nicks and flicks

[sergebroom]

It’s springtime! That means yard work, and two trips to the dump to get rid of the Spanish broom’s trunks. Also a bit of exsanguination, from the nicks to my knuckles.

Besides that… We’ve been watching quite a few movies, thanks to Sue’s NetFlix selections. Seen recently…

2006’s The White Countess (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384686/ ) is a Merchant-Ivory film set in Shanghai in the late 1930s. Ralph Fiennes used to be an American diplomat(1), but he retired from his job, and from most of the world, for reasons we are later told. Natasha Richardson(2) is a white Russian, who does what she has to do to keep alive her daughter - and her late husband’s family, who have only contempt for her being reduced to working as a dancer and as a prostitute. Those two broken people cross paths. Recommended.

1994’s Farinelli (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109771/ ) is a historical film from France(3) about the rockstar-like castrato of the 1740s, his unusual relationship with his brother, and his rather strained dealings with Haendel. The whole thing feels a bit remote, but it’s quite interesting. And the headdresses that Farinelli wears when playing an operatic part are awesome.

1996’s The King of Masks (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115669/ ) is a Chinese film(4) set in the 1920s. Bial Lian is a street entertainer, whose art involves masks. He is getting old, lonely, without any male heir to whom he could pass on what he knows. One day, a famous female impersonator and opera singer persuades him to acquire a male heir. Which he does. Except that, much to his horror, the young boy doesn’t have what Bian Lian calls the little teaspout. The old man is angry at having been had by the girl, for whom this was the 7th time she had been bought and sold, but he doesn’t cast her out. A fascinating movie.

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(1) Fiennes as an American? Why not? For one thing, he appears to have erased most of his original accent. Besides, even if he had kept his British accent, he could still be an American. So could I, but not an American diplomat.

(2) No relation to Miranda Richardson, who is related to Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, who both have small parts in the movie.

(3) Which is why most of the dialogues are in Italian, which is just as well because Farinelli’s French leaves a bit to be desired, unlike Jeroen Krabbe’s, who is great as Haendel. Luckily for non-polyglots the whole thing is subtitled.

(4) In Mandarin. Yes, subtitled.

Comments

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Why couldn't you be an American diplomat? If Christopher Lambert could play a Scot and Sean Connery could play a Spaniard (in the same film at that), there's no reason why you couldn't play an American diplomat, accent or no.

This, of course, leaves aside all questions relating to one Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh, I guess I could play an American diplomat, but be one? True, I have finally come to realize I am not as lacking in people skills as I thought, but I don't have what it takes for professional diplomacy. On the other hand, there are the likes of John Bolton. (And I don't mean the comic-book artist.)

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

Considering your upbringing and current religious state, I think you'd be a fabulous candidate for Ambassador to the Holy See.

I've got Antonia's Line sitting here, I should be watching it later on this week, once my homework is complete.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Me at the Holy See? That'd indeed be interesting, but, in spite of my current religious state and probably because of my upbringing, I'd be better qualified to be there than Mr.Bolton at the UN.

Thanks for the mention about Antonia's Line. I'll mak sure to ask Sue to put it on hr NetFlix queue.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Antonia's Line is definitely worth watching.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

That's true!

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

I see your viewing and raise you Josephine Baker and Jean Gabin in Zouzou.

So there.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Filthy French Films!

That being said, I have heard of it, but I don't think I've ever seen it. Ever caught Gabin in Quai des Brumes as someone who goes back to France, but he's unfortunately AWOL from the Tonkin, aka Vietnam?

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't. Zouzou is in the mail by now, so you can try and sweet-talk Sue into adding it to your queue.

In the extras on the DVD, someone commented that one of the reasons Baker went to Paris was that in the US film business, there weren't any real options for her--she couldn't get the sort of roles that Carole Lombard et al. got--but she was good at them.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I think I saw a documentary about Baker that brought that up. It's a shame that she had to leave America, but she got something in exchange. At least.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Including a state funeral when she died.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

That sure beats being considered subhuman in the land of her birth, doesn't it?

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Absolutely.

flicks

[susankrinard.livejournal.com]

I agree with Serge's assessment of all three movies, except I found KING OF MASKS a little dull compared to many Chinese movies I've seen. Not bad, just a little dull, thought the little girl was incredibly adorable.

FARINELLI fascinates me. I rented it because I had just finished a mystery set in the world of Venetian castrati, Interrupted Aria by Beverle Graves Myers. The protagonists is a castrato named Tito, who has just left the castrato academy to assume his first starring role in a Venetian opera house. The mystery is a little thin in terms of the actual killer coming completely out of the blue, and I would have liked more detail of costume and the operas, but overall an enjoyable read.

THE WHITE COUNTESS really surprised me. I remember that it had bad reviews, but I really enjoyed it. My only complaint was that it could have been edited to take out about half an hour, but otherwise, I just can't agree with the critics who trashed it.

Re: flicks

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

And I suppose you wanted King of Masks to show a fight on top of bamboo forests, eh? Mind you, that little girl could have pulled it off, considering how flexible she was.