A little Finnish tango at the Regent

{Film stills from Lights in the Dusk.}

My life doesn’t screen like a movie. There is too much clutter in every frame. It does not read like a scene from an Aki Kaurismäki film. I do not sharpen the blade of my singular knife with the base of a peppermint green mug against a sand coloured tabletop as I sit on a beat up red stool. Lights in the Dusk; all tones of red (be it background walls, Grilli neon signs late at night or a man's shirt), blue (security guard uniforms, brick walls and the interior of a 50s Americana style car), black, sandy yellow and a splash of green. Nocturnal Helsinki never looked so fine. Every scene so beautiful, every scene so stylized. Loneliness, Pub Pete and music by the wonderful Olavi Virta, the king of Finnish tango... seeing this movie on Tuesday night at the Regent, I knew, before it even began, that it’d be a new favourite of mine.

Leaving the cinema and returning home I am confronted by the amount of stuff around me. Not just stuff; piles of fabric to be cut, cds, discarded jewellery and footwear at the front door, bags, clothes, pens; but also the amount of colour, unorganised. Reds, blues, yellows, greens, pinks, whites, patterns, all side by side, and all jumbled together. A complete lack of set direction. No one black jacket hanging on a singular coat hanger on a red wall. No prison uniform of jet black with pencil thin red stripes running up and down the body. Lights in the Dusk, should you get the chance to see it, is beautiful. As mentioned earlier, a new favourite of mine, and a perfect final instalment to the loser trilogy of Aki Kaurismäki.

Want to see the trailer?
Want to hear a little of Olavi Virta?
I thought you might.

Olavi Virta – Täysikuu (a small taste)

{But I always wanted to play for the Mexican Orchestra of Old Seville.}

{Thin skinned.}

{You know, I’m really not interested.}

{Destined not to work from the very beginning.}

New digital collages to see out a week that has me feeling very thin skinned to say the least. Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold’s Wolfsbergen, a few too many late nights and early starts… I’m feeling more than a little sensitive to the world of late. A little raw and peeled. What I need to see right now is this (which I suspect Shari will enjoy)… a stoat performing a hypnotising dance on it’s prey (save for the ending). La danza hipnotizante y letal de la comadreja..

Further likes, loves and smiles from the week:
+ Our collaborative work shown on Maditi Likes, a new quiet space. All visuals, no words.
+ Show posters, & the floating light photographs of gu fan (both from Maditi Likes).
+ Shari’s farm photographs from the week… and Jenny’s photos from Brasil.
+ Lisa's photographs, all coloured and varied, from Japan, and the continuation of Wendy's bed series.
... & so much more.

Comments

[shari]

the music...the glorious music. thank you for a taste. this looks and sounds like a delightful movie. we are so wanting to escape into the air conditioned darkness but there are no good movies here this weekend. none. awesome collages. i have a particular fondness for the orchestra piece. and yes, the stoat dance is great except for the ending. xoxoxox

[lisa s]

i was JUST thinking about all the clutter in my life... hmmmm...

particularly loving thinned skinned

and thank you for the sweet mention....
xo

[jessica]

oh what romantic music.....lovely.

[louise]

I never knew that I had so much in common with that rather lovely little blue bird in your first collage, you see I've always wanted to play for the Mexican Orchestra of Old Seville too.

[simple me]

gheee! this is like taking a vacation.

I'm trying desperately to clear myself of clutter, I've managed a bit but not enough.
I like the way you describe your clutter in colour.
I like thin skinned although I confess I'm not a fan of snakes but your work is beautiful and it makes me forget about this issue.
and the penguins next to the orchestral just made me laugh.

have a great week
xxx
*p

[Elizabeth]

oh you are radiance and inspiration! Thank you for all of this-- now go and tend to that thinskinnedness and saturate yoruself in comfort and care-- you deserve.

[comfies]

sigh. your artwork always amazes me. gracia i have a special post i'm about to do that i think you and louise might want to see! or at least, one that you might enjoy more than the average joe. also, i'm utterly appreciative that you mentioned lisa's japan trip. it just so happens that i'm IN japan right now and her writings will be irreplaceable to me! so thank you for that! your blog so often holds countless treasures...

xo
d

[Sanna]

Yay for Kaurismaki-love! ...I still prefer Drifting Clouds, but even the intro sequence (and the drunken Russians discussing literature!) makes Lights a lovely film.

I applaud your taste!

[Marieke]

Must see that film! Thanks for the tip. And clutter yes, I browsed on Maditi's site where you were featured and I see all these serene places. Not like our place. At all x

[julie]

Hello Gracia,
Wonderful thoughts as usual - and i too came back from our travels itching to clear the clutter - a date is set!
I love the film stills...that green!!
And you new works are fab - especially the little chap with the banana xxx

[Andrea (Scout)]

the film sounds so amazing, and the visuals...be still my heart.

getting rid of too much clutter is definately freeing (having just done so myself), but i am always try to remember that life, unlike film, is never clutter free and will always be a bit of a color jumble. we would go mad if we tried to extricate every last mismatched sock from the picture. :)

(and i very much agree with lisa, 'thin skinned' is wonderful!)

[marsha]

thank you for sharing these great links!

the collages are gorgeous!

[amisha]

hi gracia,
knowing this thin skinned feeling very much these days, the sensitivity to the world around. i love the way you write about this film, and then the colors and things that surround you at home... as i pack these days i am noticing too these details of daily life, and wondering how to choose what to go into 7 small boxes that will be put in the post. they are colorful boxes to be sure.
and your new collages are breathtaking. loving very much these new directions in your work.
xo

[catherine]

Hi Gracia,

sounds like i wonderful film I will have to keep a look out for it.
How lovely to live a simple life away from clutter 'sigh' I have so much of that around me.
I love your new work.

[cruststation]

Lights in the Dusk, sounds like a lovely movie, I feel I should make a list and get through them one by one...you make a great film-critic.

[gracia]

Ah, Shari… yes, I thought you’d like that music just as much as me. I’m trying to find a copy of it on cd, but alas all I can find is a second-hand one in suspect condition. I’m still on the search and should it prove fruitful, I’ll share the spoils with you. As to the stoat dance… I was so happy to find a little visual evidence of the amazing hypnotising dance you mentioned to me long ago now.

Thanks, Lisa. S.
And I so enjoyed seeing your Japanese photos… throwing a link out to them was the very least I could do given both how much I liked ‘em and how absent I’ve been from the whole blogging world of late.

Romantic music it certainly is, Jessica. I’d never heard of Olavi Virta before… such a find, eh?

You’d make for a superb member of the Mexican Orchestra, LJ… all you need now is a little outfit supreme, and a little more musical know how. You’re one step closer!

Happy to have elicited a chuckle from you, Paula. Penguins with musical yearnings can do that, can’t they? And one day I shall have to show you a little corner of my home… colour, clutter, collections, books and piles… I’m afraid it may make a minimalist shudder, but there you go. It’s a colourful cave, a hive of activity, and on some occasions it looks better than others. Today is one of those days. At other times the sheer amount of stuff makes me want to head outdoors until all the mess has righted itself as if by magic.

“…now go and tend to that thinskinnedness and saturate yourself in comfort and care”… as you wish, Elizabeth. Happy to oblige.

In Japan?! Right now! Oh, dear, it’s been too long since I swung by your blog, Comfies. How wonderful for you, and having just had a speedy peek, I see you have found a certain prickly hedgehog in your travels. Good to know he is no longer in fog now that you have found him. I’m so very behind in reading all my favourite blogs… must make amends and find a little free time to get back into the swing of reading. I really do miss it.

Hi there Sanna,
Thanks for swinging by my blog. I have only just seen Drifting Clouds… it arrived just the other day by post, and I love it. Everything about it so very beautiful and brilliant. Unemployment, handsome canines and restaurant signs in blue neon… what’s not to love? I’m keen to watch all three films in a row just as soon as I can get my hands on Lights on dvd… moving from unemployment through to homelessness to, finally, loneliness.

I know just how you feel, Marieke, and here’s hoping your coming days afford you a little spot of film escapism. More than happy to provide you with a tip… it’s a new and must see film fave of mine.

Yes, that green! I love it too, Julie. And I am also loving seeing all of your travel photos… these two are definite favourites of mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/handmaid/1173547132/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/handmaid/1173547012/

Yes, it would never work out, would it, Andrea? There would always be a misplaced sock, and in my case, a little too much recently shed cat fur, in every frame. It’s nice to dream about it though. Ah, the joys of working largely from home.

Enjoy ‘em, Marsha, and so happy to hear you like the collages too. I see you have your eye on the print I put forward for the One in Ten auction too… I hope your bid is successful. I have my fingers tightly for you.

So good to hear, Amisha, especially when feeling not only thin skinned, but a little rusty too. I don’t envy the packing… it can be such a long process, and one where it is so easy to become sidetracked. Best of luck with it, and with the unpacking at the other end.

Thanks, Catherine, too. I hope you get the chance to see this film sometime soon. I’m also keen to see it again. I am also wishing I could understand the language without the aid of subtitles so as not to miss a single, visual moment.

Thanks, Crust Station. Always happy to share my recent film loves with you. Of all fourteen films I saw at the festival only two I could have not seen. Twelve gems… that’s a pretty good outcome, eh?

take care, g
xo