C’est ma santè . . .

 

Quote of the Day

Enormous, fierce, his jaws clacking in a formidable grimace, the monkey, with one hand, has seized a young ebony, and torn it, with all its roots, from out of an herbous heap of broken stones.

—Catulle Mendes

Books to Buy

Charles Morice – The Re-Appearing

Henri de Régnier – The Libertines

Jean Jullien – Four plays for the Free Theatre

The Translation of Father Torturo: Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

      Vivan walked through the large main doors and into the vast hall. The Pope was standing near the window, smoking a cigarette and looking out towards the Vatican hill and over the gardens. He did not immediately turn around and Vivan, thinking his own presence was not known, coughed.

     “Ah, there you are,” the Pope said, turning and flicking the ashes of his cigarette on the floor. “I was just admiring the view. The sight of boxwood and ilex trees I find particularly conducive to meditation. But come,” he said, gesturing towards a grand table set in the centre of the room, “please sit down. Between us, such old friends as we are, there is no need to stand on ceremony.”  

     Vivan was quick to express his admiration for the table arrangements. The English crockery was in excellent taste, adorned with a marigold pattern which was elegant rather than ostentatious and, though thoroughly antique, conformed to the requirements of modern aesthetics. The numerous vases of flowers decorating the table were arranged to the best possible advantage, filling the air with an intricate perfume, the perfume of rare blooms admixed with a particular striking beauty of blossom. There were magnificent fritillaria interspersed with jasmine and willow branches; alstroemerias in dazzling yellow and chaste white, spiked lobelia and mop-headed, pink hydrangea; water lilies floating in Mesopotamic bowls and Ming dynasty urns stuffed with sheaves of green wheat.

Gli Zitelloni (1958)

This is yet another of the long list of Italian films that should be issued for the English speaking market.

Starring Walter Chiari and Vittorio De Sica, both great comic talents (the latter was actually more as much of a comic actor as a director of Neorealism), this is a pretty fast-paced farce beautifully complimented by the music of someone they credit as “Italo Greco”.

The story is basically one of an older man telling a younger, Marcello, that ‘men should never marry’ and going on to point out the bad side of married life. Next thing we know, Marcello is arrested for killing the lover of his fiancé . . .

Anyhow, a tightly scripted piece of cinema, full of many, many funny moments. 

It should be noted that one scene which has Chiari dancing absurdly is certainly a direct rip-off of a scene in Visconti’s Le Notti bianche with Marcello Mastroianni, which had come out a year earlier. Chiari’s mannerisms are pretty much move for move those that Mastroianni used, though the latter of course to somewhat better effect.  

Il Petomane (1983)

This is the truly strange and truly true biopic about Joseph Pujol, the famous French performer who, in the golden age of French decadence, earned 20,000 francs a day . . . farting.

Yes, it sounds not only absurd but stupid. Well, it is absurd, but the film is far from stupid. Featuring a brilliant performance by the great Ugo Tognazzi and Mariangela Malato in an excellent supporting role, this is a must see for fans of Italian cinema. It is not only funny, but also has a certain amount of depth and absolute charm. Part of this comes from the fact that Tognazzi is able to play roles like these completely straight faced and with a fair amount of dignity.

Johnny Depp has apparently expressed some interest in doing a remake of this film. Need a screenwriter Mr. Depp?

Those Spartans . . .

An Athenian said that he considered speech his most valuable possession, the Spartan replied, “Then when you are silent, you are worthless.”

Quote of the Day: on The Yellow Book

“Let the collector of first editions take comfort. Foolish he may be—we ask him to admit it for the sake of argument—and vain he may be: but no collector that we have ever heard of is foolish or vain enough to hoard, even if he should be mad enough to purchase, the first or any other edition of ‘The Yellow Book.’”

- Speaker, April 28, 1894

Bloody Territories (1969)

This is a pretty decent Yakuza film I saw today. Though it has its faults (the women are plastered in make-up of neon tinge) it is worth viewing for those who like the Japanese gangster genre. The music (by Hajime Kaburagi) and street scenes are particularly striking.

See You Next Tuesday, The Second Coming

My story Rood has just come out in a book called See You Next Tuesday, The Second Coming. If you buy it from the publisher directly (as per link) it is only 10 bucks, so give it a try. The huge list of contributors is as follows:

1. Brendan Connell (Switzerland)
2. Aryan Kaganof (South Africa)
3. Steve Finbow (UK)
4. Jónas Knútsson (Iceland)
5. Lyttleton (CA, USA)
6. Aaron Burch (MI, USA)
7. David Gianatasio (MA, USA)
8. Jimmy Chen (CA, USA)
9. John Roberts (VA, USA)
10. David E. Oprava (UK)
11. Lannice L. Montague (CA, USA)
12. Paul Kavanagh (NC, USA)
13. Vanessa Gebbie (UK)
14. Casey Anderson (WA, USA)
15. Chelsea Martin (CA, USA)
16. Davina Owombre (Nigeria)
17. Elizabeth Ellen (MI, USA)
18. Michael Fowler (OH, USA)
19. D.M. Schwartz (CA, USA)
20. E.P. Chiew (UK)
21. Mary McCluskey (UK)
22. Tom Sheehan (MA, USA)
23. Randall Brown (PA, USA)
24. Marie Shield (CA, USA)
25. Sara Crowley (UK)
26. Melissa Lee (UK)
27. Mary Lynn Reed (MD, USA)
28. Bonnie ZoBell (CA, USA)
29. Tria Andrews (CA, USA)
30. Donna D. Vitucci (OH, USA)
31. Terri Brown-Davidson (NM, USA)
32. Debbie Ann Eis (CT, USA)
33. Garrett Socol (CA, USA)
34. Zachary Vora (CO, USA)
35. Douglas Campbell (PA, USA)
36. Grant Perry (UK)
37. Leslie Jamison (CT, USA)
38. Harold Jaffe (CA, USA)
39. Kevin Ó Cuinn (Germany)
40. Blake Butler (GA, USA)
41. Erich Mulhall (Canada)
42. J. A. Tyler (CO, USA)
43. Errid Farland (CA, USA)
44. Justin Taylor (NY, USA)
45. Kevin Sampsell (CA, USA)
46. Vincent Louis Carrella (CA, USA)
47. Savannah Schroll Guz (VA, USA)
48. Douglas Lee (China)
49. Lee Klein (PA, USA)
50. Steven Coy (CA, USA)