My Major Arcana of Cinema
As I mentioned almost two months ago, I've been doing art on the daily. It's still going on. Today marks my 60th day of making art every day and I'm still loving it. It's been an absolute treat watching my art improve. And now I have another report for this goofy blog.
Film: Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
Film: Frankenstein
Year: 1928
Almost a month ago, I started a project of painting tarot cards based on films that are special to me. The choice wasn't always a perfect fit for the tarot and the film, but each film is special to me for some reason and I wanted a chance to showcase them. That's what I'll be doing today.
0 - The Fool
Year: 1953
Director: Jacques Tati
Every journey starts with a single step. The Fool represents beginnings in many ways. I'm not sure Tati's famous clown, Hulot, is the perfect fool, but once this image was in my head, I had to exorcise it. Deeper into the Hulot series, Tati uses M. Hulot's general ignorance of how society is "supposed" to work in order to poke fun at it.
I didn't explore Jacques Tati until very recently and I've quickly become an evangelist. His films are hilarious and increase in their maturity of being art very, very quickly. In contrast, there's an adorable innocence to the very first film, Monsieur Hulot's Holiday, that makes it the perfect fit - despite being long in the tooth in acting and pushing fifty, this was Tati's directorial debut.
I - The Magician
Year: 1931
Director: James Whale
The Magician! Creativity, willpower, manifestation. I immediately knew that I wanted Frankenstein for this card. I was torn between James Whale's version or the recent Guillermo del Toro version but something inside me really wanted to try painting with a black and white pallet and that vision won out. This film was special to me as a kid.
Henry Frankenstein in here, played by Colin Clive, gained cinematic immortality with his frenetic "he's alive!" that still echoes in the heads of movie fans. It's that determination to create I wanted to manifest here. I also tried to squeeze as many of the elements of the card as I could - the suites represented on the table in front of Henry, the traditional wand replaced with a chain which Henry pulls to elevate the Creature to the sky (which, as I worked on this set, the chain actually keeps repeating and I'm curious of possibly replacing the wand with a chain as a suite), and the infinity symbol in the stonework above his head - as if those stones were always there, waiting for this moment.
II - The High Priestess
Director: Carl Theodore Dreyer
This is another card that immediately came to me upon brainstorming however there was no pontificating on what could replace it. Dreyer's Joan of Arc was my High Priestess. Joan of Arc, played flawlessly by Renée Jeanne Falconetti, refuses to submit to the tiny men that are affronted by her insistence to wear *gasp* pants because God told her it was okay. In the film, Joan of Arc is tormented in the guards in a way meant to reflect the way Jesus was tormented, so Joan, in this card, wears the crown they made her and holds the arrow they made her hold.
This was another film I first watched recently and I was nervous. I didn't think I would appreciate a 100 year old silent film. I was so grateful I was wrong. There is a timelessness to this film.
III - The Empress
Film: Children of Men
Year: 2006
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
My first non-color film in the collection! And the first in the current century. I absolutely cherish Children of Men as a film and really wanted to find the right card to celebrate it, and I think I did with The Empress. All that is feminine and in touch with nature, Kee is a pregnant woman in a world where there hasn't been a child born in a decade and a half.
This was the first time I explored with starting with a color wash to start the piece and I feel the yellow was a good choice for this dying world - also because it allowed the greens to pop that much more. I tried to incorporate as many elements of the card as I could, but I felt the scene where Kee is exploring the playground of an abandoned school was the moment best to express this card.
IV - The Emperor
Film: Jurassic Park
Year: 1993
Director: Stephen Spielberg
I went back and forth trying to figure out who would be my Emperor. I had other candidates, one who we'll see soon, but I had to go with John Hammond. He sits on a throne reflecting the entrance to Jurassic Park and, like the card, holds a globe and staff to represent his power - here its his bamboo cane with the amber top and a dinosaur egg.
I placed him in front of the Tyrannosaurus rex paddock to emphasize that his power is ephemeral. I have a bit of distaste for traditional power structures, and that comes out a few times in this card set. This was a great chance to play with it.
On the craft side, this was the first time I actually made ruling lines for the lettering of the card. The first four were free handed and I felt the need to formalize it at this point.
V - The Hierophant
Film: The Planet of the Apes
Year: 1968
Director: Franking J. Schaffner
Dr Zaius! He was also a high contender for The Emperor, however, unlike Hammond who needed the control, Zaius rules in order to keep chaos from reigning. He is the last bastion of defense keeping society from reverting to the great chaos that brought about the planet of the apes.
While Planet of the Apes probably isn't a film I "love" it is something I think everyone should watch, so I'll happily include it in this pantheon.
And yes, I was singing the Dr Zaius song from The Simpsons the whole time I was painting this.
VI - The Lovers
Year: 1964
Director: Jacques Demy
A few years back when I had a Criterion Channel subscription, I perused "movies that are leaving soon" and threw on The Umbrellas of Cherbourg with absolutely zero foreknowledge. I was greeted with a brilliantly colored free jazz musical in French about a pair of idiot kids that fall in love the way that only French idiot kids can. This was before my recent exploration of musicals, so I didn't think I'd like musicals. I was not a fan of (and am still hesitant to try) French films.
In the first fifteen minutes I was crying.
The Lovers isn't just about the love of the two on the card but also about making hard choices - and boy howdy, is that this story in spades. When I revisit this series to do "big" version of the cards, there are several cards I may change the subject matter. This one ain't ever changing.
VII - The Chariot
Film: Akira
Year: 1988
Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Tetsuooooooo!!!Kanedaaaaaa!!!
The first representation of Asian cinema in this pantheon and, oddly, the only representation of animation. But I feel that Kaneda and his infamous red bike are the perfect example of the Chariot - willpower, unstoppable motion, stubbornness, all on an iconic vehicle.
There was a lot of exploration with how to best represent the background on this one because, unlike the live action films before this, this was the first time I had an artform I could more closely replicate - or mess up. I look forward to the next time I artistically explore NeoTokyo.
VIII - Strength
Film: Cat People
Year: 1942
Director: Jacques Tourner
Cat People was another one of those films that surprised me with how hard I fell for it. I love exploring proto-horror - films that helped codify what has defined the modern genre, but, in the famous critique John Carpenter has of this film "isn't scary."
In the traditional Strength card, a woman is dominating a lion. In Cat People, Irena insists she is cursed with turning into a cat person - a curse that is dismissed by everyone around her. She is slowly put into this metaphorical cage as his husband and his "friend" begin to scheme to institutionalize her behind her back. In this version of the card, the large cat isn't what threatens the woman - it's not what has caged her. She and the panther defend one another.
Tourner's films have a wonderful oneiric atmosphere, and Cat People is certainly no exemption. I leaned towards that vibe for this painting and I am really proud of it.
IX - The Hermit
Film: Ikiru
Year: 1952
Director: Akira Kurosawa
I can't even so much as give a simple plot explanation of this film without breaking into tears. The story is so powerful. Watanabe goes through a full journey of trying to get the most out of what little life he has left and realizes he can do something no one else can do - cut through bureaucratic red tape and make a park. The movie is so much more that just that, but its this solo, transformative journey this man takes that makes him perfect for my Hermit.
This is the second time I've explored this image. Before watercolors, I was doing simply ink, drawing some of my favorite black and white scenes, and I had to do this one. I was so happy to revisit it again and I'm certain it won't be my last time. This project has revealed to me exactly how important Kurosawa's films are to me. He's the only director represented more than once in the Major Arcana.
X - Wheel of Fortune
Film: 12 Monkeys
Year: 1995
Director: Terry Gilliam
Wheel of Fortune was a tough one to try to represent. Once I figured out 12 Monkeys, though, this image presented itself to me. The inevitability of fate, change and cycles are all essential to this film as well La Jetée, which this film is basically a tribute to.
If and when I reapproach larger versions of the Major Arcana, I'm unsure if I'll still have this film but if I do, I will definitely be doing a different design. It's sterile and not really a good tribute to either the film or the card, but man... I am proud of how the symbol came out. That was really the intent for this piece, with the rest being an afterthought, which is fine for a morning sketch.
XI - Justice
Film: Memories of Murder
Year: 2003
Director: Bong Joon Ho
The only contribution from Korean cinema represented in this pantheon is Bong Joon Ho's phenomenal Memories of Murder. I have a lot of thoughts on this film and a lot of them are expressed here. I decided to represent Justice with the three primary police officers of the film, Park Doo-man in the middle as our primary protagonist in the film; Young-koo the muscle to the left, representing the sword of Justice; and Tae-yoon, the by the book detective to the right, representing the scales of Justice.
There's also a lot in both this card and the film about karma and getting retribution, which is enacted upon these men for their sins. This is another one of those cards that I had a lot of thoughts walking into it and I'm proud with how it came out - and I'm glad my little "trick" of not using ink for the photo helped make it look out of focus.
XII - The Hanged Man
Film: Hellraiser
Year: 1987
Director: Clive Barker
I am a horror sicko. So much that I've toyed with doing an entire Major Arcana just on horror films, which makes it odd to me, in retrospect, that this is one of two representations of horror in this pantheon. A part of it is that I may have been saving the better ideas for that exercise. I also think that I wanted to make this deck as "accessible" to "normal folk" as possible, and horror just isn't seen as "accessible."
That said, I love this card. I experimented with some blending techniques on the background that I feel really paid off. I love Hellraiser, having just recently rewatched it before painting this. Despite having done everything in his power to evade the Cenobites, once he's back in their clutches all Larry can do is grin. Much like The Hanged Man, Larry put himself in this position and he loves it.
XIII - Death
Film: The Night of the Hunter
Year: 1955
Director: Charles Laughton
I love this film, y'all. And it is so tragic that it was a critical and financial failure that Laughton never directed again. Which makes no goddamn sense to me because everything about it is a masterpiece. I think this is the film where I finally fell for Robert Mitchum - his menace exudes, even with a gentle smile.
Harry Powell, this story's Bluebeard, ends stories wherever he goes - slaying anyone that gets in his way, all the while cozying up to his Lord, whom he insists he's doing the work of. He is such a phenomenal villain and Mitchum truly brings him to life.
This was another card that I like how it came out, the watercolor doing exactly what I was hoping for. The limited color pallet allows me to focus on giving it that menace with the yellow peaking out.
XIV - Temperance
Film: Tampopo
Year: 1985
Director: Juzo Itami
Temperance is a tough card to represent in this pantheon - extolling the virtues of moderation doesn't often make good cinema. Instead, I leaned into patience and finding meaning in simple pursuits. I also had in my mind the imagery of the classic card of an angel pouring water in to sacramental wine to dilute it. It inspired me to think of the titular Tampopo pouring broth into her ramen. She immediately felt the perfect angelic subject for this card.
Tampopo is a comedy swirling around ramen, ramen culture, and that chase to be the perfect at your craft - in this case, making the perfect bowl of ramen. Its a noble pursuit, and in the film we see all walks of Japanese culture from the fanciest restaurant to sharing a bowl with a cadre of homeless chefs. Tampopo takes all those lessons and finds her joyful middle road.
XV - The Devil
Film: Uncut Gems
Year: 2019
Directors: Josh and Benny Safdie
Uncut Gems is not a film for the faint of heart. It is uncut, nonstop anxiety. I am a defender of Adam Sandler in dramatic roles, and its this film that made me his champion. He does a phenomenal job making this paragon of avarice feel like a real person and not just the Jewish caricature that the Safdie brothers say that spawned the whole script.
This is a man that lives for the drive of getting more. He has everything - a phenomenal house, a kid that worships him, a beautiful wife, a job - and it'll never be enough. He needs a mistress. He needs to gamble every second of every day. If he's not hustling, he's not breathing.
It's that insatiable hunger that made me think of him as The Devil. He will take everyone down with him, exploiting every societal nicety just to get one more endorphin rush - fuck the consequences.
XVI - The Tower
Film: Ran
Year: 1985
Director: Akira Kurosawa
This was the catalyst that started this whole project. I casually was connecting films with tarot cards and once I asked myself what would be The Tower, Ran irrevocably sent me down this path. I love this film. It is gorgeous in the most tragic ways and a film I try to revisit every summer, as the chattering of cicadas represent the madness that our hero, the former emperor, Hidetora, descends into.
This moment in the film, the attack on the Third Castle, is what finally makes Hidetora snap. He realizes that he has truly lost everything and loses the one thing he truly had left - his sanity. As the armies of two of his sons watch him wander into the wilderness, his last castle is consumed.
Kurosawa famously burned down an actual castle for this scene. It could only have one take. You can feel the heat watching this.
XVII - The Star
Film: Nights of Cabiria
Year: 1957
Director: Federico Fellini
The only Italian film in this pantheon, as much as I am a Fellini hater, I am a Giulietta Masina lover. She is why I fell so hard for Nights of Cabiria as I did. Her Cabiria is the paragon of endless hope. No matter what horrible things befall this poor girl, no matter what horrors she witnesses, she can't help but see beauty in the world.
As for this card, it was an attempt at redemption. I hated how Song Kang-ho came out on the Justice card and Sandler came out on the Devil card and I needed to at least have some card that looked like the subject matter. This is also the first time I forsook an inked guide walking in, just painting what I saw in the reference images, and I think I nailed what I was trying to do. I really love this card.
XVIII - The Moon
Film: A Trip to the Moon
Year: 1902
Director: Georges Méliès
I had another film for this, one that fit better for the cards symbolism - but sometimes you just gotta go with the obvious. Méliès' A Trip to the Moon is so absolutely iconic, it has become synonymous with loving cinema. I needed to tip my hat in his honor and ensure that his masterpiece made it to my pantheon.
This was the first card where I had absolutely zero pencil work beforehand and I couldn't be prouder. The amount of progress I've made in watercolor is on display here. I love this card, not just because of that, but because of the expression I ended up with on the Moon - it is a haughty one. The original moon is indignant, but this one thinks the rocket in its eye is nothing to it. You think you can hurt the moon with a rocket? Your grandchildren's grandchildren will be singing songs to the moon while your memories are dust.
XIX - The Sun
Film: The Wicker Man
Year: 1973
Director: Robin Hardy
Man, I love The Wicker Man. I want to retire to an island of pagans that trick irate, judgmental Christian cops into being sacrifices.
The joy that the denizens of Summerisle experience just living their best lives, combined with their sunny icon, is what drew me to this film for this card. I wanted to further experiment with color for the background. I'm not sure it did exactly what I hoped, but it gets the point across.
This is another one that I'm on the fence of whether, when I redo as large cards, if I'd keep. I wonder if that's because of the same hesitance to include Hellraiser and my own biases of horror as "true cinema" despite being a horror nerd.
XX - Judgment
Film: All That Jazz
Year: 1979
Director: Bob Fosse
Judgment! Represented by Judgment Day in most cards, I couldn't think of another film that is filled with someone judging themselves and desperately finding themselves wanting than Fosse's All That Jazz. A retelling of Fosse's own experience of a life threatening physical collapse while editing a film and running a musical at the same time - Fosse really bared it all for us to see, portrayed perfectly by Roy Scheider as the Fosse stand-in of Joe Gideon.
The film is interspersed with Gideon talking with Jessica Lange as Angelique, the Angel of Death, and that imagery felt perfect to have in this, Angelique hovering above Joe as he sings his final song, "Bye Bye Life." While the original intent was to have the background look like the shimmering of light... it kinda comes off as if Angelique has a classic clown outfit on. I'm also really unhappy with the ink work, but hey, that's me living my own judgment.
XXI - The World
Film: Singin' in the Rain
Year: 1952
Directors: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Which takes us to XXI - The World. Harmony and being on top of the world. The original tarot card has art of someone almost dancing that, for me, invoked the imagery of Gene Kelly in the iconic pose of hanging off the lamppost in Singin' in the Rain - I had to do it.
At this point - I'm ready to take a break from the tarot. This project was fun but after twenty days of it, it became a job. And the morning sketch project was supposed to challenge me in new and different ways.
One of the challenges, though, was seeing a project to completion. I still have four suites of the tarot I'd like to explore, but for now, the Major Arcana feels like a nice place to stop for now. Which makes this card the perfect place to end - completion.
And that is my report on my art project. Since starting this, I've also started selling prints and have made prints on a few of these. If you are interested in getting any of these as prints, let me know. I can sell them at these prices:
4" x 6" - $7
4" x 6" - $7
5" x 7" - $10
8" x 10" - $15
Currently working on shipping but as of now, shipping is $10 for any number of prints in the US (if you live outside we'll have to figure out a different price). If you're interested, ping me on any of the normal channels. If you don't have my email in any of the normal channels, email me at john AT acpsociety DOT org.
Thanks for reading. Imma take a nap.
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