Wednesday, 4 March 2009

House of Mirth
(2000)

80%

Subtle story telling of a woman brought down by her own folly, not helped by an unforgiving society; transacting with others but refusing to interact with them. Although the characters think their world entire, they merely manifest a narrow, upper class White culture in which how one is seen is more important than who one is.

Seeking others' acceptance here leads to schizophrenia. Wanting it both ways means playing the public game by rules they privately disobey; desiccated people seeking to make others just as miserable; secretly hating their lonely, mutual dependence on contacts rather than friends.

The apt direction is as emotionally repressed as the characters; the acting variable. Gillian Anderson is an appropriately mannered revelation; proving she can perform beyond an inexpressive persona to reach her character's core.


Copyright © 2009 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.