L.A. had a heat wave over the weekend. I wasn't prepared for the 100+ degree temps, and although the sweltering heat makes me crabby, I have to admit it's great for the roses.
Pretty English roses.
So, I closed the door and windows, turned out the lights, blasted the AC and watched a couple of movies I've been wanting to see--Holy Motors and Dark City.
Holy Motors is a film that's all about...film. It's colorful, electric, passionately acted--and doesn't make much sense, in an over-the-top, French auteur kind of way. For film fanatics only--you'll note that's a theme of this post.
Dark City: a grand, empty visual feast. This is the movie that ushered in a decade of dark comic book universes come to life--Sin City, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, etc. They all aspire to be these 40's film noirs set in grim, futuristic worlds--Blade Runner wanna-be's that all fall flat because of drab scripts.
Rufus Sewell--mesmerizing, even when spouting clunky dialogue in an American accent.
What was anything but empty was a performance of Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht by the Salastina Music Society. The piece is one of my top-ten favorites, and Salastina's interpretation of it was thrilling.
Narrated by KUSC's Brian Lauritzen, the first half of the concert was a deconstruction of the piece, relating motifs in Schoenberg's music to the lines of the poem by Richard Dehmel, about a couple who are transformed by a confession during a walk in the woods. Instead of it destroying the relationship, the promise of forgiveness renews their experience with each other and with life. The poem begins:
two people walk through a bare, cold grove
And ends:
two people walk through a lofty, bright night.
After intermission, the opus was performed in its entirety the way it was originally written--for a string sextet (it is often played by a full orchestra, but I feel that it's more powerful as a chamber piece).
Salastina's "Masterpiece Discovery" is a provocative format, breaking down an iconic piece in the first half, performing it in the second. One concert, one piece--a "transfiguring" experience itself.
Schoenberg painted, too--himself!
I like Salastina Society--now in their third season--very much! I plan to attend their final concert of the season in June, another offering of the Britten 100/LA. Co-creative directors and violinists, Maia Jasper and Kevin Kumar shared the stage with Pacific Symphony violists, Luke Maurer and Meredith Crawford, LACO cellist, Andrew Shulman, and cellist, Rebecca Merblum.
Co-directors Kevin Kumar and Maia Jasper, via Salastina Society.
About a month ago, I took a photo of this mural in Culver City....
...and on my weekly jaunt to the Farmer's Market, I glanced in the window of a jewelry store and spotted the ring below. How crazy! The shop had some lovely artisan jewelry at reasonable prices. I wish I could remember the name. It's the one wedged in between to the two vegetable stalls on the North side.
I also had swung by Swingers...ha ha ha. Such a blast from the past. It was the first place I had breakfast when I arrived in L.A 14 years ago. I watched Scott Thompson from The Kids in the Hall eat at the counter. I was officially starstruck.
There was no cooking this past weekend. Too hot. But lots of flowers and picture-taking.
My gorgeous, new rug was baptized this weekend, and by "baptized" I mean "barfed on." By the dog. In three separate spots. Sigh.
Still lookin' good.
The big news of the week was that I went to a showing of The Source Family documentary at Cinefamily. All of L.A. was abuzz with the Source Family this week.
So much to talk about! I haven't been to Cinefamily at the Fairfax Silent Movie theater in awhile.
Sex, drugs, rock n' roll. And God.
I visited the patio and enjoyed the Source Café serving dishes from the original restaurant. Amazing that they were offering vegan and raw delicacies over 40 years ago.
I sampled the raw tacos--so good.
Half the fun of attending a Cinefamily event are the trailers and shorts they preview before the movie. They are always NUTS--again, mostly for those who live only for film and have lost all contact with the real world. I saw a trailer for Nobhiko Obayashi's Schoolgirls in the Crosshairs, aka The Aimed School, which is screening this week, including a special appearance by the director.
Cinefamily's coming attraction: Schoolgirls in the Crosshairs.
The story of the Source Family was fascinating, and the documentary was outstanding. It all started with a man named Jim Baker, who opened what was arguably the first health food restaurant in the U.S on the Sunset Strip, The Source (now the Saddle Ranch Chop House).
Movie stars, rock stars and hippies flocked to The Source. Many, seduced by the charismatic owner, gave up their lives to work there. When Baker re-christened himself "Father Yod," a new movement was born. Father Yod envisioned a Utopian society that was peaceful, spiritual, communal and totally rockin.'
All Source Family photos via thesourcedoc.com.
The film traces the eight-year history of the Family, interviewing its many members. My favorites were Heaven, Sunflower, Orbit and Electra. And of course Isis Aquarian, on whose prolific photographs, films and recordings The Source Family is based.
Father Yod and his bevy of brides.
The movie was followed by a Q-and-A with members of the Family. So much more than a just a screening, The Source Family at Cinefamily offered a full experience of the early 70's Sunset Strip, the kind of counterculture that often flowers in L.A., and the movement's lasting impact--on food and fashion and music. I can totally see The Source Family having the same kind of influence that Grey Gardens has had on popular culture.
American Apparel are big "Yod heads," i.e. Source Family fans.
The Source Family will be in national release this summer, playing here in L.A. at the Sundance Cinemas. Highly recommended for film lovers...of all levels of fanaticism.
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