Review: Love Transcends in The Last Hours in Paris
‘To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life.’
Victor HugoAround 200,000 children were born between 1941 and 1945 as a result of liaisons between French women and occupying German troops.
This phenomenon is the starting point for Ruth Druart’s second novel – The Last Hours In Paris, set during the Nazi occupation of France. German translator Sebastian falls in love with Élise, a young Parisian woman who has been trying to help Jewish orphans escape deportation. Here Druart asks questions not often considered in WW2 literature. How far were the occupying Germans victims themselves? What were their attitudes towards the locals? And what was the fate of the women who ‘liaised’ with them?
Olivier Assayas Looks Beyond the Male Gaze
French director Olivier Assayas has been associated with the New French Extremity movement, known for transgressive films such as Demonlover (2002). He began his career as a more rebellious, anti-establishment figure working with alternative, underground bands such as Sonic Youth. Now, as a veteran of the industry, he has perhaps reluctantly joined the mainstream, collaborating with Twilight star Kristen Stewart on his recent films Personal Shopper and Clouds of Sils Maria.
While Assayas may have mellowed since the quirky days of Irma Vep, his focus on the feminine continues. In many of his films, he looks at the inner, private life of women – their hopes, fears and desires. Some might find this disconcerting and even offensive, as how can a man really understand what women experience? Somehow, Assayas sees more than we might expect, focusing on themes of women’s relationships, anxiety over the ageing process and societal expectations of femininity.
Guillermo del Toro – New Book Looks Inside the Mind of a Legendary Director
Artwork by James Jean, created for the launch of The Shape of Water Dark fairy tales, gothic horror, amphibious love stories and Spanish Civil War history – surely no other director has spanned quite so many genres while achieving this level of critical success. A fan since Pan’s Labyrinth, I was thrilled to read a new, in-depth look at the work of visionary auteur Guillermo del Toro.
Empire magazine film critic Ian Nathan explores Del Toro’s early years in Mexico and his beginnings in special effects, before looking at each of his films in detail. From his debut vampire fable Cronos and the chilling Devil’s Backbone, to the dark allegory of Pan’s Labyrinth, gothic romance of Crimson Peak, Oscars smash The Shape of Water and everything in between.
REVIEW: A Portrait of the Witch – Taschen’s New Art History of Witchcraft
Witches’ Sabbath – Francisco Goya To most people, the word ‘witch’ conjures images of old crones with pointy hats flying into the moonlight on broomsticks. Outsiders in league with malevolent forces, they cast spells on those who wrong them. Our current perceptions of witches and witchcraft are still largely shaped by the propaganda cooked up by King James I in the 1590s, memorialised by Shakespeare in the witches of Macbeth.
With ‘Witchcraft,’ a new coffee table tome published by Taschen, co-editors Jessica Hundley and Pam Grossman have gone a long way towards changing this perception. From the origins of the word ‘witch’ to the practices of witches today, they chart the history of witchcraft across the world through over 400 artworks, as well as essays and interviews with historians, artists and modern practitioners.
Soey Milk Pushes Boundaries with ‘Dare to Love’ NFT Project
Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs have graduated from the laughing stock of the crypto world to a global phenomenon fuelled by celebrity and ‘memelord’ endorsements. So what are they? In short, they enable buyers to purchase a digital version of a piece of art which resides on the blockchain. While NFTs started out with trivia such as memes, the art world is beginning to grasp the potential benefits.
Even the British Museum has jumped on the trend, selling NFTs of Hokusai’s The Great Wave. One of the advantages to artists is that they can earn royalties from each subsequent sale, which is of course not the case with physical artworks. Think of Banksy for example, whose art is worth millions but he wouldn’t see a penny from its sale at Christie’s – hence his ‘Love is in the Bin’ stunt in 2018.
Luke Rion Interview: Lost Relics of an Analogue Past
“The flow of time is always cruel… Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it… A thing that doesn’t change with time is a memory of younger days.” – Ocarina of Time
For many children of the 80s and 90s, the Legend of Zelda games are a cherished memory kept close to the heart. This is certainly the case for Melbourne based artist Luke Rion. His most recent project, fittingly titled Lost Relics, ‘journeys through childhood video game nostalgia, and how something so vivid and so relevant in youth fades and eventually becomes discarded and lost.’
Miss Dior muse returns in ‘Wake up for love’ campaign
🎀 Natalie Portman has returned as Dior’s muse for the launch of its latest Miss Dior perfume. 🎀
According to the haute couture fashion house, the fragrance represents ‘a new breath of love and optimism’. The brand has created an impressive and multi-faceted ad campaign to launch the new fragrance, with Natalie Portman returning as the ‘girl next door’ muse. In the promotional film, Natalie exists in a dreamlike world with blue skies, flowers everywhere and a typically anonymous lover. She tells us to ‘wake up to the beauty of the world and always… To love.’
Saint Maud: A damning indictment of societal collapse
Saint Maud poster by Jack Hughes Saint Maud from debut director Rose Glass might be advertised as another jump-scare horror film, but in reality it’s a complex allegory and at its core, a damning indictment of our society. (Warning – spoilers ahead!)
Maud (whose real name is Katie) is a young woman who started her a career as a palliative care nurse at St Afra’s hospital. We later find out she lived a promiscuous lifestyle during this time, using sex as a temporary outlet for her stressful job and loneliness. After a traumatic incident, which it’s inferred is the result of overwork and lack of support, she loses her job and starts working for a rich private client (Amanda) who is dying from cancer.
Review: PTA’s Master-Piece & The Cult of Corporate America
“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”
George Orwell“The victim of mind manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free.”
Aldous Huxley“Thou shalt be free
The Tempest
As mountain winds: but then
exactly do
All points of my command.”I finally got round to watching The Master which I’d somehow missed and yes, it is a masterpiece. On the face of it, a WWII veteran with PTSD struggles with the transition to civvy street, drifting from job to job and succumbing to serious alcoholism, before being taken in by a manipulative cult leader who examines people’s past lives. (Loosely based on the infamous L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.)
Haute Couture Has Gone Bonkers During Lockdown
Fashion is usually bonkers but during the pandemic, things got pretty weird. Designers couldn’t rely on the standard fashion show to launch their collections, and needed to think outside the box. This period seems to have unleashed another level of creativity, with funds diverted from event management to slick production values. Inspiration came from everywhere – Théâtre de la Mode, nature and the outdoors, robotics and AI, horses, mythology, water nymphs, tarot, Renaissance painting and gothic castles.
Fashion houses collaborated with some of the most talented directors and creatives working today – Jim Jarmusch, Yorgos Lanthimos, Anton Corbijn, Floria Sigismondi and even Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Here are some of the quirkiest campaigns from the past year..
