Saturday, June 27, 2009

The Thunder, Perfect Mind.


Prada shortfilm, directed by Jordan Scott. Poem quoted: The Thunder, Perfect Mind. (part of the Gnostic manuscripts discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945).

"Thunder Perfect Mind (the title is, more accurately, The Thunder - Perfect Intellect), takes the form of an extended, riddling monologue, in which an immanent saviour speaks a series of paradoxical statements concerning the divine feminine nature.

These paradoxical utterances echo Greek identity riddles, a common poetic form in the Mediterranean. There are some translations to the right from the same section of the poem. Line numbering is different in different translations.

[...]

The work as a whole takes the form of a poem in parallel strophes, and the author, it may be surmised, has drawn on a tradition of such poems in both Egyptian and Jewish communities, in which a similarly female divinity (Isis and Sophia respectively) expounds her virtues unto an attentive audience, and exhorts them to strive to attain her. Examples of the genre abound in Old Testament literature.

The riddles of the poem may presuppose a classical Gnostic myth, such as the one found in the Reality of the Rulers, or in the Secret Book of John.

The original language of the poem was Greek, though only a Coptic version survives in the Nag Hammadi library; the manuscript resides in the Cairo Coptic museum."


There really should be more fashion and literature intertwining.

2 comments:

Josephine said...

loved this! i'm really enjoying all the short films fashion houses are making to promote their fragrances. i agree with you; there should be more collaborations between literature and fashion!

Rare Autumn said...

daria werbowy is not one of my favourite models, so when prada chose her for their literary inspired campaign (this was a few seasons ago) i was a bit annoyed - but: i think this short film is just wonderful, and her voice lends itself splendidly to reciting the poem...

glad you liked it! :)