Cate Blanchett, Out to Endanger the Life of ‘Hanna’

Hailed as one of the best actresses of our generation, Cate Blanchett plays the antagonist in Columbia Pictures’ new suspense thriller “Hanna.”

Directed by Joe Wright (“Atonement”) and also starring Eric Bana and Saoirse Ronan, “Hanna” will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4 & Greenbelt 3) starting Sept. 28.

Raised by her father, Erik (Bana) in the wilds of Finland, Hanna’s (Ronan) upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own. As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

The threat to Hanna is incarnated by Blanchett who portrays Marissa Wiegler, the cold-steel magnolia CIA agent who once upon a time worked in the field with Erik. Now based in Langley, Virginia, Wiegler’s life has been “built around the telling of lies and the holding of secrets, and she has given her all to her job,” notes the actress.

As part of researching the role, Blanchett spoke with a CIA agent who illuminated for her “the tension that exists between those in the field and those who are at headquarters, in Langley.”

She elaborates, “Marissa worked undercover in Germany in the 1990s, and relished the cut-and-thrust of covert operations. The one she was involved with Erik in failed and was closed down, so she harbors incredible resentment towards the agency about the whole thing as well as self-loathing. When Erik and Hanna reappear, she goes back into the field to close them down. Finding Hanna starts out as a professional necessity, but becomes pathological, for her. She wants to possess this child; it’s a bit like the Wicked Witch from the Hansel and Gretel story. The fairy tale elements add a heightened quality to the scenes.”

Blanchett had a previous professional tie to Wright. She reveals, “Joe and I were preparing another project together, and that fell through. Then he sent me this script, which terrified me; my partner noted that I’d never had a reaction like that to a screenplay. So Joe and I got to work; it was important to him that Marissa be from Texas, and I tried to get the accent subtly so that it wasn’t overpowering.”

Blanchett adds, “As a director, Joe creates a safe environment where you can make a few mistakes, and then hopefully you make better decisions. Joe’s attention to detail is such that one minute he would be fixing my hem, the next helping to paint a set, and the next calling for the lens numbers. He is involved in every aspect of filmmaking.”

View the original article here

Read More

Megastores endanger Mexico City's markets

MEXICO CITY — For 30 years, Estela Moran has sold almost every edible part of a cow at her meat stand in a neighborhood market. The sale of tripe, feet, tongue and prime beef has put three of her sons through college.

But all is not well at El Torito, the small market in a lower-class Mexico City neighborhood where Moran works. Several stands are vacant. Others are used just for storage. Moran's sales, she said, have gradually declined as U.S.-style supermarkets have flourished.

Across from her post, other meat sellers haven't been at the market in days.

"I don't know where they are," the 60-year-old Moran said as she packed leftover meat in plastic bags. "I'll be here selling until I get sick or I can't do it anymore. We don't earn much, but it's a living. I have customers that depend on me."

Mexico City's neighborhood markets, the rowdy, smelly vibrant landmarks of concrete and corrugated tin that sell everything from cactus salads to pinatas, are struggling as more Mexicans migrate to the relatively more orderly, cleaner, air-conditioned and foreign-owned supermarkets.

Shoppers say supermarkets have easier access, have a wider variety of items, and are safer.

"I know that by coming here we're making a foreign company richer, and the market vendors poorer," said 57-year-old Maria Teresa Hernandez as she left her local Wal-Mart with bags full of chocolate, juices and underwear. "But they have everything here."

Others, however, say the abundant offering of fresh fruits and produce at low prices is what keeps them going back to the local markets.

Most of the markets, like El Torito, were built 50 years ago and have not aged gracefully. A city government survey showed recently that 200 of the 318 markets need urgent repairs to their plumbing and electrical wiring.

More troubling for the more than 70,000 vendors is a steady decline in sales.

Once a staple of this megacity's daily life, the markets sold 80 percent of the city's groceries in the 1950s and '60s compared to 30 percent now, according to the city's Office of Economic Development.

A 2002 study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico estimated that sales had declined nearly 60 percent over a decade.

Nearly 10 years later, university professor Gerardo Torres Salcido says sales have surely dropped even further.

"There are markets that are basically dead," said Guadalupe Loaeza, a columnist for the daily Reforma newspaper and an author who has chronicled Mexican life. "Many are in bad conditions. There are rats and leaks. I remember many years ago no one went to the supermarkets. Now everyone goes to them."

The debate over the future of the markets was reignited in April when Mexico City's mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, successfully pushed an ordinance banning the construction of supermarkets and convenience stores in the middle of neighborhoods, where the markets are located. The ordinance, though, has a three-year life span and will have to be re-approved. Other government officials have proposed ideas such as installing debit card machines in the cash-only markets.

Still, some of the old-style markets thrive.

Even at an off-peak hour, La Merced market in the city's historic center was bursting with activity on a recent afternoon. The city's biggest retail market is a seemingly endless maze of stands. It anchors a commercial area that spills onto the street, where shoppers can find everything from pirated porn to Mexican flags made in China and grilled corn on the cob.

Next to a post of spices, belts are sold. Next to the chili-based mole sauces, children's toys hang. Next to plastic dinosaurs, a taco stand fries up tripe.

The pathways between the stands resemble this city's horrible car traffic, except the human jams here are caused by the carts carrying produce or mobile vendors hawking soda.

Cumbia, salsa and '80s American music booms from stereos some vendors keep. TV shows and movies thunder at high volume. Wires covered in dust are suspended above the stands. Flies hover near the produce.

"We come to markets because it's part of our tradition," said Pedro Ismael Marquez Hernandez, 37, as he shopped with his wife, mother and young daughter. "It would be sad if we lose that. It's part of our heritage."

Marquez Hernandez said he finds prices at the market more affordable, but admitted that he still prefers to buy some products, such as bathroom items, at the supermarket. Though they are more expensive there, they are a better quality, he said. He also said that sometimes sales at the local grocery stores are too good to pass up.

In this city of nearly 9 million, there are 7-Elevens or the like seemingly every other block. Walmart de Mexico has become the biggest private employer in the country, providing jobs to about 176,000 people, according to the discount giant's website.

Walmart began expanding its presence here in 1991, opening a Sam's Club. It now has 1,880 locations in Mexico, which includes its flagship stores, the Mexican chains it bought and 364 restaurants.

In 2010, it recorded $26 billion ($334.5 billion pesos) in sales from Mexico and its Central American branches.

Edgar Alvarez, director of the association of public markets, blames the markets' decline partly on the government, which he says caters to international companies while discriminating against markets.

When foreign companies open a supermarket, "they fix up sidewalks," he said. "They should do for us what they do for the multinationals."

At the same time, the government doesn't allow the street markets to accept food stamps, which translates into millions of pesos in lost income, Alvarez said.

He said banning construction of supermarkets and convenience stores is a move that is too little, too late.

At Moran's market one recent afternoon, a mutt of a dog ate scraps of chicken. Children ran around aimlessly. Vendors peeled onions. The stands were closing. It was quiet.

In a corner, the market has a shrine to the Virgin Mary. The aroma of mangos and prickly pear fills the air.

Angelina Espejel, who has run a dry cleaning stand at El Torito for eight years, thinks markets will survive whatever is thrown at them. They still serve too many people from the working class, she said.

"Can you imagine the unemployment if the markets disappeared?" Espejel asked.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

View the original article here

Read More