Friday, October 26, 2001 :::

okay...in reference to Blue Velvet...i am still not sure how i associated it with James Dean or Nicholas Ray. I know that it came up in class in some way or another...we have been focusing on Ray and Dean, lately...and i have probably been averaging about 3 hours of sleep a night...so...something got mixed up somewhere. my apologies for the inaccuracies.

went "clubbing" for the first time last night, although we only went to one club...which was actually just a piano bar, called Alligator Rocks. it was entertaining...2 fat guys sitting across from each other on their own pianos, covering classic songs of old along with some new stuff. basically, it's a good place to get buzzed/drunk and sing along. however, since crystal and i are under age and had no connections, we did not have an amazing time. we did sing along to quite a few songs...but...i think we both felt a bit out of place, being sober and all...and i know that crystal was wanting to go somewhere where dancing was the primary activity, so...next time, we'll have things prearranged. all in all, though, it was a fairly decent first experience of "the scene." there are some aspects of it all that i'd like to go into depth on...but i am running on maybe...1.5 hours of sleep, and my eyes are sticky, so i will get that up here next time.

"i'll get that up here next time." this reminds me of the Italian Neorealist article that i said i would post samples from, but completely forgot about. i promise to do this soon.

i think we will be seeing a pretty significant decline in the amount of posts i put in here. the computer has always been my main distraction from schoolwork...but its impact has never been as drastic as it has during this first semester at college. i am getting ridiculously bad grades, all due to my procrastination and laziness. it is completely unacceptable...i KNOW that i am cutting myself short...i KNOW that i am better than this...and i KNOW that if i wind up with less than a 3.0 this semester, i will lose my scholarship, and will thereby lose my neck. SO. The internet is the devil, and i am going to place a severe limit on this satanic ritual.

u know...i think i will just go ahead and post a few portions of that Italian Neorealism essay right now. It is entitled "A Thesis on Neo-Realism," and was written between 1952 and 1953 by Cesare Zavattini. ENJOY:

"There is no doubt that our first, and most superficial, reaction to daily existence is boredom. Reality seems deprived of all interest as long as we cannot succeed in surmounting and overcoming our moral and intellectual sloth. It is, therefore, not surprising that the cinema has always felt the "natural" and practically inevitable necessity of inserting a story into reality in order to make it thrilling and spectacular. It is evident that in this manner one could spontaneously excape from reality; it is as if nothing could be done to prevent the interference of the imagination."

"...imagination, in its own manner of functioning, merely superimposes death schemes onto living events and situations."

"The task of the artist-the neo-realist artist at least-does not consist in bringing the audience to tears and indignation by means of transference, but, on the contrary, it consists in bringing them to reflect (and then, if you will, to stir up emotions and indignation) upon what they are doing and upon what others are doing; that is, to think about reality precisely as it is."

"Heroes create inferiority complexes throughout an audience. The time has come to tell each member of the audience that he is the true protagonist of life. The result would be a constant emphasis on the responsability and dignity of every human being. This is exactly the ambition of neo-realism: to strengthen everyone, and to give everyone the proper awareness of a human being."

I would like to post more (and perhaps i will at a later date), but i feel that one would have to read the entire essay to understand the other main fragments that excite/intrigue me. One other significant point made by Zavattini that i will take time to summarize is the reasoning for the lack of Italian involvement in "the war;" i'm not sure WHICH war this is, as i am absolutely horrible with history (drew, you'll have to help me out here), but it must be one of the World Wars. MAN, i am an idiot. anyway, Zavattini goes on to explain how "war always violates those fundamental human needs and values which are so dear to us." If anyone is interested, i am sure that i could get you a copy of the essay in its entirety. all in all...ITALIANS ROCK.

-help

::: posted by AJBrotz at 9:18 AM

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