A PORTRAIT A 34/52

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013

Little E: "mama look, I built a computer!"






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TODAY

1 year older wiser today.
Happy monday.

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A PORTRAIT A WEEK 33/52

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013

I love this picture because it's only when E's eyelashes are wet that they look darker and one can see their real lenght. This picture is special for me also as it reminds me of another one I took when he was barely a year old, and his face looked just like in this picture, despite the fact more than 3 years have passed.

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mOVie friDAy.15 | LA GRANDE BELLEZZA

Hi everyone, I am so happy to be back with movie friday and especially happy to share about Paolo Sorrentino's 'La grande bellezza' - I wanted to do this right away after seeing it last winter, but never got round to do it.
I liked this movie so much that -honestly- as soon I saw the credits scrolling on the screen, I felt like buying another ticket to watch it all over again. 

Filming took place in Rome starting in August 2012, the complete work finally released in 2013. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and scheduled to be shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
I was enchanted by today's Rome as Sorrentino portrayed it in his film: breathtaking beautiful and decadent at the same time.

I won't give a description of the plot in details, I think it is great to see the movie discovering -without knowing anything beforehand- the life  and people around Jep Gambardella, fascinating main character extraordinarilly played by Toni Servillo.

Gambardella is a writer and journalist of great charme who's deeply soaked into Rome's night life and v.i.p. world and yet he manages somehow to float above it. He has previously written just one book, L'apparato umano, but despite its success, Jeb won't write other books. Each night he organizes or takes part to huge flamboyant parties, where he meets a group of confused friends: rich radical chic people, playwriter willing to be, Cardinals unusually passionate about cooking, living saints, a stripper with a huge secrets and many others.

Every morning Jeb returns home at dawn and goes to sleep when everyone else is beginning the day. The scenes where he wanders Rome's empty and beautiful streets, observing melanconically each mysterious corner, each sudden fragment of unsuspected beauty did steal my heart. in the same way, the very beginning of the movie hooked me. It starts showing a group of Japanese tourists visiting Rome, under an old fountain from which a chorus of young girl sings a melancholic and beautiful music. Suddently one of the tourists suffers an heart attack and immediately afterwords we see Jeb's 65 birthday party celebrated on a beautiful terrace at night. A major contrast between two sides of life that will accur in the whole movie.

Party after party, Jeb continues his life and walks, pondering, moving among mysteious palaces and trash feasts populated by people who refuse to surrender to the natural flow of life, who's faces are tightened by plastic surgery. Jeb is in costant search of 'la grande bellezza', the great beauty, something he has maybe lost in his past that he cannot recall.


I hope you can see this wonderful movie. As much of Sorrentino's work, gives such a unique perspective to people and life. Rossellini with 'ROma citta aperta' covered memorably the 1940's, Fellini with 'La dolce vita' covered the hedonism of the 1060's, Sorrentino gives today a good portrait of high society Rome and Berlusconi's sad era.



As I did not find a trailer with english subtitles, here is the transdlation of Jeb Gambardella's words:

"When I arrived in Rome, at 26 years of age, I fell fearly soon, almost without noticing it, in what we can call the vortex of mundane life. But I did not want simply to be mundane, I wanted to become the king of all mundane people.

I did not want simply to attend parties, I wanted to have te power of making them fail.

Everything is sedimented under the chatter and the noise:

 silence and feelings, emotions and fear, the sparse and erratic flashes of beauty,

 then the squalor of miserable men."

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A PORTRAIT A WEEK 32/52

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013

Second time on the adventure park climbing trees, 100% confident this time. Wild boy is growing into little wild man bigger boy.



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NOTTE DI SAN LORENZO

Hi, how is your summer going?
Recently I am not sleeping well at night. I am normally a good sleeper, so this comes new to me. There is something magic though about founding oneself in the balcony in the middle of the night, in a complete silence where I can finally hear my own thoughts.
I realize night time is the only moment I can totally have for myself.
I listen to music, read lots of interviews on the net, continue my books, do all the things I rarely find time to do in the usual everyday routine.
I realized that maybe my body is doing this in order for me to find myself back again. Maybe is part of a subconscious slowing down plan, listen to my inner voice rather than continue rushing things and running after everyone (especially a little 4 years old in the house who's keeping me very busy all day long).

On the 10th of august, la notte di San Lorenzo, I searched the sky for shooting stars but did not see any.
Although the maximum of the Perseids stars will be visible between 12 and 13 August, the predictions were, in fact, that on the 10th of august there would be abundant bright light showers (also with the help of the light from the moon), which would soon fade, leaving the sky lit only by billions of stars. And if the sky were filled with clouds, it would be helpful enough to have a small transistor radio tuned to a distant FM station to perceive the passage of the shooting stars. Apparently, the radio signal normally distorted, it suddenly becomes clear after being bounced against the luminous trail of ionized gas, left behind the meteors passing through the Earth's atmosphere.
Wish I had a small radio here with me to try this out.

Ok, I did not see any of it, but nevertherless I was up till 6 a.m. and saw the light of the new day coming slowly through the horizon.  In the fresh night breeze. Total silence. Absolutely beautiful.
I am sure I cannot keep up much longer with this no-sleep mode, but I try to enjoy my private nights as much as i can for now.

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A PORTRAIT A WEEK 31/52

A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013

E is very much into Peter Pan now. He dreams of Peter coming through the window one of these nights and hopes to be taken to Neverland. In the meantime -waiting for this to happen- little E is happy to ask me for some drawings and to color them in.
Precious and rare quiet mama&son moments, I say.


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