The Maltese Week / 10 – Marsaxlokk

Posted on June 6, 2010 by admin

Let us start with a short lesson in Maltese pronunciation. ‘x’ is read as ‘sh’ – so the name of the fishermen village I will tell about in this episode reads approximately as ‘Marsashlock’.

panoramic view of Marsaxlokk from the Delimara Point

Marsaxlokk is the biggest and most picturesque fishing village in Malta. It is located on the South-Eastern extremity of the island, in the Delimara Bay. We reached it twice, one during our car rental touring trip, and the second time when we stopped there for lunch (well, most people had lunch …) during the organized bus day trip we took to see the principal objectives in the Southern half of the island. It is in the first day when we took the panoramic picture you can see above, with most of the city and the gulf, infamously known in the Maltese history as the place where the Turkish fleet anchored during the 1565 war and debarked on the island.

church on the side of the road near the village

A beautiful church on the side of the road, near the city raises as a testimony to the religious feelings of the inhabitants and their passion for building churches. It’s a fishermen village, people are not very rich, yet this church is imposing, and it’s not even the principal church of the village.

house by the harbor

The streets are narrow, as you would expect in a Mediterranean fishermen village, but some of the houses are imposing, and interesting in the mix of styles. Look above at the house that I photographed near the harbor – limestone, ‘classical’ columns, Arabic style archs, the Maltese closed balcony.

Maltese Labour Party Flag

The front-line by the harbor is very typical to all the Mediterranean area, and reminds strikingly the harbor areas in Jaffo or in Akko. What was special was a HUGE flag of the Maltese Labor Party, I have no clue why there and why on that Sunday, but its dimensions would have made Ehud Barak dream.

fishing boats in the harbor

The fishing boats in the harbor were freshly painted in strong colors, it may be a local custom to paint them around Easter, in any case they were looking good.

fresh catch in the market

The first day we got there was a Sunday, and the local market was open and crowded working at maximum capacity. It is first of all a fish market, and the catch of the day is available in the market to buy, or in the restaurants on the sidewalk.

carpets in the Sunday market

But then it’s a general market as well, not different from a Turkish bazar, or from an Arabic or Israeli shoukh, and not very original either. We could by a few souvenirs and we did not buy any of the carpets above.

Malta Chardonnay

The next day Marsaxlokk was the stop for lunch. You will need however to ask our friends how was lunch in the village, as we chose to eat at the fish restaurant recommended by the tour guide (worst guide we ever had in a guided tour, did I say this? if now I say it now). It started all well with a fish soup and nice bottle of local Chardonnay, but then the fried fish platter never came until the time to leave. The kitchen of the restaurant was simply overflown by the group and could not keep the pace. We had a better dinner that night, and I will tell more about it in the episode dedicated to food in Malta.

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The Maltese Week / 9 – Lighthouses in Malta

Posted on June 5, 2010 by admin

Whoever knows me well also knows about my passion for visiting and photographing lighthouses whenever and wherever I have the occasion. I could not miss the opportunity during my vacation in Malta, a place which I suspected may have some beautiful such constructions, related to the naval history of this island located at the crossroads of the Mediterranean.

St. Elmo and Ricasoli

The first relevant place that I encountered was in the city of Valletta. A couple of lighthouses mark the entrance in the harbor on the East side of the peninsula. One is located on extremity of Fort St. Elmo. The present structure dates from 1908 according to http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/mlt.htm, but I suspect that there may have been a lighthouse there for quite long time before, maybe since the 16th century when the city was built. Oposite to it, at the extremity of the breakwater on the Three Cities side one can see the lighthouse of Ricasoli, built the same year. Both are active, and can be admired and photographed from almost any place on the East side of Valletta.

Delimara Point

In order to see the other two lighthouses we had to rent a car which was an experience by itself in a place where they drive on the correct side of the road. Delimara Point is located on the South East extremity of the island, and in order to reach it you need to cross the small fishing and touristic village of Marsaxlokk, and engage on a country road. The result is rewarding, as the lighthouse location offers a beautiful view of the gulf where the village is located and of the open sea. Built in 1855 it is inactive since 1990, but a restoration project is under way and may lead to the site being open for visiting.

Cirkewva

In order to reach the third point of interest we had to cross the whole island, as Cirkewva is located on the North-West extremity of Malta, close to the embarking for the ferry-boat that crosses the straight to the island of Gozo. The drive is about 40km, by the way. Unfortunately, not too much is left from the original shape of the lighthouse which is inactive and was transformed in a platform which does offer splendid views and photo opportunities to the sea and to Gozo, but does not seem to care much about authenticity or history. At least I took a few beautiful pictures of the sea.

the sea from Cirkewva

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‘Onegin’ with the Eifman Ballet in Tel Aviv

Posted on June 4, 2010 by admin

The Boris Eifman Ballet troupe from St. Petersburg is a constant guest of the dance series at the Golda center in Tel Aviv (same hall that hosts the New Israeli Opera). He brought here during the last decade all his important works which made of him the best known Russian choreographer of the day. He is kind of a cult hero in Israel, the ballet audiences here especially the ones of Russian origin adore him, although in the Western media he is quite controversial, some criticizing him sharply for the commercial touch of many of his performances.

(video source yk387)

I have seen today the latest work of Eifman, which is inspired by Pushkin’s ‘Onegin’. I liked the performance,  although I was neither shocked, nor charmed by everything that happened on the stage. There are two tings that I can complain about – one that the show lacked the inventiveness, the spark, the special ideas I found in other productions of Eifman. Second that too little of the Russian soul or Pushkin;s romanticism made it to the stage. Instead the story was adapted to happen in the period between 1991 and today, and talk about the Russian society of today. The music reflected quite well this discrepancy – the combination of Tchaikovsky  and rocker Alexander Sitkovetsky’s music never worked together, and the effect is of rupture rather then of continuity. The dancers were all very good, you would not expect anything less from a first tier troup of Russian dancers, with Nina Zamaitzev especially shining as Tatiana. Stage sets were mostly focused around a circular screen that was used as dynamic background (interesting and efficient) enhanced by masterful light games. Eifman was present at the performance, and received standing ovations from the audience which may have been 80% Russian-speaking.

(video source pointemagazine)

Here are a few professional reviews of Eifman’s Onegin, for these who wish to read more than my amateurish one:

http://me-artsblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/dance-review-eifman-ballets-onegin.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/05/review-eifman-ballets-onegin-at-ocpac.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/arts/dance/01eifm.html

http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_09/jul09/et_rev_eifman_ballet_onegin_0509.htm

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2 movies on 25 and 40

Posted on June 3, 2010 by admin

Romantic comedies are not really my cup of tea, neither are the Manhattan Jewish types and stereotypes to which the masculine heroes of the two movies I have seen during the last weekend belong. Yet I found myself watching the films I am writing beyond  with mixed and different results. Oh, there is one more common plot trait to the two films besides their heroes vaguely belonging to the Woody Allen brand. They both talk about romantic relations between a 40 years old and a 25 years old. Here I must decline competence. When I was 25 no female looking like Catherine Zeta-Jones hired me as baby-sitter, and when I was 40 I was already happily married for more than a decade. So all the comments below are made from the chair of the objective viewer 🙂

source www.imdb.com

‘The Rebound’ can be found some place between the TV sitcom and the big screen romantic comedy. It is longer and somehow more developed than a sitcom, it is not enough developed and does not bring enough novelty for a feature film. Not for a good one in any case.

(video source czjmda3)

She is 40, looks 30 and dresses sometimes like a 22, and is as beautiful as Catherine Zeta-Jones. Her husband cheated on her, and she moves to Manhattan where – forget bad economic times – finds immediately a job as TV researcher with obvious chances to become sooner or later (but not later than the film duration) an anchor. Of course , professional life dictates her to hire a baby-sitter for her two cued kids, and the hire cannot be other than the 25 looking thirtish and Mel Gibsonish Aram Finklestein (Justin Bartha), who is some kind of sociology genius but loves kids (and their mother) and does not care about working as a baby-sitter refusing corporate jobs – forget bad economic times, did I say? From now on everything goes as expected, and any of the spectators in the cinema can write the script. All is predictable, and the very few sparks like casting 60s pop music idol Art Garfunkel in a supporting role of a Jewish father cannot save a vary routine almost-a-movie, which would not have worked at all without the charisma of the principal actors.

source www.imdb.com

Saying that ‘Greenberg’ is a romantic comedy as it is marketed is mislabeling and misleading. The movie offers to Ben Stiller the opportunity of playing the best role in his career, a redemption in my eyes to all the silly or boring roles I have seen him in previously. His Greenberg is a 40 years walking failure, half-Jewish not caring about his half-Jewishness but behaving like an institutionalized Woody Allen, whose every Californian dream of the young time went wrong. He is out of a psychiatric institution and gets back to the city of his young age, where all the friends in his generation seem to be similary failed dreams-wise, but in at least settled and deprived of Manhattan neurotics. He is meeting Florence (acted by the wonderful Greta Gewig), the 25 years old family assistant (is this another word for a better paid baby sitter?) of his brother, who is supposed to be the down-to-earth counterpart, but eventually proves to be or in danger to be as disoriented as him. The two meet, quarrel, have sex, do not resonate, as they belong to different generations, but they do share is the uneasiness with the world around them. Will the two find support in each other? It’s a question that stays open to the end, and the two experiment with each other and a surrounding world that does not accommodate them and they do not feel comfortable in. The film avoids the beaten path and the easy solutions, sometimes annoys, but, hey, the Greenberg character IS supposed to be annoying, and the principal thing is that we end by caring deeply of these two estranged strangers. No little thing in a genre of movies I am supposed to hate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSY4P1tdgf0

(video source WickedMovieTrailers)

Of the two movies ‘Greenberg’ succeeded much better in my eyes, because it did not rely on the external charisma and physical chemistry of the characters, but rather built a credible pair of characters whose relationship is interesting despite a certain lack of intrigue and repetition. As in real life, what is really important is people you care, even if some of them are not perfect. Beautiful people filmed on spectacular backgrounds are nice to see once or a few times, for the rest of the days real people are preferable.

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’24’ – The Final

Posted on June 2, 2010 by admin

The curtain has fallen upon the 8th season of ’24’ and the producers claim that this was the final one. I keep a certain dose of skepticism about this, as the main character – Jack Bauer – was still as alive and as in bad shape as in most other final episodes of the previous seven seasons. It may be for the big screen feature that was announced, and I am quite curious to know what format that film will take as an alternative to the real time 24 x one hour episodes in real-time, which were the trademark and the principal gimmick pacing the series for the whole duration of the eight seasons. This format imposed a certain gradation of the development of the action and of the characters in the time-frame of each episode and in the time-frame of the season, which became the duration of a full day in the life (and sometimes death) of the characters. Here relies much of the strength but also of the weakness of the formula, as after placing aside the bigger or even smaller credibility questions (like when do the heroes eat, sleep, go to the bathroom?) the fans of the series learned the pace and the rhythms and knew in many cases what to expect next with a precision of minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=399Hiwua0J4

(video source FoxBroadcasting)

’24’ was said to be the ultimate post-911 series, and it raised serious moral questions about the approach of members of the CTU in fighting terror attacks and terrorism threats in a period when the American society and the whole world was confronted with the same type of questions. The other dilemma the main heroes faced permanently is between individual action and the trust in the system – a system we quick learned is completely corrupt (in the eyes of the authors) to the point that any character from the rookie agent in the CTU to the President of the United States can be a suspect or eventually a traitor. There are few certain things in the world of ’24’ – the ‘do not kill (your people)’ taboo is broken in the second season, the trust in the institution of the presidency in the 4th or the 5th, even the complete dedication of Jack Bauer to his country is put under a big question mark in the last season, when he seems to engage in what looks like a personal vendetta at the expense of the world peace. What is left is maybe the protective love of Jack for his daughter and the friendship between him and Chloe – too little human feelings in such a savage world.

Yet, the human dimension is what stays for me from these series. After the eighth season I cannot remember how many times Jacj saved the world in 24 hours, I am pretty sure that atomic bombs were twice exploded in the US, that ballistic rockets were shot on the big American cities, and chemical and biological attacks happened several times and I cannot really distinguish between them. What I do and will remember is that I have seen in ’24’ the first Afro-American president at work a few years before Obama,  I watched Nina’s treason and Terry’s death in the first season, I resonated with the start and tragic end of the love story between Michelle and Tony Almeida, I shared the dilemmas, achievements, but also mistakes and treason of several fictional American presidents. Actually the turmoil that engulfs president Taylor in the last season was one of the reasons to watch this season attentively – a season which I started as a viewer with a big dose of skepticism and some boredom, but which became one of the best, and not only because by mid-season we new it will be the last.

Or will it not?

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‘Lost’ – The Final

Posted on June 1, 2010 by admin

My two preferred series on the US TV during the last few years ended last week. First the curtain fell on ‘Lost’. It started six years ago as what looked like a dramatized version of ‘Survivor’ with a group of people stranded on an island following a jetliner crash. Soon the island proved to be much more than a small piece of land lost in the Pacific Ocean, it had magical power and hid numerous mysteries, as well as other groups of people fighting for its control. The gathering of people also started to look much beyond coincidental, and the permanent alternation of flashbacks revealed their past and their personalities. As we came to know them better and better, to discover their strength and weaknesses, their qualities and flaws, their passions and secrets, the relation between the characters became the central strength of the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-76O2_F9xiM

(video source minorityFILMS)

The following seasons made the series look more and more complex. At one point, during the third or fourth season the complexity of the situations and labyrinths of the action seemed to grow beyond control. The jumps in time started to be not only backwards, but also forwards and sidewards. Time travel and magic seemed to replace to a large extent the scientific and rational approach of the first two seasons. By the fifth season I had personally lost any hope to understand the whole action by means of logic. Luckily, the core of characters continued to be with us, and I and probably many other fans got to the point of relation you establish with family members or good friends – when you care about them you are ready to oversee their flaws. So the last and final season which was supposed to explain everything did not disappoint me even if I less resonate with mystical and religious explanations as the ones that were brought in by the producers and script authors, and even if some episodes seemed to carry (maybe intentionally) glimpses of Xena, The Fountain or Indiana Jones. What I cared about was the fate of Jack, John, James, Kate, Sayid, Hugo, Jin, Sun, and yes, even of Ben.

‘Lost’ was the best series of the 2000s – maybe at pair with HBO’s ‘The Wire’. It was not in my opinion the best TV series of all times as some consider it. I liked more the 90s hit ‘X-Files’. Yet it may have been the series whose characters I cared mostly about.

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Radu-Ilarion Munteanu – Comentariu la notele de lectura de la ‘Adio, Europa!’

Posted on May 31, 2010 by admin

Prietenul meu Radu-Ilarion Munteanu cunoscut in lumea internetica si sub pseudonimul de rim a avut interesul de a raspunde notelor mele de lectura la ‘Adio, Europa!’ si bunavointa de a accepta ca raspunsul sau sa fie publicat pe blog. Raspunsul sau este mai mult decat un comentariu, este un adagio documentar care mi se pare cu atat mai valoros cu cat rim a fost editorul primei editii digitale a cartii la Editura LiterNet. Textul ii apartine si il preiau in intregime, cu mici corecturi editoriale din varianta internetica.

————–

Am citit notele de lectura ale danromascanului la cartea – piatra unghiulara, daca nu cheie de bolta a literaturiii celui care a fost ion d sirbu, fie odihnit. D vine de la Dezideriu, ceea ce nu poate fi de natura sa va mire. Nu comentez notele de lectura ale lui dan, un text de bun simt nu are nevoie de comentarii.

Ii multumesc insa pentru mentionarea aces(a/i)bilitatii online a textului cartii in biblioteca editurii liternet. Atat in plan obiectiv, cat si subiectiv. Pentru mine chiar conteaza ca o informative pe care am furnizat-o repetat e preluata obiectiv intr-un text coherent si in cea mai mare masura exact.

Ca unul pentru care reeditarea digitala a cartii a fost unul din proiectele vitale (nu glumesc) ale implicarii si integrarii in echipa LiterNet, daca nu cel mai important, datorez cateva informatii in completare, cu scopul de a pune notele de lectura ale lui dan intr-un context.

Pana acu’s 4 ani aparusera 4 editii, toate, inerent, postume. Prima, pe hartie de ambalaj, la “cartea romaneasca”, in 1992, ultima, la grupul editorial “corint” (unde era atunci director criticul si conferentiarul universitar Daniel Cristea-Enache, cel mai talentat dintre literati, (4 cunosc eu) care au produs teze de doctorat in I D Sirbu), in 2006. Am uitat care e a treia, insa tin minte ca am fost nevoit, la lansarea ultimei, sa-l corectez pe tanarul critic Paul Cernat, care omisese editia LiterNet la numaratoare.

Cartea a facut obiectul primei lansari publice, derulate chiar la Petrila, simultan cu data nasterii scriitorului, cu prilejul ultimei editii a festivalului “om rau”, organizat de artistul graphic Ion (Noni) barbu, in prezenta sotiei scriitorului si a Mihaelei Schiopu, autoarea celor diua coperti pe care Dan le-a inserat in articolul propriu. Trec acum peste problemele formale, pentru a pastra firul. In statistica descarcarilor, primul volum ocupa locul 3, cu aproape 20000 de descarcari, dupa scenariul lui Dan Mihu preluat abuziv de Cristian Mungiu pentru celebrl si premiatul sau film 4,3,2 (si care a facut un salt major de impact dupa protestul public al autorului real al scenariului, necitat pe genericul filmului si dupa o carte de critica a lui Daniel). Din peste 250 de carti publicate. Sigur, descarcarea nu dovedeste lectura, dupa cum nici cumpararea din librariei n-o dovedeste. Oricum, fara a putea evalua statistic acesti coeficienti de randament real, editia online s-a dovedit competitiva ca impact public fata de toate celallte 3 tiparite. Spe sa fie sesizat faptul essential ca datele de mai sus nu sunt motivate de lauda de sine, care m-ar descalifica. Implicarea mea in editarea cartii trebuie interpretata atat obiectiv, si opinia lui Dan sustine rostul implicarii, dar, de ce n-as recunoaste-o, in mai mare masura subiectiv. Ca o datorie de cosntiinta fata de spiritul tinutului meu natal. Care e tinutul natal al scriitorului.

Desi acesta a avut abilitatea de a nu oferi indicii de recunoastere, modelul ascuns al isarli^kulii e Craiova, unde scriitorul si-a petrecut ultimii ani ai vietii, ca secretar literar al teatrului national local. Si unde a scris si una din piese, “arca bunei sperante”, jucata in anii 70 la teatrul de comedie.

Sursa personajului Olimpia (jucata remarcabil de dana dogaru in serialul tv) e insasi Lizzy, sotia scriitrului. De fapt a doua. Prima divortase de el cand era in inchisoare, la fel cum se intampla lucrurile in romanul “cel mai iubit dintre pamanteni” al monserulu Preda. O femeie remarcabila. Daca structura umana a personajului literar e mai greu recognscibila pentru unul care n-a vazut-o decat odata, in 28 iunie 2004, cu prilejul lansarii, pe femeia batrana in care se simtea taria de odinioara, am cules destule marturii din cercul apropiatilor pentru a proba identitatea caracterologica a personajului cu sursa lui.

In 1982 Aparuse, in volumul de proza “soarecele b si alte povestiri”, o nuvela care s-a dovedit in timp a fi o ebosa, un embrion, o “statie pilot” a romanului, de fapt insusi romanul, in nuce.

Referirea lui dan la LiterNet ca sursa de lectura ma indrituieste sa repet invitatia de a citi in foileton prima parte, cea biografica, si de fapt cea mai reusita, a teei de doctorat al lui Daniel:

http://atelier.liternet.ro/arhivarubricii/54/De-la-Petrila-la-Petrini-Viata-lui-Ion-D-Sirbu.html

ordinea fragmentelor e de jos in sus. Sunt numerotate.

Textul integral ca unul din cele doua capitol mari ale tezei dezvoltate, apare in volumul “”un om din est”, de Daniel Cristea-Enache, ed Curtea Veche, 2005.

Un fragment din carte este de gasit la:

http://atelier.liternet.ro/articol/3742/Daniel-Cristea-Enache/Un-om-din-Est.html

in arhiva rubricii fragmentarium.

Sub fotografia, habar n-am din ce motive pierduta, probabil cu ocazia transferului pe noul server (nu e singura gaura de gen), cuvantul scris cu rosu “cronica” e hyperlink la cronica dubla a cartii: semnatari Dumitru Micu si Horia Garbea.

Raspunsul la intrebarea finala a lui Dan e incitant. Ca unul care a trait anii astia, ma simt obligat sa reflectez. Raspunsul cel mai probabil insa ar fi unul trist. Pastrand absolut toate proportiile, s-ar putea spune, deocamdata cu prudenta, pana ce voi incerca sa raspund intrebarii lui Dan, despre Gary Sirbu ce s-a spus in mediul familial despre bunicul meu patern, in urma cu 2 generatii: a fost asa de inteligent incat a murit la timp. Scutit sa moara de inima rea.

Posted in books, Radu-Ilarion Munteanu | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Easy Ride, Dennis Hopper!

Posted on May 30, 2010 by admin

Denis Hopper died yesterday. He acted in more than 200 films, and directed eight. Some of these films were milestones in the development of the American cinema, some of them were trash. He was a fabulous actor and a man of his time who lived a controversial life. When I think of him two films come first of all to my mind.

(video source IzwergShkiv)

The first one is a film that I got to see more than 35 years after it was made, but about whose theme and music I knew scores around the time when it was made. Easy Rider was often present in the radio broadcasts of Cornel Chiriac from Radio Free Europe, and Cornel – the mentor of our generation and our teacher in music and freedom – was talking about it and playing its fabulous music. I wonder if Dennis Hopper ever knew what kind of impact his anti-capitalist establishment film had made for the youth of the Communist countries, who were reading in the film and in its music the same elements of revolt and thirst for freedom common to the young generation on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

(video source pulpmur)

When David Lynch’s Blue Velvet was out I was already a free man, and this was one of the first films I have seen after my emigration. I was building from almost zero my cinema culture, and living, surviving, absorbing the culture shock of meeting a film art developed in freedom to say what it wants and how it wants (or almost, as I was to learn in time). Lynch’s brutal symbolism, his world full of shades and mysteries, populated with dark, grotesque, pathetic characters had found in Hopper the perfect actor to fit the director’s mind waves.

Andy Warhol's Portrait - source commons.wikimedia.org

By one of these unique coincidences that makes you wonder, the European TV channel ARTE broadcast the German documentary Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) just three days before Dennis Hopper died. The film was made in 2003, so it misses the final years of Hopper, which is maybe better as these years included personal dramas like his divorce and the fight with the malady that eventually defeated him. We are taken though the principal milestones of Hopper’s biography, including his debut start in Hollywood, the meeting with James Dean and the influence he played upon him, his insubordination on sets and conflicts with the Hollywood directors which led to his black-listing, the years in New, the making of ‘Easy Rider’ with the road trip he took in open space America under the influence of the French New Wave directors, the filming of milestones like ‘Apocalypse Now’, ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Colors’, his fight with dependency on drugs and alcohol. We come to know Hopper as a complex artist, a valuable photographer who had always a camera on him, and whose portraits or American life shots figure among the best in the genre, but also a rebel painter (who may still be rediscovered and become famous in posterity) and exquisite art collector. I found the Frankfurt actors class sequences to be extremely interesting, as they present the concept that stands behind Hopper’s technique based over all on the truth of the artistic experience. If you would not die without creating, better go and do something else than being an artist – this is the message that he left to his students and fans.

You will be missed, Dennis Hopper. Easy Ride!

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Carte: Ion D. Sirbu – Adio, Europa!

Posted on May 29, 2010 by admin

Ion D. Sirbu stia ca ‘Adio, Europa!’ nu are sansa sa vada lumina tiparului in timpul vietii sale, cel putin atata vreme cat viata sa se trecea in timpul dictaturii comuniste. O culegere de fotografii si documente adnotate de scriitor pe care am gasit-o pe YouTube sun titlul ‘The Life and Times of Honorable Sirbu’ include o fotografie de la inceputul anilor 80 cu un comentariu ‘am devenit seriosi, ne scriem opera postuma‘. Este drept, nu mult a lipsit ca scriitorul Sirbu sa supravietuiasca dictatorului si dictaturii care i-au strivit viata, dar cancerul l-a luat dintre cei vii in septembrie 1989. A ramas dupa el insa – postuma cum o prevestise – poate cea mai buna carte despre anii dictaturii si despre regimul totalitar comunist din Romania. Cea mai buna pe care am citit-o eu pana acum, in orice caz.

(video sursa ocsiche)

‘Adio, Europa!’ se bazeaza pe o imensa parabola, imediat evidenta oricarui cititor care cunoaste istoria Romaniei. Numele tarii nu este mentionat niciodata explicit, iar dominatia comunista si ocupatia fizica si spirituala sovietica sunt inlocuite de o fanariotizare ideologica dusa la extrem, in care Inalta Poarta joaca rolul Kremlinului. Personajul principal – profesorul de filozofie Desideriu Candid corespunde biografic autorului, cu o cariera universitara inceputa in anii de dupa al doilea razboi mondial, curmata de excluderea din invatamant si apoi de contactul cu inchisorile ca urmare a refuzului de a se alatura noului regim si a-i deveni complice denuntandu-si mentorii. Ca si Ion D. Sirbu, Candid este o victima a istoriei, ajunsa la maximul posibil al schizofreniei. Eliberat din inchisoarea fizica, redus la rol de functionar neinsemnat intr-o lume in care norocul cel mai mare este cel de a trece neobservat, Candid si sotia sa Olimpia (Limpi) vor deveni victime ale unei tragedii suprarealiste, care ar fi comica daca nu ar fi scrisa in teama si sange, declansata de un ras necontrolat al eroului la vazul unui afis de propaganda in care numele lui Karl May este transcris gresit Karl Marx, si parintele marxismului (si el suspectat pentru originea sa nationala si sociala) categorisit ca autor stiintifico-fantastic. Cine a trait in lumea presei si cenzurii comuniste stie ca pacatul nu este departe de a fi capital in lumea care se revendica descendenta a ‘Capitalului’.

sursa - http://editura.liternet.ro/

Structura cartii este cea a unei serii de discursuri si dialoguri hiperbolice intre Candid si personaje care par sa aiba ca principal scop darea replicii personajului principal. Toate personajele fara exceptie, fara deosebire de origine si pozitie sociala par sa fie cunoscatoare ale adevaratei stari ale unei lumi create si mentinute prin frica si minciuna. Niciunul dintre personajele cartii, nici tortionarii sau functionarii cu pozitiile cele mai importante in pashala^c nu crede nicio o iota din propaganda regimului, toti sunt angrenati intr-o perpetua lupta pentru supravietuire in care ca intr-o groteasca piramida darwiniana pestele mare il poate oricand inghiti pe cel mai mic, care il poate musca la randul sau inapoi si impinge in afunduri cu un denunt otravit. ‘Nimeni nu e nevinovat: toti suntem martori si acuzati in acelasi timp‘ (p. 335, vol. II) zice unul dintre personajele cartii situat pe treptele inalte ale ierarhiei sultanatului. Scrierea este frumoasa si suculenta si primele capitole ale primului volum sunt o delectare la citire, cu trimiteri istorice, anarhisme si turcisme care descriu metaforic unde ajunsese Romania epocii de aur. Pe masura ce avansam in lectura satira levantina din primul volum face locul unei incercari de salvare a eroului si poate si a societatii care traieste in spatiul mitic al satului, incercare esuata, caci eroul reintors in orasul exilului va avansa gradat si inexorabil spre un destin tragic imposibil de evitat.

sursa http://editura.liternet.ro/

Viziunea istorica a lui Ion D. Sirbu este cea a unei Romanii abandonata si tradata de o Europa de care incearca sa se ancoreze in mod disperat si inutil. Unul dintre personajele pozitive ale cartii incearca sa duca trei fieruri de plug in marile capitale ale continentului de care este cea mai legata istoria romanilor – Viena, Paris si Roma, in incercarea de a evita deriva spre abis. ‘Peste o tara primitiva si subdezvoltata – dar curata, plina de frumusete si de spirit – s-a fost zidit un Babel-agroindustrial, un colos de fier si beton, peste care, cu o faraonica incapatanare utopica, s-au instalat minciuna, nepriceperea si hotia organizata. Debandada si harababura de stat. Deasupra acestei piramide reale, straluceste Portretul Lui … Pentru acestea – si multe altele – m-am gandit ca e bine sa ne ancoram de trupul Europei, din care si pentru care ne-am nascut ca popor si ca speranta …’ (pag. 241, vol II). Situatia in care se afla Romania in deceniul ultim al dictaturii este vazuta ca o consecinta a pacatului si tradarii originare petrecute la Yalta: ‘Totul a inceput cu Yalta, la Yalta – si Yalta trebuie sa ramana in memoria popoarelor ca cel mai cretin, iresponsabil, si criminal act din intreaga istorie …’ (pag. 190, vol. II). Istoria devine un balast, ‘Trecutul ne este dusman‘ (pag. 358, vol. II) si ocupantii se schimba unul cu celalalt, perpetua fiind doar adaptabilitatea ocupatilor ‘acum … ne rotim, lepadandu-ne de fesuri si apucand care cum putem, o caciula de samur peceneg‘ (pag. 332, vol. II).

sursa http://www.bookblog.ro

Exista speranta dincolo de aceasta viziune cinica si disperata a istoriei? Ii va fi iertat autorului la momentul in care scrie ‘Adio, Europa’ profundul pesimism. Si totusi, exista un fragment (pag. 205-206, vol. II) unde este trasat programul politic al unui posibil risorgismento:

‘ – Sa nu mai mintim.

– Sa nu ne mai laudam.

– Sa nu mai aplaudam (nici la teatru, nici la circ).

– Sa cerem iertare pamantului, cerului, vietatilor toate, pentru crima ce am facut-o impotriva firii si a Creatiunii.

– Sa ne iertam dusmanii.

– Sa ne fie mila de paznicii si turmatorii nostri.

– Sa declaram lauda injurie penala, iar lingusirea celor puternici ca un act de infamie si sacrilegiu: chiar si lauda bunului Dumnezeu trebuie suspendata pentru un secol.

…

– Sa ardem in piata portretele si dosarele toate.

– Sa interzicem pentru o suta de ani cuvintele “erou”, “revolutionar”, “fiu al poprului” etc.

…

– Sa invatam dascalii sa invete, sa reconstruim copilaria si tineretea, ca varste ale visului si gandului liber, dar temator de Dumnezeu si urmasi

– Sa refacem curatenia apelor, muntilor si vorbelor noastre

– Sa asteptam biserica lui Hristos; pana atunci, fiecare sa se roage singur Dumnezeului pe care l-a gasit si pe care il merita…’

Oare ce ar fi scris Ion D. Sirbu despre lumea si Romania de astazi? Ce metafora superba ar fi putut gasi pentru Romania la 20 de ani dupa caderea sultanatului?

———

Cartea este accesibila pentru descarcare si lectura la:

http://editura.liternet.ro/descarcare/90/pdf/Ion-D-Sirbu/Adio-Europa-vol-I.html

http://editura.liternet.ro/descarcare/91/pdf/Ion-D-Sirbu/Adio-Europa-vol-II.html

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Otto Dix at Neue Galerie

Posted on May 28, 2010 by admin

I have discovered Otto Dix a few years ago in Dresden. I knew almost nothing about him, and when I say his extraordinary anti-war triptych at the Dresden Art Museum I was immediately stricken by the force of the expression and complexity of the composition. Dix was certainly an exponent of his times, his best years of creativity were the years of the Weimar Republic, and his work is as much an expression of the hope, the fears and the contrast of these times as the one of contemporaries Lang or Remarque. He started ny being influenced bu Nietzsche, then the first world war experience marked his life, played with Dada and participated in their first shows, to join the ‘New Objectivity’ group which was trying to take the artistic style beyond Expressionism, while sharing many of the themes.

Neue Galerie Entrance

Since discovering Otto Dix in Dresden I sought more information and found out that he is little known out of Germany, and no major books or albums can be found. One of my queries was made two and a half years ago in the Neue Galerie which is located on the 5th Avenue, on the Museum Mile, just one block uptown and vis-a-vis from the Met. It’s half a museum, half a gallery, and the best place place to meet German and Austrian artists in Manhattan (they were having a haunting exhibition of Alfred Kuhn at that time). The bookshop vendor told me ‘no – unfortunately we have no books about Dix, but you know, by spring 2010 we shall be having an important retrospective of him, the first big exhibition of his works in North America’. Lucky me, the IESG meeting this week was hold in New York, and I had the opportunity to see it.

from The War cycle - source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Dix

The exhibition covers the two most prolific decades of his creation – the 20s and the 30s. It starts at the second floor with the terrific cycle of 40 lithographs ‘The War’ which may be the strongest anti-war statement in the genre  after Goya’s ‘Horrors of War’. In a way it exceeds Goya’s limits, as the degree of human insanity increased in the century since the Napoleonic wars until WWI. It is not that Otto Dix was necessarily a pacifist, but he lived through the war experience (where many of the sketches were made) and he had as he witnessed ‘to take these out of him’.

The Skat Players - http://www.ottodix.org/index/paintings

The ‘Skat Players’ dates from 1920 and belongs to the same thematic group. The view here is more sarcastic, as Dix depicts the war invalids, which together with the war widows forced into prostitution by the economic after-war hardships were the principal subjects of his works in the first years of the 20s.

Dr. Fritz Glazer's Portrait - source http://www.neuegalerie.org

The pressure released Dix established himself as one of the well known painters of the period, and changes tone going into portraits as principal genre without ever abandoning to mix the human and the social aspects when approaching his subjects. One of the striking portraits of the period is the one of one of his mentors and supporters, a Jewish lawyer named Glazer. The lawyer never liked the portrait because of the flagrant Jewish traits but Dix meant it actually this way, and the projection of the character on the desolate urban landscape gives it the feeling of anguish and premonition. Although not Jewish, Dix hated anti-Semitism and fought it most of his life, as some of his later works will show.

The Dancer - exhibition poster

Another famous portrait of the period is borrowed by the poster of the exhibition. ‘The Dancer’ represents Anita Berber, a well known figure of the boema of mid-20s Berlin, a beautiful woman often filmed, photographed and painted in nude. Dix who was a personal friend of Berber paints her dressed in a red dress, that just enhances her femininity.

Self Portrait with Naked Model - source http://www.tendreams.org/dix.htm

The contact with the decadent life of the artistic milieu of the time put Otto Dix in trouble with the censorship or even law authorities. In response he painted the ‘Self Portrait with Naked Model’ where he tries to describe the separation between art and life, between vice as a theme and the real personality of the artist. These are actually the years of greater success and stability in his life, the years his family life flourishes as he marries the ex-wife of a client and his three children are born.

The Seven Cardinal Sins - source http://www.mess.net/galleria/dix/

The coming to power of the Nazis ended the international career and the teaching life of Otto Dix. The author of such allegoric works as ‘The War’ and ‘Metropolis’ triptychs (not present in the exhibition) or of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ which represents Hitler as a mask for Greed could not be liked by the National Socialist regime. A few of his works will be exposed in good company in the exhibition of ‘degenerated art’.

Vanitas - source http://www.tendreams.org/dix.htm

Yet, he decides not to leave Germany as most of his colleagues did. He moves to a small city to the South of Germany, and continues to paint, changing themes and style. He now focused on allegories and landscapes, many of them in the style of the old German Renaissance and baroque masters. While ‘Vanitas’ above is still modern in style and classical just in theme, the ‘Saint Christopher IV’ below could belong to a late Renaissance master.

St. Christopher IV - source http://www.mess.net/galleria/dix/

The theme of the Jewish persecution comes back even in these dark years. One splendid works in the exhibition which I could not find a reproduction for is painted in Flemish style and represents and old and ruined Jewish cemetery under a frozen sky – a somber statement about the fate that the Nazis reserved for the Jews of Germany and Europe.
Otto Dix outlived the war, despite being sent again to fight as a soldier in the final months of the war and being a prisoner for more than one year after the war. He was one of these artists who continued to travel and share time between East and West Germany until the late 60s. Yet, his major works are those created in the two decades presented in the current exhibition at the Neue Galerie, and I recommend it for a visit for anybody who lives in New York or close or happens to be in the city in the next couple of months. The Web site of the museum can be accessed at http://www.neuegalerie.org/
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