FRONT PAGE I TABLE OF CONTENTS OF MAY ISSUE I COMMENTARIES AND ARTICLES I USA NEWS I WORLD NEWS I MIDDLE EAST NEWS I NEW YORK SCENE I LIFESTYLE I PEOPLE, SOCIETY AND EVENTS I ARTS I ENTERTAINMENT I CULTURE I BOOKS I MUSIC AND CDs I EVE WORLD I LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I PERSONAL HISTORY I APRIL ISSUE I MARCH ISSUE I FEBRUARY ISSUE I JANUARY ISSUE I CONTACT I EDITORIAL STAFF I SUBSCRIPTION I TO ADVERTISE I
|
New York Scene She knows her craft. She is sweet like the gentle whisper of a butterfly but, Bernard can be tough too and she will not hesitate a second to tell you what she thinks of you, of your work and her colleagues. For instance, Bernard believes that Rex Reed's writings are "wrong-headed and infuriating", Dave Kehr is witty, David Denby is a good writer. She admires the intellect of Jim Hoberman, the politeness and savoir-faire of Jack Mathews. Clive James, Stephanie Zacharek and Charles Taylor are among her "favoris". Bernard also believes that exotic films are thrilling and wonderful, and news reporting is awful. She loves "Double Indemnity", "West Side Story", "Crash", " Silence of the Lambs", "Klute", and "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", but not bad stuff like Charlie Chan's flicks, and sadistic, cruel, hateful movies like "The Passion of the Christ". What else about Jami Bernard? Intelligent humor is part of her critiques, especially, when she hammers strong on bad movies. And by doing so, Bernard rejoices, for when a film is bad, it becomes easier for Bernard to be entertaining about it. Parisian legend, Mistinguet used to confront her envious cabaret rivals by telling them "I don't mind your criticism, as long as you do it with class and at the sound of Dom Perignon bubbles." Jami Bernard's films critiques bubble with humor, depth and classy intelligence. Is she a team player in this tumultuous cosmos of journalism and among and around her colleagues? You bet! She knows the ropes. Although, she believes that many editors are jealous of film critics' unrestrained autonomy, Bernard manages to bring sync and harmony into her professional relationship with those editors and managing editors whom she disagrees with. BERNARD INAUGURATES A REFRESHING NEW ERA AND A HEART FELT GENRE OF CINEMA CRITICS Bernard is not a conservative writer, nor a liberal journalist. She echoes the philosophy of "L'Acte Gratuit" of Andre Gides. And she adds to it, her need for "time and space freedom". Bernard is not a 9 to 5 desk writer in a confined newspaper office. She works solely from her home, thus giving herself an absolute freedom of and control over her writing surrounding, creative mind frequencies, rhythm and cadence. And she is more productive, early mornings and late at night. Afternoons are Louisiana or Mississippi swamps for Jami Bernard. She is a prolific and a fast writer. But do not expect from Bernard to view or preview a film and presto, come up right away with a critique. She takes her time. She needs to sail above and deep into the inner waves of the ocean of the film. And if she is amid a contemplative mood, Bernard likes to marinate each scene and each frame of the film in her brain. In writing books, Bernard adopts the same writing strategy. And she adds more details, descriptive analyses, facts, data, even undisclosed information and intimate findings. Allegedly, Bernard's honesty and fervor damaged her friendly relationship and association with one celebrity who asked her to write his biography.
|
But Bernard defended the integrity and veracity of her work. She stated that her book was not a quick job, but a "real book". She had to interview a considerable number of people, dig deep into the fabric of the story and surrounding events, including medical records. And if some passages were not totally flattering, it is because she "can't be toady and give only good reviews" explained Bernard.
In the early somber days of medieval Catholic church, theology and dogma were the monopoly and sole "patrimoine" of trained and ordained theologians and doctors of the Church. Consequently, their religious teachings and interpretation of the sacred books reflected the stagnant and rigid a priori understanding of Christianity. Any new ecclesiastic vision or un-conformist interpretation was "mise a l'index", meaning forbidden. And the results of such rigid and narrow-minded "Vatican policy" led to a total religious distortion. The Jesuits and Pierre Theillard de Chardin mirrored those events. The same syndrome, scenario and malady apply today to an avalanche of film critics. But this is NOT the case with Jami Bernard, because she does not belong to any particular camp, nor does she take orders or instructions from a higher hierarchy. And because of the fact -thankfully- that Bernard never studied cinema with the intention of becoming a "traditional film critic", Bernard sees the world of cinema from a wider window, a higher hill, and writes about it out of love, affectionate attachment and quite often with tolerance for movies. Another virtue of Bernard is her touching humility.
Continues on Page 3
|
JAMI
BERNARD IS A GEM!
Despite
her enormous success and intoxicating fame, Jami Bernard is sweet and
HUMBLE. And when you are powerful and a household name like Jami
Bernard, your sincere humility can trampoline your name and signature
to the highest level of love and admiration of your fans and admirers.
Bernard echoes this reality. Jean Cocteau, once said about films
critics: "Des cochons en bas de soie!" Verbatim: "Pigs in silky
socks!". For he saw in critics, arrogance and irritating pretension. I
read several of Bernard's reviews and critiques. This woman dipped her
pen in the ink of her heart. Even though, some passages were sharp and
critical, her criticism remained unbiased, tolerant, colorful, funny,
funny, funny and right on. Jami Bernard is a gem. Simply, la crème de
la crème.