tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79943021251272600322011-09-20T05:49:09.742+12:00Books, films, theatre, music, art and other things that interest me.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-4376646329448698572011-02-01T03:14:00.001+13:002011-02-01T05:17:24.906+13:00

I saw "The Children's Hour", the play written by Lillian Hellman in 1934 that is currently being revived in London at the Comedy Theatre, with Keira Knightly and Elisabeth Moss in the main roles of Karen and Martha respectively. It's by no means great theatre (although it's already sold out until the end of April and still in previews) but I want to write about it, because it made me think

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-51288919476290425582010-12-22T08:14:00.006+13:002010-12-23T20:52:31.996+13:00

I was prepared to really dislike this film, based on what I'd heard about it and some truly bizarre (in the sense of straight-audience-pleasing) statements by writer/director Lisa Cholodenko. But I liked it, quite a lot in fact, despite some criticism of my own. I'll get the negative stuff out of the way, then move on to talk about what I liked. I think that the dislike of great part of the

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-68310126246835862492010-08-03T22:23:00.001+12:002010-08-05T13:19:18.585+12:00

I wish the NZ Film Festival happened during the winter holidays, because it's hard to fit it in the working schedule. It's the winter cultural highlight here in Wellington, and it makes the city look as beautiful as the International Festival of the Arts does on alternate summers. Luckily, my work is flexible enough to let me rush to the theatres and catch up with films I'd be unlikely to see

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-18445066545392548292010-07-25T15:00:00.011+12:002010-07-26T17:48:41.651+12:00

There's a scene, in HOWL, the film by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman that dramatizes both Allen Ginsberg's creation of his poem Howl and the trial for obscenity his publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti had to face because of it, that has stayed with me beyond, I believe, the intention of the writers and directors. During the trial, both the DA and the defence lawyer, played respectively - and to

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-89165805729771919662010-06-07T15:25:00.008+12:002010-06-08T18:38:30.875+12:00

It was only at the end of the film, when the end titles started to run, that I paid attention to the fact that the final "t" of "Antichrist" - the title of Lars von Trier's take on the horror genre - is written with the symbol for "woman". Of course by then it was redundant, as the film had steadily and progressively moved towards the re-affirmation of that old mysogynistic adage: Woman=Nature=

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-36375725570306540652010-05-07T11:28:00.004+12:002010-05-07T16:45:48.602+12:00

A Single Man is the film that first-time director Tom Ford has based on Christopher Isherwood beautiful, harsh novel of the same title: a novel about the fraility of love, even when it's of the unique, once-in-a-lifetime kind, and the inevitability of endings. It's also a book about the present as negotiation between memory (often idealised, as in the case of Charley's England) and the promise of

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-40117565544248935092010-03-20T12:26:00.014+13:002010-03-30T20:47:50.758+13:00

Now that the 2010 edition of the NZ Festival of the Arts is over and the long Autumn has begun, it's time to comment briefly on the highs and lows of the shows I saw, and what they meant to me. I was very selective in my first ticket booking, hoping to be able to add more performances as the festival was under way. As it turned out I barely had the time to see what I'd originally chosen: with a

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-11648598734699735192010-03-14T18:38:00.004+13:002010-03-30T13:32:54.041+13:00

Well, this was fun. We've finally reached the conclusion of the Revolt of the Mannequins, by Royal de Luxe, part of the 2010 NZ international Festival of the Arts, and it went out with a bang. Most mannequins have escaped their glass prisons and we'll probably meet them again in the streets of Wellington, passing for regular people. I loved that there were no wrapped-up endings and that we're

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-10281853599962083252010-03-13T13:36:00.005+13:002010-03-14T18:44:58.302+13:00

Days 8 of the Revolt of the Mannequins, by Royal de Luxe, part of the 2010 NZ international Festival of the Arts. For the story so far, see Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Days 4 and 5 and Day 7 (unfortunately, I missed Day 6).Only one more to go and things are getting very interesting with the mannequins refusing to be restrained by their shop windows!Closing-Down SaleEvil Tale For Other People's

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-47826777829837982362010-03-13T05:49:00.005+13:002010-03-13T13:41:41.004+13:00

Days 7 of the Revolt of the Mannequins, by Royal de Luxe, part of the 2010 NZ international Festival of the Arts Unfortunately, I missed Day 6, but you can still see Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Days 4 and 5.Closing-Down SaleEvil Tale for Other People's ChildrenThe Comic Fire BrigadeThe Angelus, by MilletEat Your Soup If You Want To Grow Up Big And StrongNightmare of the PuddleThe HunterThe KitchenThe

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-60675754118315128162010-03-11T08:06:00.007+13:002010-03-13T05:51:56.943+13:00

Days 4 and 5 of the Revolt of the Mannequins, by Royal de Luxe, part of the 2010 NZ international Festival of the Arts (Catch up with Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3).Closing- Down Sale (Things are seriously degenerating)Day 4Day 5Mystery across the streetEvil Tale for Other People's Children Day 4Day 5The Comic Fire-Brigade (I find the way the men of the brigade treat the only woman more annoying than

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-10802235688170696312010-03-10T06:18:00.009+13:002010-03-10T10:43:30.675+13:00

Rarely have I been so annoyed at fellow film-goers as I was at the end of Jane Campion's Bright Star (the photographs in this post are taken mainly from the official website), when the end credits started to roll and Ben Whishaw's voice began reading Ode to a Nightingale, while they - rude and ignorant movie audience that deserve to watch Avatar forever and ever - giggled and talked loudly not

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-42297565089593232122010-03-08T17:22:00.003+13:002010-03-08T17:32:10.783+13:00

Nothing new to report from Day 3 (of 9) of the Revolt of the Mannequins, by Royal de Luxe, part of the 2010 NZ international Festival of the Arts (See Day 1 here andDay 2 here).However, today I've noticed several other evil gnomes (K. calls them "munchkins") at the Evil Tale for Other People's Children performance, right inside the Pearl shop. They look ominous.

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-48047399275644996802010-03-07T13:33:00.000+13:002010-03-07T13:54:16.504+13:00

Second Day of street theatre in Wellington, part of the 2010 NZ international Festival of the ArtsRevolt of the Mannequins, by Royal de Luxe - Day 2 (of 9). See Day 1 here.Closing-Down SaleMystery performance across the road from Closing-Down Sale (unlisted in the programme)Evil Tale for Other People's ChildrenThe Comic Fire BrigadeThe Angelus, By Millet (I love how this developed overnight!)Eat

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-22549183253657672172010-03-06T17:19:00.000+13:002010-03-06T18:31:59.822+13:00

Street theatre in Wellington, part of the 2010 NZ international Festival of the ArtsRevolt of the Mannequins, by Royal de Luxe - Day 1 (of 9)Closing-Down SaleEvil Tale for Other People's ChildrenThe Comic Fire BrigadeThe Angelus, by MilletEat Your Soup If You Want to Grow Up Big And StrongNightmare of the PuddleThe HunterPositive TestThe KitchenThe Lovers

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-32738066957433509912009-04-14T12:59:00.000+12:002009-04-14T13:12:28.636+12:00

The past two Saturdays, I went to Auckland to see The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale staged by the Bridge Project. It's a collaboration between the Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC and the Old Vic in London. Both plays are directed by Sam Mendes and performed by a cast that includes Simon Russell Beale, Sinaed Cusack, Rebecca Hall, Ethan Hawke, Richard Easton, Josh Hamilton and other

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-82581700222080917202009-03-16T13:37:00.000+13:002009-03-16T14:40:09.395+13:00

I am one of the few people I know who'd never seen the cult romantic film of the 1990s, Before Sunrise, by Richard Linklater.Nor its sequel, Before Sunset, set 9 years later and written and directed again by Linklater, again with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as protagonists.And I'm glad I didn't, because this means I could see both movies one night after the other, from the perspective of someone

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-75150513798517696972009-03-07T21:54:00.000+13:002009-03-07T22:00:20.858+13:00

I haven't blogged here in a while, which is unusual considering how many plays, films and art exhibition I've seen lately (I haven't read as much, unfortunately).Instead of talking about the relative disappointment I've felt for films that have received public and critical acclaim (such as Milk, Doubt and Slumdog Millionaire), and what I consider the ridiculous overlooking of Clint Eastwood's

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-8048097800063195062008-12-05T14:17:00.000+13:002008-12-05T21:03:12.789+13:00

I saw this film for the first time almost 20 years ago, when they showed it on TV after the director John Cassavetes' premature death. I remembered it as dominated by Gena Rowland's performance and had a vague memory of the ending, but I had forgotten so much about this wonderful film that watching it again last night was like rediscovering it (and Cassavetes) anew.K. said: "An avant-garde film

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-84435230683165642312008-11-28T06:41:00.000+13:002008-11-30T10:59:05.968+13:00

Some plays are so beautiful to read that it's hard to imagine performances that would have the same impact as the bare words on the page. I've found out that the first British performance (2001) of French playwright Bernard-Marie Koltes (1948-1989)'s In the Solitude of Cotton Fields (1986) was at Aldwych tube station, London. I can just imagine it played against the dirt and desolation of the

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-88305651840233056852008-11-27T21:14:00.000+13:002008-11-27T21:22:54.399+13:00

I went to see The Band's Visit with interest but also some apprehension. The film, directed by Eran Kolirin, has won all kinds of special jury and audience prizes at a great number of festivals, which in my experience often equates with over-sentimental, well-directed, but also rather mainstream films.In this case, however, I was pleasantly surprised.While the story has a sentimental and

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-77549940007948854832008-11-19T07:38:00.000+13:002008-11-19T17:25:06.153+13:00

We stumbled upon the work of Desiree Dolron literally by chance, during a weekend visit to the Pataka Museum in Porirua, which usually displays Kiwi, Australian or Pacific art, or works linked to local communities. It would have been a highly satisfying visit anyway, with Rick Maynard's stunning exhibition of photographies about contemporary Aboriginal life in Australia and Joanna Margaret Paul's

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-49708188175973254052008-11-18T21:59:00.000+13:002008-11-18T22:00:16.678+13:00

As always, the most interesting theatre comes from alternative, off-beat venues. The BATS production of Heat is a surprise hit of the STAB season at that small, experimental theatre.Written by Kiwi playwright Lynda Chanwai-Earle and produced with enviromentally sustainable resources, it tells the story of a husband and wife scientists who spend a winter in a remote science station in Antarctica,

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-60010183594206922812008-11-18T21:16:00.000+13:002008-11-18T21:20:01.201+13:00

I'm becoming a bit hard to please when it comes to theatre. I saw the Downstage production of The Little Dog Laughed.This American play by Douglas Carter Beane had a very successful run on Broadway in 2006, receiving critical acclaim and a number of awards, including GLAADs and Tonys. Yet, I found it a bit predictable, with characters who resembled more stereotypes than people, especially the

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-29931049397384622912008-08-03T16:46:00.000+12:002008-08-03T18:11:55.861+12:00

Please, note, feeds are now set on "short", so you need to click on the link to read the full blog entry.At 87, Eric Rohmer remains, without a doubt, my favourite film director of all times and the one who best expresses my inner life, thoughts on love, friendship, beauty, humour and, well, just about everything. The Green Ray, My Friend's Friend and The Nights of the Full Moon are the films I

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-53420663077044155782008-08-01T12:59:00.000+12:002008-08-01T13:33:51.625+12:00

Lat weekend I saw a few films at the New Zealand International Film Festival in Auckland. These included the sweet Lebanese film Caramel - with an unexpected lesbian sub-plot - directed by Nadine Labaki, and the Irish The Escapist, a solid, well-acted and funny, if a little predictable, escape-from-prison movie, directed by Ruper Wyatt. I didn't quite get if Joseph Fiennes's taken on Meloni's

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-45749931838369415822008-07-21T18:04:00.000+12:002008-07-21T18:55:04.988+12:00

Yesterday, I visited the Fiona Hall exhibition and the Wellington City Gallery.It was a bit casual, because I was going to the Film Festival, but then wasted time over a pear and almond tarte at a French restaurant and missed the film I wanted to see. No other films appealed to me, while art rarely bores me.This was a new discovery as I didn't know the artist at all. She's Australian and uses all

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-23026215387161644122008-07-13T21:58:00.000+12:002008-07-13T22:16:50.387+12:00

I finally went to the Rita Angus exhibtion at The Papa. I'm still processing it all and will need to go a few more times, probably take the curator's tour. But here are a few random observations:Rutu (1951) is without a doubt, a masterpiece: the composition, the intensity of the colours, the "new-zealandness", the whole concept behind it, lift it above everything else she's done.Overall, her

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-76456821709508732542008-07-12T09:56:00.000+12:002008-07-12T10:18:43.695+12:00

Last night I went to see a NZ-created musical, Rome: The Musical at the Circa Theatre.The fabulous book and lyrics are by Paul Jenden, who also directs, and the music is by Gareth Farr:The creators of Troy and Monarchy complete their trilogy of historical musicals with a wildly inaccurate romp through the Roman Empire. The Events of decades are condensed into the space of just one evening, when

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-91923437205232693102008-07-09T13:40:00.000+12:002008-07-14T08:08:18.297+12:00

I've read a beautiful book. The biography of Rita Angus, one of the quintessential New Zeland artists, who contributed to the creation of a truly national sense of culture and identity.What is so interesting about an artist who married young, divorced shortly afterwards, had no children, lived mostly on her own and in isolation, travelled to Europe only once, was a pacifist and a feminist,

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-79055986325398114312008-05-22T22:43:00.000+12:002008-05-23T00:19:00.810+12:00

Bone, written by John Donnelly and directed by Lara Macgregor.I saw this play at Circa, one of my favourite theatres in Wellington, NZ. It's a very recent one-act British play. Three characters - a middle-aged woman, a 30-year old man and a 20-something man - deliver three parallel monologues which intersect only thematically, their storylines never connecting, if not by the power language and

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-89615777713212282202008-05-17T07:58:00.000+12:002008-05-17T08:49:10.749+12:00

Words and images by Leonard Cohen and music by Philip GlassI've been listening to this work that Glass composed on a selection of Cohen's images and poems from his Book of Longing for over a week.I wish I could say I love it, because the Cohen/Glass combination sounded irresistable to me and I greatly regretted being unable to attend the live performance of the song cycle when it came to the

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-54220669552252693242008-05-10T11:19:00.000+12:002008-05-10T13:00:27.378+12:00

Lars and the Real Girl, written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Craig Gillespie (2007)It's a very sweet, heart-warming and the same time quite melancholy (in other words, right up my alley) film about loneliness, the desire for love and a community that goes to great lengths to show they care for one of its most "excentric" members, Lars, played by the wonderful Ryan Gosling.Gosling should be

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-69912952124004135872008-05-09T13:57:00.000+12:002008-05-09T15:29:57.266+12:00

I wanted to post this poem by Salvatore Quasimodo on the 25th of April, anniversary of the Italian resistance against Fascism and the Nazist occupation, but I couldn't find an English translation. I've finally found it, so here it is. The translation is by Allen Mandlebaum, but I have modified it slightly.On the Willow Branches And how could we singwith the foreign foot upon our heart,among the

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-61597116770826913282008-05-08T20:54:00.000+12:002008-05-08T20:56:01.257+12:00

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7994302125127260032.post-71189811854738184142008-05-06T08:09:00.000+12:002008-05-06T13:08:14.119+12:00

"The novel is a capacious old whore: everyone has a go at her, but she rarely emits so much as a groan for their efforts," he said. "The short story, on the other hand, is a nimble goddess: she selects her suitors fastidiously and sings like a dove when they succeed. The British literary bordello is heaving with flabby novels; it's time to give back some love to the story."Alex LinklaterI hope

C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02269381811355758259noreply@blogger.com2