Wednesday, August 24, 2016

"Playing to Live"

Devastating.

I thought I could handle it and I will but I wasn't ready.

The movie picked up softly but went straight down the toilet into Auschwitz, from fashion to horror in a twinkling.

Things were bad in the horrible way which wasn't so surprising but then Vanessa Redgrave was told to go to another barracks and there she found the start of an orchestra of inmates.

The daughter of Gustav Mahler was in there and who can even imagine such thing.  Mahler.

She told Vanessa Redgrave to play something from "Madame Butterfly" and Redgrave could hardly bring herself to start after the unbelievable torment she had undergone already.

She went into it slowly but it built.   Even before the camp really she was playing to live but now it's such a different way and it was so clear as she played this is the only time I'm ever really alive.  Despite all things she played and she sang like a goddess.

There it goes.  Niagra Falls.  I knew that had to come but it was such a massive wave.


No further follow-up as you can revisit for yourself if you like.  That was only fourteen minutes into it.  For me it's important to torture myself with this because it's such nothing compared to what they experienced and I'm so damn unworthy.  Nothing like this must ever happen again to anyone for any reason.

Update:  cannot resist and it won't reveal anything except insofar as it may be the most devastating movie I have ever seen with superlative acting from a cast of masters and points of such exquisite beauty they go beyond tears but surely they will come.  It's at once serving a penitence yet somewhat guiltily in reception it serves such fantastic beauty as well.  I felt almost a duty to watch and it's like hitting your heart with a hammer yet I'm appreciative because it's so important to feel a glimmering of their pain yet feel how music is life.


Just because we love you, here's another tragedy but it's a sweet song in a whole different way.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful 9 minute movie:

http://putlocker.ac/watch-dissonance-online-free-2015-putlocker.html

Unknown said...

It didn't trigger when you mentioned it but I recall it clearly on seeing it. The world NEEDS a new instrument so we finally get past synth and autotuned singers. Please, please, please! (larfs)