Peter Murmann

Miles Ahead

No Comments 13 February 2019

A couple of months ago, I watched the documentary on Jimi Hendrix Hear my Train Coming. Starting in his teenage years, Jimi was only interested in two things: his guitar and women with music clearly in first place. The film draws much on live performances where the genius of Hendrix becomes very clear. At the end of the film, we learn that the estate of Jimi Hendrix “commissioned” the documentary. Only then did it become clear that we are watching a sanitized version of Hendrix’s life. The man died from a drug overdose. But in an effort make Jimi appear as likable and charming as possible and increase for his estate sales from his music his death is portrayed more as an accident of someone how dabbled a bit in drugs. Miles Ahead takes a very different approach.

Movies, Drama

Big Little Lies

No Comments 27 January 2019

The hype is well-deserved. Big Little Lies is a fantastic TV mini series. I highly recommended the series to a friend and she made the mistake of watching the last episode first. This was very unfortunate because rarely has a series done so well in gradually building up the tension and suspense, only to reach a dizzying climax in the final episode.

Diary

The Demolition Artist: 3 Critics Debate Ivo van Hove

No Comments 10 January 2019

Peter Murmann: Inspring dicussion of the work of theatre director Ivo van Hove in the NY Times (Jan. 9, 2019)

By Ben Brantley, Elisabeth Vincentelli and Jason Zinoman

Who is Ivo van Hove and why are theatergoers saying such (thrilling) (furious) (mystified) things about him? How did the unassuming Belgian director, who since 2001 has made the theater company Toneelgroep Amsterdam his base of operations, turn into the most important auteur on the international stage circuit — and now a three-time Broadway director?