Never let you go, by Alejandro Kirchuk

 alejandrokirchuk.com.ar

Alejandro Kirchuk is an award-winning Argentinean photographer whose work has been published in various print media, and exhibited in Argentina, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His project Never Let You Go won the first prize in the daily life stories category in the 2012 World Press Photo Contest. It is the story of his grandparents Monica and Marcos, who were married for 65 years. In 2007 Monica was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and Marcos devoted himself to her care. Alejandro Kirchuk’s pictures elegantly trace the ways in which the disease changed their lives. As Monica’s illness progressed, she became more dependent on her husband, whose life was also substantially affected by her condition; at the same time however, supporting his wife gave Marcos a new reason to live, and allowed him to show aspects of his personality which had never been displayed before.  

According to Alejandro Kirchuk, the aim of this project is to raise awareness about how to deal with Alzheimer’s disease, to show how the illness changes the life of the people who live close to the patient, and to encourage them to go through the situation. Monica passed away in 2011 in her apartment in Buenos Aires, next to her husband who now had to overcome his sorrow and loneliness. The project’s title in Spanish, La noche que me quieras (The night I want), is the name of the tango Monica sang before losing her memory.

At the same time, it seems to me that this project is also about love at its best. You will not see candlelight here, neither the moon, nor a bottle of the finest wine; this is the real thing. And the real thing is this amount of courage, this degree of devotion, and this level of grace.

alejandrokirchuk.com.ar

To the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach

web-books.com

An earlier post on Virginia Woolf included a reference to Elizabeth Barrett Browning; ever since I’ve been meaning to post this poem, numbered 43 in her Sonnets from the Portuguese. It is among her best-known works, but it is also the first thing that comes to mind whenever I hear people talk about love, but actually mean habit, convenience, vanity, possessiveness, power, or whatever else but love. After all it may not be such a bad idea to set the record straight every now and again.

                                         How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

                                         I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

                                         My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

                                         For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

                                         I love thee to the level of everyday’s

                                         Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

                                         I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

                                         I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

                                         I love thee with the passion put to use

                                         In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

                                         I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

                                         With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,

                                         Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,

                                         I shall but love thee better after death.

The Descendants, by Alexander Payne

 Wikipedia

My friends on the mainland think just because I live in Hawaii, I live in paradise.

Like a permanent vacation.

We’re all just out here sipping Mai Tais, shaking our hips, catching waves.

Are they insane?

Do they think we are immune to life?

How can they possibly think our families are less screwed up, our cancers less fatal, our heartaches less painful?

Hell, I haven’t been on a surfboard in fifteen years.

For the last twenty-three days I’ve been living in a paradise of IVs, and urine bags, and tracheal tubes.

Paradise.

Paradise can go fuck itself.

This opening voiceover sets the terms of reference with regard to The Descendants, Alexander Payne’s remarkable new film. It tells the story of a personal and a family crisis, and it does so by walking a fine line between comedy and tragedy; in other words, the paradox of the human condition. Creating such a fine line is a particularly difficult task, but not for The Descendants; every shot and every line is hitting the right chord, thus sustaining an elegant emotional balance. And just like life itself, it is a refreshingly unpredictable film; clear and yet subtle, cinematically intelligent and at the same time emotionally rich. 

The voiceover is narrated by Matt King (George Clooney), a middle-aged lawyer and estranged husband, whose wife has fallen into a coma after a boating accident, and is to be disconnected from life support according to her living will. Matt now has to help his two young daughters come to terms with the situation, despite the fact that until the accident he had been ‘the backup parent, the understudy.’ On top of everything, he finds out that his wife was having an affair, and eventually embarks on a journey to seek her lover out. George Clooney’s acting is superb, and his portrayal of Matt King brings out all of the character’s emotional complexity, in the most natural of ways. And while the entire supporting cast is exceptionally good, it would be unfair not to underline Shailene Woodley’s fine performance as the elder daughter Alex. 

The Descendants is an adaptation of the novel by the Hawaiian author Kaui Hart Hemmings, who also makes a cameo appearance as Matt King’s secretary. Location is of particular importance to the film in that Hawaii comes across as an integral part of the narrative, rather than its visual background. In cinematic terms it is interpreted as an everyday living - and dying - space, instead of some kind of exotic holiday landscape; and as such, it complements the emotional turbulence involved in Matt King’s journey from alienation to responsibility. It also underlines the wider social significance of his change of character, when as the sole trustee of a family trust of vast unspoiled land, he refuses to sell against the will of his greedy cousins.

Alexander Payne’s perspective is insightfully two-fold: the film is about dealing with the death of a loved one, as it is about masculinity in crisis. And one of the most interesting aspects of The Descendants is that the narrative deconstructs Matt King’s gender roles, but also refuses to restore them as such; control is not regained, because there cannot be any control over death. What can be, however, is an invaluable acknowledgement of one’s own faults and weaknesses; in a key scene, Matt turns to Alex’s boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause), whom he considers to be ‘retarded,’ only to find out that he had lost his father a few months ago. Matt’s course from husband to widower involves a better understanding of himself and the world around him, which eventually allows him to develop an enhanced emotional connection with his daughters, as well as to tenderly say goodbye to his wife one last time. This course is, above all, a learning process; and he learns how to change, because he learns how to listen. And in this respect, The Descendants is also a film about what perhaps is the dearest thing in life: hope.

wmfo.org

For the film’s trailer, see here.

Black Gold: a new video by Esperanza Spalding

 thisisrnb.com

Esperanza Spalding has just released a video for Black Gold, the first single from her upcoming album Radio Music Society.  The song features guest vocals by Algebra Blessett, and the video includes references to key African figures such as Sundiata Keita, Miriam Makeba, Salif Keita, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and Fela Kuti.

After the rain

Athens, 07.12.2011

Ko-Ko, by Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker, Three Deuces, New York, 1947 

Photograph by William Gottlieb  last.fm

The genius of Charlie Parker gave birth to one of the most important changes in the history of music: Bebop was the aesthetic and technical breakthrough which put forward jazz musicians as accomplished artists, and also influenced works as diverse as those of the Beat generation and Jean-Michel Basquiat. I was twenty-two years old when I first listened to Ko-Ko, and my relationship with music changed forever. Ko-Ko also features landmark performances by Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Curley Russell (bass), and Max Roach (drums).

Afro Blue, by John Coltrane

A unique sound: its passion and strength could only be matched by its elegance and intelligence. And a musician who was a whole world of innovation and creativity, dedication and integrity, political and cultural references. I happen to owe John Coltrane much more than words can express; the first track of his I ever listened to was this astonishing live version of Afro Blue, by what today is addressed as the classic John Coltrane Quartet with McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums).

 

John Coltrane, The Village Gate, New York, 1961

Photograph by Herb Snitzer  jazztimes.com