Change Your Image
r-finnemore
Reviews
Argerich (2012)
Glimpse into a great artist
This film, made by Stephanie Argerich, daughter of Martha Argerich is a fascinating work. It is an exploration of a complex mother-daughter relationship in the usually always difficult relationship between child and famous parent. By the end we feel we know more about Martha but also about her daughters and related family members, including Martha's ex-husbands. There is a generosity about how the various people are presented, warts and all, but without bitterness. Argerich did have a difficult task in managing the roles of (largely solo) parent with being an international soloist, especially with her first daughter Lyda, who, the film shows, seems to have been reconciled with the older Martha and her 'family" milieu. The film does not deal with how Martha constructs her interpretations of music nor about how she maintains her technical prowess. She comes across as a very intuitive person who realises that that is her strength and does not want to jeopardise that quality by analysis. Indeed, it is by her body language and facial expressions that we infer what she is like, rather than what words she utters. No matter what achievements these great artists have made in other respects they are just as fragile, and error prone as the rest of us.
Dead Europe (2012)
Disappointing treatment of novel
This film was a big disappointing treatment of the book of the same title. Dead Europe was a bleak, dense novel, almost hallucinogenic, but quite compelling. You were never quite sure whether to believe any of it, or where it's narrative was taking you (including some unpleasant areas of life). I guess I had hoped that the film might make some things clearer. However the film over-simplified the narrative, making it harder for the viewer to link the episodes, as well as robbing the characters of their motivations. One central episode of how the Jewish refugee, Elias, was betrayed and left to die by the protagonist's father (thereby originating the inherited curse) was merely told rather than shown. Perhaps the film's budget ran out? I have no complaint about the filming or acting.