Tomatoes From Canada

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Thirteen Postcards in a Pandemic

Are you watching more movies these days? Bill and I are watching a lot of foreign films and have noticed the one-liner quality of some of the subtitles. I keep my Nikon handy and take pictures of the screen. We've started a pool of the results called "Pitiless Postcards". This set of Pandemic cards is drawn from that pool. Collect them all!

"My happiness was only a dream." -- Gérard Philipe as the young Faust and Michel Simon as Mephistopheles in René Clair's La Beauté du Diable (The Beauty of the Devil), 1957

"What a pig you turned out to be." -- Lucrecia Martel's La Ciénaga (The Swamp), 2001

"I've wasted so much time being beautiful." -- Polly Walker in Mike Newell's The Enchanted April, 1991

"And I was so full of scruples!" -- Fabio Testi in Vittoria De Sica's Il Gardino dei Finzi-Continis (Garden of the Finzi-Continis), 1970

"It's no joke. You're in pain and so am I." -- Jean Renoir's La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game), 1939.

"Nothing is possible anymore." -- Maria Callas in the title role of Pier Paulo Pasolini's Medea, 1969.

"You don't have to worry when I'm here." -- the family maid (Kari Sylwan), comforting the mother (Harriet Anderson) in Ingmar Bergman's Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers), 1972.

"There is some onion, if you want it." -- Andrei Tarkovski's Андрей Рублёв (Andrei Rublev), 1969

"...but too sincere. Sincere people are such bores." -- Nora Gregor in Jean Renoir's La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game), 1939.

"Yet, I can feel deep down that I am not a coward." -- Jeanne Voisin in Bruno Dumont's Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d'Arc (Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc), 2017.

"To have a conscience is to be open to the world." -- Jean-Pierre Léaud in Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin Feminin, 1966.

"Last night you woke me and talked very softly." -- Marcel Carné's Le Quai des Brumes (Port of Shadows), 1939.

"The shepherdesses are waiting." -- Eric Rohmer's, Les amours d'Astrée et de Céladon (The Romance of Astrea and Celadon), 2007.

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Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Raptors Victory Parade, Toronto

A million people came out yesterday in Toronto to line the route of the Raptors' victory parade.

Some staked out their positions early.

Others roamed freely along Lakeshore Avenue

waiting for the parade to begin.

Finally, we were all lined up, and the way was clear.

Bill and I found some high ground to get an angle on the action.

Toronto Fire Pipe and Drum band lead the way.

Why is the sound of the pipes and drums so stirring?

Toronto Police carried our flag.

First hint of the Raptors

The players themselves followed

The crowd cheered and ran along the parade route

alongside the buses carrying the players -- caught up in the joy of victory.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Open Courtyards, Rome

John and I took a little tour of the Open Courtyards of Rome last week. The weekend-long event allows the public to enter palatial courtyards that are usually closed.

We began with the elegant courtyard of Palazzo Della Valle

and were allowed to climb the stairs to its gorgeously decorated reception room

with its huge fireplace

and enjoyed the view down into the courtyard.

As we left the palace we could see that our tour was going to be fun!

The courtyard of the next palace, the Palazzo Pasolini Dall'Onda, was small but featured an incredible Baroque fountain that dwarfed both me and the space.

It also held a group of caged stones that were probably for restoration of their pavements but made us think of the installations of contemporary artists.

Our next stop was the Palazzo del Gallo in the Piazza Farnese.

Again we were allowed to climb the wonderful staircase that dominates the courtyard.

I loved this terrace that became apparent as we climbed. Wouldn't this be a dreamy airbnb sanctuary!

Last but not least of our courtyard visits was to the Palazzo Capponi Antonelli. This elegant courtyard leads to a gorgeous, hidden garden.

The building seen from the garden looks like the set to a wonderful ghost story.

As one climbs the stairs visitors are treated

to a view of the lush planting below.

We imagined a legend of a mysterious woman who would occasionally appear in the garden below.

What a treat to be able to visit some of the beautiful spots that are usually hidden. We took the magic of their beauty back into the wet streets of Rome.

Monday, May 20, 2019

Mapplethorpe at Gallerie Corsini, Rome

Celebrations of the thirtieth anniversary of Robert Mapplethorpe's death are taking place around the world. Bill and I have already reported on the must-see show at the MADRE in Naples.

The Corsini Gallery in Rome is participating by installing a selection of Mapplethorpe's photographs amongst their collection of 16th and 17th century art.

Many of the juxtapositions are straightforward -- the sculptural nudes of Ajitto (1981) are paired with bronze wrestlers.

The art in the Corsini collection was arranged in the 18th century and has not changed since then. Mapplethorpe's black and white photos stand out on the walls.

Ken and Lydia and Tyler, 1985.

Mapplethorpe liked traditional art. He and his partner filled their NYC apartment with both traditional and modern art. (Italian Devil, 1988)

A closer look at Italian Devil.

Mapplethorpe was interested in traditional ways of representing the human figure and enjoyed using conventional motifs for his own expressive ends. (Harry Lunn, 1976)