Film, Radio and TV

Visual arts, music, poetry and other forms of art.
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Kavi
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by Kavi »

obnoxion wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:06 pm I've often praised (Indo-)Persian poetry here, and perhaps I've also mentioned how beautiful I find the city of Teheran in pictures and movies. Then Henry Corbin's books introduced me to the depth of Shi'ite esoterism.

Now it seems that every movie from Iranian directors I decide to watch is brilliant.

"Taxi Teheran" by Jafar Panahi isn't occult film, but it certainly is mercurial. I always enjoy films that present everyday life with keen insight. It is a fluent film, but subtly poetic.

"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" by Ana Lily Amirpou is one of the best re-interpretation of the Vampyre film that I've seen. I mostly enjoy classical vampire films, but this one has a unique atmosphere that is hard to put into words. And if you can make a film that cannot be described with words, by that alone the film is justified.

Baba Anvari's "Under the Shadow" is a multileveled masterpiece, where psychological and supernatural horror blend in unpresented manner. The milieu of the 80's Iran is superb, and it really gives a new undertone to Yazoo's hit song "Don't Go". I see in this film a lot of those elements that were good in the Poltergeist-films, but perhaps that's just me. Some say this was the best film in 2016, and I can understand that.

If any of you have any suggestions on good Iranian films (in any genre, from any era), I wiLl be most interested.
Last things first.. I have seen unfortunately very few Iranian films but the few directors I can suggest are Abbas Kiarostami who makes very slow and minimalistic films. I haven't had good luck seeing all of his movies but if this "art film-style" hits at home in any way maybe it's good to watch them.
Maybe in contemporary world after Panahi Asghar Farhadi is most well-known director and film About Elly is good although being about social issues and not an occult film. But of course there is aspects in every film which one can find to have links to esotericism.
In Death of a Salesman I feel there is aspect of Revenge in man and Mercy in woman where even after terrible happening mercy could come out to forgive a person.
There is also films by Iranian-Kurdish Bahman Ghobadi and I have tried to find some of them as they have beautiful score and music.
As I am not very familiar with the two other movies you mentioned I try to find and watch them.


Although I haven't seen the whole Tehran with my eyes but while it is surely beautiful there is funnily always the other side which is full of people and dangerously driving vehicles, loud and noisy, parks full of packs of cats looking for food and because of air pollution eyes become dry but even then it's just the other side of it.
obnoxion
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by obnoxion »

Thank you for your suggestions, fra Kavi!
Kavi wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2020 3:55 pm Although I haven't seen the whole Tehran with my eyes but while it is surely beautiful there is funnily always the other side which is full of people and dangerously driving vehicles, loud and noisy, parks full of packs of cats looking for food and because of air pollution eyes become dry but even then it's just the other side of it.
But you have been to Teheran, right? How did you feel about the mountains around it? They loom so impressively in pictures:, blueishly distant yet majestically close to the city...
One day of Brahma has 14 Indras; his life has 54 000 Indras. One day of Vishnu is the lifetime of Brahma. The lifetime of Vishnu is one day of Shiva.
Kavi
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by Kavi »

Yes and it is impossible for me to explain the feeling how it feels to be on ground or at mountains. They are majestic and you can't escape from them as they surround you.
Down in cities you hear electronic music coming from inside the cars but I felt touched by poems and traditional singing which some elder people at mountains practiced.

Damavand mountain is also only place to escape from pollution that lingers around the city.
It is also very epic mountain known to be place for Simorq. The famous bird which appears in Shahname and Attar's Conference of the Birds.
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Benemal
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by Benemal »

I'm reading Satanic Feminism and on page 51 Faxneld mentions a Spanish short film, Satan s'amuse, from 1907, by Segundo De Chomon. I thought it might be on Youtube, because the videos start from 1896. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtiiARGMAUM
Made me a little emotional.
There's claymation movie from 1985, called The Adventures Of Mark Twain. A kids movie that I liked even more as an adult. It has one the greatest Satan scenes ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntf5_ue2Lzw
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Polyhymnia
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by Polyhymnia »

Benemal wrote: Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:04 pm I'm reading Satanic Feminism and on page 51 Faxneld mentions a Spanish short film, Satan s'amuse, from 1907, by Segundo De Chomon. I thought it might be on Youtube, because the videos start from 1896. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtiiARGMAUM
I went down the wormhole when reading Satanic Feminism (just finished!) and I could never find a definite answer on whether or not that film is actually Satan S'Amuse or if it's a different film, supposedly made the same year by Segundo, called Le Spectre Rouge. I guess the confusion dates all the way back to when it was released with there being two different descriptions given in the press.
This is supposedly the synopsis for Satan S'Amuse:

"In a nameless place, His Majesty Satan is bored. Nothing cheers him up, despite the efforts of his courtiers, when one of them has the idea of ​​offering a visit to Earth. This proposal is accepted and after selecting the place he intends to visit, his Majesty takes place in a sort of magic elevator and disappears. In a street, a manhole opens and two sewer workers exit. They have barely finished putting the plate back on when it jumps out and Méphistophélès appears with all its attributes: horns, tail and forked feet! One can imagine the astonishment and the terror of the two sewer workers! Smiling at their dismay, the demon gestures and finds himself dressed like a city man. In this habit, he begins to sow trouble with both hands. A coachman with whom he quarreled was surprised to see a donkey instead of his horse which earned him an argument with a city sergeant, while Satan mystified a waiter. He asks him for a siphon but as quickly as the boy goes to take the siphon at a nearby table, he finds the Devil sitting on this table then also instantly returns to his place to the great terror of the unhappy man. Satan causes many other confusions: he mixes couples of lovers which provokes arguments, disperses a marriage, abducts the bride. Pursued by the wedding party and on the point of being caught, a cage encloses Satan and his companion who descend towards the hellish regions but Her Majesty is unpleasantly surprised to see that the young woman is none other than Madame Satan who had disguised herself by jealousy."

I haven't been able to find a film matching this description, but I'd really like to. I probably could have spent an hour (more, if I'm honest) doing something more productive with my time. If anyone reading this happens to know the answer, you would be assuaging this brain of mine.

All that aside, I find the clip in question very remarkable. I love that style of film, and the effects are really quite something for 1907. (I've always thought a fun project would be creating music for this type of silent film. Not a new concept, of course, but it seems electronic artists are usually at the helm of such endeavours, and it could be fun to experiment with different musical styles.)
It really gives an interesting look into the expression of satanic feminism in the artistic realm at the time.
Youtube is a great companion source for reading SF. Later on in the book it touches on Sarah Bernhardt, and I spent hours listening to her vocal recordings, resulting in a much richer experience for me, since I am one of those learners who needs visual or auditory stimulation.
"Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself." -Kahlil Gibran
Angolmois

Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by Angolmois »

This is one of my favourite short films: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxepnIG1yQQ

Albert the squirrel is clearly Ratatoskr, Mercury, Hermes, Christos. But what is the missing scarf...?
obnoxion
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by obnoxion »

I've feen following series based the Viking era. First I watched all four seasons of the Lost Kingdom, based on The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell. And now I am watching the third season of The Vikings.

Has some of you who are more familiar with Nordic traditions watched these serieses? How authentic would you consider the depiction of the Vikings' religion in them (especially in The Vikings, where religion is one of the main themes)?
One day of Brahma has 14 Indras; his life has 54 000 Indras. One day of Vishnu is the lifetime of Brahma. The lifetime of Vishnu is one day of Shiva.
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Benemal
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by Benemal »

Well, I don't know much about their religion, but I didn't take the show seriously. I don't expect (or want) mainstream entertainment to be accurate. They probably mentioned Jotunheim in the show, I don't remember. That's Finland, but when Jotunheim gets mentioned in a film or show, it's usually in religious context, not geography.
obnoxion
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by obnoxion »

Benemal wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 7:48 pm Well, I don't know much about their religion, but I didn't take the show seriously. I don't expect (or want) mainstream entertainment to be accurate. They probably mentioned Jotunheim in the show, I don't remember. That's Finland, but when Jotunheim gets mentioned in a film or show, it's usually in religious context, not geography.
Want or not, I am not completely ignorant on the topic, and I know the show follows quite closely the written historic records. Of course dramas take liberties, and the legends leave a lot of blanks to fill. But, after all, the show was produced for the History Channel, was it not...?

What I meant to ask was things like; how authentic is the seers' black and white make up; was the actual sanctuary in Uppsala as depicted in show; was the fertility rite that the Viking settlers performed in Mercia accurete to its details; etc, etc...
One day of Brahma has 14 Indras; his life has 54 000 Indras. One day of Vishnu is the lifetime of Brahma. The lifetime of Vishnu is one day of Shiva.
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Smaragd
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Re: Film, Radio and TV

Post by Smaragd »

obnoxion wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 8:08 pm
Benemal wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 7:48 pm Well, I don't know much about their religion, but I didn't take the show seriously. I don't expect (or want) mainstream entertainment to be accurate. They probably mentioned Jotunheim in the show, I don't remember. That's Finland, but when Jotunheim gets mentioned in a film or show, it's usually in religious context, not geography.
Want or not, I am not completely ignorant on the topic, and I know the show follows quite closely the written historic records. Of course dramas take liberties, and the legends leave a lot of blanks to fill. But, after all, the show was produced for the History Channel, was it not...?

What I meant to ask was things like; how authentic is the seers' black and white make up; was the actual sanctuary in Uppsala as depicted in show; was the fertility rite that the Viking settlers performed in Mercia accurete to its details; etc, etc...
I would be interested to hear this also, but I must say I'm very doubtful because hearing (from relatives who are history enthusiasts and one of them a scholar) the historical facts were quite off and vast interpretative and artistic liberties were taken in Vikings. But who know, maybe the consultant and designer of these religious elements have been someone who has had the chance to be more accurate than some other elements in the show.
"Would to God that all the Lord's people were Prophets”, Numbers 11:29 as echoed by William Blake
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