May. 24th, 2009

Movies

May. 24th, 2009 10:35 am
mojosmom: (Default)
I finally went and joined the Gene Siskel Film Center. I think I go to enough movies there over a year to make it worth while, especially with the discount I get as an Art Institute member. The immediate incentive was that I went there yesterday to see two movies, La Nonna Sabella, a 1957 Italian comedy, and Fados, Carlos Saura's tribute to that Portuguese musical genre.

They were both fantastic!

La Nonna Sabella is a village matriarch who lures her grandson, Renato, back to town by pretending to be on her death bed. She really has a plan to marry him off to the town lawyer's daughter, who is a ninny but is expected to inherit a fortune from her grandfather. Renato, however, has been in love with the town's postmistress since they were children together. Her uncle, meanwhile, has been engaged to Sabella's younger sister for twenty years, but they were too cowed by Sabella's strong-willed disapproval to marry. All, of course, comes right in the end, after much farce and laughter.

I've adored Carlos Saura ever since his flamenco Carmen.



Fados explores this music, with no narration (other than a short bit of printed text at the beginning, explaining a bit of its history), just music and dance in the studio. It begins with a group of musicians and dancers from Cape Verde to make the point that the history of the fado includes the history of Portuguese colonialization. There are homages to great fadistas of the past, with dancers creating stories to their music, and contemporary musicians, including rap fado, and a marvelous bit set in a tavern where one fadista after the other each challenges the last in a multi-person musical duel that's simply amazing:



If you know and love fado, you'll definitely want to put this on your "must see" list. If you don't know fado, it's a great introduction.

Before getting to the theatre, I stopped by the Modern Wing's shop to hunt for a present for my sister (her birthday is in June). Lots of really great, but very expensive, stuff. Nevertheless, I found a very cute little item, a Blomus tea stick.

Between the shows, I had dinner and browsed a bit at Border's, where I used a 40%-off coupon to buy myself a book, a paperback of Oxford University Press' edition of Paradise Lost with MIchael Burghers engravings from the first illustrated edition, and an introduction by Philip Pullman. I've been wanting another copy, as the one I have is an oversized hardcover with the Doré illustrations that is not in great condition, and is lovely to look at but hard to read.

January 2018

S M T W T F S
 12345 6
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031   

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 3rd, 2025 08:48 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios