{"id":143232,"date":"2020-03-06T13:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T18:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=143232"},"modified":"2020-04-07T13:25:30","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T17:25:30","slug":"staff-picks-cinema-sebald-and-small-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/03\/06\/staff-picks-cinema-sebald-and-small-surprises\/","title":{"rendered":"Staff Picks: Cinema, Sebald, and Small Surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_143349\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/and-then-we-danced-facebook.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143349\" class=\"size-large wp-image-143349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/and-then-we-danced-facebook-1024x538.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/and-then-we-danced-facebook-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/and-then-we-danced-facebook-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/and-then-we-danced-facebook-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/and-then-we-danced-facebook.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-143349\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Still from <em>And Then We Danced<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>C\u00e9line Sciamma\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.portraitmovie.com\/\">Portrait of a Lady on Fire<\/a><\/em> captured critics\u2019\u00a0hearts, and seemed a sure shot to capture mine. An acclaimed French lesbian film? Made for me! And yet, though I did like looking at Ad\u00e8le <span class=\"gmail_default\">Haenel\u2019<\/span>s incongruously contemporary face in period garb,\u00a0<span class=\"gmail_default\">the overblown, gestural romance<\/span> <span class=\"gmail_default\">left me <\/span><span class=\"gmail_default\">un-<\/span>aflame. \u201cDo all lovers feel that they\u2019re inventing something?\u201d Heloise asks Marianne before they first sleep together<span class=\"gmail_default\">, and<\/span>\u00a0I\u00a0<span class=\"gmail_default\">wished<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"gmail_default\">that<\/span> something more precise, more personal, <span class=\"gmail_default\">were being<\/span>\u00a0invented.<span class=\"gmail_default\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"gmail_default\">I found that specificity in<\/span><span class=\"gmail_default\">\u00a0a different international gay film,<\/span> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sundance.org\/projects\/and-then-we-danced\">And Then We Danced<\/a><\/em><span class=\"gmail_default\">,<\/span><span class=\"gmail_default\"> which follows a delicate-boned dancer as he tries to keep his hands from fluttering during traditional Georgian dance, his only path out of a country where he cannot survive. Shot in four weeks on a minuscule budget, the film received a standing ovation at Cannes. In Georgia, it was met with such violent far-right protests that it closed after three screenings, but a queer Georgian youth movement has mobilized around the film, and its soundtrack, as a beacon of hope. The movie\u2019s portrayal of first love made me bite my lip, but even more vivid were the moments of tenderness between two brothers, between grandparents and grandchildren, and the spaces the camera inhabits in Tbilisi, from nightclubs to cramped apartments to ballrooms. It\u2019s a love letter to Georgia that asks simply: Love me back. \u2014<strong>Nadja Spiegelman\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I spent much of December working with Nathaniel Mackey and Cathy Park Hong on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/interviews\/7534\/the-art-of-poetry-no-107-nathaniel-mackey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/interviews\/7534\/the-art-of-poetry-no-107-nathaniel-mackey&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1583526247014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHFL40Tb2bYTpOnSRHGFQWuSCP0Rw\">Mackey\u2019s Art of Poetry<\/a> interview, which is in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/back-issues\/232\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/back-issues\/232&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1583526247014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGye78qD8tXvXyApQ6tnhkmLw-K9Q\">our new issue<\/a> (online now, on newsstands Tuesday). In working on the manuscript across winter\u2019s darkest days I had a sensation not unlike that accompanying opening up an Advent calendar. Behind one paper door was the poetry of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Collected-Poems-Henri-Coulette\/dp\/1557281440\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Collected-Poems-Henri-Coulette\/dp\/1557281440&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1583526247014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFbREkz4P00eBPrEqzUGS6OGv_ncQ\">Henri Coulette<\/a>, behind another was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ll3CMgiUPuU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v%3Dll3CMgiUPuU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1583526247014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHoZ_pMAetcSurq5AxLDfuHLqx2ww\">John Coltrane<\/a>\u2014both of which were familiar to me, as Michael S. Harper made Coulette required reading for his undergraduate seminars, and Coltrane, well, I was carrying a coffin-size saxophone case around Seattle at age twelve, of course I know my Trane. But other doors opened to new-to-me delights\u2014Mackey\u2019s epistolary novels, which are but a grace note in this Art of Poetry interview, revealed a rabbit hole, and I eagerly devoured N\u2019s letters in <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1531\/9780811226608\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.ndbooks.com\/book\/late-arcade\/%23\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1583526247014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHAia5NMrSiUsPmEOqXSSMqvRcHbg\"><i>Late Arcade<\/i><\/a>. The epic poem <em><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1531\/9780811212984\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paterson<\/a><\/em> wasn\u2019t new to me, but after reading Mackey\u2019s description of its landscaping, I\u2019ll never look at William Carlos Williams the same way again. Behind another door was Cathy\u2019s new essay collection, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/1531\/9781984820365\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/605371\/minor-feelings-by-cathy-park-hong\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1583526247014000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHOWZHmK5lhNxCSi055Tzq_HKxzZg\">Minor Feelings<\/a>,<\/em> which I started one Friday night and didn\u2019t look up from again until it was done on Saturday evening. It\u2019s a tremendous book of essays, inquisitive and honest and necessary. It seems I\u2019ve just picked four books and a record, which is to say I\u2019m actually pointing to a style of creative exploration that Mackey has internalized and deployed to great effect across his storied career. One part explorer, one part magpie, he weaves his work from many threads, and that curiosity is catching. As for me, I\u2019m keeping those doors open all year. \u2014<strong>Emily Nemens<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"yj6qo ajU\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_143348\" style=\"width: 959px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/screen-shot-2020-03-05-at-3.16.02-pm.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143348\" class=\"wp-image-143348 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/screen-shot-2020-03-05-at-3.16.02-pm.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"949\" height=\"307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/screen-shot-2020-03-05-at-3.16.02-pm.png 949w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/screen-shot-2020-03-05-at-3.16.02-pm-300x97.png 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/screen-shot-2020-03-05-at-3.16.02-pm-768x248.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-143348\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From Sam Youkilis\u2019s Instagram<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the hellscape of Instagram lies a savior, Sam Youkilis. In a simplistic way, Youkilis could be described as a travel photographer, but that moniker does no justice to breadth of his work. Yes, he\u2019s more often than not in a beautiful place, eating gorgeous food and drinking perfect wine, but he is also capturing the soul of the landscape and the people who inhabit it. A great deal of his work is showcased in the Stories feature of Instagram, where he posts moving (in both senses of the word) portraits, often in curated series. Recently he has been posting videos from Chefchaouen, a city in Morocco known for its buildings in varying shades of blue. When you click on the geotag for Chefchaouen, a grid appears, dappled with travel influencers posing cross-legged on blue steps. In stark contrast, one of Youkilis\u2019s posts features two little boys arm in arm running down a cerulean alleyway. Often it feels like Instagram\u2019s sole purpose is to elicit envy, and yet I, someone prone to jealousy, never feel spiteful looking through Youkilis\u2019s posts. His ability to capture the purest moments of everyday life assures me that if anyone deserves to be somewhere exciting and new\u2014it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/samyoukilis\/?hl=en\">@samyoukilis<\/a>.\u00a0<strong>\u2014Eleonore Condo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are no huge surprises on this new album from jazz legend Charles Lloyd, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.bluenote.com\/products\/charles-lloyd-8-kindred-spirits-live-from-the-lobero\"><em>8: Kindred Spirits, Live from the Lobero<\/em><\/a>\u2014it sounds a lot like Lloyd\u2019s recent live albums\u2014except the usual surprises that come with excellent, sinuous improvisation, and the presence of once-rising, now-risen star Julian Lage on a guitar that is alternately icily cutting and warmly resonant, and the organist Booker T., who quietly adds dimensions. Lloyd is one of the last active musicians from his great mid-\u201960s generation, and his round tone on sax and distinctive phrasing, which alternates between long, slow notes and sudden crunched runs, is recognizable from a mile away. His music moves effortlessly between a kind of hip profundity and a funky strut. He\u2019s backed here by longtime bandmates, including Eric Harland, one of the best drummers alive, and pianist Gerald Clayton, who comes to the forefront of this music. There\u2019s also a very expensive limited-release deluxe edition that includes an additional hour of music that is as wonderful as the rest, except for a rather ham-fisted vocal number called \u201cA Song for Charles\u201d (\u201cCharles is a gift to the world\/to me and you \u2026\u201d), which most listeners will want to skip over. No huge surprises, but, actually, lots of little ones, particularly in the twenty-minute version of Lloyd\u2019s warhorse \u201cDreamweaver,\u201d which opens the album. <strong>\u2014Craig Morgan Teicher<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_143347\" style=\"width: 746px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5be4d85b92390961b4ad03c5e2775faf.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143347\" class=\"size-full wp-image-143347\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5be4d85b92390961b4ad03c5e2775faf.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"736\" height=\"580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5be4d85b92390961b4ad03c5e2775faf.jpeg 736w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/5be4d85b92390961b4ad03c5e2775faf-300x236.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-143347\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nick Mauss, <em>Compilation<\/em>, 2020 (\u00a9 Nick Mauss, 2020. Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Nick Mauss, though a visual artist by trade, is a scrupulous scholar of modernist dance. With each new work, he tests the limits of his form, capturing, in paint, the ephemeral nature of bodies in motion. Mauss is no stranger to Chelsea, having made a home at both the Whitney and 303 Gallery, where his latest solo show is on view through April 11. In a new collection of sketches and paintings, as in his other work, Mauss pays homage to the mid-century aesthetic. His architectural compositions recall the neoclassicism of Balanchine and Stravinsky. And his tender representations of the male body evoke the poetry and portraiture of Frank O\u2019Hara and Fairfield Porter, respectively. Upon entering through a painted door, the viewer is immediately disarmed by a sketch of nearly life-size nudes in foreshortened perspective. These figures, rendered in ink on enamel paper, appear unfinished. Like others in the gallery, the work seems as if it has been torn from an oversize sketchbook. Neighboring pieces are even stained with coffee and ring-shaped marks where cups of paint once rested. The art, seemingly a record of Mauss\u2019s own dynamic process, brings to mind dance notation. I left the gallery imagining the artist at work, in motion, as much a dancer as he is a choreographer. <strong>\u2014Elinor Hitt<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My memory has always been bad, though the past two years or so it\u2019s been dreadful. Sufficiently poor that, when I\u2019m tired, it seems that the blanks extend to the most common of words. If severe, the forgetting of words is called anomic aphasia. Or so my doctor told me when\u2014quite blithely\u2014she dismissed my concerns out of hand. (\u201cNo, you don\u2019t have it. Get some sleep.\u201d) Others have different names for the condition: in my conversations with the <em>Review<\/em>\u2019s digital director, he has referred to it as \u201cmiddle age.\u201d Regardless of the nomenclature, the rewards of the condition are few, and the frustrations are many. But my obsession did recently draw me to a collection of interviews with, and essays on, W. G. Sebald, titled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sevenstories.com\/books\/3623-the-emergence-of-memory\"><em>The Emergence of Memory<\/em><\/a> and edited by Lynne Sharon Schwartz, a highlight of which is Sebald\u2019s interview with Michael Silverblatt. I had first listened to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcrw.com\/culture\/shows\/bookworm\/w-g-sebald\">this episode of <em>Bookworm<\/em><\/a> one evening, years ago, in a small kitchen in Paris while I cooked dinner, my laptop perched precariously on top of the fridge, and the conversation between these two respectful, calmly erudite men stayed with me. Early on, Silverblatt describes the manifestation of the Holocaust in the elegiac <em>Austerlitz<\/em> as a \u201csilent presence being left out but always gestured toward.\u201d To this Sebald responds: \u201cYour description corresponds very much to my intentions.\u201d It is an inconsequential reply, I suppose, but something about it seemed so simple, so accurate, and so very full of <em>him<\/em>. I remember how formal Sebald seemed, almost weary, though still friendly and engaged. I remember, too, his tones as he spoke that phrase, and have often repeated it to myself over the years, though I don\u2019t precisely know why. It was reassuring to see the sentence reproduced on the page. And not only because I had remembered it correctly. \u2014<strong>Robin Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, the staff of \u2018The Paris Review\u2019 watches gay movies, listens to jazz, and checks Instagram. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[438],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-weeks-reading"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Staff Picks: Cinema, Sebald, and Small Surprises by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 6, 2020 \u2013 This week, the staff of \u2018The Paris Review\u2019 watches gay movies, listens to 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