A LETTERED SOUL: REFLECTIONS ON LITERATURE, CINEMA AND CULTURE .

A CINEPHILE'S RECOMMENDATIONS : A COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTARIES PART 2

I continue writing about worthy documentations of two extraordinary individuals who dared to go beyond conventional roles society had in store for them (THE STORY OF DIANA and JANE respectively) thereby inciting a quietly provocative and empowering social revolution and the harrowing tale of an organisation / cult whose inroads into popular culture plumbs the darkest depths of humanity or maybe a baser instinctual base in its levers of power ( GOING CLEAR)

Here they are.

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THE STORY OF DIANA (2017)

DIRECTOR : REBECCA GITLITZ

This two part documentary about the woman known to me so far for that universally endearing smile and an early death still shrouded in mystery, a death that brought millions to tears and an iconic elegy by Sir Elton John (Candle in the Wind) , is about the private tempest of a woman who was destined to be under the influence of codes, wrought by a patriarchy that wanted her to be a passive puppet and rest content with the title of a princess. She overturned the cart of convention and paved her own individual way. THE STORY OF DIANA plumbs the depths of her life, far off from the fairy tale trappings. A lot of the royalty's flexibility in the modern age stems from subtle ways in which she broke the mould, refusing to be a miserable better half and bawling mess.

I attach below a poem I had written about her and Jackie Kennedy in which I visualized their lives conjoined by almost similar fates. It appears originally on my Wattpad poetry collection FRONTIERS and is titled CONVERGENCE. I utilize it here as I feel it expresses a lot of what I experienced after being privy to THE STORY OF DIANA.

This documentary made me realize how beautiful she really was and I talk about an inner beauty that can't ever be duplicated. Her passionate advocacy of anti mining laws and more compassion towards Aids patients show her true colours as a brave, opinionated trailblazer who was equal parts hands on mother and social messiah. Where there was a dogma or taboo to be broken, she was present. The heartbreak came along with the alchemy to touch other lives. This work, directed by Rebecca Gitlitz, beautifully unveils a true exemplar of universal grit and grace.

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CONVERGENCE

"Just when the weight of the crown had extricated itself,
from the crime of almost snapping her neck,
A glass palace in her mind crashed.

a whirlwind of faraway drums tin-tinning in her head.
Cracking a crooked, dewy smile,
Keeping abreast of her tour of engagements.
Intent on remembering the last thing she said,
Everlasting pleasantry or just a peck on his cheek before tucking them to bed,
the kids and Jack.

BOOM

The Pacific waves crash at her side,
on the assassin's pathway,
where compassion and her snubbed radiance were last heard walking on the beach,
talking over the politics of killing fields and nuclear disarmaments.

The
Jangling
Amoral ultraviolence
Cocking an inlet, cocksure
Kindling the final vulgarity of his death.
In her lap his brains lay splayed
Enjambing the poetic words that died on his beautiful head and shamed every father's rifle.