(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.
13 May 2009
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.
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