Wintery Fairy Tale Illustration - 3

Wintry fairy tale illustrations
by Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942).
via J.R.'s Art Place

A Movie You Might Have Missed #55: Ushpizin

It's been 11 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

You see a lemon. They see a miracle.

 

In Jerusalem's orthodox neighborhoods, it's Succoth, seven days celebrating life's essentials in a sukkah, a temporary shack of both deprivation and hospitality. A devout couple, Moshe and Mali, are broke and praying for a miracle. They can't afford to build a sukkah, they can't afford food for a feast, and they have no guests. Their prayers are answered. But those answers bring their own tests of faith, beginning with the Ushpizin, the guests that unexpectedly show up on their doorstep.

I really can't believe I haven't mentioned this movie here before. It became an instant favorite as soon as we watched it.

Above all, the story is that of Moshe and Mali as we watch their relationship tested. Their chemistry and love is undeniable and forms the backbone of the story. Each wants the best for their marriage and each other and yet, as is always the case, life and especially the upcoming holiday throws unexpected challenges their way.

This is a tale of love and living your faith to the fullest which is, of course, why it resonates with me. The fact that this is managed in a light, humorous piece about such a foreign culture just goes to show the artistry that went into this film.

What's helpful to know before you watch:

• Succoth is a 7-day Jewish festival when meals are eaten in a sukkah, a temporary booth of both deprivation and hospitality. Men also sleep there. It is considered a blessing to have guests at that time.
• Moshe's orthodox Braslov Hasidism particularly emphasizes personal and emotional connection to God.
• The four species are four plants mentioned in Torah in connection with succoth, one of which is the etrog (citron fruit).
• Low level criminals in Israel can get out for a while on leave, evidently being on the honor system for showing back up again.

If you want more background information after watching, read Joseph Suzanka's review which I how I first heard of it. He has some wonderful insights and the background of the movie is almost as good as the movie itself.

Scott and I also discussed it at A Good Story is Hard to Find, where Leah's comments on the blog gives some excellent clarification on questions of the faith and attitudes in the film.

An Advent Reflection: Confessionals

Those confessionals scattered about the world where men declare their sins don't speak of the severity of God. Rather do they speak of his mercy. And all those who approach the confessional, sometimes after many years weighed down with mortal sins, in the moment of getting rid of this intolerable burden, find at last a longed-for relief. they find joy and tranquility of conscience which, outside Confession, they will never be able to find anywhere.

John Paul II, Homily, 16 March 1980
Quoted in In Conversation with God by Francis Fernandez
Daily Meditations Vol. 1: Advent and Christmastide

My parish has confession scheduled 6 days between now and Dec. 23. I need it.

And yet, looking over the extensive schedule I don't see anything that doesn't inconvenience me somehow, that doesn't seem to be too much trouble.

That's gratitude for you. I'll be absolved, find tranquility, and it just isn't convenient enough for me.

Hey, I told you I need it. That's just proof positive.

Wintery Fairy Tale Illustration - 2

Wintry fairy tale illustrations
by Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942).
via J.R.'s Art Place

Finch

A man, a robot and a dog form an unlikely family in one man's quest to ensure that his beloved canine companion will be cared for after he's gone. Tom Hanks stars as Finch, a robotics engineer and one of the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar event that has left the world a wasteland. But Finch, who has been living in an underground bunker for a decade, has built a world of his own that he shares with his dog, Goodyear. He creates a robot, played by Caleb Landry Jones, to watch over Goodyear when he no longer can.

This rather reminded me of The Terminal in that it was charming but had a lot of missed opportunities to be a great movie instead of a good movie. It was enjoyable enough as it was and has the virtue of being that rare thing these days, a fairly cheerful post-apocalyptic movie. Acting, direction, and production values were all great — it was just the story that was lacking. And even that was good enough. Just not great. My sister, however, really liked this for the questions it left her with after viewing — so your mileage may vary.

Wintery Fairy Tale Illustration - 1

Wintry fairy tale illustrations
by Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942).
via J.R.'s Art Place

 

King Richard

Richard Williams serves as a coach to his daughters Venus and Serena, who will soon become two of the most legendary tennis players in history.

I came hoping for to see Will Smith in a good movie for a change – and that's what I got! We know how Venus and Serena Williams' stories turned out but here is the person who planned their careers and motivated them. 

Not being interested much in tennis I had never heard of their father, Richard, or his publicity grandstanding. Watching the story unfold was fascinating, even as we also gradually saw that Richard was anything but perfect. Yet, even with all his flaws, he still achieved his goal for his daughters. 

 It is too long but Will Smith delivered an outstanding performance reminding us that he really can act. Overall a movie that kept us captivated the whole time.

Jacek Malczewski - Self Portrait With Palette

Jacek Malczewski - Self Portrait With Palette
Via Gandalf's Gallery

I feel as if this is the very embodiment of insouciance.

December

December, Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

In the forest of Vincennes, fabled for its game, a wild-boar hunt has caught a boar which is being torn apart by the boarhounds. In the background is the Chateau de Vincennes, long a residence of French royalty.

University of Chicago

What Else I'm Reading for Advent — 25 Days, 26 Ways to Make This Your Best Christmas

I came across this free at Amazon when cruising for Christmas holiday books back in 2010. It proved to be a very good series of reflections and suggestions for how to make December more meaningful leading up to Christmas. In short, it is a Protestant-style Advent book. Gosh, that is a long time ago and I think I've read it every year.

What makes this different is that the author focuses on linking the spiritual meditations and activities to the familiar holiday songs and things all around us. It was amazingly effective thanks to that and a nice complement to the Catholic Advent reflections that I normally use.

One caveat: the author is not as careful with some of his research as he could be. Just from my general knowledge I spotted two places where he subscribed to popular Christian wishful thinking in the origins of items, namely the candy cane and the Twelve Days of Christmas. We've all come across these in those emails that get sent around every year and then been discredited via Snopes or some other myth-buster site. He uses them effectively nonetheless as there is no harm in reflecting on those items using those faith-focuses. It is just that it would be nice if the author had fact checked better. This also made me a bit wary in trusting some of his other seemingly convenient stories such as that of the Christian origin of the evergreen tree for Christmas. It may be true but if he got the other things wrong, how can I know unless I check all these other facts too?

Regardless, this does not detract too much from the value that these reflections have for the regular Christian who is trying to keep his head in the midst of the regular bombardment of advertising and flurry of activities.

The Little Street

The Little Street (1657–58), Johannes Vermeer

After reading a new book ...

It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones. Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books ... Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us.

C.S. Lewis, “On the reading of old books,” God in the Dock

Waxwing

 

Waxwing, Remo Savisaar

I am very tired of this Government, which I have never seen ...

I am very tired of this Government, which I have never seen, and which is always insisting that I must do disagreeable things, and does no good to anybody.

Naomi Novik, Throne of Jade

Spoken by a dragon but applies equally well to regular human beings.

A Donkey

Jacques-Laurent Agasse, A Donkey

 

Man is the only amateur animal

Man is the only amateur animal; all others are professionals. They have no leisure and they do not desire it. When the cow has finished eating, she chews the cud; when she has finished chewing, she sleeps; when she has finished sleeping, she eats again. She is a machine for turning grass into calves and milk—in other words, for producing more cows. The lion cannot stop hunting, nor the beaver building dams, nor the bee making honey. When God made the beasts dumb He saved the world from infinite boredom, for it they could speak they would all of them all day talk nothing but shop.

C. S. Lewis, Rehabilitations

Death was not part of nature

Death was not part of nature; it became part of nature. God did not decree death from the beginning; he prescribed it as a remedy. Human life was condemned because of sin to unremitting labor and unbearable sorrow and so began to experience the burden of wretchedness. There had to be a limit to its evils; death had to restore what life had forfeited. Without the assistance of grace, immortality is more of a burden than a blessing.

St. Ambrose, from a book on the death of his brother

Well, ain't that the truth! I've often thought I didn't want to live forever and as a science fiction lover I've been shown many examples of what we imagine purely human immortality to be like. With a dose of God's grace, that makes it the "remedy" St. Anselm describes.

Daily reminders of the resurrection

Consider, beloved, how the Lord keeps reminding us of the resurrection that is to come, of which he has made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits by raising him from the dead. Let us look, beloved at the resurrection that occurs at its appointed time. Day and night show us a resurrection; the night lies in sleep, day rises again; the day departs, night takes its place. let us think about the harvest; how does the sowing take place, and in what manner? The sower goes out and casts each seed onto the ground. Dry and bare, they fall into the earth and decay. Then the greatness of the Lord's providence raises them up again from decay and out of one many are produced and yield fruit.

Saint Clement I, Letter to the Corinthians

This never occurred to me. I am used to seeing the liturgical year echoed in the natural year, of course, but to look at daily reminders of the resurrection — blows my mind.

How hungry are you?

You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.

Yogi Berra

A Movie You Might Have Missed #54 : Tell No One

It's been 11 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Eight years ago, Alex's wife was murdered.

Today she emailed him.

Tell No One (2006 ‘Ne le dis à personne’)

Tell No One, as Jack Black says in School of Rock, "will test your head, and your mind, and your brain."

That's because it is a truly fast paced thriller which one must keep up with while reading French subtitles. Sometimes we had to go back and reread a couple which were obliquely referring to plot points while delivered quickly in brief bursts. However, it was definitely worth it.

This director must love American thrillers. Tell No One has the pacing, sound, look, and (most importantly) plot of a top notch Hollywood thriller. Partly that's because the original story is from Harlen Coben who cowrote the script with the director. Partly that's because the acting and directing were right on target.

The many twists keep you guessing and just when you are convinced that you've seen a couple of loose ends go by, they get neatly wrapped up. I was even more impressed when I read Roger Ebert's review afterward and realized many of the subtle points that I missed.

If you give enough thought to the film, you'll begin to realize that many of the key roles are twinned, high and low. There are two cops closely on either side of retirement age. Two attractive brunettes. A cop and a crook who have similar personal styles. Two blondes who are angular professional women. Two lawyers. One of the assassins looks a little like Alex, but has a beard. Such thoughts would never occur during the film, which is too enthralling. But it shows what love and care went into the construction of the puzzle.

This is a movie that is definitely worth watching at least twice.