noted. 12/19/2011

• Chinese Village Plans More Protests - WSJ.com

  • Wukan—a fishing village of about 20,000 in southern China's relatively prosperous Guangdong province—has become a symbol of an uncertain year for China. Global economic softness and worries about inflation and housing prices have added to general unease, while a thriving Internet culture has given voice to criticism of how local and central governments conduct business.

     

    People in Wukan over the weekend stressed that their concerns were over the conduct of local officials, with some even pleading for Beijing to intervene on their behalf. Many residents of Wukan and in its surrounding areas are calling for an investigation by Beijing into local government dealings, in particular involving the village Communist Party chief, Xue Chang, who has served in the position for about 40 years.

• The Conformist (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  • Film critic and author Robin Buss writes that the cinematography suggests Clerici's inability to conform with "normal" reality: the reality of the time is "abnormal."^[5] Also, Bertolucci's cinematic style synthesizes expressionism and "fascist" film aesthetics. Its style has been compared with classic German films of the 1920s and 1930s, such as in Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will and Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

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