Search Results: The Leopard
The Leopard
(by G. T. di Lampedusa) The times, they are a-changing. But the Prince of Lampedusa, understands that “everything needs to change, so everything can stay the same.” Fragments aside, this is the only book the author, himself a Sicilian Prince, had in him and it is a jewel. Clear, unhurried, conventional in structure, it shows all the hallowed power of the novel in evoking time, place and mild regret for things that pass. Its nostalgic pessimism skewers Italian politics and history, without being political or historical, which turned-off publishers in the author’s lifetime, and seemed to enrage the partisan…
Continue Reading →The Zone of Interest
(Directed by Jonathan Glazer, based on the book by Martin Amis) (2023) Poland is one beautiful country; with a plethora of mountains, verdant meadows, sea-coast, and more lakes than most. Which explains why so many imperialists wanted their grubby hands on it. In 1939, for example, as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Poland was neatly sliced into two zones. One zone, the Russian one, executed an unknown number of Poles, sometimes with organisation, at other times in a haphazard panic. The German zone, where Poles (and others) were dealt with under typical Teutonic efficiency, is the ‘Zone of Interest’…
Continue Reading →NoScars
These great film performances didn’t win an Oscar – so who cares? The Oscars have been a joke for decades, and the presentation doesn’t even live up to Johnny Carson’s famous description: “2 hours of sparkling entertainment packed into a 5-hour show.” Most of us know that when it comes to the Oscars, those people ain’t right. Disclaimer: When we say, for example, that De Niro gave a great performance in Taxi Driver, we are not having a shot at Peter Finch, who won the Oscar in that year. On the other hand, when Judy Garland didn’t win in 1954…..TVC…
Continue Reading →Happy Birthday, Burt
Burt Lancaster 2 Nov. 1913 “Sweet Smell of Success” (https://www.thevarnishedculture.com/sweet-smell-of-success/) “Gunfight at OK Corral (https://www.thevarnishedculture.com/ok-corral/) “Elmer Gantry” (https://www.thevarnishedculture.com/elmer-gantry/) “The Leopard” (https://www.thevarnishedculture.com/?s=The+Leopard) “Atlantic City” (https://www.thevarnishedculture.com/atlantic-city/)
Continue Reading →It’s a Date
History and the Everlasting Present History is infinite, Culture diffuse. To aid our sense of perspective, however, to use the past to process the everlasting present, we have to start somewhere; a sketch, in linear fashion, with what we think are key (often approximate) dates, including taking ‘B.C.’ (sorry, we still prefer ‘BC’ and ‘AD’) as modern year zero, rather than 4 years before. Needless to say, this is a work in progress. ‘Years ago’ based on year of first publication – 2019. Too long ago to tell – Fire. The first cave art. Harvest of wheat and grains. The Wheel….
Continue Reading →