Review: The Boys from Brazil

The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It happens that the public library of Alkmaar owns a few English books that have been turned into a feature movie. This process from turning a written text into a visual medium has my interest as I hope to learn from others to apply it for myself.
It is my luck that I recently saw the movie "The boys from Brazil" and when I discovered the book - written by Ira Levin - in the library I knew I had to read it.
Mind you, I am not going to take you through a point by point comparison. While this might be of interest to me, this is probably not of interest to you and as such this is not the place for it. Besides, it would require a lot more space and time then I am willing to take up and want to invest. And, as suggested, it might also be of interest to a very small group of people.
This book is in conspiracy thriller. It is the kind where a nefarious organization is planning something bad for the world and only a few 'good' men are willing and able to oppose it. The authorities are ineffectual in these kind of books, either because they don't believe in the conspiracy, are part of it or just too impotent to do anything about it. So it is left to the individual hero to stand up and thwart the bad guys.
In this book the hero it Yakov Liebermann, an aged jewish nazi hunter who is well past his prime. It is the seventies now and a new generation is growing up. The second world war has been over for thirty years and other wars caused the interest in the nazis to fade away. There Vietnam; there is the conflict between the Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab countries; there is the cold war. The world has changed.
Liebermann is an unusual hero, as he is old and has fallen on hard times. But he gets involved nevertheless when he gets a call from Brazil from a young man who is subsequently murdered. The man mentions one name that peeks Liebermann's interest. That is the name Mengele. The Nazi doctor who misbehaved at Auschwitz and is hiding out somewhere in South America.
The investigation then goes underway as Liebermann slowly starts tp uncover the plot. He is however not without help. A lot of people still respect him or feel obliged to help him. With the assistance of these and others he finds out what is behind 'the boys from Brazil'.
The story is an interesting one and although the conspiracy is a bit improbable, it isn't so improbable as to be impossible like other conspiracy are.
What for me makes this book interesting is the way Ira Levin writes. At first I thought he couldn't write proper English, but it seems that he pictures himself how Yakov would have spoken English and thus his English sounds a bit awkward, because Yakov is Austrian. He often uses that in case of for instance Mengele. Although they think and speak in English, they are expressing themselves in a way a foreigner would. Not exactly right.
The writing is also low on explicit violence. While the plot necessarily requires a lot of deaths, these are mostly mentioned or implied. In fact there are only a few described killing scenes.
But probably the best reason are they way he sets up and describes some of the key moments in the story. There is one where Mengele finds out that his plan is going awry. He is good spirits, boisterous, pleasant and then, when he finds out something has gone wrong, the mask comes off and he becomes a violent man.
Also the climatic scene at the end where Mengele and Libermann confront each other is brilliantly setup.
Now to be honest, I have been influenced by the movie. Levin's Liebermann doesn't look at all like Laurence Olivier does in the movie. And every time the image of Olivier set itself over that of Ira Levin's Liebermann in the book.
This even more goes for Gregory Peck, who just dominates the movie as Mengele and thus is the Mengele from the book. The final confrontation in the book is one that occurs between Peck and Olivier.
Now a final note on some of the differences between the book and the movie. There aren't that many, the movie is recently loyal to the book.
However, in the movie Liebermann investigates more or less without many outside help, while in the book he does get help from people. And, as said before, in the book the killings and the killers are mostly mentioned in a offhand manner, while they take some more precedence in the movie.
There is one more thing that makes a difference between the book and the movie. The book works out the plot and the confrontations much better and that is not strange as a book can just take more time to set these things up. What in the movie looks like strange random meetings, is logically setup in the book.
I liked the book and would recommend it if you like conspiracy stories or like to see how books are turned into movies. Ira Levin has a writing style you have to get used to, but once you understand it is a good read.

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Henry and Kristl witnessed The Trial (1962)

"Nowadays you can hardly say anything against Orson Welles without
invoking scorn and ridicule," Kristl mused.

"You were going to?"

"Not on purpose, but I feel a bit apprehensive about it. I mean you
have a certain amount of leeway towards almost any other director,
except for Welles.. You have to say he was a great guy.."

"Pff.." Henry said.

"Yeah."

"You do not have to, with me," Henry said.

"Thanks."

"So, I think it is an old boring slow moving that is a bit confusing,
to say the least," Henry said.

"You think so?"

"I mean, black and white in 1962," Henry said.

"Uh, well..is that such a big thing?"

"Yeah.. and no action."

"Okay..I feel compelled to come to the defense of this movie."

Henry smiled, but he hid his smile behind his hand and pretended to
take sip from his tea, "Hot," he remarked.

"Regardless of anything it's at least a decent film, although it seems
to be all over the place," Kristl said.

"It looks like someone pasted a lot of 'scenes' together without much
sense and pawned it off as a coherent movie," Henry said.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"It seems to be quite true to the book.. which means that any coherence
in the movie, or any incoherence for that matter, must stem from the
book," Kristl said.

"Then the books must be a bit of a confusing mess," Henry said.

"Maybe, but I liked the movie, you know. It was surreal, strange and
unsettling. Which seems appropriate to me.."

"Right."

"For the Kafka story that is."

"Oh, did you read it by the way?"

"No," Kristl shook her head.

"Me neither."

"I think that goes for most of the audience," Kristl said.

"Yeah. So how you know it is fitting?"

"Well, other people say so that it is. Except for the ending. Which was
thought off by Orson Welles. He felt it to be more appropriate. It seem
to have to do with the holocaust. I am not quite sure. Seems more that
the end is fitting to a cold war."

"Yeah. But anyway, too old a movie for me really," Henry said.

"I think it's a good movie, but not astounding. Perkins is such a
dubious choice. At times he is really excellent, but at other times he
seems to be a poor choice. He has these wild mood swings. He constantly
hovers between assertive and dejected. It's just odd how he swings from
one attitude to the opposite."

"Heh."

"And there seems to be no development in his character. He just seems
to go from one mood to the other depending on what is fitting for the
scene at the moment. So there seems to be no humanit that drives him,
just like: in this scene he should be angry and in this scene he should
be desperate."

"Ah."

"It is just a bit to fabricated. A very nice fabrication, but a
fabrication nevertheless."

"Like most movies."

"Yup. Did you know someone made a sequel to the trial?"

"Yes I did. Will Eisner made one called the Appeal. In it justice is
done."

"Oh you know.."

"Hey it's a comic. It was Eisner responding to Kafka. While Kafka
painted a surreal world in which a man was the victim of soulless
bureaucracy, Eisner seems to say that in a democratic society 'they'
would not get away with it in the end."

"Maybe someone should make a movie about that?" Henry said.

"Maybe someone will."

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057427/reviews-108

Henry and Kristl did not last to see 13 Assassins

"Gosh," said Henry.

He and Kristl were both gaping at the large screen that adorned one
side of the wall and which had, mercifully, gone black. A soft sound of
static emitted from the screen. It was the only sound in the otherwise
silent room.

Kristl pressed a button on her wrist watch and glanced at the display.

"Fifteen minutes."

"That long?" Henry gasped.

Kristl nodded.

"Maybe we can skip to the fight, you know the one that is claimed to be
the best since.. Kill Bill?", Henry said.

"I somehow got the feeling that it will be as brutal, sadistic,
gruesome and otherwise revolting as the part of the movie that we have
seen up till now. In fact; I would not want to chance it, even if there
was a small chance that it will turn out to be otherwise."

"Uhm?"

"You think it will?" Kristl stared at him.

"I lost you there... Yet, you know, Kill Bill. It was a great fight
scene. I assume that they mean the fight between the bride and the 99."

"Well the suggestion is there. Assumption and all that."

"It makes me so curious. Just to see if it is really that great."

"The filmmakers would be happy then. They got you hooked by just
alluding to Kill Bill. You immediately draw comparisons. It creates
expectations without actually promising much and thus you want to watch
the movie.Smart advertising."

Henry nodded.

"But just think of this. How many of the movies we have seen started
out one way and then turned into something completely different along
the way?"

"Well.. not that many."

"So what is the likelihood that a movie starting out with one sickening
scene after the other, done in drab colors, populated with
interchangeable characters, done in an unremarkable style and devoid of
humor, will become the opposite in the end? Will become to resemble
Kill Bill?"

"Not very likely..."

"So why should I want to suffer all that just in the forlorn hope that
it might turn out to be different?"

"Eh.. because maybe it will?"

"Okay.. I can not stop you from trying, but I rather watch something
that I like to watch and I think might be watchable till the end. Let's
pop in another movie?"

"We got Azumi and Azumi 2?," Henry smiled at Kristl.

"More Japanese swordplay?"

"Yes. Was that not the reason we actually wanted to watch this one in
the first place: to compare them?"

"That is true."

"Besides.. it has a girl as the lead and.."

"...you like kick-ass girls.." Kristl sighed.

"Nothing wrong with that."

"Only that it is sexist."

"At least it is not grisly."

"As if the one precludes the other."

"Uh? What do you mean?"

"There are some twisted people out there."

"Yeah."

"I hope they remain out there and out of my mind. I find those twisted
images and thoughts disturbing."

"Right."

"One more reason not to watch this movie."

"If you think so. I wish it had a sassy fighter girl..I would have
watched it.. In a skirt that is almost to short.. Like Azumi."

"Pervert."

"Thanks sooo much."

"You are welcome."

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436045/

Henry and Kristl space out on The Road(2009)

“Bleak, bleaker, bleakest. Is there a word that would top bleakest?”

“Sunshine,” Henry said.

“Sunshine?” Kristl’s jaw dropped and she gave Henry a look of incredulity.

“Yes. It certainly would top bleakest.”

“I am somehow missing…”

“After the rain comes sunshine. Every dark cloud has silver lining. Come winter, come summer. So despair will inevitably result in..?”

“I am not sure that..”

“Sure you are sure.. look at yourself,” Henry beamed

“What?”

“Well, you are not hesitant to point out that you do not like war, while having spent a lot of time reading about it, watching war movies and writing about it. What would you say would be the lesson from all of that?”

“That war is hell and a waste of time and lives?”

“Sure.”

“So what does that say about this movie?”

“That bleak movies suck, can be turned of f and one goes to watch a bunch of nice movies that have uplifting nice endings and then you suddenly feel a lot better about watching films like,” Henry paused for a moment, “like...romantic comedies.”

“Those would top bleakest to,” Kristl shivered and then continued, “They make me feel down. Like this movie does.”

Henry suddenly rose, walked out of the viewing room and returned a few minutes later with a cup of tea which he handed to Kristl, “Have this yourself a nice cup of tea.”

Tea, Henry knew, was something handy to hand out. Even the most dedicated addict would not turn down a cup of tea and it gave you a nice feel to drink something warm.

“How come you are so..”

“Undepressed?”

“Yes, I mean. Geez,  this movie is.. I mean, well the world turns to shit and everyone is dead or dying and the only livestock that is left to eat are other humans. And even when they are not trying to have you for dinner they want to rob you or profit in another way from you.  And this in a landscape drained of color except for sepia and grim gray. The only thing that is positive is the dedication of the father to the son.  But that is even more depressing as it is either naive or totally at odds with what is happening. So what is the point ? At some they finally end up at a place where we hear the father says that at the other side of the ocean a father and a boy, just like them, are probably sitting and wondering if there is a better place to go? If there is no hope, why not take the gun and shoot your son and yourself before you run out of bullets? If you love him, would you not do that to spare him the suffering that lies ahead? I do not even understand why they would drag on when..,” Kristl swallowed hard.

Henry sat down next to Kristl and put his arm around her and for once she did not stiffen the first few seconds, “Gosh, Kristl it is just a movie.”

“A well acted movie. Well shot. I mean.. look at the cinematography, but in the end it is  not much different from say a movie like…. 'The hobbit, the desolation of Smaug.' Or one of the Lord of the Rings movie  for that matter,” Henry said.

“WHAT?”

“Well, it is about a make believe world, with make believe people, undergoing make believe experiences and acting in a make believe manner.”

Kristl smiled thinly at that, “You can not compare...this to.. It is in a whole different category.”

“Or say.. ‘Go west’, by the Marx Brothers,” Henry continued.

“But that is even… I mean that is an absurd movie.. With absurd people in it..totally wacky.. That is what a Marx brothers movie is..”

“Remember the train station scene you showed me once? It is from that movie”

“Yes.. That is very funny, but...”

“Totally wacky.. over the top nonsense.”

“Yes.. but.”

“Did it make you laugh?”

“well.. yes.. it..”

“Does it make you feel better thinking about it?”

“Yes..”

“Some people have that with romantic comedies.”

“Yes..but...”

“And so... wait.. Listen to this little story?”

“What..”

“A guy is hitting himself on the head with a hammer and in comes another guy who asks him.. why do you do that? Well.. he says, it feels so nice when I stop doing it.”

“That is absurd.”

“So there is your answer.”

“Huh?”

“I feel so undepressed because the movie ended. Somewhat cheerfully than expected. But it is done.”

“Uh.”

“In one movie one actor concludes a process by throwing a ring into the fires of the mountain after being beset upon by evil beings while wandering through a desolate landscape. In this movie they do the same, more or less, except the ring is now a boy and they do not throw him into the fires.. well not literally.”

“That is some comparison.”

“Yup, except this movie is more bleak because no doubt we are in a depression, so movies like these get made, just like we had this upsurge of disasters movie in the seventies of the last century, with earthquakes, meteors and global nuclear war threatening earth. And now we have that again. As sign of the times. But it’s just as much nonsense as any other movie.. including ‘Go West.”

“That one is at least funny.”

“So let’s watch that as an antidote to the bleakness of movies like The Road.”

“Let’s..”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/

Henry and Kristl spied out Fort Apache, The Bronx(1981)

“I liked this movie!.” Kristl said while she leaned back into the couch as the credits rolled. She laid her black combat boots on the raised woodwork that Henry recently had made in front of the screen to enhance the mood of them being in a regular movie theater.It was part of Henry’s ongoing project to turn their garage-turned-cinema into a movie theater for real. That is why the walls had people like Katherine Hepburn, James Coburn and  Humphrey Bogart staring into the room from old movie posters that adorned the walls. Kristl had remarked something about being subjected to the scrutiny of dead people.
Behind them were lines of those folding movie chairs, which were non functional, as that had made them cheap, but still gave the feel that at any one time the room could be filled with a throng of people carrying big bags of popcorn and soda pops.

 “It was an engaging movie. I mean I sort of could connect with Paul Newman. And it gave me a feeling that what you saw was real. Not embellished or made to look heroic or just distorted for the sake of getting a message across.”

 “Hmm.”  Henry said.

 “Are you going to say…. that you did not like it?” Kristl said.

 “I feel pretty depressed.” Henry said.

 “Well, it seems to have been a depressing place. The south Bronx.”

 “There isn’t  really anything heroic. Not even the main lead is. I mean.. where does this all go? I feel a bit like when we watched The Road. Utter bleakness.Grey on grey.. and nothing is going to get better.”

 “Well, there is this human story of Paul Newman. Who as a veteran cop, still remains a cop, even after all what happened.”

 “Yeah.. but it felt like: you are no good for anything else, so what else are you going to do but be what you already are: a loser cop stuck in a dead end job, with an attitude and mostly shady colleagues for friends. And most of them are no good,  being racist, scumbags, lazy shifts and so on. At some point that new commissioner remarks how many of them are not doing their jobs. It is a dead end place. It is where the dirt is gathering because it can’t slide any deeper.”

 “The new commissioner. That was Ed Asner. I think that it was around that time he played Lou Grant. It was nice to see him act.”

 “Never heard of him.”

 “It was before your time.”

 “It definitely was. That's a movie from 1981.”

 “I was a teen then.”

 “No less. And did you already have those white spikes for hair?”

 “Not exact, they were blue or pink at the time.”

 “Geesh. You did not change much overtime.. except for getting older...” Henry wisely avoided in saying: more portly..

 “Actually I did. I got older and I changed back to what I was.”

 “I see.  A trip to nostalgia.”

 “Perhaps.”

 “Most of what you see in the movie I did see before. I think they call that a cliche. The good cop - bad cop thing. The new commissioner that wants to clean up the precinct. The bad cops killing people. The cocky bad guy.” 

 “Perhaps that is true, but maybe it is because much of those ideas became cliche in hindsight?”

 “Maybe..”

  “It does seems to  focus on the cops..if there are any other people those are either criminals or dope-heads. When you say that the police station is called Fort Apache because it is like a fort in the wilderness that protects the ‘good’ citizen, it would be nice if you got an idea of who they are protecting..”

 “I think I would rather see an action movie in which the good guys win and the bad guys lose.” Henry said, “Much more uplifting.”

 “But in a way it is uplifting. I mean the end is that the bad cop is arrested. The good cop stays on. There is even a sort of understanding between the commissioner and the main guy. And finally his colleague says he will stick with the good cop when he ‘rats’ on the bad cop.”

 “Hm.. I still feel depressed. I feel like I am in a sinking ship and the only thing I can do is to bail out the water with a paper cup. You could say: cool.., a paper cup is better than nothing, but I think it is not much better. It does not make you feel very happy.”

 “Is that the purpose of a movie? Make you feel happy?”

 “You don’t mean to say it should make you feel unhappy?!”

 “uhm.. I mean it can be meant to make you think or give you insight into the life of someone else. A glimpse of their life.”

 “A dim glimpse.”

 Kristl nodded.

 “I go for a beer.” Henry said.



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082402/

Henry and Kristl turned Red: Werewolf hunter (2010)

“Red.”  Henry said. He had slightly raised his voice because he liked to shake up Kristl. Sometimes he suspected her of nodding off, so he felt at obliged to wake her up. He could do no less.

“Yes?” Kristl sat up..

“And everyone is dead.” Henry continued.

“Quite dead..except for Red herself.”

“Even her lover gets killed in the end, by herself no less. Poor Red.”  Henry said.

“I wonder where that kid comes from that sits on her lap at the end scene.” Kristl said, “I wonder many things. Like why make another werewolf movie?”

“That is simple. It is circle of movies. Vampires, werewolves and zombies. One after the other. We have had a vampire hype, we have zombie hype, we will probably see a werewolf hype.”

“And so on. Werewolves do get to be a bit boring, but at least they tried to add some different take to the story. I liked it that Red was not a such a tough chick with no feelings and they added this complication in that her lover was also turned into a werewolf against his will.”

“Yeah, but the low budget made it suffer. I mean when it came down to the combat scenes and showing the werewolves themselves it became quite crappy, especially in those scenes were the werewolves change shape.” Henry felt the stubs on his jaw.

“You had a rough night?” Kristl remarked.

“Yeah.. stayed up late.”

“And drank too much.”

“That too.”

“So was the movie enjoyable, considering the state you are in?”

“Well sort of. It did feel like a rip off from underworld, but a lame one.” Henry said.

“Yeah. And there was nothing remarkable about how it was filmed. I even had the feeling it was a seventies or eighties movie, but it is made in 2010.”

“There are a few nice scenes, like when she was a little girl see a werewolf attack her mother while Red is hiding up in the attic. Or when she walks into the forest clocked in a red blanket. Or wakes up after having slept in the leaves on the forest floor.” Kristl added, “Still the movie falls short in everything. For instance there is a strong reference to Little Red Riding Hood and the movie starts out like a modern version, but this is never referenced or used in any fashion. The romance is wooden and stale. And nothing is done with fact that Red is actually an FBI agent.

“And except for a few scenes, the whole cinematography technique of this movie is just sloppy. Like back lighting in the woods is a strong green hue. It is not scary, it just plain odd.”

“But it isn’t too bad a movie.” Henry said.

“Maybe not. If they had just a tad more budget, cut down on the cgi and had the actors act better it might have been decent, now it is just a less-than-decent movie.”

“A time waster really.”

“Good you had your fun yesterday.”

“Yeah, lame movies are good for recovering from hangovers.” Henry nodded his head, then regretted it.

“And to take a nap.”  Kristl said, “You miss nothing when you do.”

“Right.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1626201/

Henry and Kristl dwell on Dune(2000) the mini series

“So that was Dune.” Henry said with a wry smile. Halfway through the movie they had started a game of backgammon and followed the series in a half hearted way. Then they had enjoyed a Chinese- Indonesian take out diner. Kristl had suggested to order it as it was her time to cook and she had given up on cooking some years ago because she her interpretation of a meal seemed to differ from the tastes of others.
Kristl nodded.
“It was funny. I mean it almost looked like the movie of Lynch, but with lesser actors, lame dialog and fake landscapes. It was funny but because there is already a movie the series seems a bit superfluous.”

“Yes.. it is.” Kristl said.

“But we watched it.” Henry said.

“Some movies are very nice as background imagery. You just can follow the whole thing even if you fail to see parts of it. Dune is like that.” Kristl nodded.

“So what is this?” Henry pointed at a white plastic container.

“It is called babi pangang. Just eat it. I’ll mention what was in it after wards.”

“Not something like monkey flesh or insect bodies?” Henry shuddered.

“No, it’s mundane.” Kristl shook her head.

“Anyway, what was your favorite scene?” Henry asked.

“Not so much a scene.. more I found the clothes the princess was dressed in pretty. She had the proper figure for these fashion dresses. Same with the emperor.  So it’s not a particular scene, but more how they were dressed.”

“Strange to hear that from you. I would not have figured looks were something that interested you.” Henry looked Kristl up and down. What he saw was a woman in her mid forties wearing fade jeans trouser, heavy combat boots and a leather jacket that resembled one of those that were the fashion in the eights. Kristl, so Henry thought, has never gone beyond the punk of the eighties.. Fashion wise she was frozen or retro, because everything became retro after a while.

“The fact I look like left over punker from the eighties, does not mean I have no eye for beauty and fashion. I can not wear it,  but I can enjoy looking at it.” Kristl laughed, “But what was your memorable scene?”

“The moment the Harkonnen baron was poisoned by that little girl. It was funny to see the surprised look on his face.” Henry laughed and then made gargled sounds.

“It is interesting you mention a girl doing that. Because I was not really impressed with the story and specifically with the role of women in the movie.”

“Ah. Not impressed means usually that you were offended.”

“That is a good description. The women in the movie have about two roles. Women either are helpless creatures good for breeding or they are backstabbing schemers not above sleeping with someone just to gain an advancement.“

“Ah.”

“So, no I was not impressed by the whole. But how did you like the story, Henry?”  Kristl said
“It was okay, nothing remarkable. I liked the idea of  the spice. If I am correct that spice is important because space travel over vast distances at great speed can only be accomplished by using spice because it allows you to see into the future. That is something I remember. It is actually not really mentioned in that series, only that without it you can’t travel in space. What do you think?”

“I think that if the story of the books resembles that of the movie in general outlook then it is a tacky badly written story. Let’s take the overall idea: there is an emperor that for reasons unknown puts the noble house Atreides in charge of the single most important planet in the universe, yet he fears the growing influence of those same Atreides to the point that he helps the Harkonnen in regaining the planet through bloody murder and open warfare. What is even more surprising is that the influence and respect that the Atreides have among the houses seems not to translate itself into any noticeable form of power.

And then this whole Harkonnen plot is visibly condoned by the emperor and secretly supported by him, but that does not seem to have any repercussion for him or for the Harkonnen.
Everything is contrived and would not work in reality. And while I can accept a certainly liberty for a story, it remains reality that determines what is likely to work or not. Fantasy, however pushed it its limits, is limited by reality.”

“But everything is just unbelievable. The good guys are very good and the bad guys are very bad. And then these fremen are so nonsensical with their system of killing each other of to establish a ruler. It is utter nonsense because no system like that can work. There has never been a society like that because such a society would rip itself apart and the fact that someone is good in fighting does not mean that he(it is always a he) is also good in making decisions or in any other skill that you require to lead a community. Therefore it is overall a badly written nonsensical story.”

“Hmm.. Lucky it is just a story.” Henry said

“Yes, it is.”

“And this series is just superfluous?”

“Yes, you can watch the movie instead.. it is a lot shorter and better acted and so on and as nonsensical as this series. “

“Hah”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142032/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2