Distinguish melancholy from sadness

“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. 

 It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk. Spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. 

It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. 

Find meaning or don’t find meaning but “steal” some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.” 

—  Albert Camus, Notebooks (1951-1959)

[Krystian Zimerman & Kaja Danczowska play
César Franck's Violin Sonata, 1st movement.]

As the decay of winter slowly fades away and spring's bloom rises the images above, Camus' words, and that beautiful and melancholical piece reflect my mood during these days. 

— Mara

Ph.: L’Eclisse (1962), Olga Onischenko, Leopoldo Pomés (Revista Grúa, 1957), Brigitte Bardot, Elise Crombez by Annemarieke van Drimmelen ('Io Sono L’Amore', Vogue Netherlands, December 2012), Raymond Depardon (Jardin du Luxembourg, 1989), Jean Seberg, the69th, oprahhatparty, poppycockburn, most-beautiful-girls-caps, nostalgia, Nymph()maniac vol. I (2013), La Notte (1961), Visual 404

Blow - Up (1966)

Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film “Blow-Up” has become an iconic portrait of London in the ’60′s. The film follows Thomas,  a self-centered photographer in ’60′s Swinging London, as he inadvertently witnesses a murder. This character was based on the famous photographer David Bailey, brilliantly portrayed by David Hemmings.

(David Bailey, he captured and helped create the 'Swinging London' of the 1960s. He is regarded as one of the best British photographers. He was the main photographer of Vogue, he married Catherine Deneuve, and photographed celebrities and socialites including Terence Stamp, The Beatles, Mick Jagger, Jean Shrimpton and Andy Warhol, among others).

Antonioni gives us an insight look into the lifestyle of young, rich and beautiful people who party all day and all of the night. Thomas drives a Rolls Royce, is surrounded by models, and gives a lesson in style wearing an amazing dark green velvet jacket that looks exactly like the one that Louis Garrel wears in The Dreamers (I bet Bertolucci loves Blow-Up).

(Louis Garrel in The Dreamers)

The film also stars supermodel Veruschka, who looks like some sort of Russian countess while she's inmortalised by Hemming's camera in a really sensual and erotic way; the flawless and stylish Vanessa Redgrave, as a mysterious woman; and the lovely Jane Birkin. This was Birkin's debut, as she plays a young wild girl, some sort of Thomas' groupie, along with Gillian Hills (famous for her Zou bisou bisou, that you can watch by clicking here). The two girls get into a naive ménage à trois with Hemming's character, and the result is one of the funniest scenes of the film:

Blow-Up also has a notable appearance by the Yardbirds: Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Keith Relf perform “Stroll On” (a.k.a. Train Kept a Rollin) at a crowded venue, in one of the scenes of the film:

Overall, this is a really great movie. Not the typical thriller you might be expecting, but a beautiful piece magistrally directed by Antonioni where the silences, the gestures and the looks between the characters become the main stars (it's no wonder that Sofia Coppola mentioned Antonioni as one of her influences). He manages to show us a brilliant portrait of London on that era, a remarkable film that won the Grand Prix at the 1967 Cannes Film Festival. 

Ph.: eight london, a fantasy, blow-up film stills

Zabriskie Point (1970)

Weird film from Antonioni set in the late 1960s counterculture.The first half of the film has the vibe of a documentary about the strikes and riots in L.A for the civil rights and against the Vietnam war, and the second half feels more like a road trip with amazing images of Zabriskie Point on the Death Valley.
It was a commercial failure and critics labeled it as a boring and empty movie. I have to admit is not the best thing Antonioni has made, but it's interesting to watch it because of its photography (totally stunning), the soundtrack, and this scene, which is one of the most beautiful scenes ever filmed... like a surrealist painting in motion: