versiunea 1.3. redux (incl. ROCKLAND & alinland)
The original "Candyman", Tony Todd was 69. He died on November 6th 2024. I thought he was younger... Although he was in hundreds of films Tony Todd will remain forever The Candyman (Clive Barker's iconic horror character directed by Bernard Rose in 1992), that spawned two sequels and a remake in 2011. Last time I saw him this year when I re-saw Dennis Hopper's Color, wher he had a bit part as a Vietnam Vet (1988). He played militaries also in Platoon and The Rock.
Acest articol a aparut in defuncta revista art & roll in 2002. L-am republicat acum, cu ocazia intrarii filmului Anora in cinema, care mi-a adus aminte de old Billy W.
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Adios & Ola, Billy !
“Billy nu vedea lumea in mod comic sau in mod tragic. El vedea pur si simplu LUMEA. Asa ca lumea l-a acuzat de cinism. Din acest punct de vedere, cel mai mare compliment pe care mi l-ar putea face cineva ar fi sa-mi spuna ca sunt un cinic.”
Walter Matthau-AFI 1986
“Mr. Death, I’m ready for my close up”. Un ultim film, finalul film al mortii de la al carui turnaj nu poti lipsi.
Trebuia sa moara ca sa fie din nou pe “Prima pagina”. Asa mai auzim de el. Desi in ultimii ani a fost omniprezent pomenit, de 20 de ani n-a mai intrat pe un platou de filmare. 2002 este anul Billy Wilder si lumea e deja mult mai trista…
N-a mai suportat sa stea dupa ce prietenii si actorii sai, Lemmon si Matthau, fatete ale personajului Wilder, au plecat si ei de aici. Probabil ca acum stau cu totii la o parola undeva deasupra norilor si dupa cum spune titlul unui film de Lubitsch, e “Trouble in Paradise”.
Stau intr-un hotel in Sevilla si ma uit la seara omagiala de pe Arte. Pe Canal + s-a discutat in emisiunea de cinema ca despre evenimentul major, filmele sale s-au dat mereu si se dau incontinuu; doar in ultima luna pe Arte s-a nimerit “Foreign Affair” si “Viata particulara a lui Sherlock Holmes”, (ambele in seri tematice nelegate de Wilder) chiar si romanii au dat “Lost Weekend”! Oare s-a uitat Wilder la Oscarurile de acum 2 ani, cind autorii lui “American Beauty” i-au multumit in public si au recunoscut inspiratia din “Sunset Boulevard” si “Apartamentul”. Tocmai mi-au dat lacrimile pentru ca in cadru a aparut Billy, un batrinel minunat, exuberant si jovial, la fel cum mi-au dat lacrimile cind m-a sunat un prieten la 00,20 in noaptea de miercuri spre joi, 27 martie 2002 pentru a-mi da o veste pe care o asteptam, crispat, de un timp incoace. 95 de ani, o virsta previzibila pentru o plecare definitiva. Cum glumea Wilder: “Un om se duce la doctor si se plinge ca nu mai poate urina. <<Citi ani aveti>>, intreaba doctorul? <<90 de ani>>, raspunde pacientul. <<A, pai nu-i mare scofala>>il consoleaza doctorul.<< Nu credeti ca ati urinat destul pina la virsta asta?>>)
Billy vorbeste acum la televizor intr-o germana amestecata cu engleza pestrita, despre Marylin Monroe. Abia s-a terminat “Unora le place Jazz-ul”, dar l-au dat in franceza. Deh, nimeni nu e perfect. In librariile spaniole, a aparut tradusa, cartea lui Cameron Crowe, “Conversacion con Billy Wilder”, pe care am rasfoit-o si n-am cumparat-o anul trecut pe vremea asta, in Amsterdam. Personal, am mereu aceiasi problema, as fi vrut sa mai fi facut un film, doua, trei…“one, two, three”…
Am prezis acum citiva ani ca lumea se va detepta si va urla cu surle si trimbiti cind Billy va disparea complet. Pina atunci l-a inconjurat valul tacerii, al trecutului devenit prezent continuu, pina la trecerea permanenta intr-un trecut definitiv.
Abia acum 3 saptamini am reusit sa vad primul sau scenariu pus pe pelicula, “Oameni de duminica”(1927), regizat de Robert Siodmak si Edgar G. Ulmer, primul film amestec de documentar si fictiune, pasaportul lui Billy spre UFA, apoi Paris, apoi New York, apoi Hollywood.
Vienezul Billy Wilder a fost mereu legat de vechea Europa, de relicvele fostului imperiu austro-ungar, chiar de Romania. A fost prieten cu unul, I.A.L. Diamond (Izzy), totodata co-scenarist. A creat cel mai frumos personaj romanesc de pe ecran, barmanul suprarealist din “Irma La Douce”.
“The Ace in the hole” al unui domeniu disfuctional (arta / industrie), care te poate face sa devii cinic, Wilder este o combinatie de Balzac (Comedia umana), Goya (Capriciile), Paganini (tot capricii), Strauss (valsuri pe Dunarea albastra) si mult espresso (italian coffee, very strong).
Sau, cum spunea Caragiale, acest anti-roman convins, “Simt enorm si vaz monstruos”. Plusez: “Nimic din ce mi-e omenesc nu mi-e strain” , “errare humanum est”, “iarna nu-i ca vara”, lui Billy i-ar fi placut poanta…
Billy traieste…aici, linga mine, in camera de hotel, unde termin sticla de Jack D’s in onoarea lui…cred ca Billy ar fi preferat Schloss Chateau o mie noua sute vara…seamana putin cu Mickey Rooney in “Principiul dominoului”, n-am mai auzit o germana mai amuzanta in viata mea… se ride, se fumeza, se bea si nu mai sunt singur demult, stau cu Billy la o sueta, el dinauntrul televizorului, eu dinauntrul pasiunilor mele. Uimitor cit este de viu si real si probabil e singura moarte care nu ma afecteaza atit de tare in mod real, pentru ca Billy s-a retras din 1982. Viata e trista, viata se termina la un moment dat. Modelul perfect: sa fii, sa vezi, sa descrii lumea cu dulcele/ amar dozat unic de Billy, made in Billy Wilder’s world. Nobody’s perfect dar nici viata nu e perfecta. Cred totusi ca, intr-o zi senina, pina si Dumnezeu ar vrea sa fie putin Billy Wilder.
La intrarea in rai parola e “Avanti !”. Si pina la urma tot pe Sunset ajungi. Adios & Ola, Billy & OLE !
7.04.2002, intr-un lost weekend la Sevilla,
Alin Ludu Dumbrava
& her ia a real treat, a new found interview (extensive) with Billy Wilder, published last year (2023) by Kevin Lally, who had 6 conversations with Billy in 1993 !
https://kevinlallyonfilm.com/2023/06/16/my-first-encounter-with-billy-wilder/
Megalopolis is kinda Miniopolis...
I went with my fingers crossed but no, hey, got the intentions but great filmmaking this not iz (Yoda said)
Coppola's dream project for over 30 years, inspired by Ann Raynd's The Fountainhead, Rome's & ancient Greece republics, architecture and philosophers, Goethe's Hold the Time, and a lot of Shakespeare, as well as New York's dirty townhall politics an construction shenanigans.
The Baddies:
-too pretentious
-too literary
-too naive too
-too megalo
-too Shakesperian, but like bad Shakespeare, done by juvenile people
-a teenager film done by a very old man, lecturing about the world
-lost plots (the Russian satellite, the megalon subplot)
-philosophy on the screen-does not work (talking in quotes certainly sucks)
-Adam Driver doing Hamlet
-some of the effects -really bad- statues doing stuff, backgrounds and such (there is a budgetary reason)
-Dustin Hoffman character wasted (James Caan was supposed to play this...)
-not impressed by the cinematography which I expected to be brilliant, sorry Mihai Malaimare jr...(his fourth film with il suo Maestro. Francis "discovered" him in Romania in 2006, giving him the chance to do Youth Without Youth, then he took him to Argentina to do Tetro, then kept him for Twixt). Meanwhile MM jr made a career in Hollywood (A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Master, The Harder They Fall, Jojo Rabbit !!!).
-the score (again by Osvaldo Golijov, his 4th film with FF Coppola)
Anora is in Romanian Cinemas starting Today. So, run to the theaters, 'til it's there...
Absolutely Fabulous ! One of the year's best if not The One (haven't seen yet all the Cannes fares). Fresh, raw, relentless (act one just sets up the film, so bare for the first thirty minutes).
The stripper Ani aka Anora (Mikey Madison) meets Ivan, the half-baked young son of a Russsian Oligargh and thinks she struck gold. Cos' he wants to marry her. Und they did ! But then the family finds out about this....trouble ensures.
Palme d'Or -the first American film to win this since 2011's The Tree of Life !
And certainly one of the top favorites for the Awards Season. Mikey Madison deserves an Oscar !
Note on Jan 23d 2025: Anora is nominated for 6 Oscars, including Best Picture, best director, best (original screenplay), Actress and supporting actor: Yura Borisov !
I was thinking all the time where did I see her before, and yes, Mikey was Sadie in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
Yura Borisov as Igor is a blast ! Also Karren Karagulian (who's been in every Sean Baker film, and that's his eight !) is extraordinary as Toros. I am following Baker since The Florida Project which was OK, wasn't impressed by his previous, Tangerine (2015), but Red Rocket was one of my top films of 2021 (I think it streams on Netflix these days/& nights;). Anyway, this is Baker in Major League now, bigger, better, more ambitious in scope and story. Up to now Baker's characters are misfits, low-lifes, prostitutes, strippers, pimps, white-trash and junkies, destitute people who in his view get a warm personality and a glow. A peripheral Americana micro-cosm of its own.
For me it was like Cassavetes and some early Jarmusch (but in vivid colors and widescreen), directed and shot a la Safdie bros. (Good Time, Uncut Gems). And a bit of After Hours (Scorsese, 1984).
And the Billy Wider Touch. I felt so much starting act two, from all the losers getting 2nd hand shots (The Apartment, Kiss Me Stupid, Irma la Douce-she 's a prostitute, see -oups, a sex worker, etc.)
Though Sean Baker dedicates his film to Jess Franco & Soledad Miranda (his actress that died in an accident at 27) !!? He also mentions Fellini's Notte di Cabiria as an inspiration for Ani/Anora.
Only Incidental music in the soundtrack (songs that is...)
*Great interview with Sean Baker on his favourite films on Video Konbini. You'll be surprised what kinds of films the guy likes ;) like, it's the first time I heard about Miami Connection (1987) !!! A alot in common with Tarantino too.
