victoria from 5 to 7 | fashion, film, lit, more

With the opening moments showing the film's desert setting reflected in the blue-green tint of French millionaire Richard's aviator sunglasses, Coralie Fargeat's directorial debut, Revenge , is clearly concerned with acts of looking and the lenses through which we do so. Screened at Picturehouse Central in London (and other locations) as part of the Reclaim the Frame influencer project by Bird's Eye View,  a mission to bring ever-greater audiences to films by women and build a more balanced film future by boosting the commercial success of said films, Revenge  is a rape-revenge thriller which first utilises and then re-purposes the male gaze.  The desert landscape is reflected in Richard's glasses (right) whilst Jen's lenses reflect nothing (left),  Revenge  (2017) Though Jen (Matilda Lutz) expects a romantic getaway with Richard ( Kevin Janssens)   all to herself (away from his wife and kids), their trip is interrupted by the early arrival of hi...

I have officially been to the opera for the first time. Having gone nearly 23 years without ever having been to an opera, the offer of low-rate nosebleed seats at the English National Opera was too good an opportunity to pass up. Having never been to the opera before, I had my qualms: would I enjoy it? would I understand it? would I even be able to hear the words properly? I'm not musical in any sense of the word, so what if I didn't understand the features of the score? Wasn't the opera just for snobs anyway?  So I decided to buy tickets for A Midsummer Night's Dream, a story I already love and know well. I figured, having studied the text at university and having seen the play live at Drum Castle one summer, I had the strongest chance of getting to grips with opera through it. And so, cheap tickets bought, off to the opera. Promo image for A Midsummer Night's Dream at the English National Opera As we took our seats in the nosebleeds and the show ope...

In case you hadn't heard, I've recently made the big move to London to undertake a Masters degree (which has been a great excuse to move to London in the first place, which is far more fun than studying at home would have been). Since moving, I've met a lot of people: some friends, some acquaintances, some enemies. Consistent amongst those friends, despite their disparate study interests and hobbies, is that they all want me to take them to art galleries and "teach them how to art". They do not, actually, want me to teach them how to engage with art, but what the factually accurate history of art is in relation to a particular canon of artistic objects.  Anyone who has had the opportunity to study the arts in a critical context, however, knows that the historical significance of art is only part of the education, and that a far more significant component of enjoying art is a subjective approach based on personal experience, likes, and dislikes. Learning to sa...