I’ve been a fan of the Character Design Reference Tumblr and Pinterest pages for some time, so I finally decided to bite the bullet and enter their monthly design challenge and enter a design for a Roller Derby contestant.
Unfortunately one thing I learned doing this is the importance of reading the rules, most notably the calendar so therefore I didn’t get in. But anyway now I’m signed up so better luck next time.
This month I wanted to take a break from anything that was remotely serious and decided to watch the works of Italian comedian and director Roberto Benigni.. I had enjoyed his Academy award winning Life is Beautiful(though I must admit that the mixture of slapstick humor and the holocaust was not a perfect mix for me) and I wanted to see what else he had done.
The first film on the list The Monster tells the story of Loris a part time mannequin arranger full time mooch and squatter who do to a series of hilarious coincidences becomes the police’s number one suspect for an at large serial killer. In order to confirm this they recruit Jessica an attractive female officer played by Benigni’s wife, Nicoletta Braschi to go undercover as his room mate and a ridiculously over the top honeytrap.
This is all done as broad slapstick with Loris getting into one compromising and misunderstood situation after another. It is easy to see how Begini is frequently compared with Charlie Chaplain as he mooches his way through his day avoiding his apartment manager, stealing coffee and croissants at a cafe, and circumventing a department store’s alarms in a method that I can’t help wondering if it would actually work if I ever decided to take up shoplifting.
The next film The Tiger and Snow is a much more serious affair with Begin playing Attilio de Giovanni, a divorced father of two and professor of poetry. He falls in love with Vittoria a writer, once again played by (Nicoletta Braschi, who is works working with, Faud, an Iraqi poet played by Jean Reno. She joins him in returning to Bagdad just as the war breaks out.
A week later Attillo is told that Vitorria has been hurt badly and desperately goes to Iraq to help. From there he finds himself trying desperately to find medicine to save her in a bombed out Baghdad.
While Benigni gives a wonderful comic performance this is a much more restrained and lyrical film showing the horrors of the war. (I found a lot of reviews that were offended by the film’s treatment and implied criticism of the Iraq war, but frankly most of the time it was treated almost like a force of nature and an obstacle.) All of this is interspersed with a recurring dream sequence involving a surreal version of a wedding between Atillo and Vittoria which is continually interrupted with the bride turning into a kangaroo) And despite the drama it has it’s share of comedy, my favorite being a scene where a peace activist proclaims nobody has ever been hurt by throwing down a peace sign, only for it to hit Attilo.
For this week’s Rhapsody we have Christoph Keller playing Herbert Howells‘ second Rhapsody for organ in E-Flat major op 17 (we did his first rhapsody for organ four years ago here.)
As my long time readers may have noticed Ariane Elder lead actress at the Theater of the Bloody Tongue has been makingfrequentcameos in the strip starting last year.
In her last appearance she seemed to have taken an interest in Brian. Now, not wanting to judge anyone’s taste in men, she seems to have made quite a bit of progress in her own comic. Whether or not this carries over to the Rhapsodies verse and Brian takes a break from his Kate based myopia with a woman who’s a little less…. shy remains to be seen. otherwise enjoy.
(Quick Note. While the links from these images are safe for work, the rest of the strip is… iffy. Tread carefully.)
Ariane & Brian Meet
Brian is taken on a Date with Ariane
Brian Plays sugar daddy providing instruments and Hsin and Gage for Ariane’s Performance.