Carte: Radu Aldulescu – ‘Cronicile genocidului’

‘Cronicile genocidului’ este prima carte a lui Radu Aldulescu pe care o citesc, si din relatarile prietenilor si cele citite pe Internet se pare ca nu este alegerea optima. Dupa mai multe romane care s-au ocupat de ultimele decenii ale perioadei comuniste Radu Aldulescu a trecut cu aceasta carte la perioada post-decembrista, cu tarele si sechelele sale. Rezultatul este, dupa recenzii pe care le-am citit, sub nivelul cartilor sale precedente. Cred totusi ca am un avantaj relativ fata de mai bunii cunoscatori ai literaturii lui Aldulescu, caci am putut sa ma bucur de descoperirea inca unui scriitor roman contemporan de incontestabil talent, iar cartile urmatoare (si precedente cronologic) pe care le voi citi imi vor prilejui si o crestere calitativa a lecturii (daca cele scrise de altii sunt corecte).

De la inceput este evident ca viziunea lui Aldulescu din ‘Cronicile genocidului’ asupra lumii romanesti a anilor 2000 numai optimista nu este. ‘oriunde dadeai sa te duci si sa te intorci oamenii isi bateau joc de viata lor in fel si chip: atmosfera surasaturata de plins, esecuri, lumea invirtosindu-se in balele diavolului.’ (pag. 11) ‘Vremurile s-au rasucit, s-au dat peste cap si-au dat la iveala un rai si un iad al betivilor, pe linga raiurile si iadurile viciosilor, obsedatilor si pacatosilor de toata mina.’ (pag. 22). Eroul principal al cartii este un barbat in jurul a 60 de ani, pe nume Robert, zis Diavolul, un fel de suma a esecurilor personale si sociale ale vremurilor – ducand o existenta precara, prestand meserii marginale, dar exercitand o fascinatie asupra femeilor (sau cel putin a unui gen de femei) mai tinere, greu de explicat chiar si dupa ce aflam intr-un tarziu ca exceptionalele sale performante sexuale se datoresc unui priapism. Nereusind sa faca fata costului traiului in Capitala, Robert si sotia sa neoficiala Andreea cu copilul lor se stabilesc intr-un oras de provincie pe nume Frasineni, una dintre acele localitati rurale transformate in orase de ceausism, crescut in jurul unui Combinat al unei industrii neclare, si transformat pana la nerecunoastere pentru Robert, cel reintors in zona dupa trei decenii de peregrinari ratate.

 

sursa ce-am-mai-citit.blogspot.com

sursa ce-am-mai-citit.blogspot.com

 

‘Pe soseaua bulevard central si pe strazile care dadeau in ea treceau jeep-uri ca niste tancuri de lux si limuzine scumpe de toate neamurile, iar pe dealuri aparusera cateva vile cu fatade zugravite-n culori ca niste tipete, cu terase vaste, geamuri imense, fumurii, de termopan, curti pavate cu dale de gresie si marmura, garduri si porti din fier forjat cu camere de supraveghere pe ele, imitind domenii din filme cu clanuri mafiote si magnati miliardari – un alt soi de vis de aur, la care n-au visat la o adica neam de neamul lor de activisti si secretari de partid judeteni, primari de comune si orasele de provincie, directori si sefi de sectie din combinate, deveniti peste noapte patroni, oameni de afaceri prosperi, consilieri locali, sefi de filiale de partid, parlamentari, multimilionari in dolari si euro emanind o pricopseala ce pare sa-si traaga vlaga dintr-o plamada duhnitoare, invirtosata, de chin, saracie lucie si potop de nenorociri de toata mina, precum accidente de circulatie cu tot mai multi morti si raniti pe sosele tot mai aglomerate, boli mortale indesindu-se si diversificindu-se aidoma unor pedepse nemaiprididind sa faca fata pacatelor tot mai multe si mai grele, morti subite sau agonizante provocate de droguri, alcool si alte soiuri de vicii, crime ivite din certuri la betie, tilharii, rafuieli, razbunari, suiciduri, matriciduri, fratriciduri, cataclisme naturale tot mai dese si cu tot mai multe victime, conflicte armate si atacuri teroriste.’ (pag. 39)

Radu Aldulescu foloseste procedeul amestecului intre intamplarile prin care trec personajele sale de la periferia societatii cu comentariul politic de actualitate atribuit altuia dintre personaje, ziaristul Laurian Susanu, care in ziarul de provincie al Frasinenilor scrie ‘Cronicile genocidului’ – articolele care dau titlul cartii. Locul personajului in intriga cartii pune sub semnul intrebarii identificare totala a ziaristului cu autorul, dar ideologia generala a cartii nu lasa indoiala in legatura cu faptul ca opiniile si analizele autorului nu pot fi prea indepartate de cele redate in carte:

‘Multe evenimente postdecembriste, precum cele din martie 1990 de la Tirgu Mures sau mineriadele s-au autoproclamat din capul locului si sint catalogate si azi de cei interesati in acest sens, drept actiuni ale societatii civile dornice de libertate si democratie, fara niciun amestec din partea Securitatii sereiste, care la vremea respectiva, mai mult decit acum, cind deja s-a infipt in pozitia prosperitatii capitaliste, inca trudea din rasputeri pentru inventarea unor noi obiecte ale muncii: partidele istorice nascute pentru a periclita democratia originala iliesciana, prin vinzarea tarii strainatatii sau aducerea inapoi a mosierilor si patronilor care au impilat taranimea si clasa muncitoare, pina la venirea comunistilor salvatori; regele care a plecat din tara cu un vagon de lingouri de aur si vrea sa se intoarca pentru a mai suge din bogatiile tarii; ungurii care tinjesc dupa Ardeal; golanii, drogatii si vindutii din Piata Universitatii care atenteaza la unitatea statului de drept si a democratiei originale, etc.  (pag. 127)

‘In epoca actuala miza este enorma si stind la baza unor averi la care n-ar fi visat neam de neamul lor primarii comunisti si prim-secretarii de judet. Vilele, domeniile private din tinuturi de vis, din paradisurile fiscale de la capatul lumii, conturile din strainatate de zeci si sute de milioane de euro ale politicienilor, baronilor locali, oamenilor de afaceri care dupa ce si-au dat din plin obolul tatalui lor, diavolul, au vrut sa se puna bine si cu Dumnezeu, inchinindu-se concomitent ambilor tati, din banii pentru ridicat biserici si proiectind catedrale faraonice ale neamului, asa incit toate aceste lucruri si fapte vin in sprijinul afirmatiei de bun simt ca miliardarii nostri sint mai frumosi, mai destepti si mai puternici decit ai lor, ai Occidentului.’  (pag. 140-141)

 

sursa www.zf.ro

sursa www.zf.ro

 

Pe acest fundal clar se agita un careu de personaje – Robert Diavolul, Andreea, Laurian si sotia sa Brindusa – scufundati in marasm material (primii doi) si mai ales moral (cu totii). Versul eminescian ‘copil sarac al plebei proletare’ revine de cateva ori in caracterizarea eroului principal, dar este vorba despre un proletariat neproductiv intr-o economie care si-a pierdut puterea de a crea ceva folositor si o societate care si-a pierdut busola. Daca textele lui Laurian aduc aminte in unele momente de ‘Racnetul Carpatilor’ textura din care sunt plamadite personajele este cea din ‘D’ale Carnavalului’ doar ca drama concureaza in intensitate cu farsa. Violenta de limbaj risca in orice moment sa rupa echilibrul si sa se transforme in violenta in actiuni, sinuciderile cateodata esueaza si cateodata reusesc, sperantei nu i se acorda vreo sansa. Precum societatea insasi asa cum este descrisa in carte descinde direct si este o consecinta a esecului proiectului de inginerie sociala ceausist, si eroii par a mosteni pacate ale parintilor, parinti care i-au abandonat timpuriu, si inevitabil, isi vor parasi si ei copiii perpetuand un lant al esecurilor si dezastrelor la scara mai mare sau mai mica.

Apar in aceasta carte cateva dintre temele care revin si in carti similare ale autor autori contemporani pe care i-am citit in ultima vreme (Magda Petreu, Florin Irimia) care au drept cadru tot Romania deceniilor de dupa 1989 – soarta cainilor maidanezi vazuta ca un fel de metafora de rea-prevestire a sortii oamenilor, depopularea numerica dar mai ales sufleteasca a satelor. In compozitie cartea foloseste naratiunea temporala, alternand punctele de vedere ale personajelor principale, cu elemente de roman urban, picaresc, si chiar si de ‘suspens’ in partea sa finala.

Talentul romancierului in a construi actiunea si evolutia personajelor este evident, la fel si in manuirea limbajului, sau mai bine zis a combinatiilor de limbaj. Am fost usor decumpanit de aparenta incoerenta a relatarilor din primele zeci de pagini pana cand m-am dumirit ca Radu Aldulescu povesteste la persoana a treia, dar isi adapteaza stilul naratiunii fluxului de idei al personajului aflat in centrul capitolului sau pasajului. De aici trecerea aproape fluenta de la naratiunea confuz apocaliptica a lui Robert presarata cu strofe de manele la primitivismul sentimentelor Andreei alimentate de telenovelele pe care le urmareste in prostratie, de la retorica politica amestecata cu cariesrism si cinism al lui Laurian la senzualitatea fortata incercand sa compenseze frustrarea a Brindusei. Dialogul telefonic intre Laurian si Andreea este o perla de pseudo-comunicare intre doua personaje lipsite de scrupule dar si disperate de propriile limitari, intr-o limba care acum cincizeci de ani ar fi putut figura pe scenele teatrelor absurdului, dar care astazi este perfect verosimila.

Daca este ceva care lipseste cu desavarsire eroilor si viziunii autorului in ‘Cronicile genocidului’ aceasta este speranta. Scrisa cu o mana sigura, cartea lui Aldulescu prezinta o Romanie cu oameni in permanenta zbatere pentru supravietuire, dar fara teluri, ca sa nu mai vorbim despre valori. Daca exista vreo salvare pentru eroii acestei carti, indicii nu am gasit in paginile ei.

 

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Moses

For my festive posting on Passover I looked this year at some of the representations of Moses, the great superstar of the event celebrated by the holiday in arts and music.

 

source http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=2164

source http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=2164

 

As with many other Bible subjects the representation of Moses is very popular in the manuscripts that predate the invention of printing. Above you can see ‘Moses and the Ark of the Covenant’ represented in tempera colors and silver paint on parchment in an illuminated German manuscript about 1400 – 1410.

 

source http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=12927

source http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/artwork.php?artworkid=12927

 

The most famous representation of Moses is probably Michelangelo’s statue on the tomb of pope Julius II the Church of Saint Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli) in Rome.

 

source http://onokart.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/moses-ii/

source http://onokart.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/moses-ii/

 

Raffaello Santi (1483-1520) was Michelangelo Buonarroti’s contemporary and rival. His elegant version of Moses Saved from the Water can be admired in the galleries of Palazzi Pontifici in Vatican.

 

source http://onokart.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/moses-ii/

source http://onokart.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/moses-ii/

 

One of the Baroque painters I like a lot is Guido Reni (1575-1642), a sophisticated follower of Caravaggio. His Moses with the Tables of the Law can be admired at Villa Borghese.

 

source http://klp.pl/admin-malarstwo/images/r_rembrandt_bol/r_rembrandt_rembrandt132.html

source http://klp.pl/admin-malarstwo/images/r_rembrandt_bol/r_rembrandt_rembrandt132.html

 

Another famous representation is of Moses Smashing the Tables of the Law by Rembrandt, which can be admired in Berlin, at the Gemäldegalerie.

 

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Turner,_Light_and_Colour_%28Goethe%27s_Theory%29.JPG

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Turner,_Light_and_Colour_%28Goethe%27s_Theory%29.JPG

 

Light and Colour (Goethe’s Theory) – the Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of Genesis is one of the interesting experimental pieces of work of Joseph Mallord William Turner (c.1775–1851). First exposed in 1843,the painting depicts a deluge scene where the natural effects of light and weather (the atmosphere) help Turner not only create almost abstract effects, but also put in colors some of the Goethe’s theory of light and darkness. Moses is only ideally present in the title of the work, as homage to the writer of the Book of Genesis, where the deluge is described.

 

source http://onokart.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/moses-ii/

source http://onokart.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/moses-ii/

 

What about this sensual version of ‘The Finding of Moses’ signed by Frederick Goodall (1822-1904)? Goodall was an Orientalist who actually traveled to Egypt by the time of the construction of the Suez Canal, when the fascinating country came back to the attention of the Europeans.

 

(video source KukMusic)

 

Switching to music, here is a fragment from the intense oratorio Moses by Max Bruch, interpreted by the  Russian Chamber Philharmonic of St. Petersburg conducted by Jürgen Budday. This is a concert recording from the Maulbronn Monastery, of the performances on June 19th & 20th 2004.

 

(video source apcarter)

 

A real gem is the traditional spiritual sang by The Carter Family in 1930 The Rock Where Moses Stood.

 

(video source PowePuffCandy)

 

A fine way to end is the gospel ‘Go Down Moses’ in one of the most famous versions with the line Let My People Go sung by Louis Armstrong.

 

Hag Sameah! A Happy Passover!

 

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Carte: Mo Yan – Sorgul rosu

‘Incercuit de sorgul hibrid ma simteam deznadajduit.

Stateam in grupul compact al firelor de sorg hibrid, tanjind dupa o scena splendida, ce nu va mai exista: toamna tarziu, in luna a opta, cand cerul era inalt si aerul invigorator, sorgul de pe intreaga campie se inrosea intr-o mare nemarginita de sange. Daca se revarsau apele de toamna lanul se prefacea intr-o intindere de ape, iar testele de un rosu intunecat al firelor de sorg se iteau deasupra apelor galbele si namoloase, chemand cu staruinta catre cerul albastru. Daca iesea soarele, luminand puhoaiele uriase, taramul dinspre cer si pamant se inunda de o culoare neobisnuit de bogata si neobisnuit de maiestuoasa.’ (pag. 472)

Acest citat este din pagina finala a romanului ‘Sorgul rosu’ aparut in a doua editie in 2012 la Editura Humanitas fiction, colectia ‘Raftul Denisei’ la scurta vreme dupa ce autorul ei Mo Yan a primit premiul Nobel. Prima editie aparuse in 2008, traducerea ii apartine lui Dinu Luca. Citatul ilustreaza raportarea lui Mo Yan la trecutul Chinei, specifica nu numai lui ci unei generatii de scriitori chinezi contemporani care in atmosfera de relaxare culturala si politica relativa inceputa in anii 80 cauta in trecutul Chinei si in stilul legendelor, povestirilor si romanelor populare, sursa de inspiratie si reinoirea unei traditii literare curmate brutal de instaurarea regimului comunist la mijlocul secolului trecut. In acelasi timp revine in acest fragment si tema sorgului, planta comestibila si furajera care sta la baza economiei zonei Gaomi din nord-estul Chinei in care se petrece actiunea romanului, si care este cadru si simbol al intregii carti (marturisesc ca a trebuit sa recurg la dictionare pentru a ma lamuri sau a-mi reaminti – daca oi fi stiut vreodata – ce este sorgul). Lanurile de sorg o insotesc pe eroina principala, bunica autorului in primul ei drum spre un maritis traditional la inceputul anilor 20, ele sunt asternut pentru prima scena de dragoste a bunicilor, sursa de mancare si de negot, din sorg se fac leacuri si rachiul care le tulbura eroilor mintea si simturile, aceleasi lanuri sunt cadrul bataliilor crude intre chinezi si invadatorii japonezi, si intre diferitele fractiuni armate chineze la sfarsitul anilor 30.

‘De amandoua partile drumului, firele de sorg se stransesera tare ca in niste placi, unindu-se intr-un intreg, bulucindu-se, inghesuindu-se si masurandu-se unul pe altul, in vreme ce spicele verzi-cenusii nu-si deschisesera inca ochii somnorosi si nu se puteau in nici un fel deosebi intre ele. Sorgul era vesnic si fara de capat, semanand cu o apa care curge murmurand. Drumul era uneori deosebit de stramt, iar frunzele de sorg, scaldate in secretiile puricilor de plante, susoteau frecandu-se de peretii lecticii.’  (pag. 55)

 

sursa www.humanitas.ro

sursa www.humanitas.ro

 

Sorgul apare si in titlul a trei din cele cinci capitole in care este structurata cartea. Actiunea se petrece pe o perioada de doua decenii si readuce in amintirea autorului care traieste intr-un prezent al anilor 70-80 cele doua generatii precedente ale familiei sale. Bunica sa Dai Fenglian mosteneste un sot bogat cu care nici nu apucase sa-si consume casatoria si traieste o pasionanta poveste de dragoste cu Yu Zhan’ao – un amestec de brigand si comandant militar, personaj cu dimensiuni de legenda coborat din basmele si povestile populare traditionale. Avem de-a face cu o lume care se transforma intr-un ritm accelerat de la o societate traditionalista guvernata de legi economice si sociale valabile de secole dar si de credinte si superstitii cu aura de fantastic, intr-o lume a realitatii violente a secolului 20, a razboiului civil intre nationalisti si comunisti, a razboiului de aparare impotriva invadatorilor japonezi. Povestirea nu este liniara, polii ei se afla in perioada de inceput a anilor 20 cand se intalnesc cei doi eroi care creaza axul familiei si in anii 1939-1941 cand invadatorii japonezi ocupa zona, supunand populatia civila unor atrocitati inimaginabile. Osciland si alternand cele doua perioade capitolele cartii cladesc din episoade intretesute saga familiei, cu o bogatie de personaje care evolueaza si se contureaza din ce in ce mai clar pe masura ce noi episoade sunt adaugate povestirii.

Este doar a doua carte tradusa din literatura chineza pe care o citesc. Cred ca traducerea din chineza pune nu numai traducatorului ci si cititorului o problema dubla, caci este vorba nu numai de traducerea de cuvinte ci si de cea a conceptelor, a imaginilor, a structurilor sociale si culturale. De exemplu in cea mai mare parte a cartii ocupantii japonezi nu sunt numiti ca atare (niciunul nu are de altfel nume si nu apare ca personaj) ci sunt numiti pur si simplu ‘diavolii’, in timp ce colaboratorii lor chinezi (armata imparatului marioneta care incerca o restauratie anti-republicana cu sprijinul japonezilor) sunt numiti ‘momaile’. Traducatorul Dinu Luca a impletit tonul liric al unora dintre pasaje cu dramatismul evocarilor violente (si romanul contine foarte multe pasaje de o violenta extrema) folosind un limbaj in care numele si poreclele parca coborate din legenda se combina liber cu injuraturile cele mai obscene. Impresia la lectura este puternica si nu de putine ori socanta. Toate simturile cititorului sunt chemate si puse in miscare pentru a construi o imagine a unei lumi in destramare, dominata si coplesita de violenta istoriei.

 

sursa www.asianews.it

sursa www.asianews.it

 

S-a vorbit despre cartea lui Mo Yan ca apartinand genului numit ‘realismul magic’. Practic insa, analizat povestire cu povestire, nu se intampla nimic supranatural in carte. Exista insa o acumulare de evenimente extreme, de situatii limita si de schimbari de destine care impreuna pozitioneaza ceea ce se intampla inspre magie, desi din cartile de istorie stim ca tot ceea ce este descris in carte s-a intamplat sau s-ar fi putut intampla in acea epoca. Magia atrocitatilor daca vreti. Capitolul care poate se apropie cel mai mult de dimensiunea de basm si magie sumbra este cel in care este prezentata infruntarea intre satenii din satul distrus de japonezi si haitele de caini care se hranesc cu starvuri de om de pe campurile mortii. Cainii sunt aici simboluri ale violentei de care este cuprins universul, dar si ale naturii care isi cere partea sa si joaca un rol determinant in echilibrul (cat exista) al acestui univers.  Daca sorgul este elementul vegetal al acestui univers, cainii il reprezinta pe cel animal, si exista o permanenta si macabra confruntare dar si schimb de materie intre elementele uman, animal si vegetal.

‘Pentru ca infulecasera carne de om, ochii albi ai tuturor cainilor erau brazdati de firicele dese de sange, iar cele cateva luni de infulecat carne cruda si de viata de lupte desteptasera in strafundurile lor amintiri pe care traiul domesticit de sute de mii de ani le amortise. Ii urau acum pe oameni – animalele acestea care umbla pe doua picioare – pana in maduva oaselor. Infulecandu-le carnea. cainii nu numai ca isi potoleau matele care le chioraiau de foame, ci, mai important, simteau oarecum ca, facand aceasta, arunca manusa lumii oamenilor – ca se razbuna crancen pe stapanitorii care ii tinusera atata amar de vreme in sclavie.’ (pag. 266)

S-a discutat mult dupa ce Mo Yan a primit premiul Nobel despre masura in care este nevoie de curaj si caracter pentru a scrie si a publica asemenea carti in China de astazi. Imaginea prezentata este complexa si nu sunt ocolite contraditiile epocii descrise, si nici nu este idealizata vreuna dintre partile participante in luptele civile din perioada interbelica chineza. Nu exista nici o critica foarte clara a ceea stim ca a urmat in istoria Chinei, desi unele pasaje din capitolul final exprima si dezamagirea eroului fata de destramarea lumii in care au trait parintii si bunicii, fata de micimea contemporaneitatii sale relativ la dimensiunile de legenda ale epocii si caracterelor care stau in centrul povestirii, si fata de felul in care birocratia comunista de comporta fata de unul dintre eroii trecutului. Daca ar trebui sa gasesc un termen de comparatie cu literatura romana, atitudinea lui Mo Yan seamana cu cea a lui Marin Preda in perioada sa de maturitate, cand se uita inapoi spre obsedantul deceniu si mai inapoi spre perioada ascensiunii dreptei romanesti si a rebeliunii legionare. Neaderenta la dogma oficiala este evidenta si in stil si in ton, dar critica este facuta cu manusi, poate cu mainile inclestate in pumni, dar totusi cu manusi, pentru a face cartile publicabile in conditiile in care scriitorul a ales sa ramana sa traiasca si sa scrie in tara si sa publice in conditiile existentei unei cenzuri mai mult sau mai putin severe, niciodata inexistenta sau foarte toleranta. Este o optiune care poate fi desigur discutata, dar cert este ca intenstatea si calitatea scrierii lui Mo Yan nu fac de rusine distinctiile primite si justifica popularitatea de care se bucura.

 

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love, insanity and social reform (Film: A Royal Affair – Demnark, 2012)

The Danes tried to put a ‘coup d’etat’ at the Academy Awards this year with ‘En kongelig affære’ (‘A Royal Affair’) directed by Nikolaj Arcel. Having seen that stories about royals and especially about queens bring Oscar statuettes every other year, they put together an impressive historic production based on a steamy story of love, sex, insanity and social reform, all based on true events which took place at the Danish court in the second half of the 18th century. Only one story, one film, based only on ‘Amour’ stood between ‘A Royal Affair’ and the Oscar for the best foreign language film.

 

source www.imdb.com/title/tt1276419/

source www.imdb.com/title/tt1276419/

 

 

The Royal Affair takes place in the second half of the 18th century, by the time winds of changes were blowing all over Europe originating in the ideas of the Enlightenment, and the kings of Europe were losing their minds or their heads. Denmark was ruled by (another) insane king named Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) who took more interest in his dogs and in prostitutes than in his young, beautiful and English wife Caroline Mathilde (the superb Swede actress Alicia Vikander). Her education abroad made her receptive to the ideas of the Enlightenment at a time when Denmark was one of the more conservative kingdoms in Europe, with politics dominated by puritan clergy. When the personal physician of the king Johann Struensee (the excellent Mads Mikkelsen) gains influence and slowly takes over the affairs of the kingdom  the queen will find in him a companion in ideas, and soon also in bed. The period of one year while doctor Struensee led Denmark saw the introduction of a set of the earliest and most radical reformist legislation in Europe. When the king fell completely into folly and the affair between the queen and the prime minister became to visible for the small conservative country, the clergy, nobility and disaffected branch of the royal family plotted to take power, arrested the prime minister, isolated the king and sent the queen into exile. The country reverted for about two decades back into feudalism until the children of the queen (who had died in the meantime) came to power and set the base of modern Denmark.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGXNQu3fpP8

(video source VISO trailers)

 

‘A Royal Affair’ enjoys a very careful production, with great attention to details, and is well acted. Best parts are actually the psychological games played by the triangle composed of the king with his insanity combined with childish outbreaks of goodness, of the beautiful and dedicated queen whose trust in good guides her in all deeds except in her private life, and of the charismatic physician who seems to understand well that his path to glory is doomed to end into disgrace at best, and almost certainly into violent death. It is actually the overall production and the careful reconstitution of the life in the North of Europe in the 18th century that is directed with somehow a stiff hand. The historical details may certainly interest and are relevant to the Danes, but less to the viewers who are not so knowledgeable or interested in local history. Although the characters are interesting and the 18th century story is well told, the film lacks exactly that higher dose of personal drama which could have helped him overcome the two 21st century old musicians at their twilight in the race for the Oscars. A little bit of insanity borrowed from the kind could have helped.

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the power of literature (Film: Dans la maison – Francois Ozon, 2012)

Dans la maison (In the House) directed by Francois Ozon is one of the the most surprising films i have seen lately. Adaptation of a play, the screen is so smart that my major question is how is it that Woody Allen did not write it first? or maybe he wrote it under disguise?

 

source www.impawards.com

source www.impawards.com

 

It is really such an Allen-esque story, which mingles real life and imagination, the writer as a creator of life, and life as a creator of literature.  It even has a thread about relations of adults and underage and even if it loses a little bit of steam by the end, talking so much about a good ending for the story that it forgets to create a real good and non-conventional one, it is still one of the smartest and most original scripts I have watched lately brought in screen. The hero is a professor of literature Germain (Fabrice Luchini), smart enough to abhor the re-introduction of uniforms in high school, whose literary ambitions were not fulfilled and who finds a goal (and a change in the routine) in pygmalionizing one of his pupils Claude (Ernst Umhauer) in the ways of literature. As it happens Clude’s subjects are his friend and colleague Rapha (Bastien Ughetto), his house which is the middle class dream for a poor kid from the peripheries, and his family or especially his mother (Emmanuelle Seigner) who becomes the object of his teenage dreams and guilty desires. As the story develops, the house becomes the stage of the action, reality inspires fiction at first just to make room for literary fiction becoming reality, the intervention of the teacher becomes much more than correction of grammar or style, it starts to be correction of destinies. All in a fluent and well paced style for most of the time.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnDyu-6B5ks

(video source abcscope)

 

I liked the acting of Fabrice Luchini, well supported by other fine actors as the two charming Kristin Scott Thomas (as his wife, co-reader of Rapha’s essays and supporting character playing eventually a surprising role in the story) and Emmanuelle Seigner. All of them act solidly, their problems are credible, and we can feel the atmosphere and the torments of the middle class in the French province. The two teenager roles are played with the natural touch and expected freshness by Ernst Umhauer and Bastien Ughetto (the latest is very promising, may he have luck in getting distributed in roles that fit his talent and his face!). Overall it’s a smart and funny movie, worth seeing for many reasons.

 

 

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Avishai Cohen at Zappa in Tel Aviv

Bass usually takes a back seat in jazz performances. Starting with the location on the stage, where the bass is relegated to the back of the stage (maybe no to dwarf the other instruments some will say) and especially in sounds where the it provides tonal counterpoint and rhythmic support. However in a typical jazz concert the bassists have at best a few solos. Not when Avishai Cohen and one of his bands is on stage! One of the things that is different is that with Cohen the bass dominates the show, is in the center and directing everything else that happens from a musical point of view, not to speak of Cohen’s own personality. Now, after having followed the show last night at the Zappa Club in Tel Aviv I need to get back to his older recordings with musicians like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Roy Hargrove to see and hear again how he performed when he was part of the band or supporting other musicians.

 

avishay_cohen

 

The band last night at Zappa was not his usual trio (or the one he was performing with all over the world during the last year. Pianist Nitai Hershkowitz is the latest revelation of Cohen, and he is excellent – warm, articulated, with a rich sound and perfect understanding of Cohen’s musical soul. I was less impressed by the guest drummer, the Spanish Jorge Rossi – he is OK but not at the level of Cohen and Hershkowitz, but his presence was fine for the last ‘Spanish/South-American’ part of the show. Cohen himself was impressive, he is at the pick of his strength and maturity, he covers the whole stage and makes the audience vibrate despite of the fact that his music is almost at no moment ‘easy’, he relates to his instrument as to a peer with whom he dances and makes love to, and gets some of the best possible sounds.

 

(video source Avishai Cohen Music)

 

I found on the Internet a full concert of Cohen with his (original) trio from 2012, with many lines of similarity in duration and music with what he did last night in Tel Aviv. His music is complex and sophisticated, piano and bass have almost equal parts, and most of the compositions inspired (also) from the Jewish ethos and Bible characters have personality and dramatic power. If he is around your place (he will be in Romania later this spring for example) do not miss him!

 

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non-stop action, no questions asked (Film: Battle Los Angeles – Michelle Rodriguez, 2011)

Everything is clear from the first to the last of the shots (and there are many shots of all kinds) of Battle Los Angeles. The aliens are here (having arrived under disguise of a rain of meteorites) and they are after mankind. Mankind fights back and the US marines are on the front line. Chances are slim, but marines, the US and mankind will prevail.

 

source www.imdb.com/title/tt1217613/

source www.imdb.com/title/tt1217613/

 

The story is so simple that there is almost nothing to tell. While Earth seems to be losing most of the battles with the invading aliens, Los Angeles is one of the last remaining battlefields. A group of marines is sent in a semi-suicidal mission to save civilians and bring them to what looks like a safe zone. The commanding officer is young and inexperienced, the sergeant (Aaron Eckhardt) with an Iraq war record and appropriate traumas will soon prove to be more capable of leading the fight.  War of the Worlds (like in H.G. Wells, including finding the vulnerability of the aliens) meets Iraq war movies. Even the graphics of the film mix the alien movies monsters with urban guerrilla a la Iraq – and they actually look quite good. The rest of the story does not matter.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9otTzrO9Bfw

(video source ClevverMovies)

 

While Aaron Eckhardt holds the lead role of the tough marine sergeant whose destiny is to take charge and save mankind, it is the performance of Michelle Rodriguez that I most enjoyed in this film directed by Jonathan Liebesman, a director who specializes in action movies. Rodriguez also made a specialty from playing muscled and sexy young women that bad guys should avoid upsetting. She may ask herself what will happen after the age for such roles will pass (it happens to everybody) but this is her personal concern. I love movies that are what they claim to be (I also like the same kind of humans actually) and this is why I liked in the limits of the genre Battle Los Angeles. To Liebesman’s credit it must be said that he does not try for one moment pretend that this film is anything else than what it is, there is no characters evolution (in humans as well as in aliens) and no tentative to make anything else but a good action movie. To a large extent he succeeds, or at least nothing is bad in what resulted.

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language gap (Film: Chinese Take-Out – Sebastián Borensztein, 2011)

Usually telling the end of a film is considered a spoiler. In the case of Argentinian director , Chinese Take-Out (Un cuento cino in the Spanish version) it would be a spoiler to tell how it begins. I actually watched the usual late comers to the cinema hall and wondered whether the film experience is really complete for those folks who entered even only two minutes late after the start of the projection. So, I won’t make the mistake of revealing the start of this quite charming feel-good film, I will just say it’s quite relevant.

 

source www.rosariocine.com.ar

source www.rosariocine.com.ar

 

The film tells the story of a grumpy mid-aged owner of  a hardware shop in Argentina named Roberto who lives alone, refusing almost any relation with other human beings excepting his suppliers and customers (well, even with these ones only to the point where they do not walk on his toes).  He is a good and decent man, and a very bad communicator at the same time. The last thing he needs in life is the appearance of a young Chinese man, Jun, frightened and disoriented, who looks for his uncle in the search for somebody to support him in finding a new way in a new country and who has no-one to rely on but Roberto whom he met accidentally. None of them speaks any word in the language of the other, and each hides traumas from the bast that justify their own barriers in communication. The whole movie is about finding ways to communicate and building a friendship that will help both in overcoming the hurdles of life.

 

(video source Daniel Martinez)

 

Films about overcoming cultural gaps doubled by barriers of language and making human communication possible despite of them have been made in the past, the one I happen to remember is the Israeli Noodle, which was telling the story of a stewardess who finds herself taking care of an abandoned Chinese kid. What makes the story different in Un quento cino are the background stories of the two heroes and the fact that Ricardo Darin and Ignacio Huang are right on spot for the two leading roles. One of the nice ideas of the film is that Jun (Huang) does not really speak one word of Spanish during the whole film, he speaks Chinese, but no translation is available. The language gap is more than a emotional trick or a comic pretext in this film. It is the very glue upon which the relationship and eventually the friendship between the two characters is based upon. Although it is aimed eventually to be a feel-good movie (and succeeds to be so) Un quento cino avoids falling into cheap melodrama because of the discrete humor built upon the day-to-day situations, also based on the fact that in the absence of words the characters need to use gestures which to some extent remind the pantomime style of the early cinema comedies. A discrete and pleasant film.

 

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‘Cargo Cult’ at the Bat Yam Museum of Art

My round through the local museums in Israel took me a few weeks ago to Bat Yam where the local museum of art opens for the young generation of artists coming the countries of the ex-Eastern block and especially from the former Soviet Union. The name of the exhibition Cargo Cult says something about commercialization and the relation of the artists with the world of technology and materials, airports and transportation machinery, but also about their own journey of the one made by their parents to the new old country. variety of means, very non-conventional means, nothing from the balance and some would say the stiffness of the traditional Russian art

 

DSC07348

 

The museum is by itself one of the most original structures that I have seen lately, a cylindrical building dwarfed by one of these water towers which are part of the local landscape in any Israeli city and were part of the mythology of the Jewish settlements in the first decades of their existence.

 

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A few years ago I visited an exhibition at the Museum of Contemportary Art in Ramat Gan which was gathering works of Russian immigrants formed at the solid realistic schools of art in the former Soviet Union who had immigrated to Israel. There is almost nothing similar in ‘Cargo Cult’. This is undeniably an exhibition of young artists living in Israel. Sure, this is a specific sector of the art community in Israel, and these young folks are not denying but openly affirming their roots but they also have a clear approach to art and the materials art is made of that is post-modernist and their dialog with the culture of the area they or their parents came from is sustained from here.
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Ivars Gravlejs from Riga gathers in his Shopping Poetry project objects acquired in shops and supermarkets and photographs them near their cash counter invoice in a reflection of the relationship between object and value, between the image and its numerical representation.

 

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One of the older generation artists is Moscow-born Mikhail Grobman born in 1939 invited several young artists to make fluorescent replicas of works by Grobman. The semi-dark room raises questions and thoughts about the works and their amplification through reproduction.

 

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Maxim Komar-Myshkin was born in Moscow in 1978 and died in Tel Aviv in 2011. I do not know how to describe his unusual creations – maybe stellar works?

 

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New Barbizon Group is a team of five female artists – each creates a group of drawings and paintings reflecting reality and including probably the strongest social messages of the works in the exhibition abut the condition of women, artists, immigrants in a society like ours.

 

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A separate room gathers Igor Guelman-Zak’s miniatures and a big neon-lights panel labeled Change – bringing to our attention the reality and scope of art, and the relativity of the relationship as expressed in the dimensions of the two very different groups of works.

An interesting exhibition and a refreshing view of an artistic community which showed up among us, another lesser known result of the immigration in a country that continues to be a melting from many points of view including art.

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Queen Esther in Arts

The festive entry today in the blog dedicated to the festival of Purim deals with Queen Esther – one of the beloved characters of the story of Purim and history of Jews. Uncounted Jewish little girls chose her as the character that they mask in for the festival. This may be a rather new tradition however, bu the image of the beautiful and dedicated woman fascinated illustrators of the Bible many centuries back. I browsed the Net for information and reflections of the Biblical character of Queen Esther in art, and first of all in painting. Here are a few findings, I hope that you will find them beautiful and interesting.

 

source http://estherhecht.wordpress.com/tag/illuminated-manuscripts/

source http://estherhecht.wordpress.com/tag/illuminated-manuscripts/

 

Ancient illuminated manuscripts are among the first to provide representation of the Queen Esther image and exploits. Here is a splendid old Jewish manuscript, one of the oldest and finest in the British Museum collection, from The North French Hebrew Miscellany, 1272-98, representing King Ahashverosh holding out his scepter to Queen Esther.

 

source http://www.lessing-photo.com/dispimg.asp?i=30050528+&cr=6&cl=1

source http://www.lessing-photo.com/dispimg.asp?i=30050528+&cr=6&cl=1

 

Another beautiful example of illuminated art representing the Purim story is the Megillat Esther, a scroll with the biblical story of Queen Esther, read during the Purim festival, created by the Jews of Ascona (now in Italy) in 1784, which can be found nowadays in the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.

 

source http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1997.156

source http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1997.156

 

The Metropolitan Museum in New York contains in its collections a beautiful study by Claude Lorrain from the beginning of the 17th century representing Queen Esther approaching the palace of the King of Persia. The vast staging allows for an elegant and complex landscape in Baroque style.

 

source http://www.jewishmag.co.il/121mag/rembrandt-purim-art/rembrandt-purim-art.htm

source http://www.jewishmag.co.il/121mag/rembrandt-purim-art/rembrandt-purim-art.htm

 

Rembrandt’s Haman Begging Esther for Mercy painted in 1655 is one of the power pieces of the collection of the National Art Museum in Bucharest. It is dark in coloring (as many of the masterpieces of Rembrandt) and powerful in the composition which emphasizes the relations between the three characters of the Purim story.

 

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz_van_Rijn_-_Ahasuerus,_Haman_and_Esther_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz_van_Rijn_-_Ahasuerus,_Haman_and_Esther_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

 

Another version painted by Rembrandt of the Purim heroes can be found in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. It is called Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther and is dated 1660.

 

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Esther_haram.jpg

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Esther_haram.jpg

 

This intense version of the portrait of the Queen is called Esther haram, is dated 1878 and belongs to a painter from the Victorian period named Edwin Long who painted many historical and Biblical stories giving them an Orientalist and erotic touch.

 

source http://donnasreport.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/documentary-return-to-byzantium.html

source http://donnasreport.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/documentary-return-to-byzantium.html

 

Contemporary mosaic artist Lilian Broca is well known for several series inspired by feminine Biblical characters among which the one dedicated to Queen Esther is probably the best known. Her technique adapts some of the Byzantine mosaic techniques and materials, and the results are spectacular.

 

Chag Purim Sameakh! A Happy Purim!

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