ANTICHRIST

In this post- Rio Int'l Film Festival week I went to the cinema with Renato, something that became into a habit in our lives since we were 7 years of age. We saw the newest film by Lars Von Trier ANTICHRIST. Renato had already seen it and had strongly insisted that I also must see the controversal film of the Danish director, founder of the Dogma 95. Like Almodóvar and Tarantino everytime a film by Von Trier comes out I run to the movie theater. This time was not so. ANTICHRIST debuted in Rio in August and only two months after I checked it out. The rush, the stress and tribulations of life not always allow a film screening to be placed in the foreground, even for those whom are on movies. Anyway, I saw the film provided with enough surface information about it and in the nexts 1 hour and 40 minutes I was continuously shocked. While I watched the film I had moments of abyssal disgust , some even to rebel in some scenes and gave serious thought to the possibility to run out to the exit door of the room 2 of Estação Botafogo Theater, what surely would not be the best option. However I got to survive the most difficult moments and, resigned, I experienced the excruciating experience of seeing an artist displaying his particular issue and explicitly shocking. All I saw is still being worked out and computed in my mind and soul, but only now I am able to make some points about that incredible odyssey. Antichrist is not only L ars Von Trier's best film , aesthetically speaking, but a film that drinks a lot in Freud, in a certain Scandinavian mythology and North paganism. Written and filmed at the height of Von Trier's outbreak of depressive, the film shows what the psychic pain is quite striking. Charlotte Gainsbourg forms of the desperation that Von Trier wanted to communicate to the world. Who calls the director of misogynist did not understand that Lars is put a woman on the side of nature (internal and external) that can not be tamed by rationality, represented by man, the psychoanalyst husband in this case. Thus, the Antichrist is the forest, the territory of the fears, the unconscious reservoir of drives not tamed by civilization. We must not forget that the forest also is us, it is out, as a projection of inner fears, and she's in, what can not be named. A true treatise on the horrors and pains of the psyche, in my opinion. In a dialogue between husband psychoanalyst (Willem Dafoe) and his wife writer (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the therapist says the woman who walks with strange dreams. She replies: "The dream no longer of interest to modern psychology. Freud is dead, right?" Maybe that is for most audiences, but certainly not in this film by Lars Von Trier.

Sónar 2006 - Special Report

Sónar 2006 - Special Report
Written, directed and produced by Sabrina Fidalgo
With: Señor Coconut, Groove Armada, Argenis Brito
and Gustavo Soriano (Arttodestruction).
Executive Producer: Massimo Mazzoleni.
Photography: Hernán Vilchez.
Edition: Norbert "Nobit" Küpper.
Production: Clubbity.com

Sónar 2006 - Special Report was an internet short documentary project that just came out a bit before Youtube's blast. It was produced by British webzine Clubbity, which used to be a very nice site for Nujazz and electronic music lovers. It was pretty fun spending this time around in Barcelona shooting Sónar, interviewing great musicians and artists, meeting new people and (re)meeting old friends from one of my favorite cities in the world. After a long time off line here it is again and now through VIMEO. Hope you, my three readers, enjoy it. (-;

Sonar 2006 - Special Report from Sabrina Fidalgo on Vimeo.

Michael Jackson - The King of Pop (1958 -2009)

Michael Jackson was many in one. From the super cute little black kid from Jackson Five until the lovely, polemic, excentric and recluse light skinned King of Pop and the biggest music icon from nowadays. But my favorite Michael Jackson was the one from the very beginning of 1980s (post-"Off The Wall" and very early "Thriller" start). Altough I was a baby at that time Michael Jackson was my first love. Serious. I thought I would marry him when I would become an adult. I had a big crush on him indeed, which lasts years (I guess until the "Bad" era). For that reason I have posted pictures of him from this period only, which at least for me, eternalized himself in his best moment in life; such musicaly as well physically speaking. Thriller was so popular back then that the album was on the top ten for at least four consecutive years.

A Night at the Nazi Mansion? - ADIDAS Originals Party in Rio

It seems german label Adidas has hosted a very strange party which took part last Friday night, 23th May, at a mansion decorated with "Nazis works of art" in... Rio de Janeiro! It could be a bad taste joke but unfortunately it isn't. Local producers seems to have rented the "wrong" place to promote an international Adidas Originals Party action (for V.I.Ps only). According to the blog of Brazilian writer João Paulo Cuenca, who was one of the party guests, the house had a swimming pool with tiles decorated with swastikas, as you can see in the pictures - the pics were made by himself and by poet and author Michel Melamed. Moreover, he says, one of the bars of the house had a poster with the inscription "Kriegsmarine Hamburg", which was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime. To complete, in one of the rooms, there was a table designed with the image, probably of a Nazi military. After realized the "horror" of the mansion's decoration the two upset guests leave the place. But before they have photographed those "strange objects" and immediately published the images in their own blogs. But it seems other guests did not care so much for the presence of Nazi objects at the mansion and continued having fun.

The most bizarre fact of this scary history was the neglect of the production to rent a "haunted house" just to organize a party of a German brand. By the way: Adidas already apologized and put the blame on the party producers/promoters and also gave the name of the owner of the mansion.

And even worst is the fact that some guests have accused Cuenca and Melamed of being "troublemakers" by spreading the pictures of the objects from the mansion out. Some of them even wondered at Cuenca's blog: "What's so wrong with swastikas designed tiles in a swimming pool? Who cares?"


Shame, shame, shame, shame on you!

Updating: German newspaper Die Tageszeitung, from Berlin, has published a comprehensive article about the case, namely Feiern zwischen Hakenkreuzen.

.

La Concejela Antropófoga

Short film La Concejela Antropófoga by Pedro Almodóvar

First post of the year! It's been a long time since I've written something here, but I definitively didn't give up (yet) of this (post?) modern habit, I mean blogging. During the last months I've been working hard, among troubles, delays and (of course) some joy but my mind was somehow aways turned to the subject of what I'm going to write on my blog next. Finally I find some little time and the right inspiration to sit down and share some worthy deluxe garbage with my three readers. But in this case the topic hasn't nothing to do with "garbage". I'm going to talk about a little treasure I've just found today (thanks to João Carvalho, one of my most almodovarians friends in all senses). During a phone call between us I've described my currently state of mind like a laberinto de pasiones (labiryth of passions) in allusion to Pedro Almodóvar's second lenght film. And of course it turned into a very nice conversation about the Spaniard director and his marvelous filmography. Then João told me about a short film produced by El Deseo (Almodóvar's film company) and we exchange some nice Youtube links. I've sent him one of my favorites Laberinto de Pasiones scenes and I was absolutely sure that nothing could overcome the acid humor of those old and anthological scenes back in the 80's (during that great times of the Movida Madrileña). But then I was wrong. When I've checked "La Concejela Antropófoga" (The Cannibalistic Councilwoman) I had to agree with João that our favorite director had overcome even himself. First of all "La Concejela Antropófoga" was made just after Almodóvar finished the last shootings of his forthcoming film Los Abrazos Rotos starred by Penélope Cruz. He had the insight to write a monologue for great spanish actress Carmen Machi who just had a small role in "Abrazos". In the last shooting night Almodóvar took advantage of the set and crew from "Abrazos" to film a short film starred by Carmen Machi (as the same character in " Los Abrazos Rotos") in a totally other history . Genius! Then "La Concejela Antropófoga" was born as a little whim of one of the greatest filmmakers of all times, who signed that little masterpiece with the pseudonym of Mateo Blanco (one of the male characters of "Los Abrazos Rotos"). And as I said before the short is a monologue of a councilor of a right party from Madrid who conducts for a friend (who sleeps almost all the time in her colorful kitchen) a passionate defense of sexual "promiscuity", while eats pudding and smells cocaine. Hilarious! Acid , provocative and perverted humor just like Almodóvar's very beginning. It brings us back to the great times of Pepe, Luci, Bom y Otras Chicas del Montón, Laberinto de Pasiones, ¿ Que He Hecho Yo para Merecer Eso? and Entre Tinieblas. Pure ecstasy for the fans of the old and good Patty Diphusa. After all Carmen Machi deserves a lenght film just made for her.

And here an interview with Pedro Almodóvar for Canal + where he talks about "La Concejela Antropófoga".