Sunday, October 03, 2004
A Zed & Two Noughts
This post will continue with a new bittorrent offering. In keeping with the alphabetical title of last month, I present A Zed & Two Noughts. This film might playfully be summarized as a playful two-hour meditation on the zoo/ooz pseudo palindrome. There is a lot more to it than that. You could watch this movie 26 times and there would still be something to discover.
I haven't seen the film that often, but I wonder if further viewing would clarify the close relationship between Vermeer, and death and decay. There was a rather moving account of the writer Bergotte dying as he sat before a Vermeer painting near the end of "In Search of Lost Time," fascinatingly elaborated upon here. Also, another character, Swann, had written a monograph on Vermeer. Proust was a very early proponent of Vermeer's genius and toured Europe in search of his paintings. His last written words were a reflection on Vermeer's work.
About the connection between death and Vermeer, I feel that with Proust it is simply a case of his obsessing in death as he did in life. With Greenaway, although he briefly alludes to Swann's Way, the connection remains a mystery to me.
Incidentally, there is a great story here about van Meegeren, the Vermeer forger who fooled the Nazis.
Godard on Vermeer: He painted the 17th Century at 24 frames per second.
Hmong on Greenaway: Check out those snails!
