29 Ocak 2015 Perşembe

ESSIE SPEAKS OF FLY FISHING AND OTHER ARTISTIC ODDITIES…

Howdy folks! Sorry for the slight delay – I had wanted to upload my article yesterday, but life happened… Besides, you can’t rush these things – ask any fisherman you know… Or in fact, any artist…  Yes, art and fishing can on occasion be surprisingly… Intertwined…  But you will have to scroll down to see what I mean…
Apart from the world of fishing flies, plenty else has been happening this week… Have you seen the new cast for Ghostbusters? I think the idea of an all-female Ghostbusting crew is AWESOME. Ok, it’s going to be interesting for the fans of all the original stuff – mainly because we are used to a certain set of characters though, not necessarily because of gender. I mean think about it – if they were to announce, say,  a cast of random guys, neither looking like nor connected to the originals, we would have reacted quite poorly to it, no? Exactly! And if we keep on re-making basically the same movie all the time (note that I said all the time – I am aware that there is a lot of it about) where is the artistic challenge and innovation in that? I love it! Bring it on!
Oooh, ooh and did you see the new trailer for the Fantastic Four? Hang on, I have it here somewhere…

What do you make of it? Everyone’s first comment of course was that it looked nothing like the franchise or indeed an action film of any kind and that it reminded one of another quite recent science fiction film (*cough*Interstellar*cough*)… I mean it looks to be an interesting movie if this is the style they’re going for
Oh and last of all check this one out…

I may be developing a woman-crush on Maisie Williams… It’s a GOT thing… But yeah, spooky or what? Having literally watched it an hour or so ago (and then having plunged head-first into re-writes and editing without much time for actual thought – the trailer is in here on a whim and not much else)  I’m not sure what to make of it yet but I definitely want to see it…

But enough of all of that… On with the show… But if you are not sick of my ramblings yet, may I recommend a little article I penned for Film Debate the other day? It’s all about the internet and cinema…

Alternatively head over to Critics Associated where I’m currently rambling on about French cinemaamong other things…

Click here for this weeks review!

Happy viewing!

Essie

KISS THE WATER - AND MARCH TO THE BEAT OF YOUR OWN DRUM...

I don’t quıte know how to say this… I just want to come straight out and start off by saying that never in my wildest dreams could I actually have been able to picture myself advising you guys to watch what seems to be for all intents and purposes, a documentary on fly fishing. No, no don’t close the page just yet; I assure you there is more to it than that. Kiss the Water, is a little number that made quite a stir in film festivals this year; be it Tribeca, Hot Springs or Edinburgh… Calling it a merely a documentary on fly fishing would be an immense insult to the extraordinary woman whose story it tells… And in fact, to the film itself – after all it does rise to the challenge of its extraordinary subject matter and tells its story in rather an extraordinary way…
The story is that of Megan Boyd. You probably wouldn’t have heard of her. But she is, in fact, one of the greatest creators of fishing flies to have lived. Miss Boyd was both eccentric and a recluse. But that does not mean she was shut off from the world. Her works of art – for how else can I describe them – have graced the collections of the rich and famous, of royalty and of collectors all over the world…


And I am pretty sure that this is going to be the first of many points in this little gem that will take you by surprise. Her fishing flies were so beautiful that there is an open division of opinion as to whether they were ever intended to be used at all… One expert on the matter even confidently states that they weren’t intended for use – he is, however, contradicted by Miss Boyd’s apprentice which to my mind says the last word on the matter. I must confess, I have had very little to do with fly fishing in my time. I had no idea what to expect when we had the first extreme close-up of a fly. I was mesmerized in an instant, hooked as it were, by one of the many salmons her flies caught… The colours, the ingenuity, the creativity…You should watch the documentary, if for no other reason, so that your impression of fishing flies – whatever they may be – can be corrected once and for all.
But that is by far and away not the only thing that recommends the film. Since it has taken on a rather extraordinary life and person, Kiss the Water goes slightly off the beaten track as far as its cinematography goes. True, there are the requisite talking heads – people who knew her, who worked with her, who studied her work… These are intercut with simply stunning visuals from the Scottish countryside (it really got the travel bug in me going) and with stunning and almost abstract animations, not to reconstruct anything in particular but, to convey the emotions created by fishing, the flies, the nature, Miss Boyd herself and her creative process. For a split second I was concerned that the whole animation thing was going to lapse slightly into the overly artistic and pretentious, but no.  The animation sequences capture a sense of beauty and creativity that quite unexpectedly appear in the midst of the more conventional segments of the documentary – much like the moment Miss Boyd’s flies hit the water and brought a tiny speck of something different into the river…
Another point I rather liked about the documentary is the fact that Miss Boyd’s physical form is strangely absent from her life story… It may seem odd that we do not actually see pictures (moving or otherwise) of her right until the very end. But look at it this way, The documentary does such a good job of conveying everything about Miss Boyd, her character and her work that a mere photograph could not convey –we don’t actually need the obligatory grainy videos of her. We have learnt all that is important. Not that the grainy videos are out of place or ill-used when they do come, mind you…
Quite apart from anything else, this documentary is a wonderful opportunity to marvel at how many different guises artistic talent and creativity can come in… And what a wonderful thing it is to have the courage to walk to the beat of one’s own drum – and that beat alone.  Because you know, it doesn’t make a lot of sense at first glance, living out most of one’s life in a tiny remote cottage with neither electricity nor running water making a living by hand-making fishing flies but you know… Aren’t you glad she did?
For viewers in the UK The Art of Fly Fishing : Kiss the Water is currently available on BBC Iplayer… I say go check it out… Like, now… 


21 Ocak 2015 Çarşamba

ESSIE AND THE MINIATURIST...

I know... I seem to have gone very literary.

But... Not really... I have just been writing a lot. A LOT.

Check out, if you will my goings on at Critics Associated where myself and my fellow critics are currently working on a French Film festival - among many other cinematic delicacies!

Or, as of quite recently, check out my beginnings as a contributor on Film Debate - where my contribution is, as yet little but from the heart and ever growing :)

And after all of that, if you still have a thirst for reading matter, scroll down this way... I have just the book for you...

have a great week - and I shall be back with even more cinema for you next week!

all the best,
Essie

BECAUSE THE DEVIL TRULY IS IN THE DETAILS... MEET THE MINIATURIST

I am always slightly dubious about books that are touted everywhere as the best book of the year. I am not entirely sure where this doubt comes from either. I mean when it comes to films, I can sort of see why – the films that are touted the most are, more often than not, Hollywood productions. I love a good Hollywood production in its place, but the problem with them tends to be that once you have seen a couple you have seen them all. You can pretty much draw out the story ark with your eyes closed, fifteen to twenty minutes into the film. Not always, but pretty much. I am trying to read more this year (one of my many New Years resolutions) and I am quickly finding that maybe I should put that prejudice to one side when it comes to literature. I mean it’s the same thing with film reviews really, you just need to find the critic who thinks along the same lines as you do and follow their advice (if you are indeed of the advice following sort in these matters). I bought this book in a train station, in the face of limited choice and the prospect of a long time spent with potentially nothing to do if I didn’t buy something. It turned out to be a very happy choice.
The book was inspired by a museum piece. One I have actually seen but had completely forgotten the existence. The miniature house of Petronella Oortman, that can be seen in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam today. (Click HERE to access the web page for it!)  It is, for all intents and purposes a dolls house. This one, built in the late 17th century, is thought to be an exact replica of her house with accurate furniture, if on an absolutely tiny scale. The cabinet itself is inlayed with silver and tortoiseshell and in its day, would have cost the equivalent of tens of thousands of pounds. For her debut novel, Jessie Burton has taken the cabinet, the name of its owner and her husband, and woven a story. By her own admission, the story is not biographical but a work of pure fiction.
The Petronella Oortman of Jesse Burtons fictional universe is a young girl of 18. She has been brought up in the country and comes from a good family. Well, a family with a good name but that, alas, has fallen on hard times. This is why, when a marriage is arranged for her with a wealthy merchant in Amsterdam, even though the merchant is rather older than her, Petronella jumps at this life-changing opportunity. But from the minute she enters her new household, she is very quick to realise that all is not what it seems in this family and it is going to take her all her ingenuity to get to the bottom of the many secrets in the closet. The miniature cabinet is a wedding present from her strangely distant husband and conversely, it is when Petronella begins to furnish this little house with the aid of a miniaturist that the most mysteries come floating to the surface… The more the little house is filled, the more questions concerning the great house appear… What is truly going on in the Brandt household. And how does the miniaturist come into all of this…
One little note in starting writing about my own views. The blurb on the back of the book hints at a supernatural element in the book. If that put you off ultimately picking up the book, rest assured, the role of the supernatural in the book is minimal. We are definitely and categorically NOT in the domain of dolls coming alive and speaking. And I mean, sorry if that WAS what you were looking for – but its better you know what is what before you actually buy the book, no. No, the mysteries that Burton examines are by and large linked to the human mind and soul. In a word, it made me think of how many secrets and unknowns can be kept in the confines of one house without the outside world so much as suspecting what is ACTUALLY going on. There may be multiple reasons for keeping the secrets ranging from a sense of privacy to a fear of prosecution and persecution by society (justly or not), but it reminds one, with a slight shudder in this case, that we never really know what is going on behind the closed door of a house, even though it may well be the house of our nearest and dearest. Or sometimes even our own.
And if the story is not strictly biographical to the cabinet and its owner, it is definitely a very well researched window into Dutch life in the 17th century. Burton writes engagingly and with clarity, drawing us right into a world lost today, quite foreign to a lot of us and yet, on those pages completely alive. It is partly for this reason that the story is told completely from the perspective of petronella. The big theme of the book is discovery, we discover the city and its rules of social life. I mean, to pick up the surgeon’s scalpel for a minute, metaphorically speaking, if Nella was a city girl she would know these things and that would make the descriptions given for our benefit that much more cumbersome and out of place. But the fact that she has to know all of this makes the story and the descriptions flow. We know why they are there, and incidentally we profit from them too. In the same way, suspense is held all through what is, in essence a mystery story. And I love a good mystery.
It just goes to show what a truly wonderful thing artistic inspiration is. A museum exhibit, seen by hundreds every day, can inspire one extraordinary person to write a beautiful novel with its presence alone. When researching this article I came across an interview with Jesse Burton where she seems to be hinting at the continuing adventures of the characters in the book… It’s an interesting idea – but a dangerous one. The way the book finished was beautiful in itself, I am hoping that this idea was not born out of the greed to milk this book even further – it is quite beautiful as a whole in itself. Burton is clearly a talented writer who will regale us with many more original tales without falling into the trap of sequels… Oh well… Only time will tell.  

14 Ocak 2015 Çarşamba

ESSIE GOES LITERARY (JUST FOR ONE WEEK)

Howdy folks!

I know, although this blog started out as being a blog of many things, it has mainly concentrated on films. But you know what, I am doing very well on some of my new years resolutions. I mean ok, it has only been two weeks but you know... It is going rather well. The resolution in question is reading more. Books I mean. Not random info on the screen. And so far I have been truly delighted in my choices :)

So this week I bring you a rather touching little true life story. It has drama, behind the scenes info on the rich and famous, love and loss...

It also has some musing of mine about art and artists in the 21st century. Not the book that is, the review.

Just scroll down, all will become clear.

have a great week!
Sedef

MORE THAN JUST THE PARIS WIFE

We are all familiar with the adage that behind every successful man there is a loving wife (or some such sexist nonsense). I believe I have made my opinion on it clear in the previous sentence. One thing, however, is true. When one half of a couple attains a mixed blessing such as world-wide recognition and fame, the other half of the couple almost always finds his/herself plunged into the darker pages of history. This was very much the case with Hadley Richardson who was the loving wife of Ernest Hemingway just around the time he became as the literary giant he truly was.
Hadley supports Ernest through those years of poverty and uncertainty, assuages his doubt, provides him with a happy home, travels all around the world with him and does her level best to get used to the Paris set, composed of great talents with even greater characters such as Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ezra pound and Gertrude Stein. Hadley truly loves Ernest and is sure that their relationship can weather any storm fame, fortune and literary scandal brings, but as Ernest spreads his wings and begins to soar, whether she can actually keep up becomes more and more dubious…
It’s always an interesting one, isn’t it, the story of a famous person told from behind the scenes, more specifically from the perspective of his long-suffering wife. But if you were hoping for an OK magazine type dish the dirt deal on Ernest Hemingway, well this isn’t quite what you are looking for. I mean, I would be the first to say that Hadley is ill-treated at times by Ernest but the book does not by any means make a martyr of her. I do hate that kind of womans story – painting the woman as an angel that was wronged at every turn by the man is one genre, but it is not realistic. And what art of every form needs is REALISTIC female characters, you know, ones that are actually true to life. And as in every relationship, one cannot lay the blame for all the problems at Ernests door, no, not by a long shot. In fact, as a woman and a writer, there were times in the book I would have liked to physically grab Hadley and try to shake some sense into her. I guess she can be forgiven on the count that it was an electric time, the changes in her day to day life were constant and difficult to follow on an emotional scale and Ernest Hemmingway – though undoubtedly truly in love with Hadley at the time – was not by nature the easiest of men to get on with (much less live with). In fact, Hemmingway’s rise to fame was fraught with scandals and arguments of many kinds. A lot of artists and folks of renown all together on one social scene means that many egos to please. And this is a scene difficult to adapt to for someone like Hadley who does not even see herself as an artist. The Paris wife is, if nothing else, a wonderful study of love pitching itself against a truly extraordinary and relatively modern phenomenon – worldwide fame.

Historically speaking, it is also an important study well-worth reading. From the 1920s onwards, paris was a truly extraordinary town to be in (did anyone watch the Woody Allen film Midnight in paris). All the artistic greats of a single generation were there, together, the atmosphere must have been electric when all these creative geniuses came together. It makes one think of a certain period in history when Vienna was the centre of creation for classical music with Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and many more all gathered in the same city. I was wondering where this city might be today. L.A. London… No its actually more complicated than that. The creative city of the late 20th and early 21st century is, without shadow of a doubt, the internet. Competition is all the more fierce because it is all the more democratic, with artistic creation open to everyone but if you get into the thick of it, it is on the internet that the opportunities, the inspiration and the muses all reside. You needn’t, like Ernest and Hadley, have to physically go to a café downtown to see, be seen and meet people. All you need to do is open your browser. For the everyman, the tough bit comes about selection. Of course, the internet is what it is and the wealth of choice means – Im not being snobbish here people but you know what Im saying is definitely true in some cases – a drop in quality. What you need to do is not get side-tracked. What you need to do is do your research. And then, you have to have the strength of will to close that browser and get to the business of creating.  All you really need to do is to step away from the paths that are well-trodden and prescribed and find your own way… There are a lot of people who will say that the internet has ruined everything (whatever everything may mean) but I strongly disagree. I think it is an incredibly exciting time, where you never know when you may discover a budding artist or art form… Or indeed when a budding artist may discover themselves… 

6 Ocak 2015 Salı

ESSIE ON SPIES IN GENERAL AND HARRY PALMER IN PARTICULAR

You're scratching your head. You're confused. Who the heck Is Harry Palmer, you ask yourself

Aha. Well. Read the review and find out. I've never been a MASSIVE fan of spy movies as you may have noticed by the distinct lack of the aforementioned on the blog. Don't worry, I go into why that is in the review as well. But the point is that THIS articular spy movie... Did it for me. It was an exception. Michael Caine's presence may or may not have had something to do with it. 

I guess it's a good time for you to scroll right down now :)

Oh, and just incidentally... You may notice a thing or two that's new on the pages this week... See if you can spot them! :)  

happy viewing!
Essie

I WILL NOW PROCEDE TO PLAY WITH YOUR MIND... "THE IPCRESS FILE"

I know, we’re all on the quest for that one truly original story these days. There is much eye-rolling about all kind of cinematic cliché. But then again, some clichés, sometimes are not all bad. And you don’t get much more archetypal than a 60s spy movie starring Michael Caine.  But then again, as I often say, clichés are clichés for a reason. They wouldn’t have made so many of these movies if there wasn’t something about them that attracted the public – right?
Michael Caine stars as the hero of the show, Harry Palmer. He is a counter-espionage agent and he has been handed a particularly sensitive case. Some of the UKs most prolific and important scientists have started leaving their positions in drones. Not only that, one of the most important physicists, whose discoveries could give the UK the edge in the Cold War, no less, has now been kidnapped. Now, Palmer has a history of being insolent, doing things his own way and having far too much of an eye on the ladies – trouble is, he also happens to be one of the best agents in the service. Will his unorthodox methods carry him through and save the day?
Ok here's me being all technical and sh*t. Let's check out some moving pictures!

  I know it’s not a particularly novel concept to create antiheroes or to give the hero some negative characteristics (that, especially in more modern works the hero seems to redeem him-herself of without fail). But well, in the first place I was surprised they would make Palmer an anti-hero in the first place, it being the ‘60s and the “Russian Threat” being a very real thing in those days. I genuinely thought all the goodies would be “dashing”. I definitely didn’t expect them (Palmer I mean) to be, at times downright annoying. I mean the man must have been an absolute pain to work with. That said, we are entering the murky world of double agents (I won’t give you any further clues because it’s literally impossible to do without giving some plot point or other away). So, on a level it makes sense that our hero would not look quite the way we would expect him to look. Even if you are a seasoned spy film fan, I can pretty much guarantee even you will get briefly confused about who’s good, who’s bad and who’s “actually” working for who at some point in the proceedings.
And the other point is, of course that making Caine’s character a tad on the annoying side (not an actual jerk you understand, just, you know, a nigglesome bit annoying) is a lot more realistic than having him, for lack of a better word “all dashing”. He’s a top agent, used to manipulating people, outsmarting very dangerous baddies, getting it right and you know, saves the known world on a regular basis. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure I’d be a tad big-headed if that was MY definition of a regular day!  Needless to say Michael Caine absolutely nails it in his performance – I know he’s old-school but so am I, and I really enjoy his performance every single time ;)
Of course, coming from our modern perspective the “special effects” and the various “science things” border on the comical but I would really strongly advise you kind of suspend disbelief and just get stuck into the movie because, well, you didn’t REALLY get this far in the film because you expected fantastic HD explosions or something, did you?  Besides, it would be truly foolish of you to let this spoil a perfectly good film for you - I’ve personally never quite understood the point of view which states that “mind-blowing” special effects is almost the whole point of a film, it’s a completely different but equally erroneous school of style over substance… But I digress…
The again, of course, this is the 21st century, everything is extremely visual and parts of the audience (not all, but definitely parts) want to be almost literally spoon-fed storylines without making a particular effort to “unravel” a darn thing. And I’m not even talking about unravelling some Tarkovsky film or the philosophical musings of Terrance Malik. Consider Bond films. It is only recently, under the “tutelage” of Sam Mendes that Bond is “slightly too old” a bit insecure about his abilities and even genuinely confused about the loyalties of the ones around him. But before that for the most part (say, since the mid ‘60s where this films hails from) Bond was perfect, for my taste; he’s slightly simplistic, won every battle – and never really provides one with any kind of doubt as to whether he would ACTUALLY make it or not . Bond films were all in all a rather brilliant collection of whatever the visual effects technology of the day could offer – especially in areas such as shoot-outs, high-speed chases, explosions etc.  – and not much else. That’s probably why I’ve never REALLY been a fan of Bond – I mean I have said a million times before, I’m all for escapist entertainment, but what is the REAL point if you know exactly what is going to happen in the end? You can get only so much pleasure from HOW you get there (in my universe) but basically, the moment I start, I know he’s going to beat the baddie, get the girl and save the world and my interest in watching is down to roughly a third of what it was (not very high in the first place). The one recent exception was Skyfall, where I had a moment’s hesitation what with all the build-up on Bond being so unsure of himself and all…

Ok, so, The Ipcress File. Definitely one for your head, not your “sense of explosion”. It may have been a combination of both at the time (this kind of film inevitably was – is). Now, with the “role” of the visual significantly diminished by our raised standards, do you know what… The part for the head STILL appeals. If you actually enjoy using your head when watching films, that is. And if you don’t, you know what, it’s a pretty darn good place to start…