tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post3714645586369409279..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: Yannis Ritsos: The Unhinged ShutterUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-7672931815989351142015-07-02T04:09:20.636-07:002015-07-02T04:09:20.636-07:00Duncan, the way that plan was understood at the ti...Duncan, the way that plan was understood at the time was as a part of the global anti-communist strategy (which of course it was), and as a means to the restoration and expansion of markets (for, first off, of course, American goods), through the invention and development of international corporate capitalism (which it also was).<br /><br />There have been many ways of thinking about the "plan" of having American business manage the world party.<br /><br />There's this classic Spanish film:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuY93g2vJaY" rel="nofollow">Bienvenido, Mr Marshall! (1953)</a><br /><br />The Greeks of course only received a minor pittance of the Marshall money. Ten percent, finally, went to Germany. The lion's share -- twenty-six percent -- went to cement that famous "special relationship" with the UK.<br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan#/media/File:Marshall_Plan.svg" rel="nofollow">Marshall Plan beneficiaries, by nation</a><br /><br />I spent the summer of '64 in Athens. The buildings were still riddled with bulletholes. But the US Sixth Fleet was parked in Piraeus, and love for Americans was not exactly overflowing.<br /><br />Angelopoulos captures a bit of that spirit:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdpeH_MY5xg" rel="nofollow">from The Travelling Players (1975): Wedding party at the beach</a>TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-22240690176675192142015-07-02T02:28:17.367-07:002015-07-02T02:28:17.367-07:00It wouldn't be long after '46 that the Mar...It wouldn't be long after '46 that the Marshall Plan would come into operation and see Germany rescued from a fierce economic castastrophe. Just saying like.Mose23https://www.blogger.com/profile/01100756913131511440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-61862523019268056652015-07-01T23:57:01.933-07:002015-07-01T23:57:01.933-07:00Thanks very much, Vassilis. The brilliant scene fr...Thanks very much, Vassilis. The brilliant scene from Angelopoulos seems to enact so much, condense so much, virtually without need of words.<br /><br />One of the very few truly great historical films. I've actually tried to teach it, once upon a time. Of course, nobody was willing to sit through it. Fatal flaw, it doesn't "explain", merely demands at least some level of conscious attention. Given that, it grants a whole new understanding of the meaning --- and mystery -- of the passage of time. <br /><br />Our conversation here about the clip, in the present context, came down to that cruel yet hardly avoidable phrase, "the party's over". But surely it would be overdetermining things, at this point, to so over-simplify. And fatalism offers what? <br /><br />In any case it seemed (seems) wrong to damn to a proleptic conclusion something brave that's still struggling to get to its feet. One must constantly remind oneself that no matter how ancient and broken-down one may be, there are still young people out there with the energy and desire to change this world that is crushing the frail bones of the weak and the old.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-61355792995462767252015-07-01T22:10:49.259-07:002015-07-01T22:10:49.259-07:00Given the context of the currrent Greek "situ...Given the context of the currrent Greek "situation", including this crucial scene from Angelopoulos’ masterpiece is a stroke of genius. I wonder how many Greeks remember it. vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14515165428574974933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-38015297332225951592015-07-01T08:27:11.971-07:002015-07-01T08:27:11.971-07:00from The Travelling Players (1975): New Years 1946...<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BsiDkHPcDM" rel="nofollow">from The Travelling Players (1975): New Years 1946</a>TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.com