Cinema · Mores · Ethnography

The gift of a braid in “Carnival Row” and the love symbolism of hair across cultures

The scene of a braid given as a gesture of love is played out in the fantasy series Carnival Row, when the fairy Vignette, played by Cara Delevingne, gives her braid to her beloved Inspector Philo, played by Orlando Bloom. The link between hair and the symbolism of love, however,

Archaeology · Cinema · Museums · Ethnography

In Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" there is an episode in which Sophie Hatter, whose enchantment is almost undone, gives her plait to the demon Calcifer so that he may revive after the Witch of the Waste has all but snuffed him out, and the demon acquir

In Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" there is an episode in which Sophie Hatter, whose enchantment is almost undone, gives her plait to the demon Calcifer so that he may revive after the Witch of the Waste has all but snuffed him out, and the

NB! · Archive · Faith · Cinema · Paris

Archive footage from the filming of the Chambord stag in the Parisian church of Saint-Eustache

Archaeology · Faith · Cinema · Books · Museums · Observations

The mountain of hands in the Archaeological Museum of Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, recalled the touching scene in «Call Me by Your Name» in which the heroes attend the raising of a statue from the bed of the Aegean Sea, and Oliver hands Elio a bronz

These hands, too, have been raised from the depths, though not of the sea but of a marsh. The pottery found in 1891 in the marsh of Santa Gilla dates from the 4th-3rd centuries BC. These are votive hands, that is, offered as gifts in fulfilment of a vow,

Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

What are my plans for the near future?

What are my plans for the near future? To move into Downton Abbey in The Sims and restore the Dowager Countess of Grantham to her former glory, make Lady Mary's disgrace public, and arrange Henry Talbot's personal life. True, I shall have to shell out for

NB! · Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture

Who I Should Like to See in the Lead Role in the "Little Mermaid" Remake

Cinema · Observations · People · Humour

Abel Gance’s 1927 silent film “Napoleon” and its departures from history

The French pioneering film epic "Napoléon" of 1927 is an unrecognised masterpiece of silent cinema. Perhaps the film would be better known if it did not run for five hours, and if it bore at least some resemblance to historical fact. The picture is so far removed from

Cinema · People · Pop Culture

Olivia de Havilland, the last living Hollywood diva of the 1930s, turned 103

The last living Hollywood screen diva of the 1930s, Olivia de Havilland, has turned 103. Olivia is a two-time Oscar winner and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Incidentally, she is also the last surviving actress of "Gone with the Wind". In 2018

Cinema · Books · Mores

Golden Globe winning 1991 film about escaping the city, based on Elizabeth von Arnim's novel

Gender of the Day: Enchanted April. Strange as it may seem, gloom, private misfortunes and dramas retreat into the background with the coming of the sun. Whoever you may be, a disenchanted madonna or an elderly prude, a deserted society beauty or an ecstatic little ingénue, April is always a

NB! · Art · Cinema · Observations · Mores · Pop Culture

Strange as it may seem, the subjects of these vulgar erotic playing cards were borrowed from genuine antique pottery

Strange as it may seem, the subjects of these vulgar erotic playing cards were borrowed from genuine antique pottery. So, too, was a scene from Caligula

Archive · Cinema · Mores · People

The earrings episode in Tarkovsky’s “Mirror” and its basis in the 1941 evacuation

In Tarkovsky's "Mirror" there is an episode with the doctor's wife, played by Larisa, Andrei's second wife, with Maria Nikolayevna, played by the director's mother Maria Ivanovna, and with an exchange of earrings. The business of the earrings, it turns

NB! · Cinema · Humour