Author: JWF

Tidy Times: Films & More

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ENJOYABLE CINEMA

We ended the Sarasota Film Festival on a high note with two very good films, one a feature and the other a documentary from Argentina.

The Congressman.  Starring Treat Williams with George Hamilton, this feature-length film was written by former Long Island representative, Robert Mzarek.  Set in Maine, it’s an old-fashioned film with a straightforward plot about an embattled congressman who returns to his district and simultaneously deals with embittered residents there and a contretemps brewing back in DC.  There’s an overly ambitious aide, an attractive woman, and beautiful Monhegan Island.  Mr. Mzarek was at the screening and called it a “message film” and in the style of Frank Capra.  I predict success at the box office when it goes into distribution.

Our Last Tango.  Prepared to be seduced by dance.  This documentary about a very famous dance couple is both a celebration of the tango and a dissection of a partnership.  Argentinians Maria Nieves and Juan Copes were tango dance partners for more than 40 years.  He selected her and they were both professional partners and for a short time husband and wife (married in Las Vegas during their tour of the States).  In the film, she’s now 80 and he 83 and interviews with each of them separately are interspersed between clips of their tangoing.  She is alternately sparkling about her love of the dance and philosophical about being old and alone.  He, on the other hand, is taciturn and a man of fewer words, but still loving and living for the tango.

RELEVANT THEATER

Asolo Repertory Theatre continues to delight and entertain us.  We just saw “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”  The set with its view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the dining room window brought on a touch of nostalgia for our San Francisco years.  Although the play takes place in 1967, it still seemed relevant, and I credit the cast for achieving the right balance of humor and seriousness.  I saw the movie (starring Sidney Poitier as a surprising guest) when it first came out, but had forgotten how meaty some of the dialogue is—at least in this version.  Well worth seeing.

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COMPELLING NONFICTION

I’m currently about half way through Rebecca Traister’s new book, All the Single Ladies:  Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation.  It is informative and well-researched, as you would expect, but written in a very lively fashion with bits of humor along with Traister’s observations and anecdotes about her own life experiences.  As such, it’s a very pleasurable read and I recommend it!

I should add that while I don’t know Ms. Traister, I was predisposed to like this book since I’ve known both her parents.  Her father was a colleague in Penn’s libraries and her mother I knew at Lehigh University where she was an English professor.

 

 

 

 

Header photo:  Golden rain tree  (cJW Farrington)

Sarasota Scene: Film Fest

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FILMS!

We have been immersed in film this week taking advantage of some of the offerings of the Sarasota Film Festival.  One of the things we’ve noted is how difficult it is to make a film that has momentum with a clear dramatic arc that engages and holds the viewer’s attention.  A filmmaker can have a meaty topic or a good story line, but fail to turn this into a film that doesn’t drag or sag.  That said, our scorecard so far this week is one excellent film, one very good, one tedious, and one slightly weird.  Here are the films (in order of viewing):

Frame by Frame.  Challenging our (Americans’) view of Afghanistan, this documentary traces the careers of four Afghan photographers (one female) as they navigate a post-Taliban media world.  The firm bursts with unexpected color and  gorgeous scenery juxtaposed with shots of conflict.  It takes too long to make its focus clear, but I’d still give it B+/A-.

Five Nights in Maine.  This was one of the so-called Centerpiece films in the festival and I expected to really like this feature.  Alas, the story of widower Sherwin (played by David Oyelowo of Selma fame) who goes to Maine to visit his late wife’s mother is slow to the point of tedium.  The scenery is vintage rural Maine, but there were lots of missed opportunities to enrich the narrative—what was Uncle George’s role; how might nurse Anna have connected more with Sherwin; and what was his wife Fiona’s backstory with her mother.  My rating:  C minus.

Raising Bertie.  This documentary takes on an important issue:  How do you nurture and motivate poor black young men to become productive adult citizens.  Focusing on rural Bertie County in northeastern North Carolina, the film follows three young men over the course of six years as they repeat grades in high school, age out of the public school system, and struggle to find purpose for their lives.  It is a close look at the devastating impact of poverty and meager educational resources.  Like first novels, this film could have done with more editing (I’d cut about 15 minutes), but it is still worth seeing.  My grade:  B/B+

Embers.  A science fiction feature, Embers presents an “end of the world” scenario in which society has been destroyed, buildings are bombed out, and a few individuals roam around, mostly unaware of and unconnected to each other.  They have lost their memories and if they do meet and connect, as one couple does, the next day they start afresh with no recollection of the day before.  A father and his grown daughter have escaped this fate by living sealed in an underground bunker.  Intriguing premise, but never quite comes together in a suspenseful way.  Even the ending seems less than it could have been.  My rating:  Wacky; but one of the reasons one goes to film festivals is to experience what you might not otherwise have!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I’ve read selected chapters of Andrew Solomon’s tome, Far from the Tree, and plan to take it up again, so was prompted by this brief acquaintance to read his essay about why he travels.  I love traveling to new places and the trip I made that was the most different and probably the most enlightening was three weeks in Madagascar in 2009.  The quote below from Solomon’s article, “Dispatches from Everywhere” in the April issue of Conde Nast Traveler resonated with me.  I think it also relates to how a film about photography in Afghanistan (see above) can change one’s perspective—not the same as going there, but still being exposed through a different lens.

 “Some of my traveling has been glamorous, some of it terrifying, but it has had a cumulative humbling effect.  I started traveling out of curiosity, but I have come to believe in travel’s political importance, that encouraging a nation’s citizenry to travel may be as important as encouraging school attendance, environmental conservation, or national thrift.  You cannot understand the otherness of places you have not encountered.  If all young adults were required to spend two weeks in a foreign country, two-thirds of the world’s diplomatic problems could be solved.  Travel is a set of corrective lenses that helps focus the planet’s blurred reality.”

Tidy Tidbits: Bits & Bites

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THOUGHT-PROVOKING THEATER

We were at the first preview performance of Asolo Rep’s production of Disgraced and it was excellent!  Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize winning play is simultaneously hard-hitting and nuanced about issues of race and religion.  Amir, a young lawyer on the track to partner, has hidden and, to a great extent, set aside his Pakistani and Muslim roots.  His wife, Emily, is a white artist; one of his law colleagues a black woman; and her husband, Isaac, the art curator promoting Emily’s work, is Jewish.  Add to this mix Amir’s Muslim nephew who arrives with first one request for legal help and then later a second one.  How this initial request impacts Amir and Emily’s marriage and then leads to an explosive dinner with Isaac and his wife is the stuff of uncomfortable theater, but uncomfortable in a good way because it makes you squirm and ponder your own reactions and behavior. If you have the chance to see this play, do!

ON THE SMALL SCREEN

I’m currently in love with a very finely drawn Australian drama series set in a small town near Sydney in 1953.  Entitled, A Place to Call Home, the lead, Sarah Adams, is a widowed nurse new to town whose interactions with the townspeople and the ruling Bligh family are cause for consternation.  Sarah is Jewish and has not shared her past nor her activities during WWII.  Elizabeth Bligh, the matriarch, is determined to run Sarah out of town despite her son George’s involvement with her.  Add in matters of social class (as in who is a suitable mate for Elizabeth’s granddaughter, Anna), homosexuality (best kept secret and viewed by most as a condition that can be corrected), and lingering resentments from the war, and you have all the elements of a family saga in a time of change.  As a bonus, the accompanying score features popular songs of the period.

The series is available from Acorn which means it isn’t free, but definitely worth either purchasing a season at a time or subscribing to all of Acorn’s appealing offerings.  And, no, I’m not on Acorn’s payroll!

SHORT FICTION

I am not a big fan of short stories (probably should be), but do occasionally nudge myself to read them.  Most recently, I’ve been dipping into Elizabeth Tallent’s latest collection, Mendocino Fire.  Tallent is a professor of creative writing at Stanford and this is her first collection in 20 years, which is perhaps why her name was not familiar to me.

Her stories are peopled with individuals who are vulnerable and occasionally broken involved in relationships that sag and sometimes unravel.  Here’s 48-year old David  in “Tabriz” reflecting while in conversation with his third wife:  “In his work, he’s a good listener.  More than that he solicits the truth, asks the unasked, waits out the heartsick or intimidated silences every significant lawsuit must transcend.  Someone has to ask what has gone wrong, and if the thing that’s gone wrong has destroyed the marrow of a five-year-old’s bones, someone has to need that truth or it will never emerge from the haze of obfuscation.  Of lying.  But this isn’t work.  This is his wife.”  These are good stories.

MANHATTAN INTERLUDE

We were in Manhattan over the weekend meeting our new granddaughter and chanced upon what turned out to be a great addition to our restaurant repertoire.  Located on W. 9th Street, Omar’s combines a busy bar scene (we might have been put off by the crowd and the noise on this late Thursday night) with a pleasant, and mostly empty when we arrived, dining room.  We sampled some light bites and found the hamachi tostados with avocado to be excellent, also the marinated Parmesan chunks with Marcona almonds and truffle oil, mounds of burrata with lightly dressed strands of jicama, and the octopus.  Definitely a must for a return visit!

Header image:  Spring in Manhattan (copyright JWFarrington)

Sarasota Scene: Songs & Salt

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AMERICAN MUSIC

This was the last week of our Sarasota Institute of Lifelong Learning programs for the year so no more Monday and Wednesday morning commitments.  Music Mondays, in particular, ended on a high note, or perhaps I should say, on a dissonant note, with American composer of contemporary music, Libby Larsen.  Larsen’s work ranges from songs and instrumental pieces to operas.  We saw a video clip of an instrumental piece for piano and bassoon with the piano representing urban energy and the bassoon making all sorts of strange sounds.  And then a young soprano from Korea and Long Island, a guest that day, sang a couple songs.   Larsen is keenly interested in American language and traditions; this is reflected in the research she did timing the speech patterns of auctioneers as a prelude to composing Bid Call, a piece for alto sax and cello.  We heard one movement of it.  Very different.

Larsen does her composing all in her head, which I found fascinating, and only then transcribes the piece into notes on paper, and after that checks it against the piano.  Throughout the interview, she was a bundle of energy, never sitting still, and animatedly chatting with her hands always in motion.  This seemed at odds with her daughter’s description of growing up in a house quiet as a library.  Larsen doesn’t like the radio or produced sounds and prefers to listen to the wind and other natural sounds.

DINING OUTDOORS

For our finale sixsome lunch, we had an outside umbrella table at Roast.  We’ve had dinner here in the past and at least one lunch.  Their special lunch menu is an appetizing selection of salads, sandwiches and soup or you can select from the regular menu.  We opted for lighter fare and enjoyed the salmon three ways on mini potato pancakes and the shrimp and crab salad with avocado dressed with marie rose sauce.  The house green salad was also excellent, and, as always, the price was right.

Keeping with the outdoor theme, we enjoyed lunch outside at Louie’s Modern on Friday.  My family from upstate NY was determined to bask in the warm air every minute of their visit, even when the sun wasn’t shining.  Louie’s menu is sophisticated and creative, and they loved the burrata and fresh tomato salad served on a watermelon pink Himalayan salt block—so much so that my sister-in-law immediately ordered one!  We also tucked into smoked trout deviled eggs, chicken potstickers, black & blue pizzetta, curry roasted cauliflower, brisket taco, and the kale Caesar and paleo Cobb salads.  Lots of different tastes to tickle the palate!

CONGRATULATIONS

This week was Artisan Cheese Company’s 4th anniversary. This is our wonderful downtown Sarasota cheese shop stocking a wide array of cheeses from across the U.S. and Europe.  Louise and her staff are warm and welcoming, making it a point to get to know their regulars, and are always happy to offer you a sample of any cheese in the case.  You can even stop in for a lunchtime sandwich or a cheese plate and a glass of wine.  Three cheers to them!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Earlier this week, we welcomed, from a distance, our second granddaughter, Frances Elizabeth.  Her big sister is delighted, as are we, and we look forward to meeting Frances and seeing her with her eyes open!

 

Header image:  Salt block from www.mnn.com