Everything Is Luminous
REMEMBRANCE DAY
VETERANS' DAY
and the 100th Anniversary
of the Peace Treaty
-l'Armistice, signed in France in 1918-
that ended the Great War...
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And on a day such as this
I personally cannot help but to think
that there is so much truth to that:
EVERYTHING
*IS*
LUMINOUS
Even the bad stuff that happens to us...
Yes, even the bad stuff!
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You learn from every experience --- good or bad ---
you grow ever forward, towards the Light -
you mature, you acquire, you never lose;
verily, folks, absolutely everything
truly is... LUMINOUS!
I used to say...
"live and let live"
(you know you did... you know you did... you know you DID!)
But in this ever-changing world in which we live in,
(it) makes you give it a try...
LIVE AND LET DIE!
No - that's not it!
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Yikes - the opening image is, almost one-to-one,
the spitting image and fearful preview of what awaits
Boris Leskin 's character in the film we will discuss shortly -
just read on... all the way to the comments section, that is!
R.I.P. Grandfather... as you allegedly can!
Rather, I used to say this:
EVERYTHING IS
EPHEMERAL!
But then, some chaps might simply not get it
AT ALL: "ephemeral" being such a "big word" y'know...
Not part of the common man's vocabulary -
most of the time!
PLUS a great many might prefer
(and might still remember)
the Matt Good spin on it:
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1997 is a long time ago, though -
not as long ago as 1918, but still...!
Automatic is too... mechanical.
Heaven Forbid that it ever does
define "everything"...
And if we are to invoke "old stuff"
(and such is the point here - duh)
and some sort of definition of
"everything" therefore,
then let us point to a fine film
that went under the radar,
somehow, and unjustly so,
one could somewhat add:
and it is not sucky either:
rather, it is
close enough to luminous, eh?
Yes it was, but...
where I first mentioned the film, just about
when it was released - in 2005!
Sunflowers - sunflowers, everywhere!
A tale of two collectors, ultimately:
and, I would say, foremost
Luminous Lista
also known as
the one character in the film
who truly brings about a sense of
illumination... reverence and
remembrance.
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There are several ladies of note, somehow,
in this vastly male-dominated cast and film:
aside from the luminous Laryssa Lauret,
- in her lone film credit, according to IMDB!
And then there is "Sammy Davis Jr. Jr."
--- don't ask... see the film!
This is a film -and a novel, first- with a very strong,
devoted following - but it definitely isn't
a large one, by any stretch of the imagination.
Whether the masses know it or not, though,
it is a true masterpiece.
(Not one without flaws, mind you; nothing is ever perfect
as everything is, also, imperfect in this world,
on this side of things. See the comments section...
But this is the best example of what we are
meaning to convey, overall here -
so it has to do.)
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Though it was far from being a profitable film,
this film is the best example of what
Warner Independent Films,
a division of Warner Brothers, can achieve.
It has inspired so many - despite doing so poorly
at the box office - and subsequently...
It is the finest directorial debut anyone
could ever dream of achieving, also;
that of Liev Schreiber -
who only got back to directing recently,
on some episodes of his Ray Donovan series.
(And, what a coincidence - we just saw him
hosting SNL for the first time in his life -
LAST NIGHT...!)
It is one of the best literary adaptations around, too.
And its message -
that " everything is illuminated
IN THE LIGHT OF THE PAST"
is what saudade is all about... in a way.
Those sunflowers omnipresent in every promotional shot
for the film - as they are at the core of its most
luminous scenes indeed - adorning the dress worn by
actress Laryssa Lauret, at the premiere (above)...
She had been quite the mainstay on television and
with choice movie roles for decades -
none choicier than this part of ever so slightly listless
yet truly luminous "Lista"...
truly a crowning moment
in a great career.
At the very end of this "Everything Is Illuminated" film
the end credits are enlivened by this fine song
sung by Eastern European sensation
and his gypsy punk/folk band Gogol Bordello:
the song is
"Start Wearing Purple"
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Gogol proudly bears the name
of one of the finest quills
to have ever penned anything in the Russian language:
master of the Cyrillic alphabet and author of "
VIY "
that I always ranked above even the likes of
Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky!
(Anybody who knows me knows it:
I admire anyone able to master that good old Cyrillic!)
And this modern Gogol frontman is a fine quill, too:
with his repertoire of soulful tracks
such as Sun Is On My Side ...
(hey - the sunflowers are proof of that, right?)
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"When Universe(s) Collide "...
(pluralized that for him: I am thinking
it is what he meant...!)
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(His English is not so... premium, as he would say!
You know? Well, you would know...
If you had watched "Everything Is Illuminated"!)
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"12 Illumination "
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...his Supertheory of Supereverything is some kind
of a luminous thing, too...
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Yevhen proves his luminescence, though
with this track alone: We Rise Again .
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Well - OK...
maybe his collaboration with Regina Spektor
helps immensely, too!
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and invoking Natalie Imbruglia
(and obscure band Ednaswap - really)
also helps!
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Yevhen is a SOUL WARRIOR...
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And, as such, he is
"UNDESTRUCTIBLE"
(bad English and all!)
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YES... We should all
start wearing
PURPLE!
Labels: childhood reminiscence , cinema , commemorative , History , Ladies of Cinema , luminous , luminous connections , simulpost
