Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 461

Re:View – 'The Kids Are All Right'

I'm not good with touchy-feely Marin County-type movies (haven't been ever since I read/ saw the sardonic parody 'The Serial' back in the 80s) but this was a nice surprise after my gag-reflex calmed down. The problem? Everyone's so damned reasonable for the first half hour, but once the cracks appear, humanity shows through.

Annette Bening [...]

The Truck Stops Here

We reached the airfield but the helicopter never showed.

The officers were as charming and helpful as every other Sri Lankan we've met, but there was nothing to be done except brave a marathon 12-hour drive in a diesel fume-filled van across the country in pounding rain, over pitted, traffic-crammed roads that looked more [...]

A Hitch With The Hitch

Okay, the road is washed out and the helicopter can't land, so we're going to an army base to try and connect from there. Here's hoping for no repeat thunderstorm like the one this morning. Too bad the trip got slashed but it's been interesting all the same. For one thing, we've learned how to [...]

Flooded Out!

Never go travelling with me.

I arrived in Mumbai during the bombing campaign.

(My travel agent: 'Do you want us to bring you home?' Me: 'Certainly not, I'm from King's Cross!')

I usually reach the Middle or Far East during election time, which makes for 'interesting' travel.

Now I'm in Sri Lanka during the worst flooding in [...]

Religionist Should Be Gently

At the Rock Temple visiting a great many Buddhas, reclining, standing and cobra-hooded, I wait beside a sacred spot where prayers are offered (a great place for offering-nicking monkeys bottom-left) and see this sign, exhorting all those of different religions to remember that 'good health is marked by a respect for all others regardless of [...]

All You Need Is Words

As it's fairly chucking down here at Kandamala's awesomely odd eco-lodge in monsoon-ridden Sri Lanka, I'm in a forest recycling centre, learning how paper-trims from junk mail get turned into beautiful paper by mixing it with elephant dung.

I remember how the 'newpapers' like the Daily Mail tried to smear Chris Ofili, the excellent Turner [...]

Bare Feet

Walking around a tiny town here in Sri Lanka, I found myself in front of a giant lifestyle poster depicting a man sitting on the white floor of his loft apartment in a black shirt and black trousers, with bare feet. The bare feet say 'I'm free to be individual and I'm in touch with [...]

Temples Of The Past

So I'm hanging off the side of the Lion Rock in Sigiriya, Sri Lanka, looking at the fast-fading frescoes of concubines painted to amuse King Kassapa I (AD 477 – 495), one of seven World Heritage Sites in the country – you could see the photos but I don't want to bore you with [...]

Temples Of The Future

I took this picture of the world's tallest building (for a few minutes) on my phone. It's astonishingly elegant, surrounded by fountains and set in a mall complex that left me feeling as if I was re-enacting 'Logan's Run', or perhaps 'Gattacca', as neatly attired people drifted through the world's largest shopping mall with vague [...]

Underestimated – 'The Whisperers'

This is a new column dedicated the re-evaluating overlooked films.

'The Whisperers' was generally regarded as a failure at the time of its release. The film came out at a time when there was unprecedented concern about how those on the margins of society were being treated.

But the film was never intended to just expose [...]