Saturday, December 8, 2018

Wings of Desire vs Luther

Cover of The Criterion Collection DVD

"I'm here. I wish you were here! I wish you could talk to me. 'Cause, I'm a friend. Compañero."

The movie, Wings of Desire, has intrigued and puzzled me since I first saw it when it was released in 1987.  It resurfaced for me again recently as I contemplated the recent passing of a dear friend from that era, Sue Fedor. Our group from St Peter's Church/CSU Newman Center was my social scene at the time. I think a bunch of us went to see this movie one Sunday afternoon. In any case, most of us had seen it and it was a topic of conversation. We were particularly intrigued and delighted with the portrayal of the guardian angels. The movie inspired us to go around and put a comforting hand on each other's shoulders ala the angels in the movie.

So not long ago, I borrowed a copy of the Criterion Collection DVD from the local public library and watched the movie and commentary and extras over several days. The same aspects that originally attracted me are still valid. And I still am not sure what the movie is really about. Oh, I know the basic "plot" line (i.e., narrative); but what does the movie "really mean"?

The portrayal of the guardian angels is still magnificent and of immense comfort and solace. No matter what the intent of the film makers, it seems many viewers are greatly attracted to this image of the angels.

The movie also seems to remind us of the tremendous blessings (and challenges) of being human. The movie shows the struggles of dealing with human relationships, the wonder of the innocence of childhood, and the loneliness of being. It also calls attention to the delights of human existence that we take for granted (e.g, "to smoke and have coffee - and if you do it together, it's fantastic").


When I watched the DVD, I remembered that there is a love story. This movie seemed to positively portray the benefits of "marriage" between woman and man. It suggests a synergy that appealed to me then and still does.


While the movie does not explicitly mention God and cannot be considered "orthodox" in a conservative "Christian" sense, the presence of the Creator (or a creative Force) fills the movie. At the end of the movie, I am filled with hope, optimism, bewilderment, and awe. I don't know if I misunderstood or got it wrong but each time I return to this movie, I reaffirm these feelings. Perhaps paradoxically, I come away with a greater trust and faith in God.

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When I first sat down with the Wings of Desire DVD, I ended up watching the first part of the movie (i.e., the patrolling of the guardian angels). Since I didn't want to stay up late on a weeknight to watch the whole thing, I stopped and decided to preview another DVD that I recently received.

I obtained a copy of Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer from Ligonier Ministries (think R.C. Sproul) for "a donation of any amount" (and it was very very modest).

Cover of my copy of the DVD.

I ended up watching about half of this documentary. What I want to say about this is that I sensed a great deal of evil throughout this DVD. This surprised me because I believe that R.C. Sproul was a sincere and devout Christian. Also, many of the Ligonier associates that appear in this DVD I believe to be professed Christians. 

No matter, I saw something sinister in this DVD right from the start, beginning with the cover art: it's all black, the church is upside down, and the font looks rather devilish to me. The narrator is a hunky-type guy attired in contemporary casual sloppy fashion that screams Lucifer! to me. For some reason, the close-ups of the principals appear stark and designed to accentuate negative and gross features. R.C. Sproul comes off looking to me like Jabba the Hutt ; the camera seems like it is looking up into the nostrils of Robert Godfrey; and Stephen Nichols comes off looking a preppy pretty frat boy.

Overall, the graphics in this DVD came off as digitally processed and, thus, fake. I came away with  a sense of evil and fraud about this DVD. Someone or something apparently pulled the wool over the eyes of Ligonier. If you get a chance, I recommend that you check out this DVD to see if you also experience the evil that I sensed. Let me know. 

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I don't know if my reaction to the Luther DVD was due to the peace and tranquility of the Wings of Desire movie I watched first. It was certainly a strange experience and something I did not expect.
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Sunday, December 2, 2018

Christmas Creche at Knights


This year, my son Richard and I made our annual visit on Saturday December 1st to see the Christmas Creche exhibit at the Knights of Columbus Museum. Our timing was good because this was also the Christmas Tree Festival Opening Celebration. There were carolers (singers), refreshments, and St. Nick! And everything was FREE!

Richard with St. Nick (Jess).
Bad picture is my fault (Shot into the light).

This year's theme  is "Christmas in Poland."

Exhibit brochure description.


We started with the Christmas Tree exhibit because it is on the Main Level. Although the trees are decorated by elementary school age children, it is always fascinating and delightful to see the creativity and skill that goes into the ornaments. I'm glad that we didn't have to select the winner; we enjoyed all of them.


Because the WWI Exhibit is still in place (extended until April 14, 2019), the Christmas exhibit is upstairs.

This is what you see at the start of the exhibit.

There is a lot to see. We basically went through it twice: once to get a quick lay of the land; and a second time to take a closer look at favorites.

Turning around from the map of Poland, you encounter this hut.



Another large exhibit were these castle-like structures.



Detail of one of the castles-showing Baby Jesus.

 

My favorite are the carvings:


Joseph doesn't look very happy, does he?
The guy at the top is the "Big Guy Upstairs."




The exhibit also included some typical creches:




The Krakow Dragon (green figure at right).

Cut Paper Art
WARNING: Do not place burning candles on a live (cut) Xmas Tree!

Of course, since the exhibit centered on Poland, there had to be mention of the Pope John Paul II (from Poland).

Painting of Pope John Paul II praying in front of
painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa

All in all, once again, a very wonderful and interesting time. Looking forward to next year!

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Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Madonna_of_Cz%C4%99stochowa
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Written Wednesday 19 December 2018.

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Monday, November 26, 2018

The Message in the Hollow Oak

Front cover of my copy

At the end of November, I finished this book, The Message in the Hollow Oak, by Carolyn Keene, one (#12) of the Nancy Drew mystery series. I recently purchased my copy at a used book sale for a couple dollars. It has an inscription at the front: "To Dorothy, from Margaret S. Xmas 12/25/47." On the front endpaper, Dorothy's name is scratched out and underneath it is another name, also scratched out but appears to be "Elizabeth."

The volume I have is copyright 1935 by Grosset & Dunlap Publishers of New York. One guide I found indicates that my copy was likely printed in 1946 on war-time (WWII) paper. Indeed, the paper is now yellow and fragile. My copy has only one illustration (by R.H. Tandy) at the frontispiece. Alas, my copy did not have its original dust jacket.

The sole illustration in my volume.
Frontispiece

The story involves Nancy traveling to Canada to investigate a piece of property she won in a contest. Supposedly worthless, things begin to heat up when rumors of gold start to fly.  I was surprised to encounter some violence in this book when a man is shot; a spectacular train crash also figures in the mystery.

The book has 218 pages, divided into XXV (25) chapters. Most of the chapters are structured to have a cliffhanger at the end.

Like all the Nancy Drew books I've read, these are fun to read and difficult to put down.

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Links:
http://nancydrew.info/nd0.htm#formats
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Written Wednesday 26 December 2018.

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