Yojimbo,

Akira Kurosawa is considered a Japanese master film maker and by many, "Yojimbo" (1961) his considered his best.  

"Yojimbo" is basically a story about a wandering samurai looking for something to do.  He sees an opportunity when he discovers two quarreling gangs.  As he put it "I make money from killing.  This town has a lot of people deserving to die."  

There are a few instances where he demonstrates his killing ability, but mainly he set the two factions against each other.  He settles the town and at the end moves on.  He never really gave his name.  When he is asked he looks around and sees a mulberry field and proclaims "mulberry field."

It may seem fairly simple, but there were a lot of talented people.  Here are a few.

We have to start with Akira Kurosawa who was director, writer, producer and editor.  He began as a painter and later on he painted full scale story boards for his films.  In 1936 he worked as an assistant director and starting in 1942 he became a director and spotted a promising book, then got the movie rights ahead of competition, but he did run into censorship problems with the Japanese authorities claiming it was too British/American and eventually they got 18 minutes cut out.  His next film in 1944 he decided to direct a film on female munitions workers and the actresses rebelled at some rules with one actress chosen to voice their complaints.  He ended up marrying her for the rest of her life.  After the Americans took over he had a few problems with their censors, but he felt pointed in a new better way.  In 1990 he was awarded a special Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In "Roshomon" (1951) depicted a crime from four conflicting perspectives.  Members of his cast confronted Kurosawa about the script wanting to know what it all means.  He responded that the movie is a reflection of life and life does not always have a clear meaning.

Akira has 85 credits as writer, 33 as director, 25 as assistant director and many as an editor including "One Wonderful Sunday" (1949), "Ikiru" (1950), "The Idiot" (1951), "Seven Sumurai" (1954), "The Hidden Fortress" (1958), "High and Low" (1963),  "Dersu Uzala" (1975), "Kagemusha" (1980), "Dreams" 1990) and "Rhapsody in August" (1991).

Masaru Sato was the composer.  He was raised in Sapporo,  He developed a taste for jazz, especially like Quincey Jones.  Masuru had 305 composing credits, 12 for the music department and 7 for soundtrack including "Seven Samurai" (1954).

Kazuo Miyagawa was the cinematographer.  He trained in ink painting.  He went from laboratory technician to assistant camera man.  Kazuo was the inventor of the bleach bypass optic and was also noted for his tracking.  He had 138 cinematography credits, 4 for the animation department and 1 for the camera and electrical department including "Roshomon" (1951). 

Yoshiro Maraki was the production designer.  He explained in the special bonus that he had been asked by Kurosawa to find a severed hand for a dog to carry for one scene.  With the help of one of the actors he was successful.  Yoshiro has 62 production designer credits, 16 for art directer and 4 for the art department including "Kagemusha" (1980) and "Rhapsody in August" (1990).

Toshiro Mifune played the lone samurai and was one of Kurosawa's favorite actors.  He was born in Japanese occupied China and consequently is fluent in Mandarin.  He was drafted by Japan and joined the Air Force and was involved in aerial photography during WWII.  A follower of American cinema he was critical of how the Japanese depicted the impact of a bullet; just a puff of smoke.  He had 186 acting credits, 15 for producing and 1 for directing including "The Idiot" (1951), "Roshomon" (1951), "Seven Samurai" (1954), "The Hidden Fortress" (1958), "High and Low" (1963) and "Shogun" (1980) plus at least one in Mexico.  

Tatsuya Nakadai played a leader of one of the gangs.  He was discovered by director Masaki Kobayashi.  A theatrical actor, he and his wife founded an acting school.  He has 184 acting credits and 2 for soundtrack including "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" (1960), "High and Low" (1963) "Kagemusha" (1980).

Because of relatively poor resources before and just after WWII, the Japanese were innovative and the world wide cinema has benefited greatly.  I watched this film on a DVD with some insightful extras.  I do recommend it, but especially for those who appreciate cinema history.

I have done posts on many interesting Japanese films, but the following post gives a base:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/03/japanese-movies-are-more-than-godzilla.html

Influence: Want to get More?

This is a unique sales book as it is not just for sales people.  Robert B. Cialdini describes himself as a "patsy" as he is an easy sell.  As a psychology researcher he became curious about how it was done on him.  In this regard the book is mainly about what he calls "compliance professionals" and "compliance  practitioners" either of which you might fall into.  On the other hand, he occasionally offers antidotes so everyone can benefit from reading this book, which is perhaps the best sales book I have read.

He quotes Alfred North. "Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them."  That means a lot of our decisions are made with little thought.

7 Strategies that have been used on you or you have used on others are the core of his book.  They are reciprocity, social proof, liking, authority, commitment and consistency, scarcity and unity.  His research has given persuasion a scientific basis and his anecdotes make them more understandable.

There are many decisions we frequently make and for the most part we use heuristics, that are just mental short cuts.  For instance "expensive is good" or "inexpensive is cheap", both of which are reliably true, but can be misleading. 

Reciprocity is simply if you give something to another person you might expect something in return.  It can be something concrete (like a sample), a favor or a concession.  One interesting example was with the Watergate break in, that on the surface was very risky with not much payoff.  However one member of the group started with an even more outlandish plan involving much more money and risk and it was rejected by all the other members of the tight group.  A second proposal was about half the cost and, it too was rejected.  The other members were exasperated and ended up accepting a third proposal that cost about 1/4 of the original.  It was a dumb decision that was partly the result of concessions made in return for agreement.

Often the person who made the concession feels more in control by steering the decision closer to their preference.

As a side issue that demonstrates the author's contention on how to get others to like you is with the partial failures of school desegregation.  Most liberals felt it would work when blacks and whites were in contact, but it didn't work in many cases.  The author pointed out that blacks were mostly disadvantaged in situations where they competed in classroom for attention.  Cialdini felt it would (and did) work better when students were encouraged to be co-operative to achieve mutual goals.

Social proof acts as a reassurance that one is not the only one making a decision.  Netflix, just by pointing out the popularity of a film increased its popularity.  Another example would be during Covid, many would not wear a mask until they saw others wearing masks.

Using authority as a strategy means relying at least in part on a title that suggests expertise.  As consumers we are often approached this way and when it really reflects expertise and is relevant we should pay attention.  The author points out methods to buttress authority, but also tells consumers to check the expertise and just as important, determine the relevance.  An expert in physics is not necessarily knowledgeable or relevant to climate change.

When something is scarce or becoming scarce, generally it is considered more valuable.   Prospects can become afraid of losing something they want (or might want).  In the game of love, a partner taken for granted can become more desired when a romantic rival appears.  Cialdini feels to protect yourself you should realize ownership and enjoyment are two separate things and before you make a choice bear that in mind.  Also realize that scarcity can be deceiving or manipulated.

 Another perspective on scarcity and how you might deal with it:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/12/scarcity.html

If I can get you to commit to something you can often be persuaded to continue to a consistent agreement.  Nobody wants to appear inconsistent.  An example given is with the Chinese prison staff during the Korean War that seeks only a small agreement from one of their American prisoners, but are able to eventually get written and signed statements supporting a Chinese view.  One of their tools was to block outgoing mail to soldiers that wanted their families to know they were alive.

Anwar Sadat was known to flatter someone by suggesting they had an excellent reputation.  Then to be consistent they were encouraged to move closer to his position.

To avoid the consistency trap it is important to nip it in the bud.  At first chance claim you are not chained to previous commitments.

The seventh strategy is labeled"'unity" that points out we prefer to interact with those most like us.  Obviously family can be decisive.  Anyone can stretch things to find a common point of unity.  Common examples are race, ethnicity, gender, favorite sports teams and musical tastes.  One example was how a Jewish rabbi explained to Japanese administrators (allied with Nazis) that what the two of them had in common was they were both Asian and that alleviated suffering.

Unity can also be abused and the author gives at least two examples:  labor unions and Catholic clergy that he maintains protect abusers amongst their members.  In a personal example Cialdini had been called on as an expert witness and found himself on a legal team determined to defeat an opposition, no matter what facts opposed them.

Ethics plays a role in his philosophy.  We should not allow ourselves to be railroaded under a unity strategy that abuses others.  One piece of paper I keep with me is a quote from Benjamin Franklin:  "For having lived long I have experienced many instances by being obliged by better information or fuller consideration to change opinions even on important subjects which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise."

We now live in a world where most of the information is less than 15 years old and we need time to process it.  With all the future changes we will find ourselves deciding on smaller reliable strategies.

I have been a professional compliancer and would like to think I have always been honest, but that would be stretching things a little bit.  I have in fact walked away from opportunities to make money that made me feel uncomfortable and I have tried to present a true case for whatever I was trying to sell.  Robert B. Cialdini points out all the strategies he has told us about are legitimate, but are also subject to abuse.  Unlike most sales books he tells us how to minimize abuses against us.  Thank you.

There is a lot of value in "Influence" that can't be covered in a blog post.  This book was highly recommended by Daniel Pink and it has sold over 5 million copies.  There; I am using social proof and authority for you to consider.

Labyrinth of Lies--A German Attempt to cleanse

 "Labyrinth of Lies" starts in 1958. At one point an older man asks some younger adults if any of them including our lead character, a lawyer, Johann Radman knew of Auschwitz.  They had no awareness.  Survivors did not want to talk about their suffering.  An actual historical character, Fritz Bauer charges Radman, a fictional composite with bringing out the Truth.  We learn Bauer chose only young prosecutors to avoid contamination.

An awkward time in German history.  By 1958 it was inevitable that former members of the Nazis were in positions of authority as well in common jobs.  They wanted to forget about their shame,  and move on.  

Radman found the task very difficult as he was greeted with denial from many and refusals from those whose current situation was tied to the guilty.  

Radman was given a romantic lead, Marlene to individualize the predicament.  It turns out he learns his father had been a Nazi and then he learns that Marlene's father had been a Nazi.  That accusation broke their relationship. 

We are told many Germans joined the Nazis pragmatically and that many like the two fathers drank to excess to bury their feelings.  Bystanders realize  they helped make the Holocaust possible.  Many want to get back to normal as soon as possible and not talk about it.  They feel the big concern is Russia.

There was disappointment when Adolf Eichmann wasl bundled off to Israel for trial and execution as the Germans felt they could have learned about Eichmann's superiors.  They knew of Josif Mengele's location in South America and visits to Europe, but in the end Mengele died outside justice.

Near the end, Radman and a Auschwitz survivor Simon traveled to Auschwitz to read a Kaddish for Simon's two daughters that had been apprehended by Josif Mengele.

Just before the end we are assembled to enter a court room.  The results are posted before the end credits.  There is no mystery to the basic outcome, but the film is focused on the social and legal process. 

Without the brutality of most Holocaust films, "Labyrinth of Lies" deals with the adjustments made by the German public.  Here are some of the people who made it gripping.

Giulio Ricciarelli was the director and a co-writer.  He was born in Italy, but raised in Germany.  Initially he was active in the theatre.  He has 14 credits as actor, 6 as producer and 4 as director.  

Sebastian Pille and Nicki Reiser handled the music.  Between the two they have over 90 composing credits.

Romain Osin was a cinematographer.  He has 38 cinematography credits and 4 for the camera and electrical department including "Pride & Prejudice' (2005).

Andrea Martens was the editor.  She has 14 credits as editor, 3 for the editorial department and 1 for the sound department including "When We Leave"(2010).

Alexander Fehling played Johann Radman.  He has 32 acting credits, 1 for directing, 1 for writing and 1 for dubbing including "Inglorious Basterds" (2009), "Homeland" (2015) and "A Hidden Life" (2019).

Friederike Becht played Marlene.  She has 46 acting credits including "The Reader" (2008).

Gert Voss played Fritz Bauer.  He was born in China and his family returned to Germany in 1948.  He established his credibility in German theatre.  He died just a few months before the release of the film.  Gert has 26 acting credits.

Ted Williams played Major Parker.  He was raised in America, but learned German as adult.  He attracted attention for his "Trivago" commercials.  He has 39 acting credits including for the French film "Chicken aux plums" (2011).

My viewing was with a DVD that allowed me to hear the director and lead actor commentary as well as Question and Answer session with the two, both in fluent English.  It gives a little different perspective on Germany and the Holocaust and helps explain the feeling of shame, guilt and fear.  Worth while

The Iraq Invasion from a Brazilian perspective

"A Symphony for a Common Man" (2022) recounts a step made towards the Iraqi Invasion of 2003.  The Americans under George W. Bush were determined to attack Iraq, some thought for the noble purpose of regime change of an oppressive nation holding weapons of mass destruction.  Others thought they just wanted the oil.   Sound familiar?

There was one obstacle.  Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction.  Sure, they did at one time, but they had been destroyed and any that had been hidden away would have deteriorated.  American inspectors had actually found that out.  Apparently Saddam Hussein did not want to admit this "weakness."  Nevertheless, the American leadership proclaimed he still had these weapons.  

Back in 1987 the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had been set up with the director-general Jose Bustani, headquartered in the Hague, Netherlands.  He also knew there were no chemical weapons and started to negotiate with Saddam Hussein and planned to send inspectors that would confirm.  The Americans were very upset over that and asked him to resign.  John Bolton, avid to attack Iraq demanded him to resign threatening Bustani saying they knew where his children lived (in New York and London).  Bustani replied his children felt the same way he did and thus refused.  The Americans looked for a way to force him out by lining up other nations to vote against him.  They were successful in getting small countries and loyal allies that he was forced out.  The vote went 47-7 with 43 abstentions.

The next year, 2003 after Colin Powell spoke at the United Nations that there were weapons of mass destruction the United States did invade resulting in deaths of about 5 million Iraqi and 5,000 American troops.  Colin Powell later felt he had been misled, but he had the most international credibility of the Bush administration.  

That year Bustani, still a member of the Brazilian foreign service was able to be appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom by a new Brazilian Prime Minister, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.  Lula felt they had to make a statement and decided to make him ambassador to Britain.  Bustani met with the Queen and later confronted Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister who supported the Americans.  He finished his career as ambassador to the United Kingdom and France retiring in 2015. 

After retirement he was consulted with the Douma chemical attack in Syria.  He claims that, again Americans ignored findings of the OPCW.  He was blocked from testifying at the UN by America, France and Britain.  Interestingly, during Donald Trump's first administration he found a way to appoint John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations.  Bolton was pleased to see Jair Bolsonaro, a very Trump like conservative who replaced Lula as Brazilian Prime Minister--does that sound familiar?  A few times we are shown Bustani as a concert pianist with an orchestra.

The film was dedicated to the memory of Bob Rigg.     He had been the senior editor at OPCW.   He was from New Zealand and served on their National Consultative Committee on Disarmament.  Bob died in 2021, a year before this film was released.

Consists of a few current interviews (as of 2022) and archived interviews/videos

Jose Jiffily was the director.  He has 7 credits as actor, 20 as director and 6 as cinematographer. 

Pedro Rossi was a writer and cinematographer.  He has 14 credits for editing, 10 for cinemtography and 8 for directing.

Pedro Leal David composed some music.  He has 3 composing credits and 1 for the music department.

Unlike most films I post about, this one might be hard to get.  I picked up a copy at my local library.  You might find it as "A Symphony for a Common Man" or its Portuguese title "Sinfonia de um Homem Comum"  Its value for me is to recognize that the Americans, particularly Republicans have a history of interfering in other countries.

Eko--A mysterious dog story

 We love mysteries, challenging the writer and admiring when we are fooled.  "Eko" (2025) fooled me, but maybe not you.  It is not dead bodies so much (there are a few of them), but you can't help looking in the wrong direction.

One confusing factor is the link between Malayalam and Malaysia (known as Malaya in colonial times).  Malayalam is spoken in the part of India called Kerala which was where Vasco da Gama first touched on India after being the first European to go around Africa.  Malaya is another British colony across the Bay of Bengal.  They are fairly far apart, but it is claimed sea trips between the two were common from historical times.  The attraction in the film is a dog trainer who was pursuing a breed found in Malaya that could be trained to be a better protector.

In the current time we meet an old woman, known as Mlathi Chedathi and a young man Peeyoss who acts as a sort of caretaker.  In flashbacks we learn that the woman had originated in Malaya at the time of World War II and had married the dog trainer, Kuriachan who brought her and the dog back to a remote area of Kerala.  We come across two other men who are interested in the trained dogs.  Soon Kur disappears and we are told had died.  The two men try to help Soyi but the dogs stop them and they inflict some bite marks preventing her from approaching.  One of the men takes a gun and kills all the protective dogs.  

Years pass and we become aware of dogs running loose in the area (from a litter that had been born before the mature dogs had been killed).  Some other men believe Kuriachan had not been killed and was hiding in the area.  Part of their proof was the dogs appeared to be well trained.  There appears to be a revenge motive (while claiming to want to understand the unique dogs) for something that happened in Malaya many years before.  

There is violence.  Not everyone is as they appear.  We are set up for an ambiguous resolution.  If anything really is explained, it can be predicted.  Even so, the mystery catches most of us off guard and I predict most of you will very surprised.

Of course all mysteries depend upon careful plotting and compatible presentation to be enjoyable.  Here are some of those responsible. 

Dinjth Aryathan was the director.  He graduated with a Fine Arts degree.  At first he was involved in animation projects.  He has 3 directing credits.

Bahul Ramesh was the writer and also cinematographer.  An odd combination, but he turned the visuals to one of the outstanding features.  The script started with one sentence "Sometimes protection and restriction look like the same thing" and from there he developed a plot.  He has 3 writing credits and 7 for cinematography

Mujeeb Majeed was the composer.  He has 19 composer credits, 3 for the music department and 1 for soundtrack.

Sooraj E.S. was the editor.  He has 25 editor credits and 1 for the editorial department.

Jijesh S was the dog trainer.  They selected the dogs in nearby Tamil Nadu.  Most of the owners insisted on the dogs being rented, but the most promising dog Kurumbi had to be bought and has since moved in with Jijesh.  He started by feeding the dogs only by hand.  The dogs were a critical part of the cast.

Sandeep Pradeep played Peeyoos.  During Covid he worked with VFX.  He has 9 acting credits.

Biana Momim played Mlaathi Chedathi.  She studied English literature and went on to become a professor and principal.  At age 70 she just has the one acting credit.

Saurabh Sachdeva played Kuriachan, the dog trainer.  He has been an acting coach and has helped train Anushka Sharma and Dulquer Salmaan.  Saurabh has 27 acting credits, 1 for directing and 1 for writing including "Sacred Games" (2018-2019) and "Pushpa: The Rule Part 2" (2024).

Vineeth played Mohan Pothan, one of the men pursuing Kuriachan.   He was a classically trained dancer who won awards.  He has 122 acting credits including "Bhool Bhualiyaa" (2007), "Sarvam Thaala" (2019) and "Mukundan" (2022).

 Sim Zhi Fei played Soyi,  She was a model in Malaysia.  This was her only credit.

Binu Pappu played a lorry driver.  Before getting into acting he had been an animator for 13 years.  He has 44 acting credits, 6 for assistant directing and 1 for writing including "Helen" (2019) and "Virus" (2019).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/how-i-discovered-malayalam-cinema-and.html that has a paragraph on "Virus" and some interesting Malayalam films"

It is early in the year, but I have to say this is a particularly good one which can be seen subtitled on Netflix.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen that I generally found worth my time.  Check out the link to learn of some excellent films.

Rob Reiner's film The American President

Inspired by Heather Cox Richardson who quoted a line from "The     American President" (1925) to the effect that citizens do not work for the president.--he works for them and is answerable.  Behind the politics there was a love story, smaltzy enough to satisfy romance fans.

This post is intended as a tribute to Rob Reiner who directed and produced this film.  Like many, I first noticed him on "All in the Family" and my impression was that he was a lazy liberal.  Carol O'Connor was obviously a bigot.  It turns out they were both actively liberal and became friends.  

Like some actors Rob realized that to be really creative you have to get involved in writing, directing and producing, among other details.  He did get involved with film making, but also became more active with political concerns.

In 1988 he was active in a campaign to tax cigarettes to help pay for early childhood development and it passed.  He protested the invasion of Iraq.  To the point that irritated Donald Trump I quote "I 'm worried about the country not being here....You have a Republican Congress that is more than willing to enable a man who lies every minute of his life and is in league with an authoritarian enemy."

Rob has 90 acting credits, 55 for writing, 23 as director and 31 as producer including such stalwarts as "The Princess Bride" (1987), "Stand By Me" (1988), "When Harry Met Sally" (1989), "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993), "The First Wives Club" (1996),  "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), "LBJ" (2016) and "Shock and Awe" ((2017).

The setup starts with the current President, Andrew Shepherd had won his election just after becoming a widower.  A Republican, Senator Rumson, a presidential candidate complained they could not go after Andrew's character as it would have seemed too harsh to the voters.  However, Andrew decides he wants to date again and chooses an environmental lobbyist Sydney. and Senator Rumson decides character is fair game.  The fact that the president and the flag burning lobbyist sleep just a few feet away from his daughter is shouted out.

The romance is tested by the difficulties of his job and the fact that his staff is very concerned about his ability to get re-elected.  At the end, when trying to pass difficult legislation with pressures to cut Sydney's policy preference he reacts with strong righteous rhetoric that helps to win her back.

Admittedly I share the political beliefs of Rob Reiner and the writer Aaron Sorkin and also detest character assassination that seems favored by the Republicans.  The lobbyist points out that many experts claim climate change can make a mess only exceeded by a nuclear holocaust.  The environmental bill runs against a crime bill, but the president discards it as he believes it is pointless without stronger gun rules.

This film combines romance with politics, always a delicate balance and here are some others who contributed to its success

Aaron Sorkin the writer has often worked with Rob Reiner to fine tune their political message.  He also plays as a bar manager in this film.  He started acting, but soon decided writing was his real talent.  He gets physically active while writing and once broke his nose figuring out a fight scene.  He loves writing, but finds it difficult to get started.  He was involved with writing "Schlinder's List" (1994), but was not credited.  His sister worked with the Navy and told him of an incident that inspired "A Few Good Men" (1992).  Aaron has 15 writing credits (including one Oscar), 6 for producing and 8 for acting including "Charlie Wilson's War" (2007), "The Social Network" (2010), "Moneyball" (2011), "Steve Jobs" (2015), "Molly's Game" (2017), "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (2020) and "Being the Ricardos" (2021), 

Marc Shaiman  composed the music.  He met Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal working on the music for Saturday Night Live.  Aside from working on films he won a Tony award for "Hairspray."  Marc has 74 composing credits, 75 for the music department and 22 for acting including  "City Slickers" (1991), "Flipped" (2010), "LBJ" (2016) "Only Murders in the Building" (2023).

John Seale was the cinematographer.   Born in Australia and has won an Oscar.  John has 49 cinematographer credits, 34 for the camera and electrical department and 1 for directing including "Witness" (1985), "Children of a Lesser God" (1986), "Gorillas in the Mist" (1988), "Rain Man" (1989), "The Paper" (1994), "The English Patient" (1996), "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999) and "Cold Mountain" (2003).

Michael Douglas played President Andrew Shepherd.  Michael had a steady position with "The Streets of San Francisco", but quit for an opportunity to produce "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) that earned him an Oscar.  He has 69 acting credits, 30 for producing and 1 for directing including "A Chorus Line" (1985), "Wall Street" (1987), "Fatal Attraction" (1987), "The War of he Roses" (1992). "Basic Instinct" (1992), "The Ghost and the Darkness" (1996), "Ant-Man" (2015) and "The Kominsky Method" (2018-2021).

Annette Bening played Sydney Wade, the environmental lobbyist.  She has 54 acting credits, 1 for producing and 3 for soundtrack including "American Beauty" (1999), "The Kids are All Right" (2010), "Danny Collins" (2015), "20th Century Women" (2016), "The Report" (2019), "Georgetown" (2021), "Jerry and Marge Go Large" (2022), "Death on the Nile" (2022) and "Apples Never Fall" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/05/the-report.html

 Martin Sheen played A. J. MacInerney, a campaign manager for the president.  Martin had actually been arrested for liberal protests.  He has 264 acting credits, 10 for producing and 2 for directing including "Apocalypse Now" (1979), "Gandhi" (1982), "Roswell" (1994), "The Departed" (2006), "The Way" (2010), "Bhopal:  A Prayer for Rain" (2014), "Trash" (2015) and "Judas and the Black Messiah" (2021).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/10/trash-movie-from-brazil.html

 Michael J. Fox played Lewis Rothchild, an aide to the president and the one who made a famous speech about the president serves the people not the other way around.  For this role Michael was starting to develop Parkinson's and hid it.  He has since become an advocate for Parkinson's and has managed to perform while showing symptoms.  He has 83 acting credits, 7 for producing and 1 for additional crew including "Back to the Future" (1985), "Designated Survivor" (2018) and "The Good Fight" (2020).  He admired James Cagney and Cagney had requested Michael be given his role if ever Cagney's biography was put to film.  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/09/james-cagney.html

Richard Dreyfuss played the despicable Senator Rumson (well, somebody had to do it).  He has 129 acting credits, 15 producing credits, 4 writing credits and 1 for the production department including "The Graduate" (1967), "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" (1974), "American Graffitti" (1973), "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1978), "Whose Life is it Anyway?" (1981), "Stand By Me" (1988), "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995) and "Fail Safe" (2000).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/10/paralyzed-men-in-4-foreign-movies.html 

David Paymer played Leon Kodak, a presidential aide.  His mother's family had fled Nazi occupied Belgium.  David has 183 acting credits, 34 directing credits and 1 for producing including "No Way Out" (1987), "City Slickers" (1991), "Searching for Bobby Fischer" (1993), "Quiz Show" (1994), "Amistad" (1997), "The Hurricane" (1999), "In Good Company" (2004) and "Into the West" (2005).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/08/into-west.html

This post was my way of honoring and remembering Rob Reiner who not only gave us a lot of good films, but also made the world a better place.  I watched this on a Blue Ray disc. 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally worth while.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

HAQ deals with religious and legal conflicts

Religion or at least its followers often require believers to follow their law while some nations feel religion and government are separate.  It seems that all the world's religious cultures subjugated women to the control of men.

Abbas Khan had tried to divorce his wife Shazia Bono and cut off child support using Sharia law and the courts seemed to have upheld it.  However Shazia had found a lawyer who claimed the Indian constitution required him to support her.  A lot of details were debated over several years and I confess it was very confusing.  The bottom line was a successful struggle to assert constitutional rights that not only benefited Muslim women, but also all citizens.

As in many such battles there were a lot of heated arguments and emotions ran high.  Arrogance prevailed on the male side.

One interesting scene for me was a burial that in subtitles used the term "coffin", but I believe should have been "shroud" that to me was a more natural burial.

This was an extremely well done movie and here are some of the contributors.

Suparn Varma was the director.  He started out in journalism and spent 6 years as an entertainment journalist.   He helped to set up a recording studio for chat.  Suparn has 22 credits as a writer, 14 as a director and 4 as a producer including "The Family Man" (2019).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/the-family-man.html

Reshu Nath was the writer.  She has 10 credits for writing, 1 for additional crew and 3 for directing.

Vineet Jain was one of the producers.  He had risen to Managing Director at Bennett and Coleman Company, the largest media group in India.  He has 12 producing credits including "Raazi" (2018), "Doctor G" (2022), "Badhaai Do" (2022) and "Ulajh" (2024).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/12/doctor-g.html 

Sandeep Chowta was the musical score writer.  He was born in Ghana, but raised in Nigeria.  He became the head of Columbia Records for India.  Sandeep has 66 composing credits, 18 for the music department and one for directing including "Satya"(1988), "Ashok the Great" (2001), "Om Shanti Om" (2008) and "Parmanu:  The Story of Pokhran" (2018).

Vishal Mishra wrote several songs.   He has 54 composing credits, 53 music department credits and 13 for acting including "Qarib Qarib Single" (2017), "Kabir Singh" (2019) and "Saiyaara" (2025).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/09/arjun-reddy-and-kabir-singh.html

 Pratham Mehta was the cinematographer.  He has 35 cinematographer credits, 14 for camera and electrical department, 2 for producing and 2 for the color department including "Scoop" (2023) and "Srikanth" (2024).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/07/two-films-about-overcoming-blindness.html

Ninad Khanolkar was the editor.  He has 24 editor credits and 7 for the editorial department including "Agent Vinod" (2012),  "Shubh Mangal Savdhan" (2017), "Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan" (2020) and "Khel Khel Mein" (2024).

Yami Gautam played Shazia.  She studied law and later did many commercials and appeared on fashion magazine covers.  She has performed in Hindi,Kannada, Punjabi, Telegu, Malayalam and Tamil films.  Her film credits include "Vicky Donor" (2012), "Badlapur" (2015), "Kaabil" (2017), "Uri:  The Surgical Strike" (2019), "Bala" (2019). "A Thursday" (2022) and "Dasvi" (2022). http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/02/the-message-is-spoiler.html

Emraan Hashmi played Abbas.  At one time Emraan was credited as being a good "kisser".  He has 61 acting credits and 3 assistant director credits including  "Murder" (2004), "Gangster" (2006), "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" (2010), "The Dirty Picture" (2011), "Shanghai" (2012), "Hamari Adhuri Kahani" (2015), "The Body" (2019) and "Ae Watan Mere Watan" (2023).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/09/danis-tanovic-with-bosnian-perspective.html 

Sheeba Chaddha played Bela Jain, the defense lawyer.  She acts in theatre plays.  Sheeba has 101 acting credits including "Talaash" (2012), "Badhai Ho" (2018), "Gully Boy" (2019) and "Baadhai Do" (2022).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/03/badhaai-do-lgbt-film-from-conservative.html

Women in most societies have been controlled by men and "HAQ" demonstrates how some women have gained more freedom.  Available subtitled on Netflix. 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally these are among my favorites.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.