Marina Abramovic - The Artist Is Present

The Artist is Present is a 2012 avant garde documentary which first aired on HBO, detailing the serbian born performance artist Marina Abramovic and the performance at the MOMA in 2011. At the MOMA Abramovic performed a 736 hour and 30 minute static and silent performance art piece which featured recreations of seven of her previous performances by upcoming performance artists and a piece in which Abramovic sat immobile in the museum's atrium and visitors were invited to sit opposite her to feed from her energy.

The Artist Is Present was the largest exhibition of performance art ever featured at the Met, and was the first true retrospective of Abramovic's work. This documentary covers the genesis, creative direction and preformance of Abramovic's piece. What was so groundbreaking about The Artist Is Present was how Abramovic gave equal time and attention to each visitor, whether they were famous or not, the presence of Lady Gaga, James Franco and Sharon Stone was of little or no consequence. The documentary does largely the same thing, Gaga and Stone are not shown, and Franco, one of Abramovic's personal friends features only shortly in the video.

What is interestinng about this documentary is that it focuses as much on the spectator as it does on the artist, although the film is definitely an exploration and a celebration of Abramovic's work, the film centers largely on the people visiting the exhibition, what motivates them, how does Marina inspire them, and why they are there. the first part of the film is largely a look back at past Abramovic works, such as her works with Ulay and The Lovers, a piece in which she and Ulay each walked from opposite ends of the great wall of china in order to say goodbye to other and to end their relationship, a beautifully poetic piece.

Marina's sheer power is shown in this film, and her ability to project her emotions are show even through the lens, many patrons discovered themselves bursting into tears in her presence, and the sheer power in her eyes and her face is enough even to make those watching this film cry, Abramovic has the ability to see directly into the soul of those sitting opposite her, this ability is what makes her so powerful and limitless, and this documentary is a success simply because it show off it's greatest asset stunningly, Marina Abramovic is portrayed as one of the most defining performance artists of all time.

The Artist Is Present is a surely made and fascinating documentary, it showcase the incredible performance ability of it's star, Marina Abramovic and it is able to answer the decade old question that has always been asked about Marina; 'why is this art?'. Rating: B-

Marina Abramovic: When you perform it is a knife and your blood, when you act it is a fake knife and ketchup.

The MDNA Tour - DVD Review

About a year ago, i reviewed Adele at the Royal Albert Hall, a concert DVD, i think that was probably the latest concert film i had seen, until now. The other night, i settled down for a sketch and a watch of Madonna's latest tour DVD, The MDNA Tour, the tour took place in 2012 and was the highest grossing tour of the year, in addition to becoming the second highest grosing tour ever by a female artist, behind Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour from 2008, and higher than The Confessions Tour from 2006. The tour was filmed in Miami in 2012 and was broadcast on Epix.

Despite being majorly filmed at the shows in Miami, the show also uses footage from other shows of the north american leg of the tour, the show was filmed in HD using multiple cameras mounted on the stage, giving the audience the feeling of actually being on stage with Madonna. The editing between the multiple shows is seamless, and there is no break between songs, the show is highly edited using multiple cuts per song, adding to the phrenetic energy of the performance, the DVD is essentially a two hour music video, highly produced and well directed.

Thematically the show is split into four segments, the first, entitled Transgression, deals with themes of violence, religion and sex. The second segment, entitled Prophecy features music that brings people together. The penultimate segment is entitled Masculine/Feminine, features the iconic cone bra and is an exploration of eroticism, masculinity and femininity, nudity and power. The final segment is called Redemption and has an appropriately religious feel, with Madonna taking the role of Pope (of course)

The DVD is highly impressive, particularly for Madonna's performance, at 55 Madge shows no signs of slowing up, her dancing is energetic and entirely on point and her vocals are surprisingly even and strong. What is mostly impressive with this DVD is how brilliantly successful is is as a DVD, many concert tours struggle to find a reason to be filmed, and the MDNA tour needs no reason, the show is energetic, visually stunning and thematically engaging, the tour itself and this DVD is a testament to Madonna's work as a visionary artist and her unique voice in the music industry today. Rating: A+

 Madonna: Fuck Yeah!

W.E. - A love story

W.E. is a 2011 film, written and directed by Madonna, not word's anyone interested in cinema is ever ford of hearing. W.E. is the story of Edward VII of England, who fell in love with an American woman named Wallis Simpson, and who abdicated the throne to be with her. The film draws parallels between this story, and that of a wealthy socialite living in New York in 2001, Wally Winthrop, a woman obsessed with the story of Wallis Simpson, and whose life carries certain parallels with that of Wallis.

I have in the past expressed a loathing for films that feel the need to use multiple storylines, as it often feels redundant and over complicated, W.E. is no exception, the love story between Wallis and Edward is fascinating, and not something i know a huge amount about, the story featuring Wally Winthrop on the other hand is trite, melodramatic and boorish, much of it's story involves Wally obsessively musing over the life of the Duke and Duchess, her story with her abusive husband is not much more interesting either, and the story doesn't carry the affecting weight that it is supposed to, by the end of the story, there simply isn't the emotional payoff that is required.

The film looks fantastic, and Madonna clearly spared no expense, the parts featuring Wallis and Edward are particularly beautiful. Wallis Simpson was known for her sense of style and is today seen as a fashion icon. The clothes were partially recreated from old patterns found in archives of clothes actually worn by the Duchess. What is clear from the film is that Wallis Simpson had fun with fashion, she was unafraid to wear clothes that were extravagant and fun. Her fashion legacy is suitably portrayed in this film, and the costuming is beautiful and detailed Also fantastic is the music of the film, the score, composed by Abel Korzeniowski is harrowing and ethereal, mysterious and beautiful.

This part of the film is also reasonably well acted, Andrea Riseborough is fantastic as the Duchess, she gives a realistic harrowing performance, Riseborough successfully penetrates the iconography of and manages to find the human inside the portrait of a woman vilified and despised by the British public, and manages to create something somewhat resembling a person. The Wallis Simpson created by this film is a woman who is fragile and delicate, and who never intended to hurt anyone, she is portrayed as being fun, loud and with a wicked humor.

Despite being a fairly well handled film, W.E. is also a highly frustrating film, as it never reaches it's full potential, the scenes featuring Wallis and Edward are fantastically acted and visually lavish, however the whole spectacle which should be allowed to soar, is instead caged in a drearily dull modern retelling that is mostly histrionic melodrama and partially hysteria. W.E. whilst being a visual treat, never reaches it's full potential, and it's a shame that so much which is good got clouded in so much that is bad. Rating: B-

Wallis Simpson: Attractive, my dear, is a polite way of saying a woman's made the most of what she's got.