Saturday, January 21, 2012

First snow

Not a whole lot but wet and cold.  I love it when there are big soft flakes, but that's not it today.

It's the beginning of the Chinese New Year and I was planning a trip to Chinatown to watch the festivities, but not in this weather.  The festivities will be going on all week and I think next Saturday is the Dragon parade.  So I'll go then.
It is the year of the dragon which means those born this year will be powerful and lucky with lots of charisma.  I was born in the year of the monkey: a party animal, charming, craving fun and stimulation, sparkling wit, rapier-sharp mind, knowledgeable on a wide range of topics, accident prone, poor morals, unfaithful in relationships, self indulgence leading to problems with food, alcohol and other pleasures.  For balance they should learn to think more about others.  
I'm also an aquarian: sometimes shy and quiet and sometimes boisterous, eccentric and energetic, deep thinker, love helping others, very smart, independent, good at solving problems, imaginative and a strong need to be alone, runs from emotional expression, aloof, temperamental.
In Aztec astrology I'm the flint, Tecpatl: rigorous, brave, morally upright, disdaining whimsy,does not tolerate lying,  warm and generous, spontaneous, filled with adventure and diversity.

Went to the movies with Dottie and saw "A Separation" which I loved.  Dottie didn't care for it and thought it was too long.  An Iranian movie about a Husband and Wife at cross purposes.  During the movie I found myself analyzing what I thought to be the symbolism.
I am more conscious of artists use of symbols: objects and people used to represent something or someone else.  It was very common in paintings for an artist to tell a story or give a message in this way.  For example fruit was used to suggest many things, pomegranate= eternal life, fig=loss of innocence, pear=faithfulness, orange=free will, and the apple=sin & the Garden of Eden.  I've always resisted this type of analyses since the time a college professor  turned Faulkner's wonderful short story 'The Bear' into an anti-communist tract.  Modern use of symbols are not to my knowledge clearly and universally known as they were in Renaissance Europe.  So it might appear subjective.  But it can be increase the appreciation of a film.
In "a Separation" we are looking at life in Iran; a highly censored, closed and sectarian society.  Film makers have been imprisoned.  So the use of symbols in their films is quite likely. 
What fascinated me was trying to understand the symbolic presence of the grandfather; who is the reason for the husband's and wife's estrangement.  They are an affluent family and the wife wants to leave the country for her daughter's sake.  The husband feels obligated to take care of his father who has Alzheimer's.  At first I thought he was a symbol of the Iranian government; no memory of its history, not making sense but compelling adherence.  The grandfather doesn't know who any one is and has stopped talking.  Then I thought he is the symbol of Islam.  There is a lot to consider beyond the mise en scene.  Men fight, women negotiate in this patriarchy.   People go to jail if they don't pay their debts.  A woman telephones a hotline to ask if she can undress a man who has soiled himself.  The answer is 'no' it's a sin.  A young girl, maybe 12, is frightened of asking for her change because all the men are staring at her. 
It's worth seeing in a movie house.  There are a lot of subtitles which would be hard to follow on a TV screen.

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