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MOVIES
TiMe crusader
By: riZaL iWan
KidsFest – a film festival at the end of last month, where kids got to clap
and cheer with children-themed films from around the world – is just
ebbing out, but the young ones who missed it don’t have to feel bad, and
those who didn’t can still continue to keep that whimsical spirit alive, as
Erasmus Huis is bringing us another entertaining kid flick this month.
Crusade in Jeans, or Kruistocht in
Spijkerbroek, is a screen adaptation of a
popular Dutch novel by Thea Beckman,
written in 1973 and has endured to be
one of the most beloved Dutch books for
the young at heart.
The film centers on a sixteen-yearold
boy named Rudolf, or Dolf, who, at
the beginning of the film, screws up a
very important football match. Driven
by guilt, he sneaks into his mother’s
laboratory, where an experimental time
machine is being developed, and uses
the device to go back in time and have
the football match replayed.
In a hasty action in fear of getting
caught by the security guard, Dolf types
in the wrong number and gets sent back
to the year 1212. An incident, in which
he gets attacked by some juvenile thieves,
leads him to an encounter with Jenne, a
pretty and feisty girl. Jenne, it turns out,
is taking part in a crusade – a children’s
crusade, no less – in which eight
thousand children, called the Army of
the Innocents, are marching to Jerusalem
to free the city from the Persians.
Dolf ’s encounter with Jenne leads
him to tag along in this crusade. He
joins the journey, marches with them,
and be a part of their community. He
befriends the crusade’s leaders, a teenage
boy, Nicolas, and his father, Anselmus.
After a while, Dolf ’s modern-day skills,
knowledge, and gadgets – his watch,
iPod, and mobile phone – impresses the
troops because those things help them
and even save lives in many occasions.
He gains their respect and before long
he becomes the informal leader of the
crusade, although his modern way of
thinking and disbelief in ancient magic –
the leaders expect the sea to part to give
way to them – almost gets him executed
for blasphemy.
So Dolf leads the children on
adventures through mountains and
terrains, fighting troops and knights
along the way. However, soon, he realizes
something fishy going on. Anselmus
seems to have an agenda of his own, and
uses the crusade to manipulate his way
for some darker purposes.
Fans of the book might find some
principal differences in the screen
adaptation. There is no football match
in the book, and it is woven into the
story only for the film; which is a good
thing because it adds a dramatic drive
and bookends the story pretty nicely.
Surprisingly, Jenne, which appears to
be an essential and indispensable part
of the narrative, is also not found in the
book. Originally, Dolf is accompanied
by two sidekicks, one boy and one girl,
in his adventures. The presence of Jenne,
however, lends a romantic twist in the
story and adds a little extra tension and
complication toward the climax.
Although a Holland production, the
film is entirely in English, with British
actress Emily Watson in the role of
Dolf ’s mother. Made on a relatively low
budget, the film manages to have some
pretty slick production values – good
cinematography, realistic set and special
effects – and comes out as a nifty epic.
It even won some awards along the
way, including the Children’s Jury Award
in Chicago International Children’s
Film Festival, a Best Film award in
Nederlands Film Festival, and a Young
People’s Jury Award for Best Feature
Film in Toronto Sprockets International
Film Festival for Children.
Part epic, part sci-fi, and altogether
an amusing adventure, Crusade in Jeans
will whet children’s appetite for thrills,
heroism, and entertainment.
Crusade in Jeans is scheduled to screen
on May 28 in Erasmus Huis, Jl. H.R.
Rasuna Said Kav. S-3, Kuningan. Call
524 1069 or check out www.erasmushuis.
org for further details.
The educaTion
By: craig Money
Rod Stewart. Bee Gees. Linda Rondstadt.
Music. This was my mother’s education into
the English language back in the early 70’s in
Indonesia. She, like many of her friends at
the time, let music shape her escape and appreciation
of language as a manner that spoke the most basic and
purest of human emotions. If you had to choose 10
albums that define you as an individual, what would
they be? Better yet, take a moment this month to create
a list accompanied with a note and send it to a friend,
a loved one or as a keepsake for your children as they
grow older. For music is an education unlike no other.
Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
RCA – Hard Rock
While the Foo Fighters have always strived for
consistency, they’ve also reserved the right
to change their minds. And where rock has
fallen by the wayside amidst the sea of R&B
and digerati, Dave Grohl and Co. have taken it
upon themselves to send a spectacular missive
to the world reminding us all that the genre
should never be dismissed. From the opening
title ‘Burning Bridges,’ to the spectacular single
‘Rope,’ the Foo Fighters have returned to bare
their heaviest record in their 15-year existence.
Their 7th album accompanies a film release of
the making of Wasting Light that doubles as a
retrospective history of the Foos’ improbable
rise to their stadium heavy rock post Nirvana.
MUSIC
Alison Krauss &
Union Station –
Paper Airplane
Rounder – Contemporary
Bluegrass
Alison Krauss helped bring
bluegrass to new audiences
by blending folk into the mix
during the 1990’s. Her regimen
for classical upbringing brought
a precision to the fiddle that
few could muster, but with
thanks to the creative twang
served by the mandolin, banjo,
bass and guitar, she regimented
a sound unto itself. From the
highly acclaimed soundtrack
to O Brother, Where Art Thou?,
Krauss helped push the
boundaries to country over
the past decade with her band
Union Station. This year she
does it again with her fellow
journeyman writers on a set of
well-braced covers.
Cold War Kids –
Mine Is Yours
Interscope – Alternative,
Indie Rock
The narrative of Cold War
Kids reads like a band you
would follow in your youth. A
rusty debut with homage to
their influences, a follow-up with
yearning mightier than delivery,
then finally a shockingly beautiful
moment where the turf and toil,
hours and touring, suddenly align
to make the best original album
of their career. Few albums unfold
beautifully from start to finish and
the Cold War Kids have arguably
hit their collective sweet spot. With
an earnestness of U2, a lilt of Bob
Dylan, some Pixies, Radiohead and
Jeff Buckley vocals, the band has a
polish and maturity that will be the
envy of indie music this year.
Paul Simon – So
Beautiful or So What
Hear Music – Contemporary
Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter
“A man walks down the street and
says, ‘Why am I soft in the middle
now?, Why am I soft in the middle
now, when the rest of my life is so
hard.” 25 years on from Graceland,
it seems Paul Simon has come out
of any burgeoning midlife crisis
with the ‘shot at redemption’ he
was yearning for. From humble
career beginnings in the 50’s in
Queens, NY, to his pivotal role
in music with Garfunkel, Simon
has eclipsed a genre, generation
and stature amongst the true
traditional songwriters such as
James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Carly
Simon, Van Morrison, Billy Joel and
Sirs Paul and Elton. On his latest
release this is such a return, with
a modern take on composing, but
with a trademark methodology
that is distinctly engaged in the
present. This is 38 minutes of
arresting storytelling from one of
music’s true living legends.
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