Well, it took until mid day Wednesday, but we finally finished the weekend film festival. Deb chose two films by Jarmusch. From 1989 comes Mystery Train, three different stories united by the location of Memphis, and a small low budget hotel. The first story concerns two very young Japanese tourists, arriving by train to visit some of the legendary music history highlights of the city. Their visit to Sun Studio is a movie highlight, with the director giving a nod to Pee Wee Herman's earlier (by four years) tour of the Alamo. The second story concerns a young Italian woman, stuck overnight in Memphis on her way to Rome with her husband's body in a casket. She meets up with a creepy guy in a diner, and then with a very talkative American woman. They end up sharing a room at the same hotel as the Japanese couple. During the night, the Italian woman sees the ghost of Elvis. Pretty cool scene. The final story concerns three losers, related to the talkative woman. They rob a liquor store and shoot the man working there. They end up in the hotel, too. None of the three groups of people ever meet, but we spend a lot of time with the two hotel employees behind the desk downstairs, the night clerk and the bell hop. It's a fun film to watch, mostly successful, though not giving a very flattering image of Memphis.
Now showing on Criterion.
Two years later Jarmusch directed Night on Earth, five short films that take place in a taxi in five different cities, with events happening simultaneously. The first story is a cab ride from LAX to a house in Beverly Hills, with Winona Ryder driving, sitting atop an LA phone book so she can see over the steering wheel. Gena Rowlands is a successful talent scout that offers her an acting job. The second story is the best of the bunch, an hilarious view of a black man trying to hail a cab on Broadway in NYC to get to Brooklyn. Helmut and Yo Yo provide a very entertaining ride for viewers. Thirdly comes a cab ride in Paris, with a blind woman getting a ride at four in the morning. This one is pretty strange, and doesn't really develop very well. The worst of the bunch is a cab ride in Rome, with manic cab driver Roberto Benigni regaling a dying priest with his confession. Though the shtick is hilarious, watching the priest literally pass through Hell on his way to death is likely very funny for some people, such as those folk who are never going to die, but for me it spoiled an otherwise good segment. Lastly comes Helsinki, with three very drunk friends given a lift by a driver who wants a baby, but lost a premature one already. Weird to end the film with a downer like this, though I think it was supposed to be heart-warming, or something. This is not a film I would willingly see again--once is enough.
Showing on Criterion.
Except for a few loose ends, the praticing is now mostly complete. It's pretty amazing what gets done three weeks before a recital date, mostly because the focus becomes much more intense. About 80% of my mistakes occur when my mind wanders, as it is often wont to do. The remainder of my mistakes are caused by sheer clumsiness. I still like all the pieces, even after battling them for ten months, but it will be good to rest them and contemplate starting new ones next week.
I'll finish up this blog with Grey Days, by American painter E. W. Redfield. Our area looked just like this last week, but our snow is now completely gone. It's been grey forever, though, and it will continue to be so for the next several days. I have never seen this painting on display, but only on the website.
Grey Days, by Edward Willis Redfield, American, 1869-1965. Oil on canvas, ca. 1909. 40" x 52", unframed. Collection of Detroit Institute of Arts. Click picture to see larger version.
Mapman Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment