Death and Creativity

Connect the Dots # 7 

Tonight, we explore the life of three creative minds. All of them had a fascination with the visual medium. They will be remembered for ages to come. This post is also a kind of tribute for one of them. 

[File: Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters]

RIP Bernardo Bertolucci– One of the doyens of the Italian film industry who was almost as important as Federico Fellini. I have seen two of his creations. One is the highly significant political movie – The Last Emperor and the Eve Green starrer – The Dreamers. The former one is about the Puyi, the last emperor of China and how he dies in the prison after he is dethroned because of the Chinese revolution. The movie is one of the rare movies which was shot inside Beijing’s Forbidden City.  The Dreamers tells the story of the American student who is caught in ‘an erotic triangle’. The movie is set in the background of the 1968 Paris student riots. I am planning to watch the movie for which Bernardo Bertolucci is still remembered – Last Tango in Paris. Bertolucci was 77 and he was suffering from Cancer. The Last Emperor got 9 Oscars all of those for which it was nominated. Right from his childhood, he was raised in an artistic atmosphere. Bertolucci was a communist and most of his creations reflect this strong anti-fascist temperament. When asked in 2013 how he would like to be remembered, Bertolucci told AFP: "I don't care." "I think my movies are there, people can see them," he said at a presentation of a 3D version of "The Last Emperor" to mark the 25th anniversary of its international release. Bertolucci was awarded an honorary Palme d'Or for his life's work at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. 

The second dot/story is from an article which appeared in the November 23rd issue of NYT. It is about the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman whose centennial birth celebrations is planned this year. (He died in the year 1918) Many studies have been done on his films, exploring his themes and the techniques. To commemorate the centenary celebrations a new set of Blu-ray discs was released titled - “Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema”. It is a 30-disc set, which presents 39 feature-length films and two documentary shorts by Bergman, along with an in-depth array of supplemental materials. It is packaged as a two-volume book (one holds the discs, the other comprises 248 pages of essays and notes) Film critics have dismissed his movies as creations less important because they have fewer (film) secrets to impart to the modern audience. Glenn Kelly who wrote the article and who has reviewed the Blu-ray set says that it ‘certainly offers dozens of hours of engagement, illumination and even entertainment’. You can get more information about this collector’s item from this link: https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/1427-ingmar-bergman-s-cinema

The third dot is about a Brazilian illustrator who designed the jersey of the Brazilian soccer team. Aldyr Schlee died on November 15th.  He had skin cancer. Even though Aldyr was a professor he was best known for his design of the Brazilian soccer jersey. When he was 19, he came across this contest sponsored by the Brazilian newspaper, The Morning Mail. The only requirement was that the jersey had to use the colours of the Brazilian flag: blue, green, white and yellow. What was created Aldyr Schlee became ‘one of the best -known uniforms in professional sports — a canary yellow shirt trimmed in Kelly green with a touch of stark white, along with shorts of ocean blue’. The Brazilian team wore the uniform for the first time in the year 1954. On November 16th,2018 when the Brazilian team played against Uruguay, they observed a moment of silence in memory of the creator of the design on the jersey that they were wearing. 

The fourth dot pays homage to Prof. George Thomas who passed away this morning. He was the Assistant professor at Deva Matha College, Kerala. 

I would like to quote a line from the movie, Downsizing which I watched recently,  ‘When you know death comes soon, you look around things more close’. Is it true?