The Wrestler

The academy award nominated movie The Wrestler is a story of a man who keeps doing what he knows despite the damage that it is doing to him. In this way it is a story that mirrors many mens' careers and speaks about the way by which men define themselves through their jobs and what they do. In many ways it shows the limits and the cost of having one's identity defined in such a way. The Wrestler also suggests that it is very difficult for a person to change their career and life if there is nothing else they know. It also raises the questions of: even if a person loves what they do, what does it cost to keep doing it?

The damage that the wrestler's career has done to him is not merely physical, but it has destroyed his relationships too. Randy (played by Micky Rourke) is lonely for human company and reaches out to others: a kid to play old Nintendo games with, a stripper for companionship. He tries to fix things with his daughter, but is doomed to repeat his same mistakes. When he is forced to try and change what he does for money he has few options. He also has to face little twerpy other men with small amounts of power but the will to use it.

The film functions as an allegory to the career options we have. As we get older we find we have less and less options in what we can do for work - particularly men. When we are children the world is open and anything is possible, we can be a fireman, a doctor or even a wrestler. But then when we hit our 30s, 40s, 50s doors close, people don't let us change, and we struggle to change ourselves.

I could not help but care about this broken man played by Rourke. As a film it has a number of interesting and thought provoking features, so is worth watching. 3 1/2 stars.

Lost and found

I am the artful-doger,

I am Peter Pan,

I am Huckleberry Finn,

a thief,

a swashbuckler,

a rascal,

I am orphaned,

free,

an adventurer,

a storyteller,

master,

and master of none,

I am lost,

I am found...

Cauliflower Soup

Recently I was given a large whole cauliflower that I made into soup. The weather had turned cold and I think the somewhat underrated cauliflower makes a decent creamy broth. The other thing that impressed me was that we got 3 meals out of the pot of soup I made up that cost less than $10* to make. To make the soup you will need the following.



Ingredients

6 cloves of fresh garlic
1 whole cauliflower
2 potatoes
1 brown onion
2 teaspoons of vegetable stock (or 1 vegetable stock cube)
8 cups of water
Pinch of salt
Dash of black pepper
About a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
100 grams of butter
1 teaspoon of olive oil

To begin with peel and finely chop your garlic, then dice your brown onion. Melt your 100 grams of butter in a large pot and add a dash of olive oil to stop the butter burning. Cook your onion and garlic until glassy. I used organic potatoes and onion.

While your onion cooks cut your cauliflower into separate pieces. There is no need to chop it too small as it will break apart as the soup cooks. Chop your potatoes into 8ths or 16ths. I don't peel potatoes as most of the fibre and nutrients are in the skins which are unnoticeable when cooked into a soup. After your onion and garlic has cooked for about 5 minutes add your bits of cauliflower and potato. Let the vegetables sweat for 1 minute, then cover with 8 cups of water.

After the water add the 2 teaspoons of vegetable stock powder or 1 stock cube. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down, cover with a lid, and cook for an hour on a low heat. Intermittently I took the lid off to stir the soup, although there should be no problems with the soup sticking or burning - if this does occur something has gone wrong or the recipe has been changed.

5 minutes before you are going to serve, when the soup has been cooking for at least an hour, add your cup of Parmesan cheese and stir it through. You should use freshly grated Parmesan cheese, else perhaps the pre-grated Parmesan cheese in a bag. I would not use the powdered Parmesan in a container that people use on pasta.

You could add in one final step here of processing the soup with a hand held mixer to produce a creamy broth of even consistency. I did not as I like chunky soup with different textures and this step reduces the fibre content again.

*This recipe should be enough for 6 people. If there are only 2 of you then you'll get enough soup for 3 meals, reducing the overall cost even further. The total layout cost for all ingredients listed might be more than $10 but you will have Parmesan cheese, vegetable stock powder, olive oil and butter leftover, which can all be easily used in other recipes.

My Year Without Sex

Sarah Watt's new film My Year Without Sex explores how ordinary people create meaning out of their life experiences. However, Sarah contrasts everyday life, as lived by of a family in the Melbourne Western suburbs, to life-changing events when the central character Natalie, played by multiple AFI winning actress Sacha Horler, suffers a brain aneurysm. This theme (how do people make sense of life and death) returns in Sarah's exploration of the experiences of people who become seriously ill, which she started in Look Both Ways. I think that this film returns to some familiar ground but also extends the ideas Sarah seems to be curious about.

Despite the reality of life portrayed in the film Sarah Watt has managed to put together a story that is incredibly funny as well as having a strong emotional resonance. The "truth" of the film comes from the way by which audiences will be able to relate their own lives with the everyday Australian characters, partly because of the brilliant performances of the cast, perhaps more so because of the writing, direction and editing. There was nothing throughout the entire film that broke me out of the narrative. A special mention must go to Sacha Horler, who I have not seen in anything since Praise - she is just amazing - although the whole cast work exceptionally well.

I loved Sarah Watt's previous film Look Both Ways, which like My Year Without Sex also made me laugh and cry, so I had some expectations going into this film. Expectations can be dangerous, as if the experience of watching the film does not live up to them then they can be crushed. But the blend of ideas, acting, writing and direction to create consummate storytelling meant that I was thoroughly entertained.

Because of how funny and touching this film is I think it breaks out of the trap that a lot of Australian cinema seems to fall into of creating "worthy" and "important" stories, but stories that are not much fun to watch and which unfortunately can lead to the feeling that Australian film is not generally entertaining or fun. This was certainly my experience with the Australian film we watched during the week prior to this, although the flip side to "worthy" but dreary films are "quirky" Australian films with little substance, which are just as bad.

I'd strongly recommend going to see My Year Without Sex; folks living in Melbourne will especially get a kick out of it. 4/5 stars.