The latest film I have watched ...

Being a rather sensitive and taboo-like subject in countries like Morocco, where the scene sequencing  is set and the main characters of this film, a group of prostitutes is said to work, Much loved has led to controversial opinions and drastic decisions such as having the film banned in Morocco and strong threats against the film makers made.


 

 

What is nevertheless undeniable, and according to my personal opinion important, is the fact that despite all of these controversial issues Much loved has brought prostitution in Marrakech (it could be anywhere else in Morocco) into the public eye and provided a thorough insight into the equally controversial Moroccan society.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"To be surrounded and yet be alone. To be loved and yet be invisible. To be cast away even as you are embraced (...)  from the testimonies of 200 real-life sex workers , Nabil Ayouch defied censorship to provide a fascinating intimate and luminous glimpse into the Moroccan underworld."

 

Franz Liszt ' s Via Crucis by the Choir Vox Maris at São Roque Church, Lisboa - The 13th of March 2016

Franz Liszt being a devout Catholic is said to have written quite a few sacred music compositions, especially in the last years of his life and Via Crucis is precisely one of those Mia and I together with some friends went to listen to at Igreja de São Roque.


Being one of a series of  programmed Choir concerts to be held during the Lent season throughout Portugal  despite not being particularly exceptional, with just a few exceptions as far as choir voices are concerned,  this concert provided us with the opportunity to get to know one of Liszt's musical pieces I was not acquainted with and a unique possibility to sit quietly in one of the most beautiful churches of Lisbon under a rather spiritual reflective mood as I listened to the organ and the accompanying interspersed voices as  the composition ran throught he various cross stations.  

Vox Maris Choir
Conductor - Esteban Etcheverry
Organ player - Prof. Luis Cerqueira







 

Anton Tchekhov 's Ivanov adaptation by Amir Reza Koohestani at Teatro Nacional, Lisboa - The 12th of March 2016

I was speechless at this Iranian adapted version of Ivanov by Amir Reza Koohestani, not only because the whole interpretation was second to none, whith no particular actor being better than any other but also because the original play has been made contemporary and therefore more "approachable", despite being set in an Iranian type of social atmosphere, which doesn't differ that much from ours in what concerns nostalgia and a certain degree of passivity.


Farsi being the language of the ongoing dialogues made it sometimes difficult to follow the scene sequencing and reading the projected translation simultaneously, but it was nevertheless worth it. The overall stage atmosphere was one of a rather intimate rapport with the audience and the changing of stage scenary and lighting particularly well designed.


I should have immediately realised who Koohestani was because I had written down his name some years ago (never to forget) when mesmerised by his creation as I watched "dance on glasses" at the Cultural Centre in Lisboa. I didn't though, and it wasn't but when I was reading the brochure that  I came across that reference, at least one the Portuguese public would easily relate to.

 

"What to do? Nothing. There is nothing to be done. A sofa. A bed. All body movements tend to a neutral immobility. Nothing announces the hope of a change. However something strange happens: there are some fugitive sequences of luminous scenes, just before the curtain closes, at the end of the acts. During these fragile instants, one can perceive the loneliness of the contemplative characters. Thes visions don't last because the possibility of dreaming is gone. But who knows, this spark of a dream, this unexpected search for a richer inner life will, maybe, bring back the hope of a better future." - Leyli Daryoush

 

Adapted version as from Anton Tchekov's Ivanov by David Hare and Senario setting - Amir Reza Koohestani
Actors:
Vahid Aghapour Azar
Reza Behboodi
Saeid Changizian
Fatemeh Fakhraee
Negar Javaherian
Fariba Kamran
Mohammadreza Najafi
Mohammadhassan Madjooni
Mahin Sadri
Scenary - Amirhossein Ghodsi and Amir Reza Koohestani
Costum design and subtitle setting - Negar Nemati
Music - Hooshyar Kahayan
Sound and light design - Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh
Stage manager - Mohammadhossein Nafariazad
Video and technical direction- Davoud Sadri








 

L'Autre Hiver - Phantasmagoric Opera at Teatro Maria Matos, Lisboa - The 11th of March 2016

I have been to see l'Autre Hiver by Dominique Pauwels and Denis Marleau inspired on the rather turbulent relationship between the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine and though I was expecting it to be exquisite taking into account the names of those involved in the production of such a Teatrical project  I must confess I wasn't expecting it to be so "confusing" as far as the text approach goes.

There were moments of absolute beauty, particularly when poetry was the master of the whole scenery  and the animated faces of the  puppet figures spread on stage were lit up or eventually dimmed, as in accordance with the depth of what was being said.

  

Rimbaud's "Je est un autre" opened up the scene before we gradually got acquainted with the soprano singers who played the roles of the poets and who brilliantly brought the whole dramatic sequences forth as they wandered back and forth on the deck of a ship at sea, whose movement was made real by projecting sea images onto the background, together with a magestic live orchestra one could barely see among the dark and light stage projection whose melodic approach created the ever changing surounding atmosphere.

I have to confess I have mixed feelings regarding it and can't therefore say I liked or didn't like it, once there were a few rather magic moments and a few others I didn't quite grasp and even felt rather incomfortable with. The whole team should nevertheless be praised because it was clear from what the audience saw that their creative production was huge. 

Dominique Pauwels - music and sound instalation

Normand Chaurette - libreto

Denis Marleau and Stéphanie Jasmin - Art direction, scene setting and video design

Musiques Nouvelles 

Laurent Houque - violin

Karel Coninx - viola

Jean-Pol  Zanutel - cello

Berten D'Hollander - flutes

Cédric Debruycker - clarinets

André Ristic - piano

Filip Rathé - orchestra conductor

Lieselot De Wilde - soprano singer (playing the role of Arthur Rimbaud)

Marion Tassou - soprano singer (playing the role of Paul Verlaine)

Eric Soyer - light design

Greta Goiris and Judith Stockart - costume design

Pierre Laniel - video setting

Claude Rodrigue and Ana Solal - pupetry mask design and sculpting

The forthcoming trip to Cape Verde ...

The  date for the forthcoming trip to Cape Verde is getting closer and I am getting worried because I haven't yet collected all the presents for the children and already I seem to be overloaded, not to mention the prospect of possible problems I feel I might have to overcome prior to and during that volunteering trip.

One carrier bag and three suitcases, two of which completly full.

Another carrier bag filled with presents as seen from two different perspectives.

I am particularly happy to be travelling with two friends, one of them of French nationality having become my latest companion venturing onto these territories and the other one being a long time Brazilian Portuguese friend and retired doctor, who literaly saved my life when I was in Macao some years ago.

I can't help thinking about the potential joy we'll bring to the children and adolecents alike the moment we set foot on the village where we'll be staying for just three days before getting back to the capital city.

The enthusiasm starts long before we fly out to Cape Verde but together with it also the frustation of not being able to have certain people who joined the project so engaged as I would like them to. Some people simply don't realise how emotionally fulfilling it is to give oneself to others and particularly children.

I would like to openly praise those who have been committed all these years and those who have recently joined the project in an equally committed way, putting the children's interests above their own, despite being temporarily. 

I strongly believe we will have a positive impact on the lives of these children and until I am proved wrong I'll keep on flying there.

On the latest films I have watched ...

I have recently watched three completely different films - Joy, Son of Saul and Mustang, each of which have been nominated for a few equally different category awards. 

Joy based on the biography of a self-made millionnaire is a semi-fictional and inspirational portrayal of Joy Mangano, who had to overcome quite a few barriers to create her own business empire. Despite being a story of success there's an underlying  and constant reminder that whatever one does, one has to be resilient.

"Joy is anchored by a strong performance from Jennifer Lawrence, although director David O. Russell's uncertain approach to its fascinating fact-based tale only sporadically sparks bursts of the titular emotion."

The son of Saul did unbalance me emotionally and was difficult to watch at times not so much because I can say I feel what this father had to go through in order to give a proper burial to a son under the  dramatic concentration camp circumstances but because I know what it is like to lose a child and feel a sense of helplessness which surfaced somewhere throughout the film.

 

"Difficult to watch, impossible to forget (...) the Hungarian director László Nemes shoots in unbroken takes and employs a squared-off aspect ratio and tight shots to heighten the intensity and the visceral feeling, putting us right there in the moment." - Richard Roeper - Chicago Sun Times

 

Mustang is the one I got "attached" to the most, maybe because amongst many reasons it delt with the problematic issue of the identity one should forge throughout life irrespective of family traditions and  an almost visceral refusal to be controlled or repressed, which I am acquainted with though in a slightly different context than the one experienced by the five main characters in the film. 

"Among Erguven's finest achievements with Mustang is casting such mesmerizing actresses to play the characters who would be just at home in a Chekhov production or an Instagram-worthy fashion shoot. With their tumbling manes of wavy hair, self-possed stares and languid untamed beauty, they more than live up to Mustang's title - which doesn't refer to anything literal but instead to the strong spirited, stunningly graceful creatures at the story's heart." - Ann Hornaday - Washington Post

 

 

 

 

The Voice kids ...

From the first moment I heard the voices of most of the Arab kids participating in the MBC the voice  kids I was mesmerised ... despite not understanding a word of what was being sung ...  

Their voices were (are) clearly amongst the best voices I have heard  so far and will possibly ever hear. I couldn't therefore help  but follow their progression in the programme every weekend and did often put myself in the shoes of the judges (and future coaches) and the difficulty they would almost certainly have so as to select those who would continue forward every week.

When the final six were announced, I felt five of them could be winners, though I hesitated between the incredibly powerful voices of the two Syrian boys and the magic  (and equally powerful) voices of the girls, though I must confess I was secretly hoping the Egyptian girl could make it to the final, which she didn't.

Lynn Hayek, who actually got the winning title, despite being the only amongst the competitors to have had only one chair turned during the audition, did surprise me because in a seemingly short period of time (three weeks) she undoubtedly made the biggest progress of all, that possibly being the reason as to why the majority of the public voted for her, even if up to the last week Jowayriya's number of "listening visitors" were outstandingly higher than the others'. 

Mirna's story made me think on  the  many Iraki children still "living" in their native country and what they will have to endure ...

  

Jowayriya Hamdy from Egypt (left) and Amir Amuri from Syria (right)

Zein Obied from Syria (left) and Mirna Hana from Irak (right)

Linn Hayek from Lebanon

Listening to these children's auditions (and those who didn't make it after the knock down shows)  is an absolute must ...