A photograph I took of Rome from the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The long trek up the narrow, spiraling staircase was well worth the magnificent view from the top. Italy is incredible, I don't think I will ever tire of it.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wanderlust
Since I started university, I have always wanted to do an exchange to Europe somewhere; to not only see the artistic masterpieces and look at the history, but to experience a different culture and a different way of living from that of New Zealand. In the past I have learnt a bit of Japanese, German, and French, but it was not until university that I began to study Italian and have fallen in love with the language and the culture, and it is to Italy that I would give anything to live for a while. The university I am at currently supports direct exchanges to Università di Bologna, and for the past two years or so I have been looking seriously at going there for a semester after my fine arts papers are finished and I only have arts papers left. The University is considered to be the oldest in the world, the institution having its beginning at the end of the eleventh century, and boasts students such as Dante Alighieri and Albrecht Dürer who are two of my favourites. It all sounds so perfect and amazing to live in Italy, but I'm scared to be by myself and so far away.
It's such a weird feeling to want to move away and to leave home, but I feel like I need to do it and do it fully; to take myself out of the safety of everything that I know so well, and to immerse myself into something different. It's all a little bit terrifying and completely up in the air, but I really pray that it will happen. There are so many options and so many opportunities; sometimes I feel so overwhelmed and so small in comparison to the world that I don't even know where to start.
Siamo Soli - Vasco Rossi
Siamo Soli by Vasco Rossi. I love how intense his songs are; this is one of my favourites at the moment.
Apricot and Umber Beneath The Indigo Mountain
'The evening is silky warm. A sensuous light drapes the palazzos lining the Lung'Arno, the colours apricot and umber beneath the indigo mountain backdrop. The city seems empty and shuttered. At the top of one of these elegant, aristocratic buildings, a line of washing is strung between two tiny windows.'
from The Art of Falling - Deborah Lawrenson
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Primavera in anticipo - Laura Pausini and James Blunt
Primavera in anticipo by Laura Pausini and James Blunt.
Quella destinata per te, nessuno la prenderà
Quella destinata per te, nessuno la prenderà: No one will take the one who is destined for you.
I hope this is true. I feel like my heart is breaking.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Ricordati di me
Ricordati di me, or Remember Me, My Love, directed by Gabriele Muccino stars Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Laura Morante, Nicoletta Romanoff, Silvio Muccino, and Monica Belluci. This is one of only a few 'contemporary' Italian films that I have seen. The characters lead a disjointed lifestyle, each with their own problems and selfish ambitions; and they fail to communicate to each other. There is a sense of emptiness and loss throughout the story, and although the family seems happy for a while, the moments are short-lived.
'At first glance the Ristuccia family is apparently normal and close-knit, but all of its members are hiding something. Carlo, the head of the family, would like to become a writer rather than continue working in an insurance company. Giulia, his wife, is a professor of literature who aspires to become an actress. Paolo is an insecure teenager who cannot successfully assert himself in front of girls whom he likes. Valentina desires to become a television showgirl at any cost. This silence is broken when Carlo meets his old love Alessia, with whom he starts an extra-marital affair. As a result Giulia falls into total despair, destroying the family's equilibrium and losing control over their children.'
Ti vorrei sollevare - Elisa feat. Giuliano Sangiorgi
Ti vorrei sollevare by Elisa feat. Giuliano Sangiorgi. When I was in Italy, this was one of the songs that was playing on the radio and on MTV Italia every day.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
This is neither Italian, nor French, but the short-film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is beautiful and genius nonetheless. 'Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, Morris Lessmore is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favour. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/illustrator William Joyce and Co-Director Brandon Oldenburg present a new narrative experience that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals.' The film has been nominated for the upcoming Academy Awards, and can be watched in its entirety here: http://vimeo.com/35404908
Rome Police Hold Anniversary 1953
Rome Police Hold Anniversary display in 1953. With such spectacular formations, the police must have had heaps of spare time to practice.
Le Fils de l'épicier
Le Fils de l'épicier (The Grocer's Son) is a French film directed by Éric Guirado, starring Nicolas Cazalé, Jeanne Goupil, Daniel Duval, and Clotilde Hesme. The use of 'provincial' sets and costuming was highly effective, particularly the fabrics and wallpapers, and together with the beautiful landscape of Provence, France, the countyside lifestyle is depicted with a sleepy wistfulness.
'It is summer, and thirty-year-old Antoine is forced to leave the city to return to his family in Provence. His father is sick, so he must assume the lifestyle he thought he had shed - driving the family grocery cart from hamlet to hamlet, delivering supplies to the few remaining inhabitants. Accompanied by Claire, a friend from Paris whom he has a secret crush on, Antoine gradually warms up to his experience in the hills and his encounters with the villagers, their joie de vivre ultimately contagious.'
Hazy With Italian Colour
'The villa was a long, rather blank-looking structure, with the far-projecting roof which Tuscany loves and which, on the hills that encircle Florence, when considered from a distance, makes so harmonious a rectangle with the straight, dark, definite cypresses that usually rise in groups of three or four beside it. The house had a front upon a little grassy, empty, rural piazza which occupied a part of the hill-top; and this front, pierced with a few windows in irregular relations and furnished with a stone bench lengthily adjusted to the base of the structure and useful as a lounging-place to one or two persons wearing more or less of that air of undervalued merit which in Italy, for some reason or other, always gracefully invests any one who confidently assumes a perfectly passive attitude - this antique, solid, weather-worn, yet imposing front had a somewhat incommunicative character. It was the mask, not the face of the house. It had heavy lids, but no eyes; the house in reality looked another way - looked off behind, into splendid openness and the range of the afternoon light. In that quarter the villa overhung the slope of its hill and the long valley of the Arno, hazy with Italian colour. It had a narrow garden, in the manner of a terrace, productive chiefly of tangles of wild roses and other old stone benches, mossy and sun-warmed. The parapet of the terrace was just the height to lean upon, and beneath it the ground declined into the vagueness of olive-crops and vineyards.'
from The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Sanctuary
Gregory Crewdson photographed his Sanctuary exhibition while visiting Roma. The artist took a tour of Cinecittà, the famed studios where Fellini shot La Dolce Vita and Martin Scorsese made The Gangs of New York. Walking through the interlocking, melancholic streets of sets in ruins, the photographer became fascinated by the deserted ghost town of stages. 'I saw these enormous sets in various degrees of decay and how nature was impinging on them, and I immediately understood… I don’t know if it’s obvious, but while shooting I felt that this whole project was very relevant to the moment. In a period of fragility and collapsing empires and banks closing, I feel like these pictures tend to reflect the moment we’re in.' The photographs are so hauntingly beautiful.
I've Got No Strings - Pinocchio
I've Got No Strings from the Italian version of Disney's Pinocchio film.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Candy - Paolo Nutini
Candy by Paolo Nutini. He's Scottish, but of Italian descent. Cutest accent ever.
Roman Holiday
One of my favourite movies of all time is Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. With Audrey, Rome, 1950's fashion, and ice cream, it is perfect.
Mokoroa Stream Track
Over the weekend we went tramping in the Waitakare Ranges on the Goldie Bush Walkway and the Mokoroa Stream Track; hours of intense mud and numerous stream crossings led us to this beautiful waterfall. Sometimes I forget how truly stunning New Zealand is, just because it's so close. Afterwards we went to Piha for a swim before heading back into town for the night. Such an amazing, event-filled day. If I ever move to live in Europe I'll miss this so much.
L'erba voglio non cresce neanche nel giardino del re
L'erba voglio non cresce neanche nel giardino del re: The grass of 'I want' does not grow even in the garden of the king.
My friend told me this Italian proverb the other day. I'm not really sure how to translate it properly, but he said that this is what Italian parents tell their children when they use 'I want' too much; not even kings get everything they want. It sounds so much prettier in Italian.
Amycanbe
Oh my gosh! I was on Facebook, and what should pop up on the little side panel of updates, but a post from the Amycanbe page linking to my previous post about Truth Be Told. So excited and embarassed, I feel a little dazed and star-struck!
Respiro
I have just finished watching an Italian film written and directed by Emanuele Crialese, called Respiro, starring Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato, and Francesco Casisa. It is set on an island called Lampedusa, near western Sicilia. It is very different from any other Italian film I have seen so far; extremely gritty and pared-back with a haunting soundtrack, creating a tension. Respiro is realist while also containing an air of the mythical.
Grazia (Valeria Golino), is the wife of a fisherman named Pietro (Vincenzo Amato), and mother of a teenage girl and two sons. She works along with the other women tinning fish, but becomes fed up with such a mundane life, and behaves irrationally and erratically. At times sweet and docile, other times impulsive and hysterical. As the problems escalate, her family soon comes to the decision that she must get clinical help from a doctor in Milan, but she refuses to go. It is Grazia's son Pasquale (Francesco Casisa) who will do anything to protect his mother.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Cose della vita - Eros Ramazzotti and Tina Turner
Cose della vita by Eros Ramazzotti and Tina Turner. Two of the greats.
Escape
'The struggle with literature is in fact a struggle to escape from the confines of language; it stretches out from the utmost limits of what can be said; what stirs literature is the call and attraction of what is not in the dictionary.'
- Italo Calvino
Panettone
The Italian version of Christmas cake is the traditional panettone, it is so ridiculously delicious. It is believed to have originated in Milano in around the 15th Century, and typically consists of a light, well-raised dough, raisins, and candied citrus peel.
There are many tales about the origin of the pannetone, but this is my favourite version, compiled from the different snippets I have read.
There was once a baker named Toni, who lived in Milano during the 15th Century. Toni had a daughter, Adalgisa, who was very beautiful. A handsome young man named Ughetto della Tela fell in love with her, but he came from a rich family and knew that they would disapprove of his match with a commoner. He was a hawk breeder in the court of Duke Ludovico Maria Sforza, and in the dark of night he would sneak out to meet Adalgisa, when she was mixing bread in Toni's bakery. However, a new rival bakery opened and Toni fell sick, and his daughter had to run the bakery by herself.
Ughetto came to Adalgisa's aid, selling some of his hawks to buy butter to add to the bread, as she could not afford it. As soon as the butter was added, everyone flocked to their bakery, and the customers increased still with the addition of sugar. They were doing so well, Ughetto began to add delicious candied citrus peel and eggs to the bread, and raisins during the festive Christmas season. Toni's once tiny and floundering bakery expanded and became famous throughout Milano. Ughetto and Adalgisa married and their new bread was spread throughout Italy, and became a traditional Christmas dessert.
Via del Paradiso
The design and architecture of Italy is amazing; even the street signs are beautiful, so different to the bright blue and green metal ones we have here in New Zealand. I photographed this one in Roma. One day when I go back to Italy I'll have to spend more time photographing the little details; last time I was so overwhelmed I photographed mainly art and architecture and regrettably forgot about the streets and the people.
Firenze
A short video about Firenze, Italia, from German channel Euromaxx on Deutsche Welle TV. Watching this kind of stuff makes me want to cry, I want to go back so much.
Nella vita - chi non risica - non rosica
Nella vita - chi non risica - non rosica: In life - he who risks nothing - gains nothing.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Costa Concordia
This satellite image of the Costa Concordia shipwreck off the Tuscan coast of Giglio has just been released.
La cucina piccola fa la casa grande
La cucina piccola fa la casa grande: A little kitchen makes a large home.
One of the best things about Italy is the importance that is placed on cuisine; it's almost like life there revolves around both food and family. And traditional Italian cuisine is simple; rich without being too indulgent or extreme, it's so much fun to make. I just stocked up our kitchen with tomatoes, lemons, wine, and ginger; can't wait to cook delicious things this week.
Elle s'appelait Sarah
Elle s’appelait Sarah, is a French film known in English as Sarah’s Key. Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and starring Kristin Scott-Thomas, it is based upon a novel of the same name by Tatiana de Rosnay. Although this is not an Italian film, it does feature a brief episode in Firenze. And with an upcoming journey to France on the horizon; this blog will inevitably merge into ramblings about both Italy and France, and everywhere in between.
This film is one of the most heart-wrenching films I have ever seen. The acting is refined and the cinematography stunning. Before watching this, I had had no idea at all about the Vel d’Hiv Roundup, had never even heard of the horror that had gone on in Paris during World War II. It’s still so hard to believe that all this happened not that long ago at all; and both tragic and guilty to think that the world really has not learnt from the horrors of the past.
‘… Kristin Scott-Thomas stars as Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris with her French husband and teenage daughter. When Julia is commissioned to write an article about the notorious 1942 Vel d’Hiv Roundup, she stumbles upon a secret which will change her life, and that of her family, forever.
Julia’s research draws a connection between the family apartment that she and her husband are renovating, and its former residents, the Jewish Starzynski family. Resolving to discover what became of them, she finds herself focusing on the fate of their daughter, Sarah, in an investigation that takes her across France and even back to America. The more Julia unearths, the more she discovers about Bertrand’s famiy, about France and, finally, about herself.’
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
La belle jardinière
When I first saw this episode of the Gilmore Girls, I was so excited to see that Emily Gilmore had a Raphael cushion that I had to go back and screenshot it.
La belle jardinière
Raphael, 1507
Oil on panel, 122 x 80 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
La belle jardinière, also known as Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist, was painted by Raffaelo Sanzio da Urbino, more famously known as Raphael, under commission by the Sienese patrician, Fabrizio Sergardi. Raphael's works depict a soft modelling of forms and figures with a graceful piety, and it is evident that he was influenced by the chiaroscuro techniques of Leonardo. Raphael painted many scenes of the Madonna and Child, but this one is among the most famous.
Il re dell'isola
Il re dell'isola (The King of the Island) is directed by Raimondo della Calce and produced by artFive animation studio.
'Gioannin is a 6 year old child who lives in Italy at the beginning of the 1900's. He dreams of the strong and wonderful father he never knew, who went missing at sea and never returned. He will discover that a dream is nothing compared to what real life can give, despite its difficulties and disappointments.'
This magical short-film can be watched in its entirety here: http://vimeo.com/5709349
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Palazzo Orsini
This incredible palazzo was built on top of a teatro, and it is now for sale! Palazzo Orsini is situated in the centre of Rome, and is currently on the market for £26 million. The palace includes frescoed staterooms, a ballroom, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a library, a dining room, a terrace overlooking the Tiber, a separate penthouse, and cellars which lead to ancient Roman arches. The gardens boast numerous fountains and orange trees. But what is perhaps most special about this property is the fact that the building has been built on top of the Theatre of Marcellus, Teatro di Marcello, a stone and marble structure from the 1st Century BC that resembles a small Colosseum.
There is good reason for the frenzy and the asking price of this property; it is rare for palazzi to be sold to the public, generally they are kept within the family for centuries. The palace is being sold by the family of Dame Iris Origo, who was famous for her book, War in the Val'd'Orcia: An Italian War Diary, which describes her experience in Italy from 1943-44. Marrying an Italian aristocrat, Antonio Origo, they together bought an estate near Siena, Tuscany, and looked after refugee children, families who had been affected by the war, escaped prisoners of war, and Allied airmen.
She rented and then bought Palazzo Orsini in the 1950’s. Teatro di Marcello was designed to seat 20,000, begun by Julius Caesar, and completed in 11BC by Emperor Augustus, who named it after his favourite nephew. It was abandoned in the 4th Century AD, but was later reconstructed in the Middle Ages, with the removal of the top tier of seating and columns, it was turned into a fortress for the Fabii. Finally, in the 18th Century, the Orsini family built their home upon the travertine blocks of the theatre.
Oh Rome, you are so magnificent. Someone please buy me this.
Oh Rome, you are so magnificent. Someone please buy me this.
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