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This forum is meant to be an extension of the themes and concerns of our website. Please keep the focus on spirituality, philosophy and cinema. Thank you!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this forum are the sole responsibility of the individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the owners of this website (except in postings by the owners themselves under "cinemaseekers" or "questers".)

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friendlessvoyage Profile
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Re: Other resources


I don't believe we're on the same page here, and attempting to find the right page at this point, seeing as we're coming from very different places, is probably a waste of time.

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Re: Other resources


It was a good idea, Chris Kelvin, to create this section. Different people can add to it from time to time, as they come across works of art that move them, because genuinely great art helps us in our striving to become better human beings.

You've already mentioned the works of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, which cannot fail to be of some help to any human being, no matter how advanced he may consider himself to be. We would just single out two of our special favorites: Dostoyevsky's "Idiot" and Tolstoy's "Confession". Another great Russian writer, who unfortunately never made a successful transition to the West, is Nikolai Gogol (partly because his satire does not translate well into a foreign environment). However, his greatest writings (in our view) are not satirical, but are letters collected under the title "Selected Passages From Correspondence with Friends".

You said, you haven't read much poetry. Have you ever tried Rainer Maria Rilke? He really is quite beyond belief, especially if you can read him in the original German (which we can't). Our favorite work of his, however, is not even poetry, but a small collection of letters called "Letters to a Young Poet".

We've never really talked about great music on this site, but, being classically-trained musicians ourselves, we' ve been playing around with the idea of compiling a list of great classical works for seekers. It'll probably remain on a back-burner, as there are always other things to do. But here are a few suggestions (which you may have already discovered on your own):

Richard Wagner's operas, which we consider to be the precursors to cinema. It's an acquired taste, so start with just one of them to see how you like it. We think they are pure magic, but not everyone feels that way. Our favorites are:

"Parsifal", "Lohengrin" and a 4-opera cycle "Der Ring Des Nibelungen". Performances and productions matter almost as much as the music. No doubt you know that Wagner controlled every aspect of his operas, including detailed staging instructions, and went so far as to build a special opera house for them (talk about the first auteur director!) So for the first (and maybe even the only) experience you would want to get the performances that follow Wagner's own staging instructions as closely as possible. That leaves you with just one choice: the spectacular performances by the Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine.

And speaking of conductors, our favorite is Leonard Bernstein. When it comes to that special "seeking" quality, no one can match him. And arguably, the most seeking piece of music is Mahler's Fifth Symphony. So when you put these two together (Bernstein and Mahler), you get quite an experience! It is available on DVD as well as on CD (along with Bernstein's conducting of all the other Mahler symphonies). Incidentally, Bernstein believed himself to be the reincarnation of Mahler - and listening to him conduct that music, one becomes almost totally convinced.

Last edited by questers, 6/2/2004, 7:15 am
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MatthewJ Profile
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Re: Other resources


Books

Past Eras Awaken 1-3
Andrei Tarkovsky – Time within Time

JR Nyquist – Origins of the 4th World War
(Very profound and insightful look at the collapse of western civilization)



Literature

Dostoevsky
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn


Poetry

Andrew Marvell / Metaphysical poets


Other film

Victor Erice / Terence Davies / Theo Angelopoulos


Music

Larry Heard / Steve Roach / Lots of obscure stuff, all sorts actually...

Last edited by MatthewJ, 3/14/2006, 5:57 pm
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Chris Kelvin Profile
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Re: Other resources


Books for anyone who is interested in filmtheory:

"Antonioni; or, the surface of the world" by Seymour Chatman. (interesting study of Anonioni-films, probably the best book about his films).

"Notes on the Cinematographer" by Robert Bresson. (filmlessons by Robert Bresson himself!)



Last edited by Chris Kelvin, 6/2/2004, 9:42 am
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Re: Other resources


Listen to Purcell's "Hear Our Prayer," Chris. That's a good one.
6/3/2004, 3:49 am Link to this post Send Email to friendlessvoyage   Send PM to friendlessvoyage
 
Chris Kelvin Profile
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Re: Other resources


Thanks for everything.

Chris.
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Re: Other resources


Musically, Dead Can Dance ... and their various offshoots and solo albums, all carry very spiritual vibes.

It's worth digging out the longer works that the classical extracts in Tarkovsky films are taken from also.

Philip K Dick wrote some very metaphysical science fiction in his later years ...
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MarkNA Profile
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Re: Other resources


In literature: I have just finished reading Ken Kessey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Although it is not art and even dipicts a lot of crude behaviour I personally gained a lot from the spiritual nature of many of the themes. There are many things that stood out, in particular when the patients return from a fishing trip having grown massively. Someone commented on a book study website that they wished they had just read it without having to study it painstakingly. I can't imagine being moved the same way if I had had to study it.

Edit 20/12/04

On consideration of what Cinemaseekers have recently added in 'The State of Cinema Today', I do not think that this would qualify as a worthy addition. Although maybe it comes close. This has lead me to question many works that are critically heralded as great moralistic works, that however are not uplifting in themselves.

Last edited by MarkNA, 12/20/2004, 9:08 pm
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Re: Other resources


Oh dear .... Philip K. ****?

Does that mean that I wouldn't be able to mention the lead male star of Chitty Chitty **** **** either? **** Van ****?

Does the auto censorship filter also automatically assume that Country & Western singer ***** Nelson is a wrestling hold?



9/12/2004, 10:09 am Link to this post Send Email to PursuedByTrees   Send PM to PursuedByTrees
 
MarkNA Profile
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Re: Other resources


I'll keep this brief cos it's off topic: you can turn off the 'profanity filter' via the Control Panel at the top of the board or here, just go to Change Misc Settings.


Last edited by MarkNA, 9/12/2004, 8:03 pm
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