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| Saturday, 15 September 2001 |
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Features | |
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Amaris Aiya by Pramod de silva They say that laughter is the best medicine. Samuel Rodrigo, or Amaris Aiya as he was better known, had been giving us this medicine for almost 50 years until death took him away from our midst.
Samuel, who died on Thursday at the age of 80, was a colossus in the local comedy scene. Alone or in the company of his two buddies - Berty Gunathilake and Anasley Dias - Amaris Aiya took the art of comedy to new heights. Radio was his first home. Although he had a separate job, humour was always in his veins and he could not resist the lure of entertaining listeners with his unique brand of non-stop comedy. M.D.Wijedasa's Vihulu Thahalu, the neighbourly trio's first programme in 1952, had a huge audience. Listeners looked forward to it every week to experience their hilarious escapades. The programme went on the air 'live' as recording equipment were not so sophisticated then. They had a script, but improvised as they moved along. They easily transformed their act to television in the 80s, adding a visual dimension to Vinoda Samaya, as their programme was later called. It also had an 'invisible' character, Allen Nona, Amaris Aiya's wife. The trio could now add body language to the verbal jokes, enhancing the viewers' pleasure. Amaris Aiya, the oldest of the threesome, was in the forefront of innovation and creativity. They were no strangers to the theatre either. Samuel acted in several films as well. Amaris Aiya, who poked fun at city types in his comedy sketches, was a simple individual who appreciated the unhurried lifestyle of villagers. A teetotaller and devout Buddhist, Samuel was also a talented poet. He also had a knack for art. Samuel and his two colleagues could turn the most mundane household subject into rip-roaring comedy. The arrival of a friend living overseas, a consultation with the doctor or a car repair at the garage are perfectly ordinary situations for most people, but not to our three heroes. With Samuel/Amaris in charge, they find themselves in all sorts of trouble, sending the viewers into fits of laughter. Fifteen minutes were more than enough for Amaris Aiya to spin an uproarious yarn. Be it radio or television, Vinoda Samaya was the perfect antidote for stress and Amaris Ayya's rib-tickling jokes were just what the doctor ordered. ======================================== Battle Royale Movie that exposes the frailties of the Japanese education system There are some truly sickening films out there if you care to watch them...some are simply trash, some outstanding. Audiences and critics alike are divided on this issue when it comes to the latest film by the veteran Japanese film maker Fukasaku Kinji (71).
Royale is set in the near future in a Japan driven to the extreme with a rising tide of teen crime. The authorities have a drastic solution: they select a random class of 42 uniformed 14 to 15 year-old girls and boys and pack them off to an isolated island. They are then given weapons and three days to eliminate each other until a sole survivor emerges as the winner.
Ironically, the film has received 18-plus certificates in most countries, as the level of violence was judged excessive for those in the 14-15 age group (the characters' age) to bear. Authorities in Japan and other countries tried to ban Royale, but the resulting furore ensured a good run for the movie which earned US$ 25 million in Japan alone. "It may be violent, but think there are many parts where we don't go anywhere near far enough," says producer Fukasaku Kenta. Now that's a right 'royale' comment. ======================================== US film makers worry about movies filmed abroad NEW YORK, (AFP) - A growing number of US movies and television series are being filmed outside the United States because of lower production costs - a trend worrisome to actors and producers affiliated with The Creative Coalition. The TCC - a political advocacy organization of the entertainment industry which counts actors such as Christopher Reeve, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams among its members- focused late Monday at gathering at Sotheby's on what they see as an alarming trend. "A lot of work is going to Germany, Australia, UK (Britain) and Canada, and it's not really about Hollywood and it's not really about actors, it's an important economic issue," said TCC president, actor William Baldwin. "It's about jobs, it's about growth, it's about 10 billion of dollars of potential revenues lost from our economy, because it's going overseas," Baldwin said, citing figures from a Department of Commerce study. "We have to do something about it because we're losing good work overseas," he added. High production costs in the United States are the primary reason Hollywood is taking its work abroad, with Canada receiving some 80 percent of Tinseltown's business, the report said. Made-for-television movies for US networks and cable systems are most likely to be filmed outside of the United States, the report found. "'Runaway film production' has affected thousands of workers in industries ranging from computer graphics to construction workers and caterers," the report noted. "These losses threaten to disrupt important parts of a vital American industry." Appealing to the federal government to step in, actor Ron Reagan, son of the former president, said producers who make US movies abroad "are people who are not patriotic." "They don't care about America, and what's good for American workers," he charged. Globalization of wage standards and labor standards "would be a solution," he added. |
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Produced by Lake House |
Battle
Royale, which made its European debut yesterday (14), is no ordinary film. It is a movie
that exposes the innate frailties of the Japanese education system, albeit in a very
violent manner. 
Royale is no
mild dose of harmless fun like the Survivor TV series - it is not about evicting anyone.
It is about killing your colleagues. The level of violence is truly shocking - the story
begins with the kids ending up on the desert island and their teacher (played by Beat
Takeshi - star of Kikujiro) throwing a knife into the skull of a girl. It is a movie that
does not allow the viewer to settle down - the action is unrelenting and the pace,
maddening. There are moments of humour, though. 
Many Japanese
have felt that the film is uncomfortably close to the truth. Several fatal incidents have
been reported from Japanese schools, where most students suffer from high stress levels.