_Calm at Sea_ is a very fair-minded, balanced film by director
Volker Schlondorff who is drawn to historical and political
stories -- especially those related to WWII. It depicts the
execution of 100 French prisoners-of-war and political prisoners
by the Nazi occupation in France, aided by Vichy officials. The
executation is prompted by a communist hit on German officers.
The youngest prisoners executed becomes a symbol of the French
resistance -- but he is just one of many characters in this
strong ensemble piece about the dignity and conviction of those
facing death. No one tries futilely to run or cry about the
injustice. The film focuses on the communist prisoners, with
a professorial figure expousing his political views, but those
with different viewpoints (especially a Catholic priest trying
to give them last rites) are also heard from. (A pacifist German
soldier tries to resist and cannot carry out the execution.)
Despite their defeat in war, the French know they have more
in common with each other than with their enemies. I wish
Americans beating their chest about their "patriotism" and
"love of America" would know the same -- especially those who
claim to be staunch anti-socialists but embrace countries run
by former KGB agents hell-bent on destroying the U.S. democracy.

This film makes an interesting comparison to Malick's _A
Hidden Life_, about a soldier choosing to be executed,
but _Calm At Sea_ deals with a multitude of voices, and is
closer in spirit to Malick's _Thin Red Line_ (also obsessed
with facing death). I've found that Schlondorff's films
don't necessarily excel at the individual image or scene
level -- he is not the most gifted visual stylist perhaps
-- but his stories are designed to accumulate incredible
power over the long run. _Calm at Sea_ was not released in
the U.S., I think, but is one of his best (alongside my
other favorites like _Homo Faber_, _Coup de Grace_, _The
Legend of Rita_) ... Great to see the cameo by Arielle
Dombasle as a French socialite flirting with German
officers too!

----------------------------------------------------------

The people waiting for death in "Mary Kills People" are
just as stoic and almost as philosophically diverse as those
in _Calm at Sea_. Unlike the Schlondorff film, the TV series
(no one but Canadians would make one about euthanasia)
has a woman-centric cast and crew. Caroline Dhavernas
is ER doctor Mary who moonlights as angel of mercy --
at c$10000 per act of kindness. She navigates her two
careers with family life (a rogue sister played by tattoo-
covered Charlotte Sullivan; an ex-husband; two daughters,
one of whom in love with her step sister). The main
plot device revolves around securing a particular rare
drug, which is a conceit -- surely other drugs work? I
have never seen "Breaking Bad" but I imagine this show is
similar -- with a lot more ethical dilemmas and philosophical
questions about end-of-life, and a lot less gunplay. (There
are a total of two gun fatalities in the first two seasons.)
The cinematography is amazing by TV standards; the water
motif, a blue expense framing Alice in the foreground abyss,
is a visual treat. The series ultimately succeeds because
of Dhavernas, who has inherited her elder Montreal screen
icon Marie-Josee Croze's penchant for playing immensely
complex and compromised characters. (Dhavernas herself played
at least two different murderers in the "Law and Order"
franchises.) Season 3 is not on DVD yet; it is the last of
the cancelled series, but what a treat it is -- probably the
best TV I have experienced since "Battlestar Galactica."

(for A.)

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