Yervand Kochar is a director, writer, and the co-founder of RebelLight Media (along with Jeani DiCarlo). Among his works is a controversial Civil War documentary, “1864: The Wounded Warrior,” that draws a strong parallel between the so-called Lincoln and Bush wars and the election years of 1864 and 2004.
Yervand's grandfather was the famous Armenian artist Maestro Yervand Kochar who was repressed and imprisoned by the Communists for his art and uncompromising spirit, so as a kid (and adult) Yervand’s favorite action hero figure was (and is) Senator Joe McCarthy.
www.TheWoundedWarrior.com
www.MaestroKochar.com
Yervand Kochar
40’s Movie Stars: Better in Bed, Better on the Battlefield
by Yervand KocharI have been watching a lot of 40s movies lately. Being radically anti-celebrity, I was taken aback by how easily mesmerized I was by the movie stars of that period.
After all, why wouldn’t any man (straight or gay) imitate Cary Grant’s walk up the stairs to save Ingrid Bergman at the end of Hitchcock’s “Notorious?”
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And why wouldn’t any honest woman try to talk and look like Barbara Stanwyck?
I was at a pool party in the Hollywood Hills once where agressive supermodels were trying to seduce fake producers. That entire pack of semi-nude nymphs had less seductive power than the play of the anklet on Barbara Stanwyck left leg in Wilders’ “Double Indemnity.” (more…)
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When the Universe Replaces God
by Yervand KocharI caught a live tribute to Ted Kennedy on TV the other day. Family, friends, and colleagues were praising him as a champion for universal social justice.
I started thinking about how much I’ve been hearing the word “universal” lately.
“Universal” is the “it” word, as in universal health care or “The Universe will guide me,” or “Leave it to the Universe.”
There was a different word for it back in the day, more imposing but less confusing: God. But God is not a trendy word anymore. God is not popular, just like the Republicans. You are guilty by association with both. Even C.G. Jung was annoyed by it (the not calling God a ‘God’ part, not the Republicans).
There was also that video tribute by Ken Burns to Ted Kennedy’s legacy. (more…)
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Sickness of our Age: Leftist = Historic
by Yervand KocharIf someone like Beethoven had a vision of the future and realized the impact his music had on humanity, would he be able to compose with the same fortitude and confidence, or rather, would the pressure of the realization of his own importance would eventually render him dysfunctional?
I don’t confuse this hypothetical inquiry with Beethoven’s realization of his genius. I’m sure he knew of his own greatness. This is different, though, from the pressure that one may experience if his or her genius is also perceived in its historic context and significance.
In other words, would Beethoven be able to remain Beethoven if, well, he was conscious of the fact that he was Beethoven, (or Beethoven the way he is perceived today)?
These musings of mine could easily be dismissed as exercises in futility or outbursts of excessive if not useless imagination if they were not so coincidental with the policies and style of our current government and prevailing cultural mindset. (more…)
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The American Gorbachev?
by Yervand KocharRemember Gorbachev, that bold round-headed Russian tractor loving peasant-Secretary whom the West loved so much? The West loved him perhaps because he was the first one in the short but depressing succession of the Soviet leaders who did not really aspire to wipe out Poland from the face of the earth.
I remember him too, in a different way, though. Half of the country hated his guts back in the Soviet nightmare. Gorbachev was liked abroad but gradually became hated within his own country for the same reasons he was loved outside. He seemed not to be working in the best interests of his country, or let’s say, the interests that he was pursuing were far more interesting for the West than the people of the Soviet empire. As he was actively pursuing warm relations with the West, his own country was rapidly collapsing from within. Not that it was a country worth saving or that it was his fault or that he really didn’t care about his country. It just seemed that way. (more…)
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How I Stopped Worrying about Tobacco Companies and Loved Second Hand Smoking
by Yervand KocharI quit smoking years ago but love second hand smoking. I especially love watching women smoke. It is more of a cinematic fascination. It looks good. Women are magic and when they come with their own pyrotechnic effects, they are precious.
There’s nothing more American than a strong, beautiful woman blowing smoke in my immigrant face. It makes me feel like a full-fledged American citizen. I’m enchanted by the smoky veil of the American dream and feel the mighty fume coming out of the American land, a Native genie rising from the bottled mysterious desert of endless imagination…
Tobacco was the first intimate bridge between the European settler, the American land and its native population. Smoking tobacco was one of the first peaceful cultural exchanges between settlers and natives. Tobacco was also one of the first uniquely American exports to the world and through the burning of this magnificent plant the New World covered the old world with the purifying smoke of freedom. (more…)
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The Death of Independent Film
by Yervand KocharThere’s a dark cloud hovering over independent film these days and fears that as a production mode and as an artistic expression, the independent film is dying.
One of the reasons is that after seeing the potential of these films, the studios launched their own independent wings which eventually crippled the independent spirit. Filmmakers, who were not expecting studio profits, all of a sudden became involved with the studios and eventually succumbed to the dynamic of the machine; some out of greed, some out of necessity.
Another cause of the downfall was the sheer number of independent films which saturated the market, lowered the overall quality and hurt the brand. The result was an over-arching one that pushed independents towards becoming more and more commercial in order to get their movies sold and seen.
Another problem was the technological revolution that made the filmmaking process accessible to the masses. Anyone who could follow their dog on a skateboard with a video camera felt they had to conquer Hollywood. A cinematographer friend of mine calls this brand of camera owners, “7/11 filmmakers.” (more…)
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The War for the Castle of our Imagination
by Yervand KocharOne of the most unfortunate events that deterred a healthy development of a motion picture industry is that its childhood tragically coincided with the childhood of Communism. The Soviet era of Communism was the first totalitarian regime that recognized the power of a moving image and used it fully to align masses with its party line. Not unlike the liberal-Democrat film and media machine that so disgracefully uses it today and by far exceeds the standards of tasteless social realism initiated by their Soviet forefathers.
Understandably, I float in a much generalized stream but nevertheless the essential point of this thought is well anchored in the truth. Let me try to substantiate myself with an example.
Did you notice how often when one prays in the movies or TV something of a terrible nature, usually involving lots of blood, happens to him or her? (more…)
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There Is One Lincoln
by Yervand KocharThe mystery of Abraham Lincoln was in his ability to unite opposing fractions of society while maintaining a divisive position. This ability to transcend opposites made him a subject of claim from diametrically opposed entities and worldviews.
Lincoln became an inspiration for Republicans and Democrats, evangelical conservatives and liberal-progressives alike. Even the ever dull Communists and ever angry radical socialists scraped a spark of inspiration from the mounting figure of Lincoln. But after every group had shaped its own statue of Lincoln according to its own manual, we’ve lost the real Lincoln. Lincoln has been turned into a concept and every concept began to be manipulated to fit ideologies and socio-political insecurities. And, as in the case of everything under the sun, the most insecure and the most unrelated ideologies manipulated Lincoln the most and claimed him the strongest.
In reality, there was and there is only one Lincoln. Many politicians have compared and continue comparing themselves to Lincoln without understanding that what transformed that poor tall Midwestern fellow into Abraham Lincoln was not his external attributes or his immediate surrounding. (more…)
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Where’s The Film About Our Real Superheroes?
by Yervand KocharThe flood of superhero movies in the past several years has become increasingly worse. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men and, oops, Catwoman, and then what? Underdog … these bustards are everywhere and they keep coming. Even bums are superheroes now – Hancock.
Ogres are superheroes – Hulk. It’s so bad that even the creatures of underworld are being enlisted into the superhero category, and I don’t mean Al Gore. (Although, what do you think Al Gore was doing in his documentary if not saving the world?) Who I mean is Hellboy, a creep who looks so evil that the logline’s compelled to explain, “Believe it or not, he’s the good guy.” (more…)
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Cannes’ Voyage to the Neverland of Irrelevancy
by Yervand KocharDuring the 1963 Moscow International Film Festival, few doubted Federico Fellini’s “8 ½” was a masterpiece. The film was not merely contending for the Grand Prize; it was clear that no conventional prize could put a tag on the sheer artistic genius and refreshing power of the movie. Threatened by Fellini’s highly formalistic language, the Communist Party’s movie department (who were making decisions behind the scenes), as usual, suspected something potentially harmful for the cause of the international proletariat. They put pressure on the head of the jury, a Soviet filmmaker Grigori Chukhrai, not to award the Grand Prize to “8 ½.”
Chukhrai was in a tight spot. He had his share of problems with the system with his 1959 war movie “The Ballad of a Soldier,” when he did not depict Nazis as stupid animals but rather as a highly organized and evil intelligence. Because of that, some in the government tried to ban Chukhrai and label him a Nazi sympathizer. They failed. First, Chukhrai’s movies about the war were Soviet classics and second, Chukrai himself was a war hero who fought through almost every battle of the war all the way to Berlin. (more…)
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