HAPPY BIRTHDAY 2 MI HERMANA!!!!!!!!!!

Don't freak, the image above is a still from one of my sister's favourite films, Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev. I could never get myself to watch it, as much as serious film critics will rave about the film..
I JUST CAN'T.

I mean, look at the film still. Just look at it. Does it appeal to you?
Would YOU want to sit through 3 hours and watch a Russian monk/artist pay for his sins on earth? (That was just a preconception I got from the DVD cover, it may not be so.)

Mind you, this is no Passion of Christ. No sadomasochistic gore. No diluted tomato ketchup splashing all over the set. It does not send the weak minded into a spiritual revival. No Monica Bellucci as repentant Magdalene. No LOTR's WormTongue lookalike demon persona lurking in the background cradling a baby remincscent to Austin Powers. No Mel Gibson.

Most of you will say, 'I thought Tarkovsky was a Baroque composer?' Some grade 8 piano students actually said that.

No. Andrei Tarkovsky is a revelation to Russian cinema.
My sister acknowledges that. And she is not even a film student. In fact, my sister is a degree holder in both Art History and Film Studies without actually spending three years studying Visual Culture. She knows more than I know in my course without investing £7950 for an obligatory piece of paper. She knows more about the French surrealists than my thesis supervisor. I am just a redundant puppet in my course.

She even visits their graves in Paris.

If you think coming to Broadway Cinema with me is mundane, you are naive. While I do somersaults watching Almodovar's films, she'd rather watch Godard's Breathless. Spanish sleaziness versus the French 'beating around the bush': You can see how our interests conflict.

We are very different. I am a 20 year old empty teenybopper whereas she is a worldly-wise romantic. She has the greatest wit of our generation, and a genius in her own right. And hell, her sarcastic humour can put the devil to shame.... 'La Bicicletta'...

As my sister once told me, 'Travelling is education.'
I can't stand people who travel to Paris and come back claiming that they are cultured just because they have visited The Louvre, or perhaps,barged into an obscure art dealer.
You learn with a sincere approach, not because you want to brag to your friends. You travel because you sincerely WANT to travel, not because you subscribe to peer pressure. (Very common student phenomena in Malaysian cases)

If there is one person who deserves to travel the world for the right reasons, it would be my sister. And if you think that I am special, that's because my sister has inspired me in every way.

No, I am still NOT going to watch Andrei Rublev.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY and Many happy returns!!!!!!

lots of love and God bless,
Su Hermana Yng Lyn