Well said, Webmaster! 

The movie is very descriptive in a rather subtle and gracious flow.

I can’t point out what scene or moment made my eyes wet,

and it certainly wasn’t because of any unhappy or sad scenes.

Rather, it’s a triumph of humanity.

I am glad we picked(actually my daughter) this movie 

while visiting this arctic weather(-9F) of Minneapolis.

I am one of those frequent movie goers. Green book showed in major theaters last December.

Now, it is coming back after Oscar Award. Peter Farrelly, the director of the movie grew up in

Cumberland, Rhode Island where I lived for 23 years. His father was a physician, family

practitioner whose partner was Dr. Park, Korean, lived nearby. Dr. Farrelly had two sons.

Both went to movie business. They majored in comedy. 

Rhode Island is like a small Italy. Forty percent of population is descendant of Italian immigrant.

They came to RI to build Armtrak railroad. Federal Hill in Providence, RI has many Italian restraunts

that serve the best Italian dishes in America. But you can encounter mafias dining there.

Mayor Cianci, distinctively Italian was elected as major of Providence number of times even he went

to jail in between with fraud charges.

Oscar award for 2018 was telling something to Trump. He is against minorities, immigrants. Academy

was for them. Many presenters were minorities. Movies awarded prizes were stories about races. 

Another movie noticeable besides Green book was ‘blackkklansman’. KKK in 1970’s true story displayed

and ending up with 2017 Virginia white supremacist demonstration. The best actor award was given to

Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody. *I am sorry to point out that Viggo Mortensen in Green book did

not get it. He was the son of Egyptian immigrant. Foreign movie “Roma” from Mexico was given many

awards. It was all about life of average Mexican. As far as Trump is concerned, they are drug dealers, 

murders, thieves and criminals. 

As I posted in “Movie for Grown ups award presentation”, the Wife, Don’t you forget me? are other good 

movies to watch for us(grownups). Thank you, WM for nice presentation.

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me, 
Black as the Pit from pole to pole, 
I thank whatever gods may be 
For my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance 
I have not winced nor cried aloud. 
Under the bludgeonings of chance 
My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears 
Looms but the Horror of the shade, 
And yet the menace of the years 
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate, 
How charged with punishments the scroll, 
I am the master of my fate: 
I am the captain of my soul.

----------

We are the master of our destiny. We are responsible for our own happiness. This famous inspirational poem charges us to accept responsibility for our lives no matter our circumstances. Invictus in Latin means unconquered. William Ernest Henley (1849-1903), an English Poet, had one of his legs amputated at the age of 17. The poem, which he wrote while healing from the amputation, is a testimony to his refusal to let his handicap disrupt his life. Indeed, he led a meaningful life as a poet and editor until he passed away at age 53.(from Internet)

Historical uses

• In a speech to the House of Commons on 9 September 1941, Winston Churchill paraphrased the last two lines of the poem, stating "We are still masters of our fate. We still are captains of our souls."^[19]
• While incarcerated at Robben Island prison, Nelson Mandela recited the poem to other prisoners and was empowered by its message of self-mastery.^[20][21]
• The Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate ^[22] Aung San Suu Kyi stated, "This poem had inspired my father, Aung San, and his contemporaries during the independence struggle, as it also seemed to have inspired freedom fighters in other places at other times."^[23]
• The poem was read by US POWs in North Vietnamese prisons. James Stockdale recalls being passed the last stanza, written with rat droppings on toilet paper, from fellow prisoner David Hatcher.^[24]
• The line "bloody, but unbowed" was the Daily Mirror's headline the day after the 7 July 2005 London bombings.^[25]
• The poem's last stanza was quoted by US President Barack Obama at the end of his speech at Nelson Mandela's memorial service (10 December 2013) in South Africa and published on the front cover of the 14 December 2013 issue of The Economist.^[26]
• The poem was chosen by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as his final statement before his execution.^[27][28]
• Jerry Kramer recited the poem during his National Football League (NFL) Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF) induction speech.^[29]From pole to pole refers to the North Pole and South Pole of a planet; it means all over the world. 

With our WM's encouraging introduction my wife and I saw the movie today.

And I would like to let the above famous poem eloquently express

what I felt, i.e. the unconquerable spirit of these two brave men

against all odds, some of which most of us had some taste of in our life times.

Stanza by Stanza Analysis(from Internet)

First Stanza

The imagery is strong. It is night time, the dark covers everything in black. The night then becomes a symbol of hopelessness, a depressive medium in which the soul is lost. The future cannot be seen.

This is similar in feeling to the idea of St John of the Cross, the Spanish mystic, writing in the 16th century of 'the dark night of the soul', where the human spirit has lost its normal confident, self-assured status.

Although the poem doesn't explicitly mention christianity, there is a sense that this opening line is rooted in religiousness. The speaker is coming out of a period of total darkness, a hell.

The second line reinforces the first - the black pit suggesting that this was a deep depression, a spiritual darkness covering the whole world, the world being that of the speaker.

And lines three and four acknowledge that help was given somewhere, somehow, perhaps by a deity or deities, not by any named god or specific creator. The speaker implies that their unconquerable soul is a gift from a godly realm. It's not quite prayer but it is grateful thanks.

Second Stanza

There is an interesting start to this second quatrain - fell clutch is delicious wording for the reader's tongue and basically means cruel grasp, the speaker stating clearly that despite being tightly held, in an awful situation, they didn't once give in or show signs of weakness.

Note how the speaker is at first subject to the negative but then responds in positive fashion, a repeated theme throughout the poem.

The third and fourth lines follow a similar path. There is strong assonance - use of repeated vowels:

Under the bludgeonings of chance/My head is bloody but unbowed.

The speaker here suggesting that despite being battered and wounded there is still no subservient or self-pitying bow of the head. The head is still held high.

Third Stanza

The speaker looks into the future, taking into account all the anger and pain associated with life on earth, and particularly in places such as hospitals. The 'Horror of the shade' could be some hellish place of dark where depression lies, a menacing thought.

Again, the reader is advised that there will be no capitulation, no giving in. In fact, the speaker has been unafraid throughout the ordeal, which has lasted years, and will continue to show a brave face.

The message is underlined - the speaker has a clear intention, to survive against all the odds.

Fourth Stanza

The climax to the poem contains an allusion to the christian bible, New Testament Matthew (7:13/14) where Jesus says 'Strait is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it'.

What is the speaker suggesting when the words It matters not how are placed in front of strait the gate?

This is the gate that leads to the heavenly life. Conversely, the second line is an inference to the depths of hell - the punishments being the sins written down during a lifetime.

The speaker is affirming that, whether a person believes in heaven and hell or not, the plain fact is that the individual is in charge, is in control of their own fate. Henley experienced pain and distress for many years - the poem is rooted in the awful circumstances he found himself in when a boy and a young man.

More importantly, the poem's message is universal in its appeal. It says quite emphatically that, it doesn't matter who you are, believer or not, you can overcome dark times by being brave and never losing faith in your own soul's strength.

Little wonder that many famous and many unknown people over the years have used the inspiration of this poem to help them face personal trials and tribulations.

Oscar fever has arrived here at the corner of Great Lake as well.

It was a rather abrupt decision for us to see this movie,'Green Book'.
It was mostly due to the influences of friends of our websites.

I have to give credit to this movie, which has a magic power for
old folks like us to continuously follow the plots without getting
into sleeping mode, considering our chairs being so comfortable and
the time being right after dinner.

It was a story of 'Human Victory' named 'Friendship'! if this
odd couple could do it under circumstances of the early 1960s at deep
South of USA, we all could do it as well.

It was not extraordinary, spectacular film, but entertaining and funny
enough for most of us to be able to enjoy watching it.     KJ