love is short, forgetting is so long

So I watched this terrible movie about a man who was caught between past memories of his first love and his current life. The movie was not worth mention, however I was intrigued that in the opening credit of the movie, there was a quote from one of my favorite poets, Pablo Neruda.

So this is his poem. I tried to upload a video, but it doesn't seem to work. Sorry about that.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write for example, 'The night is shattered

and the blue stars shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.

I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.

How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear immense night, still more immense without her.

And the verse falls to the soul like dew to a pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.

The night is shattered and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. 
In the distance.

My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her.

My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.

We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.

My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. Like my kisses before.

Her voice. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.

Love is short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms

my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer

and these the last verses that I write for her.

a simple yet subtle separation

A SEPARATION
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Stars: Peyman Moadi, Leila Hatami
Year released: 2011

"What is wrong is wrong, no matter who said it or where it's written."

Never estimate the power of a good script. This movie just proved that it doesn't require much to make a good movie, but a good script and nearly perfect casts. If you notice that the movie does not even have music to manipulate its audience's emotions. A Separation counts on its story line and the casts' perfect performances. 

A Separation begins in a court. Simin who prefers to live aboard with her family so her daughter could have a better life, but Nader, the husband, insists to stay to take care of his father, who suffers Alzheimer. For that, she wants a divorce. One conflict leads to another conflicts which involve another family. I'm not going to tell you the whole story and just ruin it for you. 

I have watched this movie twice since its premier yesterday (28/9). I love how it's made in a very simple yet subtle form. It deals with social, religious issues without over doing it. The story respects its characters so much, that no one comes out in black-white, it's not about good deeds versus bad ones. It's mostly about consequences of one's action. 

I sat there on the cinema without any judgement for any of the characters. I just complied to the movie without my mind be ahead of the story. I didn't guess how it will or should end. The truth is I didn't want to. Like the  story respects the character, I feel that it also respects its audience, in this case, me. Mutually, I respect it back.

I was really surprised that they actually show this movie in cinema and I'm truly glad that I was patient (or busy) enough to not watch it on video. Sadly, somewhere I read that some cinemas even cancelled some showings due to the lack of audience. That Friday night, in Pluit Junction cinema 21, there were only 4 persons watching this great movie and somehow, I felt we were the luckiest four person that night.

They still show A Separation in some cinemas around Jakarta, probably not for long. I hope you get to experience one of 2011's best movies.

the xx and the melancholic coexist

As much as I love listening to pop music, or humming any of Katy Perry's song, I also enjoy exploring new music (well, probably new for me). Lately I've been listening to some UK/European bands and I must admit, it's quite refreshing.

I always hesitate to submit a post about music, since I'm probably tone-deaf, I'm quite certain that I might sound stupid in my previous music-related posts. But I respect and appreciate music that has evoked my emotions (du'uh, emotions!). So for that reason, I'm risking myself to sound like an idiot. I will probably submit a few posts about some of the music I'm listening to. HAHAHA.

The first one is The XX, a band of three.

Coexist is their second album. The overall theme is about heartbreak, loneliness, and sadness, which I must admit is my favorite kind of theme (NOT!). If you have ever listened to their first album (which title is The XX) or some of the songs from the first album, you will be able to tell how different these two albums are.

The XX was more cheerful and more up-tempo, unlike Coexist, which created this gloomy feeling throughout the whole album. The story was after the success of their first album, one of the band members decided to quit the band and apparently it hit them hard.

In Chained, they're asking questions with that guilt of breaking-up, "Did I hold you too tight? Did I not let enough light in? We used to be closer than this. Is it something you missed?" Same question was asked in Tide, "Devote to me. Alone with me. Say with me. Why would you ever want to leave?"

And in another song, they sing about the difficulty of separation, "Fiction when we're not together. Mistaken for a vision, something of my own creation. And it's certainly how am I to tell? I know your face all too well, still I wake up alone."

Musically, Coexist sounds very minimal, with a few melodic elements. There a lot of guitars and occasionally a very light dubstep. Aside from that, how the two members of the band, Romy Croft and Oliver Sims sing together somehow make the whole album sound exactly they (probably) wanted, haunting and heartbreaking.

If it's legitimate for me to rate an actual musical product, I would give Coexist a perfect 9.

Other albums that I'm currently listening to are: Ben Howard's Every Kingdom, Lianne La Havas' Is Your Love Big Enough, Of Monsters and Men's My Head is an Animal and Bill Fay's Life is People which makes you want to evaluate your whole life.

Hey, another thing is I will really appreciate it if you leave some comments or maybe if you have some good music I should listen to, just give me a shout-out! Thanks.

essentially living

I'm probably the last person anyone would ask for beauty tips or fashion tips or anything in that department. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a bit behind when it comes to the newest trend in fashion. But I'm not trying to be a smartass, I just want to share some of the things that are essential for me and sometimes they (some of them) create little joyous moments to my tiny life.

I must also warn you that I'm not endorsing any certain brands. So if I did mention some brands, I'm not selling them or anything like that (yeah, like they'd pay me! HAHA). I just want to point how I enjoy certain things in life. Talking about brand, the truth is I don't even believe in brand, but I believe in being comfort, being decent and sometimes being my unique self. 

One minute oatmeal

Okay, I'm not being philosophic here. I just want to point out the first essential in my life is that one minute fix of breakfast I've been having for the last two weeks. Yes, that tasteless plain not pretty meal we all call Oatmeal. I know, at some point I complained about my weight, but the truth is I believe it's a healthy meal and I owe it to myself to at least have one healthy one out of three. 

Water and ice water

This one is classic. We have heard so much about the advantages of water and how one must drink at least 8 glasses of water. They're all true and there are times when I suffer from dehydration, my body becomes unbalanced, weak and my skin becomes irritably dry. 

I also have this new ritual every morning and night. After I brush my teeth and wash my face with soap, I usually take a bottle of icy water (which was stored in the fridge) and sprinkle my face with the cold water. Although it's not scientifically proved, but I believe it can decrease our facial pores. HAHAHA. Yes, I too can have silly ritual!  

Coffee, coffee and coffee

Like Lorelai Gilmore, I am too a coffee drinker. I usually limit myself to not more than 2 cups a day. But there are days that I could have at least 3 cups. Mad mad day, I say.

Eau de toilette 

Let me tell you that I'm a big fan of L'Occitane, although there's a big fat chance I might have pronounced it wrong. I love the smell of their products. This L'Occitan has been my latest favorite. It has that edgy smell of pepper or some spices mixed with some grass or flowers. I know it sounds so stupid, but I love them. 

I have a few friends who think that using products of L'Occitane does not make you look classy. The truth is I prefer to go for L'Occitane or Bodyshop product than those fake Bvlgari or CK perfumes. At least, I got them from an official store. #JustSaying. HAHAHA.

Hair shaver - Being bald

I have shaved my head for more than a year now and it will continue be my style until I die probably. This has been a dilemma and some of my friends have been so openly against it. All I can say that it's a commitment and I shall not back off now. To all of you who think I look horrible, it's not that bad, really.

E-paper

I LOVE e-PAPER! I read my Kompas either at work or at home with my PC or my tablet. I never bought printed newspaper since Kompas introduced the electronic version. Beside Kompas, there are Media Indonesia who also uses the same format. I enjoy reading HuffingtonPost online as well. 

They're flat, aren't they shoes?

I don't know exactly what they're called, but they're extremely comfortable. I love these flat shoes. I can walk tens of blocks wearing this shoes. I probably can run marathon in these shoes, well, maybe not. 

The monstore in my closet

Because of my petite figure, it's not easy for me to find the exactly fit tees. But I have found this cool local brand (I think they're actually from Bandung) who produced shirts in my size. I love, love monstore. Not only they're very comfortable, they're quite artsy. 

Hats for my head

At first, I wore hat because I found out that no everyone can cope with me being bald. So I thought hat might tone down their reaction a bit. Yes, it's probably only in my head. But then, that prejudice (if you want it call it that) has turned into a fetish. I love buying and wearing hat. I love my bowler, my fedora and my beret. The only head piece that I might not wear in public is those mickey ears probably. 

oh #residentevil, how far you've gone

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Stars: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez
Year released: 2012

Before I start, let me tell you that I'm a big fan of Milla Jovovich. I always think that she's one of the most beautiful women in the world. I like some of her movies. I even like the first Resident Evil. It has a stable story-line, it might not be the best movie in this zombie genre, but it's quite entertaining.

Resident Evil has evolved since the first movie released 10 years ago. Alice is no longer just the security staff of Umbrella. She has turned into this fashionista heroine in tight black spandex with killer boots. The umbrella cooperation is no longer one big cooperation, apparently it has turned into something that might cause the extinction to human being. Even the zombies evolved. They're not just the living dead who consume human flesh, they has turned into these zombies with flowery mouth who look like a carnivorous plant. In short, it got weird.

So Retribution begins where the last installment left us (which I totally forget, but seriously I didn't miss much. HEHEHE). Gun shooting, planes crashing, people dying, endless supplies of ammunition and somehow Alice was captured and tortured for I don't know why. I'm not even going to ask why, what or how. It's simply useless. 

At times, I felt frustration watching this movie. I felt that Anderson has ran out of tricks, since the last installment, the big kahuna was that James Cameron's 3D camera technology. And for this one, probably sitting in his uncomfortable desk, he thought maybe he could bring back all the old characters from the first RE could fool us all. Seriously, it didn't work and actually it made it even weirder.

Come from the man who watched the whole series of Resident Evil movies and despite so many disappointment, every time a new Resident Evil movie comes out, I always have this hope that it might actually be good or at least better, but unfortunately it has happened yet.

A friend tweeted a couple of nights ago saying that might be another installment to this Resident Evil movies and it might be its last one. I sighed, but then I thought, for the beautiful Ms. Jovovich, I should keep being hopeful, maybe it requires 5 bad ones to make one masterpiece. Fingercrossed, Milla!