Just imagine

Imagine a Hollywood movie about a group of volunteers who, faced with government ineffectualness, take up arms against nasty, murderous poachers in order to protect an endangered antelope. They are led by a handsome and charismatic ex-army officer; they are joined by an idealistic reporter; their ranks include a young rake whose dedication to the cause interferes with his love life; a chubby, good-natured fellow; a bookish ex-teacher, and so on. Against the backdrop of a stark, brutal landscape they doggedly pursue their foes at great cost, until a final confrontation is had.

Imagine the tropes that Hollywood would employ: the shots, the soundtrack, the story arc, the character bits, the love interest (did I mention the leader has a beautful daughter?). I mean, it practically writes itself, doesn't it?

Now imagine a movie with these precise elements that does just the opposite of everything a Hollywood movie would do, and you have Mountain Patrol: Kekexili. This is one of the more despairing, dark, and difficult movies I have seen in a long time; it makes Icelanders look cheery and gay. There is some attempt to inject hopefulness in to the mix, maybe with some long-term, zen perspective, but overall it it just a hard, hard movie about doing the right thing. It is well worth seeing.

Otis and Mel and I saw it last night. Afterwards, we went to the late-night 'bucks and tried to re-invent higher education. Talk about despair.

Yesterday was also my walkin' day. While Otis was lunching with Ms. Macha, I found out just how close we are to the heart of the U-District, as I handled all my errands afoot - and made some new discoveries to return to, such as Sidecar, the vegan store. After whiling some time away at the comic book store, I also had a chance to join Dingo and Johnbai for a walk around Green Lake, which was particularly fortuitous since they couldn't make it to the Crest with us later.

There's other news about Otis's new ad campaign, but maybe she'll have a guest-post on the topic, so we'll leave it for now.

This talk of Iceland has reminded me to post a link to the Bjork Goes Wild video, so here it is.