Monday 18 January 2016
Saturday 16 January 2016
Sunday 1 February 2015
Amadeus (1984) Movie Review and What I Learned From it...
Smooth and yet fancy, sophisticated yet agonizing, laughable and yet tearful! To me this movie has way too many contrasts and contradictions that only filled up my curiosity ever in a movie. I was hooked in this three hour journey like a dedicated researcher in search of a precious possession in the form of information.
At first what I thought would be a boring 18th century inspired elaborate costume movie with a shallow and unwitting screenplay turned out to be a magnificent cinematic art.
Amadeus is a story not about the greatness that Mozart was but about his arch rival Salieri who would disguise himself as a friend in need for Amadeus Mozart but in secret an enemy bringing about Mozart's downfall by playing in harmony with his weaknesses.
The story is told in flashback by an aged Salieri now seeking asylum at a madhouse. He speaks of his secret admiration for Mozart's talent and his failure to not being able to come even a quarter close to the music he loved. Salieri was what we would speak of a person with a 1st class taste in music but a 3rd rated ability to compose half the good music he hears.
Mozart was what he wished to be and yet wished to diminish. The young Mozart was Salieri's half glass full and yet half glass empty. There goes a saying by a wise old Chinese man, "What one is unable to obtain in his life, he fights against it: He turns his dreams into agony". While Salieri secretly dreamed to be as good as Mozart, the young composer only filled him with rage at the same time.
This happens to most of us when we are unable to diet with restrictions on our food limit, yet after a week we go back to our normal eating lifestyle and then we end up hating and accusing all those who achieved their weight loss goals while we couldn't and this is what brings out the Salieri in all of us. It is natural but with some people it breeds contempt.
And it is this "contempt" that revolves around the story structure of this movie.
Salieri goes on to bring Mozart down, either by blocking musical productions or by taking away job opportunities from the young composer. He does that by influencing higher authorities against Mozart, and by the end of the movie we learn Salieri's real talent: to manipulate better than to compose.
But the question arises, what makes Mozart better than Salieri?
Often in life we come across people who are incredibly smart and talented beyond norms, and quite often so such people are very joyous, mischievous, happy, outgoing with extraordinary personalities. How do they get it so easy? Their secret is that they themselves never get obsessed with what they love to do. They take their work as a child's play and spend more time having fun doing it than abiding to do it with stern rules and ethics. These are the kind of people who bring joy in work life and who inspire others to have it easy and to be ambitious much the same way. They are my dear people, the Influencers! Ever wondered why Dali was more famous as a surreal visual maker than the other surreal artists of his time? Read about his joy filled life. Marilyn Monroe is still regarded as the Queen of Hollywood even after 53 years since she died? Blame that megawatt smile and her carefree acting.
This is what this movie goes on to teach us, that no matter how the going gets tough, what is within you can never be stolen away from you.
Salieri might have harmed Mozart economically, but he could never steal the young man's genius mind and talent that was inculcated within him and this is why when the world forgot Salieri, Mozart continues to be the Father of Classical music to this very day ...
At first what I thought would be a boring 18th century inspired elaborate costume movie with a shallow and unwitting screenplay turned out to be a magnificent cinematic art.
Amadeus is a story not about the greatness that Mozart was but about his arch rival Salieri who would disguise himself as a friend in need for Amadeus Mozart but in secret an enemy bringing about Mozart's downfall by playing in harmony with his weaknesses.
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| Cheerful yet a Genius! |
Mozart was what he wished to be and yet wished to diminish. The young Mozart was Salieri's half glass full and yet half glass empty. There goes a saying by a wise old Chinese man, "What one is unable to obtain in his life, he fights against it: He turns his dreams into agony". While Salieri secretly dreamed to be as good as Mozart, the young composer only filled him with rage at the same time.
This happens to most of us when we are unable to diet with restrictions on our food limit, yet after a week we go back to our normal eating lifestyle and then we end up hating and accusing all those who achieved their weight loss goals while we couldn't and this is what brings out the Salieri in all of us. It is natural but with some people it breeds contempt.
And it is this "contempt" that revolves around the story structure of this movie.
Salieri goes on to bring Mozart down, either by blocking musical productions or by taking away job opportunities from the young composer. He does that by influencing higher authorities against Mozart, and by the end of the movie we learn Salieri's real talent: to manipulate better than to compose.
But the question arises, what makes Mozart better than Salieri?
Often in life we come across people who are incredibly smart and talented beyond norms, and quite often so such people are very joyous, mischievous, happy, outgoing with extraordinary personalities. How do they get it so easy? Their secret is that they themselves never get obsessed with what they love to do. They take their work as a child's play and spend more time having fun doing it than abiding to do it with stern rules and ethics. These are the kind of people who bring joy in work life and who inspire others to have it easy and to be ambitious much the same way. They are my dear people, the Influencers! Ever wondered why Dali was more famous as a surreal visual maker than the other surreal artists of his time? Read about his joy filled life. Marilyn Monroe is still regarded as the Queen of Hollywood even after 53 years since she died? Blame that megawatt smile and her carefree acting.
This is what this movie goes on to teach us, that no matter how the going gets tough, what is within you can never be stolen away from you.
Salieri might have harmed Mozart economically, but he could never steal the young man's genius mind and talent that was inculcated within him and this is why when the world forgot Salieri, Mozart continues to be the Father of Classical music to this very day ...
Tuesday 27 January 2015
My name is Sonia, but why Life? Here is why.
I remember when I newly created this blog. My first post was a poetry I had written three years ago when I suffered from immense heartbreak. We all as human beings go through this phase were we feel our world is crumbling down and all that we sacrificed and the achievements we built around us makes no sense anymore. The best option? Suicide. Oh wait! That is for the weaklings. Let's start by creating barriers around our hearts, lets get anti social and hate almost everyone around us and satisfy our grievances and misery through heavy metal music that agrees with our concept of how gore and grim the world is and how we were thrown into it by chance to experience the hell that many theists imagine it to be an eternal afterlife abode.
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| " Lets satisfy our grievances and misery through heavy metal music.." |
Been there, done that.
I eventually grew out of it, and realized that I couldn't stay like that all my life. I remember a wise friend telling me that to truly enjoy life and to bring happiness in life back, I had to work accordingly just the same way we work accordingly to reach our goals in life.
To make all of this happen, I began changing my lifestyle. I asked myself that what was it that was disturbing me and messing up with my potential understanding of happiness? I altered that. For instance, instead of splurging my worthy time on useless social apps and excessive tv shows, I used it to add portfolio to my talent list. I learned to do basic makeup routine which I used to fail miserably, I taught myself some decent and easy to do hair looks (considering I have very long hair). My next goal? I intend to teach myself how to cook and plan on being a good mom if ever I do become one by taking initiative in helping my sister's children in their nappy changes and playtime.
I know this may sound like some delusional fairy tale considering how unrealistic the "ideal" happy life sounds, but guess what? The fact that so many people think negative on a daily basis is what keeps them away from ever securing the good life they can achieve for themselves. But little do people realize that the first and the easiest step to brighten their lives up is by doing so through thought process, just a positive thought can make anyone smile. Anyone.
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| Positive thought = Smile |
Even though my first step was through the change of lifestyle, it was only later I realized that by thinking good thoughts and by wishing well for other people made me feel so much more at peace with myself and my surroundings than it did when I thought negative thoughts.
Hateful thoughts only damage us, it leads us to oblivion.
What can you do to stop thinking anything negative and believing in achieving a good life ?
- Don't follow or read anything biased or hateful on social media against any stereotype in the world. Hate speech promotes hate only.
- Think of someone (at least one person that you could recall or have imagined) who has filled your life with happiness and worked towards making you feel at peace. It can be a secret admirer, a celebrity, a role model of any kind, your dad or mom, or even your best friend etc.
- Irrelevant of what anyone says, believe in something. Have faith. Faith may be in goodness or the potential to succeed and make life happen.
- Cut down or break ties with anyone that only brings out the worst in you, someone who thrashes your esteem. Such people should be shown the closest door to Exit.
- Eat healthy food. Believe it or not, what you eat is what you are. The saying is not only old but it is legend. I myself have experienced a heavy shift in my mental health from awful to great with a change of diet. All those years of McDonald's were switched to eating organic vegetables and fresh fruits and grilled meat.
- Exercise. A plain walk can bring much changes to your personality and your mental health. I noticed 13-14 people in my life who used to be hot tempered and depressed only to become much better people through regular exercising and discipline.
- Change your lifestyle. Chase your goals instead of wasting your time on your mobile phone with all those countless social apps. There is a reason why the generation is only getting dumber and more suicidal. Less productivity in anyone has lead them to nothing but depression and sadness. Then like everyone else, someone else has to be blamed for all that you "go though".
It is so very simple. Everything requires a change. And the change has to come within you.
We often do have those momentary people who walk into our lives for a short span of time and teach us a lifelong lesson, aren't they such a blessing? Yet we curse them.
Humans are never grateful. But to truly be grateful, we have to get in touch with reality and give importance to our souls and people around us, who care for us, than to materialistic possessions and trivial matters.
This reminds me of Charles Bukowski, one of my favorite poet and novelist who once said, "We're all going to die, all of us. What a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it does not. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."
I read those words years ago and they haunt me to this very day. If nothing can save us from death, love should save us from life.
I wish you all the very best to make the best out of your lives...
Your Blogger
Sonia.
Monday 26 January 2015
Sunday 25 January 2015
Saturday 4 January 2014
Beginning New Year 2014 with a Smile of a Sunshine...
They say a little Child's smile can illuminate the darkest of us. They definitely say it right.
I once flipped through an online link of the best old photographs of the 20th century... It was a post that highlighted on the fact that how one picture can evoke a thousand words and a milestone of thoughts into us. I scrolled through many of those lovely pictures that took me on a tour to history's great marvels. (here is the link to that wonderful historical journey and my favorite Pictures from The Past)
I saw Elvis in his young and hopeless days serving the US army, a woman and a boy standing next to the would-be-mantled statue of Liberty, the first impressions of a racist man bullying black people in a swimming pool, and so much more that looked like a story board of yesterday's lives and environment. All of these images made me think for a while about a world that existed many years before my birth and the age of internet, but the one image that captured my heart and brought a smile to my face was a picture of a boy between 6-8 holding a pair of new shoes.
I certainly cherished the other pictures but this specific picture took my breath away. This lovely picture of a little boy relishing over a new pair of shoes for the very first time in his life overwhelmed me with a variety of emotions. It made me react to the picture's contagious grip, it brought a smile on my face, and then it brought me to a state of sadness that most of us in this age would not relate to. I remember seeing my cousin whining over the fact that his dad got him a Scoda over the latest Mercedes-Benz AMG addition for his birthday, spoiled brats crying that they did not get the latest PS4 and a "call of duty" franchise for Christmas or Eid and, seeing a friend of mine sulking over a messed up nail art. If any of these ungrateful references ever get a look on this image and the story behind it, they would truly value their much "unwanted" possessions that their parents bestowed upon them.
I also remember not being able to lie comfortably in my bed that night when I first saw this beautiful picture. I just gazed the ceiling, and didn't realize until my dad called me from the next room that a thick line of tear had stamped my face. I responded "I am coming, dad", and then left to help him with something...
Its not like I was never given lessons on gratitude , appreciation and satisfaction with what we had in life, but the very thought that made me a stronger person was that 'giving was always nobler than taking. ' I always doubted this saying throughout my teen years (yes, I was always that shallow) but realized its significance by just this mere picture and the joy that crossed this young man, stuck in the middle of a damaged post world war 2 Austria that ripped him apart from his parents, confining him to an orphanage and depending on Red Cross funds.
And indeed, it was the initiative taken by the US Red Cross charity to supply goods to the helpless in Europe, that is how this boy got his first pair of new shoes and a smile that became contagious to not only me but to the many readers of Life magazine.
Now to break the ice, here is the little hero of gratitude and the picture that made me write this article:
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| Little Wendell with his precious posession |
God bless you fellow readers, and here's to you, a very happy New Year 2014.Just think about yourself, you may have lent someone 500 dhs, and in return you brought a smile and a relief from trouble that Mr Someone might have gotten into had you not stepped in to help that person; that relief alone could be the pleasure to your heart, or maybe just maybe, you may have given an Orphan girl the most most expensive doll, she might have danced in uttermost happiness just being so grateful for the doll; her happiness and smile could be your pleasure to your heart. If only our corrupted world foresaw the joy of bringing happiness onto others than themselves, they would then understand why God made us so special, powerful, intelligent, and civilized than animals, because animals live for themselves and we are made to live for others, to brighten the world of others, to share our wealth and good fortune with others, to maintain harmony and peace.
To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. Johannes A. Gaertner
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