Tag Archive: john lennon


THE ECLIPSE OF MONICA VITTI

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June 22, 2012

L’ECLISSE directed by Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy, 1962)

Mostly, we watch movies as a means of seeking relief from the worries and tedium of everyday life but, with deliberate perversity, Antonioni’s L’Eclisse (Eclipse) makes no attempt to cater to this desire for contrived entertainment or escapism.

It’s a movie about nothing and everything with a plot so paper-thin it would fit on a post-it note. My summary would be : A young woman leaves her older husband – she meets a younger man – she doesn’t love either – she doesn’t know what she really wants.

The setting is Rome, but apart from the frenetic activity of the city’s stock exchange it looks like a ghost city. Many shots would not be out-of-place in the Sci-Fi classic, The Day The Earth Stood Still. When we do see the inhabitants, most of them look haunted, bored and ill at ease.

The narrative is linear yet the story feels as mysterious and enigmatic as one of David Lynch’s waking dream sequences. Continue reading →

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OLIVE KITTERIDGE – REMNANTS OF CORPOREALITY

Filed under: Books, Fiction — Leave a comment
May 20, 2012

OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout (2008)

Our time on this planet is relatively short and if, like Olive Kitteridge, you happen to be “an unapologetic atheist” you don’t even have the consolation of this being prolonged in an afterlife.

Through good health or by good fortune we may live to a ripe age but there are no guarantees. There are several reminders in this marvellous novel that life can take unexpected turns and that tragic accidents or debilitating illness can happen at any time.

Recognition of the brevity of our existence can prompt us to live more intensely with a determination of treat every day as if it might be our last. Equally, the burden of mortality can weigh heavily upon us and make it harder to enjoy a lightness of being.

In extreme cases, out of desperation, suicide is the ultimate get out option. In ‘Incoming Tide’  a man, Kevin Coulson, revisits the town of his youth and recalls the trauma of discovering “his mother’s need to devour her life had been so huge and urgent as to spray remnants of corporeality across the kitchen cupboards”.

To call this Pulitzer prize-winning work of fiction a novel is a little misleading since it is really a collection of thirteen stories. Olive Kitteridge is the common thread throughout but not always the main character. In The Piano Player she smiles and waves hello but plays no active part in the story and in ‘Criminal’ she is  briefly mentioned only as a scary math teacher. Continue reading →

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McCARTNEY EARNS SOME LOVE

Filed under: Music — 1 Comment
April 20, 2012

Nicole Portman makes like she's flying.

“The only thing you done was Yesterday and since you’ve been gone you’re Just Another Day”. John Lennon was not feeling much love towards Paul McCartney when he wrote How Do You Sleep?

This venomous song is an illustration of the rivalry between the two that helped make them the most important and influential songwriting partnership in contemporary music. Continue reading →

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REASSESSING THE QUIET BEATLE

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February 7, 2012

GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD – a film by Martin Scorsese (2011)

Martin Scorsese’s absorbing documentary made for HBO TV was co-produced by George Harrison’s widow, Olivia. I would suspect that she helped ensure that so much of the film is dedicated to her husband’s spiritual journey rather than getting sidetracked into his marital indiscretions.

Both she and Sir Paul McCartney are very protective/secretive about the sexual adventures of the ‘quiet Beatle’. They each refer to his relations with women in a very cryptic manner. McCartney says that he was a red-blooded male who liked what ‘normal’ men like, while she talks about overcoming “all those other things” that occasionally got in the way of their wedded bliss. She says that he had a special aura that women found irresistible and that when she is asked what the secret of staying married to someone like him is, she always replies “don’t get divorced”.

I wouldn’t want ,or expect, Martin Scorsese to hunt for dark secrets or dig around for some dirt, but in the course of a three hour movie I would have liked a slightly more rounded portrait. Continue reading →

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BEST OF BRITISH CULT MOVIES: 40 – 31

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November 2, 2011

Continuing my list of the Fifty Greatest British Cult Movies, here is my selection from  40 -31:

40. SCUM Alan Clarke (1979)

Alan Clarke was known for his direct, no frills approach to film. He cut his teeth on TV, notably with Play For Today. This exposé of the brutality in the borstal system was originally made for that slot but was considered too violent for home consumption. Scum is another hard man role for Ray Winstone. Not for wimps.

39.  THE COMPANY OF WOLVES  Neil Jordan (1984)

“The worst wolves are hairy on the inside”. Angel Carter’s short story is a feminist retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. The visually striking movie is not an entirely successful adaptation but manages to keep the ideas alive. Continue reading →

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