Achi news desk-
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Here’s a winning equation for you. The creators of Game of Thrones are adapting one of the most famous authors of Chinese science fiction, whose books are beloved by fans including Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg. No wonder 3 Body Problem looks set to be one of the biggest Netflix shows of the year.
Based on Liu Cixin’s Remembering Earth’s Past trilogy, the series begins in the midst of China’s Cultural Revolution in the mid-1960s. But he soon moves to the present, where a number of top scientists have mysteriously committed suicide. What unfolds is an alien invasion story with a twist, as scientists and officers race to protect human civilization from the incoming Trisolaran.
Mia Chen Ma, who is an expert in Chinese science fiction, is “fascinated” by the eight-part series, which is released today. She is particularly impressed by Netflix’s willingness to get stuck into the big philosophical questions at the heart of Liu’s novels. If a technologically advanced alien civilization were to invade Earth – a planet already plagued with ecological destruction and human conflict – how should we respond? Is humanity worth saving? Is saving ourselves even possible?
As our author explains, the show offers a range of answers. But ultimately, her mix of curiosity and open-ended storytelling encourages viewers to draw their own conclusions.
Read more: 3 Body Problems: Netflix’s adaptation of Liu Cixin’s alien invasion trilogy is fascinating
Left field love stories
Lesbians have had a rough ride in the cinema. For almost 40 years between 1930 and 1966, the Hays Code (strict censorship guidelines imposed on film makers) only allowed the depiction of lesbian “sexual perversion” if shown in a negative light. Film lesbians of these years (in films such as Dracula’s Daughter, Rebecca and The Children’s Hour) were murderous, ridiculous, or rebels in dire need of reform.
Thankfully, there has been a change recently. Historical dramas such as Carol (2015), Ammonite (2020) and my personal favourite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) have all shown tender love stories between women. But as touching and refreshing as these portraits of women in love are, they are all rather sad. So, I was pleased to read Deborah Shaw’s review of Drive-Away Dolls.
“Odd couple” friends Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) go on a road trip in a hired car. Jamie wants to visit as many lesbian bars as possible, in order to try to cheer up Marian, who has just split up with her boyfriend. Unbeknownst to them, the friends are driving a car with a mysterious suitcase in the boot and they are soon being chased by ruthless thieves. This brainchild of Ethan Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke (a queer woman herself) is a lesbian road movie that will make you laugh, rather than pull your heart out.
Read more: Drive-Away Dolls: subverting bad, sad and tragic stereotypes of lesbians in film
A film that has always managed to make me laugh and cry in equal measure is Michel Gondry’s masterpiece, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which turned 20 this week. I have re-watched the film several times in recent years, and it somehow brings out a new emotion in me with each viewing.
This week, the scene where Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (blue-haired Kate Winslet) meet in his childhood memories blew me away. Especially the moment when she steps in to protect him from the childhood bullies he faced alone in real life.
For Jane Steventon, the film is an endless meditation on love and memory. And it was shockingly prescient. A film about a man erasing the memories of an ex-lover takes on a whole new resonance in our social media age, when photos and posts about a previous relationship can be deleted with the touch of a button.
Read more: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at 20: an endless meditation on love and memory
Expanding horizons
Despite his fame today, the artist and poet William Blake was relatively unknown in his time. This meant that he could not afford to travel widely, as many of his more successful contemporaries did. Indeed, Blake never left Britain. But he certainly had an interest in Europe. He read the works of Dante in Italian and translations of German philosophers such as Jakob Böhme and Swedish theologians such as Emanual Swedenborg.
National Portrait Gallery
So a new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge that shows Blake’s art and poetry alongside that of his European contemporaries feels like retrospective justice.
His beautiful hand-printed poem, Europe, and his energetic reinterpretations of ancient Greek sculptures take on new life when displayed alongside the artists who lived and worked in these locations. The show expands Blake’s personal creative universe, reframing it as part of a shared imaginative and cultural space. The fact that this exhibition takes Blake – and visitors – figuratively on a journey across Europe, is something very special.
Read more: William Blake exhibition: making a European out of the poet and artist who never left England
Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence, now open at London’s V&A, showcases the legacy of tropical modernism in Ghana and India. This type of architecture was developed specifically for tropical climates, resulting in grand, elaborate structures that provide optimal ventilation and minimize solar heat gain.
Our reviewer, Adefolatomiwa Toye, who is writing a PhD on tropical modernism, was impressed. The show challenges the Eurocentric stories often told about these designs and highlights the architects and laborers from India and Ghana who helped create some of their country’s most iconic buildings.
Read more: Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence at V&A reintroduces Indian and Ghanaian pioneers of the style
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