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The Queen of Quirk Column
April 2007
Page 2
By VERONIQUE CHEVALIER
Idiosyncratic Cinema
Blood Tea And Red String
Created and Directed by Christiane Cegavske
Featuring music by Mark Growden
Imagine a brave heroine, a sort of Scheherazade for the New Millennium, who is so meticulous in the weaving of her tale that it takes her over thirteen years to complete. In this day and age of instantaneous digital gratification, such a storyteller could surely exist only in the imagination.
Much like the tortoise in Aesop's timeless fable, filmmaker Christiane Cegavske is living proof that persistence does indeed eventually pay off. Blood Tea And Red String (BTARS), her lovely feature-length stop animation creation, is testament to one woman's visionary determination. The mind boggles at the infinite patience that she displayed in the undertaking of this epic tale of narcissism, wanderlust, covetousness, and ultimately the transcendent power of love.
In Los Angeles, I recently attended a screening of BTARS, which is making the rounds of film festivals, and art film houses, to much critical acclaim, and rightfully so. Author Bruce Brown, who edited the original edition of The Underground Guide to Los Angeles, was my escort for the evening. (Pleasant Gehman and Iris Berry currently edit the guide, now in its third edition). Bruce is also the younger brother of the late great actor Robert Lansing.
We arrived at the theatre a bit early, so that I could briefly interview the film's director before the screening. Ms. Cegavske, who is as meticulous in her own appearance as she was in the making of her film, is very much the picture of fashion. The fashions of exactly one century ago, that is. Considering her personal taste for the aesthetics of a bygone era, it is hardly surprising that her sensibilities would affect her approach to the making of her art as well.
She and I had a few minutes to chat before the public began arriving, and among them were many friends and acquaintances that she'd not seen in some time, so I devoted my attention to organizing my notes. A man with whom she'd been chatting struck up a conversation with me. He introduced himself as Timothy Johnson, and told me that he knew Christiane when she worked with him at Space Bass Films.
In 1999, when BTARS was still a short subject, Tim was one of the few to have viewed the film in its original incarnation. Shortly thereafter the film's creator moved away, and the two lost contact with each other. He told me that the magical quality of the film was already apparent then, and would have stood up well as it was, so he was surprised to find out about its emergence as a feature.
Another interesting person with whom I crossed paths at the screening was veteran character actor Clu Gulager, who coincidentally had worked with, and had been befriended by, Robert Lansing. Bruce and Clu hadn't seen each other for years until this particular night! Clu's son, John Gulager, who was joining his father at the screening later in the evening, was named Best Director of the 3rd Project Green Light Contest, the joint venture of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. After a brief chat with Clu, it was time to take our seats.
My limited experience with stop action animation has mostly been with the viewing of Claymation creations and their ilk. They have their charms to be sure, but I find clay texture to wear thin after a while. Not knowing what to expect with BTARS, I was surprised when the opening sequence of the film commenced with a brief live action vignette (the closing also segued back to a variation on the same scene, providing a sense of completion and closure to the tale).
The story, though ostensibly about a feud between the rustic "Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak" and the more decadent and urbane White Mice, also serves as a parable of human foibles. The Mice arrive at the Oak to commission a life-sized Doll from the Creatures, and leave a 50% advance deposit in gold coin. They have her face painted in the likeness of a maiden from a portrait in their art collection.
The Creatures meticulously construct her, and upon completion, fall hopelessly in love with the Doll, refusing to part with her when the Mice come to retrieve her. Not only do they refund the Mice their deposit, but they double the amount of the gold coins returned. After an obvious display of displeasure, despite having be given twice their money back, the Mice leave in a huff, only to return surreptitiously under cover of darkness to spirit the Doll away.
Upon discovering their beloved Doll missing, three of the four Creatures set out after her. Along the way, they have a few misadventures (including one with the odious creature who is the source of the tale's proverbial Red String) until they stumble upon the lair of the Mice, who prove themselves to be unworthy of a Doll so lovely.
Wracked with guilt over the heist, one of the Mice skulks away with the Doll, to return her to the home of Creatures, after his companions fall into a stupor brought on by the aftermath of a drunken brawl over a contested card game. (Their inebriation was precipitated by the over-consumption of the Blood Tea of the film's title).
The sojourning Creatures return home shortly after the solitary Mouse has re-installed her in the airy boughs of their Oak. The Mice who'd been left behind are in hot pursuit, and their arrival results in yet another melee in which the poor, bedraggled Doll is torn asunder. The Mice limp home with a half of her ragged remains, and the Creatures attempt to bring her memory dignified end, with a solemn water burial.
There are so many layers of symbolism in the film, in addition to savvy use of camera angles and editing, that it is very apparent BTARS is not by any means an amateur production. Unconventional yes, but slipshod, not in the least. From the richness of detailing in the creatures, each of which has its own distinct personality and unique features, to the profundity of the underlying moral, this is a film that will stand the test of time. (Also notable was the charming musical score by Mark Growden, which is an integral part of furthering along the mood and narrative of the story, which has no dialog).
Although there wasn't a full house that night, it was apparent that the viewers in attendance shared my enchantment with the film, for as I turned to leave I saw that nearly everyone in the theatre was queued up to speak to the director afterwards. Thus far, BTARS has won three awards, as well as numerous special mentions with various film festivals, national, as well as international. I can only hope that this beautifully wrought fairy tale someday is accorded its rightful place among the classics, along with the output of such luminaries as Jean Cocteau and George Lucas.
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Latino Beat
Very Be Careful
In the melting pot that is LA, there is a ripple that could very well become a wide- spread sonic wave. The epicenter of this delightful disturbance is the five-man ensemble known as Very Be Careful.
Performing music derived from the Caribbean portion of Colombia, VBC performs a variation of that nation's dance music, Cumbria. The band's sound is built upon a regional style called Vallenato, and is has its greatest popularity in New York and Miami, where the largest concentrations of Columbian immigrant populations in the US are to be found.
Out here on the West Coast, the music is rarely heard in its pure form. VBC has lit a torch in this auditory wilderness, and word is spreading about the feel-good foot fuel that the band delivers. Few are immune to the sway of the hypnotic rhythm- everyone from the most jaded hipsters, to music purists, to little kids, find themselves with a spring in their step, and a smile on their face. whenever the band cuts loose.
I recently played the sounds of VBC for my colleague, ethnomusicologist and expert scholar, Kirk Brundage, freshly returned from his annual sojourn to Brazil. (He is researching and writing a book on the region's African influenced indigenous percussion rhythms, and is the only American ever invited to perform with Brazilian "supergroup" Olodum at the world's largest Carnivale in Salavadore. Olodum, credited with the creation of "samba reggae" has recorded with such artists Michael Jackson, Paul Simon and Daniela Mercury).
Upon hearing VBC's work, Brundage explained to me that the uninitiated often mistake their form of music for its more common cousin Salsa. This would not be an entirely incorrect assumption, but Vallenato is a slightly more rustic musical form.
As with many genres of music throughout Latin American, there are European and African influences that combine with local folk styles to form unique hybrids. The members of VBC have further evolved the Vallenato music of the Caribbean coastal farmers by putting their own urban spin to it.
The regional style of Vallenato found it present incarnation in the early 20th century when the African and indigenous musical elements were combined with the introduction of the accordion by Germans who immigrated to the city of Valledupar, on the Atlantic coast of Columbia.
The ensemble's instrumentation consists of acoustic bass, accordion, cowbell (campana), scraper (guacharac) and hand drum (caja). They are living proof that sophisticated equipage is not necessary to make infectious music. As is typical with the best dance music the world over, these musicians have the power to get a crowd up on its feet and shakin' some booty.
The band consists of Ricardo Guzman on the button accordion and vocals, with his brother Arturo on acoustic bass. Sweet and melodic intonations are the order of the day, and there is some call-and-response vocalization as well. The rhythm section is comprised of Craig Martin on scraper, Rich Panta on the drum, and Dante Ruiz on the cowbell. (One wonders what Christopher Walken would have to say?).
Very Be Careful in performance has the dual effect of causing one to move one's feet in the moment, as well as transporting the listener to a faraway place, where life is much less complicated, and lived with more gusto. What better oasis could there be in the heart of the frenetic city than the joyous reminder of country living at its best?
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Encounters with Appropriated Culture
Art's Influence on Album Covers
At the recently closed "Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images" exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, there were a number of album covers on display.
I am not certain that any of these were the actual ones in the exhibition, but the point is not to revisit the museum, but rather to use the display as an impetus to look at how cultural cross-pollination occurs.
Just as art imitates life, different disciplines often appropriate imagery from other branches of the arts. The first two record covers below simply reproduce Magritte paintings, and the other two were obviously influenced by his style.
1) The Jeff Beck Group
"Beck-ola" record cover
Epic Records, 1967
Painting: "La Chambre D'Ecoute" (The Listening Room)
By Rene Magritte
2) Gladys Knight & The Pips
"Visions" record cover
Columbia Records, 1983
Design: Nancy Donald
Painting: "Les Memoires d'un Saint" (The Memories of a Saint)
By Rene Magritte
3) Martin Briley
"Fear Of The Unknown" record cover
Mercury Records, 1981
Design & Art Direction: Bob Heimall
Concept: Bill Levy
Illustration: Norman Walker
4) Badfinger
Badfinger record cover
Warner Brothers, 1974
Design: John Kosh
Photo: Peter Howe
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