Commentary & Opinion

In one of his earliest books: “Cakes And Ale,” W. Somerset Maugham observed that hypocrisy cannot be practiced part-time, in one’s spare moments.  “Hypocrisy,” he said, “is a whole-time job.”  Back in the days when icons were authentic and worth quoting, one of the greatest was Martin Luther, who bemoaned the fact that “Truth goes begging, while hypocrisy finds ample wages.”  It’s an adage that’s still true, especially in the political arena, where the worst of that ilk continue to operate with impunity.

For decades, filmmakers from across the globe have been producing works that explore their country’s history, culture, and politics-- and that offer perspectives on that history. In this regard, two very different but not unrelated films were screened at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. One spotlights East Germany in the 1980s, before the fall of communism. The other is a portrait of France in the early 1970s, when a certain type of young person was embracing a Marxist/anarchist ideal.

Tokyo policy makers have been engaged in diplomatic overdrive in an effort to resolve a territorial dispute with Russia over four southern islands in the Kuril Island chain. This dispute has stunted bilateral relations for six decades.

Those Americans who find themselves dismayed at the current lack of ethical and statesmanlike leadership in our country, replaced by the plodding puerile purgatory of partisan political power peddled to the highest bidder, need to be reminded that it was one of New York’s earlier self-styled political heroes, who preempted the Jeffersonian model of : “equal and exact justice to all… of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political;” as he spelled it out in his first inaugural Presidential address.

In the heyday of the silent film, almost a hundred years ago, Toronto-born Mary Pickford was known as “America’s Sweetheart.” Well, today, the moniker “Canada’s Sweetheart” easily fits Sarah Polley.