minor variations ~

[lookingland]

today's book and film are actually related, oddly enough. two radically different takes on the theme of fulfilling God's purpose.

for the 50bookchallenge:

no. 28 ~ The Juggler of Our Lady: a Medieval Legend adapted by R. O. Blechman.

A picture book for the most part, but i'm counting it nonetheless. if for not other reason than the following passage:

He realized the world
would never change
and in fifty years he
would be DEAD...
... and turn into dust ...
... and blow across fields ...
... and nourish cowslips ...
... and blow into people's eyes ...

and the picture is hilarious: a little man shouting "damn!" as dust blows in his eyes.

it's a wonderful parable about talents and what we do with them and New Yorker illustrator blechman's illustrations are joyful and charming. i highly recommend it.

: D

last night i watched The Libertine ~ it's based on a stage play and doesn't adapt well to film, i don't think. there's a lot about the movie that is just baffling and badly hacked together. and yet i found it profoundly disturbing and provocative in an interesting way (and not all the sex stuff ~ that was pretty overt and ho-hum). johnny depp gives a really amazing and scary performance of john wilmot, the 2nd earl of rochester, who falls apart (literally) as he succombs to syphilis at the age of 33. after watching the deleted scenes, i really really wish the director had not made the cuts he did ~ it seems the whole blood of the story is in those cut scenes and it's a harrowing tale. not to be too conspiratorial, but i feel like the cuts removed the moral/spiritual backbone of the movie ~ as if to avoid offending. giant flaming penises are apparently deemed okay, but wilmot's critical reasons for abandoning God were not.

contrary to what you might think, it isn't a movie about glorifying sex and liscentiousness. in fact, it's the opposite. it's a story rather appropos to the sentiments of today: the destrructiveness of complacency, nihilism, and avarice ~ and the soul that suffers for lack of faith.

i ain't saying go rush and watch it. it's talky and confusing and doesn't quite come together (though has a lovely michael nymen soundtrack). but if you like depp or costume drama or want to see something that reaches high but misses the mark, you might want to give it a chance. just be sure to watch the deleted scenes as well. the movie makes a bit more sense with them.



i love this image and it's widely reproduced.
why oh why did the director then cut this scene
from the film?

~ * ~

in other news, i finished inking the dolls i started yesterday and i finished a sorta iffy draft of "The Hot Spot". not entirely sure how i feel about it. the only other thing i need to do for the weekend is to write an outline for Eleison no. 4. i'm planning on doing that late tonight. for now i'm going to take a long hot shower and then head out to the mall to see if i can't alleviate my empty closet a little before i start work on monday.

my schedule is going to be a real mess for a while. dunno how livejournal is going to fit into that yet. i may be posting more than ever or just sporadically. hard to say.

hope everyone is having a happy weekend!

: D

Comments

[lastremnant.livejournal.com]

I was curious about Libertine. Historically themed dramas always perk my interest but the critics so voraciously tore the movie apart that it scared me away from it. Maybe I'll give it a rental. Who wrote the stage play?

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

stephen jeffreys, i believe.

the film is problematic on a lot of levels and i wouldn't call it "enjoyable" at all. it's extremely pessimistic and dark for the most part (and vulgar). there's little to redeem it except that it raises such immense questions about how we live and the choices we make and who we admire. wilmot's final line is so disturbing, i still haven't really been able to answer the question he poses.

i have a feeling this one will stick with me for a long time.

if you want to be entertained, even mildly, i'd say skip it.

[lastremnant.livejournal.com]

Note taken. :) What is the final line?

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

what the hey ~ it won't really spoil anything.

he says: "do you like me now?"

~ yeah, it only makes sense in context of the whole monologue.

; D

[lastremnant.livejournal.com]

haha. :) Yeah, otherwise it sounds like a song lyric. :)

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

Damn...I love that quote and the picture is HOT.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

johnny depp is totally hot for the first half of the movie.

then not so much when his skin starts peeling, nose falls off, and his eye gets cataracts.

hahahahaha ~

: D

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

LOL

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

well we gotta have standards, right?

hahahahahahaha ~

: D

[gwyn-hwyfar.livejournal.com]

Oh, who needs to look at a nose anyway?

[astamaria.livejournal.com]

That film sounds really interesting. I'll have to check it out sometime. And I like the image, too.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i'd be really interested in other people's thoughts on it ~ !

: D

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

I saw The Libertine a couple of weeks back, and it did fall short of the mark for me too, but compared to the other gooblygook out there, I didn't mind too much. I didn't watch the deleted scenes - now I wish I had, because I felt like the director should have gone so much further....not necessarily with the sexual stuff, which I thought was rather tame, but, like you mentioned, with the moral and philosophical underpinnings of the time...

So, not bad, but....it's been a good long time since I've watched a film that goes the distance though, and that frustrates me.

However...Johnny Depp. He's a genius.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i'm very much an "always watch the deleted scenes" sort of person ~ in this case it really paid off.

i would definitely agree that compared to a lot of yuck out there, this once stands out as at least a brave attempt to do something more.

and johnny's never bad on the eyes either. hahahahaha ~

: D

[utter-scoundrel.livejournal.com]

"and the picture is hilarious: a little man shouting "damn!" as dust blows in his eyes."


ahahahahahahaha! That appealed to my sense of pettiness for some reason...