M. C. Escher - Journey Into Infinity Movie Review

M. C. Escher - Journey Into Infinity Movie Review
Artist, Mathematician, or Both?

I didn't get to go away to college -- I stayed local -- so I ended up living at home with my parents. I wasn't an art aficionado then, and I'm still not, but I decided I wanted to personalize my room as any college student would. The first piece of "art" I ever bought was a poster of a very famous M. C. Escher work titled "Relativity." It's one of Escher's prototypical, paradoxical prints of people walking up impossible stairways where the traditional laws of physics do not apply. I still love it.

Director Robin Lutz has a new documentary devoted to Escher that is narrated in Escher's own words that are taken from his writings. I loved it, but unless it had turned out to be a slog, I knew I was going to enjoy it.

In the opening scene, Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and sometimes Young, tells a story about when he first became aware of Escher's work. He contacted the artist to tell him how much he loved his artwork. Escher replied that he was not an artist. He was a mathematician. In actuality, his work is representative of both. I always loved math when I was younger, so maybe that's why I was drawn to Escher.

Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in 1898 and passed in 1972. He was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematic inspired woodcuts and lithographs. For most of his life, Escher was neglected by the art world, even in his native Netherlands.

70 years of Escher's life had gone by before the first exhibition of his work was held. Perhaps not coincidentally, Escher's popularity took off at the same time that rock concerts -- sometimes psychadelic and frequently pharmacalogically enhanced -- became huge in the 1960's. That demographic loved the artists' work but Escher himself wasn't happy about the way it was being colorized to be put under black light in order to give it a glowing effect. In the twenty-first century, the purity of his original work has become far better appreciated.

The film delves into Escher's personal life with his wife and children. His kids are interviewed in the film and they provide their insights into the private Escher. His wife suffered from mental illness, but managed to hold it together most of the time.

When Nazism was on the rise, the family was living in Italy. The parents decided to leave Italy because they were afraid that their children would become infatuated with fascism.

Escher felt stuck between two worlds. He wasn't fully accepted in the art world and even less so by the scientific community. He viewed himself as speaking a language few could understand and once said, "I'm too stupid to live as a scientist, but I'm not an artist, either." History may suggest otherwise.

"M. C. Escher - Journey to Infinity" is difficult for me to appraise objectively because I'm such an enormous fan of the artist/mathematician. I loved the film, but is it because it's just that good or because the subject matter is so near and dear to me? My best guess is that it's absolutely worth seeing, whether you appreciate the artist's unique perspective or not.
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About Wanni Arachchige Udara Madusanka Perera

Hey, I'm Perera! I will try to give you technology reviews(mobile,gadgets,smart watch & other technology things), Automobiles, News and entertainment for built up your knowledge.
M. C. Escher - Journey Into Infinity Movie Review M. C. Escher - Journey Into Infinity Movie Review Reviewed by Wanni Arachchige Udara Madusanka Perera on May 19, 2021 Rating: 5

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