J.J.Abrams’ ‘Fringe’

I do not have too much time for TV series, so I watch less than a handful of them each season. J.J.Abrams is one of the producers I follow and I try not to miss the series created by him. For most of the time I was captivated by Lost, and I was disappointed when Alcatraz was discontinued. Now another one comes to its end, and although Fringe was far from Abrams’ best, it had enough reasons for me to follow it weekly during all its five seasons.

 

source www.imdb.com/title/tt1119644/

source www.imdb.com/title/tt1119644/

 

 

I am wondering whether how J.J. Abrams conceives his series. Lost started like a fictional version of reality show Survivor, to slide soon into science-fiction and then expand into cosmological saga, and this is where it started to lose me. Did J.J. plan this from start? To some extent Fringe followed a similar path. It started as a science-fiction and strange events investigation series, it included even political and anti-corporate messages which got lost in time, and many compared it with X-Files. I personally would have considered this the supreme praise, as X-Files is my preferred TV series of all times. It certainly had its oddities, and its funny science, but this was to some point an element of charm. In the second and third season the science fiction threads became more complex, with the alternate worlds and the communication between them succeeding to keep my interest awake. The romantic thread started or was predictable from the beginning, and it only became more complex in time with the addition of the different instances of the characters in other universes. With time travel an ubiquitous technology the last two seasons projected us in the future, and the salvation of mankind became again the goal of the action. Here I got against lost. Beyond the lack of credibility of the story, the thought that characters I became familiar and resonate with have to save mankind makes me slightly uncomfortable.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzb3zMWLgsY

(video source Jack Smith)

 

There are however many good reason I loved and watched this show for five years. First of all the retro atmosphere was fun and I could resonate with. Semi-crazy scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) exits after almost two decades spent in a mental institution at the beginning of the series, and his retro leanings cover not only science, but also candies and ‘substances’, and the music and the feelings of my younger years. The relation between Walter and his son Peter (Joshua Jackson) is one of the most amazing relationships father-son that I have seen on screen or read in literature ever. The love story between Peter and Olivia (Anna Torv) builds slowly but convincingly, and makes us resonate with them. A few more characters around are well constructed, and even the ‘invaders’ have a dimension of their own (I cannot call it human, can I?). Overall the characters are much better than the stories which are pretty routine action, and the simplicity and straightness of the relations between them balances the pomposity and sometimes the over-morality of the action. It’s one of these shows where I would rather remember the small details than the big picture.

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Mrs. Hitchcock (Film: Hitchcock – Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, 2012)

There is a woman behind any great man, or so they say. According to the story told in ‘Hitchcock’ this may never have been more true than in the case of the famous master of suspense that was Alfred Hitchcock. His wife Alma Reville was a talented script-writer, a focused and sharp assistant-director, and above all a dedicated wife who not only did all she could to support in many ways the genial director, but also made sacrifices and put intentionally in shadows her own self to ensure his indisputable success. Sacha Gervasi‘s first(!) long feature film is apparently the saga of making the masterpiece of the horror genre called Psycho, but for me is before all a film about Mrs. Hitchcock.

 

source www.imdb.com/title/tt0975645/

source www.imdb.com/title/tt0975645/

 

One thing that Hollywood knows to do well is movies about Hollywood. This is the case again with Hitchcock, a film which radiates love for cinema, succeeds to be funny and is a reverence at the same time towards one of the directors who was a darling and a maverick of the film industry at the same time, dominating the suspense, horror and spy films genre in the 50s. We see him here at the top of his creativity, after a series of successes which he knows he must avoid repeating in style in order to stay relevant when crossing the threshold of the age of 60. This is not simple even for the legendary Hitch, as the (Hollywood) system would rather have him go on the safe path of blockbusters, and much of the story in the film is about taking artistic and personal risks in order for him to make the movies he wants. His eccentricities and oddities are presented in details and with delights, yet they hide his more serious search for artistic truth and a fight against aging and the drought of creativity he fears will come with the years. Hitch takes an enormous bet, but we all know the results. Psycho as well as his next film The Birds are the two peaks of a fascinating filmography.

 

(video source The JoBlo Movie Network)

 

The cast is fabulous, but here in my view lies also the weaker point of the film (all relative, of course). I was not thrilled by Anthony Hopkins‘ rendition of Hitch. One of the actors I always thought can do no wrong is over-exaggerating in this film the physical dimensions of the character. 17 years ago he succeeded to be more Nixon than Nixon himself in Nixon, and one year later he repeated the performance in Surviving Picasso. In both movies he played the characters from inside, understood and lived them. In this Hitchcock his act has a dose of unexpected artificiality. This only makes even more blatant the superb acting of Helen Mirren, radiating inner strength and intelligence in one of the best roles of her career (and what a career she has!). Scarlett Johansson is what we expect in the juicy role of Vivian Leigh, Hitchcock’s blonde du jour in Psycho. The biggest surprise comes however from James D’Arcy who is such a perfect clone of Anthony Perkins that I suspected for a few seconds that some special effects were used to built a computerized image of the late actor. The Hitchcock wrapping imagined by Sacha Gervasi for the whole film works quite well. The personal troubles of the character are not completed elucidated, this film is not a deep analysis of the creative processes of the great director, but the film is overall fun, and this is the essence of the work of Hitchcock – challenging the viewers but eventually delivering entertainment, not cinema theory. Hitchcock is fun.

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rust and bone, flesh and soul (Film: De rouille et d’os – Jacques Audiard, 2012)

This is the second film that I see directed by Jacques Audiard, a cinema personality who seems to have written many more scripts than movies that he had made. I am yet to see Un prophete which is considered his best, but the previous one which was called ‘De battre mon coeur s’est arrete’ was a fine and sensitive piece of cinema, with Romain Duris, one of my preferred French actors in the principal role. Now comes  ‘Rust and Bone’  a striking, cruel, almost naturalist drama, but a sincere and moving film at the same time. Although based on a story that could have easily slid into cheap melodrama it succeeds to create emotion by a direct and minimalistic approach in describing a reality which is not soft with its heroes.

 

source www.imdb.com/title/tt2053425/

source www.imdb.com/title/tt2053425/

 

The two heroes of the movies are broken and vulnerable in different ways. Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts) is homeless and just got his 5-years old son on his back, he comes to the South of France to his sister to find a roof and maybe a job to ensure his minimal living. His only credentials are his fighting skills, mostly exercised in the street, but these eventually help him get hired as a security guard in a night club. This is where he meets Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) who is an orca whales trainer in an amusement park. The girl soon will be hurt and lose both legs in a work accident. Broken and lonely she calls the only number she may have had asking Alain for help to overcome the limits of her infirmity. The two come from different worlds, but fate brings them together, a basic solidarity that does not need too many words is at the root of their relation before other feelings develop. He has the physical force to help her overcome her limitations, the bones that wipe aside the rust. She has the soul, the inner force that will help her raise over her infirmity. None of them is a communicator though, and words seldom help in the extreme situations that they face, so the type of relation they develop needs a crisis to test its strength and eventually bring them together.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN8dQQXe0lQ

(video source ABCscopeTrailers)

 

The film succeeds to avoid melodrama and radiates sincerity due to a large extent to the splendid performances of the the two lead actors. Marion Cotillard lives the transformation from tragedy to recovery, from being broken to being in control. Matthias Schoenaerts plays the type of man unable to express emotions in words, but expressing his feelings and ambitions in deeds, and sometimes in violent acts. The whole film is quite brutal, physical, but this is the whole idea, the contrast between force and mind, the search for the core of the real strength. Eventually it is the inner force of souls that can overcome the rustiness of the bones. Man is flesh and bones, and these may be vulnerable, but where there is friendship and then love, there may be hope. Unfortunately the last ten minutes or so are expedited in a manner that makes the ending look like a Hollywood feel-good product, it’s not that I disliked the happy-end in this case, but for the first time in this movie the outcome relates to things that do not happen on the screen, so the feeling of being slightly fooled cannot be avoided. Yet, for most of the time there is truth and emotion in ‘De rouille et d’os’, which may not be easy to watch because of the cruelty of a few of the sequences, yet it leaves a feeling of goodness in the memory of the spectators.

 

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Asimov would wave loved this (TV Series: Real Humans)

The best series of the season come from an unusual source – Swedish Television, but I should not be that surprised. Scandinavian and specifically Swedish thrillers and political drama series have enjoyed great success in bookshops, on the big screens and more recently on TV. It should have been only a matter of time until the science fiction genre was approached by the Scandinavian producers and directors, the difference is maybe only in the fact that no literary warning arrived sooner (as it was the case with the wave of Scandinavian thrillers), or at least I am not aware about any major writer or book in the genre. And yet Äkta människor (Real Humans) is a very well written, acted and directed series, that throws the viewers in an alternate but possible future of mankind and while telling a compelling story about robots asks questions about humanity, about our relations with the strangers and the different among us, about our values and our feelings.

 

source http://tallemaja.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/premiarer-pa-tv-i-var/

source http://tallemaja.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/premiarer-pa-tv-i-var/

 

The biggest writer of robots stories ever, Isaac Asimov introduced in a short story written in 1942 the three laws of robotics, and all his robot stories developed around the logic of these rules and the dangers of breaking them:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

Asimov’s laws were written on the assumption that robots will always subordinate to the will of humans. They did not take into consideration that there may be a Law Zero, which conditions the actions of robots by the same entity that drives human actions – the thing we call soul or human conscience.  The close future created by Lars Lundstrom is supposed to follow the laws of Asimov, with humanoid robots very close to the shape of humans but still serving the humans in many different ways, from housekeeping and health care to being their sex toys. Then the anomaly happens and a piece of code (what else!) is written by a man who is so desperate not to let his son die that he creates a way to allow the merging of the best in Man and Machine, making the humans more robust and less prone to diseases, aging and physical decay, giving machines the capability to learn human feelings and pain. The human robots (or hubots – expect this new noun to enter quickly many languages) may know better what is good for individuals and for all mankind, the problem is that there is no way to do the good they are programmed for without infringing on Asimov’s laws. To do good they must survive, to survive they must protect their existence, to protect their existence they must sometimes disobey or even harm these humans who are on the side of evil.

 

(video source SVT)

 

The first season of Real Humans follows a handful of independent hubots in their fight for emancipation. They face a group of humans composed of a few more of less dysfunctional families, policemen and government agents with their  personal problems, and with their prejudices. The resulting conflict has elements of thriller, horror story, family and judicial dramas, romance and government conspiracies. The relations between men and hubots have multiple dimensions – love and fear, prejudice and ignorance about strangers, faith and sexuality, and none of these is being expedited, and very little is stereotyped in this complex and smartly written story. The characters are each of them distinct and well constructed, the viewers come soon to know, understand, sympathize or fear them. The end of the first season leaves enough paths open and enough characters alive (or not recycled)  for us to look in expectation for the coming seasons, and with some apprehension to the remakes that cannot be also to late to come. One thing I am sure – although his laws are challenged or even reversed in the story that these series are based, Isaac Asimov would have loved it!

 

 

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Carte: Fahri Balliu – Panteonul negru

Lumea pe care o descrie Fahri Balliu in Panteonul negru (editura VREMEA, 2009, traducerea lui Mircea Dobrescu) este bine cunoscuta celor care au trait perioada comunista in Romania, sau macar au citit carti precum Lumea secreta a nomenclaturii a lui Vladimir Tismaneanu despre care am scris aici acum cateva luni. De fapt dupa anii 70 Albania ramasese (poate) singurul loc in Europa Rasariteana care era inca fidel doctrinelor staliniste in starea lor cea mai pura, si isi disputa cu Romania dubioasele titluri de cea mai izolata, cea mai paupera,  cea mai indoctrinata tara a ‘lagarului’. Cei care au trait epoca isi amintesc cum ziarele (toate inregimentate) ale epocii pastrau cu grija ordinea enumerarii numelor membrilor Biroului Politic, si o schimbare a acestei ordini, sau o disparitie a unor nume era uneori semnul prevestitor, sau chiar singurul semn al luptelor interne de la varfurile nomenclaturii, al epurarilor urmate uneori de procese publice si de disparitia fizica a celor cazuti in dizgratie. In Albania descrisa de Balliu aceste tehnici sunt aduse la un stadiu si mai avansat de rafinament, Conducatorii ajung sa fie pur si simplu desemnati prin numere scrise cu litere majuscule. Cand eroina cartii, Kalina cea frumoasa dar nascuta intr-o familie simpla se marita cu una dintre odraslele nomenclaturii, schimbarea de statut nu inseamna numai mutarea in Bllok (echivalentul albanez al Cartierului Primaverii), accesul la vilele partidului, la mancare din belsug, ba chiar si la calatorii in strainatate, ci si accesul in lumea numerelor:

‘Intrase in lumea cifrelor. Se casatorise cu fiul lui Cinci, care avea si un alt numar inregistrat la politie, numarul masinii, saizecisipatru. Si iata ca astfel Kalina si-a pierdut calitatea de individ; ea era nora lui Cinci si a lui Saizecisipatru.’ (pag. 14)

Ceva mai taziu unul dintre conducatori ii va explica tinerei devenita datorita frumusetii ei un fel de trofeu disputat de nomenclaturisti si de copii lor mai multe despre mecanismele din spatele numerelor:

‘La noi nimeni nu e invincibil. Numerele astea pe care le stim noi sunt pentru public; unu, doi, trei, patru si asa mai departe. Ele au o valoare doar printre noi, pentru ca Unu are pentru ei o alta ierarhie. El poate daca vrea sa le si schimbe intre ele si, in plus, unul dintre ei sa stie ca e Patru dar in realitate sa fie Sapte.’ (pag. 135-136)

 

sursa ro.serialreaders.com

sursa ro.serialreaders.com

 

Jocul aparentelor la curtea lui Unu (dictatorul Enver Hoxha) precum cea din Birourile Politice ale lui Stalin sau Ceausescu ascunde o permanente frica, folosirea continua a limbajului de lemn, coruptia si decaderea morala. Pana si relatiile de familie cad victima intereselor ‘cauzei’ si permanentei frici de a nu fi considerat ‘deviant’ de cel care se afla in varful piramidei. Cinci, socrul Kalinei isi dezvaluie in mod brutal fanatismul intr-un moment de cumpana al actiunii:

-Si apoi, cine esti tu? Cine este barbatul tau si fiul meu in fata a ceea ce reprezint eu, a misiunii mele? Amandoi sunteti pretul pe care-l platesc eu pentru triumful ideilor comuniste. Cine sunteti voi si eu impreuna cu voi, in fata oranduirii eroice construite prin jertfa a milioane de oameni? Tu nu poti pricepe ca eu, chiar condamnat pe nedrept de partid, accept, da, accept, pentru ca asta este un fel de jertfa pe care o datorez partidului, si voi iesi in fata oricarui tribunal, oricarui acuzator, sa spun: daca partidul ma vrea erou sunt erou. Daca ma vrea dusman, accept si asta!’ (pag. 158)

Daca pare patetic sau absurd sau chiar eroic, aceasta frazeologie trebuie pusa in contextul situatiei Albaniei sub Hoxha asa cum este ea descrisa in restul cartii – marea majoritate a poporului traieste in saracie lucie, demagogia si propaganda ascund foametea si accidentele de munca, Securitatea este omniprezenta reprimand orice miscare de protest, orice tendinta de a trai o viata normala in afara controlului aparatului, pana si traditiile cele mai simple sau cantecele de dragoste sunt considerate acte dusmanoase.

In acest context isi traieste destinul dramatic eroina cartii. Ravnita si disputata pentru frumusetea ei, se simte instrainata in acest mediu inchis si ipocrit, dar nici nu poate sau nu vrea sa renunte la avantajele materiale. Cand iubitul ei dinainte de casatorie, un cantaret cu faima, este arestat sub acuzatii absurde (in parte cauzate de relatia cu ea) incercarea ei de a interveni in favoarea lui o face subiectul santajelor si victima abuzurilor celor din varful nomenclaturii. Experienta traumatizanta a violului este un moment de soc dar si de transformare. De aici incolo Kalina se hotaraste sa devina o parte din mecanism, foloseste incidentul pentru a ajunge la varful piramidei si a se razbuna pe cei care o facusera sa sufere. Pretul platit insa este pierderea legaturii cu viata adevarata, cu iubirea, cu prietena cea mai buna.

 

sursa arkivi.peshkupauje.com

sursa arkivi.peshkupauje.com

 

Tematica interesanta a cartii nu este din pacate dublata si de o scriere suficient de cursiva, de constructia rabdatoare a personajelor, de evolutia gradata a caracterelor acestora. Ca roman documentar si ca marturie epica a lumii absurde si corupte a nomenclaturii comuniste ‘Panteonul negru’ are destule momente interesante. Eroina principala este un personaj feminin fascinant, care ramane in memorie. Tocmai destinul ei este insa descris cu unelte scriitoricesti rudimentare, povestea de dragoste si de tradare, intrigile si dilemele Kalinei sunt relatate schematic, cu o scriere grabita si uneori chiar neglijenta. ‘Panteonul negru’ este o drama a secolului 20 scrisa cu uneltele telenovelei secolului 21. Unul dintre acele cazuri in care descrierea fundalului este mai reusita decat insasi intriga principala a cartii.

 

 

 

 

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Danger: Mediocrity!

This posting comes instead of two reviews I would usually write about two performances I saw a week one from the other in Tel Aviv. One is a theater play ‘Az BePrag’ (‘Then in Prague’) by Hilel Mitelpunkt at the Beit Lessin. The second is Verdi’s ‘Otello’ on the stage of the New Israeli Opera. Hilel Mittelpunkt’s well written play is an intrigue of love, friendship, treason and deception set in the year of Israel’s independence and the two following decades. It even has a small dose of a spy story, added atop of the post-Holocaust drama lived by all principal characters. Otello‘s production is quite typical for what the Israeli opera offered most of the time in the last few seasons – a sumptuous staging taken over from an European Opera house, interesting sets, beautiful costumes, but mediocre musical interpretation with one soloist exception or maybe two, with the orchestra playing too loud and the singers not being hear loud enough, but this is probably a chronic problem of acoustics in this opera hall we need to learn to live with.

 

source http://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/lastnight/1.1973494

source http://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/lastnight/1.1973494

 

None of the two is really bad. Actually both of them are average (the opera) and even average plus (the play). And this is actually what is worrisome for me, and led me to put on the blog these thoughts. Because during both representations I felt too many times bored, and at the end I came to question my renewing of the respective subscriptions for the next season (well, it’s too late for the Opera, but not for Beit Lessin).

The problem is in my view first of all in the selection of the repertoire. Beit Lessin (as all other mainstream theaters) have a standard repertoire which balances Israeli original plays who look so much one as the other and all like the TV dramas we can see for free on TV, imports from Broadway or East End, Greek tragedies, Shakespeare and Chekhov, and a few adaptation to stage of classical European Jewish literary works. If you add the musicals you get how 90% of the repertoire of any mainstream theater in Israel looks like.

Now let us take the opera program. All performances I have seen this season were operas that I had seen at least once in the past of the stage of the New Israeli Opera. All were 19th century composers works with one exception which was early 20th century. All stagings were imported from European opera houses, and the majority of the singers in the main roles were 2nd hand singers from the international circuits.

Are there alternatives? Of course there are! The Israeli selection of plays can be much more daring, challenging the consensus, as the Israeli theater did in the past but seems to have given up doing nowadays. The contemporary international repertoire can be much more diverse, Broadway needs not be the only place where Israeli theaters look for inspiration, the international non-English or French repertoire should be also researched. There is much more interesting theater going on off-Broadway nowadays, or on the European scenes, or in the festivals. Even on the Israeli non-mainstream stages.

The Israeli spectators can watch almost daily operas on Mezzo TV and see what the big opera houses are bringing on stage nowadays – from Baroque operas to the late 20th century and even contemporary composers. What about the Israeli works? One original opera every five years is a lamentable average. Dare I say what about Wagner? I understand that the NIO cannot afford paying big opera stars for every performance, but don’t we really deserve to see and listen at least once a season to Anna Netrebko or Angela Gheorghiu or their likes? The rest of the time I would suggest that they rather give the opportunity to the young Israeli singers to sing the lead roles and not to the 2nd hand international singers who are brought here all the time.

 

source http://www.israel-opera.co.il/Eng/?CategoryID=502&ArticleID=1555

source http://www.israel-opera.co.il/Eng/?CategoryID=502&ArticleID=1555

 

Certainly, there is a reason for the lack of vision and the fear of daring of the leadership of the two theaters. The subsidies from the state were seriously cut, and the theaters and the opera are on their own, or depending on sponsors. The halls fill only if you answer the public requests. But is the public really that conservative? Nobody can say in the absence of alternate programing. Experience from other places in the world shows that building a more diversified set of options in the repertory not only prepares the future but also can succeed commercially. It also offers more and different experiences to the actors, the singers, the stage directors, the musicians including the young ones. Stagnation will eventually lead to the mainstream theaters being deserted by knowledgeable audiences, in favor of new options who will surge from the peripheries, in the spirit of free enterprise and creation, or in favor of other forms of recreation and spending of the free time. I am one of those who have prepared their suitcases and I am looking for alternate sources.

Posted in opera, theatre | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Truthful Fiction” – Dina Bova’s Exhibition in Kfar Shmaryahu

I need to thank Mark Zuckerberg for my first encounters with Dina Bova. Via his wonderful and awful (whatever meaning you chose) Facebook I met a young Israeli artist who uses this social media in order to make known to the world her vision, her works and her achievements. She also allows us to follow her on the exhibitions road. I missed her previous exhibition in Israel at the Museum of Photography in Tel Hai, her next major appearance was in her native Moscow – a place that is still an un-reached dream for me, but this week she opened what I would call a significant exhibition just in my backyard, at the Weill Culture Center in Kfar-Shmaryahu. I visited the exhibition yesterday and I was impressed. Simply said – I am following as time allows all important exhibitions in the Israeli museums and galleries, and this is one of the best I have seen in the recent years.

 

DSC07526

 

Dina Bova is a 21st century surrealist, who lives in Israel, and uses digital photography as her principal mean of expression. If the combination seems a little bit … surrealist, we need to trace back this artistic current to the roots in the years 20 of the last century to find that no means of expression were excluded and the toolset  of the Surrealists did comprise still photography and moving images (cinema) supplementary to the better known painting and poetry genres. Dina’s vision expands on the experience of the hiper-realists, as she uses photography (the art of catching the moment) in order to express the atemporal – allegories and dreams.  One can feel in her works the melting pot of cultural and life experiences she was exposed to (she came to Israel at the age of 13) – the light and the landscape of Israel, the shades and deepness of the emotions of Russia. These are however only background elements, the strongest impression is made by her capacity of transforming imagination and concepts into striking and memorable visual experiences, her pleasure into playing with models and elements of scenery, and combining them into something new and different.

 

source http://www.bsw-art.com/journal/exhibition-truthful-fiction-dina-bova-50

source http://www.bsw-art.com/journal/exhibition-truthful-fiction-dina-bova-50

 

The name of the exhibition is ‘Truthful Fiction’ – gathering the best of her works in the last few years. In the best surrealist tradition the borders between reality and fiction, between truth and dream are blurred. The self portrait used for the poster of the exhibition is named ‘Break Through’ with no dash between the two words. A mirror, reflection of reality, is broken and its pieces used to create a different reality, the one of the artist.

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

Dina Bova does not seem to run away from controversy, from the need to shock and ask questions, even in her portraits.’The Man Who Laughs’  is far away from happily laughing.

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

Sometimes her characters are ‘Lost’ in a landscape that offers no means of orientation, or worse – false signs and symbols of direction or logic. Did you ever dream that you cannot find your way? that the doors you open go to nowhere?

 

source

source http://www.dinabova.com

 

Super-chef Israel Aharoni is the model for ‘Imaginarium’ and a few more works. I liked here the winter fantasy landscape, the magician seems to descend from the world of the circus I loved during my childhood, despite the rather desolated and frozen landscape his presence is re-assuring, there may be somebody in this strange universe who can control it.

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

The pleasure of playing infiltrates also the Biblical allegory of ‘Quo Vadis’ – a work built starting from a statue, quite different from most of the other where the concept is driving the image. 

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

There is no playfulness or joy in ‘Memory of the Future’, another Biblical allegory, a somber Madonna with tears of blood, projected on another desolated landscape. And yet, there is love in her attitude.

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

‘Quaere Veritatem’ projects the Bibical theme in a satirical register. It is actually a DVD cover for the excellent rock band Orphaned Land – part of the cycle Mythology of ‘Orphaned Land’.

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

In the cycle of the allegories ‘Allegory of Cognition’ is one of the most visually striking works, and one of these that connect strongly with the ‘classical’ surrealist art style in painting.

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

I especially liked ‘Allegory of Hope’. My reading of the work is that achieving hope requires the strength and the will of fighting for it. The dark stormy skies can be vanquished by rainbow and the colored balloons, but this asks for the power of closing the eyes and living the dream.

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

‘Fears and Hopes’ connects past and future through the figure of the fragile pregnant woman. The staging of the work (not only of this one actually) reminded me Tarkovsky’s Stalker (the ultimate surrealist film in the Russian cinema?)

 

source http://www.dinabova.com/

source http://www.dinabova.com/

 

Last in my personal selection for this review is ‘Center of the Universe’. It’s a much more optimistic work, to some extend the continuation of the work above and of a few other with the pregnant woman in the center. The Child is born, and as so many of us know from our personal experiences, she or he becomes the Center of the Universe, the dance and celebration and joy around will eventually win over the stormy skies. It is the work that welcomes the visitor when entering the exhibition, and the last one he sees when departing it.

 

DSC07517

 

I have selected to write only about a few of the works in the exhibition. There are many more, and each deserves being viewed at its real dimension and asks for contemplation and thinking. Dina Bova is one of the best artists I have met lately on the Israeli art scene. I have maybe one regret and this is that this beautiful exhibition is not hosted by one of the central galleries in Tel Aviv, but I am sure that this will happen sooner than later. By the way, Kfar Shmaryahu is only 15 minutes away from Tel Aviv, the space in the Weil Center and the conditions of exhibiting are generous, and there is plenty of parking around. So – do not miss this exhibition!

The artist’s Web site is http://www.dinabova.com/. Her Facebook page is www.facebook.com/DinaBovaArt.

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Ravi Coltrane in Tel Aviv

I keep wondering what a burden and a responsibility is for an artist to carry the name of a famous father. It’s a great responsibility, it also may be a heavy burden, as people looking or listening to his art (and it does not matter that much if it is music, or painting, or other forms of art expression) cannot and will not avoid making comparisons. Ravi Coltrane was only 2 years old when his famous father died and being the son of one of the most famous saxophonists and composers in the history of jazz must have been a mixed blessing – opening him doors and ears, but also calling for the permanent comparison, especially as Ravi chose the same instrument as a way of expression. While he refused for a long time to embrace the repertoire of his father, he does not seem to have escaped his musical influence. Now, when he crossed the line of the number of years lived by his father and is an accomplished and recognized name of his own, he can trace back his artistic influences to a number of musicians at their peak between the 50s and the 70s, names like Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and yes – John Coltrane.

 

photo-8

 

It’s the third time that Ravi Coltrane comes to Tel Aviv, it is the first time I had the opportunity of seeing and listening to him live. He is one of these musicians who does not try to dominate the stage. The whole set was composed out of five or six pieces, around twenty minutes each, leaving time for all the members of the quintet to bring in their talent and to develop their own versions of the theme in a free manner. Ravi even leaves the stage most of the time when he does not play trying to enhance the vision of a performance as a team work. In this Ravi Coltrane Quintet the emphasis is not on Ravi Coltrane but on the Quintet, a fine gathering of free-style post-bop musicians.

 

(video source Zycopolis)

 

To understand Ravi Coltrane’s music I am bringing here one of the pieces that I found on youTube with Ravi playing with McCoy Tyner. The great pianist who is now 85 and still active (I saw him in Israel last year) was a member in John Coltrane’s most famous band in the 60s. Kind of a living link connecting the two Coltrane generations.

 

(video source music1900jbp)

 

The other exquisite artist in his band is trumpeter Ralph Alessi, who also composed some of the pieces on their most recent album Spirit Fiction, including the piece above, which was also played Tuesday in Tel Aviv, at the Zappa Club.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THgGAuE5dGU

(video source Gadi Lehavi Videos)

 

For the last piece, Ravi invited on stage the young pianist Gadi Lehavi, who who will be 17 next week. He played on stage with Ravi  – what a great opportunity for this young artist, who is already active for three years on the Israeli and world jazz stage. It’s actually not their first encounter, Ravi discovered Gadi a few years ago, they already played together in New York at the Village Vanguard and Birdland jazz clubs. Gadi also played already with a number of other well known contemporary artist, among which Chick Corea and Bobby McFerrin.

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Carte: Laszlo Alexandru – Muzeul figurilor de ceara

Il cunosteam pe Laszlo Alexandru din referinte internetice si mai ales ca redactor al Web site-ului (numit si revista electronica, termen fata de care am o oarecare retinere) ‘E-Leonardo’ a carui aparitie din pacate s-a hotarit sa o intrerupa in 2012 dupa 18 numere. I-am remarcat si am admirat pozitiile consecvente impotriva tendintelor totalitare de stanga sau de dreapta din cultura romana, atitudinea ferma impotriva renasterii nationalimului si antisemitismului si fata de negationismul si negationistii Holocaustului, critica ferma impotriva promotorilor de rau si de confuzie indiferent cine erau ei. Cu aceste premize volumul ‘Muzeul figurilor de ceara’ aparut in 2009 la Editura PARALELA 45 si subintitulat ‘polemici’ nu avea cum sa ma surprinda. Este o culegere de articole si comunicari ale autorului clujean publicate intre anii 2005 si 2007, instantanee ale unui moment cultural si politic romanesc ramase actuale aproape in totalitatea lor. De la data publicarii, cate unul dintre autorii mentionati in carte a mai scris cate ceva mai mult sau mai putin semnificativ, cativa au plecat intr-o lume mai buna, dar pozitiile, caracterele, personajele acestei Corabii a nebunilor (folosesc ca pretext ilustratia copertei) nu s-au schimbat de cand Laszlo Alexandru a scris cartea si Explicatiile preliminare care o deschid:

‘Chiar n-am invatat nimic din erorile trecutului? Fascismul si comunismul n-au provocat, oare, suficiente victime pentru a-si fi pierdut iremediabil farmecul demagogic? Cite vieti ar trebui inca sacrificate, pentru ca scriitorii sa nu se inchine mai departe la aceiasi idoli de lut?’ (pag. 7)

Cartea este impartita in trei sectiuni si un epilog. Primul articol in prima parte fixeaxa contextul uneia dintre temele principale ale cartii – recrudescenta antisemitismului – prin cautarea bazelor istorice ale fenomenului in istoria culturala si politica romaneasca. Pentru cititorii cartii lui Andrei Oisteanu ‘Imaginea evreului in cultura romana’ prezenta numelor si citatelor virulent antisemite din scrisele sau cuvantarile unor Cezar Bolliac, Vasile Alecsandri, Ioan Slavici sau Nicolae Iorga nu sunt noutati, dar pentru majoritatea celorlalti aceasta ilustra galerie din care lipseste doar (de ce oare?) Mihai Eminescu poate fi un soc. Inca un articol cu tema istorica este dedicat destinului tragic al lingvistului roman de origine evreiasca Lazar Saineanu, ale carui incercari de a depasi barierele persecutiilor rasiale si de a capata recunoasterea forurilor academice si cetatenia romana s-au dovedit a fi vane si l-au determinat in cele din urma sa aleaga calea exilului.

‘Pasi de rac’ (numele primei sectiuni a cartii) continua cu articole care cu o singura exceptie (cel dedicat scriitorului maghiar Kertesz Imre) se ocupa de renasterea totalitarismului mai ales sub forma sa ideologica in cultura romaneasca de la inceput de mileniu trei. Laszlo Alexandru abordeaza fara ezitare cu un ton critic figurile unor idoli ai intelectualitatii romanesti de astazi cum este Constantin Noica despre care scrie ca ‘Etapele lui biografice mai importante au fost marcate de compromis, ambiguitate, sau tradare.’ (pag. 34). Daca despre inrolarea sa intre propagandistii legionarismului in tinerete stiam deja, nu imi erau cunoscute nici lasitatea sa la procesul in care au fost implicati si condamnati multi dintre discipolii sai, si nici inrolarea sa in serviciul propagandei ceausiste in cercurile imigratiei la numai cativa ani dupa eliberarea din inchisoare. Polemica cu Sorin Lavric, autorul unei carti despre relatia lui Noica cu miscarea legionara, care incearca sa minimizeze erorile filosofului si sa musamalizeze atitudinile sale de compromis ni-l releva pe Laszlo Alexandru ca pe un polemist care nu numai ca nu ezita sa atace ci stie sa si raspunda in mod precis si ascutit.

 

sursa http://193.226.7.140/~laszlo/VolumeScrise_ro.htm

sursa http://193.226.7.140/~laszlo/VolumeScrise_ro.htm

 

Incercarea de reabilitare a lui Vintila Horia (scriitor exilat care nu a primit in 1960 premiul Goncourt dupa ce fusese dezvaluit trecutul sau legionar) primeste si ea riposta argumentata cu documente si citate a lui Laszlo Alexandru:

‘… victima inocenta a carei reabilitare e clamata astazi pe zeci de voci cacofonice, a fost in tinerete unul dintre cei mai desantati si nerusinati propagandisti ai fascismului si hitlerismului.’ (pag. 58)

Interesanta si semnificativa comparatia in eternitate a modului in care destinele lui Mircea Eliade si Mihail Sebastian sunt perpetuate in posteritatea romaneasca:

‘Coincidenta calendarului face ca anul 2007 sa marcheze centenarul nasterii, atit pentru Mircea Eliade, cit si pentru Mihail Sebastian. Dar ce diferenta de tratament! Autorul lui Maitrey e imbratisat protector de institutiile statului, care organizeaza colocvii, simpozioane si conferinte omagiale, in tara si peste hotare, opera lui e studiata in scoli, numele lui il poarta liceele oraselor si strazile catunelor. De autorul Accidentului isi amintesc doar suplimentul publicatiei Realitatea evreiasca si doua-trei initiative spontane. Ignoranta si ingratitudinea joaca hora unirii in ograda literaturii romane.’ (pag. 63)

O relatie speciala il leaga pe Laszlo Alexandru de Paul Goma, pe care il cunoaste mai mult decat bine:

‘M-am numarat si eu, in anii ’90, printre admiratorii nonconformismului revolutionar al lui Paul Goma. L-am sustinut cu scrierile sale polemice. I-am ingrijit editarea Scrisorilor intredeschise (1995). I-am prefatat primul volum din Jurnal (1997). I-am lansat public vreo doua carti (1997). Am avut cu el o intensa corespondenta timp de aproape un deceniu. Dupa 1999, insa, am inregistrat cu o stupoare crescanda convertirea sa la antisemitism, intoleranta si extremism.’ (pag. 77)

Sectiunea a doua a cartii ‘In constiinta noastra’ include un numar de comunicari prezentate de Laszlo Alexandru la diferite evenimente intre care cele ale Institutului Wiesel. Desi unele contin elemente suplimentare (cum ar fi dezvaluirea rolului lui Constantin Noica in pregatirea ideologica a asasinarii lui Nicolae Iorga care astazi s-ar numi ‘incitare la crima’, sau critica ‘brandului Eliade’ promovat de functionarii culturali ai Romaniei in strainatate) personal m-au deranjat paginile de repetitii, cateva dintre articolele despre Noica, Vintila Horia, Eliade fiind dezvoltari ale celor din prima sectiune. Desi scrise si facute public in momente de timp diferite, cred ca editorul si autorul ar fi trebuit sa evite aceste dubluri care inmultesc in mod nejustificat numarul de pagini ale volumului.

 

sursa commons.wikimedia.org

 

A treia sectiune are un nume spectaculos ‘Asa s-a calit otetul’ si debuteaza cu cel mai bun articol dupa opinia mea, care sub titlul de-a dreptul genial ‘Gilceava la catafalcul comunismului’ relateaza in stilul Telegramelor caragialesti evenimentele din timpul si din jurul citirii Raportului Tismaneanu in Parlamentul Romaniei in decembrie 2006. Mai putin convingatoare mi s-au parut criticile indreptate impotriva lui Eugen Simion, de exemplu pacatul de a-l absolvi (la nivelul analizei scrierilor) pe Mihail Sadoveanu mi se pare cam minor pentru a justifica analogiile cu Hitler si Ceausescu, iar epitetele cu ton de pamflet (‘nemuritorul de serviciu‘, ‘coaforul de la Academie’) nu adauga nimic argumentatiei.

Articolul cel mai bun al acestei sectiuni este dupa parerea mea ‘Zece sofisme’ care abordeaza in cel mai bun stil polemic marca Laszlo Alexandru reactia Uniunii Scriitorilor si a celui care se afla in fruntea sa (Nicolae Manolescu) la decizia CNSAS de a deschide si cerceta dosarele membrilor Uniunii. Comunicatul redactat in termeni eufeminati si musamalizatori este demontat si analizat fraza cu fraza, idee cu idee. Cu atat mai remarcabila este atitudinea lui Alexandru daca tinem cont ca Nicolae Manolescu este o persoana si o personalitate pe care el o apreciase in trecut pentru contributiile sale pozitive, si a carui opera critica a constituit subiectul lucrarii sale de doctorat. Si aici Laszlo Alexandru pare sa isi confirme statutul de polemist singuratic, refuzul compromisurilor, inchinarii la idoli sau asocierii oportuniste cu vreo partida culturala sau politica.

Nu scapa de critica lui Alexandru nici Horia-Roman Patapievici, caruia ii reproseaza o schimbare de ton si atitudine de la refuzul alinierii la sistem si apararea dreptului la diferenta in anii 90 pana la compromisul centrist in jurul conceptului consevator crestin cu un deceniu mai tarziu, in cazul icoanelor impuse pe peretii scolilor romanesti: ‘… nu situatia solitarului laic, agresat de cutumele majoritatii, il ingrijoreaza acum pe filosoful oficializat. Ci, dimpotriva, “fundamentalismul anticrestin, degizat in miltantism de drepturile omului”.’ (pag. 178).

Ultimele doua articole consistente ale acestei sectiuni ii iau in obiectiv pe Alex Stefanescu a carui ‘Istorie a literaturii romane contemporane’ este epitetata drept ‘hollywoodiana’ si pe Edgar Papu, a carui incercare de reabilitare printr-o carte de interviuri este demontata in mod necrutator. Concepte cum ar fi protocronismul inventat la indicatiile lui Ceausescu si propulsat literar si academic de Papu, sau ‘neimplicarea complice a literatilor in treburile cetatii (care) a primit numele de “rezistenta” prin cultura’ – fenomene culturale specifice epocii comunismului romanesc sunt analizate si criticate fara menajamente. Putini sunt de altfel intelectualii care primesc nota de trecere din partea lui Laszlo Alexandru pentru atitudinea lor in timpul dictaturii, poate doar Paul Goma, cel dinainte de alunecarea in antisemitism si Ioan D. Sirbu – scriitori ai caror opere semnificative nu au vazut insa lumina tiparului in Romania lui Ceausescu.

Spre sfarsitul lecturii acestei carti de polemici, in care aproape toate fenomenele si persoanele mentionate in culegerea de articole sunt prezentate in lumina critica, ma intrebam daca exista si un Laszlo Alexandru pozitiv, care poate scrie ceva de bine despre ceva sau cineva. Raspunsul a venit la lectura Epilogului, care in contrapunct cu intreaga carte ne prezinta o cu totul alta fata a autorului. Este o mica poveste de dragoste, dragoste pentru o carte (pe care si eu o iubesc), si merita intr-adevar sa cititi cartea pana la capat pastrand acest epilog pour la bonne bouche. 

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Dali’s “Aliyah, The Rebirth of Israel”

For the Israel Independence Day this year I chose to present a cycle of works who have entered already the thesaurus of the Israeli and Zionist artistic mythology. Many of the visitors of the recent exhibition of the works of Salvador Dali in Haifa were surprised to see that one full wall was occupied by what seemed to be a real declaration of love for Israel and the Jewish people, while in the same room other paintings, statues, objects which looked very much like Judaica art completed the image.

 

alyah

 

There have been multiple discussions and interpretations concerning the history of this cycle of 25 prints published first in an edition of 250 copies in 1968. What was the real attitude of Salvador Dali towards the Jews, taking into account that contrary to many of his fellow artists in the surrealist generation he showed sympathy for Hitler and chose to stay and live in Franco’s Spain? Did he change his political views in time? Was he a descendant of the converted Jews keeping in secret his Jewish ascendance?  The answer is maybe simple, but we should avoid to make it simplistic. It’s a commissioned work, ordered and paid by the  Shorewood Publishing and Israel Bonds in 1968 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the State of Israel. And yet there is more than this, because the exploration of the Jewish theme seems to have extended in Dali’s work well beyond this commission. Yes, the market of the Judaica (Jewish traditional) art may have been a lucrative one among the prosperous collectors, many of Jewish origin. The works in this cycle and beyond have however feeling, sensitivity, and I may say a dose of respect which is somehow unexpected from the extravagant artist who did not hesitate to blow artistic and taste conventions.

Let us walk though a few of these works, and try to explain their meaning from the perspective of the Zionist angle. I have used some of the commentaries written by David Blumentahl at http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/Salvador%20Dali%20Aliyah.htm (You can see there also all the drawings in the cycle)

 

photo-6

 

A few of the first drawings in the cycle connect the reality of present Israel to the historical roots of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. One of these is ‘The Wailing Wall’ – the last reminiscent of the walls of the Second Temple, which is drawn by Dali from photos taken before the War of Independence (there is a large plaza today in front of the Wall, and men and women are not allowed to pray together, at least at this moment in time (there is a whole dispute regarding the enforcement of the Orthodox rules in this place raging today).

 

camps

 

‘Out of the Depth’ takes its title from a verse in the Psalms “Out of the depths have I called unto you, O Lord.” It’s the name of the cantata by Bach and the phrase was used by Martin Buber for a small book of Psalms translated into German and published in Nazi Germany in 1936. The horror of the Holocaust is in the Zionist narrative the very foundation and the ultimate justification of the existence of the national home of the Jewish people.

 

photo-4

 

‘On the Shores of Freedom’  shows one episode of the illegal immigration which in the years after the end of the second world war and the independence of Israel brought to Israel survivors of the Holocaust despite the blockade imposed by the British rulers over Palestine. The name of the ship can be clearly seen, it’s Elyahu Golomb which dates the episode described in the painting in the year 1946.

 

photo-3

 

‘A Moment in History’ processes a famous photograph in which David Ben-Gurion reads the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel, on May 15, 1948. Ben-Gurion wears a tie, it is said it was the only time in his life when he wore such a garment. He also seems to have a Dali mustache?

 

photo-5

 

The exultation of the moment of the proclamation of the independence was immediately followed in the historical narrative by the fire of the War of Independence. This is the moment caught by Dali in ‘The Battle of the Jerusalem Hills’.

 

photo-7

 

Victory and celebration are represented by Hatikvah, a visual representation of the national anthem of Israel. The words were written by the Jewish-Polish poet Naphtali Herz Imber during his stay in the Romanian city of Iasi in 1877, and the music is a transcription by Samuel Cohen of a tune popular in Eastern Europe in the second half of the 19th century. Cohen later recalled that he had heard first the tune in the Romanian variant – Carul cu boi [The Ox Driven Cart] (source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatikvah). The same tune inspired the opening of the very popular symphonic poem Vltava by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana

 

photo-2

 

Commission or not, Salvador Dali created a series of work which are among the best in the Jewish and national Israeli imagery. I will let Blumenthal speak again (source http://forward.com/articles/136676/dali-and-the-jews/):

As for the “Aliyah” series, Blumenthal concludes simply that it was a professionally executed commission, pointing out that some of the greatest artworks in history have been as much — compositions by Mozart and Bach and, this writer would add, paintings by Rafael, Rembrandt and others. “Part of the responsibility of a scholar is to say that this stuff, even if it’s commissioned, is serious,” Blumenthal said. Indeed, when one lets the art of “Aliyah” speak for itself, its bold expressionism and moving imagery answer the question on their own.

Hag Atzmaut Sameah! Happy Independence Day! Happy Birthday, Israel!

 

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