Woody Allen doesn’t just make comedies. Interiors is a serious, sombre look at the disintegration of an upper middle class family in New York. It is slow, austere and really goddamn sad. There is never any excess showing of emotion. In fact, all the characters hide everything, behind facades, under their behaviour and beneath their words. Color is so significant in the film. 99% of it is beige and grey or black and bits of white. (So me right now!) There’s only one character that is a counterpoint to everything else in the film, a sore thumb that markedly provides the contrast element as well as some semblance of humanity and sanity. Then there’s the lighting, always in the shadows. Anytime light is allowed, it feels like it’s showing you something you don’t want to see. Otherwise the characters live amongst the cobwebs, afraid of facing real life like vampires brooding at the rising sun. It’s so gloomy and difficult and wordy I had so much trouble at the start. But once it all started falling into place, I was sucked in until the end, a quiet whisper like death coming in the night. I didn’t even know it had ended.
Geraldine Page plays Eve, the character for whom the title is referring. She’s an interior designer who’s gone off the edge after her husband announces a trial separation. She’s got severe OCD, wanting to direct everything in her life, orchestrating, like a puppet master handling her children. She’s also suicidal, thinking that life is no longer worth living because it seems like it’s outta control. It’s devastating her 3 daughters and her poor husband who just want to get on but cannot find the release. The tenuous relationships between these characters seem to be creaking severely and it’s clear that everything’s gonna fall apart. All around each person, things don’t seem to be going right. Every interaction and plot element seems to point at the failure of this family. Why I don’t really know but it just is. It’s pretty bleak but pretty, if you like the cold, barrenness of life as I do. God, I hope I don’t become Eve.
It’s tough to get through the dialogue. I reckon much of it sounds somewhat pretentious but it’s necessary in depicting the characters and their self-absorbed “problems”, most of which are their own doing. Their dysfunction seems to rip everything apart and they almost seem to revel in being tortured and depressed. It’s almost nauseating to watch. Their on screen emotional turmoil is so disturbingly quiet and calm on the surface, but inside, it’s all asunder. Yet, I kept wondering why, why, why. Why put me through this near pointless exercise in a study of human emotions or lack thereof? A vacancy flailing at something but I’m not sure what.
I think the steez is uber though. Check out Eve in an awesome “ice gray” suit thing and then later in repose, prepped for death. If you look closely, there’s black tape sealing the gaps in the windows, all part of her plan to die by gas inhalation. Everything about her suggests she’s some sort of mournful soul that’s waiting for the grim reaper to take her. The excessive neatness of her hair, kept long in a bun and with a side parting made me think of the early Shakers, who happen to relate directly to her occupation. The last pic is the final scene, a closeup with each sister entering from the sides, all facing the right, wondering what to make of themselves now that they’re finally free.
Rose Bay is about 10 or 15 minutes from the city, away from the hustle and bustle and the hoons but it doesn’t display too much opulence despite its reputation as a well to do neighborhood. It’s understated, until you realize that those houses are actually really massive and there’s quite a lot of boats on the water. Still, you don’t notice it.
Pier sits atop an actual pier, jutting out onto Rose Bay itself. Glass lining either side, it’s incredibly subtle and elegant. On first glance, you wouldn’t think it’s necessarily home to a 3 hat diner. No you have to notice the idea behind how it’s sited and how it’s designed around the location itself. You’re dining almost out on the water, with a view that’s nondescript and perhaps unspectacular. You’re not going to see the opera house bathed in the glow of the city lights. It’s just a rather tranquil, minimalist approach to a restaurant. You feel like you’re almost on the water, but you’re completely dry. At once caught in some wonderful intermediary between land and sea, natural and man made.
Which is Pier from start to finish, every minutiae, every detail, every nuance. Some people won’t get it at all. They want the fireworks and the pizazz and the big bangs and the foams and the sperificacions and service that sucks up or whatever. No. Pier is for the people who appreciate the simple, underappreciated things in life. The delicate lightness of being. A certain refined sense of life beyond the ordinary brusqueness with which we approach things.
I suppose my opinion is clouded by several factors. One. I’ve just graduated culinary college and my parents came over for a visit. Two. I didn’t pay a cent HHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Three. I love seafood. Four. I’m into this quiet, suppressed expressionist vibe right now. Even then, you’d have to be really thick to not appreciate the flavors and the beauty on the plate.
I’m greeted by the waitstaff by name, a pleasant little surprise despite the obviousness of the situation. It shows I was expected and that they care. We sit at the table and get some still water whilst we browse the menu. As we eat, the restaurant fills up half full. Yet, they purposely keep all the customers on one side of the long room, allowing the other side to retain an unspoiled view of the boats on the bay awash in the light of the setting sun. Like a fading vesper hinting at what was to come.
We opted for the 8 course degu. With matching wines. Plus 6 oysters each. 3 rock, 3 coffin bay. Plus coffee. Damages were insane. Yet, it felt completely worth it. It was, I must confess, the best meal I have had to this point in my life. I sincerely hope it will not be the best ever. I know there is even better. Yet, I still feel Pier deserves its place in the culinary world as something beautiful and something I can truly appreciate. It’s so me. The fact that it’s seafood, the delicate nature, the thoughtfulness, the attention to detail… It’s no mind altering experience but it’s what a really awesome restaurant should be.
We start with oysters. I devour them before I remember to pull my camera. I went from left to right, rock then coffin then rock and so on. Starting au naturel, then adding lemon then mignonette at the end. They’re superbly fresh. But they’re also just oysters. I want moar!!!
First course was a canape straight from Thomas Keller. King salmon tartare with capers sitting on a cone made of wonton skin. The variation being the wonton skin swopped for the tuile in Keller’s original. The fish is fresh, you can tell with each firm little bite, despite the fact that it’s tiny little cubes. The capers lend this saltiness that is intended. As a palate opener and not as a dish in its own right. I realize this only after the meal. The ultra crisp wonton skin also adds to that effect as the gustatory actions are driven into work and attention. One side detail were the holders for these. Ours came in a set of three, whilst the people dining at other tables had a holder specifically designed for 2 cones because they were a couple. Another group had 2 sets of 2. If it were a holder with 4 cones, they’d have to pass it around, which would be silly.
2nd course was Carpaccio of John Dory with Tomato, Lime Vinaigrette, Cracked White Pepper and Soft Herbs. I loved the presentation. It led you on to start from the outside, untouched fish to the slices sitting within the dressing, giving the dish a certain evolution of flavor as you went along. It was delightful. I flipped each slice into a tiny little packet and placed it into the orifice. It is deceptively simple. Once in the mouth, you get a full burst of fish and herbs, brought on in no small part with a good dose of sea salt. The John Dory just strong enough to handle the herbs and still dominate in its own right. When I got to the dressing, it simply transgressed to the next level. The lime brightening up the palate and the oil helping the flavors to linger in the mouth just that bit longer. Every single apprehension I had was wiped away. Immediately I realized this was going to be so freakin’ awesome. I suppose it helped immensely that we started with a biggish white. A 2007 Castro Martin Albarino from Rias Baixas in Spain. Peaches and apples. Perfectly complimentary to the dish and so drinkable on its own.
3rd course. Tian of Spanner Crab with Scallop Ceviche, Pea Salad and Pea Jus. This upped the ante. The crab was sweet and tender. Delightful little morsels amplified in flavor with the very similar sweetness from the fresh peas. These were unbelievable. Then you get the textural link, with the crab and the pea jus provided a similar, brushy/hairy feeling at the top of the mouth. The scallop provided contrast with its smooth slickness. Then the matching Sauvignon Blanc gave it just the right acid kick.
4th course. Pan Roasted Scallops with Sauteed Veal Sweetbreads, Shimeji Mushrooms & Cauliflower Tofu. I usually baulk at repeat ingredients but this scallop and the one before felt like alternate universes. This was a course in full texture with increasing flavor. Perfectly roasted scallops just browned on the outside were given a splendid depth from the richness of the sweetbread and the savoryness of the mushroom jus. The cauliflower tofu reflected the scallops even more so and felt similar to the matching wine. Here, the wine matched in terms of viscosity, rather than flavor as the principle. Interesting and incredibly delicious.
5th course. Crispy Skinned Murray Cod wth Caramelised Witlof, Jamon Serrano, Dutch Carrots and Bitter Orange. Iberico would have swamped the fish, overpowering it. The mildly bitter/astringent aspect from the witlof and orange was countered by the fact that they were also sweet. The carrots also provided another sweet accent, only in high contrast crunchy versus creamy puree. The puree itself was beautifully scented with orange. The dish was sublime. A perfect marriage of multiple textures and flavors that seemed like a cohesive whole. Another added extra was the unremarkable pinot noir that lifted the dish all the more. Most whites would not have been able to take on the mantle this dish proffers. This dish exemplifies how well the sommelier works with head chefs Greg Doyle and Grant King.
6th course. This merged the savory and sweet worlds. Roquefort Cheesecake with Pear Gel, Celery, Maple Syrup, Fig and Grissini Sticks. I can’t explain fully why there isn’t a hint of blue in the cheese. Or how the thing was so damn good. Suffice to say that it was so damn good. The orangey dessert wine that went with this was phenom.
7th Course. A light as air Carrot Sponge. Possibly an aerated genoise served with some cream cheese, peanuts and cream cheese frosting. I remember the frosting having a sherbet-esque taste and how the sponge was lighter than souffle. Excuses for the blur photo! As an exercise in lightness, this was perfect, given we were almost at the end and getting full. Yet, despite the near nothingness, it was still full on flavor.
Last and final course. A spectacular finish from Katrina Kanetani. Rum Braised Bananas with Rum Sponge, Coconut Sorbet, Almond Brittle, Cocoa Powder and Tamarind Jelly. Resplendent in its marriage of textures, flavors and presented amazingly. This is one where you need a little bit of everything in one awesome mouthful. This came with a Chenin Blanc but I swiped that mostly with the carrot cake already!
And to finish for good, a cappuccino with some orange marshmallows!
Thanks Mom & Dad!
Skip to 19:30 if you’re lazy, although I think the entire hour long talk is completely worth the watch.
Ooh, here’s a good one. It’s an anime that came out back in 2006. Tekkonkinkreet is the story of a pair of street urchins who rule the backstreets of Treasure Town, side by side with the yakuza. Even the police recognise them as a force to be reckoned with. Black, is the older of the two and like his name suggests, is the darker, serious and more responsible one. He takes care of White, who’s younger, more carefree and innocent. Together, they’re like yin and yang, balanced in harmony and they call themselves The Cats.
An evil yakuza/amusement park developer dude called Snake comes into town and manages to convince the local yakuza to bow to his vision of progress and development. This includes building a brand new amusement park in Treasure Town, eroding away the very essence that makes Treasure Town Treasure Town. Snake wants to take over the place and turn it into his own joint, a soulless, corporate everytown that’s just another money spinner for the greedy mob bosses. He’s got 3 goons with him, robotic and probably German, that are assigned to assasinate The Cats, who represent the last vestige of vitality and innocence that is Treasure Town. In amongst this is also the side story involving an older yakuza head trying to guide his protege and doing it Obi-Wan style. Ultimately, it’s about the reality of life and that pursuit of money that chips away the values that make us human.
It is superbly crafted, chock fulla action and absolutely beautiful. The animation is slick and stylish with loads of awesome action shots. The protagonists literally bounce around the screen, defying gravity and defying logic. It’s a fantasy set in ultra detailed Japanese alleyways, in a town that’s a perpetual Disneyland, colored with the paraphernalia that you’d expect from a Miyazaki fantasy on acid. Director Michael Arias based the film on the comic by Taiyo Matsumoto and the art is a riot of color, bright and delirious. This is juxtaposed by the dream/fantasy sequences which sway and swirl in washed out, brushy drawings like that of a child.
Check the trailer for less gibberish moar visuals.
I iZ oN pHAiZZZzZZbuUuKKkK!!1111!!!1 (at last) U iZ cAn C mY iZ p1cpo5tings lololLoL!
warnign! iz NSFW sum tings. butt iz laffing or mega goosebumpps! or pukingz!!!!!! mak su re y iz 2 not b eat fud or drin king sum juuz wen c pixorz!11
/sUmMuN KiNG oF PoPcOrN
I have this project in class which involves me and 3 other guys researching about a country and talking about it. So part of my research involved watching a film, in this case, Pedro Aldomovar’s Talk To Her or Hable con ella. Lame excuse of course but no need to bother about that. *Spoilers aplenty btw.
So I finally got down to watching it and I must say I am hella creeped out but very impressed. Typically, I’m not one for the touchy feely emotional type drama shows. Which is why I took so long to watch this much heralded film. I now know why. Again, I also only tend to like films that have a certain aesthetic beauty. This one falls into that category just fine, only that its a certain disturbing sort of beauty, where you feel that you are a sicko for appreciating almost.
The film is mainly about 2 guys, Marco and Benigno. Marco is a travel guide writer who has just gotten into a relationship with a famous female matador. Benigno works as a nurse in a hospital. They sort of meet at a sort of avant garde dance show where the former sheds a tear in one touching scene of melodrama. You keep thinking Benny (whose name translates as benign) is the gayzorz because of his effeminate speech and the fact that he was creepily mentioning Marco to Alicia, his object of affection. She also happens to be in a persistent vegetative state. So he’s apparently simple but also creepy.
The proper meeting between Benny and Marco happens in the hospital, when Lydia, the matador gets gored by a bull into a coma. Benigno advises Marco to talk to Lydia, like he does in his monologue with Alicia. At times, assuming her responses for her. The film reveals more plot points as you go along and the more you know, the more uncomfortable it gets.
It’s all really pretty, especially the scene where Alicia is on a hospital bed and the nurses dress her, easing the sheets and the gown horizontally across the screen. There was this faint hint of the creeps hiding under the serenity and calm. All the psycho stuff then comes out later, when Benigno opens up to Marco.
These two, insecure and lonely men are completely incapable of having real relationships with women. Marco was gonna get dumped the day Lydia got gored. Benny assumes the PVS chick is responding positively to his advances. They carry on, deluded that they are in love, when they only love themselves. Things get strung out till we reach this climactic point where its goes beyond just creepy and weird to downright wrong.
Amidst all this, the dance shows inside the film and the film within a film reinforce the goings on between the characters. The fragile distance between the sexes and the ambiguity of sexuality in and of itself, loneliness and selfish desire or perhaps naivete and obstinance.
There’s also this wonderful scene where Caetano Veloso provides a heartwrenching rendition of Cucurrucucu Paloma. If you ever need something to make a girl’s heart swoon, this shit has got to be it.
Talk To Her is sensual, provocative and soooo gentle yet completely perverse at the same time. A must watch.
The NYT tells me that using inexpensive materials to craft jewellery out of is in vogue. Dispensing with the idea that a ring or a brooch needs to be made of some opulent piece of metal, designers today are looking towards that greener, more responsible outlook in their work.
Janna Syvanoja from Finland basically turns what we all know into reality. That is, painstakingly slicing and twisting recycled paper into parabolic pieces of art is a worthy cause. You can see what she did with my thesis below.
Then we have the other school of thought, which is CNC milling pieces of wood into wearable art gets you creepy frozen fungus bracelets. Like Anthony Roussel demonstrates.
Andi Velgos though. Her stuff is on some next level steez. I got this off sufu and its amayzing. Probably not the most wearable or hardy but so visceral and tactile.
And if all that’s still not quite what you’re looking for, maybe you live in the 19th century. In which case, these steampunk enabled cufflinks might interest you. That’s just one example from a wealthy catalogue of stuff from edmdesigns.
Right into the first scene in Vivre Sa Vie and I was sorta hooked. The camera was shot from behind the two characters, seated at a bar, moving from point to point, back and forth in languid, thoughtful strokes. The cinematography here isn’t just about lovely black and white shots of people in cafes like every other Godard film but a certain detachment from the character in question. You get these awkwardy, sideways, behindy, off kilter type shots. The camera feels alive, moving constantly, like your head is bobbing around, trying for another view as if you’re some kind of curious busybody angling for some drama.
Anna Karina plays the lead role of a prostitute that once harboured dreams of being an actress but somehow ends up losing sight of that naive dream. I think her stunning short bob and fragile face really move the film. One scene has her juxtaposed against a film in film version of Joan of Arc, each actress with a tear halfway down the face. It’s pretty, and pretty damn sad, like watching the last flickers of a candle fade out to nothing.
Then, we get to this beautiful part of the film, where Anna inexplicably turns to an old man next to her in a cafe and they get into this discussion. Its lengthy and involving. Gentle fawning youth, bursting with a certain exuberance, yet wholly uncertain of its actions, conversing with the sage that is time. Then she turns and stares at the camera, dead on. Classic. I wish I was as wise as this dude.
Filed under: Art, Comedy, Culture, Film, Food, Graphics, Politics | Tags: surrealism
The DVD cover art for Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie has got a giant pair of lips with some feet and a big hat. Its kinda cute and says a good bit about what the film involves. Instead of a face, we get enlarged, fetishized elements of a person, presumably someone who puts on airs. A big black hat, glossy painted lips and high heeled shoes.
Its a satire in the strongest sense of the word, not just poking fun, more outright denouncing the subject matter entirely. I wouldn’t say its funny though. Its really cynical and pokerfaced. You may be puzzled by the odd sequencing and bewildered by the situations but I never had a laugh out loud moment, that’s for sure. I don’t even think I snickered.
The central element of the film is the attempts of a group of upper class donks to get together for a meal. They try their best, but a combination of unfortunate events and their animalistic impulses deny them this. Towards the end, they even sit down and get to the main course, but Bunuel denies them the finish. These dogs aren’t even allowed a simple meal.
The subversion is obvious. Its purposeful but not spiteful. These crusty, fako folks are pathetic, sad creatures. You almost feel sorry for them. They gather and shoot shit, mostly shitting on a fictitious country and the ambassador, or talking about how their poncey food is so good. They do the same thing 500 times over. It’s sad. Plus, they can’t even finish what they wanted to do. From a simple misunderstanding to the death of a restaurant manager to an army invading the room, we get a whole spread of crazy interruptions. Which saves us from the boring episodes of inane behaviour amongst the preening actors.
Every facet of the Bourgeois is given a grilling here, even the church. A Bishop with a green finger fetish joins the group, buffoon like in one interchange where he reveals the depth of his lack of knowledge. He appears at first in his robes, greeted with a kiss by a maid but returns in gardening gear and gets ushered out by the owners of a house. Yet, in Clark Kent swiftness, he rings the bell again and is greeted with apologies when he’s back in the robes. Clothes maketh the man. If he were wearing papal robes, they’d probably take him for the pope too.
Then there’s the dream sequences. The characters get into nighmarish situations, where they variously end up in jail only to be saved by a dead policeman or they end up as actors on a stage when they thought they were going for dinner, even forgetting their lines. There’s dreams within dreams and these get stitched together by the 6 main characters walking down a lonely road in a huge field with no destination in sight. Rather peasant status for some rich folk.
It’s one big slap in the face for anyone who thinks they’re anything more than the apes we really are. There are those who will feel aghast at the thought of themselves as pretentious twats. Then there are those who think it’s a massive insult. Then there may be those who might dismiss it as mere entertainment. And yet others might actually trump the film as some sort of masterpiece, like the Academy For Motion Picture Arts And Sciences handing out the Oscar Discreet Charm won for best foreign language film back in ‘73.
