A Brief Review of "The Brothers Bloom"

A new piece has been added to the annals of romantic literature and its name is "The Brothers Bloom." In keeping with the spirit of romanticism, this story is about the necessity of man to make choices he can live with. These choices are the only options for him to obtain happiness and fufillment, therefore he must discover them - and then act. What happens when a man defaults on this? The answer lies in the character of Bloom: a neurotic self torn by inner-doubt and plagued with unhappiness. Due to Bloom's own lack of certainty and conviction, he allows his brother to plot his life and thus he denies his own desires, leading him to this state. Bloom's inner conflict is present from start to finish in this story, which not only generates most of the suspense present in the script, but allows for an impressive climax which concretizes this theme perfectly. Each central character in the story achieves their highest values, in whatever variation, by virtue of their choices, an important moral conclusion which Bloom arrives at because of, ironically, his brother's plot. While this might seem self-defeating of the theme, it is not: Bloom's conclusion is wholly his own, and while his brother might have given him the concretes which led to this, it is Bloom's individual action which earns him the love of a woman and his own happiness. Even his brother, whose plot led to an unforeseen complication, earns his own happiness, paid for by his brother's new self-awareness. The plot is a testament to the intense devotion one should have for one's own values.

Perhaps the greatest character on the screen is that of Penelope, whose beautiful innocence and intelligence shines as a sort of beacon that not only leads Bloom to a renewed love of existence, but is a case study in hero-worship. To her, Bloom is the adventure which her life lacked - an opportunity to employ the skills and hobbies she acquired in isolation, in service to the man she loves. Her desire and actions are unashamed and consistent, and better, she is explicitly aware of this. Despite her lack of previous dealings with men, she, by virtue of her intelligence, is able to pin-point Bloom's inner conflict which she describes as a sort of "constipation of the soul." This is a perfect summation of Bloom's own frustation with the discovery and pursuit of what he actually wants. She loves Bloom so much that even when he is about to become the victim of this unresolved conflict, she seeks him out and tells him exactly what he needs to hear: that he is in love with her. Bloom's own actions, which he had come to doubt, demonstrate this, and it is at this moment that he comes to the realization that not only is she correct, but that he finally has a personal stake in his own life.

This realization does not garuntee Bloom his happiness - he is still required to act for it. Yet this realization gives Bloom the fuel and the reasoning necessary to overcome his chronic self-dobut and make the correct decision for his happiness at the necessary moment. This thematic message is repeated in several variations throughout the movie, but it is best stated in the last line of Penelope: "We're going to live like we're telling the best story in the world." This is the only proper approach to existence for a man, and "The Brothers Bloom" is an example of how it rewards him. That experience is well worth the price of admission.

Movie Review: Vitus

I consider myself somewhat of a film connoisseur and enjoy watching them even though I find so few that are worthy of a second viewing. I rented Vitus on the tip of a somewhat-promising trailer, even though that method tends to let me down sometimes.

Let me tell you, this film blew me away. The theme of Vitus is "the necessity of freedom to pursue your values." Vitus, a Swiss film released in 2006, is about a young piano prodigy. His mother is so overbearing that he is forced to seek freedom in order to nurture his talents on his own. Though the film is quite long at 1h40, we watch the progression of Vitus' relationship with his parents as they try to best raise their 'wunderkind' -- all the while, he tries to find a way to explore his intelligence and creativity through his own choices (with the help of his wonderful grandpa). Vitus, as a character, is incredibly charming and it is a pleasure to watch his mind at work. The 12-year old Vitus is played by Swiss piano-prodigy Teo Gheorghiu, who brings quite a spark and talent to the role.

Though there are a few minute things I would change about the movie (such as completely cutting out the sub-story with a ~romantic interest~), it is pretty much exactly what I look for in a film: The movie has a Romantic plot and an affirmable protagonist. It is extremely well-executed and well acted, there are exciting/surprising elements that create conflict in the plot, and there is complete catharsis in the end, where the conflicts are resolved and Vitus has succeeded in his goals. I have never cried so many tears of joy at a movie before. When I saw it, I was reminded of the part in Atlas Shrugged where Dagny sees Kay Ludlow's performances in the valley:

"It was an experience she had not known since childhood -- the experience of being held for three hours by a play that told a story she had not seen before, in lines she had not heard, uttering a theme that had not been picked from the hand-me-downs of the centuries. It was the forgotten delight of being held in rapt attention by the reigns of the ingenious, the unexpected, the logical, the purposeful, the new..."

I cannot promote this wonderful film enough. Even from the first viewing, Vitus catapulted its way onto my list of 'top 5 films of all time'. Vitus is a must-see.

The Portugal of Camões and the America of today

Today we have a guest contributor, Eliot Davila. Eliot's knowledge of literature and the great works of history never ceases to amaze me. I hope you'll enjoy this post as much as I do. --West

Without further ado:

Those who have read the epic poem Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads) written by Luís Vaz de Camões will likely recognize the following excerpt from Canto X. Reading it today, it almost seems as if Camões was talking not just about Portugal in the 16th century, but also about America in the 21st:

10.145
Nô mais, Musa, nô mais, que a Lira tenho
Destemperada e a voz enrouquecida,
E não do canto, mas de ver que venho
Cantar a gente surda e endurecida.
O favor com que mais se acende o engenho
Não no dá a pátria, não, que está metida
No gosto da cobiça e na rudeza
Düa austera, apagada e vil tristeza.

146
E não sei por que influxo de Destino
Não tem um ledo orgulho e geral gosto,
Que os ânimos levanta de contino
A ter pera trabalhos ledo o rosto.

Roughly translated:

No more, Muse, no more, my lyre
Is out of tune and my throat hoarse,
Not from singing but from wasting song
On a deaf and coarsened people.
Those rewards which encourage genius
My country ignores, being given over
To avarice and philistinism,
Heartlessness and degrading pessimism.

I do not know by what twist of fate
It has lost that pride, that zest for life,
Which lifts the spirits unfailingly
And welcomes work with a smiling face.

We, as Objectivists, may be a bit more perceptive than Camões, since we know by what "twist of fate" America has lost "that zest for life", but we may also often feel as if we are "wasting song / On a deaf and coarsened people." Luckily, great writers like Camões, Homer, Vergil, Milton, Hugo, and Rand "encourage genius" by fueling our souls with great art "which lifts the spirits unfailingly" and drives us to happily "welcome work with a smiling face."

Consider, for instance, the final lines of Milton's Paradise Lost. The evil deed done, and the Fall of Man confirmed, God sends the angel Michael to escort Adam and Eve from Paradise. Michael first tells Adam that if he acts virtuously, then he may "leave this Paradise, but shalt possess / A Paradise within thee, happier farr." (XII. 586-87). With that glimmer of hope, the angel then escorts Adam and Eve from Paradise:

High in Front advanc't,
The brandisht Sword of God before them blaz'd
Fierce as a Comet; which with torrid heat,
And vapour as the Libyan Air adust, [ 635 ]
Began to parch that temperate Clime; whereat
In either hand the hastning Angel caught
Our lingring Parents, and to th' Eastern Gate
Led them direct, and down the Cliff as fast
To the subjected Plaine; then disappeer'd. [ 640 ]
They looking back, all th' Eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late thir happie seat,
Wav'd over by that flaming Brand, the Gate
With dreadful Faces throng'd and fierie Armes:
Som natural tears they drop'd, but wip'd them soon; [ 645 ]
The World was all before them, where to choose
Thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:
They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,
Through Eden took thir solitarie way.

Despite losing their "happie seat" in Paradise, Adam and Eve soon "wip'd" their tears. Rather than looking back and lamenting over what had been lost, "our lingring Parents" looked forward and realized that "the World was all before them." Thus, the realization of that they were free to "choose / thir place of rest" led them to "welcome work with a smiling face."

Milton has unfailingly lifted my spirit. What of yours?

The Shirt-Sleeve Millionaires

5 months or so ago I developed an economic history bug. Through hours and hours of time spent in the library, I've come across a lot of great material covering a broad range of developments within the 18th and 19th centuries. Since this blog is all about the pursuit of the good, I wanted the first post to include one of the passages that I've found to be particularly striking and inspirational to me from this research. 

Most people to some degree have heard of the heroic stories of men like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan. These "Prime Movers" were forces to be reckoned with, and everyone benefitted (and continues to benefit) from their products enormously. These characters are merely the tip of the iceberg though. There weren't just a few titans; there were innumerable self-made men throughout the 18th and 19th century who amassed tremendous fortunes. For many of them, you won't find libraries or universities with their namesake, but they deserve ample recognition and praise, for they are, to paraphrase Ayn Rand, among the "men who walked down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision." Today I'd like to recognize and praise the Pittsburgh shirt-sleeve millionaires.

From Herbert N. Casson's The Romance of Steel (1907): 

"Pittsburgh has about one hundred shirt-sleeve millionaires and a very few silk-hat ones. Without a single exception, the steel kings and coal barons of to-day were the barefooted boys of yesterday. In this respect no other city is as genuinely republican, as thoroughly American, as Pittsburgh. Its motto might be "from rags to riches"; and its name should be spelled--Pitt$burgh. It is a region where even yet "all men are born free and equal"--where the ladder of opportunity has rungs that reach to the bottom. It is a land of money; but more, it is a land where the average man has received a squarer deal in the game of life than he would have got anywhere else--where prizes are not bequeathed from strong fathers to feeble sons, but carried off by the "fittest" in each contest.

Pittsburghers have no pedigree. They want none. They are themselves a generation of ancestors. The few aristocratic landowning families are being bought out by the iron and steel men. No "gentlemen" emigrated to Western Pennsylvania. From first to last it was settled by plain, ordinary people, who had nothing to help them except their own efforts. Among the earlier iron kings not one had a college education. Christopher Zug and Curtis G. Hussey--two stately figures--were the sons of poor farmers. Thomas M. Howe and Joshua Rhodes were grocery-boys. Aaron French and John J. Torley were child workers in iron-mills. There is not one conspicuous exception to this rule. The greater greatness of Greater Pittsburgh is in the fact that it has been created by the rank and file of the human race. It is the extroardinary achievement of ordinary men."