This is a quick entry as I am busy with PhD work, but the amazing Stephanie Graham Pina reminded me about this today when we were discussing the Victorian actress Dame Ellen Terry on Facebook.
Ellen Terry
Her great-nephew Sir John Gielgud, considered one of the greatest actors of the 20th Century, performed a wonderful version of part of Tennyson's Ulysses for a 1996 commercial for Union Bank of Switzerland.
I
really like that it has the lines: "Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late
to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite the
sounding furrows; for my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset, and
the baths of all the western stars, until I die" in it as they are
perhaps my favourite lines in the history of poetry. Gielgud's voice was perfect for a performance of the poem. Terry herself perfomed Tennyson on stage in a number of his plays (Not as well known as his poetry but he did write a number of them). Most notability in the 1893 production of Becket (Photos of her in the role of Rosamund can be found here and here)
Happy #PRBday everyone. To celebrate here is a use of the Pre Raphaelites that inspired the creation of this very blog.
When I last looked at Neil Gaiman I spoke about the writers use of the "story behind the story" trope. This is where a fictionalized
version of an established writer or artist' work is inspired by a event
that happened to them in the fictionalized world of the story they
appear in. This is another case of the trope in Gaiman's work, this time within his famous Sandman series.
How they Met Themselves by D.G.Rossetti
First published in the comics anthology Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3 (2000) The Sandman: How They Met Themselves imagines the story behind Rossetti's painting of 1860-1864 as being based on a jounrey that he, Lizzie Siddal and Algernon Charles Swinburne took. During this winter excursion they meet the personifiaction of Desire (Sister/Brother of Dream, the main character of the Sandman), leading to the events that inspire the painting.
From Absolute Sandman vol.3
Gaiman's use of the character is perfect, from Rossetti using the Guggums nickname for Lizzie and his brash egotistical characterization, Lizzie's jealously and fears over losing Rossetti and Swinburne's plee to Desire (Which I will not spoil, but people who know his history will get a kick out of it). The story is helped by the beautiful artwork of Michael Zulli, an artist with noticeable Pre Raphaelite infulences. His likenesses are beautiful.
I wish I could say more about the story but I can't as that would spoil it. It is a narartive that needs you need to come to without much infomation because spoliers rob it of it's imapct.
While you can still find copies of Winter's Edge cheeply, you could alternatively buy the much more expensive Absoulte Sandman Volume 3, if only to see Zulli's beautiful artwork in a larger format.
Happy Halloween everyone. To celebrate I'm bending the rules of the blog a little bit to talk about a film that while set in the Victorian period doesn't feature any real life personalities or art but is still an excellent example of the tropes of the Gothic; Crimosn Peak.
As I mentioned in my post about Hellboy 2, Guillermo del Toro is my favourite director and this, his ninth feature, is one of his best films. There may be some light spoliers in this review but I will try to keep them as vague as possible.
The story concerns Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), a young American writer who falls in love with Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleson), an English baronet who is seeking the investment of her industrialist father. After her father is murdered, Edith moves with Thomas, and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) to Allerdale Hall, also known as Crimson Peak, the Sharpe's ancestral home in Cumbria, England. But the house is haunted and Edith has to investigate exactly what has happened there,
To call this a ghost story is a misnomer though. It is not a Gothic Horror story but a Gothic Romance that harks back to the original Gothic traditions of the Romantic and Victorian periods. The ghosts exist to aide Edith in her investigations not serve as menace. It draws on the works of writers like Ann Radcliffe, Sheridan Le Fanu, Henry James & Bram Stoker (the interest in new technology contrasting with old world mysteries reminds me a lot of Dracula) along with echos of Bluebeard and creates a story that would have not been out of place in 19th Century fiction.
The acting is excellent. Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska in particular shine as the two female leads (It is a very feminine movie, suiting the Gothic traditions it is drawing upon.) Tom Hiddleson, one of my favourite actors, also impresses in his role as Thomas.
The costumes and sets are beautiful, It being a del Toro film means that a lot of care and attention has gone into everything from the elegance of the dresses worn by the ladies in the parties in America to the house itself which has to be one of the most amazing sets you will ever see in film. The ghosts are for the most part practical effects rather than computer generated. As someone who grew up in the period before CGI, I appreciate this.
Murdoch Mysteries is a Canadian crime drama currently in it's 9th season. Based on a series of novels written by Maureen Jennings it follows the adventures of late 19th Century (early 20th Century in later seasons) Toronto Detective William Murdoch (played by Yannick Bisson).
While most of the crimes Murdoch solves involve ordinary criminals, several of his cases have involved teaming up with notable personalities of the era, including: Nikola Tesla, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, Emma Goldman, Jack London, Alexander Graham Bell, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and, of course, a host of Canadian personalities. He has saved the life of Queen Victoria and captured Jack The Ripper. The show doesn't take itself too seriously with some Steampunk elements creeping into the show, including death rays and killer German robots but it is well written and it's fun to see all the historical characters mix it up with Bisson's Murdoch who is a likable and charismatic lead. I have to admit I haven't seen the show since the end of series 5 (The end of the 19th Century) so I can't comment on how well it covers the Edwardian period but for the early seasons are an easy recommendation for fans of Victorian Detectives. Buy Murdoch Mysteries Box sets: Amazon US | Amazon UK
I have a confession to make: I totally adore the Norwegian band Katzenjammer.
Marianne Sveen, Solveig Heilo,Anne Marit Bregheim, and Turid Jørgensen (photo from Universal Germany)
It is hard to describe their style as the group consisting of Marianne Sveen, Solveig Heilo,Anne Marit Bregheim, and Turid Jørgensen play everything from folk and country to more punky and pop sounds with a multitude of different instruments. I love all three of their studio albums and the concert I went to earlier this year was the best I've attended bar none. I am really looking forward to seeing them again next month.
Today I just want to spotlight a song of theirs that has a connection to Victorian era literature from their first album: Virginia Clemm (Music by Helio with lyrics by Mats Rybø)
Virginia Clemm was the wife of Edgar Allan Poe who he married when she was 13 and he was 26. Their marriage was an unhappy one with Poe being involved in scandals with other women. She died of tuberculosis aged 24, leaving Poe to a number of poems involving a man outliving his wife, including The Raven.
Virginia Clemm (photo from wikipedia)
The song, written from perceptive of the dead Clemm, is a haunting examination of the relationship between her and her husband and a message to Poe that she is his inspiration. A beautiful song from an excellent album.
Last week the new British crime drama River staring Stellan Skarsgård started on BBC One. The main character, D.I. River, solves crimes while being haunted by ghosts (real or imagined) of his dead partner, victims of the crimes he is solving and a villain who died because of him. I enjoyed the first episode for the acting and the Scandinavian style mood but I wasn't as sold on the story as much. I'm still looking forward to the rest of the series though.]
Along with the modern ghosts that haunt him, River is also visited by the manifestation of Victorian murderer Dr Thomas Neill Cream, otherwise known the Lambeth Poisoner (Played by Eddie Marsan, recently seen in the Napoleonic set, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell), whom he is reading a book about in the show.
Marsen as Cream in the show (photo from The Guardian)
The real life Cream, a Canadian, is known to have killed five people in both England and the United States. In 1881 he was imprisoned by the United States authorities for the murder of Daniel Stott in Chicago and released in 1891. He then moved to England where he killed four women before being captured and hanged for his crimes the following year.
While I was not familiar with Cream's name initially, while looking over articles in preparation of this blog I did realize I had come across him before in this panel from From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell:
From Hell
Despite this confession Cream could have not possibly been the Ripper as he was a. not in the country when the Whitechapel killings took place and b. was in prison anyway. More information on Cream: Wikipedia casebook.org New York Daily News article River continues on BBC One Tuesdays 9:00pm BST/GMT (First epsiode on iplayer for UK residents) Buy From Hell Amazon US | Amazon UK
Gullermo del Toro is perhaps my favourite movie director and his new film, the Victorian based Gothic Horror Crimson Peak is out in cinemas today.
I'm not going to be able to see the film until tomorrow but I did want to celebrate the release by showcasing his use of Tennyson's Im Memoriam in his 2008 film Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Here Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), who has escaped the clutches of her brother, the main villain of the movie, discovers a volume of Tennyson in the Library of the B.P.R.D while being looked after by Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). (0:16 - 0:44 for the Tennyson bits. video by youtube user Laura McGillicuddy)
Despite being a comic book based movie I think Hellboy II is well worth a watch for del Toro's amazing imagination and beautiful moments like this one. Buy Hellboy 2 DVD: Amazon US | Amazon UK Blu-Ray: Amazon US | Amazon UK
