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at 10:57, 31 Jul 2005
Posts: 0
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THANK YOU
I had seen this film reviewed on Ebert and Roper, and found the concept very interesting because I have been writing poems and songs for 30 years, the focus of which is to capture poetry in conversational language with meter and rhyme, accessible and yet also grappling with the major issues of meaning and purpose. I despaired of ever seeing this movie because films like this are not shown in southern suburban Detroit, and often not in the northern suburbs either. A friend saw it and told me where it was playing and we saw it last night.
What a treat! A film that succumbs neither to the tyranny of the blatantly commercial and its intolerable sameness, nor the tyranny of the avant guard and it's even greater sameness (not to mention pretense and knee-jerk liberal politics). The dialogue flowed nicely, succeeding in capturing the poetry of many dialects of conversational English in unforced rhyme and meter. Comparisons with Shakespeare are really misleading because, although his work was poetic and imbued with meter; the rhymes generally came at the end of soliloquies as a sort of punctuation to the character's speech.
Moreover, Shakespeare’s stories are much less realistic and credible, and tend to paint a black and white picture of life and politics, whereas your piece explores the ambiguities in politics, religion and interpersonal relationships in far more three dimensional fashion. I was reminded of Bergman and Joyce. Possible influences?
One suggestion I have, if I may be so bold, is that sur or subtitles could be used very effectively with this piece, as they are now routinely in both live and taped performances of opera. The poetry, dialogue, and concepts of the film are far to complex and varied to absorbed in one viewing, but would be helped out by the visual. Also, this is a very musical piece and seeing the words would help convey the music of the poetry.
Having a birth father who was born in Ireland a Canadian mother and English stepfather is another part of this film I related to; as was being raised atheist and having become Catholic, then Mystic, embracing all of it's many forms, makes it easier to relate to the religious ambiguity of the film. I do read the Koran and the Bible, but find the Sufis, Gandhi, Eliot and Lao Tzu more interesting and truly spiritual than the writings of formal religion.
I will want to own this film on DVD, tape it for myself, and send the DVD and film script to my daughter, who is teaching English Literature in Micronesia. So I am on to finding out how to do that and placing my order. May I leave you with a poem? And thanks so much for this movie!
LONG LOST
I am searching for the lost poem
The one that got away
The one that says all the things
I wanted it to say
All those elusive feelings that
I wanted to convey
But I have no idea where
That poem could be today
I am searching for the lost child
I’m told that I was he
I am asking all people
Who say they once knew me
They remembered my name and
A face they used to see
But did not have a clue as to
Where that child would now be
I’m searching for your long lost God
Christians, Muslims and Jews
I think he is here in this space
That goes from me to you
Touched by everything we say
And everything we do
He’s talked about by everyone
But known to very few
© 4/28/2002 Michael G. Brock
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sally potter
at 10:11, 4 Aug 2005
Posts: 193
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your story
your story is a good reminder of how multi-dimensional we are....the complexities in your background will find echoes everywhere.
thankyou for your comments and suggestions ; i have seen the film subtitled in Spanish, German and Turkish....one problem is that the words have to be distilled as it takes longer to read than to hear. i hope that in english at least the music - if not always the sense- of the language can be absorbed at one sitting. to go deeper perhaps a second viewing ?
and thank you for posting your poem, a generous act of sharing.
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at 05:03, 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 0
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Your films, specifically Yes
Oh Sally, Sally, Sally, Sally...what a mesmerising and truly beautiful film you have put out here into our orbit!
Intention is a powerful word is it not? Full of strength and momentum...and you certainly have plenty of that. The force of intention is formidible.
I am curious to know if you ever stop to imagine the impact your films have on the lives of others? Different people in different places in different circumstances at the moment they view your films.
That is, a film made X months earlier, in X amounts of countries, involving X amount of people and you having sent so much energy where your attention flowed. You writing to Martin Scorsese
I saw Yes alone 3 nights ago...made me sigh, made me cry, made me shudder, made me smile, made me tingle, made me blink a lot, made me flush, think and feel a lot. This filmmaking medium of yours, it is so powerful and has consequences far beyond itself. Once you crash the champagne bottle against the hull, and launch it out here, ground shifts and it truly begins to take on a life of it's own for those who have chosen to view it.
The casting was spot on. Many stupendous performances. THANK YOU especially to a sublime Joan Allen, a tour de force that is Simon Abkarian, a constantly noticing Shirley Henderson, and a deliciously paid up member of the walking dead Sam Neill.
I send my gratitude:
* To you for sharing the filmmaker in you.
* To all the actors for giving what is likely be the best and most memorable performances of their lives...it was noticed!
* For the light and shade of your work, and more particularly, the MANY bits in between.
And, having read your comments elsewhere on this site, it seems that NOW would be a good time for reconnecting with more of who you really are, sans travel etc!
"The distribution of talents in this world should not be our concern.
Our responsibility is to take the talents we have and ardently parlay them to the highest possible achievement". Alan Loy McGinnis
Kindest regards
Ann Nixon, Sydney
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sally potter
at 13:27, 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 193
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thank you too
your message is so generous and thoughtful. I cannot tell you how gratifying it is to read.
i have been back in london for a couple of weeks and am clearing my workroom, which is currently a mountain of papers, images, and unidentifiable objects. It is all part of stopping travelling round the world (except for a quick trip to Berlin at the end of the month) and starting another kind of travelling...the interior voyage necessary to find another film.
thank you for writing.
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