A New Year: 2021 update

 

When I resumed making posts on this blog around a year ago, my main goal was to post mostly music reviews in English, since I already post in Portuguese in the blog Metal Imperium. However, since a new year begets new beginnings, I have resumed making movie reviews, the first one having been posted on the 11^th o January. That analysis/review is very special to me since it was written back in 2017 when I saw the movie Silence as well as The Eyes of Asia, and attempted to make a connection between them. It is written in Portuguese, since my original purpose was to post it in my mother tongue.

 

Now, for the changes, it’s basically one major change in content, as I will continue to post music reviews of albums, singles, and documentaries, but I will also analyse and review cinema related content, from movies to documentaries and events. As such, I will continue to post along the reviews, ways for the reader to support the artist, should he/she choose to.

 

So, in conclusion, I would like to add that Bandcamp is, once again, waiving its’ revenues on February 5^th, so if you have a particular artist that you wish to support, that will be the best day of the coming month.

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https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-fridays-2021

Documentary vol II: Martin Scorcese George Harrison: Living in the Material World

 

            A film that has been a part of my viewing routine in terms of musical documentaries is George Harrison: Living in the Material World. My fascination with George Harrison, first comes from his music (both in The Beatles and his solo work), is the main reason for my fascination, secondly comes from the fact that as a person, he was able to put together projects that united people from so many different musical spectrums and other art forms.

            From the Concert for Bangladesh, which feature musicians from all over the wolrd, from Bob Dylan to Ravi Shankar (who had a personal reason for helping the crisis in Bangladesh), to the famous “most expensive movie ticket”, the production of Monty Pythons’ The Life of Brian, George Harrison was capable of uniting people from all walks of life and the best testimony to that is the posthumous Concert for George which had his friend and collaborator Eric Clapton as a musical director.

            As for the documentary itself, it is divided into two parts, the first being mostly dedicated to the beginning of the career as a member of The Beatles, the second, and longer part, focuses on his solo career and final years. It is interesting the way his story is told, with great emphasis on his relationship with others and going into detail on specific events of his life as a consequence of his relationships, which is and interesting approach, but can mak the timeline of his life a little vague for someone who is not familiarized with it.

            All in all, it is an amazing documentary with several interesting testimonies and anecdotes that deserves several viewings to be fully appreciated, for both fans of the Beatles, George Harrison, and yes, of Martin Scorcese, which keeps an amazing eye for capturing events and details in the interviews. Meanwhile having just reviewed the documentary a couple of weeks back, it’s incredible the new perspective I got from it, so yes, it’s very re-watchable and interesting to do so.

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Foundation: https://www.georgeharrison.com/material-world-charitable-foundation-2/

Charities: https://www.georgeharrison.com/charities/

Silence and The Eyes of Asia: As palavras e a sua ausência

 

O filme “Silêncio” de Martin Scorcese surgiu como uma adaptação do romance homónimo de Suzako Endo, ainda que não siga a linha narrativa frase a frase, a dimensão episódica do romance mantém-se intacta. Ora, esta afirmação foi recolhida das palavras de João Mário Grilo, cujo filme “Os olhos da Ásia” integrou um ciclo da Cinemateca na sexta-feira 17 de Março de 2017, e que concluiu num debate entre o mesmo e membros da plateia.

 

Ora, “Os olhos da Ásia” apresenta elementos em comum com o romance de Endo, apesar de a sua narrativa ser distinta do mesmo e, por sua vez, o “Silêncio” de Martin Scorcese procura adaptar fielmente o texto do mesmo, ainda que com distinções que são fruto da passagem de um romance para um filme.

 

Ambos filmes focam a apostasia do padre jesuíta Cristóvão Ferreira e os seus efeitos nos missionários e na sua ordem. No caso do “Silêncio” de Scorcese, a relação entre os padres jesuítas e os cristãos japoneses é central para o desenvolvimento da narrativa, ao passo que nos “Olhos da Ásia” a relação entre os jesuítas, japoneses e portugueses, dita o passo da narrativa tanto no período das perseguições aos católicos como no presente em que a história é vista por uma representante da Comissão Europeia sob a forma de como Nagasaki encara actualmente a situação, quer pelo ponto de vista oficial dos funcionários administrativos da região quer pelo ponto de vista de um padre espanhol que gere um museu dedicado à memória dos acontecimentos.

 

Com efeito, trata-se de duas narrativas distintas sobre um mesmo acontecimento e a forma como o enfoque nas palavras, sejam divinas, sejam dos homens, varia. O silêncio de uma resposta divina face às provações dos católicos durante as perseguições, e o som das palavras de quem rejeita a sua fé, independentemente dos seus motivos: “São só palavras Julião”, afirma Cristóvão Ferreira no final do filme de João Mário Grilo; em contraste com o silêncio da cremação do jesuíta apóstata que conserva junto de si um crucifixo, no filme de Scorcese.