Wake in Fright
«It’s terrifying without being a horror movie. It begins with this amazing shot, which is just a set of railways going off into the distance and just dead straight, red, way up high, and you see a schoolhouse on one side and another building on the side. And it just pans around really slowly, and you just see desert, the space of Australia, the amount of space is there, and you see nothing until it comes back around and this little figure walking out one schoolhouse to the next. And it’s about this teacher that’s on his way home to meet his fiance back in Sydney, but ends up in a mining town and the locals force him to take part in a kangaroo hunt. It was quite famous because I think they did actually go kangaroo shooting. I think it won the Palme d’Or in the ‘70s too. It’s amazing but terrifying.»
Buy Wake in FrightThe True History of the Kelly Gang is in cinemas now
Snowtown
«Snowtown was Justin’s first film and genuinely, it’s the most affected I’ve ever been in a cinema. It’s so amazing and so brutal, and I woke up with the film the next day. To be honest, I woke up sad, it sticks with you and it’s just so intense.
«Dan Henshall in it is so fantastic. And the score! It’s about a real life serial killer in South Australia and they do this weird stuff with this tone running through it. , there are these portraits that are almost like stop motion and it’s so disconcerting with this throbbing musical accompaniment. I was so taken back by that film that when I auditioned for Macbeth I was just so thrilled to meet him.»
Frontier Dentistry
There was no dentist in old Zorra, though in 1852 there was one physician in West Zorra. In fact there were only two dentists in all Oxford County – in East Oxford and Norwich. So you did DIY dentistry or suffered. Though Mackay did take some basic missionary medical training at Princeton, we can assume that he first learned his dental skills in Zorra. This is clear in his account of how he pulled his first tooth in Taiwan (FFF 1896:351):
“My first attempt to extract a tooth was in 1873. On leaving Tek-chham with the students one day we were followed by a dozen soldiers who had been sent to watch our movements. One of their number was suffering intense pain from a decayed tooth; he said, “There is a worm in it.” I had no forceps but after examining it I got a piece of hard wood, shaped it as desired, and with it removed the tooth. It was primitive dentistry to be sure, but the tooth was out, and the poor soldier wept for joy and was most profuse in his gratitude.“
Mackay did not plan to pull teeth when he went to Taiwan, but here on the road was a call to “listen to conscience and obey it” in the spirit of Jesus. Out comes the farmboy pocket knife, his experience carving wood, the memory of how it was done in Zorra, and courage to give it a try.
Mackay discovered that (FFF1896:316):
“The priests and other enemies of the mission may persuade people that fever and other diseases have been cured, not by our medicines, but by the intervention of the gods; but the relief from toothache is too unmistakable, and because of this tooth extracting has been more than anything else effective in breaking down prejudice and opposition.”
Frontier dentistry became central to his evangelism. There are over 200 references to pulling teeth in his Diary.
“Our usual custom in touring through the country is to take our stand in an open space, often on the stone steps of a temple, and, after singing a hymn or two, proceed to extract teeth and then preach the gospel.”
Булочка с корицей: что это значит?
Булочка с корицей — это выражение, которое часто употребляется в современном сленге среди молодежи. Оно имеет скрытый смысл и обозначает что-то приятное и привлекательное.
Если использовать это выражение в контексте юмора, то «булочка» может означать женское тело, например, ягодицы, а «корица» — это то, что делает это тело особенным и привлекательным. Однако, следует отметить, что данное выражение несет в себе легкую сексуальную подоплеку и может нарушать нормы приличия.
Иногда «булочка с корицей» можно встретить в контексте кулинарии. Тогда это обозначает вкусный десерт — булочку с корицей. В таком случае данное выражение не несет скрытых сексуальных намеков и применяется просто как описание вкусной еды.
Singing Hymns
The hymns (or more correctly psalm paraphrases) sung in Zorra were sung acapella in Gaelic led by a precentor. It was not until 1900 that the Embro Church installed an organ. W.P Mackay (1899:79ff) vividly describes the effect on the congregation of “those majestic Psalms in the old Gaelic airs, right heartily did the whole congregation join, until there was a volume of sound surpassing in power, if not in harmony, anything furnished us today by our choirs and “kists o’ whistles”.
As they still do, these hymns communicate with emotional colour the elements of faith, planting it firmly in the heart of even boys who fell asleep during the two hour sermons and envied the Methodists because they did not have to memorize the Scottish Catechism.
There are hundreds of references to singing hymns in Mackay’s Diary. We can assume that he taught them to his students in Minnan (language spoken by the majority of people in Taiwan) and led them as precentor. Probably Mackay had obtained a copy of the early Minnan hymnbook of Rev. William Young of the London Missionary Society.
“After breakfast and the Singing of Several hymns I told A Hoa that he could leave if he choose and return to Tamsui or remain inside or follow me into the Streets. In a moment he was at my side, the rest followed immediately so together we walked out and along the main road or Street. The villagers were in groups talking vehemently and casting terrible looks at us. Their eyes were the pictures of pent up rage. A Stone was thrown by a young Strong looking fellow. It nearly struck me on the side of the head. We turned about and began to sing a hymn, then I spoke, a few came quite near. We sang again, then walked on all round and returned to the house we occupied Where we read the Gospel by Mark clean through.” (Mackay’s Diary May 25, 1873)
At times this hymn singing seemed to have a powerful efficacy, with a volume if not harmony, surely unimagined in Zorra:
Made a trip to Tho -a-hng and on our way back over the table-land and in the midst of a fir grove when quite dark several Robbers Surrounded us with long knifes in their hands. I suggested to Start up a hymn. One of the ruffians said roughly “Come on they have no money.” It was long after many retired to rest that we got back. How strange! (Mackay’s Diary June 9, 1873)
Mackay’s favorite hymn, often mentioned in his diary, was Isaac Watts’ 1781 “I’m not ashamed to own my Lord”.
I’m not ashamed to own my LordOr to defend his cause,Maintain the glory of his cross,And honour all his laws.Jesus, my Lord! I know his nameHis name is all my boastNor will he put my soul to shameNor let my hope be lost.
It is still in the 1997 Presbyterian Book of Praise (#393), though not to the vigorous tune Lyngham sung by Mackay. It is not in Voices United. Ironically is was dropped from the 2007 hymnbook of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. Perhaps a sign that there are now a lot of “dead churches” where, especially in prosperous Taiwan today, “too much money by far had been expended upon church edifices”.
In its 4 verses the hymn encapsulates the faith that Mackay took to Taiwan from Zorra. Today when we honour the memory of Mackay we should also say “Peace to the honoured dust of those brave pioneers!”, those Highland refugees who helped build both Canada and Taiwan.
My dad
«Why I wanted to do the film was because a year before the audition came about I had this conversation with my dad where he told me all this stuff about what it was like growing up there. I had never asked. It wasn’t until I was asking for another reason that I was like, ‘tell me about what happened when you grew up.’ He told me stuff like how his granddad came from Ireland to be there and I just found it amazing.
«His accent isn’t that strong, though. He came over to England when he was 21 so I don’t think he sounds English but only because we’re in England. It’s sort of a pretty neutral accent but he sounds more Aussie when he talks with his brother. For Ned, we wanted to be subtle and not too Ocher which is sort of broad Australian. The equivalent in England, I guess, might be the Cockney accent. Ocher is more of a working class Aussie accent and Ned is that but there’s also a kind of subtlety to it rather than being too on the nose.»
Legacy
Mackay’s From Far Formosa is considered an important early missionary ethnography of Taiwan and an important contribution to the anthropological understanding of the culture and customs of the people of Taiwan during that period. Mackay himself was as fascinated by the cultures and habitat he found as he was disapproving of native practices he viewed as idolatry. He spoke approvingly of the destruction of art and other artefacts previously regarded as sacred by his newly Christian converts. Of his rustic apartment in an aboriginal village, Mackay wrote:
Mackay was otherwise an enthusiastic collector of cultural artefacts and specimens of local flora and fauna. Many items collected by him are today preserved at the ethnology department of the Royal Ontario Museum (Ontario, Canada) and the Aletheia University Museum (Tamsui, Taiwan).
Mackay monument in Taiwan at Tamsui.
Although Mackay had suffered from meningitis and malaria, he would die of throat cancer on 2 June 1901 in Tamsui. He was interred near Oxford College (牛津學堂; now Aletheia University) in Tamsui, Taiwan; more specifically, his grave is in a small cemetery in the eastern corner of the Tamkang Middle School campus, where his own son was interred adjacent to him. The major private Christian hospital in downtown Taipei is named Mackay Memorial Hospital, built in 1912 to replace the smaller Mackay Hospital he started in Tamsui in 1882. In recent years Mackay’s life has been celebrated by advocates of a Taiwanese identity and historical understanding that stands distinct from the narratives brought to the island by Japan and China.
On 30 June 2004, a large bust statue of George Leslie Mackay was dedicated outside the Oxford County offices in Woodstock, Ontario. The delegation from Taiwan in attendance included representatives from the Aletheia University and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. The event was also attended by representatives of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the United Church of Canada, local, regional, and national Canadian dignitaries, and a number of Mackay descendants from across North America. One of his grandchildren is Dr. John Ross Mackay.
In November 2006, a Canadian Television documentary was aired titled The Black Bearded Barbarian of Taiwan. It was broadcast in both Mandarin and English on OMNI 2 as part of their Signature Series.
Rohrer states that Mackay, «allowed himself to truly encounter and to be transformed by the people he sought to serve.» He gave the local Christians leadership roles in the churches, giving them perhaps more autonomy and freedom than any other western missionary to China in his period.
Opera production in Taiwan
In 2008 Taiwan’s government invested in the production of the world’s first-ever Taiwanese/English-language opera based on Mackay’s life. Over a hundred opera singers and production crew from Europe, Asia, and the United States were brought for on the project. Mackay: The Black Bearded Bible Man had its world premier on 27 November 2008, at Taiwan’s National Theater and ran until 30 November.
Mackay: The Black Bearded Bible Man took more than five years to produce. Taiwanese composer Gordon S.W. Chin and librettist Joyce Chiou set out in 2002 to create an opera whose subject was drawn from Taiwanese lore and employed local settings. The large cast featured Thomas Meglioranza (baritone) as George Mackay, Chen Mei-Lin (soprano) as Mackay’s wife Tiuⁿ Chhang-miâ, and Choi Seung-Jin (tenor) as Giâm Chheng-hoâ, Mackay’s first disciple and follower in Taiwan. Chien Wen-Pin, a native of Taipei, conducted the National Symphony Orchestra (Taiwan). Lukas Hemleb directed the stage production.
Theatre production in Embro, Ontario, Canada
In 2018, a production of «Kai the Barbarian, the George Leslie Mackay Story» was performed from March 21–31 at Thistle Theatre in Embro, Ontario, Canada. Embro is located in Zorra Township where George Mackay was born and raised. The cast and crew consisted of local volunteers and professionals from Stratford, Ontario. The play was written by William Butt, born and raised near Embro, and directed by Edward Daranyi (music direction by Daniel Van Winden).
Personal
Mackay’s marriage to Tiuⁿ Chhang-miâ (Minnie Mackay) produced three children:
- Mary «Tan» Mackay
- Bella «Koa» Mackay
- George William Mackay
Why do you think we continue to return to World War II?
I think World War II is such a powerful example of a catastrophic happening. And I think it’s difficult to always understand what to do in a present moment—be that personally, be that politically, be it socially because the present is always moving. Like, this present moment is already passed a few seconds ago. The present is always moving and I think that we can look to history to parallel our present situation because history is a story told by the winners, but the actions in it are static.
And therefore, we are allowed to unpick them in a way that we can’t our present situation because they don’t move in the same way. The Second World War was such a massive conflict, but also, because of its terrible nature and with so much of what happened, it’s such a strong example. It’s such a clear example in so many ways that while we’re searching for clarity and how to deal with our present circumstance, we look to something that is a very static, clear, strong example that we can unpick and hope that, that will give us an understanding on what we’re going through now.
Spiritual Formation
Mackay’s “habit of treating all men as equal” did not come from some modern theory of human rights. It came from the evangelical Free Church faith into which Mackay was born (the Scottish Free Church schism came to Canada in 1844, the year Mackay was born. Embro Church joined the dissidents the same year), and lived to the day he died. So, In his letter defending his controversial marriage to a “Chinese lady” in 1877 (Mackay to McLaren, Dec 17, 1877, Mission Reports Series 1 Vol 1, p. 177) , Mackay claimed the authority of Jesus – “and as I from my heart believe that Chinese and Canadians are exactly the same in the presence of our Lord I act accordingly”.
Much has been written on how the faith of the Zorra Pioneers shaped GLM. He wrote of it himself (FFF 1896: 14):
“Peace to the honoured dust of those brave pioneers! They were cast in nature’s sternest mold, but were men of heroic soul. Little of this world’s goods did they possess. All day long their axes rang in the forests, and at night the smoke of burning log heaps hung over their humble homes. But they overcame. The wilderness and the solitary place have indeed been made glad. And more. They worshiped and served the eternal God, taught their children to read the Bible ad believe it, listen to conscience and obey it, observe the Sabbath and love it, and to honor and reverence the office of the gospel ministry. Their theology may have been narrow but it was deep and high. They left a heritage of truth, and their memory is still an inspiration. … Men may talk slightingly today about that “stern old Calvinism.” They would do well to pause and ask about its fruits. What other creed has so swept the whole field of life with the dread artillery of truth, and made men unflinchingly loyal to conscience and tremorless save in the presence of God?“
“The evangelical Calvinism of Mackay’s native Scotland shaped his evangelistic work in Formosa from the moment he arrived until his death. It included an unwavering belief in divine sovereignty and a deep sense of God’s providence which he conveyed to his ministerial students through sermons, catechism, and scripture, and in the study of science through the inductive Baconian method whose goal was to teach them “the wonderful creations of our God.” (Van Die 2012:31)
Mackay never left this faith, and on occasion vigorously defended it against the more lax urban practice of other Presbyterians. At the height of his fame, in the Montreal Anniversary Missionary Meetings in November 1880, Mackay the evangelical did not hesitate to criticize the very churches which were funding his work:
Rev. Dr. G.L. Mackay of Formosa …made a few closing remarks. When he surveyed the Church as a whole his heart was saddened by the apathy and indifference which largely prevails in regard to vital Christianity. … Many of the churches were dead. Even in this great wealthy and highly favored city of Montreal there were dead churches. Too much money by far had been expended upon church edifices, and too many congregations were as a consequence carrying a load of debt which they found to be an intolerable burden. The system is wrong, it is wicked, and its effect upon the mission schemes of the church is disastrous. Then he thought the Church was too easy and compromising in relation to the world. It is too ready to meet society and fashion and frivolity half way, and so delude people into thinking they could serve two masters. The thing is impossible. People may disparage the Covenanters, to call them misguided fanatics, but there was a sterling ring about the Christianity of these men, who counted not their lives dear to them that they might witness a good confession. We want society and the church to be permeated with a spirit like theirs, and then we shall be able to do great things for the Lord’s cause at home and abroad. (Presbyterian Record VI:2 February 1881:14)
That spirit energized Mackay for 30 years of exertion in Taiwan. And the exertions of childhood in a frontier farming community gave him the physical stamina to match.
Mission to Taiwan
Original building of the Oxford University College founded by Mackay in Tamsui, Taiwan. Now named Aletheia University, the school administers a museum devoted to Mackay artifacts.
In 1871 Mackay became the first foreign missionary to be commissioned by the Canada Presbyterian Church (predecessor of both the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the United Church of Canada), arriving in Taiwan on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 1871.
After consulting with Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell Sr., a medical doctor serving as a Presbyterian Church of England missionary to southern Formosa (1865), Mackay arrived at Tamsui, northern Formosa in 1872, which remained his home until his death in 1901. Starting with an itinerant dentistry practice amongst the lowland aborigines, he later established churches, schools and a hospital practicing Western biomedicine. He learned to speak vernacular Taiwanese fluently, and married «Minnie» Tiu (張聰明; Tiuⁿ Chhang-miâ), a Taiwanese woman.
He was described by Rev. William Campbell, a contemporary missionary, as
The churches he planted later became the Northern Synod of the present Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. In 1896, after the 1895 establishment of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, Mackay met with the Japanese Governor-General of Formosa, Maresuke Nogi. Some families in Taiwan today, particularly of lowland-aboriginal Kavalan ancestry, trace their surname ‘偕’ (‘Kai’ or ‘Kay’) to their family’s conversion to Christianity by Mackay.
In Canada Mackay was honoured during his two furloughs home by the Canadian Church. In 1880, Queen’s College in Kingston, Ontario awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity, presented by Principal George Monro Grant and Chancellor Sandford Fleming. Before departing in 1881, he returned to Oxford County, where monies were raised to start Oxford College in Taiwan, which would be the basis for two later educational institutions, Aletheia University and Taiwan Seminary. A number of young people in the county were inspired to follow Mackay’s example and entered into missionary service with a number of Christian denominations.
In June 1894, at the General Assembly meeting in St. John, New Brunswick, Mackay was elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the highest elected position in the church. He spent the following Moderatoral year travelling across Canada, as well as writing From Far Formosa: the island, its people and missions, a missionary ethnography and memoir of his missionary experiences.
In 1894 he spoke out against the head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants to Canada. As moderator of the Presbyterian church, he broke precedent to speak in favor of a resolution opposing this tax, saying it was unjust and racist.
Gareth Liddiard
«There is a fella called Gareth Liddiard, who’s the singer of a band called The Drones, and he was quite a big reference for Ned. Justin wanted this version of Ned to sort of be a writer — it’s about him writing his own history — and Gareth is a storyteller in his songs.
«He did this one solo album called Strange Tourist which is him and an acoustic guitar and there’s these kind of noodling poems of songs. His way of talking is very easy, very cool, but he sits back. That’s what we wanted with this version of Ned. He has quite a bit of power in being unreadable, it’s a kind of defence mechanism, that thing of, ‘you’re not gonna know what I’m thinking’ and that should make you feel funny.
«Gareth had a bit of that but then when he sings in The Drones, he kind of barks up at the mic like Liam Gallagher. Gareth has this sort of intellectual swagger, while also kind of working class and a sort of quiet Australian with a mullet too. He was the biggest reference in terms of voice and look. In terms of attitude and physicality, Conor McGregor was the other big reference for the character.»
The Gaso
«Justin saw the Kelly gang as a punk band so he made us start a band, write an album’s worth of songs and perform them. We had three-four weeks of rehearsals before he booked us a gig in Melbourne. We had to come up with a name and it had to be outside of the film so we called ourselves Fleshlight.
«We would write and rehearse these punk songs everyday and it was the best thing because you start listening to each other differently and have an awareness of each other in a way that when you play music you do.
«We performed at The Gaso in Melbourne in dresses. It’s quite a big venue, but we played just on the floor downstairs but the bar upstairs is quite a famous music venue. Melbourne is a really good music city.»
How do you think this movie in particular adds to the body of World War II films?
Because it happens before, it’s different. I think also with the Nazi party, they’re so unequivocally terrible, what they did, and their actions that it’s very easy to separate ourselves from that. And you don’t feel culpable at all because you’re completely separated where, I think by looking at Germany before it’s become the sort of worst version of itself that it became during the war. As a nation perhaps, not talking of every individual within Germany because it happens before then, we can perhaps see ourselves. It’s harder to write them off as something separate, to write them off as something that we haven’t done.
And I don’t think you can even begin to entertain those ideas when you do a story about the Second World War in the midst of the fighting, because it’s already too far gone. I think by looking at the beginning of it and the brewing of it, we allow ourselves to connect to it in a way that perhaps we haven’t before.
George MacKay as Hugh Legat and Jeremy Irons as Neville Chamberlain in Munich on the Edge of War.
Frederic Batier / NETFLIX
Полезные советы по избежанию статуса «человека булочки с корицей»
Выражение «человек булочка с корицей» обычно описывает человека, который всем нравится и с кем приятно общаться. Однако, в контексте внешности, это выражение может указывать на человека, который имеет излишний вес, особенно в области живота.
Чтобы избежать статуса «человека булочки с корицей» и иметь здоровую фигуру, важно следовать нескольким полезным советам:
1. Занимайтесь регулярным физическими упражнениями: Включите в свою рутину тренировки, такие как ходьба, бег, плавание или занятия в фитнес-зале. Физическая активность помогает сжигать калории и укреплять мышцы, что способствует поддержанию нормального веса.
2. Питайтесь правильно: Употребляйте разнообразную и сбалансированную пищу, включая овощи, фрукты, белки, здоровые жиры и углеводы. Придерживайтесь умеренных порций и старайтесь избегать чрезмерного употребления сладостей и жирной пищи.
3. Избегайте перекусывания перед сном: По возможности, не ешьте за два часа до сна. Перекусывание перед сном может вызвать перенасыщение организма и привести к набору лишнего веса.
4. Пейте достаточное количество воды: Пить достаточно воды помогает ускорить обмен веществ, улучшает пищеварение и снижает аппетит.
5. Уменьшите потребление алкоголя и газированных напитков: Алкоголь и газированные напитки содержат много калорий и могут приводить к набору веса. Постарайтесь ограничить их потребление или вовсе заменить их на более полезные напитки, такие как вода или зеленый чай.
6. Отдавайте предпочтение свежим продуктам: Старайтесь избегать употребления готовых блюд, фаст-фуда и продуктов, богатых консервантами и добавками. Предпочитайте свежие, натуральные продукты, которые содержат больше питательных веществ.
Следуя этим полезным советам, вы можете избежать статуса «человека булочки с корицей» и поддерживать здоровый образ жизни. Запомните, внешность — это лишь одна часть нашей личности, а самое главное — это быть довольным и здоровым внутри.
How do you feel the film is shaping or changing the narrative of Chamberlain?
To be honest, I wasn’t even that aware of Chamberlain before taking on the role. But my understanding is that he’s somewhat ridiculed for being someone who didn’t see what seemingly, in hindsight, was a very obvious tyrant and that he failed in his missions of beating him sooner. This film reevaluates this idea that actually, his actions bought us time and that we, we being the British, weren’t ready for that conflict. And also, I think there’s something very human about a story where the hero compromises, because I think that in stories, heroes never compromise. And that defines someone being heroic.
And I think that’s vital in life, but I also think that in day to day, compromise is something that we all come up against and participate in, and it can be a very positive thing as well. Especially when we’re trying to unite binary oppositions, whatever they are. And so a story about compromise, I thought was worthwhile telling, and that was through the reinterpretation of Chamberlain.
In the film, Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons plays British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Frederic Batier / NETFLIX
Значение «булочки с корицей» в различных контекстах общения
Выражение «булочка с корицей» имеет различные значения в современном сленге и может использоваться в разных контекстах общения.
В качестве комплимента
В некоторых кругах выражение «булочка с корицей» используется в качестве комплимента, обозначая привлекательный и желанный объект. Это может быть относительно человека, предмета или действия. Например, «Она такая булочка с корицей, кто не захочет познакомиться?»
В качестве описания нечего необычного
В других случаях выражение «булочка с корицей» может использоваться в качестве описания нечего необычного или привычного. Например, «Сегодня у нас в школьной столовке опять были булочки с корицей, ну такое себе, ничего особенного».
В качестве зазывала
Также выражение «булочка с корицей» может использоваться в качестве зазывала, чтобы привлечь внимание к чему-то или к кому-то. Например, «На этой вечеринке будут булочки с корицей и много интересных людей»
В качестве сравнения с благоприятным ощущением
Кроме того, выражение может быть использовано для описания благоприятного ощущения, сопоставляемого с запахом булочки с корицей. Например, «Мне так хорошо здесь, как после того, как я попробовал булочку с корицей».
В качестве обозначения чего-то негативного
Наконец, в некоторых кругах выражение «булочка с корицей» может использоваться для обозначения чего-то негативного или отрицательного. Например, «Он настоящая булочка с корицей, но только снаружи, внутри все пустое».
Why were you initially interested in this role?
I was initially interested in this role because when I read it, it was the summer before last and it was this really amazing season where there was so much going on in the world, socially and politically. There were so many things that were being readdressed, and all of us were looking at how we could make changes that needed to happen.
But then in doing so, there was a feeling of confusion as to, well, how do we do that? Is it through activism? Is it the government’s job to make legislation? And how do we get that legislation to happen? And, when this script came through, and it felt like it’s a story with an almost dual narrative of two people who are either side of that argument. There’s my character, Hugh, who is all about legislation and believes in the system and the importance of changing things via the system, and respecting the system to then serve back to the masses. And then there’s Powell, who has lost faith in that, who thinks that individual action is the key to it. And the film seemed a beautiful discussion and exploration on those themes. And that’s what drew me to it.
MacKay as Hugh Legat with Jannis Niewohner as Paul Hartman.
Frederic Batier / NETFLIX
George William Mackay
George William Mackay (born 22 January 1882 – 20 July 1963) was a Canadian missionary in Taiwan, son of George Leslie Mackay, and father of J. Ross Mackay. Mackay’s Chinese name is 偕叡廉; it is from his father’s first name 偕. In Yilan County, Taiwan, George Leslie Mackay preached to the people and built a church.
He was born in Tamsui, Taiwan and grew up there until 13. He then returned to Toronto with his father. He graduated from Clark University with a Master’s degree in Education Management. In 1948 he received an honorary doctorate in theology from Knox College.
He served as President of the Tamkang Junior High School, which he subsequently merged with Tamsui Girls School. After his father’s death, he changed Tamsui Girls School from a junior high school to a kindergarten.
Mackay may have died in Canada or possibly in Taiwan, where he may have been buried in Tamsui at the Mackay family’s tomb next to Tamkang Junior High. The tomb may have since been removed.
Memorials include:
- Memorial Park
- Memorial Church
Collective Memory
Collective memory (or social memory) is “an expression of collective experience: social memory identifies a group, giving it a sense of its past and defining its aspirations for the future … (It is) a source of knowledge … provides the group with material for conscious reflection (Social Memory p. 26). But such memory is not just about the past – “memory provides a perspective for interpreting our experiences in the present and foreseeing those that lie ahead”. (Social Memory, p. 51).Growing up in Zorra Mackay would have learned the collective memory of “the dark and gloomy days of the “Sutherlandshire Clearances” when hundreds of tenant farmers, who shed their blood for its duke, were, with their wives and families were evicted. … Ruined cottages, deserted churches, and desecrated graves were the “gloomy memories” they carried with them from Scotland.” (From Far Formosa p.14, hereafter FFF). Out of this Mackay took with him a strong sense of justice, and an approach to others that treated all as equals. This was noted by his contemporaries.We must not conclude that collective memory determines the values and attitudes of those who share it, and thereby efface the agency of the individual, and certainly not such a powerful and unique personality as Mackay. But collective memory shapes powerfully and deeply. One only need to look the political power of the collective memory of residential schools or of slavery in Canada to understand this.
Joseph Beal Steere was professor of Zoology and Paleontology at the University of Michigan. In 1873 he travelled in China and Southeast Asia, spending 8 months in Formosa. Visiting Mackay in Tamsui:
“I found the walls of the house he occupied hung with rough charts and maps for his teaching geography and astronomy, and he was drilling a little band of young Chinese … During my stay with him I was astonished at the enthusiasm and zeal he had awakened in the young men who were studying with him, and I could not help attributing this to his innate American ideals (*Steere knew that Mackay was Canadian so uses American in the cultural sense) of the equality of all men before God; of the universal brotherhood of mankind; and the habit, growing out of this, of treating all men as equal. It seemed to me that he had a much more kind and frank way of treating the Chinese with whom he was associated, than had the European missionaries (* He meant the English Presbyterian mission in southern Taiwan) who with all their belief in the value of the human soul, have had such training in the difference between the high and low that they show, unconsciously, in every act, that they are dealing with an inferior race. I may have put too much stress on this; but it seems to me a subject worthy of consideration of all missionaries” (Steere 2002. Formosa and Its Inhabitants. Paul Jen-kuei Li, ed. Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica. p. 162)
I’m sure you’ve seen the memes on Twitter of you running in this film versus your running scene in 1917. Do you seek out roles that require that physicality?
Always. If I could be running in it, it’s better. No, no. The story is always what draws me to something. But that said, I genuinely do love it when there’s physicality involved in the work, because as much as we’ve talked about all the heady philosophical or intellectual or emotional understandings of it, there is also something so unequivocal about physicality, about expressing something with your body. I’ve sat here and talked about something, but you could argue that I haven’t done anything really. Expressing something physically, there’s a beautiful purity to that. There’s something unequivocal about it.
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