NOTE THE LOGO AND ALSO THE BOOK THAT IT WAS ADAPTED FROM
I wasn’t at all sure when I read that Birth of a Nation [e.tv.Saturday.01.10] was scheduled for late night viewing on Saturday, that it was in fact the historic, silent film made in 1915, by D.W.Griffith.
My friend, who shall remain nameless, kindly checked with e.tv and received confirmation,the film is indeed showing on Saturday night. What does one say, the film stands like an historical document, locked forever in its place and time?
HENRY LONG IN BLACKFACE
It was a landmark film event, even then. At the time, slapstick comedy ruled, relatively easy in silent days, a proliferation of custard pies, flailing arms and legs and frenetic, jerky car chases. Griffith was one of the first to film in close up, attempting to capture thought.
Today, fortunately or unfortunately, Birth of a Nation is more famous for depicting the Ku Klux Klan as the heroes, and for casting a white actor in blackface as the anti-hero. Griffith might have been a trailblazer then, but now, he is only really remembered by film historians.
THE OTHER UNITED ARTISTS HAVE ENJOYED A LONGER SHELF LIFE--FAIRBANKS, MARY PICKFORD AND ESPECIALLY CHARLIE CHAPLIN.D.W. SITS NEXT TO THE LITTLE TRAMP
An interesting quote from 1924 shows just how out of touch Griffith already was. He said,
‘It will never be possible to synchronize the voice with the pictures. Music—fine music—will always be the voice of the silent drama. There will never be speaking pictures.’
As a filmmaker, Giffith’s career was over by 1930.
Of the huge cast, only Lillian Gish had a notable career in the talkies, making her last film in 1987, where she gave Bette Davis a run for her acting money in The Whales of August. She died in 1993, just shy of her 100th birthday.
LILLIAN GISH IN HER LATE 70S
I met her in Cape Town in the 70’s, she was charming and told wonderful stories of conditions during the early days. I asked her about the famous ‘ice floe’ sequence from Way Down East, made by Griffith in 1919, in which she floats around on a block of ice for take, after take, after take. No special effects or stuntmen then.
PUTTING HER LIFE ON THE LINE FOR HER ART AND MR.GRIFFITH
I asked her the obvious questions,
Was she cold? Tired? Afraid?
I remember her smiling, and saying,
‘My Dear, I would have died for Mr.Griffith’
And, I believe she would have, quite gladly.
Watch Birth of a Nation for a while; just to see, for a moment, how it all began. Truly, writing history with lightening. So said the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson about Griffith's movie.
EARLY RUSSIAN CINEMA-THE ODESSA STEPS SEQUENCE FROM THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN
D.W.Griffith might have been an American filmmaking pioneer, but like splitting the atom; once the technology was in place, the whole world was keen to get in on the act. By the 20s, many countries, including South Africa, had a fledgling film industry. .
POLANSKI HAS HAD MANY MOMENTS OF GENIUS
After the Second World War, one of the bright younger talents was French born, Roman Polanski, who began his career in Poland. In popular culture, Polanski is most famous for losing his wife and unborn child to the to the madness of Manson, and later, for having a statutory rape charge against him, a charge that has never gone away.
MIA FARROW AND HER BABY
Creatively, Polanski has made some outstandingly charged cinema, notably Knife in the Water and Rosemary’s Baby, surely one of the most scary occult movies ever made. The Ninth Gate [SABC1.Saturday.22.30] again sees Polanski dabbling with the diabolical, this time in an effort starring Johnny Depp and Frank Langella.
JOHNNY DEPP WAS BRANDO'S FAVOURITE YOUNG ACTOR
Rosemary’s Baby was so chillingly brilliant because of the very ordinariness of its surroundings. The Ninth Gate, on the other hand, is very overdressed and on the long side, but it’s not that often that we see a great talent at work, and when all is said and done, Polanski is that.
Since South Africa was allowed access to the small bioscope in our living rooms, TV stars have become as familiar as the sofa. Most of the popular ones have a stab at the big screen, some more successful than others. Two of the stars from Friends have a go this week.
TV STARS DON'T ALWAYS MAKE IT ON THE BIG SCREEN
David Schwimmer tried in The Pallbearer [M-Net.Saturday.22.00], a interesting idea that gets bogged down early on and then goes on and on, recycling the same, rather tired punch line.
Fellow Friend Jennifer Aniston keeps on trying, yet again, she is in He’s Just Not That Into You [M-Net.Sunday.20.00 and Wednesday 00.00] This one has a cast list as long as an average arm— Gennifer Goodwin, Jennifer Connelly, Ben Afflick, Justin Long, Drew Barrymore…..
ALL THE PRETTY PEOPLE
Much ado about not much, it’s based on a self-help book, and is great fun, if you enjoy watching fairly good-looking people scurrying around, looking good- looking.
Before the advent of TV in South Africa, we didn’t have much of a clue about TV stars at all. The name Chuck Barris means little or nothing to us, but he was huge in the States, famous for The Dating Game and The Gong Show, featuring Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine— I just love the way that sounds.
GENE GENE IN ACTION
Anyway, Barris claimed to be a CIA assassin of long-standing and high body count. Well, could be.
AN UNLIKELY ASSASSIN
Sam Rockwell plays Chuck in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind [SABC3.Friday.22.00] directed by George Clooney who costars along with Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts. Clooney does a good job, in his first time in the director’s chair, aided by with a wry conspiracy laden screenplay by Charlie Kaufman. Brad Pitt and Matt Damon do a jokey guest stint, but the fact that Clooney and Kaufman had ‘artistic differences’ does show.
ALL THOSE PRETTY TALENTED PEOPLE
Kaufman, of course, is just too talented to ignore. He wrote and directed Synedoche, New York [M-Net.Monday.21.30] with wonderful performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and just about everybody else in sight. There is nothing wrong with the film as such, but its not really user friendly, or mainstream enough for popular consumption but, then, Kaufman never is. He mixes reality and fantasy with a deft hand, but he isn't ever light or easy going.
CATHERINE KEENER-A GIFTED AND DEDICATED ACTRESS
Keener and Philip Seymour Hoffman, apart from reading Kaufman well, also enjoy working with each other. They both won awards for Capote, where Keener got to play Harper Lee. Harper Lee wrote and thanked Catherine for her performance. Now, that is classy.
SANDRA BULLOCK PLAYED HARPER LEE WHEN IT WAS HER TURN
Just after Capote, another film was made about Madam Truman. In Infamous, Harper Lee was played by Sandra Bullock, I wonder if she got a thank you note as well? Bullock appears, this week, with fellow 2009 Oscar winner Jeff Bridges in The Vanishing [e.tv.Friday.20.00] that is a remake (strangely by the same director, George Sluizer) of an earlier and better Dutch movie, Traceless (Spoorloos), better title, too.
HE IS SMILING HERE, IN THE VANISHING HE IS EVIL
Kiefer Sutherland plays the nominal hero, a man slowly losing his grip. It’s pretty unpleasant all round, the tacked on ending doesn’t really help except to make the film longer. I know I’m a biased fan, but Jeff Bridges is a marvelous actor, he’s the really frightening villain in this one. Crazy Heart is not his best work; I think his Oscar is more of a reward for forty years of inspired input.
JACK AND ADAM
Anger Management [SABC3.Saturday.19.30] finds Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler bouncing off each other, far too much of a good thing really. Pity, because, given the right circumstances and a more cohesive script, both are capable of wonderful comic moments. Krista Allen’s name sounds familiar, not because she is also in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, but because she once played Billie Reid in Days of Our Lives.
HEY,THAT'S WHY SHE LOOKS SO FAMILIAR
The very underrated John Turturro, who is one of the better things in Anger Management plays the title role in Barton Fink [SABC3.Saturday.22.00], an offbeat, Coen Bros look at writing in Hollywood in the 40s. Hollywood had a reputation of eating writers, chewing on the talent and spitting out a couple of undigested paragraphs. The list is endless, Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Faulkner, Clifford Odets…..
JOHN AND JOHN-TURTURRO AND GOODMAN
The movies demand their own kind of talent, like the Coens and Kaufman or before them, someone like Billy Wilder, writers that think in cinematic terms. Barton Fink has a rough cinematic sophistication that is typical of the Coens on a good day.
UNITED WE ARE A BIT OF A BORE
Philip and Charlie Kaufman are not related; I’m only saying that because for years I thought they were. Philip directs Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes in Rising Sun [M-Net.Saturday.23.35] which is not bad but has been done so many times before, two very different men drawn together to tackle a common foe, this time, homicide in high places. Ho Hum.
Menace II Society [SABC1.Friday.22.00] is hard and violent but the message is clear and the acting more than adequate, and of course, there are local parallels.
TEACHING THE BIRDS A THING OR THREE
Fly Away Home [e.tv.Friday.14.30 and Saturday.13.30] is like a breath of fresh air, it reunites the skills of director Carroll Ballard and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, the same team that made The Black Stallion. Anyone who cares about the environment will appreciate it;a plus is that both Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin can act, very well too.
JEFF DANIELS IS SUCH A NATURAL
My pick is Barton Fink [SABC3.Saturday.22.00]; not surprising really, I love the movies and anything about them.