Monday, April 20, 2009

Mephisto (1981)



Even in the cold hard streets of central European cities' mid-winter, feet sweat. Cotton socks stiffened to cardboard can't pad thin soled blucher mocs.

6, Feb, 1991, the wall fell over a year ago. Nono died in Venice last May. I'm tired.

1 Rang, Reihe 1, Sitz 16 of Hebbel Theater folds open to caress lower back. Contralto, bass flute, piccolo, tuba, 2 campane sarde, 3 bongos, crotales, electronic incantations--Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit--Melville and Bachmann inaudible to crashing fragments, Risonanze erranti a Massimo Cacciari can't keep eyelids lifted.

Too soon it ends, sent drifting in Kreuzberg Kneipen, pushing Pilsner to last call . . . immer noch zwei, drei Stunden mehr, muss eine andere finden.

Show us the way to the next Whiskey Bar.

It's so cold Claudie Laska.

Erstens, vergeßt nicht, kommt das Fressen
Zweitens kommt der Liebesakt
Drittens das Boxen nicht vergessen
Viertens Saufen, laut Kontrakt.

Not far, Wirtschaftswunder, Yorckstr. 81, spinning Aarnio inside, find a couch edge to wrap in unlined two dollar trenchcoat discovered with a dozen dusty but mint 15 cent vinyl Lieder--Walter/Lehmann, Moore/Fischer-Dieskau--at Hyde Park Resource Center, until U-Bahn Frühstück trip.

Denn wie man sich bettet, so liegt man
Es deckt einen da keiner zu
Und wenn einer tritt, dann bin ich es
Und wird einer getreten, dann bist’s du.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)



Panning left, Cléo's eyes then head rising, face turning, sidelight from june solstice, rues de Paris, shimmering fountain cheeks, wig white ghosting before black curtain:

Toutes portes ouvertes
En plein courant d'air
Je suis une maison vide
Sans toi, sans toi

Comme une île déserte
Que recouvre la mer
Mes vagues se dévident
Sans toi, sans toi

Belle en pure perte
Nue au cœur de l'hiver
Je suis un corps avide
Sans toi, sans toi

Rongée par le cafard
Morte au cercueil de verre
Je me couvre de rides
Sans toi, sans toi

Et si tu viens trop tard
On m'aura mise en terre
Seule, laide et livide
Sans toi, sans toi
Sans toi


Quick zoom out.

C'est trop!
Je n' peux plus!
C'est affreux!

Forehead collapses on upright lid.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Rocco and His Brothers (1960)



"Once during a strike in Turin, Gramsci spoke to a conscript from Sardinia, one of the soldiers brought in to deal with the unrest in the city, who refused to believe that the workers on strike were poor people, and who told Gramsci, 'I know poor people and how they are dressed.'"--James Joll, Antonio Gramsci

Fascism roots itself in southern brother love and northern sister hate--banned in Milan for "inopportune resemblance to reality"--bare chests, bare fists cut skin for ancient boy on boy action (MMA submission: a soft tap to the elbow, knee, ankle holding the choke, fighters stand glossy eyed, cheek to cheek, palms olive oil blessing to splenius capitis) to defend rape/murder of lumpenprol.

I Love You Man's contemporary West Side Venetian--late night TV sleaze in shades lounging at helm of 30 foot SeaRay Weekender pitching quick rich rules: after making a killing in real estate, always leave others to clean up your dogshit--whose insipid electric strings of Rush underscore relentless screaming reversal of Richman's "I'm Straight," instructs the same blood bonding, full carat VS1 proposal backed by Lexus LS bluetooth compatibility, urbane burial of sewage canals, children rag picking their J. Crew lifestyle, embrace of totalitarian perfume.

Romance, a terminal perversion must be lived by confessing heartache's brightness, triumphant beauty, Death in Venice.