Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 271
May 21, 2013
Roll Over, Beethoven: New Edition of Book--And Movie Premiere!
Just out today in print and e-book editions (for Kindle, iPad etc. and the Nook): An expanded new edition of
Journeys With Beethoven: Following the Ninth, and Beyond
, which I wrote with film director Kerry Candaele, published by Sinclair Books. It's just $3.99 for the e-book and $11.99 for print. It includes an exciting new chapter on the role Beethoven played when the Berlin Wall fell (with Leonard Bernstein in a key role). Kerry has a great documentary Following the Ninth, which I helped a little on --and earned some kind of producing credit--premiering in a cool theater in Santa Barbara on June 4 (see trailer below). Both the book and the film follow the Ninth Symphony and it's enormous cultural and political influence around the world today. So they take us from Chile to China and Japan and Germany, plus a stop in London for a full chapter with Billy Bragg, and then back in the USA.
In the "Beyond" section of the book I explore my own obsessive "travels" with Ludwig, as a longtime rock 'n roller, in recent years, via concerts and movies and CDs -- but also through new "Beethoven delivery systems" (YouTube, web forums, Twitter, etc.) I also interview at length pianist Jeremy Denk.
Those who know me from my infamous Crawdaddy and Springsteen days might be a bit...surprised? Maybe it's now, "Roll Over, Chuck Berry." In any case, it's a totally unique book on Beethoven--a Beethoven for our time, at last. Again, e-book here and print here. And here's Kerry's trailer:
Tuesday Night Music Pick: Beatles and LvB
To mark publication tonight of new expanded edition of my (with Kerry Candaele) book,
Journeys With Beethoven
, a vintage live recording of The Beatles, featuring George on vocal and rocking guitar.
The French Have a Word for it
A noted far-right French historian shot and killed himself today in Paris--in the Cathedral of Notre Dame--next to the altar--in protest of moves in that country toward gay marriage.
Dominique Venner, 78, a former member of the nationalist terrorist movement, OAS, placed a pistol in his mouth and shot himself dead in front of scores of tourists inside the most visited building in France.
Mr Venner, a presenter on a Catholic-traditionalust radio station and controversial historian and essayist, posted an essay on his website earlier in the day calling for "new, spectacular and symbolic actions to shake us out of our sleep, to jolt anaesthetised minds and to reawaken memory of our origins".
His long essay was a tirade against gay marriage but also a warning that the "population of France and Europe" was going to be "replaced" and brought under "Islamist control" and "sharia law".
Alex Gibney on WikiLeaks Fllm
Alex Gibney’s much-anticipated film, We Steal Secrets: the Story of WikiLeaks, hits theaters this Friday and already it’s a media sensation. Gibney summed up the reaction for me last month: “My view, while biased, is: The response from people who’ve seen the film has been mainly positive and from those who haven’t, mainly negative.”
In the latter camp are Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, and several key allies, such as writer/filmmaker John Pilger. They claim they’ve seen a (what else?) “leaked” script but Gibney has some doubts about that. Even if they do have it, Gibney pointed out, they should know that words on a transcript are not a film, which you have to “see” and experience. And he adds: “I don’t consider myself a very good talker or writer but a pretty good filmmaker. So even if you saw a transcript—the point of a film is that people can see it. It’s how the story is presented. Pilger should know that since he’s a filmmaker."
Coverage in the U.S., after the February screening at Sundance, has been mostly good, he observed. “The people who don’t necessarily have an axe to grind are liking it,” he asserted. And he again declared strong support for Bradley Manning. Here's the trailer, and much more below:
When WikiLeaks became a household name three years ago—the release of the “Collateral Murder” video from Iraq came on April 5, 2010—and the material it released caused shock waves around the world, numerous film operatives rushed to buy rights to books and articles. One of them was Zero Dark Thirty screenwriter Mark Boal.
Early this year Assange denounced a Hollywood flick when it started shooting—it focuses on the early days of WikiLeaks and his relationship with Daniel Domscheit-Berg (who left the group in a huff). And he blasted Gibney’s upcoming doc—which he refused to cooperate with—right down to its title.
At Sundance, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman interviewed Gibney (who won an Oscar for his Taxi to Dark Side and has directed many other fine docs, from Enron to Mea Maxima Culpa). She also solicited a critical response from Assange attorney Jennifer Robinson. Much of the debate was over how the film treats the Swedish legal case and the seriousness of the threat that Assange could end up extradited to the United States. Gibney told The Daily Beast, “I think a lot of this film is deeply sympathetic to Julian and his initial cause. I just think Julian got corrupted.”
But the debate continued. At the New Statesman in early February, Jemima Khan, who had posted bail money for Assange, and went on to become a producer of the Gibney film, wrote a piece claiming that Assange's backers had become “blinkered” to his faults, especially the alleged sexual misconduct.
This led Pilger, a week later, to attack her, and Gibney, at The Guardian, accusing the Assange “haters” of suffering from “arrested devleopment.” As for Assange not cooperating with the Gibney film: He “knew that a film featuring axe grinders and turncoats would be neither ‘nuanced’ nor ‘represent the truth,’ as Khan wrote, and that its very title was a gift to the fabricators of a bogus criminal indictment that could doom him to one of America's hellholes.”
Gibney then responded at the New Statesman, opening with: “How sad. John Pilger, who once had a claim to the role of truth-teller, has become a prisoner of his own unquestioning beliefs.” He said that Pilger had even gotten the title of his film wrong. “In fact, ‘we steal secrets’ is a quote taken from the film, uttered by the former CIA director Michael Hayden,” Gibney revealed. “Thus, the title of the film is intended to be, er ... ironic.”
Gibney closed:
ON THE PILGER DEBATE: “Pilger’s attack was unfair and unvarnished and not buttressed by the facts, especially since he didn’t see film. Like Assange, he may have a transcript or just saying he has. I doubt it."
THE TITLE OF THE FILM: “It was meant to be provocative. People in Assange’s camp want to take it a certain way. If one sees the film one sees what I’m getting at. We live in a world where everyone thinks they do the right thing, so they are entitled to do the wrong thing. So ends can justify the means. The title is meant to set a context for both leaking and the rather brutal attack on leakers by the Obama administration. They’re trying to try people like Bradley Manning for a capital offense for leaking classified material."
ON THE MEDIA SHOWING MORE SYMPATHY FOR MANNING LATELY: "The larger story is not a change in views about him but how much he’d been ignored. When you see the film you’ll see—and the thing I’m most gratified about—how much we put him at the center of story. Where he should have been but hasn’t been. Part of it was he was just the 'alleged' leaker and now he has pleaded guilty. Finally he’s being noticed, which is a good thing.
"My personal view—he’s the new Pvt. Eddie Slovik [the American soldier our military executed for desertion during World War II.] They picked on Manning because they could. They felt he was weak, he was marginalized. And I think now it’s beginning to surprise the government that public opinion is shifting in his direction [since his statement at his recent hearing]."
ON MEDIA ACCOUNTS ATTRIBUTING MANNING'S LEAKING TO GENDER CONFUSION: "In my film I recognize that Bradley Manning had personal troubles. He made a difference, and I think he thought about trying to make a difference—but he was also different himself.
"The idea of Manning leaking because he wanted to become a woman is a joke. Not at all credible. But I think a reason he turned to [Adrian] Lamo in those chats was he needed someone to talk to.
"I took some criticism at Sundace for saying Manning was 'alienated.' I think it was twisted into me saying he leaked because he was a malcontent. But if he was perfectly in alignment with the military culture he would have never leaked! Sometimes whistleblowers get distanced from the culture and feel they should or must speak out. These issues are important to the story."
WHAT SURPRISED HIM IN MAKING THE FILM? "The Swedish sex charges surprised me. I assumed from the start, especially after doing Client 9 [his film on Eliot Spitzer], that as Michael Moore says in my new film—it was a put-up job, something so suspicious about it, it seemed like a plot. I don’t believe that now....
"Another surprise: I started out thinking it was a story about a machine, a leaking machine—but WikiLeaks’ contribution was not the 'drop box' but an ability to publish on many international sites. The jury is still out on the best way to get secrets from a source—and the best way is probably not a drop box."
Greg Mitchell has written two books on WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning. His latest books are So Wrong for So Long, which probes U.S. media malpractice and Iraq, and Hollywood Bomb, on how Harry Truman and the military censored MGM anti-nuke epic in 1946.
In the latter camp are Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, and several key allies, such as writer/filmmaker John Pilger. They claim they’ve seen a (what else?) “leaked” script but Gibney has some doubts about that. Even if they do have it, Gibney pointed out, they should know that words on a transcript are not a film, which you have to “see” and experience. And he adds: “I don’t consider myself a very good talker or writer but a pretty good filmmaker. So even if you saw a transcript—the point of a film is that people can see it. It’s how the story is presented. Pilger should know that since he’s a filmmaker."
Coverage in the U.S., after the February screening at Sundance, has been mostly good, he observed. “The people who don’t necessarily have an axe to grind are liking it,” he asserted. And he again declared strong support for Bradley Manning. Here's the trailer, and much more below:
When WikiLeaks became a household name three years ago—the release of the “Collateral Murder” video from Iraq came on April 5, 2010—and the material it released caused shock waves around the world, numerous film operatives rushed to buy rights to books and articles. One of them was Zero Dark Thirty screenwriter Mark Boal.
Early this year Assange denounced a Hollywood flick when it started shooting—it focuses on the early days of WikiLeaks and his relationship with Daniel Domscheit-Berg (who left the group in a huff). And he blasted Gibney’s upcoming doc—which he refused to cooperate with—right down to its title.
At Sundance, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman interviewed Gibney (who won an Oscar for his Taxi to Dark Side and has directed many other fine docs, from Enron to Mea Maxima Culpa). She also solicited a critical response from Assange attorney Jennifer Robinson. Much of the debate was over how the film treats the Swedish legal case and the seriousness of the threat that Assange could end up extradited to the United States. Gibney told The Daily Beast, “I think a lot of this film is deeply sympathetic to Julian and his initial cause. I just think Julian got corrupted.”
But the debate continued. At the New Statesman in early February, Jemima Khan, who had posted bail money for Assange, and went on to become a producer of the Gibney film, wrote a piece claiming that Assange's backers had become “blinkered” to his faults, especially the alleged sexual misconduct.
This led Pilger, a week later, to attack her, and Gibney, at The Guardian, accusing the Assange “haters” of suffering from “arrested devleopment.” As for Assange not cooperating with the Gibney film: He “knew that a film featuring axe grinders and turncoats would be neither ‘nuanced’ nor ‘represent the truth,’ as Khan wrote, and that its very title was a gift to the fabricators of a bogus criminal indictment that could doom him to one of America's hellholes.”
Gibney then responded at the New Statesman, opening with: “How sad. John Pilger, who once had a claim to the role of truth-teller, has become a prisoner of his own unquestioning beliefs.” He said that Pilger had even gotten the title of his film wrong. “In fact, ‘we steal secrets’ is a quote taken from the film, uttered by the former CIA director Michael Hayden,” Gibney revealed. “Thus, the title of the film is intended to be, er ... ironic.”
Gibney closed:
There are many people, including me, who admire the original mission of WikiLeaks. But those supporters should not have to stand silently by as WikiLeaks’s original truth-seeking principles are undermined by a man who doesn’t want to be held to account for accusations about his personal behaviour. To paraphrase Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Julian Assange is not the Messiah; and he may be a very naughty boy.Wanting to catch up with his current views on the pre-release controversy, I interviewed Gibney in April. Count me as another who, for now, has not seen the film. Some highlights:
ON THE PILGER DEBATE: “Pilger’s attack was unfair and unvarnished and not buttressed by the facts, especially since he didn’t see film. Like Assange, he may have a transcript or just saying he has. I doubt it."
THE TITLE OF THE FILM: “It was meant to be provocative. People in Assange’s camp want to take it a certain way. If one sees the film one sees what I’m getting at. We live in a world where everyone thinks they do the right thing, so they are entitled to do the wrong thing. So ends can justify the means. The title is meant to set a context for both leaking and the rather brutal attack on leakers by the Obama administration. They’re trying to try people like Bradley Manning for a capital offense for leaking classified material."
ON THE MEDIA SHOWING MORE SYMPATHY FOR MANNING LATELY: "The larger story is not a change in views about him but how much he’d been ignored. When you see the film you’ll see—and the thing I’m most gratified about—how much we put him at the center of story. Where he should have been but hasn’t been. Part of it was he was just the 'alleged' leaker and now he has pleaded guilty. Finally he’s being noticed, which is a good thing.
"My personal view—he’s the new Pvt. Eddie Slovik [the American soldier our military executed for desertion during World War II.] They picked on Manning because they could. They felt he was weak, he was marginalized. And I think now it’s beginning to surprise the government that public opinion is shifting in his direction [since his statement at his recent hearing]."
ON MEDIA ACCOUNTS ATTRIBUTING MANNING'S LEAKING TO GENDER CONFUSION: "In my film I recognize that Bradley Manning had personal troubles. He made a difference, and I think he thought about trying to make a difference—but he was also different himself.
"The idea of Manning leaking because he wanted to become a woman is a joke. Not at all credible. But I think a reason he turned to [Adrian] Lamo in those chats was he needed someone to talk to.
"I took some criticism at Sundace for saying Manning was 'alienated.' I think it was twisted into me saying he leaked because he was a malcontent. But if he was perfectly in alignment with the military culture he would have never leaked! Sometimes whistleblowers get distanced from the culture and feel they should or must speak out. These issues are important to the story."
WHAT SURPRISED HIM IN MAKING THE FILM? "The Swedish sex charges surprised me. I assumed from the start, especially after doing Client 9 [his film on Eliot Spitzer], that as Michael Moore says in my new film—it was a put-up job, something so suspicious about it, it seemed like a plot. I don’t believe that now....
"Another surprise: I started out thinking it was a story about a machine, a leaking machine—but WikiLeaks’ contribution was not the 'drop box' but an ability to publish on many international sites. The jury is still out on the best way to get secrets from a source—and the best way is probably not a drop box."
Greg Mitchell has written two books on WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning. His latest books are So Wrong for So Long, which probes U.S. media malpractice and Iraq, and Hollywood Bomb, on how Harry Truman and the military censored MGM anti-nuke epic in 1946.
Dog Saved in Oklahoma
Amazing vid of woman in Oklahoma, whose home and neighborhood destroyed--as she's interviewed by CBS, lamenting loss of dog, no doubt dead under the rubble--he suddenly pokes his head out of the mess.
May 20, 2013
Gimme Shelter
Dramatic, horrifying short vid from family climbing out of storm shelter in Oklahoma. At least 51 dead.
Door Shuts
Ray Manzarek, keyboard player and co-founder of The Door, has died. I have a good story about meeting him--with Roy Orbison--in Chicago, but another time. For me The Doors peaked with thei first album and it was all downhill from there.But Ray helped them Break on Through.
The Kid Plays in the Picture
Amazing little vid--as a Chelsea footballer gives farewell speech, cute son of the goaltender quietly advances on goal. Crowd spots it and cheers him on and then watch the kids reaction when he scores...
PBS's Koch Problem
Don't miss Jane Mayer feature at The New Yorker just posted on little-known story of how PBS's WNET in New York reacted in showing Alex Gibney doc “Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream.” The film did air but see what surrounded it. Problem: It partly focused on the Koch Brothers, with David a major WNET funders.
Gibney: “They tried to undercut the credibility of the film, and I had no opportunity to defend it...Why is WNET offering Mr. Koch special favors? And why did the station allow Koch to offer a critique of a film he hadn’t even seen? Money. Money talks.” And then another documentary, Citizen Koch, ran into trouble and lost funding. But conclusion: "In the end, the various attempts to assuage David Koch were apparently insufficient. On Thursday, May 16th, WNET’s board of directors quietly accepted his resignation. It was the result, an insider said, of his unwillingness to back a media organization that had so unsparingly covered its sponsor."
Trailer for 740 Park, inspired by Michael Gross's book of that title:
Gibney: “They tried to undercut the credibility of the film, and I had no opportunity to defend it...Why is WNET offering Mr. Koch special favors? And why did the station allow Koch to offer a critique of a film he hadn’t even seen? Money. Money talks.” And then another documentary, Citizen Koch, ran into trouble and lost funding. But conclusion: "In the end, the various attempts to assuage David Koch were apparently insufficient. On Thursday, May 16th, WNET’s board of directors quietly accepted his resignation. It was the result, an insider said, of his unwillingness to back a media organization that had so unsparingly covered its sponsor."
Trailer for 740 Park, inspired by Michael Gross's book of that title:
'Mad Men' in Three Minutes
Mood and drug craziness (inspired by real-life man known as Dr. Feelgood) of last night's episode captured by my favorite pub-rock '70s band named, uh, Dr. Feelgood.
