"Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truth, passed on from age to age, modified by individual genius, but never abandoned." William Butler Yeats
(This is an old post; the complete and thorough interpretation of the song is here at Witch Hunts & Sacraments: Delta Rae' s Bottom Of the River so please visit this link for a complete exploration of the symbols!).
I am about to go into cardiac arrest writing the review for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, I am so angry about it. I hate it when you take the time to visit the site and I don't have anything new up, so here is a pop quiz to test your skills of analysis (if we don't do this once in a while, you won't realize how good you are becoming on your own!). Please remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Please watch this once, and don't worry about "noting anything," your first impressions are going to be really important; then, watch it again to start analyzing. I have listed questions below to help you and the lyrics are below that! This is Delta Rae's, Bottom Of the River:
I would LOVE for you to post your comments and questions in the comment forum at the bottom of the post, and maybe a brave soul will go first and start off the discussion with their own observations, but here are some questions to get you started: 1). Is there anything the song/video reminds you of in general? Are there specific things in the song/video that remind you of something? (Please remember, art does this to form connections with "other art" that it knows it's audience is familiar with to increase the level of engagement we can have with it). Is there anything specifically being invoked by the song/video? What is it and why?
Analyze the costumes, because clothing is the person in a work of art, so the more you can understand about the costume, the more you can understand the character.
2). What time period is this taking place in? Why is this in the location where it is instead of New York or Ohio or the mountains? What is it that signals us to understand where this is taking place? How do costumes contribute to this? Are there contradictions, things that don't seem to belong together? Why would they do this, how can this have significance? How does the location--if at all--contribute to the feeling and mood of the song and, hence, our interpretation of it? 3). What are the weird, out of place, unusual aspects of the song/video? How can those be tied in with answers to the questions above?
What elements are being introduced at the very end of the video that we haven't seen before, and how does this contribute to our understanding of the song and, if at all, alter what we thought was going to happen at the beginning of the video?
4). Do you notice any symbols/acts we have discussed in other posts (okay, here's a hint: what is she doing when we first see the lead singer? She's sitting in front of a mirror, but not really looking into it, so she's "not reflecting" even though the opportunity is right there before her; is that good or bad? She's brushing her hair; what does hair symbolize? Thoughts [I am giving you way more than I should, but this is the first pop quiz, so it's okay] and the combing of the hair suggests a "disciplining" of the thoughts; is that what she's doing or not, and why do you say that?)
The band's album, Carry the Fire.
5). What is missing from the song/video? Okay, two more hints, first: instruments. It sounds like a capella, and where have we just seen this? The trailer for Pitch Perfect so why was a conscious choice made in Bottom Of the River to not use instruments and does that, in a larger cultural context, have any significance when being compared to the trailer for Pitch Perfect which is at this link (the first trailer)? What is something else missing? Light. The video is taking place at night, how--if at all--you think that is significant? What are the sources of light and what meaning does that have? PLEASE, HAVE FUN WITH THIS, THAT'S WHAT IT'S MEANT FOR!
(Again, this is an old post; the complete and thorough interpretation of the song I did after posting this "pop quiz" is here at Witch Hunts & Sacraments: Delta Rae' s Bottom Of the River so please visit this link for a complete exploration of the symbols!).
Delta Rae; you can get a free copy of the song by visiting their website! If you click on the title section of the video above, it will take you to the YouTube site where I downloaded it and all their other addresses are there as well as discussion from other video viewers!
Bottom of the RiverHold my handOoh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the riverHold my hand,Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way downIf you get sleep or if you get noneThe cock’s gonna call in the morning, babyCheck the cupboard for your daddy’s gunRed sun rises like an early warningThe Lord’s gonna come for your first born sonHis hair’s on fire and his heart is burningGo to the river where the water runsWash him deep where the tides are turningAnd if you fallHold my handOoh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the riverHold my hand,Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way downThe wolves will chase you by the pale moonlightDrunk and driven by a devil’s hungerDrive your son like a railroad spikeInto the water, let it pull him underDon’t you lift him, let him drown aliveThe good Lord speaks like a rolling thunderLet that fever make the water riseAnd let the river run dryAnd I saidHold my handOoh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the riverHold my hand,Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way down
Dear readers,
Many of you will remember that when the first trailers were released, I thought it a new low in film making (like Frankenstein Meets the Werewolf, or Predator vs Alien); then I hoped it would be great, and I completely got behind it, thinking of the legacy of Republican president Abraham Lincoln, and how he started out from nothing, rose up in true fashion of the American Dream, then defended those who didn't have the same freedom to rise up that he did, and he would fight the "blood sucking politicians" that would be symbolized in the vampires and it would be a call for Americans to rise up, take our government back and remember our real roots and heritage, rallying around a great American hero and defender of what has always been the definition of "Freedom" in this country...
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is 100% pure socialism. I want it to be a great capitalist film desperately, but it is completely socialist propaganda. I ask you, fellow capitalists, not to go see this film and feed the socialist machine, don't give them the wealth they criticize us for seeking. I am working on the post, it might be shorter than usual so I can get it up quicker...
What a lousy anniversary present...
Dear Readers,
On this day a year ago, I decided to stick with this blog and it's because of so many wonderful, kind and generous readers sharing posts and making the labor of love so worthwhile. I hope, in some small way, that I have been able to help you in your love of film, art, books, music, even the occasional commercial that aspires to be something greater than mere advertising. I can honestly say that I have learned a great deal, not only from sitting down and making myself articulate thoughts which would otherwise remain in darkness, but from your questions and your interpretations! With all my heart, thank you so very much for your continued support of this blog, especially when life intervenes and I haven't been able to get a post up. Today, I am going to see both Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Brave; I will be putting up a quick post on both to let you know my initial reactions!
Again, with all my heart, thank you for making this a wonderful year!
Eat Your Art Out,
The Fine Art Diner
Why did Rock Of Ages fail this weekend at the box office?
I think there are two reasons: one, the moral is so "on the fence," that no one buys it (again, like Wrath Of the Titans, if Rock Of Ages had been released two years ago, it would be more relevant but no one buys the message now). Secondly, the generation for whom it was made didn't like musicals, the very nature of the Rock 'n Roll they listened to growing up and so fondly remember created within them a sarcasm and cynicism towards the kind of "expression" the film utilizes as its vehicle.
"So start drinking,... now," says Dennis (Alec Baldwin) and then, looking at his watch, Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) tells the interviewer, "...Now..." Why? Rock Of Ages takes place in 1987, a very specific year, and the specificity of the historical moment is being invoked because of the context of 1987 making everything from the moment one starts drinking to the exact beginning of an interview somehow epic, because in its own way, 1987 was epic.
Everyone tends to think that the greatest music ever made--or at least their favorite music--was the music popular at the time they were a teenager: that's the time in our lives when we need expression for our emotions, fears, hopes, dreams and pain, and the music we embrace when we are going through those toughest years is usually music to which we stay loyal. Most of the songs in Rock Of Ages were out just before I got into high school (I was a teenager when Alternative was mainstream) so the generation this film wants to reach is the late thirties to late forties.
Dennis (Alec Baldwin) and Lonnie (Russell Brand) run the Bourbon Room together and we discover towards the end of the film that they are gay and in love with each other (when they themselves discover it). The film takes place in 1987; that was the first year that a drug had been approved for the treatment of the plague of the 1980's, AIDS; this was the year that a second gay pride march took place on Washington. It's no longer trendy to have a same-sex kiss in a film, but apparently a necessity. This feeds into the blurring of gender realities (discussed more thoroughly below) which is such a liberal political platform today.
Why?
Perhaps it's because they are the ones most likely to be leaning in the liberal-independent political camp: we can say the film is liberal because of the lifestyle (specifically gay and sexually promiscuous) of the characters but it's also a capitalist film because even while it shows the hardships of working and failing within a capitalist society, it also shows the rewards for the individuals and the fruits for society. Why would this be important in this election year? Liberals/democrats all seem to think they have to be pro-socialist in order to have their entitlements and lifestyles gain political acceptability; Rock Of Ages, however, puts forth that you can still be a "liberal" without being a socialist and that is an important political message which has obviously gone unnoticed (it doesn't contain some of the messages I was hoping for but it wasn't as cruel to religion as it could have been).
Jeans were really important in the 1980's: how many holes you had and where those holes were contributed to your ultimate fashion statement. Please note Lonnie's jeans and how they appear to be disintegrating on his legs. Legs symbolize our "standing" in society, our social class, our psychological identities and cultural projection of who and what we want others to understand about our existence. Given this, the tears in Lonnie's jeans when we first meet him, could refer simultaneously to two things: one, his heterosexual mask is wearing off (the disintegrating jeans) or two, his identity with Rock 'n Roll because rock is fading in importance and, so, too are his jeans.
The expressions of Rock 'n Roll, as I mentioned, is what I would like to suggest undermines that generation from being able to accept a "musical" from being capable of giving expression; why? A musical is even more encoded than a regular film. For example, a film is a story, so it relies upon symbols and structure in order to communicate an embedded meaning; when you add a song, then the song brings with it its own set of embedded messages and when it's a musical, there are embedded messages within embedded messages within embedded messages. What's the point?
Dennis, owner of the Bourbon Room, hasn't paid taxes in a year and he can't make money from performers in the Bourbon Room; why? Agents like Paul Gil (Paul Giamatti) squeeze every cent out of their stars' performances, but things get turned around by the end of the film, a typical and necessary critique of capitalism that always needs to happen.
There was a dehumanization which was still taking place from the 1950s--the Cold War still wasn't quite over yet, but almost, nearly over--so we can say that the reason why that generation "loved Rock 'n Roll" was because it released hatred for the Soviet Union constantly posing a threat to their existence; then, when Alternative came out (mainstream), the Cold War was over and, not having an external enemy any longer, we turned our hatred and fear inwards, to the inner war of our existence (I don't have space allotted to elaborate upon this now, but you might want to check out Under the Bridge: the Red Hot Chili Peppers & Film Noir, since the song came out in 1992 and Rock Of Ages takes place in 1987, they are close enough but Under the Bridge provides a soundboard for what had changed in those years) .
The two main characters, Sherri Christian and Drew Boley, when they first meet. Sherri has just gotten off the bus from Tulsa, Oklahoma and her suitcase with all her rock records was stolen; Drew ran to help her but was too late. Behind them are the protesters against the Bourbon Room and Drew has offered to help Sherri get a job in there where he himself works.
Rock n' Roll was a rebellious movement, a movement against something else, exterior to the listeners (this changes after the fall of Communism and the embracing of Alternative by the mainstream). What rock rebelled against, the angst and turmoil of life generally caused by the Cold War (and I know this is arguable but I can back this up!) is, in Rock Of Ages, being used against some pitiful church ladies now, and that's a sign rock has lost it's power. Please note that the name of Stacee Jaxx's band is named Arsenal, i.e., weapons, and rock was the weapon against (cultural) Communism just as the military was a weapon against (militant) Communism. Where's a suitable foe now?
What the film does do successfully is both critique and defend capitalism. Sherri broke up with Drew and quit her job at the Bourbon Room; unable to find a job somewhere else, she became a waitress in a strip bar. Tired of the little money and being groped by the men, Justice (Mary J. Blige) tells her that if she wants respect she has to "take that state, because when you're up there, you're untouchable," but that stage isn't the rock stage, it's the stage for strippers. Again, this is a fair critique of capitalism, because we've all had to do things we didn't want to do en route to making our dreams come true; the point Rock Of Ages makes is that capitalism, with all of its faults, provides the chances for our dreams to come true, and it's not just the big-money agents running the show but, ultimately, it's the consumers, us.
This is part of the failure of the film, to provide a worthy adversary, it doesn't make Republicans out to be the enemy (Mayor and Patty Whitmore are political but it doesn't say to which party they belong) and Democrats/Obama is not made out to be an enemy; so where is the rebellion in "rebel" Rock 'n Roll? There is none, it's just a watered-down status quo. Again, like Wrath Of the Titans that was a good film (just came out too late) Rock Of Ages doesn't make enough of a stand to be important, to inspire that solidarity today that rock did then when there was a common, real and worthy enemy: Communism. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, on to what I really want to discuss: tongues.
When we first see a picture of Stacee Jaxx in the film, it's a poster and he's wearing a silver cock piece of a satanic head with a very long, red tongue sticking out of its mouth, and Stacee's own tongue sticking out as well. In the video excerpt below when Patty (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is rallying some Catholic church women to her political cause, a poster of Stacee Jaxx has been placed over the altar as the anti-Christ; at about 0:26 into the video, there is a shot of the famous poster:
Then, Lonnie is relating to Dennis how Stacee failed to show up for a concert because he was at a seance trying to get the devil to sew up a woman's vagina (which, Lonnie points out, doesn't make sense, why would the devil want to sew up a vagina? and I have to agree with him) but we also see Stacee talking about the voices he hears. Later in the film, when Constance Sack (Malin Ackerman) from The Rolling Stone is interviewing Stacee, she grills him for being immature and letting go of his art, then they end up making out and she sticks her tongue in his ear. Later than that, Stacee calls Rolling Stone wanting to talk to "Cinderella" because "she stuck her tongue in my ear," and when he sees her at the Bourbon Room, he tells her to open her mouth really wide and he sticks his tongue into her mouth. This all makes perfect sense!
Please note that Constance wears glasses, so she can "see" what is going on with Stacee (namely, that Paul the agent is ruining Stacee's life and art) and her hair is down because hair symbolizes thoughts and she's not afraid to say what she's thinking (or to write what she sees going on). Stacee, on the other hand, wears the blue bandanna around his head, blue either being the color of wisdom or depression (the idea of being blue). As long time readers know, because the path of wisdom is so hard, wisdom and depression are often artistically associated as being synonymous; the bandanna is a sign of labor (farmers usually wear them to wipe off sweat while working in the fields), and Stacee's art has certainly been a labor for him, so his wisdom that has come to him through depression and the lifestyle that he has led as an artist has made him guarded in interviews with reporters such as Constance. If you look behind Constance, there is an animal print blanket on the back of the couch: the animal "passions" and appetites are "in the background" of the interview and when Stacee (pictured above) tempts Constance with a kiss and she "goes for the bait," we can see that she wants him just like all the other girls do. One last thing, however, because this plays into the traditional feminine-masculine roles: Constance wears white (probably symbolic of light and truth in this circumstance) and Stacee wears black (symbolizing his descent into inner darkness. Constance, however, is "yoked" to a bit of inner darkness herself (the black objects around her neck; because the neck is how we are led--as when a collar is put around an animal--we can see that Constance isn't entirely pure, which is probably her liberal sexual attitude she displays).
Constance lashes out at Stacee for failing in his art and becoming an impossible recluse; her tongue symbolizes her words (because she could not have said them without her tongue) and her sticking her tongue into Stacee's ear means that Stacee not only heard her words--in a genuine, reflective sense--but her words overtook the "voice" Stacee was hearing earlier in the film (symbolized by the satanic cock piece with the tongue sticking out he was wearing in the poster, that satanic voice driving him on towards sexual indulgence that was making it impossible for him to work and tearing him away from reality). That's why, when he sees on Constance at the Bourbon Room, he first kisses that anonymous girl that just walks up to him.... and kisses her... and kisses her... and kisses her... because nothing is coming from that, it's a last attempt by Satan to lure Stacee back into darkness and away form the light which Constance symbolizes; the anonymous girl fainting is literal: she has fainted from being in contact with him whereas Constance was,... "constant."
Here we have Constance "reflecting," and because she can reflect herself she is able to help Stacee reflect. What is she reflecting about? Probably the cost to herself that it will take to bring Stacee Jaxx back from the dead. The song he sings, Bon Jovi's Wanted, talks about being "I'm wanted, dead or alive," and in the film genre of Westerns and in history, we know that refers to killing someone and bringing them into justice if that is what it takes; in Wanted and Rock Of Ages, it's that capitalist critique that the artist is wanted by the consumers either alive and aware of what is happening and enjoying the "fruits" of his labor, or dead and spiritually nullified into the oblivion which fame has buried him. The line, "On a steel horse I ride," contrasts with a natural horse (like the white horse we see carrying Snow White (Kirsten Stewart) away to fulfill her destiny in Snow White and the Huntsman). We could say that Sherri and Drew are riding the "natural horse" in that they are riding their dream and trying to get to the place they need to be in order to fulfill it; Stacee got there and his horse died, turning into a Frankenstein monster of loneliness and alcohol. At the end, when Stacee gives a concert and we see Constance off stage, pregnant, we know that Stacee, through Constance has regained his own life so that he can now beget new life, not just in the form of new art and songs, but genuine human life as well.
What about Stacee's second performance we see at the Bourbon Room when he rides up on a motorcycle and sees Patty and he remembers her? Patty sticks her tongue out, obviously not able to control herself, and Stacee leaves her to go into the Bourbon Room. We know that Patty has an alternative agenda in wanting the Bourbon Room--and Stacee Jaxx in particular--to be shut down: when she was young, she had spent a night with him and apparently never forgave herself or him for it, so this is personal revenge. That's why her words are fake, because her self-righteous agenda is also fake and that's why, by this time, Stacee doesn't kiss Patty, because Patty's words, i.e., her tongue, are as poisonous as the tongue of the Satan face on Stacee's cock piece from earlier in the film and Stacee doesn't want that anymore, he's there for Constance.
Before Stacee goes to the Bourbon Room for the second time, he calls the office of Rolling Stone magazine from a pay phone to talk to "Cinderella" (because he can't remember Constance's name). Why does this happen? Stacee Jaxx is a multi-millionaire (and in the 1980's that still meant something), so why call from a pay phone? Those who read my post on Night Of the Living Dead (last October) might remember the artistic importance of a ringing phone, making a call, answering a call: it symbolizes our destiny. Stacee is "calling out" to Constance and the pay phone lets the audience know the price that Stacee is willing to pay to get back with her--what price? The self-destructive fame trap which everyone seems to crave, but everyone seems to die in.
Stacee in Paul's office. Stacee has just read Constance's article on her "interview" with him and discovered that Paul charged the Bourbon Room every single dollar that Stacee brought into the house that night, leaving Dennis with nothing. This "unfair business practice" is what Stacee illustrates when he takes the priceless bottle of alcohol Paul has just given him in an act of reparation and while pouring the alcohol into his mouth, Stacee urinates onto Paul, then tells Paul that he's fired. The priceless drink is Stacee's art that Paul's greed consumed and then Paul used it to piss on everyone; in other words, Stacee takes a moment to do to Paul what Paul did to the Bourbon Room. Stacee makes this up by sending cash over to Dennis to keep him in business. When Dennis sees the money he says, "Stacee Jaxx gives until it hurts," but the opposite is true: giving helps Stacee to not hurt, it makes Stacee feel good to give Dennis that money and that's a sign of Stacee's conversion in the film.
Why does he call Constance "Cinderella?"
It just so happens there was a glam-rock band called Cinderella and in 1987 they released a song Somebody Save Me (lyrics here). When Stacee is reaching out to find Constance again, he's asking her to save him. Earlier, Paul tells Stacee that Rolling Stone is there to see him and Stacee looks around and says, "Where's Mick (Jagger)?" the double-play on the magazine and the band makes it possible for a double-play on the fairy tale and the band Cinderella (if you know a better song they might want to draw our attention to, please let me know!).
Last thing: the role of animals.
In the picture below, Dennis wears an animal print shirt, Stacee wears a heavy fur coat and his baboon, "Hey Man," wears a black leather outfit (and his name is a noun for a human). Like the role reversal of genders (when the bartender is selling to guys drinks and Dennis thinks they are girls who should drink free, and then Stacee's own name, traditionally a female name) animals and humans have been reversed in the film as well.
Why?
The 1980s were a time of the appetites (for more on this, please see my post on the 1986 cult classic Abe Froman the Sausage King Of Chicago and pork barrel politics in Washington as discussed in Ferris Bueller's Day Off) but the rock world was particularly out of control with its appetites to the point that anything was acceptable and because of that, everyone was engaging in anything, turning us into animals rather than humans. Well, animals can't make art, and Stacee's descent into his animal appetites has caused his lack of creativity and Dennis' inability to make the Bourbon Room turn a profit.
Why is Sherri's hair so high in this shot? She's just arrived in LA and, in spite of being robbed, she still has "high hopes" of how things are going to go for her. Remember, hair symbolizes the thoughts, and the hairspray she uses--is that Aqua Net?--is "setting" her hopes high on her dreams and desires. Put into tangible terms (her too tall hair) it seems ridiculous, yet that's what we all have to do, and the "big hair" of the 1980s was really a homage to capitalism, that we could have big dreams and high hopes because that's they way the system was meant to work, and that's what made America a better country than the Soviet Union.
In conclusion, rock was initially a rebel movement that, in its decadence, celebrated the American freedom to be decadent and wrong, which one couldn't do under Soviet Communism. Rock Of Ages, while having many strong points, the film fails to offer the audience a worthy adversary that was the very nature of Rock 'n Roll's drive and purpose, the reason it meant everything to the fans who sought out the songs and bands best articulating the emotions they were feeling but couldn't express themselves. I hate to say it, but while Rock Of Ages is an okay film--with very solid performances from its A-list actors--in most respects, it fails to live up to the glory of the songs it incorporates. Most of the nudity has been edited out, so if you want to see it, please do, but it's not a great film, it's just like its moral base: mediocre.
Eat Your Art Out,
The Fine Art DinerP.S.--Just for fun, here are videos of some of the original songs from the film:
First view of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, no release date.
I AM SO SORRY: I am so close to getting the Rock Of Ages post done, but others have needed a great deal the last couple of days, and so I may grow in the fruits of charity, I have put off what I wanted to do to assist those in need; thank you so much for your patience! Here are some of the latest trailers, I hope you enjoy them!
Since last year, we have been talking a lot about expanding the vocabulary of film and film's use of various means to communicate to audiences; Pitch Perfect, due out in October, incorporates a number of subtle and interesting means of communication:
There's a number of interesting issues being brought up here, for example, the "rape whistle," which, according to the rules of Shakespeare, you do not introduce a device in the first act unless it will be used by the third. It won't be an actual, physical rape: for example, just the lead character being in the shower and being "imposed upon" by the other girl refusing to leave until she hears some singing is a form of "rape" because the lead girl is having to do what she doesn't want (that she's naked and a naked guy walks out just emphasizes that).
There's an interesting case of reversed censorship going on: "You call yourself 'Fat Amy?'" "Yes, so skinny b*** like you won't do it behind my back." Amy is bringing out what is usually kept within one's mind or under one's breath so, by bringing out what is usually kept hidden--commentary about her weight and figure--we may discover how this is a trick for Amy to cover up something else. Resident Evil: Retribution, being released in September, is going to be important because of what is NOT original about it, in other words, we should be looking for similarities between this and other films:
1). Destabilized sense of her personal identity and reality; 2). the zombie face-sucker exploding through the door is similar to the alien face-sucker we just saw in Prometheus and a weapons being developed against humanity; 3). end of the world scenario which it would be easier to relate the films not talking about the end of the world than all those that have; 4). like the postponed G.I. Joe Retaliation, both films talk about international organization that have gained power (Umbrella and Cobra) which are going to destroy/take over the world; just as the Joes are going to (eventually next year) retaliate for something, so Resident Evil is going to seek retribution for something, and those are probably the same thing.
Asking us, "What is real?" Total Recall due in August asks us many of the same questions we just saw in the Resident Evil trailer:
What other film this year has had "recall" as its topic? The Vow. The Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum film had the wife lose her memory of the last five years, so it will be interesting to see if there are other similarities between the two films.
In the meantime, God Bless America was released in Russia in May (I have no idea at this point about a US release date). Synopsis: On a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, terminally ill Frank makes an unlikely accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy... come on, admit it, we have all wanted to do this before (there is a lot of bad language in this trailer): Who's the one with the tumor?
The medical condition of Frank mirrors the moral/social/cultural condition of parts of American society. Frank and Roxy going on a murdering spree also mirrors those same conditions in society, because the people they are targeting as deserving to die (by what we see in the trailer at this point) are people who are all ready dead because they have "killed" someone by their actions. For example, the man who parked his car in two spaces and then refused to move it to take up only one, has failed to recognize other people as being equal to his own humanity; Frank and Roxy have committed the same act of failure by forgetting that people can grow and be converted. It will be interesting to see, then, which side wins: will some American display redeeming virtues, proving that Frank and Roxy are the ones who have lost their humanity, or will Frank and Roxy choose to see good in people, even when it isn't readily seen?
But speaking of bad people, there is no one "badder" than Marie Antoinette (at least to the French); in Farewell, My Queen, which was released in Belgium in March, let's keep in mind that history/period films are never ever never about history, but about the present, the here and the now. The film stars Diane Kruger who you might remember from Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards and Lea Seydoux who was the blond female assassin working for diamonds in Mission Impossible 4:
Marie Antoinette was not gay, nor bisexual. This is a political metaphor for the government today (by the way, the Socialists just gained power in the French elections). Lea Seydoux plays the "reader" to Marie Antoinette and several people have been curious about that: why would anyone need a reader? It's the status of luxury that the queen would not do that herself but have someone do it for her. What's important is what we see the queen reading herself: the names of people to be beheaded and she's the second name on the list. What is being read, by whom, at what point in the story and what the audience is asked to read (including anything we have all ready read about the French Revolution and are bringing with us to the film) is going to be of crucial importance to interacting with it.
But, speaking of The Queen Of Versailles, please know that if you are currently suffering from the financial woes in the country, you are not alone:
Being released in the US tomorrow, The Queen Of Versailles was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and won the directing award. I hope to see it, I think it will be important, politically and financially. Due out in October is Ethan Hawke's new film Sinister which is is scary, I couldn't even finish watching it! The Angel's Share, all ready released in Ireland, is winning a lot of critical acclaim; it's a bit difficult, though, to understand what's being said:
Also being released in Ireland (in August) is one I very much hope to catch, not just because of Clive Owen starring in it, but because of the intense atmosphere of the film: set in Belfast in the 1990s, an IRA agent agrees to turn double for British intelligence to protect her son in Shadow Dancer:
The next trailer is perhaps the one I am most excited about. Released in director's Bela Tarr's native Hungary last year, The Turin Horse looks to be a masterpiece although it won't be for everyone. Tarr is internationally acclaimed (this is the first encounter I have had with his work, but I am deeply impressed) but those who have seen the film write that the entirety is like the clips in the trailer (which I, personally, am grateful for!). The story is about a rural farmer who has to face the death of his horse (the loss of his livelihood) and an epic gale storm:
Where does the title come from?
I am so glad you asked. The basis of the story comes from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who, traveling through Turin, Italy, witnessed the brutal beating of a cart-horse by its master; Nietzsche threw his arms around the horse to protect it from the beatings; in a month, Nietzsche would be diagnosed with a mental disorder that would leave him speechless for the next eleven years (until his death). What happened to the horse? The Turin Horse is the fictionalized accounting of that possibility.
A large part of the film is about going to draw water. The daily routine of drawing water in the summer, in the fall, in the winter, and this repetition is what Tarr uses to create a sense of heaviness about life but also give us information, because repetition like this is meant to startle us when that repetition is broken.
Like other films, this film is about the "end of the world," at least for these farmers. Horses usually symbolize the Holy Spirit because, just as horses were the primary means of transportation in earlier times, the Holy Spirit is the means of transportation for the heart, the will and the soul. How have we beaten to death the Holy Spirit (the calling of God) within us? How is that connected to our "livelihoods?" (It is life, because without the Holy Spirit, there is no life). The wind you hear in the trailer is like the wind Elijah hears when the Lord passes by Mt Horeb (but the Lord is not in the wind) and this destruction is what we ourselves have created. Below is the first scene of the film, which might seem ridiculous, a beluga whale listening to Mariachi music, but there is a delicate point being made:
The whale seems to be responding to the rhythms. It can't respond the way you and I do, but even a dumb animal (without rational and logical thought processes) can understand a movement and the pattern of the notes being played. The whale will mirror the horse in the film, and perhaps we are going to see how much greater the horse's understanding is about life than our own. Himizu, released in Japan earlier this year, is much like God Bless America, in that two teenagers who just wanted normal lives go on a violent spree in a post-tsunami Japan: Even the Rain, which is just now making the international critical rounds, is about the production of a film about Christopher Columbus being shot in Bolivia at a time when plans to privatize the water supply is causing outrage and protest (very similar to what we saw in James Bond's Quantum Of Solace):
Chris Rock's new film being released in August, 2 Days In New York, mixes the French culture with the American and paints disastrous consequences (a metaphor for socialism and capitalism?):
Again, terribly sorry about the delay in getting Rock Of Ages up, but I can't thank you enough for your patience. This Friday, June 22, is the one year anniversary of The Fine Art Diner, (it was June 22 last year that I fully committed myself to keeping up the blog although I had been posting a little longer, I was still considering bailing out on it up to that point) and you could say that I am celebrating it with the release of the film I am most anticipating and fearing: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, which has not been reviewed critically at all by anyone... a sign of its poor quality? I won't know until I see it but the wait is almost over!
Eat Your Art Out,
The Fine Art Diner
Sorry I haven't gotten a post up: it's been a rough week; I receive frequent criticisms of my views, so I wanted to post British comedian and writer Pat Condell; while he is an atheist and I am a convert to Roman Catholicism, we do share political sentiments which he expresses in this video:
This is quite sophisticated.
I wish I had the means and time to have all the lyrics to the songs to carefully compare what is happening in the song to the action in the film, because the songs aren't just songs, they are commentary and self-reflection. I am a bit disappointed in what happens with Catherine Zeta-Jones' character (she's not really a religious figure, she's just using the churches to help her husband who is the mayor, but I am kind of disappointed in her character).
Should you go and see it?
If you are interested in seeing it: yes, go see it. Especially if you were young during this time, you will really enjoy the songs (it is, in terms of genre, a musical) and flashbacks to the culture at the time. I would give it a high B for grading, because I am also a little upset with Alec Baldwin's gay character that didn't really need to happen; I can understand it to some degree, but I wish they would have averted it. There is blatant sexuality (not really sex itself or nudity, but very sexually loaded) and of course bad language. Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) is also being rumored in the film to be participating in satanic rituals.
It is a pro-capitalist film, with a good, moral critiquing of capitalism that needs to happen and the critique is justified. It's very socially liberal, however, but it makes--what I think to be--very accurate statements about the relationship between art and money. It will be at least a day before I get this review up, but I am working on it!
Don't do what I did, please, and expect from Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted a show reflecting the trailer; it does have moments of being slightly annoying, however, the film demonstrates the ups and downs of capitalism over the last couple of years in sophisticated array and why it is imperative not to abandon the system. Madagascar 3 does four things extremely well: one, it reminds us what has happened to capitalism the last several years; two, it draws differences between the American and French Revolutions; three, it makes a surprising judgment on what happens in a capitalist system when faith in God is abandoned which leads us into the fourth point, the reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed and how Russia is vital to America today. Yes, this is all in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.
This film is very much like a group of immigrants making their way to America, and if they aren't enough for you, then the European Circus they join with should convince you that the American dream is still alive and well in Europe, and that's probably what's meant by Europe's "most wanted": what does Europe most want? A high-standard of living, security, and personal freedom.
The film starts in Africa, and Alex the lion is worried that the penguins, who took off to Monte Carlo, aren't going to come back to Africa to return the gang to their home in New York City. It's Alex's birthday, so the gang formed a mud model of New York City for him: Gloria the hippo becomes the Statue of Liberty, saying, "Give me your huddled masses," (line from the plaque on the statue), there is 5th Avenue and Times Square and the Zoo, their home; what's the point of this? The animals made this from memory, and the exile of the animals is the same as the exile of capitalists; the longing they have for New York City is the longing we have for the traditional American monetary system (please recall, if you will, The Avengers, and how a warhead had been fired at Wall Street but billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) diverted it and saved Wall Street, i.e., American capitalism).
The penguins, cleaver creatures, made an airplane and flew to Monte Carlo for a "gambling spree." What gambling spree would that be? The Wall Street Crash of 2008, the subject of Margin Call, as well as the greed of corrupt investors such as Bernie Madoff, which prompted films such as The Descendants to call for the end of American capitalism and start socialism (please see Hollywood's Political Scorecard: the Capitalists & Socialistsfor more). The animals being marooned in the barren grass land of Africa is because New York City is mud, it's not just a model for Alex's birthday, but a sign that--like Alex's nightmare of growing old--capitalism, too, has grown old and is exiled, never to return. Alex decides, however, that it's best to go to Monte Carlo, find the penguins, and force them to return them to NYC.
The penguins in their torn up room in Monte Carlo. They have a pillow fight, one of them ripping open the pillow, feathers flying everywhere and Skipper crying, they are full of baby birds! What does that mean? The humble pillow-stuffing and the guests in the luxury room are the same, birds (i,.e., the upper class) and it's self-destructive to take advantage of the lower-class and think it won't have repercussions on the upper-class, contrariwise is also true.
This is where everything gets really interesting.
The penguins and monkeys have wrecked their room but when we go down to the gambling floor, the monkeys, Phil and Mason, have dressed up like "the King of Versailles" (much more on this below) and are winning all their bets. When Alex sees the Penguins, Skipper asks, "What's New Pussycat?"punning off Alex being a cat (a lion) and the 1965 Peter O'Toole/Woody Allen film of the same name. Why is that important? Peter O'Toole's character plays a womanizer who can't be faithful, even incapable of taking responsibility for his actions at times. Without a doubt, this innuendo and the penguins behavior in wrecking their room demonstrates one of the well-known problems of capitalism: just like Bernie Madoff and Lehman Brothers' unethical actions (to say the least) when greed escalates, capitalism becomes unruly and ugly; that's why there is a need for faith (more on that below).
Alex has a four part plan for Operation: Penguin Extraction: first, get the penguins, then really chew them out for not coming back to get them sooner; then apologize for chewing them out, then get back to New York City. When Alex and Marty the Zebra finally get the penguins to a good spot, Alex asks Marty, where are we in the plan? Marty answers, part three! So Alex immediately apologizes to the penguins, skipping over the beating they deserve. What does this reflect? The Wall Street bailout enacted by the Obama Administration to save those who had brought America into a financial crisis instead of punishing them for poor oversight and a lack of regulation.
Now we can begin the surprising lesson of the film: the differences between the American and French Revolutions. Chantal DuBois is the head of animal control in Monte Carlo and is called in to take care of the threat the gang poses. DuBois, the "crazy" as the penguins call her, is crazy. What do we first see about her? All the "heads" mounted on her wall. What are the French best known for? The French Revolution. What is the French Revolution best known for? Beheadings. Thousands and thousands were decapitated during the political upheaval, including the "King of Versailles." What DuBois
At times moving like a spider, and other times like a blood-hound, the animal tendencies of DuBois are meant to remind viewers that the Republic of France is officially of no religion, hence, officially, it subscribes to the evolutionary model of the creation of the universe (Darwinism, simply stated but not wholly accurate). Later, when DuBois tries to awaken her injured force, she sings, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, (I Have No Regrets) made famous by Edith Piafwho was portrayed by Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose; in turn, Cotillard also starred in Christopher Nolan's 2010 hit Inception which incorporated the song when the extraction agents have to be woken up. Why is all this important? It counters the evolutionary universe with the chaotic universe. Again, a chaotic universe understands the development of the world in very different terms from evolution which excludes the role/being of God. While chaos does not include God, it does not rule God out in creation. In Madagascar 3, having the French woman DuBois at the inner-most circle of a spiraling set of references based on the song she sings, suggests that the film--along with numerous action sequences--supports a chaotic universe, not the evolutionary one.
While films such as Dark Shadows, The Descendants and The Hunger Games are calling for a French Revolution in the United States to burn down the upper-class and the religious orders, Madagascar 3, however, calls for us to remember why our ancestors and founding fathers chose capitalism as the economic model for America: the freedom to invent. While the intelligent but irresponsible penguins (rather like billionaire Tony Stark of Iron Man fame) are the vehicle (the plane) for the return to New York (the plane crashes and the monkeys working the plane run off because in France, "The labor laws are more lenient and they only work 2 weeks out of the year") it's the re-inventing of the circus from the regular animals (the "middle class") that allows them to fulfill their own dreams and get to America (like the immigrants flocking to Ellis Island). It's the penguins, though, who had the cash to buy (read: invest) the circus so the gang had the chance to get back to America (read: proving that capitalism is still a good working system and needs to be given another chance).
Alex rallying the circus animals to re-invent themselves and helping everyone, like in Moneyball, to understand what their real talent is and use that, not only for greater personal happiness, but for the greater good, as well.
Something quite interesting happens, which brings us to our third point of discussion. King Julien, the lemur, falls in love with Sonya the bear who rides a tricycle. Sonya breaks the tricycle and Julien promises to buy her "something better,"; we see them in Vatican City and Julien kisses the ring of the Pope, stealing the ring off the Pope's hand in his mouth, then Julien and Sonya are on a motorcycle, riding out of a bike shop. Later, the Italian seal lion Stefano tries to pray as Vitaly the Russian tiger is going to do his act and Stefano tries to pray the Hail Mary (uttering Santa Maria, over and over until he can't remember the words and doesn't know what to say) as a prayer to help Vitaly. What does this mean? The "trade in" of faith (the Pope's ring) for material goods (the motorcycle) means that later, when we need God's help, we won't remember how to ask for it (Stefano trying to pray).
Three questions need to be asked about Vitaly the Russian Tiger: first, why does he jump through such small hoops, why does he use olive oil and why don't we see him jump through the hoops? The conditioner which Alex gives to Vitaly helps Vitaly to have a "healthy" coat, that is, the leadership in Russia isn't "greasy" like the olive oil, or going to "burn" the people because of corruption, but the coat has become more natural with the right "cleansing agent" that will help to strengthen it and make it strong.
Catholics will know that Our Lady of Fatima appeared in 1917 asking for prayers for the conversion of Russia. As Stefano is praying, it's at the same moment that Vitaly is trying to "be converted" from not jumping through his hoops anymore to jumping through them again. While Stefano messes up his prayers, he still wants to be able to pray, and Vitaly needs the prayers. Madagascar 3 is suggesting that we need to continue our prayers and that leads us to understanding who Vitaly is and his importance to "the circus."
Vitaly's original act was to jump through super small hoops after dumping olive oil on himself so he could get through, however, we the audience never saw it, just saw him on the other side. The hoops the Russian jumps through symbolizes the "tight squeezes" throughout Russian history that, somehow, they always managed to get through (consider the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Napoleonic Wars, the October Revolution, World War I and World War II, the reign of Stalin, Chernobyl and then the transfer to a market economy); somehow, Russia always "squeezes by"; why don't we see it? The Iron Curtain hid most of Russia's activities, and they still aren't very trustful today, and that helps to explain why Vitaly dumps flammable olive oil over himself.
Where does olive oil originate? Greece. What is Greece known for? It's debt crisis caused by corrupt government officials hiding the real nature of their spending. Russia has the second most corrupt government in Europe (after Ukraine) and that is reflects part of the reason the country's GDP hasn't grown faster because other countries are simply afraid of the corruption of doing business with Russian officials, hence, when Vitaly pours olive oil (Greece's "greasy political practices") over himself he gets "burned" (the Russian economy lags behind and the people are hurt by the very practice they thought would protect them, the oil). This point is "vital" to make because it reminds us that it's not capitalism that is the cause of Russian economic woes, but their own corrupt leaders.
Why "can only people and penguins drive?" People because we invented cars and we have the necessary intellectual and physical means to do so; penguins because they work together as a team in unison while taking directions, which is why the penguins are so successful. Skipper is a "skipper" of the ship of state (the state of the penguins, at least) and his strong leadership allows each of them to be employed in what their strengths and talents are, as in Moneyball.
But Vitaly is also "vital" to the circus for another reason: the circus symbolizes capitalism in general, and the "trapeze Americano" is the "balancing act" America can do between the upper-classes and the middle-class self-realization (the circus re-inventing itself and getting to America) and the turn-around in difference between the Soviet Union to Russia is vital to the international community in remembering the successes of what the market economy can do: Since the turn of the 21st century, higher domestic consumption and greater political stability have bolstered economic growth in Russia. The country ended 2008 with its ninth straight year of growth, averaging 7% annually between 2000 and 2008. Real GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) was 19,840 in 2010. Growth was primarily driven by non-traded services and goods for the domestic market, as opposed to oil or mineral extraction and exports. The average nominal salary in Russia was $640 per month in early 2008, up from $80 in 2000. In the end of 2010 the average nominal monthly wages reached 21,192 RUR (or $750 USD), while tax on the income of individuals is payable at the rate of 13% on most incomes. Approximately 13.7% of Russians lived below the national poverty line in 2010 significantly down from 40% in 1998 at the worst point of the post-Soviet collapse. Unemployment in Russia was at 6% in 2007, down from about 12.4% in 1999. The middle class has grown from just 8 million persons in 2000 to 55 million persons in 2006 (Wikipedia).
Towards the end, the gang goes back to the zoo and Alex, the lion and "king" that DuBois wants beheaded (read: French Revolution), is about to get sawed in two. The circus animals that the gang has parted ways with have the choice of going to help Alex and the others or seeing to their own circus. The motto throughout the film is, "Circus sticks together," and when one of the animals suggests that Alex and the others were never really circus, Vitaly the Russian Tiger responds, "That's Bolshevik!" (as a play on the phrase "That's bullsh**!") and he's right: the circus, again, is a symbol for how capitalism works globally, and Vitaly saying that for him to not come to the aid of his capitalist friends is Bolshevik is Bolshevik. Skipper the penguin says, "I never thought I would say this on American soil, but the Russkie's right!" and that's because, by virtue of re-inventing himself, Vitaly can make the call that capitalists look out for each other, and that brings the penguins in line, too.
What got the gang and the circus to America, besides the clever re-inventing of themselves to be opposite the Cirque du Soleil (an all-human circus) to be an all animal circus, is the American investor looking to offer the circus a contract-tour through America if they can impress him. It's a great shot when Phil and Mason, dressed as the King of Versailles, stands beside the American investor with the deed between them in an obvious statement that America won't do to our upper-classes what the French Revolution did to theirs; but there's another reason for that as well.
Whether it's Gloria the hippo on the tightrope or Marty the Zebra being launched through the air, or Alex the lion on the trapeze, these animals are flying in a clear indication of "upward mobility," i.e., they are not bound by social structures the way a solid gold airplane is bound by the laws of physics to be unable to fly (the penguins want to be a solid gold airplane, not only revealing frivolity, but that there is a law of physics which contradicts capitalism's law of social and class mobility). The animals flying not only demonstrates how all of us in America can "reach for the stars," but also actually attain it.
In conclusion, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted steps up to the plate to bat for capitalism. Every aspect of the film contributes to a anti-socialist agenda by showing honestly showing us the faults with capitalism and how it got in the state it's in (the penguins gambling spree) but how it can not only still work, but is the desirable state for America. I know I laughed more than the kids did, but just because it's an animated work, it's definitely one for adults, imparting a valuable lesson for us all.
