decadence

MEMORIES: Nostalgia has been made into a commercial product that makes the past a constant and pressing presence. Do we really belong in a past tense? Memories are today produced, preserved and managed by commercial actors, by cultural products – which, to say it with Marx, are fetishized. Pop cultural products of the past are recycled, made into collectibles and picture books for the coffee table, sold as retro designs.

SUNDANCE CURRENT SHORT MOVIE: The short Norwegian animated film Farse is a grotesque, unrestrained and entertaining satire of the modern day decadence and decadence.

ELITE: Eric Motjer's new film portrays four people belonging to Lebanon's Christian elite. It's a fascinating glimpse into a lifestyle you may not have known existed.

ITALIAN POLICY: With his new film about Silvio Berlusconi, Paolo Sorrentino continues to portray social life and power structures in Italy, without necessarily penetrating the flashy surface.

Houellebecq's French dystopia coincides with Arne Garborg's Norwegian decadence. Both write ironic development novels with solutions they themselves do not believe in.