Siqueiro's Echo of a Scream

I came across Echo of a Scream some months ago when my wife was taking a course in appreciation of art. She found it very interesting and hence showed it to me. First look at the painting and one will be puzzled at what really is this about - war? famine? disaster? So I started deciphering this painting one layer at a time.

Echo of a Scream is a haunting yet beautiful piece of art. A look at the painting evokes strong pathos - a tragedy always followed by a war. Throughout his career, David Alfaro Siqueiro created paintings depicting human struggle against authoritarian regime. He was born in the province of Chihuahua, Mexico in 1896. Enlisted in Venustiano Carranza’s Constitutional Army at the age of eighteen while studying art at the Academy of San Carlos. Siquero was a marxist from very early age. Much of his work had a direct influence from his first hand experience of the grief and suffering of war. His paintings also reflects his strong belief in Marxist ideology.

Echo of a Scream is Siqueiro’s iconic painting conceived in 1937 before he started working against Francisco Franco’s fascist dictatorship. The event which represents the painting is aftermath of a war and the trauma of human loss. Specifically the painting represents the famous Spanish civil war. The painting is captivating both visually and metaphorically. When we look at the painting the most prominent figure we see are two crying babies. One baby’s head is enlarged and other baby is coming out of his mouth. Baby is sitting on a surface which looks like a war zone. The ground shows the fallout of the war and the destruction that ensues. The visible elements are the shells, broken canons, and shrapnel.

The painting has a very rough and grungy texture. Siqueros used intense colors to represent a very dark and catastrophic period of time. On the top of the painting there are some dark clouds signifying the tough times caused by the war. On the left end corner of the painting we can see what looks like a tree on a barren land, accentuating the loss of the livelihoods of farmers. The debris on the land has rough edges and sharp corners, specifically the twisted metal in the frontal plane. The red color on the front of the painting near the twisted metal looks like human body parts and dried blood. The red cloth that baby is wearing symbolizes fresh blood still oozing out of his body. In a way it is a metaphor for the endless miseries of the war. Certain elements are placed in a very subtle manner in the painting such as the chimneys of the factories on the top right corner. It symbolizes the conflict between industrial growth and the traditional way of living. Why Siqueros chose African baby will always be open to interpretation. However considering the period when painting was composed as well as the fact that Spanish civil war used Morocco, an African country as treading ground might be a reason.

Echo of scream strikes its viewer in a very visceral manner. It immediately creates a very strong feeling of sorrow even without understanding the context. Siqueros succeeded in communicating with his audience. Although the painting is his point of view about the Spanish civil war but it is perfectly fitting even in the present world. It is a visually dark painting and intended to shake it’s viewer and forces them to think above their own selfish agendas and look out for the future generations. This painting creates a disturbing yet visually arresting picture.

When I saw the painting the very first emotion that went through my mind was an intense sorrow. The cry of little baby forced me to analyze the painting further and search for a reason of his grief and the source of all his pain and suffering. I forced myself to look for clues and visual cues which could possibly explain and answer all my questions. Looking deeply into the painting not as a passer but as an avid viewer opened more and more vantage points.

Echo of a scream is a multi-layered piece of art as most of the rich art forms are. For a casual onlooker its bleakness may be captivating but one needs to look a little closer and then it creates multitude of interpretations. The subject matter of the painting underscores the very fundamental theme that every war is different, yet every war is still the same. As Siqueros quoted “It is a call to all human beings so that they may end all wars”.

References and further reading

1. “Spanish Civil War”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_civil_war.

2. “David Alfaro Siqueiros”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Alfaro_Siqueiros.

Green Lantern - Too much yet too little.

Green Lantern is a summer tent-pole film from Warner Brothers based on DC comics character of the same name. I got a chance to catch an early preview tonight. The film is directed by Martin Campbell who was responsible for successful reboot of James Bond character in Casino Royale. As much as he was successful in rebooting Casino Royale he failed terribly in Green Lantern. To be euphemistic the film is a mess from start to finish. There is so much happening in the film and yet I could not relate to any of the Green Lantern's cause / crusade even if he wants to save the earth (By that time I just wanted the damn film to finish). The film failed on multiple levels but the weakest link is screenplay. It was terrible for $200 million dollar film. There was so much plot and yet film felt so hollow in emotionality that it just failed to capture my interest. I am not trying to be self-aggrandizing here and talking the talk of a named critic but comic book filmmakers need to put more heart and soul in their films rather than VFX wizardry.

From acting standpoint everybody played their part perfectly (as expected). Although I never really understood why studio always want big name actors for even smaller parts in the comic book films. Ryan Reynolds looked pretty good albeit goofy at times. Somehow whenever I see him I always think of Van Wilder and Harold and Kumar goes to white castle. It was hard for me to think of him as an action hero. Blake Lively looked like as she always do - hot and pretty :). There was no need for Angela Bassett and Tim Robbins to be there in the film. Yet they were there and they played perfectly whatever they were playing in the film.

One of my major gripe with the film is 3D. For some reason the physical structure of characters looked CGI to me in the 3D. It may be a side effect of watching in 3D. Since there were quiet a few scenes in space so I guess studio thought 3D might be the best way to project this film.

Dialogs were way too bad and awful. The screenwriters did pretty bad job in that department. There were way too many plot-holes. As I said earlier too much plot is condensed in a two hour film. Bad story could be problem with a source material. But my personal belief is that superhero "inception" stories should be kept simple and should focus more on character development and less on litany of villains. Once you establish audience's interest in inception stories the risk of early death of franchise is mitigated. But as often is the case Hollywood decision makers are MBAs and not MFAs.

In very first post of my blog I mentioned my strong dislike for comic book films. After more than a year I think that opinion is even more stronger now. I believe the day is not far when Hollywood will abandon comic book films altogether. At least there is no harm in dreaming.

Final Score: C- (that too because I didn't pay for the ticket, otherwise D).