I wish to return to a pure state. Simple. Real. Authentic. Sincere. Sincere. Sincerity.

Art for the self. Art for others. The self as reflected in others. Others as they reflect the self.

Death. Eternal damnation. Being forgotten.

All’s well.

And I ignored Fiori’s message. A child. Shame on me. To further a petty cause, nourish illusions of dreams.

He did love three things in this world:
Choir chants at vespers, albino peacocks,
And worn, weathered maps of America.
And he did not love children crying,
Or tea served with raspberries,
Or woman’s hysteria.
…And I was his wife.

]]> http://sierrasea.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/he-did-love/feed/ 0 sierrasea showoff http://sierrasea.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/the-graduate-1967/ http://sierrasea.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/the-graduate-1967/#comments Sun, 21 Nov 2010 18:30:02 +0000 sierrasea http://sierrasea.wordpress.com/?p=208 ]]> I felt like spontaneously watching a movie last night (against my better judgment). The film I settled upon was The Graduate released in 1967. It was directed by Mike Nichols. I am not at all familiar with this director, but I’d heard good things about the film so I thought I’d give it a try. The soundtrack of the film is composed of songs from Simon and Garfunkel, two wonderful musicians. The movie is brilliantly shot and it has a very distinct visual style. The point of view shots of Hoffman in the ridiculous underground swimmer’s outfit in the pool were very effective. There were many instances when I thought the framing and camera angles were perfect. When Hoffman moves in between locales–Mrs. Robinson’s mansion and his own bedroom– the camera is focused on his face to illustrate the guilt and monotony over his affair. His life at a standstill. I liked the movement created by the camera. In one example, one shot that shows the start of the movement as the graduate jumps on the pool mattress is concluded in the next shot as he lands on top of Mrs. Robinson.

One of the drawbacks is that the narrative becomes overly dramatic and characters more and more cartoonish. The film loses some of its initial appeal and presents characteristics of an exaggerated soap opera which is unfortunate. Nonetheless, watching the Graduate was a good time.

Plus, I enjoyed watching Hoffman. He’s an excellent actor! It was fun to see him defend his manhood in front of Mrs. Robinson.

There is a very loose narrative, so idiosyncratic that it hardly makes sense to anyone apart from me. I wanted the clip to follow a cyclical structure, hence (I dislike using this word) the repetition of certain images. It’s meant to capture the woman’s fleeting thoughts in images as she reminisces about the process of love interspersed with randomness–fiery disorientation, pervasive sparks, the world expands into the heavens, the stinging fear creeping in, the swirling heartbeat, escape and calm. Associations exist. Most concretely, it’s about light and its powerful effects on an image.

One of my favourite scenes from the film!