The Conclusion

Event review: Delete: the virtue of forgetting in the digital age, RSA

‘Remember to forget’ was the main message from academic and author, Viktor Mayer-SchÖnberger, in his RSA lunchtime session. It sounds like a strange message because usually we’re trying to remember something that we’ve forgotten. However when you delve deeper into why we forget things, it makes sense.

In this digital age, where everything we do online is stored, we need to remember that anything we put out there can resurface later. It’s not necessarily a completely bad thing because we now have the power to transcend human mortality and keep a record forever. The internet has allowed us to share information easily and improved the accuracy and efficiency of how we do this.

Mayer-SchÖnberger warned us that undoing in the digital age is hard because when you have put something out there, it never really disappears. The information has already been indexed by search engines. We cannot make memories fade anymore and whoever holds this information has power over us.

AJ is someone who can’t forget and she views it as a curse. She is haunted by her past and it hinders her present. Mayer-SchÖnberger believes that if we remember too many of our past mistakes, we’ll turn into an unforgiving society.

We should also remember to retain our own memories and not depend too much on digital memories because they may not be that reliable. History could be rewritten with some careful Photoshopping and reconstructed stories.

Mayer-SchÖnberger doesn’t want us to impose self-censorship where we become conscious that our information is being recorded and say less online. Instead he proposes adding an expiration date to digital information. This will give us the chance to choose and reflect how long we want this data to be stored.

Unfortunately, I think that adding an expiration date to information won’t really resolve Mayer-SchÖnberger’s concerns. It’s hard to put a date on how long you want information to survive for. You will usually need some information that, at the time, you didn’t think would be useful anymore. Also even if that information gets removed from where you put it, someone may have been taken that data and put it somewhere else.

The digital age has given us so much freedom and the power to access information quickly and easily. It would be a step back if we didn’t embrace that. We just need to use that privilege with care and remember that though we can record everything that’s online, it doesn’t provide the full picture. Instead it gives us a snapshot of that time, like an old school photo, and we need to remember that. You can’t hold onto that moment forever as the truth, because it is a representation rooted in that context and it has now evolved.

Tweet-size review: Embrace the digital age but don’t forget to… forget

Film review: (500) Days of Summer

Director Mark Webb’s indie romantic comedy explores what happens when you fall for someone who just doesn’t love you as much.

The film’s story is shown through snapshots that cover 500 days in the relationship of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel) revealing the conclusion first, then jumping back and forth through the days. It’s an interesting approach but revealing the end takes away some of the suspense of being part of the developing story. You are aware of how the relationship is going to conclude so you become a knowing passenger that is waiting to see how the characters reach that point.

François Ozon took a similar approach with his film 5 × 2, when a couple’s relationship was played out backwards. The first scene shows the couple getting divorced then four other key scenes in their relationship are shown, finishing with their first meeting. Ozon’s film worked because you were giving an insight into the different sides of the couple’s personalities and what motivated them.

The journey you take through Tom and Summer’s relationship is pleasant but you may be left wanting something more substantial. You develop affection for the characters as you see how their relationship changes from Tom being infatuated by Summer to them starting a relationship. There are some nice quirky scenes, like when Tom’s happiness is shown through an amusing number involving dancing with strangers and the Ikea scene with Tom and Summer playing ‘house’.

Unfortunately the snapshots don’t provide enough space for the characters’ relationship to develop that deeply and although the characters are likeable you don’t feel as if you know them that well. When Tom and Summer’s relationship starts eroding and two swift, truthful blows are dealt by Summer it’s sad but not heartbreaking. You will be able to empathise and sympathise with Tom’s plight but you might feel like the film is a bit of an anti-climax especially with the amount of rave reviews the film has received.

Tweet-size review:  An amusing and honest film that shows the fallout of what happens when someone is just that into you.

Theatre review: Calendar Girls, Noel Coward Theatre

Tim Firth’s production shows how a Women’s Institute (WI) nude calendar caused a stir, generating headlines and raising over £2m for cancer.

The play has an all-star cast which reads like a list of Eastenders’ alumni as it includes Anita Dobson, Jill Halfpenny and Jack Ryder. Current Eastender June Brown is also in the cast, as a teacher with a penchant for the odd tipple.

Calendar Girls opens with the WI group doing yoga which leads into a quick lazy introduction to each of the characters which they then play up to. Unfortunately the characters are a bit one-dimensional and stereotypical, for example the conservative goodie-two-shoes and the sexy, flirty one. The characters aren’t fleshed out enough for you to care about them or believe in their surface friendships.

When Annie’s (Jill Baker) husband John (Will Knightley) dies from cancer there isn’t much sadness. This is because his death happens too quickly so you don’t get a sense of who he was. His relationship with his wife doesn’t come across as that genuine. It just looks like that they are going through the motions, rather than genuinely caring for each other.

The story plays out in quite a signposted way so it’s no big surprise that the conservative goodie-two-shoes woman has a cheating husband.

Despite the gripes, there are moments to enjoy in this play like the brilliant humour and the excellent delivery of some of the lines from June Brown. If you go to see this play with expectations of a light, frothy production with some funny scenes then you won’t be disappointed. If you want more from the characters beyond the stereotypes and a more substantial offering, then you should give this a miss.

Tweet-size review: If you’re in the mood for a funny, light romp then Calendar Girls is for you.

Theatre review: The Mountaintop, Trafalgar Studios

Writer Katori Hall’s two-hander takes us to a motel room in Memphis on 3^rd April 1968, the night before Martin Luther King was assassinated. This sounds like a serious and slightly depressing premise but surprisingly there are lashings of humour and energy injected into this production.

The Mountaintop blurs fact with magical realism expertly in this interesting play. It has the audience laughing one minute and the next, pondering the imminent loss of King.

David Harewood plays King with confidence and real authority but he only comes to life when the hotel maid Camae (Lorraine Burrough) enters his room. Burrough’s sassy attitude, humour and down-to-earth personality make Camae an engaging character that is captivating to watch. Burrough’s playful exchanges with Harewood reveal that Hall’s King has smelly feet, a wondering eye and likes a good pillow fight.

The banter and chemistry between Harewood and Burrough’s characters are what makes this production so interesting. You invest and believe in their relationship, so it becomes heartbreaking when Camae’s real reason for visiting King is revealed. You really feel for King when he confesses how he fears that one day the people who threaten his life will succeed. He is terrified of dying before he’s had a chance to fix the world and tell his family how much he loves them.

Hall’s script brings King’s character to life and shows how he had the strength and conviction to stand up for what he believed in, though at the cost of his life.

Tweet-size review: Katori Hall’s imaginative and hilarious play does justice to the last night of Martin Luther King’s life.

Film review: I’ve Loved You So Long

Philippe Claudel directs this family drama starring Kristen Scott Thomas as the reticent Juliette who has just been released from prison after 15 years and is staying with her sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein). After such a long time apart, Juliette and Lea need to find a way to relate to one another again and rebuild the relationship. The difficulty of their reunion isn’t helped by the reason Juliette was sent to prison, a subject which Lea is afraid of broaching, especially as Juliette doesn’t want to open up about it.

Kristen Scott Thomas gives a winning performance as Juliette, showing her pain and trouble in adjusting to life after prison extremely well. Elsa Zylberstein is brilliant as the positive Lea who desperately wants to be close to her elder sister again even though her husband Luc (Serge Hazanavicius) is wary of Juliette and doesn’t want her in their house.

I’ve Loved You For So Long is very slow-burning and though the performances are engaging, you do have to make the effort to stay focused as the pieces of the story are gradually revealed.

Lea’s adopted Vietnamese children are absolutely adorable. The eldest daughter Petit Lys’ (Lise Ségur) bold questions and observations are great to watch.

One scene that doesn’t work is when Lea gets in an overheated discussion about Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment with her students. Her arguments obviously stem from her feelings about her sister and lack the subtlety of the rest of the film.

French films usually have strong dialogue and great characterisation and I’ve Loved You So Long doesn’t disappoint in those areas. The only issue with the film is that the main protagonist of the film Juliette is aloof and withdrawn so it makes it hard for the audience to get close to her world. You will just watch her from a distance admiring Kristen Scott Thomas’ acting skills.

Tweet-size review:  Slow-burning family drama that is rewarding if you stay with it.