3:12:25

The Fisher King, 1991

20th century cinema is full of “passional faciality.” This is why I watch old movies.

“Is it possible to tell, when the knight of the courtly novel is in his catatonic state, whether he is deep in his black hole or already astride the particles that will carry him out of it to begin a new journey?…Cannot the knight, at certain times and under certain conditions, push the movement further still, crossing the black hole, breaking through the white wall…even if the attempt may backfire?

-Deleuze & Guattari, Year Zero Faciality

The Fisher King, 1991. Those who have read my book Love Dog, and the addendum Like Someone in Love, know how much I love Holy Grail stories and movies. Both books are built on the courtly love and Grail theme/format. If you have a copy of Love Dog, check p. 157 (it’s the Deleuze quote above + an image). I think I was a knight in past lives. These stories/figures/crusades/quests have always resonated so deeply with me, my favorite one of all being Bresson’s Lancelot du Lac, which is the image template for this blog. The wound is deep.

I watched The Kid Who Would Be King (2019) a few months back and loved that version too. The film has a very beautiful, and inspired score.

*One day I will republish Love Dog and it will look the way it was always meant to look. It’s basically out of print now (you can buy copies on Amazon and Ebay) and needs a new publisher. But who believes in love enough to publish a visionary old fashioned book like Love Dog in 2025 and beyond? That’s the question. It is hard, near impossible, it turns out, to find a publisher who is also a knight in shining armor.