Early July Heat Wave

While the temps have not been soaring, they have reached 30-32C for the past three days.  But the humidity and air pollution have been high enough to make it feel much worse.  Aside from finally cutting the grass today, it's been an indoor sort of party here at the Homestead.  I had hoped to head over to Detroit for a day of breweries, bookstores, and cafes, it was not to be.  For one thing, they predicted violent storms all day, which never happened.  Then there was the heat and humidity thing.  So, more of our music room flooring got done today.  But it is peak season for fireflies, and they are abundant in the evening!

 

We managed to tear out all the old carpet and under carpet, clean the floor, move out much of the furniture (except for the harpsichord and piano), and Deb began to lay the tile strips.  We are about half done, but so far we have only received half of the tiles.  The rest are due tomorrow.  Once the new flooring is down, then the trim needs to be added, and then the furniture moved back.  We have an area carpet that will go down under the new piano, hopefully muffling some of the sound.  With no carpet beneath it any longer, the U1 upright sounds mighty loud compared to how it used to sound.

 

So besides home renovations, reading, and practicing piano, we have watched a few films this past week.  Marilyn Monroe teamed up with Jane Russell in a very funny film from 1953 called Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  Monroe is the dumb (though not so dumb) blonde who is trying to marry a millionaire, and Russell is her more down to earth wise-cracking sister in crime.  It's a Technicolour showpiece, with some very attractive and overly colourful scenes. The most outrageous of them is the final showstopper night club number, with Marilyn wearing a tight pink dress against a brilliant red background.  It seems to work fine, but the colours (and Monroe) are both eye popping.  Recommended as light entertainment, with some very funny lines.

 

Pink and red, pink and red.....

 

Leaving Criterion July 31st. 

 

Next came a small budget British film based on a novel, called The Clothes In The Wardrobe.  The novel by Alice Thomas Ellis is part of a trilogy, all three being made into films.  We'll be on the lookout for the others.  From 1993 it is about a young woman about to be married to a twit, and wanting to back out of it now.  Her mother's old school friend comes to visit, and she hits it off with her.  She is like a crazy aunt, and is played to the hilt by Jeanne Moreau.  "Lily" soon makes friends with the groom's mother, too, and they hit it off well, both being a couple of boozers.  It's all quite funny, and again there are some very rich lines.  Of course in the end Lily comes to the young woman's rescue, and there will be no marriage.  The Egyptian backstory gives the young woman some background, and provides a nice touch of exoticism to the proceedings.  A fun little film from the BBC.

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Also on Prime was a film version of a book I read not too long ago, Fergus Hume's justly famous murder mystery The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, an Australian TV production from 2012.  This is  a very good version of the novel, on par with the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes episodes.  Sets, lighting, costumes(!), actors and actresses are all top notch.  A man is killed in a cab, and the murderer seems obvious.   Too obvious.  For viewers who have not read the book it will be difficult to guess who the killer was.  Great viewing!

Now showing on Prime.

 

Lastly comes an odd little picture from Galicia, called Red Moon Tide.  It's from 2020, and features some of the most stunning cinematography I have ever seen.  Interior still life and outdoor landscape receive an artistic touch unrivalled in anything we have seen recently.  A local fisherman has drowned, and three witches arrive in a small seaside village to try and find his body and return it for burial.  Not that the plot matters a whole lot, as the film is just too amazing in its look and sound.  The supernatural mixes with the equally strange natural, and people interact with landscapes both natural and man-made that dominate them in size and power.  "The Monster" that took the life of the seaman is out there, just out of sight and out of reach, and is bringing bad times to the village.  A strange but very original and masterful film.  Even Del Toro could take a lesson about telling folk tales from this film.

 

Leaving Mubi very soon. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

And A Few More Films...

 We normally watch about 4 movies a week here at the Homestead of late, not counting the end of the month festivals.  My choices for last week were Fassbinder's Chinese Roulette from 1976, and followed up by Fellini's first solo feature, The White Sheik from 1952, which is leaving Criterion on August 31st.  We are nearing the end of the Fassbinder films, with seven or eight remaining.  We have been watching one per month for quite a while now, in addition to his three TV series.  Roulette is another oddball film, more theatrical than cinema.  There are eight characters, including the handicapped young daughter of the married couple.  Her parents are both having affairs, and through deception and a mix-up the four lovers end up at the same mansion for the weekend.  The young daughter, who is around 12, knows this and heads out there also, with her governess, a woman who doesn't speak.  At the mansion itself are an older woman who cooks and cleans, and her son who manages the grounds.  All 8 characters have lead roles, which is amazing in itself, but the focus is mostly on the hateful relationship between the young daughter and her mother.  There are never too many laughs in a Fassbinder production, and this one is no exception.

Now showing on Criterion.

On the other hand, The White Sheik is quite funny, though touching at the same time.  A newlywed couple are in Rome for their honeymoon.  She is 20 and he is much older.  He has every minute of their visit planned, including a meeting with the pope, along with his extended family.  She has other ideas, however, and slips out of the hotel room while her husband naps.  Expecting to be gone only about half an hour, she gets caught up in circumstances that keep her away all day and all that night.  The frantic husband must not only search for her, but must keep his family deceived as to her whereabouts.  The young wife is a super fan of current photo novels, the ones starring the exploits of the White Sheik.  She wants to meet him, and to give him a drawing of himself that she has done.  The music is by Nino Rota, and Giulietta Masina has a small role as Cabiria, a woman of the night who tries to give some comfort to the distraught husband.  A great little film, with the wide-eyed Brunello Bovo, and the even wider-eyed Leopoldo Trieste being fun to watch.  The Sheik is played by Alberto Sordi, in a very funny role.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

Deb's first weekend choice was Macao, directed by Joseph von Sternberg, starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell.  This is a low budget crime story from 1952, and doesn't really have a lot going for it.  The characters go through the motions, but it seems somewhat tired and formulaic.  Jane sings two numbers in a dingy casino bar, supposedly the best place in Macao.  She has a great little backup band, though.  We both had higher hopes for this one.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

In DIA landscape news, Jan Both has a print worth looking at.  Ponte Molle, or Ponte Milvio, from the 17th C, shows a Roman bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome.  The print shows a bridge still serviceable but in need of repair.  It doesn't seem to be romanticized, but rather an accurate depiction of the bridge in use at this time.  Under the print images I have posted a few contemporary photos.

Ponte Molle, 17th C.  Jan Dirksz Both, Dutch ca 1618-1652.  Etched print in black ink on laid paper, 8" x 11".  Collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of left side.

Detail of right side.

 

Photo of the bridge today.

Another photo, similar angle to the print. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 
 

Tropics Come To Amherstburg

 It's usually hot and humid here in the good old summertime, but things have certainly been taken up a notch or two this week.  Detroit was flooded badly on Friday night and Saturday, though we escaped the worst.  We ended up with just over 3" of rain for the week (so far).  Some parts of Detroit got more than twice that at one go.  Google traffic maps showed almost the entire freeway system over there flooded, and filled with stranded cars. The forecast for the rest of the week reads like the monsoon season somewhere near the equator-hot, humid, with frequent storms each day and night.  During a welcome break from rain yesterday I managed to cut the two lawns that border the house, so I am caught up for now.  But the weeds in the garden are growing a foot each week, and there are too many mosquitoes to even think about going in there.  On top of this, it is fish fly season, and while cutting the front lawn I was surrounded by about 7 billion of them.  They don't bite, but they fly into ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.  Parts of my tractor ride could have been filmed for a horror movie, only I would never have been paid enough to do it.

A flooded freeway in Detroit.  Note the kayak!

 

Another flooded freeway in Detroit yesterday.  Several main arteries are still closed.

In movie news, I combined my two choices last week into one big one, a four hour version of the 1991 Taiwanese film A Brighter Summer Day, directed by Edward Yang.  Using a lot of adolescent non-actors, the first half of the film talks about the situation in Taipei in 1961.  Street gangs roamed at night, fighting for territory as the adults around them are mostly unaware and/or unconcerned about their behaviour.  The second half of the film narrows it down more to one family.  The 2nd half seemed to be smoother and more story-centered than the first half, which quickly (for me) became quite tiresome.  This is one of the international films restored by Scorcese's film preservation society, the full version being shown in a pristine print since 2015, once thought lost.  It was unseen in any version for over 20 years.  Definitely worth watching, especially for the camera work and composition, and the way the director uses his space with his actors.  The central incident in the film, a young boy killing his girlfriend, is based on an actual event in Taiwan.  The movie came with hours of features, but so far we watched only three, including a wonderful interview with the adult version of the boy who plays the lead role.

Now showing on Criterion Channel. 

Deb's first film choice for this weekend was The Revolt of Mamie Stover, from 1956 and directed by Raoul Walsh.  It stars Jane Russell and Richard Egan, who meet as the only passengers on a freight steamer from San Francisco to Hawaii.  She has just been escorted out of town by the police, and is looking for a fresh start.  They fall in love on the boat, and even more once in Hawaii.  She works at a dance hall, on commission for how many drinks she can sell.  He is a rich man living in a mansion on a hilltop.  The time is 1941, and one fine Sunday the Japanese decide to bomb Pearl Harbor.  He enlists, and she promises to quit the racket.  They will be married after the war. However, she doesn't quit, making even more money.  When he finds out, he returns to break off the engagement.  With fine acting, a beautiful colour print filmed in Hawaii, and a strange ending, the film is not at all what people might expect from a Jane Russell film.  Definitely worth catching.

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

A few moments ago I was talking about how our house and yard are being overgrown in a serious way.  Though this happens every summer, it is much worse this year.  A warm, wet spring got things going early, and though we had control until about mid-May, we have firmly lost control again until the autumn.  We have a tree service coming Monday to see about removing some fast, pesky growing trees.  But overall, things are much like a jungle around here.  Somehow Ruisdael seems to capture the mood nicely in today's work of art from the DIA, another fine landscape print by the master.  Not everyone in his day could afford to purchase an original oil painting, but most modestly-incomed people could afford to buy a print or two. Today, not many can even afford to buy one of his prints.  There is some slight irony here, I'm sure.  And now you have an idea of what our yard looks like.

 

Cottage On The Summit Of The Hill, 17th C. Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch, 1628 or 29-1682.  Etching and drypoint printed in black ink on laid paper, 8" x 11".  Collection Detroit Institute of Arts.

 

Detail of left side.

 

Detail of right side.

Detail of the cottage. 

 

I will hopefully return at the end of the month with the monthly reading report.  Please come back often. 

Mapman Mike