Michael Ray

Kitafe melds politics with history in a suspense story of post-colonial Africa

I want to thank Michael Ray for his hard work and commitment to this worthy endeavor.

East Africa in 1962. The British influence is on the wane. The power vacuum is in jeopardy of being filled by Henry Ngai, a messianic, megalomaniac and leader of the The Army of Christ’s Inquisition.

Graham Theakston is an ex-pat Brit working as a reporter on a daily newspaper in the crumbling colony. He’s a hack, a drunk, show more chronically broke, low on ethics and ambition.

Theakston not unwittingly becomes a pawn of the powerful as major players jockey for position. But when his wife and best friend are murdered by Ngai supporters he changes from a cynical, opportunistic side-liner to a person bent on revenge.

His assassination attempt on Ngai is foiled, he’s captured, drugged, tortured and brainwashed. Theakston becomes Ngai’s scribe writing his manifesto, his philosophy and his press releases. Slowly the humanity still buried within him emerges. He becomes aware of the atrocities, the corruption, the madness and the evil specifically in Ngai’s indoctrination process changing children into psychopathic killers.

He escapes and begins a long and treacherous journey through the jungle back to civilization, a journey that is transformative not only geographically, but spiritually and morally.

Theakston survives and arrives back in the capital only to find the British are about to hand over power to his nemesis.

Michael Ray has written an exciting, fast-paced story. The plot has a well-research authenticity to it and though complicated is believable and without glitches.

The dialogue is natural and cleverly written with lots of British stiff upper-lip expressions and attitudes that reflect the times. Ray’s characters are genuine and well developed mostly through action rather than reflection.

This booked works as a historical snapshot, a moral dilemma, and an entertaining work of fiction. show less

Joy Luck Club director Wayne Wang contrasts the lives of two women in the present with two women in the past in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Sophia (Gianna Jun), who hails from Korea, enjoys spending time with Nina (Bingbing Li) in 1990s Shanghai, though her uptight stepmother considers the latter a bad influence. Through Sophia's liberal aunt (Vivian Wu), the girls find out about Snow Flower and Lily, two laotongs, or "sisters for life," from the 1820s (played by the same actresses). show more Despite their class differences, the Hunan girls bond as they undergo rituals from foot-binding to arranged marriages, but Lily's mother-in-law interferes with their friendship, much like Sophia's stepmother (their contemporary versions squeeze their feet into designer heels). Typhoid and rebellion proceed to ravage their families, just as the stock market crash causes a similar effect centuries later. As adults, Nina and Sophia drift apart after a misunderstanding (concerning Hugh Jackman's nightclub owner), but an accident brings them back together, reflecting the rift that divided the 19th-century friends. Throughout, Wang shifts back and forth between eras, emphasizing the freedoms Chinese women have gained over the years, which brings The Joy Luck Club to mind, since both movies sprang from novels about female relationships, but Snow Flower isn't as much of a tearjerker. It's absorbing and attractively shot, but frequently too restrained. Wang directs with compassion, but the film could use more heat. In the featurette, he and author Lisa See talk about the origins of the story. --Kathleen C. Fennessy show less

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El espíritu creativo encierra un mensaje fundamental: todos podemos ser creativos. Esto se aplica a los niños, los adultos, las empresas y las comunidades.¿Cómo podemos liberar nuestro espíritu creativo y emplearlo para mejorar la calidad de vida?