2022 - Mika interview on Corriere della Sera SETTE - 16 September

[Paoletta]

7 hours ago, carafon said:

Yeah I interpret it that way too. 

I can connect to this feeling myself because "as long you're alive there is still hope." 

 

 

yes.. i agree with you 

[SusanT]

This afternoon I checked out  https://www.rogerebert.com - a website I often use when I want a critic's opinion of a movie -  to read what the reviewer had to say about the movie Mika recommended on his Twitter account. Here is an excerpt from the review which I think can throw some light on how to interpret Mika's remark:  "Da quando mia mamma non c'è più vivo come fossi morto, così tutto è meraviglia."

 

Marcel’s physical aesthetic of having one eye, a shell for a body and a never-ending perseverance is simultaneously contagious and admirable. Yet, the poetic justice and license of including Philip Larkin’s poem The Trees drives the dramatic thrust of this story, summing it up in one fell swoop:

 

 

The signs of newness are also sewn into what has died away. Everything changes all the time. I love being alive, especially in the late spring, when the flowers return again. But you can’t enjoy the daffodil without honoring what has died so it can regrow. If you want to really grow, you must be able to know and allow for what change really looks like and feels like.

 

"Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" will make your spirit soar and remind you to enjoy those you love, inhale a bit of fresh air, and respect the earth every second as though it were your very first time. It's a reminder to embrace all the stages of grief and see our dark chapters as changes that somehow make us better on the other side. 

 

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/marcel-the-shell-with-shoes-on-2022        Carla Renata June 21, 2022

[holdingyourdrink]

5 minutes ago, SusanT said:

"Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" will make your spirit soar and remind you to enjoy those you love, inhale a bit of fresh air, and respect the earth every second as though it were your very first time. It's a reminder to embrace all the stages of grief and see our dark chapters as changes that somehow make us better on the other side. 

Oh wow. That indeed gives a clearer light of what Mika may have insinuated with the last sentence of the Italian interview that came out yesterday. It‘s truly meant in a humbling and eye opening way, not in a destructive sense of living. 

[Aki Celeste]

20 hours ago, holdingyourdrink said:

Oh wow. That indeed gives a clearer light of what Mika may have insinuated with the last sentence of the Italian interview that came out yesterday. It‘s truly meant in a humbling and eye opening way, not in a destructive sense of living. 

 

Awww... I somehow missed Mika's tweet till now, but I find it so heartwarming that he loved Marcel the Shell, which was my favorite cinematic discovery of this year. (It's based on a series of short videos you can find on YouTube, which is more comedic and quirky but still has some meaningful messages). Given this knowledge, I can interpret Mika's final comment from the interview in a more poignant light. The movie does have its sad moments, including death, but the message that I got from it was exactly this, that we can be even more humbled by and appreciative of life when death of a loved one puts it in perspective.

[Bren]

I love how his mom said "let's not use normalcy as a weapon" Not sure if the translation is perfect but I think it's lovely to say that to your child and an important reminder for any parent. It's going to be my new motto as a parent.

[holdingyourdrink]

2 hours ago, Bren said:

I love how his mom said "let's not use normalcy as a weapon" Not sure if the translation is perfect but I think it's lovely to say that to your child and an important reminder for any parent. It's going to be my new motto as a parent.

I was somewhat surprised to read that, because he also is afraid of being mediocre. I guess it’s a little contradicting, but that’s normal in Mika-world 

[Bren]

1 hour ago, holdingyourdrink said:

I was somewhat surprised to read that, because he also is afraid of being mediocre. I guess it’s a little contradicting, but that’s normal in Mika-world 

I think she meant to say to accept the fact that he is not mediocre att all and not to try to push him into normalcy, so if he is afraid to be mediocre, he really must have loved her remark

[crazyaboutmika]

On 9/16/2022 at 8:22 PM, peroalessandra said:

According to me living as being dead can mean, trying to give It a positive sense, considering life itself as a gift, despite all the pain It can give you. Living with the idea that the worst thing can happen to you Is death so anything else, even sad and difficult situations, are something you can cope with. So from this point of view everything is wonderful, in the sense that considering life itself as a gift even the smallest things have a great value and, on the other hand, even the saddest things that happen in life are something that you can cope with. I think this point of view is one of a person who has lived a very painful loss (the loss of a mother in this case), so after such a painful loss you feel dead in the sense that you have lost the most precious person you had but at the same time after having passed over such a strong pain you see everything in a different way: bad things become less bad and small good things become wonderful things. I think It Is a feeling that Only people Who have lived a very strong pain can have. Yes, It Is a very strong expression and maybe can be "rude" at the First sight, but i think Mika has given It a deeper meaning

I agree with you. When you see a loved one decline and fade away it makes you realize that life is not for granted , that each day is treasure and that you need to make the best of it because it is short and you never know when it might stop. Mika says it in that sense. And also he wants to keep his mother alive through his art as he said several times. Which he did by recording her in Tiny Love Reprise and by writing Blue and also when he talks about her during his concerts as the lady in the pink dress. And each of his songs and concerts is a way to honor her and keep her alive even though she is not.

[Paoletta]

18 hours ago, crazyaboutmika said:

I agree with you. When you see a loved one decline and fade away it makes you realize that life is not for granted , that each day is treasure and that you need to make the best of it because it is short and you never know when it might stop. Mika says it in that sense. And also he wants to keep his mother alive through his art as he said several times. Which he did by recording her in Tiny Love Reprise and by writing Blue and also when he talks about her during his concerts as the lady in the pink dress. And each of his songs and concerts is a way to honor her and keep her alive even though she is not.

yes of course Joannie will always live in any case .. in tiny love reprise she has a soft and feeble voice .. goosebumps 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Paoletta