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Confessions Of A Mask: A Book Which Laid A Foundation For Yukio Mishima’s Literature Legacy

Nupur Patil
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Confessions Of A Mask: A Book Which Laid A Foundation For Yukio Mishima’s Literature Legacy

JAPAN: Confessions of a mask is a magnificent story of being an outsider, about being queer. This book is believably semi-autobiographical, written by one of the best and most celebrated authors from Japan, Yuiko Mishima. The eerie and unconventional story, published in 1949, has been nominated for the Nobel prize thrice. Set in imperial Japan, the book talks about a man named Kochan obsessed with sexual violence. To describe it best, the book is a declaration of guilt by the protagonist.

Author before death

Yuiko Mishima wrote Confessions of a Mask in his early twenties. It was his debut novel that launched him into success. Mishima, along with being a successful author was also a playwriter. Furthermore, he conducted an orchestra and directed a notorious film called ‘patriotism’.

Moreover, a part of him was dedicated to being an actor. He also was a disciplined bodybuilder. He wanted to build a beautiful body and destroy it right when it started to decay.

Confessions of a mask

The book delivers the idea of not fitting in the culture, the society. Kochan, a gay young man, learns at an early age that he has to wear a mask to camouflage in the culture to survive. Mishima describes such encounters in the book, untainted with emotion. They are disturbing, raw, beautiful, absurd at points, and filled with lust. The fusion of sadism and masochism emerges classically throughout the book.

Furthermore, some in-depth descriptions are too unconventional to be appropriate.

Japanese original cover. Photo credit: Twitter

For instance, when he shares his desire to lure a young sailor into his cellar and stabbing him in the abdomen while kissing him. The book is sophisticated, concisely articulated, poised, beautifully described, and raw. The manner of the writing suggested the author’s trust in the readers, all worthy enough to keep his secret.

Seppuku

Mishima wanted a glorious death, a death of a warrior.

His lineage could be traced back to the samurais which explained the path the author walked on to kill himself.

Seppuku is a method of suicide/sacrifice that the samurais in ancient Japan used to end their lives.

Additionally, this method is described as filled with meaning, a grand death with glory.

Mishima with his ferocious vitality ran along with his principles.

Furthermore, his disciplined intensity was proven when he ended his life in 1970 by staging seppuku, by cutting the abdomen open with a sword.

Also Read: ‘Pain And Glory’ Review: A Journey To And Back From The Heart Of Darkness

Interdiction of Mishima in Japan

In Japan, Mishima was a taboo subject.

Japanese people did not feel comfortable dwelling with his brand of right-wing fanaticism.

Japanese intellectuals didn’t understand him and rather than discussing him, preferred instead to put the strange scandal of Mishima behind them and forget about him.

This was 1970 so Mishima’s idea of going back to worshipping the Emperor like a god again wasn’t appreciated.

The Caretaker’s “Everywhere At The End of Time”: A Haunting Album About The Eradication Of Identity

Nupur Patil
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The Caretaker’s “Everywhere At The End of Time”: A Haunting Album About The Eradication Of Identity

UNITED KINGDOM: The Caretaker is a project by British producer Leyland Kirby that began 20 years ago. The beautifully haunting album consists of a total of twelve tracks and stretches for more than six hours. It is a musical representation of six different stages of Dementia/Amnesia.

The music under this name is comprised mainly of ballroom music from the ’30s to ’40s, which is then electronically manipulated to test the listener’s memory.

Everywhere At The End of Time

The purpose of the album is to make the listeners experience the diminishing sense of identity and the fading memories.

The ambient record portrays the gradual deterioration of memory, terror, failure of remembrance and the terrifying sense of losing oneself. Precisely, Everywhere in the End of Time explores “Dementia, its advancement, and its totality”.

The dreadful six stages

There are six stages in the album that depicts the mental health of the protagonist.

Pages slowly unravelling: Whoever The caretaker was referring to in this song still holds on to the memory well in stage 1. The individual reminisces on their life. He has a reason to rejoice with pleasant emotions attached to each memory.

Scathing flowers in an improper pot: The memories are letting go of the individual. Precisely, a part of the brain is eroding but not to an extent that it is unpleasant. Something is odd, in obviousness but not enough to bother about.

Disorientated use of colours: The brain is been eaten in prominency. Moreover, the memories are no more linked. Fragments of certain memories are mashed up and the person is confused and disconnected.

A woman looking down: A profile of a woman looking down, streaky with cold colours blending together with barely any warmth. A tint of comfort and pleasantness remain in this stage. The memories are mixed to the point it is frightening and uncomfortable.

An abstract representation of the protagonist: The protagonist is seen stepping downstairs, dressed in old fashioned clothing. The person is descending into madness, without much of a path to rely on. The person is lost and is unwilling to continue.

The back of a painting with tape: In the album, the painting is turned away and the tape is peeling, perhaps to indicate diminishing. Additionally, at this stage, the mind completely loses anything resembling the memories of a life lived. Here, The Caretaker provides no comment to further indicate that it is the end, and nothing can be said about nothing. Moreover, there are hinges on the right side of the painting, so perhaps it is not a painting at all but something that swings, which leads to the end.

Inspiration

The Caretaker was inspired by the haunted ballroom scene from the movie ‘The Shining’. It bought him to create albums largely about memory, or the lack thereof. Everywhere at the end of time is Kirby’s long-running album in 6 parts, the last of which was released in 2019. It explores a person’s slow descent into nothingness.

If skipped to the last few minutes of the album, the culmination of hearing, feeling, experiencing this slow degradation of what humans hold most dear over the course of hours is beautiful. Moreover, it is more astonishing since the noise and horror gives way to something new. The part makes the discomfort and disturbing nature of a majority of Stages from three and ahead almost worth it.

Also Read: Willoughby Symphony And Mahmood Khan Made Debut On The Billboard Charts

The Concept Of Nirvana And Enlightenment In Buddhism

Nupur Patil
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The Concept Of Nirvana And Enlightenment In Buddhism

INDIA: Nirvana is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘be extinguished’. It is a transcendent state where there’s no suffering or desire. No reincarnation and sufferings follow up giving one the “Eternal peace”. However, Nirvana is not a state of a dream since consciousness is gone.

It is believed that the odyssey of awakening might take several lifetimes. Considering the age and time we live in, it is nearly impossible to become awakened.

Monks have ventured to say, “As people grow older they feel suffering, both physically and mentally. Their bodies start to deteriorate. And the people who are left lonely leave eventually. Everyone will eventually know the true value of Nirvana. Suffering is a part of life and death itself. It is better to not exist than to exist where there is suffering.”

Nirvana

Interestingly, Nirvana and torment exist collaterally. If there is no captivity, there is no freedom, hence no Nirvana. By the same token, there is no light, there is no darkness.

So, if Nirvana can be observed, it can be done only through its correlation to non-Nirvana/captivity. Removing non-Nirvana would result in removing Nirvana as well, cause you cannot experience one without the other.

Moreover, Nirvana is not the loss of anything except for the illusions of the self and false perception of reality that we live in every day. It is to gain an understanding of the true nature of reality. All suffering disappears because the state of Nirvana within the mind allows the truth of suffering and what causes it to be understood.

It is comprehending to the fullest degree that nothing is permanent, even Nirvana. Hence, one must continue to practise mindfulness even after experiencing Nirvana so that one can revisit that state to recall the truth.

Additionally, existing in the world constantly pulls at your attention and reinforces the illusion of self which is also known as the ego. The ego and the state of Nirvana cannot exist at the same time. The death of a person’s ego is a fundamental aspect for attaining Nirvana.

Being said that, to describe Nirvana in any language is a futile exercise. Indeed, like explaining what it is like to be born and die. It must be experienced first hand, but unlike birth and death, it can be revisited.

Also Read: Lord Mahavir, A Symbol Of Truth, Perseverance And Non-violence

Is Nirvana a void?

“I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know the other side, Knocking on the doors. It opens, I have been knocking from the inside.” Quoted by Rumi, the poet suggests that enlightenment is not what causes non-existence, as it is a sufficiently a powerful experienced memory of the fact that there was no existence whatsoever, to begin with. Consequently, there is ultimately no loss.

A common question may find its way, for instance, “You can’t do anything there anymore so isn’t it boring? To which a monk once answered – “No because you won’t feel bad or good anymore, you are in eternal peace.”

Is there a right time?

It is believed that Nirvana occurs in its’ proper time. In the phase, it will cause no tears.

Additionally, there is no time limit, which means that the living is free to exist for as long as it wishes to do so. The point seems to be, to do whatever we are sent to do into this reality, and then to leave when we are ready, with no compulsion.

The truth revealed within the state of Nirvana can help live a more peaceful existence. Besides, this is just one small fraction of the truth that is realized in the state of Nirvana. But since suffering is one of the most fundamental and painful axioms of human existence, it is what people choose to focus on when trying to describe it.

Gin: A Drink That Sits Obscurely Among Alcoholic Beverages

Nupur Patil
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1
Gin: A Drink That Sits Obscurely Among Alcoholic Beverages

INDIA: The principal taste of Gin is stemmed from Juniper berries, an evergreen shrub that grows in various parts of the world. Although the color of the berries varies, chiefly the berries are found in deep blue tinge. Gin is a distilled spirit that if simply described, is flavored vodka.

Every finished Gin has its own mix of botanicals. Furthermore, authentic Gin adds unique specimens to local drinks and some ingress rarities from around the world.

The misty hate for spirits

According to an award-winning mixologist, H. Joseph Ehrmann who is a proprietor of San Francisco’s historic Elixir saloon, he finds that most people ‘hate’ a particular spirit because they had a bad experience with it in the past.

People, in the long run, have shown hazy disliking towards the drink in one way or the other for different reasons despite it being low in calories and comparatively on the healthier side. And hence even among the regular ‘woke’ drinkers, Gin remains obsolete or as a throat sore.

Ehrmann also ventured that the hatred is most likely related to ignorance about the product in general. “Haters believe something about it that simply isn’t true. Also, many spirits have unique flavors and aromas not found in other foods or drinks, so they set people off,” he added.

Navy strength

Gin, the aphrodisiac drink beams the phrase – ” Navy strength” from its history. The origin of the term comes from the British Navy, who after the Napoleonic wars switched from giving their sailors a pint of beer per day to an eighth pint – or a half gill – of spirits. The reason being that beer takes up a lot of room and spoils quickly whereas, spirits take up an eighth of the room and hold up longer.

Sometimes the distilleries would get greedy and start diluting their spirits more in order to get a bigger batch and thus increase profits thinking the navy would have a hard time determining the exact ABV of the Gin while onboard there, but the British Navy were onto this.

What they found was that black powder, which was plentiful on warships, would still ignite when soaked in a spirit with an alcohol content of 57% or more, but any less than that, and the powder would no longer light up. So the Navy simply started to enforce a 57% minimum alcohol content on everything they bought, and thus the term “navy strength” was coined!

Moreover, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in UK sells navy strength Gin, made right there in their own distillery.

Gin brands unrivaled

Gin from all around the world has its own solitary essence, collating them is much like comparing oranges and apples.

Hendrick’s Orbium has a sweet-bitter and floral quality that just sings in a martini. Moreover, it dwells in wormwood, quinine, and a lotus blossom hence goes well with the classic martini spec.

Amazonia from Hendrick’s is set apart from the earlier by the tropical notes that it bewitches which is rather exquisite for a Gin. Moreover, gimlet with Amazonia is easily an easy-winning classic, it enthralls the aroma in the air and experiences of South America.

Nevertheless, Beefeaters from London takes away the best everyday mixing Gin award followed closely by Bombay sapphire.

The Botanist, an artisanal islay Gin lodges among the top-tier Gin. Strong botanical makes the Gin override by itself and across different mixers.

Genever, also known as Hollands is a Gin with very subtle whiskey tones. Succoring the statement from Genever producers, that they call it a cross between Gin and whiskey.

Tom Collins with freshly squeezed lemon and high-quality agave nectar instead of simple syrup can be described as being swooned to the seventh heaven. Additionally, Negroni, Vesper, Aviation all offer more than just Gin and quinine, the very versatile spirit that was painted into a corner for years.

Interestingly so, Seersucker southern style Gin gains the title as one of the best mixing Gins, it’s tasty, mild and lacks the strong juniper notes in other Gins, and has more prominent citrus oils.

The rusty blade barrel-aged Gin has a different flavor profile.

Also Read: The Spirit Of Goa

This doesn’t just reference what Gin you drink, but the mixers and ingredients that go into the serving. Take a Gin and tonic – you can go rail Gin and bar Gin tonic, a slice of lime and have a palatable drink.

Now change rail to say Bombay sapphire, bar tonic to fever tree, and add a hasty splash of rhubarb bitters. You now have a refreshing cocktail that leaves you drunk. Here, were the incremental steps to make a memorable drink.

In essence, the big lesson that Gin teaches about cocktails is that the devil is in the details. It simply is just not about pour ratios, but the quality of the product.

History Of The 1960’s Folk Song ‘Scarborough Fair’

Nupur Patil
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History Of The 1960’s Folk Song ‘Scarborough Fair’

UNITED STATES: Simon and Garfunkel, a musical duo based in New York charted billboard hot 100 with their song ‘Scarborough Fair’ in 1966.

All hymns and nursery rhymes rebated, “Scarborough Fair” remains the classic English folk song in the modern world. Bards would sing this popular folk song while going places in medieval England.

History

Scarborough is a small coastal town in North Yorkshire, England. “Scarborough Fair” was a fashionable gathering in medieval times that attracted performers, artists and traders from across the country. The fair started every August 15 that lasted 45 days. Scarborough – as of today – is a quiet town with a rich history.

The song is believably 400 years old, the author of which is unknown and has been sung by various artists through time.

Ultimately, the popularity of the song is owed to the American folk duo. The traditional version of the song, however, is volumed with lyrics.

Clannish melody and exclusory arrangement

The melody is best described as ‘haunting’. The surreal harmonies are not simple notes, there is a counterpoint usually found in classical music. Moreover, they incorporated not only melodic but poetic counterpoint.

Precisely, these poly harmonies are very intricate harpsichord, that is, many delicate harmonies harmonizing at the same time. The harpsichord and the bells, furthermore, add to the ancient feel of Scarborough fair.

Vinyl album by Simon & Garfunkel (1966). Photo Credit: Twitter

This song, distinctively, is a medley of two songs sung simultaneously, ‘canticle’ and ‘Scarborough fair’. Hence, this song is often listed as “Scarborough Fair/Canticle“.

Lines” from “Canticle” alternate after the first line of the other verses. The first and the last verses, however, are of “Scarborough Fair”.

Also Read: Conservation Of Ancient Folk Cultures

The underlying romantic history

A momentous amount of information about the song lingers on the web, most of which aims to reinforce romanticized tales about its origin.

In medieval times, each spice represented ethics that contributed to the song. Parsley is comfort, sage is strength, rosemary is love and thyme is courage.

Moreover, it’s one of the many traditional British necromancy songs where the speaker is a ghost.

The lyrics of the song are about a man trying to obtain his true love. The yearning for the same is felt throughout the 7-minute song.

Interestingly so, the man is telling his true love after separation that she will be his true love again if she does a variety of impossible tasks. The tasks include making a seamless shirt or buying an acre of land between the beach and the sea.

Furthermore, all of the requests he makes are impossible because he is dead and can’t come back, just like how the requests can’t be addressed.

Some also interpreted it as a song of sorrow from the devastation of wars in general. Wherein, the herbs – parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme interpreted as a totem of remembrance for the deceased.

No Longer Human: The Disbarred Life Of Osamu Dazai

Nupur Patil
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No Longer Human: The Disbarred Life Of Osamu Dazai

JAPAN: ‘Ningen shikkaku‘, literally translating to ‘No longer human’, is a 1948 novel by Osamu Dazai. The brilliantly haunting novel is now considered a classic of Japanese literature and is the second most selling novel in Japan after Natsume Sōseki’s ‘Kokoro’.

In today’s era, the book emanates depressing black illumination. Although, some people have found this book more fascinating than potentially depressing. Precisely, ‘No longer human’ is the accurate depiction of true depression and anxiety.

Interestingly the story is told through a device, that is Yōzō‘s journal, which is discovered by the narrator. To simply describe the reading experience, the reader eventually resigns oneself to the loneliness of the protagonist.

No Longer Human

No Longer Human is a powerful explanation of an individual’s isolation from the society. The book tells the story of a twenty-seven-year-old man Ōba Yōzō, who witnesses the deterioration of his life and all its aspects. In the book, Dazai addresses the cyclical nature of madness and social obscureness. Moreover, the main character’s loneliness and social anxiety prompt him to take destructive behaviors which isolate him further from the company and help of others he desperately needs.

Disturbingly sincere

The outlandishness of the sincerity in which Yōzō describes his condition can shake the readers. The main character is in self-despair and although he could avoid sharing his misanthropic viewpoint at times with which he described himself and the world, he never got out of the complex.

The character, through impression from the narration is not obnoxious of his environment. He is not trying to foist his misery upon others by destroying them, instead, he seeks to destroy his own pain.

The sincerity made him the most convincing rendering of somebody who is absolutely baffled by the actions of human beings.

While the story touched solipsistic insanity, dramatic pain, and brutality, the undertone of the writing gave away a sophisticated impression of the main character. The striking prose remains subdued and polite throughout, which is a stunning contrast to the events described.

First Japanese edition of ‘No longer Human’ by Osamu Dazai.

Also Read: India’s Best-Selling Collaborative Fiction Novelists Launch Their Second Book

An autobiography?

The book is believably a semi-autobiography of the Dazai. In retrospect, he indulged in alcohol and prostitutes when he was younger. In addition, he tried to commit suicide several times. Uniformly in the book, the character tortured himself with the thoughts that he’s not entitled to love and happiness. He hides behind a jokester-like character all the time when talking to several people in the book.

Dazai died in a double suicide after publishing the book with his lover Tomie Yamazaki. Similar is echoed in the novel, although Yōzō does not evaporate, he doesn’t come out smelling like roses either. His loathing for “human beings” that’s being repeated several times in the book is justified towards the end. He lapses into self-pity – the worst sin, since it can excuse anything in the sinner’s own mind.

Ningen Shikkaku was adapted to film in 2009, the 100th anniversary of Dazai’s birth. The film was directed by Genjiro Arato.

NYC Art Collector Stuart Pivar Discovers Long-Lost Van Gogh Painting

Nupur Patil
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2
NYC Art Collector Stuart Pivar Discovers Long-Lost Van Gogh Painting

NEW YORK: Art collector, Stuart Pivar claims that he has rediscovered a long-lost work by the famed impressionist, Vincent Van Gogh.

Pivar, who is an art collector and luminary founded the New York Academy of Art along with a renowned pop art icon Andy Warhol in 1979. According to his statement, he found the possible masterpiece in a dubious county auction outside of Paris.

Reportedly, the piece of work depicting vivacious wheat fields of Auvers, if authentic, was drawn by the artist in the last two months of his life. Van Gogh had shot himself in the chest in the same fields of Auvers-Sur-Oise. The Post-impressionist painter died two days later in an inn alongside his brother Theo where he revealed that he had shot himself.

“Vincent”, signed allegedly by Vincent Van Gogh. Photo Credit: Twitter

Pivar, 90, requested The Van Gogh museum located in Amsterdam for authentication of the landscape. Although the museum is closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they have decided to accept Pivar’s request exceptionally.

“The picture is in pristine original condition, painted on a coarse burlap canvas consistent with those used by van Gogh late in his career.” Michael Mezzatesta, an independent scholar and currently director emeritus of the Duke University Museum of Art stated.

Mezzatesta continued, “The reverse of the canvas bears the signature ‘Vincent’ in an entirely credible hand and what appears to my eye a date ‘1890’ rendered in the fugitive walnut brown ink typical of many of Van Gogh’s drawings.”

Also Read: Vincent Van Gogh’s Drawing, La Mousmé To Be Auction At Christie’s

The painting is drawn on a square canvas, sides of which stretch to 36 inches. If authenticated, it would be the artist’s largest work and may find its way in the van Gogh’s catalogue raisonné.

Recently authenticated work of art by the impressionist is the colorful inkling of poppies. It shows red poppies placed in a vase sitting against a gloomy background. After debating for nearly 30 years, the researchers authenticated the artwork 2019.

Yin Yang: The Ancient Insignia Of Equilibrium

Nupur Patil
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Yin Yang: The Ancient Insignia Of Equilibrium

INDIA: Yin and Yang is a concept of dualism, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be interconnected in the natural world. The roots of this come from Taoism, a religion born in China. The Yin is the dark swirl whereas, the white one is Yang.

Moreover, each side has a dot of the opposite color, which works as an inkling to the meaning of Yin Yang.

The essence of Yin Yang

The Yin Yang depicts two opposite forces but this shouldn’t be confused with the ideas of conflict. It rather teaches us that the two polar opposites – irrespective of the differences – can thrive together in harmony. When Yin and Yang work together in harmony, the resonance of the Tao is seen.

In western culture, conversely, it is talked about good versus evil, life against death, the light versus the dark. This language, henceforth, creates the idea that we should get rid of the dark and cultivate the light.

But in Taoism, this concept is believed as deranged much like a magnet without both positive and negative poles. By the same token, the two different aspects belong to the same system so getting rid of one necessarily means getting rid of the system.

The interaction between Yin and Yang is the archetype for all relationships. Furthermore, they are such principal forms of energy, that they bring the infinitely incomprehensible down to a finite understanding.

Nature appears to be waves, in essence, everything we experience is tuned into frequency. For us to experience something we must experience it frequently enough for us to notice. That means we have to experience something and also its absence for us to actually experience it.

The Yin and Yang is based on a simple philosophy that one can only be aware of something by contrast. So, when a person is feeling anxious, he can realize that this anxiety can only exist against a background of peace, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to notice it. Likewise, akin to the silence beneath sound, peace beneath fear subsist.

“The power to find balance is within you” – implication and the purpose learned from the Yin Yang philosophy.

Haruki Murakami: Totem Of Modern Japanese Literature

Nupur Patil
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JAPAN: “I write prose just like I play music”, quoted by Haruki Murakami, who was the owner of a Jazz club in Tokyo before he became a writer.

72-year-old Murakami is a celebrated author and one of the most prominent figures writing in the magical realism world.

With stylish prose, Haruki Murakami entreats magical worlds laminating ours.

Furthermore, he focuses on ‘slice of life’ scenes. He describes simple everyday chores like cooking and grocery shopping in minute details that make his writing captivating.

Reminder of nascent youth

Photo Credit: Nupur. Transcontinental times.

In my opinion, Murakami writes chiefly about the experience of adolescence. Two of the great example of this become South of the Border, West of the Sun.

Read Also: Arabian Travel Mart 2021 – Dubai

It contains some extremely poignant explorations of coming of age, early relationships with women as so on and so forth. As the protagonist transitions to adulthood, he never escapes the emotions and memories from the early period of his life.

In Murakami’s stories, the narrator is superiorly always seems as a misfit into the world he ostensibly exists in.

Even his books with adult protagonists like in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle describe adolescence. The protagonist in the same is faced with inexplicable changes in himself, his relationships with women, and the world around him that somehow recalled his childhood for him.

The changes hence, bring him slowly into a new, more obscure world in which he must function, but is unequipped to do so. All among the wet dreams and the queerly mystifying relationship with the girl next door evokes the heady confusion of adolescence.

Murakami’s work: a towpath of contemporary Japan

Adolescence and alienation from mankind are interesting tropes in the context of Japanese literature.

Scrutinizing the conflicting demands of indebtedness and human emotions has been a theme of Japanese literature since the beginning of time. And since Japan has an extremely homogeneous society, it’s a perfect fruit salad for adolescent alienation as they don’t tolerate differentiation.

His works prominently are divided into two primary categories, first that deal primarily with the aspects of the human psyche, then secondly those concerned with the modern Japanese psyche, and how therein the harsh facts of the Second World War settle. The best exemplification of each approach is found in his best-regarded work, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.

It explores the unspoken guilt of WWII, the ephemeral layers of human consciousness, as well as the third great theme of his writings: the disassociation one may feel from the status-quo of the society in which you may find yourself.

While the first of the three themes may be specific to one nation of people, the other two to transcend any racial or cultural boundary, a fact reinforced by the numerous allusions to the pop culture – particularly western music and literature – enjoyed by Murakami himself.

Ultimately, what I find fascinating is his cosmopolitan perspective on those issues he is most acutely aware of, as they apply through the Japanese people in particular and out towards any and all who may pick up his works.

The author launched his new book ‘first-person singular’ in July 2020. It is a collection of short stories written in the first person as the title suggests. The bookmarked the author’s return to his signature style.

Midsommar: A Folklore Horror With Aesthetics That Give Visual Delight

Nupur Patil
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Midsommar: A Folklore Horror With Aesthetics That Give Visual Delight

INDIA: A 2019 movie from the director of ‘Hereditary’ is a genre of horror that may not be widely explored. A film that’s somewhat trapped in the time or place that it presents giving off a claustrophobic feel.

The storyline awaits terrifying themes and elements in this one as opposed to the more traditional scares and chills of ‘Hereditary’.

Enchanting in a deceptive way

The characters and the setting make-believe the viewers that horror in the dark and jump scares with heavy soundtracks don’t always ingredient a good horror movie.

In retrospect, the horror movie analogues ‘Suspiria‘ from 2018 where it is meandered and feels unfocused on its subject. Is this a movie about relationships and breaking up or a girl finding a family? About people’s failed empathy for others or is this a movie about grief? It touches on so many themes, and yet it swings home to a thematically satisfying conclusion.

The audiences tried going in as blindly as possible and were totally thrown for a loop, they found themselves scanning every inch of the screen, partly because it was beautiful partly for clues as to learn what was going on. Moreover, Wide shots and extreme close-ups in certain places successfully complement the mildly intense music and in turn, create an eerie atmosphere bewildering the audience.

The technical aspects from the way it’s directed, sound edited and design, transitions, compositions, soundtrack are plenty admirable. Furthermore, it manages to accurately depict the use of psychedelic drugs.

Bemusing storyline

The characters are underwritten and make out-of-place decisions that factor in horror movies. Contrast to ‘Hereditary’ as it felt incredibly sincere in its characterization. The characters of Hereditary are pawns, but they feel like people. The opposite feels true in Midsommar.

Also Read: 10 Horror Movies Based On True Stories

When asked about the apparent plot holes in the horror movie, Aris Aster, the director of Midsommar said, “For one, although the Midsommar festival happens every year, the part that happens at the film’s end–the fiery human sacrifice–occurs only every 90 years. In addition to that, said sacrifice occurs on only the fourth day of the nine-day festival, leaving us to wonder how the festival could possibly continue to escalate for five more days after that.”

“That’s something that we always understood would be potentially confusing to people, but I’m really allergic to exposition that’s not absolutely needed, or that’s not, like, woven invisibly into the fabric, and there was just no way of explaining that in a way that didn’t feel like spoon-feeding information,” Aster said. “In the three hour and 45-minute version of it, it’s a little bit clearer, but it was just one of the casualties of cutting the movie down.” That said, the actual plot is incredibly derivative. It trespasses beyond the borders of homage during certain scenes.

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