To Understand...

"A trully good movie is interesting and easy to understand" 
-Akira Kurosawa

We go to the movies to watch others or ourselves? We go into this dark room full of unknown people to begin a journey. Inside our own experiences. Color or colorless, horror, musical, adventure or drama. Every film is told differently. Because the people behind them have different sensibilities.

"Give me two hours a day of activity, and I’ll take the other twenty-two in dreams."

-Luis Buñuel

There is no two people who think the same or react the same. In our every day life we try to understand why are we here? what we were meant to do? who are we gonna meet? and why?  Film brings  many more questions to our minds. It is true, we morph into people that understand perfectly the movie language but its not the same message for all of us. Some movies are liked others are hated. Maybe because they remind us of better times or we are faced with our own demons.

”There are mysteries, secret zones in each individual.”

-Krzysztof Kieślowski

How our parents teach us to be polite and how to defend ourselves. How our teachers challenge us with questions and frequent evaluations. How life makes our mistakes the scars of what we have learned. In films the message is one thing and our interpretation is another. The movie is dated the message is timeless. I really think Every film deserves a second chance. To watch it again might change our opinion.

“The value of art is [its ability] to heal.”

 -Alejandro Jodorowsky

It is very interesting to see how different... several directors feel about the process of movie making, but how alike they all want to portay dreams.

I hope we NEVER loose that desire of going to the movies. Yes many people complaint about :  the long lines or  the ticket price. But it is also a way of stepping outside our daily routine. It´s made to be an all senses experience. That is why your view is directed forward. That is why the lights are out. That is why you should be quiet and turn off your phones during the movie. AND NEVER WATCH A MOVIE ON A PHONE.

"There are two kinds of directors; those who have the public in mind when they conceive and make their films and those who don’t consider the public at all. For the former, cinema is an art of spectacle; for the latter, it is an individual adventure. There is nothing intrinsically better about one or the other; it’s simply a matter of different approaches."  

-François Truffaut

Every day we see the younger generations loose the amazement that we once had. I recall the first time i went to the United States . I saw the PAC-MAN Arcade on the hotel lobby. I was amazed. I couldn´t believe. I could control the TV!!! As dumb as it may seem now, but  back in 1983 it was something TO ME out of this world.

"I once had a dream, or a vision, and I imagined that dream to be of importance to other people, so I wrote the manuscript and made the film. But it is not until the moment when my dream meets with your emotions and your minds that my shadows come to life. It is your recognition that brings them to life. It is your indifference that kills them. I hope that you will understand; that you when you leave the cinema will take with you an experience or a sudden thought—or maybe a question. The efforts of my friends and myself have then not been in vain…" 

— Ingmar Bergman

I will try to teach my children to go to the movies. To be polite and aware that watching a film is like watching a play in the theatre. To stay quiet, until the movie has ended. You are inside a temple. But most importantly  teach them to watch any kind of movie. 

And at the end of the day to be 
those few 
WHO go to the movies
To UNDERSTAND.

"i look at the filmmakers of the past and many filmmakers of the present, i have nothing but admiration, more than admiration , i survive from them, i live of the inspiration i get from many filmmakers.  I believe, particularily  artists  ...have to know the past in order to accept, reject, complaint about, hate, love whatever... i mean how come you not."

-Martin Scorcese

Your move chief

As paintings, movies can tell you many things. You just have to watch them closely. The same thing happens when you watch a Robin Williams  film.

I think the first movie i saw of Robin Williams was "POPEYE", then a few years later my dad insisted i saw "GOOD MORNING VIETNAM". 

Growing up I saw this funny guy on films, who seemed to enjoy his work. Yelled SARCASM and screamed funny ANECDOTES. Robin Williams showed me that it was possible To be A GROWN UP and at the same time FEEL like a KID. His work was LIKE HIM eclectic, different, full of life, color, SOUL, wisdom and  crazy humanity.

Not just a comedian or a performer. Robin Williams became iconic. Maybe if you are lucky you can get a role in a movie that becomes a sensation. But making so many good films is no coincidence. 

As an actor he touched us very deep. He made us laugh, made us cry and he could make us reflect on our own lives. He could play  both villain and hero. An admirable person or a psycological obsessive stalker. He could play man or woman. A bicentennial man, a genie, a mad scientist, Peter Pan or A Fisher King.  He was inexplicable as unpredictable.

Fast paced, words seem to out run him because he had to say so much, he wanted to express so much. He was like an atomic bomb of pop culture. He created and crafted the characters he portrayed as no other. Troubled, happy or depressed. Angry or obscure, he played each and every one of them brilliantly. He was the normal guy he smiled, he woke up, he farted, he didn´t seem to struggle with acting he seemed to be himself and enjoy it. 

He seemed real,  he was one of a kind.  You may like his acting or not. But there is no denial, everyone has seen a Robin Williams performance. And felt the sweatness of his presence.

It seemed he didn´t knew anything else but to perform, to make us laugh. By showing us how the world could be a little better not bitter.

As many of us, he had doubts, fears and a troubled mind. He played the common man, the man who works, who has a pay check, a family, responsabilities. Inside him we could never tell what he was thinking.

From this day on, all his movies, all his work, all his stand up comedy will have a new meaning. They become testament and legacy to the forthcoming generations. 

He as his films  have become ...timeless.

I was stunned by the news of his death. But even more shocked by the way he decided to end his life. Personally he was someone who i admired ,  i am sad. I never met him, but had he ringed on my door i would´ve invited him inside. I felt i knew him in some way. 

He made me laugh really loud. 

It seems sad and ironic that in one of his movies "What Dreams May Come" he says:

- "it´s NOT about understanding 

it´s about NOT giving up"

-Robin Williams 

It is a tragedy. We were extremely lucky to see his work ...The legend of Robin Williams begins.

"your move chief"

-Robin Williams 

(Good Will Hunting)

I have a Voice !!!

As the movie begins... we see a man with his wife about to deliver a message. All alone sorrounded by thousands of people. He stutters. We can see all of them estranged by the way he talks in public, we are unable to help him. He doubts himself. He feels lost and empty. He is angry.

This man is a stranger. As many people in our lives, when we meet we are total strangers. But that is about to change. A royal outcast in his own land always made fun out by his whole family. A man who was always quiet almost mute.

The King´s Speech is more than just a film. 

It is in fact a work of art.

I could talk about the performances, how many Oscar nominations they got and why.

I could talk about the cinematography and how Pre-War England came to life.

I could talk about the importance it was for Britain to have a King that used the Radio to unite them all.

I could talk about Alexandre Desplat magical score and how the music echoes the emotions of the characters in frame 

How he achieved to translate this feeling of how late at night we all are haunted by our mistakes. Our inability to respond correctly. 

But, I rather go to the core of the film. Not of its historical accuracy or value. I want to talk about the link between Lionel and Bertie.(SPOILER ALERT)

It´s a film about TRUST. A relationship of Trust.

Opening up, in difficult times by addmiting ones problems is no an easy task. We spend all of our life trying to hide or ignore problems. We mostly share what we think are triumphs not defeats. As the movie progresses we see how they become closer. As on camera. First they are worlds appart. Then they began to enter each others territory. As Lionel tells Bertie "In here we must be equals". Confidence, as they begin sharing stories to begin their friendship. They  see how the other one is afraid. 

They begin to trust each other.  

As Lionel asks "what are friends for? 

Bertie replies "I wouldn´t know...."

That is very hard, almost impossible. Admiting one has a problem. We wish we were perfect. Make perfect decisions. Or had perfect scores and salaries. But we don´t. We are imperfect. 

We make MISTAKES. By acknowledging he is not perfect and full of flaws. "it is easier to influence or persuade someone who is trusting"

As we witness one of the hardest events on the film, as Bertie paints model airplanes. He begins to sing a happy song, but inside the lyrics he describes how he hurt, how he was not liked as a baby and abused by one of his nannys. How his health deteriorated and no one wanted to carry him around. How he started to develop that stutter. And how he came to be "Be-be-be-be-bertie".

As Lionel shows him all his potential, how he can become a great King, he talks to him, gets close and really personal. They understand each other as friends, as equals that must work together in order to succeed.

Any one can make a difference if we let them in our lives. If we listen to what they say. By the end of the film We see the same man standing alone but now proudly. Because of the life he has and all the trouble he has overcomed. 

With the support of his wife and Lionel. Who said the right words to Bertie ...    "Tell it to me"

As he takes the plunge into the cold water and delivers his speech, he knows he can do it, because he has the support of his family. His got Lionel right there and all his own confidence.

His voice.

He is the King of England. Yes he stammers a little.

But (most importantly) he feels successful. 

He has no doubt of what he is capable of achieving.

"A number of images put together a certain way become something quite above and beyond what any of them are individually…"

-Francis Ford Coppola

two SEE ONE story

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

-The Metamorphosis 

by Franz Kafka.

 Imagine you are going down a staircase into to an unknown cellar with a stranger you suspect is a killer.

David Fincher put those frightful words into film in his movie ZODIAC. To me that is the most scary scene in the whole movie. In that moment the tone changes into one of uncertainty. Even the light is dimmed as to create tension between us and the characters. The duality of Charles Fleischer´s  performance is intriguing and frightening.  

How can somebody act good and be evil. Be frightening but at the same time passive. Two Identities in ONE?

Jeremy Irons did it in Dead Ringers, Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, Bette Davis in A Stolen Life, John Lithgow in Raising Cain. and Nicholas Cage in Adaptation. One story of two characters. Portraying a character must be difficult. But can you imagine portraying two ?? 

For example, Gwyneth Paltrow did a movie called Sliding Doors, it is really good. She plays Helen Quilley twice. The same person but in two parallel time lines. Perfectly crafted and wonderfully told. Surely a screenwriters nightmare telling two stories spawned by one decision, to me Paltrow´s best work yet. 

Movies such as: Identity , Run Lola Run, Family Man, Memento or the classic It´s a Wonderful Life show us the many shades the human mind can hold.

I´ve just seen the new trailer for the Jesse Eisenberg film "Double" and it made me remember another trailer i saw, like two months ago with Jake Gyllenhall about a man having a double or someone looking exactly like him called "Enemy". Both movies seem alike but different in the tones. One is more sarcastic and the other one is more David Lynch meets the Twilight Zone. I really want to see both. 

To me, one of the best performances by an actor in a double character-ROLE has been Armie Hammer in The Social Network. I had never seen him act before so i THOUGHT the "Winklevoss" twins were 2 real life twin actors. Up until the credits i realized it was all an ilussion and appreciated even more both performances.

There is no denial that Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagol  in "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy and "The Hobbit" is flawless. He gave a chilling-stunning performance as a dual personality evil character.  The greatness of Serkis is how he transpired his acting thru a motion captured performance.

But what about actors making similar roles in different movies??? Like Eddie Tagoe. He has a brief appearance in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". He yells : "I found him!", pointing to Indiana Jones swimming to the Nazi submarine. And as "Chocolate Mousse" in the 1984 farce, "Top Secret! "

In both roles he looks exactly the same.

Or Anne Archer who won an Academy Award for her role as Michael Douglas sympathetic, tortured wife, Beth Gallagher, in  “Fatal Attraction.”  and is well-known for playing CIA agent Jack Ryan’s beleaguered wife, Cathy, in “Patriot Games” with Harrison Ford. In both movies she suffers a car crash.

What about two actors playing similar roles in two different movies??

Gabriel Byrne and Kevin Pollak in  both "The Usual Suspects" and  "END OF DAYS" play similar roles. Both movies share a lot in common like: the scene with the suspects in the police station, a cigarette dropped into a flammable liquid, Pollak riding in a distinctive white van, Gabriel Byrne uses black clothes and Kevin Pollack a base ball cap, to top it all they quote the same line in both movies: 

"Satan's greatest trick was convincing man he didn't exist" 

-Charles Baudelaire.

Some of my favorite dual/performances are:

Edward Norton  as a victim of abuse and mental illness 
as Aaron Stampler   in "Primal Fear"

Ian Holm  as  Sir William Gull  becomes both 
The Compass And The Ruler  in "From Hell"

Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers in "Black Swan"

Macaulay Culkin explores darkness as a child as Henry Evans in "The Good Son"

Every cast member as Azazel in "Fallen"

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages."

-William Shakespeare