Cosmaruri despre Romania (Carte: Florin Irimia – O fereastra intunecata)

Din Cuvantul inainte al romanului ‘O fereastra intunecata’ semnat de Florin Irimia (Editura Polirom, colectia EGO proza, 2012):

‘Desi aceasta carte este o fictiune, nu toate evenimentele descrise in ea sunt fictionale. Mi-ar fi placut, de exemplu, sa inventez pogromurile din 1941, din Bucuresti si din Iasi, dar si comunismul, cu mizerabila, nesfarsita tranzitie care i-a urmat, mi-ar fi placut sa nu simt in fiecare zi ca traiesc intr-o asemenea tara, imprevizibila, isterica, grosolana, ostila deopotriva tinerilor si batranilor, dispretuitoare cu cei mai multi dintre oamenii care au avut nesansa sa se nasca aici. Din nefericire, toate aceste posibile “fictiuni” au devenit, rand pe rand, realitate, o realitate pe care unii insa, de-a lungul timpului, au tinut s-o prezinte drept fabulatie, sustinand ca anumite capitole ale ei n-au avut loc. Vine insa un moment cand trebuie sa ne asumam trecutul asa cum a fost (pentru a ne putea asuma si prezentul asa cum este), fie ca ne face onoare sau nu. Acest moment trebuie sa fie acum.’ (pag. 9)

Acest preludiu creaza premizele a ceea ce se asterne in continuare, prilejuind o lectura fragmentata, sacadata, in care punctul de vedere, stilul, genul literar se schimba de la capitol la capitol, ceea ce nu numai ca nu lasa vreun moment de respiro cititorului, dar si pastreaza permanent si atentia treaza si interesul fata de forma si nu numai fata de continutul celor 18 capitole plus o coda din care este compusa cartea. Numitorul comun este viziunea – viziunea de cosmar a Romaniei interbelice, viziunea de cosmar a Romaniei din viitorul apropiat. Daca ar fi sa descriu intr-o singura fraza aceasta carte as folosi termenul de colectie de cosmaruri, cosmaruri despre Romania visate de eroii diferiti care pun stapanire pentru cate un capitol sau pentru mai multe pe naratiune.

 

sursa http://www.elefant.ro/ebooks/fictiune/literatura-romana/literatura-romana-contemporana/o-fereastra-intunecata-201453.html

 

Prima jumatate a cartii constituie nucleul unui roman descriind o Romaniei post-apocaliptica, in stilul romanelor sau filmelor care descriu Terra dupa o catastrofa nucleara. Doar ca Apocalipsa dupa Florin Irimia este limitata la teritoriul Romaniei si declansata de un program accelerat de lichidare a maidanezilor, care esueaza si duce la crearea unei mutatii care transforma cainii-victime si apoi oamenii atacati de acestia in morti-vii, un fel de zombies agresivi, care ajung sa stapaneasca intreg teritoriul Romaniei, in timp ce mici grupuri de supravietuitori incearca sa amane inevitabilul sau sa fuga dincolo de frontiere. Imaginea Bucurestiului post-apocaliptic va fi greu de uitat pentru cititorii cartii:

‘Am ramas aproape singuri in bloc. In tot Bucurestiul, daca mai suntem cateva mii. Neatinsii. Imunii. Supravietuitorii. Impartim capitala si cele douazeci si patru de ore ale unei zile cu creaturile intunericului. I-am numit Rauvoitorii. Urlatorii, le mai spun unii, pentru ca adeseori le auzim urletele, in noapte, ca si cum ar fi niste lupi. Niste lupi de care s-ar teme si lupii. Impielitatii, li se mai spune in alte cartiere, Lighioanele, si chiar Intrupatii. Ziua noi, noaptea ei, estul noi, vestul ei. In teorie. In practica, suntem pe cale de disparitie. Mai intai au fost zimbrii, rasii si acvilele, acum a venit randul nostru. Doar ca pe noi nu ne protejeaza nimeni, nicio organizatie, niciun ONG, nimeni si nimic. Multi s-au sinucis. Si-au dat seama ca nu vor putea trai in noile conditii si au inchis pravalia. La inceput, lasau bilete de adio, apoi n-au mai avut cui sa lase. Cativa dintre ei facusera parte din Echipele Mortii. Cei cuprinsi de remuscari, cei ingroziti. Le-am aruncat lesurile in strada si am privit cum erau devorati. Ochi pentru ochi si dinte pentru dinte.” (pag. 25)

In a doua jumatate a cartii perspectiva subit se schimba. Incercarea disperata a personajului principal de pana atunci pe nume Mircea Batranu (sic!) si a iubitei sale Semplista de a supravietui catastrofei din viitorul apropiat al Romaniei se dovedeste a fi visul (cosmarul) alimentat de drogul mescalinei al unui alt personaj – scriitorul evreu Edi Florian – in perioada imediat premergatoare celui de-al doilea razboi mondial (folosirea mescalinei pare inspirata de relatarile lui Andrei Oisteanu in ‘Narcotice in cultura romana’ despre folosirea acestui gen de substante in mediile intelectuale romanesti ale perioadei). Ritmul naratiunii se schimba, si dupa ce Edi Florian isi epuizeaza incercarile de a genera trairi alimentate de stupefiante intru crearea unei fictiuni care reprezinta viitorul, dar incapsuleaza si toata istoria reala a Romaniei in cei 70 de ani de dupa razboi, avem de-a face cu versiuni alternative ale istoriei (in una dintre ele Edi Florian devine prim-ministru al Romaniei, si apoi salveaza Europa de la Holocaust si o buna parte din suferintele razboiului asasinandu-l pe Hitler, in timp ce Antonescii si acolitii lor joaca teatru absurd incercand sa intoarca din nou roata istoriei) si cu relatari aproape documentare ale pogromurilor de la Bucuresti si de la Iasi din 1940-1941.

 

sursa http://suspans.ro/author/florin_irimia

 

Daca alternanta de stiluri si de voci tine permanent alert interesul cititorului, a doua parte contrasteaza totusi stilistic cu prima si aici este poate partea slaba in structura cartii. Aproape ca putem spune ca avem de a face cu doua carti diferite, fiecare jumatate ar fi putut fi dezvotata – una intr-un roman post-apocalitic, fantastic, in stil gotic al unei sumbre Romanie viitoare, cealalta intr-o imbinare de relatari documentare cu piste de istorie alternativa a trecuturilor improbabile ale aceleaiasi Romanii. Ceea ce tine cartea impreuna este tonul sumbru al viziunilor. Romania de ieri cu pacatele sale istorice (si Florin Irimia are meritul de a nu ascunde nimic din grozavenia celor intamplate in trecutul real al tarii) si Romania de maine cu pacatele viitoare cu radacini in trecut si prezent sunt forme alternative ale aceluiasi cosmar, a aceleiasi cautari fara sansa de izbanda a unei iesiri din impas. Un procedeu stilistic cu forta expresiva remarcabila este repetarea aproape identica a unui pasaj care descrie ororile trecutului si ale viitorului. Forta morala a scriitorului consta in a-si asuma responsabilitatea, a cauta radacinile raului in interior, si a nu scormoni dupa scuze sau tapi ispasitori in afara hotarelor.

“Dar in Romania ma e ceva, nu vreau sa supar pe nimeni, dar ceva e in neregula cu acest popor. E un popor care nu si-a asumat niciodata greselile, care intotdeauna a dat vina pe altii, un popor caruia mereu ii greseste cineva, dar el nu greseste fata de nimeni. Un popor de neprihaniti. La fel se intampla si cand vine vorba de comunism. “Noi? Ce am facut noi? Rusii sunt de vina. Pactul Ribentrop-Molotov. Conferinta de la Ialta.” Toata lumea e curata ca lacrima, cainta si ispasirea nu-si au locul in constiinta romaneasca.” (pag. 175-176)

Cu acest roman al lui Florin Irimia sunt din nou pus in fata unui autor cu o voce distincta si cu o viziune dureros de lucida asupra prezentului si trecutului Romaniei. Ca si alti colegi ai generatiei sale viziunea sa este insa sumbra si pesimista, aproape ca nu lasa loc niciunei raze de optimism sau speranta. Oare ce trebuie sa se schimbe pentru ca acesti talentati scriitori sa lase loc unei alte game de culori in viziunile lor decat celor intunecate, unor alte feluri de vise decat cosmarurile? Probabil ca realitatea.

Posted in books | Tagged , | Leave a comment

uneasy rest (Film: The Human Resources Manager – Eran Riklis, 2010)

The Hebrew name of the film is a little longer than the one chosen by the distributors for the English version. It reads ‘The Mission of the Human Resources Manager’ and actually the word used is ‘shlihut’ which has a wider significance – it means not only mission, but also the acts of performing an important duty, or of being a messenger for important news. The news in this case are about a death, but the film touches only marginally the reasons and the absurdity of that death, and deals more about how the people who remained in life cope with the disappearance and how this impacts their lives – including the one of the messenger.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1311075/

 

Based on a novel of AB Yehoshua the film tells the story of the aftermath of a terror attack, one of these crazy suicidal acts that took place during the second intifada about a decade ago. One of the victims of the attack is identified quite lately as a Romanian woman working a manual job in a bakery in the town. A beautiful woman whose face we know only from a photo and later from a short film made on a phone, whose body nobody came to claim or identify because she was one of the thousand of foreign workers who come to Israel and perform hard and low paid works nobody else wants to do in order to support their families back home. The duty to take the coffin with the body home to Romania, and try to compensate the family there  falls on the manager of the human resources (the absurdity of the terminology is so well exposed by this film), a man who has problems of his own – solidly acted by Mark Ivanir, an actor I did not notice until now – he works more for the TV and games industry in the US, here he gets an opportunity to make a serious role in an Israeli film, and does it fine.  What results is a trip in unknown territory for the Jerusalemite clerk and the journalist accompanying him (Guri Alfi, better known here as a stand-up comedian), a clash not only of two different cultures and but also of different approaches to life and death.

 

(video source potentialfilm)

 

The film is not bad, but it’s a missed opportunity. Made in 2010, a year when both the Romanian and Israeli films industry were riding high on waves of success, it could have brought together some of the best in the two schools of cinematography – the Israeli dramatic school of political cinema which after decades of avoiding the tough questions raised by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict succeeded in a few film that take a sharp and uncompromising look at the issues and the Romanian minimalist realism which looks back to the Communist era and the transition that followed, and also to the contemporary chaotic situation in Romania not only with anger, but also with humor and especially with human understanding. Amazingly, director Eran Riklis‘ style and place in the Israeli cinema fits rather well the Romanian cinema style. The problem lies in the folklorist approach taken in dealing with the Romanian reality. If the Israeli team would have taken a local director as consultant, they could have maybe avoided some of the stereotypes of the script. I should say that the Romanian actors do their best to fill in the holes of the story on this respect, but this is not always enough. Even so, it’s a pleasure to see great actors like Irina Petrescu (a Romanian legend) or Gila Almagor who can be considered as her Israeli counterpart on the same cast (although they never meet on screen). And more than all, this is the last and final role in the career of Rozina Cambos. Despite its flaws Riklis’ film has enough good parts to make for an interesting viewing.

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

beware of regular people (Film: The Matador – Pierce Brosnan, 2005)

Should I feel a little bit guilty for having enjoyed this film? It’s not the greatest action movie around, it lacks special effects and car chases. Credibility is not really the strong argument of the story. We are asked and we end by sympathizing with a couple of guys who do very bad things. And yet The Matador produced and acted by Pierce Brosnan worked for me better than I expected.  Now I need to find why.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365485/

 

Julian Noble is a hitman and the most irregular guy on Earth. He kills people for money, has no home or even a fixed address, getting drunk and buying sex seem to be his only pass-times. Danny Wright is the most regular guy on Earth, a businessman from Denver, he does have a house and a beautiful and loving wife, but his professional and personal life seems to have entered in an unavoidable dead-end. Their getting together is an improbable event, the only less probable one being them becoming friends. Yet, this is exactly what happens in The Matador and their friendship takes a path that is unpredictable and hidden from the viewer or the viewer is sent to wrong tracks for much of the time.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cClpPW1nyTw

(video source robotuku)

 

So why does the story written and directed by Richard Shepard work? One of the reasons is that each of the three characters has a lot to identify with. Of course, hard to resonate with the professional killer day job of Julian, but certainly easy to feel compassion for working permanently under pressure, getting tired of the accelerated (corporate!) pace, not getting a listening ear from your boss. With the other two characters (Danny and his wife) it’s much easier, they are like us, but here comes the second principal reason of my liking this film – acting. Both Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis not only give fine performances, but they are sincere and feel the roles. They are us, and make us understand that. Pierce Brosnan is nothing but perfect, this is the best role I saw him in, his switching acts from the cool killer to the lost kid in town, from cynicism to vulnerability are masterful and the comical register fits him as well as the James Bond jacket. Last reason, the film carries some problematic or bad ideas (friendship as a good excuse for killing for example) but also a great one – beware of what regular people can do when you push them with the back to the wall! Eventually the combination of these three arguments wins.

 

 

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Glass Art Museum in the Desert

Did I already say that I love exploring small art museums? Of course, I also love even more visiting the great museums of the world, but the experience of finding a small museum in a not-so-important city, in a remote and sometimes unexpected place in the world is also a source of satisfaction and sometimes of wonderful surprises. This is the case with the Glass Art Museum in Arad (the Israeli city of Arad, not the Romanian one) which I wanted to see for quite a while and I eventually got to last week.

 

 

Located in the outskirts of the city of Arad, in an industrial area turned into artists’ district, the museum is easy to find when traveling to or from the Dead Sea. Established by the Fridman family, it aims to be an open house for all artists and fans of glass art. The experience of the visit is quite pleasant as visitors are guided by one of the four permanent guides, one of them being the house artist Gideon Fridman, whose works occupy most of the space (but the museum also hosts works of other artists working in the media).

 

source http://www.warmglassil.com/english/site.php?page=artist02.html

 

Fridman started to work in glass about 17 years ago, and he does not blow glass, but rather uses recycled glass of all sorts which he processes using techniques of his own. One of the effects he discovered and masters allows for the work to change shape depending on the angle you are looking at it. The guides will help you walk in between the works and observe the unique effects, as well as the special way of lighting used in the museum, where light does not fall directly on the works, but on the walls and cellar, and the passing of the light though the material creates the shapes.

Here are a few of the many remarkable works, but I should warn from start that a full understanding of the art in the Arad Glass Art Museum is complete only if you get there, move in between the works, and get the dynamics of the interaction between glass, movement, viewers.

 

 

‘A Female Heritage’

 

 

‘All My Sons’ – an impressive memorial work

 

 

‘The Wall of Spirit’ – the interpretation is left free to the viewer, I was impressed by the missing places, as well as by the occupied ones.

 

 

‘Violence 99’ is quite different in style from the majority of the other works, but the message is striking.

 

 

The name of this work ‘Genesis 2:23’ alludes to the creation of Eve in the Bible. Nine statues as the nine months of human pregnancy, nine steps in the evolution of Woman, from the slim curve of Adam’s Rib, through growth, youth, maturity to the eventual decay.

 

 

‘Yirimiahu 2:2’ sends us to another quote from the Bible, telling the story of Abraham, the son he embraces, and the other son – Ishmael. A dot of blood reminds the conflict between the descendents of Abraham, painfully open until the modern times.

 

 

A separate room in the museum hosts in darkness a huge candle, lit from inside, a symbol of remembrance for the Holocaust. It could as well be hosted at Yad Vashem.

 

Posted in art, museums | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

An Event – Euripides’ ‘Trojan Women’ co-produced by the Cameri and the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre

The performance with ‘The Trojan Women’ put on stage by the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv and the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre is a proof of the way great theater transcends time, and to what extend a tragedy written 24 centuries ago can be so actual and can speak so directly to the issues of modern history or even of the contemporary times. It certainly tells a lot about the genius of Euripides, but also about human nature, and about the world we live in. The play deals with the fate of the Trojan women, waiting for the Greek victors to decide their fate – slavery or death – after the defeat of Troy. It can be seen as a long lament and a dispute with the gods about the fate of a vanquished nation, the destruction of a homeland, the loss of freedom and the vicissitudes of the condition of women in times of war.

 

source https://www.cameri.co.il/index.php?page_id=2532

 

The ambitious project now on stage (for only one week) in Tel Aviv is the result of the collaboration between the Cameri Theatre and the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. Director Yukio Ninagawa is a well-know name in Japan, very high regarded for his staging of Shakespeare and Ancient Greece playrights. He  is not at the first tentative to work with an Israeli theatre. The history of his collaboration and involvement with the problems of the region and some of his thoughts and experiences during the realization of the current production are described in an interview given a few weeks ago to the Japan Times. It is no easy task to bring together on the same stage Japanese, Jewish and Arab actors, to make them work as one team, to bridge the cultural barriers, to defuse the political tensions and the tensions created by the text and subtext. Because of its perennial nature  Euripide’s text can be read as a metaphor of Hiroshima and the disaster of Japan in the 2oth century, of the Holocaust, or of the Palestinian exile and occupation. The mission of the director was to transform these tensions into artistic tension, in art.

 

source https://www.cameri.co.il/index.php?page_id=2532

 

I find the result spectacular. The stage is deprived of any garments, all the rendition of drama is left to the actors and to the stage music which combines intonations of Japanese music with Middle Eastern lamentation tones. The cast is composed of Japanese, Jewish Israeli and Arab actors, in an almost mathematically equal  distribution. All actors speak their own language, and the chorus (composed of five Japanese, five Jewish and five Arab actresses) repeats each incantation three times, once in each language. Although text translation is offered, at some point in time it becomes irrelevant. While director Ninagawa allowed or maybe even instructed each sub-team of actors to act in their own (classical Japanese, modern European, and melodramatic Arabic)  styles, the whole performance has a definite Japanese atmosphere, and especially in the second part stage movements and intonations became more important than the words of the text.  A great contribution is brought to this esthetic quality by the lead actress Kayoko Shiraishi in the role of Hecuba. She dominates the whole performance, melding the personalities of a hero of Greek tragedy with the calculated drama of a Japanese acting star. I will not mention other names, but the whole rest of the team is homogenous and very well directed.

This version of Trojan Women is an event from many points of view. It stages almost every day of the week until Saturday. For these of you who can reach this week Tel Aviv, love theatre, and can find tickets my strong recommendation is not to miss it.

 

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

Carte: Tudor Calin Zarojanu – Mass Media Insider

‘Am scris atit cit m-au tinut puterile despre breasla mea. Intre altele, am publicat in Romania Literara un articol de aproape doua pagini despre ce inseamna “A fi ziarist in Romania”. Am spus acolo lucruri pe care, din cite stiu, nu le-a mai dezvaluit nimeni pe meleagurile dimbovitene. Am sustinut si sustin ca este profesia ai carei truditori au evoluat cel mai mult dupa 1989.’ (pag. 213)

Putem fi de acord cu ultima afirmatie sau putem argumenta ca mute alte profesiuni au trecut prin schimbari si mai radicale in ultimii 23 de ani, iar altele nici nu existau pe atunci, dar nu putem nega miezul de adevar in ceea ce priveste reinventarea profesiei de ziarist in conditiile libertatii subite a cuvantului traite de intreaga societate romaneasca, dar si a haosului social si economic de dupa 1989, ca sa nu mai vorbim de avansurile tehnologice pe care breasla le-a acumulat in aceasta perioada. Si in carte este evidenta schimbarea totala a vietii de ziarist, de la entuziasmul, improvizatia, invatatul din mers al meseriei la inceputul deceniului ultim al mileniului 2, la profesionalismul, accesul imediat la informatie, dar si rutina combinata paradoxal cu instabilitatea locurilor de munca inscaunate pe la mijlocul primului deceniu al mileniului 3 cand se termina practic periplul de 15 ani al eroului real-inventat al cartii lui Tudor Calin Zarojanu.

 

source http://www.cristea-enache.ro/25-03-2012-literatura-de-azi-tvr-cultural-26-martie-20-00/

 

‘Mass Media Insider’ este marturia unui insider care nu isi asuma complet aceasta conditie. Motivele imi sunt incerte si efectul este amestecat. Cartea descrie cresterea profesionala unui personaj devenit in mod aproape accidental ziarist in perioada de inceput a tranzitiei, personaj fictiv dar cu o biografie identica cu cea a autorului (convenabil prezenta pentru cititor spre comparatie pe marginea interioara a primei coperte). Personajele cartii sunt toate personaje reale (nu sunt sigur dar am impresia ca nu exista niciun personaj total fictiv in carte), majoritatea poarta nume codificate in mod cat de poate de transparent, pastrand cu rigurozitate initialele numelor. Este cazul tutoror colegilor de breasla, dar si al unora dintre politicieni, in timp ce altii sunt descrisi sub numele lor reale. Codificate apar si numele publicatiilor si altor institutii de mass-media unde se perinda eroul ziarist dar si aici codificarea este transparenta: ‘Flacara’ devine ‘Lumina’, ‘Cotodianul’ devine ‘Zilnic’, etc. Deci, de ce? Sincer sa fiu nu stiu, poate ca Zarojanu a vrut sa evite discutarea cartii sale ca o marturie care in vreun fel ‘tradeaza’ breasla, poate ca i-a fost mai comoda pozitionarea in zona semi-fictiunii, unde abaterile mai mult sau mai putin minore de la exactitate sunt scuzabile, poate a dorit sa adauge inca o carte la lista sa de carti de fictiune, poate niciunul din aceste motive sau o combinatie a tuturor.

Dezvaluiri explozive nu face Zarojanu in aceasta carte. Sincer sa fiu ma asteptam la mai multe amanunte mai de esenta despre trusturile de presa, influenta magnatilor, conexiunile politice. Putine am gasit din acestea, si la tonul destul de general. De exemplu, o proaspata capitalista editoare de jurnal confruntata cu adversiunea birocratiei pe la inceputul deceniului 90 izbucneste:

‘Inainte stiai ca suni un secretar de Partid si si se rezolva!!

Ce nu se prinsese ea era ca si acum erau sunati secretarii de partid, numai ca la alte numere pe care nu le avea.’ (pag. 33)

Sau despre libertatea de exprimare cam in aceeasi perioada:

‘Abstractie facand de titluri si corecturi (inclusiv stilistice), sefii nu umblau pe text, nu existatu subiecte interzise, nici subiecte comandate. Un articol prost scris fie nu aparea, fie era dat la refacut, dar nimeni nu spunea: “Nu e bine sa scriem despre asta.” Iar continutul si structura fiecarui numar erau exclusiv la latitudinea redactiei. Da, domn’e, stiu, e SF. Uite cum zicem: am avut eu bafta asta sa lucrez in singurul loc din presa mioritica in care se intimpla asa. Acum e mai bine?’ (pag. 54)

Urmarim deci in paralel dezvoltarea presei romanesti ca si dezvoltarea profesionala a autorului-erou (camuflat si el in spatele unui foarte subtire si neverosibil pretext). Barack-Zarojanu lucreaza in cei cam 15 ani acoperiti de relatarile din carte in presa cotidiana, saptamanala si lunara, in agentii de presa si la radio – abordeaza meseria din toate unghiurile si la toate nivelele, de la intrus amator, la reporter, ziarist de opinie, redactor-sef, editorialist. In aceeasi perioada presa romaneasca traieste evolutia de la formele clasice ale secolului 20 la comunicarea internetica, telefoanele mobile si accesul imediat si nelimitat la informatia bruta, de la redactiile improvizate la sediile moderne. Ceea ce ramane constant si evident in tot parcursul lecturii este pasiunea autorului fata de meserie, solidaritatea si respectul fata de colegii de breasla (desi nu lipsesc complet impunsaturile si micile reglari de conturi cu persoane si personaje sumar ascunse de mastile transparente ale pseudonimelor).

 

source http://www.suplimentuldecultura.ro/index/continutArticolAllCat/7/7345

 

Marturisire personala – sunt un pasionat de presa. Plecat din Romania in 1984 am urmarit cu interes deosebit trezirea la viata a presei romanesti si apoi evolutia ei in anii de dupa 1989. Cartea lui Zavoranu avea toate premizele sa ma pasioneze, dar din acest punct de vedere reusita a fost doar partiala. Problema principala pentru mine a fost lipsa unor linii directoare si a unor delimitari mai ferme in descrierea structurilor mediei romanesti. Pana la un punct au fost interesante relatarile din redactii, am savurat si eu descifrarile de portrete si descrierile peregrinarilor prin redactii, a vanzolelilor, intrigilor, rasturnarilor de situatii. De la un moment in colo au inceput sa se repete, si aici apare problematica raportului fictiune-realitate din carte. Daca personajele, ziarele si revistele ar fi fost identificate sub numele lor real, repetarile acumulate ar fi parut firesti – realitatea nu este obligata sa creeze o balanta estetica. Ficiunea insa da, si ca opera de fictiune ‘Mass Media Insider’ este repetitiva, si pe la al optulea din cele 13 capitole am inceput sa ma cam plictisesc.

Cele mai bune pagini ale cartii mi s-au parut unele dintre cele nelegate direct de subiectul principal. Primul capitol, pre-‘revolutionar’ are savoarea unor episoade din ‘Amintirile din Epoca de Aur’ ale lui Mungiu. Capitolul despre ‘Colegii mei, academicienii’ ar merita sa devina o carte de sine statatoare. Stilul neformal in care este scrisa cartea invita cititorii sa nu o ia prea in serios, dar am impresia ca atunci cand va fi scrisa istoria presei si comunicarii mass media din Romania de dupa 1989 cartea lui Zavoranu nu va lipsi din bibliografii.

Posted in books | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

after the class wars (Film: Les neiges du Kilimandjaro – Robert Guédiguian, 2011)

The 20th century is over and the class wars also seem to be over, or at lease gone through a gradual but radical transformation. Communism may be dead in its Soviet variance, but the unions fights seem to have brought some results in Southern France where the action of ‘Les neiges de Kilimandjaro’ takes place in what concerns salaries, work conditions, pensions, retirement benefits. Even licensing is now done in agreement between employers and unions, sometimes by means of raffles. Michel, the hero of the film is a union leader, close but still before retirement age who is fired as the result of such a raffle. Yet the social safety net should avoid him a financial crash, and the family net extends the moral support. Michel, his family, his friends look more like an established bourgeois clan than like typical harbor proletarians. The family and friends even gather enough money to send the couple to a safari trip in Africa. All this until a violent robbery deprives them not only of the present, but also breaks into pieces the balance of their apparently accomplished lives, making them to face the realities of a world that does not always know, understand or care about the path and fights they went through in order to achieve the relative balance and happiness ati the older age.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1852006/

 

The story line told in a very classical linear manner focuses on the price people need to play to justify their happiness. It is not only about having worked and fought to achieve something, but also caring about the realities around. When the intrusion of violence risks to break the dream of their quite bourgeois retirement the response of the couple could also have been violence and rejection of the ignorance of the younger generations. The path taken by the script is however different, Michel and his wife Marie Claire will find in the goodness of their own selves the power to regain the true balance. The story does not avoid the risks of the melodrama, and the fact that it succeeds not to fall into cheapness is especially the result of good acting and low key directing.

 

(video source FilmsActu)

 

Director Robert Guediguian works with the same team of actors for quite a while, and this is felt in the natural way the actors move, act, interact. Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Ariane Ascaride are both wonderful, they carry the whole film on their shoulders and make real to the viewers two characters who in many other movies could have looked as too good to be real. Even the ideological lines drawn from texts by Victor Hugo or Jean Jaures are are well controlled and do not appear as too thick and obvious. Thanks to the directing style and fine acting ‘Les neiges du Kilimandjaro’ has a human touch and is a better film than it could have been.

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy Birthday, Catcher in the Sand!

It’s Christmas Day, and Christmas is the birthday anniversary of The Catcher in the Sand! I started this blog three years ago with the goal of recording on it my impressions about things I like to do, feel, experience: travel, read books, watch movies and theater, listen to music, visit exhibitions, remember things in the history. All this blog is about sharing such experiences with my family, with my friends, with people who share similar passions and interests as me. I am not a professional in any of these fields, do not pretend to be one, and do not aim to play one on the TV (last joke borrowed from my IETF colleague and friend Ron). I just enjoy writing about these things and I hope that some people enjoy reading them. I consider blogging a wonderful form (made possible by the Internet) of recording impressions, memories and thoughts about what we experience and to share these with the ones who have similar interests.

 

http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/happy-3rd-birthday-brs.12410/

 

The last year was a busy professional and personal year. I wrote a little less in the blog, and also started to use my Facebook Timeline to record and share some of the my discoveries. Yet, I think that The Catcher recorded this year as well as in the previous ones my principal experiences about the places I traveled to, books, films, music I enjoyed. I also hosted with pleasure a few friends withe shared interest, I thank them again for being so kind to allow me to present their contributions to the readers of the blog, and I will continue to do it in the future. I will also continue to avoid dealing here with professional subjects or with politics. It’s not because I am not interested in those, but because I approach them in other spaces.

 

(video source Rafael Petrosyan)

 

Here is a present for all readers on the blog – a discovery I made today, watching a recorded show from ARTE TV. The show featured actually a different personality, the German jazz musician Roger Cicero, who told the story of his father, Eugen Cicero (Ciceu), born in Romania in 1940, who was an exquisite classical and jazz pianist. I knew nothing about the two, and I looked for some of their music on the Internet. I discovered that Eugen Cicero was a remarkable jazz pianist  and luckily a full set given by him live at the subway station in Koln, in the year of his early death in 1997, was filmed and is available on youTube. I wish the next and coming years will be full of such wonderful discoveries which I hope to share with the readers of the blog.

Happy Birthday, Catcher in the Sand!

Posted in blog | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Amir Katz and four Appassionatas

The concert last night at Mercaz Einav in Tel Aviv featured the Israeli pianist Amir Katz in the first out of two programs of Beethoven Sonatas (the second will take place in May 2013). The last and by far most famous piece in the program was Apassionata. Unfortunately I could not find Katz’s interpretation on the net, so I decided to write something about him, and then present four interpretations composing two full versions of the well know piece of glory in the world piano repertory.

 

source http://www.amirkatz.de/english/photos.php?lang=en&cat=photos

 

Amir Katz was born in Haifa in 1973 and grew as a nurtured talent which turned into a fine pianist which seems to enjoy playing mostly the Romantic piano repertory – Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin – and lately Beethoven whose sonatas are the core of his performances programs this season. He has a beautiful presence, is very accurate and technical, what maybe surprised me was the apparent too strong reliance on technique and less on emotion, untypical for a Romantic piano specialist. The first two sonatas in the program sounded … well … very un-Beethoven, and even the Liszt piece at the ‘encore’ was very un-Liszt. Not bad, strong, well played, but lacking passion. It was only the Apassionata that seemed to unchain his emotional energy as well, and his version of the difficult, stormy, tumultuous piece was very good.

 

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

(video source Amir Katz)

 

What I did find on Amir’s channel on youTube is another piece by Liszt ‘Paganini’s Etude nr. 2 in E flat major’- great interpretation, if that one was in the program last night together with Appassionata.

 

(video source theoshow2)

 

There is no need to write many words about Piano Sonata no. 23 by Beethoven. It was composed between 1804 and 1806, and named Appassionata after his death. It is one of the most vigorous and temperamental pieces of piano in the Romantic and world music, it demands virtuosity and deep resonance to render its whole beauty and complexity and it deserves its name.

Sviatoslaw Richter’s recording of the first movement is presented above.

 

(video source ValentinaLisitsa)

 

Valentina Lisitsa plays the second movement in the recording above.

 

(video source conception3)


Above, Claudio Arau plays the final part.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBVVIRHmUi4

(video source ArioniaTellus)

 

Here is the full piece in the version of Daniel Barenboim

Posted in music | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Messengers of Death (Film: The Messenger – Oren Moverman, 2009)

This may be the toughest non-combat task in any army – announcing families that their dearest ones, son or daughter, husband or wife fell on the line of duty in war. It needs to be done fast, as relatives should learn about the tragedy before the news show in the media, it needs to be done with dignity and sensitivity for the grief of the family, and rules, of course, rules need to be respected. However what rules are worth in such personal and painful moments? And how can the messengers, even if or especially because they are themselves people who have seen combat and faced death, their own and the one of their comrades, cope with this task? These are the key questions asked by The Messenger, a film with excellent premises which has as heroes a team of two of the uniformed soldiers the US army deploys home to pass to families the messages of death.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790712/

 

It’s quite interesting that this American film about the consequences of the American wars for the people who fight and for the families left home was written by an Israeli and an Italian (Alessandro Camon) and directed by the Israeli – Oren Moverman. Or maybe it is not, at least on what Moverman is concerned. This story could have happened in Israel as well, where quite a number of families have to deal with the loss of their closer family or friends in wars or terror attacks, and where Memorial Day is one very special moment, felt and lived together by the whole nation. Quite amazingly the Israeli cinema has dealt very little until now with this subject, and Moverman, who lives in the US made the film there. The result is The Messenger – a very American and a very universal film at once, one of the most interesting made until now about and against the war in Iraq.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tTIQ8pkGf0

(video source VISO trailers)

 

At no moment I had the feeling that this is the first long feature film directed by Moverman. As director he masters well the camera moves, alternating traditional and fluent scenes with hand-held camera giving the feeling of reality and passing to viewers the intense dramatic effects when the announcements are being made to the families. The team of actors does a fine job as well, with Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson up to the task of playing the two soldiers with their lives transformed forever by the war even if they survive it, and with Samantha Morton whose work I love every time I see her giving a strong and perfectly restrained performance as the fresh widow who tries to keep hope and make the life go on despite the terrible loss. The big problem of the film is that despite the excellent premises the story does not have enough dramatic tension, so the excellent first half creates expectations that are not well fulfilled in the second half. The story of the fight near the lake, or the incident at the wedding do not fit well and do not add too much to the evolution of the characters. Moreover, the discussions between the two members of the team become suddenly too verbose for people who up to then seemed to be much more used to action than words, and who looked like understanding situations and communicating just by gestures or expression of eyes. The feeling I was left at the end was that The Messenger has a story of big potential, but not fully realized.

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment