Once more I must draw attention to the fact
that today we celebrate “World Book and Copyright Day 2016”. Ms Irina Bokova,
Director-General of UNESCO – United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization – has written a message about
this day on the UNESCO webpage:
“A book is
a link between the past and the future. It is a bridge between generations and
across cultures. It is a force for creating and sharing wisdom and
knowledge. Frank Kafka once said, “a
book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.” A window onto our inner lives, books are also
the doorway to mutual respect and understanding between people, across all
boundaries and differences. (…) William Shakespeare died on 23
April, 1616, preceded by only one day by Cervantes. On this day, I call upon
all of UNESCO’s partners to share the message that books are a force to
counter, what Shakespeare called, “the common curse of mankind -- folly and ignorance.”
This year, the celebration is very special because we
mark the 4th centenary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes and that
of Shakespeare, consequently, a wide range of events have been organised
worldwide. I encourage you to have a look at the UNESCO webpage where you can
discover all sorts of initiatives in order to celebrate this red-letter day.
But we can´t forget that this blog is about cinema so why not watch a film
based on one of the works of these writers as a way of marking this centenary?
There are countless of film adaptations of their works as well as films
inspired by their lives or their age so it´s not easy to make a suggestion; as
usual it all comes down to our tastes and of course, the mood we are in:
watching a film adaptation of a tragedy such as Hamlet can be great but maybe watching a film based on one of
Shakespeare´s comedies can be a better idea if you are feeling a bit under the
weather, don´t you think?
If you wish to learn about Cervantes, click on http://400cervantes.es/en/
The poster for Shakespeare
in Love (1998): a witty and romantic comedy about the story behind Romeo and Juliet, an imaginary love affair between Viola de Lesseps
(Gwyneth Paltrow) and
William Shakespeare (John Fiennes). It won seven Academy Awards.
Read whatever you enjoy reading, watch the kind of films you enjoying
watching, borrow a book from a friend or from the local library, go into a
bookshop and buy a book for yourself or to give it to someone you care for, if
you´re fond of books, that´s one of the most beautiful presents you can think of
and just enjoy this day!!
HAPPY BOOK DAY!!!
