Empress of Winter

Camellia: Pink Perfection


The camellia season has begun, starting with a show at the Decanso Gardens. Over the next two months, nearly every weekend will feature a flower show somewhere in Southern California, from Kern County in the North to San Diego in the South and out in the Pomona Valley to the East. Yeah, we love our camellias out here in SoCal.

As a flower of Western fashion, the camellia was queen during the early to mid-19th century, but it fell out of favor in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, leaving it with an "old-fashioned" reputation. For most of Europe and the USA, it still trails dahlias, orchids, roses, and tulips as symbols of glamour.

But California is a Pacific Rim civilization. As with the other great cultures along the Pacific, California recognizes within the camellia a special splendor, a floral elegance both refined and bold.

Camellia: Tama Peacock

And that's why we are blessed with two months full of camellia celebrations. ;-)

But, although I'll be visiting many a show, we aren't transforming Paideia into a Camellia blog. I'll try to keep a healthy mix of flowers going for our Friday showcase.

Ecstasy of Gold

"Ecstasy of Gold" scene from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)


The creative alchemy that turns an average movie into a good movie, a good movie into a great movie, a great movie into an all-time classic, is generally found in the music, the unvoiced sounds that capture the spirit of the most memorable of scenes.

There are many great cinematic score composers, but my favorite might be Ennio Morricone. There may be composers with greater technical skill. There may be films that have stronger scores. But I'd say that his music is the most distinctive, yet appropriate to the movie. His genius lies in merging his personal aesthetic into the subject matter, creating a work that expresses the cinematic premise in a musical articulation unique to his compositional voice.

Oftentimes, movie music is "incidental" or ornamental, not an integral part of the scene. That's the situation with much "soundtrack" based scores in contemporary films. Obviously, production companies want a nice set of singles to release on the side for added revenue. There's nothing wrong with that, but it loses the sense of authenticity and coherence that a real musical score brings to the movie.

Detail from a promotional poster for The Mission (1986)

So, let's wish Ennio Morricone a Happy 83rd Birthday and listen to some great music.