Nostalgia becomes a “producer of meaning.” This is how the writer and filmmaker Luis López Carrasco defined it this week in an interview with La Opinión de Murcia, where he states that “nostalgia can devour you without you realizing it.”
In 2020, López Carrasco made an astonishing documentary called The year of discovery, circa 1992. And he managed to do it without nostalgia. So we can look at the past, even a fetishized recent past (like the 90s) and put “just the right distance so that it doesn’t eat us,” in his words.
One of the funny things about nostalgia is that, like vodkatonics, He has an uncontrollable amnesic power. And, if it is not amnesia because it has not been experienced, it is a fog that blurs the contours and affects the lucidity of understanding.
We have seen this recently when we witnessed the demands of groups that have triumphed massively as if it were a dark secret marginalized by those in power. general public. And also with the announcement of Oasis’ return this week.
The 15 years minus a day without Oasis (although multiplied by two, since we have witnessed the parallel careers of Liam and Noel Gallagher, in whose concerts they also performed Oasis songs) seem to have made us forget that their last albums were uninteresting, songs and emotions. From the point of view of 2024, it is as if his entire discography were up to par Certainly maybe And What’s the story (Morning Glory).
The 17 concerts announced promise to be massive. What do fans hope to find? A morning of glory. A glimpse of what happened. A celebration of nostalgia.
Just a hunch: if the Gallaghers had something new to say today, they would come back with an album, not a tour. We can look back on the past (with fury, preferably) but with just enough distance so that it does not eat away at us.
Three recommended articles
This is the story of the monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Armedilla, or what remains of it, in the town of Cogeces del Monte, in Valladolid. The confiscation turned it into a quarry meat, but today it is reborn as a solemn cultural scene.
Selma Lagerlöf was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. She wrote children’s literature, but her work gained depth with a 1918 novel (now reprinted in Spain) that explores the morality of cannibalism and the hypocrisy of Christianity.
After the breakup of Swedish synthpop band The Knife, Karin Dreijer continued to make music under the name Fever Ray, performing at the Kalorama festival in Madrid. In this interview, he tells us about the song he wrote to avenge his children against school homophobia.
Three recommended books
Emiliano Monge He is one of the most recognized current Mexican authors. In his new novel, The living (Random House) deals with forced disappearances and structural violence in Latin America. In bookstores, September 5.
The writer from Orense Juan Tallon (Masterpiece, Rewind) He has a new novel called The best in the world (Anagram). He delves into it in his twisted style of reality. How does what our parents want for us determine our future? And what is our last name? In bookstores, September 4.
Jesmyn Ward She is the first woman and the first African-American person to have received the National Book Award twice in the United States. The Sexto Piso publishing house now translates This blind world on the strength of African American women. You can start reading it here. In bookstores, September 9.
Three recommended films, by Javier Zurro
Although I’m in Venice covering the film festival (don’t miss the daily coverage), I bring you these three recommendations for films to see in theaters:
‘You will come back’: ok, there are still a lot left, but You will come back It is currently the best Spanish film of the year. Jonás Trueba achieves an impossible balance between the lightness of the best comedy and the reflection on love and routine in a free film, without narrative links, that plays, has fun and conquers the viewer with its mixture of reality and fiction. A gem.
“The Echo”: If you don’t know Tatiana Huezo, you’re taking your time. The Mexican filmmaker left us speechless with night of fire (it’s on Netflix), and being able to move on to more ambitious and conventional projects, he showed that he is very clear about what he wants to tell and the type of projects that interest him with this beautiful and personal documentary about a small Mexican town.
‘Pulp Fiction’: yes friends, it is reissued pulp Fictionand not recommending it would be like a cinephile crime. Tarantino changed modern cinema 30 years ago, but the legacy and influence of his film remains valid. You rarely get the chance to see a film like this on the big screen, so don’t miss it.
Librotea’s recommendations
This week, Librotea offers us the books that actress Aida Folch recommends and also gives us reading tips to fight against hatred towards sexual diversity:
