Fresh Dressed

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CNN Films is delving into the Rap/style game with Fresh Dressed, a doc on the history of Hip-Hop fashion.

Kangol, gold chains, Addidas. Still dope.

Kangol, gold chains, and Addidas. Still dope.

Fresh Dressed

Unfortunately you can’t stream the whole thing but you can watch it as a live stream when they air it on CNN.

If vintage Hip-Hop is your thing, and you haven’t seen Wild Style (not the Lego chick), then you must watch it NOW. You can stream it on Netflix. No Netflix? You can visit their site for a taste.

A landmark doc on Hip-Hop.

A landmark doc on Hip-Hop.

Wild Style

Peace out!

IRIS!

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Howdy! I’m back for a bit. Been out in mommy wilderness, I will not bore you with the details, needless to say, kindergarteners are buck wild and they do not give a F**k if you’re tired, hungry or on my last nerve.

I’m escaping to see the one and only Iris Apfel, in person y’all! The late Albert Maysles last doc Iris will screen on April 27th, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. at LACMA, and includes a conversation with Iris. Not many tix left so go quick, click and buy.

http://www.lacma.org/event/iris?utm_source=LACMA+Subscribers&utm_campaign=586abc63ee-MKT_Film_APRIL_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29b34549b6-586abc63ee-93657017&mc_cid=586abc63ee&mc_eid=8d5b9e97ea

She's honed her signature look: chunky jewelry, patterns, colors, and character glasses.

She’s honed her signature look: chunky jewelry, patterns, colors, and character glasses.

Just out and about, looking fabu.

Just out and about, looking fabu.

There have been books about her.

There have been books about her.

Even Kanye fanboys out on her.

Even Kanye fanboys out on her.

Ciao for now 🙂

Doctor Zhivago

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A cold Russian winter, the frozen masses on the brink of revolution, and best of all super awesome wool coats! David Lean’s 1965 epic, “Doctor Zhivago,” is a hearty stew of history (well, kind of), romance and tragedy. But be forewarned, this is a loooong mofo, almost as long as a Russian winter. I had to FLIP IT OVER to play part 2.

doctor zhivago title card

Aaaah… The days of nice title cards. I want this painting in my house!

Lara Antipova, Julie Christie, is a young woman who is having an affair with her mother’s lover, Victor Komarovsky, Rod Steiger.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie white shirt tie

I love the tie and long bangs. She just needs a pencil skirt and some Mary Jane heels.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie bow

Don’t you love a black silk ribbon on a ponytail? Chic schoolgirl.

doctor zhivago restaurant

Ok, off-topic, don’t you love this restaurant layout? This place could be in Brooklyn now. I love a sunken anything, living room, bedroom, you name it. The bar being higher up is nice, makes the space look bigger too.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie scarf

Great look on Lara, mixing textures with the scarf and coat.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie collar

Lara’s little bit of white collar on an otherwise black on black ensemble… Love! Try metallic instead of white for a different spin. Her and Pasha (her boyfriend) speak to Victor about their future.

doctor zhivago Rod Steiger

Rich, opportunistic, maybe-rapist, Rod Steiger (looking a little like Louis C.K. don’t you think?) Lean shoots him in front of a mirror suggesting a two-faced, duplicitous nature.

doctor zhivago Rod Steiger Julie Christie

Lara is merely a piece of meat to him. Lean hints at this with just showing her body in the mirror, dressed in red.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie lace

Komarovsky puts a lace scarf on Lara, she looks almost Middle-Eastern, underscoring she is part of his harem, or her submissiveness.

Yuri Zhivago, Omar Sharif, was orphaned as a boy and raised by the Gromenkos. Their daughter Tonya, Geraldine Chaplin (yes, that Chaplin’s daughter), grows up and her and Yuri are expected to marry.

doctor zhivago Geraldine Chaplin Omar Sharif

Tonya is in pink, totally popping out in a sea of drab, working-class.

doctor zhivago Omar Sharif Geraldine Chaplin

This could be a Valentino ad. I love it! Oh, the ennuni of the upper-class.

doctor zhivago Geraldine Chaplin

And the back of her dress… I want. Also, note how grand and beautiful Tonya’s home is. It will not stay that way when the revolution comes.

Yuri meets Lara when he is a young doctor in training. He comes to the aid of her mother who tried to commit suicide after finding out about Lara’s affair. Yuri is taken in by Lara’s beauty and is none too please with the old man’s treatment of her.

After an argument one night Victor attacks and rapes Lara. But wait- I guess it depends on who you ask. Komarovsky wouldn’t classify it as a “legitimate” rape, like some Republicans. The shame drives Lara to shoot Victor at a high society party later that night. Victor, not mortally wounded, yells for Lara to leave, but insists no police be called. This sets tongues-a-wagging. Yuri watches the whole spectacle along with Tonya Gromenko.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie fur coat gun

Lara hides the gun in her muff, once inside she spots Komarovsky and fires. You attack my muff, my muff will attack you. Yes, I went there.

Pasha Antipov, a young would-be revolutionary and Lara’s fiancee, comes to Lara’s aid and whisks her away.

doctor zhivago Pasha coat back

Here Pasha is the lowly one, parting the upper-class sea. Tables will be turned soon. I love his coat from the back and his jauntily tipped cap.

doctor zhivago omar sharif geraldine chaplin white fur coat

They head home after the party. Aren’t they a dashing couple? Save your gas, let’s all travel by sleigh.

Lara tells Pasha all the dirty details, including the rape. He is angry, but forgives her enough to look past it. Later he takes Lara and their baby daughter with him to the country. There he enlists to fight for the Russian Army.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie sweater

Julie Christie just can’t do dowdy or down-and-out. Too pretty. On a side note, I noticed Asian extras, this is where the east meets west, and its influence is seen in the tunics the men wear.

Pasha goes missing in action after a charge on the German Army. Lara tries to find him and runs into Yuri who had been drafted as a doctor. They set up a field hospital and fall in love, but never act on their feelings.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie layers

You just can’t have enough layers, am I right?

doctor zhivago uggs

I know they’re supposed to be the unwashed masses, but they do great layering, no? They got on Uggs, which I loathe, but those are OG Uggs, so I guess that’s OK.

doctor zhivago Julie Christie cape

Cape with a Peter Pan collar, loves it.

doctor zhivago apron dress

Who doesn’t love an apron dress?

doctor zhivago Julie Christie fur hat

Her eyes are striking, hooded enough to look exotic, crystal clear blue. And let’s just soak up how fab that sable hat is.

doctor zhivago lenin poster

The war ends. The Bolsheviks have taken Moscow, therefore the country. It’s a brave new world for Yuri.

doctor zhivago Geraldine Chaplin shirt

Tonya spots Yuri from her balcony on his return. The delicate ruffled shirt is a great alternative to a collared shirt for the office.

doctor zhivago Geraldine Chaplin hats

Tonya explains to Yuri the, um, change of decor, and couple extra people, er- Comrades, in their once stately mansion. Redistribution of wealth, this is THE Republican nightmare.

doctor zhivago geraldine chaplin long sweater

Tonya no longer has her fine furs, but still possesses her class and sense of style, even in a plain sweater set. The long sweater with matching knit skirt, comfy, practical, but still chic.

doctor zhivago geraldine chaplin ruffle

Tonya still stands out because she’s in color, albeit not as much as contrast as before, while those around her are in drab neutrals. This delicate pleated collar is a great detail.

doctor zhivago omar sharif shirt

Yuri’s pullover would be great in cashmere or maybe a marled wool.

Yevgraf, Alec Guinness, Yuri’s half-brother, goes deep, DEEP undercover for the Bolsheviks as a Russian soldier.

doctor zhivago alec guiness hat

Check out Obi Wan as a young revolutionary. I love these wool caps, and his grey mock turtleneck and military jacket combo.

Yuri goes to see a patient and his sarcastic remarks get him in hot water with his Comrades.

doctor zhivago omar sharif leather wool coats

Who doesn’t love a leather pea coat? The belt on Yuri’s coat is a nice touch. Even better in a contrast color like red, or purple.

Yevgraf, now a high-ranking Communist Party member, follows Yuri home one night, and tells him that the Party leaders are watching Yuri. Yevgraf tells them to leave Moscow if they want to survive. Yevgraf secures them fake papers to leave for Tonya’s country home in Varykino.

doctor zhivago omar sharif jacket belt

I kinda like this belted, tunic + knee high boots look on a guy, but you have to be the right guy to pull it off. And since the look is Proletariat, you must have it in most luxe fabrics or you’re just gonna look like a poor, Central Asian, raggamuffin.

doctor zhivago train station

This once noble family huddles with the rest of masses trying to get out of Moscow.

Tonya, remains upbeat in the face of uncertainty.

doctor zhivago Geraldine Chaplin coat lace scarf

It’s hard to see, but this was the best shot I could get, her scarf is knitted more like lace than like standard jersey, it’s different. And how cute is her son’s hat and tone-on-tone scarves? The lower one being wrapped almost around his shoulders.

Yuri learns that Lara is living nearby in Yuriatin with her daughter. He can’t stop thinking about her. Yuri goes to Yuriatin, as you know he would, and they finally get it on.

doctor zhivago omar sharif julie christie reunited

Does it feel weird to cheer for infidelity?

doctor zhivago winter trees

The harsh winter comes and even it seems softer because Lara is back in his life.

doctor zhivago omar sharif ice window

Yuri seems trapped by circumstance if not literally by his environment. Even the frost on the windows dresses the part- looks folksy Russian.

doctor zhivago sable blanket

Is that a crazy mega sable blanket, or what? Even so, it can’t keep the heat in this relationship. Yuri is bound to super-pregnant Tonya by loyalty, if not by love, and decides to break it off with Lara since the guilt is eating away at him.

He goes back to Yuriatin to tell Lara and see her one last time. She understands and knows that he would’ve eventually done the decent thing and stopped the affair. On his way back, he gets kidnapped by the Red Army and is forced into service as a doctor.

doctor zhivago landscape

It is David Lean. He just couldn’t help himself. Here’s the long shot showing Yuri’s trail across the screen to show the vastness and how small the individual is in this society.

After two grueling years, he finally deserts, and walks all the way back to Yuriatin. When he gets to Lara’s apartment he is stunned at his transformation.

doctor zhivago omar sharif frozen moustache

Yeeeech. Some people criticized the film for having an anti-Soviet angle, meaning Lean wanted to show how much worse the country was after Communism took over. That idea being manifested by Yuri and what he went through. His material wealth taken from him, his freedom almost non-existent, and his creativity and any joy one can get from life- a luxury of another lifetime.

Lara shows him a letter Tonya sent to her. Tonya and the family were deported to Paris. Yuri and Lara take Katya to Varykino, which is now deserted and frozen over as if out of a fairy tale.

doctor zhivago frozen house

Brrr. Artifacts of a bygone upper-class era.

doctor zhivago julie christie fingerless gloves omar sharif

I love her too-big sweater and fingerless gloves.

The only inhabitable room is the library, as if to say the only solace in an oppressive state, is your own mind, your own intellect or creativity that keeps you human. Yuri, Lara and Katya settle in the library, and he starts writing the Lara poems which make him famous.

Komarovsky appears, having switched sides to the Commies, he convinces Yuri to go with him, to save Lara and Katya now that Lara’s ex, Strelnikov/Pasha is dead, Lara’s a target. Yuri agrees, they load up all their stuff, but there’s no room for Yuri. He says he’ll catch up in his own sleigh, sending Lara off. They exchange knowing looks that he will not be going.

In the end, Yuri, an old man, spots Lara from a streetcar he’s riding in. He tries to get off and follow her, but he suffers a fatal heart attack. Lara keeps walking, never knowing Yuri was just behind her.

I wanted to do this film for winter inspiration, I didn’t last winter but I thought this winter I can’t miss out. Turns out I wasn’t the only one thinking this is great winter inspiration. Check out a current Blackglama fall campaign:

Blackglama and Carolyn Murphy, Fall 2013. This film still inspires.

Blackglama and Carolyn Murphy looking very Lara-ish.

carolyn murphy fireplacecarolyn murphy frosted windowMaurice Jarre’s unforgettable (for good or bad), “Lara’s Theme,” is schmaltzy and waltzy but very evocative of romance, longing, a hint of tragedy with Western orchestration and Eastern tinkles of folk music.

Maybe it’s because I just finished listening to Dan Carlin’s, Hardcore History podcast, the Wrath of the Khans (5 parts!), but something about Central Asia/Mongolia/Russia captivates me right now. I guess I just needed some visuals to balance out the audio.

Enjoy!

National Geographic 125th Year Anniversary Issue

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Lots of previously unseen vintage and stunning contemporary photography from the gold standard of photojournalism, National Geographic. Just looking at the slideshow online makes you feel like you’re in an Indiana Jones movie.

Elly's Ford hillside in the mist. Rappahannock River, Virginia, USA, 1999. (Sam Abell/National Geographic/Beetles and Huxley.

Elly’s Ford hillside in the mist. Rappahannock River, Virginia, USA, 1999. (Sam Abell/National Geographic/Beetles and Huxley. Are these colors not drop dead gorgeous? Hello spring collection palette!

It illuminates the human condition and the breathtaking beauty of this fragile planet of ours. The special October issue is on newsstands now. If it doesn’t inspire you to create, it might inspire you to travel, which will undoubtedly inspire you to create.

National Geographic 125 years Issue

What are you waiting for?

2013 Emmy Awards Red Carpet

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Hmmm… WTF is going on the Red Carpet tonight? Everyone’s skin either looks like woodgrain or they’re pasty-beyond-the-dead pale with dark lipstick. I don’t really comment on this stuff because it’s just done to death, but OH MA GOD. It’s really, confusing me. How do people with this much $$, this much help can look so god-awful. Senior proms have better style.

Lena Dunham 2013 Emmy awards

Christ…

It’s either Vegas, or lace curtains going on tonight. People need to just start picking things that make them look good, trends be damned! If you’re still indecisive, watch any Audrey Hepburn movie for inspiration. Those dresses are over 50 years old and look exponentially better than what is parading down there tonight.

Drive

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It’s Fall y’all. Can’t you tell by the Spring ’14 shows? I felt like doing something Mens-y. I was thinking cool, real cool, like winter cool. But in LA we get jacket weather, not really coat weather. And believe me, we’re excited by it.  Oooh, I get to wear a jacket, or Ooooh, I get to wear a sweater. Fun!

So I was thinking what was a big mens-y thing I watched recently, and sadly couldn’t think of anything blog-worthy. Then I thought about “Drive,” directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Moody, atmospheric, with the lust-provoking Ryan Gosling. Oh, Ryan Gosling… When I read you were taking ballet– BALLET y’all, not hip-hop or something more masculine, at The Edge in Hollywood, just cuz- dude, you had me at changement. He is pretty f**king cool. This generation’s sensitive Steve McQueen.

Driver (he has no name in the movie), Ryan Gosling, is a stuntman/mechanic by day, driver for nefarious activities by night.

ryan gosling drive denim jacket

The rigid denim trucker, looks great on anyone, especially him.

Driver develops a crush on his neighbor, Irene, Carey Mulligan.

ryan gosling drive carey mulligan

Uh… Car seat anyone? Nicely framed.

ryan gosling drive coveralls

Insert woman doing tiger sound fx here. Don’t you love coveralls?

ryan gosling drive 3

The whole film has an 80’s vibe. The music, the saturated colors look, the neo-noir feel.

ryan gosling drive money shot

There’s always a money shot, or maybe jewels or whatever. But it’s usually literally a money shot. Driver and Irene’s husband, Standard were supposed to rob a pawn shop and give the gangster he owes, the goods. But it doesn’t go so smoothly. Standard is shot dead and Driver and a gangster moll, played by Christina Hendricks, make haste.

ryan gosling drive scropion jacket

This could be a magazine editorial shot, the reflection matches the jacket and the red door is a nice frame.

ryan gosling drive driving gloves

Driver wants out of this clusterfuck and shows the gangsters he means business. Nice gloves.

ryan gosling drive chinese restaurant

When you got Jewish gangsters, there’s always a Chinese restaurant scene. Driver gives Bernie Rose, Albert Brooks (!) brilliantly cast against type, his ill gotten gains.

A scuffle and ambiguous ending give “Drive,” a genre flick body, but the style and Gosling give it some extra horsepower under the hood.

Ooh La LA, Le Festival 2013

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Lou Doillon. Hmmmm. How envious am I of her life? Jane Birkin, singer/actress/style icon as your maman, and French film director, Jacques Doillon as your pere.

She herself drips nonchalantly of French urban chic.

Lou Doillon jeans tank top

Casually chic chick.

Anyhoo, she is now promoting her first album, PLACES, and will be performing at the El Rey in LA on October 11, as part of the Ooh La LA fest. This festival is the only French music festival in Cali. So all you franco-style-philes get your billets, now! Toute suite!

http://oohlalafestival.com/artists/lou-doillon

Never Let Me Go

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Howdy folks! Did you guys read this book? I did. I like Kazuo Ishiguro’s spare, minimalist writing style. A friend sort of gave it away when she was trying to get me to read it. I was intrigued anyway and finished it quickly. It’s not fast-paced or very action-y, but it does make you think about what it is to be human. Is humanity humane when they conceive and raise these poor souls to only use them to serve their own selfish needs? Just because you are able to do something on a scientific level, should you? Where is the morality and ethics? It’s part mystery, part sci-fi, period piece with a little tragic love story thrown in.

Mark Romanek, 90’s video directing god, turns a vaguely sinister book, into a melancholic, melange of muted colors, and blurred ethical lines, “Never Let Me Go,” 2010. I know it’s a little dark and depressing for summer, but here goes.

In 1952 medical science can cure everything. People live past 100 on average. How is this possible? Donors. Donors are people bred and raise to, well, donate parts of their bodies to non-donors. When they run out of useful parts, they run out their clock. They “complete.” Carers are from the same stock of people donors are, but their job is to take care of the donors until it’s time for them to start donating their own parts.

The really cruel part is that the donors are well taken care of, have an almost normal childhood, raised in a prim English boarding school, minus a lot of love and attention. As they grow and mature, they are unaware of their true purpose in life.

Hailsham Never Let Me Go

Idyllic, serene, school. Quite the opposite of its purpose.

Hailsham girls Never Let Me Go

The school uniforms also underscore the sameness of purpose for these girls. They were all created to donate. I do love the layering, don’t you? Especially with the tie.

Ruth, Keira Knightley, Kathy, Carey Mulligan, and Tommy, Andrew Garfield, grow up in Hailsham, a boarding school of sorts, in the 1970’s. One day, their teacher Miss Lucy, tells them point blank that they were made to donate their vital organs, and when they cannot donate anymore they will be left to die. Miss Lucy is quickly fired, but the cat is out of the bag by then.

Never Let Me Go Lucy

Miss Lucy. She bridges the light of knowledge and the darkness of ignorance.

Charlotte Rampling Hailsham Never Let me Go

The women’s hair color, clothing color blend into the woodwork. They are part of the vast institution that controls these children’s lives.

The three of them leave Hailsham by 1985 and arrive at The Cottages, a rural way station on their way to their donating careers.

Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan

Kathy leaves the protected shell of childhood behind.

Never Let Me Go

The Cottages are set in the countryside. Again a quiet, natural setting to contrast their scientifically manipulated existence.

Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan

Color punctuates the muted tones for a change. They finally get to meet new people and explore their world on their own terms.

Never Let Me Go Kiera Knightley Carey Mulligan

Ruth and Kathy struggle to eek out new identities as adults. I love the random stained glass squares.

Never Let Me Go Kiera Knightley Carey Mulligan

Their cozy, nubby, woolen sweaters makes me feel they are still protected from their environment in The Cottages.

Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan

The colors in this film are so beautiful. I do think it’s a great alternative palette to dark fall/winter colors. Rich neutrals mixed with pastels for a pop of color.

Never Let Me Go

Beautiful. Even the metals are as soft and delicate as this bird.

Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan

Kathy leaves The Cottages, Ruth and Tommy, on her way to becoming a carer.

At The Cottages, Ruth, Tommy and Kathy heard a rumor that couples from Hailsham could get a deferral of their donations if they could prove they were in love. Since they were from Hailsham, but never heard of this before, they didn’t believe it. As time passed, Ruth finds the address of their former Head Mistress, Miss Emily, and gives it to Kathy and Tommy as a token of apology. Ruth always knew they were meant to be together, but she claimed Tommy first, fearing she’d die alone.

Never Let Me Go Kiera Knightley Carey Mulligan Andrew Garfield

They meet up one last time on a road trip. Again, their clothes match the colors of their natural environment. They belong here, they’re not subhuman.

Never Let Me Go boat

They spot a beached boat in the distance.

Never Let Me Go boat day

The boat is a metaphor for their existence.

Never Let Me Go boat night

They are trapped, marooned in this life. They have almost outlived their use, as the sunset implies.

Ruth, as she feared, dies alone after her third donation. Kathy and Tommy find Miss Emily, and with heartbreaking naivety, ask for a deferral. Tommy shows Miss Geraldine, another school Mistress, his drawings. At Hailsham, the children were always asked to contribute to The Gallery. It was always mysterious. What was it for? Tommy guessed that The Gallery must’ve been a way of showing what was in their souls. That the powers that be must look over the art to be convinced that the couple is in love and worthy of a deferral. Miss Emily calmly explains that getting a deferral was always just a rumor, never true. The Gallery was just to convince people that they were in fact, human enough to create art. They all will start donating until completion. No chance to be fully human.

Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan Andrew Garfield

On the way home Tommy breaks down. It reminded me of Munch’s, The Scream, though with less horror and more despair. It’s dark. Tommy’s time is up.

Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan

A short time after Tommy’s completion, Kathy gets notice that her donations will start in a month.

Did part of me want them to get some guns and shoot their way outta England? Take down The Man? Liberate all donors? Of course I did! But alas, it’s not that kind of movie.

In a way, it reminds me of “Blade Runner.” Being able to continue living were all that Roy and Rachel wanted. Ishiguro, in a such a simple manner, wrote about the bleakness of living a conscious life. We are born. We become adults and realize we will die someday. We don’t know when or how, but it’s inevitable. There is no way out of it. Try to do good, prove that your soul is so good it should live for an eternity to some mysterious authority? Um, nah. It doesn’t really matter does it? It doesn’t buy you more time. I’m getting depressed as I type this right now. Oy.

Live as fully as possible. Love as much as possible so when you do die, you know you loved and were loved. And that’s all that really matters.

The Conformist

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“The Conformist,” Bertolucci’s 1970 study of the human desire to conform to society. Set in the 1930’s, as Hitler and Mussolini have a grip on Europe, people start picking sides. Beautifully shot by Vittorio Storaro (I have his autograph!!!), and costumes by Gitt Magrini.

Marcello Clerici, Jean-Louis Trintignant, son of an aristocratic Italian family, rebels by trying to join the fascist secret police. His father is in an insane asylum, and his mother, a morphine addict, is in a veritable asylum herself. She lives in a broken-down decrepit estate, which represents the decadent, decaying class system.

The film abounds with repetitive imagery, driving home the conforming nature of society, whether it be a democratic one or a socialist one. Repeating windows, or benches, or lines, the sense of unending, and expected sameness.

the conformist windows

Dark, cold, devoid of human emotion.

the conformist stairs

the conformist asylum

the conformist window pane

The repetition in the window is obvious, but all the nuts that this guy cracks in his office while giving Marcello his assignment, is strangely funny.

the conformist stained glass window

The visual theme of repetition is present in the opposing side, with the warm tones and the green plants contrasting the dark, cold fascist interiors.

Marcello meets his old professor in Paris. Professor Quadri has been targeted by the secret police, and Marcello has been picked to pull the trigger.

the conformist stefania sandrelli

Marcello becomes obsessed with Professor Quadri’s wife, Anna. Bertolucci has said that it’s Marcello’s latent homosexuality that makes him want to conform so badly, but it seems his obsession with Anna is genuine. The dude is just cornfused.

Marcello reviews Plato’s cave myth, which was his senior thesis in the Professor’s class.

the conformist Jean-Louis Trintignant
Marcello is in the dark, ignorance, and his professor, in the light, knowledge.
the conformist Dominique Sanda

Giulia, Marcello’s new bride, is just a box to checked off in his life. No real connection to her.

the conformist Stefania Sandrelli 2

It’s funny that Anna, is wearing this leopard wrap. She is like a cagey wild animal, primal and aggressive. In the last scene she is chased and hunted down by the secret police like a wild animal in the woods.

the conformist sandrelli sanda

It could be a Valentino ad, non?

the conformist stefania sandrelli dominique sanda

Don’t you LOVE this black and white dress on Giulia?

the conformist stefania sandrelli dominique sanda

Here it is from the back. Giulia is from a world of absolutes, everything is black or white. Anna dress is neither yellow or white, but somewhere in between, just like her sexuality and her loyalties.

the conformist stefania sandrelli

Here’s Anna’s dress from the front. I want those earrings!

the conformist stefania sandrelli dominique sanda dance

And here’s the most memorable image of the film in all its Sapphic glory.

the conformist jean-louis trintignant

Marcello, in the midst of exuberant humanity, does not know how to act or relate.

the conformist car

Marcello on his way to watch Anna and the professor’s murder. He can’t pull the trigger. Is he a coward or is he smart getting others to do it? The fog represents the gray area between good and evil, neither the dark nor the light.

the conformist trintignant sandrelli

The second most famous shot in the film. Anna lets out a primal scream for help while Marcello impotently watches the inevitable.

Flashforward to 1943, Mussolini is about to be dragged through the streets, and all of a sudden people aren’t fascist anymore. Marcello included. He denounces it and outs his blind friend Italo as one. A mob quickly sweeps Italo up in a human wave.

Plato’s cave imagery returns in the last shot with Marcello, sitting in a cave-like structure next to a small fire, looking behind him instead of the shadows in front of him like Plato’s prisoners. Has he finally learned to think for himself?

the conformist Jean-Louis Trintingnant

the conformist jean-louis trintignant

In light of recent tragic events in Boston, we sit shellshocked and horrified and wonder, why and how could someone enact such a thing?

Turner Classic Movies Film Fesitval 2013

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It’s that time again. The TCM Classic Film Festival, y’all.

If you want to see restored films such as, “Badlands,” “The Great Escape,” “Giant” with James Dean lookin’ fine as all get out, and Buster Keaton’s classic, “The General,” this is the place to be.

badlands martin sheen sissy spacek

Anyone doing a denim story or denim photo shoot should know this film as a reference.

If you want a fashion fix go see, “My Fair Lady,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “A Room with a View” (my favorite film, with Julian Sands speaking after!)

If you want big Golden Age of Hollywood musicals they got, “South Pacific,” “On the Town,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Flying Down to Rio.”

south pacific mitzi gaynor

Wash those men right outta your hair… One of the few Hollywood films that dealt with racism directed at Asians, in a musical no less.

Gay men, they got “Funny Girl,” and “Mildred Pierce,” OH-KAAAAY. Not to mention all the guests, everyone from Max von Sydow to Eva Marie Saint, to Jon Voight (speaking after “Deliverance,” insert dueling banjo music here.)

the birds tippi hedren

How many editorial spreads and collection inspiration feature Hitchcock blondes? Too many to count.

I wish I could just camp out and watch them all!

turner classic movies festival 2013http://filmfestival.tcm.com/