Jazz Documentary – ‘David Murray: I’m a Jazzman’

Posted on June 24, 2010 by admin

The European culture channel ARTE has recently dedicated a number of segments to the American saxophonist David Murray, one of the most interesting and spectacular artists of this instrument today. The cycle started with the documentary David Murray: I’m a jazzman written by Jacques Denis and Jacques Goldstein, and directed by Goldstein. It continued with two concerts of Murray recorded in the recent years – the first with Cassandra Wilson and  the Black Saint Quartet at the Jazz a Vienne Festival and the second with the Gwo-Ka Masters group of percussionists from Guadeloupe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vrk-Y5wQao

(video source zhanges5)

Goldstein’s film is based on an extended interview-confession with the artist. It is of course by listening to the music that we do understand best a musician. Yet I wish we can hear more such testimonies from artists speaking about their lives, their influences, and the way they relate to their art. Listening to Murray we have the opportunity to know the man and the biography and understand better where his music is coming from. We meet a man who is sincere and true in what he does, who explores not only musical territories but also his own self. We meet an artist who tries to make music that is representative to his times and reflects the influences of the world around as well as his personal background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS2-tsmw0_c

(video source shankiniteasy)

Born in Auckland California, Murray was influenced by a combination of tradition and social revolution. He attended church, and a precious film fragment from his personal archives shows him accompanying a group of women singing gospels in church, but at the same time his father was close to the Black Panthers movement and their protest ideas. When he took the trip in New York, mandatory to almost any American jazz artist, it was at the time of the pick of the Loft Jazz trend, and his principal influences became Archie Shepp and Albert Ayler. He borrowed the style of the later, and the long circular breathing phrases became a print of his own personal style. After more than two decades of activity in New York, Murray took a trip to Europe about which he speaks largely in the film. It is here that he has the time to reflect on his own origins and discovers the need to go back to the roots of the African music. The story of his meeting with the work and biography of the Russian poet Pushkin who also had African ascendancy in his blood is interesting by itself, as is the music he composed on this occasion.

Best words about David Murray in this documentary are being said by jazz journalist Stanley Crouch. He describes Murray as one of these artists who are capable to combine in their music the flame of passion of the primitives with the relaxation of the sophisticated instrumentalists who master their means. The documentary is an open invitation to cross the gate of knowing better the man and his art.

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Film: ‘The Ghost Writer’ (Roman Polanski – 2010)

Posted on June 23, 2010 by admin

Ghost writers, like the hero of the Polanski‘s film wonderfully acted by Ewan McGregor are people with no past, no family, no ambitions, and no identity – sometimes they even do not have a name, or if they have one nobody knows it. They often write the books signed by the important men and women of this world, they give shape to their ideas and memories, and sometimes they learn more about the powerful of the world then they should. This is when they can get into trouble or even in mortal danger. It’s easy, as they have no past, no family, no ambitions, no identity, and sometimes no name.

source - www.imdb.com

With these premises The Ghost Writer plays as a political thriller located in Hitchcock territory. Into some other director’s hands the story could have been easily over-politicized as the ex-British Prime Minister Lang (Pierce Brosnan) is a very transparent replica of Tony Blair, with a pitch of romance maybe as wife Ruth Lang is acted with such sensitivity and mystery by Olivia Williams that she could become the turning point of the drama. Polanski does however something more here beyond creating the most hitchcockian atmosphere in a movie since Hitchcock passed away – he inserts in the film his personal dramas and fears. The ex-Prime Minister is not only a vilified politician in danger to be indicted by the Hague Tribunal, he is also an exile who cannot return to his own country as Polanski is for many years (and no judgment is being made or excuse presented about him being guilty or not). The fascination of Polanski with water is also present, and we can follow and remember the evolution of the theme in the director’s imaginary, from the sunny reflections in Knife in the Water through the grotesque tones in Cul de Sac or Pirates until the dark tones here – water is always a threat, a menacing presence. The scenes on winterly Martha’s Vineyard island are nothing less than memorable, you can feel the wind and the loneliness crossing the screen.

(video source hollywoodstreams)

Not everything is perfect, and one can dispute whether the resolution of the plot is a little bit too smart, or whether the final scene is a little too cinematographically beautiful to be true. Maybe so – yet this is one of the best political thrillers I have seen, just because it never puts too much pressure neither on the political, not on the thriller aspects, but on human feelings and on the fragility of the character of the Ghost. Well acted and beautifully filmed, it shows the hand of a director at the pick of his creative maturity. Putting aside the controversy related to his personal life and situation, as a film fan I really hope that this is not his last movie.

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The Ages of the Rothschild Boulevard

Posted on June 22, 2010 by admin

It is not every day that you get on a tour and the name of the tour guide is Karl. And certainly it is not every time that you hear that the name of Karl was given in sign of respect to no other but the Playboy King Charles (Carol) the 2nd of Romania. Well, king Carol was not exactly the savior of Jews that guide Karl thinks he was (the good deeds he was told about happened during the reign of his son Mihai and belonged actually to Queen Mother Elena, Carol’s divorcee) but it was a good story to start with the tour of the Tel Aviv’s historical central street, the Rothschild Boulevard. Many other stories followed, stories about the buildings, but especially about the people, the very special people who built and lived in this city.

start of the Rothschild Boulevard

The tour (paid for by my employer as art of the Cultural activities of the company) started at the West end extremity of the Rothschild boulevard, at the intersection with the Hertzl street, the very place at the crossroads where Tel Aviv started 101 years ago. It was actually The Crossroad, as the whole city of 294 inhabitants had only these two streets in the first years of its existence. There is little left today but memory of the beginnings, and a kiosk, the first of the series of many that are seeded on the green space that separates the two traffic lanes of the boulevard, and give a special look and style to the boulevard. Those were however built many decades after the city was founded. The French Institute is located today at the same intersection.

the Vogel House

Three ages of building, three different styles marked the first 30 years of the history of the city and of the Rothschild Boulevard. First came the Russians, and their building style is a witness to the slow adaptation of the immigrants coming to Turkish Palestine during the first alyot (waves of immigration). See the house of the Vogel family, close to the end of the street. Balconies, cellars, thick walls made of thermo-isolating bricks, were adapted better to protect the interior from the frozen Russian winter then from the torrid Middle Eastern summer. While the lower level is somehow functional hosting a music club, the upper store and the whole building waits for a renovation to help it survive the years to come.

in front of the Dizengoff House

Our next stop was at the house built by the legendary mayor of the city – Meir Dizengoff. The house became the first art museum of the city while Dizengoff was still alive, and here were hosted the first acquisitions of the fine collection which is time was to become the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The building is however most famous for having hosted one of the crucial events of the modern history of Israel – the proclamation of the independence by David Ben Gurion on 15th of May 1948. It was a good opportunity for Karl to tell us a few more stories related to the historic event and more important or less important people who were involved in it.

the mayor Meir

Mayors nowadays ride Volvos, or maybe bicycles if they are of the modest kind. Meir Dizengoff used to ride a horse and a statue on the boulevard in front of his house remembers the times and the man.

the changing skyline

The landscape of the area is definitely changing at fast pace. While some of the older buildings enter renovation programs every space between the historical buildings and all the spaces behind them seem to have become construction sites. Skyscrapers are either ready, or in construction, or in planning. All big banks and insurance companies seem to build their headquarters here, if they are not already present on location. How much of the old city atmosphere will be preserved? Hard to say – what is sure is that in a few years this area will look completely different and what we saw during this June 2010 evening may be a snapshot of a fast changing reality.

the Shertok (Elyahu Golomb) House

The second style of building that left its print on the face of Tel Aviv and of its most significant street was the Polish style. It was during the 20th that the population of the city grew tenfold, while most of the immigrants came from Poland, rejected by the growing antisemitism and by the fiscal policies of the Polish government. Representative for the Polish style is the house known today as Beit Elyahu, hosting today the Haganah Museum with a special section dedicated to the founder of Haganah Elyahu Golomb. Actually the house belonged initially to the Shertok family, which later will give in Moshe Sharet the second Prime Minister of Israel. The two families were by the way related.

recovering the past

Many of the old buildings are in renovation, some other wait for the initiatives to recover and bring them back to the commercial and touristic circuit. One example of a project under way is the ‘eclectic’ building at the intersection of the boulevard with the Yavneh street, with its combination of Oriental arcades and Russian monastery dome.

the Levine House

The Levine House, also known by locals as the Russian Embassy is one example of such a project that was completed a few years ago. It really hosted the first embassy of the USSR in Israel at the start of the 50s, but later the house fell in neglect to be recuperated in the last decade and acquired and used until recently by Sotheby’s for auctions and exhibitions.

Bauhaus in Tel Aviv

Night had already fallen when we got to the area on the Rothschild boulevard which is dominated by the Bauhaus style of construction, the third classical style of the city and of the street, brought to Tel Aviv by the German Jews immigration wave of the 30s. Tel Aviv is one of the cities with the highest concentration of Bauhaus buildings worldwide and this area is the most representative. I respectfully disagree with the aesthetic opinion of Karl, our guide who considers the style as ‘ugly’ – I find it to be well fit to the dimensions and functionality of the Middle-Eastern cities, and something that is practical and functional cannot be too ugly.

the Pagoda-House

What Karl does like and I do not disagree with him here is the eclectic style, and the tour ended a little bit aside the Rothschild boulevard, in the King Albert Square, where at the intersection of the Nahmani and Montefiore streets we can admire the Pagoda House. A combination of the Western and Oriental styles, the Pagoda House belongs nowadays to a mysterious Swedish millionaire and cannot be visited. It was built by a French architect named Alexander Levy who perished in the Holocaust.

nightlife on the Rothschild Boulevard

The night had fallen on the city during our tour, and the area became more and more populated. It is today one of the principal areas of entertainment in Tel Aviv, the city which represents better than any other city the Israeli culture and spirit, the tolerance and liberalism that was aimed to by the founders of the nation. While driving home we reached the other end of the Rothschild Boulevard, the location where soon the Habima theater will reopen after years of renovation work. The street and the area look different than the small pioneering street where the city started 101 years ago, but it certainly continues to stay in the center of the development and life of the new metropolis.

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Jazz: The Rodriguez Brothers in Tel Aviv

Posted on June 20, 2010 by admin

The last concert of the current Hot Jazz season at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art auditorium was marketed as a Cuban jazz event which is misleading to say the least. This labeling was quite misleading, maybe intentionally trying to bring to this (optional) concert in the series an audience that is not usually part of the regular audiences, but taking into account the number of empty seats Friday night I am wondering if the tactics really worked. Maybe it would have been better to present the Rodriguez brothers as what they really are, a pair of young and solid jazz instrumentalists, with passion and talent. Yes, they happen to be of Cuban origin on the side of their father who was born in Guantanamo, Cuba of all places, but their mother is from Ecuador, and they refer to themselves jokingly as ‘Cubadorians’, but they are both born, raised, and educated in the USA, and the Cuban flavor is only one and not necessarily the most important influence on the sound of their music.

source: www.allaboutjazz.com

If there was an obvious Latin component in the sound of the Friday night concert it came from percussionist Gilad Dobretzky, whose variations and improvisations alone or in dialog with drummer Shai Zelman were all full of color and joy. Otherwise about half of the program included original compositions of the two brothers, very much under the shade and influence of great American song writers and musicians like Thelonious Monk or Dizzy Gillespie, to whom the other songs in the programs belonged. Just one song was a popular melody of Cuban origin. Overall it was not a bad evening, Mike Rodriguez is a good trumpet player, his brother Robert is an even better piano player, and we enjoyed a good jazz performance, maybe lacking sparks and passion, but this was certainly not one of the weakest in an uneven season at ‘Hot Jazz’. By the way the program of the next season seems very diverse  and promising, and I have already renewed our subscription taking the maximal option of eight concerts.

More about the Rodriguez brothers, biographies, and music can be found on their Web site – http://www.rodriguezmusic.com/RODBROS.html

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Carte: Radu Ioanid – Rascumpararea evreilor (Ransom of the Jews)

Posted on June 19, 2010 by admin

A vizitat Israelul in aceasta saptamana Radu Ioanid – directorul arhivelor Muzeului Holocaustului din Washington, DC (titlul in engleza este Director International Archival Program Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies) si autorul cartii ‘Rascumpararea evreilor’ (The Ransom of the Jews). Din pacate intalnirea de la ICR – Tel Aviv a avut loc in timpul saptamanii mele de lucru si nu am putut ajuge la ea. Dat fiind ca vizita lui Ioanid este mentionata pe liste de discutii internetice, reiau aici notele mele de lectura dupa citirea cartii in 2006.

Multumiri Sabinei Felix, pentru recuperarea textului din arhivele Prieteniei.

source www.goddreads.com

Am vizitat Muzeul Holocaustului din Washington, DC acum exact un an,
in zilelel cand muzeul implinea zece ani de la deschidere. Vizitele in
aceste lacasuri ale memoriei teribilului sunt intotdeauna extrem de
greu de trait emotional pentru mine, ca si pentru multi dintre cei
care apartin primei generatii de supravietuitori ai Holocaustului.
Muzeul din Washington mi s-a parut a avea o detasare, poate datorita
distantei si un monumentalism, poate datorita locului (situat printre
Muzeele Smithsonian, si zona edificiilor strivitoare ale puterii
federale americane) care este strain altor locuri similare in Europa
si Israel. Si totusi poate tocmai detasarea si monumentalismul sunt un
ambalaj care da mai multa veridicitate si credibilitate istorica
ororilor care se pot povesti si documenta, dar nu se pot intelege.

Am mentionat acest fapt pentru ca Radu Ioanid, autorul cartii ‘The
Ransom of the Jews – The Story of the Extraordinary Secret Bargain
between Romania and Israel’ publicata in engleza de Ivan D. Ree este
directorul arhivelor acestui muzeu. Faptul este mentionat pe coperta,
si aceasta impreuna cu prefatarea si postfatarea cartii de catre Elie
Wiesel si Ion Pacepa, dau cartii o greutate dincolo de semnificatia
pur documentara.

‘The Ransom of the Jews’ se citeste extrem de usor, cred ca va fi greu
de lasat din mana chiar si de cei care nu sunt atat de apropriati de
evenimentele si perioada descrisa in carte. Subiectul principal –
acordurile incheiate inre Israel si Romania pentru a permite emigrarea
evreilor romani spre Israel – este incadrat si pus in perspectiva
istorica a politicii romanesti fata de evrei dinainte si din timpul
celui de-al doilea razboi mondial si aceste capitole pe cat de
succinte sunt bine scrise si par excelent documentate.

Documentar am aflat o seama de lucruri noi. De exemplu, ca acest gen
de acorduri era practicat de Romania comunista de inceputul anilor 50,
ca Ana Pauker a jucat un rol, si ca refacerea industriei petroliere
romanesti, jefuita de germani si de sovietici a fost legata de acest
gen de ‘comert’. Apoi, inceputul acordurilor de emigrare mai oficiale
a avut aprobare de la nivelul cel mai inalt, inclusiv Ben Gurion si
Hrusciov, care in 1958 inca controla partial politica Romaniei.

Radu Ioanid - sursa: www.old.cotidianul.ro

Mi s-a paruit reusita si analiza psihologica facuta unora din
personajele implicate in aceasta drama istorica. Reintalnirea Anei
Pauker – comunista inversunata din perioada stalinista a istoriei
romanesti cu fratelei ei, sionist convins venit sa o viziteze din
Israel este perceputa ca o intalnire intre doi frati despartiti de o
prapastie ideologica dar asemanatori prin credinta si devotamentul
fiecaruia dintre ei in propriul ideal.

Capitolele dedicate epocii lui Ceausescu sunt informative dar tocmai
ele nu aduc foarte multe date noi. Cred ca Pacepa a povestit deja
esentialul in ‘Orizonturi rosii’. Informatia este pusa in perspectiva
altor acorduri similare incheiate de Romania cu Germania de exemplu
pentru emigrarea cetatenilor de origine germana din Transilvania, dar
nici acestea nu sunt chiar noutati senzationale.

Sursele de informatie ale cartii sunt in principal studii istorice
publicate in special dupa 1990, si documente din arhivele romanesti si
ale organizatiilor evreiesti americane, autoritatile israeliene fiind
foarte discrete inca in legatura cu aceste aspecte istorice. Cred ca fac foarte bine de
altfel, caci daca Romania si-a deschis portile emigrarii libere dupa 1989,
mai sunt probabil inca tari unde libertatea evreilor si dreptul lor de
a ajunge in tara lor trebuie inca sa fie ‘cumparat’ prin diferite
mijloace. Din partea israeliana cel mai detaliat interviu se pare ca
l-a data Shlomo Leibovici Lais, mai sunt citate si interviuri cu
cativa dintre ambasadorii Israelului in Romania de-a lungul anilor.

Prefatata lui Elie Wiesel, si postfatata lui Pacepa, ca si moto-ul
cartii dramatizeaza istoria peste ceea ce indica faptele, dupa parerea
mea. In definitiv, Israelul a facut ceea ce trebuia sa faca – adica
orice – pentru a salva evreii din comunitatea romaneasca si a-i aduce
in Israel. Nu pot condamna total nici Romania, tara abandonata de
occident in sfera de influenta sovietica, avida dupa mijloacele
economice si parghiile politice necesare pentru a-si dobandi
independenta, cel putin in mod partial. Din carte reiese clar ca
acordul de ‘vanzare a evreilor’ nu a fost unic nici pentru Romania,
care a avut acorduri similare de rascumparare pe bani a propriilor
cetateni cu Germania, si nici pentru Israel, care a platit bani pentru
‘alya’ (emigrare spre Israel) altor tari est-europeene si Etiopiei.
Desigur, acest tip de ‘comert’ a fost posibil datorita incalcarii de
catre Romania comunista a dreptului fundamental de libera circulatie a
cetatenilor sai, dar aceasta este numai una dintre incalcarile
drepturilor omului care s-au petrecut in toate tarile comuniste, fara
legatura directa cu fenomenul emigratiei ‘platite’ spre Israel.

In cele din urma, ceea ce este important, cred eu, este ceea ce a scris si
Andrei Codrescu in recenzia sa. Israelul a platit pentru libertatea mea, a
lui, a multor sute de mii de evrei din Romania. Datorita cestor
acorduri majoritatea evreimii romanesti iesita din Holocaust a ajuns
in Israel si in alte tari ale lumii libere, mai devreme sau mai
tarziu. Povestea asta are multe aspecte, o parte din ele detaliate de
cartea lui Ioanid, dar acesta mi se pare aspectul esential.

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Film: Pepe & Fifi (Dan Pita – 1994)

Posted on June 16, 2010 by admin

I am surprised how little known this film is. Although it was made by Dan Pita, one of the well-known Romanian directors, and one of the few who made quality films during the Romanian Communist era, it does not seem to be considered as one of his best films. There is little information about the film on the Internet, and even the IMDB entry tells almost nothing. I saw it by chance on one of the Romanian satellite TV stations, and it was from many points of view a revelation.

source cinemarx.ro

The film is made in 1994, and is set at that time of ‘transition’ a wild process of awakening and confusion the whole Romanian society went through. The Bucharest I knew (having left Romania ten years earlier) was almost gone, streets filled not only with all kinds of dubious street commerce stands, but people also running awoke and fighting to survive in a world of confusion where old rules do not exists any longer and new ones are yet to be written. The trio of young people who are the heroes of the film learn to live and survive in this strange world. They may be the unwanted ‘children of the decree’ which was forbidding abortions in Communist Romania, they may be among the ones who took the streets in 1989 to overturn the dictatorship. Now brothers Pepe (Cristian Iacob – kind of a Romanian version of Brad Pitt) and Fifi (Irina Movila – with beautiful eyes of Tautou intensity) must sustain the family by boxing or becoming a night bird, both getting involved with the underground new Mafia world, both trying to keep their innocence in a world that has forgotten the meaning of the word. The third hero of the triangle is the crippled friend played by Mihai Calin, the fixer for the life of other who cannot fix his own life, the shouter of truth with the megaphone on the streets of the city.

Dan Pita - source www.mediafax.ro

In the Romanian cinema space this film may be lost some place in between the pre-89 and post-89 generation. Truth is that none of the well-known directors of the pre-89 generation – neither Pita, but also not other like Daneliuc or even Pintilie did not succeed to make any great films after 1990. They did however pave the way to the successes of the ‘new wave’ – the minimalist (as some call it) Romanian neo-realism that conquered the festival scenes after 2003. This film has however qualities that stand by themselves. The trio of young actors give emotional performances and make us care about themselves. The reality that is being caught on screen is a snapshot of the 1994 Bucharest the way it was. There is little ballast from the old-style metaphoric and mannerist cinema, but also some strong metaphors that are hard to forget. By the end of the film the two surviving heroes run through a a dark and enclosed labyrinth with no way out in view. Somehow they find the exit, and they run out in the fresh air, just to freeze in disorientation, blinded by the light of a world they do not know how to cope with.

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MAXIMUM nu este MINIMUM

Posted on June 15, 2010 by admin

Aparitia unei noi reviste este un lucru bun, si cred ca trebuie dat credit oricarei noi publicatii, asa incat cand am aflat ca Teshu Solomovici a luat initiativa de a incerca sa umple golul lasat de disparitia MINIMUM-ului lui Mirodan, am fost dispus sa dau acest credit. Am cumparat primul numar si impresiile mele din examinarea sumarului si citirea catorva dintre articole sunt amestecate. Continuitatea cu revista lui Mirodan este in asemanarea catorva rubrici si structura generala, dar cand incepi sa citesti articolele in multe dintre ele lipseste profunzimea si consistenta. MAXIMUM pare sa doreasca a fi mai mult informativa, este la zi cu aparitii editoriale si evenimentele culturale din spatiul israelian si evreesc (sau de interes insraelian sau evreesc) de limba romana, cu relatari scurte de o pagina sau doua sau de o coloana sau doua. Lipsesc insa criticile literare serioase, lipseste complet creatia literara originala daca excludem un cupletzel al lui Lica Bluthal ocazionat de aparitia revistei. Tocmai pe acestea le-as cauta intr-o revista care vrea (probabil) sa fie altceva si sa se adreseze altui public decat ‘Revista familiei’. Unele dintre relatarile istorice par interesante, altele reiau tot felul de stiri mai mult sau mai putin senzationale unele dintre care le-am citit pe Internet sau in alte parti (cum ar fi cea despre supozitia ca Hitler ar fi supravietuit razboiului si si-ar fi incheiat linistit zilele in Argentina). Nici conflictele si rivalitatile de la Comunitatea din Romania nu ma intereseaza prea tare, dar poate sunt altii care sunt interesati. O mare parte din articole sunt scrise si semnate de Teshu, probabil si unele rubrici nesemnate ii apartin, iar alte contributii se ocupa de cartile scrise si editate de Teshu (articolul Doinei Meseles ‘ Teshu – 23 de carti’). Despre cartea ‘Viata si moartea maresalului Ion Antonescu’ nu aflam mai nimic, cea mai mare parte a paginii dedicate cartii povesteste despre episodul mortii ‘eroice’ a maresalului (care a dat comanda plutonului propriei executii) relatat in carte (asta a fost semnificativ in biografia lui Antonescu?), dar o cronica mai consistenta despre carte insasi trebuie cautata in alta parte. Cine a pierdut cumva articolul apocaliptic al lui Vlad Solomon aparut in ACUM in ajunul Zilei Independentei si replica lui Boris Marian Mehr le poate gasi si pe acestea reproduse in paginile revistei. Dintre articolele care mi-au placut mentionez interviul cu regizorul Alexandru Solomon, culegerea din textele lui Norman Manea despre “strainul” din noi si dintre noi, o frumoasa analiza a primelor poeme ale lui Tristan Tzara si a modului in care au fost receptate in istoriografia literara romaneasca semnata de Zoltan Terner, si articolul lui Teshu despre relatia intre Eliade si ideologia legionara. Initiativa de a continua ‘Dictionarul neconventional …’ este salutara, dar rezultatul va fi judecat dupa valoarea contributiilor celor care vor continua opera de acolo unde destinul l-a intrerupt pe Mirodan.

Desigur, este vorba doar despre primul numar, si aceste impresii trebuie revizitate dupa inca cateva aparitii. Poate ca redactorii au incercat sa includa prea multe in acest prim numar, si in cele viitoare va fi mai mult spatiu si timp pentru a intra in profunzimea pe care unele dintre subiectele abordate o merita. Voi continua sa urmaresc MAXIMUM, dar am senzatia ca nu voi gasi (nici) aici acea revista culturala de calitate pe care o merita spatiul israelian si evreiesc de limba romana si pe care cel putin partial o gaseam in MINIMUM-ului lui Mirodan

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Sunshine – un film pe care nu l-am vazut (inca)

Posted on June 13, 2010 by admin

Rafi Manory si Tzutzu Mantel scriu pe una dintre listele internetice
la care particip despre Sunshine al lui Istvan Szabo. Nu stiu cum,
dar nu am reusit sa vad acest film, desi a trecut mai mult un deceniu
de cand a iesit pe ecrane, desi citisem despre el in TIME la lansare,
desi filmul apartine unui regizor care a facut cateva filme
remarcabile, si desi subiectul este asa de apropriat de istoria mea,
chiar si de istoria personala.

In asteptarea ocaziei de a vedea filmul, iata ce scriu Rafi si Tzutzu
despre el:

(video source VermeersGirl)

RAFI MANORY:

– Hide quoted text –
Azi am petrecut trei ore uitandu-ma la filmul asta.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145503/

Filmul urmareste istoria unei familii evreiesti in Ungaria din timpul
lui Franz-Iosef pana in zilele noastre. O perioada tumultoasa in
istoria Europei. Ralph Fiennes joaca trei generatii diferite, si arata
cit de bine stie sa joace. Din toate perioadele descrise in film, se
pare ca cea a lui Franz Josef a fost cea mai buna pentru evrei
(perioada cind bunicul meu patern, care a facut scoala comerciala la
Viena a fost numit directorul financiar a unei companii de petrol
austro-romana cu sediul la Campina).

Povestea mi-a parut adevarata, insa este fictiune bazata pe evenimente
si personaje reale. Unul din personajele centrale jucate de Fiennes,
este campionul olimpic de duel din 1936, (Adam Sors in film). Filmul
contine fragmente documentare dela deschiderea olimpiadei in care
intradevar Ungaria a cistigat medalia de aur la duel. Campionul nu era

Sonnenshein (sau Sors dupa ce si-a schimbat numele) ci un alt evreu, Endre Kabos,

Desi la imdb sunt multe comentarii care-i dau filmului nota 10, eu ii
dau numai 7, din diferite motive, unul dintre ele fiind lungimea (3
ore).
Ce e interesant de urmarit in film e istoria antisemitismului
din Ungaria sub diferitele regimuri, insa din pacate filmul scenele de dragoste fac
ca filmul sa fie R-rated si deci nu poate fi folosit la scoala pentru exemplificarea istoriei.

Recomandat pentru cine are trei ore…

FRANCIS (TZUTZU) MANTEL:

Eu am vazut acest film in urma cu aproape un deceniu. Un film
extraordinar. Parerea mea este ca “Sunshine” este un film ‘de nota
10’.  Fara rezerve. Il recomand cu caldura.

Filmul este o incercare de studiu a luptei de supravietuire de-a
lungul a catorva generatii de oameni a unei familii de evrei (familie
numita la inceput: “Sonnenschein” – adica “Stralucirea Soarelui” –
apoi cu numele schimbat in maghiarul “Sors” – citeste: “Shorsh” – care
inseamna “soarta” in limba maghiara – si in sfarsit, dupa doua
generatii de dezamagiri, de chinuri si de tragedii, revenita la numele
original de “Sonnenschein”) din Ungaria, in blestematul si tragicul
(pentru evrei) secol XX, bantuit de doua razboaie mondiale
catastrofale. Cu Ungaria ciopartita si umilita dupa primul razboi
mondial si cu evreimea maghiara anihilata prin exterminare sistematica
(in cea mai mare parte) in al doilea razboi mondial, frustrarea
ungurilor etnici combinata cu nationalismul sovin maghiar creaza
xenofobie otravitoare si conditii foarte vitrege pentru evreii din
Ungaria, care nefiind nici crestini si nici etnici maghiari, ci numai
‘minoritati conlocuitoare’ ca tiganii, sunt, in toate regimurile
maghiare care se succed, victimele bolii europene cronice a
antisemitismului milenar propovaduit de biserica si exploatat de
politicieni pentru a canaliza si a abate mania poporului cauzata de
frustrarea indusa de racilele intrinsece ale societatii maghiare si de
nefericirea vietii ungurilor.

Din orasul pestrit si totodata armonios in care locuiesc in ultimii 30
de ani, urbe in care domiciliaza cetateni de toate rasele si din mai
toate natiile lumii, imi este facil si natural sa conclud cu acest
punct de vedere: Nationalismul orb, prostesc si sufocant este si
ramane blestemul Europei. Poate ca ideea UE va fi elixir de scapare.
Candva.

Anvergura povestirii din acest film imi aminteste de romanul Casa
Buddenbrook a lui Thomas Mann despre povestea unor generatii
consecutive de germani in secolul XIX.

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Pirandello in Jaffa

Posted on June 12, 2010 by admin

I have seen last night probably the best theater performance of the season with the Jaffa Gesher Theater production of Luigi Pirandello‘s Six Characters in Search of an Author. I am glad to end this year’s season with this performance, especially as this is also the best show that I have seen for many years at Gesher, a theater that meant so much in the Israeli landscape in the 90s but seemed to be in free fall during the last few seasons. I hope that this is the sign of a strong rebound.

source http://www.gesher-theatre.co.il

I have seen the play on stage only once in the past at the acting school studio in Bucharest. It was a memorable performance then with the young actors of a solid generation approaching with passion and sensitivity the complex text of Pirandello, one of the most intelligent exercise of theater in theater that was ever written, debating the relations between realism and sensibility, truth and reality, imagination and the role of of the actor, of the director and of the author in the art of theater.

source http://www.gesher-theatre.co.il

With my expectations set high I was a little bit concerned of not being disappointed, taking in account my recent experiences at Gesher. To a large extent my concerns were not justified. The adaptation of Roee Chen cuts deeply in the text of the play, but keeps the essential of the message in a format fit to the needs and time budget (or what are perceived to be the needs and time budget) of the contemporary spectators. The invasion of the six characters seeking for the author to nail in words their suffering and emotions and to fix the tragic twists of destiny is translated into a drama played on the background of a century where reality shows tend to replace reality. Director Evgeny Arye is back to more direct ways of expressing emotions, and relies less on the spectacular circus-like effects that have become kind of a trademark of the theater in Jaffo lately, spectacular, but not always justified. The wonderful team of actors are perfect, starting with the big star of Gesher Israel (Sasha) Demidov in the role of The Director, peered with Moshe Ivgi as The Father, head of the family in seek of The Author (or of The Creator), and until the smaller roles of the younger children, who stay silent or are absent for most of the time of the play, just to make the final point in a moving and well thought ending.

Frankly, we considered canceling our subscription to the Gesher Theater next year. This performance convinced us to continue. A theater capable of putting on stage such a performance is worth continuing to be watched in expectation.

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Documentary – Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music

Posted on June 11, 2010 by admin

I do not remember exactly what was the day of the week that Cornel Chiriac was dedicating in the 60s and 70s to soul and R&B music in his Metronom broadcasts at the Romanian language broadcasts of Radio Free Europe – it must have been Wednesday or Thursday, one of the days in the middle of the week. With his rich musical culture that covered all musical genres from jazz to progressive and deep understanding of American music in general and jazz in particular Cornel had identified the black popular music as one of the principal trends he had to cover and worth one permanent day in his weekly broadcasts. How right he was we can see today, when soul, R&B and their more recent successor hip-hop catch constantly more than half of the top places in the American hit-parades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFKgZ6CbP7I

(video source CFunkBaby)

The BBC documentary Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music provides a highly informative review of the evolution of the black music in a period of more than half century. It starts in the period following immediately the second world war with segments dedicated to Ray Charles and to Sam Cooke, in the period of evolution of black music from gospel and sectoral entertainment to the mainstream of American popular music. It continues with the story of the big record houses of Motown and Stax, the creation of the sound of soul music, and emergence of the generation of musicians who conquered the tops in the 60s – Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Diana Ross. It goes beyond the commercial pop period which is not very much appreciated (Whitney Houston gets some maybe undeserved bashing) to the soul origins of hip-hop seen a continuation of the emotional and social involvement of soul. As the show was made in 2005 Mary J. Blidge and Beyonce get most of the attention in the last segment, but as we all know this is a story that continues in our days. I would have liked a little more focus on the musical aspects and trends, this part of the commentary was quite thin, but was compensated by first hand testimonies from critics, historians and artists such as Etta James or James Brown. More interesting was the permanent presentation of the musical aspects on the background of the historic developments in the life of the Afro-American community. It can be said that the half century covered by the series saw not only the emergence of new genres in music that conquered the world, but also a historic change in the life of the black community in the United States. The two revolutions – in music and in the social life – happened together and this is well covered in these detailed and documented series.

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