One of Bruegel’s works that I find most interesting is – Netherlansish Proverbs, 1559 – a very overt display of meaning in art. If you have problems deciphering the images, here are the proverbs.
Images: Left: Winter Landscape with Bird Trap, 1565 from the website upload.wikimedia.org Center: The Harvesters, 1565 from the website metmuseum.org Right: The Wedding Dance, 1566 from the website upload.wikimedia.org Below: “Monday Morning Museum” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent
Images: Left: The Night Café, 1888 from the website upload.wikimedia.org Center; Wheat Field With Cypresses, 1889 from the website metmuseum.org Right: Houses At Auvers, 1890 from the website mfa.org Below: “Monday Morning Museum” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent
From whole to hole to (w)hole, family life for Becca and Howie devolves and evolves following the accidental death of their four year old son, Danny. The whole (which we see in video flashbacks), shows a happy and loving three-person family with lots of laughter. It is eight months after their child’s death and the hole is the disconnection between the now two-person family that seems to be increasing in distance each passing month – even group therapy does not help; at least not for both of them. Slowly Becca and Howie become (w)hole enough in a way that allows them to tentatively face the future. When Becca asks “So what are we gonna do?”. . . and Howie eventually answers “We’ll figure it out.”, you believe that they will.
Focus of “Rabbit Hole” is on how Becca deals with her grief in contrast to Howie’s approach. After eight months Becca takes down Danny’s artwork from the refrigerator and ends up donating his clothes to Goodwill. Becca makes an unsuccessful attempt to return to work at Sotheby’s, but unexpectedly finds comfort in conversations with Jason, the teen-age driver who accidently hit Danny when he darted into the street. Even talks with her mother (who went through a similar experience with her adult son – Arthur, a thirty-something year old drug addict), gives Becca insight to coping with her grief. Howie plays over and plays over and plays over a video of him and Danny at play. The images of his son brings smiles to Howie’s being and is his comfort in coping with the tragedy. Howie also finds connection with a kindred spirit from group therapy, Gaby, who has been going to group for years and can’t move forward.
Gradually, Becca and Howie work through their disconnection and come to a realization (occurring at the same time for both) that they can continue their life together and it will be all right. And perhaps it will be all right. For in their grief, they each blame themselves and not the other for what happened to Danny (though they do fear the other blames them). As hard as it is to forgive yourself for what you perceive as your fault, it is even harder to forgive someone on whom you’ve placed total blame for a tragedy. To me, the ending rings true as Becca and Howie commit to becoming (w)hole in hopes of someday returning to whole.
Film Facts: Director: John Cameron Mitchell, Writer: David Lindsay-Abaire, Cinematographer: Frank G. DeMarco, Editor: Joe Klotz, Musician: Anton Sanko, Producers: Caroline Jaczko, Nicole Kidman, Geoff Linville, Bill Lischak, Linda McDonough, Brian O’Shea, Gigi Pritzker, Daniel Revers, Per Saan, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Production Companies: Olympus Pictures, Blossom Films, Odd Lot Entertainment
Film Type: Drama, Cast: Nicole Kidman (Becca), Aaron Eckhart (Howie), Dianne Wiest (Nat), Miles Teller (Jason), Tammy Blanchard (Izzy), Sandra Oh (Gaby), Giancarlo Esposito (Auggie), Jon Tenney (Rick), Stephen Mailer (Kevin), Mike Doyle (Craig), Roberta Wallach (Rhonda), Patricia Kalember (Peg), Ali Marsh (Donna), Yetta Gottesman (Ana), Colin Mitchell (Sam), Length: 91’, Language: English, Country: United States, Year: 2010 Official Site United States release date Friday 17 December 2010 Film Trailer
Images: Left: Nicole Kidman as Becca from the website moviepicturedb.com Center: Graphic interpretation of “Rabbit Hole” created by Adrean Darce Brent Right: “Rabbit Hole” poster from the website movieposterdb.com Below: “Reel Rewind” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent
Once upon a time, with the songs of “musical god” Bob Dylan as the background theme, “Kisses” brings us into the explosive young lives of two neighbor children - eleven year old Dylan (a namesake?) and ten year old Kylie – living in a poor area outside of Dublin. The story is basic – they run away from home, spend a night in Dublin, and return home the next day. Why did they leave? How was their first experience of Ireland’s capital? Did they have to return?
Dylan is a lonely child who lives with his parents and is tormented by other boys for being quiet and liking electronic games. Kylie lives with siblings and a single mother and is teased by older girls about her feelings for Dylan. Their world is full of the ranges of abuse – emotional, physical, sexual. When Dylan’s father chases him in the house to do physical harm, it is Kylie who gets a ladder and rescues him from a sure beating. Off they run to the river and their means of escape is a passing dredger. Though the Captain refuses Kylie’s request for the children to join him, Kylie goes ahead and jumps on the dredger and after hesitation and a mishap, Dylan also comes aboard the dredger. Now their adventure begins.
It is the Captain who introduces the children to the music of Bob Dylan with a rendition of “Shelter From The Storm”. And shelter from the misery is what the Captain gives the children on the trip to Dublin, as well as the chance to play and laugh. On arrival in Dublin, the children set out on a quest – Dylan’s older brother Barry ran away two years prior and all they have is a name of a street to try and find him. Ultimately their quest fails, but along the way they experience good – new clothes, wheelies, musicians, adults who are helpful – and bad – hunger, separation, a dead body, adults who are harmful. From these adventures a closer connection between Kylie and Dylan is forged. In fact Dylan returns the rescue favor by saving Kylie from “The Sack Man”. Monsters also reside in Dublin. Morning comes and it’s time to return to the known horrors they can handle.
“Kisses” is structured as home – Dublin – home with both home segments shot in black and white, while the Dublin section is shot in color. The color delineation between the segments is subtle and you slowly realize you are viewing a new palette. Transitioning from one world to another doesn’t have definite boundaries. Kylie is fearless and keeps fighting for what she needs. Girl power. Dylan is assuredly the passive one and gives up easily. Even with the new bond between them, I am not sure that Dylan and Kylie would be together if we return to their story five years from now. One unexpected aspect of the film is the use of subtitles. The film is in English and so are the sporadic subtitles – guess it was thought the Irish accents would be troublesome. For the most part they weren’t. However, the use of language in the film is very direct and raw by all the characters. If hearing children speak adult language bothers you, then “Kisses” is not for you. But they are speaking the language of their lives. If “Kisses” is a contemporary fairy tale, I’m afraid there’s no happily ever after for Dylan and Kylie back in the environment from which they briefly left. Let’s hope there’s a fairy godmother/godfather in their future. Or perhaps they will leave again when they are truly ready to do so. Once upon a time. . .
Film Facts: Director/Writer/Producer/Cinematographer: Lance Daly, Cinematographers: Jake Corbett, David Grennan, Editor: J. Patrick Duffner, Musician: GoBlimpsGo, Producers: Donna Eperon, Macdara Kelleher, Les Kelly, Nial O’Brien, Production Company: Fastnet Films
Film Type: Drama, Cast: Kelly O’Neill (Kylie), Shane Curry (Dylan), Paul Roe (Dylan’s Da), Neili Conroy (Dylan’s Ma), David Bendito (Dredger Captain), Elizabeth Fuh (Gardiner street girl), Cathy Malone (Kylie’s Ma), Jose Jimenez (Busker), Willie Higgins (The Sack Man), Sean McDonagh (Uncle Maurice), Stephanie Kelly (Kylie’s sister), Gerry Moore (Roadie), Hilda Fay (Anita), Elga Fox (Ban Garda), Stephen Rea (Down Under Dylan), Length: 72’, Language: English, Country: Ireland, Year: 2008 Official Site Ireland release date Friday 21 November 2008 United States release date Friday 16 July 2010 Film Trailer
Images: Left: Kelly O’Neill as Kylie and Shane Curry as Dylan from the website outnow.ch Center: Graphic interpretation of “Kisses” created by Adrean Darce Brent Right: “Kisses” poster from the website movieclock.com Below: “Reel Rewind” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent
Cindy Sherman – Tuesday 19 January 1954 Glen Ridge, New Jersey to still living as of this post
American Photographer
Has not titled her works
I believe that if a work is worthy of being produced, then it is worthy of being named. So in that spirit I propose the following titles for the Cindy Sherman photographs above – Left: Comic Trinity, Center: The Innocent, Right: La Diva.
It is Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Still series that I really like and here’s another photo from the series – Untitled Film Still #58 – which I would title The Ingénue.
Images: Left: Untitled, 2004 from the website metropicturesgallery.com Center: Untitled Film Still #21, 1978 from the website arthistoryarchive.com Right: Untitled, 2008 from the website metropicturesgallery.com Below: "Monday Morning Museum" logo created by Adrean Darce Brent
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