All Was Sunshine

'All was sunshine - all was spring! The vine hung in long trails from tree to tree; never since have I seen Italy so beautiful. I sailed on Lago Maggiore; ascended the cathedral of Milan; passed several days in Genoa, and made from thence a journey, rich in the beauties of nature, along the shore to Carrara. I had seen statues in Paris, but my eyes were closed to them; in Florence, before the Venus de Medici, it was for the first time as if scales fell from my eyes; a new world of art disclosed itself before me; that was the first fruit of my journey. Here it was that I first learned to understand the beauty of form - the spirit which reveals itself in form. The life of the people - nature - all was new to me; and yet as strangely familiar as if I were come to a home where I had lived in my childhood. With a peculiar rapidity did I seize upon everything, and entered into its life...'

from The True Story of My Life: A Sketch by Hans Christian Andersen

Chanel Exhibition

Chanel Exhibition on Euromaxx, Deutsche Welle

The first exhibition ever dedicated to a perfume is for Chanel No. 5, at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris

Hævnen

Hævnen, or In A Better World, as it is known in English, is a Danish film directed by Susanne Bier that won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011. 

"Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his work at an African refugee camp. In these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness. Anton and his wife Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), who have two young sons, are separated and struggling with the possibility of divorce. Their older, ten-year-old son Elias (Markus Rygaard) is being bullied at school, until he is defended by Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen), a new boy who has just moved from London with his father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen). Christian's mother recently lost her battle with cancer, and Christian is greatly troubled by her death. Elias and Christian quickly form a strong bond, but when Christian involves Elias in a dangerous act of revenge with potentially tragic consequences, their friendship is tested and lives are put in danger. Ultimately, it is their parents who are left to help them come to terms with the complexity of human emotions, pain and empathy."

The acting, cinematography, and musical soundtrack are all perfect elements in a film that questions what it means to be on this planet; what it means to choose between peace and revenge. The story itself is perhaps a bit ponderous, but the message of the film is so strong and so heartfelt that one cannot come away from it untouched. Bier challenges Hollywood's notions of the age-old themes of life and death, rendering a fresh take on the fragility of humankind. I urge you all to see Hævnen. I haven't seen many Scandinavian films, but I will for sure remember this for a long time.