Author Archives: Betty Zhang

A shout into the void

31 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Petit Passages

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There is nothing mild about me. Beneath this docile demeanour lies a screaming soul, eager, waiting to be heard. I was never the poster child for ‘live fast, die young’ but where raging passion, all-consuming desire and uncontainable emotions are concerned, I am the wildest of children, a wild child who cannot — will not — be tamed. So hear me roar. Feel the deafening thunder of my soul shake the ground below your feet. Then you might understand why I come across as reserved: I am, for he/she who feels as much as I. Until then, bear witness to my soul, naked and unrelenting, words on a page.

 

Renoir: an impossibly French, irresistibly beautiful filmic ode to the painter

24 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Reviews

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Gilles Bourdos’ 2012 biopic follows an ailing but strong-willed Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s (Michel Bouquet) struggle to bring his artistic visions to life in spite of his deteriorating health. The painter draws inspiration—and much-needed spiritual rejuvenation—from Andrée Heuschling (Christa Théret), his last model. The film, set in 1915, also touches on Renoir’s struggle to make sense of his son Jean Renoir’s (Vincent Rottiers) perilous decision to rejoin the army.

On a broad scale, the film sheds light on universal themes of love, loss, pain in all its physical and emotional permutations, (be)longing, and individuals’ lifelong search for their raison d’être. It also poignantly juxtaposes Continue reading →