History of The World by Mel Brooks, a magnificent film maker, writer and director of The Producers, my note on that is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-producers-written-and-directed-by.html where you find a few thousand more reviews - 10 out of 10

 

History of The World by Mel Brooks, a magnificent film maker, writer and director of The Producers, my note on that is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-producers-written-and-directed-by.html where you find a few thousand more reviews

 

10 out of 10

 

This is not just one of the best comedies ever made, in the top ten or maybe five best, in my book, it is also a good depiction of some of what is happening in the world right now – indeed, you have scenes that have sent from the present, into ancient Rome in the movie, we will get to that – like here, where I live

 

We have had elections on Sunday and as BBC and The Economist have put it, ‘the candidate of the far right has won the first round’, which means that I need to vote on the second ballot – mea culpa, did not do it this time around, unaware it could get so ugly – to avoid having to learn Russian, live in a colony of Putin

But let us talk about the comedy, it will be alright here, and we will have the first woman president, pretty soon, Insha’Allah, so back to this phenomenal History of the World, we loved it so much, that when we were young (still are, but 45 biologically is not the twenties) we repeated the jokes between us, often

 

The first that comes to mind is when Mel Brooks is waiting in line for unemployment benefit in…Ancient Rome, this is a twisted, hilarious look at invented events, trying a feeble take on Gladiator II, they make up things there that go beyond the understandable artistic license, they put on show a naval battle in the Colosseum

Which is alright, they had that, but to put in…sharks, an island with sand and what, palm trees, plus a computer-generated monkey that is not just hideous (I have read in The economist, though not in those exaggerated words) but looks more than misplaced, that is not the way to do it, and there are other, many flaws

 

However, Vanity has listed the favorites to be nominated for Oscars, and what do you think, Gladiator is there, for Best Picture, also for Ridley Scott and Denzel Washington…never mind, back to the unemployment line, Mel Brooks reaches the front and he is asked by this blasé, funny woman the standard questions

She was asking gladiators ‘occupation, the answer was gladiator, then did you kill last week, did you try and kill last week, you will have to kill next week, or we will cut your unemployment benefit, but when asked about his occupation, Mel Brooks says stand up comedian, so the clerk is going ‘oh, so you are a bulshit artist…

‘Did you bulshit last week, no, did you try and bulshit last week, yes, ok, you will have to bulshit next week, or we will cut your unemployment benefit…’

 

For some reason, this reminds me of another fabulous motion picture, probably number one on my list, Monty Python’s Life of Brian https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/03/monty-pythons-life-of-brian-bymonty.html in particular, the scene when prisoners line up, come to the Roman soldier who is in charge

The Roman is asking ‘crucifixion? And one by one they answer yes, and then he says first door on the left, only Brian, or was it somebody else answers No, so the soldier is puzzled, until he hears ‘I was only pulling your leg’ that was sensational, brilliant, except it has to be for your taste, somebody at the sauna was not crazy about it

 

Another frequently quoted scene has emperor Nero aka Dom de Luise at the center – they bring from the battels some bathtub filled with rubies, precious stones, but the lazy, gruesome and so amusing bastard is going ‘nice, not thrilling, but nice’ then he says ‘bring me a small liar’, so they get a small guy, and he protests ‘not that kind of liar’

Near the roman Colosseum, or anyway, somewhere in ancient Rome, we have this fellow listening to music…it is loud, and it comes out of a stereo, which has no place there, besides, it is ‘Won’t you take me to Funky town’, some disco music that was all the rage when the superb film was made, still with me, after all this time

 

Then in the Roman senate, they propose a bill, along the lines of ‘what do you say Roman senators, do we raise taxes for the rich, or let the paupers carry the burden’ and the answer is a resounding ‘fuck the poor’, with all pointing their fingers down, just like it was done in the arena, when they wanted the loser to be killed

It is easy to make an arc over time, and parallel that with the present, as I said, there is a danger that we will be ruled by someone like Orange Jesus, this fool is copying Putin (I mean our own buffoon, although the orange one is in awe of the Russian dictator as well) and the videos used in the campaign are form the Kremlin book

 

This villain – I do not even want to put his name here, and was saying earlier at the club, I hope to forget his name soon, that is after the second round, just like I had had no idea he existed, until yesterday – has ads with him swimming, on horseback and in judo outfits, and maybe you recall seeing the monster in Moscow doing the same

To make another reference, this time to another fantastic Mel Brooks comedy, Young Frankenstein https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/03/young-frankenstein-written-by-mel.html this would be leader of this country is just a surrogate of the Kremlin tyrant, but may he be sent to the garbage bin of history, by God!

In The Producers, Mel Brooks and his partner find the magic formula, they will make money by staging this stupid play, a sure flop, but it proves a surprise, a massive success, which means trouble for them, in the same way, this joke of a result could get ugly

 

 Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world  – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”