Brideshead Revisited

I find it sad, but also somewhat amusing, that contemporary Hollywood producers are more conservative than British upperclass Catholic converts in the 1940's; compare the current film version of Brideshead Revisited with Evelyn Vaugh's novel from 1945.

In the original, Charles is fascinated by the aristocratic Marchmain family, especially the younger son Sebastian. In the movie, focus is shifted from their ambiguous relationship to a kind of triangle drama between Charles, Sebastian and the latter's sister Julia, who enters Charles' life much later in the novel. According to the producer, this was done because "the theme of love across a religious and aristocratic divide has contemporary relevance".

Poppycock, I say. It is threatening to mainstream Hollywood that a relationship between two men (regardless of the sexual content) could be of equal worth to a relationship between a man and a woman; the heterosexual romance has been elevated to the highest possible fulfillment of a plot (a relatively modern development; see Jonathan Ned Katz's brilliant The Invention of Heterosexuality).

The novelist himself, with a deeply religious message to boot, lets Charles state: "Charles's romantic affection for Sebastian is part due to the glitter of the new world Sebastian represents, part to the protective feeling of a strong towards a weak character, and part a foreshadowing of the love for Julia which is to be the consuming passion of his mature years." Thus, I see his view of love between men as rather pre-modern; an introduction to love, a rite of passage perhaps, but not the ultimate fulfillment. However, in contrast to the hegemonic narrative of modern Hollywood, heterosexual love does not bring this ultimate fulfillment either. Vaughn's goal is love divine, in the selfless act of forgiving and letting go, not in the selfish act of possessing another human being.

Even though I cannot call myself a theist, I don't think much of this current idolizing of romantic love as the magical cure of all evils; as anyone who is or has been in a relationship knows, dreaming of love is easy, living with it is hard work.

Luckily I discovered the ITV series from 1981 first, with a young Jeremy Irons as Charles. Just as you think it cannot possibly get any campier, enter Anthony! (I wish I could be there.)

From the LIFE photo archive

Google has made the incredible photo archives of LIFE magazine digitally available to the general public. Many of the photos have never been published before and include works by celebrities like Alfred Eisenstaedt, less-known photographers like Hugo Jaeger (colour photos of the Third Reich, a creepy experience), and unknown illustrators. Here are some of my favourites in no particular order, perhaps they give an impression of my main interests :)

Helsinki; in front, the Russian Orthodox church, in the back, the Lutheran Helsinki Cathedral. I bet the photographer chose this angle because of the "red scare" during the general strike in Finland in 1949. An anecdote about Ronald Reagan tells that the President during a visit in Helsinki quipped, "I can see Russia from here!"
Date taken: August 08, 1949 * Photographer: Mark Kauffman

Ella Fitzgerald at "Mr. Kelly's" nightclub in Chicago, 1958. Photographer: Yale Joel

Jesuit novices contemplating their breviaries at Los Gatos Novitiate a.k.a. Sacred Heart Novitiate, San Jose, California. There are many more beautiful photographs from their vineyards and the varied work of the novices by Margaret Bourke-White. Date taken: October 1953


Carl Mydans, who also documented the Winter War from the Finnish side, took beautiful colour photographs of Venetian life in the 1940's.


This is adorable. A man is combing his girlfriend's hair in Italy, 1963. The photograph Paul Schutzer clearly enjoyed documenting Italian masculinity since there are many charming photographs of men doing nice things like dancing, mountain-climbing, relaxing or just goofing around. It is nice to rest one's eyes on those pictures after an overdose of full-colour Nazi and Fascist parades...
Tragically, Paul Schutzer was killed while covering the Six-Day War.


From peace to war, and to yet another war: This photo was taken in Khe Sanh, Vietnam, by Larry Burrows in 1968. The American soldier under siege is gently holding a native puppy. I hope they both got away alive; the photographer himself died while covering the invasion of Laos in 1971, when the helicopter he was flying in was shot down by North Vietnamese forces.

Un poco di carità

Not related to the 1920's - but still fun from a Goldenbird perspective. No less than THREE of my favourite Italians of all time, in the same film clip, all dressed up as monks, too!
Il monaco di Monza (1963) was an Italian comedy, apparently not a very memorable work from any angle except this novelty scene, inspired by the new trends in pop music. In order of appearance: Don Backy, Adriano Celentano, and later, the great Totò himself, uncharacteristically the voice of order and reason. "Basta! Basta!"

On the Antonio de Curtis (aka Totò) website, there are a lot of stills and some quotes about the movie. It was a parody of "La monaca di Monza", the story of a nun featured in the Italian classic novel The Betrothed (I promessi sposi). The story of the noblewoman turned nun and her secret love affair with a dangerous nobleman has been filmed at least 5 times (once for TV), turned into a play, a fumetto, and much more. (Here's some info about the real monastery in Monza.)

What a turn of events - from 17th century tragedy to 1960's silliness. (Italy in a nutshell?) Not to lose the thread, I end by recommending my favourite YouTube videos with the three gentlemen separately.
Don Backy sings "Poesia" in 1966
Adriano Celentano sings "Azzurro" and "Preghero" (Stand By Me) in the 1960's
Totò playing a rather d'Annunzian type in 1962

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Falco's Patron Saints

I finally decided on Falco's full name: Falco Demetrio Luigi Maria Peregrini. (Complete character profile here.) Much like Rudolph Valentino, he has a lot of names, some given by family tradition, others by his mother's fancy (i.e., mine!).
His name, even before he became an Italian seminarian of the 1920's, has always been Falco or Falk, or a variation thereof. This is my own pure fancy - originally he was invented as the companion of a character with the name Wolf, in a Nordic fantasy setting. Falcon and wolf make a handsome and symbolic pair! (See also, Volkov the anarchist: here and here.)

There are several half-mythical Falcos in the Patron Saint Index that I usually consult on these matters. The only verified saint is Saint Falco of Maastricht, whose feast day is February 20th. Spelled "Falko", the name is of Old High German origin and is still in use in Germany and Austria. It means "falcon", obviously... I've chosen the name not because Falco has anything to do with Maastricht (although I remember having some very intense visual experiences while browsing a photobook about the city as a small child), but because the falcon has great spiritual significance in the poetry of both W.B. Yeats and Gerard Manley Hopkins, as a double symbol of the soul in search for God - and Christ himself.

The next name, Demetrio, points to the east. I wanted Falco to have a Byzantine connection, and I like the name Demetrius (or Dmitri) because it is derived from "Demeter", the ancient Grecian mother goddess. It is actually more common in the south of Italy, where the Greek city-states maintained colonies for centuries. Saint Demetrius of Sermium, a.k.a. Great Martyr Demetrius the Myrrh-Streamer, is revered in the Eastern church. He was a soldier and a deacon (like Falco) and was martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Maximian, 306 AD in what is today Serbia. His relics were said to emit holy oil. He is a patron saint of crusaders and a protector against evil spirits. The details of his life can only be guessed from the pages of the fabulous Golden Legend.

Luigi Maria just sounds nice together. I checked the Patron Saint Index for both "Luigi Maria" and "Louis Marie", and found two inspiring men of the 19th and the 18th century, good role models for an aspiring priest. Falco is still trying to discern his true vocation. There is so little time and so much to do - what kind of mission does God want him to focus on? The layman Luigi Maria Monti (1825-1900), beatified as recently as 2003, found his vocation in active charity. He was born in a poor family in northern Italy and worked as a craftsman while also organizing prayer groups. His greatest work was in the field of nursing and medicine. He founded a congregation with the purpose of providing health care for sick and poor people, especially victims of epidemics.

Saint Louis Marie de Monfort (1673-1716) was canonized in 1947, so he was also not officially venerated during Falco's early years. However, his devotion to Mary was very influential. His vocation focused on spiritual development. He wrote an interesting guide on Marian devotion that I'd like to recommend here, although he warned that it should only be shared with people "who deserve to know it because they are prayerful, give alms to the poor, do penance, suffer persecution, are unworldly, and work seriously for the salvation of souls". You have been warned!

The Secret of Mary - by Louis Marie de Monfort

Disclaimer: I'm not Catholic or Christian myself, but I try to remain faithful to the time period and cultural mindset that I depict. These are all my own interpretations, however.

Tonsure or not?

I have wrestled with the problem a longer time. Properly, Falco ought to be tonsured, having already received minor orders. The tonsure during the 19th and early 20th century was not larger than a host (some orders used the measurement 'three fingers wide'). According to Wikipedia, "failing to maintain tonsure was the equivalent of attempting to abandon one's clerical state, and in the 1917 Code of Canon Law, any cleric in minor orders (or simply tonsured) who did not resume the tonsure within a month after being warned by his Ordinary, lost the clerical state". The tonsura (or corona clericalis) was, however, not required for clerics serving in countries with a non-Catholic majority population. Perhaps this is Falco's convenient excuse - his order expects him to serve in various countries, also such that target Catholics for persecution.

I have encountered the tonsure in anti-Catholic literature as well as nostalgic Catholic art. In German writer Eugenie Marlitt's novel Die zweite Frau from 1874, a Catholic priest is making an unwelcome advance at the noble Lutheran heroine. The scene could be described as exploitative - the lady is horrified, but also attracted by the priest's abandon of moral control. The sing that makes her break out of his spell is the sight of his tonsure:

Er trat plötzlich unter einem leidenschaftlichen Zurückwerfen des Kopfes auf sie zu und breitete niedersinkend beide Arme aus, um die Kniee der jungen Frau flehend zu umfassen — das grüne Lampenlicht floß grell über das marmorartige Oval seines Gesichts, über den leblosen weißen Fleck inmitten der dunkellockigen Haarmassen — ihr war, als zeige ein unsichtbarer Finger auf diesen Fleck als auf ein Kainszeichen — sie floh, während ihre schönen Hände wild nach dem knieenden Manne stießen.

The novel was written during Chancellor Bismarck's Kulturkampf ("culture struggle") against the Catholic church in the Second Reich, and is a clear example of literary anti-Catholic propaganda. There are more interesting themes in the novel (the "second woman" of the title is either the heroine, who marries a seemingly loveless and superior nobleman, or the nobleman's brother's Oriental concubine, who is the focal point of a conspiracy where the priest plays the villain).

The tonsure fell gradually out of use (except for a ceremonial cutting of hair during the ordination). As of 15 August 1972, first tonsure is no longer conferred, except for certain orders who retain the right. Some nice examples of tonsures can be spotted in the naivist painter Baldino's works.

Francisco Possenti

Although Mayann is Goldenbird's official leading lady, there is a certain gentleman who steals a lot of the attention. As a character, Falco Peregrini is not easy to write, since he is shaped by several experiences that must remain alien to me: early loss of parents, the minor seminary, military service at the Alpine front, prisoner of war in Austria, missionary work in Japan etc. Although he isn't based on any real-life person in the 1920's, I constantly discover real stories and ideas that support my work and teach me important lessons. One of these stories is the life of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, which I encountered today while searching for images of Pope Benedict XV (the things we do for procrastination...).

Francisco Possenti (1838-1862) was born in Assisi and grew up in Spoleto. As a young man, he was well-liked, fond of dancing, girls and hunting - but several tragic incidents in his family and a serious illness led him to religious life. He was educated by Jesuits and finally joined the Passionists. His monastic name was Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Having contracted tuberculosis, he continued on his spiritual path well aware of his imminent death. On February 27th, 1862, Gabriel passed away, only 24 years old. (Why must all the people featured on this blog die tragically?...) Several miraculous healings were attributed to him, and he was canonized in 1920 by Benedict XV, who promoted the young saint as an example for the modern youth. Gabriel was devoted to the Virgin Mary, as seen on the portrait. It is told that he died holding an image of her.

"Aveva occhi tondi, neri, assai vivaci e belli: sembravano due stelle."

This is the kind of role model that Falco has grown up with, although I suppose even his kindest superiors know that he himself is no saint material! St Gabriel's 41 resolutions are interesting reading if you want to compare Falco's strengths and weaknesses to the saintly ideal. It is evident that some resolutions are easier to keep than others...
Curiously, there is a society in the United States that tries to promote St Gabriel as a patron saint of handgunners. It seems that the reasons for this connection are pure legend. (Falco, with his affection for the Beretta 1915, would probably find it amusing, although disturbing - he is adamantly pro-life, after all.)