Recent film gems

There have been several beautiful and inspriring movies in cinemas over the last couple of months. Some of them were hidden gems, some have found a broader audience, all have been able to create a unique feeling of magic. Here are a couple of them.

Amazing and magical, Hugo is a declaration of love to art and film and following your dreams. Must see.




This one pictures genuine friendship and the beauty of life just as it is and people who try to embrace it that way.



These two are about growing up, becoming mature and true to yourself, coming to terms with your past and finding out who you really are, each one in a very different yet inspiring way.

alan ayckbourn about writing and directing for the stage, and michael caine about acting for film

for those of you who are interested in theatre, writing, acting or the art of directing, i have two book recommendations to share with you. the first one is the book 'The Crafty Art of Playmaking', or the german translation 'Theaterhandwerk', written by alan ayckbourn, the famous british contemporary playwright, director and theatre practitioner (and translated into german by gustav e. grumbach). it is divided into two parts, the first one about writing a play, the second about directing one for the stage. in 101 guidelines, he gives advice on the how to do it best and describes the process of a play coming onto the stage in very entertaining language giving a lot of practical examples from his own work. Not only is it valuable for everybody who wants to adventure into the art of playmaking but also highly recommendable for those interested in the british theatre landscape and alan ayckbourn as a person.

 

'theaterhandwerk' on amazon.de     and 'the crafty art of playmaking', also on amazon.de  

the other brilliant book that i'd like to share is 'weniger ist mehr', written by stunning actor michael caine (and translated by petra schreyer). the original english version is callled 'acting in film: an actor's take on movie making' (this is the amazon.co.uk page). in it, caine takes the reader on a tour through what it means to act for film and advises on how to do it properly. with a lot of practical examples from his own career, the book makes you begin to understand why he is that good at his job. it gives you a great insight and makes you admire the art of acting.

banksy

the street artist actually has a website with footage of his work. very recommendable.

as is the film 'exit through the gift shop', a (fake?) documentary about a street artist.

some more banksy art

pictures taken from banksy.co.uk

charlotte gainsbourg and beck

'heaven can wait' by charlotte gainsbourg and beck, who produced her album 'IRM'

i love that song. and i find that the video is one of the best and wittiest i have seen for a long time.

the whole charlotte gaisnbourg album 'IRM' is an invaluably awesome experience.

on her homepage you find extracts to listen to (and the song 'IR' complete)

I especially recommend the songs 'Master's Hand', 'IRM', 'Time of the Assassins' and 'Greenwich Mean Time'

into the wild

welcome to my blog! hanna impressed - a collection of things that make life a little more worth living. I will try to assemble all the little bits and pieces that have impressed me, and maybe, from time to time, also include evidence of where I might have contributed to impressions that made other people happy...

the first one that comes to my mind is this one. into the wild - an amazing film full of longing, being authentic, and making your dreams come true. living life to your fullest potential.

here is the into the wild webpage. the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder contributes immensely to the whole experience. just listen and enjoy.