Arts

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In the key of a master

Arts at One presents
Iman Habibi and
Deborah Grimmett in
Piano Pinnacle’

By Kayla Steinman,
Contributor

ast Thursday in

the Laura C. Muir
Performing Arts Theatre,
one of Douglas’ immensely
talented graduates returned
and proved that hard work
and determination can
make just about anyone’s
dreams come true. Iman
Habibi, once a Douglas
music student, now a
composer and pianist,
came back to his beloved
college to premier one of
his own compositions,
along with his partner and
Vancouver-based music
teacher, Deborah Grimmett.
These two brought with

them a passion that could
only be achieved by years of
patience as they developed
their music.

Focusing on music
from the 19th and the 20th
centuries, the duo played
for us the sounds of Spain
in “Ritmo” from Danses
Andalouses, composed by
Manuel Infante; the piece
expresses the fun, energetic,
and busy life of a person

amazing by requesting

for a number of miniature
compositions, averaging

a minute each, from all
around Canada, which they
went on to showcase five
of. This experiment was
intended to bring British
Columbian composers
more attention, a topic that
means a great deal to the
duo; they went on to wish
to encourage more students

was a piece that was found
in a box of unwanted music
outside of Grimmett’s
studio, entitled “In a
Persian Market.” This piece
allowed one to easily hear
the hustle and bustle of a
market: the camels coming
and going as bookends,
with a princess arriving in-
between. Habibi, who hails
from a Persian background,
used said reasoning as a

‘Towering’ was very lovely, with the melodies and
harmonies shared between the two pianos, it could make
anyone want to become a music student.

in Spain. Using two pianos
for all of the compositions
performed, one was able
to hear, as well as picture,
what life would have been
like in Spain when this
composition was created.
For this concert in
particular, Habibi and
Grimmett did something

and music enthusiasts

to show off their talents.

In these miniatures, they

played the sounds of rain

falling, a gentle breeze, and

“Off to the Races,” a high

energy and fast-paced piece.
The one song that they

both agreed on as having

been the most fun to play

It all began with a flying cow

One example of A
Chinese Tale’ as viewed
by several Douglas
students

By Hannah Galve,
Contributor

Chinese couple are in
boat in the middle of

a lake, clearly happily in
love. Suddenly, a cow flies
out of the sky, overturning
the boat they are both on,
immediately killing the
woman just as her partner
was about to propose. “Is
this the beginning of a very
long elaborate joke,” you
may ask? No, this is the
opening scene of the 2012
film A Chinese Tale, written
and directed by Sebastian
Borensztein, and in that one
scene alone, it sets up the
tone of the film as a whole:
humorous, but also quite
dark and tragic. Besides
serving as the closing
gala film to this year’s
Vancouver Latin American

8

Film Festival, A Chinese
Tale was also screened last
Wednesday night at the
New West campus.

While the film gives
us two central characters-
-the first of which being
Jun (ignacio Huang), the
Chinese man from the
opening scene, who has
come to our setting of
Buenos Aires to search
for his last living relative,
an uncle—it is Roberto
(Ricardo Darin), the
second man we meet, who
I consider to be the true
central character. In the
very first scene in which
he is introduced, Roberto
is aggressively counting
the number of screws
he has received in a box.
After realizing that he’s
received less than what was
promised, he calls up the
supplier and yells at him for
cheating on their deal.

Roberto’s interactions
with his customers are
quick and to the point.
His exchanges with Mari
(Muriel Santa Ana), a friend
and our love interest, are

distant and awkward as
he clearly tries to push her
away. He lives alone and
has a set (and ever so bland)
daily. It is only when he
meets Jun—thrown from a
cab no less—during one of
his daily routines that we
see Roberto diverge from
the ordinary.

The dynamic
relationship between
Jun and Roberto is fairly
consistent throughout the
film. They communicate
via gestures due to neither
of them being capable
of speaking the other’s
language. Jun does
everything that Roberto
tells him to the point where
Roberto finds himself
counting down the days
until Jun’s uncle is finally
located.

“There are two things
I notice very quickly in
people: integrity and
suffering, and you have
them both,” Mari says to
Roberto via letter, an aspect
we see throughout the film.
Despite the many instances
where he tries to abandon

personal encouragement to
initially read through the
piece, and later perform it.
Habibi, as was stated
before, premiered an
original piece, entitled
“Towering.” He further
stated that he had gotten
the idea for the piece from
viewing a concert, in which

Jun, he can never really find
it in himself to leave him.
Regardless of his gruffness
and lack of warmth towards
people, Roberto is a man
with a good heart.

The writing of
Roberto’s character is one
of the biggest strengths of
the film. He’s flawed and
therefore incredibly human,
allowing us to connect
with him despite coldness
that stems from loneliness.
He comes across as a real
person with issues and
problems; he’s not entirely
likeable, but that’s what
makes him all the more
fascinating. However, in the
case of Jun’s character, I felt
as if the writing faltered.
Instead of becoming his
own character, Jun instead
becomes a sort of catalyst
for Roberto’s development.
It is through him that
Roberto learns to move
past his own pain and find
happiness for himself, but
we don’t quite see how
Roberto affected Jun.

Despite the lack of a
fuller development, it really

the entire movement was
a crescendo. “Towering”
was very lovely, with the
melodies and harmonies
shared between the two
pianos, it could make
anyone want to become a
music student. The piece
was simply one of the
most amazing original
compositions I’ve heard
created in modern times,
and it was very special

to have been a part of
experiencing the piece first
hand.

Take the time next
week to see some of our
very own Douglas alumni
perform in the Arts at One’s
“ATumni Vocal Recital,”
once again taking place at
1 p.m. in the Laura C. Muir
Performing Arts Theatre at
the New West campus—
don’t forget, all Arts at One
performances are absolutely
free!

is the steady relationship
between Jun and Roberto
where the film truly shined.
The main idea that seems

to surround this film is the
idea of being alone, and the
different types of loneliness
one can feel. These types are
contrasted in our two main
characters: Roberto is a man
who chooses to be alone
despite the many instances
of people trying to get
closer, while Jun is a man
who has nothing and no
one and is desperately and
actively seeking to find and
be with his last remaining
family member.

A Chinese Tale is about a
lot of things: self-discovery,
loneliness, friendship,
love, but perhaps most
importantly of all, it is
about closure, and learning
to let go of the thoughts
that hurt us most. It’s a
story about finally moving
on beyond our tragedies,
and how sometimes closure
unravels in ways we might
not have expected, in this
case, with a flying cow.