Camera Lucida

This post’s title seems like an oxymoron nowadays due to six packs and anorexics taking over the silver screen. Back in time however there were several actors who were ugly like hell but who made a very important contribution to modern day cinema and who left a considerable imprint on the films they acted in.

Ugly actors I like:

Ron Perlman (the Beauty and the Beast, In the Name of the Rose);

Marty Feldman (Young Frankenstein);

Plinio Fernando (in almost all of Paolo Villagio’s films);

Alvaro Vitali (Mighty Pierino!)

Vincent Schiavelli (Amadeus, Blade Runner, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest);

Keith David (Requiem For a Dream, Pitch Black, Armageddon);

Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers);

You see the whole culture… Nazis, deodorant salesman, wrestlers, beauty contests, the talk show. Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling? But the worst are the fundamentalist preachers… third-rate con men, telling the poor suckers that watch them that they speak for Jesus… and to please send in money. Money, money, money! If Jesus came back, and saw what’s going on in his name, he’d never stop throwing up.

Frederick
Hannah And Her Sisters (1986)

Spot on, if you ask me…

Film as a word conjures up something special. A unique feeling. Almost a different texture than words like movie or video. When someone asks you to go see a movie on the weekend you think, “Oh cool, that’ll be fun,” but if someone asks you to go to a film festival the feeling you get is entirely different. It feels like an investment of your time, one for which you want to plan accordingly and enjoy thoroughly.

Immaġinak wasalt f’punt fejn se tbiddel id-dar li kellek ħdejn il-baħar mimlija hena u sliem. Ħabba raġunijiet li m’għandekx kontroll fuqhom kellek tabbandunaha u tmur toqgħod aktar lejn iċ-ċentru. Ftit qabel ma titlaq tinduna li tkun ordnajt xi affarijiet u nsejt tagħti istruzzjonijiet ċari lil bejjiegħa bl-indirizz il-ġdid tiegħek. Tiġik idea. Peresli jkunu qorbu l-festi tal-Milied u l-ewwel tas-sena, fil-kaxxa tal-ittri tad-dar ta’ ħdejn il-baħar tħalli kartolina lis-sid il-ġdid u fil-ġewwieni tagħha tikteb hekk:

“17 ta’ Diċembru 1999

Għażiż sid ġdid tad-dar,

L-ewwelnett nixtieq nawguralek Milied mill-isbah u sena mimlija riżq. Nilqgħek f’din id-dar il-ġdida u nispera li tkun ta’ benevolenza għalik daqskemm kienet għalija. Nixtieq nżid ukoll biex jekk tirċievi xi ittri jew kotba indirizzati lili jekk jogħġbok ibagħthom f’dan l-indirizz t’hawn taħt.

Grazzi u milied hieni mill-ġdid

PS. Dawk il-marki tas-saqajn tal-kelb li hemm fl-intrata sibthom hemm qabel ma dħalt id-dar. Ippruvajt inneħħihom imma ma rnexxilix.“

Tibda toqgħod fil-post il-ġdid fiċ-ċentru u dlonk tibda tħoss in-nuqqas ta’ dik id-dar maġika li kellek. Ftit jiem jilħqu jgħaddu u fl-aħħar tirċievi mingħand sid id-dar il-ġdida:

“22 ta’ Diċembru 1997

Għażiża sinjorina,

Grazzi tax-xewqat sbieħ tiegħek. Ħalli f’idejja rigward l-ittri u l-kotba. Kif appena jaslu dlonk nibagħthom fl-indirizz li tajtni. Pero naħseb ħadt żball fid-data. Sa fejn naf jien għadna fin-1997! Rigward il-marki tal-kelb, emminni, m’għandix idea fuq xiex qed titkellem għax jien s’issa għadni ma rajtx il-marki li semmejtli fl-ittra tiegħek.“

Ittra hekk thallik perplessa u t-tnejn li intom tibqgħu tinsistu li qed tgħixu sentejn bogħod minn xulxin. L-istorja ma tiqafx hemm… tkompli… tkompli…

L-aħħar 6 sigħat tas-6 ta’ Lulju 2007 kixfuli 6 rivelazzjonijiet u qed infittex inħarbixhom hawnhekk biex ma jiżgiċċawlix bħalma tiżgiċċa l-libsa tas-satin tar-reklam fuq par saqajn femminili li għadhom jitqaxxru bl-aħħar magna rivoluzzjonarja tal-gillette:

i) Pierre J. Mejlak itwal u irqaq milli ħsibtu. Dik il-leġġenda urbana li t-televiżjoni jħaxxen u jqassar tgħid tapplika wkoll għar-ritratti tal-blogs?;

ii) Li x-Short Film Festival 2007 probabilment ma kellux bord t’għażla għall-films li ntwerew il-ġimgħa;

iii) Li għalkemm jidher xi ħaġa li trid seba’ mitt ittra wara ismek biex ikunu jistgħu jxandrulek il-film tiegħek, ilbieraħ rajt biċ-ċar li dan vera mhuwiex il-każ;

iv) Li ħlief għal xi żewġ jew tlett films (fosthom wieħed ta’ Alex Vella Gera), din l-ewwel ġurnata tal-festival kienet ħela ta’ ħin u ta’ flus, għalija u għal min webbilt jiġi miegħi, speċjalment wara l-esperjenza pożittiva li kelli s-sena l-oħra;

v) Li vera tidher frustranti meta tagħmel biċċa arti li tifhem int u int biss u tħalli lil bqija tad-dinja tiskanta u tagħmel sforz ta’ proporzjonijiet diżumani tipprova tifhmek;

vi) Li din probabli hi l-aħħar darba li żort dal-festival.

PS. Ma rridx naqta’ qalb dawk li għad baqagħlhom imorru illum jew għada, imma tassew ngħidilkom li inħossni grat lejja nnifsi li ma xtrajtx biljett għal żewġ jew tlett iljieli.

There’s an old joke. Uh, two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort, and one of ‘em says: “Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.”   The other one says, “Yeah, I know, and such … small portions.” Well, that’s essentially how I feel about life. Full  of loneliness and misery and suffering  and unhappiness, and it’s all over much too quickly. The-the other important joke for me is one that’s, uh, usually attributed to Groucho Marx, but I think it appears originally in Freud’s wit and its relation to the unconscious. And it goes like this-I’m paraphrasing: Uh … “I would never wanna belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” That’s the key joke of my adult life in terms of my relationships with women. Tsch, you know, lately the strangest things have been going through my mind, ’cause I turned forty, tsch, and I guess I’m going through a life crisis or something, I don’t know.  I, uh … and I’m not worried about aging.   I’m not one o’ those characters, you know.  Although I’m balding slightly on top, that’s about the worst you can say about me. I, uh, I think I’m gonna get better as I get older, you know? I think I’m gonna be the-the balding virile type, you know, as opposed to say the, uh, distinguished gray, for instance, you know? ‘Less I’m neither o’ those two. Unless I’m one of those guys with saliva dribbling out of his mouth who wanders into a cafeteria with a shopping bag screaming about socialism.

And now that I got you hinged, I suggest you keep watchin’. i{content: normal !important}i{content: normal !important}i{content: normal !important}i{content: normal !important}

Kultant tiltaqa’ ma ċerta frażijiet illi tkun mitejn fil-mija ċert li xi darba jew oħra se tħarbixhom jew tlisssinhom x’imkien.  Għaldaqstant iġġiegħel lil moħħok jimmemorizzahom b’mod ħafna agħar minn kif kienu jġagħaluna nimmemorizzaw il-pater noster.  Waħda minnhom hija din:

“Your brain will be electronically simplified.”

“My brain?!?!  That’s my second favourite organ!”

(Mill-film Sleeper ta’ Woody Allen, 1973)

i{content: normal !important}i{content: normal !important}

Is it still possible to be objective nowadays? Well, I tried to think hard and come up with the following of list of the ten most underrated and overrated films from the 1950s onwards in no particular order.

Underrated:

• Traffic (2000);
• Revolver (2005);
• Waterworld (1995);
• Carne Tremula (Live Flesh) (1997);
• Divorzio all’Italiana (1961);
• The Rules of Attraction (2002);
• Dial M for Murder (1954);
• Garden State (2004);
• Mulholland Dr. (2001);
• Open Water (2003).

Overrated:

• Titanic (1999);
• A Beautiful Mind (2001);
• A Walk To Remember (2002);
• Mona Lisa Smile (2003);
• Last Tango in Paris (1972);
• Dead Poets Society (1989);
• The Untouchables (1987);
• Dead Man Walking (1995);
• Eraserhead (1977);
• Billy Elliot (2000).

Kienet ta’ sorpriża kbira għalija nara l-isem ‘Oliver Twist’ u ‘Roman Polanski’ miktubin ftit ċentimetri bogħod minn xulxin. Roman Polanski, direttur Pollakk li rajnielu films klassiċi u ta’ ċerta immortalità bħal Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby, the Fearless Vampire u The Pianist, kellu ħajja kemmxejn imċajpra u mċappsa.

Kien il-magażin Vanity Fair fl-2002 li kien ‘kixef’ il-borom ta’ Polanski u xerrdu mad-dinja l-informazzjoni li rawh jipprova jgħabbi tfajla mudella Skandinava (Svediża preċiżament) filwaqt li kien sejjer il-funeral ta’ martu Sharon Tate li kienet inqatlet brutalment Londra minn fanatiċi ta’ Charles Manson. Hemm min rah bħala ħanżir bla ebda ħjiel ta’ rispett lejn żwieġu u hemm min rah l-idolu tiegħu f’ta kemm irnexxielu jirkupra malajr wara l-mewt ta’ martu. Bil-liberalizazzjoni sfrenata li qed issir fid-dinja tal-media, saħansitra fuq dil-biċċa blata, Polanski tefa’ libell lill-magazin u ċaħad kategorikament li għamel dak kollu li l-magazin kien qal li sar. Is-sentenza inqatgħet favur Polanski fejn ġie ippruvat li f’dak iż-żmien fejn Vanity Fair ‘akkużawh’ li kien New York, fil-fatt kien għadu qiegħed Londra biex jattendi l-funeral ta’ martu. Il-każ kompla jsir aktar kurjuż (jew kif jgħidu bit-taljan ’si infittisce’) meta Mia Farrow, attriċi protagonista f’film tiegħu stess (Rosemary’s Baby), tat ix-xiehda tagħha li ratu ‘jagħti ċerta attenzjoni lin-nisa’ (bħallikieku mhux xorta raġel baqa’). Vanity Fair ammettiet li ħadet żball, imma b’attentat imqanżaħ biex terġa’ tiġbor lura ġieħha qalet li kienet żbaljata biss f’rigward ta’ timing.

Vanity Fair xorta ma kienux kuntenti, riedu jpattuwielu u qajjmu l-akbar storja li għandu x’jirrakkonta Polanski, u li probabbli se teħodlu erba’ kapitli mhux ħażin fil-bijografija tiegħu. Irreferew għal dak l-’inċident’ li seħħ lura għal-1977 f’xi dar lussuża f’Canyon il-Mulholland. X’għamel? Irrejpja tfajla… tifla propjament ta’ 13-il sena. Fejn? Fil-jacuzzi tad-dar ta’ Jack Nicholson wara li bellalha koċċ xampanja u quaalude. Kollox beda meta dit-tifla ta’ 13-il sena ntefgħet għarwiena ħuta timmudellalu għal verżjoni Franċiża ta’ Vogue, min hemm ‘il quddiem jafu kulħadd. B’xi mod Polanski ħarab lejn Franza u ħelisha ħafif ħafif. Minn dakinhar ‘l hawn qatt ma reġa’ irritorna lejn l-Amerika għax isib il-bulldogs lesti biex jigdmuh.

Forsi tifhmu aktar issa l-problema li kelli nipprova ninjora dil-istorja u lil Polanski mdawwar b’dawk it-tfal kollha tal-klikka fosthom Oliver Twist filwaqt li l-pellicola kienet għaddejja.