Hope in Action

A good source of inspiration for me is Fareed Zakaria who recently brought Sanna Marin to my attention.  Once the youngest female elected to a national leadership.  She had many accomplishments to her credit and was impressive in her speaking.

Sanna grew up in a town near Tampere and her father left.  Her mother adopted a same sex relationship and that seemed normal to Sanna.  Education was equal for all students giving her a step up.

As a young adult she moved in with her boyfriend Markus.  A bit later they had a child, Emma.  To even up child caring they had the patrimony payments equal.  Part of this time she was commuting from Helsinki, about two hours from Tampere where Markus held the fort.

She had joined the Social Democrat Party locally and gradually proved herself.  Working on committees she learned policies and connections.  When one election ended her party had done well and she was given the position of Prime Minister at the age of 34. 

Her first crisis was the Covid pandemic. The initial problem was there was very little information.  A key ingredient was trust of the people in the government.  There was some opposition to some measures, but generally the population followed the government guidance.  Under a European Union there was a protocol to equalize distribution.  Health care workers received the first vaccination during December of 2020 and she got hers on June 11, 2021.  

Another major crisis was when Russia invaded Ukraine.  Finland shares the longest border with Russia in Europe and she felt that despite a long contentious relationship they needed to join NATO.  This meant convincing the other 4 coalition parties plus some of the others outside the coalition.  They also wanted to join with Sweden who had an awkward problem with Turkey.  Some Kurdish fighters were in Sweden and Turkey wanted them back.   Finland was able to join a year ahead of Sweden.  Finland gave arms assistance to Ukraine and Sanna visited Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Scandals seem to come with the position.  She is realistic pointing out "Politics is so much more than the issues."  There are scandals that are an abuse of power and then there are personal assaults.  Perhaps the best known one was of her dancing to a Finnish pop song and mugging.  This led while finally living that one down to another that occurred during a visit to a friends' house where two women were photographed against the words Finland.  She never apologized for the dancing video, but did take a drug test.  Newspapers found scandals good for sales and helped keep them going as long as they could.

The recent election showed a different configuration which would have left Sanna relatively powerless.  At this time her marriage ended.  She found herself tired from work and was not able to talk about a lot of it to her husband.  She noted that the two of them had watched the Danish series "Borgen" where the marriage of the female Prime Minister also broke.  The two had laughed at it on viewing it, but she came to understand the pressures were real.   see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/borgen.html

At this time Tony Blair offered her a position with an international organization.  After getting permission to withdraw from the Finnish Parliament she accepted.  Among other task she helped Ukraine and Moldova in their relations with the European Union.  

She writes quite a bit about the proportional representation system, a favourite topic of mine.  Her party is one of 5 parties in a coalition out of 9 total parties.  Her party the SDP got only about 20% of the voters, but the group negotiated and declared her the Prime Minister.  The parties did not all agree on every issue, and compromising was used.  Although things were slower, it was obvious a key mechanic was co-operation.  In systems where two parties dominate there is very little co-operation.  Incidentally Finland out performs most of the world in such areas as longevity and mostly sits at the top for happiness surveys.

As she moves on she feels the world has been going in the wrong direction.  Right wing leaders are wanting to carve up the world while the time for joint action is at hand.  Climate change, the AI revolution, equality all demand more attention.  

One observation she made was that after the Soviet Union breakup the European governments switched budget money from military to other concerns such as health and education.  Too bad not all the world adopted this principle.

She closes with an anecdote which I will attempt to paraphrase.  A Finnish custom is to go to a sauna and there many decisions can be thought out.  Sanna was comfortable with this which is traditionally gender segregated. A male journalist complained that he couldn't get close to the Prime Minister as female journalists could.  A female journalist pointed out that was how they were treated over time when males were in control.  

"Hope In Action" is a book good to expand your awareness of Finland and the life of a female politician.

Jacket photo by Meeri Koutaniemi

Vishwanath and Sons

After digesting "Viswanath and Sons" (2026) I realized it is more than worthy of writing about.  For my experience it is very unique and the presentation was well done.  A second impressive Tamil film in less than a month.

We are introduced to Sanjay Vishwanath, an Olympic shooting medal winner and learn he is also very rich.  But his mother Nirmila wants him to get married and start a family.  He is already nearly 40.  We learn later why he doesn't want to marry and also that he doesn't live as a celibate.  He loves his mother, but what to do?

His solution is to use a surrogate.  He relies on some sort of agency to find someone willing and money is no problem.  A young baby, named Abhay is produced some months later, making him and his mother happy.  But it soon turns out that a bone marrow match is required and they have to contact the mother. that Sanjay was deliberately ignorant about.   Maddy is 20 years old and had calculated how much money she needed to complete medical school.  She agrees to providing a bone marrow match after some comical discussions that shed a little light on motivations.

He really is a nice guy and she falls for him declaring she wants to be with him.  He is not budging and has gotten used to his freedom and is horrified at marriage, especially to someone 20 years younger.  He does say he now feels responsible for her and is willing to support her in different ways.  She has charmed his mother.  After awhile she feels she should sue him for neglectful child rearing as an excuse to have more contact.  In effect his mother happily takes care of Abhay with the aid of lots of servants, but Sanjay has been neglectful, never changing diapers for example.

Somewhere we learn why he doesn't want to marry and it is that his father had eft his mother.  Skipping ahead (a necessary spoiler) we learn his father had married again and had a daughter.  Nirmila had a peculiar relationship with her ex and his new bride.  The father had been allowed to visit his son and taught Sanjay how to shoot good enough to compete at high levels.  The new bride very occasionally visited and her daughter was about to get married.   Maddy got involved encouraging the marriage to go ahead and patch up family quarrels.

There is still lots of effort by Maddy who is helping Nirmala raise Abhay who knows who is his mother.  Sanjay is very fixed on not getting married, especially to someone as young as Maddy.  Neither Maddy or Nirmala are concerned about the age gap.  Abhay loves both his parents and grandmother.   While this is going on, Maddy finishes medical school financed by Sanjay.

This was a very engaging film owing to the cast and crew.  The two leading roles were very well done.

Venky Atluri was the director and writer.  He has 9 writing credits, 6 for directing and 1 for acting including "Vaath" (2023) and "Lucky Baskhar" (2024).

G.V. Prakash Kumur was the composer.  He has 126 composing credits, 63 for the music department and 37 for acting including "Aadukalam" (2011), "Gangs of Wasseypur" (2012),  "Soorari Pottru" (2020), "Vaath" (2023),   "Lucky Baskhar" (2024), "Amaran" (2024), "Idly Kadai" (2025) and "Kara" (2026).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/12/amaran.html

Nimish Ravi was the cinematographer.  He has 21 cinematography credits and 1 for the camera & electrical department" including  "Kurup" (2021) and "Lucky Baskhar" (2024).

Navin Nooli was the editor.  Navin has 77 editor credits, 3 for additional crew and 2 for the editorial department including "Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo" (2020), "Shyam Singha Roy" (2021), "Jersey" (2022), "18 Pages"{ (2023), "Butta Booma" (2023),  "Vaath" (2023) and "Lucky Baskhar" (2024). 

Suriya played Sanjay Vishwanath.  He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree.  He rejected his first film offer as he did not want to be an actor.  He had 7 unsuccessful roles before winning an award that turned his career around.  He picked up a charity established by his father and supported children who had dropped out of school and directed them to training schools or other education.  He also set up a charity for Tamils in Sri Lanka.  He has 60 acting credits, 21 as producer and 4 for the music department including "24" (2016) "The Ghazi Attack" (2017), "Soorari Pottru" (2020) and one of my very favorite films "Jai Bhim" (2021). plus "Meiyazhagen" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/11/jai-bhim.html   His wife Joythika has been prominent in films.

Mamitha Baiju played Maddy, the surrogate.  She started with modeling and then into the Malayalam film industry before expanding to Tamil films.  She has 29 acting credits including "Kara" (2026).

Radhika Sarathkumar played Sanjay's mother Nirmila Devi.  She has 246 acting credits, 24 for producing and 2 for additional crew including "Jeans" (1998) and "Pyaar Prem Kalanam" (2026). 

Ravenna Tandon played Anjala Devi.  She has 103 acting credits and 5 for producing.

Rajiv Menen played Vijay Vishwanath, Sanjay's father.  He studied cinematography in the United States under Garrett Brown, the inventor of the steadicam.  From there he became a cinematographer and directed tv. commercials including at least one with music by A.R. Rahman.  He has 9 acting credits, 9 cinematography credits and 7 for directing including "Bombay" (1995) and "Guru" (2007).

"Vishwanath and Sons" is available subtitled on Netflix.  Lots of laughs with some romance, action and music.

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 favourites.  If you follow the links you should be better able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

Finally a Chance to improve life for Americans

The world has been helpless while Donald Trump has tried to steer America and the rest of the world in a very dangerous path. The mid-term election is only about 40 days away and in fact mail ballots have just about started.  I cannot vote, but will be very affected by the outcome as will everyone else, meaning YOU.

Polls seem to indicate a big switch to Democrats.  There are a lot of tricks that Republicans will try and there will likely be legal challenges.  Do not take victory and the tying up of Trump for granted.  Every vote can make a difference.  Trump is correct when he says he is on the ballot.  The best result will be if voters reduce his power to the point he cannot defy the law.  He will push everywhere he can. 

Trump with a prepared text at the United Nations threatened to annihilate Iran and also to pressure Cuba to change its government.  Is that what Americans want representing them in this very tense world?  This is what is at stake.

In the short time left it seems likely that inflation will be on everyone's mind.  Iran will likely be resisting with significant impact.  Deporting "illegals" likely will be harsher and unjust.  The Trump administration believing their voters really like this effort, will try to cram as much in while they still can.

Trump is stubborn and unable to admit any mistakes or any sign of weakness.  Blaming others for his problems will become more laughable.  He seems increasingly mentally unwell and very unreasonable.  He is less calculating than in the past with his actions hurting his party and even himself.  If he is left with any power it could be disastrous for Americans and beyond.

The time from election to inauguration of the newly elected holds danger, often called the lame duck session.   Republicans will attempt to lock in their policies and prevent investigations with their legal team preparing for possible impeachment.  Democrats need to be careful.  Prioritizing will be difficult.  Impeachment can be very time consuming, distracting and wasteful.  They should assert Congressional powers regarding tariffs, war, health, etc,  

There are many reasonable people contesting the election and I would like to single out Abdul El-Sayed.  He reminds me of Pete Buttigieg as he is very logical.  His problem is that racists are out and he has been declared an enemy by AIPAC.  American have too often given into prejudicial ignorance when more than ever they need a clear head.

Albert Einstein gave his support to the Hebrew University, but became concerned over Jewish attitudes regarding Arabs.   As far back as 1929 he voiced such opinions as "Should we be unable to find a way to honest co-operation and honest pacts with the Arabs then we have learned absolutely nothing during over 2,000 years of suffering."  Are Americans finally getting a truer picture or is the water being muddied. 

The Republicans have a sorry record but always rely on prejudice.  Lately one target has been trans sexuals.  Recently learned of a new insight into transexuals.  I had been told that for many, the desire to be different is very strong.   I recall working with a family through their newspaper carrier son and successful canvasser.  He acted very feminine, but had a sister who acted masculine.  Such youngsters tend to be made fun of, but want to be their natural selves.  Parents don't want a sex change, but fear for the sanity of their children with some even being suicidal.

Progressives are on a delicate balance with most distrusting Trump, but realize voters fear change.  America is so diverse and although there are some intermingling with better understanding, there is also fear and hate generated by a minority.

The environment is on the ballot.  It was pointed out that states have significant control over environmental issues.  It seems likely hatred of Trump will result in federal switch to Democrat policies that are more environmental friendly.  Inevitably some will vote Democrat at the Federal level (for senators and house reps), but go back to their natural political voting at the state level.  For the environment generally, Democrats are better, but should there be exceptions-the environment should be the factor.

The Trump team has all been chosen for loyalty, not expertise.  Many of his key supporters lie to suck up to him.  They have suffered at the whims of a very vain, provocative man and in turn so has the rest of the world.

There will be countless people concerned about the result, but only a few have the tool to make a real difference.

see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/03/why-isnt-trump-in-prison.html

The Amazing Generation

As a baby boomer I am trying to adjust to a new generation--the ones who came up around the 2,000's.  The contrast of our youths is startling which means their future is going in a different direction.  Wealth has been distributed differently, but almost as important is the impact of the smart phone and the development of social media.

"The Amazing Generation" by Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price is targeted for teenagers, young adults and their parents with the focus on smart phones.  Lots of illustrations, pop-ups and comic stories.

As a retired senior I recognize I have also been sucked in, although, my smart phone is used only for very occasional phone calls and taking photos.  My laptop is used mainly as a tool, but I am easily taken down other paths.

Designers for the most part do not let their own children get too involved with smart phones and computers.  At the same time they are developing addictive features and how to mine the information they gather from the participation of many adolescents and the rest of us.

The authors point out that baby boomers spent their childhood unsupervised when not in school.  That is how I remember it.  Starting around the 1980's parents did get nervous perhaps and started getting their children in structured activities such as music, dancing and sports.  Television had become more common, but no streaming.  Phones were plugged in and if you wanted more privacy there were pay phones.  One writer in person pointed out his privacy was limited by the chord length of his parent's phone.  Computers were becoming more common and evolving towards use in business and personal.  Wi-fi and websites developed along with digital cameras.  

The big change came on January 9, 2007 when Steve Jobs announced the Iphone.  From there, apps developed.  Smart phones became common and were quickly picked up by youngsters.  Phones were now mobile.  Designers quickly spotted opportunities.  Advertisers soon discovered that valuable information could be easily gathered and used for targeting.  

Smart phones were entertaining and had advantages for getting information and communicating.  Too much time on smart phones led to mental health issues especially among adolescents when their brains are making major changes.  Depression was one result for some.  Others were made to feel anxious.

We have all encountered groups of people staring at their phones rather than talking to one another.  Too many will interrupt a conversation in order to check their phone, an action called phubbing.   Some bullied others because it is so much easier than in person.  Perhaps the most serious problem is the waste of time.  Phones detract from studying, working and even relating to people on hand.  In the primitive era, people had to be alert to distractions as they could be fatal.  Today we need to learn to concentrate.  We are prone to multi-tasking (guilty), but that slows one down. 

Many are wondrous of the "free" service, but they should realize the service is not the product, they are.  Every minute they are on the phone, someone is scooping up more information.

How can you fight, and fill your life with real friendships, freedom and fun.  It might be hard to pull yourself away from the grip of your phone, but as Tyler Smallwood points out "if you can do one hard thing you can do another."   A few suggestions:

                    -count breaths

                    -5-4-3-2-1   think of 5 things you can see, then 4 things you can feel, then listen for 3

                     seconds, then identify 2 smells, then focus on one taste

                     -carry something to write on

                     -read

                     -look for new things to do

There are many other suggestions.  You are re-wiring your brain and it is important to be moving.

There have been legal actions such as META being successfully sued.  There are government actions such as in Australia where they have legislated restrictions for students.  Many other actions are being organized, but while they may improve things you have to think about children and parents.

Jonathan Haidt has had an impact on me over the years.  Glad he recognizes that children need protection.  Below are three posts I have found very helpful.

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/02/the-righteous-mind.html

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/10/are-you-interested-in-happiness.html

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/06/the-anxious-generation.html

The jacket art has been done by Cynthia Yuan Cheng and shed also provided illustrations within the book.

Reply 1988

"Reply 1988 " (2015) was referenced when I was researching another film.  It was described as one of the best ever television series.  At one time it carried a 9.5 IMDB rating, but 8 or so years later has settled down to 9.0.  Wondering why?  It has been suggested that it carried a lot of emotions of a wide variety.  There is a lot of interconnection and support between five families.  

My first impression after about 3 minutes was that I had made a big mistake.  The narrator Deok-Seon was screaming for no apparent reason.  Throughout the series she gets very emotional, especially with rejections.  Others, also over-react both when frustrated, but also when excited. It is not over-acting.  The parents are very involved supporting their children's friends.

The parents include a widow and a widower.  The parents have their own struggles with their children and among themselves.  The personalities are diverse, but they are very supportive of one another. 

It is set in Seoul, Korea in 1988 the year they held the Olympics.  Deok-Seon has been given the task of marching with a flag for Madagascar, but we learn at the last minute they withdrew in protest over North Korea not being included along with another 3 or 4 countries.  She ends up with Uganda near he end of the parade, but all the families watch on tv.

A Studious daughter, Bo Ra joined student protesters which left her father very upset.  They get reconciled.  Some students have trouble qualifying for university and wrestle with studying, friends and keeping cool.  Romances develop, but with usual teenager angst.

Taek is an international Go champion, but seems grounded when not competing.  All the families follow his successes.

At the end of many episodes there is a segment 10 to 20 years later with the mature versions of the characters telling you who did get together using different actors.   

The end segment is reminiscing about how they remember the joy of their friendships which can no longer be relived.  They, parents and children grouped together for wedding photo.

This series was a massive effort and succeeded because of their cast and crew.  Here are some of them:

Shin Won-ho was the award winning director.  He has 6 directing credits and 1 for acting.  

Lee Woo-jung was the writer.  She has 9 writing credits, 2 for directing and 1 for acting including "D.P." (2013).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/04/dp-stands-for-deserter-pursuit.html

Oh Jae-ho was the cinematographer.  He has 8 cinematography credits and 1 for writing.

Lee Hyeri played the main female lead, Sung Deak-seon.  Better known as Hyeri when singing and was a key member of Girls Day.  She has 33 acting credits.

Park Bo-gum played Choi Taek, the Go champion.  He is a well known singer and one of the most respected brand endorsers in a wide variety of demographics.  Bo-gum has 21 acting credits and 1 for soundtrack including "A Hard Day" (2014), Itaewan Class" (2014) and "When Life Gives You Tangerines" (2025).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/04/when-life-gives-you-tangerines.html  

Ahn Jae-hong played Kim Jong Bong.  He has 34 acting credits, 1 for directing and 1 for writing including "Rebound" (2023) and "Mask Girl" (2023).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/08/mask-girl.html

Ryu Jun-yeol played Kim Jung-hwan.  He has 25 credits for acting including "A Taxi" (2017).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/09/a-taxi-driver-is-gem.html 

Go Kyung-pyo played Seong Seon-woo.   He has 32 acting credits including "Strongest Deliveryman" (2017), "D.P." (2021) and "Decision to Leave" (2022).    See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/02/decision-to-leave.html

Lee Dong-hwi played Ryu Dong-ryong.  He has 44 acting credits including "The Beauty Inside" (2015), "The Handmaiden" (2026), "Designated Survivor:  60 Days" (2019) and "Broker" (2022).   See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/07/broker-japanese-korean-collaboration.html

Ryu Hye-young played Seung Bo-ra the older sister.  She has 17 acting credits.

Kim Sung Kyun played Kim Sung Kyung.  He has 46 acting credits including "D.P." (2021) and "Divorce Attorney Shin" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/04/divorce-attorney-shin.html

Choi Moo-sung played Choi Moon Seong, a widower and father to Taek.  He has 8 acting credits including "The Good Bad Mother" (2023).    See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/06/the-good-bad-mother.html

Ra Mi-ran played her namesake, Ra Mi-ran.  She has 76 acting credits including "Thirst" (2009), "Hope" (2013), "Black Dog" (2019-20) and "The Good Bad Mother" (2023).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/11/hope-gut-wrenching-film-from-korea.html  and                     http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/01/black-dog.html

Kim Sun Young played Kim Seong-yeong, a widow.  She has 84 acting credits including "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019), "Crash Landing on You"(2019-20), "Broker" (2022), "Queenmaker" (2023), "The Trauma Code" (2025) and "Our Unwritten Seoul" (2025).   See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/02/crash-landing-on-you-very-addicting.html and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/06/our-unwritten-seoul.html 

Sung Dong-il played  Seong Dong-il, one of the fathers.  He has 95 acting credits including ""200 Pound Beauty" (2006), "Miss Granny" (2014), ""The Chase" (2014) and "Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days" (2018).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/04/a-slice-of-korean-cinema.html  

At times some of the emotions might seem a bit much, but very likely most viewers will find themselves tearing up--perhaps when parents are feeling love for their child and also vice versa.  Available on Netflix with subtitles.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  Some of them are among my favorite Korean films and a big part of my Korean obsession.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if any film is worth following up.

Korean names recorded in western sources can be confusing.  Their names have different English spellings.  In many scripts that actors have their stage names adapted to their roles, sometimes duplicating.  

The Cure for Drowning

Canada Reads opens up opportunities for Canadian authors.  It pits five books that have survived strenuous qualifying.  Champions are selected and required to read all five books.  Over four days each book is attacked and defended.  This year "The Cure for Drowning" was the winner.  I would add, deservedly.

Its champion was Tegan Quin.  Tegan with her twin sister Sara is part of a popular musical duo Tegan and Sara.   Both are in same sex relations and have been open from the beginning of their musical career.  Tegan defended a book with non binary romance elements very ably.

The title may seem strange, but serves as a sort of tool.  At a very young age Kit fell through ice and drowned, but was scooped up by her brother Landon who walked a long distance in wintry conditions to their home.  The mother Caroline  somehow brought her back to life.  The incident leads to a Celtic fairy tale involving a spirit rescuing a person drowning.

The story takes place around World War II.  The romance is not conventional.  Kit, might be described as a tomboy much to the displeasure of her mother.  Her older brother is good looking and confident.  A younger brother Jep is loved by both siblings.  When Jep has an accident breaking his leg he is dragged to a new doctor in town.  Not incidental to the story the doctor has a German background and more critical to the story he has a daughter, Rebekah.  

Rebekah is 'courted" by both Landon and Kit.  Landon is a smooth talker and is really attracted to Rebekah, even approaching her father with talk of marriage.  In the meantime the two women find an attraction that includes some discrete intimate contact.  As these relations are developing the families are friendly, but as the war approaches it causes a breach for the youngsters.  Rebekah disappears back to Montreal and Kit ran away from home (hoping Rebekah would join her).

From there the four youngsters end up involved with the war.  Landon joins the navy and Jep joins the army.  Rebekah ends up in Halifax working on naval intelligence.  Kit has adopted the name of Christopher and joins the air force and is very involved in actual aerial battles.

Loghan admits there are some changes in details, but essentially the picture described is accurate regarding military procedures.  There are many twists over the years that make for engrossing reading.

There is sex, but most current fiction has at least some.  And although for many of us this is a little non traditional the sex is done relatively discretely.  Cultural factors will seem fairly normal, i.e. not too far out of range of our traditional experience.

We go from one event to another smoothly.  The telling is done alternately between the two key women.  This has been a reading difficult to put down--not only for the interesting plot, but for the telling.  

Loghan Paylor is described as a queer trans author.  They was raised in Ontario, but has since moved to the west coast after earning a Master's degree in creative writing.  They has written and published a few short stories and essays, but this is their first novel.  Loghan took six years getting the first words on paper to publication, moving three times in the effort.  Their dog was very helpful as a sounding board and escape from literary tensions.  They will be a judge in the CBC short story contest for 2027.

The other Canada Reads finalist was Searching for Terry Punchout" championed by Steve Glynn         http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/07/searching-for-terry-punchout-surprise.html

The cover design was by Jennifer Griffiths and with both (pictured above) help explain the Celtic fairy tale.

Us in the End--a realistic romance

"Us in the End" (2026), originally "Tayo sa Wakus" is a realistic romance.  People fall in love without really understanding one another.  Like most nations struggling to develop a film industry, the Philippines has relied on horror, comedy and romance movies to attract viable audiences.  This is one step to a more diverse offering.

Cisco works in an advertising agency and was just arguing for one of his ideas that was flatly received by his audience until Cheska, a newly hired employee enthused some support.  For the most of the rest of the script she supports him, even when it hurts.  

Cisco was smitten with her and offered to drive her to her parents even after she admits it is a three hour drive.  When they arrive in her hometown village it turns out her parents are loudly arguing and providing entertainment for the neighbours.  We  become aware that she comes from a poor background and is the sole breadwinner.  He on the other hand comes from a wealthy family and is used to getting his way.

Their boss, Mr. G. is enthused about their relationship, but understands who is the more talented.  Their romance is pretty intense and they move in together.  After one dispute he suggested that if ever they are thinking of splitting they go on a trip together and be very honest before making a decision.  She recognizes he has talent, but she actually is more talented and allows him to take credit for some of her ideas.  At one point Cisco wants to break from the company to start his own  and persuades his wealthy grandfather to invest, but the grandfather has been enticed by what he assumes is Cheska's involvement.  However she is the only breadwinner for her family and is not willing to take a chance on a new company.

That is much of the plot, but of course there are many details that you might look back on as portending their future, however the rest of the movie is not really predictable.

This film required a deft touch and mostly got it.  Here are some of the key cast and crew responsible.

Cathy Garcia-Sampana was the director.  She has 45 credits for directing, 24 as an assistant director and 11 for writing including "Four Sisters and a Wedding" (2013), "Hello, Love, Again" (2024) and "Meet Greet & Bye" (2025).  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/08/from-philippines-to-calgary.html

Vanessa R. Valdez was the writer.   She has 91 credits for the script & continuity department, 31 for writing and 29 as a producer including "Four Sisters and a Wedding" (2013), "Starting Over Again" (2014), "You're My Boss" (2015), "Everything About Her" (2016), "Barcelona:  A Love Untold" (2016), "Rewind" (2023) and "Hello, Love, Again" (2024)  The next link covers 4 films mentioned in this post:   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/10/four-filipino-movies.html

Kookie Labayen was the producer and has 9 writer credits, 13 for producing and 12 for additional crew including "Everything About Her" (2016), "Barcelona:  A Lover Untold" (2016),  "Love You To the Stars" (2017) and "Isa Pa with Feelings" (2019).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/12/isa-pa-with-feelings-really-helps.html

Jessie Lasaten was the musical director.  He studied at the Berklee College of Music.  He began writing jingos for tv. commercials. then moved to films.  He has 196 composing credits and 48 for the music department including "Hello, Love, Again" (2024).

Yves Janero was the cinematographer.  He has 14 cinematography credits, 17 for the camera & electrical department including "Hello, Love, Again" (2024) and "Unmarry" (2025).    See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/07/unmarry.html

Marya Ignacio was the editor.  She has 208 editing credits, 41 for the editorial department and 39 for the production finance & accounting department including "Four Sisters and a Wedding" (2013), "Starting Over Again" (2014), "You're My Boss" (2015),  "Barcelona:  A Love Untold" (2016), "Everything About  Her" (2016), "Love You to the Stars and Back" (2017), "Rewind" (2023), "Hello, Love, Again" (2014), "Meet, Greet & Bye" (2025). 

Belle Mariano played Cheska and was also an executive producer.  She was performing in television commercials at age 9 and graduated to singing.  She has 32 acting credits, 1 for producing and 5 for sound track including "Love You to the Stars and Back"(2017) and "Meet, Greet & Bye" (2025) .

Donny Pangilinan played Cisco and was also an executive producer.  He has been a model and a singer.  Donny has 21 acting credits, 2 for producing and 4 for Soundtrack.

Jeffrey Quizon played Mr. G.   He has won many awards, nationally and internationally including at Cannes.  He has also been a band leader.  Once a chain smoker he took part in a celebrity challenge and quit.  Jeffrey has 149 acting credits, 3 for writing and 6 for assistant directing including "Heneral Luna" (2015).

This is not a light romance, but a little grittier the way many romances actually work out.  "Us in the End" is available subtitled on Netflix.

As usual I bold the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but mostly ones that I have enjoyed.  The links give more details to better reach a judgment.

G.D.N. tells of another Thomas Edison in colonial India

Gopalaswamy Doreiswamy Naidu is not well known, even in India, but he is a most remarkable man who has finally been depicted in a major film "G.D.N." (2026).

The film starts near the end of his life when tax authorities are trying confiscate his wealth and then we switch to a textbook committee meeting that was to discuss books for the next school year.  A strange woman enters and explains she wants to make sure they include a chapter on G.D. Naidu while a few protest that he a traitor, a  tax evader and not properly educated having dropped out of school after grade 3.  She gives each member a copy of some biographical information and the story moves on.

We are introduced to a young G.D. Naidu as he wants to buy a motorcycle to see how it works.  He is very curious person, studying lots of processes.  Another move is to work at a cotton mill owned by Robert Stanes and find a way to improve cotton processing that led him to start his own mill.  While there he learned to speak English.  Unfortunately he gambled on prices and lost when the market for cotton declined.

He goes back to Robert Stanes asking for a job and instead is given a bus.  After a few years he proved his management skills after devising more efficient routing he persuaded a number of bus drivers to join him, pooling their resources to share in profits.  At one point United Motor Services had 600 buses.  This is also where he partnered with Ramiah Pillai who stuck with him to the end.

His list of innovations is diverse.  In agriculture he made improvements with cotton, maize and papaya.  He found better ways to extract fruit juice.  He made voting machinery more safe and efficient.  Motors was one of his first interests and that is reflected in transportation.  One sideline was developing an electric shaving razor.  Education was boosted by encouraging wider spread schools.  He was a founder of a polytechnical institute and revised a curriculum to give engineering training in only two years.  Concerned over the plight of the poor he developed a way to construct a more affordable, safe house in one day.  A man who loved taking photos he developed accessories to make cameras more efficient.  

As he succeeds he is generous to his fellow Indians which of course upset some British.  They tried to cut him down using tax rules to force him into a corner.  One British colonist, Winston Smith did some dirty tricks to stop him, but was constantly outsmarted.  He then hooked up with a high level income tax collector, Ambalapara Kristnan who over years was always finding parts of Naidu's business to tax and try to confiscate his assets, but failed.

His employees, and customers could see through the attempt and helped him evade unfair taxes.  Other tricks learned was to have the stock given to a dog and another was to divorce his wife giving her the right to take 98% of his assets, so the government could not confiscate 80% of them and still live together.     

He travelled over Europe and elsewhere looking for suppliers and ideas.  He spent time in Britain, France, Belgium and Nazis Germany and eventually got a deal with Benz to manufacture automobiles in his part of India.  These efforts branded him a traitor.  

At the end we learn the textbook committee has been swung over and there is an ironic twist.

"G.D.N." makes a good case for great contributor to India.  A lot of people help present a superb case.  Here are a few.

A key person was Madhavan who played.the title character, but more than that  he co-wrote the script and was also a producer.  He had won a national public speaking award and is fluent in English, Hindi and Tamil.  He took part in a student exchange program to Stetler, Alberta, Canada,  He has appeared in such films as "Rang de Basanti" (2006), "Guru" (2007) and "3 Idiots" (2009) which were all exceptional.  Altogether he has 100 acting credits, 5 for writing and 1 for directing.  Another film was the American, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" (2012).  My first awareness of him was with "Kannathil Mutthamthal" (A Peck on the Cheek) (2002), but I assumed it was a Bollywood film and much later learned it was a Tamil film, opening another door for me.  Other films include "Arbe Sivan" (2003), "Tanu Weds Manu" (2011), "Dhoka" (2022) and "The Railway Men" (2023). See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/11/the-railway-men.html   In "G.D.N." one scene had him throwing away a cigarette as requested by Ramiah Pillai.  It turns out that Madhavan in real life does not smoke although willing to act if the script calls for it.

Krishnakumar Ramakumar was the director and co-writer.  He was the founder of Black Box Films in Chennai that mostly does advertisements.  He has 3 directing credits, 1 for writing and 31 for acting including "Madras Cafe" (2017).

Sathyjaraj played Ramiah Pillai, the loyal supporter.  He has 233 acting credits and 2 for producing including "Mersal" (2017), "Baahubala:  The Conclusion" (2017) and "Idly Kadri" (2025).

Priyamani played Chellamanal, the first wife who asked for a divorce so as not to drag him down.  She modelled which led to films.  She has acted in Hindi, Tami, Telegu, Malayalam and Kannada films.  Primayami has 85 acting credits including "Raavan" (2010), "Raavanan" (2010),  "Chennai Express" (2013), "The Family Man" (2019-2025), "Article 370" (2024) and "Maidaan" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/03/the-family-man.html                     

Durshal Vijayan played Ranganyaki, Naidu's second wife who stuck with him through a wide variety of circumstances.  She studied fashion design which led to modelling and in turn tv. commercials and then films. In 2017 she won a contest for Face of Chennai and in the same year Miss South India, placing second.  She has 14 acting credits including "Natchaathiriam Nagangirahu" (2022).

Richard Bhakti Klein played Robert Stanes who gave Naidu critical support.  Lived in America and moved to Mumbai in 2005.  For a few years he was a professional singer/guitarist and has taught music and science.  He has 92 acting credits including "Dear Zindagi" (2016), "Gully Boy" (2019), "Love Aaj Kal" (2020), "RRR" (2022), "Dunki" (2023) and "Maidaan" (2024)  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/06/maidaan.html

Jayaram played Ambalapara Krishnan, the brutal income tax collector you will come to hate.  He has 250 acting credits, 4 for the music department and 1 for additional crew including "Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo" (2020), "Poniyin Selvan, Part 1" (2022) and "Hi Nanna" (2023).    See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/01/hi-nanna.html   

"G.D.N." is available dubbed and 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 favourites.  The cast and crew are well connected to outstanding films and if you follow the links you should be better able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

Graveyard third season is riveting and socially aware

Turkey is a Muslim country and as such is assumed to be restrictive for women.  In many ways they are more westernized and women can be said to be relatively free, but as with so called more progressive countries they are struggling and deal with discrimination.  

A special task force is given a room in the basement of a police building in Istanbul which some call a graveyard.  The focus of the team is to investigate murders of women.

In the first two series they deal with a variety of murders against women.   See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/08/graveyard.html

Onem, after a break for personal reasons has returned and reassembled her crew.  A member of another group, Gokce learns of mysterious boxes given to women and feels they are a form of intimidation.  The boxes all have intimate knowledge and are numbered indicating they are the result of stalking.She is directed to the Special Task Force and eventually becomes involved in their investigation.  

In the meantime the Task Force gets involved with murders.  One is about a woman trying to hide her overweight body while doing cooking videos.  Her son was able to manipulate video tapes.  She becomes concerned about conveying a false message about body image.  

Before too long the boxes attract more attention.  Eventually the motivation becomes more evident as coming from some sort of incel group.   Incels are men who hate women, usually the result of rejection.  You know under layers of deception there is someone seeking revenge and making a statement about the role of women.  You have already seen grisly dead bodies, but the action and suspense go to a higher level as the team gets closer to cornering the culprit. 

Most of the film takes place in the modern city of Istanbul, but some of the investigation takes place in the town of Ephesus with buildings from Greek and Roman history.

The story is gripping and will draw you in.  Here are a few of cast and crew to credit.

Omer Baykel was the director.  He has 6 directing credits.

Abdullah Oguz was the previous director and producer.  He has 54 producing credits and 5 for writing including "Bliss" (2007).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/05/turkish-delight-in-book-and-movie-form.html

Ozden Ucar was a key writer.  He has 5 writing credits and 1 for additional crew (river co-ordinating).

 

Cem Oget was the composer.  He has 47 composing credits, 22 for the music department and 1 for soundtrack. 

Ferhat Uzundag was the cinematographer.  He has 32 cinematography credits, 3 for the camera & electrical department and 2 for acting.

Sercan Guducu was the editor.  Sercan has 9 editor credits and 4 for the editorial department.

Bice Akalay played Onem, the head of the Special Task Force.  She was a finalist for the Miss Turkey contest.  She has modelled and became a sports anchor on tv.  She has 22 acting credits and 1 for soundtrack.

Olgun Toker played Serder Ata, a tough, sometimes brutal partner for Onem.  He has 71 acting credits.

Baron Guler played Berk, a forensic expert who tended to get sidetracked with tedious explanations.  He has 4 acting credits and 1 for acting.

Elif Cevinc played Sude, teenage daughter of Onem.  She has 10 acting crtedits.

Yesim Celebri played Gokce, the newest member of the Task Force.  She has 6 acting credits. 

Onur Durmaz played Bora, the bad guy.  He attended to the Vienna Conservatory where he studied music and acting while learning German, English and Italian.  He has done tv. commercials and has 13 acting credits. 

"Graveyard" is available subtitled and dubbed on Netflix.  I hope they come up with another riveting series.

As usual I bold the first mention of films I have seen.

A Taxi Driver is a gem

We learn that in 1980 a military dictatorship violently tried to put down student protests in South Korea.  The poster for "A Taxi Driver" (2017) seems to indicate a comedy, but it is not.

A dictator had gained control of South Korea and at this time his main obstacle seemed to be student protests who were of course described as radical and Communist.  The media was tightly controlled and the outside world was given a false narrative.  A German journalist in Japan, Jurgen Hinzpeter, heard about the suppressed riots and decided to fly to Korea to get the story.  He realized there was no easy way to get to Gwangiu, site of the riots, so thought if he used  large money he could hire a taxi driver.  Kim Sa-bok, heavily in debt was quick to see an opportunity and skipped the line to get the job.  He didn't realize the danger, but soon learned and tried to back out.  Eventually he felt a grave injustice was being inflicted on Korea and rescued the reporter and his film.  The script is based on a true story about a reporter and a taxi driver keeping their real names for the story.

There is a lot of violence and action (especially with cars).  Killing is almost without thought, as a dictator is determined the true story doesn't reach the outside world.  Human relations are important as there is resistance from local taxi drivers being influenced by a student.  Kim Sa-Bok was a widower with an 11 year old daughter left on her own who was helped logically, but also surprisingly. 

My reason for seeking out this movie was the actor I consider a star and an indicator of a good film.  Song Kang-Ho is not glamorous, but I have stumbled on a number of his films and am amazed how a character actor can be a leading actor.  "A Taxi Driver" is a good example.  See below for more information on him.

A lot of effort was put into this award winning film and here are a few of the contributors.  

Hun Jang was the director.  He got his start working working with production departments.  He went on to have 5 directing credits, 1 for writing and 1 as an assistant director. 

Yu Na Eom was the writer.  Another film she worked on was to do with the Korean dictionary that helped maintain the Korean language.  She has 2 writing credits and 1 for directing.

Cho Young-wuk was the music composer.  He got his start as he once wrote about film music for a radio show.  He was asked to recommend someone to pick music for a movie and he took the job.  This award winning composer has 74 composing credits, 9 for the music department and 2 for producing including "Oldboy" (2003),  "Thirst" (2009), "Glove" (2011), "The Attorney" (2011), "Joint Security Area" (2010), "The Beauty Inside" (2011), "The Tiger" (2015), "The Handmaiden" (2016), "The Man Standing Next" (2022) and "Decision to Leave" (2022).   See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/02/decision-to-leave.html  and  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/07/broker-japanese-korean-collaboration.html

Nak seon Go was the cinematographer.  He has 15 cinematography credits and 1 for the camera & electrical department including "The Man Standing Next" (2020).

Kim Sang-beom was the editor.  He has 141 editing credits and 2 for producing including "Oldboy" (20023), "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" (2005), "Thirst" (2009), "Hope" (2013), "The Attorney" (2013), "The Handmaiden" (2016), "Asura" (2025) and "Decision to Leave" (2022).   See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/11/hope-gut-wrenching-film-from-korea.html

Song Kang-Ho played Kim Sa Bok, the taxi driver.  He is also one actor with his own post http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/12/song-kang-ho.html which gives a fuller picture of his stature.  He is a heavily awarded actor and is revered by many directors.  He started in theatre at one time offering to work cleaning services to maintain working for the theatre.  In 2020 the New York Times compiled a list of the top international actors and he was listed as number 6.  With a slight hiatus he has been active in commercials and was noted for increasing sales of a liquor in Japan. Some of his film credits include "Joint Security Area" (2000), "The Host" (2006), "Thirst" (2009), "The Attorney" (2013), "The Age of Shadows" (2016)  "Snowpiercer" (2013) "Parasite" (2019) and "Broker" (2022).  Americans can see him in 3 episodes of "Beef" (2026), a popular American tv. series.   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/09/parasite-breaks-oscar-tradition.html

Thomas Kretschmann played Jurgen Hinzpeter, the reporter.  He has 144 acting credits (including German and American films) and 8 for voice dubbing including "Stalingrad" (1993), "The Pianist" (2002), "Downfall" (2004), "Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot" (2016) and "Gran Turismo" (2023).

Ryu Jun-Cheol played Gu Jae-sik, a student protester.  He has 25 acting credits.  At the moment I am just past half way watching him in the highest rated Korean series "Reply 1988" (2015-16) for which he is in all 20 episodes.

Lee Jeung-eun played a hostess for the taxi driver and reporter.  She started in theatre and now has 63 film acting credits including "Mother" (2009), "Okja" (2017), "Parasite" (2019), "Our Blues" (2022-23) and "Daily Dose of Sunshine" (2023).  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/11/daily-dose-of-sunshine.html

I was interested to see this film, but it did not seem to be available on any of the usual streaming services, but my library membership allowed me to watch it for free with subtitles.  Kanopy is available through libraries throughout Canada and the United States.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  Some of them are among my favourite Korean films and a big part of my Korean obsession.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if any film is worth following up.

The Crusades are largely forgotten, but they left a mark

 Some of my previous blogs dealt with the Mid-East, the Holy Land, but they were pretty much contemporary times.  The Crusades happened over 1400 years ago, but have left a mark.  

We are all tied to the past. The Third Crusade in the 12th century revealed a serious conflict between Christians and Muslims.  When the Papacy learned that the holy sites inside the most holy Christian city, Jerusalem were ruled by Muslims a campaign to restore it began.

At this time Muslims looked at Europeans as relatively uneducated.  Literacy and science were more developed in the Mid-East.

We think of Richard as the English King Richard, but he saw himself as French.  He was religious and agreed to take part.  Throughout the Crusades he recognized his actions were needed to protect Christianity and at times it was his religiosity that turned him to focus on the task.  He was truly a magnificent fighter.

Saladin proved himself capable and commanded the Ottoman military, even though he was a despised Kurd.  The Byzantine Empire was still strong, but the Ottoman Turks had control over what is now Turkey, but extended into Egypt and Israel and Jordan.   The Crusaders were able to maintain Cyprus as a Christian nation.

Jerusalem is also a holy city for Muslims, but they allowed Christians to visit holy sites.

Saladin was older than King Richard, and not as physically intimidating.  They both were good as tacticians, but the author concedes King Richard was the better.  The two never met, but communicated through messengers including Saladin's brother, Safadin.  Saladin died in 1193.

Geoffrey Regun recounts several battles that the combatants took turns winning.  One advantage the Turks had was the heat.  The longer the Crusaders endured it, the weaker they became which Saladin stretched to his advantage.

King Richard received messages that all was not well in England or his French territories.  Along the way back home he was captured and put in a German dungeon with demands for a ransom.  This resulted in heavy taxes, but finally after a year and 6 weeks, was enough.  No connection to Robin Hood.  In the end King Richard had a minor wound, an arrow to his neck, but two surgeons botched removing it and gangrene set in.  Knowing he was dying he arranged his will and demanded that his followers pay allegiance to Prince John.  He died in the presence of his mother in 1199.  

The influence of the Crusaders lingered for awhile with Muslim mothers warning their children if they didn't behave, the King of England would be coming.  The Ottoman Turks ruled the Holy Land for several centuries.  It was after WWI, with the help of Lawrence of Arabia that the Turks were forced out and Arabs under the British made headway.

For later historical developments check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/12/lawrence-in-arabia.html  

The photo at the top is of a jacket cover with an aquatint of Richard I and an engraving of Saladin courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library.

Romance Disrupted by India/Pakistan Partition

 After WW II, England prompted by rebel forces and their own economic difficulties decided to get out of India.  As planning began Muslims made a strong demand for their own country.  This complication was handled expeditiously with little concern as to how complicated it was.  It was easy enough to draw lines creating two parts to Pakistan out of India.  The problem was that Hindus and Muslims were spread across the lines and little attention paid to the Sikhs who were also distributed on both sides of the line.

"Main Vaapas Aaunga" (2026) is spread over about 80 years.  We see a bedridden man suffering from a stroke, heart concerns and creeping dementia.  A grandson is visiting India from England.  Death seems approaching and the old man is rambling and for some reason the grandson pays more attention to the words of a dying man than all the other relatives.  

The viewer is taken to what the old man is trying to articulate going back to just before Partition and his relationship with his love.  He is a Sikh and assures her he is not leaving despite rumours of Partition. One joke was they could both convert to Christianity and get married in a church.  Keenu, to reassure Jiya has her name tattooed on his wrist which we can also view on the old man's wrist.

We are shown men fleeing and many not able to board extremely overcrowded trains.  We see enemies killing the Sikhs with Keenu barely escaping.  More frightening is the plight of the women following who were separated by mutual agreement as it was thought they would slow the men down.  However as enemies (could have been Muslims or Hindus) the women realized they not only could be beaten, but also raped.  Young girls had their hair cut to appear as boys, but as the fear became more imminent some girls had their throats slit to avoid the shame.

The old man gradually makes sense to the grandson while the rest of the family just feels his dementia is getting worse.  We learn that Keenu had made an early attempt to revisit his lover, but was discouraged about the prospects of her being alive.  Still as he approaches death he retains hope and the desire to read a poem he wrote for her.  We see a grandson wanting to help and the old man deteriorating.  I will leave it there.

Another theme was the grandson had become a Non Resident Indian, but not one able to hold down a job.  He marvels at his grandfather's desire to go home and wonders if that is something he has lost.

"Main Vaapas Aaunga" is likely to be involved with awards as it has a lot of top notch cast and crew.  Here are some of them.

Imtiaz Ali was director and script writer.  He has 18 writing credits, 11 directing and 6 for producing. including "Ahista Ahista" (2006),  "Love Aaj Kal" (2009), "Jab We Met" (2007), "Rockstar" (2011), "Highway" (2014), "Tamasha" (2015) and "Amar Singh Chamkila" (2023)  Check   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/04/amar-singh-chamkila-used-dirty.html

A.R. Rahman provided the music.  He had done commercial jingles when Mani Ratman invited him to write for a film "Roja" (1992).  I had not realized that Rahman wrote for the Tamil market, but has expanded to Bollywood,  American, English etc.  With the encouragement of  Andrew Lloyd Webber he wrote for a stage musical, "Bombay Dreams" that had long runs in both London and New York.  He has 221 composing credits and 90 for the music department (often backup singer) including "Bombay" (1995), "Fire" (1996), "Lagaan Once Upon a Time in India" (2001), "Swades" (2004), "Water" (2005), "Rang de Basanti" (2006), "Ghajini" (2008), "Slum Dog Millionaire" (2008), "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012), "Highway" (2014), "100 Foot Journey" (2014) "Tamasha" (2015) "The Goat Life" (2024) and Maidaan (2024)   Check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/the-making-of-laga and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/08/the-goat life.html  and   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/06/maidaan.html  Elsewhere Rahman had commented that he often gives producers a difficult time in order to get what he wants and feels the film benefits. 

Sylvester Fonseca was the cinematographer.  He has 32 cinematography credits and 2 for the camera &  electrical department including "Sacred Games" (2018-19) and "Amar Singh Chamkila" (2023).

Aarti Bajaj was the editor.  She has 56 editor credits including "Jab We Met" (2010), "Udann" (2010), "Karthik Calling Karthik" (2011), "No One Killed Jessica" (2011), "Ishaqzaade" (2012), "Highway" (2014), "Tamasha" (2025) and "Amar Singh Chamkila" (2023).   See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/02/tamasha-wonderful-story.html

Naseeruddin Shah played Ishar Singh Grewal, the old dying man.  He once formed a traveling theatre group and has done a Hollywood movie.  He has 271 acting credits, 6 for the music department and 2 for producing including "Hey Ram" (2000), "Monsoon Wedding" (2001), "Maqbool" (2004), "Omkara" (2006),  "Amal" (2007), "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" (2011) and "Gehraiyaan" (2022), "IC814:  The Kandarhar Hijack" (2024).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/ic-814-kandahar-hijack.html 

Diljit Dosanjh played Nivair Singh, the grandson and was also a playback singer.  He has 101 acting credits and 41 for the music department including "Udta Punjab" (2016), "Phillauri" (2017), "Soorma" (2018), "Good Newwz" (2019) and "Amar Singh Chamila" (2023).   See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/02/good-newwz.html 

Vedang  Raina played the young lover Keenu.  He has 3 acting credits and 2 for the music department.

Sharvari played Jiya, the young lover abandoned.  She has 8 acting credits and 3 for assistant directing including "Bajirao Mastani" (2015) and "Maharaj" (2015).  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/07/maharaj.html

Rajat Kapoor played Iqbal.  He has 84 acting credits, 14 for directing and 10 for writing including "Dil Chahta Hai" (2001), "Monsoon Wedding" (2002), "Khoya Khoya Chand" (2007), "Beja Fry" (2007)"Dasvidaiya" (2008)"Midnight's Children" (2012), "Ankhon Dekhi" (2013), "Drishyam" (2015), "Kapoor & Sons" (2016), "Drishyam 2" (2022), "Saare Jahan Se Accha" (2025), "Raat Akeli Hai:  The Bansal Murders" (2025) and "Raid 2" (2025).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/11/driishyam-bollywood-remake-masterpiece.html and   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/12/a-nawazuddin-siddiqu-sequel-is-very-good.html

Dolly Ahulwalia played Keenu's grandmother.  She has 32 acting credits and 18 for costume design.  As a costume designer she worked on three films with Deepa Methta, "Fire' (1996)"Earth," (1998) "Water," (2005 also acted)  and "Midnight's Children" (2012).  She won costuming awards for "Bhaag Milka Bhaag" (2013) and "Haider" (2014).   She also won supporting actor awards for "Vicky Donor" (2012).   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/04/vicky-donor-cf-dharala-prabhu.html 

"Main Vaapas Aaunga" is an important movie as it concerned with the Partition which many of our westerners have long forgotten.  There is a short gruesome scene illustrating extreme desperation.  It is also an enduring love story.  It is available subtitled on Netflix.  I do recommend it

Do Americans realize Trump is a traitor?

 Up front there are a lot of reasons to find Trump disgusting, but so far too many Americans accept his leadership.  He has Congress members under control as they fear how he can hurt them and his staff has been picked for loyalty, not expertise.  What could tip the scales?  How American do you think you are?  

Americans are right to be concerned about the cost of groceries, housing and gas, but international affairs are intertwined with domestic expenses.  

We are not certain if Trump just admires Putin as a fellow kleptomaniac or if Putin has incriminating evidence.  Either way he seems to do a lot of Putin's bidding.

Go back a few years to just after when the Soviet Empire was broken up.  The deal was for Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons.  United States was to protect Ukraine against a Russian invasion and Ukraine was never to join NATO.  Doesn't carry any weight today.

He calls accusations that he was helped by Russia in 2016 a "hoax", but there is a lot of evidence otherwise and even that he was aware of it.   See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/06/house-of-trump-house-of-putin.html and  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/10/freezing-order.html

In Helsinki he said he believe Putin against 16 American agencies regarding Russian influence in the 2016 election.  During his first term he made decisions regarding Syria and Afghanistan that probably benefited Russia as much as the United States.  He also criticized NATO with a hint he could do without them.

In his second term he was better organized.  He humiliated Zelenskyy in the White House while previous administrations including Republican would have helped Ukraine against Russia.  Although many in Congress wanted to help Ukraine, Trump was able to minimize any aid and although promising he could end the conflict preferred to let it drag on.

The complaints against NATO continued having one definite outcome.  Members were encouraged to increase their military spending.  Dwight Eisenhower had pointed out that military spending detracted from health care and education, but Trump emphasized the military.  He threatened to take over Greenland, currently controlled by NATO member Denmark.  They already had a military base on Greenland and the Danish government was willing to allow more bases.

All previous American administrations had heavily supported Israel and Trump went further.  After the Hamas attack on October 7th, 2023, European and American students began to protest what turned out to be a genocide of Palestinians.  The students were branded anti-semitist.  One suggestion of his was to clear Gaza and turn it into a tourist area.  Military armaments continued.

More importantly, although previous American presidents had resisted a Netanyahu request to attack Iran he went ahead and to this point lowered American military resources that it affected its military readiness. NATO and others were condemned for the lack of support of his (illegal) attack.  Iran had supported Russia with drones and Russia has supported Iran to hold against overwhelming American forces.  Trump's decisions have led to an increase in gas prices which in turn pump up inflation.  Another long term complication is much fertilizer comes through the Strait of Hormuz.

A later development was a Trump announcement that a joint military exercise with South Korea would not happen.  At the same time we learn North Korea plans to send 50,000 soldiers to fight against Ukraine.  Surely it is no coincidence that North Korea would not want to be distracted by the American troops.   In reality, South Korea has been a useful ally--keeping an eye on both China and Russia.

Within the past two weeks Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have formed a defensive alliance as they feel the U.S. is not reliable.

Unless Americans want to ally with Russia they need to investigate instead of investigating voter fraud and political opponents.  Russia and Israel will do what they can to influence the elections later this year.

Do You Like Brahms?

 It was news to me that there was a love triangle among classical music composers.  Robert Schuman married Clara, a concert pianist while Johannes Brahms pined for her.  Apparently some modern musicians took sides.  For some fans the two composers had personal attachments that interfered with romances.

"Do You Like Brahms?" (2020) is similar in plotting to a soap opera.  Girl and boy stumble to discover love and then circumstances conspire against them before a happy ending.  Chae Song-ah had graduated from business college, but decided to pursue the violin, even though disadvantaged by her late start.  Park Joon-young was established as an international concert pianist.  A few colleagues felt there was too big of a talent gap.  

Lee Jung-Kyung was a violinist of the same age, but more experienced.  She had been the girl friend of Joon-young who was tired of her, but she had a hold through her wealthy family and helped pay off his family debts.  She had also dated Han Hyung-ho, a cellist and friend of Joon-young.

Previous love affairs, heavy debts incurred by a father cloud prospects and a cheating teacher conspire for a complicated plot.  Joon-young generates a good income from international performances, but unknown to Song-ah it mostly goes to pay debts and an ex girl friend with money exploits his vulnerability.  She is not liked by many and has her ups and downs.

Song-ah is quiet and became attracted when Joon-young played a version of Schuman's "Treumari" that plays a role in the film involving others.  Joon-young found himself in conversations with Song-ah and felt comfortable.  He asked her to be a page turner for one of his performances.  They are both introverted and eventually they decide to date.

The relationship moves slowly with a few complications to spice it up.  Song-ah is very uncertain about her future career and is advised she will never be a solo performer or even accompany solo performers.  An agent for Joon-young is very candid with Song-ah saying she is not good for Joon-young.  He keeps his debt problem secret from Song-ah, but others know about it.  The other young musicians are intertwined and the staff have their own politics.

You do hear snippets of classical music, but even more of Korean romantic film songs.  Classical music for most of us is something only refined or weird people take any notice of--I am one of them, not sure which one.  For some viewers they will feel comfortable with the culture.  Stirring contemporary Korean songs may appeal to a wider audience.  The two main characters are very likeable.  

It takes a good cast and crew to make a series work.  Here are a few.

Young-Min Jo was the director.  He has 3 directing credits and 1 for editing.

Ryu Bi-Ro was the writer.  He has 4 writing credits including "Trolley" (2022-23).  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/02/the-trolley.html

Jay Kim was the composer.  He has 54 composing credits and 13 for the music department including "You and Everything Else" (2025).   see  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/03/you-and-everything-else.html

Park Eun-Bin  played Chae Song-ah and re-learned to play the violin  She has 30 acting credits including "Hot Stove League" (2019),"The King's Affection" (2021), "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" (2022) and "Castaway Diva" (2023).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/08/extraordinary-attorney-woo.html and also http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/07/baseball-lovers-will-find-hot-stove.html  While watching this I also started watching her latest series, "Spooky in Love" (2026) which is very different, but demonstrates her versatility with two more episodes to go.

Kim Min-jae played Park Joon-young and learned to play the piano.  He has 20 acting credits and 2 for soundtrack including a voice role in "Swing Kids" (2018).

Park Ji-hyun played Lee Jung-Kyung.  She has 23 acting credits and 1 for the camera and electrical department including "You and Everything Else" (2025).

Kim Sung-cheol plays Han Hyun Ho. a cellist, friend to Joon-young, a boyfriend to Jung-Kyung.  He has 23 acting credits including "Vincenzo" (2021) and "The Wind Blows" (2023).  see   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/11/the-wind-blows.html 

Ye Soo-jung plays Na Moon sook, wealthy director of the music institute and grandmother of Jung-Kyung.  She has 48 acting credits including "Along with the Gods:  The Last 49 Days" (2011), "The Thieves" (2012), "Train to Busan" (2016), "Black Dog" (2019-20) and "Spooky in Love" (2026).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/01/black-dog.html

Seo Jung-yeon played Cha Young-in, an advisor to Song-ah.  She has 79 acting credits including "Live Up to Your Name" (2017), "Something in the Rain" (2018), "Black Dog" (2019), "Trolley" (2022), "Castaway Diva" (2023) and "You and Everything Else" (2025).  See   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/07/live-up-to-your-name.html

Choi Dae-hoon played Park Seong-jae.  He has 32 acting credits including "Flower of Evil" (2020), "Melancholia" (2021), "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" (2022), "Decision to Leave" (2022) and "When Life Gives You Tangerines" (2024).  see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/10/flower-of-evil.html  and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/04/when-life-gives-you-tangerines.html

Joo Suk-tae played Joon-young's agent who pushed for deals not wanted.  He has 75 acting credits, including "Tunnel" (2006), "A Hard Day" (2014) and "The Age of Shadows" (2016). 

Kim Jeong-yeong played Joon-young's mother.  She has 44 acting credits, including "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and... Spring" (2003), "Signal" (2016) and "The Glory" (2022-23).

Kim Seon-hwa played Song-ah's mother.  She has 31 acting credit including "The Glory (2022-23) and "Teach You a Lesson" (2026).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2026/06/teach-you-lesson.html

Korean romance lovers should enjoy "Do You Like Brahms?" available subtitled on Netflix.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  Some of them are among my favourite Korean films and a big part of my Korean obsession.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if any film is worth following up.

Israel: What went Wrong?

It must be said this situation is under change, but this post is intended to reflect the current circumstances and how they came to be.   "Israel  What Went Wrong" is the most comprehensive book I have come across dealing with this particular global crisis.

Jews were expelled from Palestine by Romans and scattered in many directions.  They were seen by many Christians as Christ killers.  Many were poor, but others served the elites in Europe causing resentment among the lower class workers.  The Bible forbade lending money for profit and thus some Jews were allowed to be money lenders causing further resentment.  Jews gravitated to positions requiring academic training.

There has been a serious lack of awareness about the beginning of Israel.  Most of the world is deeply aware of the Holocaust.  Jews trying to escape the Nazis had found many countries very restrictive and afterwards it induced guilt feelings.  In much of the world the Jews were very conscious of serious discrimination and a few developed the idea of Zionism long before the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was a genocide, but far from the first.  Colonizers were exploiting the resources of poor countries and sometimes found the natives could be very troublesome.  One of the early genocides was in 1904 in an area now known as Namibia under German control  One tribe the Herero fell victim to a genocide and later in 1915 Armenians also fell victim.  These and other examples of genocide did not concern Westerners, but the Holocaust was much closer to home and created repercussions unknown before.

After WW II Britain and the United Nations negotiated the setting up of Israel and Palestine.  Starting in 1947 until 1949 the Jewish military forced over 400,000 Arabs to flee Israel territory in order to assure a Jewish majority.  It is still illegal for them to return with most of their property confiscated for Jewish settlers. 

<from an earlier post:  Albert Einstein gave his support to the Hebrew University, but became concerned over Jewish attitudes regarding Arabs.   As far back as 1929 he voiced such opinions as "Should we be unable to find a way to honest co-operation and honest pacts with the Arabs then we have learned absolutely nothing during over 2,000 years of suffering." >

A constitution was promised back as far as 1947, but prominent politicians wanted to avoid it and religious elements felt it would lessen their control.  Secular Jews feel restricted.  There is still no constitution although some politicians such as Menachem Begin felt it was a necessity to protect human rights.  

Over the years there were several attempts to overturn Israel, but they all failed as United States and others provided massive military assistance.  

Settlers are a major problem as I write this.  Increasingly despite western protests settlers have moved into the West Bank and have more rights than the native Palestinians.  They have been aggressive to the point of killing significant numbers.

Then October 7th, 2023 with the focus at first on the murders, rapes and hostage taking.  It truly was a grisly event that horrified the whole world.  It was probably a small fringe of Hamas that wanted to brutalize the Israelis, but also true that many others approved the fighting back, realizing diplomacy wasn't practical. 

The author feels Biden could have stopped the escalation by refusing to provide arms, but probably felt the public would not support.  Others felt Netanyahu helped flame the resistance, feeling it would solidify his power.  Personally I feel the western protesters have opened a few eyes, but it is still an up hill battle.

Israel set out to curb Hamas and over time flattened hundreds of buildings and killing tens of thousands.  Both sides publicized the brutality towards children.  Palestine, per capita has the most child amputees in the world.  Children as young as 12 were classified as terrorists and imprisoned.

Journalists were killed in their coverage.  Israeli media minimized the brutality towards the Palestinians, much like Germans kept the horrors of the Holocaust from their citizens.

Protests around the world began against the Israeli genocide.  Initially most western politicians cried out antisemitism was the cause and took steps to punish protesters.  Undoubtedly antisemitism increased, but others were able to separate Jews, Zionism and Palestine.  Trump is now horrified by the killings, but once suggested Gaza should be emptied of Palestinians and turned into a tourist centre.  

Israeli soldiers have suffered PTSD with an increase in suicides.  Academics and professionals have started leaving.

The author brought up many suggested solutions, even conceding that Trump's 21 points have some merit.  Without discarding his suggestions I offer the following below.  All solutions will be considered radical by somebody.

Those nations that would like to see a solution can band together to offer reconstruction money, materials and efforts instead of weapons or money to buy weapons.  The contingent requirement would be that Israel must contribute to the reconstruction.  In return the banded nations could also agree to defend against outsiders, including Iran and its allies excluding with restrictions, Palestinians.  Palestinians would have to agree to curb violence in order to speed up reconstruction.  Discussions between the governments of Palestine and Israel would decide the many details under guidance from the banded nations.  If the Israeli public cannot be brought on board they would lose support of the banded nations and be subject to sanctions.  All this requires good will on all sides as well as the willingness of nations to change their contributions from weapons to reconstruction.  Best bets might be the U.S. (under a new regime), and NATO nations.  Germany has been caught in an awkward situation while they feel a need for atonement they have picked up any criticism of Israel as anti semitic, but perhaps a truer atonement could involved reconciling the Jews and the Arabs.  There are sane people on all sides and as others see what a mess has been created would appreciate peace as a goal.  

Trump allowed himself to be persuaded to attack Iran alongside Israel.  The high price of energy causing food and many consumables is a price Americans and most others are paying.  Reason might gain some ground if enough suffer.  Hopefully renewable resources are seen more practical.

Hope that attitudes will change.  Westerners have accepted one side of the conflict for decades, but now some realize that has not been fair.  Encouragingly Abdul El-Sayed, an American Senator prospect has gained significant support for the Palestinians.

In the end some courageous man or woman will have to make a big move.  See  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/we-need-another-nelson-mandela-and-fw.html

The crisis has caused personal hardships, splitting Jewish friends.  One example is  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/02/peter-beinarts-being-jewish-after.html

"Israel  What Went Wrong?" is pretty comprehensive and I think reasonably balanced.

The jacket cover is by Violet Dine.