thankfully our neighborhood library had available for borrowing (for free, I might add).

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That Jean-Baptiste Grenouille murders women to capture their heavenly but elusive scent is true.  But to pose that tagline `The Story of a Murderer is, I think, to mislead the audience.  Yes, Patrick Süskind pens the title of his 1985 novel as such.  But the real point of this cinematic tour de force is the extremes to which this odd but gifted man went to realize his purpose.  It's a morality story, actually, one that should prompt us to reflect openly, to debate passionately, and to reconcile satisfactorily.  But it should not lead us or sway in any predetermined direction.  At the end of the day, it would've been better for both director and author to leave out the tagline completely.

What makes the film a tour de force is how well director Tom Tykwer prompts us to experience scent, or fragrance, or odor - in all of its sweetest and foulest glory - through a host of other means and senses, except scent itself or our noses.  In other words, a DVD film cannot bring scent into the viewing experience.  At least not literally.  Instead, Tykwer resorts to photography, soundtrack, drama and acting, script and narration, even a full-on orgy at the end, to lend a truly sensuous, at turns erotic, piece of work.  In essence, we appreciate Grenouille's olfactory prowess without smelling a single thing.  

It's an altogether beautiful film.

"Chess" (16) Anatoly and Florence

Chess involves a romantic triangle between two players in a World Chess Championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Reference:  Chess in Concert.

Script

[ANATOLY]
Knowing I want you
Knowing I love you
Cannot compare
With my despair
Knowing I've lost you. 

[FLORENCE]
I've been a fool to allow
Dreams to become
Great expectations. 

[ANATOLY]
How can I love you so much
Yet make no move? 

[BOTH]
There will be days and nights
When I'll want you more than I want to
More than I should
Oh, how I want you.
You and I
We've seen it all
Chasing our hearts' desire
But we go on pretending
Stories like ours
Have happy endings. 

[ANATOLY]
You could not give me
More than you gave me
I don't know why
I'm standing by
Watching this happen. 

[FLORENCE]
I won't look back anymore
And if I do -- just for a moment. 

[ANATOLY]
I can't imagine a time when I won't care. 

[BOTH]
But here we are today, and it's over
Hold me and tell me
We'll meet again
Why is it over?
You and I
We've seen it all
Chasing our hearts' desire
But we go on pretending
Stories like ours
Have happy endings.

Epilogue: You and I

Walter: [Spoken]
So in the end our hero won brilliantly. Surprised us all.
He's played as well as he's ever done. 

Florence: [Spoken]
No surprise. 

Walter: [Spoken]
Well this is--
He's just announced he's going back to the soviet union.
He seems unable to win without the added thrill of changing sides.
Don't you have a single word to say? 

Florence: [Spoken]
No... No.
[Sung]
No, you wouldn't listen anyhow,
And what I'm feeling now
Has no easy explanations.
Hasn't this been a great achievement?
Losing you man and nothing in return. 

Walter: [Spoken]
Well, not my man, it's your man. Anyway, Anatoly's
return to the soviet union is a very descent gesture.
It's vertualy assured us some very important collateral--
Including you father. He must have done it for you.
He wouldn't have done it for me. We'll get your father out--
if he's still alive.

Walter and Florence

Florence: [Spoken]
What did you say? 

Walter: [Spoken]
Well, we can't be sure he is alive. But, then, you couldn't
be sure he was dead. No change there, ah? [Laughs]
You'll be back next year. It's only a game. 

Florence: [Spoken]
No! I've spent my whole life playing games.
[Sung]
How to survive them?
Where do I start? 

Florence, Anatoly & Svetlana:
Let man's petty nations
Tear themselves apart.
Florence, Anatoly & Company:
My land's only borders
Lie around my heart.

Anthem (Reprise)

"Chess" (15) Svetlana's Endgame

Chess involves a romantic triangle between two players in a World Chess Championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Reference:  Chess in Concert.

Script

THE RUSSIAN:
They all think they see a man
Who doesn't know
Which move to make
Which way to go
Whose private life
Caused his decline
Wrecked his grand design
Some are vicious, some are fools
And others blind
To see in me
One of their kind
Anyone can be
A husband, lover
Sooner them than me
When they discover
Their domestic bliss is
Shelter for their failing
Nothing could be worse
Than self-denial
Having to rehearse
The endless trial
Of a partner's rather sad
Demands prevailing 

SVETLANA:
As you watch yourself caring
About a minor sporting triumph, sharing
Your win with esoterics,
Paranoids, hysterics
Who don't pay any attention to
What goes on around them
They leave the ones they love the way they found them
A normal person must
Dismiss you with disgust
And weep for those who trusted you 

THE RUSSIAN:
Nothing you have said
Is revelation
Take my blues as red
My consolation --
Finding out at last my one true obligation 

[a stretch with no lyrics]

THE RUSSIAN:
Nothing you have said
Is revelation
Take my blues as red
My consolation --
Finding out at last my one true obligation

SVETLANA & CROWD:
Listen to them shout!
They saw you do it
In their minds no doubt
That you've been through it
Suffered for your art but
In the end a winner
Who could not be stirred?
Such dedication
We have never heard
Such an ovation
Skill and guts a model
For the young beginner
They're completely enchanted
But they don't take your qualities for granted
It isn't very often
That the critics soften
Nonetheless you've won their hearts
How can we begin to
Appreciate the work that you've put into
Your calling through the years
The blood, the sweat and tears, the
Late late nights, the early starts
There they go again!
Your deeds inflame them
Drive them wild, but then
Who wants to tame them?
If they want a part of you
Who'd really blame them? 

THE RUSSIAN:
And so you're letting me know 

SVETLANA:
For you're the only one who's never suffered anything at all 

THE RUSSIAN:
How you've hated my success 

SVETLANA:
Well I won't crawl
And you can slink back to your pawns and to your tarts 

THE RUSSIAN:
And every poisoned word shows that you never understood
Never! 

SVETLANA:
Liar! 

BOTH:
Nothing you have said
Is revelation
Take my blues as red
My consolation 

SVETLANA:
Finding out that I'm my only obligation 

THE RUSSIAN:
Is there no-one in my life
Who does not claim
The right to steal
My work, my name
My success, my fame
And my freedom?

Endgame

[a stretch with no lyrics]

"Chess" (14) Chess Masters' Endgame

Chess involves a romantic triangle between two players in a World Chess Championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Reference:  Chess in Concert.

Script

[a stretch with no lyrics]

CHOIR:
Morphy, Anderson, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe,
Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov 

MOLOKOV:
How straightforward the game
When one has trust in one's player
And how great the relief
Working for one who believes in
Loyalty, heritage, true to his kind come what may 

THE AMERICAN:
Though it gives me no joy
Adding to your satisfaction
You can safely assume
Your late unlamented employee
Knows if he wins then the only thing won is the chess 

MOLOKOV:
It's the weak who accept
Tawdry untruths about freedom
Prostituting themselves
Chasing a spurious starlight
Trinkets in airports sufficient to lead them astray 

FLORENCE:
Does the player exist
In any human endeavour
Who's been know to resist
Sirens of fame and possessions?
They will destroy you, not rivals, not age, not success

Endgame

"Chess" (13) I Know Him So Well

Chess involves a romantic triangle between two players in a World Chess Championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Reference:  Chess in Concert.

Script

THE AMERICAN:

When I was nine I learned survival

Taught myself not to care

I was my single good companion

Taking my comfort there

Up in my room I planned my conquests

On my own -- never asked for a helping hand

No one would understand

I never asked the pair who fought below

Just in case they said no

Pity the child who has ambition

Knows what he wants to do

Knows that he'll never fit the system

Others expect him to

Pity the child who knew his parents

Saw their faults

Saw their love die before his eyes

Pity the child that wise

He never asked "Did I cause your distress?"

Just in case they said yes

When I was twelve my father moved out

Left with a whimper -- not with a shout

I didn't miss him -- he made it perfectly clear

I was a fool and probably queer

Fool that I was I thought this would bring

Those he had left closer together

She made her move the moment he crawled away

I was the last the woman told

She never let her bed get cold

Someone moved in -- I shut my door

Someone to treat her just the same way as before

I took the road of least resistance

I had my game to play

I had the skill, and more -- the hunger

Easy to get away

Pity the child with no such weapons

No defense, no escape from the ties that bind

Always a step behind

I never called to tell her all I'd done

I was only her son!

Pity the child but not forever

Not if he stays that way

He can get all he ever wanted

If he's prepared to pay

Pity instead the careless mother

What she missed

What she lost when she let me go

And I wonder does she know

I wouldn't call -- a crazy thing to do

Just in case she said who?

Pity the Child

[FLORENCE]

Nothing is so good it lasts eternally

Perfect situations must go wrong

But this has never yet prevented me

Wanting far too much for far too long.

Looking back I could have played it differently

Won a few more moments who can tell

But it took time to understand the man

Now at least I know I know him well 

[FLORENCE]

Wasn't it good?

Wasn't he fine?

Isn't it madness

He can't be mine? 

[SVETLANA]

Oh so good

Oh so fine

He can't be mine? 

[FLORENCE]

But in the end he needs

A little bit more than me --

More security 

[SVETLANA]

He needs his fantasy

And freedom 

[FLORENCE]

I know him so well. 

[SVETLANA]

No one in your life is with you constantly

No one is completely on your side

And though I move my world to be with him

Still the gap between us is too wide. 

[FLORENCE]

Looking back I could

Have played things

Some other way 

[SVETLANA]

Looking back I could

Have played it

Differently

Learned about the man

Before I fell 

[FLORENCE]

I was just a little

Careless maybe 

[SVETLANA]

But I was

Ever so much

Younger then

Now at least 

[FLORENCE]

Now at least

I know him well 

[BOTH]

I know I know him well 

[SVETLANA]

Wasn't it good?

Wasn't he fine?

Isn't it madness 

[FLORENCE]

Oh so good

Oh so fine 

[BOTH]

He won't be mine?

Didn't I know

How it would go?

If I knew from the start

Why am I falling apart? 

[SVETLANA]

Wasn't it good?

Wasn't he fine? 

[FLORENCE]

Isn't it madness

He won't be mine? 

[SVETLANA]

He won't be mine? 

[FLORENCE]

But in the end he needs a

Little bit more than me --

More security 

[SVETLANA]

He needs his

Fantasy and freedom 

[FLORENCE]

I know him so well 

[SVETLANA]

It took time to understand him 

[BOTH]

I know him so well

I Know Him So Well

"Chess" (12) The No-Deal

Chess involves a romantic triangle between two players in a World Chess Championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Reference:  Chess in Concert.

Script

[a stretch with no lyrics]

THE AMERICAN:
Communist, democrat
An intriguing collusion
Fair exchange -- tit for tat
Comradeship in profusion
And the appeal, partner
Of this deal, partner
Is we all stand to win
You and me, the lady also
Don't break her heart partner
Just be smart partner
Let her think that her past
Is as pure as snow in Moscow
Thank god we're so civilised
And our word can be our bond
We can turn this into friendship for life
And beyond

THE RUSSIAN:
Refugee, total shit
Is how I've always seen us
Not a help you'll admit
To agreement between us
There's no deal, partner
Who's your real partner?
Could there be just a chance
That you've got some heavy clients?

THE AMERICAN (& voice of MOLOKOV):
That's not true, partner
How could you, partner
Think I'd want to pursue
Any deal but our alliance?
How can you only think
Of your selfish ambition?
And not of her position?
Or you'd rather perhaps
See her world collapse?
For a tinpot competition!

THE RUSSIAN:
There's no deal!

THE AMERICAN:
Silly boy, woman who
He should not have let walk out
There's no hitch that we two
Can't untangle or talk out
And the appeal, partner
Of this deal, partner
Is we both stand to win
We'll bring back the golden era
Stick with me, honey
Leave him be, honey
In return I know who'll
Tell you all they know in Moscow

[a stretch with no lyrics]

FLORENCE:
Are you sick? Are you mad?
You still don't understand why I loathe you, why I left you?

FLORENCE & THE RUSSIAN:
Who'd ever think it?
Such a squalid little ending
Watch him descending
Just as far as he can go
I'm learning things I didn't want to know
Who'd ever guess it?
This would be the situation
One more complication
Should be neither here nor there
I wish I had it in me not to care
Let him spill out his hate
Till he knows he's deserted
There's no point wasting time
Preaching to the perverted

The Deal, No Deal

[a stretch with no lyrics]

"Chess" (11) The Interview

Chess involves a romantic triangle between two players in a World Chess Championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Reference:  Chess in Concert.

Script

Molokov:
From Moscow to
The Bering Strait,
Citizens will hail
Our victory. 

All:
In arctic circles,
Frozen states
Will join with
Warmer climes in reverie. 

Molokov:
And I can say of this affair
I was there,
Did my share,
Played my part. 

All:
And comrades
All will be aware
I was there
From the start
Mmm mmm... 

Viigand:
Ah ah...

The Soviet Machine

Walter: [Spoken]
Tonight's final item is a Global scoop.
The former champion, our Freddie Trumper, talks to Anatoly Sergievsky,
the man who beat him a year ago,
and who is defending his title here right now in Bangkok, Thailand.
Let's get that Sergievsky family video lined up, okay?

Walter:
We all want times in our careers,
when we make a little history.
Receive the plaudits of our peers,
perhaps that time is here right now for me.
Ah Anatoly, if I may, let me say right away,
you will be thrilled, because the other seat is filled
by a long-standing friend of yours.
Action!

Frederick:
Well, here we are face to face once again. 

Anatoly:
By any standards, a bizarre reunion! 

Frederick:
Is being homeless affecting your game? 

Anatoly:
I wouldn't know, as I have a home in England. 

Frederick:
No, by a home I mean real home--the place where your family is. 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
England is my real home. 

Frederick:
What are your latest political aims? 

Anatoly:
What are you saying? 

Frederick:
Your anti-Russian crusade, has it worked? 

Anatoly:
I am no crusader. 

Frederick:
What is your true motivation?
That is something we all want to know. 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
You know damn well what my motivation is, okay? 

Frederick:
Here we see a man under great pressure--
Two fights to fight, yet he could not look fresher.
Chess and politics, I take my hat off.
To any champion, who can pull that off?
I hear your second controls everything. 

Anatoly:
Chess is her passion. 

Frederick:
But her obsession is East versus West. 

Anatoly:
Chess is her passion. 

Frederick:
I know a little about her,
and she has got her own ax to grind. 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
That is not true. 

Frederick:
Aren't you concerned that why your wife is not here? 

Anatoly:
I don't discuss my private life in public. 

Frederick:
But don't you care that she is not by your side? 

Anatoly:
I think I've had enough of this discussion! 

Frederick:
Well, we've a little surprise.
We've got your wife on the video. 

Walter: [Spoken]
Run the video! 

Frederick:
Let her talk to you, give you her version--
How married life has changed, since your desertion.
Hey come back, my friend, we are only showing
home movies--nothing more, where are you going? 

Walter: [Spoken]
Great interview! 

Molokov: [Spoken]
Bravo, Mr, de Courcy--Walter! 

Walter: [Spoken]
Ah, Alexander! 

Molokov: [Spoken]
I am glad that old film did the trick.
We are going to be able to help each other. 

Walter: [Spoken]
Heartwarming international cooperation. 

Molokov: [Spoken]
I have good news about Anatoly's lady friend.
Florence Vassy's father is alive. 

Walter: [Spoken]
Really? Well, this is good news. Have you told her yet? 

Molokov: [Spoken]
No, I was going to leave that pleasure to you.
However, my friend, there is one thing- 

Walter: [Spoken]
Yes, of course there is. 

Molokov: [Spoken]
I think Mr. Sergievsky must lose the match and come home.
Do you not agree? 

Walter: [Spoken]
Sure, but there are others beside Vassy we wish to see come home. 

Molokov: [Spoken]
That should not be a problem. Do we have a deal? 

Walter: [Spoken]
We have a deal, and everybody wins. 

Molokov: [Spoken]
Except Anatoly. 

Walter: [Spoken]
But he gets the lovely Svetlana.

The Interview

Svetlana:
Long ago,
In someone else's lifetime--
Someone with my name
Who looked a lot like me,
Came to know a man,
And made a promise:
He only had to say
And that's where she would be.

Lately although her feelings
Run just as deep,
The promise she made
Has grown impossible to keep,
And yet I wish it wasn't so.
Will he miss me if I go?

In a way it's someone else's story
I don't see myself
As taking part at all.
Yesterday the girl
That I was fond of
Finally could see
The writing on the wall.

Sadly she realized
She'd left him behind,
And sadder than that
She knew he wouldn't even mind.
And though there's nothing left to say--
Would he listen if I stay?

It's all very well to say
You fool it's now or never--
I could be choosing
No choices whatsoever.

I could be in someone else's story
In someone else's life,
And he could be in mine.
I don't see a reason to be lonely.
I should take my chances
Further down the line.
And if that girl I knew
Should ask my advice,
Oh, I wouldn't hesitate--
She needn't ask me twice.
"Go now!"
I'd tell her that for free.
Trouble is the girl is me--
The story is the girl is me.

Someone Else's Story

"Chess" (10) Anatoly and Florence

Chess involves a romantic triangle between two players in a World Chess Championship, and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Reference:  Chess in Concert.

Script

Anatoly:
But why is he really here?
A whole year of silence,
And suddenly here he is. 

Florence: [Spoken]
He's working for Global. It's big money. 

Anatoly:
So that's all it is, then?
He has no desire to see you anymore? 

Florence:
Who cares what he's up to?
You're not playing him. 

Anatoly:
Oh, no?
I've a feeling I am. 

[Spoken]
Why is he here? 

Florence:
Don't talk yourself out of form
Viigand's the one
You have to beat. 

Anatoly:
And he's a fine player. 

Florence:
Predictable-- he's a machine. 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
Yes, a very fine machine. 

Florence:
So are you.
So are we.
But there is one other thing-- 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
What? 

Florence:
I gather Svetlana
Is planning to come out here. 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
My wife? Come to Bangkok? No. 

Florence: [Spoken]
You must know about it.
[Sung]
It's been in the papers--
They may let her out. 

Anatoly:
This has to be Molokov,
Right up his street. 

Florence:
So now you've got
One more opponent to beat.
Surely you knew. 

Anatoly:
I did not. 

Florence:
Well, this is a problem
We knew we'd be facing soon. 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
But not now. Not now.

One More Opponent

Florence:
This is an all too familiar scene.

Anatoly:
Life imperceptibly coming between.

Both:
Those whose love is as strong as it could or should be. 

Anatoly:
Nothing has altered -- 

Florence:
-- Yet everything's changed. 

Anatoly:
No one stands still -- 

Both:
Still I love you completely
And hope I always will.
Each day we get through
Means one less mistake
Left for the making. 

Anatoly:
And there's no return
As we slowly learn
Of the chances we're taking. 

Florence:
I'd give the world
To stay just as we are--
It's better by far
Not to be too wise 

Both:
Not to realize
Where there's truth
There will be lies. 

Florence:
You and I,
We've seen it all--
Been down this road before,
Yet we go on believing. 

Anatoly:
You-- 

Florence:
You-- 

Both:
And I,
We've seen it all--
Chasing our hearts' desire,
Yet I still think I'm certain
This time it will be
My happy ending. 

Anatoly: [Spoken]
Thank you. It's from Molokov-- You were right.
She's here, landed from Moscow this morning. Bastard.

You and I

Molokov: [Spoken]
Comrades, why are you looking so worried? We are not
dealing with the traitor Sogievsky now. Comrade Viigand
is a disciplined, Soviet, chess-playing machine. 

[Sung]
Just in case you feel a trace
Of doubt or even nervous tension,
Let me draw the latest score
To your attention.
Not the score,
The witless core of commentators are debating.
Come, admit,
Who gives a shit for Elo rating.
No, I prefer
And I'm sure you concur,
To see who is ahead
Psychologically, for example,
We have on tap,
An inscrutable chap
Whose thoughts never stray
From the state of the play.

All:
Viigand!! 

Molokov: [Spoken]
Whereas... 

[Sung]
It's so difficult to concentrate if
You have left your native
Country for a woman
Who has plans of her own.
It's not easy for a chap to excel,
Feeling guilty as hell,
Having left his wife
To face the music alone.
But, even worse,
Imagine if his ladies met,
Well then I'll bet,
The atmosphere 'round here
Would be a little strained,
As she explained. 

[Claps]
How could he do
What he's done to those two,
Most wonderful girls.
Yes, I love you both. 

Soloists:
Most amusing! 

Molokov:
Starting them scratch
They'll torpedo his match,
His horsepower dead
On the board and in bed. 

All:
Bit by bit the pieces fit,
The Soviet machine advances.
Not one move that
Won't improve our nation's chances.
We predict a stunning victory
On the board and off it.
This will show that traitor
No one rats with profit.
But we're going
To smash that bastard.
Make him wanna change his name.
Take him to the cleaners
And devastate him,
Wipe him out,
Humiliate him.
We don't want the
Whole world saying
"They can't even win a game."
We have never
Reckoned on coming second. 

Molokov:
There's no use in {Soloists:}
Losing. {We can feel the flame
Of triumph burning,}
Bit by bit the pieces fit, Our people's pride returning.
The soviet machine
Advances. 

All:
Not one move that won't
Improve our nation's chances.
Hoi! 

Molokov:
No, I prefer and
I'm sure you concur,
To see who is ahead
Psychologically, for example,
We have on tap,
An inscrutable chap
Whose thoughts never stray
From the state of the play. 

All:
La la la la, la la lay la lay la
La la la la la la la la la la la
Bit by bit the pieces fit,
The soviet machine advances.
Not one move that won't
Improve our nation's chances.
Hey!
We predict a stunning victory
On the board and off it.
This will show that traitor
No one rats with profit.
Ah ah, la la la la! 

The Soviet Machine