Does the name “Heath Ledger” mean anything to you? Until recently I had no idea. I didn’t even know he was an actor – and an excellent one at that. But in one week I saw him in two fine films.In “Brokeback Mountain” he does powerful work – in fact, Oscar-deserving work. He plays a man all tied up inside himself.
After seeing him as a gay cowboy, I next saw Heath Ledger starring in “Casanova.” What a switch! As Casanova, it was fun to see him leaping out of bedroom windows and prancing around, sword in hand.
The actor was fine in both films. But now I’ve decided to write about Woody Allen’s “Match Point.” It was a surprise: a Woody Allen movie without a single laugh! What? A Woody Allen movie that doesn’t take place in his favorite city New York! What? A Woody Allen movie without his high-strung, nebbish, woman-crazy persona in the city! Yes! Yes! Yes!
“Match Point” is a thought-provoking film. Mr. Allen shifts his milieu from New York’s Upper East Side to London’s elegant Belgravia. If you go to see his latest don’t expect a witty, romantic comedy. Consider that the cinematic genius has been writing, directing and starring in movies for about 30 years. But take heart, his intellectual fire still burns brightly.
“Match Point” is a film noir with dramatic social meanings. It’s a disenchanted drama – sexy and torrid. The terrifying story involves human greed and ambition, and it has a fantastic final twist (I tried but couldn’t guess it!). Both the acting and the script are of the highest quality. The pace is quick, concise and all-absorbing (proof is that I didn’t yawn – not even once!).
“Match Point,” a story devoted to lust, adultery and murder, is framed by a philosophical meditation on the importance of luck. Woody Allen’s message is that luck can trump justice. Interesting!
Another time it was a show entitled “The Work of Charles and Ray Eames.” In 1948, the Eames designed a molded fiberglass chair called “La Chaise.” Again, my first kitchen set had four Eames chairs around an Eames kitchen table. Those very same chairs now grace the Maryland kitchen in my daughter Jolie’s house. I’m glad I didn’t give them away. In fact, they are still the chairs I prefer to sit on when I visit.
Fast forward to my recent visit to the American Folk Art Museum, 45 W. 53rd St., Manhattan. Well what to my wondering eyes did appear – not reindeer, no – my mother’s furniture in the home where I grew up. I rubbed my eyes. Was I seeing things? I certainly never thought I’d see my mother’s furniture in a museum, but there it was.
As a youngster it was my job to dust those heavy, ornately carved and painted pieces that filled the waiting room in my mom’s dental office. Mine was not an easy job since that type of furniture had so many nooks and crannies for dust to settle – and settle it did. All of this came to my surprised mind as I viewed the chairs, cabinets and blanket chests in the exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum entitled “Surface Attraction: Painted Furniture From the Collection.”
The show of more than 30 pieces suggests that well into the 19th century much carving, painting and decorating was done on everyday wood objects as a way to add artistic to the functional. It was an inventive way to upgrade everyday wood objects. My teen-age eyes didn’t fully appreciate mom’s furniture and, of course, I never thought that because of its beauty it could become part of a folk art museum. What did I know? What I didn’t know is that art is all tied up in time.
That’s a quote from “A Chorus Line” and I totally agree. Everything is beautiful at the ballet, especially the New York City Ballet. I can’t help but feel that way sitting in the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center.
Last month I saw the iconic ballet of our time, “Swan Lake.” I view “Swan Lake” with an uncritical devotion. And the music – oh, that beautiful, mysterious, heart-breaking music composed so many years ago by the brilliant Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky. His score for “Swan Lake” runs the gamut of moods and styles. It leads the listener through the complicated and emotionally rich story, and is a work of art in its own right. Tschaikovsky’s music perfectly captures the tragic story of a girl transformed into a swan.
Watching the dancers in a ballet it appears that they are moving in a way totally unlike the way most people move in real life. The ballet movements are stylized; I’ve been told that ballet does not attempt to recreate or imitate the movements of real life. It attempts to create an illusion. Movements we’re all familiar with – running and jumping, turning and balance, lifting and holding – all become a spectacle that entertains.
Choreographer George Balanchine said it: “What ballet takes from life it transforms.”
One becomes happily transported. I see it as a good thing. Once in awhile it’s a fine feeling to be able to leave everyday life.