Tag: film

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Gene Kelly; A Life in Music

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Gene Kelly; A Life in Music

With the Auckland Philharmonia conducted by Neil Thomson

Auckland Town Hall

March 15

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

It was billed as Gene Kelly; A life in Music but it could equally have been called Patricia Ward Kelly; A life in Music as the show which was written by his wife was brilliantly presented as she narrated the life of the dancer with the music played by the Auckland Philharmonia along with crisp remastered clips  from his films.

The two met in the mid 1980s, when he was 73 and Patricia was a 31-year- expert on the works of Herman Melville who had never seen any of the actor/dancer’s films. He asked  her if she would work with him on his autobiography which she did, for five years.

They married when he was 77 years, and each day she documented and recoded his life, This close association with him made her the most knowledgeable person about the dancer’s career.

Her knowledge, of Gene, the music and films all merge into a superb account of Kelly’s life as well as a snapshot of American dance movies of the mid twentieth century.

Most of his iconic films were shown including scenes from Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, Brigadoon, Summer Stock, Les Girls and It’s Always Fair Weather.

We saw him perform with Ginger Rogers, Leslie Caron, and Cyd Charisse as well as with an animated Jerry the Mouse getting a dance lesson from Gene Kelly in “Anchors Aweigh”.

We also get to hear the music of the great composers of the time as well -Andre Previn Lerner & Loewe, Cole Porter and the Gershwins.

We also get to appreciate the clever way in which realism and abstraction was used in  the sets. This combination created some surreal dance sequences with vivid use of colour which highlights the spectacle of the dance routines and shows how Kelly helped change the nature of dance on film with a new mode of choreography and filming.

For the introduction to the second half which featured clips from Brigadoon she had a piper stride up the aisle and then in a surprise appearance she introduced Michael Crawford of Phantom of The Opera fame, who now lives in New Zealand and who acknowledged Kelly as a major influence in getting the role.

Patricia Kelly’s  presentation brought  clever showmanship and intimacy to the evening accompanied by the Auckland Philharmonia conducted Neil Thomson.

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Reviews, News and Commentary

Belle: Spectacular and disjointed

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Belle Image. Andi Crown

Belle

A Performance of Air

Movement of the Human (MOTH)

Director / Producer, Malia Johnston

Kiri te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre

March 6 – 9

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

“Belle” had all the elements to make it a stand-out performance however it never quite managed to make it a truly  thrilling show.

The all-female cast of skilled aerialist / dancers/ singers performed a range of acts with a touch of magic and their routines were all immersed in a riotous soundscape and a remarkable light and fog environment.

Sometimes it felt a though someone had told the musicians that they only needed to play loudly and that would cover any mistakes or lack of continuity.

There was also a  lack of cohesion between the various sections or vignettes which was a major  problem. Even though the acts were spectacular, there was no sense of narrative or trajectory.

Many of the sections had a sense of cavorting angels or goddesses and this could have related to the figures and Ranginui and Papatūānuku in the digital work “Ihi” by Lisa Reihana which is in the Aotea Centre foyer.

Most of the acts were performed in a half light, with the performers often seen in silhouette. Along with the dramatic use of light this added to the drama of the performance but it also meant the audience was often not able to appreciate the athleticism of the performers.

Some of the acts were brilliant conceived with figure rising and falling from the stage and disappearing into the enveloping fog of the stage. Other sequences saw the cast using elaborate equipment such as aerial wheels and large pivoting wheels.

But the lack of interconnection and lack of coordination between the sequences and music did  a disservice to the acts and a disappointment to the audience.

Categories
Reviews, News and Commentary

A Complete Unknown: How Bob Dylan became known

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

A Complete Unknown

Director, James Mangold

Screenplay, James Mangold and Jay Cocks

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

A Complete Unknown, the new biopic about Bob Dylan takes its title from the refrain to his “Like a Rolling Stone”


How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone

The song articulates his ambivalence about success and failure, about the loss of innocence and the realities of the music world.

The film is based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! written by Elijah Wald, and follows Dylan from his early folk music success through to the his controversial use of electrically amplified instrumentation at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival

We first encounter Dylan Timothée Chalamet in 1961 when he moves from Minnesota to New York City, to see the recently hospitalized Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) where he also meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) who becomes a close friend

Dylan impresses both the singers with a song he has written for Guthrie and he ends up staying with Seeger’s family who introduce him to the New York folk music scene.

Dylan meets Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), his first girl friend  at a concert, charming her with his approach to music and life while she introduces him to politics and the Civil Rights movement The two begin a relationship and move in together.

At an open mic session Dylan follows on from a performance by Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) starting a relationship which would last many years. Also at the session is Albert Grossman who signs Dylan up and becomes his manager. However, the record company won’t use any of Dylan’s original work, only interested in covers. The poor sales and reception are the first of the singer’s frustrations with the music industry

Dylan’s career takes off and he goes to several of the folk music festivals including Newport where he sings with Joan Baez and where in 1965 he alienates many of the crowd as well as his fellow folk musicians for embracing the more dynamic and challenging rock sounds that the electric guitar offers.

Timothée Chalamet isn’t going to convince a Dylan purist but he comes close to capturing the playing, the raspy voice, the subtle gestures and movements along with his ambivalent and unpredictable reactions to people and events.

We get a sense of how his musical ideas developed, mixing personal, political and musical elements to create songs which look at the heart of American society. All his encounters and relationships become the grist to his creative mind as he become one of the great voices of his generation

The film is full of his music as well as the music and musicians who had an impact on the singer – street musicians, The Kinks, Johny Cash, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. There are also glimpses of important events of the time  which shaped his view of the world – The Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the death of J. F. Kennedy.

Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez) and Timothée Chalamet Bob Dylan

Throughout the film we see the differences between  Dylan’s style and many of the other musicians of the time. In his duo “All Day and All of the Night” with Joan Baez at the Newport Folk Festival Baez’s sweet singing contrasts with Dylan’s sharper, more cynical sound, a sound which sets him apart for the next fifty years.

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Derek Jarman’s Delphinium Days coming in June

John Daly-Peoples

Derek Jarman, The Garden

Derek Jarman: Delphinium Days
Gus Fisher Gallery, 15 June-14 September 2024
City Gallery Wellington, 19 October 2024- 2 February 2025

John Daly-Peoples

This June, Auckland’s Gus Fisher Gallery opens Derek Jarman: Delphinium Days, New Zealand’s first exhibition of this highly significant figure influential artists and gay rights activists of his generation. Entry is free. 

He was the first public figure in the UK to make his HIV positive status known, the exhibition marks 30 years since his untimely death to an AIDS related illness at the age of 52. 

The exhibition curated by Lisa Beauchamp, ( Gus Fisher Gallery), Aaron Lister (City Gallery , and Michael Lett will feature seen paintings, films, photographs and archival material by and about the artist, which will offer an in-depth and affecting view of this celebrated cultural figure whose impact remains profound today. 

Beauchamp says “The exhibition will also cement Jarman’s familial connection to Aotearoa through his father Lancelot,” she says. 

Jarman’s father Lancelot Elworthy Jarman was born in Canterbury in 1907 after Jarman’s grandparents immigrated from Britain in 1888. 

“To bring this part of his life to the fore in Derek Jarman: Delphinium Days will add so much to our understanding and connection to him as one of the most enduringly relevant and impactful artists of modern times,” adds Beauchamp.

Jarman was a prolific creative best known for his avant-garde films, who pushed boundaries to move skilfully between painting, film, writing, set design, performance and gardening. 

Jarman was an early campaigner for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and people with AIDs, after being diagnosed as HIV positive himself in 1986.

Co-curator Michael Lett says: “Derek Jarman was one of my first encounters with a fully formed, human gay man. As a teenager reading “Modern Nature” quietly in my room, I found a complex man, who had friends, had sex, got angry, liked to garden and was open about being HIV positive.” 

Jarman’s films are widely known, including Caravaggio (1986) and The Garden (1990) starring his longtime collaborator and muse Tilda Swinton; cult-favourite Jubilee (1978) and his last ever feature film Blue (1993). In Auckland, Gus Fisher Gallery will partner with The Capitol Cinemas to present a selection of Jarman’s most well-loved feature films by the artist.

Jarman helped set the cultural zeitgeist for the time, with his art speaking to and for the dispossessed and alienated, as well as his writing, including Modern Nature (1991) and At your own risk (1992). Many will also be familiar with his music videos for iconic bands like Pet Shop Boys, The Smiths, and Sex Pistols. 

Major painted works from Jarman’s late ‘Evil Queen’ series will be included in the exhibition, as well as a selection of his famous tar paintings and landscapes that connect to his garden at Dungeness. A selection of Jarman’s rarely seen Super 8 films will also be featured.  

The artist himself will feature in a range of tender images by Jarman’s close friend and photographer Howard Sooley.

A dynamic public programme of events will be delivered in Auckland and Wellington to help the exhibition resonate with broad audiences, informed by kōrero with Aotearoa’s LGBTQIA+ communities. 

“By using the exhibition as a catalyst to reduce the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS, we plan to offer meaningful engagement opportunities for rainbow audiences and allies,” says Beauchamp. 

She says Jarman became a beacon of hope for those isolated from society. 

“His artworks and social commentary are a powerful mechanism against a rising tide of hatred and homophobia. Whether through painting, film, gardening or writing, his creativity knew no bounds and continues to influence generations of artists globally.”