Tarot: World Card From 1400s Italian Visconti Deck

by Cimaxion

The Italian Visconti-Sforza Tarot deck dates from around 1450. There are several incomplete decks scattered around the world in various museums and private collections. A few of the cards are permanently missing. Apparently, the Tower and Devil cards are among those that got modern replacements to complete printings of this beautiful deck.

Recently, there have been highly successful reconstructions of various Tarot decks. One of the most well-known is the result of several years of work by the filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky and Philippe Camoin who worked on their version of the famous Marseille Tarot deck in the 1990s. Jodorowsky's research and writing about the meanings contained in the that deck are fascinating essential reading for anyone interested in Tarot. He leans toward using the Tarot for self-knowledge and healing. His writing is inspiring. If you want to read what is probably the best book on Tarot, go get 'The Way of Tarot – The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards' by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa.

However, the actual cards produced by Jodorowsky have a hard-edged, overly precise clarity to them. Everything is edged in black line. The colors are flat and super saturated. It's too clean and modern looking. It misses an essential ingredient in any great Tarot deck: imprecision. My mystical mind prefers some mess. A little blur always makes a symbol more powerful. Clarity brings Tarot too close to the realm of text. The images should be shrouded, revealing multiple meanings only to close and slightly irrational observation. There are other Marseille decks that avoid this fatal flaw. The Visconti deck appears to have the chaos that I require in spades!

 

The Magnificent and Mysterious Animations of Myrrha Jamil

by Cimaxion

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The beautiful animations of Myrrha Jamil evoke dreamscapes of ever-shifting fairytale realities in which people and animals come from the earth, briefly drift, and return to nature like wisps. The drawings are done with chalk, watercolor and oil paints. She sometimes photographs her films with a vertical frame, making her little magical world seem barely glimpsed through a keyhole. There’s a mystical quality to these films. They are like messages from the fairy world.

This is work in the creative realm of filmmakers like Yuri Norstein, where the vague impressions and delicate renderings of nature and the subconscious are paramount. Myrrha Jamil is a profoundly talented and obviously brilliant filmmaker.

The Little Ones Who Grow in the Rain from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

A Lullaby from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

Egretta from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

Chalk Boat from Myrrha Jamil on Vimeo.

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The Charles Bukowski Tapes by Barbet Schroeder

by Cimaxion

Bukowski

During the lengthy production of the film ‘Barfly,’ director Barbet Schroeder conducted a series of short interviews with the poet Charles Bukowski. This is the complete set of those interviews and comes in at nearly four hours. Observe Bukowski and see what you think of his style. He was an incredibly sensitive soul trying to be a boxer. He was also one of those people who when they speak you just can’t wait to hear what they might say next. A real page-turner of a person.

If you want to read a fascinating book about the time of making Barfly, read Bukowski’s novel, ‘Hollywood.’ He changes the names of all the people involved, but you can easily figure out who they are. It is the best book about making a movie I have ever read in my entire life – without exception.

Singer Not the Song: A Film by Joewi Verhoeven

by Cimaxion

SingerNotTheSong

Singer Not the Song is Joewi Verhoeven’s beautifully made graduation film from Beijing, China. It tells the story of a young songwriter who finds an unexpected connection to a famous dead pop star. Liang Ming plays the lead role with quiet, building emotion. I enjoy the way this filmmaker mixes everyday observations of life in Beijing with an outlandishly melodramatic storyline.