It is a novel about a different kind of people waiting for Godot. The novel asserts that a civilization without small talk is possible. More defines a man than what he ate for lunch.
Humans turn to big questions, not featured in small talk, out of craving for simple answers. Non-existence of simple answers is easier to verify in small questions than big ones. Humans turn to big questions also in order to explain and thus predict environment. Simple answers are easy to live by and to remember.
Big questions do not feature in a small talk, defined as an exchange in which a speaker expects his interlocutor's response. Small talk about big questions is confined to conversations of co-religionists or patriots. No new ideas emerge from such conversations.
In the novel, individuals take time off (of the time-off, for some) in order to discover a simple idea that would give purpose to their nation and, by extension---they hope---to them. The pursuit can be counteproductive. No cell in a flower is charged with improving the functioning of the entire plant. Nonetheless, the plant evolves, often for the better. Still, the pursuit of a big idea can be fruitful, as it accelerates the mutation of ideas, as long as no mutated idea is malicious enough to annihilate the society.
Literally and by example, the novel warns one against getting lost in details. Beauty is secured by pruning the inessential and the ugly. The illusion of causation (and hence of control) is gained by linearly arranging the events and by living them linearly, with only the briefest sojourns in the past or future. That is, life must be lived as a novel. A novel, a product of an inevitably systematizing mind, delivers linearity and thus gratifies.
Robert Musil's characters grope for a structured thought. The strongest overcome the arresting urge to drown themselves in contemplating the lofty, a symptom of perfectionism. Instead, they summon (or profess) the courage to proceed with the essential mundane.
In the novel, ladies worship the protagonist, Ulrich. They are attracted to him by his detachment and by the author's wistful thinking.
26 December 2009
13 December 2009
High Sierra (1941)
Poverty cripples all but the strongest. It deprives one of choices that would enable one to discover one's proclivities and shape them into a character. Relative poverty hurts most, as the affluent buy some of the freedom that could have been available to the impoverished. The impoverished can gain freedom by hard work and luck, or by force and luck. A prosperous society channels force into work and prevents extreme poverty due to bad luck, thus nurturing character. The perils of riches are left unexplored by this B-movie.
5 December 2009
Garth Fagan Dance
(Nazareth College Arts Center, 5 December 2009)
In a good dance number, music is in the mind of the viewer, certainly not conspicuously on the mind of the dancer. Music is what a dancer's mood evokes, not what shocks the dancer into his next move. It is this subordination of music to characters that makes a jazz band engaging to watch, and it is the failure to subordinate that makes watching a symphony orchestra dull unless one's gaze is rested on the conductor.
Garth Fagan's dancers stretch, interpret music, or communicate with an entity that delights in broken lines and abrupt movements, but they communicate reluctantly with each other. When they do communicate with each other, they are at their best, as in "Translation Transition." There, music is simple and repetitive enough not to dominate the understated choreography; the characters emerge.
Mr Fagan's sense of timing and visual composition is precise, even cinematic. It should be employed to tell the dancers' story, not the composer's.
In a good dance number, music is in the mind of the viewer, certainly not conspicuously on the mind of the dancer. Music is what a dancer's mood evokes, not what shocks the dancer into his next move. It is this subordination of music to characters that makes a jazz band engaging to watch, and it is the failure to subordinate that makes watching a symphony orchestra dull unless one's gaze is rested on the conductor.
Garth Fagan's dancers stretch, interpret music, or communicate with an entity that delights in broken lines and abrupt movements, but they communicate reluctantly with each other. When they do communicate with each other, they are at their best, as in "Translation Transition." There, music is simple and repetitive enough not to dominate the understated choreography; the characters emerge.
Mr Fagan's sense of timing and visual composition is precise, even cinematic. It should be employed to tell the dancers' story, not the composer's.
26 November 2009
Parfumerie
(Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 26 November 2009)
Perceptiveness thrives in contentment. Misery blinds; so does bliss, but it is less common. Life's multiple dimensions cannot be recovered from a one-dimensional emotion experienced at any time, typically dominated by a life's single dimension. Changes of environment are required to induce variation in life's circumstances, and then some detective work is required to identify each circumstance's effect on one's well-being.
The only thing George (Oliver Dennis) dislikes more than his job is being jobless. At work, miserable, he is the man he manages to be; in his letters, he is the man he wants to be. In the letters, he is also the man he actually is, content because spared from the irritable boss's reproaches and an inept co-worker's (Rosie's, played by Patricia Fagan) inadvertent sabotage of sales.
The play is a fairy tale tinted with compromise. (Later, Hollywood found it profitable to discard compromise not to sabotage sales.) Rarely a play that does not miscast its leading lady is a failure. Neither is this one. Patricia Fagan is handsome and able, but not implausibly so for a Hungarian salesgirl she portrays. The ease with which Oliver Dennis's plain character wins over the girl is a testament to the story's compromise, but also to wisdom in simplicity, practised out of necessity---by characters as well as the company. Joseph Ziegler (Mr Hammerschmidt) and Michael Simpson (Louis Sipos) are responsible for recreating the spirit of Hungary, as Shakespeare intended to recreate Denmark---as a work of art, not as a National Geographic feature.
Perceptiveness thrives in contentment. Misery blinds; so does bliss, but it is less common. Life's multiple dimensions cannot be recovered from a one-dimensional emotion experienced at any time, typically dominated by a life's single dimension. Changes of environment are required to induce variation in life's circumstances, and then some detective work is required to identify each circumstance's effect on one's well-being.
The only thing George (Oliver Dennis) dislikes more than his job is being jobless. At work, miserable, he is the man he manages to be; in his letters, he is the man he wants to be. In the letters, he is also the man he actually is, content because spared from the irritable boss's reproaches and an inept co-worker's (Rosie's, played by Patricia Fagan) inadvertent sabotage of sales.
The play is a fairy tale tinted with compromise. (Later, Hollywood found it profitable to discard compromise not to sabotage sales.) Rarely a play that does not miscast its leading lady is a failure. Neither is this one. Patricia Fagan is handsome and able, but not implausibly so for a Hungarian salesgirl she portrays. The ease with which Oliver Dennis's plain character wins over the girl is a testament to the story's compromise, but also to wisdom in simplicity, practised out of necessity---by characters as well as the company. Joseph Ziegler (Mr Hammerschmidt) and Michael Simpson (Louis Sipos) are responsible for recreating the spirit of Hungary, as Shakespeare intended to recreate Denmark---as a work of art, not as a National Geographic feature.
19 November 2009
Radio City Christmas Spectacular
(HSBC Arena, 19 November 2009)
The show achieves what one would have thought impossible if it only had not appeared so natural. The show's every act caters a Christmas dream for everyone. All enjoy the same dish, each savours his favourite ingredient and believes it to be the main one. Whether one wants to believe in miracles, the Nativity story, or the perfection of female form---one finds enough fabrication to reaffirm that belief. The show has mastered what each believer hopes for---the perfectibility of man (and chorus girl, and mouse, and elf).
The show resembles the early Hollywood cinema. The synchronised dancing routines expose a character whose features would be undetectable in individual dancers. Scenes change swiftly, progress quickly---just to register in memory, often not to be consumed on premises.
The "12 Days of Christmas" is the product of the American formula that transforms pop culture into art, and makes art popular; it pleases the living, sparing no expense, at the risk of temporarily upsetting the dead. The Rockettes' tap-dancing rendition of the "Swan Lake" turns the ballet into a timeless jazz standard.
The "Parade of Wooden Soldiers," an original act from 1933, is a pinnacle of grace. High-waisted wide-legged white trousers amplify the character of each dancer, with seemingly so little room for distinction. The steps are minimal and technically as uniform as the dancers' costumes. Yet, with the moves synchronised, the slightest syncopation or inflection asserts a personality. To keep the tall hats vertical, all moves emanate from hips, thus perfecting each step.
The show achieves what one would have thought impossible if it only had not appeared so natural. The show's every act caters a Christmas dream for everyone. All enjoy the same dish, each savours his favourite ingredient and believes it to be the main one. Whether one wants to believe in miracles, the Nativity story, or the perfection of female form---one finds enough fabrication to reaffirm that belief. The show has mastered what each believer hopes for---the perfectibility of man (and chorus girl, and mouse, and elf).
The show resembles the early Hollywood cinema. The synchronised dancing routines expose a character whose features would be undetectable in individual dancers. Scenes change swiftly, progress quickly---just to register in memory, often not to be consumed on premises.
The "12 Days of Christmas" is the product of the American formula that transforms pop culture into art, and makes art popular; it pleases the living, sparing no expense, at the risk of temporarily upsetting the dead. The Rockettes' tap-dancing rendition of the "Swan Lake" turns the ballet into a timeless jazz standard.
The "Parade of Wooden Soldiers," an original act from 1933, is a pinnacle of grace. High-waisted wide-legged white trousers amplify the character of each dancer, with seemingly so little room for distinction. The steps are minimal and technically as uniform as the dancers' costumes. Yet, with the moves synchronised, the slightest syncopation or inflection asserts a personality. To keep the tall hats vertical, all moves emanate from hips, thus perfecting each step.
13 November 2009
Whatever Works (2009)
Are not the people in the provinces---not evil, just scared, as Evan Rachel Wood's character puts it---underemployed? True, it may be cheaper to sustain them where they are, feed them religion, football, and television---not ballet, theatre, and fine art---and hope that they serendipitously will produce an idea or an intellect that will benefit the civilized world. Yet, many in the provinces would be freer and happier (and would make others happier too) if they were initiated into civilization at an early age, instead of fighting for it or stumbling upon it. The initiation is not as improbable as it may appear. Individuals strive to have a passion, which they would not abandon for a good judgement, but would substitute for another passion, which can be designed to be a reasonable one.
In contrast to most of her publicity stills, in the movie, Evan Rachel Wood is pretty---the price she pays for appealing to an intelligent man, played by Larry David. The affliction vanishes when she settles with Henry Cavill's character, a man of her own generation. With the affliction, affection will vanish too. Hence Larry David's admonition that the film is not a feel-good one.
Larry David character's vision, even if true, is too grim to share with most others. He cannot help not sharing it, however, even if doing so is unprofitable. His intermittent suicide attempts are the only instances when he tries to be selective in choosing the audience for his existential insights. The suicide attempts also reveal his doubt in the accuracy of his vision, the burden of which is often unbearable. His latest attempt at a targeted insight, a jump out of a window, lands him a girlfriend.
In the movie, the characters who learn most are those who find themselves transplanted into an unfamiliar environment. Larry David's character is the one who learns least, perhaps, because he knows most, but also because he has spent his life witnessing others come to seek and often not find happiness where he is, instead of going elsewhere, where he could follow them and would be excused for taking along his idealistic dreams.
In contrast to most of her publicity stills, in the movie, Evan Rachel Wood is pretty---the price she pays for appealing to an intelligent man, played by Larry David. The affliction vanishes when she settles with Henry Cavill's character, a man of her own generation. With the affliction, affection will vanish too. Hence Larry David's admonition that the film is not a feel-good one.
Larry David character's vision, even if true, is too grim to share with most others. He cannot help not sharing it, however, even if doing so is unprofitable. His intermittent suicide attempts are the only instances when he tries to be selective in choosing the audience for his existential insights. The suicide attempts also reveal his doubt in the accuracy of his vision, the burden of which is often unbearable. His latest attempt at a targeted insight, a jump out of a window, lands him a girlfriend.
In the movie, the characters who learn most are those who find themselves transplanted into an unfamiliar environment. Larry David's character is the one who learns least, perhaps, because he knows most, but also because he has spent his life witnessing others come to seek and often not find happiness where he is, instead of going elsewhere, where he could follow them and would be excused for taking along his idealistic dreams.
18 October 2009
ProArteDanza
(Harbourfront Centre, 17 October 2009)
In large part, perceived physical beauty is the mastery of one's own body. The mastery translates into fluency in expressing emotions. What is sometimes viewed as an incorrigible physical flaw is often corrigible disengagement. For instance, an irregularly-shaped nose stands out only if it does not act in accord with other bodily members in conveying its bearer's individuality. Perceived intellectual beauty resembles physical beauty. The greatest mistake of disengagement is shyness, the wish to be absent---physically or intellectually. Presence is beauty. ProArteDanza's performance has presence.
Rena Narumi appears to be oddly proportioned until she moves. Then, she is impeccable, as her each muscle tells; she is supple, quick, precise, expressive. Anisa Tejpar treats the challenge of taming the momentum of her big body with nonchalance and earnestness. Like other female dancers in the performance, she is imperfectly built. The imperfection, if moderate, however, is an advantage for a dancer. Then, the movement speaks, not the silhouette. Johanna Bergfelt's body recites even when she (or the director---or at least the audience) wishes it to whisper. Still, each of the three dancers owns and controls her body. No muscle acts of its own accord; no movement is redundant.
Choreography, music, and dancing are excellent. In their intensity, the dances resemble martial arts and west coast swing. Instead of being trapped in bodies possessed by the choreographer's spirit, the dancers retain initiative; they act. Whenever a dancer is on stage, she plays a part, never just waits for her turn.
"Unfinished 32" captures the indispensability of communication, which in its purest form consists of generating a momentum, passing in onto others, and trusting that others will return it or pass it on. Dance, like communication, is a goal, not a means. No point is belaboured; intensity is never suggested by repetition.
"Hidden Places" celebrates the acceptance of change and transience (as opposed to change and accumulation). "Maria Celeste" is a piece about the era when good intentions imputed to a god were an excuse for his cruel acts. Dancing in "Beethoven's 9th---1st Movement" does to classical music what animation did to it in Disney's "Fantasia;" the dancing awakens one but does not halt the dream.
In large part, perceived physical beauty is the mastery of one's own body. The mastery translates into fluency in expressing emotions. What is sometimes viewed as an incorrigible physical flaw is often corrigible disengagement. For instance, an irregularly-shaped nose stands out only if it does not act in accord with other bodily members in conveying its bearer's individuality. Perceived intellectual beauty resembles physical beauty. The greatest mistake of disengagement is shyness, the wish to be absent---physically or intellectually. Presence is beauty. ProArteDanza's performance has presence.
Rena Narumi appears to be oddly proportioned until she moves. Then, she is impeccable, as her each muscle tells; she is supple, quick, precise, expressive. Anisa Tejpar treats the challenge of taming the momentum of her big body with nonchalance and earnestness. Like other female dancers in the performance, she is imperfectly built. The imperfection, if moderate, however, is an advantage for a dancer. Then, the movement speaks, not the silhouette. Johanna Bergfelt's body recites even when she (or the director---or at least the audience) wishes it to whisper. Still, each of the three dancers owns and controls her body. No muscle acts of its own accord; no movement is redundant.
Choreography, music, and dancing are excellent. In their intensity, the dances resemble martial arts and west coast swing. Instead of being trapped in bodies possessed by the choreographer's spirit, the dancers retain initiative; they act. Whenever a dancer is on stage, she plays a part, never just waits for her turn.
"Unfinished 32" captures the indispensability of communication, which in its purest form consists of generating a momentum, passing in onto others, and trusting that others will return it or pass it on. Dance, like communication, is a goal, not a means. No point is belaboured; intensity is never suggested by repetition.
"Hidden Places" celebrates the acceptance of change and transience (as opposed to change and accumulation). "Maria Celeste" is a piece about the era when good intentions imputed to a god were an excuse for his cruel acts. Dancing in "Beethoven's 9th---1st Movement" does to classical music what animation did to it in Disney's "Fantasia;" the dancing awakens one but does not halt the dream.
9 October 2009
The Way We Were (1973)
He believes that economic freedom will protect the freedom of speech of the talented and the eloquent. She wants the freedom of speech for all and believes it must be fought for. For him, flippancy is a team sport. For her, flippancy is arrogance and shallowness. He compromises for love. She campaigns for love. Both respect each other, which enables them to learn from each other.
25 September 2009
Cirque du Soleil: Alegria
(Blue Cross Arena, 25 September 2009)
At a Starbucks, it is hard enough to place an order just when the barista is listening and to recall one's name and the drink's name and ingredients in the right order. In comparison, on an aerial high bar, group performance is near to impossible, requires uncommon intelligence and skill. The skill looks like a product of desperation, not aspiration to beauty---perfection in the mundane. The impression is reinforced by the scenes in which athletes are forced to perform by their ugly masters, unnecessarily introduced to set off the athletes' perfect bodies.
Alegria lacks the class of Moulin Rouge, another celebration of physique. Alegria's goal, however, is not to honour class. Class embodies civilization and hence requires an object for imitation, whose availability is a matter of chance. Instead, Alegria honours hard work, which is universally available.
At a Starbucks, it is hard enough to place an order just when the barista is listening and to recall one's name and the drink's name and ingredients in the right order. In comparison, on an aerial high bar, group performance is near to impossible, requires uncommon intelligence and skill. The skill looks like a product of desperation, not aspiration to beauty---perfection in the mundane. The impression is reinforced by the scenes in which athletes are forced to perform by their ugly masters, unnecessarily introduced to set off the athletes' perfect bodies.
Alegria lacks the class of Moulin Rouge, another celebration of physique. Alegria's goal, however, is not to honour class. Class embodies civilization and hence requires an object for imitation, whose availability is a matter of chance. Instead, Alegria honours hard work, which is universally available.
20 September 2009
The Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Tango, jazz, and Hollywood musicals have emerged to distract the working class from its daily suffering. By late 1950s, the suffering had receded; the better-off working class had matured for instruction; the Production Code had begun to fade. "The Anatomy of a Murder" is a glimpse into the cinema that was to follow, with compromised ideals and inconclusive endings.
Whenever censorship is imposed on art, someone in the audience gains from the ingenuity of the artist outwitting the censor. Others suffer from having missed the innuendo, or the artwork of the artists who are bad at innuendos. The "speaking-of-horses" dialogue in the "Big Sleep" (1946) hardly could have been improved if the Code had been absent. With the code, sometimes even a villain had to speak like a gentleman, which amplified his evil.
Once the Code retreated, poetry retired---for a while. One could go to more places, but would meet fewer people. Films clustered into ratings with the advent of the rating system, as homes clustered into suburban communities with the advent of the motorcar. The dream disintegrated as did American cities---inexplicably, unintentionally, temporarily. "The Anatomy a Murder" is explicit in its treatment of a certain undergarment of a lady, but is delicate at hinting the cultural changes of the forthcoming decades.
Whenever censorship is imposed on art, someone in the audience gains from the ingenuity of the artist outwitting the censor. Others suffer from having missed the innuendo, or the artwork of the artists who are bad at innuendos. The "speaking-of-horses" dialogue in the "Big Sleep" (1946) hardly could have been improved if the Code had been absent. With the code, sometimes even a villain had to speak like a gentleman, which amplified his evil.
Once the Code retreated, poetry retired---for a while. One could go to more places, but would meet fewer people. Films clustered into ratings with the advent of the rating system, as homes clustered into suburban communities with the advent of the motorcar. The dream disintegrated as did American cities---inexplicably, unintentionally, temporarily. "The Anatomy a Murder" is explicit in its treatment of a certain undergarment of a lady, but is delicate at hinting the cultural changes of the forthcoming decades.
28 August 2009
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The district attorney and the defence lawyer are on the same side, the side of justice. Each is motivated by the adversarial system, but neither values his private victory above truth. Both sentence the guilty by ascertaining that he is such and by making sure that he knows that they know it.
Hume Cronyn's eccentric character, the defence lawyer, is the most substantial one. The others are victims of selfishness (narrowly construed), which blinds them to the consequences of their blunders. The circumstances do not force the protagonists to display the qualities that are not apparent from the outset. With the characters doomed, the narrative lacking suspense, and the direction lacking poetry, the story is didactic.
Hume Cronyn's eccentric character, the defence lawyer, is the most substantial one. The others are victims of selfishness (narrowly construed), which blinds them to the consequences of their blunders. The circumstances do not force the protagonists to display the qualities that are not apparent from the outset. With the characters doomed, the narrative lacking suspense, and the direction lacking poetry, the story is didactic.
20 August 2009
Julie and Julia (2009)
This picture's graphic cooking and devouring compete for the audience who normally gorge on gratuitous violence and bathroom humour, the staples of the purple screen. Meryl Streep's mannerisms are overdone; her character is hollow---even though based on a true story. One of the film's theses---that it does not matter who people are, it only matters who one thinks they are---accentuates the positive, but exposes one to the risk of drawing fallacious lessons from others' behaviour.
5 August 2009
South Pacific
(Lincoln Center Theater, 4 August 2009)
The South Pacific island is the America of the past, a country of competing prejudices and of detachment by force (of irreversible immigration), which morphs into the America of the future, a country of competing ideas and of detachment by choice. Laura Osnes (as Nellie Forbush) is beautiful and understatedly sincere. Loretta Ables Sayre's character (Bloody Mary) says that she will master English in no time, and one believes, convinced by her skilful singing, a hobby practised when not selling straw skirts and dried human heads. The actors' shared skill is in endowing their characters with more traits than are necessitated by their lines and with lives extending beyond the play.
The South Pacific island is the America of the past, a country of competing prejudices and of detachment by force (of irreversible immigration), which morphs into the America of the future, a country of competing ideas and of detachment by choice. Laura Osnes (as Nellie Forbush) is beautiful and understatedly sincere. Loretta Ables Sayre's character (Bloody Mary) says that she will master English in no time, and one believes, convinced by her skilful singing, a hobby practised when not selling straw skirts and dried human heads. The actors' shared skill is in endowing their characters with more traits than are necessitated by their lines and with lives extending beyond the play.
4 August 2009
Vince Giordano and Nighthawks
(3 August 2009, Club Cache)
Neither an imitation nor a tribute, but a snapshot of one of the many epochs that develop in parallel in the city. The band and the patrons live their parts with flair.
Neither an imitation nor a tribute, but a snapshot of one of the many epochs that develop in parallel in the city. The band and the patrons live their parts with flair.
2 August 2009
Take Dance
(Dance Theatre Workshop, 2 August 2009)
The first sequence resembled a warm-up. The players' movements were loose without being spontaneous; the movements lacked purpose. Subsequent sequences improved. Still, a dance often exhibited physique, instead of conveying a thought. The dancers moved the way they had been instructed to, not the way they thought they looked best or felt they communicated most. In solo dances, Amy Young had the vitality that others lacked.
The dancers were at their best---the movements were pointed and pauses were held---when conversing in couples. The conversations of Nana Tsuda and Kile Hotchkiss shone in their fallen elegance, the sometimes formulaic narrative notwithstanding. And it is hard to surpass the eloquence of the red dress against the background of the black-and-white suit.
The first sequence resembled a warm-up. The players' movements were loose without being spontaneous; the movements lacked purpose. Subsequent sequences improved. Still, a dance often exhibited physique, instead of conveying a thought. The dancers moved the way they had been instructed to, not the way they thought they looked best or felt they communicated most. In solo dances, Amy Young had the vitality that others lacked.
The dancers were at their best---the movements were pointed and pauses were held---when conversing in couples. The conversations of Nana Tsuda and Kile Hotchkiss shone in their fallen elegance, the sometimes formulaic narrative notwithstanding. And it is hard to surpass the eloquence of the red dress against the background of the black-and-white suit.
25 July 2009
Kunstmuseum Bonn
(25 July 2009)
Before photography, committing an image to canvas was the only way to guard it against the erosive effects of repeated recall. The invention of photography has raised the bar for the painter by requiring that the painting be not only well-executed, but also false in a manner appreciated by many. Modern failures are exhibited at the Kunstmuseum because they encourage art today for the sake of breakthroughs tomorrow at the price of rewarding mediocrity today, and because they contain a lesson.
The paintings' ugliness calls one's attention to the fortuitous nature of the man-made beauty, displayed and often taken for granted elsewhere. By regressing several steps in their artistic development, the artists question the path that the beauty has taken towards its contemporary form. Even when the finishing touches are grazed just a little, the works incite creativity in the viewer.
The displayed works aim to baffle, not please or enlighten. The bafflement shifts the burden of creativity on the viewer, thereby betraying an artist who has nothing to say.
Before photography, committing an image to canvas was the only way to guard it against the erosive effects of repeated recall. The invention of photography has raised the bar for the painter by requiring that the painting be not only well-executed, but also false in a manner appreciated by many. Modern failures are exhibited at the Kunstmuseum because they encourage art today for the sake of breakthroughs tomorrow at the price of rewarding mediocrity today, and because they contain a lesson.
The paintings' ugliness calls one's attention to the fortuitous nature of the man-made beauty, displayed and often taken for granted elsewhere. By regressing several steps in their artistic development, the artists question the path that the beauty has taken towards its contemporary form. Even when the finishing touches are grazed just a little, the works incite creativity in the viewer.
The displayed works aim to baffle, not please or enlighten. The bafflement shifts the burden of creativity on the viewer, thereby betraying an artist who has nothing to say.
21 June 2009
Agatha Christie: Poirot (1989-2008)
With his fastidious habits, he would not have fit in his native Belgium. In London, a city accommodating (but not indifferent to) eccentrics, he is accepted, with his peculiarities dismissed as foreign quirks. Rearing his thoughts in discipline, he expects exacting discipline from the world that he inhabits. When such discipline is found lacking, it is introduced by interference (e.g., adjusting items on a mantelpiece) or inference (e.g., discovering the necessary in what initially seemed to be arbitrary). His unique ability to bring order---the ability that is the defining characteristic of being alive---is what makes others consider Poirot a hero.
In the "Sad Cypress," Poirot says that to wish a murder is not the same as to commit a murder. The difference is qualitative, not quantitative. To wish for something is to evaluate the prospect of attaining it. Someone who wishes for something may eventually conclude its undesirability, whereas someone who refrains from wishing may do so only because he anticipates his inability to resist the temptation of committing whatever he wishes for.
In the "Sad Cypress," Poirot says that to wish a murder is not the same as to commit a murder. The difference is qualitative, not quantitative. To wish for something is to evaluate the prospect of attaining it. Someone who wishes for something may eventually conclude its undesirability, whereas someone who refrains from wishing may do so only because he anticipates his inability to resist the temptation of committing whatever he wishes for.
15 June 2009
"Mythologies" by Roland Barthes (1957)
Science is a belief informed by evidence; ideology is a belief in spite of evidence; myth is a belief in the absence of evidence. Culture is a system of malleable beliefs; civilization is a system of all beliefs, malleable or not. Thus, for instance, the primitive fear of height is not a part of culture, whereas the belief that this fear can be overcome is. Roland Barthes explores myths.
Whatever M. Barthes aims to achieve with the abstract discourse at the end of the volume either fails or poses the questions that do not merit answers. Confused, but grammatically correct, the discourse is uninformative. Nearly by accident, however, the author describes the myth well by observing that "Mythical speech is made of a material which has already been worked on so as to make it suitable for communication." (The emphasis is in the original.) Indeed, the beliefs forming a myth must be infectious, and therefore altered in order to be suited for easy transmission across individuals.
M. Barthes is at his best when he is least didactic, merely a reporter. In his essay "Operation Margarine," he alerts the reader to the perils of every-day marketing: "A little 'confessed' evil saves one from acknowledging a lot of hidden evil." In "The Iconography of the Abbe Pierre," he warns that looking at the images of saints can crowd out, rather than inspire, charitable acts. The crowding-out occurs either subconsciously, when the charitable feeling is enjoyed without committing any charity (a sensation analogous to viewing pornography), or through misinformation, when the prevalence of charitable images is mistaken for the prevalence of justice in the world. In "Toys," the author points out that the children's toys that are replicas of the objects used by adults encourage a child to accept the world as it is, thereby nurturing a consumer, not a producer.
The petite bourgeoisie, whom M. Barthes both criticises and pities, are portrayed as a class who measure their worth in the consumption of objects, are vulnerable to the manipulation by the advertising industry (commercial and political), and are keen to emulate the outward symptoms of the others' perceived happiness.
Whatever M. Barthes aims to achieve with the abstract discourse at the end of the volume either fails or poses the questions that do not merit answers. Confused, but grammatically correct, the discourse is uninformative. Nearly by accident, however, the author describes the myth well by observing that "Mythical speech is made of a material which has already been worked on so as to make it suitable for communication." (The emphasis is in the original.) Indeed, the beliefs forming a myth must be infectious, and therefore altered in order to be suited for easy transmission across individuals.
M. Barthes is at his best when he is least didactic, merely a reporter. In his essay "Operation Margarine," he alerts the reader to the perils of every-day marketing: "A little 'confessed' evil saves one from acknowledging a lot of hidden evil." In "The Iconography of the Abbe Pierre," he warns that looking at the images of saints can crowd out, rather than inspire, charitable acts. The crowding-out occurs either subconsciously, when the charitable feeling is enjoyed without committing any charity (a sensation analogous to viewing pornography), or through misinformation, when the prevalence of charitable images is mistaken for the prevalence of justice in the world. In "Toys," the author points out that the children's toys that are replicas of the objects used by adults encourage a child to accept the world as it is, thereby nurturing a consumer, not a producer.
The petite bourgeoisie, whom M. Barthes both criticises and pities, are portrayed as a class who measure their worth in the consumption of objects, are vulnerable to the manipulation by the advertising industry (commercial and political), and are keen to emulate the outward symptoms of the others' perceived happiness.
12 June 2009
Spider's Web
(Cambridge Arts Theatre, 11 June 2009)
Much of the enjoyment of this mystery story is derived from suspense. Indeed, most kinds of enjoyment are rooted in suspense. One can listen to an ocean for hours, but not to a clock, because one never knows when the next ocean wave breaks, whereas the timing of the ticking clock is no mystery. Similarly, the enjoyment of memories is the enjoyment of the unexpected during sequential recall.
The company have attained the ultimate goal of most human endeavour: creating order, for which intelligence and good manners are indispensable. Clarissa Hailsham-Brown (Melanie Gutteridge)--- cheerful, not hysterical, happy, not content out of ignorance, kind out of wisdom, not out of duty or fear---would have met even Alfred Hitchcock's standards of understated glamour, perhaps.
Much of the enjoyment of this mystery story is derived from suspense. Indeed, most kinds of enjoyment are rooted in suspense. One can listen to an ocean for hours, but not to a clock, because one never knows when the next ocean wave breaks, whereas the timing of the ticking clock is no mystery. Similarly, the enjoyment of memories is the enjoyment of the unexpected during sequential recall.
The company have attained the ultimate goal of most human endeavour: creating order, for which intelligence and good manners are indispensable. Clarissa Hailsham-Brown (Melanie Gutteridge)--- cheerful, not hysterical, happy, not content out of ignorance, kind out of wisdom, not out of duty or fear---would have met even Alfred Hitchcock's standards of understated glamour, perhaps.
Arcadia
(Duke of York's Theatre, 12 June 2009)
"Arcadia" is as aesthetically close to mathematics as literature ever gets. The play is precise, elegant, and ends with a hope.
Generating knowledge, inspiring knowledge, and recovering lost knowledge lead to, if not immortality, then at least serenity. One finds it necessary to justify the dissemination of knowledge no more than one finds it necessary to justify other primitive instincts: eating or fighting for one's life. Yet, these other primitive instincts are the means for fulfilling the instinct for sharing knowledge, which benefits many, the union of whom is the ultimate organism, on the immortality of which one is wise to bet in one's conduct.
All useful knowledge must eventually be written in mathematics, which is defined to be any logically tight argument. A literary project is akin to one in pure mathematics in that either project is guided by its creator's good taste, even though the project's application may not be apparent at the time of its creation. Yet, good taste---an eye for simplicity---is the anticipation, even if unconscious, of future applications. Good taste is refined and tested by wisely chosen intellectual companions.
Superficially, science is about creations, whereas literature is about creators. Should not posterity care only about the creation, not the identity its creator, the trivia of his biography, and the circumstances of his labour? The biography is the manual to the creative process and fulfilling life, and in this the biography is valuable. When the biography merely exploits the cult of celebrity among the better educated, however, it has little value beyond entertainment.
Tom Stoppard's writing, David Leveaux's direction, and the company's performances are impeccable. Ed Stoppard's performance is definitive of character acting.
"Arcadia" is as aesthetically close to mathematics as literature ever gets. The play is precise, elegant, and ends with a hope.
Generating knowledge, inspiring knowledge, and recovering lost knowledge lead to, if not immortality, then at least serenity. One finds it necessary to justify the dissemination of knowledge no more than one finds it necessary to justify other primitive instincts: eating or fighting for one's life. Yet, these other primitive instincts are the means for fulfilling the instinct for sharing knowledge, which benefits many, the union of whom is the ultimate organism, on the immortality of which one is wise to bet in one's conduct.
All useful knowledge must eventually be written in mathematics, which is defined to be any logically tight argument. A literary project is akin to one in pure mathematics in that either project is guided by its creator's good taste, even though the project's application may not be apparent at the time of its creation. Yet, good taste---an eye for simplicity---is the anticipation, even if unconscious, of future applications. Good taste is refined and tested by wisely chosen intellectual companions.
Superficially, science is about creations, whereas literature is about creators. Should not posterity care only about the creation, not the identity its creator, the trivia of his biography, and the circumstances of his labour? The biography is the manual to the creative process and fulfilling life, and in this the biography is valuable. When the biography merely exploits the cult of celebrity among the better educated, however, it has little value beyond entertainment.
Tom Stoppard's writing, David Leveaux's direction, and the company's performances are impeccable. Ed Stoppard's performance is definitive of character acting.
29 May 2009
"Doctor Glas" by Hjalmar Söderberg (1905)
Typically, people are messengers for evil ideas, instead of being evil themselves. In such cases, one should focus one's efforts on fighting the attraction of these ideas, instead of eradicating the messengers. This is also why a murder is unlikely to be a satisfying experience. After the act, the murderer discovers that these were the ideas that he found repugnant, not the carrier of those ideas; those ideas survive, if only in the mind of the murderer.
23 May 2009
Sunset Boulevard
(Comedy Theatre, 23 May 2009)
A successful genius rarely operates alone. For instance, a successful picture requires skilful actors, a director with a vision, a team of script-writers, a producer with a taste and confidence necessary to halt the release of the picture in order to re-shoot some scenes---and also luck. Even the product of a seemingly lone writer is a story to which the intruders into the writer's life and the editor have contributed significantly. Finally, the public sifts through the creative works and appoints only few to immortality.
This tribute musical is a remake of the non-musical movie of the same title, but unlike that movie, the musical version will not gain immortality. Nonetheless, the musical has a value, as it signals historical continuity to those in the audience who find such continuity comforting. The audience, in turn, encourages such manifestations of continuity by thanking the actors in person for recreating and handing over to the audience the characters, which the audience is free to adopt and improve upon.
The play is about a writer and an actress who have lost the confidence in themselves and the belief in the industry to which they belong. They find temporary consolation in each other's company. It is harder, however, to agree on an imaginary world than on a real one.
The direction lacks Trevor Nunn, and music and libretto lack Cole Porter. Despite the conducive plot, the action never reaches the intensity at which a song would be a natural expression of one's emotion. The leads do good jobs, but mainly by approximating the performances of their counterparts in the motion picture.
The costumes were poor. Fedoras with the rims rolled up, the male lead's off-the-rack skinny trousers and his three-button jacket were accomplices in an unintended sartorial potpourri. The lead's polo t-shirt, blue on screen, is grey on stage---a gaffe that has robbed the character of much of his depth.
A successful genius rarely operates alone. For instance, a successful picture requires skilful actors, a director with a vision, a team of script-writers, a producer with a taste and confidence necessary to halt the release of the picture in order to re-shoot some scenes---and also luck. Even the product of a seemingly lone writer is a story to which the intruders into the writer's life and the editor have contributed significantly. Finally, the public sifts through the creative works and appoints only few to immortality.
This tribute musical is a remake of the non-musical movie of the same title, but unlike that movie, the musical version will not gain immortality. Nonetheless, the musical has a value, as it signals historical continuity to those in the audience who find such continuity comforting. The audience, in turn, encourages such manifestations of continuity by thanking the actors in person for recreating and handing over to the audience the characters, which the audience is free to adopt and improve upon.
The play is about a writer and an actress who have lost the confidence in themselves and the belief in the industry to which they belong. They find temporary consolation in each other's company. It is harder, however, to agree on an imaginary world than on a real one.
The direction lacks Trevor Nunn, and music and libretto lack Cole Porter. Despite the conducive plot, the action never reaches the intensity at which a song would be a natural expression of one's emotion. The leads do good jobs, but mainly by approximating the performances of their counterparts in the motion picture.
The costumes were poor. Fedoras with the rims rolled up, the male lead's off-the-rack skinny trousers and his three-button jacket were accomplices in an unintended sartorial potpourri. The lead's polo t-shirt, blue on screen, is grey on stage---a gaffe that has robbed the character of much of his depth.
17 May 2009
The 39 Steps
(Criterion Theatre, 15 May 2009)
Wit is in expressing more with less. A metaphor is in painting a picture in a phrase. A joke is in evoking an alternative story-line in a sentence. A formula is in encoding infinite content in a finite collection of symbols.
By shedding the superfluous, with four actors and minimal props, the play expresses the essence of the human mind's escape from boredom. Richard Hannay (Robert Portal), is of singular and, fortunately and yet inevitably, handsome constitution. All women are of the same essence (Tessa Churchard) and only vary in form; hence, Mr Hannay is wise just to wait for the right form to arrive. Other men are at most of two types (these types are sometimes carelessly borrowed by women)---slim or fat---and hence are portrayed by at most two actors (Nigel Betts and Alan Perrin). Suspense, romance, class, a little humour, and music successfully plot an escape from Mr Hannay's boredom, which is nothing but the absence of a structured thought, the absence that, if left unattended, spirals into despair.
Wit is in expressing more with less. A metaphor is in painting a picture in a phrase. A joke is in evoking an alternative story-line in a sentence. A formula is in encoding infinite content in a finite collection of symbols.
By shedding the superfluous, with four actors and minimal props, the play expresses the essence of the human mind's escape from boredom. Richard Hannay (Robert Portal), is of singular and, fortunately and yet inevitably, handsome constitution. All women are of the same essence (Tessa Churchard) and only vary in form; hence, Mr Hannay is wise just to wait for the right form to arrive. Other men are at most of two types (these types are sometimes carelessly borrowed by women)---slim or fat---and hence are portrayed by at most two actors (Nigel Betts and Alan Perrin). Suspense, romance, class, a little humour, and music successfully plot an escape from Mr Hannay's boredom, which is nothing but the absence of a structured thought, the absence that, if left unattended, spirals into despair.
13 May 2009
An Inspector Calls
(Cambridge Arts Theatre, 13 May 2009)
With over-rehearsed jerks, the gaze fixed on anything but his interlocutors, and the voice directed at the audience, an inspector forces the characters to confess to the lesson of this socialist propaganda: a better collection of social contracts can be enforced by the state than by the quid-pro-quo dealings of its citizens.
With over-rehearsed jerks, the gaze fixed on anything but his interlocutors, and the voice directed at the audience, an inspector forces the characters to confess to the lesson of this socialist propaganda: a better collection of social contracts can be enforced by the state than by the quid-pro-quo dealings of its citizens.
24 April 2009
Milk (2008)
From the first shots of Donna Reed opposite James Stewart it is clear that their characters will get married; just looking at the two, one experiences why. Similarly, put Cary Grant next to Grace Kelly, and the imagination fills in the rest. In contrast, setting up a gay romance requires greater articulation. The requisite skill is displayed by Sean Penn, less so by others in the picture "Milk."
The freedom of movement is a catalyst for other freedoms. America's size---which matters only because of the open state borders---is a major cause of America's prosperity.
The freedom of movement is a catalyst for other freedoms. America's size---which matters only because of the open state borders---is a major cause of America's prosperity.
20 April 2009
The Visitor (2007)
A late-middle-aged man confesses the lack of passion for his work to yet another person and admits the drum into the circle of his musical interests.
11 April 2009
"Pigeon Feathers" by John Updike (1963)
Just as background in mathematics makes a better scientist and background in ballet makes a better ballroom dancer, the skill of writing poetry helps one build precise verse. Updike's verse has the timing, phrasing, and parsimony of good poetry. The quality of his verse, however, is not always matched by the quality of the content. The disparate stories are uneven and overall inferior to Updike's novel "Marry Me," perhaps, because the conception of a story is often motivated by money, or because Updike the author of these stories is a less experienced writer than the Updike of "Marry Me."
Some stories in the collection are not drawings in their own right, but studies for a painting. Yet what makes each story readable is Updike's respect for his characters. Also, he never sentimentalises; instead, he lets actions, however minor, speak.
"A&P" is a story about a young man's tentative discovery of who he is, about his being true to this discovery in spite of the lack of full recognition thereof.
"In Pigeon Feathers," a boy and a father both confess to being afraid of dying; a more accurate description of their fear is that of not having lived. City life is either a distraction or an escape from that condition. Religion is a distraction by means of an imaginary escape.
"Home" suggests two kinds of people who live in the country-side: women who like land, and men who like people, dislike land, and are brought into the country-side by women. "His mother had been born in the county, on a farm, and felt involved with the land but estranged from its people." "His father had come from the centre of Baltimore, and groped after people, but saw no comfort in land."
Some stories in the collection are not drawings in their own right, but studies for a painting. Yet what makes each story readable is Updike's respect for his characters. Also, he never sentimentalises; instead, he lets actions, however minor, speak.
"A&P" is a story about a young man's tentative discovery of who he is, about his being true to this discovery in spite of the lack of full recognition thereof.
"In Pigeon Feathers," a boy and a father both confess to being afraid of dying; a more accurate description of their fear is that of not having lived. City life is either a distraction or an escape from that condition. Religion is a distraction by means of an imaginary escape.
"Home" suggests two kinds of people who live in the country-side: women who like land, and men who like people, dislike land, and are brought into the country-side by women. "His mother had been born in the county, on a farm, and felt involved with the land but estranged from its people." "His father had come from the centre of Baltimore, and groped after people, but saw no comfort in land."
10 April 2009
Le Clan des Siciliens (1969)
The Family is a team. Its members' business is delegated. Discipline is enforced as misbehaviour endangers the entire family, not just the perpetrator. The woman, a necessary evil, is treated as property so as to limit the rotation of cadres.
Roger Sartet (played by Alain Delon) is a loner. He does his own thinking. He is good at it, given he has managed to live to thirty-five. Honouring verbal agreements with strangers means more to him than to the Sicilian Family; the Family deals with strangers less often than the loner does and hence relies less on external reputation.
M. Sartet is an idealist: in his dress, his confidence in his ability to tell who can be trusted and for how long, his belief that the trusted shall be trustworthy---and his calculation that they probably will not be such. His shooting makes up for the paucity of his talking. He is at his best, however, when doing neither.
Roger Sartet (played by Alain Delon) is a loner. He does his own thinking. He is good at it, given he has managed to live to thirty-five. Honouring verbal agreements with strangers means more to him than to the Sicilian Family; the Family deals with strangers less often than the loner does and hence relies less on external reputation.
M. Sartet is an idealist: in his dress, his confidence in his ability to tell who can be trusted and for how long, his belief that the trusted shall be trustworthy---and his calculation that they probably will not be such. His shooting makes up for the paucity of his talking. He is at his best, however, when doing neither.
2 April 2009
Le Nozze di Figaro
(Eastman Theatre, 2 April 2009)
In an exercise in which participants walk, talk, sometimes dance, and occasionally advance the plot, it is unclear why most of the effort should be concentrated on singing, especially when the musical numbers are so mediocre. Abigail Levis (who plays the part of Cheburino) is an exception; she acts. It appears that, among Americans who are not professional actors, only women and gay men have retained the ability to portray a male character of even minimal subtlety.
In an exercise in which participants walk, talk, sometimes dance, and occasionally advance the plot, it is unclear why most of the effort should be concentrated on singing, especially when the musical numbers are so mediocre. Abigail Levis (who plays the part of Cheburino) is an exception; she acts. It appears that, among Americans who are not professional actors, only women and gay men have retained the ability to portray a male character of even minimal subtlety.
27 March 2009
L'Auberge espagnole (2002)
To live is to move, which is to learn.
Cécile de France treads lightly, beautifully.
The creators have failed to resist the temptation to adorn the film with a Brit, as if freshly out of Ricky Gervais's "The Office." The British society's division in clusters, as is evident from its numerous accents, renders such jokes less damning for the Brits than analogous caricatures of American characters are for Americans. A British culprit is a bearer of a particular accent, and it is assumed that his vices do not easily spread to the classes that sport alternative accents and speak in complete sentences.
The film subtly exhibits curious French camaraderie, which makes being French appear akin to belonging to the network of the Harvard Business School graduates. Friends or foes, the members are kin. One would like to imagine that the club is merit-based, not nationality-based.
Cécile de France treads lightly, beautifully.
The creators have failed to resist the temptation to adorn the film with a Brit, as if freshly out of Ricky Gervais's "The Office." The British society's division in clusters, as is evident from its numerous accents, renders such jokes less damning for the Brits than analogous caricatures of American characters are for Americans. A British culprit is a bearer of a particular accent, and it is assumed that his vices do not easily spread to the classes that sport alternative accents and speak in complete sentences.
The film subtly exhibits curious French camaraderie, which makes being French appear akin to belonging to the network of the Harvard Business School graduates. Friends or foes, the members are kin. One would like to imagine that the club is merit-based, not nationality-based.
21 March 2009
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Trying times for men are the times of opportunity for the nation. If adversities do not destroy the nation, they invite the stubborn, the ambitious, the clever, and the lucky to replace the spent elite, as the stubborn, the ambitious, the clever, and the lucky struggle for their survival.
In order to hedge the downside risk of this Capraesque but Capraless cinematic enterprise, the film ends with an unlikely marriage between two protagonists.
In order to hedge the downside risk of this Capraesque but Capraless cinematic enterprise, the film ends with an unlikely marriage between two protagonists.
19 March 2009
Entre les murs (2008)
One can work at improving the world in different occupations, at various locations. Few of these can be resolutely deemed more deserving one's effort than others. Instead, one should aspire to address the world's problems in a way that is mastered by fewest others, but without the presumption that this chosen way is the noblest one.
This film is not the Cinema. It is a sombre tribute to chaos, which eventually gives rise to---or at least co-exists with---civilization.
This film is not the Cinema. It is a sombre tribute to chaos, which eventually gives rise to---or at least co-exists with---civilization.
12 March 2009
"Marry Me" by John Updike (1977)
If Nature abhors a vacuum, religious thought fills it. Religion cannot be blamed for deficiencies in one's character though. It is one's character that chooses to accept religion in the first place. So, the book is not about the paralysing effect of religion.
The characters are casualties of the suburban life style of the mid-twentieth century, in which a house-wife lacking a day job fulfils her ambitions by pursuing a day lover. The day lover, having outsourced his reason to the absentee God and a partial spouse, mistrusts and misjudges his feelings, and hence, is unable to make decisions. He seeks inevitability by taking a seat amid the audience, only occasionally interrupting the Life's performance by shouting at characters, in full confidence that they do not---should not---hear and would not---must not---heed his remarks.
There is certain mutual disrespect in the characters' habit of enunciating aloud to each other their emotionally charged thoughts. The creativity of individuality is lost in such a chatter. Respect is lost too; whereas if love survives, it loses its object by blurring the boundaries between oneself, the other, and the others. "In their willingness to live in parallel lay their weakness and their strength." The honesty of the characters' conversations stems not from trust or strength, but from the desire to renounce all responsibility for what happens---to the other and to oneself---by arming the other with all information.
Jerry is attracted to Sally because, living apart, they are not given to the continuous utilitarian chatter. Hence, Jerry perceives Sally as a distinct object of his desire---distinct from himself and his family. Sally seems much more real than his wife because, not being his suburban wife, she does not shadow his every step and thought; she is unpredictable and therefore alive.
The theme of death is the theme of indecisiveness. Jerry feels dying. Immersed in the routine of producing children and steady income, he is stripped of any need to make decisions. His wife, Ruth, accepts Jerry's indecisiveness, thereby becoming an accomplice in his dying. He despises her for that. Sally is the only domain of his life that contains ambiguity, room for deciding. But she would not have him dead, the state to which she feels that he would revert, once settled into the routine of being with her.
"The world is composed of what we think it is; what we expect tends to happen; and what we expect is really what we desire."
The prose is succinct, the sentences are short, the observations are precise, and no points are belaboured.
An advantage of seeing the story related on the pages of a paperback, as opposed to being projected onto a screen, is that the reader can invest the characters with more subtlety than would have been disbursed to them by a film director, who would invariably seek the sensationalism of the grotesque. One can also imagine the protagonists as youthful spirits, not infantile ones. The latter, perhaps, is a more truthful representation.
The characters are casualties of the suburban life style of the mid-twentieth century, in which a house-wife lacking a day job fulfils her ambitions by pursuing a day lover. The day lover, having outsourced his reason to the absentee God and a partial spouse, mistrusts and misjudges his feelings, and hence, is unable to make decisions. He seeks inevitability by taking a seat amid the audience, only occasionally interrupting the Life's performance by shouting at characters, in full confidence that they do not---should not---hear and would not---must not---heed his remarks.
There is certain mutual disrespect in the characters' habit of enunciating aloud to each other their emotionally charged thoughts. The creativity of individuality is lost in such a chatter. Respect is lost too; whereas if love survives, it loses its object by blurring the boundaries between oneself, the other, and the others. "In their willingness to live in parallel lay their weakness and their strength." The honesty of the characters' conversations stems not from trust or strength, but from the desire to renounce all responsibility for what happens---to the other and to oneself---by arming the other with all information.
Jerry is attracted to Sally because, living apart, they are not given to the continuous utilitarian chatter. Hence, Jerry perceives Sally as a distinct object of his desire---distinct from himself and his family. Sally seems much more real than his wife because, not being his suburban wife, she does not shadow his every step and thought; she is unpredictable and therefore alive.
The theme of death is the theme of indecisiveness. Jerry feels dying. Immersed in the routine of producing children and steady income, he is stripped of any need to make decisions. His wife, Ruth, accepts Jerry's indecisiveness, thereby becoming an accomplice in his dying. He despises her for that. Sally is the only domain of his life that contains ambiguity, room for deciding. But she would not have him dead, the state to which she feels that he would revert, once settled into the routine of being with her.
"The world is composed of what we think it is; what we expect tends to happen; and what we expect is really what we desire."
The prose is succinct, the sentences are short, the observations are precise, and no points are belaboured.
An advantage of seeing the story related on the pages of a paperback, as opposed to being projected onto a screen, is that the reader can invest the characters with more subtlety than would have been disbursed to them by a film director, who would invariably seek the sensationalism of the grotesque. One can also imagine the protagonists as youthful spirits, not infantile ones. The latter, perhaps, is a more truthful representation.
27 February 2009
Palo Alto (2007)
Written, directed and performed by a group of youngsters, in their early twenties, the film is reminiscent of college plays. The lack of experience is compensated by youthful enthusiasm and sincerity. The cinematic experience is dominated by the mood, not the plot. As most works of art---as opposed to journalism and pornography---the film reveals a little more than the authors intended to communicate.
Much of the mood of the picture is created by the title, "Palo Alto." (The Palo Alto familiar to the characters in the film, however, is different from the Palo Alto that greets a visitor or a Stanford kid.) There is a certain charm of defiance in affluence taken as a matter of course. There is luxury in watching the college kids suspended in time, the luxury that is afforded by the glimpse into the future experienced through the characters' emotions, however blurred this future is by the uncertainties of their youth.
Much of the mood of the picture is created by the title, "Palo Alto." (The Palo Alto familiar to the characters in the film, however, is different from the Palo Alto that greets a visitor or a Stanford kid.) There is a certain charm of defiance in affluence taken as a matter of course. There is luxury in watching the college kids suspended in time, the luxury that is afforded by the glimpse into the future experienced through the characters' emotions, however blurred this future is by the uncertainties of their youth.
20 February 2009
The Conversation (1974)
A lonely secretive man is betrayed the first time he attempts being open. For the first time explicitly concerned with the consequences of his wire-tapping work, he mistakenly takes the wrong side in trying to avert these consequences. He is a passenger on a bus ride that he can neither control nor enjoy.
The picture seems more at ease with what it would not like to be rather than offering an alternative vision for art. If there is any suspense at all, it is in the anticipation of the resolution of the main character's mental state, not the crime that is about to be committed. The character is not interesting enough to merit such attention. As for the perpetrator and the victim of the brooding crime---and it is not apparent till the end who is who---neither is an honourable citizen inspiring sympathy.
The film tries to be realistic, which is ambitious as realism usually betrays the lack of imagination and artistic talent. Interesting people are almost never "realistic." Neither are films. The film is a concept in search of a better execution. "Das Leben der Anderen" (2006) is the better execution.
The picture seems more at ease with what it would not like to be rather than offering an alternative vision for art. If there is any suspense at all, it is in the anticipation of the resolution of the main character's mental state, not the crime that is about to be committed. The character is not interesting enough to merit such attention. As for the perpetrator and the victim of the brooding crime---and it is not apparent till the end who is who---neither is an honourable citizen inspiring sympathy.
The film tries to be realistic, which is ambitious as realism usually betrays the lack of imagination and artistic talent. Interesting people are almost never "realistic." Neither are films. The film is a concept in search of a better execution. "Das Leben der Anderen" (2006) is the better execution.
14 February 2009
Le Samourai (1967)
In a world of strangers, what distinguishes friends (still strangers) from enemies is loyalty. The world is populated by strangers when one is reluctant to invest in ties with it, thereby avoiding the risk of being sentimental during the departure, especially if the departure is likely to be soon. As for loyalty, it brings a little order, a little intimacy into an otherwise foreign world. Just as a well-tailored suit does.
The film exudes the chill of emptiness, the emptiness that modern French films usually fill with the (secular) humanism.
The film exudes the chill of emptiness, the emptiness that modern French films usually fill with the (secular) humanism.
5 February 2009
In a Lonely Place (1950)
This is a B-picture starring Bogart but missing the Bogart. Bogart's characters, eccentric as they may be, usually bring more order into the world than disorder. Not so this time.
30 January 2009
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Everyone has a world of his own to conquer. It is impossible to sacrifice one's own world in order to make others happy. Instead, one must discover and inhabit the world of one's own first. Only then, one can become a good host to others.
This motion picture draws on a commonly exploited theme, a conflict between a stupid man and a sensitive woman. The conflict does strike one as being a little exaggerated, but then, perhaps, suburban people do indeed come in such a variety. The players overact, but Kate Winslet keeps this overacting within the bounds of decency. Even though at moments, when in arguments, she appears a little uncomfortable, this is consistent with the awkwardness of her character's situation.
Given the portrayed lack of understanding between Leonardo DiCaprio's and Kate Winslet's characters, one wonders whether the couple were doomed regardless of their location, be it a city or suburbia. Since suburbia is a catalyst, not the principal ingredient, of the couple's conflict, the impact of the conflict as a critique of suburbia is diminished. Nonetheless, the inability of Kate Winselet's character to adapt to suburban life and the bordering-on-the-grotesque portrayal of the neighbourhood's inhabitants succeed at capturing the atmosphere of the "hopeless emptiness of life here."
This motion picture draws on a commonly exploited theme, a conflict between a stupid man and a sensitive woman. The conflict does strike one as being a little exaggerated, but then, perhaps, suburban people do indeed come in such a variety. The players overact, but Kate Winslet keeps this overacting within the bounds of decency. Even though at moments, when in arguments, she appears a little uncomfortable, this is consistent with the awkwardness of her character's situation.
Given the portrayed lack of understanding between Leonardo DiCaprio's and Kate Winslet's characters, one wonders whether the couple were doomed regardless of their location, be it a city or suburbia. Since suburbia is a catalyst, not the principal ingredient, of the couple's conflict, the impact of the conflict as a critique of suburbia is diminished. Nonetheless, the inability of Kate Winselet's character to adapt to suburban life and the bordering-on-the-grotesque portrayal of the neighbourhood's inhabitants succeed at capturing the atmosphere of the "hopeless emptiness of life here."
23 January 2009
Last Chance Harvey (2008)
People often fail to recognise the arbitrariness of the reference points against which they measure their decisions. Reassessing the status quo, however, may lead to the realisation that inaction is a gamble whereas action offers a safe return, not the other way around.
Typically, an action, with its outcome uncertain, can lead to disappointment and regret, but so can inaction. Therefore, one is encouraged to act and thereby be alive. And if one is in a city, one just might act not alone.
Typically, an action, with its outcome uncertain, can lead to disappointment and regret, but so can inaction. Therefore, one is encouraged to act and thereby be alive. And if one is in a city, one just might act not alone.
15 January 2009
Ride the Pink Horse (1947)
The lives of others fascinate, especially if one has no life of one's own. If poverty deprives one of the ability to fashion one's own life, one is prepared to pay dearly for being an extra in someone's else B movie, in the hope that the movie comes true.
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