All shook up by Monet channel vision

Playing the part of a cultural tour leader, Andrew Graham-Dixon began an interesting three-part series on BBC World last weekend. Called Art that Shook the World, the series began by examining the effect of the work of French Impressionist Claude Monet. In particular Graham-Dixon speculated about Monet’s 1872 painting Impression, Sunrise. The painting is credited not with being a founding work of Impressionism, but which, in reproduction, was later to grace a veritable industry of chocolate boxes, postcards, toffee tins, coffee mugs and place mats. It once provided aesthetic nourishment to a memorable tampon advertisement.

There was no doubt that Mr Graham-Dixon’s explanations were well researched and he had a tasty line in pithy commentary, using the epigram to good effect. But it was all more than a touch pretentious. Clearly he had gone to some trouble, not only to sound like Oscar Wilde, but certainly to look like him — right down to the haircut, high-throated suit collars, splayed curls and cant of head. Graham-Dixon added his own touch by walking with a sort of Delphic mince — insouciant wavings of the arms and so on. The trouble is that the director sought to amplify all his faux Wildean commentary with a cunning overlay of strange camera filters, poached lighting and a continual array of smug little visual artificialities, which he must have thought would be amusing. The programme was in dire need of a restraining bludgeon.

The lack of one let Mr Graham-Dixon and his producer/director, David Thompson, get on with things the way they had always intended to. As is so often the case in latter-day BBC documentaries, these two creative titans soon began to interfere with each other. Every time we got a good look at some painting, into the frame would slide Andy’s phiz with another limpid aphorism. Here was a picture of Monet’s famous water-lily gardens. Across a luminous green bridge Graham-Dixon would propel himself, his locks wagging in the breeze, pallid urbanities spilling from him. It was self-conscious to a degree and more’s the pity because there was so much information and insight on hand. Messrs Graham-Dixon and Thompson were their own efficient detractors.

Far worse was the music chosen as background to this exploration of the world of late 19th-century French Impressionists. The programme started with an American, swing-era big band — a Tommy Dorsey-like track. Then it was wholly inappropriate music, much by the Quintet of the Hot Club of France — Django Reinhardt’s group — which, as dizzily invigorating and French as it is, belongs to the Paris of the 1930s and 1940s. The music of Monet’s time was that of Ravel, Debussy and Satie — jazz hadn’t arrived in the nightclubs, let alone the salons. To anyone with even the vaguest of notions about the period, this music was intrusive and clashed badly. Even when the scene moved to New York they got it wrong, with the soulful, distinctly West Coast jazz of Chet Baker and others.

This weekend it’s The Marriage of Figaro‘s turn to do the shaking. I hope they don’t try to adorn this with some boogie-woogie.

And now a step away from friendly criticism and a plea for a well-meaning organisation to come up with some boodle so that a small, isolated Western Cape community can get a television signal.

A week or so ago I wrote about the so-called redistribution companies, those private firms specialising in capturing satellite television signals and then rebroadcasting them via low-strength terrestrial transmitters to local communities out of reach of the standard Sentech signals.

The overall cost for one of these set-ups is R50 000 and, so far, some generous contributions from the broadcasters and the local authority have totalled R40 000 towards the installation of a signal-redistribution set-up for the very poor Boland community of Genadendal. They would get the free-to-air channels and M-Net —all virtually impossible to pick up. This, therefore, is a plea to all and sundry — political parties, please take note. Rather than spend lank bucks on newsppaper adverts singing the praises of Peter Marais, how about slipping a quiet 10 grand to the community of Genadendal?

Vodacom? If you can afford R30-million for a party, what about a tiny little crumb for Genadendal?

If any organisation or individual feels the need to contribute to the supply of entertainment and news to a truly worthy community, contact Colin Hartzenberg, who has been working for more than a year to raise the money to install the redistribution system. He’s holding boodle and promises. Contact him on Tel: (021) 981 4527; Fax:(021) 981 3312 or [email protected].

The Mail&Guardian, November 12, 2001

PREVIOUS COLUMNS

Children who need no chains November 5, 2001

Sentech cocks it up yet again October 26, 2001

Some dangers of prostitution October 19, 2001

The moon of Damocles October 12, 2001

Pigging out on commercials October 5, 2001

Debbie does New York September 28, 2001

The great penguin enigma September 14, 2001

And now, Big Mother September 7, 2001

Yet another SABC balls-up August 31, 2001

Blessed is the jurist August 24, 2001