...tantas Saudades...!!!: Everything Is Luminous

...tantas Saudades...!!!

Sunday, November 11, 2018

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...

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!

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!

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:

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:

no, it is not the theory

and it is not sucky either:

rather, it is

ILLUMINATED -

close enough to luminous, eh?

Yes it was, but...

Aww... brings back memories of The Luminous Blog -

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

Luminous Laryssa Lauret

the one character in the film

who truly brings about a sense of

illumination... reverence and

remembrance.

There are several ladies of note, somehow,

in this vastly male-dominated cast and film:

aside from the luminous Laryssa Lauret,

one can note the appearance of Zuzana Hodkova here.

There is also Jaroslava Sochova (see video below)

- in her lone film credit, according to IMDB!

Pamela Racine's presence is also notable.

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.)

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 alternative rock star Eugene (Yevhen) Hutz

and his gypsy punk/folk band Gogol Bordello:

the song is

"Start Wearing Purple"

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?)

"When Universe(s) Collide"...

(pluralized that for him: I am thinking

it is what he meant...!)

(His English is not so... premium, as he would say!

You know? Well, you would know...

If you had watched "Everything Is Illuminated"!)

"12 Illumination"

...his Supertheory of Supereverything is some kind

of a luminous thing, too...

Yevhen proves his luminescence, though

with this track alone: We Rise Again.

Well - OK...

maybe his collaboration with Regina Spektor

helps immensely, too!

and invoking Natalie Imbruglia

(and obscure band Ednaswap - really)

also helps!

Yevhen is a SOUL WARRIOR...

And, as such, he is

"UNDESTRUCTIBLE"

(bad English and all!)

YES... We should all

start wearing

PURPLE!

Labels: childhood reminiscence, cinema, commemorative, History, Ladies of Cinema, luminous, luminous connections, simulpost

¶ 11:11 AM

Comments:

A masterpiece though it is, and all that...

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED
falls just short of being... well, truly LUMINOUS.

Because of two things - just two, but they are huge...

SPOILERS ALERT...

Ready?

Then read on...!

# posted by

Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ : 1:36 PM

First, there is that grasshopper scene.

Totally unnecessary.

No collector I know would ever go to those extremes - and, to think that, back in 2005, I was jokingly inferring that Elijah Wood was really portraying ME in this film...

THE HORROR!

It should have been cut from the film.

I know I would have.

Liev... in not Luminous Liev.

:-(

# posted by

Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ : 1:39 PM

And secondly...

The suicide.

That is NOT illuminated.
AT ALL.

That falls considerably short of being LUMINOUS - hell, it is the complete opposite.

It ruins the entire message of the film.
And the novel!

So many times the movie adaptations stray from the book - change things...

This should have been changed.

Ultimately, it explains its poor performance, recouping the 7 million it allegedly cost to make...

Some would call it karma...

A luminous message should not have been tarnished with that poor, pathetic resolution.

And a third possible thing: since it all comes in threes...

There should have been more there for the female roles.

Much more.

# posted by

Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ : 1:44 PM

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