According to a Starbucks’ cup that I read recently (The Way I See It #76): “The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around a rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.” On the subject of the Greek myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus wrote: “Je laisse Sisyphe au bas de la montagne! On retrouve toujours son fardeau. Mais Sisyphe enseigne la fidélité …
Peut ce qui veut
David Cronenberg’s latest film, Eastern Promises, bears a handful of the director’s trademarks. Some scenes of violence are blunt, though it is not yet time for our William Tell routine. The plot is tense and (obviously) leads to an ambiguous ending. Viggo Mortensen’s tragic hero, Nikolai, earns the sympathy of the audience because of his subdued performance. Questions of commitment arise from both sides of the ledger: how far will you go to achieve your goals? «Peut ce qui veut.» Values are vague — like other recently reviewed films, less separates good and evil than it first seems. One decision …