Sacrifice of Isaac by
Caravaggio
Piasecka-Johnson Collection, Princeton, New Jersey.
The landscape has faded out. Against a dark background, the story is pieced
together out of figures. As if he had clambered up the mountain behind father
and son, the angel brings them the ram, and speaks to Abraham, who is already
relaxing his grip on Isaac’s hair. Whether this colorful picture, with its rich
lighting, was really painted by Caravaggio, is open to doubt.
http://www.artinmalta.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/the-sacrifice-of-isaac.jpg
The Count of Monte Cristo
The story of Abraham and Isaac
in the Book of Genesis
painting: Abraham en Isaac, 1634 by Rembrandt
Frailty
Paxton and his writer Brent Hanley are making a
statement about religious fanatics like Jim Jones who mass kill in the name of
God, but what makes the film rise above that is that Paxton is in complete
control of the tired premise. He could have easily relied on cliches from the
genre and hack and slash tactics to try and trump up his scenes with
"scary" moments; but he wisely sidesteps the pitfalls and knows,
probably because he's one of the best damn actors we have, that the father's
dialogue -- the serene way he talks about the killings with his kids and how he
invites them to participate with him so they can fulfill their destiny -- is
far more shocking or and horrifying than slasher cliches. You wince and shudder
and hide behind a pillow throughout the film, not because you're scared, but
because you're unsure of what this unstable father will do to his children in
the name of God. There are biblical allusions throughout the film, most notably
the story of Abraham and Isaac, and again, kudos to Paxton to have the tact to
not make the scenes involving the father and his children seem gratuitous or
over-the-top.
(http://filmforthesoul.blogspot.com/2009/05/year-2002-frailty-bill-paxton.html)
Canticle
ii
The
second canticle was written in January 1952 in-between the operas Billy Budd and Glorianaand the
setting reflects the considerable experience that Britten had by now as a
composer for the stage. The tale of how Abraham is summoned by God to offer up
his own child Isaac for sacrifice is set as a highly dramatic scena, using two
voices, tenor and alto, which not only perform the respective roles of father
and son but also, singing in rhythmic unison, the other-worldly sound of the
voice of God.
Although originally written for the voices of Peter Pears and Kathleen Ferrier (to whom the work is dedicated), the work gains considerably in impact if the part of Isaac is performed by a boy (as on Britten’s own recording from 1961). When, some twenty years later, Britten came to write the Offertorium movement in the War Requiem which includes a setting of Wilfred Owen’s bitter rewriting of the Abraham story ‘The Parable of the Old Man and the Young’, he drew on the second canticle for much of the musical material.
Although originally written for the voices of Peter Pears and Kathleen Ferrier (to whom the work is dedicated), the work gains considerably in impact if the part of Isaac is performed by a boy (as on Britten’s own recording from 1961). When, some twenty years later, Britten came to write the Offertorium movement in the War Requiem which includes a setting of Wilfred Owen’s bitter rewriting of the Abraham story ‘The Parable of the Old Man and the Young’, he drew on the second canticle for much of the musical material.
Year One
http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2589524.htm
Episode: 2x2
Brian: “Like when God told Abraham to kill Isaac”
Instead of the Bible story, God has apparently told Abraham Lincoln to kill Isaac Washington the bartender from the TV show “The Love Boat” (1977-1986)
Instead of the Bible story, God has apparently told Abraham Lincoln to kill Isaac Washington the bartender from the TV show “The Love Boat” (1977-1986)
The White Ram
A white ram, made on the sixth day of creation, waits
patiently in the garden of Eden until the time is right, then runs to save a
certain child in fulfillment of God's plan.
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