Apart from creativity and talent, persistence and diligence could well be the key ingredients in all sorts of production.

Stephen Dunn, whose poem Madrugada
is linked in my current post, was interviewed by the Courtland Review. He speaks there of the importance of what he calls creative tenacity:

Poetry doesn’t reveal its secrets to the occasional poet. Be as committed as, say, a violinist or a ballerina would be. No shortcuts. Young poets may be the only would-be artists I know who actually believe they might be able to pull something off because they have strong feelings about it and who are not embarrassed when they hit false notes.

Finally, you must be a little driven, and what you’re doing must be crucial to you in order not to be defeated by the likely neglect that awaits you, the lack of rewards, and the fact that, by and large, your culture doesn’t take you seriously.

Today, I suspect that applies to every sort of artist. It’s an issue made even more complex in the US by obvious attempts to enlist writers, screenwriters, film makers and visual artists as propagandists for the government. Attention and acceptance are attention and acceptance after all, and they can be heady stuff for people used to living on the cultural fringes.

As for memory and imagination, I’m not so inclined to use the word “boundary” in relation to them. It seems more likely to me that creation takes place in the space between them.

How appropriate that the cover for Man on Wire is just here, next to this comment box. That seems to me the truest portrait of the artist, walking that thin wire of creativity strung between memory and imagination.

I like the way you pick a topic and write about it so thoroughly.

And I must add too that the humor and music create a delightful mood. I’m sure you and your friend would enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by!

I’ll ask my friend Inge to go! Thank you. I am completely out of it about movies now and need recs from friends. I used to know everything that was playing.

I’m most grateful for your careful and perceptive reading. Yes, it was like walking on egg shells writing this review, because I just don’t want to give away the story. As I said, it’s a film of revealing. The enjoyment comes as the story unfolds itself. I remember reading a NYT movie review where the prominent critic A. O. Scott had written the story right out and the comments he got… well you can imagine. People don’t like spoilers.

And for the not too wise but too well sentiment… who knows whether it’s real love. One intriguing and entertaining film, I’m sure it’ll land a spot comes Awards season early next year.

And haven’t we all experienced that moment in life when it’s all over (whatever “it” was) and we heave a sigh, feeling as though our emotions have just run a marathon?

I’ve rarely felt you picking your way so carefully through a review – the clue, I suspect, is your aside that David doesn’t “appear” to be the nasty predator. It’s a big world and there’s lots to learn – you’ve certainly made me curious about “An Education”!