fusillo

But what difference is there between the character and the writer? He presents himself with a dual role, and I judge him by what he does, says, and writes in both roles. The expressive medium changes, but the communicator remains the same. And then regarding what he writes, you already have my opinion on that...

@Saputello: Did you write a book? No? Well, if you write one, let me read it. After hearing your album, it would only be fair to read your book... Baricco might not make glaring mistakes, but he does take quite a few missteps. Should I tell you one? It will take a bit of time: So, I don’t know about you, but I believe a writer should be able to analyze the reality around them and say, “Attention, if we continue like this, we’ll end up over there…” I hope I’m making myself clear... Baricco fails to do this, and now I'll tell you why and how... I live in Mantova. Perhaps you know that in September, Mantova hosts a nice literary festival. Baricco has come three times. Twice for "Totem" and a third time to read an essay of his that was, to paraphrase: “What I would like to read in a novel by a contemporary author.” That day, Repubblica published an interview with Bob Dylan on the occasion of the release of his penultimate album. Baricco arrived, greeted everyone, sat down, announced the topic of the evening, and, smirking, picked up his copy of Repubblica. Then he read, still smirking, a part of the interview with Bob Dylan. Question: “What do you think the role of the poet is today?” Answer: “The role of the poet? What the hell do poets matter today? Bombarded by television images as we are, who even listens to poets anymore, and how can poets compete with those images?” Now, it seems to me that such an opinion, while not gold-plated, is quite realistic. Baricco thought differently, saying: “BULLSH*T!!” And he added, “THIS INTERVIEW IS FULL OF BULLSH*T… Now I’ll tell you what and how an author should write today…” and he started to read. I left, furious. Not only did Baricco deny what seems to me an obvious truth, but he interpreted Dylan’s thought as a sort of “Poets, go retire,” which is something Dylan absolutely did not mean to convey. The next question was actually: “So today, writing no longer makes sense?” Answer: “No, for heaven’s sake… If someone has something to say, they should say it immediately!!” That day was September 9-10, 2001; I don’t remember exactly. On September 11, you know perfectly well what happened, and you’ll recall that, setting aside the mourning for the victims and the political implications, all commentators emphasized the “spectacularity” of the images of the plane penetrating the World Trade Center. “Stuff that even Hollywood couldn’t imagine…” they said… On September 12 and 13, Baricco wrote two articles for Repubblica to pretty much say the same thing. Summing it up: “Stuff that even Hollywood couldn’t imagine, let alone a writer…”. Now it seems to me that this is perfectly in line with what Dylan was saying. So, the bullsh*t wasn’t coming from him; it was coming from Baricco… Baricco needs a September 11 to realize what is happening around him; for Dylan, just a glance is enough... Bye.

Dear Grasshopper, among all the usernames in disagreement with my review, I honestly didn't expect to find yours... But it's nice to be surprised every now and then, isn't it? :) You say that the Baricco-Tornatore story is a legend, that's fine, but apart from the fact that the original title of the story is simply "Novecento" and my review takes aim at both the film and the drama, as you well know, every legend is granted a grain of truth... So why not analyze it a bit more objectively? I called it a "tale," so I went beyond the legend. And if a tale is told to me, I am willing to accept anything as long as a moral can be deduced in the end. But if the moral of "La leggenda..." is what I've summarized in the last paragraph, well, the "GO TO HELL" that the author gets is warranted... By the way, you say you agree with me only on the second point, that of the duel; what do you think about the last paragraph? I'm curious... Not to mention the story of that boy who lost his memory, which turned out to be a huge hoax, let’s look at the comparison between Mozart and Novecento... It may seem strange to you, but I wanted to use the same comparison to support my thesis. You know better than me that Mozart was born and raised in a family of musicians. From birth, Mozart was in continuous contact with sheet music and musical instruments. Dad Leopold even wrote a pedagogical-musical treatise and a "children's symphony" (I believe it’s called the "Toy Symphony"), and if Mozart developed a talent that he surely already had, he owes it to his father. Of course, education and external stimuli are not everything; otherwise, his sister Nannerl would have become as skilled as Wolfgang. But without Leopold, perhaps Mozart would have become an extraordinary pharmacist, or maybe he would have become a formidable musician, yes, but less precocious... Bye.

All true from the first to the last line. I also recommend reading the autobiography of Muhammad Ali written with Richard Durham, titled: "THE GREATEST." And never was a title more fitting. Bye Pun. :)

"keep in mind that we're talking about Baricco" --> I don't get it, is Alessandro Baricco bread and cheese?

Hey Know-it-all, if you feel like it, and whenever you want, I’d like to know what you find beautiful in Baricco’s books. You can choose the one you liked the most. I find it mediocre. And it lacks humor. I remember a "joke" of his on the cover of "City". Paraphrasing, he said: "this is a story and like every story, there are characters. One is named Gould, another is named Shatzy Shell (but gasoline has nothing to do with it...)" I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t buy a book from someone who makes "jokes" like that...

Well bjorky, if you tell me that a movie that tells, among other things, also about that stuff, actually captivated you, I have some doubts. Now I feel more at ease. Bye. :)

@Tiny Banks: I'm glad you agree on some points of my review, but forgive me, Novecento is not an eccentric who can't talk to ordinary people. He plays the "true notes" in third class, among the poor seeking their fortune. He listens to them, talks with them, and in the end manages to describe in great detail certain neighborhoods of Paris, London, etc. even though he has never been there... We're not talking about someone like Glenn Gould who avoided human contact for fear of catching some disease. Novecento stays on the Virginian by choice, and it goes without saying that such a choice is losing, whether the film considers it a fairy tale or something else... If it were as you say, what would be the need to define his renunciation as something "Genius, geometric mathematics"? @Poletti: The film is bad because it is based on a bad book-play. The review, however, is perfect because my critique is aimed at both the film and the book-play. :-) Hello everyone.

@Know-it-all: I really like Tim Roth. Years ago, I saw one of his little films at a film forum. Unfortunately, I don't remember the title, but I liked it. It was the story of an Irish girl oppressed by her family. In "the legend...", Tim Roth delivers a poor performance. In him are concentrated all the most despicable stereotypes of the "artist". For example, his expression, which aims to be absent, dreamy, etc... to me just looks like a fish out of water. Technically, the film is certainly impeccable, but if you scratch a little beneath the embellished surface of a story, whether it's a novel, a drama, or a film, and in the end, you find what I've summarized, the entire structure collapses like a house of cards... The characters are inconsistent, the story is idiotic, not to mention the existential aspects. Then, the duels among musicians might have been won by the show-offs. But the show-offs, to me, are those who get lost in useless tricks (trills, mordents, etc...) perhaps exaggerating the gesture, or coming up with new ones, like, I don't know, Chuck Berry's goose step. Even Mozart might have been a show-off, but Novecento is not. Novecento is Superman, it's different...

Oh hello debasers... what great comments on this review. Well, not all of you agree with me (even though I seem to have listed some undeniable facts), but that's not a problem. So let's see then who disagrees and also explains why: @Ilpanes: "The scene of the dance with the piano and the stormy sea is...." nonsense, but as the saying goes: degustibus... @bjork: I'm sorry to have bewildered you. But I'm glad to find you in agreement on two points out of three. I would love for you to comment on the last paragraph... if you want to, of course, my dear... :) @dreamwarrior: "But if we want to dwell on the supposed genius of Novecento, on the reasons for his talent, then we require a logical basis for everything" ---> and why shouldn't we look at things with a bit of logic and common sense?