The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural an... more The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural analysis in the works of the Armenian filmmaker Serghei Paradjanov, made from the perspective of his nucleus film "Sayat-Nova". The atypical hermeneutical method is meant to decipher an atypical cinematic language, which does not allow to be decorticated according to the usual film codes. "Sayat-Nova", this resonator of Paradjanov, is considered the last great medieval Armenian poet and the most representative Caucasian poet since the XVIII century. The stages of the hero's life are presented vertically to the relationship of man with God, in the definition of which all the stylistic means of the film compete through some revealing pictures. The "Sayat-Nova" biographical poem is literally a dense and nonlinear depiction of symbolic objects, evoking the great themes reiterated throughout the director's creation: love, pure beauty, death, sacrifice, and ...
Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwisse... more Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwissenschaftlich arbeitende Wissenschaftler zu einem Andrej Tarkovskij gewidmeten Symposium, dem ersten internationalen. Die 25 Teilnehmer kamen namlich aus neun Landern. Dadurch, dass nicht wenige auch eine – wie man heute sagt – „Migrationsbiographie“ haben, potenzierte sich die durch die jeweils unterschiedliche Herkunft bedingte Multiperspektivik, zu der jedoch der Modus der Wissenschaftlichkeit ein deutlich relativierendes Korrektiv bildet. Der vorliegende Band enthalt im Wesentlichen die dort vorgestellten Beitrage, aber auch die der Fachleute, die nicht personlich hatten nach Potsdam kommen konnen.
Poetry is the freest of the arts, because it is the least related to a material support. In an er... more Poetry is the freest of the arts, because it is the least related to a material support. In an era in which arts are increasingly subservient to technology, poetry remains the art that is the least subject to industrialization. Being the least dependent on technology, poetry is the most direct art, the art that reflects most faithfully the aspirations of the creator's ego. Therefore, poetry is, at least since modernity, the first of the arts that reflects the creative spirit's trends of a particular era. Progressive industrialization of society has deepened this feature. Thus, poetry is the first of the arts that most directly reflects "the avatars of the image", specific to postmodern phenomenology. The study explores the changing of the poetic paradigm in Romania during the second half of the 20 th century, and thus the paradigm shift regarding the social responsibility of the poet. However, this paradigm shift has not cancelled the classical poetic paradigm, but has just put it into the shade. From this shade, the classic paradigm of the creator ego launches challenges to the postmodern paradigm, as in an invisible war led on the territory of arts. This invisible war concerns us in this study. Offeringfew brief comments on some trends in Romanian poetry, from the postwar period to the present, from the fracturiste movement to religious and mystical poetry, we try to detect the anthropological creative model that underpins them. For the creative act is determined, beyond the factual material and the ideas of an epoch, by the relationship of the creative ego with himself, his fellowmen and with God. Ultimately, poetic creation highlights the relationship of the creative ego with the Divine Logos: a relationship either of dialogue, or corrupted by the isolationist or even sacrilegious monologue of the artist.
The article examines the significance of Renaissance aesthetics for Andrei Tarkovsky and explores... more The article examines the significance of Renaissance aesthetics for Andrei Tarkovsky and explores the functioning and semiotic effects of the Renaissance figurative model in the film Mirror. The study focuses on one of the least commented stills with a great symbolic significance – the "Portrait of Ginevra de' Benci" (or "Portrait of a Young Woman with a Juniper") by Leonardo da Vinci. The author emphasizes the visual and semantic connection between Leonardo's canvas and the image of the main character of the film, showing how the director creatively develops the mysterious connection between the two women from different times and cultures. On one hand, the inner world of the main heroine is reflected in Leonardo's canvas. On the other hand, a certain view of the camera on Ginevra's portrait and the lighting technique reveal the secret world of the spiritual evolution of the main character. Tarkovsky visually connects the biographical plot with th...
Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwisse... more Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwissenschaftlich arbeitende Wissenschaftler zu einem Andrej Tarkovskij gewidmeten Symposium, dem ersten internationalen. Die 25 Teilnehmer kamen namlich aus neun Landern. Dadurch, dass nicht wenige auch eine – wie man heute sagt – „Migrationsbiographie“ haben, potenzierte sich die durch die jeweils unterschiedliche Herkunft bedingte Multiperspektivik, zu der jedoch der Modus der Wissenschaftlichkeit ein deutlich relativierendes Korrektiv bildet. Der vorliegende Band enthalt im Wesentlichen die dort vorgestellten Beitrage, aber auch die der Fachleute, die nicht personlich hatten nach Potsdam kommen konnen.
From the point of view of the philosophical interpretation, Offret („Sacrifice“) is Tarkovskij’s ... more From the point of view of the philosophical interpretation, Offret („Sacrifice“) is Tarkovskij’s most controversial film. Nietzscheanism, Gnosticism and Christianism, elements of Extreme-Oriental and archaic Scandinavian cultures, objective realism and onirism – all are hiding below the surface of the grandiose and terrifying Apocalyptic parable. Do these different substrata coalesce into a unitary ideatic structure and a coherent artistic discourse, or do they remain as separate semantic nuclei, providing spectators with different reading strategies different philosophical interpretations? While most commentators perceive the film as a soteriologic parable with a Christian background and discourse, a more traditionalist (and less artistically instructed) part of Christians are blaming the film for heresy. Their voices are sustained by some Western commentators, who don’t see the connection between the film’s Christian and gnostic discourses. There are even very young american acade...
After 1989, the situation of the Romanian historical film changed radically from the Ceausescu er... more After 1989, the situation of the Romanian historical film changed radically from the Ceausescu era. The Romanian historical films of the Socialist epoch, especially super-productions, had to obey the ideological rules. This was primarily manifested in the choice of themes: referring to moments and leaders paradigmatic for the constitution of national identity from Romanian history. Even if the script of these films (such as those of Doru Năstase, Sergiu Nicolaescu, Mircea Drăgan etc.) was based on a rather competent documentation on the factual level, and the historical reality was presented quite honestly, the detailed artistic aspects were treated quite superficially, therefore the whole film never rose to the level of a masterpiece. After 1989, the film industry no longer had to obey political commands, but the film industry significantly dropped. The filmmakers’ interests were mostly directed towards contemporary issues. The singular voices in the area of historical cinema were originally those of acknowledged filmmakers (such as Lucian Pintilie, Nicolae Mărgineanu, Nae Caranfil, Radu Gabrea). The possibility of super-productions was for objective reasons excluded, so the interest areas of these filmmakers focused towards rediscovering some singular, forgotten or little-known moments from Romanian history. Moments which were seldom honorable, but often controversial or even dishonorable (or seem treated as such). If before 1989 historical films had to glorify the national epic, the rare historical films after 1989 are, in most cases, accusatory. We will briefly review such paradigmatic case studies.
ARTA, seria Arte Audiovizuale, revista a Academiei de Stiinte a Moldovei, Chisinau, 2017
Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale ... more Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale în opera cineas-tului armean Serghei Paradjanov, făcută din perspectiva filmului său nucleal "Sayat-Nova". Metoda hermeneutică atipică este menită să descifreze un limbaj cinematografic atipic, care nu se lasă decorticat potrivit codurilor filmi-ce uzuale. "Sayat-Nova", acest rezoner al lui Paradjanov, este considerat ultimul mare poet medieval armean şi cel mai reprezentativ poet caucazian din secolul al XVIII-lea. Etapele vieţii eroului sunt prezentate pe verticala relaţi-ei omului cu Dumnezeu, întru definirea căreia concură, prin câteva tablouri revelatorii, toate mijloacele stilistice ale filmului. Poemul biografic "Sayat-Nova" este literalmente o desfăşurare densă şi neliniară de obiecte-simbol, evocând marile teme reiterate în întreaga creaţie a regizorului: iubirea, frumuseţea pură, moartea, sacrificiul, viaţa eternă. Aceste aspecte sunt analizate dintr-o nouă perspectivă estetico-artistică. Textul adaptează fragmente din cartea autoarei "Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov" (Bucureşti: Editura Arca Învierii, 2011).
ЗБОРНИК РАДОВА ФАКУЛТЕТА ДРАМСКИХ УМЕТНОСТИ, БЕОГРАД , 2007
The work briefly presents the history of Romanian cinema after 1990, pointing out the important p... more The work briefly presents the history of Romanian cinema after 1990, pointing out the important political and social phenomena that had reflected in the film production. The new cinematic movements are presented and explained in their relationship with the past, that is with the last years of the socialist period and the so-called transition period (approximately the first decade after the December 1989 Revolution). A special attention is paid to the movement of the young filmmakers form the New Romanian Wave and to its most representative names, but without neglecting other young talented authors, that can't be subscribed to the enounced movement.
The text presents the translation into Romanian of the word delivered by Patriarch Kirill of Mosc... more The text presents the translation into Romanian of the word delivered by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in March 20, 2016. His Holliness addresses the problem of heresy in the Church, the dialogue with the heretics, the issue of persecution against Christians and his recent meeting with Pope Francis.
This dissertation is a brief critique on the poetry of Alexandru Mironescu from the literary, mys... more This dissertation is a brief critique on the poetry of Alexandru Mironescu from the literary, mystic-philosophical and biographical points of view, and an attempt to positioning these poems in the context of the history of the Romanian literature and of religious poetry. poetry, faith, Parnassianism, the Creation, freedom
On the basis of Russian theologian Andrey Kuraev's book "Вызов экуменизма" ("The Provocations of ... more On the basis of Russian theologian Andrey Kuraev's book "Вызов экуменизма" ("The Provocations of Ecumenism", translated into Romanian by Boris Buzila for Sophia Publishing in 2006), the study analyses the different interpretations of the controversial and polysemantic term “ecumenism”, ranging from the definitely positive to the most demonized, especially from the perspective of the Orthodox world.
The essay discusses the relationship between the media and the Church. As a rule, until 1989, the... more The essay discusses the relationship between the media and the Church. As a rule, until 1989, the media was hostile against the (Orthodox) Church, as well as against being religious, an attitude often passed over the intellectuals. The negative attitude against the Church was mainly the position of television and written press. Rather immune to the sensational and the subjective, the radio was not so radical in its position. The author refers to certain types of attitude: ignorance, suspicion, irony and sarcasm; spreading a negative image of the Church by the Marxist propaganda; the distortion of the messages; the presentation of certain major conflicts from a single point of view etc. The conclusion: mass-media generally has an anti-Christian attitude, leading to a public opinion that implies Christians' discrimination.
God made the world as a gesture of Love. The physical world encompasses God's act of love from th... more God made the world as a gesture of Love. The physical world encompasses God's act of love from the moment of Creation as an intimate, structural memory. The object of classical physics appeared within the first four days of Creation, when fundamental concepts of physics, mathematics and logics came along, as well as all non-malefic dualities that represent the architectonics of the world. Revisiting fundamental concepts of modern science from the perspective of the Genesis, we observe that they are an expression of God’s love, projected on the level of matter.
Много званных. Памяти Юрия Холдина / Many are Called. In Memory of Jury Holdin (bilingual album-book. Concept: Ekaterina Danilova (Holdina), ISBN 978-5-600-00494-8, 2014
One of the most important icon painters from ‘The Golden Age’ of Russian Orthodox art is Dionisy ... more One of the most important icon painters from ‘The Golden Age’ of Russian Orthodox art is Dionisy (~1430 – after 1502). The hesychast experience, which deeply influenced Sт. Andrey Rublew’s work, is continued on a new step by Dionisy. The theology of St Gregory Palamas, brought to Russia from Athos by monks, deeply influenced Russian iconpainting. Highly appreciated by his contemporaries, Dionisy failed into shade in 20th century, especially outside USSR. The reasons: the unsatisfying quality of the reproductions of his frescoes - in the Soviet albums. The technics of icon photography and publishing never took into account theological reasons. Yuri Holdin, a Russian art photographer (1954-2007), made more than 300 shots of Dionisy’s Ferapont frescoes, succeeding for the first time to catch their real colours with a richness of details never seen before in reproductions. By reconstructing the behavior of the cathedral’s natural illumination while the time of the Liturgy, Holdin demonstrates that photographing frescoes is a spiritual art, involving not only photographic skills and technology, but a deep theological understanding. Holdin puts the basis of the art of ‘pnevmatic photography’, conferring to an art strongly connected with technology the elevation of the old medieval icon-painting. The spiritual continuity between Dionisy and Yuri Holdin is ensured by their common experience of Thaboric light.
Журнал «ΠΡΑΞΗΜΑ. Проблемы визуальной семиотики», no. 2 (2), 2014
The study defines the archetypal meaning of the house (in the classical and the Jungian sense), ... more The study defines the archetypal meaning of the house (in the classical and the Jungian sense), in Andrei Tarkovsky's scenographies, as an architectural object with aesthetic, psychological and narrative functions, and oversees the functioning mode and the semantic enrichment of this archetype in the economy of the films. These functions of the house are put in relation with the narrative functions of the main characters, in order to reveal the fundamental role of the house as a temple, a space consecrated to the meeting and communicating between man and God. Автор определяет архетипический смысл дома (в классическом и юнгианском смысле) в сценографиях Андрея Тарковского как архитектурного объекта с эстетической, психологической и нарративной функцией, а также рассматривает образ функционирования и семантического обогащения данного архетипа в экономике фильмов. Данные функции дома соотнесены с повествовательными функциями главных героев с целью обнаружить основополагающую роль дома как храма, посвящённого пространству встречи и общения человека с Богом.
ΠΡAΞHMA. проблемы визуальной семиотики, no. 2(4) / PRAXEMA. Problems of visual semiotics, 2015
Цель работы – определить главные эстетические характеристики творчества Параджанова и понять их в... more Цель работы – определить главные эстетические характеристики творчества Параджанова и понять их в культурном, гeoполитическом и духовном контексте жизни кинорежиссёра, а также по вертикали времени, в контексте истории земли и народов, где жил и под влиянием которых он находился. Работа расшифровывает постмодернизм Параджанова и его тайное сопряжение с глубинными духовно-религиозными ценностями и особенно с христианством, опровергая теории о принципиальном религиозном индифферентизме постмодернизма и открывая способности Закавказской цивилизации отвечать вызовам постмодернистского мира. The study presents the main concepts of Parajanov’s cinematic poetics, which is deeply bound with the filmmaker’s Weltanschauung: a mixture of ancient, medieval and modern civilizational models, of Oriental and Western, Christian, Islamic and pagan patterns of behaviour, of mythic-archaic, soviet and postmodern anthropological models, that melt together in harmony only in the unique topos of Transcaucasia.
Revista Arta a ACADEMIEI DE ȘTIINȚE A MOLDOVEI INSTITUTUL PATRIMONIULUI CULTURAL CENTRUL STUDIUL ARTELOR, Chisinau, 2017
The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural an... more The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural analysis in the works of the Armenian filmmaker Serghei Paradjanov, made from the perspective of his nucleus film ”Sayat- Nova”. The atypical hermeneutical method is meant to decipher an atypical cinematic language, which does not allow to be decorticated according to the usual film codes. ”Sayat-Nova”, this resonator of Paradjanov, is considered the last great medieval Armenian poet and the most representative Caucasian poet since the XVIII century. The stages of the hero’s life are presented vertically to the relationship of man with God, in the definition of which all the stylistic means of the film compete through some revealing pictures. The ”Sayat-Nova” biographical poem is literally a dense and nonlinear depiction of symbolic objects, evoking the great themes reiterated throughout the director’s creation: love, pure beauty, death, sacrifice, and eternal life. These aspects are analysed from a new aesthetic-artistic perspective. The text adapts fragments from the author’s book, ”Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov” (Bucharest: “Arca Învierii” Publishing House, 2011). ____________________________________ Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale în opera cineas- tului armean Serghei Paradjanov, făcută din perspectiva filmului său nucleal „Sayat-Nova”. Metoda hermeneutică atipică este menită să descifreze un limbaj cinematografic atipic, care nu se lasă decorticat potrivit codurilor filmice uzuale. „Sayat-Nova”, acest rezoner al lui Paradjanov, este considerat ultimul mare poet medieval armean şi cel mai reprezentativ poet caucazian din secolul al XVIII-lea. Etapele vieţii eroului sunt prezentate pe verticala relaţiei omului cu Dumnezeu, întru definirea căreia concură, prin câteva tablouri revelatorii, toate mijloacele stilistice ale filmului. Poemul biografic „Sayat-Nova” este literalmente o desfăşurare densă şi neliniară de obiecte-simbol, evocând marile teme reiterate în întreaga creaţie a regizorului: iubirea, frumuseţea pură, moartea, sacrificiul, viaţa eternă. Aceste aspecte sunt analizate dintr-o nouă perspectivă estetico-artistică. Textul adaptează fragmente din cartea autoarei „Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov” (Bucureşti: Editura Arca Învierii, 2011).
The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural an... more The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural analysis in the works of the Armenian filmmaker Serghei Paradjanov, made from the perspective of his nucleus film "Sayat-Nova". The atypical hermeneutical method is meant to decipher an atypical cinematic language, which does not allow to be decorticated according to the usual film codes. "Sayat-Nova", this resonator of Paradjanov, is considered the last great medieval Armenian poet and the most representative Caucasian poet since the XVIII century. The stages of the hero's life are presented vertically to the relationship of man with God, in the definition of which all the stylistic means of the film compete through some revealing pictures. The "Sayat-Nova" biographical poem is literally a dense and nonlinear depiction of symbolic objects, evoking the great themes reiterated throughout the director's creation: love, pure beauty, death, sacrifice, and ...
Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwisse... more Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwissenschaftlich arbeitende Wissenschaftler zu einem Andrej Tarkovskij gewidmeten Symposium, dem ersten internationalen. Die 25 Teilnehmer kamen namlich aus neun Landern. Dadurch, dass nicht wenige auch eine – wie man heute sagt – „Migrationsbiographie“ haben, potenzierte sich die durch die jeweils unterschiedliche Herkunft bedingte Multiperspektivik, zu der jedoch der Modus der Wissenschaftlichkeit ein deutlich relativierendes Korrektiv bildet. Der vorliegende Band enthalt im Wesentlichen die dort vorgestellten Beitrage, aber auch die der Fachleute, die nicht personlich hatten nach Potsdam kommen konnen.
Poetry is the freest of the arts, because it is the least related to a material support. In an er... more Poetry is the freest of the arts, because it is the least related to a material support. In an era in which arts are increasingly subservient to technology, poetry remains the art that is the least subject to industrialization. Being the least dependent on technology, poetry is the most direct art, the art that reflects most faithfully the aspirations of the creator's ego. Therefore, poetry is, at least since modernity, the first of the arts that reflects the creative spirit's trends of a particular era. Progressive industrialization of society has deepened this feature. Thus, poetry is the first of the arts that most directly reflects "the avatars of the image", specific to postmodern phenomenology. The study explores the changing of the poetic paradigm in Romania during the second half of the 20 th century, and thus the paradigm shift regarding the social responsibility of the poet. However, this paradigm shift has not cancelled the classical poetic paradigm, but has just put it into the shade. From this shade, the classic paradigm of the creator ego launches challenges to the postmodern paradigm, as in an invisible war led on the territory of arts. This invisible war concerns us in this study. Offeringfew brief comments on some trends in Romanian poetry, from the postwar period to the present, from the fracturiste movement to religious and mystical poetry, we try to detect the anthropological creative model that underpins them. For the creative act is determined, beyond the factual material and the ideas of an epoch, by the relationship of the creative ego with himself, his fellowmen and with God. Ultimately, poetic creation highlights the relationship of the creative ego with the Divine Logos: a relationship either of dialogue, or corrupted by the isolationist or even sacrilegious monologue of the artist.
The article examines the significance of Renaissance aesthetics for Andrei Tarkovsky and explores... more The article examines the significance of Renaissance aesthetics for Andrei Tarkovsky and explores the functioning and semiotic effects of the Renaissance figurative model in the film Mirror. The study focuses on one of the least commented stills with a great symbolic significance – the "Portrait of Ginevra de' Benci" (or "Portrait of a Young Woman with a Juniper") by Leonardo da Vinci. The author emphasizes the visual and semantic connection between Leonardo's canvas and the image of the main character of the film, showing how the director creatively develops the mysterious connection between the two women from different times and cultures. On one hand, the inner world of the main heroine is reflected in Leonardo's canvas. On the other hand, a certain view of the camera on Ginevra's portrait and the lighting technique reveal the secret world of the spiritual evolution of the main character. Tarkovsky visually connects the biographical plot with th...
Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwisse... more Vom 18. bis 20. September 2014 versammelten sich an der Universitat Potsdam kultur- und filmwissenschaftlich arbeitende Wissenschaftler zu einem Andrej Tarkovskij gewidmeten Symposium, dem ersten internationalen. Die 25 Teilnehmer kamen namlich aus neun Landern. Dadurch, dass nicht wenige auch eine – wie man heute sagt – „Migrationsbiographie“ haben, potenzierte sich die durch die jeweils unterschiedliche Herkunft bedingte Multiperspektivik, zu der jedoch der Modus der Wissenschaftlichkeit ein deutlich relativierendes Korrektiv bildet. Der vorliegende Band enthalt im Wesentlichen die dort vorgestellten Beitrage, aber auch die der Fachleute, die nicht personlich hatten nach Potsdam kommen konnen.
From the point of view of the philosophical interpretation, Offret („Sacrifice“) is Tarkovskij’s ... more From the point of view of the philosophical interpretation, Offret („Sacrifice“) is Tarkovskij’s most controversial film. Nietzscheanism, Gnosticism and Christianism, elements of Extreme-Oriental and archaic Scandinavian cultures, objective realism and onirism – all are hiding below the surface of the grandiose and terrifying Apocalyptic parable. Do these different substrata coalesce into a unitary ideatic structure and a coherent artistic discourse, or do they remain as separate semantic nuclei, providing spectators with different reading strategies different philosophical interpretations? While most commentators perceive the film as a soteriologic parable with a Christian background and discourse, a more traditionalist (and less artistically instructed) part of Christians are blaming the film for heresy. Their voices are sustained by some Western commentators, who don’t see the connection between the film’s Christian and gnostic discourses. There are even very young american acade...
After 1989, the situation of the Romanian historical film changed radically from the Ceausescu er... more After 1989, the situation of the Romanian historical film changed radically from the Ceausescu era. The Romanian historical films of the Socialist epoch, especially super-productions, had to obey the ideological rules. This was primarily manifested in the choice of themes: referring to moments and leaders paradigmatic for the constitution of national identity from Romanian history. Even if the script of these films (such as those of Doru Năstase, Sergiu Nicolaescu, Mircea Drăgan etc.) was based on a rather competent documentation on the factual level, and the historical reality was presented quite honestly, the detailed artistic aspects were treated quite superficially, therefore the whole film never rose to the level of a masterpiece. After 1989, the film industry no longer had to obey political commands, but the film industry significantly dropped. The filmmakers’ interests were mostly directed towards contemporary issues. The singular voices in the area of historical cinema were originally those of acknowledged filmmakers (such as Lucian Pintilie, Nicolae Mărgineanu, Nae Caranfil, Radu Gabrea). The possibility of super-productions was for objective reasons excluded, so the interest areas of these filmmakers focused towards rediscovering some singular, forgotten or little-known moments from Romanian history. Moments which were seldom honorable, but often controversial or even dishonorable (or seem treated as such). If before 1989 historical films had to glorify the national epic, the rare historical films after 1989 are, in most cases, accusatory. We will briefly review such paradigmatic case studies.
ARTA, seria Arte Audiovizuale, revista a Academiei de Stiinte a Moldovei, Chisinau, 2017
Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale ... more Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale în opera cineas-tului armean Serghei Paradjanov, făcută din perspectiva filmului său nucleal "Sayat-Nova". Metoda hermeneutică atipică este menită să descifreze un limbaj cinematografic atipic, care nu se lasă decorticat potrivit codurilor filmi-ce uzuale. "Sayat-Nova", acest rezoner al lui Paradjanov, este considerat ultimul mare poet medieval armean şi cel mai reprezentativ poet caucazian din secolul al XVIII-lea. Etapele vieţii eroului sunt prezentate pe verticala relaţi-ei omului cu Dumnezeu, întru definirea căreia concură, prin câteva tablouri revelatorii, toate mijloacele stilistice ale filmului. Poemul biografic "Sayat-Nova" este literalmente o desfăşurare densă şi neliniară de obiecte-simbol, evocând marile teme reiterate în întreaga creaţie a regizorului: iubirea, frumuseţea pură, moartea, sacrificiul, viaţa eternă. Aceste aspecte sunt analizate dintr-o nouă perspectivă estetico-artistică. Textul adaptează fragmente din cartea autoarei "Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov" (Bucureşti: Editura Arca Învierii, 2011).
ЗБОРНИК РАДОВА ФАКУЛТЕТА ДРАМСКИХ УМЕТНОСТИ, БЕОГРАД , 2007
The work briefly presents the history of Romanian cinema after 1990, pointing out the important p... more The work briefly presents the history of Romanian cinema after 1990, pointing out the important political and social phenomena that had reflected in the film production. The new cinematic movements are presented and explained in their relationship with the past, that is with the last years of the socialist period and the so-called transition period (approximately the first decade after the December 1989 Revolution). A special attention is paid to the movement of the young filmmakers form the New Romanian Wave and to its most representative names, but without neglecting other young talented authors, that can't be subscribed to the enounced movement.
The text presents the translation into Romanian of the word delivered by Patriarch Kirill of Mosc... more The text presents the translation into Romanian of the word delivered by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in March 20, 2016. His Holliness addresses the problem of heresy in the Church, the dialogue with the heretics, the issue of persecution against Christians and his recent meeting with Pope Francis.
This dissertation is a brief critique on the poetry of Alexandru Mironescu from the literary, mys... more This dissertation is a brief critique on the poetry of Alexandru Mironescu from the literary, mystic-philosophical and biographical points of view, and an attempt to positioning these poems in the context of the history of the Romanian literature and of religious poetry. poetry, faith, Parnassianism, the Creation, freedom
On the basis of Russian theologian Andrey Kuraev's book "Вызов экуменизма" ("The Provocations of ... more On the basis of Russian theologian Andrey Kuraev's book "Вызов экуменизма" ("The Provocations of Ecumenism", translated into Romanian by Boris Buzila for Sophia Publishing in 2006), the study analyses the different interpretations of the controversial and polysemantic term “ecumenism”, ranging from the definitely positive to the most demonized, especially from the perspective of the Orthodox world.
The essay discusses the relationship between the media and the Church. As a rule, until 1989, the... more The essay discusses the relationship between the media and the Church. As a rule, until 1989, the media was hostile against the (Orthodox) Church, as well as against being religious, an attitude often passed over the intellectuals. The negative attitude against the Church was mainly the position of television and written press. Rather immune to the sensational and the subjective, the radio was not so radical in its position. The author refers to certain types of attitude: ignorance, suspicion, irony and sarcasm; spreading a negative image of the Church by the Marxist propaganda; the distortion of the messages; the presentation of certain major conflicts from a single point of view etc. The conclusion: mass-media generally has an anti-Christian attitude, leading to a public opinion that implies Christians' discrimination.
God made the world as a gesture of Love. The physical world encompasses God's act of love from th... more God made the world as a gesture of Love. The physical world encompasses God's act of love from the moment of Creation as an intimate, structural memory. The object of classical physics appeared within the first four days of Creation, when fundamental concepts of physics, mathematics and logics came along, as well as all non-malefic dualities that represent the architectonics of the world. Revisiting fundamental concepts of modern science from the perspective of the Genesis, we observe that they are an expression of God’s love, projected on the level of matter.
Много званных. Памяти Юрия Холдина / Many are Called. In Memory of Jury Holdin (bilingual album-book. Concept: Ekaterina Danilova (Holdina), ISBN 978-5-600-00494-8, 2014
One of the most important icon painters from ‘The Golden Age’ of Russian Orthodox art is Dionisy ... more One of the most important icon painters from ‘The Golden Age’ of Russian Orthodox art is Dionisy (~1430 – after 1502). The hesychast experience, which deeply influenced Sт. Andrey Rublew’s work, is continued on a new step by Dionisy. The theology of St Gregory Palamas, brought to Russia from Athos by monks, deeply influenced Russian iconpainting. Highly appreciated by his contemporaries, Dionisy failed into shade in 20th century, especially outside USSR. The reasons: the unsatisfying quality of the reproductions of his frescoes - in the Soviet albums. The technics of icon photography and publishing never took into account theological reasons. Yuri Holdin, a Russian art photographer (1954-2007), made more than 300 shots of Dionisy’s Ferapont frescoes, succeeding for the first time to catch their real colours with a richness of details never seen before in reproductions. By reconstructing the behavior of the cathedral’s natural illumination while the time of the Liturgy, Holdin demonstrates that photographing frescoes is a spiritual art, involving not only photographic skills and technology, but a deep theological understanding. Holdin puts the basis of the art of ‘pnevmatic photography’, conferring to an art strongly connected with technology the elevation of the old medieval icon-painting. The spiritual continuity between Dionisy and Yuri Holdin is ensured by their common experience of Thaboric light.
Журнал «ΠΡΑΞΗΜΑ. Проблемы визуальной семиотики», no. 2 (2), 2014
The study defines the archetypal meaning of the house (in the classical and the Jungian sense), ... more The study defines the archetypal meaning of the house (in the classical and the Jungian sense), in Andrei Tarkovsky's scenographies, as an architectural object with aesthetic, psychological and narrative functions, and oversees the functioning mode and the semantic enrichment of this archetype in the economy of the films. These functions of the house are put in relation with the narrative functions of the main characters, in order to reveal the fundamental role of the house as a temple, a space consecrated to the meeting and communicating between man and God. Автор определяет архетипический смысл дома (в классическом и юнгианском смысле) в сценографиях Андрея Тарковского как архитектурного объекта с эстетической, психологической и нарративной функцией, а также рассматривает образ функционирования и семантического обогащения данного архетипа в экономике фильмов. Данные функции дома соотнесены с повествовательными функциями главных героев с целью обнаружить основополагающую роль дома как храма, посвящённого пространству встречи и общения человека с Богом.
ΠΡAΞHMA. проблемы визуальной семиотики, no. 2(4) / PRAXEMA. Problems of visual semiotics, 2015
Цель работы – определить главные эстетические характеристики творчества Параджанова и понять их в... more Цель работы – определить главные эстетические характеристики творчества Параджанова и понять их в культурном, гeoполитическом и духовном контексте жизни кинорежиссёра, а также по вертикали времени, в контексте истории земли и народов, где жил и под влиянием которых он находился. Работа расшифровывает постмодернизм Параджанова и его тайное сопряжение с глубинными духовно-религиозными ценностями и особенно с христианством, опровергая теории о принципиальном религиозном индифферентизме постмодернизма и открывая способности Закавказской цивилизации отвечать вызовам постмодернистского мира. The study presents the main concepts of Parajanov’s cinematic poetics, which is deeply bound with the filmmaker’s Weltanschauung: a mixture of ancient, medieval and modern civilizational models, of Oriental and Western, Christian, Islamic and pagan patterns of behaviour, of mythic-archaic, soviet and postmodern anthropological models, that melt together in harmony only in the unique topos of Transcaucasia.
Revista Arta a ACADEMIEI DE ȘTIINȚE A MOLDOVEI INSTITUTUL PATRIMONIULUI CULTURAL CENTRUL STUDIUL ARTELOR, Chisinau, 2017
The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural an... more The study is a breakthrough operated with the means of ethnographic, plastic and intercultural analysis in the works of the Armenian filmmaker Serghei Paradjanov, made from the perspective of his nucleus film ”Sayat- Nova”. The atypical hermeneutical method is meant to decipher an atypical cinematic language, which does not allow to be decorticated according to the usual film codes. ”Sayat-Nova”, this resonator of Paradjanov, is considered the last great medieval Armenian poet and the most representative Caucasian poet since the XVIII century. The stages of the hero’s life are presented vertically to the relationship of man with God, in the definition of which all the stylistic means of the film compete through some revealing pictures. The ”Sayat-Nova” biographical poem is literally a dense and nonlinear depiction of symbolic objects, evoking the great themes reiterated throughout the director’s creation: love, pure beauty, death, sacrifice, and eternal life. These aspects are analysed from a new aesthetic-artistic perspective. The text adapts fragments from the author’s book, ”Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov” (Bucharest: “Arca Învierii” Publishing House, 2011). ____________________________________ Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale în opera cineas- tului armean Serghei Paradjanov, făcută din perspectiva filmului său nucleal „Sayat-Nova”. Metoda hermeneutică atipică este menită să descifreze un limbaj cinematografic atipic, care nu se lasă decorticat potrivit codurilor filmice uzuale. „Sayat-Nova”, acest rezoner al lui Paradjanov, este considerat ultimul mare poet medieval armean şi cel mai reprezentativ poet caucazian din secolul al XVIII-lea. Etapele vieţii eroului sunt prezentate pe verticala relaţiei omului cu Dumnezeu, întru definirea căreia concură, prin câteva tablouri revelatorii, toate mijloacele stilistice ale filmului. Poemul biografic „Sayat-Nova” este literalmente o desfăşurare densă şi neliniară de obiecte-simbol, evocând marile teme reiterate în întreaga creaţie a regizorului: iubirea, frumuseţea pură, moartea, sacrificiul, viaţa eternă. Aceste aspecte sunt analizate dintr-o nouă perspectivă estetico-artistică. Textul adaptează fragmente din cartea autoarei „Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov” (Bucureşti: Editura Arca Învierii, 2011).
Totalitarianism and Literary Discourse. 20th century experience, Tbilisi, Shota Rustaveli Institute, 2010
In spite of the abundant “prison literature” appeared after the fall of Ceausescu’s regime, commu... more In spite of the abundant “prison literature” appeared after the fall of Ceausescu’s regime, communist politic detention camps have been rarely represented in Romanian cinema after 1989. Only two filmmakers, Nicolae Margineanu and Lucian Pintilie, both belonging to the “classical” generation, have seriously dealt with this topic; their approaches emphasize two complementary ways of treating history and especially themes like patriotism, suffering, injustice. This complementarity is best revealed by their films: Pintilie's The Afternoon of a Torturer (Dupa-amiaza unui tortionar, 2002) and Margineanu's Bless You, Prison! (Binecuvântata fii, închisoare!, 2002). Both are inspired by “Romanian Gulag literature”: The Road to Damascus (Drumul Damascului), an interview with an ex-torturer, conducted by the journalist Doina Jela, and the autobiographical book Bless You Prison by the ex-politic prisonier Nicole-Valery Grossu, respectively. Both books unmask the crimes of Romanian communist regime, but they differ not only in genres, but also in their opposite views upon the detention phenomenon. Jela's book is focused on the image of the torturer, an almost faceless and grotesque caricature, who wants, but can’t make penitence, thus offering to Pintilie the oportunity of developing a bitter pesimistical existential and political parable, expressed in Surrealistic terms, proclaiming the omnipotence and metaphisical character of the Evil. While Grossu’s book tells the story of a member of a conservative party, imprisoned by communists for her political convictions and focuses on the strategy of enduring with dignity, prayer and faith the inhuman detention regime, giving thus to Margineanu the chanse to explore, in terms of Realism, the mystery of martyrdom and surviving through the power of Cross, opening/proposing thus an extremely rare theme in contemporary cinema.
Journal of Visual Theology / Визуальная теология, 2021
The article examines the significance of Renaissance aesthetics for Andrei Tarkovsky and explores... more The article examines the significance of Renaissance aesthetics for Andrei Tarkovsky and explores the functioning and semiotic effects of the Renaissance figurative model in the film Mirror. The study focuses on one of the least commented stills with a great symbolic significance-the "Portrait of Ginevra de' Benci" (or "Portrait of a Young Woman with a Juniper") by Leonardo da Vinci. The author emphasizes the visual and semantic connection between Leonardo's canvas and the image of the main character of the film, showing how the director creatively develops the mysterious connection between the two women from different times and cultures. On one hand, the inner world of the main heroine is reflected in Leonardo's canvas. On the other hand, a certain view of the camera on Ginevra's portrait and the lighting technique reveal the secret world of the spiritual evolution of the main character. Tarkovsky visually connects the biographical plot with the sacred themes of eternity, immortality, the antinomic perfection of man, and the salvation of the soul, using the symbolically rich Renaissance imagery created by Leonardo da Vinci.
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Papers by Elena Dulgheru
Moments which were seldom honorable, but often controversial or even dishonorable (or seem treated as such). If before 1989 historical films had to glorify the national epic, the rare historical films after 1989 are, in most cases, accusatory. We will briefly review such paradigmatic case studies.
poetry, faith, Parnassianism, the Creation, freedom
opinion that implies Christians' discrimination.
of Creation as an intimate, structural memory. The object of classical physics appeared within the first four days of Creation, when fundamental concepts of physics, mathematics and logics came along, as well as all non-malefic dualities that represent the architectonics of the world. Revisiting fundamental concepts of modern science from the perspective of the Genesis, we observe that they are an expression of God’s love, projected on the level of matter.
functions, and oversees the functioning mode and the semantic enrichment of this archetype in the economy of the films. These functions of the house are put in relation with the narrative functions of the main characters, in order to reveal the fundamental role of the house as a temple, a space consecrated to the meeting and communicating between man and God.
Автор определяет архетипический смысл дома (в классическом
и юнгианском смысле) в сценографиях Андрея Тарковского как архитектурного объекта с эстетической, психологической и нарративной функцией, а также рассматривает образ функционирования и семантического обогащения данного архетипа в экономике фильмов. Данные функции дома соотнесены с повествовательными функциями главных героев с целью обнаружить основополагающую роль дома как храма, посвящённого пространству встречи и общения человека
с Богом.
и народов, где жил и под влиянием которых он находился. Работа расшифровывает постмодернизм Параджанова и его тайное сопряжение с глубинными духовно-религиозными ценностями и особенно с христианством, опровергая теории о принципиальном религиозном индифферентизме постмодернизма и открывая способности Закавказской цивилизации отвечать вызовам постмодернистского мира.
The study presents the main concepts of Parajanov’s cinematic poetics,
which is deeply bound with the filmmaker’s Weltanschauung: a mixture of
ancient, medieval and modern civilizational models, of Oriental and Western, Christian, Islamic and pagan patterns of behaviour, of mythic-archaic, soviet and postmodern anthropological models, that melt together in harmony only in the unique topos of Transcaucasia.
Nova”. The atypical hermeneutical method is meant to decipher an atypical cinematic language, which does not
allow to be decorticated according to the usual film codes. ”Sayat-Nova”, this resonator of Paradjanov, is considered the last great medieval Armenian poet and the most representative Caucasian poet since the XVIII century. The stages of the hero’s life are presented vertically to the relationship of man with God, in the definition of which all the stylistic means of the film compete through some revealing pictures. The ”Sayat-Nova” biographical poem is literally a dense and nonlinear depiction of symbolic objects, evoking the great themes reiterated throughout the director’s creation: love, pure beauty, death, sacrifice, and eternal life. These aspects are analysed from a new aesthetic-artistic perspective.
The text adapts fragments from the author’s book, ”Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov” (Bucharest: “Arca Învierii” Publishing House, 2011).
____________________________________
Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale în opera cineas-
tului armean Serghei Paradjanov, făcută din perspectiva filmului său nucleal „Sayat-Nova”. Metoda hermeneutică
atipică este menită să descifreze un limbaj cinematografic atipic, care nu se lasă decorticat potrivit codurilor filmice uzuale. „Sayat-Nova”, acest rezoner al lui Paradjanov, este considerat ultimul mare poet medieval armean şi cel mai reprezentativ poet caucazian din secolul al XVIII-lea. Etapele vieţii eroului sunt prezentate pe verticala relaţiei omului cu Dumnezeu, întru definirea căreia concură, prin câteva tablouri revelatorii, toate mijloacele stilistice ale filmului. Poemul biografic „Sayat-Nova” este literalmente o desfăşurare densă şi neliniară de obiecte-simbol, evocând marile teme reiterate în întreaga creaţie a regizorului: iubirea, frumuseţea pură, moartea, sacrificiul, viaţa eternă. Aceste aspecte sunt analizate dintr-o nouă perspectivă estetico-artistică.
Textul adaptează fragmente din cartea autoarei „Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov”
(Bucureşti: Editura Arca Învierii, 2011).
Moments which were seldom honorable, but often controversial or even dishonorable (or seem treated as such). If before 1989 historical films had to glorify the national epic, the rare historical films after 1989 are, in most cases, accusatory. We will briefly review such paradigmatic case studies.
poetry, faith, Parnassianism, the Creation, freedom
opinion that implies Christians' discrimination.
of Creation as an intimate, structural memory. The object of classical physics appeared within the first four days of Creation, when fundamental concepts of physics, mathematics and logics came along, as well as all non-malefic dualities that represent the architectonics of the world. Revisiting fundamental concepts of modern science from the perspective of the Genesis, we observe that they are an expression of God’s love, projected on the level of matter.
functions, and oversees the functioning mode and the semantic enrichment of this archetype in the economy of the films. These functions of the house are put in relation with the narrative functions of the main characters, in order to reveal the fundamental role of the house as a temple, a space consecrated to the meeting and communicating between man and God.
Автор определяет архетипический смысл дома (в классическом
и юнгианском смысле) в сценографиях Андрея Тарковского как архитектурного объекта с эстетической, психологической и нарративной функцией, а также рассматривает образ функционирования и семантического обогащения данного архетипа в экономике фильмов. Данные функции дома соотнесены с повествовательными функциями главных героев с целью обнаружить основополагающую роль дома как храма, посвящённого пространству встречи и общения человека
с Богом.
и народов, где жил и под влиянием которых он находился. Работа расшифровывает постмодернизм Параджанова и его тайное сопряжение с глубинными духовно-религиозными ценностями и особенно с христианством, опровергая теории о принципиальном религиозном индифферентизме постмодернизма и открывая способности Закавказской цивилизации отвечать вызовам постмодернистского мира.
The study presents the main concepts of Parajanov’s cinematic poetics,
which is deeply bound with the filmmaker’s Weltanschauung: a mixture of
ancient, medieval and modern civilizational models, of Oriental and Western, Christian, Islamic and pagan patterns of behaviour, of mythic-archaic, soviet and postmodern anthropological models, that melt together in harmony only in the unique topos of Transcaucasia.
Nova”. The atypical hermeneutical method is meant to decipher an atypical cinematic language, which does not
allow to be decorticated according to the usual film codes. ”Sayat-Nova”, this resonator of Paradjanov, is considered the last great medieval Armenian poet and the most representative Caucasian poet since the XVIII century. The stages of the hero’s life are presented vertically to the relationship of man with God, in the definition of which all the stylistic means of the film compete through some revealing pictures. The ”Sayat-Nova” biographical poem is literally a dense and nonlinear depiction of symbolic objects, evoking the great themes reiterated throughout the director’s creation: love, pure beauty, death, sacrifice, and eternal life. These aspects are analysed from a new aesthetic-artistic perspective.
The text adapts fragments from the author’s book, ”Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov” (Bucharest: “Arca Învierii” Publishing House, 2011).
____________________________________
Studiul este o descindere operată cu mijloacele analizei etnografice, plastice şi interculturale în opera cineas-
tului armean Serghei Paradjanov, făcută din perspectiva filmului său nucleal „Sayat-Nova”. Metoda hermeneutică
atipică este menită să descifreze un limbaj cinematografic atipic, care nu se lasă decorticat potrivit codurilor filmice uzuale. „Sayat-Nova”, acest rezoner al lui Paradjanov, este considerat ultimul mare poet medieval armean şi cel mai reprezentativ poet caucazian din secolul al XVIII-lea. Etapele vieţii eroului sunt prezentate pe verticala relaţiei omului cu Dumnezeu, întru definirea căreia concură, prin câteva tablouri revelatorii, toate mijloacele stilistice ale filmului. Poemul biografic „Sayat-Nova” este literalmente o desfăşurare densă şi neliniară de obiecte-simbol, evocând marile teme reiterate în întreaga creaţie a regizorului: iubirea, frumuseţea pură, moartea, sacrificiul, viaţa eternă. Aceste aspecte sunt analizate dintr-o nouă perspectivă estetico-artistică.
Textul adaptează fragmente din cartea autoarei „Scara raiului în cinema. Kusturica, Tarkovski, Paradjanov”
(Bucureşti: Editura Arca Învierii, 2011).
This complementarity is best revealed by their films: Pintilie's The Afternoon of a Torturer (Dupa-amiaza unui tortionar, 2002) and Margineanu's Bless You, Prison! (Binecuvântata fii, închisoare!, 2002). Both are inspired by “Romanian Gulag literature”: The Road to Damascus (Drumul Damascului), an interview with an ex-torturer, conducted by the journalist Doina Jela, and the autobiographical book Bless You Prison by the ex-politic prisonier Nicole-Valery Grossu, respectively.
Both books unmask the crimes of Romanian communist regime, but they differ not only in genres, but also in their opposite views upon the detention phenomenon.
Jela's book is focused on the image of the torturer, an almost faceless and grotesque caricature, who wants, but can’t make penitence, thus offering to Pintilie the oportunity of developing a bitter pesimistical existential and political parable, expressed in Surrealistic terms, proclaiming the omnipotence and metaphisical character of the Evil.
While Grossu’s book tells the story of a member of a conservative party, imprisoned by communists for her political convictions and focuses on the strategy of enduring with dignity, prayer and faith the inhuman detention regime, giving thus to Margineanu the chanse to explore, in terms of Realism, the mystery of martyrdom and surviving through the power of Cross, opening/proposing thus an extremely rare theme in contemporary cinema.