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March 2009 - The Master of Verona by David Blixt

A monthly discussion on varying themes guided by our members. (Book of the Month discussions through December 2011 can be found in this section too.)
annis
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Post by annis » Tue March 10th, 2009, 5:41 am

Luhrmann's R&J is certainly played at a frentic pace, but I thought it worked really well, in combination with a good cast and music. I can understand how it might set off a migraine, though- a bit like strobe lights! His OTT style doesn't always work for me- I found "Moulin Rouge" quite bizarre.

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Ludmilla
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Post by Ludmilla » Tue March 10th, 2009, 1:18 pm

Strange question, but it's on my mind for some weird reason.

Do perfect white teeth symbolize anything? I know it was probably unusual, also probably a sign of health (perhaps?), but beyond obvious things like that, did it signify anything? Wik reports that Cangrande did indeed have those perfect white teeth, and I've noticed this description being used in other novels for strong leaders, etc., and wondered if it's just a stock description to set characters apart as something special or if there was a deeper or symbolic meaning it was being used for. Hope this makes sense.

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cesco
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Post by cesco » Tue March 10th, 2009, 2:15 pm

My problem with the Luhrmann film is most evident in the Mab sequence before the party. When you have such an outstanding actor, why not let him do something with the speech? Having him drop acid and spinning the camera and flashing some lights obscures the text, rather than illuminate it. Style over substance bugs me onstage, and really bugs me in film.

On the other hand, I was rolling in the aisle over a couple of wonderful wordplays. The Friar (played by the magnificent Pete Postlethwaite) says "I will send this letter post-haste to Mantua." Cut to a delivery truck driving through the desert. On the side of the truck is the logo Post Haste. Brilliant.

Also, worst make-up ever. Juliet shoots herself, and the blood runs uphill.

No, for my money it's Zefferelli all the way.

As for the teeth, I can't speak to the wider significance. Cangrande's smile was famous in his lifetime and after. As you note, his recent autopsy (which I was lucky enough to be CCed on as it was being done) confirms that he had perfect teeth - and a liver destroyed by alcoholism. I chose to use the one, and show the roots of the other. When details like that are there for the taking, an author is a fool not to use them.

Perhaps white teeth in literature signify health, which is part and parcel of wealth.

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Tue March 10th, 2009, 3:54 pm

Do perfect white teeth symbolize anything?
Hard to say, but they were probably quite rare in the days before dentists, especially among the upper classes who ate more sweets and refined flours than the peasantry. They didn't have sugar, but they did have honey and various types of dried fruits. I was surprised to learn that people of past centuries also had white flour, an expensive luxury produced by sifting flour repeatedly until the bran and germ bits, bigger than the white part, had been sifted out.
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Ludmilla
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Post by Ludmilla » Tue March 10th, 2009, 4:38 pm

The book I'm reading now describes Philip V of Macedon as having perfect teeth (can't remember if it said perfect or perfect white). Anyway... It got me thinking whether people of that time attached any significance to certain physical features beyond standards for beauty and sign of physical health. Teeth seem to be symbolic in dreams; wasn't sure if there was any sort of superstitious symbolism or omen attached to them down through the ages. (this is probably a sign of me idling away my hours).

I haven't seen the Luhrmann film of R&J. I meant to when it came out for rental originally, but it somehow fell through the cracks.

Was anyone a fan of the old show, Moonlighting, with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd? Remember the old Taming the Shrew episode? It was very cute. I actually have enjoyed many of the reworkings of Shakespeare's plays, esp some of the anachronistic ones (Richard III w/ Ian McKellen springs to mind).

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Post by annis » Tue March 10th, 2009, 6:32 pm

I think, like Margaret, that perfect white teeth were a rarity, which made them noteworthy.

We get the other extreme as well in MOV, with poor old Asdente, the Toothless Master, whose teeth have been smashed in battle. Seroius facial injuries must have been a fairly common consequence of medieval warfare, I imagine, another reason for comment if a warrior of note was still handsome and had good teeth after years of fighting.

I have a copy of Ian Mckellan's "Richard III" somewhere- it's one of my favourites.

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Post by annis » Tue March 10th, 2009, 7:11 pm

It must have been fascinating being part of Cesco's autopsy, David. I remember a few years ago that bodies of several members of the Medici family were exhumed, and all sorts of interesting details discovered.
I was struck by the fact that Eleanora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I, had completely rotten teeth by the time she died at around the age of 40 ( staying on the teeth subject). The fact that she had 11 children in quick succession wouldn't have helped! It's interesting to look at the luminous portrait of her by Bronzini soon after her marriage, and compare it with later ones where she looks quite haggard. I think that it's conjectured that she might have had tuberculosis.

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Post by Carla » Tue March 10th, 2009, 7:18 pm

[quote=""annis""]I think, like Margaret, that perfect white teeth were a rarity, which made them noteworthy.

We get the other extreme as well in MOV, with poor old Asdente, the Toothless Master, whose teeth have been smashed in battle. Seroius facial injuries must have been a fairly common consequence of medieval warfare, I imagine, another reason for comment if a warrior of note was still handsome and had good teeth after years of fighting.[/quote]

Good point. There's a modern facial reconstruction of the skull of a medieval soldier who died at the Battle of Towton (Wars of the Roses), who had what must have been a truly gruesome facial scar from a previous injury to his jaw. The same project said some of the soldiers had damage to their teeth (no details, or at least none that I can remember) from stringing longbows. Almost all the injuries on the Towton skeletons were to the head, implying that the standard tactic in medieval warfare was to attack the opponent's head and face.
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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Wed March 11th, 2009, 5:28 am

Teeth seem to be symbolic in dreams
That's for sure! And in fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf - "My, what big, sharp teeth you have, Grandmother!"). And in Chaucer, where comments by the Wife of Bath about the gaps between her teeth are associated with how much she enjoyed bed-sport with her numerous husbands. Perhaps there was a sort of connection, since Annis points out the association between tooth-loss and childbearing, which draws on a woman's calcium reserves in her teeth if she's not getting enough calcium in her diet.
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Post by annis » Wed March 11th, 2009, 11:46 pm

One interesting aspect of MOV is how the rivalry between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines (factions supporting, respectively, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in central and northern Italy during the 12th and 13th centuries) fits into the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guelphs_and_Ghibellines

The struggle betweeen the two factions was long and bitter. I've just been reading about the battle between the Hohenstaufen dynasty and the Papacy, especially in relation to the heirs of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Although blessed with exceptional good looks, intelligence and talent, they all met with misfortune and often tragic fates in this ongoing conflict, almost as if they were cursed in some way.
This piece was written by Charles Morris in the nineteenth century, so you have to allow for some Victorian hyberbole, but it gives the gist of the sad story of the Hohenstaufen heirs.
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?a ... story=fall

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