The Golden Age in the City of Lights: Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris

This review ran in 2011 when we originally saw the movie. This is part of our mini-festival showing my mother our favorite Woody Allen movies. So I thought I'd share the review again.

Owen Wilson plays a dreamer who has made a fortune writing screenplays but longs to find a sympathetic soul to read his first novel. His fiancee and her family seem wrong for him in every way but he doesn't notice because he's so busy longing for the Golden Age of 1920's Paris when the American writers and artists mingled. One evening, lost in a dark side street, sitting forlornly on the steps, he hears midnight chime and a very old yellow taxi pulls up. The merry group inside beckon him in and he joins them only to find himself literally swept away to meet his idols.

Midnight in Paris has a surprisingly straight-forward story and moral, albeit one told with a romantic eye to the artists in 1920s Paris and those who yearn nostalgically for the past. This is a love letter to Paris, a nod to comedy, a commentary on modern Americans in Paris, and above all a reminder that now is all the time we have and we may be living in a golden age in the present. Sweet, charming, and funny. A winner all 'round.

I give it four stars out of five because there were a few details which didn't work with the logic of the story quite right, and which we all noticed. They don't make that much of a difference but catching them would have gotten a bit closer to perfection.

UPDATE
My favorite people were Hemingway and Dali but I must also add that I've never understood people who say that Marion Cotillard is beautiful. Until now. She is luminous in this film. Kathy Bates was also perfectly cast as Gertrude Stein. All were just a joy to behold in this film.

A Blockade Runner

A Blockade Runner, Briton Riviere

Tick-Tick

Briton Riviere, Tick-Tick, 1881
via Arts Everyday Living

Sympathy

Briton Riviere, Sympathy, c. 1878

 This is one of my favorite paintings featuring, as it does, a dog doing what they do best — empathizing with their loved ones.

When a misfortune is a grace

What in the eyes of the world appears only as a misfortune, for the saints is a grace: the place of the path to self-perfection.

Takashi Nagai, Thoughts from Nyokodo

This is the necessary reminder that Jesus loves us and doesn't give us things that are bad. We understand imperfectly, see in a dim reflection of a mirror.

Dogs from Europe

Hashimoto Kansetsu (1883 - 1945), Dogs from Europe
via Wikipedia

 I really love thinking of some art lover in Japan marveling over these exotic dogs. To be fair, they seem fairly exotic to me, but not in the way they would to someone from the other side of the world who'd never seen the breeds at all at all.

A Terrible Book Hangover

You can't put the book you just finished behind you because you still want to live in it. You have a terrible book hangover, and it lasts three days. Ibuprofen does nothing for it. You're sad because whatever you read next can't possibly be as good as the book you just finished. You depair because nothing you read can possibly be as good, ever again.

Anne Bogel, I'd Rather Be Reading

This doesn't happen to me often but when it does it's terrible. And wonderful — to have read such a book, such wonderful writing, such depth of feeling. And so forth. But in the meantime, what does one read until one recovers? I mean, you've gotta read something. You can't just not read for three days. It's a tough way to live.

Your friends may use the word obsessed ...

Cull duplicates. If you have two copies of a book, keep the prettier one. If you can't bring yourself to get rid ofyour duplicates, buy a third copy. When it comes to books, two is the loneliest number. Multiple copies of a single title are acceptable. Many many multiples are preferable to two or three; excess makes you look interesting. Your friends may use the word obsessed, but they can't deny your obsession is interesting.

Anne Bogel, I'd Rather Be Reading

I do have duplicates, and more than two, of several books. To be fair, most of those are because I like different translations, such as for Dante's Divine Comedy. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is because I have lightweight paperbacks for reading in bed, a one volume version that has notes written in it (yes, I know, notes), and a third with Tolkien's own illustrations throughout. I can't guarantee I won't buy another one with Alan Lee's illustrations — if I can find such a thing or afford it — but that's for the future to worry about. I also confess to duplicate copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Dracula because one copy has notes in it.

 And, of course, the Bible for different translations or commentaries. But the Bible is in a category all its own.

Bedouins Preparing a Raiding Party

Giulio Rosati - Bedouins Preparing a Raiding Party [1895] via Gandalf's Gallery

As is common for Rosati, the artist has used strong colours to pick out one or two characters in particular, in this case the figure in the foreground on the right, who discusses with his companions how best they should plan their attack. A few particular details reveal the extraordinary attention Rosati has not only paid to his motif, but also to the composition. For example, the main figure's shoes echo the curl of the butt of his gun, while the brilliant blues of the figure on the left tie the group of men to the sky, and help to balance the dominating colours of his companion.

I quite feel that an apology is due for beginning a novel with two long dull chapters full of description.

I quite feel that an apology is due for beginning a novel with two long dull chapters full of description. I am perfectly aware of the danger of such a course. In so doing I sin against the golden rule which requires us all to put our best foot foremost, the wisdom of which is fully recognised by novelists, myself among the number. It can hardly be expected that any one will consent to go through with a fiction that offers so little of allurement in its first pages; but twist it as I will I cannot do otherwise. I find that I cannot make poor Mr Gresham hem and haw and turn himself uneasily in his arm-chair in a natural manner till I have said why he is uneasy. I cannot bring in my doctor speaking his mind freely among the bigwigs till I have explained that it is in accordance with his usual character to do so. This is unartistic on my part, and shows want of imagination as well as want of skill. Whether or not I can atone for these faults by straightforward, simple, plain story-telling—that, indeed, is very doubtful.

Anthony Trollope, Doctor Thorne

Indeed. I had just finished those long, boring chapters and was mentally reviewing the much faster start of The Warden and Barchester Towers, the first two books in the series. And then this came along. I had to laugh and forgive him, however annoyed I was. And I was annoyed. I now expect a rousingly good tale.

Old Veliky Novgorod

Apollinary Vasnetsov - Old Veliky Novgorod [1901], via Gandalf's Gallery

Apollinary Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (Vasnetsov, July 25, 1856 - Moscow, January 23, 1933) was a Russian painter and graphic artist. He specialised in scenes from the medieval history of Moscow. Vasnetsov did not receive a formal artistic education. He had studied under his older brother, Viktor, also a famous painter.

The Romantics documentary series — the legacy of Yash Chopra and Yash Raj Films

Featuring archival footage and in-depth celebrity interviews,
this docuseries celebrates the life and legacy of Hindi filmmaking titan Yash Chopra.

Over the course of four episodes, director Smriti Mundhra covers Hindi cinema in a way that almost no one ever has, from Chopra’s early work to the rise of his sons Aditya and Uday in the ’90s and 2000s, to the shifting sensibilities of the industry and effects of Chopra’s death in 2012. The project was born out of Mundhra’s own love of Hindi cinema and documentary expertise, and a realization that she had never seen a film retrospective about the culture and movies that raised her.

IndieWire interview

A really excellent documentary. Well edited, conceived and executed.

This series is something that Indians will enjoy and that true film fans will appreciate. Other than that, only people like us — a true minority of Indian film lovers who are not ourselves Indian — will appreciate.

We've seen so many of the Yash Raj movies, especially the more recent ones. I loved seeing the story of Yash and Aditya Chopra - it was a wonderful behind-the-scenes view of something we love.

(Also I was stunned to realize that Ali from the Dhoom series was played by Uday Chopra. That took me completely by surprise. That's how out of touch I was with who the family members are.)

He would have been the hero of our tale ...

The one son and heir to Greshamsbury was named as his father, Francis Newbold Gresham. He would have been the hero of our tale had not that place been pre-occupied by the village doctor. As it is, those who please may so regard him. It is he who is to be our favourite young man, to do the love scenes, to have his trials and his difficulties, and to win through them or not, as the case may be. I am too old now to be a hard-hearted author, and so it is probable that he may not die of a broken heart.

Anthony Trollope, Doctor Thorne

And then we get two chapters about this character and his family.

I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

We are readers. Books are an essential part of our lives and of our life stories. For us, reading isn’t just a hobby or a pastime; it’s a lifestyle. We’re the kind of people who understand the heartbreak of not having your library reserves come in before you leave town for vacation and the exhilaration of stumbling upon the new Louise Penny at your local independent bookstore three whole days before the official publication date. We know the pain of investing hours of reading time in a book we enjoyed right up until the final chapter’s truly terrible resolution, and we know the pleasure of stumbling upon exactly the right book at exactly the right time.

This is light, fluffy fun for anyone who is a dedicated reader. You continually recognize yourself as Anne Bogel talks about book hangovers, rearranging bookshelves, Then there are the lists - many chapters are rapid-fire, run-on lists of contradictory yet complementary reader-centric behavior. And she did all this while tossing off examples which didn't fall into any category I regularly read. So we know there isn't science fiction mentioned. And not many mysteries. Some behavior just crosses all genres.

She gets me.

You take five books to the pool because you can’t decide what to read next. You can’t comfortably manage your purse because you shoved three books in on the way out the door, unable to decide what to read next. You pack twelve books for a five-day vacation because you can’t decide what to read next.

A Song for Nagasaki: the Story of Takashi Nagai: Scientist, Convert, and Survivor of the Atomic Bomb by Paul Glynn

I just finished reading this book for an upcoming podcast episode. It was moving and inspirational to read this during Holy Week. I already love the book but this combination is extremely powerful.  

Therefore, I'm reposting this review from 2014 when I first read the book. 

In 1928 young Takashi Nagai was a medical student at the top of his class. An atheist, he passionately believed that science held the key to the future of the human race. He loved his country and believed the "spirit of Japan" would improve his nation's future.

Then came a telegram that sent him racing home to be with his mother as she died.  And his world changed.

"I rushed to her bedside. She was still breathing. She looked fixedly at me, and that's how the end came. My mother in that last penetrating gaze knocked down the ideological framework I had constructed. This woman who had brought me into the world and reared me, this woman who had never once let up in her love for me ... in the very last moments of her life spoke clearly to me! Her eyes spoke to mine, and with finality, saying: 'Your mother now takes leave in death, but her living spirit will be beside her little one, Takashi.' I who was so sure that there was no such thing as a spirit was not told otherwise; and I could not but believe. My mother's eyes told me that the human spirit lives on after death. All this was by way of an intuition, an intuition carrying conviction."

In an unlikely turn of events, Nagai turned to Blaise Pascal's Pensées in his grief and bewilderment, having been attracted to the Catholic poet-scientist in a high school literature class. This was the first step into a spiritual journey that ended in Nagai becoming known as the "saint of Urakami" after the atomic bomb hit Nagasaki.

Nagai's biography is captivatingly told. Paul Glynn combines vivid descriptions, character insights, and just enough Japanese history so that we have context. As a result I wound up admiring the Japanese people even more than I did already. I never realized how many of the Japanese ideals combine with saintly living, especially as seen through Takashi Nagai's eventful life.

At Mass on Sundays and feast days, the Nagais often heard Father Moriyama speak on the beauty of the simple family life at Nazareth. It showed, he said, the great worth of ordinary family life and the grace of God present in humdrum daily work. This reminded Nagai of his boyhood, when his mother taught him how to find the universe in a bowl of rice: "Look at the rice carefully, and discover behind it the countless generations of farmers who pioneered wild land and nurtured rice paddies through droughts and floods, poverty, war and pestilence. See generations of artisans too in the simple, practical beauty of the bowl and chopsticks and in all the merchants who handled Them. See your parents took, who worked hard to be able to buy and cook the rice." Nagai's mother would conclude her lesson by joining her hands and bowing in a gesture of profound gratitude, reciting a prayer that explained all this, and the universe as well: "Namu Amida Butsu. We depend on our utterly, Amida Buddha."

... [The Japanese character] Shigoto, "work," is made of two ideographs meaning "something that is a service." All are the beneficiaries of countless other "workers," and we owe it to the community to do our own job well, not primarily for material recompense but out of gratitude. This was the boy's introduction to Japan's famous work ethic. Nagai the Christian recalled his mother's gentle homespun spirituality with gratitude.

I am really struck by how many modern issues Nagai struggled with: belief in science as ultimate good, humanism, the atom bomb, cancer, and more. His faith gave him peace and the way he lived it in unimaginable circumstances gave that peace and faith to others. I also really admired his absolute dedication to truth, so much so that when he became curious about Christianity he decided to carry out a scientific experiment by boarding with a Japanese Catholic family.

This is much more than a simple biography, needless to say. Because we're following Nagai's spiritual journey, we are invited to look deeper within ourselves and journey also. This book is fascinating and inspirational.

How fitting that this is the first book I finished in 2014. Not only is it the Solemnity of Mary, which Nagai would have very much appreciated, but it is the beginning of a New Year where I am taking Takashi Nagai as my patron for the year. So ... it seems meant to be on several levels.

Highest recommendation.

ALSO - Scott and I discuss it at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Bholaa

An ex-convict must undertake a perilous, violent journey in order to meet his daughter after years of imprisonment.

We saw this at the theater with our daughters and son-in-law. We all gave this top marks. First, let's talk about the fun stuff, which I will quote from my daughter Hannah's review.

I think everyone should see this, ideally in theaters.

Unless you think you’d spend whole thing thinking things like:

“You can’t pull a trident through two guys handle first!”

“How can he be lifting someone off the ground who has already been shown to be taller than he is?”

“You can’t punch a motorcycle out of the air!” with a slight frown on your face.

In which case, I’m sorry you hate fun. That must be really hard for you.

Also — it was a compelling story with clearly drawn characters, excellent acting, clever twists, stylish choreography and imagery, and over the top action very well done.

Ajay Devgn's direction showed an impressive creative vision, all the more so when you consider how good the first half of his Runway 34 was - and how different the requirements of the two stories were. Many directors can't do as well and we look forward to more of his directed films.

Once again, we appreciated his acting, so clearly conveying what he is thinking often without doing much physically. That's not easy and not seen often in Indian movies. Tabu was impressive, as always. It had to be fun to play such a kick ass character.

Recommended for beginners. Rated for older teens.

Enjoyable all round.

ALSO — Discussed in An American's Guide to Bollywood.

Write a check, kiss it up to God ...

Write a check, kiss it up to God, and move on with our lives. Remember: Even if the money itself gets wasted, the generosity never is. There is no such thing as a wasted act of love; and something done out of love, either for neighbor or for God, is worth more than the hugest impersonal donation in the world.

Simcha Fisher, Giving alms like a Catholic

Durham Cathedral

Durham's massive patterned columns hold aloft the finest cathedral in northern Europe, built (between 1093 and 1128) to symbolise the power of the conquering Normans, and embodying revolutionary technology.
Description from Paul Johnson, photo via Wikipedia.

 Absolutely gorgeous isn't it? A bit about cathedrals in general from Paul Johnson's Art: A New History.

The liturgical demands of the cathedral, which were complicated and exacting and continually becoming more so, meant that it had to be designed from the inside outwards. The dynamic force pushing the designer against the frontiers of his technology was the insistence of bishop and chapter, backed by the public, that he provide an ever-larger enclosed space in the middle of the church. This was reinforced by a religious and aesthetic urge to let in more light by building the walls higher and higher. To the early medieval man, the church was an epitome of his cosmology. The stone with which it was built symbolised eternity. The walls upheld the firmament above. There God dwelt to receive his voice and prayers ascending upwards. Worship was a rising motion and the higher the ceiling the closer man's prayer and song, which filled it with sound, would come to God. And the higher the roof, the more detached it was from the clayey prison of the earth beneath. Height was therefore an escape from earth to Heaven and that was why the cathedral had to provide it.

He goes on to talk about why Durham is so revolutionary and the constraints the artist was working with in order to built a fitting tribute to God.

An affectionate letter from a bishop must surely be the most disagreeable missive which a parish clergyman can receive.

His state became still worse when he received an affectionate but solemn letter from the Bishop warning him of his danger. An affectionate letter from a bishop must surely be the most disagreeable missive which a parish clergyman can receive. Affection from one man to another is not natural in letters. A bishop never writes affectionately unless he means to reprove severely. When he calls a clergyman his "dear brother in Christ," he is sure to go on to show that the man so called is altogether unworthy of the name.

Anthony Trollope, Dr. Wortle's School

Book of Durrow

The Book of Durrow (seventh century) is a masterpiece of calligraphy,
 drawn from late Roman models, and merged into Celtic passion for abstract decorative forms.

 The above caption comes from Art: A New History by Paul Johnson. This book is a simply marvelous way to read about history, as focused through the lens of artistic development.

I've always loved illuminated manuscripts and I wish that there was a version of them produced in modern times. I would snap up a Bible thusly illustrated. Think how it would enrich one's meditation to have art and words working together to raise our communication with God to a higher level.

My wishes aside, our modern age does allow us to enjoy illustrated manuscripts from ages past. I particularly love the page above with the dragon-ish capital N.

These artistic instincts and skills were in due course Christianised, and put to work in the monastic scriptoria which were springing up all over western Europe. The result was a kind of art which, in its intricacy of line and colour, has never been excelled. ...

These monasteries began, from the early seventh century, to produce illuminated manuscripts of great beauty and elaboration. It is not always possible to discover which house produced which book, and scholarly argument, reflecting modern nationalism, rages round the provenance. ... Then follow the three "luxury" manuscripts, prepared by great artists as a feast for the eyes of Dark Age kings: the Book of Durrow, from about 670 (Dublin, Trinity), the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 700 (British Library) and the Book of Kells, c. 800 (Dublin, Trinity). These three masterpieces have never been excelled in the history of book production: the concentrated skill they display astonishes, mystifies, overwhelms and even alarms modern eyes. It is hard for us to get inside the mind of the scribe-artist who spent months, perhaps years, decorating a single page with a combination of abstract motifs, zoomorphic or terrestrial stylised figures, major initials and elaborate script, all integrated in designs which are self-perpetuating patterns of dynamic movement.

The workmanship is so close to perfection that it is almost impossible to detect signs of fatigue or flagging invention. ...