Sorrentino's Latest Film

 Once in a blue moon a film comes along that truly deserves the term masterpiece.  I used that word to describe the director's earlier film The Great Beauty, which I claim is a sequel to La Dolce Vita.  His latest film is the 2025 La Grazia, starring Toni Servillo as an aged Italian president serving out the final days of his six year term, and Anna Ferzetti as his daughter and aide.  The film is sublime and so far from what most people would imagine a major motion picture to be.  Servillo is at his best as a man questioning his own worth and his ability to make difficult decisions.  On his mind are two pardons for murderers, and a bill he must sign before it becomes law on euthanasia for humans.  The film is both deep and accessible.  At times the president is a pig-headed man who can't seem to move a step in any direction.  For years he has been emotionally paralyzed following the death of his wife, whom he adored.  However, he had learned that she had been unfaithful to him one time, and he has created a private hell for himself trying to discover who that person was.  Beautifully photographed, we were both surprised by the use of rap music in the film, by a director known for his esoteric taste in film music.  However, the judicious use of rap somehow aids the film and the incongruity of an old man rapping is a gem of a moment in this film filled with gem-like moments.  The scenes with the dying horse ("Elvis") are very painful to watch, and we wonder just how cruel the president can possibly be.  But once the horse dies he has changed; he is now able to clearly make his important decisions.  Especially since he now knows who slept with his wife.  This is a film worth many viewings.  Unmissable.

 

Showing on Mubi and looking great on our 55" screen. 

Another film, though not a rival to La Grazia, is an Indian film from 2024 called All We Imagine As Light.  Directed by Payal Kapadia, the story is set at first in Mumbai.  We follow two nurses, a younger one and a more experienced one, as well as the female commissary cook who they befriend.  There are hospital scenes and street scenes, with the latter having a documentary effect in their starkness and chaos.  The youngest nurse is in love with a Muslim boy, while her parents are sending her photos of eligible men that she should marry.  She cannot even broach the subject with them of her Muslim boyfriend, and the film boldly goes where virtually no other Indian film has dared, up to the point where they make love (in one of the most tasteful love scenes ever filmed).  The older nurse is tied into an arranged marriage.  Her husband works in Germany and hasn't even called her in over ten years.  He does send her a rice cooker, though, but with no message.  She gets up enough courage to call him, but an answering machine with a woman's voice is her only contact, and she quickly hangs up.  The older lady is being chased from her home by developers who want to put up a large condo and not compensate her.  She moves back to her ocean-side village, and the two nurses accompany her.  It isn't until we get to the beach that things finally heat up plot-wise.  All three women have made bold decisions in the end, giving their own interests and well-being top priority.  Beautifully filmed and very well acted, the film is definitely worth seeking.  No violence, no guns, no murders, no drugs and no weak female characters.  And prodding the Romeo and Juliet theme with a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy is taking things pretty far in the India of today.  Overall quite well done.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

In weather news, Spring is here!  At least for a while.  Snow is melting and temps are bouncing up to where they should be and above.  Though it's been a terribly cold winter (we've had 49 days where the temp did not rise above freezing; most of those days it didn't even get close), we have had plenty of sun.  We've seen many beautiful sunsets as we watch the northern march of the sun towards its Equinox position.  Whereas the UK has had quite mild temps by comparison, they have had so much rain in places that they haven't seen the sun in weeks.  I'll take the cold.  Especially since we have had barely any snow.  And New Mexico and many western US mountain states have had virtually none this year.  That is really bad news, as the water reservoirs out west all depend on snowpack, and there isn't any.  Even Florida is now in a drought situation!  That's quite a climate hoax someone is perpetuating.

 

In health news Deb continues to crash towards bottom.  Her infusion won't take place until next Thursday.  Her blood work results from Thursday show a steady decline.  She is very tired most of the time, and can not even stand up without having breathing problems.  And on we go....

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

It's (Mostly) Over

Winter, that is.  Early Spring was a week late, but it arrived after a very cold and snowy February  There were 19 days where the temperature did not rise above 32 F.  That is a very unusual statistic for the Homestead and vicinity for such a short month.  But our snow vanished almost overnight as very mild temps and a lot of rain arrived suddenly.

 

Board gaming continues, mostly Sunday afternoons.  We bought a new expansion (#8) for Carcassonne and just learned how to use it this week.  It's called "Bridges, Castles, and Bazaars."  It was worth getting, and adds some new and fun elements to the game without over-complicating it. 

 

I've also added a new dimension to my weekly skating time.  Another old timer who skates there usually brings his hockey stick and a puck, and last week he brought me a hockey stick, too.  So for the first time in many decades, yours truly was passing the puck and shooting on goal.  As a result I skated faster and burned a few more calories, and have a sore shoulder from using the stick.  Deb walks at the indoor track at the same time, while the central area of her track is being used by model airplane pilots.  This past week she helped untangle a few crashes on her journey.

 

In piano news, the recital program is shaping up.  It should be ready in about three weeks to begin playing for friends.  Some more work on the Haydn sonata and on the Glass Etude is still needed, but it's nearly there.  I go tomorrow morning for my 2nd lesson with Philip A.

 

Today was election day in Ontario, a province of Canada with 16 million people.  The ruling Conservative party is supposed to win a majority.  We voted this morning.  With 8 names on the ballot splitting the vote, there doesn't seem to be any way of defeating the ruling party.  Last time only 22% of voters turned out, but I think that should be significantly higher this time.  Polls are open till 9 pm, so results won't likely be final until tomorrow.

 

In film news there are three to report.  Most recently we watched Kenneth Branagh's production of Much Ado About Nothing, from 1993.  The film mostly works, though it's very unconvincing at the end when the young woman who was wrongly accused of sleeping around forgives her intended and all is well.  More likely there would be a lawsuit and the two would never have married.  The acting and locations are great, and there are some very funny moments dealing with Benedick (Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) becoming a couple.  There is palpable energy from the cast, and the movie can easily be recommended.

 

Leaving Prime tomorrow.
  

Before that came Topaz, a Hitchcock spy thriller from 1969.  A cold war story set in the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a French diplomat is entrusted with the job of going to Cuba and finding evidence of what the Russians were up to.  With the usual plot twists and turns, this turned into a pretty good film.  With real Cuban locations and a cast of minor but very good actors.  Watch for the director playing a man in a wheelchair, then getting up and walking out of the frame.  Recommended.

 

Leaving Criterion tomorrow. 

 

Before that came The Consequences of Love, a 2004 film directed by Paolo Sorrentino and starring Toni Servillo.  He plays a very unlikable character, a man who has been forced into a position of helping the Mafia launder money into Swiss bank accounts.  He is very private and unpersonable, seldom taking note of others around him.  He uses heroin one time each week, on Wednesdays at 10 am.  He used to be an investor, and was trusted with Mafia millions.  When his advice lost them most of their money, he then appeared on their payroll.  He lives in a hotel near the Alps, in Lugano.  He manages to fall for a young barmaid at the hotel (played by the very fetching Olivia Magnani, granddaughter of the great Anna), but doesn't really know how to woo.  When she fails to show up for a promised rendezvous on his birthday, he decides to pack it in.  He refuses to deliver the money that week (millions in cash in a suitcase), and does not tell where the money is.  He is given several chances to tell, but instead ends it all.  The final scene might answer a lot of Jimmy Hoffa questions, as he is put to death by the Mafia in a traditional manner.  It is a somewhat troubling film, though bold enough in tackling the issues it deals with.  However, I did enjoy it, especially as his story comes out piece by piece, and we realize the position he is in.  Stuck, in other words.  Recommended, though far beneath the director's masterpiece film, The Great Beauty.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Coming very soon:  the February reading summary!

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

Fellini and Sorrentino: A Top Knotch Double Bill

 I am set to have a 4th night out with the telescope tonight.  As usual I am rather excited about it.  Another late night, though this should be the last, as next month the sun will setting even earlier than now.

 

We managed our first hill climb workout today at Malden Hill Park in Windsor.  5 weeks of local training, then one week of hiking as we drive west, then the big stuff for week 6.  Rather excited about that, too.

 

My last surviving uncle passed away this week.  Uncle Bill gave me my first high-paying job as a teenager, and I learned to drive 3-ton trucks towing trailers, too.  He owned a construction equipment rental company.  He and my dad built camps together on adjoining lots at Lake Penage when I was 9 or 10.  Bill was a big guy, and always moving, never liking to sit still.  He was a pretty amazing man, and I'm proud to have had him as my uncle.  He chose assisted dying, as his Alzheimer's condition was worsening by the day.  He passed away surrounded by his three sons.  Bon Voyage, Uncle Bill!!  His ashes are to be scattered at Lake Penage.

 

A photo of Uncle Bill from long ago, likely snoozing after a Thanksgiving or Christmas family dinner. A rare quiet moment for him.

 

In film news, Fellini's La Dolce Vita has always been on my top ten list since I first saw it many years ago.  The character of Marcello is a fascinating one.  On the surface he is a womanizer of the worst kind, and it's almost painful seeing him lusting after Anita Ekberg as she casually and coolly keeps him at bay.  Sending him out to find milk for a kitten in the late hours of a Roman night is the final straw.  Marcello is a journalist who is always threatening to write a novel, but never manages to get around to it.  He has deep feelings, but has no one to express them to, or talk about with.  He is saddled with a neurotic, shallow, and overly motherly girlfriend, and has no close friends in whom to confide.  The movie charts his rapid decline into mid-life chaos.  By the end of the movie he has reached the bottom, with nowhere else to sink.  He has chances at redeeming himself, but they never pan out.  His best chance is a fellow writer and intellectual.  When they meet up one night Marcello is invited to a get together at the writer's home.  The scene contrasts sharply with the usual parties that Marcello attends.  He is impressed with the man, and wants to talk more with him.  They both agree that this would be a good thing.  But when the writer kills himself and his two angelic children, Marcello is shattered, and there is no turning back from self destruction for him afterwards.  He meets with his father and wants to spend time with him and talk, but his father never had time for him and his Rome visit proves no exception.  Again Marcello is left alone.  He has one casual girlfriend that he thinks he could make a serious relationship with.  She leads him on one night, but quickly abandons him for a quickie with another man at the party.  Poor Marcello.  Then there is the angel from Perugia, a young girl who works at a cafe on the beach somewhere.  He tells her she looks like an angel from a Renaissance painting, and she does.  In the final scene she tries to communicate with him, explaining who she is and miming a typist, to ask him how his book is coming.  But he is far past the point of being able to hear angels, even if they are right in front of him.  And so we have a very depressing ending.  

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

Or do we?  Just suppose that he has hit bottom, and that sometime afterwards he manages to climb out of his alcoholic haze long enough to write a very good short novel.  The plausibility of this might not have occurred to Fellini, but it just might have been a subconscious idea with Paolo Sorrentino, the director of The Great Beauty.  The film won the 2013 Oscar for best foreign film, and is also on my top ten list.  This is our third viewing, and it becomes more and more spellbinding the more we watch.  The character of Jep could be Marcello, as he celebrates his 65th birthday in Italian party style.  Jep had one successful novel 30 years ago, but has not written another one.  He is a journalist that covers art openings and events in Rome.  The film is sheer poetry from beginning to end, with possibly the best musical score ever added to film.  Many of the musicians appear in the film performing the music.  Like Dolce Vita, this is a film about vignettes, vignettes of great beauty.  Rome in 1960 and in 2013 are very different places, but Jep had adapted well.  He has the most envious flat in Rome, a host of friends though none terribly close.  There are moments of comedy along with the poetry, and moments filled with deep meaning.  Jep as an older Marcello makes seeing both pictures back to back essential to understand the relationship.  Of course Sorrentino, like most Italian directors, owes a huge debt to Fellini, and must feel him looking over his shoulder all of the time.  Whether the director made Jep into an older Marcello consciously or not, it is hard to deny the connection.  Though both movies stand perfectly alone as major masterpieces of cinema, when combined into one longer epic, the effect on viewers becomes transcendental.  Deliriously so.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

 

Mapman Mike

The Great Beauty

 Since I last blogged we have had two snowstorms and one large rainstorm.  The first storm left about 2" of fresh white snow.  That was obliterated by an overnight rain storm that dropped 0.8" of rain.  It melted all the snow, and filled up our creek very quickly.  Then came the 2nd snowstorm, leaving about 6" of fresh white stuff on the Homestead.  Our neighbour Kim plowed us out both times, and we are eternally grateful to him.  In between all this, we celebrated the return of the light on Wednesday night, along with the full moon.  There was a fire, an opera, a great plant based pizza, cherry pie with vegan cherry ice cream, and so much more.  It hit 50 F that day, but we knew about the next upcoming snow storm, so the celebration was a bit tongue in cheek.  We are back to full winter for a few days, but by Sunday the long awaited warming trend will finally begin.  Can't wait.

The shipping lane is still open, and we get one or two ships a day passing by, with a coast guard ice breaker.  When I awoke this morning (to all that blindingly bright new snow) I saw a ship passing, and stood and watched it for several minutes.  Once outside I spent about 15 minutes (instead of hours) shoveling the parts Kim couldn't get to with his plow.  Tonight we have a wind warning.  What a world.

The opera choice this month was Tamerlane, by Handel.  Filled with choice arias, especially for soprano, this is now my favourite Handel opera, even though we still have much of act 3 to get through today.  The opera is on 8 LP sides, and is nearly 3 1/2 hours long.  In reading news, I finished up my 8 Avon/Equinox novels for the month, and am now in free choice mode.  I am starting out with a little known novel by Patricia Highsmith.  I am trying hard to include female writers each month, since the Avon/Equinox series was all male.  Last month I read novels by Sherri Tepper and Ursula LeGuin.  This month, if time allows, I will read Highsmith and Anne Hillerman.

In film news, there is one to report.  Before re-discovering The Great Beauty, my favourite film of all time was a tie between Antonioni's L'Aventura and Fellini's La Dolce Vita.  My new favourite is called The Great Beauty, directed by Paolo Sorrentino.  If it seems odd that all three of my top films are Italian, I would agree.  But I have many films in my top list that aren't Italian (but I also have a few more that are).  We had seen Sorrentino's film in June of 2016, having rented it from Netflix back in our Detroit mailbox days.  At that time I had written glowingly of it, and from time to time since then I had flashbacks of some of the scenes.  When I finally decided that I had to see it again, I had forgotten the name and had no way of locating it.  However, I knew I had blogged about it at the time.  So I began rereading all my old blogs, from 2009.  Finally I came to 2016, then to June, and then....Success!!  Next I looked up the title on Criterion.  Success!!  And it came with four extras, including a lengthy interview with the director.  It is a long film, but exceedingly worth seeing.  If possible, try to see it all at one sitting.  I have never seen it on a big screen, but would make the effort to do so if it ever reappears.  One of the best films ever made, and easily the best film ever made about a city (Rome).  It is from 2013.  Sadly, none of the director's other films are currently showing on Criterion.  Toni Servillo is so perfect in the title role of a writer reaching his 65th birthday.  It took two viewings for Deb to be convinced, but I was sold the first time, back in 2016.

One of the finest films ever made.  Now showing on Criterion. 

More later.

Mapman Mike