Our European Trip Part 3

After the gray drizzle of Paris we took off to Sunny Spain. We were kind of beat from all the excitement (and walking!) so we avoided the big cities and concentrated on the Costa Blanca area. I've always enjoyed small beach towns and this part of Spain has some of the prettiest. First we visited The Meridian in El Vendrell just South of Barcelona:

I enjoyed the town as well; very peaceful and relaxing. It reminded me of a hybrid of Phoenix and The Outer Banks of North Carolina.

To Be Continued

Our European Trip Part 3

After the gray drizzle of Paris we took off to Sunny Spain. We were kind of beat from all the excitement (and walking!) so we avoided the big cities and concentrated on the Costa Blanca area. I've always enjoyed small beach towns and this part of Spain has some of the prettiest. First we visited The Meridian in El Vendrell just South of Barcelona:

I enjoyed the town as well; very peaceful and relaxing. It reminded me of a hybrid of Phoenix and The Outer Banks of North Carolina.

To Be Continued

Oh, Woe is Me (1993) ✭✭✭✭

Oh, Woe is Me is a Jean-Luc Godard effort from 1993 - one of his most aesthetically successful periods - and it stands as a pleasing distillation of all that is right and good about his unique cinematic vision. Neither painfully obnoxious nor blatantly offensive, Oh, Woe is Me has something resembling a central narrative framework - not often the case with Godard - that still leaves plenty of room for the director’s patented flights of obtuse philosophical fancy. Nestled amid waves of deceptively simple yet gorgeous imagery are deep strata of personal reflection and theoretical musings, custom made to enlarge and transform traditional methods of filmic storytelling.

Set in a rural coastal community, Oh, Woe is Me sparks a surreal tone with some long, diorama style dolly shots - reminiscent of Godard’s Passion - that evoke compositions found in classic frescos. Along the way, Godard will weave a tangled narrative net that melds elements of Greek mythology and traditional Christian thought, all skewed toward a post-modern world with atheist leanings. One day a writer (Bernard Verley) shows up at the local auto repair shop - Godard is endlessly fascinated with garages for some reason - seeking the whereabouts of a couple named Simon and Rachel. This bit of dramatic incitement nearly gets lost amid the tableau of eccentric characters and situations Godard presents early in the film, but this quest will unlock a maelstrom of mystical questions.

Eventually we meet Simon (Gerard Depardieu) and his long suffering wife Rachel (Laurence Masliah) and it’s clear their marriage is beset by an odd and queasy form of ennui. Rachel appears to spend most of her time swimming in the town’s brackish canals while Simon goes on long business trips and generally avoids her. The quiet hamlet also has another resident, a shaggy haired stranger with the creaking voice of an Alphaville computer (Harry Cleven) who may or may not be God come to Earth to experience the pleasures of the flesh. This mysterious deity will ultimately inhabit Simon’s soul, infusing the wonders of the trinity into the flabby body of a bored French businessman.

While trying to weave through this storyline would be a fair day’s wage for most directors, Godard treats it as just another subplot in a sea of existential ephemera. He also finds time to skewer France’s high speed trains, video games and the overly formal way humans are taught to interact. Here, Godard’s characters often end their sentences with the nonsensical “Or a bookseller” and throughout the proceedings audiences are reminded of the inherent falsehoods and contrivances of filmmaking.

But at its core, Oh, Woe is Me is a like the story of Job in reverse, where the main character feels not abandoned by God but unshakably stuck to Him. The films of Jean-Luc Godard are not meant to be understood in any sort of conventional way. Scholars and critics have expended countless mental calories dissecting and discussing the director’s vaporous allegories and allusions. Sometimes this is a worthwhile exercise, but more often it’s a cascade of unverifiable opinions and hunches. More to the point, Godard’s cinema needs neither context nor structure to remain vital and engaging. It’s easy to dismiss Oh, Woe is Me - and a host of other Godard films - as self indulgent and impenetrable. However, I think we can all agree that much of life doesn’t really make sense. Godard just has the guts to admit it.

Oh, Woe is Me (1993) ✭✭✭✭

Oh, Woe is Me is a Jean-Luc Godard effort from 1993 - one of his most aesthetically successful periods - and it stands as a pleasing distillation of all that is right and good about his unique cinematic vision. Neither painfully obnoxious nor blatantly offensive, Oh, Woe is Me has something resembling a central narrative framework - not often the case with Godard - that still leaves plenty of room for the director’s patented flights of obtuse philosophical fancy. Nestled amid waves of deceptively simple yet gorgeous imagery are deep strata of personal reflection and theoretical musings, custom made to enlarge and transform traditional methods of filmic storytelling.

Set in a rural coastal community, Oh, Woe is Me sparks a surreal tone with some long, diorama style dolly shots - reminiscent of Godard’s Passion - that evoke compositions found in classic frescos. Along the way, Godard will weave a tangled narrative net that melds elements of Greek mythology and traditional Christian thought, all skewed toward a post-modern world with atheist leanings. One day a writer (Bernard Verley) shows up at the local auto repair shop - Godard is endlessly fascinated with garages for some reason - seeking the whereabouts of a couple named Simon and Rachel. This bit of dramatic incitement nearly gets lost amid the tableau of eccentric characters and situations Godard presents early in the film, but this quest will unlock a maelstrom of mystical questions.

Eventually we meet Simon (Gerard Depardieu) and his long suffering wife Rachel (Laurence Masliah) and it’s clear their marriage is beset by an odd and queasy form of ennui. Rachel appears to spend most of her time swimming in the town’s brackish canals while Simon goes on long business trips and generally avoids her. The quiet hamlet also has another resident, a shaggy haired stranger with the creaking voice of an Alphaville computer (Harry Cleven) who may or may not be God come to Earth to experience the pleasures of the flesh. This mysterious deity will ultimately inhabit Simon’s soul, infusing the wonders of the trinity into the flabby body of a bored French businessman.

While trying to weave through this storyline would be a fair day’s wage for most directors, Godard treats it as just another subplot in a sea of existential ephemera. He also finds time to skewer France’s high speed trains, video games and the overly formal way humans are taught to interact. Here, Godard’s characters often end their sentences with the nonsensical “Or a bookseller” and throughout the proceedings audiences are reminded of the inherent falsehoods and contrivances of filmmaking.

But at its core, Oh, Woe is Me is a like the story of Job in reverse, where the main character feels not abandoned by God but unshakably stuck to Him. The films of Jean-Luc Godard are not meant to be understood in any sort of conventional way. Scholars and critics have expended countless mental calories dissecting and discussing the director’s vaporous allegories and allusions. Sometimes this is a worthwhile exercise, but more often it’s a cascade of unverifiable opinions and hunches. More to the point, Godard’s cinema needs neither context nor structure to remain vital and engaging. It’s easy to dismiss Oh, Woe is Me - and a host of other Godard films - as self indulgent and impenetrable. However, I think we can all agree that much of life doesn’t really make sense. Godard just has the guts to admit it.

Our European Trip Part 2

We took the high speed train from Cologne to Paris and it was a great ride. They kept throwing food and drinks at us - and for train food it was quite good - so we just relaxed and enjoyed the Belgian countryside. There is quite a bit of farming going on in Belgium and Northern France and the plowed fields and lush green hills all reminded me of where I grew up in Virginia.

If all our politicians weren't in the pocket of big oil, we could have high speed rail in the US. Damn shame. Anyway, a pleasant three hours later we were in the City of Lights.

We put a Lock of Love on the bridge

We stayed at the beautiful Hotel de l'Abbaye, and they were wonderful to us. Highly recommended.

And the food...my goodness the food....

The weather was cold and wet for most of our time there. Not what we were hoping for with "April in Paris." But when a city is this freaking gorgeous, who cares about weather?

To be Continued....