PARABLE

PARABLE (1964, USA, Rolf Forsberg)

Commissioned by the New York City Protestant Council of Churches for their 1964 World's Fair pavilion, this 22 minute clown-Christ circus allegory is better than you might expect, a film without dialogue that aims for something like Fellini or maybe Bresson. Controversial in its day – even the fair's director asked for it to be withdrawn! – the film was big in church rentals for the rest of the decade, and you can still find it through some mainline church media libraries.

LA STRADA, GODSPELL, STALKED, ANTKEEPER

STALKED

STALKED (1968, USA, Rolf Forsberg)
Flesh. In motion. Flesh. Illogical. Unpredictable. To me, a vastness of fools. Fools to be exploited, not pitied...

Between his breakout hit PARABLE and the seventies Christian Scare Classic THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH, Rolf (under the influence of Fellini, Bergman and possibly other hallucinogens) created this astonishingly weird short film, sort of a CARNIVAL OF SOULS for Christ. "The Man" needs a break from his day job sculpting gruesome Bible scenes for house of wax, so he flies to Europe, only there's nobody there to meet him. I mean nobody. Except a guy in wooden shoes, who ends up following him through the streets of Amsterdam, dancing and pounding on doors. I think he's supposed to be Jesus: you'll never hear "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" in quite the same way again. A stranger religious ed film was never made – more's the pity. Available on Fantoma's "The Educational Archives, Volume Six: Religion."

PARABLE, ANTKEEPER, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

ANTKEEPER (1966, USA, Rolf Forsberg)

ANTKEEPER (1966, USA, Rolf Forsberg)

His wife helped found Second City, Rolf made distinctly weird short films for the Lutherans. Here a gardener sends his son to teach the ants in his garden how to live peacefully. SPOILER: The ants kill his son. Voiced by Herman Munster.

PARABLE, STALKED


PS I'd dearly love to get hold of a copy of this. Anyone?

Ends midnight, Monday Nov 24: Criterion 40% Off Sale

Criterion is changing websites, and they're selling all their in-stock DVDs at a 40% reduction. (Frankly, I'm guessing it has more to do with switching over to BluRay, but what do I know?) Wow. Lots of Soul Food titles from the cognoscenti site. Here are some examples, but you'd be best just to head for the site and start searching. Bresson, Tarkovsky, Kurosawa, all the usual suspects (not including THE USUAL SUSPECTS).

NOW PLAYING

Given my new love affair with New York, and my long-time relationship with the theatre, I'm stoked about Charlie Kaufman's SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK at Tinseltown: "A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play."

I've also been waiting forever for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the latest of Danny Boyle's variations on the theme of getting-rich-quick: "The story of how impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik became a contestant on the Hindi version of Who Wants to be A Millionaire?" Curiously, there's but one showing, Sunday morning 10am at the Park. And it sounds like they provide breakfast? I'll let you know more when I do. (Mark Moring of CT Movies writes "The best movie of the week—and one of the best of the year—is SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the latest from acclaimed director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions). In the film, an unrepentantly optimistic and magical work of art, a teen from India's slums becomes a contestant on a game show and finds himself on the cusp of untold riches. Reviewer Brandon Fibbs gives the movie 4 stars.")

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS (Holocaust through the eyes of a German officer's son) is new at the Fifth Avenue. Soul Foodie Peter Mogan calls RACHEL GETTING MARRIED "nothing short of brilliant," invokes Vinterberg's THE CELEBRATION: that's at Tinseltown, Fifth Ave, Esplanade. Peter also raves I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (at the Park), tantalizing us with this insistence; "You must see this movie asap. I can't tell you why but when you see it, it'll make sense as to why and why I can't tell you. French with subtitles. Currently at the Park. Seriously, you must see this." He says Kristin Scott Thomas is brilliant in it, and also in TELL NO ONE (Fifth Ave, Ridge), describing "great twists and turns without Hollywood melodrama."

BURN AFTER READING (Coen comedy, classy cast) continues to smolder at the Scotiabank, and Long(-running) DARK KNIGHT fights on at Granville 7.

And of course we're looking forward to DOUBT, adapted by John Patrick Shanley from his brilliant Pulitzer Prize play, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. How I wanted to stage this at Pacific Theatre! But who would dare after that? Limited release December 12, should hit Vancouver by sometime in January at the latest.

*

Busy fall, so I missed a few I'd wanted to see, BRIDESHEAD REVISITED and MIRACE AT ST ANNA among them. (Let me know of any more you'd flag). We'll keep a lookout for the DVD releases. Relatively recent adds to Videomatica shelves with possibly significant levels of Soul Food content would be IN BRUGES, SON OF RAMBOW, REDBELT, DANTE'S INFERNO, and most definitely SILENT LIGHT, the year's Soul Food masterpiece (but don't go looking for car chases or explosions - makes a swell double feature with ORDET, if that gives you any idea).

Nov 18: Canadian Premiere, RWANDA: HOPE RISES

Steve Plitt was involved on the tech side during our earliest days in the 12th Avenue theatre. His focus since then has been film, including the much-celebrated SUPERANON which has been featured in plenty of Soul Food emails over the years. I see his name on the credit list for this upcoming premiere...

After many years in the making, you are invited to the Canadian Premiere of my documentary, Rwanda: Hope Rises. It premieres Nov. 18th at the Vancity Theatre in Vancouver. Screenings are at 7pm & 8:45. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Advance tickets can be bought online. 

More information and a teaser-trailer are available on the film's website.

Thanks, and hope to see you there!

Trevor Meier

What's Worth Seeing?

Catch me up! Since heading for NYC September 11 (no, that wasn't me, that was some other guys. Different September 11...) I've been pretty much off the movie beat. First the splendours of Manhattan, then MOURNING DOVE rehearsals, then MOURNING DOVE exhaustion, and then... Now.

So I picked up a couple more of my movie magazines, and have started finding out from people what's out there now that's worth seeing. (Especially anything with Soul Food content? I missed MIRACLE AT ST ANNA, looking forward to DOUBT, anything else with God stuff this fall?) Any tips?

Here are the results of one such conversation, from Soul Food afficionado Peter Mogan...

As promised, Peter's top five of the past few months:

Rachel Getting Married - nothing short of brilliant. Outstanding performances from every actor, with special applause for Anne Hathaway in a career performance. Think of Vinterberg's THE CELEBRATION for feel and genre. Jonathan Damme has delivered the complete movie: story, acting, cinematography.

I've Loved You for So Long - a masterpiece of acting by Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein. You must see this movie asap. I can't tell you why but when you see it, it'll make sense as to why and why I can't tell you. French with subtitles. Currently at the Park. Seriously, you must see this.

Tell No One - another French flick with Kristin Scott Thomas in a supporting role. This movie is another winner: amazing story, fantastic performances from the leading roles, great twists and turns without Hollywood melodrama. I was mesmerized.

Brideshead Revisited - good story, strong acting, yes but this is a cinematographic masterpiece. Every frame is an art piece. Amazing.

Dark Knight - what preachers try to do from the pulpit - teach about sin and the human condition - is done far more meaningfully and grippingly by Heath Ledger's Joker. Like Clockwork Orange this movie uses very disturbing scenes to engage the audience in a very important question about good and evil.

Finally saw a third French flick, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which I really appreciated.

Blessings

Peter

I need to give DARK KNIGHT another shot: I had terrible seats, and the dialogue was mostly inaudible.
But Peter's definitely right about DIVING BELL: gorgeous. Why is it that one of the most cinematic films imaginable came from the most unfilmable novels imaginable? Which makes one think of ADAPTATION...

More on More: Writers write about A Man For All Seasons

Terry Teachout and filmmaker David Koepp bring their insights into A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, in the Wall Street Journal and Film Comment respectively.  Here. 

dante's inferno (2007)

Thanks to IMAGE Update for word about DANTE'S INFERNO: THE MOVIE, which toured small festivals through the first half of 2007 then went to DVD in August this year.

Yes, folks, you read that right. And no, it's not a special effects extravaganza starring Jack Nicholson, directed by George Lucas, and produced by Steven Spielberg. It's actually done in the manner of a Victorian puppet theater, and it's been updated with a cast of oh-so-very contemporary characters. The amazing thing is that it works. The stylization of the cleverly drawn characters and backgrounds, the over the top dialogue and soundtrack, the visual gags and "updating"--all these elements combine to keep viewers on their toes. There are, in fact, great actors involved: Dermot Mulroney as the voice of Dante the Pilgrim (you know, he's the slacker who's frequently hung over and not doing too well with a job or the girls), and James Cromwell as the wise but unsentimental Virgil. The curtain rises on some shady urban streets when Dante the slacker says: "About halfway through the course of my pathetic life, I woke up and found myself in a stupor in some dark, unfamiliar place. I'm not sure how I ended up there; I guess I'd taken a few wrong turns." The updating comes in a variety of forms, from simple changes of setting--Francesca and Paolo in a seedy no-tell motel--to the more broadly satirical, as when they encounter the late Senator Strom Thurmond dressed as a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth's maple syrup. The satire gets political, of course, and occasionally predictably so: Dick Cheney is the damned soul whose body continues to operate up "above," though inhabited by a demon. The whole thing is risky and inevitably some jokes fall flat, but there's also a lot of love for the original here, and creativity to burn. In the midst of all the playfulness there's even a hint that there are, indeed, high stakes in this mortal life of ours. "I was totally expecting to see demons and bondage stuff," Dante the pilgrim says at one point, but Virgil counters: "This is hell, Dante, not your personal fantasy."

Here's how they describe it at the film's official website...

DANTE’S INFERNO has been kicking around the cultural playground for over 700 years. But it has never before been interpreted with exquisitely hand-drawn paper puppets, brought to life using purely hand-made special effects. Until now. Rediscover this literary classic, retold in a kind of apocalyptic graphic novel meets Victorian-era toy theater. Dante’s Hell is brought to lurid 3-dimensional, high-definition life in a darkly comedic travelogue of the underworld — set against an all-too-familiar urban backdrop of used car lots, gated communities, strip malls, and the U.S. Capitol. And populated with a contemporary cast of reprobates, including famous — and infamous — politicians, presidents, popes, pimps. And the Prince of Darkness himself.

Taymor casting TEMPEST!

'Tempest' cast includes Helen Mirren
Jeremy Irons, Djimon Hounsou among other stars cast
By Borys Kit, Hollywood Reporter

Julie Taymor is gathering a cast ranging from blue-blooded Oscar winners to up-and-comers for her big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" that, in a gender-defying twist, will see Helen Mirren reigning over the magical island.

Although the play centers on Prospero, an exiled duke-turned-sorcerer, Taymor -- who likes to take an experimental approach to her stage and film projects -- has rechristened the lead character Prospera so that Mirren can take on the role.

Mirren will be surrounded by Jeremy Irons, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Ben Wishaw and Felicity Jones. Geoffrey Rush is in negotiations to join the cast.

The film, being produced by Bob Chartoff, Lynn Hendee and Julia Taylor-Stanley, is eyeing a November start date in Hawaii. Miramax has acquired the rights to all English-speaking territories; Icon is handling foreign sales.

Shakespeare's play mixes romance with fraternal politics and the supernatural. As revised for the screen, it will center around Prospera, her daughter Miranda (Jones) and a shipwrecked crew full of Prospera's enemies.

The island's other inhabitants include Hounsou as the deformed slave Caliban and Wishaw as the airy spirit Ariel.

On the ship are rising comedy star Brand, playing Trinculo, a jester; Irons, as Alonso, the King of Naples; and Molina as the drunken butler Stephano. Rush would play Gonzalo, a royal adviser and old ally of Prospera's.

The cast includes an unusually high concentration of Oscar-winning stars: Mirren earned best actress honors for "The Queen," while Irons took home the best actor trophy for "Reversal of Fortune" and Rush got the nod for "Shine." All three are repped by CAA.

Hounsou won best supporting actor nominations for "Blood Diamond" and "In America." The actor continues to be repped by Gersh and the Peter Safran Co.

Brand, repped by Endeavor, will next be seen in "Bedtime Stories." Brit actors Wishaw and Jones worked together in Miramax's "Brideshead Revisited." Molina is repped by Endeavor.

"The Tempest" is Taymor's second big-screen foray into Shakespearean territory -- she turned his "Titus Andronicus" into the 1999 film "Titus."

The pic also continues the strong relationship Taymor has developed with Disney, for which she directed the Broadway musical adaptation of "The Lion King," and Disney's specialty division Miramax, which released her Salma Hayek-starrer "Frida."

Thanks, Mr Chattaway...

Vancouver's Hollywood Theatre in "Married Life"

I watched a pleasing film the other night, something of a genteel noir by way of Douglas Sirk. The noir comes from "Five Roundabouts To Heaven" by John Bingham, the crime novelist from England (which accounts for the gentility) who may have been the model for John Le Carre's "Smiley" character.

Strong cast (Patricia Clarkson, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel McAdams, and a somewhat miscast Chris Cooper - his working-class naturalism takes the sparkle and starch out of some of his early dialogue, though he connects powerfully with the soul of the character, especially in the final reel), intriguing psychological subtleties that bridge the noir / weepie chasm and bring nifty plot reversals, and a terrific look (including a fabulous opening credit sequence).

But there's added fun in the setting. Relocated from England to an unspecified (but probably Pacific Northwest) American locale, the film is actually shot in Vancouver, BC. Some of the novelty of that has worn off in the past twenty years - though it's always fun to play "spot the actor," and particularly pleasing to see Terence Kelly (who was one of the jurors in PT's staging of TWELVE ANGRY MEN) as a doctor - but the really great part for Vancouver movie buffs is the use of our beloved old-time cinema "The Hollywood" in a couple movie-within-a-movie sequences. 

Well worth renting.  And if it plays at The Hollywood, let's all go see it - maybe Pierce Brosnan will still be there!

miracle at st anna

Sep 26 2008: Spike Lee's MIRACLE AT ST ANNA opens

a thousand years of good prayers

Darrel Manson recc:
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (release in Sept.)

save me

I wrote film criticism for Christianity Today Movies for its first few years, and while I had to let that go for time reasons, I still love the site, and really look forward to reading reviews by some very perceptive writers, including Vancouverites Peter Chattaway and Carolyn Arends, and Jeffrey Overstreet just down the road in Seattle. (Other great writers there as well: Josh Hurst's review of THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA is exceptional, Stephen Greydanus is always worth reading, Frederica Mathews-Green wrote one of my all-time favourite reviews - a mischievous, feisty response to CHOCOLAT - though it was years before CTM came into being.)

Point being, I subscribe to editor Mark Moring's weekly CT Movies newsletters. (When you arrive at the site, a box will pop up where you can subscribe). This week's is very much one of his best, (Hmm... Wonder what that says about those articles that are especially hard to write, those weeks that are especially hard to live?), about a film that completely intrigues me...

God & Gay Conversation

Some weeks, it's kind of easy to write this newsletter, because there's a new movie or a hot topic that pretty much speaks for itself, and the words just flow. Some weeks, it's hard to come up with anything—usually because there's not much going on worth comment—and I'll end up staring at a blank screen, my fingers itching to be told which keys to punch.

This is one of those hard weeks, but not because there's nothing to say. It's because there's almost too much to say—and all because of one little movie. That's the way it goes when that film, Save Me, just happens to be about a drug- and sex-addicted gay man who finds faith, hope, and love—but not a "cure"—at an "ex-gay" Christian ministry.

Talk about a loaded topic. But also, talk about a film with high hopes.

Chad Allen is a gay actor I first met when End of the Spear released in 2006. He played the role of missionary martyr Nate Saint in that film, creating a bit of a stir among Christian conservatives. But Allen says that it was on the Spear set that he first began to realize that all Christians aren't the homophic haters he assumed they were; he met believers—including Steve Saint, son of the man that Allen played—who embraced him (but not his lifestyle) with warmth and compassion.

I've maintained occasional correspondence with Allen since then, and I've been long looking forward to his next film project, Save Me, which opens—in very limited release—today. Be sure to read my interview with Allen, who plays Mark, a promiscuous, drug-addicted gay man who, at the end of his rope and at the behest of his brother, checks into Genesis House, a Christian "ex-gay" ministry. At the home, Mark finds God, compassion, and acceptance, and his self-image and self-respect soars. But he doesn't find a "cure" for his homosexuality—and he's apparently OK with that.

The Christian couple in charge of the home are portrayed as reasonable, loving folks who truly care about these men. Since the people behind the film were primarily from the gay community, it would have been easy to lampoon and stereotype the Christians as gay-bashing radicals. Allen says that would've been too easy, and that wasn't his goal anyway—partly because of the loving Christians he met on End of the Spear. Allen's hope is to help improve the conversation between gays and evangelicals, to tear down some of the walls between the two camps in hopes of more and better dialogue.

Fuller Seminary prof Craig Detweiler thinks Allen and Save Me have accomplished just that, saying the film is a "step forward in conciliatory efforts between artists, filmmakers, the gay community, and the conservative Christian community," And he lauds Allen and the filmmakers for their "courage to upend stereotypes on both sides."

I agree with Detweiler, and hope that more Christians get a chance to see the film. It's only playing in New York right now, but will expand to more cities in the months ahead. But if you choose to see it, be warned: The first five minutes or so are quite explicit, with a steamy gay sex scene that includes a very strung-out drug addict. After that, though, the film remains mostly in PG-13 territory, with a bit of foul language. But if you can get beyond that, I think you'll find a film that does a good job of, as Allen says, advancing "the conversation of God and gay."

Is Save Me a film you'd be interested in watching—whether it comes to a theater near you or someday on DVD? Let us know in our weekly poll.

Meanwhile, Reel News reports that Religulous, the upcoming Bill Maher flick that spoofs and bashes religion—not just Christianity, but all religions—is getting some buzz as a possible Oscar contender. Heaven help us.

See you at the movies,

Mark Moring
Editor, CT Movies

Wim Wenders in IMAGE

Nifty Wim Wenders profile in this issue of IMAGE Update...

Wim Wenders

IMAGE Journal Artist Of The Month: September 2008

That one of Wim Wenders’s production companies is called “Road Movies” is no accident, no casual moniker. The central metaphor in nearly all his films is that of a lone figure on a journey, even if the destination is not known. Like Walker Percy’s character Binx Bolling (from The Moviegoer), Wenders’s protagonists are on a “Search.” find a direction, a dimly sensed goal, even if more time on the road is necessary. Whether it is Harry Dean Stanton giving his son back to his estranged wife in Paris, Texas and then setting off again, or the angel Damiel (played by Bruno Ganz) choosing to become human and experience the world in a new way (in Wings of Desire), or Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) in Don't Come Knocking attempting to go home again, each character starts as a wanderer and becomes a pilgrim. Image is proud to have one of the world's great film directors, Wim Wenders, as an Editorial Advisor, and, more importantly, as a friend. His integrity, his unwillingness to make clever or flashy films, stands as a beacon of artistic hope to those who have a vision but may be afraid to pursue it. Wenders is on the pilgrim road, aware of the journey's end in the distance, but fully willing to give himself up to every moment of the trip.
Read Wim Wenders' article Interrogation in the symposium Why Believe in God? in Issue 55 here.

Current Projects

I am currently finishing a film project that was mainly shot in Italy last year. It’s called Palermo Shooting and features German punk rocker Campino, the Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno and the great Dennis Hopper. I am also working on a new photography show, and my future film projects include a thriller in Tokyo entitled Miso Soup and an adaptation of Walker Percy’s magnificent novel The Second Coming, to be shot in the Carolinas. I am also teaching “Digital Cinema,” as a professor at the Hamburg Art School.


Biography

Wim Wenders was born in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1945. One of the most influential figures of the New German Cinema in the Seventies, his films––among them The American Friend (1978), Paris, Texas (1984), Wings of Desire (1987) or Buena Vista Social Club (1999)––have won numerous prestigious awards and international critical acclaim. A major survey of Wenders’ photography, Pictures from the Surface of the Earth, has toured museums and art institutions worldwide since 2001. Wim Wenders has also published numerous books of essays and photographs. He lives in Los Angeles and Berlin with his wife, photographer Donata Wenders. He is President of the European Film Academy, and member of the order “Pour le Mérite”

From the Sep 1 2008 issue of IMAGE Update, a free bi-weekly email newsletter you really ought to subscribe to. (Did I mention it's free?).  100% Certified Soul Food. What's not free, but - apart from tickets to Pacific Theatre - the best value on the planet for your Soul Food Bucks, would be a subscription to the print journal.

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938, USA, Michael Curtiz)

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938, USA, Michael Curtiz, John Wexley / Warren Duff screenplay)
Let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could.

Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien return to the slum where they were punks together, one now a gangster (guess which), the other a priest. Father Jerry fights to keep a new generation of dead-end kids (played, in fact, by The Dead End Kids) from growing up like Rocky. When the hoodlum faces the electric chair, his pastor pal begs him to "die yellow" and break his hold on the kids' imaginations. Unmitigated mellerdrammer, ANGELS is a lot of tough-talking fun ("You slap me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize") that anticipates by four years this director's masterpiece of heroic sacrifice, CASABLANCA, but with greater theological resonance – the "dead man walking" climax has unexpected heft, echoing another execution, another shameful criminal's death, another redemption centuries before.

ON THE WATERFRONT

ANGELS OF THE STREETS (1943, France, Robert Bresson)

ANGELS OF THE STREETS ("Les Anges du péché" "Angels of Sin" 1943, France, Robert Bresson, screenplay with Jean Giradoux / Père Bruckberger)

A wealthy Parisienne joins the Sisters of Bethany, who make no distinction between the ex-prisoners they seek to rehabilitate and other nuns, and develops an intense relationship with an unrepentant prisoner who commits murder immediately upon release. Lacking the director's stylistic distinctives (which would emerge full-blown two films later, in DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST), an extraordinary debut nonetheless, filmed under the German occupation – story collaborator Bruckberger was both a Dominican priest and a famed member of the French Resistance. Dave Kehr: "The spiritual themes – confession, absolution, salvation – are explored through visual and dramatic paradoxes, as Bresson draws parallels between a life in prison and a life in God, and finds his final image of freedom in a pair of handcuffs."

A MAN ESCAPED; LEON MORIN, PRIEST

ANGELA (1995, USA, Rebecca Miller)

ANGELA (1995, USA, Rebecca Miller)

Debut full-length film by Arthur's girl concerns ten- and six-year-old sisters who turn to strange hyper-religious visions and rituals in reaction to their parents' disintegrating marriage. Todd McCarthy: "A film of intense and unusual spirituality, mystical and explicitly religious – what feels like a very Catholic film."

PERSONAL VELOCITY, EVE & THE FIRE HORSE, HEAVENLY CREATURES

ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (1947, USA, James Edward Grant)

ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (1947, USA, James Edward Grant)

Badman is John Wayne, angel a fetching Quaker woman who nurses the gunslinger to health, asks him to put aside his guns.

HIGH NOON, THE BIG COUNTRY, WITNESS

IL MIRACOLO ("The Miracle" 1948, Italy, Rossellini)

IL MIRACOLO ("The Miracle" 1948, Italy, Roberto Rossellini)

From a pair of short Rossellini films called L'AMORE, the first (LA VOCE UMANA) having no particular Soul Food content. IL MIRACOLO ("The Miracle" Tulio Pinelli screenplay) is from a Federico Fellini story about a simple-minded woman who sleeps with a vagrant, believing him to be Saint Joseph. Driven out of her village in a pastiche of Jesus' via dolorosa, she gives birth in a stable. American Catholics were scandalized – they saw blasphemy; materialist critics were disgusted – they caught the scent of transcendence.

THE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS, STROMBOLI