Search results for ""author robert bird""

Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) was one of the great poets of world cinema. A fiercely independent artist, Tarkovsky crafted poignantly beautiful films that have proven inscrutable and been bitterly disputed. These qualities are present in abundance in Andrei Rublev (1966), Tarkovsky's first fully mature film. Ostensibly a biographical study of Russia's most famous medieval icon-painter, Andrei Rublev is both lyrical and epic, starkly naturalistic and allegorical, authentically historical and urgently topical. While much remains mysterious in Andrei Rublev, critics have recently begun to reappraise it as a groundbreaking film that undermines comfortable notions of life and spirituality. Robert Bird's multifaceted account of Andrei Rublev extends this reevaluation of Tarkovsky's radical aesthetic by establishing the film's historical context and presenting a substantially new reading of key scenes. Bird definitively establishes the film's tortured textual history, which has resulted in two

Read more less

If it is true that great art comes from great suffering, then the art of Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 - 81) must be truly great indeed. The second of seven children, he developed epilepsy and was ruled over by a drunken, violent father. From this harsh childhood, to his brief forays in the army, through the years of exile and imprisonment in Siberia, Dostoevsky's troubled life shaped his character and art in profound ways. Robert Bird traces Dostoevsky's path from a political revolutionary to one who fought his battles through the printed word. Bird describes how Dostoevsky came into contact with the poor and oppressed who attended the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor in Moscow, where his father practiced medicine, and how Dostoevsky was to champion the downtrodden throughout his career. He outlines the years Dostoevsky spent in prison after his arrest and near-execution in 1849, and how these experiences, in combination with his difficult childhood, epileptic seizures, religious and political views, contributed to the writing of acclaimed novels such as Crime and Punishment (1867). The author also describes how Dostoevsky's craving for social justice and 'quest for form' spurred his literary achievements. Writers such as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and Virginia Wolfe admired and praised Dostoevsky, and he is often acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent psychologists in literature - the parricide in The Brothers Karamazov even attracted the attention of Sigmund Freud. Fyodor Dostoevsky will fascinate all lovers of literature and Russian history.

Read more less

The importance of intellectual property rights is now well established as a vital component in the success of firms and nations. The diverse contributors to this volume, drawn from the fields of law, business and economics, clarify and analyze the problems and promise of IP policy from a global perspective. They discuss both developed and emerging nations and advance the understanding of this increasingly important topic.The articles address issues from an interdisciplinary focus with an emphasis on current topical issues. Topics addressed include intellectual rights protection in emerging nations such as China, an exploration of a specific cross-national intellectual property perspective, strategies for protecting intellectual property rights, and a guide to understanding emerging and non-western legal systems. A mix of theoretical and practical observations helps the reader navigate the increasingly international topic of intellectual property as well as offers strategies for optimal utilization of intellectual property assets. The volume serves well both as a solution-oriented book and as a tool for facilitating further discussion and analysis in the classroom.Scholars and students in law, business and economics, as well as business practitioners interested in a global perspective on IP policy, will enjoy this book.

Read more less

The films of Andrei Tarkovsky have been revered as ranking on a par with the masterpieces of Russia's novelists and composers. His work, from films such as Ivan's "Childhood", "Andrei Rublev", "Solaris", "Mirror", "Nostalgia and Sacrifice", has had an enormous influence on the style of contemporary European film, with its open narrative structures and slow, pensive mood; yet Tarkovsky has remained an elusive subject for reflection and analysis. This book is a comprehensive, well-illustrated and much-needed account of Tarkovsky's entire film output. Robert Bird's analysis is centred around a detailed account of Tarkovsky's technique, which provides the best interpretive guide to both the director's films and his theoretical speculations. Integrating his idiosyncratic ideas with his films' irresistible sensuality, Bird highlights Tarkovsky's fascination with the elusive correlation between cinematic representation and the more primeval perception of the world. The book examines Tarkovsky's films elementally, grouping them into four sections: Water, Fire, Earth, and Air.It also discusses Tarkovsky's works for the radio, theatre and opera, and how he was in addition an accomplished actor, screenwriter, film theorist and diarist. The author's claim, however, is that Tarkovsky was a filmmaker before all else, and this book examines what Tarkovsky's cinema reveals about the medium in which he worked. A thorough yet accessible study, with a wealth of images including stills from films as well as the director and crew on set, this book will be of interest to all fans of Tarkovsky, students of film studies, and readers interested in European and Russian cinema.

Read more less

" . . . intriguing collection . . . a recommended study for anyone interested in the habits and personalities of great minds." —ForeWordThis compilation of reminiscences about Tchaikovsky the man is unprecedented in English. The memoirs, diary entries, and interviews written and conducted by his contemporaries show us both the public and the private figure: the law student, the professor, the philanthropist, the loving brother and uncle, the intrepid traveler, and of course the composer and conductor. In more than 50 documents—some laudatory, others not—Tchaikovsky's contemporaries speak of little-known facets of the composer's life: foibles and mannerisms, politics and tastes, prejudices and preferences (sexual and otherwise). The result is a dynamic portrayal of the composer, with all the complexities and paradoxes of a real life.

Read more less