Four Quartets (2022)

Four-Quartets-(2022)
Four Quartets (2022)

Eliot’s Four Quartets, which is known to be ‘conceptually overreaching, dazzling in its lyrics, and notoriously difficult to understand’ has captured its reader’s interest from the beginning because of its quotes from Heraclitus – but in Greek. Ralph Fiennes fully recites the poem during his one-man show and self directed the play as well. The most astonishing part is that he’s actually rehearsing with his sister Sophie Fiennes who is directing the film version. This is definitely still a theatrical piece and it is impressively simple. There is a spectators view of the outdoors, accompanied with an actor reciting the lines from a stage. He is clad in plain clothing and did not have any shoes on. Alongside the table, a chair is present. He recited the words of Eliot while standing perfectly still and using a classical voice. 

Now let us move on to the poem. Great news, if you, like most struggled with this poem in academics and outside of it or thought what is so big about it other than the fact that it is a critical piece of literature of the 20th century or you just enjoyed Cats and were curious to know what more does Eliot have to offer without using the Webber music or fancy dance sequences. You are not alone. Four Quartets was never first envisaged or issued in the form of a single poem, and even specific words of its language were penned while attempting to create other pieces.

This is extremely abstract though has some references to some places and happenings.   

Each of the four sections was influenced by a particular location. To start, the second is on Burnt Norton, a house with a garden, where some elements of the first stanza were lifted. As a person who has done a fair amount of literary critique during a couple of semesters in college, this poem, in my view, possesses incredibly beautiful language and some intriguing phrases and concepts, but I guess there are some of these which would rather make poor fortune cookies. This includes our friend Heraclitus the quote Eliot uses in the epigraph: “The way up and the way down are one and the same.” Eliot continues in this strain with lines like, “The way up is the way down. The way forward is the way back.” “In my end is my beginning.” If this is puzzling you, just consider it like some left over stew from multiple meals. This one crafted out of bits and bobs that are not sufficient for a meal but could indeed be blended into something more worthwhile.

The poem engages with the unending concepts of time, meaning, and God. However, it should be seen in the context of its epoch, the different parts written from 1935-1944, while war was on the horizon and later engulfed Europe. That is the context of the poem’s self tormented struggle with existential anxiety. In one part, we are reminded of that when Fiennes is sitting behind the 1940s microphone and talking to the radio, in the background there is a strain of music from the era. While it suggests more than once that time and space can be a mirage, it still has hints of hope for a future amidst devastion. And there is also the possibility of gaining understanding. One of the most famous lines from the poem is near the end: “We shall not cease from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time.” 

Next, we turn to the performance. As the camera focuses on Fiennes, he hardly speaks. He mutters at times and then recites everything that he should, he coaches, habits, chastises, explains, instructs, begs, inquires and prays during most of the time. He stands. Sits on a chair. Sits with his legs cross over on the ground. He moves his hands. He even begins to dance, and stomp on the stage.

allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. Fiennes draws us into the content of the poem at hand. He is so affected by the poem that he has no choice but to make sense of it. The interplay of stunning lyrical imagery and aphoristic figures of speech is astonishing and it makes one question everything. There is no way of proceeding that does not invite parsing out the conflicting emotions. 

Now, look at this moment as a film. The mood is embodied in the sound design-serene waves rippling in the distance and birds chirping lightly in the background, along with certain effects on stage such as the lighting positioning. The effects could have been better but I am sure they will do wonders on stage, the nature cutaways while creative were not very engaging. Like everyone descriptor say with how a diction of a person is so beautiful, it would not hurt to hear them read the phone book. While I would enjoy hearing Ralph Fiennes read the phonebook instead of watching it, him challenging me with these works is a far better experience. Why, rather, is it such a pity that people who appreciate language and literature do not get to experience this. The most important form of poetry is the one that spoken, the one that lives–which is why Fiennes and Sophie set out to make this film in the first place.

It does not mean everyone can enjoy it. I candidly admit that I disrespected the movie-watching etiquette by having a copy of the poem on my lap and using the pause button every now and then. I would suggest the same strategy to anyone who is not well versed with the poem. In what concerns those who are ready to meet it half way, it is a reflection on time, loss, and seeks for connection, and almost a century later, those themes are dire as they were at the time of Eliot’s writing.

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