Reviews

Hmm...it pains me to say this - but this documentary tell me nothing of factual value.

I will desist from commenting on the production values as I know this was done on the cheap and put out there for free - however, better documentaries have been done for less - and with greater impact.

Now, when I watched this program, I couldn't help thinking that this documentary is akin to feeding a death row inmate, his final supper of zero nutrition burger and Coke - as in, it might satisfy a craving, but will not make the inmate's situation any better - especially so when the metaphorical death row is the severe financial crisis that the less fortunate proles are experiencing, while the party seems to be going on for a fair proportion of the middle class Greeks.

The crises in Ellada (and Portugal, Ireland, Spain so far) cannot be explained away using subjective and spurious notions of odious debt, Debt Audits, Ecuador etc.

All this document would do, if it were successful, is to give the credulous viewer false hope.

If Greeks really want to get to the nub of the problem, they should first do some honest soul searching, then mobilise and search for a leader with integrity and then get this new leader to sort out internal corruption, starting with tax evasion and finger pointing.

Loosen the grip that the corrupt church has on your souls and rationalise your existence - this might help you to get to the real root of the problem - the darkness within our own souls! God is not going to sort this mess - only you, sans your politicians...

First of all, I must say that this program works mainly because of the personas in it:

Mike Brewer is top boy salt-of-the-earth car dealer of the Frank Butcher variety. It's fun to watch him search and negotiate the purchase of a car and you can see that he is really holding back the greasy negotiation skills that most forecourt dealers have.

Edd China is the uber-tall and genial mechanic, who you can imagine came to this through pottering on dad's old E Type in their summer house in Anglesey - he is not your average grease monkey.

Together they create TV magic by taking old but classic well made cars and then bringing them to life and selling it on for a nominal"profit".

Don't expect to learn anything here - I have watched most of the Brewer/China partnership programs and I still don't have a clue what to look for if I were to buy a "smoker" to renovate.

However, this program is not really of that variety - in my mind, it is about realising the value and craftsmanship that went into making some of the better vehicles in the past - and celebrating it by giving them some TLC in China's workshop. I'd say this is true recycling (as opposed to putting all your rubbish in a plastic box, eventually bound for a landfill)

Of course some episodes will interest you more than others but on the whole, there is enough honesty, good intentions and humour to make it worth your while.

Warning: watching Edd and Mike will be much to the chagrin of everyone else who tries to watch their favourite programs on telly in your household. I certainly get a few withering looks when I try and watch it. Enjoy at your peril.

First of all, I think this film quite rightly got the plug it deserved on all of the Broadsheets in the UK. This might be partly due to the involvement of Ken Loach himself but also because it is a rather poignant essay of the one crucial aspect of globalisation – the richer countries exploiting the availability of the cheap labour available from the poorer countries.

This is not the first of its kind to be done, but this film had sympathy, warmth, objectivity and class and a viable plot. The whole film, however, is carried by Kierston Wareing, with no real development of other characters such as her business partner or even her dad, who both could have highlighted the different shades of the argument and perhaps externalised some of the conflicts that we all face when we encounter the by-products of such exploitation. By this, I mean the cheap strawberries in the supermarkets, casual builders, the "baristas" working behind the various Coffee chains and basically all of the other unsung victims who go to subsidising every aspect of our material life.

The basic kernel of the film does succeed to some extent in showing the different facets of the human character such as sympathy for the individual versus the indifference to the abstracted group; highlighting the similarities in the trials and tribulations of people in both the 'host' and the 'donor' countries; the fact that a lot of people are up for making a quick buck off the suffering of others; and that people exist who will try and be fair to others regardless of their backgrounds.

However, the reality might not be so clear cut and easily digestible. Perhaps not all of the immigrant workers are so docile and placid; perhaps not all immigrant workers are so subservient and accepting when the roles are reversed and the female becomes the sexual predator; perhaps not all immigrant workers insist on "passing on the favour instead of returning it".

While it is a noble effort and some effort has been made to highlight the plight of such immigrants, it is still just a snapshot of a much more knotty problem – a problem that we are all, to some extent, responsible for.

That said, "Bravo" to the fantastic Mr. Loach for agreeing to get his "hands dirty" with such a current and contentious subject.

It is rarely that my partner and I come out of the cinema and walk quietly. We usually try and deconstruct the film and analyse it to smithereens.

This was one of those occasions where one just wanted to savour the feeling of comprehension and satisfaction that one gets by being in total harmony with a raconteur. Another example of this was after watching the excellent Bowling for Columbine...

Getting to the point, there really isn't much that I can say about Good Bye Lenin that will convey the excellence and well-roundedness of the film. I am also going to avoid discussing the subject of the film as this has been done on most of the other reviews. All I can really say is that it manages to tenderly combine the multi-faceted elements of our everyday lives without being sanctimonious, political, or over-sentimental.

There is no attempts to eke any cheap laughs (the potential for goofy humour and uber heart-tugging was there aplenty and would have been maximised were this the usual Hollywood summer fare). In this case, the "rarely-used-these-days" principle of less-is-more was applied throughout the film.

All I can truly say is rustle up the cinema fare (any cinema opting to screen this in favour of more lucrative "Legally Dumb Terminator's Pie" deserves the thinking person's support) and give yourself a treat.

"Glückwünsche" to the people behind this.

Good Bye Lenin...Welcome excellent films!!!

I love watching Eastenders and have done so for the last 16 years. However, as a resident of East London, I find the Eastenders experience to be more reminiscent of a visit to the theme park than East London!! This is so for numerous reasons. For starters, the area (Walford) that it portrays does not in any way, resemble reality. Walford, strangely, seems devoid of the monolithic multi-storey council flats and instead, is full of Georgian and Victorian terraces. There are no tramps in the park-benches, no traffic and most importantly, the racial mixture of Walford in no way reflects any part of London. The attempts to portray the racial mix have included Sanjay, Geeta and their respective in-laws, a regular dreadlocked market-trader and a gay doctor (two birds with one stone there). There is just the one pub where the weather outside does not reflect the time of the day that the episode is reflecting. There will be sunlight coming through the windows of Queen Vic at 8.30 pm in the Winter. Everyone who is someone in Walford owns a business that they share with someone else (usually Phil Mitchell). In addition, the residents of Walford only go to a few places… `up West' and `Manchester' and on special occasions, Spain. The final case for weirdness is that in some way, all residents of the square are `related' to each other. However, this drama is a true gem. This is because Eastenders is ironic comedy. The program, in its own unique way, is a short trip away from the reality of inner city. The residents never whinge about traffic, the value of the pound, the cost of living, about a mean boss at work (except where Phil Mitchell is concerned) and they don't use cars although there is a successful motor garage in the Arches. The characters that join the program grow on you by winning your affection or ire. The show is simple and focuses on the trials and tribulations faced by any human. The dilemmas presented are ones that most people will have the (mis)fortune of facing in their lives. This is a truly addictive show that never fails to put a smile on my face (albeit wry sometimes). Watch it a few times and you are ‘in'.