Today I woke up with a hunger to watch some really good Woody Allen. Lately I have been trying to watch his most recent films, which I had ignored before upon the opinions of others, in order to form an opinion of my own I had decided one day (after scraping the barrel of megavideo, DON'T ASK!) to watch both Melinda & Melinda and Vicky Christina Barcelona. Admittedly I was entertained and thought that the former was still in the same vein as some of Allen's classics, however that was it. I wasn't left with anything to take away from it. And to clarify this I take you back to today when I decided to re-watch Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). Now I used to think that Annie Hall was my absolute favourite because it had everything I wanted from a film and Diane Keaton's wardrobe! But after watching C&Ms I was converted. I do not want to spoil it so I urge you all to go and watch as soon as you finish reading this.
However I would like to share some of the things I have been thinking about after my delightful day watching Woody. The film is a classic Woody Allen narrative structure, with many relationships and stories being played out for you. One of my favourite characters is Professor Louis Levy, who is the subject of a documentary that Allen's character is making. I know that he is an imaginary person but I think I would like to have tea with him and shoot the breeze. He philosophises on human nature and why love is vital to live; how a relationship is our attempt to return to the past but also an attempt to undo our past. Love is a contradiction! He describes it quite eloquently. He finishes by proposing a theory to existence and I would like to know what you think. He states that; we define ourselves by our moral choices, great or small, that the design of creation seems to be unfair and unpredictable and human happiness is not considered. However we with our capacity to love can find meaning in the indifferent universe by finding pleasure in the simple things - family, career, friends, interests. I am not too sure about the term 'simple things'. Sometimes they appear infinitely complicated. I am playing with this idea of simple/complicated but I am not sure where it's going yet.
I think there's a lot of truth to that, although maybe it's overcomplicated here... I feel like 'love' or even the term 'simple things' can be swapped for joy. And for me, it all keeps coming back to perspective. Not creatively really, just in coming to terms with life and happiness as you live and have lived it. It's finding a balance between the immediate happiness (and frustration) of having no perspective at all (like a child) or having so much perspective that many things can be appreciate for what they are, often for the better. It makes me think of interviews with Tony Benn, for some reason. He's been in politics for so long and is unflappable. There isn't anything happening now that is unlike what he's seen and seen a recovery from before.
ReplyDeleteGot it in one Sophia - "coming to terms with life and happiness as you live and have lived it." Life and all that surrounds you is a brief and beautiful gift that we are allowed to do with as we wish really. The small,comforting things are what matter -everything is repeated like the lapping of the waves from one side of the world to the other.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of waves repeating. Resonating and subtle.
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