FILM REVIEW: Raphael- Lord of Staring

It has replaced real drama with melodramatic glances 

“I’m not a solitary spirit, unlike Michelangelo” Raphael’s voice-over tells us, whilst on screen, the two Great Masters stare silently and ominously at each other. This is a characteristic moment in Sky HD’s Raphael- The Lord of the Arts. The new film, released next month, documents the life and work of Raphael Sanzio, one of the great Renaissance artists. However, rather than opting for natural dialogue, Raphael’s life is shown with mute actors and an eerie first-person voice over.

Michelangelo's only part in the film- standing sinisterly behind a pillar

 It is strange that Raphael and Michelangelo’s relationship is almost entirely skipped over. Michelangelo once told his biographer “what Raphael knew of art he learned from me.” The elder painter was referring to the rivalry that occurred in the Vatican between the two artists. Michelangelo, who was famously secretive about his work on the Sistine Chapel, did not let anyone see it until it was completed. Yet, one day, architect Bramante and Raphael crept in to have a sneak peek at what were to become world-famous frescoes. It is said that Michelangelo never forgave them and he was forever suspicious that the event had influenced Raphael to change the paintings he was working on in the St. Agostino Church. In fact, he was probably right to be suspicious, just compare Michelangelo and Raphael’s versions of Isaiah. The film skips over this legendary conflict. I can’t help feeling it has missed an opportunity for real drama, and has replaced it with melodramatic glances.

Michelangelo's Isaiah

Raphael's Isaiah 

Unfortunately, this is not the only opportunity missed by the new film. Raphael- The Lord of the Arts promises ‘historical reconstructions which immerse the viewer in Raphael’s Renaissance world.’ It is true that the clothes and sets are beautiful to watch. Actors that look a lot like the historical figures stride through real Italian streets in picturesque costume. Yet the piece that is missing is speech. Something that would seem quite basic in creating an ‘immersive’ reconstruction is left out. Rather than dramatizing the moment Raphael fell in love with his muse and mistress, Margarita Luti, the film chooses to have the actors mutely sit next to eachother whilst the voice-over exclaims ‘I can’t bear to spend even an hour away from her!’ It seems Raphael’s entire courtship consisted of bordering-on-creepy eye contact.

Raphael seems to seduce Margarita Luti by simply staring at her 

So if it is a period drama you are looking for, you may need to search elsewhere. On the other hand, for stunning views of some of Italy’s best artistic sights, this film is almost unparalleled. In partnership with the Vatican Museums, it provides us with incredible insights into rooms that are normally packed full of visitors. One of the most enchanting moments has to be in the Raphael Rooms. As I saw in Rome only a few months ago, these rooms are always full of tourists, meaning you can never experience it fully. With steady camera-work Raphael takes us through each room, projecting the full journey the artist would have intended for his audience. The detail the camera has managed to capture is astonishing. The film explores over 70 artworks in 20 locations, some of which are not open to the public. From Rome to Florence to Milan, it provides access to some truly beautiful sites, and not only the artworks within them, but aerial views of each location are truly breath-taking.

 

The budget for costume and scenery was clearly high, and lacks only a good script 

Historical context and artistic analysis of each piece are also provided, with the camera zooming in on some remarkable details. Quotes from the Renaissance Art Historian, Vasari, are interlaced throughout. We are shown some of the striking details in the dramatic Transfiguration that probably inspired generations of artists such as Caravaggio. Comparisons between Marriage of the Virgin by Perugino (Raphael’s teacher) and Raphael’s take on the same scene are interesting and well-placed. Yet, here still, some direction is lacking. We are told that Raphael’s painting is far superior to Perugino’s, but not enough detail shows us why. We are also told Raphael was ground-breaking, and it is true that he was, but without comparisons with earlier Renaissance paintings, his mastery can not really be appreciated. The same problem is seen in the Transfiguration analysis where the voice-over describes it as the best painting of Christ in the whole of art history, which is quite a claim without a comparison with any other paintings of the same subject.

Access to art such as the Raphael Rooms is remarkable 

Raphael - The Lord of the Arts could have been an extraordinary insight into one of the greatest Renaissance artists - his dramatic rise to fame, his love affairs and rivalries and his sudden death. Combining thoughtful script-writing with a stunning tour around Italy’s finest artistic sites, this could have had it all. Yet it seems the directors were not sure who their audience really is. Film-goers interested in a dramatic reconstruction will be disappointed by ‘telling’ rather than ‘showing.’ Meanwhile, art-lovers will find the artistic analysis does not go quite deep enough. I would only recommend for those who can’t face the queues in Rome, as the filming here may provide better views of Raphael’s art than you could see in person. Although the film promises to show a life ‘full of intensity and fascination,’ the only intensity seems to be caused by a lot of glaring.

Raphael - The Lord of the Arts will be released in selected cinemas on the 23^rd May

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Flames of Perseverance

How many Native American women can you name?

Chances are, not many. And if you can, perhaps one of them is Pocahontas.

She died 400 years ago, yet –probably thanks to Disney’s highly fictionalised telling of her story- she remains one of the most famous Native Americans in European culture.

Why is it that we aren’t celebrating enough of the Native women that have come since? Their stories and identities are just as important and interesting.

This month, with the We are Native Women exhibition, Rainmaker Gallery in Bristol challenges this cliché Disneyfied image of Native American women on the 400^th anniversary of the death of Pocahontas.

Incidentally, a new Sky TV show, Jamestown, (released this May) will follow the story of the first British settlers in the town, the same area with which Pocahontas is associated. I think it is apt that whilst this TV show will yet again engage with the 400-year-old angle, Rainmaker gallery is bringing forward new ideas and more contemporary, important figures.

Sierra Edd, Rebecca Rolfe's Real Name 

  The artwork shown here is as diverse as the women it aims to celebrate. Depicting young and old, strong and vulnerable, real and imagined. There are communal struggles and there are individual stories.

Standing in a life-size box is Wakeah, a vision of what a real ‘Indian’ doll should look like. This is Cara Romero’s work, one of many in the gallery. As a child, she saw that dolls described as ‘Indian’ never reflected the true dignity and richness of the culture. Another of Romero’s noticeable photos, Kaa is a photo manipulation showing a pottery design on the naked skin of Kaa, a young woman from a long line of Pueblo potters. This engages with female deities, in particular, the Mud Woman and the spirit of the clay.

Cara Romero, Wakeah 

In contrast to the more modern photographs and edits, Shan Goshorn mainly works with baskets which highlight named Native American women in history. This is a rare and important trait, as the majority of Native women in archives remain unnamed or simply ‘Squaw’. Goshorn points out the term ‘squaw’ is highly offensive as it comes from the Algonquin word for vagina, highlighting just how Native Women were viewed by the colonialists.  So with these baskets, Goshorn is celebrating women who have their own identity. Goshorn was clearly moved by the work of Rainmaker gallery as allowed these baskets to, unusually, be separated from the rest of the collection in order to be displayed in Bristol. In a beautiful description of Native American Women, Goshorn said they ‘personify the passion of our tribes, tending the fires of tradition and fuelling the flames of perseverance.’

Shan Goshorn, Warrior Bloodline series 

 Dine/Navajo poet and artist, Sierra Edd is the youngest artist to have her work displayed at Rainmaker and is currently an Undergraduate student at Brown University. However, her works are an honest and intelligent angle on contemporary issues and were my personal favourites in the exhibition. I found her Rebecca Rolfe’s Real Name to be the painting that most encapsulates this exhibition. Set against the background of a modern Western city is Pocahontas (called here by her English name), standing uncomfortably in rich European dress. In graffiti writing the word INDIAN is printed on her chest. Rainmaker owner, Jo, commented that she drew parallels between the spikes around the portrait and images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the deity often seen in South America, discussing how Pocahontas oddly received a god-like status. As well as dealing with warped re-tellings of Pocahontas’s story, Edd said she was also criticising how Native American women are forced to act differently and assimilate under the Western gaze.

Sierra Edd, Am I Next 

One of Edd’s other pieces, Am I Next, deals with the issues of sexual harassment on Navajo Nation, as the men involved are largely not prosecuted. With the portrait she discusses women’s fears of being unprotected from violence. She also deals with the ideas of violence against the land, and how, to Native Americans, this feels like violence against them personally, symbolised here with dates and lines etched onto her body. For them, the colonialists are simply dividing up and killing the sacred land around them. With a slick gold liquid spilling over the portrait, there is a beauty to this piece. However, this beauty quickly becomes sinister when it is labelled as ‘Golden King 2015’, in relation to the tragic environmental disaster caused by the release of toxic waste water into the Animas River, which caused the river to turn yellow.

Sierra Edd, Stripes and Stars 

Edd is also clearly interested in the role of the media in the identity of Native Americans. In both Am I Next and Stripes and Stars, she has incorporated newspaper cuttings to engage with how the media portrays Indigenous people. In Stripes and Stars, she discusses how Native Americans have many layers and complexities to their identity whilst media representations are often one-dimensional and misinformed. She says she is ‘enacting the visual sovereignty- the ability to self-identify.’

This is probably one of the most important aspects of Rainmaker’s exhibitions: the ability for Native American artists to create art that speaks for themselves. As Jo says, “our ignorance of individual humanity is a form of cultural genocide…Native Americans should have the right to determine their own identities and not be expected to conform to the childish fantasies of others.” Their pieces are often complicated, symbolic, personal, but most of all, they are their own. In the gallery, they contrast and clash with one another to display a varied people, with many different identities rather than just the dated and misinformed one with which the West is most familiar.  Through each photograph, print, collage, and painting, we gain a greater understanding of their truth.

We are Native Women at Rainmaker Gallery, Bristol, closes on 31st May. 

Read my first review of Rainmaker Here.

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