I still remember Brideshead Revisited and not just because of the script (an adaptation of a novel by Evelyn Waugh). Everything seems magical, unreal. And the places, Brideshead, Venice, Tangier... The second generation of the family is divided between rigid religious values and the call of real life, for love, friendship, adventure. The eldest daughter returns to her comfort zone of purity and God's forgiveness. The youngest one can never free herself from this influence. And the son ends up in Tangier drinking and smoking his life away. The main character finds hope in the end, after all the experiences that life gave him: love, friendship, pain, hope. He is not a believer and has seen how rules can destroy a person devoid of affection. Only love can save and heal. Finally he understands the rejection of his lover and her choice for God and peace of mind.
Another tv series that I won't forget is The jewel in the Crown. Again, it's not just the script. The place is also magical... India in the fourties. So much love and so much pain. So much madness and prejudice. There is hope in the end, even with the scars... More recently, Parade's End and War and Peace. All these tv series are adaptations of novels. And then there are tv series designed directly for television:Law & Order, criminal intent,Menphis Beat, Person of Interest, Borgen, Homeland.
Homeland is becoming better every season. :) Carrie defends young students caught up in the fine line between a natural revolt of free speech and the intention of violence, the real threat. The challenge is huge: how can we draw the line? In Homeland we learn to accept human nature, its strengths and its weaknesses, suffering, dependencies, self-destructive behavior. We won't find prejudice or disgust. Humans are fragile. Hope is still alive in all of them, above suffering and lonely days. This is the message. Humans mess things up but have the ability to fix them.
Pleasantville is a film about fiction and reality.. In a world in black and white everything happens according to a script, there are no surprises and things never go wrong, there are rules that everybody knows and respect. Pleasantville is like a perfect world, where people are young and beautiful, streets are clean, everyone is polite, families live in harmony, good always wins in the end. Reality is about injustice, pain, surprises... and colors. We have no script, rules are not respected, things go wrong. The world is not perfect, bad wins sometimes and villains are powerful. Neverthless in its imperfection, reality is about life and living things, love and passion, curiosity, adventure, future. Europe was presented to european citizens as a Pleasantville with a script and rules, where countries are equal and live in harmony, with respect and fairness... a perfect world. Reality showed them a very different Europe: there was a different script for the powerful, rules were only applied to the weak, citizens were punished for the financial sins. Villains won, good people lost Now Europe is facing a new phase without one of its 28 stars. UK was the first star to flee. Nobody expected such a result, but.now... that it happened... we can understand why. Reality is different from fiction.
Cinema is the art form of the twentieth century, but also a cultural medium. Generations have grown up with films and spent hours inside dark movie theaters. Why is it important to recall these magic moments of innovation, the way of telling stories and spreading ideas? The answer is right in front of us: our culture, I'm referring to western culture, is giving in to trash culture. Sorry, but it's true. The Trump speeches, for instance, what are they... but trash? The american people should tremble only by this fact: Trump is running for president of the United States. I'm trembling and I'm not american. Well, somehow I'm american too, I grew up with american movies and I breathed their culture, their ideas, their ideals. So, I'll choose a movie each week until November. The first one is a Preminger, The Man with the Golden Arm.
