Tag: Astrid

Carolina Comments: Beautiful Blossoms & Determined Detectives

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FLOWERS AND ART

Art in Bloom, North Carolina Museum of Art

This week, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh hosted its 11th annual Art in Bloom.  It’s the museum’s biggest fund raiser; museum admission here is free except for special exhibitions. The 40 floral works range from brightly colored (lots of orange) to subdued browns, from low bowls to pillars of blossoms, and from elegant to wild and exotic.  Sometimes the works seem closely related to the art and sometimes it’s hard to appreciate the inspiration.

Piece inspired by R-DHYA by Bhavsar

In my San Franciso life, I went to the de Young Museum of Art’s similar exhibit entitled Bouquets to Art.  Now in its 41st year, it too pairs elaborate floral arrangements with paintings and sculpture.  My sense, after visiting Art in Bloom, is that the local exhibit has larger and taller pieces in the mix.  In any case, what floral designers can craft using a wide variety of plants and flowers is stunning and even sometimes amazing.  

Column of roses inspired by painting on the far wall

RECENT VIEWING

DEATH IN NEW ZEALAND

A Remarkable Place to Die (Acorn)

Veronica & Anais (rotten tomatoes.com)

Set in and around gorgeous Queenstown, the crime series, A Remarkable Place to Die, is almost worth watching just for the scenery. Detective Anais Mallory returns home to lead the homicide division and gets caught up in trying to solve the mystery of her sister’s death in a violent crash several years ago.  Assisting on her team is detective Simon Delaney, who was a candidate for Anais’s job.  Adding to the complexity is the fact that Anais and her mother are not on good terms, despite Anais’s desire to forge a warmer relationship.  As Mallory digs deeper into her sister’s accident and her father’s death before that, she risks losing her job and destroying friendships.  

The series consists of four episodes, and each is 90 minutes long.  It takes a bit of getting into and Anais is not always a likable character.  Fans of the comedy series, Under the Vines, will recognize Rebecca Gibney (Daisy) who here plays a serious role as Anais’s mother Veronica.

WEIRD CRIMES IN PARIS

Astrid Season 4 (PBS Masterpiece)

Raphaelle & Astrid (entertainment-focus.com)

Fans of this autistic super sleuth will be delighted with Astrid’s return in Season 4.  Astrid, based in the criminal records archives, works with detective and now good friend Raphaelle to solve unusual crimes in Paris.  These murders occur in unexpected places and under strange circumstances.  Astrid’s encyclopedic memory and keen observational skills enable her to see things her colleagues miss.  

Astrid is literal, sometimes missing slang or subtleties; a Monday night dinner is a Monday dinner and not one on Tuesday instead.  She is a regular participant in an autism spectrum support group led by patient and caring William, and she has a slowly developing romance with Tetsuo who lets Astrid set the pace.

I’ve watched the first three episodes in this 8-part series and am looking forward to the others. I continue to be intrigued by the evolving relationships between Astrid and Raphaelle, Astrid and Tetsuo, and Astrid and her colleagues, who are still sometimes baffled by her responses.  I also like Dr. Fournier the pathologist.  In French with subtitles.  Recommended!

Note: Unattributed photos by JWFarrington including header photo of blue and white flowers.

Tidy Tidbits: Mixed Bag Viewing

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This blog brings a round-up of two recent films (Oscar contenders), the latest season of a French crime series, and an outstanding production of a theater classic.

CHILLING AMERICAN HISTORY

Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV, $ Prime Video & others)

Mollie, King, Ernest (apple.com)

This is a very long film, more than three hours, so we watched it over two nights.  It begins slowly as young Ernest Burkhart arrives in Osage County, Oklahoma to “work” for his uncle William Hale, known locally as King.  As a paid driver, Ernest squires around people like Mollie, a young attractive Osage woman, heir to oil rich land.  Encouraged by his uncle and his own interest in her, Ernest marries Mollie.  While King is outwardly benevolent toward the Osage community, he is slyly buying up and acquiring the rich oil headrights.  He doesn’t hesitate to hire hit men to murder business associates or natives or to pressure Ernest to handle the orders.

King is a smiling devil, smooth and suave while dim Ernest loves Mollie, but loves money more. Ernest isn’t smart enough to catch on to what he’s being asked, then ordered, to do.  Seemingly unaware of Ernest’s treachery, Mollie struggles to save her community.  Based on true events, the film reveals the horror of these white men’s actions toward the Osage slowly until finally the nascent FBI steps in to investigate more fully.  

The performances by Lily Gladstone as Mollie, Robert DeNiro as King, and Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest are all Oscar worthy.

IN THE PINK

Barbie ($ Prime Video et al)

Ken & Barbie (nyt.com)

As you might expect, everything in Barbie Land revolves around the color pink.  Bubble gum pink.  Doll Barbie is in control and her compatriots are everywhere. Each girl is empowered to be active and productive.  Ken is docile and along for the ride.  When Barbie and Ken leave Barbie Land for the real world of humans, they are both in for a shock.  Here, men run things, and women and girls are definitely lesser.  

I liked some of the spirit of the film and the theme of female empowerment, but I found it all a bit much, cluttered and too long, with a story line that was only okay.  Given its popularity at the box office, I thought I ought to see it. Verdict: colorful and sometimes cute, but not memorable.

FRIENDSHIP & CRIMES

Astrid Season 3 (Prime Video)

Raphaelle & Astrid (Plex)

High-functioning autistic Astrid Nielsen works for the Paris police in their archives.  With her razor-sharp observational skills and her encyclopedic knowledge of previous cases, she assists inspector Raphaelle Coste in solving complex and often exotic crimes.  While the premises of some crimes strain credulity, the real meat of this series is the burgeoning friendship between Astrid and Raphaelle and Astrid’s growing comfort in a platonic-verging-on-romantic relationship with Tetsuo.  

Along the way, Astrid works to become more socially comfortable and gains new knowledge about her late father’s last activities.  I’ve enjoyed every season of this series, but this one is even more wonderful.  Highly recommended!

TIMELY THEATER

Inherit the Wind (Asolo Repertory Theatre)

Rachel, Drummond, Judge, Brady, Rev. Brown (yourobserver.com)

Asolo Theatre has a new artistic director from Minneapolis, Peter Rothstein, and this is his first production in his new role.  It is superb, soaring high.  Written in 1955 and loosely based on the Scopes Trial of 1925, Inherit the Wind deals with the teaching of evolution in a small public school in the south.  Much of the action is set in and around the courtroom with the accused young teacher’s fate played out in a battle of wits between the attorneys.

Prosecuting attorney Brady is modeled on politician and presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, while Drummond, the defendant’s attorney is a Clarence Darrow clone.  Add in preaching from local fire and brimstone Reverend Brown and the ambivalence of his more nuanced daughter Rachel, friend of the accused, and you have other perspectives.  

While initially, the play looks like a contest between religion on one side and science on the other, it’s more complicated than that.  Both lawyers are extremely strong and present in their arguments, but underneath there is humanity and fellow feeling between them. Neither man is one-dimensional.

Staging and casting are excellent.  Given his fondness for musical theatre, Rothstein’s incorporation of several hymns sung by the community as punctuation points in the action is highly effective. Definitely worth seeing!   Inherit the Wind runs through February 24th.  

Note: Header photo is from Astrid, season 3, courtesy of World of Television.

Tidy Tidbits: Art, Angst, & Autism

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BEAUTY IN GLASS

Bromeliads planted like a mosaic

Each year, Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota highlights the work of a notable artist as inspiration for special art throughout the gardens.  Other years have built on the interplay of art and nature in the works of Andy Warhol, Marc Chagall, and Monet.  This year’s focus is on the stained glass art of Louis Comfort Tiffany.  There are pieces both in the conservatory and throughout the landscape. 

Hanging stained ”glass” in the conservatory

 I think it is one of the most successful exhibits in this series.  Tiffany: The Pursuit of Beauty in Nature is on display through June 25th.  It’s well worth visiting!

Desert plants seen through a colored panel

RECENT READING

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

As has been noted, Kingsolver’s latest novel, Demon Copperhead, is a modern variation on Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.  Demon, birth name Damon, is the child of a teenage addict and an absent father.  When his mother dies, he becomes the responsibility of a sorry welfare system and endures a series of mostly terrible foster homes.  Overworked, mistreated, and bullied, he is nonetheless a survivor.  

Lacking in self-esteem, his early shining moments are starring on the football field and being elected homecoming king.  He has artistic talent which he occasionally values, but he lacks the confidence in his abilities to seriously pursue it.  A badly injured knee damages him both physically and mentally, and he descends into a drug-fueled existence.  He functions, but not fully.

The novel is all in Demon’s voice.  The sentences are delivered in a breathless almost hasty tone with occasional staccato-like bursts.  There is humor and coarse language wrapped in a surprisingly engaging character.  

The writing is terrific, but the book is just too long!  I got bogged down with all the teenage boys’ antics and shenanigans about two-thirds in and set the book aside for a week.  Then I returned to it, determined to finish, and felt rewarded by my efforts in the last several chapters.  For me, the ending was a satisfying one.  Overall, recommended with reservations. (~JWFarrington)

OUTSTANDING SERIES

Astrid, season 1 (PBS)

I mentioned Astrid in an earlier blog post and have now watched the entire first series.  It is excellent on several levels.  Astrid works in criminal records and is blessed with an encyclopedic memory and keen observation skills. She is also autistic and at the beginning of the series quite timid in her dealings with other people and the world in general.  Paired with detective Raphaelle Coste, Astrid provides insights and knowledge of previous murders instrumental in solving the latest crime.  She even manages to win over the somewhat crusty pathologist Fournier. 

The cases are intriguing and usually hinge on some connection to an earlier crime.  What was most engaging for me was the growing friendship between Astrid and Raphaelle and watching Astrid gain in confidence, able to practice basic social niceties.  I also enjoyed the interactions between the members of Astrid’s autism support group and the wise guidance provided by William, the group leader.  The series is in French with subtitles.  Highly recommended!

Live plants echo the colors of the glass

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header photo is of a screen at Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota.