There is more to humanity than the people around you. There are people who are wise but dead, yet alive in books and films. There are those who are wise but distant, yet approachable in their art. There are amicable strangers. In order to feel alive, one must not neglect any of these people.
Life distributes enough hardship; this hardship should not be amplified by self-punishment. One way to try to focus on one's long-term goals is to focus on trying to make other people---those whose goals are aligned with one's own goals---happier. It is convenient, though not necessary, that these other people exist.
28 December 2008
24 December 2008
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
This Frank Capra's picture illustrates the view of the world according to which (i) one should act in accord with one's desires and in spite of the prevailing social norms, and (ii) if studied carefully, one's ultimate desires---those that grant most satisfaction---will consist in being attentive and kind to others.
Was George Bailey's happiness derived from the sacrifice of his youth's aspirations in order to promote the well-being of his neighbours? No. Had George Bailey travelled the world, he would have come back to Bedford Falls. Otherwise he would not have stayed there in the first place. Hence, the movie does not promote self-sacrifice. The movie advocates doing whatever one thinks is right for himself, and this is what George Bailey did. And what happens to be right for oneself, is typically also generous with respect to others.
The movie underscores that in choosing a spouse (or a friend, or a companion) one acknowledges the direction in which one would like to go, and one acquires an inspiration and a stimulus to persevere moving in that direction. Yet it is better to travel without a compass than with a faulty compass. George Bailey was fortunate. Mary shares George's integrity and is beautiful. They do not make them like this anymore.
Was George Bailey's happiness derived from the sacrifice of his youth's aspirations in order to promote the well-being of his neighbours? No. Had George Bailey travelled the world, he would have come back to Bedford Falls. Otherwise he would not have stayed there in the first place. Hence, the movie does not promote self-sacrifice. The movie advocates doing whatever one thinks is right for himself, and this is what George Bailey did. And what happens to be right for oneself, is typically also generous with respect to others.
The movie underscores that in choosing a spouse (or a friend, or a companion) one acknowledges the direction in which one would like to go, and one acquires an inspiration and a stimulus to persevere moving in that direction. Yet it is better to travel without a compass than with a faulty compass. George Bailey was fortunate. Mary shares George's integrity and is beautiful. They do not make them like this anymore.
12 December 2008
Destry Rides Again (1939)
This is a B-movie that could have been an A-movie if made eight years earlier, pre-code, with Marlene Dietrich's acting in earnest a little more complex and a little less jaded part. The grotesqueness of the characters in the perceived Wild West deprives the movie of its subtlety and hence power. Even though James Stewart is doing a good job, he is given too little work to excell.
As for subtlety, therein lies the great challenge of art. On the one hand, the work should be sufficiently stylised in order to highlight the problem that it addresses. On the other hand, the work must have enough fine detail in order for the problem thus defined to be non-trivial and the insight emerging from the work to be non-negligible.
As for subtlety, therein lies the great challenge of art. On the one hand, the work should be sufficiently stylised in order to highlight the problem that it addresses. On the other hand, the work must have enough fine detail in order for the problem thus defined to be non-trivial and the insight emerging from the work to be non-negligible.
28 November 2008
Nutcracker
(Rochester City Ballet, 28 November 2008)
The beginning of the end of Hollywood musicals (and a glorious beginning of the end at that) was in the 1950s. Musical productions about staging musical productions with thrice the number of musical numbers of a 1930s movie were all the vogue. The audiences coveted musical extravaganza, and it was delivered, sometimes at a cost in terms of the richness of the plot---broadly construed. The Nutcracker displays the symptoms of a deceased genre. It is a variety show in the second act and much grimacing in the first act.
Excellent dancing, in principle, will compensate for and possibly even obliterate the shortcomings of a dead genre. Ballet dancing is difficult and careers are short. Everyone can tell if dancing is good or bad. And some of it was indeed good this evening. Yet one cannot help but to wish for the excellent, even though this means to wish for the nearly impossible.
The beginning of the end of Hollywood musicals (and a glorious beginning of the end at that) was in the 1950s. Musical productions about staging musical productions with thrice the number of musical numbers of a 1930s movie were all the vogue. The audiences coveted musical extravaganza, and it was delivered, sometimes at a cost in terms of the richness of the plot---broadly construed. The Nutcracker displays the symptoms of a deceased genre. It is a variety show in the second act and much grimacing in the first act.
Excellent dancing, in principle, will compensate for and possibly even obliterate the shortcomings of a dead genre. Ballet dancing is difficult and careers are short. Everyone can tell if dancing is good or bad. And some of it was indeed good this evening. Yet one cannot help but to wish for the excellent, even though this means to wish for the nearly impossible.
26 November 2008
Grey Gardens
(The Studio Theatre, 26 November 2008)
"One can only keep by letting go" may be the message of this musical play. Or maybe the message should be that for most people having a routine imposed by a day job is a healthy experience, which rules out living off bequests or relying on a rich spouse to support oneself. This is not necessarily the way it must be for all, but for many the acquaintances, the discipline, and the break from the stifling family air, which come with having a job, are essential. All characters, but probably the mother and the daughter in the second act, are portrayed quite sketchily. The actors do their best and do it well, but a greater input from the playwright and the director would have been appreciated.
"One can only keep by letting go" may be the message of this musical play. Or maybe the message should be that for most people having a routine imposed by a day job is a healthy experience, which rules out living off bequests or relying on a rich spouse to support oneself. This is not necessarily the way it must be for all, but for many the acquaintances, the discipline, and the break from the stifling family air, which come with having a job, are essential. All characters, but probably the mother and the daughter in the second act, are portrayed quite sketchily. The actors do their best and do it well, but a greater input from the playwright and the director would have been appreciated.
24 November 2008
8 1/2 (1963)
Several male actors make a movie about rivalry and honour. Remove all beautiful male actors but one and the movie is about loneliness. Add a beautiful actress and the picture is about the lack of understanding between sexes. Add some more beautiful actresses and the picture is about difficult choices and still the lack of understanding. Remove all beautiful actors and actresses altogether and the picture is a flop. In contrast, if a character played by a beautiful (broadly construed) male actor stays with the character played by the most beautiful actress, then the movie typically succeeds. In this sense, 8 1/2 has got at least this right, whereas other merits of the picture are debatable, which is not to say absent.
A good narrative requires certain detachment or at least a semblance of detachment. Therefore, it is hard for an artist to create a work of art about the plight of an artist. This does not stop artists from trying or indeed succeeding in doing so. Federico Fellini in 8 1/2 largely succeeds.
La Saraghina is one of the most powerful scenes in the film. It captures the essence of the movie: to live is to question.
The film is a collection of images---often Dali-like images---and musical fragments that can be taken in the order presented, or after being permuted, or absorbed only selectively. In this sense, the movie is closer to a painting rather than a novel. It is left up to the viewer if to scan the picture from left to right, from top to bottom or the other way around, from a distance or close up, with glasses on or while squinting.
A good narrative requires certain detachment or at least a semblance of detachment. Therefore, it is hard for an artist to create a work of art about the plight of an artist. This does not stop artists from trying or indeed succeeding in doing so. Federico Fellini in 8 1/2 largely succeeds.
La Saraghina is one of the most powerful scenes in the film. It captures the essence of the movie: to live is to question.
The film is a collection of images---often Dali-like images---and musical fragments that can be taken in the order presented, or after being permuted, or absorbed only selectively. In this sense, the movie is closer to a painting rather than a novel. It is left up to the viewer if to scan the picture from left to right, from top to bottom or the other way around, from a distance or close up, with glasses on or while squinting.
22 November 2008
Harvey (1950)
This is a movie about how being "oh-so-pleasant" trumps being "oh-so-clever" if one must choose between the two. This is a movie about how living with an imaginary friend is better than living with no friend at all, as long as the imaginary friend does not have a religious agenda.
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