Many years ago, I remember reading in one of Natalie Goldberg’s books that writing gives you magic powers. I happen to believe this is true, but even if you’re not into the woo-woo, exercising a creative skill does give you many tools for facing life’s obstacles. The strange thing is that we rarely think of transferring our creative skills to solving life’s dilemmas.
So here are some creative habits that have helped me become a stronger person in general.
As far as I’m concerned, a chilly Sunday is the perfect day to stay indoors for a movie-marathon session while drinking hot chocolate. (Return to your workout tomorrow.) What better way to immerse yourself in a master filmmaker’s work? Today I suggest the sumptuously gorgeous movies of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, aka The Archers.
Together Powell and Pressburger wrote, directed and produced 19 movies, of which many are considered masterpieces and influenced many great filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese.[*] Their films are characterized by a masterful use of color that heightens the story’s emotional thrust. There’s a dreamy, surrealistic quality to their work and the effect verges on the hallucinatory, especially when viewed on the big screen. If you’re looking for quiet, understated filmmaking, you’ve got the wrong team. This is melodrama at its most emotionally satisfying. As a woman, I also find the main characters in I Know Where I’m Going!, The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus interesting and compelling studies of women’s complex emotional world.
Continue reading Marathon Movie-Viewing: Powell and Pressburger
