Perhaps I should watch the end of the movie before writing, but have loved Erik Enocksson’s soundtrack since I first heard it. The soundtrack led me to the movie (DVD) which is quite a challenge to get.  Farväl Falkenberg is a Swedish film that will take you back (maybe) or perhaps mirror where you’re at. Depending on your age. The film’s stars are in their twenties. And adrift.

In our society — most societies — being adrift is not a positive. There was a time maybe in the ’60s when that spirit characterized the Nation, at least in the media, if not the lives of most. But driftiness has never gone away really. Facebook, Twitter, and tethering gadgetry seem to run counter to being adrift, but can super-size one’s sense of being apart by holding up a relentless yardstick of connectivity, or lack of. Either way, sometimes you just want to turn it all off.

The other aspect of the movie that more than resonates are its ties to the central characters early childhoods — as flashed back in grainy home films.  My son is two and I miss his being two even before he’s three. In another reflection, we all get to have an intimate glimpse of who we once were through our children and that innocence seems a bit distant though the reminder is more than welcome.

More later — will adjust this post as I find time for the middle and end of Falkenberg…but watch it if you can…

Running the bridge is never easy for me. The loop itself is a little over 3 miles from my house. I never run with music, for no good reason, but I did start to run with the iPhone. With RunKeeper. I like the App mostly because it’s motivational. Seeing the days pile up or the missing days adds enough reward or guilt to push me out the door on several recent 40 degree NYC mornings. I think it was 46 degrees this morning when I took the picture.

The App itself is a litle buggy. A friend thinking Garmin asked for advice and my answer is, “I like it, but it takes more work than a Garmin.” In other words, you might not like it. This could be said of a lot of Apps that attempt to use the GPS functionality of the iPhone. The New York Times did a really good job with iPhone GPS apps recently. But RunKeeper customer service was pretty solid when I had a run that wouldn’t upload, which next to not getting a GPS signal are the two most frustrating experiences users seem to have. I use the free version, as I don’t run with headphones and it seems the big plus of the paid App is that it talks to you (pace, time, etc).

I can live with wrinkles in the App — it’s gotten up and over the bridge and that’s pretty much a winner for me.

Home was released on June 5th for free, and can be seen in surprisingly good quality on Youtube. As of this writing some 477,000 people have watched it there. It has also quickly gathered a pretty solid fan faction on Facebook.

I go off on geographical tangents. With music I’ve been transported to Iceland with Sigur Ros, authors from South America like Jorge Luis Borges, and lately with film it’s been Asia.

It’s been a bit hit and miss, Tokyo Drifter, in Black and White was a little dated, and Hiroshi Teshigahara’s crime drama Pitfall was cool, in a way. But the gems are Thai director Pen Ek’s “Last Life in the Universe” and Wong Kar-wai’s film “In the Mood for Love.”

And beyond film, Asia has been pulling the center of the economic universe to the east, the Far East. And with that comes all else — culture, politics, and the ability to impose a world view different from one we know here in the States. The Economist dedicated the December 13th issue to the region and the New York Times served up a sober assessment of the state of the States, China and the United States the day after Christmas (follow the link).

I’m hoping Art serves as a basis for our future relationship with Asia as Commerce looks shaky.

The movie Far North is far from cheerful. But I am far behind in my movie watching and got round to it this weekend via Netflix (Watch Instantly!). Yeah, my baby boy has kept me far from movie theaters. But even on my small screen the scenery is spectacular. Take a look if you need an outdoor fix. The movie combines realism with perhaps a bit of Far North myth, and you may/may not like the combo. The real winner here are the visuals and the sense of scale you get from the cinematography. The realism or the coarse sometimes brutal life portrayed can be kind of not-so-entertaining to watch as well. Much has been written about the life of these people and from what I’ve read that aspect of the movie is really needed if one wants something of an honest view. This movie, though gritty at times, is still glossy compared to the reality. But, for me, worth watching.