Brave

In a similar note to my last post, some thoughts on another delightful animation film about a young woman finding her strengths and growing up in a vibrant fantasy setting - Pixar's Brave. 

I took my sister and my cousins to watch it at the cinema (we have a kind of tradition of watching Pixar films together), and it was lovely getting to share with them the interesting and motivating ideas which this film explores. It was also a chance to spend some time talking, and it makes me feel very proud and happy to see them grow into their own people, gaining their independence, exploring new aspects of the world, and shaping up their personality.  

Brave's themes made it perfect to watch together. Like most/all Pixar films, it is not really aimed at children: the theme of growing up and finding your personal space and freedom while preserving your family relationships, and the conflicts and misunderstandings that inevitably occur in that process, become relatable and relevant only in your teens. Besides, the delightful cultural references to the Middle Ages and to Scotland (the actors' accents are so endearing and the scenery is so beautiful it really made me want to visit!) would, I suspect, go over most kids' heads. On the other hand, these mature aspects benefit from being explored in such gorgeous, lively animation and with a child-like sense of wonder and heightened action and emotion.

I loved the development of the mother-daughter relationship at the core of the story, which is very much true to real life. The frustrating bickering mother-daughter arguments lead in a subtle, progressive way to a relationship of equals who are willing to compromise and seek mutual understanding on a basis of love. Both Merida and the Queen change and grow, while the King and the Princes complete this family dynamic. Supporting characters are mostly there for colour and cultural background, excelling in this purpose. I never cease to be amazed at how animators manage to capture so much of what being human looks like/is (are they the same thing?).

In the end - after laughing, (almost) crying, and being on the edge of your seat - you are left with an uplifting and sincere message: we are free to grow and develop as individuals, but it takes bravery and support to do so. We should take pleasure from both these elements, for determination and love are all that can lead us to become more complete as human beings.

Spirited Away

Spirited Away - the animated story of a young girl who finds herself in a bizarre world of gods, witches, and dragons, with her parents transformed in pigs - is every bit as kooky and delightful as you would expect from the numerous awards it won. The story is classical in tone and nature, interweaving a variety of rich influences - Japanese myths, classical epic tales, Alice in Wonderland - and ideas in an exciting adventure which has a lot to say about growing up and developing your own strength. It is not fluffy and saccharine in tone, much to the contrary: it shows how hard and scary finding yourself on your own in unknown land can be, but also how exhilarating and fascinating it becomes when you learn how to manage by yourself. Accordingly, the images vary between disturbing and nightmare-like (seriously, I thought some scenes were very scary, I'm glad I didn't watch this as a small kid) and breathtaking, like a postcard from paradise. The stills don't really do justice to just how beautiful this film is - a feast for the eyes if there ever was one - but I can't resist leaving you with a few which give you a small taste of the poetry, humor and sensibility of this great film.

Hugo

What a beautiful film! Martin Scorsese's Hugo is an excellent example of how a lavish production at the service of a humane and sincere story results in a superior film experience. This is a joyful children's adventure, a love letter to cinema and, more generally, an earnest reflection on story-telling and human connections - the stuff that makes life worth living. Here are a few beautiful screenshots - notice the classic elegance of the color palette, the dream-like nature of the light, and the artistry of the sets (in the film, this is enhanced by a breathtaking use of tracking shots).

I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too. 

School is (almost) out II: worst fictional schools

As I mentioned in my last post, most schools depicted in films and books range from unwelcoming to downright dreary. I think this is partly because many (most?) people have experienced feeling socially awkward, inadequate or excluded at school at some point, and it can be therapeutic / fun-in-a-mean-way to see characters enduring unpleasant situations which remind you of real-life ones; and also because, historically, students were deprived of freedom, care and companionship at school in favour of ideas of "discipline" and "respect" which were imposed through physical violence and rigid hierarchies. The first type of schools is the one you see in teenage comedies, and it is broadly similar to any high school; the second one is far darker, and luckily unlike my own school experience.

Honourable mention: Hailsham, Never Let Me Go

Looks lovely, doesn't it? Well, and it is, but there is a dark secret at its core. Read the book to find out - it is a masterpiece.

3. Westerburg High School, Heathers

Heathers is a brilliant teen comedy - in its very twisted and dark way. The high school where it is set is the stereotype American suburban one, with the stupid jocks, nerds wearing glasses, fat kids sitting alone, and a venomous clique of icy blond girls with extremely sharp tongues. The atmosphere is stifling, with rigid social separation, everyone behaving in a very artificial way to try to fit into a specific group and the constant threat of abuse at the hands of the ones who are at the top of the social ladder. It is an extremely lonely place, where everyone is unhappy. Oh, and then people start dying at the hands of a very charming psycho. 

2. St Peter's School, Boy

I have always found Roald Dahl's books delightful, and part of their charm is undoubtedly the dark,  even violent undertone of the situations that the characters go through. This book of childhood memories sets a light on the origin of his unique literary world: though it includes many moments of joy, he also gives details on his rather miserable years at boarding school, including frequent beatings and acting as a servant for whatever older pupils wanted (apparently, this used to be the norm at boarding schools, which weren't quite as charming as in Enid Blyton books). Though he writes, as usual, in an upbeat tone, exploring situations for humour, it is clear that it is not a school experience he would recommend.


1. Prufrock Prep, The Austere Academy

As one would expect from a Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events book, the school depicted here is a surreal nightmare (and makes for an extremely entertaining read - this is marketed as a children's series, but I think the dark humour, sense of absurd, intricate plot, original narrative voice and cultural references make it a joy to read for anyone who is into funny dreariness). This is a school which has a its cheerful motto Memento Mori (remember you will die), and where classes are held in buildings shaped like giant tombstones. The three heroes are made to live at the Orphan Shack, which is filled with crabs and dripping fungus; during the day, the baby Sunny is put to work as a secretary for the tyrannical principal Nero, while her older siblings attend very dull classes where they listen and copy short stories about a man eating bananas and measure countless objects. Then, every evening, they are forced to spend six hours listening to Nero playing the violin. Finally, every night, the villain Count Olaf, disguised as a PE teacher, forces them to run until dawn.

This is definitely the most absurd, unpleasant school I have ever had the joy to read about and to not attend.

School is (almost) out I: best fictional schools

I have been counting the days to the end of school: this school year has been the dullest ever, making me want it to end fast so I can move on to new challenges and academic motivations. To celebrate the fact that there are only three days to go, here are three fictional schools I would have liked to attend. Though the first choice was very obvious to me, the fact is that most schools captured on film and literature are settings to teenage angst and existential misery, often populated by charismatic, entertaining to watch bullies who no one would like to cross paths with. I will also post the fictional schools I am most glad I did not go to.

I am not unhappy about my school life in general - I have been lucky to succeed at school, to make good friends, and to have had a few teachers who truly inspired me. That said, I never felt at home at school: it was always just a place where I went for a few classes, a place where I spent many hours but which was still a fringe of my life. The following five fictional schools are just the opposite, places where the characters' life is intense, where learning is an all-absorbing, precious experience, where people are mysterious and charismatic, where there are secrets waiting to be uncovered, where what happens at school takes central stage. On the other hand, I think these schools are appealing settings to flights of fancy, not for real life (for example, I am very glad I did not go to boarding school and grew up close to my family) - but isn't making us dream one of the jobs of fiction?

Honourable mention: Malory Towers
I liked this series of books so much when I was younger! They have a lovely old-fashioned charm, and I suspect every eight-year-old girl would dream of going to boarding school, playing tricks on teachers, having midnight feasts, staging theatre plays or going swimming and horse-riding.


3. St Gallway School, Special Topics in Calamity Physics

I loved this novel, an erudite, thrilling mystery set at an exclusive school where the leading character becomes friends with a group of rich and alluring teenagers and is eventually led to question her whole life story. The plot is an extraordinary structure, intricate, dream-like and filled with life. You can't help being surprised and thrilled at each extraordinary plot twist, while emphasising with the smaller, more normal components of the characters' life and being provoked to think by the philosophical asides. This book combines so many things I like it seems it was written specially for me - most notably, the leading character and narrator has a voice which sounds very similar to my inner monologue, which gave me the illusion of being inside the book, participating in the action. This is a fascinating romance - I really recommend reading it. If you want a taste of its brilliance, you can read a few brilliant quotes here, e.g. 

I was aware too how strange adults were, how theirs lives were vaster than they wanted anyone to realize, that they actually stretched on and on like deserts, dry and desolate, with an unpredictable, shifting sea of dunes. 

Having said so, why would I like to have attended St Gallway's? It is a typical example of the elite American high school or college captured in literature, a luxuriously beautiful set of ancient buildings stretched out across vast meadows, with a mountain range in the distance to add up to the rich melancholy of the place, and filled with students who combine intelligence, culture and confidence far beyond what's usual. 

2. Cutler's Grammar School, The History Boys

The History Boys is a witty dramedy on a group of British boys working to get into Oxford to study History. Thanks to the intelligent dialogues, strong performances by all the actors and fun soundtrack (amongst other factors), it's a fun story that leaves you with a smile on your face and makes you value education as a way of expanding your mind and sharing with others. It helps that school is a familiar place where classes are zany, creative and stimulating, including long strolls and open discussion, role-playing, playing music, debating, saying poetry and hopping between a variety of intellectual themes with the guidance of teachers with a vast culture and enthusiasm. 

1. Hogwarts

The very, very obvious choice. Well, what can I say? Hogwarts is literally magical, filled with surprises  and an unparallelled childish sense of wonder (classes in transfiguration! spells! etc; moving staircases and paintings!; secret passages!; flying broomsticks!; invisibility cloaks!). JK Rowling also profited from the traditional - and lovely - image of the British boarding school, and she populated it with characters anyone would love to become friends with (or to have as enemies - proper enemies make life so interesting in fiction...). In a way, I spent so much of my fantasy life as a child there that I did go to Hogwarts. 

On the Road

I have recently read On the Road and it left an impression on me. It has a high power to transport you to its inside - 1950's Beat America - and therefore creates a complete setting inside your mind, where you are free to wander. 

With any narrative, you will eventually forget the story's flesh, no matter how much its details moved or amused you while reading; the book will only subsist in your spirit when it corresponds to a particular mental landscape. Only then does the book become yours, a mental window into another world you would never get to experience otherwise. Actually, the window analogy is imperfect in this case - the book's impression on the reader depends both on the author's construction and on the reader's effort to connect, which hangs on past experiences, an open mental state and that non-defined constant we call "personality". When this connection is forged, I believe it is lasting: the mere idea of a book can bring you physical and emotional sensations and a specific, though most often not verbalised, intellectual outlook on life.

On the Road. Isn't it an evocative set of words? To me, it now brings: a winding road in the middle of nowhere, the taste of dust and the dry softness it sets on your skin, the thick smell of tar, the exhilaration of movement on, the sense of possibility of looking at the stars when you might just go anywhere, the burning ache to feel everything at once. 

Kerouac's musical prose, filled with a weary but unstoppable enthusiasm for life, echoes the melancholy freedom of jazz music. The way the narrative is built resembles an impressionist painting in its vast, seemingly aimless scope of events and characters that, once you step back one step to look at it, are what gives the image meaning. His writing's brilliance, however, never feels like a prim stylistic touch. It is a genuine expression of a way of life, which is probably why this book is the icon of a particular generation's search for happiness.

Would I live like they did? Were they courageous or senseless? From a rational perspective, one would have to admit their behaviour was reckless and destructive and that they often treated others, particularly women, as objects. But it somehow doesn't see fair to judge the Beats from a fixed rational point of view, which they so strongly rejected. Instead, while reading, I tried to erase myself into the characters, in other words, to feel their experiences and not to analyse them. There's freedom in escaping from yourself as far as possible, which is why books like this one are tools of liberty for people who, on the outside, live quietly.

A film adaptation is coming out later this year. Though I think that the director Walter Salles is perfect for the source material, it would truly be a masterful achievement if he manages to convey that same sense of emotional freedom - sensuous and destructive, appealing and repulsive at the same time -through film.

One!

This is my first blog post, so I suppose I should introduce myself. I am a 17-year-old girl from Lisbon, Portugal, though I'm moving to Oxford in a few months to start an undergraduate degree in Maths and Philosophy there (why did I have to say this straight away? I'm just too damn excited, that's why :) ). I started this blog because I felt an indefinite yearning to communicate and think more/in a more structured way. Basically, I want to write about things I find interesting and share them with whoever cares to read my ramblings. Comments are more than welcome! :)

Amongst the things I like and hope to post about here are:

Books

I have always loved books. As you can see from the picture on the left, I have plenty of them (you can also see I'm not the neatest person on the planet). Even before I knew how to read, I remember spending quite a lot of time listening to my parents reading to me, puzzling over the meaning of words (which were, of course, just strange marks on paper: isn't it amazing how we are able to assign meaning to sounds and graphical marks?) and inventing my own stories based on the pictures. Then, when I already knew how to read, I stumbled upon the Harry Potter books and fell for that whole imaginary universe (like so many other people). This obsession spread to reading in general - so much that I was once in a while forbidden to read! (How geeky is that?)

I try to read all sorts of books: classic and contemporary romances and novels, short stories, fantasy, poetry, pop science, biographies, memoirs, history, comics, children and young adult novels... You'll get to know my tastes in detail, because I'll definitely write quite a bit about books.

Music

Just like (almost) everyone, listening to music is very important for me to keep my mental stability and to feel connected to others - there's always a song for the way I feel. The name of this blog is a play on the title of Nick Drake's second album, and I chose it both because he's one of my favourite artists and because I just really like the sound of  the words - ethereal and filled with longing, just like Nick's music. This is his song Riverman - isn't it just beautiful?

Cinema

When I was 12 or so, I had a blog where I posted film reviews, though I eventually grew tired of it. I have to say I'm not nearly as much of a cinephile as I used to be back then, when I even entertained the fantasy of becoming a film director, but I still like watching films and find myself challenged to perceive the world in new ways and to connect more deeply with other people's experiences through cinema.

A screenshot from Splendor in the Grass,
just because I like it.

Philosophy/Maths/Science

After writing about my more or less socially acceptable interests, I have to mention that I really enjoy learning mathematics, thinking about philosophical problems and engaging with scientific ideas, particularly in the areas of physics and neuroscience, though I have to admit I know much less than I would like to. Nevertheless, I would say that the type of thinking involved in these areas is at the core of how I interpret the world (I hope that doesn't sound pretentious or too much like a personal statement). 

Politics and Society

Be warned: I'm a liberal on the red side of the political spectrum. I enjoy discussing politics and social issues, particularly related to education, which I believe (like so many others...) to be very important if we want to build a different society, one where there actually is equality between people, and therefore all are granted freedom to fulfill themselves personally and as members of humanity. I hope to be able to participate in the project of building that world throughout my life.

Then, I have a bourgeois side: I like nice and pretty things (scenic views, good-looking people, clothes, cooking, etcetera). 

I hope to write often and about different things, and I also hope that you enjoy reading!

Xx