Sellars on the State of the State of Everything
When I saw Peter Sellars speak at a pre-concert talk at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, it was an understatement to say that he stood out. With gravity-defying hair and a charismatic voice, he boomed about the vitality of the artwork, namely the Wagner opera he staged with Bill Viola’s videos.
Well, after reading his monologue on “The State of Cinema,” I discovered that he also has a penchant for film, politics, and everything else.
In the middle of the speech, he also discusses in great detail the political overtones of Mozart’s work. How his last operas were grand statements that were about overturning the status quo. And he connects them interestingly to various political struggles around the world.
My only qualm with his speech is that he only mentions Tsai Ming Liang’s I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone in passing without going into detail about its cultural value. I suppose that may be an indication he didn’t think much of it. Indeed, many reviews of it have been less than kind. Yet Tsai remains among my favorite, if not the favorite, filmmaker.
I guess I can forgive anyone with his variety of knowledge…and hair.
