ART & Thoughts
Cinema
Life, Life : Arseny Tarkovsky poems
1 I don’t believe in omens or fear Forebodings. I flee from neither slander Nor from poison. Death does not exist. Everyone’s immortal. Everything is too. No point in fearing death at seventeen, Or seventy. There’s only here and now, and light; Neither death, nor darkness, exists. We’re all already on the seashore; I’m one … Continue reading
A streetcar named desire : Tennessee Williams
BLANCHE: I don’t want realism. I want magic! [Mitch laughs] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!–Don’t turn the light on! [Mitch crosses to … Continue reading
The unbearable lightness of being – Milan Kundera
The priest intoned words in a singsong voice, and the people repeated them after him in unison. It was a litany. The same words kept coming back, like a wanderer who cannot tear his eyes away from the countryside or like a man who cannot take leave of life. She sat in one of the … Continue reading
La Passion suspendue : Marguerite Duras
Journaliste à «la Stampa», Leopoldina Pallota della Torre rencontre Marguerite Duras en 1987. Il a fallu parlementer longtemps, dit-elle, pour convaincre la romancière, occupée à écrire le scénario de «l’Amant», de la recevoir dans son appartement de la rue Saint-Benoît. La journaliste se souvient de l’avoir d’abord vue «de dos, petite, très petite, assise comme … Continue reading
Poetry
How is it over there? How lonely is it? Is it still glowing red at sunset? Are the birds still singing on the way to the forest? Can you receive the letter I dared not send? Can I convey… the confession I dared not make? Will time pass and roses fade? Now it’s time to … Continue reading
The Tale of Genji: The Sensualist by Murasaki Shikibu
So get this: the world’s first novel came from Japan — and it was written by a woman — and it’s all about sex. Japanese literary buffs and commoners alike are celebrating the 1000th anniversary of The Tale of Genji. The author Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973 – c. 1014 or 1025) was a maid of … Continue reading
The Hours : Michael Cunningham
Take me with you. I want a doomed love. I want streets at night, wind and rain, no one wondering where I am. I’m sorry”, Louis says. “It’s all right. For god’s sake, look at all that’s happened” “I feel like such an asshole” He stands and walks to the French doors (seven steps) Through … Continue reading
Zora Neale Hurston : I Love Myself When I Am Laughing
The Inside Search In contrast to everybody about me, I was not afraid of snakes? They fascinated me in a way which I still cannot explain. I got no pleasure from their death. I do not know when the vivsions began. certainly I was not more than seven years old, but I remember the first … Continue reading
The universe waits… Jorge Luis Borges / Cao Guimaraes
At various times, I have asked myself what reasons moved me to study, while my night came down, without particular hope of satisfaction, the language of the blunt-tongued Anglo-Saxons. Used up by the years, my memory loses its grip on words that I have vainly repeated and repeated. My life in the same way weaves … Continue reading
La Chute : Albert Camus – Autobiography
Camus’ relationship with his wife was falling apart due to his indiscretions with other women. Francine then tried to commit suicide which left Camus with a sense of guilt. From 1955 to 1956, Camus wrote for L’Express. In 1957 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature “for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted … Continue reading
Eternity And A Day : Theodoros Angelopoulos / Dionysios Solomos
‘The Easter Day’ by Greece’s National poet, Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857). This poem regained fame and popularity in Greece some years ago with the 1998 film Eternity And A Day (Μια αιωνιότητα και μια μέρα) by Theodoros Angelopoulos, who died earlier. (24 January 2012). Alexandros (Bruno Ganz) walks along the seafront in Thessaloniki in Eternity And … Continue reading
Jacques Prévert: Immense et rouge
Immense et rouge Au-dessus du Grand Palais Le soleil d’hiver apparaît Et disparaît comme lui mon coeur va disparaître Et tout mon sang va s’en aller S’en aller à ta recherche Mon amour Ma beauté Et te trouver Là où tu es. Music from the film Three colours directed by Kyzysztof Kieslowski, Zbigniew Preisner – … Continue reading
The River : Herman Hesse / Hengki Koentjoro photographer
I am only a ferryman and it is my task to take people across this river. I have taken thousands of people across and to all of them my river has been nothing but a hindrance on their journey. They have travelled for money and business, to weddings and on pilgrimages; the river has been … Continue reading
Brief Encounter (1946) Film
On a cafe at a railway station, housewife Laura Jesson meets Dr. Alec Harvey. Although they are already married, they gradually fall in love with each other. They continue to meet every Thursday on the small cafe, although they know that their love is impossible. Brief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David … Continue reading
Portrait of a Lady – T.S. Eliot / Picasso
Portrait of a Lady Thou hast committed — Fornication: but that was in another country, And besides, the wench is dead. (The Jew of Malta) I Among the smoke and fog of a December afternoon You have the scene arrange itself — as it will seem to do— With “I have saved this … Continue reading
ART & Thoughts 