All Across The Galaxy @diana-han - Tumblr Blog

01may1994

infinity is now

dark (2019) / rené magritte / william faulkner, requiem for a nun / laini taylor, dreams of gods & monsters / 1 / madeleine l'engle / 2 / gabriel garcía márquez, one hundred years of solitude

filmaticbby

We Are Who We Are (2020) dir. Luca Guadagnino

lordy-lorde

a year ago i saw the Raconteurs in two shows in a row, now it’s so beautiful to remember.

Jack Lawrance is so nice person, always smiling at the public.

And Julian Casablancas was a surprise guest !

rearviewmirror10

The Strokes and Pearl Jam together!!

inky-duchess

What Writers can Learn from The King

I am a sucker for historical films, period dramas and anything that that has Timothee Chalamet in it. So when Netflix brought out The King, you can bet that I was downloading the second it came out. Despite there being some rather glaring historical inaccuracies (complaining only because I am a slut for history), it was one of the best films I have seen in ages. But what can we as writers learn from it?

(Spoilers)

The Twist

We begin our story with Hal not wanting to fight any wars and wanting to reign in peace (the real Henry V would fight anything that moved). But however due to insults from the Dauphin of France and a French assassin coming to kill him, Hal is forced to act and invade England. Hal goes on to win at Agincourt, losing his buddy Falstaff in the process. Hal comes home, satisfied that he has answered the French threat and brought peace to his kingdom. But after his wife Catherine verbally destroys him and reveals that there never was an assassin, Hal finds out that the war with France was built on a lie.

This detail is tiny when one thinks about it. Hal was already angry about the ball sent by the Dauphin. His advisor Gascoigne, dreaming of more land, was behind the assassin story. This drives Hal into a rage and for good reason. He was a King who wanted peace and is after starting a major war that will last decades. The entire story was built on a lie adding an extra layer of umph to the story.

Motifs

Motifs and symbols are a writer's way of telling you the story through objects. Every film has a few, every painting, book or song is stocked full of symbols. They add a level of finesse to our work- accidentally or not.

The ball stands for Hal's insecurities. Though he appears to be comfortable in his role as king, when the ball appears he begins to question himself. The ball can be seen on the table when Hal jokingly but rather honestly admits that his entire life has changed from becoming the drunken frat boy to the stern politician and he wonders how this will end.

Armour is one of the best motifs in this film. Hal's brother Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence can be seen in enamelled armour and gleaming mail. Harry Hotspur Percy is dressed in painted armour. Both these young men see war as a game and a lark. But Hal and Falstaff don't and this can be seen by their plain armour. War is not a game for them, armour is not a costume and their weapons are not toys. It is a subtle contrast and a rather sobering one.

Realistic Combat

I love reading about battles, I listen to podcasts about battles before I go to sleep, I love watching them and I love writing them. The battles and fights in The King are not the most cinematic or poetic or fantastic. But they rank with the best. Why? They are so realistic. In movies and tv shows, battle is always depicted as hero vs evil, hero surviving and coming out victorious and fresh as a daisy. Mediaeval battle was brutal and The King doesn't shy away from this.

At Shrewsbury, Hal and Hotspur have a fight. Though they engage in some sword fighting, the fight quickly turns to blows. Hal and Hotspur's fight is quick, violent and messy. There is no glorious end for Hotspur. He dies messy and without ceremony. Also, I love the realism of having Hal feel terrible over winning. It just adds angst, which I love.

At Agincourt, we see knights mown down by arrows, soldiers crushed by horses, men drowning in puddles and everyone slipping in the mud. Falstaff is hit by a horse in the first few seconds of the battle and later dies ingloriously from a stab in the gut. We see Hal being pushed and punched, hit by horses and having to fight with his bare hands. The battle is gritty, the characters struggle and they are clumsy. It is uncomfortable viewing for its brutality. In other words, it depicts a battle in all its true form.

Subversion to Expectations

The King sets us up with certain expectations which is not entirely all its doing. Different genres make us expect certain things. We expect jump scares in horror films, last minute declarations of love at airports and glorious one on one combat between the hero and villain in fantasy films. The King subverts the expected tropes of its genre and it makes one sit up and pay closer attention to it.

The Dauphin (French Robert Pattinson) challenges Hal to single combat. He is dressed in heavy plate, gleaming like it should and a shining sword. Hal readies himself but the Dauphin keeps slipping in the mud. Aside from being fucking hilarious, the subversion is masterful for the simple fact that they have been building it up for the entire film. Hal is down for it, we're down for it and Prince RobPat is just... down on the ground. It jolts the audience after the battle, getting their heads back from the battle.

When we hear stories of Glorious Agincourt, we imagine some clean green field with knights in shining armour and heroic bowmen shooting down the enemy. It is easy to picture that. We expect a nice clean battle. But Agincourt as depicted here is brutal and terrible. There are no shining knights, there is no last minute cavalry charge and there are no heroics. It is war, barefaced ugly war. The only other battle that comes close to this is the Battle of the Bastards but even that great sequence can't match the realism and subversion of Agincourt.

In any story, we expect only one thing: a happy ending or some quasi-version of it. There is no happy ending for Hal. He's won the battle, defeated the villain and made peace. His goals are achieved. Woo. But at this point we have ten minutes left in the film. And in those ten minutes, Catherine of Valois destroys Hal with the truth and Hal realizes that he's been played like a fiddle by Gascoigne. His goal of peace is dashed to nothing. He has effectively lost his quest for peace. I like this because its a fresh take on the usual sword and castle dramas and also every other genre. Hal does everything a hero is meant to: defeats the enemy, wins the battle, looses a treasured companion and marries a princess. But the film delivers one final fuck you to the character and to us. The hero loses and must learn to live with it.

After the Dauphin kills a young boy as a challenge to Hal's invasion after their meeting at Harfleur, Hal angrily commands Falstaff to set watchmen around the camp, punish them if they fail and murder all the captives. Falstaff says yes to the first and no to the others. He reminds Hal that he is not a brutal man. He is a hero. Hal agrees but after Agincourt, he finds Falstaff dead. He looks down at Falstaff, grieving for his lost friend/mentor and then orders the deaths of all captives. We expect Hal to live by his friend/mentor's advice now that he is dead. We see this all the time: Dumbledore & Harry, Obi Wan & Luke, Ned Stark & his sons/Theon Greyjoy. It's just tradition in these mentor-apprentice relationships. But the King subverts it, again giving us a well needed jolt.

heartbreakweathern-deactivated2

like or reblog if you save/use

esrpublicist

King Henry! King Henry! King Henry! King Henry!

timotaychalamet

A Faithful Man (2018) dir. Louis Garrel

Holanda celebra en 2017 el centenario de uno de los movimientos más interesantes, múltiples y sociales de las artes plásticas

yoshichans-world

ぶらり長野の旅

台風チャンホンと秋雨前線の影響で、旅行中ずっと雨でしたが、霧も多く発生し、幻想的な風景と雲海を見れたことは幸運でした^_^♪

fckyeahgdragon

G-DRAGON for Vogue Korea November 2020

positivewordaday

nevver

Peanuts

cwmoss

Every SAMO© Phrase I Could Find

These are my collected writings of Jean Michel Basquiat and Al Diaz as SAMO©. These are the phrases that I was able to find online, so this is incomplete. I attempted to keep important [sic]-phrases and -spellings, as well as relevant line breaks (which to me are half the magic).

SAMO© is dead

SAMO© as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics and bogus philosophy.

SAMO© as an end to playing art.

SAMO© as a neo art form

SAMO© as an alternative 2 playing art with the ‘radical chic’ sect on Daddy’s $ funds.

SAMO© as an escape clause.

SAMO DOES NOT CAUSE CANCER IN LABORATORY ANIMALS!!!

SAMO FOR THE SO CALLED AVANT GARDE”

SAMO AS AN END TO THE 9 TO 5 “I WENT TO- COLLEGE” “NOT 2-NITE HONEY” ,,,BLUZ,,,THINK,,,

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS OMNIPRESENT? [ ] LEE HARVEY OSWALD [ ] COCA-COLA LOGO [ ] GENERAL MELONRY [ ] SAMO©…”

“MICROWAVE & VIDEO X-SISTANCE “BIG-MAC” CERTIFICATE” FOR X-MASS… SAMO©”

SAMO FOR THOSE OF US, WHO MERELY TOLERATE CIVILIZATION,,,

THE WHOLE LIVERY LINE BOW LIKE THIS WITH THE BIG MONEY CRUSHED INTO THESE FEET

SAMO SAVES IDIOTS AND GONZOIDS

(SAMO) A PIN DROPS LIKE A PUNGENT ODOR

SAMO ,,, AS A CONGLOMERATE OF DORMANT-GENIOUS,,,

SAMO,,, FOR THE URBAN RED- NECK,,,

SAMO AS A RESULT OF OVEREXPOSURE

SAMO,,, JUST IN CASE,,,

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS HAS THE MOST POLITICAL INFLUENCE? A. [ ] TELEVISION B. [ ] THE CHURCH C. [ ] SAMO D. [ ] MCDONALDS

HYPERCOOL SAMO IN THE MORNING HYPERCOOL POON TANG AT NIGHT,,, HYPERCOOL OH YEAH OH YEAH

HYPERCOOL POLYESTER UNDERWEAR HYPERCOOL COMBAT BEOT,,, THE GONZOIDS ARE ROCKIN’,,, IN LEISURE SUITS,,,

SAMO FOR THE PHONYS,,,

Ones people have sent me since my initial post:

ORIGINS OF COTTON.

From Basquiat’s Résumé:

[Page 1] JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT

NEW YORK CITY

EDCATION(crossed-out) EDUCATION

EXPERIENCE (slightly crossed-out)

EMPLOYMENT (blacked-out) PATRICIA FIELDS (blacked-out)

PUBLISHED INTERVEIWS (sic)

VILLAGE VOICE HIGH TIMES (both in brackets)

[Page 2]

REFERENCES

PATRICIA FIELDS GLENN O’BRIEN JAMES CHANCE ANDY WARHOL ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG DIVINE DEBORAH HARRY(BLONDE(sic)) ELAN MIDGETTE DICK TRACY CHRIS BURDEN TENNESSEE WILLIAMS JOHNNY CARSON

[Note: Most phrases were found online, but I’d imagine there are many in books and journals that could be added. If you’ve found any, please send them my way: [email protected]]