2007-07-22

Jim and I had a blessed Sabbath under perfect skies, cerulean, free of sogginess and with the glow of summer sun to kiss our faces. I do love the Kentucky summer! Jim cleaned house while I sang the service at St. Luke’s. We sat for a while before lunch while we finished reading the newspaper and doing the Sunday puzzles.

With our lunch we watched “Letters from Iwo Jima”, Clint Eastwood’s companion film to “Flags of Our Fathers”. It was tastefully done and appealing in its somehow gentle black and white rendering of the simple thoughts, prayers and fears of the “other side”, that supposed enemy whose concerns so perfectly mirrored “our” side. I think Jim saw more of this film than did I. I napped through a good deal of it, that shallow sleep where one still hears the sound track but does not attend.

We had ice cream and then watched our second feature, “Copying Beethoven”. Ed Harris was consummate in his rendition of the famously ill-tempered “Beast” as was Diane Kruger, an actress whose work is new to me, who played the unlikely role of a female music copyist – unlikely because women were expected not to work at any profession before the mid-twentieth century. Nevertheless both performances were luminous, intense and perfectly matched. Harris is a genius at portraying geniuses – his portrayal of Jackson Pollock several years ago was equally riveting.

The sound track to “Beethoven” was far too heavy for the piece, however. It could be argued that Beethoven’s music, which was used to the exclusion of other music, is indeed too heavy for the modern ear. However he wrote delightful, simple, charming music as well as the heavy stuff, and judicious choices could have lightened the oppressive intensity of the finished sound track and far better matched the subtleties of the performances. Instead our ears were bludgeoned by selections from the symphonies which sounded like a train gathering speed down a fast track, which Beethoven’s musical style can resemble if the music is taken out of its context.

The cinematography was particularly fine and the production was excellent, aspects of film making which often remain unnoticed, but which add so greatly to a film’s worth and character.

Jim and I enjoyed both films thoroughly!

Jim then napped some more while I enjoyed a round of computer solitaire – I enjoy the “Spider Solitaire” on Microsoft Office. After this sweet leisure time, Mick roused to run a bath and we enjoyed stretching exercises, our whirlpool and then a date. We arose from that delightful pursuit to dine, offer the Gaia Meditation and relax with National Geographic Channel presentations on Nefertiti and the construction of the Egyptian pyramids until our bedtime at about 11:30