“SILENCE” ELICITS SCREAMS OF “GET ME OUT OF HERE’!"

                                                           (Directed by Martin Scorsese) **

 In the 17^th-century, two Jesuit priests in Portugal, Rodrigues and Garrpe (played by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver respectively) go to Japan to search for Ferreira, their priest mentor (Liam Neeson). The church has heard that he has rejected his faith (apostatized), and so they wish to find him. They also act as priests to Christians who lead such intolerably miserable lives in hiding from the cruelty of the Japanese inquisitor. So this is about faith overcoming fear of torture. 

But this is one badly made movie in all ways; how many times can you show various way Christians were tortured by the Japanese? How many times do you have to repeat the same scene of stomping on a relief plate of Jesus under your foot?

How many times do we have to watch Christians hanging upside down in a pit, being burned, drowned and crucified? In trying to graphically chart the suffering of the two priests – in particular – Rodrigo (Garfield) and their flock of starving villagers, the movie becomes intolerably long, overly done, and pretentious. The dialectic between the Japanese inquisitor and Rodrigo; this Japanese Inquisitor is trying to convert him; it  becomes more painfully boring than having to sit in a church pew singing hymns that are monotonous rituals. 
Based on the novel written by Shusaku Endo which itself is based on true events, this historical chapter in Japanese history is not without great cruelty to Christians.

Nonetheless, its visual manifestation 

is melodramatic and self-righteously insufferable. The film would have fared better in the hands of Mel Gibson and a brand new editor. Garfield was great in Hacksaw Ridge, but the emotional height he duplicates here falls … on deaf ears. Silence is the operative word here. The script is to fault for this.

Winter Wonder at Park-Mont-Saint-Bruno

This stunning national park in Quebec’s Monteregie region, which is only 35 minutes east of Montreal, has a unique history that enthralls visitors. A mix of indelible imprints consisting of gentrified wealth and religious devotion rests on this gentle mountain.  

Read about my summer experience in the park detailing this history. Click  here

 

Quietude and pristine beauty cocoon the park. It continues to inspire visitors. Its colourful 4-seasonal vistas and multitude of surprises both natural and structural continue are a big draw – ever since it first opened in 1985. To date, close to 900,000 people annually leave their tread. 

Small in Size, Big on Variety

The park’s small size (only 8.84 kilometres in area) is deceptive park; as  you wander under the canopy of trees a vital ecosystem reveals itself in a plethora of bird life (234 species), and closer to your feet – a maze of fabulous flora (574 distinct plant species). 

Deer appear on any given day – only part of the animal diversity: 35 species of mammals, along with fish and reptilian life – all zealously protected by Sépaq. Along with the activities it organizes, Sepaq ensures nature will continue to thrive in harmony with humans who constantly tread on the park’s hospitable paths of circuitous routes that frame Saint-Bruno’s five landmark lakes.

Cross-country skiing in snowy beauty on New Year’s Day

Having spent a full day during summer both on foot and accompanied by Sepaq park guide/warden Suzie in her ATV, I wanted to return in winter.

From the get-go, Mont Saint-Bruno’s welcoming Sepaq employees demonstrated expertise and enthusiasm. Take for example Rosalie at the ticket accueil who never stop smiling. And there there’s Sarah at the rental area who not only waxed my old skis, but suggested I try newer equipment. 

 She selected a spanking new pair of Rosignol skis, boots and sleek ski poles (mine were too short). Looking at the trail map Rosalie had given me, she suggested I try trail 1.  Suzie took initiative to call upon ski patroller, Timothé Plante. My first day of the New Year was about to turn gloriously in sync with the outstanding weather. The sun was shining, a fresh crop of snow had just fallen, and it was unseasonably warm.

Timothé… a guide of unparalleled passion for the outdoors

Meeting Timothé was a godsend. Not only was he incredibly patient and considerate with me. His long time experience skiing on the mountain – he started at the age of four – came into play at every turn. Only 24 years old, this remarkable man already boasts exceptional immersion experience in the outdoors; he obtained a leadership adventure guiding certificate from B.C.’s  Trinity College. He has scaled mountains all over the world, including the Rockies, the Himalayas, and the Sierra Nevada in the USA. He recently spent a stint in Norway honing more of his skills, and had just returned from British Columbia where he skied, rock climbed and camped for long periods of time.

Timothé Plante ski patrolling at Mont-Saint-Bruno

 Hearing that I had not yet been on skis last month, he mapped out a “made-to-measure-route”. We began on trail # 1 and eventually merged onto trail # 5. The park has a 35-kilometre cross-country-ski network whose nine trails range from easy to very difficult.

                       We followed a loop around part of the mountain that bordered Lac du Moulin.  
                                                                                                          (3 lake photos below taken by Jean Claude Honjik)

A terrain of tree growth amidst brooks greeted the eye at every turn.  

 

 

 

 

 

He always announced an upcoming “hill” I was about to descend. As time passed, my confidence soared. We had skiing a few hours, chalking up about 10 kilometres.   Scenic vistas transported me into snowy, tree-filled realms of ski-gliding delight.

                                                             

Time to pause

A log fire in front of the tea house

 We went into the tea house - once an 18th-century mill. The teas and scones hit the spot.

                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                           

Here, we met up with Marie-Andray Chouinard – Timothé’s mother  who also ski patrols here.

 

 In fact, they are the only patrollers for its recreation ski trails.  Marie-Andray is also the park warden at Îles de Boucherville Park which I visited n the summer and this part November.  

Read my article: click here smrcultureplus and on sntravelandarts.

 I loved my New Year’s Day. Perhaps I will return to explore its 3.7 trail of snowshoeing, or simply rediscover its three walking trails to enjoy the contrasting appearance of summer and winter. 

Skiing on the trails at night starts in February, and if you love biking, rent one of their fatbikes to ride away.

The address is: 330, rang des 25 Est, Saint-Bruno, Quebec, J3V 4P6

For information on park activities rentals, tickets and more, visit www.parcsquebec.com/montsaintbruno. Call (450) 653-7544.

Miss Sloane (Directed by John Madden) ****

                                                                                                                        

Perfectionist and lobbyist, Elizabeth Sloane plays her politically marked cards so close to her chest, no one can predict what scrupulous move she will make next to win at all costs.  Dressed to kill, she belongs to the ace suit, but the one of hearts is not one she holds. Winning for her means changing the gun law so ensure dangerous offenders are prevented from buying them. Sloane is Washington’s top lobbyist whose drive to succeed brings her on the brink of ruin. Her life is lonely and without love of any sort. Her passion lies in getting what she must do to win, even if it means spying on her own team or throwing making public a very private incident affecting her key team member.

This is a long film that moves as fast as Jessica Chastain talks and walks in this political thriller that shows just how dastardly everyone plays their hand when it comes to winning the lobbyist game. She's marvelous in this role. Korean script writer Jonathon Perera inserted a tangle of twists typical in Korean films, but this is truly an American Capitol Hill pot boiler.

What will ISIS Do After It Kills Everybody?

                                              
There is no post political after-killing agenda with ISIS. It is a killing machine, and that is its sole purpose. After the total world annihilation it is determined to achieve, what new society will it create? One never hears about its vision after every non-Muslim is skewered, other than kill, kill, kill.

There will be no music, scientific research to better mankind’s health, in every kind of way.

No there there will be just big black hole, but the hole is here on earth, not in space. And it will be filled with the colour red.

What demented aberrations in family upbringing could nurture encourage and celebrate such a loathsome goal?

What kind of mothers swaddled their babies? What kind of men beat up their wives? The cowardly violence is a genesis that surely started in these control-freak families: husbands subjugating wives, beating them, brothers stoning their own sisters, kids following the commandments that would avoid shame even if it meant family killings.

There is no hope for this kind of human. There is no Western wrath enormous enough to match theirs; there is no way to turn these endlessly ill creatures of death around. Just as mankind went form Neanderthal to  fully erect homo sapiens (knowing man), one wonders if ISIS is a collective regression into a homo subspecies whose name has the word  "kill" in its Latin form.

ISIS will not be content until the world’s dry earth and seas are brimming blood. They will feel proud only when this happens, knowing they did this, knowing that the impulse to kill can’t be stopped. Hopefully, they’ll turn on one another, and then from our graves we can heave a long eternal sigh of relief.

SUGAR MOUNTAIN (Directed by Richard Gray) ***

Alaskan wilderness is the major backdrop for this film with a plot that is highly unlikely – or is it? It's compelling but something doesn’t ring true about it all; that could be because the implausible plot in the film is based on a falsehood.

 

Miles and Liam (two brothers) intent on saving the fishing boat of their late mother hatch a scheme. Miles, the older sibling will fake getting lost in the snowy wilds in the mountains and stay undetected for 10 days. But this movie is full of hoaxes that don’t bring in the money they hope to get from writing a book about Miles’ dangerous mishap in the mountains. 

Instead, the plan gets found out and each brother must conjure up a way to keep the deception going. Ironically, Miles wants out of the plan once he returns from the mountain, but the trek caused severe injury to him.

Once back, he has a change of heart, and this stirs up even more problems. In the end, the mother’s boat is the least of the brothers' worries. The interminable number of big and small plot twists becomes a parody on the reversal of fortune for most everyone involved. Still, the acting wasn’t bad, but the  vivid scenery was the true scene stealer of it all.

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Allied (Directed by Robert Zemeckis) ***

In 1942, Pitt's Canadian intelligence officer Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) parachutes into North Africa – the best scene in the film with James Bond style, minus the music. He makes his way to Casablanca. His mission is to assassinate the German ambassador with the help of Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard), a French Resistance fighter who will be posing as his wife and who has gotten herself into the good graces of the local Nazi chiefs. Over the next few days, they prepare themselves for the mission while trying to establish themselves as a loving married couple so as not to arouse any suspicion. There is attraction between them despite their professional attitudes of faking things. Still, their masked fiction fades; the two can’t resist one another which culminates inside a car during a desert dust storm (effective indeed). They complete their mission in an equally spectacular manner. During their escape, Max asks Marianne to return to London with him so that they can get married. She eagerly agrees.
A year later with Max and Marianne are happily married and living in London with their newborn baby Anna. (That labor scene outside at night during an air raid was well done).

Bliss ends when evidence suggests that the real Marianne Beausejour was killed a couple of years earlier and that his wife is actually a German spy. Max cannot believe this but the evidence, while not quite conclusive, is fairly damning. To settle the question once and for all, he is ordered to leave some fake information lying around where she can find it—if it turns up in the next intercepted German communique, she is guilty. If she does turn out to be a spy, Max is required to kill her. 

If he refuses or tries to tip her off, it will lead to his execution as well. To make matters even more discomfiting, not only is Max not allowed to investigate on his own during the three days it will take to get the potentially damning evidence, he has to go on with Marianne. The ending is epic, but the film falls flat. Marion Cotard was great; Brad Pitt was shockingly boring.

OKA PARK: OPEN TO DOGS

There are few parks that allow entrance with your dog in Quebec. You can’t even walk along the water side of Lac St-Louis in Lachine. You have to cross the street and take your dog on the sidewalk. Ridiculous! It's  really a drag because one of the joys of walking in nature with your dog is sharing your dogs romp on a leash into freedom in a natural environment with you.  

Your dog keeps you company, and he/she is a great magnet for social banter with strangers you meet on the trails.

I was delighted to find  Sépaq has opened  4 doggy-
on-leash trails in Oka Park along with Frontenac Park in St-François (250 kilometres form Montreal) and Jacques-Cartier Park in Longueil (a mere metro/bus ride away from Montreal).

 

I headed up to Oka Park (45 minutes by car from Montreal) on December 3^rd to take advantage of this new doggy opportunity. My dog Zak and I took the 7-kilometre trail along the Calvaire d’ Oka. Seven colourful wood reliefs in tiny chapel churches replicating the originals ones crafted by François Guernon from Bellville in the 18^th-century dotted the trail and at the summit there were four other. Collectively, they replicated the various stages of suffering in the crucifixion of Christ.

It was an unusual adornment built among the tree-clustered path, but they added a sense of reverence to the surrounding nature.

                         

Though there were no colourful leaves on trees at this time of year, the paths were lovely. I spotted two huge pileated (red-capped) woodpeckers tapping away on a tree trunk, and in the distance, I saw Lake of Two Mountains.

The view at the summit was lovely indeed; people were unusually quiet. Maybe they were tired from the walk, or respectful of the religious element at their backs – the four final chapels.

Oka Park is a hot bed of activity for the entire family in summer with its beach, and there are multiple activities for everyone throughout the summer – all under the banner of “The Okasions”.

Winter's coming. The park has six ski trails totaling more than 35 kilometres!

There’s camping and all-facility cabins. For sure, I will return.

For complete information, visit: www.parcquebec.com/oka

For you and your dog(s), go to www.sepaq.com/animals