Dead Letters

A Resolution Revisited - Happy New Year!

I hit a roadblock about two weeks ago when I was trying to make a post on this tumblelog. I wanted to post an MP3 that I’ve been meaning to share for some time, but when I got around to it I couldn’t because I had to customize my Tumblr HTML template to do so. The problem is I don’t know how to code in HTML. So I never got around to posting that MP3. It was quite frustrating, however, it did incentivize my learning HTML (again). I realize I’ve said this before, and I was only just reminded of that fact and I feel horrible about the whole situation. But I made a promise and I plan to stick to it. I’ve a little over two weeks to learn something new (anything) about HTML to fulfill my promise, though, I realize that’s a pretty lame cop-out so I’m going to resolve to read O’Reilly’s HTML & XHTML - The Definitive Guide this coming year. I probably should’ve made that promise before, but then I’d be in a worse predicament now. I think everything has worked out for the best. It feels right this time around. And soon enough I’ll return to my Tumblr template and things won’t look so esoteric. At least, that’s the hope. Happy 2009 everyone!

A Tribute To Akira Kurosawa - A Dream

I’m more than a bit late with this post, but better late than never, right?

So, thanks to a very good friend of mine, one whom I shall forever be indebted to, I was alerted to a retrospective of the late, great, Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa. The retrospective, Akira Kurosawa: Film Artist, was hosted by the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences here in Los Angeles, and it consisted of an exhibition of Kurosawa’s art, personal effects, etc. at the Academy’s main galleries and a series of screenings at their theatres. When I learned of this news, I was floored. I had to be there.

The funny, as in curious, thing was that it was only some months prior that I decided to embark on a Kurosawa retrospective of my own. I’d become dead set on watching as many Kurosawa films as I could get my hands on. I have a habit of doing this, especially with music, I must consume the entire catalogue of an artist’s work. And I must do so in order. I’m obsessed with chronologies in this respect because there’s nothing I love more than seeing something evolve over time, especially an art form. And I suppose I chose Kurosawa because I was already familiar with some of his films and felt like his filmography was something worth diving into. Thankfully, I consumed every bit of his work I could find before I learned of the Academy’s retrospective, it made the experience all the more rich and involved.

So on September 23rd, 2008, I had the great pleasure of enveloping myself in the world of Akira Kurosawa. While I had been to the Academy… before, this was the first time I had ever visited their galleries. It was an amazing experience. There’s just something ineffable about bridging this gap from the cinematic to the physical. All of these things, all of his work, had only ever existed in my mind, and seeing it all in person was… so many things. It was overwhelming at times, definitely surreal, exciting for sure, illuminating… I could go on and on.

I had an experience similar to this when my brother took me to the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art’s exhibition of Buddhist and Hindu iconography. At that time I was well immersed in the world of religious symbology, and had a special interest in Eastern philosophies. So I’d studied this work in the same way that I’ve studied Kurosawa’s work, from afar. Every painting, every sculpture, every piece of embroidery, etc. only existed in my mind. All I ever had were photographs and video. Seeing everything in person was a whole new experience. Something about sharing the same space… I don’t know what it is. But whatever that was, I loved.

To give some perspective, there were two spaces that housed the actual exhibition. The first was in the Academy’s Grand Lobby Gallery which, funny enough, is located in the lobby, on the first floor. This gallery was dedicated entirely to Kurosawa film posters from around the world. I actually didn’t get to see much of this part of the exhibit because a large section of the Grand Lobby was cordoned off for a party that was scheduled later that night. I didn’t really mind missing out on the posters since I felt they had little to do with the films or the artist.

The real meat of the exhibition took place in the Fourth Floor Gallery. It was a veritable Kurosawa cornucopia. They had everything: scripts, screenplays, sketches, etchings, paintings, costumes, awards, letters, etc. I was in heaven. If I were allowed to, I would’ve taken some photos but I didn’t dare risk permanent expulsion from the Academy. I probably came close though.

I had no idea what to expect at the exhibit so I was really shocked to see costumes from Kagemusha and Ran. They even had Lady Sué’s kimono from Ran, right there, out in the open. The thing wasn’t even behind glass! It was an exquisite piece of embroidery, a marvel of craftsmanship. I wanted so much to touch it, if only because I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was looking on something in a way I never had before. The detail was extraordinary and something that I realized never translated to the screen. This was real, lived-in. Whether by use or age, it was frayed. It was wild trying to reconcile reality with fantasy.

Another highlight was looking upon Kurosawa’s Palme d’Or award, which he won at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980 for Kagemusha. I’d never seen a Palme d’Or in my life, not in person anyway. It was so beautifully polished and I stood there transfixed by the way it reflected a golden light. The leaves looked so delicate, as though they were about to fall off at any second. Very surreal.

Another surprise were Kurosawa’s personal effects. They had housed a pair of his geta behind glass, along with personal stamps that he carved himself out of stone and marble, they even had his trademark Crescent Moon stamp. They also had a couple of his iconic sunglasses, though, how could they not? But what I was most taken with were his pastels and watercolors. They were there, right in front of me, used and abused. I suppose I was entranced as I was because they were tools of the trade, tools I could use and understand. It was tools like those that helped create all the little marvels that plastered the walls. I kept imagining him holding these things… how he would use them…

Oh, I forgot to mention the films. At various points in the gallery there were projectors hanging from the ceiling that were projecting his films, in their entirety, on the walls. I remember seeing the great showdown at the end of Yojimbo, as well as the train scene from High And Low and one of the battle sequences from Kagemusha. I remember seeing Seven Samurai as well, but can’t remember which part was playing at the time.

Finally, I’d like to talk about what I feel was the great highlight of the exhibition, Kurosawa’s sketches for Dreams. I now remember what first got me started on my personal Kurosawa retrospective. Some time back I decided to begin work on a sketch book of my own dreams. I had this vision of working with color, something I’d never really done before. It was there that I made the connection. At the time, Kurosawa existed as a Black & White film director, primarily. I knew he eventually filmed in color, but that classic palette is what his name conjures in my mind. And of the films I knew he filmed in color, Dreams was the one that always sprung to mind. It was dream and Dreams that got me started on this latest obsession.

Of Kurosawa’s later work, Dreams is my favorite. That probably isn’t saying much if you knew how I felt about his later films, but that still doesn’t take away from the fact that Dreams is a great film. I think I love it as much as I do because it’s a departure for Kurosawa, it’s one of his most experimental works.

Anyway, I was taken with the sketches because I only learned then, standing in front of them, that there were several scenes conceptualized for Dreams that were never realized. I remember feeling sad. And I keep going back to this gap, the gap between the physical and the mental, the real and the fanciful. I have in mind the first, my favorite, segment of Dreams. I have the final scene in mind. And I have in mind the way it existed in the rough, the way I saw it sketched out and hanging on the gallery wall. That sketch in no way lives up to the majesty of the final vision that was committed to celluloid. And so when I looked upon all those sketches I kept thinking, What could have been? There was so much potential there. And I’m not just talking about those sketches, those scenes, that film, but also the artist at the center of it all. It threw me into this… I began to realize what was gone, what had left. To make the leap, to bridge the gap is something only a visionary can accomplish, a true artist. I remember feeling a profound sense of awe and admiration mixed with a great sadness. Though, I also felt hopeful. There’s something to seeing someone’s life in that way… the art and the artist, together. Both are deeper, richer, more complex than you can ever imagine… and they’re intrinsically intertwined. It was life-affirming being surrounded by all that passion. It was passion, dedication and obsession made real. Art personified. Or maybe life personified? Either way, it was a dream.

Akira Kurosawa, The Criterion Collection

A Second Wind - Year 2.3

I’ve neglected this place, this tumblelog. For the past few weeks I’ve had it in my mind to write more. There have been times, many days, I’ve had the urge to write. I’ve thought to myself, I should blog this. But the moment invariably passes. It’s rarely anything really important, though, I obviously think enough of the thought, idea, feeling, etc. if I want to share it, and yet I don’t. Chalk it up to laziness I suppose. I would like to credit pure laziness, but this just speaks to my nature. I’d rather listen than talk. I’d rather be passive than active. Which is fine, well, would be fine…

I was speaking to a friend recently and… well I suppose it’s not important, the details, but I mused on this idea of nature. There are few things I think are wrong, rather, I like to think things just are and just happen. Everything’s a matter of perspective. The Universe knows nothing of right or wrong, of love or hate, etc. We color the world the way we feel it. It’s all about feeling. I feel things are wrong, I feel things are right. I feel all sorts of things, but in the end they’re only my feelings. They substantiate nothing, except my personal truth, my self.

Everything would be fine if I felt everything were fine. No one can color my view of the world. No one can make me believe this is wrong; or right. I’ve spent a lot of time silent and alone. I know that I’m different. I want to be silent, I want to be alone. I know most people don’t want these things. No one can make me believe there’s anything wrong with who or what I am. To thine own self be true. Only I have a bead on who I am, on what’s right and what’s wrong. And lately I’ve felt like things aren’t quite right, the silence and the solitude. I don’t think it should feel this comfortable to be this quiet and this alone. It feels like nothing. I feel numb sometimes and I think, It shouldn’t be this way. It didn’t used to be this way, though, I’ve never taken things to this extreme. I’m letting myself withdraw far too much. And it’s easy. But it’s wrong. This, like everything else, should be taken in moderation. It’s fine if you want not to speak, it’s fine if you want to be alone… if you want it.

I want to break the silence.

…to thine own self be true…

Synchronicity - Over The Transom

I’m still trying to make some headway with my back catalogue of GQ. I recently finished reading the November 2006 issue cover-to-cover. In one of the final articles, The Case of the Killer Priest by Sean Flynn, I came across the phrase, over the transom.

Tonight I was listening to episode 499 of The Tech Guy and about 43 minutes in I heard the phrase again, over the transom.

I thought it was odd. I’m sure I could count on one hand the amount of times I’ve heard that phrase. I’m also sure that I haven’t heard or seen it used in years. I thought it was odd to happen upon it twice in the same week. That’s all… just thought it was something to take special note of.

GQ
The Tech Guy