Miracle in Milan

 Vittoria da Sica's phantasmagorical masterpiece "Miracle in Milan" (1951) starring Francesco Golisano, Brunella Bovo among others. 

Toto (Francesco Golisano) is found in a cabbage patch by an old lady who nurses him until her falling health. The boy grows to be an obedient nice good humored person, stayed in a hostel and then set out on his own to live in a shanty town amongst the poor. 

The poor have nothing, absolutely nothing to live by, they live in ramshackle houses with barely anything to eat, hardly any money coming by, eking out a marginal existence. Among those staying in the shanty is Edvidge (Brunella Bovo) who is a maid to a family. 

The shanty town is obviously an occupied property belonging to somebody else so they come to take possession of the same, but the shanty unites against the outsiders. In the meanwhile oil is accidentally discovered in the midst of the square and the owner again comes back to forcibly take possession of the property. 

Toto in despair goes up to climb a totem pole where his mother hands him a good luck dove. What happens next is miraculous. 

Vittoria de Sica has stayed close to his neo realist style of film making. The film is shot in actual location with a ragtag band of actors, which shows the brutal reality of poverty in Milan. The special effects shown later in the movie is quite spectacular for a 1951 production. The film got a Cannes and a Fipresci. 

The main characters Brunella Bovo and Francesco Golisano have acted quite well in the movie. 

The Traitor's Niche

 

Magnificently written satire by Ismail Kadare about what happens in totalitarian regimes. And superbly translated by John Hodgson who brings alive this book originally written in Albanian. 

At the main square in the city of Constantinople, there is a kind of a cove in which traitor's head is kept there for public viewing. The severed heads of all the traitors of the rulers are kept there and there are elaborate rules and regulations governing it including inspection twice a day, a weekly visit by a medical doctor, treatment with honey and ice etc. 

Kadare brilliantly goes on to devour whatever respectability totalitarian regimes have in their midst by tearing into them in such brutally savage fashion unimaginable in any literature before. There is Abdullah the keeper of the traitor's niche he gets married but is unable to consummate his marriage. There is Tundj Hata, the courier whose job is to deliver the decree to the traitors and bring their heads back to the capital city. En route he makes some money of his own by displaying the head to the gullible villagers. 

There is Ali Pasha, an 82 year old who has a 22 year old wife and Hurshid Pasha his rival and then there is Lala Shahini all luminous characters in the book. Shahini's role is interesting - he works in the Department of Archive and he has to erase the languages, cultures, styles, patterns of the people - to brainwash them basically. Then there is a Tower of Psst Psst which captures all the whisperings of people anywhere in the country and they are banished to a swamp. 

Breathtakingly brilliant book. Goodreads 5/5 

Los Olividados

 

Luis Bunuel's stunning masterpiece on poverty in Mexico, Los Olvidados (1951).

Staying close to the non realist style of film making, Luis Bunuel crafts an absolute masterpiece. Its about a group of destitute children eking out a living in Mexico. El Jaibo (Roberto Cobo) has escaped a juvenile jail and is back with his group of friends, one of which is Pedro (Alfonso Mejia). Pedro is one of many children of his mother and he always feels his mother does not love him enough. There's a scene where he pityingly asks his mother to love him and she repels him with brute force. 

Jaibo is out to take revenge on Julien who he feels ratted on him to be sent to the juvenule jail. In the fracas that ensues, Julien is killed and Pedro becomes an accomplice. Pedro is shit scared and immediately sets about doing the right things like taking up a job as an apprentice with a blacksmith. There Jaibo confronts him again and asks him to keep quiet and coolly steals a costly silver knife from the workplace. 

The blacksmith sends police to Pedro's house to arrest him for stealing a knife. His mom confronts him but he says he did not steal anything. They visit a police headquarters which sends Pedro to a reform school called the Farm. Again Jaibo confronts him there and steals 50 pesos from Pedro. 

The movie stays close to a new realist cinema that you can expect from Luis Bunuel. Its an old black and white print but enough to see the raw poverty of the village in Mexico. Everybody is struggling to make money there, Pedro's mom does washing for a dozen houses, a blind singer makes money by singing, life is tough, life is hard, there is crime, grinding poverty. 

Most of the characters are kids and they have all acted very well.  

tankers carrying oxygen exempt from toll fee

 https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1717066

In order to provide uninterrupted passage for tankers and containers carrying Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) across National Highways, the user fee for such vehicles at Toll Plazas has been exempted. Keeping in view the current unprecedented demand of the Medical Oxygen across the country due to COVID-19 Pandemic, containers carrying Liquid Medical Oxygen will be treated at par with other emergency vehicles such as ambulances for a period of two months or till further orders.

Although the toll plazas have nearly zero waiting time after implementation of FASTag, National Highways Authority of India is already providing priority passage to such vehicles for quick and seamless transportation of medical oxygen. Instructions have also been issued by NHAI to all its officials and other stakeholders to assist the government and private efforts to fight the pandemic in helping them in pro-active manner.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has created huge demand of Liquid Medical Oxygen across the country. During the ongoing crisis, the timely delivery of Liquid Medical Oxygen to hospitals and medical centers is of paramount importance to save lives of patients critically affected by COVID-19. Exemption of payment of user fee at the Toll Plazas will ensure faster movement of Medical Oxygen on the National Highways.