30th June ; Art Documentary: Caravaggio & Picasso

Contemplate and Konangal
Art documentary films of two great masters
Caravaggio & Picasso
30th July  , Tuesday,; 1 pm to 3 pm
PSG Arts and Sciene College, Peelamedu

 

Caravaggio

The importance of Caravaggio in 17th century painting is undeniable. He has been described as the greatest Italian painter of his time. His innovative  departure from the idealised style of the 16th century, when painting religious themes, brought much criticism, but was influential in the development of   many artists to come.
Cravaggio, birth name Michelangelo Merisi, left his birth town of Caravaggio in the north of Italy to study as an apprentice in nearby Milan. In 1593 he moved to Rome, impatient to use his talents on the biggest stage possible.

Caravaggio's approach to painting was unconventional. He avoided the standard method of making copies of old sculptures and instead took the more direct  approach of painting directly onto canvas without drawing first. He also used people from the street as his models. His dramatic painting was enhanced with  intense and theatrical lighting.
Caravaggio's fate was sealed when in 1606 he killed a man in a duel. He fled to Naples where he attempted to paint his way out of trouble, he became a  Knight, but was then imprisoned in Malta and then finally he moved to Sicily. He was pardoned for murder in 1610, but he died of a fever attempting to  return to Rome. This documentary is presented by renowned art historian Simon Schama.

Picasso

Picasso,  one of the greatest  icons  of modern art who co-created such styles as Cubism and Surrealism, was also among most innovative, influential, and  prolific artists of all time. He was born on October 6, 1881, in Malaga, Spain. Constantly updating his style from the Blue Period, to the Rose Period, to the African-influenced Period, to Cubism, to Realism and Surrealism he was a  pioneer with a hand in every art movement of the 20th century.

The life of Pablo Picasso is an exciting story of rebellion, riches, women and great art. In this episode of a four-part series dedicated to Modern Art,  journalist Alastair Sooke travels through France, Spain and the US to see some of the artist's great works and recount tales from his life story.   

Talking to architects, fashion experts and artists, he investigates how Picasso's influence, particularly that of his Cubist work, continues to pervade  modern life today, in the shape of buildings, interior design, clothes and of course contemporary art.

14th July 2013 ; Rafi Pitts' THE HUNTER

The Hunter

A Film by Rafi Pitts

2010/ Iran/ Col/ 90 minutes

14 th July 2013; 5.45pm

Perks Mini Theater

Directed by, written by and starring Iranian born filmmaker Rafi Pitts 2010's The Hunter follows the exploits of a man named Ali Alavi (Pitts) who makes a living as a night watchman at an automobile manufacturing plant. His job is not particularly exciting but he has a bit of a past (we learn that he did a stint in prison) and he is at least content with it. He gets his only real happiness from his home life where he shares his spare time with his loving wife and young daughter. 

The Hunter's first hour is a remarkable and nearly pilotless visual essay. The film grows more obvious, when Ali finds himself pursued by the police. Imagine then his terror when Ali comes home from work one day and finds that his wife and daughter have gone missing. What follows are the actions of frustrated Ali which leads to his capture by the police and the drama between the two cops who capture him. 

Pitts plays his lead character with very little dialogue, instead using body language and facial expressions to convey emotion, particularly sadness and at times even some very raw desperation. This style of acting suits him, his face seems at times to be made of stone, more a sculpture made of granite than anything made of flesh and blood. He does a great job of playing a man hardened not only by the loss of the only two people who mattered in his life but also of a man hardened and quite fed up with the political system that surrounds him and which has proven ineffectual. 

Dark not only thematically but visually as well, The Hunter is a very nicely shot film. Potts knows what he's doing both in front of and behind the camera, as the film moves at a good pace and is well structured and edited quite efficiently. The film is challenging, intelligent and technically accomplished and it builds nicely to a conclusion that is not only surprising but also entirely appropriate. 

Rafi Pitts

Rafi Pitts was born in Mashad, Iran. Rafi spent his childhood in Tehran, where he lived in a basement flat underneath a post-production studio. He describes himself as having been a 'very bad' child actor, starting in films at the age of eight. He came to England (his father is English) in 1981 during the Iran Iraq war. He graduated in 1991 from the Polytechnic of Central London with a BA (Hons) degree in Film and Photography.His first short film, In Exile (1991) was presented the same year at the London International Film Festival. In the 90's Pitts moved to Paris and worked on films by Leos Carax, Jacques Doillon and Jean-Luc Godard.

Educated in France and England, Rafi Pitts belongs to the new wave of Iranian cinema, which received numerous prestigious prizes in the international festival circuit. In 1996 he had the opportunity to film in Iran and describes himself as having been the first film director (in exile) to do so since the Revolution in 1979. His first feature Season Five (1997) was the first Franco-Iranian coproduction since the Revolution.

In 2006, he was nominated for Golden Bear award of Berlin Film Festival for his movie, It's Winter. His 2010 film The Hunter was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.