In Search of Beethoven's genius

You don’t have to be a fan of classical music to know and have enjoyed Ludwig van Beethoven’s music. Whether it’s Symphony No.9 in Clockwork Orange or the 5th in Picnic at Hanging Rock or numerous others movie scores, it has popular appeal beyond the concert hall or classic CD collection. Moonlight Sonata, Ode to Joy and many more are generally recognised.

As a follow-up to In Search of Mozart, Phil Grabsky brings us a monumental 139 minute tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven. In Search of Beethoven is detailed, informative, entertaining and thought provoking with a comprehensive, chronological introduction to his life and his works. There are 55 performances from some of the world’s best orchestras and artists.

However, it’s too long for the cinema. Long enough to make a worthy three part TV series. There are too many talking heads. Perhaps Grabsky didn’t want to offend any of the multitudes of experts by leaving them out.

It’s beautifully filmed but relies heavily on the clichés of this documentary genre. It isn’t easy to match the aural majesty with enough visual splendours. Inevitably it falls back on: orchestras in every state of rehearsal or performance; close ups of pianists, cellists and other performers; the rear view of numerous conductors' torsos; paintings interspersed with modern day exteriors of Vienna and similar locales. He also seems to favour chopping off the tops of heads unless they are entrants in the competition for the most disheveled male Beet hairstyle.

Fidelio, Beethoven’s only finished opera, brings some much needed drama and visual engagement.

Juliet Stevenson’s narration is crisp and fresh, perhaps too detached at times given the passionate nature of the subject.

Mercifully Grabsky has steered clear of re-enactments. Nor has the use of David Dawson as Beethoven’s voice been overdone. In fact more of the story in Beethoven's own words might have helped our understanding of his true character. The filmmakers’ claim that it uncovers the myth of the “heroic, tormented figure battling to overcome his tragic fate, struck down by deafness, who searched for his 'immortal beloved' but remained unmarried. It delves beyond the image of the tortured, cantankerous, unhinged personality, to reveal someone quite different and far more interesting.”

However, this search for the real person falls short. We do not really get into Beethoven’s heart or mind. In fact we learn more about his drinking habits than his attitudes to women, marriage or children. There is little revealing material from his own writing or those who were close to him such as his nephew or his romantic interests.

Don’t be put off. Watch this one for the joy of the music.

Greenaway Reconstructs Leonardo's Last Supper

Peter Greenaway's Installation Art Captures Melbourne

Leonardo's Last Supper has come to Melbourne for the International Arts Festival this year. It's one of Peter Greenaway's image technology installation art projects. It follows the success of his multimedia event 'Rembrandt's The Nightwatch at the Rijksmuseum' in Amsterdam in 2006.

Greenaway calls these art forms, "speculative painting-cinema dialogues". Greenaway has reinvented himself as a new Da Vinci. Had Leonardo been alive today, "an investigation into the continuity and correspondence between the language of painting and the language of cinema would have been obligatory for him".

Da Vinci Cloned

Unfortunately it could not be the original masterpiece. However the reproduction is cleverly forged, in both senses of the word. It is claimed to be, "a perfect, three-dimensional sculptural clone of Milan's crumbling, 510-year-old chapel wall and painting."

The half hour show alternates between caressing and interrogating the painting. The micro-accuracy of the the video projections is astounding. Today's audio-visual presentations are certainly light-years ahead of the old slide projectors.

Is Cinema dead?

Ground-breaking film director Greenaway declared cinema dead as early as 2003. This seeming about-face may have been a consequence of his 1999 movie, and perhaps last true cinema production, 8 1/2 Women. It received a drubbing from most reviewers at the time.

His cinema triumphs include the beautiful The Draughtsman's Contract where his early training as a painter brought magnificent scene scapes to this period piece. Drowning by Numbers drew on his skills as a film editor in constructing its elaborate storyline. The Cook, the Thief, his Wife & her Lover became a cult movie very quickly. The Pillow Book is perhaps his best film, as he mixed media to telling effect. It weaves traditional Chinese and Japanese poetry and calligraphy into an exploration of sensuality by its extensive use of body painting.

Last Supper Highlights

There are many highlights during the half-hour with Jesus Christ and his twelve apostles. The exploration of the hands is particularly striking. The opposite wall hosts a cascade of highly detailed close-ups of the painting's grainy texture. It reveals a fascinating perspective that is
usually hidden from an audience. The painting itself started to disintegrate not long after it was finished in the 1490s. Since the effects of numerous restorations have been removed, The Last Supper is now close to the original except of course for its fragmented state.

The audience crowds around a table of food and drink dividing the installation room. Bread and wine are the essentials.

Nine Classic Paintings Revisited

The other art works in the proposed Nine Classic Paintings Revisited series are: Veronese's The Wedding At Cana, Picasso's Guernica, Velasquez's Las Meninas, Seurat's La Grande Jatte, Monet's The Water Lilies - Nympheas, Jackson Pollock's One: Number 31, and Michelangelo's The Last Judgement.

For the multitudes that can't attend one of the original venues, hopefully there will be traveling versions that match the high quality of this Melbourne event.

Peter Greenaway is performing the last rites for the cinema a little prematurely. But it's a performance that's well worth attending.

(This article first appeared on Associated Content)

Departures Intimate Touch

Departures (Okuribito) is a Japanese film that everyone should see. It is about death and grieving but don't be put off by the subject matter. It's about family, relationships and identity, plus the role of tradition and ritual in everyday lives. The story also explores the role and importance of work in our lives. It does so with a gentle touch and good humour.

This movie has a stellar cast. Masahiro Motoki won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Leading Actor 2008 for his role as cellist turned novice mortician Daigo Kobayashi.

Tsutomu Yamazaki plays his master Ikuei Sasaki. This veteran actor captured the award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. His best-known role outside Japan is probably that of the trucker in the classic noodle film Tampopo. He continues his romance with food in this part.

Ryoko Hirosue as Daigo's somewhat insipid wife Mika, is a previous best supporting actress winner from 2000. Apparently her fame started with a series of cosmetics advertisements. Coincidentally makeup is a skill that Daigo has to acquire in his new job. It's hard to judge her ability, as this role doesn't offer much with its confining stereotype. It is the weakest part of a mainly robust script. The other major blemish is the predictability of the plot. That seems to be inevitable with this kind of soft-centred drama.

When Daigo's orchestra is disbanded he leaves Tokyo for his small hometown Sakata. There he inadvertently applies for a job in "departures". It turns out to be working in decoffination, a funeral ceremony that prepares the deceased for burial. It is normally conducted with the family and close friends present and involved. The story is his journey of self-discovery as he becomes a professional.

Fortunately there is a current of humour that helps to elevate the movie from the potential for melodrama. Motoki's facial expressions are a key element in pitching the right level of levity in a story that has death as a central theme. The departure ceremony is deftly handled, showing both the intimate and touching side of saying goodbye and the potential for explosive behaviour among the mourners. Both actors perform the elaborate rites in an extremely convincing manner.

Another veteran of Japanese cinema, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, plays bathhouse owner Tsuyako. She refuses to sell her business for condominiums despite pressure from her son. Takashi Sasano brings more cinema experience as her best customer and friend Shokichi, whose own occupation takes on significance at the conclusion of the story. This sub plot builds on the theme of traditional Japanese culture that the film is exploring.

Departures is a moving journey into the world of death and funerals. However, its 130 minutes could have been chopped. The first hour and a half flies by, with tight direction from Yojiro Takita. The last thirty minutes or so is sometimes irritatingly slow and repetitive. For example the giving of stones symbolism is overworked. It has become more than obvious that Daigo's father gave him a rough and heavy burden to carry through life.

It was a unlikely winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars. It is a journey that is well worth taking.

(This post was first published at Associated Content)

Julie & Julia Film Review: Eating Their Words

A Food Film to Savour

My partner is a food tragic who regularly turns today's exotic TV recipe into tonight's meal. Like Julia Child I'm good at eating, very good. My lack in culinary skills is balanced by my blogging. Between us we have the perfect credentials to review Julie & Julia.

This movie was a must see for us. In addition to the aforementioned interests, we have always been keen followers of that limited but classy genre, food films. Greats like 'La Grande Bouffe', 'Tampopo', and 'Eat Drink, Man Woman' cover a range of cuisines such as Scandinavian, Japanese, Italian and Chinese. 'Julie and Julia' adds a gastronomic tableau of French delights. It's not those who are butter shy.

Writer/director Nora Ephron has a track record of fluffy, feel-goods such as 'Bewitched', 'Michael' and 'Sleepless in Seattle'. Her latest film is a leap forward, perhaps because of the outstanding cast or its irresistible storylines. Meryl Streep is superb as the eccentric and original Julia Child. Amy Adams carries off the stressed joy-germ Julie Powell with seeming ease. They are well matched and perfectly juxtaposed. Only fifty years prevent them from building on their memorable interactions in Doubt. This time superior and novice meet in a virtual world.

The husbands are not an equal pair. Stanley Tucci has the more compelling character in Julia's husband Paul. He thoroughly eclipses Chris Messina's portrayal of Eric Powell. To be fair to Chris, he had little to work with. His one-dimensional character is the weak link in the script. It is ironic that the really moving love story belongs to the older couple.

A highlight is Julia's interactions with sister Dorothy, played with zany gusto by Jane Lynch. They are real gems.

In 1950s Paris, the Child's have the pick of the settings for romantic comedy. Ephron manages to give the overworked city a fresh look in this delicious twist on the American in Paris genre. The Powell's apartment above a pizzeria in Queens, New York, offers a suitably unglamorous contrast to that other great metropolis.

Fans of Julie and/or Julia should try not to bring along too much baggage. The audience is reminded regularly that the movie is based on two "true" stories and two autobiographical books. But in the end this is fiction. It's all too good to be true. Don't expect more than a superficial dip into the lives of these two remarkable celebrities. Their haracters' flaws are the ones we'd all like to have.

Some aspects of the movie are disappointing. Meryl Streep's performance is captivating but it does not escape caricature at times. Amy Adams is the girl-next-door whose antics borrow a bit too much from sit com humour.

In essence the film is fun, not drama. It's a glorious sensual experience in both senses of the word.

Enjoy! Bon appetite!

(This post was first published at Associated Content)

Séraphine's unique vision

Séraphine is the 'true' story of Séraphine Louis de Senlis. It is a French language film about art, about sanity, and about class. She is one of the invisible people, a maid, cleaner, clothes washer and odd jobs person. She is also a painter of rare talent, an autodidact who paints because her religious voices tell her to.

This French servant of the Virgin Mary is discovered by a German agnostic, gay art collector, Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur). (Uhde was an early admirer of Picasso.) Two world wars and the depression punctuate their personal and professional association. Wilhelm encourages Séraphine to develop her painting.

This is a slow but moving portrayal of this unique and little known woman. Director and co-writer Martin Provost is clearly mesmerised by her:

Séraphine is a visionary in the powerful sense of the word. She let herself be carried by something that was stronger than she was, that she did not control, at the risk of destroying herself. This moved me deeply.
Director Interview

Provost milks the French rural settings for all their beauty and tranquility. However, the 125 minutes could have been cut back without losing any of the film's emotional and intellectual impact. It's a visual feast. Séraphine's paintings are also a revelation.

The two leads are exceptionally good. Yolande Moreau lives the role in a memorable performance. Her Mary Poppins silhouette of hat, bag and umbrella graces the screen with both pathos and humour.

Her urbane patron is well captured by Tukur, presenting the gentleness and humanity that are central to the character. No Germanic stereotyping here. The supporting cast keep up the high standard.