condenado à morte

Até à Eternidade (1953), Fred Zinnemann.

Um amor condenado à morte: é isso que nos diz este plano, que, mostrando o retrato de Deborah Kerr num momento em que esta ainda não se envolveu com Burt Lancaster, já prenuncia, na iconografia elegíaca e "memorialística" que o retrato carrega, o destino de uma relação proibida. A morte de um amor que ainda nem o é.

ah, o youtube

A discussão fenomenal a dois que aqui vai (v. comentários), com todos os condimentos (intelectualidade, erudição, elitismo, emoção, humildade, pieguice and so on) que fazem uma discussão youtube do século XXI. Delicioso. 

LOG IN

"LOG IN" (não editado) (2013). Chullage.

Ei-lo: o "FMI" (J. M. Branco) da era da globalização, dos Iphones, dos Facebooks, dos Farmvilles. Não deixem de ouvir isto.

time goes by

"1989", álbum Beatz Vol. 2 (2006). Large Professor.

esta cara diz tudo

Até à Eternidade (1953), de Fred Zinnemann.

"Both MSP [Ordenamento do Espaço Marítimo] and TSP [Ordenamento do Espaço Terrestre] can also be seen to be attempts at managing resource conflicts by using forms of technical rationality which support, rather than challenge the dominant economic interests in the respective fields - often the ones that have given rise to the need for interventions in the first place. For example, in the nineteenth century, Ebenezer Howard stressed how planning was a "peaceful path to real form" (...) and those on the left have highlighted how it can be used as means of neutralizing dissent and managing urban development within the logic of a capitalist system (...). Similarly, one could draw parallels with how MSP, born in an era where neo-liberalism rather than class-interests is the dominant organizing principle, has been justified within a discourse of ecological modernization, that facilitates reform of environmental governance while leaving many of the dominant unsustainable practices to continue. Indeed ecological concerns have led the way in putting MSP on the political agenda, with marine scientists being proeminent in shapin the early development of MSP. Interestingly, this disciplinary starting point differs markedly from that of TSP (which essential grew out of a movement for social reform) and this has had distinct implications for the development of debate around MSP, which has beem dominated by a rationalist paradigm focusing on the ecological health of marine areas and the epistemic discussion of appropriate management approaches".

Sue Kidd e Geraint Ellis, “From the Land to Sea and Back Again? Using Terrestrial Planning to Understand the Process of Marine Spatial Planning”, in Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, Vol. 14, No. 1, Taylor & Francis Online, March 2012, p. 52.

para lá de Deus

Para lá das Colinas (2012), Cristian Mungiu. (Podia ser um quadro do Caspar D. Friedrich, mas não é)

Para lá das colinas, existe Deus. Existe? Ou: o que existe para lá de Deus?
Talvez o melhor filme (estreias) que vi este ano em sala.

MAOI

"MAOI" (não editado). ProfJam.

solteiro

"Solteiro" (Sam the Kid, Regula, Hebert & Roulet), Mixtape II (Deluxe Edition) (2013). Orelha Negra.

Aí está o tele-disco de uma das melhores faixas da mixtape que recria o álbum Orelha Negra (2012).

Bósforo

Por conta de outros afazeres, andava a adiá-lo. No Bósforo, aliás, num Bósforo que não aquele pelo qual me apaixonei, passam-se coisas terríveis. O Estado, através das suas longa manus, agride cidadãos indiscriminadamente. A crónica do Paulo Moura é daquelas coisas que nos encosta à parede, que nos deixa a garganta em seco, que interpela no mais íntimo de nós a pergunta: como é possível?. A liberdade - sempre ela, rainha das rainhas - está em risco. Estou profundamente revoltado com o que se passa no Bósforo. O regresso de uma amiga minha turca para Istambul e a sensação de revolta e tristeza que, horas antes de partir, ela partilhou comigo por ver, à distância, amigos e familiares violentados pelas autoridades em plena luz do dia só aumentou o meu pesar.

Deixo aqui um pequeno texto da Elif Mendos (publicado, originalmente, no Jornal Tribuna), de quem a última recordação que tenho era um cartaz, na sua sala de estar portuguesa, com a inscrição To live as a tree alone and like a forest in brotherhood #resistanbul.

"By now, many things have been told about what is going on in Turkey. Referring to Arab spring, “Turkish Spring” they said or a clash of Islamic identity versus secular identity, or as in government supported media tried to show violent attacks to police by a bunch of “provocateurs”. Whatever has been trying to be labeled, the core claim of Turkish people in fact revolve more around increasingly authoritarian government pursued by Prime Minister Erdoğan's AKP (Justice and Development Party).

In brief it all started with a peaceful sit-in to prevent the last green piece of Istanbul in the center of Taksim Square, where the biggest historical, economical and cultural meeting point is. People wanted to prevent the destruction of Gezi Park and its transformation into a shopping mall. The redevelopment of Taksim Square, including the destruction of where the movement all started in -Gezi Park, was another capitalist urban development project. It run through unaccountable processes and was only in favor of the AKP. This project, like many others, leaved no voice for the citizens although it was shaping the urban environment they live in. This redevelopment project included demolishing of a symbol of local business Inci Pastry House in December 2012, followed by a destruction of Emek Theater (an independent cinema operation since 1924 and home to Istanbul Film Festival). Also the destruction of port areas of Karaköy, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy; the uprooting of up to 2.5 million trees for the construction of a widely unpopular third bridge across the Bosphoros are other “fall out from the sky” projects. In fact, over the past decades, as part of its urban modernization program, the AKP has been ripping down almost all historic and green sites while serving this places in the interest of domestic and foreign businessmen.

These all leaded us to todays. Now it was the turn of Gezi Park. Another public space had to be turned into an arena for private profit. On May 28, the day that municipal officers responsible for destruction arrived, people started a peaceful sit-in to not to give up on what left as an only green space, were in the park There were only a group of fifty protesters. On May 31 many people including journalists, parlimanters joined this peaceful sit-in in the park. They were reading books, camping, singing the Beatles underneath that tree they were protecting. And in the early hours of 31th of May the police attacked, burning the tents, using tear gas bombs, water cannons...This was a milestone when the protest crossed the political barriers. You do not have to be a leftist, rightist, secularist, Islamist to care about the environment, to care about the future generation. And yet, this is not just about uprroting of trees. It is about privatization of public space, turning the urban center a depoliticized and desocialized place. So by means of changing the urban place, forcing people to change themselves to a depolitic, desocialized rabble never opposing to the government.

The resistance that has spreaded to whole country was an accumulation of incidents. In the general elections of 2011 the AKP was reelected and this was stated as a “victory”. However from the time they were first elected in 2002 their records has been filled up with jailing of journalists, academics and students untill today. Their other governmental policies caused mass destructions on Turkey's democratic standards. Many journalists have been fired from the media companies wheneever they questioned the actions of the government. A book by Ahmet Şık, who was injured in the head by the excessive use of force by the police during #occupygezi resistance, was collected before its publication and the electronic copy of the draft was destroyed. The list continues to the Turkish Air Force's mass slaughter thirty-four villagers in Uludere/Roboski region of Turkey in December 2010, attacks in the southern town of Reyhanlı in which 52 people died, lipstick ban for stewardness in Turkish Airlines, a new strict alcohol law.... With all of these incidents, it was becoming clearer that the toleration of democratic mechanisms is not well developed. PM Erdoğan's and ruling party's view of democracy is a majoritarian dictatorship validated with election in every five years. For its 11 year old governance, the AKP has lacked of any tolerance to opposed ideas. As on May 29, the statement by PM Erdoğan referring to #occupygezi resistance “we have made our decision and we will implement it; you cannot do anything about it”, was the cause of this lack of tolerance.

As I wrote this, in 5th of June, the resistance is in its 9th day. People in Turkey got used to the tear gas that has been covering the sky lately. They now become professionals on how to fit the effects of tear gas, how to paralyze the water cannon. Most importantly people resisted with only flesh and bones, holding on the human dignity and their rights. Many videos and photos that taken by those unarmed people in the streets are the evidence of the massive violence. The more the police used excessive force, the more people marched in the streets in all country to support the resistance. Unlike what PM Erdoğan calls as “provocatuers”, those people are unarmed civilians. With this movement people not only overcome their fear to the authority and also to the “other”. It has been a long issue of the AKP government to polarised the public as “activist”, “terrorists”, “alcoholics”, “nationalist”. But now everyone is regardless of who they are, struggling arm to arm for the sake of freedom, democracy and to stop the ignorance of the AKP for 11 years. Tragically, the mass media in Turkey are all controlled by the government. This oppression by the government is the main reason of media censorship. The media companies are hiding this public masses in Turkey. While mass violence by the police was occuring outside, they showed gourmet programmes, documentaries about penguins or even ironically a documentary about Hitler. Since they only broadcast to serve the government, they mention this civil unrest as a violence against police and the demonstrators as violators. As the mass media keeps to be blindfolded to what has been going on in the streets, the only communication source is the social media. The useful tactical informations can only be exchanged via Facebook or Twitter.

This is not a movement of political parties or institutions. This is a movement of people. Also this is not about religion, not for a name of god. People are protesting throughout Turkey for the sake of freedom, humanity, existence and green places. Gezi Park is a symbol of government's understanding of power. We are not looters or extremists. We are students, teachers, workers, mothers, fathers. We represent various etnicities and creeds, religions and ideologies. We are now united because of our mutual concern for Turkey's future. We demand an end to police violence. We demand a free and unbiased media. We demand an open dialogue. 

At the rock bottom this resistance is all for “To live! As a tree alone and like a forest in brotherhood.” (Nazım Hikmet Ran)"

Walsh #1

O meu primeiro artigo para o À pala de Walsh já está disponível (ali) e incide sobre a fabulosa sequência do Fassbinder em Martha (1973). A ideia central - uma tentativa de análise, passo a passo, dessa sequência, dela decantando a estética fascizante que ensombra todo o filme - andava na minha cabeça desde que tinha visto o filme (mais ou menos desde aqui), tanto é que a apontei em papel. Felizmente, tive, agora, a oportunidade e a motivação para a consolidar num texto.

Martha (1973), melodrama de sabor sirkiano realizado para televisão – tivéssemos nós, em 2013, telefilmes como estes em vez de fórmulas telenovelescas adaptadas para 90 minutos… –, é um desses filmes onde o “rasto de contaminação” do nazismo aparece à superfície, por força, como habitualmente na obra de Fassbinder, do poder da metáfora. Helmut Salomon (Karlheinz Böhm) é mesmo, podemos dizê-lo, a “metáfora andante” que Fassbinder construiu, com perturbante sagacidade dramática, para representar o ideário pós-nazi e a sua “normalização” (a possível) numa sociedade democrática e tolerante. Helmut, enquanto figura metonímica desse processo normalizador, interessa-nos, pois, a partir da sua psicologia individual, isto é, da forma como se relaciona com os outros (para o caso, com a sua mulher), e na medida em que encarna os tiques que imediatamente associamos, de uma forma ou de outra, ao legado de horror nazi.

coincidências

Noutro País (2012), de Hong Sang-soo.

A coincidência não está só no facto de haver - como aqui se escreveu - muito do Kaurismäki de Le Havre (2011) no lindíssimo Noutro País, de Hong Sang-oo; está, igualmente, na crítica esplêndida que LMO lhe dedica (deliciosa a precisão do três vezes “o mesmo filme” dentro do “mesmo filme”...), tal-qualmente o tinha feito antes com o filme do finlandês. Coincidência que, involuntariamente, reflecte o cinema de coincidências, de acasos, dos "pequenos nadas" que constituem a força de dois filmes tão economicistas (palavra perigosa, nestes tempos) quanto mágicos.

tendências

"Tendências", álbum Em Nosso Nome (2012). Sir Scratch.

"Tendências" (homenagem, musicalmente falando, a estes respeitáveis senhores), uma das melhores (e mais divertidas) faixas de Em Nosso Nome (2012) - um disco fabuloso de que fiquei de escrever a crítica, mas que, infelizmente, por contingências de tempo, assim não aconteceu - tem agora um belo tele-disco, o qual evidencia nova homenagem de Sir Scratch ao Cinema. Trata-se de um fascínio que já vinha de um outro tele-disco, mas, sobretudo, do título do seu primeiro álbum - Cinema: Entre o Coração e o Realismo (2005), obra fundamental no percurso histórico do hip-hop em Portugal.

O tele-disco de "Tendências" fixa, com imensa doçura, toda a mitologia classicista do cinema que normalmente associamos à sala escura (não é pleonasmo - as salas dos multiplex actuais não o são, tantas as escadas e respectivos focos coloridos a identificá-las que se contam), ao preto e branco do filme, às intermitências da película, ao som da bobine,  às pipocas (em pacote vintage, comme il faut) e, mais do que isso tudo, ao fascínio-obsessão cultivado pelo indivíduo que se senta em frente da tela e dela absorve todas as tramas, os twist, os amour fou. Mitologia, portanto, correspondente aos tempos em que o prazer - algo solitário (não é por acaso que Scratch "vai sozinho" ao cinema) -  de ir ao cinema estava no acto de rendição perante o contar de uma história e sua interpretação pelos actores (e não é preciso ser militantemente cinéfilo para degustar as coisas desta forma), e não no gesto puramente consumista, "de entretenimento", em modo chiclete-deita-fora, que é hoje. Enfim (e precisamente)... "tendências".

Capital STEEZ

"Like Water" (Capital STEEZ, Joey Bada$$ e CJ Fly), mixtape Peep the Aprocalypse (2013). Pro Era.

Depois da tristeza, a homenagem que se impunha, embora o tributo maior ainda seja mesmo essa grande mixtape Peep The Aprocalypse, cortesia da Pro Era, colectivo de Nova Iorque liderado por este miúdo.

birds and the beez

"Birds and tHe Beez" (c/ Kendrick Lamar), álbum Setbacks (2011). Schoolboy Q.