9/18/15
4/4
Solaris is one of those films that I struggled through the first time, but for which reflection soon thereafter totally reinvigorated my interest and appreciation. After watching I immediately knew that Solaris was enjoyable. In its essence was an awesome experience, I just had to get there. So after a couple of months I revisited, which was a few nights ago, and I completely loved it. Everything had intense power and affective strength; the image of the reeds, the dialogue in the study, the low-lying tone of mystery and fear-- and, more than anything else, the insanely provocative character of Hari. That supernatural character makes the whole film for me, sets it above all the other sci-fi/horror material.
I really love this movie, for a variety of reasons. Ultimately, it is Tarkovsky's immense directorial power and vision that give the film what it has.
In order to obtain a decent analysis, however, I still must see it again, earlier in the day....
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Thursday, September 3, 2015
I CAN SPEAK!™ [from In Persuasion Nation] (George Saunders)
9/3/15
This dark and shockingly comic story from George Saunders displays modern society's virtue of progress, but reveals it as progress driven by horrifying values and ideals. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions during these seven pages, but ultimately set the book down feeling the weight of what lies beneath Saunders' vision [usually I don't operate in romantic cliches like this, but here I'm being honest]. As with "Adams", the comedy or frankness is not the intention of the story, and it is not there to suppress the horror-- it is actually meant to enhance the horror. And for me, this time, it did; what was comically excessive in this story was also disturbing.
It was highly enjoyable, and skillfully-done. And I'm truly amazed by how funny it was.
This dark and shockingly comic story from George Saunders displays modern society's virtue of progress, but reveals it as progress driven by horrifying values and ideals. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions during these seven pages, but ultimately set the book down feeling the weight of what lies beneath Saunders' vision [usually I don't operate in romantic cliches like this, but here I'm being honest]. As with "Adams", the comedy or frankness is not the intention of the story, and it is not there to suppress the horror-- it is actually meant to enhance the horror. And for me, this time, it did; what was comically excessive in this story was also disturbing.
It was highly enjoyable, and skillfully-done. And I'm truly amazed by how funny it was.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Adams [from In Persuasion Nation] (George Saunders)
9/2/15
What I got out of Saunders' sparse, somewhat easy little vignette of a narrative was an animalistic/evolutionary portrayal of human beings, plus a distinct style reminiscent of Holden Caulfield. To the latter point, have I just not read enough contemporary fiction? I saw quite an obvious relationship between the blunt language and small, left-field vocabulary of Caulfield and Saunders' similar S-O-C writing of his narrator; perhaps this is a style widely-used. One thing I appreciated was the suppression of horror through simple language. Back to the first point, I think that human beings in this short portrait are closely-tied to their animal nature and ancestry. It is animal instinct that drives the narrator to commit most of his actions, including the decisive final one. His primary motive is the protection of self, and looser versions of self, namely families. This is a distinctly evolutionary drive, and beyond this, Saunders writes these situations as if he is a nature-documentary narrator, describing the interactions of two rival groups of orangutans. Violence is inflicted quickly and machine-like. "I am what I am" and "Because that's the kind of guy he is" imply genetic dominance over the self.
I really enjoyed the writing, which was blunt and sometimes comically over-the-top. I had to stretch a bit for themes, but it was a great exercise. I could read another.
What I got out of Saunders' sparse, somewhat easy little vignette of a narrative was an animalistic/evolutionary portrayal of human beings, plus a distinct style reminiscent of Holden Caulfield. To the latter point, have I just not read enough contemporary fiction? I saw quite an obvious relationship between the blunt language and small, left-field vocabulary of Caulfield and Saunders' similar S-O-C writing of his narrator; perhaps this is a style widely-used. One thing I appreciated was the suppression of horror through simple language. Back to the first point, I think that human beings in this short portrait are closely-tied to their animal nature and ancestry. It is animal instinct that drives the narrator to commit most of his actions, including the decisive final one. His primary motive is the protection of self, and looser versions of self, namely families. This is a distinctly evolutionary drive, and beyond this, Saunders writes these situations as if he is a nature-documentary narrator, describing the interactions of two rival groups of orangutans. Violence is inflicted quickly and machine-like. "I am what I am" and "Because that's the kind of guy he is" imply genetic dominance over the self.
I really enjoyed the writing, which was blunt and sometimes comically over-the-top. I had to stretch a bit for themes, but it was a great exercise. I could read another.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)