Movie "Beautiful City"
One autumn day in 407 AD, Alarich I, king of the Visigothic Kingdom of the Germanic tribes, heard the news that Flavius Stilicho, the military commander of the Western Roman Empire guarding the city of Rome, had been executed by the rumored King Flavius Honorius Augustus, and couldn't help but smile, "No one has stopped me from conquering Rome anymore!" When his subordinates asked which road to drive from, Alaric uttered the famous saying that has been passed down for thousands of years, "Tutte le strade portano a Roma tutte |." All roads lead to Rome".
One autumn day in 2007, in the sun-drenched conference room of a high-tech company in baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany, my name was circled on a business trip to Rete Ferroviaria Italiana the following week, to Rome. From the gladiator played by Russell Crowe to the historical drama of the same name that once swept the world, from the Red Wolves and Blue Eagles on the emblem of the Serie A duo, to the Colosseum Colosseum, this central Italy on the Mediterranean coast will be branded with blood and masculinity in my mind. All roads lead to Rome, this time from Frankfurt and over the Alps.
The plane landed at Fiumicino Airport on a drizzly hazy dusk. Arriving in the city by train from the airport by the sea, the rain stopped knowingly. Grazie (thanks), sent off the hotel porter in newly learned Italian. Although there is a kick off tomorrow morning, a coin is tossed into the trevi fountain of the mind: why not walk into the streets of The City of Rome when night is approaching?
Trevi Fountain fontana di Trevi
Sculptures and fountains constitute a gorgeous movement that is suitable for static movement. The Trevi Fountain, first conceived and designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Rome can be said to belong to Bernini, with hotels, restaurants and theaters named after him everywhere, and everywhere with the Baroque master who "sculpted the city of Rome": fountain of the four rivers, Bridge of St. Angel... In a sense, Rome is a natural exhibition hall of Bernini's works.
Bernini is everywhere
The brisk way to touch the soul of a city is to familiarize yourself with its symbols. These symbols are like acromym typed before entering a dictionary maze. These symbols are hidden in the corners of the city, postcards, souvenirs, patterns, advertisements, the direction of the flow of people, and even the behavior of strangers. Of course, everyone's priority and perspective on these symbols may be different, as Italo Calvino does in The Invisible City. As mentioned in City and Symbol I, "You look at the streets like you flip through a page full of handwriting: the city tells you everything you should think about."
Symbols of Rome: cinema, landscape, religion
Roman symbols: sculptures, totems
The Colosseum is not only a landmark of the city of Rome, but also a microcosm of the city's bloodiness and passion. Even if only half the stage is left, every masonry here is a testimony of roaring, roaring and bloody: gladiators fighting to the death, death row prisoners fighting with hungry lions and tigers, blood spattering arches... The beauty of civilization may be a temporary illusion; the flowers that are murderous and happy may be placed in the night of human nature. The dawn of Rome is to be killed.
Colosseum
"Rome, by all means, Rome", I can still remember Princess Anne (Audrey. Hepburn) line: When she was about to finish her visit to Rome, the reporter asked her which city was the most impressive, and the answer was naturally Rome. Because the princess not only met the tall, handsome, thoughtful and intimate journalist (Gregory. Pike), and more importantly, she finds her truest self in this beautiful city that is both romantic and easy-going.
Stills from Roman Holiday: Piazza di Spagna
Plaza de España in the new millennium
The night gradually deepened, and the crowd in the square slowly dispersed. Only a few young people are still playing Antonio Vivaldi in a corner. Vivaldi) is best known as The Summer of The Four Seasons. The warmth of summer, the musical notes bursting out with the strings, burning the undefended night sky of this philharmonic city...
Street performer of Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Tiber, from the twilight overture to the end of the gorgeous aria. The aesthetic poetry leaves a little melancholy. In such an atmosphere, imminent work temporarily becomes nihilistic and irrelevant. Memories, emotions, and consciousness flood the dark river.
Twilight of the Tiber River in the movie "The City of Beauty"
Fellow travelers build bridges of heart-to-heart
Night, veiled in mystery and religion
Hidden in the night, we not only touch the city, but also find the rhythm and connection with it at some level of history, art, music or memory. The real reason why all roads lead to Rome may come from its eternal access.
canvaslife
Written on August 30, 2020
Line/Photo taken on September 26, 2007
Figures
Office place
Walking street view
Vegetation in the hot season