#o espelho

[victhembones]

O Espelho (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975)

[b-oovies]

The Mirror, 1975.

aqui apenas legendado.

[a-pint-of-j-and-b]

Mirror | 1979 | Andrei Tarkovsky | USSR

[nostalgiepourmoi]

Margarita Terekhova & Maria Tarkovskaya in Zerkalo. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975. [2/2]

[melo-nism-blog]

Quem perde uma das metades, perde naturalmente metade da existência; e casos há, não tão raros, em que a perda da alma exterior implica a existência da inteira.

A Chinela Turca, Machado de Assis

[slowlycoraltastemaker]

O alferes eliminou o homem. Durante alguns dias as duas naturezas equilibraram-se; mas não tardou que a primitiva cedesse à outra; ficou-me uma parte mínima de humanidade.

O Espelho, Machado de Assis.

[interesting-blog-name]

“O Espelho” by Machado de Assis - Review

this is kind of a weird one because it’s a review of a brazilian short story from the 1800s that i have to read in order to prepare for the ridiculous university entrance exams we have in brazil. at least it’s free education though, not really complaining.

so “o espelho” translates to “the mirror” and was written by this incredibly influential brazilian writer and deals with the concept of having 2 souls: one internal and the other external. the story presents 5 gentlemen discussing life and shit, but one of them is really silent. at one point he expresses his thoughts about humans having 2 souls, and begins to tell his story of when his broke ass got a job as some sub officer in the army or something, and everyone starts congratulating him and hyping him up because that means he can provide for his family n shit. one of his aunts invites him to spend a few days at their farm, and when there she starts making a super big deal about his new job, she even transfers their biggest fancy mirror from the living room to the room he was in.

one day, the aunt’s daughter gets really sick and she takes off to see her, leaving the officer boy to take care of the land and the slaves. like not even a day passes and the slaves run away. all of them, the boy is completely alone now. he doesnt feel right going to his aunt to tell her as that would add to her suffering, so he stays, and while staying he feels like he’s losing his mind. he describes his feeling as something close to dread, not for his inability to take care of the farm, but for something else. he feels empty, and after being alone for weeks, one day he suddenly finally looks in the mirror to see a silhouette of himself, a shadowy figure. he freaks out and gets ready to leave, looking over his shoulder as he dresses up just to see if the mirror is still displaying the figure, and he suddenly gets the idea to put his uniform on. when he does, he sees himself again, and chills out a lil bit, being able to withstand a few more days in the farm.

so the point is, the 2 souls every person has are the internal and the external. the internal i assume is your experiences in life, your personality and what you were taught, but the tale doesnt focus on that one. the external soul, from my perspective, is your “clothing”, what you are about in the present, your current vibe, your purpose. as the story goes, you can have hundreds of external souls through your life, de Assis mentions Caesar and Cromwell’s external soul as their power, The Merchant of Venice’s Shylock’s external soul is his money, and so on.

it’s a well written tale, the concept is plausible and i felt like i had a big brain for once while reading it, but i’m not in this to review it really, i’m more revising it for the sake of the tests coming up.

“Santa curiosidade! tu não és só a alma da civilização, és também o pomo da concórdia, fruta divina, de outro sabor que não aquele pomo da mitologia.”

big brian/10

[postersdecinema]

O Espelho

SU, 1975

Andrei Tarkovsky

4