the face of miranda's 'ruth'

in appreciation

the brilliant band THE SMITHS chose a photograph of writer shelagh delaney, queen of the 'kitchen sink' genre, to grace the cover of their record, 'girl in a coma.'

shoot to kill

when i saw 'dance with a stranger' i had no idea who ruth ellis or miranda richardson were. in this tragic tale, where once again we are reminded of  greta garbo's 'camille', in that we don't make our own hearts, miranda played real life, 'ruth', the last woman to be executed in england for murder. ruth said at her trial, 'it was obvious when i shot him that i intended to kill him.' that trial was in 1955. thirty years later her story was brought to the screen.

back when patti smith redesigned my life i walked around wearing pins with her pictures on them that i made myself. though i didn't make any 'miranda' pins, i was wearing them in my mind. the 'pal' award for best performance ever by a female in a lead role goes to her for this film. she gave one crazily exquisite performance of a deeply unhinged person.

rupert everett played her lover 'david', half schoolboy from harrow, half dreamboat from hades. there was a time in rupert's life when he was simply too good looking. he 'is' the bane of ruth's existence who dances in and out of her life until their last tango finds him on the receiving end of her bullets.

the film was written by shelagh delaney, whose 'a taste of honey' is considered one of the greatest kitchen sink dramas.

working and the work

BLOW-UP'S two davids

he was the prince of london's swinging sixties photographers. mick jagger was his best friend. the beautiful people literally littered his doorway. he was radical and in demand yet still had time to defend the rights of animals. 

italian cineaste michelangelo antonioni took this information to heart and created an essential viewing experience for anyone interested in that time, that place and photographer david bailey.

bailey (dark hair) created images that are iconic. he captured mick, marianne, twigs, tree and the shrimp. in 'blow-up' we get to peek into the heady world of a man who, when not shooting fashion, was impersonating a homeless man so as to take pictures of the inhabitants of a flop house. bailey seemed to make no distinction between someone posing in ysl or someone smoking a cigarette butt off the street. it was either all beautiful or all not.

actor david hemmings is just so good as the playful but mostly serious photographer. 'blow-up' has veruschka, jane birkin, street mimes, a murder and more.

'i thought you were in paris.' 'i am in paris.' 

drawing by pal shazar

CONTROL 2007

this story is perfect. a young dutch guy flips for a british punk band and takes his camera to london. in time he becomes the famous anton corbijn, one of the best black and white photographers ever. though highly recognized for the u2 cover of 'joshua tree',  u2 was not the band he left home for. that band was JOY DIVISION.

'control' is anton's first feature. i remember loving nirvana's video that he directed for 'heart- shaped box.' it was as colorful as kurt. the story of 'joy division' lead singer ian curtis' difficult existence and tragically young suicide could only be filmed in monochrome and every second of the film is as good as one of anton's photos.

this band has die hard fans. it was no small choice to take on a cult hero. obviously the filmmaker had confidence in his own abilities but when actor sam riley walked into the audition anton must have known for sure that there was a god.                  

by way of illustration: el crepusculo!

he always wanted a pool

'well, i sure turned into an interesting driveway.' spoken by hardworking out of work hollywood screenwriter joe gillis. now they are trying to take away his car.  l.a. without a car?  

while driving and sadly considering heading back to the midwest, joe gets spotted by the very same men who showed up at his apartment threatening to repossess his wheels. during a chase scene down sunset blvd. involving the two hugest automobiles ever, joe gets a flat and dodges the repo men by taking a sharp right. interesting driveway indeed.

SUNSET BOULEVARD is a true classic. no one should remake this, though madonna would rule as the wealthy out of touch silent screen star norma desmond. billy wilder was hungarian and not being a native of america, let alone hollywood, gave him a perspective the studio heads could neither see or appreciate. he was an upstart from the word go and the spooky dream he made out of this saga of an aging star and her desperate young lover must have had many phone receivers slamming. 

as co-writer, he created a rich and suffocating drama full of memorable lines. this movie is just so fun. i imagine billy was the same. gloria swanson, william holden, nancy olsen, the mansion.... all unforgettable.

the BODY AND SOUL of john costelloe

this post is dedicated to john. he was the only actor friend in my life. one day we were out for a walk and he  told me how much he loved the film, 'body and soul.' with his disarming passion he described the scene where the welfare people come to see if there is anything left to carry out of the tenement walk up where amateur boxer charlie's mom lives. gorgeous john garfield, as the boxer, shouts at the welfare worker, 'she's got a wedding ring!' my friend just LOVED that line. 

john costelloe had acted in many films and theatre pieces. he became more widely known when he portrayed 'jim witowski' in 'the sopranos.' of course his character was known as 'johnny cakes.' john costelloe was one adorable human being, talented and as gorgeous as john garfield.

photos: the two john's

john cassavettes 1929-1989

i would guess that ten (if not all twelve) of cassavettes films are memorized by his admirers. once you choose to enter his world you don't leave.

as clear as day