on a Jim Jarmusch kick... beautiful emptiness

down by law

stranger than paradise

Andrei Rublev

persepolis

loved this film.
the visuals.
the contrasts.
the music.
the story.
the themes.
the characters.
makes me want to bust out the black ink again.

"Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill" by banksy

the first week in october witnessed the latest genre-diversion (animatronics!?!) masterpiece by elusive street artist, banksy- the "Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill" ... a mini film released recently was created to document the details. playful, creative, subversive... love it! (see also- bbc).

Dark Knight: analysis of the "face of evil"

My friend Todd just posted a great analysis of portrayal of evil in The Dark Knight. I found it helpful amidst the hum of praise for the film. I saw it too, thought it was amazing as well, but was also left wanting more. Todd is able to speak to that.

Romulus, My Father (2007)

an eastern european family has emigrated to australia. a good, simple and morally concrete father. a borderline mother who is torn between her desire for her family and her addiction to sexually acting out. a tragically triangulated 9 year old boy who bears the lion's-share of the emotional havoc in the family. based on a true story and book, a memoir written by the adult son about his father and childhood, tells the tale of the levels of violence and pathology a family can be driven to... great film. i want to move to australia- the open sky, the gnarled old trees, the general color palate.

La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc

recently watched "the passion of joan of arc"- a 1928 french silent film. almost the entire film is close shots of faces, some of the most beautiful work i've ever seen capturing the emotional nuances of the human face. absolutely stunning. watch it if you haven't.
the original was lost in a fire, a second damaged copy was found and reconstructed- it too was lost in a fire. (odd that the film is about her trial and burning at the stake). the director died thinking his film was gone for ever. but in 1981 a copy was found in a closet in a mental institution somewhere in scandinavia... thank God.

no grace for anyone

recently watched the latest cohen brothers film, "no country for old men." i liked it very much and this is not a review, suffice to say, it is a beautifully made film entertaining themes of greed, violence, fate... and grace. i was struck with three scenes in it that seemed to be linked- all of them involved a "good samaritan" situation where there was a party in need and a party moved by human compassion. in each of the scenes, the one in need of help jockeyed for power by offering the other person multiple hundred-dollar bills in recompense for what the person was already moved to do out of kindness. the impact of the decision is obvious- somehow, the "good samaritan" becomes less good because their helping impulse has been given a price. the question now becomes how one can raise the price and exploit the situation. a tag-line on some posters for the film reads, "you can't stop what's coming"- well... unless its grace.

the in-between

I, like most people, attempt to make sense of the world through forms of "splitting." We like black and white thinking, gray is uncomfortable. Often, children use splitting as a defense mechanism: "When a two year old looks at the world, they see things as going entirely their way, or as a disaster. Mom is here, and feeding me, so she must be good. Mom is in the other room, she therefore doesn't exist (object constancy) so she has abandoned me, and is bad."*
This kinetic dualism we juggle justifies our realities- if I want to feel good about one decision, I have to make all other options bad. If my religion is right, all others are wrong. If my country's form of government is the best, all others are unacceptable. Essentially, splitting is the inability to stay in the "in-between" without an anxiety that paralyzes us.
Good Bye Lenin! is a film that doesn't let you split- I'll try not to spoil the plot. For me, the message of the film was that every victory contains a loss. Life behind the "Iron Curtain" wasn't ALL-bad and the "freedom" to "westernize" wasn't ALL-good. Wherever people end up living, they always create beauty and meaning. When the structure for that lifestyle changes, often much of the circumstantial beauty and meaning disappears. The passing of that regime was filled with ambivalence: it's nice to be able to travel and eat Burger King, but the nostalgia for life as it was is also present.
All of this made me wonder how much psychological splitting our nation had to do feel justified in our decision to launch a "pre-emptive strike" against a "potential threat." It's difficult to harm another when we are fully conscious of their dignity and depravity. It's easy when they are ALL-bad. Further, what routines, lifestyles, habits of being and traditions are no longer for some people. How much beauty and meaning had been created behind that "Iron Curtain" that is now lost forever?
But I guess it doesn't matter, we've given them "democracy"...

how do i fit?

just watched the brilliant film "everything is illuminated" based on the novel by young jewish author, Jonathan Safran Foer. the film raises some great questions regarding the importance of knowing your story and how you fit into your greater family story- about our need for a sense of belonging or connectedness to history and how an understanding of the past impacts the way we live today. it comes wrapped as an awkward comedy framed within the very tragic intersection of four people, a village, a culture and a dog named "sammy davis jr. jr."

disengagement 101

crash

"It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something." - opening line from crash.

just saw this film again tonight and i am in the same state i was after i saw it months ago: stomach in knots, feeling very exposed. it is a gutt-wrenching, weave of stories that powerfully addresses our unwillingness to engage the "other"- all of us. it is heavy and beautiful stuff. (viewer discretion advised)