FRANCESCA,
-Don’t worry about writing me, you just write whenever you feel like it, no pressure.
Focus on your flesh and blood-friends first, and your family, and your studies, and your hobbies, and then, when all that’s taken care of, write me if you want to, I do enjoy hearing from you.
Speaking of your family- your mother and father, they’re still together? Anachronistic almost.
Do you have any sisters or brothers? I have two step sisters, one younger than me, Jannie, one older than me, Christel-
they also live in Copenhagen. I don’t see them very often.
-I’m leaving the city tomorrow, I’m off to the country, off to a small, primitive house on
Møn ( Danish island).
I’ll be cut off from all the modern unnecessities that we’ve become so dependent on:
No TV and no internet while I’m there-
I’ll just bring books for reading and notebooks for writing.
I could bring my laptop and some DVDs, but I fear I would just watch films instead of writing.
I’ll also leave my razor at home. I’m going to let my beard grow, starting tomorrow- I’ll shave again on the first morning after my return.
I’ll be gone for three weeks, interrupted only by a Vampire Weekend-
(They are playing at Vega on the 13th.)
But after that, it’s back to Møn and writing.
I haven’t decided what books to bring yet. I think I’ll take my Virginia Wolf’s Writer’s Diary for inspiration and maybe some of my Johannes V. Jensens (his grasp of the Danish language is unparalleled in Danish literature.)
I’ll also have to take some easy reads, maybe some Agatha Christies.
-What books are you reading at the moment? Are you an avid reader?
-My favorite Buster Keaton film? It’s difficult to say, I like them all but for different reasons.
-The General, because I’ve had some of my most memorable cinema-viewing experiences with that film- it’s the most amazing film to see with an audience,
the fact that it was made 80 years ago, and still can make a room full of people erupt with spontaneous clapping, laughter and cheering, never seizes to amaze me…
So every time it plays in Cinemateket I try and catch it.
-Hard Luck is a small gem- it’s somewhat rough around the edges, but it’s extremely precise in its comedy- it’s only 22 minutes long, but because there’s essentially no plot to speak of, Keaton can concentrate on filling the film with some great set-pieces, the failed suicide attempts-bit is amazing, and so is the big finale where Buster defeats a gang of villains.
-But if I would have to pick just one, I would have to say Our Hospitality.
-Too bad you couldn’t watch Den 11.time - I was aware it was a long shot. There are many things online that I’m unable to watch on account of regional restrictions and so on…
But…It was worth a try.
-A Venezuelian Car Chase!
Insane story, insane world. I’m glad you and your family escaped unscathed.
-Are you prepared for the possibility of being disappointed in Desplechin, now that you are gearing up to seek out the rest of his films? It’s always exciting discovering new filmmakers. And it’s always, too, a little daunting delving further into a director’s oeuvre- you always pray you won’t be disappointed in his/her other films-
So…I hope he doesn’t let you down.
--Let me know what you think about You, The Living- I think you’ll find it to be brilliant and totally unique (particularly when you haven’t seen Songs From The Second Floor).
when is it premiering?
/U L R I C H.
"Great movie awesome colors except for the homo erotic theme" hahahahahahaha.. Thanks for the laugh, and good reviews btw!
I'll try again:
http://www.dr.dk/DR2/Den11time/
Se+programmerne/
20080229101520.htm
-Francesca,
I'm glad you returned safe and sound.
Where did you go? And with whom?
-"I'm just getting over one of the most vicious sunburns I've ever gotten".
See, that's why you should only go to the beach at night!
No sunburns/just moonburns!
-Never heard of The Swans or DNA (I'll check them out.)
-I like Sonic Youth,
I like their later, more mainstream records (like Sonic Nurse, Rather Ripped etc). I know that the hardcore Sonic Youth fans look down on those but...
-I get what you're saying about Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
But they have pretty good songs, and Karen O's just so stunningly enigmatic-you can't take your eyes off of her.
Maybe seeing them in concert is the best way to fully appreciate them.
They played Roskilde Festival yesterday, and I would've loved to have seen them. It was only their second time playing in DK,
the first time was also at Roskilde but back when nobody really knew who they were. I wish they would come to DK and play at a concert-venue and not at a festival (I'm not a musicfestival/camping fan) Have you seen Yeah Yeah Yeahs in concert?
-Efterklang are really nice, I have their EP and first LP, never seen them in concert though.
-Snöleoparden:
Go to http://www.dr.dk/DR2/Den11time/Se+programmerne/20080229101520.htm
Scroll down and click on Se program 99.
It's a danish talkshow, den 11. time, in which he appeared;
he talks about the year he spent in India
when he was sitar-legend Ravi Shankar's student.
It could be a good opportunity for you to brush up on your danish or you can just listen to him perform one of his pieces.
(I hope you can see the program, I actually have no idea if you can see it outside of DK. Let me know.)
I remember seeing him on that show when it first aired 18 months ago- he made quite an impression.
It wasn't just his music, it was also his story;
It must have taken a lot of courage and a lot of willpower:
First, travelling all the way to India by himself,
secondly, locating the legendary Ravi Shankar,
and thirdly, being able to convince Shankar to take him on as a student.
-I'll look for "Kill your Idols", sounds really interesting.
That concludes the musical portion of this wall post.
-On Antichrist: I wasn't a 100 percent sold on it, but there were moments of pure brilliance. And it had a fantastic sounddesign.
I have a huge problem with Willem Dafoe, he's always overacting in films-he does a lot of theater and you can sense that.
He's good when it comes to over the top characters like Bobby Peru or Nosferratu, but he's not good at playing characters who are grounded in reality, I think...Maybe the problem is me, I like acting in film to be extremely extremely underplayed.
Anyways, Willem Dafoe is in every single scene of the film, so you can understand how it could be a problem for me.
Charlotte Gainsbourg, on the other hand, is really something, alternating between heartbreakingly vulnerable and terrifyingly menacing.
I've only seen it once, I want to see it again before it's taken down.
I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it come october, that's a helluva long time but...
-A few words on von Trier:
I admire his artistic courage more than the films themselves.
With each film he makes, he challenges himself, and tries to do something new-
that's what fuels his interest- I recently read that he regrets having done Manderley and Dogville in the same style-
the thing that keeps him going, is finding new and different ways of telling a story; he wants to push the boundries of cinema a little bit each time out and I admire that.
Artistic courage is something all filmmakers, all artists for that matter, should aspire to.
-Yeah that's right, we both share a fear of flying,
but the big difference is, von Trier wouldn't be able to fly 90 mins. to England or 50 mins. to Norway like I would.
On the other hand, he did go to Scotland to shoot Breaking the Waves...maybe he sailed...or swam!
But God bless his fear of flying, it has kept him grounded, kept him away from Hollywood, so he's been able to make his personal and original films in and around DK.
But knowing his artistic sensibility, he wouldn't have been tempted by the big Hollywood machine anyway, fear of flying or not.
Hey, I notice you have Charlie Chaplin on your favorite auteurs list.
I have Buster Keaton on mine. Have you seen Bertollucci's The Dreamers? At one point, the two protagonists have a heated argument about who's the greater of the two-I can't remember how it's worded, but it's quite funny.
