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I’ve been lucky to see a number of films (and good ones!) at the Film Festival this year, but thus far, the one that has really stuck with me is Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit) by the renowned Dardenne brothers, who have an amazing track record of making terrific dramas of everyday, working life, although as one might expect, not without a fair share of traumas. In this most recent film, the remarkable Marion Cotillard (Oscar winner for her portrayal of legendary chanteuse Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose) plays Sandra, who on returning to work after a breakdown, finds a despicable bargain has been presented to her fellow workers: they each get a bonus if Sandra loses her job. The film’s premise follows Sandra’s precarious attempts over a single weekend to convince the other employees to reject this managerial ploy via a Monday morning referendum. Shot in a very effective near-documentary style, the film is deeply moving and memorable. And given the dismal state of current employment practices globally, it’s especially relevant. (Trailer below)
WORKING
THE GAP:
day symposium Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi Victoria University of Wellington
11.00am – 4.30pm Saturday 9 August 2014
A day symposium exploring the varied ways in which writing and intersecting at this present time. WORKING THE GAP aims to reflect on the state of art writing now, teasing out the responsibilities of the writer and testing new possibilities, as disciplinary boundaries between art and writing, fiction and criticism, research and practice blur.
Featuring critics, writers, and artists: Jon Bywater, Hamish Clayton, Tim Corballis, Wystan Curnow, Megan Dunn, Gregory Kan, Kerry Ann Lee, Tessa Laird, Louise Menzies, Emily Perkins, Anna Sanderson, Allan Smith, and Shannon Te Ao.
For more information and to register, contact: Ann Gale, Gallery Administrator ann.gale@vuw.ac.nz, 04 463 6835.
Woody Guthrie was an icon around my house during my childhood. There were lots of scratched old Folkways records, Guthrie's books, and copies of the venerable folkie publication Sing Out! It took me a little while to acquire a taste for Guthrie's music, but once I did, I was pretty hooked by one of the most fascinating characters of the Twentieth-Century. His daughter Nora has been ably stewarding Guthrie's legacy with such efforts as Billy Bragg and Wilco's terrific Mermaid Avenue sessions, and continued re-releases of old and uncovered material from the prolific musician's archives. Rolling Stone has posted one of these hitherto unreleased tracks "My Name is New York" on their blog. Although clearly a rough working demo (and indeed most of Guthrie's recordings sound a bit like rough demos!), it's a wonderful, poetic evocation of New York:
I read mountains of books/Every day but I’m frisky;
I wash down my brain cells/With hundred proof whiskey.
I work and I slave/And I bless and abuse;
I waste twice as much/As I ever could use.
I’m the town called New York/With my all color paint;
And I curse and I run/And I hide and I faint.
...
I’m the town called New York, I’m a brick on a brick;
I’m a hundred folks running/And ten dying sick;
I’m a saint, a bum, a whore and her pimp;
And your ocean’s the mirror I look in to primp.
The German filmmaker and theorist Harun Farocki died on July 30th. You can watch his comments on the material aspects of the image here and a remembrance by writer and filmmaker Kodwo Eshun here.
Last night watched the very dark, slow-paced, and atmospheric thriller Night Moves by acclaimed American indie director Kelly Reichardt at the Paramount. I am always intrigued by her films; especially the ways in which they increasingly twist cinematic genres (western, suspense, mumblecore) in order to speak toward the manifold problematic aspects of contemporary society. In this film, environmental activism of the sort treated in the formidable documentary If a Tree Falls on the Earth Liberation Front gets a sharply critical take, along with glimpses of eco-fundamentalist idealism, new age materialism, recreational camping, and organic farming. Night Moves features a great trio of actors (Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard) with strong cameos and support (Alia Shawkat, James LeGros). There’s a terrific interview with the director on the Tribeca Film Festival site: “The shit the BPs of the world are doing is way more radical than anything in the movie—but you know, that’s all legal. So there’s all these different levels of what’s radical. I think the film is asking, if their actions are not the right response to the state of things, what is?”
Artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard (of whom I am a big fan) have made a very stylised, visually compelling, and thoroughly watchable film on musician Nick Cave, which was screened last night at the New Zealand International Film Festival. It’s been called a “pseudo-documentary” and indeed it is highly staged, beautifully shot, and if improvised, draws a great deal on Cave’s writings, notes, and friendships with such people as his longtime collaborator Warren Ellis, who at times almost steals the film, as when he recounts witnessing the erratic performative antics of Jerry Lee Lewis and Nina Simone. If Cave seems to almost camp up his persona (would one expect any less?) he is also insightful, articulate, and utterly romantic when discussing his artistic goals: “It’s about what lies beneath the surface of reality, like the humps of a sea monster. The goal in music and performing is to tempt that monster to the surface.”
Artist Sarah Keber, one of Massey's most illustrious current BFA students, appears to have arranged some pretty action-packed festivities down at Bar Bodega in Wellington this Wednesday for its inaugural Art Meets Pint Night. Sounds like a fun evening! For more info check out the event's Facebook page.
