‘The Labor of Life’ by Hanoch Levin at the Beit Lessin Theater

The Web site in Hebrew of the Beit Lessin Theatre has under the name of the theater an addition which translates like ‘the most Israeli possible’. This is probably kind of a slogan meant to attract audiences and it certainly does, as Beit Lessin is nowadays one of the most popular mainstream institutions of its kind in Israel. It is not necessarily a good thing in my eyes. Israeli when connected to theater unfortunately means for me a very strong tendency to compromise when it comes to the artistic level of the staging, an acting style which in most cases resembles vaudeville or TV satire whatever the genre or the subject, and especially a way to bring reality to stage which targets mostly cheap entertainment and avoids asking questions or raising too touch or in a too tough manner the social or political questions of the day. A very bourgeois approach.

 

source http://www.netoartnet.co.il/Magazine.asp?Article_Id=1075

 

Things are different when it comes to Hanoch Levin – a playwright, director and writer that I just start to discover. Levin seems to have been for the first part of his career the emblematic opposition figure, questioning all the slogans and slaughtering all the holly cows of Israeli nationalism and religion. He later focused on the more human dimension of the Israeli social fabric, the life of the small people, their weaknesses and personal conflicts. His writing is a combination of human drama, sarcasm and comical relief, his heroes live in a double cage, with dreams broken and movements constrained by the chains of the social conventions and the limitations of their own characters. The language is something in between Chekhov and Ionesco, expressed in a beautiful Hebrew, specific to Levin, articulated and somehow outdated.

 

(video source תיאטרון בית ליסין )

 

It is actually the second time we see Melakhat Hahaim (The Labor of Life). The first time it happened maybe 25 years ago, by the time we were new in the country and we were going to our first theater outings here. I do not remember how we chose Beit Lessin but this was the first theater we subscribed to, maybe because it was the most Israeli 🙂 This play may have been the first Israeli play we have ever seen, we remember very little of that version that is now considered a ‘classic’, it was acted by Yossi Banai and Tiki Dayan, and we must have laughed at the comedy moments, but I doubt we understood then all the details of the text. I now enjoyed it differently, as I could appreciate the sharp but yet compassionate look the author took at the life of couples, at the dichotomy between the fear of loneliness and the compromise of mediocrity, at the acceptance of the unavoidable physical decay, and at the fact that not all dreams can be achieved, eventually most prove to be broken. Levin’s text and the acting of Sasson Gabai made the performance more than acceptable despite the mediocrity of the rest including staging (Roni Pinkovitch) and sets. Hanoch Levin deserves more than what the most Israeli theater can offer today.

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Evan Christopher in Tel Aviv

Evan Christopher was back last week in Tel Aviv, three years after his tour here, and it was a great opportunity to see and listen to him again in the 3rd concert of the Hot Jazz season at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

 

source http://www.facebook.com/pages/%D7%92%D7%90%D7%96-%D7%97%D7%9D/173951125964161?ref=ts&fref=ts

 

California-born Christopher set base in New Orleans, which is one of the principal sources of inspiration for his style and repertory. The second one is the French manouche style which he became familiar with during his residency in France, after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

 

(video source klikonojazz)

 

The evening was dedicated to the New Orleans music and to saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet. Born in New Orleans in a Creole family Bechet’s carrier had up to a point similarities to Christopher. He also had the occasion to know European music and especially French jazz, the first time in the 1920s as a member of the Revue Nègre band, that included Josephine Baker, and later in the 1950s, when he settled in France, where he died in 1959. He knew Django Reinhardt and the hot jazz guitar (manouche) style. Here is one of the pieces from Bechet’s repertory played last Friday by Christopher, Petite Fleur, as recorded by Bechet in concert at Olympia in 1954.

 

(video source Desdemona2002)

 

The only clip I could find on youTube with the image of Sidney Bechet playing live was a version of St. Louis Blues.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfP3ARGridA

(video source Gypsy Jazz School)

 

One of the interesting aspects of the Hot Jazz series is the meeting of the foreign guests with the local musicians. it’s always interesting to see the dialog between cultures and styles taking place in the language of jazz. Christopher’s partners last Friday were the Israeli group Swing de Gitanes composed of Yaakov Hoter and Alon Sagi on guitar and the excellent contra-bass player Oren Sagi. The three young musicians make gypsy jazz, here they are playing Tchavolo Swing.

 

(video source Dave Kelbie)

 

Much of the music that Christopher does today is also manouche. Here is one of the best examples I could find on the Internet, with one of the bands with one of the groups he created in France Django a la Creole (the name says it all about the fusion of New Orleans and French jazz traditions) doing the Farewell Blues. Do I hear echoes from Hora Staccato in the introduction?

 

(video source MarioMaccaferriRules)

 

Last, you can listen to another played by Evan Christopher on Friday in the concert in Tel Aviv – Songe d’automne – here is the version played together with The Rosenberg Trio.

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Onoarea sergentului Ion (Film: Medalia de onoare – Peter Călin Netzer, 2009)

Daca filmul acesta ar fi fost facut acum vrei zece ani ar fi fost considerat un eveniment cinematografic. In 2000 sau 2002, inainte de ‘Moartea Domnului Lazarescu’ si de ‘4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile’ un film care sa abordeze cu atata sinceritate, seriozitate si sensibilitate perioada tranzitiei anilor 90 ar fi fost o reusita suprema. Faptul ca in 2013 pot scrie oarecum critic despre acest film realizat in 2009 arata cat de mult a progresat filmul romanesc in acest ultim deceniu.

 

source http://www.cinemagia.ro/filme/medalia-de-onoare-20803/

 

Medalia de onoare este un film bun din multe puncte de vedere. Este bazat pe un scenariu bine scris, aduce pe ecran personaje si conflicte credibile, si spune multe adevaruri despre Romania anilor 90 si modul in care o parte din societatea romaneasca a trecut perioada tranzitiei. Problema filmului este ca multe dintre elementele sale pozitive repeta, aproape ca citeaza alte filme. Victor Rebengiuc si Mircea Andreescu joaca excelent, dar rolurile lor par variatii ale celor jucate deja in filme anterioare. Scena finala a mesei de reuniune pare o parafraza la una dintre cele mai bune scene ale lui ‘4,3,2’. Comentariile sociale despre situatia pensionarilor sau despre viata la bloc au fost si ele prezentate in multe dintre filmele precedente. Stiu ca aceasta este viata multora dintre romanii de atunci si de astazi, dar veridicitatea nu se transforma automat in calitate artistica, mai ales daca este repetitiva.

 

source http://cinesseur.blogspot.co.il/2010/11/medalia-de-onoare-revelatie-la.html

 

Ideea pe care se bazeaza scenariul este insa originala si interesanta. Ion I. Ion (nume caragialesc de banal care sugereaza prototipul) este pensionar si pe langa problemele materiale ale tranzitiei mai traieste si o cumplita ruptura in familie de care este doar el de vina. In anul premergator caderii comunismului isi ‘turnase’ propriul baiat care planuia sa ‘fuga’ in occident. Din acest motiv este ostracizat de familie, sotia si fiul intre timp stabilit in Canada nici nu-i mai adreseaza cuvantul. (cum de mai intretin vreo relatie cu el este un mister!). Cand o scrisoare de la Ministerul Apararii il anunta ca a primit o medalie pentru fapte de eroism comise in razboi cu 50 de ani in urma, se iveste ocazia sa se reabiliteze in ochii familiei, in ochii vecinilor si mai ales in proprii sai ochi.

 

source http://cinesseur.blogspot.co.il/2010/11/medalia-de-onoare-revelatie-la.html

 

Aici trebuie sa remarc doua calitati deosebite ale abordarii regizorale a lui Petre Calin Netzer. In primul rand faptul ca spectatorii sunt lasati sa descopere singuri si treptat relatiile dintre personaje, cauzele aitudinilor acestora, si povestea de fond care declaseaza intreaga situatie. La fel, cu rabdare, cu discretie si cu sensibilitate este descrisa evolutia relatiillor dintre eroul filmului si lumea din jur, sansa de reabilitare pe care o joaca, recastigarea treptata a increderii de sine si respectului celor din jur, cu toate ca nici eroul si nici spectatorii nu pot fi siguri pana in final daca este vorba despre o reconciliere reala sau inca un sir de iluzii si un ultim compromis. Distribuirea fostului presedinte Ion Iliescu in ceea ce se cheama un rol cameo este o gaselinita simpatica, nu stiu daca trebuie neaparat sa ii cautam vreun subtext.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8X9Y_TB40o

(video source MrCrynickYT)

 

Interpretarea actoriceasca merita cateva randuri. Victor Rebengiuc domina intreg filmul intr-un rol care aduna in el toata povara epocii in care traiesc si a celei din care au iesit personajele, cu problemele materiale, cu traumele fricii si ale compromisurilor de ieri si ale necunoscutului si incertitudinilor de maine, cu lumea care se schimba in jur si care nu mai intelege vechile conventii si relatii si mai ales care a pierdut orice respect fata de ceea ce era inainte respectabil. Camelia Zorlescu, o actrita pe care eu nu o cunosc aproape de loc ii da replica pe masura lui Rebengiuc, si dovedeste nu numai ca seamana fizic izbitor cu Helen Mirren, dar are si calitati artistice comparabile cu celebra ei sosie. Radu Beligan, Ion Lucian, Mircea Andreescu – joaca minunate roluri episodice si este poate pentru ultima data cand aceste mari stele ale ecranului romanesc s-au aflat impreuna pe genericul acestui film. Dar – si aici este un dar – interpretarile lor sunt pe de o parte magistrale, pe de alta parte tributare stilului vechi de film romanesc, si asta intr-un film care stilistic aspira sa apartina noii scoli laureate cu succes si recunoastere internationala. Putem privi asta ca o nepotrivire de stil, putem privi insa si ca o predare de stafeta, un adio si o reverenta reciproca intre generatia maestrilor actori si cea a mai tinerilor creatori ai noului cinema romanesc.

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dreams of cinema (Film: Hugo – Martin Scorsese, 2011)

For me the rebirth of cinema in 3D, the moment when the technology met with art is not ‘Avatar‘ but Scorsese‘s ‘Hugo’. James Cameron‘s film validated the technology, brought it into the mainstream, and – of course – made a lot of money in the process. Hugo is in my opinion the first great film realized in this technology, taking a rather melodramatic story targeting the all family audiences and using 3D to amplify the visual effects, to create a world of dreams and fantasy – the material great films are made from. Based on the Paris of the 1920th it recreates the city on screen in a manner that is spectacular and sensitive at the same time, and populates it with characters who meld the qualities of fiction heroes and flesh and blood humans.  The complexity of the staging, the attention to the details, the pace of the action and of the moves of the camera, the world of objects who surround the heroes – all this get together in a charming visual experience. We have known many versions of Paris in art, some from books like (Victor) Hugo, some from photos like the ones of Brassai or Robert Doisneau, some from works of art like the paintings of the Impressionist era, now we have the Paris as imagined by Martin Scorsese.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970179/

 

Bringing George Melies into the story is a real touch of genius.This film is a love declaration for cinema, full of respect and quotes from famous movies. The comparison with the other big film about cinema in 2011 The Artist is immediate and makes us forget immediately the simplistic kiddish story. But the story itself has a quality that makes jealous the current Disney productions. This is real Disney stuff, the one that would not make Master Walt blush as would the majority if not all the scripts of the films made by the studios who inherited his name. This is the Disney of Fantasia, the one that made me dream and cross the barriers of imagination.

George Melies actually did break with the studios and retired from film making before the war, and many of his films were destroyed to be used to manufacture military materials. He had a shop in the Montparnasse train station, and even if a round-eyed boy who was making the clocks turn in the station did not really exist – the imagined part of the story is as good and as moving as the real one.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR-kP-olcpM

(video source VISO Trailers)

 

A film like Hugo does not necessarily excel in acting, although big names show up in the cast and do more than a decent job. Ben Kingsley adds George Melies to the gallery of the great personalities he brought to life in his screen career, and Sacha Baron Cohen proves that he can be funny also out of his usual stand-up comedy style. It is however the complex and beautiful world in which the characters move will be the one that we shall remember from this film.

 

 

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‘Luisa Miller’ at the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv

2013 marks two centuries since the birth of Giuseppe Verdi and the opera lovers all over the world will see a lot of staging of his operas in the current season. The New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv is no exception with three new stagings scheduled until the end of the season. The first one is the lesser known Luisa Miller.

 

source http://www.israel-opera.co.il/eng/

 

Luisa Miller is based a romantic drama by Friedrich Schiller, although the German background of the story stops more or less here and in some of the names of the characters. It’s a story of love and passion, of treason and social passion, with an ending that reminds Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The difficulty of some of the parts in the musical score may be one of the reasons this opera is less popular, because otherwise it has all the dramatic qualities as well as a number of very beautiful musical sections that allows it to be compared and comparable with the best known works of the composer.

 

source http://www.israel-opera.co.il/Eng/ViewImage.asp?Image=http://www.israel-opera.co.il/_uploads/imagesgallery/luisab%281%29.jpg

 

The staging at the Tel Aviv Opera is a revival of a classical staging by director Gotz Friedrich (1030-2000) and uses sets from the Berlin Deutsche Oper. I did not resonate to well with some of the directorial ideas, the combination between the chess table floor and the painted Alps landscape in the background did not make too much sense to me, neither the usage of commedia dell’arte clowns as filling actors. Fortunately it was the musical performance that was above average this time. The orchestra always sounds better when conducted by Daniel Oren, and so it did now. Luisa Miller was sang so well by American soprano Leah Crocetto that she made me forget regretting having missed the Romanian Aurelia Florian, and Ionut Pascu was superb (vocally and as stage presence) as her father.

 

(video source greatartists)

 

Researching a little for famous recordings available on the Internet allowed me an interesting comparison between two ot the greatest tenors ever. First is a version (sung in concert, only with piano) of one of the most beautiful areas by Pavarotti.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-eSr81Qckw

(video source Gobrias)

 

Now you can compare Pavarotti’s version with Domingo’s. Here is the first act of the opera as staged in London in 1979 with Katia Ricciarelli and Placido Domingo.

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recent history a la Hollywood (Film: Argo – Ben Affleck, 2012)

Americans like redoing wars in movies – and they do not avoid the lost wars. The hostage crisis in 1979 which cost president Carter a second presidential mandate was not exactly a war, but a conflict generated by the departing paths of the Iran in revolution after the overthrow of the Shah and on its way to become an Islamic Republic and the United States government which supported for many decades the old regime. One rescue mission went terribly wrong, but this is not the one shown in Argo but the lesser known and successful one in which six employees who escaped the embassy when events started and were hidden in the house of the Canadian ambassador were taken out of Iran, under the false identities of Canadians working for a Hollywood movie. As with the Rambo series for example, the story is first of all a pretext for action entertainment, and a way of making audiences feel better about a problematic episode in the American history. Same as with Rambo, success with audiences and in this case also with critics (which I am a little surprised) was achieved, but this does not make in my opinion for good cinema, and of course does not really change history.

 

source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024648/

 

Does it matter that the film is inspired by a true story? That’s an interesting question, and I would say that the answer is to a large extent No. It is not really the factual truth that matters when you watch a fiction movie, but the artistic news. Reality sometimes exceeds imagination, but art is first of all about imagination, and not necessarily about the imagination of the makers but of the one of the receivers, the viewers in the case of movies. The analysis on the Internet show discrepancies between the real events and the story on screen – this is not what bothers me but the result. The final chase for example between the Iranian police cars and the commercial airplane taking off would fit fine a James Bond or Mission: Impossible film, but not one labeled a true story. There was enough material in the story for a much deeper psychological processing, both of the CIA and other people involved in the plot, and of the American confined in the Canadian ambassador’s house and waiting for the rescue. Ben Affleck and the other authors of the film went for the broader audiences using the action film tools and inflating the role of the Hollywood producers and of the Americans in general in the whole story. It was a fair and legitimate choice which probably improved the rating, but did not in my opinion make the film better.

 

(video source WarnerBros. Pictures)

 

I do not like Ben Affleck as an actor. He inspires me dullness in most of the roles he takes, simply made me lose interest in more than a few characters I saw him acting. This is the case here as well. I am not inspired by his Tony Mendez, I cannot distinguish his hero from many other similar action movies heroes, I never got his motivation for making the tough decision of going rogue in order to save lives and accomplish his mission, his divorcee and remote father background is as banal as it can be in the script and Ben Affleck the actor does not pour any life in it. Actually as a director and script author he may be more interesting, his director hand is sure and witty, and as an action movie director he is above average. His image of the 70s is precisely executed, with the help of costumes and sets artists and despite use of stereotypes (like excessive smoking). As with many other of his films Argo promises more than it delivers.

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‘Local Testimony 12’ – Israeli and World Press Photo Exhibition at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv

The annual exhibition of the best professional photo-journalism pictures of the year, as selected by the World Press jury combined with the selection of the best Israeli press photographs is open as each of the last few years at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. I visited it today, it is open for another couple of weeks and I recommend to all folks interested in art, in reality and in the combination of the two not to miss it.

 

 

The World Press Photo competition for 2012 dealt in two rounds of jury selection with photographs reflecting a large number of events that took place in the previous year (2011). It was the year of the Arab Spring, of the social protests all over the world, of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, of the continuous confrontation of man with nature and of nature with man.

 

source http://www.photolight.co.il/photonews/worldpressphoto_edut.html

 

Photo of the year was Samuel Aranda’s picture of a mother holding in her arms her son wounded in the protests in Yemen. With it’s Pieta quality this photo may remain one of the iconic images of what is called the Arab Spring, beyond the political approach or opinions one may have about the events.

 

 

The photographs in the exhibition belong to professional photographers, people who travel all over, putting their talents to the service of audiences interested in reality but also in sensation, in truth and also in esthetics. Taking some of the these pictures meant also personal risks and a few photo-journalists lost their lives in this eventful year. The questions of the relation between journalism and art, between the documentary value and the beauty of the photographs as art object are still open, such events will not provide necessary responses but material for thought.

Here are a few more pictures from the exhibition.

 

source http://www.photolight.co.il/photonews/worldpressphoto_edut.html

 

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan and their aftermath occasioned many spectacular pictures, among which the striking work of Paolo Pellegrin.

 

source http://www.photolight.co.il/photonews/worldpressphoto_edut.html

 

Brent Stirton’s photo of armed guards keeping 24 hours shifts around one of the six animals left of their kind surviving in the world tell a lot about

More information about Word Press 12 and more works can be seen at http://www.worldpressphoto.org/gallery/2012-world-press-photo.

 

source http://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/e/275/

 

What did the Israeli photographers catch on their camera during this year? Some of the answers in the Local Testimony section which this year equals in dimensions the international one.

They have photographed the social protest – in this case it’s an episode from one of the demonstrations of the members of the Ethiopian community against discrimination as caught on Uri Sadeh’s camera.

 

source http://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/e/275/

 

Many photographs and even photography exhibitions (I visited one at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem a few weeks ago) dealt with the ultra-religious community which is ‘re-discovered’ by Israeli secular audiences. This picture with a a classical touch is taken at a wedding by Abir Sultan.

 

source http://www.eretzmuseum.org.il/e/

 

Nature confronting urban reality is the subject of this photo taken in an Israeli city after a strong storm at the end of February last year.

 

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

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.

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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.

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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.

 

 

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