Saturday Night
At Scottie's party on Saturday night, I was trying, with very little chance of success considering I was not 100% sober, to explain a great article I had read somewhere. What I mean by this is I said something about the article, and people looked at me like I was retarded. Which may have been true at the time.
People were talking about that wonderful film clip to Destination Calabria, and how the meaningful clip details the exact feelings the writer was trying to convey the tits and arse are really quite good.
The article in questions tries to justify staring at the film clip without seeming like a dirty old man.
You can read it here:
By Jack Marx
Many readers have written me asking if I know of any underlying substance to be found in the video for Alex Gaudino's Destination Calabria. It seems that many people are drawn to watch it, but, for one reason or another, require justification for doing so. It is fortunate, to say the least, that my knowledge of both interpretative dance and World War II are so thorough, otherwise I may not have spotted that this most eye-catching video is, in fact, a metaphorical telling of the story behind the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland in September, 1943. Far from being a mere adventure in soft-porn to be pulled over by men of cheap and thumping virtue, Destination Calabria, then, is a video of great historical significance, a handy teaching aid for young folk who might otherwise become easily bored by the subject matter, and an excellent tool for the adult buff who simply wishes to 'polish up' on his military history.
The first thing that gave the game away for me was the uniforms. The helmets worn by the marching girls bear an unmistakable resemblance to those worn by officers of the British Royal Artillery during the 19th century, a division with direct military lineage to the British Eighth Army, which, under General Bernard Montgomery, lead the Allied invasion of Italy with the "Operation Baytown" landings across the Strait of Messina into Calabria on September 3, 1943.
There was much discussion and argument as to whether Operation Baytown was a wise move, Montgomery himself critical of the plan from the start. In short, Monte thought the action "frivolous", as any real Axis opposition was surely, he believed, to be found further up the Italian peninsula. Monty also held grave fears that any ground gained from the tip of Calabria upwards might be able to be held in the event of an Axis counterattack mounted amphibiously from the rear.
Monte's concerns, I believe, are cleverly illustrated by the way the 'soldiers' in the video can be seen to be continually glancing to the left, or "north", as their position on the southern Calabrian coast would place them, in expectation of action taking place in that direction, and the repeated references to an alarmingly exposed rear.
As it turned out, Monty was basically right, and it is common knowledge that the Italian campaign foundered badly after the initial gains in the south. Low morale and outright mutiny were the result of poor strategic planning by the Allies. This is superbly represented in Destination Calabria during what I call the "poor morale" segment, during which the 'soldiers' can be seen laying about, drinking, and generally giving a questionable account of themselves.
All looked lost, until the combined landings at Anzio and the orchestrated thrusts of the 5th and 8th Armies saw overwhelming superiority in men and material driving the Nazis from Italy, a moment beautifully represented by the sudden explosion of 'reinforcements' visible in Destination Calabria, and while it is certainly significant that the video ends with a poignant shot of a soldier's lips gently pulling away from a saxophone, I must admit to having absolutely no idea of what this is meant to historically represent.
In closing, then, this is an excellent historical document, in much the same way as Michael Gray's The Weekend was a fine protest against WorkChoices.
People were talking about that wonderful film clip to Destination Calabria, and how the meaningful clip details the exact feelings the writer was trying to convey the tits and arse are really quite good.
The article in questions tries to justify staring at the film clip without seeming like a dirty old man.
You can read it here:
By Jack Marx
Many readers have written me asking if I know of any underlying substance to be found in the video for Alex Gaudino's Destination Calabria. It seems that many people are drawn to watch it, but, for one reason or another, require justification for doing so. It is fortunate, to say the least, that my knowledge of both interpretative dance and World War II are so thorough, otherwise I may not have spotted that this most eye-catching video is, in fact, a metaphorical telling of the story behind the Allied invasion of the Italian mainland in September, 1943. Far from being a mere adventure in soft-porn to be pulled over by men of cheap and thumping virtue, Destination Calabria, then, is a video of great historical significance, a handy teaching aid for young folk who might otherwise become easily bored by the subject matter, and an excellent tool for the adult buff who simply wishes to 'polish up' on his military history.
The first thing that gave the game away for me was the uniforms. The helmets worn by the marching girls bear an unmistakable resemblance to those worn by officers of the British Royal Artillery during the 19th century, a division with direct military lineage to the British Eighth Army, which, under General Bernard Montgomery, lead the Allied invasion of Italy with the "Operation Baytown" landings across the Strait of Messina into Calabria on September 3, 1943.
There was much discussion and argument as to whether Operation Baytown was a wise move, Montgomery himself critical of the plan from the start. In short, Monte thought the action "frivolous", as any real Axis opposition was surely, he believed, to be found further up the Italian peninsula. Monty also held grave fears that any ground gained from the tip of Calabria upwards might be able to be held in the event of an Axis counterattack mounted amphibiously from the rear.
Monte's concerns, I believe, are cleverly illustrated by the way the 'soldiers' in the video can be seen to be continually glancing to the left, or "north", as their position on the southern Calabrian coast would place them, in expectation of action taking place in that direction, and the repeated references to an alarmingly exposed rear.
As it turned out, Monty was basically right, and it is common knowledge that the Italian campaign foundered badly after the initial gains in the south. Low morale and outright mutiny were the result of poor strategic planning by the Allies. This is superbly represented in Destination Calabria during what I call the "poor morale" segment, during which the 'soldiers' can be seen laying about, drinking, and generally giving a questionable account of themselves.
All looked lost, until the combined landings at Anzio and the orchestrated thrusts of the 5th and 8th Armies saw overwhelming superiority in men and material driving the Nazis from Italy, a moment beautifully represented by the sudden explosion of 'reinforcements' visible in Destination Calabria, and while it is certainly significant that the video ends with a poignant shot of a soldier's lips gently pulling away from a saxophone, I must admit to having absolutely no idea of what this is meant to historically represent.
In closing, then, this is an excellent historical document, in much the same way as Michael Gray's The Weekend was a fine protest against WorkChoices.