Category: Culture

Films continue

Festival is in full flow.

The most appreciated film so far has been God’s Own Country. 

The film is set in Yorkshire and concerns a sheep farming family, particularly the son and how he changes with the arrival of a farm worker from Romania. The development of their relationship and the impact on his sexuality- from purely physical to emotional. With this comes the change in the dynamics of the family and the portrayal of the local racism.

Good film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Times of Fading Light is a German film set in 1989  just before the wall came down. I am not sure I completely understood all of the aspects but it was an interesting to see the portrayal of the communist world and its structures, culture and politics while the world is changing. The regime did not cater for the young who did not have a future while the older generation continued to look backwards and justified their world through the lens of WW2 and before.

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe a reflection of current politics with the generation gap of what is important- Brexit etc?

NZIFF

Yesterday included seeing a film early after work; the first of our New Zealand International Film Festival excursions.

The Party was appreciated more by SQ and EQ than me. A play in film format showed the various selfish and unpleasant characters and their interrelationship. Despite fine acting, an interesting format and clever twists it did not grab me.

Plenty more to come.

Carmen

Our annual trip to the Opera last night to see Carmen by the NZ Opera.

We have seen Carmen before, Sara at least twice and once for me. It is certainly a classic and so expectations were a little high. Unfortunately expectations were not met. The production seemed a little quiet and flat and the male lead did not seem to make the connection with us and possibly the rest of the audience. The applause at the end was polite rather than enthusiastic. A review in the Dom Post concurred overall.

So quite an expensive night out without reaching the heights. That is always the risk I suppose.

Let’s hope for greater success for the next cultural event.

 

NZSO trip for nearly all

img_0018Four plus Swen went to the Michael Fowler to experience something a bit different. Certainly a popular event with the auditorium being nearly  full. We sat close to the stage so could see the musicians in action though only the feet of the star pianist!

The Elgar Symphony No 1 was recognisably Elgar and the full numbers and force of the orchestra made for a great sound.

Always good to try out the various musical options. Next up is the ‘traditional’ trip to The Messiah.

International Film Festival

The NZIFF has started. Yet again it will be a long run to the finish line for us. So far I have been to three films and Sara four, over the first weekend.

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The 5th Eye is a doco made in NZ and this showing was it s world premier (a little less grand that it may imply). It tells the story of the perpetrators of the damage to the spy station in Blenheim by the “Waihopai Three” in parallel with a broader coverage of the surveillance in New Zealand, how it was done illegally, the law was changed without popular support to give more power to the national spy agencies, while John Key was, as ever, sucking up to the Americans. All this allowing more spying on Kiwis and support for the US government’s international terror actions. An important topic but the documentary was too ling, insufficiently focused and its techniques did not work as well as hoped.

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I, Daniel Blake follows the misery of having to use the UK benefits system and I am sure has echoes of how other national systems work against individuals too. A Ken Loach film. A worthwhile one to watch and shows how badly the system treats people both those accessing it and those working in it.

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And into the foreign experience A Country of Mine   that recounts how German POWs at the end of WW2 are forced to remove mines from the Danish beaches. No one comes out well from war. the essentially boy soldiers at teh end of the war pay the price for the actions of their country and superiors. Are they responsible? Who can blame the danes for getting the perpetrators to clear up the mess rather than risk their own lives again after five years of occupation?

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No one looks good. I am sure that is part of the reason for doing the film. A good one to see.

 

Opera experiment

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A family trip to the opera on Friday this time to see The Magic Flute.
A novelty as it was sung and spoken in English. It was an experiment as Eleanor and Isaac came too.
We have seen a few operas and this was not necessarily the best that we have seen. As it was a little long and the story not quite so easy to follow as is usual.

The music did not have the same individual impact on me as is the usual case.

A Night With Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

… to experience the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as it draws on its vast repertoire in Wellington, NZ.

Source: New Zealand Festival 2016 Presents A Night With Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra 26 Feb – 20 Mar 2016

Last night was an experimental musical trip to the Michael Fowler centre.  Live jazz- not something we have done often. I am certainly not a big follower of jazz music but as with other things, sometimes it is important to try, have an experience and learn.

The music was great. A mixture of jazz classics from the past as well as pieces written or arranged by the orchestra themselves with as beautiful piece for the encore by the main man himself- Wynton Marsalis. He is well renowned in the jazz world. Kirsten said he was the best jazz/classical trumpeter in the world.

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He, along with the other artists, could play so flexibly and make their instruments produce such a variety of sound. I was particularly impressed with the drummer- not someone who usually receives attention. Along with the pianist and bassist he provided the backbone of the sound. He plays constantly and the precision and subtlety of his playing was amazing.

So certainly a good evening and a further prod to experiment with listening to more jazz. Though as feared, listening via Spotify and the single speaker doe snot seem to do the music justice. The quality and the appreciation of the skill when watching and listening live does not come through with these means.

 

 

Scottish Culture

A late update yet again.

It is the start of the international arts festival which we have attended lots of times before.

The opener which we went to on Friday was the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

massed-pipes-3000-jpg15.original_.2e16d0ba.fill-1600x8002016-02-19 19.54.39As an event it is very well known and so we decided to give it a whirl. One needs to try different things. The programme included a mixture of military bands; of course the pipes of the Scottish regiments plus bands of other British regiments-the Royal Marines Portsmouth included. There were other choreographed performers too.

There were Kiwi military bands as well as other Kiwi performers.

The kapa haka group was great. The pipes were great. The Swiss drummers brilliant and the Norwegian Guards Band and Drill Team were fantastic.

However there did appear to be a reasonable amount of average quality filler.

A good evening and worth seeing something really quite different.

Not a cheap night out-$190 each!

The Messiah

Saturday evening comprised our annual trip to  see the choral event of the Christmas season. The first time we went to see a performance was a long time ago at the Albert Hall. Since we have lived in Wellington we ave been maybe close to ten times. This one was quite a big event as it was being held at the Michael Fowler Centre. The NZSO and I presume big soloists and a famous conductor. Not famous to me but that does not count.

Unfortunately we found the performance a bit flat. We were sitting at the sides of the stalls ans so under the upper level which may  have blocked out so of the sound. Was the choir a bit small? The male voices seemed a little overpowered by the the female ones. I found the conductor a little ‘showy’.

Handels Messiah

So good but not great.

Sara requested that we go see it a performance in New York. Nice idea but not easy.