Seeing and Composition

I rarely curse sunshine, and never in November. But one recent Sunday afternoon I found myself doing just that. It was after going to a Sunday matinee of Pawel Pawlikowski’s film Ida. This is not a review of the film, but rather, what it inspired me to do.

Every shot in that film was so well composed, that, to me, the environments themselves became characters, witnessing the drama unfolding within the film. These environments made me think of old souls that had seen plenty more than what was happening on screen. And that this was just one more chapter passing through their hands. But through composition, the filmmaker and cinematographer exposed these environments. Plus one could see how the filmmaker sees. And that moved and inspired me. The film’s compositions of the plain and bleak gave these spaces such soul, and I found it breathtaking to watch the actors move through them.

I was quite jealous. I knew Poland. I spent 12 months there years ago. It was grey and grey. Much like the film.

Exiting the movie theater, the blue skies, warm air, palm trees, and sunshine assaulted my senses. I waved my fist at the insincerity and shallowness of it all. I couldn’t see any depth or a higher art among it. Damn you easy living.

A few days after seeing the film, and thinking about the film constantly, I said aloud, and to no one, let me see the world around me in the same way they did in “Ida”. Let me find beauty in the ugly. Let me recognize the sublime. And walking the dogs one morning my awareness changed. Suddenly there it was, all this broken concrete I’d been walking past, walking over, complaining about. I started to see landscapes in it. Then the faces started to appear. And no, I wasn’t on medication. I found such art and so many fascinating characters in the cracks of the concrete streets and sidewalks in my neighborhood, I almost wanted to protect broken concrete.

An exchange of new ideas, a new interaction, an encounter with something or someone different has the power to inspire. Yes, you might say well, that’s obvious. We’ve all been inspired by film. Sure. The thing is, I want to give the act of inspiration clarity. To share mine until I find patterns of how it happens for me. And maybe these patterns will work for others. This is my forum to do so.

And to make this post longer, I wanted to also share that I wish I were friends with Pawel Pawlikowski, Riszard Lenczewski, and Lukasz Zal and could witness how they see and compose. Now that would be inspiring.