The Seventh Seal-Ingmar Bergman

I can't remember why I queued this film but last night I watched Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal."  I guess it was to begin my study of Ingmar's artistic lighting and dramatic cuts.  Or it might have intrigued me because it is a film dealing with death.  Quote that has shaken me spoken by the distraught knight Antonius Block during his confession to death.... "We have made an idol of our fear and called it God."

Is Faith Possible?

What's it all for?  I listen to "Fresh Air" whenever I have the time, but I am a bit shaken by the last episode.  Terry Gross interviewed Bart Ehrman this week.  His new book "Jesus Interrupted" was discussed.  Without going into too much detail, Bart Ehrman is a bible scholar  who was once an evangelic Christian now turned agnostic.  All of this is discussed here.  I am not shaken by the contradictions of the bible or that we are not sure who is the true author of the books.  It is one of the books of the New Testament that has scared me.  It is in the book of St. Matthew where Jesus is mocked, in shock and frightened of death while hanging on the cross that has saddened me.  I like the books of St. Luke and the others where Jesus embraces death and doesn't question his belief.  It was also Bart Ehrman's summary in the interview that left me somewhat empty today.  "Is Faith Possible?"  

Sally Mann: What Remains

Last night I watched  What Remains:  The Life and Work of Sally Mann.  I am always reluctant to meet the artist whose work I love in fear I'll not like them personally.  I braved it with this documentary.  I have a deep respect and compassion for this person.  She is humble, honest and kind.  I got the sense that even though she is a driven artist she is a wife and mother first.  I highly recommend people to see this film.  I will have to admit I was not interested in her later series of images but after having seen this I have a deeper appreciation for it.  It is a film that has educated me more about the art world and how we all struggle with the same fears no matter what level of the social/professional rung we're we have achieved.  Her courage to allow filming of her rejection from Pace/MacGill and her allowing the documentary to show her fears of becoming passe in the art world was healing for me.  Any artist struggling with fears of rejection and the like will benefit from this heart warming insight into this artist's life.  

Also her series What Remains brings to light for me how fascinated I am with death.  Her philosophy behind the series is worth exploring and facing.  After all, none of us gets out of here alive.