Happy Easter

A Lenten treat from Johnny Cash...

More on the need for Transcendence in Art…

Camille Paglia (a professed atheist) is also a strong advocate for art to reach for something higher and to regain its spiritual center. She delivered a lecture on the topic last year at Colorado College, which was later broadcast on C-SPAN. Her lecture is reprinted here.

She begins with an astute observation and challenge: “The state of the humanities in the U.S. can be measured by present achievement: would anyone seriously argue that the fine arts or even popular culture is enjoying a period of high originality and creativity?... I would argue that the route to a renaissance of the American fine arts lies through religion… Knowledge of the Bible, one of the West's foundational texts, is dangerously waning among aspiring young artists and writers. When a society becomes all-consumed in the provincial minutiae of partisan politics (as has happened in the U.S. over the past twenty years), all perspective is lost. Great art can be made out of love for religion as well as rebellion against it. But a totally secularized society with contempt for religion sinks into materialism and self-absorption and gradually goes slack, without leaving an artistic legacy.”

Her lecture is also a wonderful overview of the religious beginnings of art in America with particular respect to musicians, writers, and Hollywood. She concludes that the avant-garde is dead, killed by Andy Warhol more than forty years ago, and it’s time to move on. She concludes: “For the fine arts to revive, they must recover their spiritual center. Profaning the iconography of other people's faiths is boring and adolescent. The New Age movement, to which I belong, was a distillation of the 1960s' multicultural attraction to world religions, but it has failed thus far to produce important work in the visual arts. The search for spiritual meaning has been registering in popular culture instead through science fiction, as in George Lucas' six-film Star Wars saga, with its evocative master myth of the “Force.” But technology for its own sake is never enough. It will always require supplementation through cultivation in the arts.

To fully appreciate world art, one must learn how to respond to religious expression in all its forms. Art began as religion in prehistory. It does not require belief to be moved by a sacred shrine, icon, or scripture. Hence art lovers, even when as citizens they stoutly defend democratic institutions against religious intrusion, should always speak with respect of religion… But when set against the vast historical panorama, religion and art--whether in marriage or divorce--can reinvigorate American culture.”

Filmmakers – are you listening?

Falling Slowly “Once” Again

A beautiful film, a special song, and many soulful words of thanks...

Scratching my head…

I’m sorry but I need to vent.

I’m afraid I don’t quite understand the effusive critical reception for No Country for Old Men. Something’s not right with the Group Think surrounding this film. A guy finds a suitcase of money and a bad guy chases him… for two hours. Sounds like a drive-in movie to me…

I think this is one of those films that the Academy, too, will scratch their heads about as they reflect back on this award five or ten years down the road. Even films that some deemed unworthy for Best Motion Picture in the past (Chariots of Fire, Driving Miss Daisy, etc.) have transcendent elements about them. Great art lasts because of its ability to transcend. What’s transcendent about this film?

I fully respect the talents of Javier Bardem and the Coen brothers. But even ardent supporters must admit that their efforts in this film are less substantial than that of much of their previous work. I believe that this Best Motion Picture award for No Country… says more about the state of filmmaking in Hollywood today than anything else.

Was it just me or did Javier Bardem’s character remind you of the Michael Meyers character from the 1978 film Halloween?

Another actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins, won an Oscar for portraying a serial killer. Are the characters of Hannibal Lector and Anton Chigurh even in the same league? Revisit Silence of the Lambs to witness a multi-layered, highly nuanced acting performance. Where have our standards gone?

Does No Country for Old Men really deserve more Academy Awards than The Godfather?

Thank you for this opportunity to vent. I feel much better now…

Final thoughts

The film selections of this year’s Berlinale, considered sub par by many festival veterans, was a true treat to this American Catholic filmmaker, long tired of formulaic Hollywood blockbusters. Foreign cinema and independent film have been, and continue to be, my artistic oasis. I left the festival with lifted spirits, feeling much better about the general state of humanity than when I first arrived. And this is a powerful statement on the resonating and transformational power of art. It reinforced my awareness of the transcendent dimensions of life, including family, spirituality, hope, shared human values, and most especially -- love. Share your love today for you never know what tomorrow may bring.

Ah yes... it’s good to be alive.

Theme

One theme that I became aware of early on and continued throughout the festival was that this year’s program contained an abundance of stories about children. We experienced films that dealt with the moral struggle to save a terminally ill child (Zuo You – “In Love We Trust”), children used as a pawn for capitalism (There Will Be Blood), and children struggling with the painful loss of a parent (Lake Tahoe). We saw three films (Julia, Lady Jane, Gardens of the Night) that dealt with kidnapped children, one of which additionally addressed the horrors of sexual abuse (Gardens…). There was a story of children yearning for the love of a parent struggling to make ends meet (The Song of Sparrows). We saw in two separate films (Elegy, Restless) the venom that resonates and spews forth from a grownup who was abandoned by a father when only a child. There was a wonderful film (Kirschblüten – “Cherry Blossoms”) about a widower fulfilling the life dream of his recently deceased spouse highlighting how his adult children have all but abandoned him in today’s modern commuter society. He later found a platonic kindred spirit in a relationship with a homeless girl who was still grieving with the loss of her own mother. We experienced and I really mean “experienced” a violent police drama (Tropa de Elite – “Elite Squad”) centered around a man with a very dangerous job as he tries to pave the way for his retirement due to his wife’s pregnancy and his desire to remain alive to experience fatherhood to his soon to be born child. Another film (Bam Gua Nat – “Night and Day”) focuses on a man torn between two relationships who is lured back to his wife based upon a false pregnancy claim while he leaves behind his pregnant mistress in another country. We observed children (Kabei – “Our Mother”) reacting as their father is whisked away by the state to prison and witnessing their mother’s strength as she raises them in a time of war. Another film (Caos Calmo – “Quiet Chaos”) focused on a girl who serves as the central figure to help her father through the grief of the loss of her mother and his wife. We witnessed the triumphant message (Feuerherz – “Heart of Fire”) of what turning the other cheek really means for a child soldier in war torn Africa. And we contemplated a film (I’ve Loved You So Long…) showcasing the grief, struggle for forgiveness, and hope for rebirth of a woman recently released from prison. Her crime? She committed infanticide and we see how her conscious act has since infected the remainder of her family. And finally, a film (Ballast) that features a son who has recently lost his father set against the deep grief of his father’s twin.

These films are not only about children but also about redemption, hope, and rebirth, whether through forgiveness from loved ones or from society, or just the deep longing for an opportunity to start over.

The Berlinale has a long history of showcasing films with a distinct political message. And this may be a year of films with similar intimation. Jung’s collective unconscious is glaringly apparent as a good many of these stories share similar circumstances and themes. And as much as these films are about children, they are about death and resurrection as well. So, are these shared stories made by filmmakers from disparate parts of the world telling us that we are living in a culture that is essentially killing its children, effectively squashing our beautiful innocence? Are they asking if we are living in a time of transition between the death of certain cultural mainstays and waiting for the rebirth of others?

Only hindsight will tell us for sure…