Word: epoch
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Written, produced and directed by James Clavell, The Last Valley confuses that pestilential epoch (1618-1648) with insights circa 1970. Though the war is principally religious, the soldier known only as Captain (Michael Caine) is an existential atheist. God is a legend, he announces, ergo, "I am what I am ... a killer beast...
SAMUEL BECKETT struck upon the primary purpose of art in the twentieth century when he observed that "we always find something to give us the impression we exist." Art, facing an increasingly fragmented epoch growing less certain of itself, must maintain a running struggle to illuminate "impressions" of human existence from artist to audience. Sometimes, these impressions merely state the quiet yet dramatic fact of human existence, like the paintings on the walls of Spain's Altamira caves, or else they can boldly declare individual existence with the sincerity of a Roman bust...
Seventy-seven years have passed since Tchaikovsky's death. In this epoch of emancipated morality, it would be reasonable to expect that his life would be reviewed with fresh empathy. But no; the same malignant attitudinizing that might have been applied decades ago is still at work...
...through assassinations, war, technocracy, revolt and recession, had eventually to suffer metal fatigue. "Systems die, instincts remain" observed Oliver Wendell Holmes. Unable and unwilling to rely on institutions or revolution, the U.S. has fallen back on pure feeling. The reaction is ominously reminiscent of the '30s and '40s, an epoch beyond the memory of the young?who nonetheless repeat its rhythms...
Back in the Depression-haunted '30s, Hollywood was grinding out musicals; Ginger Rogers, dressed in coins, sang We're in the Money and Fred Astaire sang A Fine Romance. The '70s' Longuettes, bottoming Dow Jones, and massive strikes seem reflections of that epoch. So does Love Story, a bit of leftover tinsel that glows like gold. And who knows? A little Love Story might be good for you. As it happens, the lachrymose Giants won that game...