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Rule of Thirds, se7en, and the beautiful work of Darius Khondji
Films Retrospect 2007

Total tally for films watched in 2007 stands at 21 in theatres and 84 on dvds, making that a total 105, or an average of 2 films per week. ( Click here to see the entire list. ) This is a 2nd consecutive drop from 124 in 2006 and 178 in 2005, but considering how busy work on Freedom is I think 105 is still a fairly decent number. Here are my top 10 favourite films of 2007, in no particular order :
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Chiaroscuro – From Caravaggio to Harris Savides
I believe I first heard of the obscure word Chiaroscuro many many years ago as an art elective student in Victoria School – My then art teacher, a distinguished Irish gentleman named Paul O’shea, was an accomplished artist who taught the subject with such passionate fervor that Art history left a deep, lasting impression on me and continues to be a big source of inspiration for my works today. Mr O’shea also pronounced Chiaroscuro ( and Contrapposto ) beautifully; I lucidly remember my classmates and me grinning in childish pleasure every time the word escaped his lips.
Chiaroscuro, simply put, means light and darkness. In painting terms, it denotes the use of deep variations in and subtle gradations of light and shade to create the illusion of three-dimensionality, often to dramatic effect. The Baroque artist Caravaggio was a champion of Chiaroscuro, creating paintings ( Supper at Emmaus, below ) as hauntingly beautiful now as they were 400 years ago.



















