The Culture Enthusiast

Summer Day by Georgina de Albuquerque

Art 9:03 AM

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The Artist

Movies 9:18 AM

It took me forever to watch The Artist. I mean, a modern silent movie, with a plot screaming Singing in the Rain and a trailer that seems to give away the whole movie?

I had zero expectations when I finally watched it and was utterly amazed.

The movie is about George Valentin, a silent movie star who gets fired when the studios start producing talking movies. His career is being destroyed while the one of a charming up and comer actress is rising. The so conveniently called Peppy Miller was helped into fame by George and to make matters worse they might be in love with each other.

The Artist is one of those movies that demand something from the viewers and then reward them for it. It wasn’t so difficult to get used to the lack of sound because I actually enjoy watching Buster Keaton’s silent movies. But for some, inferring what’s going on only by gestures and facial expressions might be a challenge.

However, this work is necessary in order to understand what the movie is expressing. We need to understand George’s facial expressions and gestures, because he won’t talk about his pain, not only because it’s a silent movie but because he is proud.

By the way, how amazing is Jean Dujardin, the actor who plays George?

He has that old days face, he is vintage handsome. He also has that positive, upbeat attitude that is almost non-existent in today’s Hollywood stars. There’s a scene where a huge crowd is trying to get to him – photographers, reporters, fans, cops are all around him. And he is truly having fun, he is not faking being happy. Right after posing in a seductive way for a photographer he breaks out laughing.

Also, look out for the rich visual metaphors. You can do a little The Artist drinking game, everybody drinks up every time a mirror appears on screen. They are everywhere. Not only mirrors, but all types of reflection – the spilled water, the shadow in the projection wall, the reflection on a window store.

They are all clues of Valentin’s disintegrated self. Because of this, it reminds me so much of The Fall. People use stories to understand themselves better. They want self-knowledge or at least world knowledge.

The movie is so good that we get George’s struggles, they seem genuine, which is something I did see in My week with Marilyn, for example.

It’s interesting to see that when movie directors want to talk about the passion for cinema they tend to return to silent movies. They are not only paying homages to silent movies but also learning from them. It shows that directors still have a passion and enthusiasm for movies as if movie making had begun only a couple of years ago.

Have you seen the Artist? What did you think of the use of sound?

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Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Books 9:56 AM

If you asked me to recommend a book of poetry, I’d recommend Sonnets from thePortuguese. Many times, poetry can be unintelligible and difficult to tackle – Sonnets from the Portuguese is neither.

They are written in a direct way which makes them easy to understand. They are about love, which is relatable.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote these poems to her husband, the also poet, Robert Browning. The title has a double explanation. Elizabeth was dark complexioned so her husband used to call her “my Portuguese”. It is also a reference to the 16^th century Portuguese poet Camoens and his love Catherine.

You can read the poems as a documentation of her relationship with Robert Browning, but we can’t forget that they are poems written by a poet to another poet. So there’s a lot of richness in them also.

The first poem is to me one of the most interesting and sets the tone for the whole series. She is old and had been sick and bed-ridden for many years. While contemplating her "sweet, sad years", a mystic Shape pulls her by the hair and asks: "'Guess now who holds thee?' - 'Death,' I said. But, there,/ The silver answer rang, - 'Not Death, but Love.'"

Isn't it interesting how she presents love as a source of rejuvenation and life?

I said the other day Elizabeth was my new hero. Unlike so many writers who tend to focus on the negative in their lives, she brings her "melancholy years" to light only as a comparison to the happiness Robert Browning brought her.

The poems show both Robert and herself were an active part in her happiness. Her life was saved not only because of him, but because she loved him back. Imagine how easy it would be for a sick 40-year-old woman to simply dismiss him because he is a handsome 6 year-younger poet and her father didn’t approve of the marriage.

While reading the poems I was amazed at how she could be both physically fragile and interiorly strong.

When Elizabeth gave her husband the sonnets he said it was the best thing after Shakespeare’s sonnets. Robert was a poet himself so, if that compliment is not love I don’t know what is.

What do you think of the Brownings' story?

Image via The Omniscient Mussel

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Cool facts about the Parthenon

Art 9:16 AM

The Parthenon is a temple inside the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena. It is considered the most important surviving building of Classical Greece. I've recently finished reading about it in an art book and was fascinated by these facts:

1) Pericles built the temple with the funds provided by Athen's allies to build a new fleet to fight the Persians. The allies and many Athenians weren't so hot on the idea of prioritizing art over security. Plus, a lot of people just didn't like the style of the work. Because of these disputes, Pericles fell from power and Pheidias (the artist who was supervising the project) had to flee into exile.

2) Plutarch, talking about the decorative sculptures 500 years later said: "They were created in a short time for all time. Each, immediately it was done, assumed the dignified air of antiquity, and now that they are old, they seem fresh, as though done only yesterday. They have about them the bloom of eternal youth, so that time cannot age them, they are replete with life that fades not, and a spirit which never grows old."

3) The building was already transformed into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and into an Islamic mosque. The Greeks used it as a treasury.

4) A lot of the sculptures that decorated the Parthenon were saved from destruction by Lord Elgin. In the 19th century he bought a great number of them from the occupying Ottoman Empire. They are now in the British Museum.

5) Since the 1980's the Greek government has been trying to get the Parthenon's sculptures back to Athens. The British Museum doesn't seem willing to return them and claims they offer the sculptures free of charge for the whole world to see and that many are available for study online. You can read more about it here.

The British Museum made an interesting video about Parthenon sculptures which I couldn't embed... It's a very good way to see them closely.

What do you think about the Parthenon and its sculptures?

Images via 1, 2, 3.

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The Culture Enthusiast

There and back again

Summer Day by Georgina de Albuquerque

The Artist

Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Cool facts about the Parthenon

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