THIS MONTH LAURA RECOMMENDS:

The Ladies are Amused by Laura Cerwinske

BOOK: Journey into the Past by STEFAN ZWEIG is a “between the wars” psychological novella that was found among author’s papers after his death. It is now published for the first time in America with an introduction that explicates the agony of Sweig’s cultural alienation.

ARTIST: EMANUELE VISCUSO answers to a whole gallery of Renaissance muses. His fan-like sculptures synthesize the elegance of Brancusi and Fortuny. His trompe l’oeil painting would make the Duke di Montefeltro weep. And then there is all the rest. http://www.viscuso.com/

INTERVIEW: Be prepared to laugh out loud…and often: FRAN LEBOWITZ on the agony of writing (from the brain, that is, and NOT the fingers – imagine if she took RADICAL WRITING http://www.radicalwriting.com) Take a look: http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1931/a-humorist-at-work-fran-lebowitz

VIDEO: See this documentary on the life of writer/activist GRACE PALEY to gain a vast understanding of a writer/artist’s commitment.
http://washingtondcjcc.org/center-for-arts/film/WJFF/films2010/grace-paley.html

THOUGHTS: On Contradiction
by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur

When we consider a script for a potential film, we look for a story on a plot level, then we look for a story on a psychological level, then we look for a story on a political level, then we look for a story on a mythological level. We need a story on each level. It is not necessary that these stories agree with each other. What is wonderful is, many times, the stories contradict each other. So when I work with Rahman, who’s a great musician, I often tell him, “Don’t follow what the script already says. Find that which is not. Find the truth for yourself, and when you find the truth for yourself, there will be a truth in it. It may contradict the plot, but don’t worry about it.”

Everything’s a contradiction. The universe is a contradiction. And all of us are constantly looking for harmony. Harmony is the notes that Mozart didn’t give you, but somehow the contradiction of his notes suggests harmony. It’s the effect of looking for harmony in the contradiction that exists in a poet’s mind, a contradiction that exists in a storyteller’s mind. A storyteller’s mind is a contradiction of moralities. In a poet’s mind, it is a conflict of words. In the universe’s mind, it’s between day and night. In the mind of a man and a woman, we’re looking constantly at the contradiction between male and female.

The acceptance of contradiction is the telling of the story, not the resolution. The problem with a lot of the storytelling in Hollywood and many films is that we try to resolve the contradiction. Harmony is not resolution. Harmony is the suggestion of a thing that is much larger than resolution. Harmony is the suggestion of something that is embracing and universal and of eternity and of the moment. Resolution is something that is far more limited. It is finite. Harmony is infinite. So storytelling, like all other contradictions in the universe, looks for harmony and infinity in moral resolutions, resolving one, but letting another go, letting another go and creating a question that is important.
- Shekhar Kapur, filmmaker (Bandit Queen, Elizabeth) in a TED presentation . [Edited]