sacred and profane love ( film )
the sacred and profane love: a visual analysis. the definitive precursor to understanding the sacred and profane love' s complexity .
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this article is about the painting by titian. for the 1921 film, see sacred and profane love (film). for the novel, see arnold bennett .
nadia gaus notes that while the title might at first lead one to view the left hand woman as the sacred one, further thought leads to the opposite interpretation: the well dressed woman is profane love while the nude woman is sacred love .
sacred and profane love. a man with 2 families - his
sacred
, or legitimate family comprised of his wife and son david, and his
profane
comprised of his mistress and son luca. these families slowly start to unravel and take the participants down with them. exploration of the meaning of love and neverending quest for the heart' s satisfaction .
swinging between his wife and his mistress in the sacred and profane love machine and between the charms of morality and the excitements of sin, the psychotherapist, blaise gavender, sometimes wishes he could divide himself in two. instead, he lets loose misery and confusion and—for the spectators at any rate—a morality play, rich in reflections upon the paradoxes of human life and the nature of the battle between sacred and profane love .
swinging between his wife and his mistress in the sacred and profane love machine and between the charms of morality and the excitements of sin, the psychotherapist, blaise gavender, sometimes wishes he could divide himself in two. instead, he lets loose misery and confusion and - - for the spectators at any rate - - a morality play, rich in reflections upon the paradoxes of human life and the nature of the battle between sacred and profane love .
the company’s current season at the joyce theater is titled “sacred and profane, ” and one program that i saw was preceded by a film of that name created by former graham company member peter sparling. in it, images of graham in her great 1931 primitive mysteries swim through those of an unfurling golden blossom (perhaps a night - blooming cereus) and multiple ones of the back of a naked seated dancer. figuring out what’s sacred and what’s profane in what occurs onstage is not always simple (or desirable, given that your sacred may be my profane and vice versa) .
2 the film won the palme d' or at the 1960 cannes film festival .
hikari mitsushima, left, and takahiro nishijima in “love exposure, ” a tangled love story directed by sion sono .
, issued in connection with an exhibition held nov. 11, 2008 - feb. 16, 2009, metropolitan museum of art, new york (see picturing the perfect marriage: the equilibrium of sense and sensibility in titian' s sacred and profane love
while reading the sacred and profane love machine i could not contain my mind from whispering zelda fitzgerald’s quote: “nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold. ”. iris mudoch explores through her characters a world of pain and agony in contrast with inocence, each emotion being closely supervised by each one’s conscience... child or adult, gullible or cynicle, characters choose to lie or to accept lies in order to maintain an ordinary life; until the unconceivable happens and the war between sacred and profane love starts .
perverts prowl and women’s panties tremble in “love exposure, ” a tangled, tumultuous love story from the teeming mind of sion sono .
in the novel
the sacred and profane love machine
is a philosophical battle between two question; are we able to live without god? if so how will be our behaviour? and it will follow what is honesty? is it the feminine universe better than the masculine? in other words this novel is a portrait of insignificant people but extremely able to inflict suffering to their similar. reading the sacred and profane you will be surprised about the characteristics of blaise gavender he is proud of having a do
i love murdoch for her wonderful brain and the way she is able to intersperse a philosophy of life and love and happiness in the beautiful prose of her stories .
swinging between his wife and his mistress in the sacred and profane love machine and between the charms of morality and the excitements of sin, the psychotherapist, blaise gavender, sometimes wishes he could divide himself in two. instead, he lets loose misery and confusion and—for the spectators at any rate—a morality play, rich in reflections upon the paradoxes of human
pack your beach blanket for a bittersweet tale of love and summer' s magic .
merging the sacred and the profane, the bloody and the batty, “love exposure” tunnels into serious topics — warped parenting, sexual intolerance and the way religious cults enslave damaged souls — with a hilariously blasphemous shovel. exhibiting astonishing dexterity, mr. sono shapes all this trauma into a narrative that’s completely coherent and surprisingly touching, never more so than in yu’s struggle toward sexual maturity .
taken as a modern parable, the brazilian drama “the priest and the girl, ” which arrived at the quad cinema recently, is as mildly disturbing and fascinating as a faintly remembered legend. but it is a good deal more effective in its sharp focus on a distant but picturesque area and its depressed, littleknown simple people than in its thematic clashes between sacred and profane love, temptation and native mores .
in pictures - the story of love and romance: from adam and eve to tinder and chemsex. compiled by martin chilton
ortega y gasset projects is pleased to present the sacred and profane love machine, an exhibition organized by karla wozniak comprising artworks by susan bee, lucy kim, brian scott campbell, pat mcelnea, and emily janowick. the exhibition is inspired by the iris murdoch novel of the same name—a psychologically rich tale of characters caught in a complex web of emotional and sexual experiences. similarly, the artworks in this exhibition negotiate intimate, charged situations. the pieces tell stories of love, heartache, and orgiastic ecstasy .
brock was also intrigued by the triangular love story.' the essence of it, for me, is the very singular love story between charles, the outsider, and two incredibly vivid young people - beautiful, tortured, wonderful people, julia and sebastian - whom he falls in love with.'
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the film daily (jan - jun 1921): new york, wid' s films and film folk, inc. : free download, borrow, and streaming: internet archive
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
a poignant story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in england prior to the second world war .
lorenzo pagano and xin ying in annie - b parson’s i used to love you. photo: brigid pierce .
“you know what. you' ve killed me and sent me to hell, and you must descend to the underworld to find me and make me live again. if you don' t come for me, i' ll become a demon and drag you down into the dark. ” ― iris murdoch, the sacred and profane love machine now, that’s the kind of love than is a joy to read about, if not to experience. about two pages into this novel, i was ready to propose to this ingenious piece of writing. let' s for the purpose of this metaphor imagine i really went searchin
while reading the sacred and profane love machine i could not contain my mind from whispering zelda fitzgerald’s quote: “nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold. ”. iris mudoch explores through her characters a world of pain and agony in contrast with inocence, each emotion being closely supervised by each one’s conscience... child or adult, gullible or cynicle, characters choose to lie or to accept lies in order to maintain an ordinary life; until the unconceivable
founded in 1999, senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional, high quality film - related content on the internet .
what marks irish murdoch' s novels is her benevolence. the main theme of the novels is love, love requited and unrequited, normal and abnormal. terrible things may occur in her novels or be related by one of her characters but there is no indulgence in evil no presentation of it with malicious intent using realism or plot as a pretext for something unwholesome. the driving ambition of her characters is often victory in love. defeat is frequent and harrowing but ultimately her faith in love prevai
this week’s adorer is rich haridy, known to film buffs and twitterati alike as rich on film, which is his terrific website chock - full of film reviews, opinion pieces and ace videos from around the interwebs. today, rich will lay down his love for one of the more controversial, hard - hitting motion pictures of the last decade — but helpfully, has written it forwards, rather than backwards…
i just looked it up in our wonderful wikipaedia and found that iris murdoch wrote 27 novels, the rest of her writings philosophy, plays and poetry. i haven' t read them all, but by comparison the sacred and profane love machine stands out from the rest which is also excellent, of course. well, what can i say about iris murdoch that hasn' t been said before - and better. what is so very enjoyable in any book by iris murdoch is how she uses her vast knowledge, studies, readings - in short her knowle
i’m not sure how i feel about this one... is it 3 stars or 4? love or hate ?
this collection helps us see von stroheim in all of his glory - - how he provided a crucial filmmaking bridge between d. w. griffith (who cast von stroheim in bits parts in his films) and billy wilder (whose casting of von stroheim in sunset boulevard remains a curiosity to this day). the movies show von stroheim' s obsession with a young america vs. an old europe, temptation and seduction, the sacred and the profane .
2 women in love (ken russell, 1969) fellini once proudly claimed that in his home country' they call me the italian ken russell!' certainly these two untameable mavericks share a common sensibility, the edgy european vibrancy, anarchic musicality, and recurrent blend of the sacred and the profane marking them out as rebellious auteurs. women in love is russell' s most celebrated work, and (like all his movies) owes a debt to the italian maestro' s enduring legacy.' we are not afraid to be operatic,' says russell of the connection between himself and fellini.' in terms of cinema, we cherish that quality - which is often considered to be a dirty word here in england.'
annie - b parson’s i used to love you. xin ying getting riled up. lorenzo pagano napping. photo: brigid pierce
loving all the christmas trees, tinsel, coloured lights and glistening presents surrounding us at the moment, but what we love most of all at why i adore… hq is the feeling of goodwill and love to one’s fellow peeps. ‘cause, y’know, that’s what we’re all about here at love and adoration central. so i wish all our readers a massively merry christmas, happy festive season and a stupidly kick - ass / arse new year! ! !
in the novel
the sacred and profane love machine
is a philosophical battle between two question; are we able to live without god? if so how will be our behaviour? and it will follow what is honesty? is it the feminine universe better than the masculine? in other words this novel is a portrait of insignificant people but extremely able to inflict suffering to their similar. reading the sacred and profane you will be surprised about the characteristics of blaise gavender he is proud of having a double life with two women, a supporter of betrayal and able to lie to these women. harriet, the wife of blaise, will pronounce a central phrase or better a summary of her suffering' i am not the good person i used to think i was? why she pronounced this phrase is it due to her personality or a reaction to the betrayal of blaise? or due to the local society? in conclusion this is a perfect and true portrait of our society where there is a lack of morality and justice, everything is leaded by our interests and an erroneous interpretation of our free will ?
for the television series the writers john mortimer and derek granger dramatised evelyn waugh' s classic novel - the story of a middle - class outsider, charles ryder, and his relationship with a doomed aristocratic catholic family - almost word for word. they got around the novel' s first - person narrative - it is presented as' the sacred and profane memories of captain charles ryder' - by having jeremy irons, who played ryder, recite great chunks of original prose in voiceover .
this is wonderful writing deborah and i hope “i used to love you” is on the program when the graham company comes to portland later in the spring .
an interview with writer / director boots riley about his incendiary new film ,
sorry to bother you .
i saw someone reviewed this novel as
a british love pentagon
and i thought, hey, that was my life back in the day so why not re - live a little ptsd (yes, i did experience nightmares of british men with gapped teeth, considerable noses, and patchy facial hair while reading this). i was not disappointed, either. i mean the incest was a little much, but i get all the freudian sexual, mother - son, theories, i get it, really. i just wish there was a little more homosexuality, but this isn' t my autobiography. anyway, reasons worth reading: 1. freudian psychoanalysis in narrative format (if you' re into that) 2. philosophical underlyings 3. complex relationships - - british love pentagon 4. there' s a character named monty 5. beautifully written 6. there' s masturbation 7. the sacred and profane love machine is the male gentalia that women must ultimately get on their knees and worship (quite literally )
the film was reportedly controversial in brazil. but an american viewer finds it difficult to relate to the tragedy except on its obvious terms. one can see that the priest, played in properly anguished style by paulo jose, is torn between his churchly mission to love all mankind and the physical love literally thrust upon him. but the affection demanded bi the girl, portrayed feelingly, if naively, by helena ignez, is only vaguely realized .
this week’s adorer is writer martyn pedler, who is the comic book columnist for bookslut, film critic for triple j magazine, currently in the midst of a ph. d on superhero stories and screenwriter of the upcoming feature film exit. find his thoughts and reviews at his website or his ever - eloquent and interesting tweets over at twitter. the film he chooses to adore today marked the feature debut of one of the world’s finest writer / directors of animation, and gave one of the last decade’s most famous action film stars his greatest role… albeit, off - screen…
in fact, the whole final act of the film is a remarkable achievement. noe climaxes his film with one of the most beautiful love scenes i have ever seen. the sequence with cassell and belucci wandering around their apartment, playing music, and simply being in love is as powerful as anything noe has shown us. it is in these moments that the trauma of the earlier sequences pay off. the violence and rape we had previously experienced needed to be as strong as it was in order to reverberate through to these closing sequences. the emotional complexity that we, the audience, feel as we balance the physical trauma from earlier in the film with these later scenes of abject beauty is where irreversible begins to soar as a total experience .
carlotta fonzi kliemann is professor of film studies, dept. of humanities, social sciences & business, syracuse university in florence .
this blog acknowledges my appetite for devouring dancing and spitting out responses to it. criticism that i love to read—and have been struggling to write ever since the late 1960s—probes deeply and imaginatively into choreography and dancing, … [ read more... ]
hello and welcome back to the plush surrounds of why i adore, where no movie love is too arcane, ridiculous or predictable – all are welcome here! i absolutely love it when someone adores something that isn’t roundly championed, or acclaimed, or, well, even thought of by most people. see, i have a theory that every single film ever made – well, okay, say, 95% of films ever made – is somebody’s favourite movie. further to this, i believe that, yes, every feature film ever made is adored by someone. so why am i going on about this ?
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
one is inclined to wonder at the truth of her plea for love and protection when she sobbingly says to the confused young priest, “i love only you. ” their ensuing flight from the village, her seduction of the priest (artistically underplayed), their return home and their expulsion and pursuit by the villagers are, one supposes, meant to be meaningful, but the impact is only slight .
one year and one day ago, we started this site to combat the culture of complete negativity and quick - draw snark that rules the internet, and create a small but defiant corner of the web devoted to why we’re all interested in the audiovisual medium of film in the first place: love. we all fell at some point. and you know what? we all will again .
after a lengthy hiatus, we’re back to share the film and television loves of people far and wide, to bring some pop culture positivity back to the internet! and, also… it’s our birthday .
1 most of the film was shot in a studio. over 80 sets were made including the dome of st peter' s basilica .
noe then reveals his ultimate gut - punch, that belucci was pregnant, and culminates his film with the most gorgeous 5 minutes of cinema i have ever seen .
yesterday was the first anniversary of when we launched the site! in the year why i adore has been running, we’ve had contributors from australia and england – actors, writers, film critics, filmmakers, a tv host, a literary editor and a film distribution exec have all contributed. fourteen fond, funny and fabulous valentines to cinema, tv, actors, filmmakers and shots. and, now…
one of the acknowledged masters of the short story gives readers a gripping ride through narratives that shock, compel, and always entertain. few authors in america write with such sheer love of language and imagination as t. c. boyle, and ...
the same literary quality can be found in the film’s screenplay. sorrentino has stated, in a number of interviews, that “working with words” is much more complex than shooting a film. his fascination with literature has produced two novels: hanno tutti ragione (2010) and tony pagada e i suoi amici (2012) .
time destroys everything indeed. a nihilistic philosophy? maybe. but never has a philosophical precept been so well conveyed experientially as noe does with irreversible (the other film in recent memory that works in similar ways is jim jarmusch’s broken flowers. jarmusch uses repetition and cycles in his film to experientially convey the zen themes underlying his film, but that is a whole other essay). in many ways, i consider noe to be a spiritual successor to stanley kubrick (noe’s own personal obsession with kubrick cannot go unnoticed and his most recent film, enter the void, has been compared to 2001 frequently). they are both filmmakers who have a fascination with pushing the technological limits of film and they are unafraid to polarise their audience for the sake of a reaction (see full metal jacket for kubrick’s most powerful attempt at alienating his audience) .
now all this in and of itself isn’t what makes irreversible a great film. sure, it’s provocative stuff, but it’s not merely a superficial formal exercise. noe uses these formal elements in irreversible with sharp precision for a reason. much like memento, the other big reverse chronology film from the last decade, irreversible uses audacious formal devices to service and enhance its narrative and thematic concerns .
dill leaves mary standing at the altar in order to marry his old flame, connie, instead. knowing that mary still has feelings for dill, jeff keeps quiet about his own love for her .
that’s exactly what the giant does. it doesn’t say much during the film, but i’ll never forget how, hurt and proud in equal measure, it announces: “i am not a gun” .
irreversible is not only my favourite film from the last decade, but it is one of the most amazingly transcendent cinematic experiences i have ever had and i completely adore gaspar noe for creating it .
later, sebastian catches julia and charles kissing, triggering a thudding sense of betrayal that contributes to his outburst at julia' s 21st birthday party -' you don' t care about me! all you ever wanted was to f * * * my sister!' - and his subsequent decline. (in the novel, by the time julia and charles sleep together, sebastian has long disappeared to fez .) it is easy to see why the message boards on internet film sites are humming with accusations from waugh fans that their sacred text has been turned into a' cheap romantic farce' .
but why this film? because i can watch it a million times over and not be bored with it, i still laugh at the jokes and i adore screening it to unsuspecting friends who haven’t seen it, with giddy delight .
there’s probably some psychological reason why i hold this film so dear to my heart, but i find it more hilarious than heart - warming which eases my perhaps unstable mind .
members of the martha graham dance company in annie - b parson’s i used to love you. (l to r): anne o’donnell, leslie andrea williams, laurel dalley smith, and xin ying. onscreen: martha graham as jocasta and the set for her punch and the judy. photo: brigid pierce .
6 the film received 20 minutes of applause when a rough edit was shown, but at its premiere in milan people booed and protested during the film. a woman approached fellini as he left the cinema, saying,' you are putting italy into the hands of the bolsheviks', while a man spat on him. fellini received 400 telegrams accusing him of atheism, communism and treason within a day of the milan showing .
so why a film?' it' s never been a movie,' the producer kevin loader points out.' it' s one of the great english novels which has never been filmed.' mgm tried to make a film in the late 1940s, but it was dropped after waugh raised objections to hollywood treating brideshead revisited' purely as a love story.' soon after, graham greene (a catholic convert, like waugh) was signed up to write a screenplay, but that too never made it into production. which is strange: with its ravishing settings and vivid atmospherics, brideshead lends itself to the big - screen treatment .
hope you’re enjoying this second season of pieces as much as i’ve dug receiving and reading them! i just love hearing people’s passion for filmed works – and practitioners thereof – that inspire, enrich or just flat - out entertain them. speaking of which, why don’t you get yourself a drink, pull up a couch and get ready for…
i had to think long and hard about what to write about for the esteemed why i adore forum, and though such things as the mysterious cities of gold and the princess bride or hercules returns spring from my childhood, a film that i absolutely adore today is edgar wright’s hot fuzz, with simon pegg and nick frost .
great cinema for me is cinema that makes me feel something. it’s cinema that disturbs me, excites me, disorientates me. it burrows into the backwoods of my mind and takes up permanent residence. days, weeks, months, or even sometimes years later, it still sits there and makes itself known anytime someone mentions its title. irreversible changed me on a cellular level. i had never been so physically affected by a film before. the blunt force of the formal elements in this film hit me very hard. this wasn’t a feeling of anger or mere offence, but rather the totality of the experience that this film offered me was unprecedented .
there is a massive number of characters in the film, played by numerous cameos; hell, i even saw cate blanchett in there, perhaps because i’m aussie and can recognise her voice and her eyes (because that’s all you get to pick her by, and yes, i fell in love with them as much as peter jackson did in lotr). the head of the nwa is edward woodward, who played breaker morant, and they’ve got one of my favourite 007’s, timothy dalton! (he even said that he had more fun filming hot fuzz than 007! )
welcome back to why i adore! been receiving some brilliant submissions this week, which we’ll have in store for you soon, so please keep ’em coming! send your love letter to any filmic or televisual objet j’adore to whyiadore @ gmail. com !
jean - luc godard said that all you need is a girl and a gun. most of the time, i’m convinced movies only really require the latter. i love peckinpah stand - offs and john woo double - handed slow motion firefights and the early explosions of michael bay – and yet one of my all - time favourite films thinks there’s nothing more insulting than being called a gun .
to bring an end to all the crazy long layoffs, why i adore will now be posted in six - part “seasons”. this means we’ll at least get a month and a half of consistent weekly articles, and gives the site a structure it has previously lacked. so, if you’re interested in shouting your love of something, anything, about film and tv from the interwebby rooftops, please write it up (no longer than 1500 words, please) and email it to whyiadore @ urltoken – you can even suggest any pictures and clips you’d like to see added. (see the about page for more info. )
the company is offering two world premieres during its two - week joyce season: i used to love you by annie - b parson (her second work for the company), and mosaic by sidi larbi cherkaoui. pontus lidberg’s woodland is new to new york, although his work is familiar (new york city ballet premiered his the shimmering asphalt just this past january). of the three works, i used to love you is the most complex and the most audacious—both in terms of its subject and the ways in which it challenges the performers. parson has reassembled characters and bits of choreography from graham’s satirical 1941 punch and the judy (a clip from a 1940s silent film of it has been playing while the audience enters the theater). furthermore, the ingenious video by jeff larson that plays on a medium - sized, home - movie screen whirls and fragments images of that cast, amid advisory titles and intermittent blips, squiggles, and other effects. tei blow’s music emphasizes the strange connections between past history and present innovation .
simon van der spoel is a queensland filmmaker who has been working around the traps of tv newsrooms as a cameraman and as an independent filmmaker for nearly a decade. his first film, the wwii aircraft documentary spitfire guardians, was screened on foxtel’s history channel, and he’s currently writing and developing the independent sas action feature redeemed. you can find out more about simon’s career at his blog, right here. so, what does an action film loving director like simon adore… well, if you run out and get him a cornetto, he might tell you…
when cunningham - as - pegasus might make an entry, he doesn’t. no, no, we’re told in projected words, no we can’t see that. however ben schultz enters, and he and pagano, sitting on the upstage bed, remove their shirts, and after a couple of suggestive poses, lie stiffly side - by - side, while doomy music sounds, and ying’s face appears in close - up on the screen and vibrates. the “fates, ” who have been dozing, wake up, and lines like “she must have known! ” can be heard. they also mention her hurt feelings, that’s putting it mildly. ying goes crazy, whipping and throwing around one of the men’s discarded tee - shirts. graham’s judy, as a small figure in the film, looks as if she were trying to make sense of punch’s peccadilloes; ying looks as if she has murder on her mind, and the three women sit on the floor and pull their bright - colored skirts over their heads while she rages. a huge projected, barren globe moves closer and closer and sinks below the stage. finally she collapses, and everyone hovers around her; schultz feels her pulse. a close - up of graham as jocasta (another enraged wife) in her night journey ripples onto the screen, and the three women tells us that nick hung’s lighting will “gently fade. ” instead, it can’t wait to bring on the darkness. sacred? profane? you tell me. either way, vastly entertaining .
does the world really need another brideshead?' at first, i thought not - and not just because of the tv series,' says jarrold, who has had recent experience of taking on a national treasure, having directed becoming jane, last year' s film about jane austen' s love affair.' i thought, is there anything relevant or resonant about a book that' s just full of nostalgia for the disappearance of the aristocracy and a way of life.' but that was before jeremy brock' s screenplay reeled him in .
clearly this is as cheap and tacky as holiday movies come, but if you’re the sort of film lover who embraces the occasional serving of cheese this has to be in your pile of movies to watch these holidays. it has everything needed for a truly “dramatic” film; a young girl grows up without a mother, has a workaholic father (aren’t they always), is unpopular with the other kids because she’s “weird” and wishes for a mannequin to come to life to be her mum (mom) – wild antics and adventures ensue .
by then, von stroheim' s reputation for going over budget and schedule were becoming legendary. foolish wives was being hailed, unfortunately, as
the first million - dollar film ,
due to von stroheim' s insistence on recreating monte carlo near the san francisco bay and extravagances such as using real caviar in a scene that required countless takes. von stroheim didn' t see the problem, in more ways than one, and it would later doom him. (the dvd version was restored by the american film institute. )
obviously, having watched this as a kid, i can appreciate that many (okay, most) adults won’t watch this film or, if they do, they won’t enjoy it. but it’s a delightful mix of nostalgia and classic christmas cheese that keeps bringing me back. sure, it’s a wonderful life is a true christmas classic, and will be more widely received by your family on christmas night, but with enough christmas “spirit” (i. e. alcohol), a mom for christmas will remind you what christmas is really about… mannequins learning to love .
daniel is an impatient and in some ways petty man. he barely tolerates his daughter' s love for hagen, and is deeply uncomfortable with letting the animal live with them in an apartment building that forbids unregistered street pets. (hagen is a mixed - breed street dog who can' t be kept legally anyway, unless daniel pays a tax and gets a proper license .) when a nosy neighbor reports hagen to animal control ,
white god
turns into a harrowing tale of separation and reconciliation—a love story of sorts that explicitly invokes richard wagner' s opera
tannhäuser
in scenes where lili plays trumpet in a high school orchestra overseen by an arrogant teacher - conductor. over the course of the film, hagen wanders the streets alone, dodges cars and forages for food, and eventually ends up being captured and brutally conditioned as a fighting dog before escaping to try to find his way back to his human friend (calling lili an
owner
seems at odds with the movie' s spirit) .
in foolish wives, for instance, von stroheim reached for a complex, epic tale in which he would contrast american and european society, making the nouveau - riche americans look unsophisticated but ultimately unpretentious and sincere, whereas europeans would seem sophisticated but ultimately devoid of moral values. (again, he plays a cad, a fraudulent russian count, who with his two
cousins ,
seeks to seduce an american wife and swindle her diplomat husband. the film is loaded with juxtapositions of religious iconography and sexual imagery .) he might have succeeded with his first cut of the film, which checked in at a whopping seven hours. the critics, who were given an intermission at the screening, loved it, but universal' s irving thalberg couldn' t imagine a seven - hour film and eventually cut it down to less than two hours .
as a group, the works brought together in this show deliver a potent cocktail of emotion and sexuality. one can think of art as a love triangle—a three - way relationship between artist, art object, and viewer. each corner of the triangle is strong willed, yet precarious. the artworks in this show revel in this confusing terrain, which exists between cerebral, emotional, and physical experience .
10 many films make reference to la dolce vita including good bye lenin! (in which a statue is flown by helicopter), lost in translation and pulp fiction. woody allen' s celebrity is a reworking of the film, set in new york katie toms
( # 46 in my year of reading women) why do i always find iris murdoch so frustrating. i feel that i should enjoy her work far more than i actually do. this is a middling work, and there is a lot to intrigue me as a reader: murdoch takes what looks to be a
happy
marriage and proceeds to tear it apart. the
love machine
in the title is, unfortunately, nothing like as salacious as you might like it to be - it' s more (i think, but i' m not certain) that the
machine
is about how love, in both its sa
parson has given pagano some of the big, swaggering, leg - swinging moves that graham created for hawkins, and so young an duplicates part of a solo performed by the pair’s daughter in the original silent film (nina fonaroff); it’s an extremely funny take on puppet - like stiffness and awkwardness, and she looks far too big a girl to sit on her mother’s knee, which she does, with her father patting her head, until the trio of women collapses the tender family picture. near the end of i used to love you, tiny multiple images of fonaroff in the daughter role dance all over the screen .
and on the jingle of christmas bells rides in our latest adorer is jess lomas, editor of books, reviewer of movies (on her blog, for quickflix and for watchoutfor) and purveyor of popular culture! the object of her adoration is largely ignored and kind of obscure — qualities i always love to see — and, befitting the season, ultra - christmassy. so, sit back, pour some wine or eggnog, break a christmas cracker / bon - bon and put on your paper crown as jess gives us…
as i’ve said, the way it’s been cut, it’s a camera operator / editor’s wet dream of technical skill, snap zooms, flash frames, whip pans, forced perspective and just an orgasm of guns, colour, speed and comedy. it’s precisely why i adore it, the sharp script, the “in” jokes (there’s even a nod to croc dundee’s way of catching crims) – the whole film is an homage to action films! the one - liners and the ironic awareness of its need for one - liners are some of my favourite parts of the film .
7 it was a massive box - office hit, making $ 10m in its first year, and then a further $ 8m in america - more than any other foreign film before it. only 26 foreign - language films have ever grossed more than $ 10m in america .
madonna and child with saints luke and catherine of alexandria (c. 1560 )
save on classic and contemporary films online and in store through 8 / 6 .
editor' s note: a look at the works of erich von stroheim begins a five - week online - only series ,
revisiting the masters ,
a look at dvd gift sets of some of film' s great directors .
i promised paul back in july that i would write something for why i adore … then the melbourne international film festival happened, then i attempted to write my entry, changing films every few weeks until here we are – the week of christmas. so it only seems fitting to spread some christmas cheer and share a classic (yes, classic !) christmas film from the golden age of cinema – the 1990s. in full disclosure, a mom for christmas was a tv movie but it’s still 100% certified awesome !
clocking in at a hair under four hours, the teenage romance of yu (takahiro nishijima) and yoko (hikari mitsushima) is an unexpectedly involving and relentlessly entertaining collision of contradictions. he is a tormented christian with a talent for snapping candid shots of the skivvies of unsuspecting ladies. she is a man - hating hottie who is drawn to her true love only when he’s in drag .
the city we are watching is an imaginary rome, breathtakingly beautiful and impassive, unscathed by its actual urban decay, its ugliness, by the corruption of a large part of its political class, and the despondency of the civic society; the camera lingers on its historical facades, bridges, squares, from the most famous sites to the most secluded ones, infusing its gaze with a magical sense of wonder. no small achievement, considering that the eternal city, with its unique combination of sacred and profane, laden with stratified symbolic meanings, is one of the most favourite cinematic locations. jep as a modern virgil takes us to sumptuous palaces inhabited by well - educated, decrepit aristocrats – some, who have lost all of their fortune, sell their name and elegant company at dinner - parties for a modest price. we watch well - known sites with new eyes, as the camera caresses the stones, the plasters, the marble through unusual angles and perspectives (like the tiny roman temple san pietro in vincoli). we enter places we always longed to enter, like the palace of the maltese knights, or the palazzi spada, odescalchi, and barberini (with its extraordinary la fornarina painted by raphael), and catch a glimpse of the splendours of their marble staircases, paintings, tapestries, and other countless riches .
this pattern, with a few variations, will be repeated throughout the whole picture. nothing much happens, really, but at the same time a lot happens, in terms of virtuoso formal meanderings and thematic variations. the director applies the fellinian principle of accumulation, adding meanings rather than facts, inserting new characters while abandoning familiar ones, positing dichotomies and juxtapositions that will be progressively diluted into one magmatic fresco. sorrentino claims that his film is not “about” rome, but that it encompasses it. it is, mostly, about human frailty and alienation – from oneself and from others – and it is about a country’s malaise. it is, lastly, about the means used to convey this malaise: art, music, personal and collective memory, friendship, and love. death looks on, ready to wipe out humans and leave the immemorial beauty (or ugliness) of things .
“become erect with your heart, ” a crotch - shot guru suggests when yu remains unstirred by his hard - earned handiwork, exemplifying the sweetness beneath the film’s satire. as far as romantic advice goes, we could all do a lot worse .
marlow - mann a. , “character engagement and alienation in the cinema of paolo sorrentino”, 161 - 174, in hope, w. (ed .), italian film directors in the new millennium, newcastle upon tyne, uk, cambridge scholars publishing, 2010, p. 163 .
la dolce vita won the palme d' or in 1960, was condemned by the vatican and was subject to widespread censorship. the ban in spain was not lifted until after the death of franco in 1975. the film has probably lost much of its ability to shock, and the orgies are tame by present standards. but it has not lost the power to fascinate, stimulate and provoke, and it remains a work of moral force and a visual delight .
having dispatched the sea beast by blowing up the argonautica, finnegan, trillian and pantucci find themselves washed ashore on an uncharted tropical island. all seems well until they hear a mighty roar, and the camera pulls back to reveal something huge and hostile crashing through the jungle towards them. the last line of the film? finnegan’s catchphrase: a world - weary “now what? ”
while all the voice acting is fantastic – from eli marienthal, harry connick jr. , christopher mcdonald, and jennifer aniston – remember that it’s vin diesel who provides the reluctant voice of the giant. feel free to point it out whenever someone says he’s never been in a decent film. (well, this and his cameo in fast and the furious: tokyo drift, anyway. )
when 11 - year - old jessica receives a free wish, she gets what she asks for–a mom for christmas! beautiful amy (olivia newton - john) shows up at her door bringing life and laughter back into jessica’s family. the trouble is amy isn’t real and can only stay until christmas eve. but now that amy has brought new meaning in their lives, jessica and her dad don’t want to lose her. you’ll love this christmas wish come true .
beauty is youth, when you see beauty everywhere, the sense of wonder of the best years: in nature, in sensations, in the sharing of them. this is for me the meaning of the film, particularly at the end. today everything is made opaque by the lack of collective memory, by bad teachers who have obscured the past and live in the present without direction. there is no time left for contemplation. if the film can help us understand the world around us, we must hasten to take care of an ailing body. (8 )
pegg is masterful in his deadpan delivery whilst surrounded by comedic insanity; it just sets up the tone for the film, a testament to the comedic strength of the script, characters, direction and camera work. it sucks me in every time, and the parade of cameos like martin freeman, steve coogan, and bill nighy in the beginning are heralding the coming feast of talent further on .
he threw it all away. at 29, he fell in love with ann more, lady egerton' s niece, and secretly married her. it was the end of his prospects: upon discovery, he was sacked, briefly imprisoned, and spent the next 14 years of his life trying desperately to scrounge a living for himself, his wife, and the seven surviving children of the 12 she bore him .
john donne, ann donne, un - done
, in his bitter joke. but was he undone by passion or (mis) calculation? did he sacrifice his career for true love, as edwards claims, or seduce an upper - class girl in the belief that her rich father could be won round, as the critic john carey suggests in his study of the poet ?
cramming two love stories into two hours and 20 minutes required some dramatic changes. julia is quietly transplanted from england to venice, where she joins charles and sebastian in the back of a speedboat, taking in the doge' s palace.' my dear girl!' lord marchmain cries, echoing the surprise many brideshead devotees will feel, as julia walks into the palazzo he shares with his mistress cara (greta scacchi) .
like any good cop, nicholas angel follows the right way of approaching crime, thorough investigation and logic, but of course – like any good action film – violence is the only way of bringing the crims to justice. a glorious, bullet chewing, muzzle flashing, ricochet whining, joyful barrage of justice.
sacred and profane love is a 1921 american silent drama film produced by famous players-lasky and distributed by paramount pictures . this film was directed by william desmond taylor and starred elsie ferguson with conrad nagel . it is based on a book the book of carlotta by arnold bennett and was turned into a 1920 broadway play which also starred elsie ferguson . writer/director julia crawford ivers adapted the book and play to the screen while her son james van trees served as one of the film 's cinematographers . all known copies of this film are lost . 
sacred and profane love is a 1921 american silent drama film produced by famous players-lasky and distributed by paramount pictures. this film was directed by william desmond taylor and starred elsie ferguson with conrad nagel. it is based on a book the book of carlotta by arnold bennett and was turned into a 1920 broadway play which also starred elsie ferguson. writer/director julia crawford ivers adapted the book and play to the screen while her son james van trees served as one of the film's cinematographers. all known copies of this film are lost.
sacred and profane love is a 1921 american silent drama film produced by famous players-lasky and distributed by paramount pictures. this film was directed by william desmond taylor and starred elsie ferguson with conrad nagel. it is based on a book the book of carlotta by arnold bennett and was turned into a 1920 broadway play which also starred elsie ferguson. writer/director julia crawford ivers adapted the book and play to the screen while her son james van trees served as one of the film's cinematographers. all known copies of this film are lost.