Sunday, March 1, 2009
Indeterminacy 153
Coming back from an all-Ives concert we’d attended
in Connecticut, Minna Lederman said that by
separating his insurance business from his
composition of music (as completely as day is
separated from night), Ives paid full respect to the
American assumption that the artist has no place in
society. (When Mother first heard my percussion
quartet years ago in Santa Monica, she said, “I
enjoyed it, but where are you going to put it?”) But
music is, or was at one time, America’s
sixth-largest industry — above or below steel, I
don’t remember which. Schoenberg used to say that
the movie composers knew their business very well.
Once he asked those in the class who intended to
become professional musicians to put up their hands.
No one did. (Uncle Walter insisted when he married
her that Aunt Marge, who was a contralto, should
give up her career.) My bet is that the phenomenal
prices paid for paintings in New York at the present
time have less to do with art than with business.
The lady who lived next door in Santa Monica told
me the painting she had in her dining room was worth
lots of money. She mentioned an astronomical sum.
I said, “How do you know?” She said she’d seen a
small painting worth a certain amount, measured it,
measured hers (which was much larger), multiplied,
and that was that.
- John Cage
Atonement (2007)
Having read the book I was skeptical about this adaptation. But the movie does very well depict the tone and the intentions of the novel. The actors are good, the production value is excellent, and it has Keira Knightley in it:-)
Las Aventuras de Juan Quin Quin (1967)
This is a Cuban movie celebrating the revolution in the style of a picaresque novel. The director's proclaimed intention of creating 'imperfect cinema' results in a grotesque, jolly and mostly entertaining tale very much reflecting the style of the wild 60s cinema (think of Richard Lester with a touch of Jodorowsky).
Gilda (1946)
I know this is a classic and rightfully so, but still: I've always had problems with this movie. It's not just Glenn Ford who I never particularly liked.
First and foremost this is about a case of pathological jealousy. The cruelties Glenn Ford inflicts onto Rita Hayworth know no bounds, at times I find his behaviour sheer unbearable. The supposed 'cruelties' she inflicts on him nurturing his jealousy are in the end all fake! So, the only 'bad guy' in this movie is Glenn Ford himself.
The most disconcerting part of this movie is the pop-goes-the weasel happy ending is liked glued on. Not only is Ford 'cured' and repents, he doesn't even get prosecuted for the crimes he committed...Gilda is a sadomasochistic fairy tale.
David and Lisa (1962)
A great movie, wonderfully played and ingenuously staged! In a way you could call this a love story, the kind I like anyways.
Indeterminacy 40
During my last year in high school, I found out
about the Liberal Catholic Church. It was
in a beautiful spot in the Hollywood hills.
The ceremony was an anthology of the most
theatrical bits and pieces found in the principal
rituals, Occidental and Oriental.
There were clouds of incense, candles galore,
processions in and around the church.
I was fascinated, and though I had been
raised in the Methodist Episcopal Church and had
had thoughts of going into the ministry, I
decided to join the Liberal Catholics.
Mother and Dad objected strenuously.
Ultimately, when I told them of my intention
to become an acolyte active in the Mass, they
said, “Well, make up your mind. It’s
us or the church.” Thinking along the lines of
“Leave your father and mother and follow Me,”
I went to the priest, told him what had
happened, and said I’d decided in favor of
the Liberal Catholics. He said,
“Don’t be a fool. Go home.
There are many religions.
You have only one mother and father.”
- John Cage
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