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Content includes basic physiology, medical terminology, patient assessment, and emergency interventions on the basic life support level. The book assumes no prior medical knowledge on the part of the reader and the information is presented in a clear and logical manner.
The text is also useful to the layman who would appredciate a more in depth approach to the recognition of medical emergencies and life saving interventions.
Highly recommended as a text to have on your EMS shelf.
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Schrader was unjustly maligned by critics for the films pacing and flat acting from the films leads. The acting is shallow because the film is about empty people- Julien(Gere) turns on the charm in order to satisfy his ego, and not, as he says, to satisfy women. One gets the feeling, in the long takes when Julien is driving around in his Mercedes, that the smile on his face is because he likes being seen (it is a convertible, after all)and not because of some inner well being. The same can also be said for the pimps in the movie. Both of them behave as if Julien is the slickest, greatest guy alive and smother him with compliments, until, that is, he refuses to do them a favor. Once they dont get what they want, they quickly turn on him. One could even say that the ending echos this. Romantics would like to believe that Julien is redeemed by love, however, he, most likely, stays with the Senators wife because she is the only person who hasnt abandoned him. In his world, she is the only source left to fill his ego and provide him with his much needed alibi, and thats the only reason he doesnt reject her.
My only complaints- I feel that the time lapse device in the films conclusion doesnt work. It seems sudden and awkward compared to the rest of the films pacing, like the story has to tidy itself up to reach its end at the expense of the narrative. I felt that the film could have benifited from more scenes with Julien interacting with his clients. I guess Shrader and the studio wanted to gloss over the gigilo view and not have Gere in intimate scenes with ancient ladies. Instead we see him merely holding hands with them and getting intimate (two scenes) with only attractive and younger women. It feels like a pulled punch. Even though it would have made Julien less admirable to an audience, seeing him being intimate with withered and wrinkled widows would have felt true to the character and led to a better understanding of him. But, thats not the sort of thing Hollywood wants thier male leads doing.
Over time, Schrader is one of those directors whose harsher critics will be laughed at. I dont know of many other directors who get lashed for being "too Foriegn" in thier composition and pace. Without a doubt, he does get much of his style from French and Japanese directors, but only because his eye finds a kinship with them. His is not camerawork that feels in any way forced, like he is borrowing from someone else. Schrader always gets harped on, whereas, Scorsese, Coppola, Allen, and Jarmusch are heralded for borrowing from overseas. So, if you are going to brutally judge Schrader by his influences, then throw out Sam Raimi for looking too much like Leone and Hitchcock, Paul T. Anderson for looking like Scorsese, and you sure as Hell better sting up Spielberg, run him out of town, and bury him in the desert (oh, please do) because two-thirds of his vision is nothing more than a pale Kurosawa impersonation.
Hardcore, American Gigilo, Cat People, Comfort of Strangers, and Affliction are really great films that havent gotten the praise that they deserve, and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is nothing less than a perfect film, an absolute masterpiece. Thank you Mr. Schrader.
In fact, the film's most memorable sequences are both dedicated to hard-edged commodity glitter and have nothing to do with the love story. In the opening credits, Gere shops on Rodeo Drive then drives down Pacific Coast Highway. Deborah Harry loudly sings out to "Call Me" in the background, Gere smirks in the sunny breezes behind the wheel of his 450SL, while the camera lovingly caresses the bumpers and hub caps. In the famous dressing scene, Gere throws one exquisite jacket, shirt and tie after another on to his bed as he ponders the most effective combination. Both scenes are wonderful evocations of svelte narcissism, cheeky self-satisfaction made into an art.
To achieve these surfaces, Schrader owes a deep debt to cinematographer John Bailey, fashion designer Giorgio Armani and especially "visual consultant" (production designer) Ferdinando Scarfiotti, who is probably chiefly responsible for the film's famous "European" look. It also doesn't hurt that the story is almost exclusively limited to the sleeker parts of LA and Southern California-Beverly Hills, Westwood, Malibu, a side trip to Palm Springs, with a touch of Hollywood grunge thrown in for some kicks and kink. It all adds up to a creamy, pastel-tinged vision of LA as a show-biz Riviera, where class and style don't come from centuries of breeding, but can be purchased for the price of a designer shirt.
It is not too much of an exaggeration to suggest that the unsympathetic, vacant characters and ludicrous plotting are there to wear the clothes. Intentionally or otherwise, that hits at a truth about LA that makes the film stay in the memory (particularly since life in the city has changed little since it was made). It's not just the combination of the sleazy and the silky, the cooled-out camerawork gazing alternately at rot and luxury, but the film's realization that in LA, "How much?" is not just the beginning of a financial transaction, but the only question of value people understand.
I like the crime story element much more than the love story between Mr. Gere and Ms. Hutton...But mostly I like that a typically female role (especially in main-stream cinema) was played by a great leading male.
Recommend this as a Double Feature with Pretty Woman (although I'm not a fan of Pretty Woman for film sake...it's good to see Richard turn the tables on his life...Imagine it as a Prequel to Pretty Woman. It'll give the storyline a whole new spin!!)
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This book has helped inspire me not to sit back and watch the world go by. I know that I too have a voice, even if it's not a singing one, I can help make the world just a little happier. I can not stand for injustice, and people not excepting difference. I would recommend this book to anyone who truly love music, and what it is about. I would recommend it to anyone who believes, or wants to believe that there is good in every person.
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