Stranger on Earth

Within the pages of Albert Camus’ The Fall ( La Chute , 1956), I come face to face with some of the philosophical issues that have kept me intrigued for a number of years: the meaning of innocence, the judgemental God, among other things. Composed as an unbroken internal monologue in typically opaque Camus style, The Fall is an inscrutable read even for the most seasoned of Camus readers. The challenge is to figure out what innocence has to do with it all. The narrator Clamence “speaks” to us from a bar in the seedy old heart of Amsterdam, where its “concentric canals resemble the circles of hell” (10). Clamence, a down-and-out ex-lawyer from Paris, tells us we are in the last circle of hell. Dante’s last circle of hell is reserved for traitors and betrayers. The reader is thus effectively reminded of treachery; he is literally seated in the heart of evil. Clamence’s references to the erstwhile Jewish quarter make it clear that Camus wants the reader to dredge up memories ...

A Note to the Reader: In writing this piece, I have attempted to avoid spoilers. The plot summary below is of the superficial kind and should not spoil anyone’s viewing experience. For a more comprehensive summary, refer to:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Condition_(film_series) As far as cinematic war chronicles go, there is not one that is grander and more urgent than Masaki Kobayashi’s mammoth 9-hour-and-47-minute trilogy The Human Condition (1959-61), with David Shipman, the famed British film critic, calling it “unquestionably the greatest film ever made” (984). And yet, ironically, few casual viewers will have seen it, partly due to its off-putting length. This should be rectified. The trilogy carries with it a message as pressing and disconcerting as that of Platoon (1986) or Apocalypse Now (1979), and should be acknowledged by anyone with an ounce of interest in humanist cinema. The film may be more than half a century old, but the protagonis...

“I tried to make my character represent the only Christ that we deserve.” – Albert Camus speaking of Meursault in 1955 Albert Camus’ brand of existentialism, absurdism, and nihilism with regard to his 1942 “philosophical treatise” The Outsider is a thing of fascination and paradox. In this age of increasing intolerance and orthodoxy, the novel’s ground-breaking theme should once again be highlighted. Meursault’s antics throughout the novel are the stuff of literary legend: he displays no emotions at his mother’s funeral; he seems oddly unaffected by Marie’s love for him; he shows no concern for domestic violence and animal cruelty; he does not hesitate to kill a man when the need – whatever its cause is – arises. Meursault is the very personification of amorality. He rejects the rules and ethics of society and refuses to be enslaved by what Nietzsche calls “herd morality.” This naturally brings about grave consequences. In the society we inhabit, a man who does not con...