Tove Jansson 1914-2001, Dulwich Picture Gallery (Exhibition)

I have my wife to thank for my appreciation of Tove Jansson, and our exhibition visit on 20/01/18.

My wife, you see, has been a fan of Jansson's most famous creations, the Moomins, for years. But not me, I feel almost embarrassed to admit. No, I'd always found these cartoon trolls a little bit creepy, probably after watching the TV series as a child.

But my opinion began to change a couple of years ago. Knowing my wife loved the Moomins, I bought her a couple of books for presents. After reading them myself, I began to understand exactly why generations had fallen in love with Jansson's creatures. The books and comic strips are intricately illustrated, and Jansson's writing is incitefully wise. The Moomins can make you laugh and make you cry - what more could you want?

I also bought Tuula Karjalainen's biography, Tove Jansson: Work and Love, and it was by reading this book that I realised how the Moomins were just one part of Jansson's impressive output.

Jansson was an extremely gifted illustrator and artist for many years prior to her creation of the Moomins, but that work has always been overshadowed by the huge popularity of the Moomins. Karjalainen's book does a fantastic job of putting the Moomins in context of a lifelong passion for all things creative.

It's a great credit to the Dulwich Picture Gallery that for the very first time in the UK an exhibition has attempted to pull together a cross-section of Jansson's work, rather than focusing solely on the crowd-pleasing Moomins.

Tove Jansson 1914-2001 includes a lot of Moomin illustrations, naturally, but also rooms filled with magazine covers, abstracts and self-portraits. There's something for everyone. And for me?

Well, it's only in recent years that I've taken up drawing and painting, which I've found to be incredibly satisfying and therapeutic. As a result of my own attempts, for the first time I've been reading up on major artists such as Picasso and van Gogh, and have become much more interested in seeing great paintings with my own eyes.

And so I think Tove Jansson 1914-2001 was possibly the first exhibition where I was genuinely excited to see an artist's paintings in the flesh.

The exhibition met my expections immediately. I love Tove Jansson's self-portraits most of all (they remind me a little of van Gogh) and my two favourites were there: Self Portrait (Lynx Boa) and Self Portrait (1942). The exhibition was extremely busy, and unfortunately the self-portraits were in the first room, which was quite cramped, but I spent as long as I felt able to, just taking in the brush strokes, the colours, the sheer presence of these beautiful paintings...

The rest of the exhibition was fascinating, don't get me wrong - I couldn't quite get over how small and precise the Moomin drawings were - but I think I would have happily stayed in that first room for an hour.

Getting to the exhibition required a weekend away in London but it was worth every penny.

So thank you, Dulwich Picture Gallery. You made my day.

Hail, Caesar! (Film, 2016)

This weekend I realised that Hail, Caesar! may well be one of my favourite films.

You see, I don't tend to re-watch films very often - not even those I love. Why? Because I don't ever want to get sick of my favourite films, which is exactly what happens if I see them too often. And yet I've watched Hail, Caesar! three times over the past eighteen or so months since its release in the UK, and I think I love it more now than ever.

The Coen Brothers' tale of Eddie Mannix, a 1950s movie studio trouble-shooter, is just absolutely joyous. I know there has been criticism of the way the Coens use this film to poke fun at Hollywood, but I don't accept that this stems from hatred: to me, the Coens are revelling in the eccentricities of film-making and actors. So yes, actors are empty-headed buffoons and directors have ideas above their station, but this is not a serious film: it's a comedy. Don't take it too seriously.

Hail, Caesar! has some truly memorable scenes, such as pompous director Laurence Laurentz trying to guide hapless western actor Hobie Doyle, and a group of religious leaders debating the on-screen representation of Jesus and God.

Furthermore, the cast is incredible. Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum... all are on peak form.

I was feeling quite depressed over the weekend, but Hail, Caesar! genuinely cheered me up. It's my happy film.

45 Years (Film, 2015)

45 Years is one of those films that comes along far too rarely: wonderfully touching, and often quite sad, it somehow makes you feel glad that you’ve seen it.

The film is based on the short-story In Another Country by David Constantine (I didn’t realise it until writing this blog, but my wife and I actually saw him speak at the Manchester Literature Festival in 2012). The plot is as follows: married couple Kate and Geoff Mercer are just about to celebrate their 45^th wedding anniversary together. However, a few days before their planned party, Geoff receives news that the body of a former girlfriend, who fell to her death whilst they were hiking in the Swiss alps, has been found, perfectly preserved in the ice after several decades. As Geoff takes in this information, he becomes more secretive and withdrawn. Gradually, Kate begins to piece things together and comes to understand that this girlfriend was actually a much more significant figure in Geoff’s life than he had ever let on.

I won’t go into more detail because to do so would spoil the film. What I will say is that 45 Years deals with some complex, highly emotional issues in a very sympathetic way. The film goes beyond a superficial examination of the natural jealousy we all have regarding our current partner’s previous loves, moving on to far deeper and more disturbing questions: How would our lives have turned out if not for some chance incident? Whenever we settle with someone, how can we ever be sure that our chosen partner is the one  – or that we are theirs? And even after forty-five years together, is it ever possible to really know someone?

Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay are simply fantastic in the main roles. They truly felt like a married couple who had spent the majority of their lives together, and for me, this is the key to the film’s success: every little heartbreak feels incredibly real.

Will Gompertz’s What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye (Book)

Recently I decided it would be a good idea to learn a little bit about art history. My first book choice was David Cottingham’s Modern Art: A Very Short Introduction, which (from the perspective of an art novice) I have to say I found pretty unreadable.

But I was more fortunate with my second choice, What Are You Looking At?, because Will Gompertz’s book is one of the most well-written that I’ve ever read. It provides a great oversight – not too basic, not too detailed – into modern art, from the impressionists right up to the modern day. 

It’s incredibly difficult to write about art and not sound pretentious, but Gompertz is simply brilliant at it. His passion comes through with ease, and there is none of the meaningless jargon or overly-ambitious waffle of the type that sadly pervades many art books and exhibitions: just clear and thrilling chapters, one after the other.

What Are You Looking At? didn’t change my view of some modern art, but it certainly opened my eyes to things I’d never considered. I’d thoroughly recommend the book to anyone who feels that they would like to learn more about what modern art is and what it means.

Blade Runner 2049 (Film, 2017)

Blade Runner 2049 really is as good as the 5-star reviews make out.

I'll admit I was very nervous about the film. The original Blade Runner, while not without flaws, is a stone-cold classic, and sequels to classics are rarely satisfying. But my hopes were raised after watching director Denis Villeneuve's previous film, the fascinating Arrival, and I was not disappointed. At all.

I'm hesitant to write too much about the plot of Blade Runner 2049, so will only say that the film has a visual and philosophical approach so vast that it's quite simply staggering. I saw the movie on a large multiplex screen and it still didn’t seem big enough: I'm very tempted to go and see it on IMAX, just so that I can revel in Roger Deakin's beautiful cinematography. You could piece together the best shots in one slideshow, minus any plot or dialogue, and it would be a no less satisfying film.

My only criticism of Blade Runner 2049 is that it's one of those sequels that cannot help but influence your thoughts and feelings about the original film. I would rather the sequel’s makers had not tied the two together to the extent they have, and I think 2049 would have worked just as well without shoe-horning in the characters from the previous film. But there you go. It doesn't change my opinion that 2049 is a brilliant, beautiful film.

Time will tell if 2049 is judged to be a bona fide masterpiece, but it’s difficult to see how it could not be. How many other sci-fi films have such ambition, such audacity? Interstellar? 2001: A Space Odyssey? I like both of those films, but they are both imperfect, and I can see myself preferring to watch 2049.

And yes, there is scope for more Blade Runner sequels. The future may be bleak, but it’s also looking rosy.