I watched this the other day with Anna (it's titled Departures in the West) and really enjoyed it. I had a bit of a problem with the mingling of almost camp humour (the opening scene involves the discovery of 'a thing' on a seemingly female corpse) and contemplative scenes, but I think by the end the comedy was softened enough by the more serious material so as not to be too distracting, and in some senses, it even provoked interesting tragi-comic dimensions. The spirituality of the corpse preperation was pleasingly introduced, but it never really comes into proper focus, as the rest of the film rather distracts from the movement to what is hinted at as profundity. Which is a shame. We see flashes of a beautifully human connection between those living, and those who have passed away, but the film never really capitalizes on this connection, and you finish the film feeling that you might have witnessed something important, but you're not really sure. That said, the next film I watched was Stepbrothers, which, whilst having its moments of comedy, was, all things considered a pretty dire film. The best parts of the film and the worst parts both stem from Will Ferrell's physical comedy.

I'm also in the process of watching Medea, the 1969 film by Pier Paolo Pasolini. It also is a notable watch for being the famous Maria Callas's only film role. She's actually a very beautiful women - or at least in the film seems to exert a powerful allure appropriate to the jilted lover role she takes on. The film itself is a little bit different in execution from Euripedes' drama, notably in the long expansion of the work of Jason and the Argonauts, which is compressed into a kind of background chorus performed by the nanny in the original. Visually, it's an absolute feast, drawing heavily on an anthropologically-driven aesthetic that truly is quite beautiful. When we look at Brecht's idea of verfremdungseffekt in Shakespeare, he is all for the recovery of period costumes, to alienate the audience, and enliven them to the reality of the play on stage. I think that same drive exists in Medea, but in the inverse - the removal of standardised costume appropriate to the Greek play, and the replacement with a motif which seems to self-consciously point to its own otherness, works extremely effectively.

In other news, since my last update I have had a UCL ball, and the final do for the English department. It was sad times, as it has started feeling like I really am going to have to leave soon (a few weeks, no less), and the usual haunts of college and Camden will be hard to replace. Anna has finished all of her exams so I've been lucky enough to spend a decent amount of time with her, which is jolly nice, especially after our self-imposed exile from love which was commenced alongside the exam period. Tomorrow I'm planning on going to the British Library's exhibition on maps, which I've been looking forward to, as I can't make the day I was originally planning on heading in for with some course mates. A few of my housemates seem keen though, and I will try and draft Anna in too, so hopefully I won't be on my lonesome, cast adrift in cartography.

I also would just like to add that I haven't become some kind of Medea obsessive, it's just the timing of the posts that make it appear so. I might actually pop into the library tomorrow and try and do something vaguely productive, but, as always, we will see just how far intention and actuality can seperate tomorrow. Until next time.

Labels: film

"The circle of human knowledge, illuminated by the pale, cold light of reason, is so infinitesimally small, the dark regions of human ignorance which lie beyond that luminous ring so immeasurably vast, that imagination is feign to step up to the borderline and send the warm, richly colored beams of her fairy lantern streaming out into the darkness ; and so, peering into the gloom, she is apt to mistake the shadowy reflections of her own figure for real beings moving in the abyss.

Sir James George FrazerThe Golden Bough

April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 / September 2010 / February 2011 / April 2011 / August 2011 / September 2011 /

HEY / A long time coming / Don't get excited. / Laurels / ואלס עם באשיר / Misc. stuff / Just to say. / Danny / Jude / Shakespeare exam / Historical Shakespeare. /

The title of this blog comes from a poem by Coleridge, A Wish: Wriiten in Jesus Wood, Feb. 10th, 1792, Plus most blogs are moans anyway. Including this one. lol manuscripts

email me here
twitter dannywhitelock
bootlessmoan.blogspot.com

I'm a 23 year-old student in London Cambridge London, studying English Literature Law. It's hard to really think of anything truly personal I can put here that might give you some idea of who I am, so I will just tell you that my favourite Shakespeare play is Richard II, my favourite chocolate bar is Snickers, and I have a bit of a thing for instant coffee, especially if someone else makes it for me.

I'm interested in Renaissance Literature, Higher Education policy, and libraries.
I'm completely in love with a Scottish girl.