Film Review: Red Moon Tide

“Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical.” – Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

The concept of pure cinema has roots in silent film, when filmmakers had to tell a story visually without spoken dialogue. Red Moon Tide is indeed pure cinema for the 21^st century: it was filmed on a digital camera and does have dialogue, sound, and music but employs it parsimoniously. It is a feast for the eyes. My lone regret is that I did not see it in a movie theater, but via the streaming service Mubi (but I am thankful for that).

The film is set in the Galicia region of Spain and revolves around the disappearance of Rubio, a fisherman who believed a sea monster was responsible for diminished fishing (as opposed to overfishing or pollution) and hunts it down. Rubio is a local legend in his own right, known for recovering the corpses of shipwrecked sailors. In his absence, the town literally comes to a standstill. Most people in this film essentially stand still (except for three witches), while life around them goes on: horses run, birds sing, water trickles and crashes. Rubio’s story is recounted poetically in voiceover by the residents of the Galician village.

“The sky at night is a black sea.

The stars, bright fish.

The moon, a monster.”

“The monster is the sea.

It has been sleeping for centuries.

We are its dream.”

The film gives you a lot of consider, exploring the power of mythology, nature, the illusion of nature being tamed and humanity’s place in a world that will go on whether we are here or not. A recurring motif in the film is a whale shark and it forced me to consider all of the sharks fished out of the water each year, their fins cut off, and then cruelly thrown back into the water to die a truly painful and slow death. Perhaps humans are the real monsters?

“That’s the nature of modern film franchises: market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they’re ready for consumption.” – Martin Scorsese*

Camille Paglia, in Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art from Egypt to Star Wars, noted in the introduction how the modern eye is constantly exposed to flashing images everywhere via mass media (she wrote that even when one is pumping gasoline, there is often a television screen on top of the pump). Paglia states that we must relearn how to see and find focus: “…The only way to teach focus is to present the eye with opportunities for steady perception—best supplied by the contemplation of art.” I want to applaud the director, Lois Patiño, for fostering pure cinema in a digital world ruled via smartphones by embracing and incorporating elements of still photography. In today’s movie market, too many films are made for those with short attention spans using cutting and camera work does not allow one to consider composition, scenery, and the actors. This film allows you to do all that and more. I feel fulfilled and will always remember this film as a masterpiece in my personal history of cinema. I hope that somehow, someway, this film is released in American theaters. We need less smartphones and more slow looking, focus and the grandeur of the movie screen.

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* P.S. If you have previously read my blog, you know I also love all things comic books and superheroes, but that is not all I consume. I concurrently love popular culture and high art. They can and should co-exist in your world of entertainment and education.

Horses and The Narrative in Ancient Greek Art

Camille Paglia, in her book, Sexual Personae, presents an interesting theory on the relationship between cats and ancient Egyptians. Cats, which have a sense of narcissistic personality and ceremony, were the model for Egyptian culture. According to Paglia, Egyptians invented concepts of beauty and femininity from their observations of cats ¹. I found this theory thought provoking and would, for years after first reading Sexual Personae, look for other examples of how animals can impact a culture. A favorite example are the Aztecs, who according to legend, founded the city of Tenochtitlan when their god Huitzilopochtli had commanded them to find an eagle perched atop a cactus, devouring a snake.

Bronze man and centaur, mid-8th century B.C.E.

Paglia makes an interesting contrast between Egypt and Greece: In Egypt, the cat; in Greece, the horse. Another way to view it is, in Egypt, the Sphinx; in Greece, the Centaur. Paglia hypothesizes that cats were “too feminine for the male loving Greeks” who preferred to depict the more muscular horse in art ².  Paglia’s theory appears to be realized on an Archaic helmet from the late 7^th century B.C.E. where a horse and two lions (one on each cheek piece) are portrayed in repoussé; the horse is about three times larger than the lions.  Conversely, Egyptian depictions of horses appear to be more feminine than Greek muscular / masculine forms (figure III).

One of Two bronze helmets, late 7th century B.C.E.

Egyptian Horse, 1391–1353 B.C.E.

The ancient Greeks rarely depicted contemporary or historical events in art.  However, horses were consistently present in mythical and historical depictions alike.  This blog entry will examine the presence of the horse in narratives depicted on various Greek works.

Death and War

Ancient Egyptians venerated cats and mummified them. The practice of interring horses was not uncommon in Greece ³ (a pair of horses were discovered buried at the outer end of a ^Stholos tomb at Marathon (The Mycenaean tholos tomb consists of a circular, subterranean burial chamber, sometimes referred to as the thalamos, roofed by a corbelled vault and approached by an entrance passage that narrows abruptly at the doorway actually opening into the tomb chamber. The chamber or thalamos is built of stone.  Tholoi of this kind are usually set into slopes or hillsides. Burials were either laid out on the floor of the tomb chamber or were placed in pits, cists, or shafts cut into this floor.); a human skeleton was discovered with a horse skeleton in a grave near Nauplia). Like the cat in Egypt, Horses were also featured prominently in works connected to funerary traditions. A Geometric krater, (740 B.C.E.) from the Dipylon Cemetery,

Terracotta krater, 750–735 B.C.E.

that functioned as a grave marker, depicts scenes of mourning for a man; the horses are pulling a chariot in his honor ⁴.  One theory suggests that the horse with chariot was a transporter to the afterlife ⁵.  The practice of depicting horses on grave markers continued to be common into the late classical period.  Several loutrophoros vessels, which were used as grave markers for soldiers, depict young men on horseback ⁶.  Ancient Greek citizens were required to perform a number of duties to help serve their community in the best way possible; soldiers saw the act of war as an act of patriotism.  The depictions may be viewed as a commemoration of the solider and horse.  The horse is as proud as a soldier, but unlike donkeys, cows, or bulls, is decidedly trainable and will, with no hesitation, ride into battle.  Horses are in line with the concept of unselfish Greek citizenship (unlike cats, which are self-serving animals).

Depictions of horses were not solely limited to krater or loutrophoro vessels.  A black figure terracotta amphora (Figure V) depicts a departing warrior on a four-horse chariot bidding his parents farewell.  Interestingly, one of the four horses are not depicted in black figure, actually matching the color of the charioteer, also not in black figure.  It is also curious that the charioteer was in the foreground while the solider and his family was in the background and behind the chariot.  Could this have also been a commemoration of charioteer and horse for their contributions to the cause?

Terracotta neck-amphora, 540 B.C.E

 

Mythology and Reality

Rhyton in form of mounted Amazon, 5th century B.C.E
.

The horse, featured prominently in pottery narratives depicting combat and death, is also a fixture in mythology. One of the most remarkable works of a mythological subject prominently featuring a horse may be found at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which I had the opportunity to visit earlier this year.  The museum identifies the work as a  rhyton in the form of a mounted Amazon.  Another source identifies this same work as a  plastic vase ⁷.  The mounted figure wears a crested plume helmet with large appendages on the sides. The red figure vessel behind the Amazonian warrior depicts four figures, Persians and Greek, in combat.  A Persian figure is mounted on a horse and appears to be overtaking a Greek warrior with a spear.  Conveniently, the Amazon’s plume is bellowing on to the scene.  However, it is interesting to note the striking difference between the Persian and Greek horses; the Greek horse that the Amazon is riding is muscular, while the Persian horse appears to be almost Rubenesque and not proportionate.  The Greek horse also has a gait / gallop similar to the horses depicted on the Parthenon frieze, which is a somewhat curious because the Amazonian rhyton was found in Egypt.

Details of the Panathenaic Festival procession frieze, 447-438 B.C.E.

 

Kylix,
 540–530 B.C.E.

The frieze on the Parthenon is thought to represent the Panathenaic procession, a religious festival held on 28 Hekatombaion, the first month of the Athenian calendar ⁸ .  The presence of the horse on the frieze of the Parthenon clearly demonstrates their importance in Greek society, real and mythological.  According to mythology, Poseidon desired Demeter and to put him off, Demeter asked Poseidon to make the most beautiful animal the world had ever seen.  Poseidon created the horse.  The horses represented on the frieze are based on the Greek ideal perfect proportions.  Beauty and proportion are bedfellows in ancient Greece.

North frieze, 447-438 B. C. E.

One part of west frieze of the Parthenon depicts horsemen preparing their horses.  The care that the horsemen appear to be giving their horses recalls one of the first manuals on riding the horse titled The Art of Horsemanship written by a Greek named Xenophon.  Xenophon, who was a pupil of Socrates, was an equestrian for his entire life, first as a cavalryman and then as a country gentleman on an estate given to him by the King of Sparta ⁹.  Xenophon, in the same manual, encourages a mutual respect between man and horse: “There are, indeed, other methods of teaching these arts.  Some do so by touching the horse with a switch under the gaskins.  For ourselves, however, far the best method of instruction, as we keep repeating, is to let the horse feel that whatever he does in obedience to the rider’s wishes will be followed by some rest and relaxation.”

Xenophon’s approach to horse care and training appears to be realized on a kylix in the Met attributed to Amasis painter.  The reverse depicts an atmosphere of excitement in Poseidon’s stables, while four grooms attempt to soothe four high-strung horses.  The obverse depicts Poseidon among Greek warriors.  The subjects are drawn from book 13 of Homer’s Iliad: Poseidon, seeing the Greek soldiers hard pressed, decides to renew their spirit.  Prior to viewing this work, I happened to view a Terracotta pykster (figure IX) that depicted soldiers mounted on dolphins.  I found it curious that the scene on the pykster depicting the dolphins was not a work connected to the god of the sea, Poseidon.  Instead, the pyskster chose to depict Poseidon’s most beautiful creature, the horse.

Conclusion

Horses were an integral part of ancient Greek culture. Horses resemble the Greek ideal human form in terms of proportion and musculature.  “Coming to the thighs below the shoulder blades, or arms, these if thick and muscular present a stronger and handsomer appearance, just as in the case of the human being” ¹⁰.

Horses are also in line with Greek concepts of citizenship.  “Such an animal, we venture to predict, will give the greatest security to his rider in the circumstances of war.”¹⁰

 

 “The majesty of men themselves is best discovered in the graceful handling of such animals.  The man who knows how to manage such a creature gracefully himself at once appears magnificent.  A horse so prancing is indeed a thing of beauty, a wonder and a marvel; riveting the gaze of all who see him, young alike and graybeards.  They will never turn their back, I venture to predict, or weary of their gazing so long as he continues to display his splendid action.  Such are the horses on which gods and heroes ride, as represented by the artist.”

– Xenophon, The Art of Horsemanship

 

¹ Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), Page 64

² Paglia, Page 65

³ Jack Leonard Benson, Horse, Bird & Man; The Origins of Greek Paintings (Amherst, University of Massachusetts Press, 1970), Page 20

⁴ Fred S. Kleiner and Christin J. Mamiya, Gardner’s Art through the Ages, The Western Perspective (Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, 2005), Page 94

⁵ Benson, Page 24

⁶ Andrew Clark, Understanding Greek vases: a guide to terms, styles, and techniques (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2002), Page 115

⁷ Clark, Page 129

⁸  Columbia University Department of Art History and Archeology Visual Media: Center http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/parthenon/flash/main.htm

⁹  Xenophon, with notes, by Morris H. Morgan, The Art of Horsemanship (Imprint Boston, Little, Brown, and company, 1893), Page 70

¹⁰ Xenophon, Page 5

¹¹ Xenophon, Page 5

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Allegorical Animals: The Connection Between Paganism and Early Christian Art (Part One)

PART ONE: FROM CAVE PAINTINGS TO CHARIOT RACES 

Animal Farm, published in 1945, is an allegory of Soviet Communism. The story follows a group of oppressed farm animals who rebel against their cruel master, Farmer Jones. At the outset, all is well: led by Snowball (stand-in for Leon Trotsky), an intelligent and idealistic pig, the animals establish a utopian government based on self-governance and equal sharing of food and work. Eventually, the pigs grow arrogant with power and change the rules to favor themselves. Snowball is ousted and another pig, Napoleon (stand-in for Joseph Stalin), takes over as dictator, backed by a “secret police” of dogs (stand-in for the KGB). Soon the other animals are near starvation, fearing for their lives and ultimately no better off than they were under humans.

Orwell’s casting of the animals is a curious commentary of sorts on human views of animals: the physically strongest and the most democratic animal on the farm is Boxer, a horse (stand-in for the faithful workers), yet he selects the most unhygienic and perceived sloth-like animal to become the most corrupted.

From ancient myths and folk tales to modern books such as Animal Farm, animals have always been a component of human storytelling. The earliest surviving examples of human artistic expression are the cave paintings near Lascaux, France, dated between 28,000 and 10,000 BCE (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lasc/hd_lasc.htm).  The Stone Age artists used the contours of the rock to imply volume and painted vivid representations of animals that included cows, bulls, horses, bison, and deer. Kenneth Clark disagreed with the idea that these paintings were intended to give humans power over animals: he notes the difference in size and detail between the animals and humans in the depiction and concludes that the paintings were actually rooted in admiration. Clark deduces that this admiration leads to the next stage in man’s relationship with animals, which were as sacred symbols or as totems.

Totemism is a complex system of ideas, symbols, and practices based on an assumed relationship between a social group and a natural object known as a totem. The totem may be an animal or several animals. Totemism has existed all over the world, but it is in Egypt that totemism evolved into religion.

Camille Paglia conjectured that the cat was the model for the Egyptian aesthetic. According to Paglia, cats have personality and are priest and god of its own cult, following a purity ritual by cleaning itself religiously (the cat character in Animal Farm, never works — not really part of the ‘team’— and is absent for long periods). Paglia briefly compares the cat to the gorilla, finding the former far more sophisticated: the gorilla is more human, but less beautiful, “bumptious vulgarians lurching up the evolutionary road.” Paglia notes that in Egypt it was the cat; in Greece it was the horse. The male centric Greeks did not care for the feminine cat, they admired the athletic horse. The cat is a law unto itself while the horse is a serviceable, but proud animal (i.e. Boxer in Animal Farm).

“Trojans, trust not the horse. Whatever it be, I fear the Greeks, even when bringing gifts.” – Laocoon to the Trojans. Virgil, Aeneid 2.48

Parthenon: A section of the west frieze showing a rearing horse with a dismounted rider, 438 BCE, Acropolis Museum, Athens.

The Greeks believed that Poseidon, god of the sea, created horses and occasionally they were sacrificed to the god by drowning. Horses were first domesticated in Europe during the Neolithic period and were important to the Greeks for battle, racing, traveling, and hunting. Treatises instructed horse owners on the correct treatment of their animals. The oldest one still surviving today is The Art of Horsemanship by the Greek writer Xenophon, which details the proper care and training of horses. The picture on the right is of a section from the west frieze of the Parthenon showing a rearing horse with a dismounted rider.

Mosaic of the Circus at Carthage, Early 3rd century CE, Bardo Museum, Tunis

Roman chariot horse races date back at least to the sixth century BCE. Races were associated with religion, particularly to the chariot-driving deities Sol (the sun) and Luna (the moon), and to a god called Consus, an agricultural deity. Originally, chariot races were held only on religious festivals like the Consualia, but later they would also be held on non-feast days when sponsored by magistrates and other Roman dignitaries. Pictured on the left is an early third century CE mosaic of the circus at Carthage that depicts a hortator on horseback and a sparsor holding an amphora and a whip. The mosaic is unique because it shows both the interior of the arena and the exterior façade as well as two temple-like structures above the seating.

The Christian Apologist, Tertullian, who was from Carthage, was not so enthusiastic about the chariot races and wrote in De Spectaculis (IX): “Equestrian skill was a simple thing in the past, mere horseback riding; in any case there was no guilt in the ordinary use of the horse. But when the horse was brought into the games, it passed from being God’s gift into the service of demons.”

Next time in Part Two: Christianity Connects with Pagan Motifs.

Sources:

Kenneth Clark. Animals and Men. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. 1977

E. Washburn Hopkins. “The Background of Totemism.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 38 (1918), pp. 145-159; https://archive.org/stream/jstor-592599/592599#page/n0/mode/2up

Camille Paglia. Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. New York. Vintage Books, 1991

Harold B Barclay. The Role of the Horse in Man’s Culture. London. J.A. Allen. 1980

Roland Auguet. Cruelty and Civilization: The Roman Games. London. Allen and Unwin. 1972

Tertullian. Minucius, Felix (Author). T. R. Glover (Translator). Rendall, Gerald H. (Translator). Tertullian: Apology and De Spectaculis. Minucius Felix: Octavius. Loeb Classical Library. 1931 http://archive.org/stream/apologydespectac00tertuoft/apologydespectac00tertuoft_djvu.txt