Sleeping Beauty

“Sleeping Beauty” directed and written by Australian novelist Julia Leigh is a haunting allegory of awakening in close proximity to death. Lucy (Emily Browning) is a young college student floating through life in a fog of indiscriminate jobs and relationships. Underpaid and struggling, by random draw of luck, Lucy discovers an ad in a college newspaper for a mysterious job seeking attractive women. Under pretenses of silver lining waitressing, Lucy is drawn into erotic and lucrative world of sex services. Sex, in this instance being used elusively given the main rule of the club is no penetration. As Lucy gets drawn further into the unnervingly mysterious farce of the job that caters to aging aristocrats, she no longer is solely asked to flow around the expensively catered dining rooms in lacy underwear. Her icy madam, Clara (Rachael Blake) raises the stakes by offering Lucy to go further – succumb to the narcotic-induced sleep at Clara’s mansion. Even though as viewers we are exposed to most of what goes behind the doors of the luxuriously appointed bedroom, we cannot shake off the chilling feeling of mystery. Instead of explicit celebration of sexual desire found in the blatant exploitation of female form, we are left with the opposite - witnessing the mourning and loss of lustful mastery and complete paralysis of eros. 

One of the most fascinating scenes in the movie is one client’s monologue describing a short story he had recently encountered. In this story, a man who had lost all desire for life and its pleasures, dead inside, finally awakens by surviving a nearly fatal car accident and witnessing his driver’s death. This experience brings the protagonist back to life, giving him sensation of the world that he was numb to throughout his life. This story becomes a symbolic backbone of “Sleeping Beauty” culminating in Lucy’s struggle to find out what goes on when the Morpheus sets in and putting her face to face with death and, thus, spiritual awakening. Lucy’s hysterical cries in the closing scene contrast with serene pace and detached expose of director’s camera and in many ways signify the first grasps of air by a newborn baby…rebirth and resurrection. 

Did I love this movie? – Not particularly. In many ways, it was painful in its slowness and incoherent in its plot line. However now, days after I have seen it, it continues to haunt me, raising questions and questioning its allegories. Oftentimes, if a movie makes me think continuously about it way past the closing credits, it raises new awareness and proves that it managed to surprise… and astonishment is rare these days… 

In anticipation of "Rust and Bones"

Given I adore Marion Cotillard I could not help sharing the trailer of an upcoming film, "Rust and Bones", directed by Jacques Audiard. Since Audiard directed "A Prophet," a movie that has received widespread critical acclaim and a rare 97% on Rotten Tomatoes I can only imagine the raw potent depth he could inject into a love drama! Stay tuned...

Health Care Documentaries

There is nothing better to feed the mind than an excellent documentary about a topic that gets a lot of publicity but only a few people know intimately. With the upcoming election in November and Barack Obama’s now infamous health care reform, there is no better time to take a good look at the medical system with the help of two documentary releases. “The Waiting Room” directed by Peter Nicks zooms into hallways and treatment facilities of the emergency room section of American public hospital while “Escape Fire” takes an investigative look into the U.S. healthcare system machine, its often profit-driven care and quick-fix strategies.

No matter how removed a director wants to be while making a documentary piece, it is often wise to look out for biased perspective colored by personal experiences and judgments. I am definitely intrigued by the previews and am eager to get new information to play around with in forming my own, hopefully, educated opinion on the topic of healthcare. 

Cindy Sherman SF MoMA

What could possibly make a sunny Sunday any better you may ask? - Sacrificing that preciously rare SF sunshine for an art exhibition that proves to be a 100% worth it and then some! This past weekend has found me exhausted and getting increasingly nervous about launching my brand new costume jewelry project due mid-October. Sleepless nights are my only companions these days, locked in my apartment and ordering sushi in…raising those mercury levels and feeling the low of the lowest for a lady who loves to cook! However, logo must be finalized and final website changes made!

And I diverge, which lately has been becoming a habit of mine - a syndrome of total scatterbrain due to the lack of rest and indulgence in reading too many books and articles and going in visual overload on Pinterest. Come Sunday, I fled my apartment desperate to move around and have a change of scenery. My mom joined me, lured in by a promise of an early brunch at a French bistro or other venue boasting outdoor sitting. But before two ladies fully battle their gastronomical cravings, intellectual ones had to be fed as well. So off we went to SF MoMA for a much-anticipated Cindy Sherman photography exhibit. 

Cindy Sherman is one of the most influential photographers who has managed to intrigue, inspire and produce great art for the past forty years. Although Cindy Sherman is internationally recognized for her series of “Untitled Film Stills” (1977-1980), consisting of 69 self-portraits depicting various stereotypes of female roles, I have found myself overwhelmed with abundance and versatility of the artist’s portfolio. The self-portraits of Cindy Sherman set against the backdrop of skyscrapers, propped on a bed or simply standing in the doorway of her bathroom are reminiscent of the film clips stolen from Fellini’s neorealism or Hitchcock’s film noir. Black and white and small in scale (8 1/2 by 11 inches) the photographs are simply numbered, preserving ambiguity and allowing the audience to attach its own meaning to the images at hand. Most of the photographs were taken in Sherman’s apartment, using her own clothes, makeup and props, stripping the portraits of overbearing affectation. Ironically the photographs looked incredibly sincere even though I was fully aware of Sherman’s meticulous staging.

I have been familiar with the “Stills” from brief encounters in my graduate work yet most of Cindy Sherman’s creative reflections have eluded me. As I walked around the gallery I was astonished at discovering how multi-dimensional and innovative a self-portrait could be and how a true artiste could preserve her artistic identity while delighting the audience with ingenuity and wit. Even though Cindy Sherman’s later works still have an underlying social philosophy, contemplating on such diverse topics as sex in the age of AIDS, women’s quest for youth or façade of a clown’s smile, she has made a move away from black and white imagery and abandoned herself in vivid colors.

My favorite series of photographs, however, was Cindy Sherman’s “History Portrait”, a collection of 35 amusing images inspired by the paintings of the greatest Renaissance masters. I will not give any more away since just recalling the exhibition here, made me want to make another trip to the museum. In other words – go…please! The exhibition closes on October 8!

*Images courtesy of Cindy Sherman

Beloved

Seems like "Beloved" will be yet another great movie by Christophe Honore! If it is anything like his "Les chansons d'amour"and given it incredible cast (Catherine Deneuve / Louis Garrel / Chiara Mastroianni / Ludivine Sagnier), it is definitely worth a trip to the cinema or your Netflix queue!

Saltare In Banco

Gorgeous photography by Pierre Manning with a melancholic and edgy reference to circus:

SALTARE IN BANCO

Sweet Monsters

An extraordinary colorful collaboration project featuring photographer Kristina Fender for Naif Magazine:

SWEET MONSTERS

Farewell, My Queen

The movie I have recently seen that might be of interest to all of you film-buffs is “Farewell, my Queen” by Benoît Jacquot. “Farewell, my Queen” based on the best-selling novel by Chantal Thomas is a poignant recollection of the French monarchy’s abrupt and bloodthirsty collapse. Although it does not go into the gory details of the mass executions and guillotine’s blade is not yet in the picture (although it seems they are sharpening it by then), it foreshadows and focuses on the days leading up to them. 

As the ladies-in-waiting shuffle hurriedly through the labyrinth of Versailles, the atmosphere is at once lavish and electrified with tragic heaviness of the violence to come. The pace of the film, a feature I notice more often in the French cinema recently, is somewhat languid. As the final credits were rolling and I was walking out of the theater I could not help but overhear the complaints of the pouring out audience – “slow”, “boring” and “long” were the adjectives tossed around. I do agree that the film was unhurried but would not necessarily attach any negative connotation to it. I believe that it has done more good for the atmosphere of the pre-revolution than if it was bombarded by the fast-shifting events and dynamic plotline. “Farewell, my Queen” is a wholly atmospheric film and atmospheric not in the usual picturesque but emotional way. I admired the director for walking away from the overly publicized beauty of pompous Versailles ballrooms and letting us glimpse at its true identity – that of over glorified dormitory, embellished yet still infested with a rat here and there and accurate of its timeframe. 

Providing a fresh perspective on the revolutionary undercurrents in Paris hinted on by the whispers of the ladies-in-waiting, we are finally getting the middle ground perception on the collapse of the monarchy recalled by the “healthy middle class” – neither the lavish let-them-eat-cake crowd nor the over starved and angered poor. Since the truth lies somewhere in the middle, the perspective of the valets to the king and queen is the closest we can get to understand the events leading up to storming of Bastille. And if you are still not intrigued, Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette and Lea Seydoux as her loyal and adoring lady-in-waiting Sidonie Laborde are a treat all on their own…sensual and alluring…

  

A Burning Hot Summer

Monica Bellucci and Louis Garrel caught in one stormy-steamy relationship proper of an actress and a painter? – I am running to the theater! In the words of Manohla Dargis of New York Times: 

"A languid, emotionally raw film. Mr. Garrel suggests that there’s something impossible about love, but then he is a Romantic — of a dreamy, melancholic type."

Philippe Garrel’s films run like a confession ripped from a diary of a tortured soul, eager to explore its intricacies yet stay impartial and untarnished. Those day-to-day moments of pondering silences, stolen glances and feelings of great intimacy mixed with alienation make Garrel’s works voyeuristic and visually striking. Even though his pensive poetry and austerely character study approach is not catered to everyone’s taste, his imagery is provoking and worth exploring:

Screenings available July 20–26 at SF Film Society Cinema:

http://sffs.org/content.aspx?catid=928,1025&pageid=2985&TitleId=fsc-burninghot

If you are in town, come check it out and share what you think!

Pinterest

So for the past 24 hours, I went from signing up to Pinterest to being fully clinically obsessed with it! Besides being a highly successful tool for killing any work interest or social agenda you may have had and being swallowed by the beauty of images, I believe it has a few redeeming points:

1) INSPIRATION - great for visually-oriented professions (decorators, designers, artists etc) as it gives you instant access to millions of photographs that can be looked up by topic and key words

2) ORGANIZATION - essential for event planning (weddings, parties) or home redesign as it provides you with a "board" to save all your images according to a chosen theme

3) COOPERATION - easy for cooperative effort as you can share all the saved imagery with your work team, designer or planner

What can I say? LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Feel free to follow me:
http://pinterest.com/vivalchimia/

My Must Have List!

I have recently stumbled upon a book by Nichole Robertson called Paris in Color and have been lusting over it ever since! I have soooo many photography books I acquired over the years and now rarely, if ever, leaf through that I usually try to restrain myself from indulging in more! However, there is something about Paris in Color that has a magical pull. Nicole Robertson, whose charming blog (http://littlebrownpen.com/) has become an obsession all of its own, is a freelance writer living in Paris and commemorating its beauty in a series of incredibly colorful photographs! I cannot stop gushing over her aesthetic and the love for Paris that, presumably grey, now oozes with electrifying vibrancy and warmth!

If you are as tempted as me, you can go the standard route of Amazon.com or (highly encouraged!!!) check out Nicole and her husband Evan’s page to buy the book and admire other Paris-inspired paper goods and fine art photographs that the couple prints in their studio: http://theparisprintshop.com/

In any case, you will not be disappointed and the visual gratification is guaranteed! 

  
*photographs courtesy of theparisprintshop.com

Lulu deKwiatkowski: Colorful Artist

I could not resist sharing this video on Lulu DK - a snapshot into finding her path as an artist, designer and overall gorgeous woman!

*Photo courtesy of Vogue.com

Levi's Ballet Commercial

Now I cannot say enough about incorporating classical arts into the field of advertising. We have so much nudity, aggression and cursing via reality tv, music videos and tasteless commercials that little shocks or grabs our attention anymore. How about we try to amaze and intrigue with beauty, talent and skill instead of vulgarity? Just for a change... just to see how it feels? ; ) 

Marina Abramovic

The weekend is upon us and before we run off into the wilderness of temptation that defines it, I want to take a minute and share a glimpse into an upcoming documentary "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" that looks both intriguing and transformative.
The film zooms into Abramovic's preparation for the retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The documentary promises to challenge every notion of art definition, value and perspective. Fearless and seductive, Abramovic will engage you in the world of limitless creative possibility that defies rules and expands consciousness. Stay tuned!

  

One Kings Lane obsession

One Kings Lane is an obsession of mine and it truly needs to stop. Being an evil gal who likes to share financially draining addictions, I decided to come clean. Please do me a favor and buy all those awesome decorative objects, works of art and random vintage finds so the next time I log into my account and try to do some damage, you already beat me to it and it is all SOLD OUT! Great, thanks!

https://www.onekingslane.com/ 

Urban style musings

The coldest winter I ever spent…well you all know the drill – it is butt-bitingly cold in San Francisco and instead of wearing light colorful dresses and shorts like the rest of the climatically-acceptable summer world, we are stuck trying to figure out new ways to update our “fall” urban look. I could not keep myself from sharing two photographs I found on the Sartorialist – Scott Schuman, you are half-man and half-god of creative inspiration in my book and if rationality does not hold me back, I will create an altar in your name…candles, figurines and all!

But nuttiness aside, I present to you the two city looks that I believe are worth adoring – I am slightly biased since I am obsessed with Vespas lately but the pictures speak for themselves! Voila:

Fashionably Creative

The Armani Group inspired by the success of their eyewear advertisement campaign “Frames of Life” is now expanding its database to include fashionably fabulous Facebook users who like to experiment with Instagram. All you have to do is upload a holiday photo of yourself wearing sunnies to Instagram with the hashtag #FRAMESOFLIFE for a chance to be featured in their gallery on http://armani.com/framesoflife.

Have fun, Instagram addicts... I got inspired:

Polina Semionova (ballet)

On the note of the previous post dedicated to the magic of ballet, I could not help but admire the elegance and mesmerizing beauty of the video I came across by accident. I present to you Polina Semionova and her solo ballet demonstration to the music composition of Herbert Grönemeyer. 

First Position

“First Position” is an unprecedented new documentary by Bess Kargman exposing the training of six young dancers who go into the Youth America Grand Prix, the competition that awards full scholarships to top ballet schools in the world. As a viewer with significant background in dance history and criticism, spoiled by the diversity of NYC performance scene, I was eager to enjoy this movie with my mother, who many decades back was accepted into the youth training ballet school adjusted to Mariinsky theater. As we sunk deep into our seats on a chilly Sunday evening, we were ready to be mesmerized by the art form that enamored many children of whom only few went on to become professional performers. Your loyal blogger here, at the age of five on one fine occasion embarrassed her mother by leaving her side at the designated seat of the Bolshoy theater to be found, minutes later, in the aisle making clumsy pirouettes and pas de chats. “Swan Lake” had that hypnotizing effect on me that found no sympathy with the strict usher lady who dragged me back to my mother!!! Let’s just say that this tragic misunderstanding killed my spirit and my marvelous future as the next Bolshoy prima ballerina ; )

“First Position” is an incredible film that shows how much sacrifice and dedication goes into audition in a ballet competition - let alone being admitted and hopefully growing into a professional performer. As we follow many struggles and doubts of participating children, we cannot help but admire their cult of ballet beauty, grace and discipline. I feel that many more films like that should be made to inspire the growing generation to tear themselves away from the computer screens and cultivate and interest that will not only make their lives a more fulfilling experience but also quite possible grow into a lifetime passion.

The magic of it all makes me want to dust off those leotards and legwarmers and head over to a good old barre class, alas at the beginner’s level : )