Dear Southern States: Please secede from the Union.

A Supreme Court Reporter Defines the Threat to Abortion Rights

newyorker.com

Music video for Ira Wolf's "Sunscreen"

This is the only music video I've done and I enjoyed it very much.  With appreciation to Patrick Mason, Ian Reid and Paola Torres.

Article:Sunscreen

irawolfmusic.com

Producers: Ian Reid and Max Haben
Director: Patrick Mason
Cinematographer: Ian Reid

Starring:
Alexander Barnett
Paola Torres

Director’s Notes: The trial scene in the film King Lear.

Watch “the trial scene” – part of Episode 9.  

It has taken Lear and the others 20 minutes to travel through the storm to the hut.  Throughout that trek Lear’s mind is in constant flux.  More and more he is losing any sense of time and place.  However he always retains his awareness of being king and the terrible wrongs done him by Goneril and Regan.

Eric Michael Smith, Alexander Barnett

Invariably this scene is staged as three characters running amok, each in his own chaotic world, spewing nonsense and mindlessness for no real purpose but simply to be a chorus to Lear’s madness.  No.

Peter Holdway, Alexander Barnett

This scene marks the first time Lear hallucinates.  At the beginning of the scene his further mental decline is evident.  His fascination with Edgar is gone.  When Lear first sees Edgar in the storm his mind cracked and he was overwhelmed by guilt and empathy.  But here that is gone.  It is the second of three very different stages in his mental deterioration.  Now he is driven by vindictiveness and his focus is entirely on revenge.  In his mind everything he loved has turned against him, even his adoring dogs.  Betrayal overwhelms him.

Film Trailer: King Lear

The film, helmed by award-winning director Alexander Barnett, was released in the  United States , the  United Kingdom and Europe , Hong Kong, China (China Mobile Indie) and in  libraries  throughout the United States and Canada.  The 15 episode version of the film is also available worldwide.  Please visit the  FaceBook  page and the  IMDb  page.

Samurai Rebellion

To me, Masaki Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion is one of the three greatest films ever made; the others are Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. 

Here’s why.  The story is superbly written and of profound importance.  Basically, it poses the question: how much injustice can a man of honor, integrity and courage withstand before he rebels?

There is neither a wasted word nor a wasted action.  It is beautifully directed.  The acting is uniformly excellent and Toshiro Mifune is truly astounding.  He was a consummate artist, easily the greatest film actor of the last century.  If this sounds like hyperbole, see his work in Rashomon, the Samurai Trilogy, Throne of Blood, The Rickshaw Man, Red Beard, as Cyrano, etc.  He had it all – imagination, charm, warmth, sensitivity, manliness, vitality, power, versatility, integrity, and most of all, passion and dignity.

One of the signal keys to great acting is the inner power and vitality that an actor emanates in his silent moments.  I call it intensity of repose.  It’s something you cannot fake.  Mifune had it to a far greater extent than any other actor I’ve ever seen.  Further, as Kurosawa said, “Mifune could show more variety and emotion in a shorter period of time than any actor I ever saw.”

I guarantee that if you are a basically a cynic, if you prefer naturalistic, everyday writing and acting, Samurai Rebellion is not for you.  But if you are an incurable romantic who believes that art should epitomize life and not simply copy it, if you long to see passionate steadfastness, complete moral honesty, an inability to compromise, and action based on principles, you will love this film.

King Lear on Set

Some behind the scenes shots.

                                 TRAILER

Death of a Salesman: Director’s Notes

Alexander Barnett on Death of a Salesman

Thematic Content and Structure

This is not the story of a salesman; it is the story of Willy Loman, who just happened to be a salesman. This is not the story of Everyman. Willy’s passion, love and drive go way beyond the norm. Perhaps most people will relate to Willy, be moved by him and, most important, think, contemplate and learn from his life and his mistakes.

Willy, like Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, demands to be “totally known”. Like Eddie, he could never settle for half. He must attempt everything even if it means ending up with nothing. He will risk his very life to achieve his “due”, what he considers his rightful status. As Arthur Miller says, “The commonest of men may take on that [tragic stature] to the extent of his willingness to throw all he has into the contest, the battle to secure his rightful place in the world.” Of course, this willingness automatically removes him from being the commonest of men.