Robyn Nevin plays Joan Didion Photo: Heidrun Lohr

... in the solo theatre performance piece based on The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion's memoir of her experience of the sudden death late in 2003 of her husband John Gregory Dunne.

Reviewer Diana Simmonds writes:

"Possibly the most moving aspect of this extraordinary work is the comedy. Didion is an acerbic commentator and spares no one, least of all herself. There is much laughter and wit to savour. It is this leavening and the shading in Nevin's performance that makes The Year of Magical Thinking so effective and fascinating. As directed by Cate Blanchett, the storyteller is on an endless, restless prowl through her memories and thoughts and among rows of chairs that fill the stage, suggesting a waiting room, a church or even a theatre .... "

Read the full review by Diana Simmonds, at Stage Noise, March 31, 2008.

For a comprehensive run-down of critics' reviews of Vanessa Redgrave's presentation of the play on Broadway, go to steve on broadway (sob) ... and follow related posts.

Reviewed by Leon Muston, Arts Editor

IN eight years of film reviewing, I’ve never seen as many people walk out at the end of a movie looking utterly confused as I did with the film I’m Not There.

The film is about Bob Dylan … only, it isn’t.

Six different actors including a black child (Marcus Carl Franklin) and a woman (Cate Blanchett) play six different characters all of whom have elements of Dylan’s characteristics, although none of them are actually Dylan.

Franklin plays Woody, a young boy who is trying to start a career as a blues singer, despite the fact that he doesn’t have the life experience to understand what he’s singing about.

Blanchett, Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw, are the three who’s characters match closest to Dylan – each playing a professional musician.

Bale’s character, Jack, is the one who becomes a folk star, but annoys his fans by plugging in his guitar and turning to electric rock ‘n roll, before quitting the business and turning to religion.

Blanchett’s Jude is the one who introduces the Beatles to drugs, and personally destroys him/herself by indulging in the same vice.

Whishaw’s character is only seen in black and white interview segments, seemingly after being arrested.

The late Heath Ledger in one of the last films he ever made, plays Robbie, an actor who stars in Jack's life story, and then struggles to separate his career from that of the musician.

The strangest of all is Richard Gere’s character – historic outlaw Billy the Kid. Quite what he’s got to do with Dylan beats me.

The six stories are separate from each other, but do occasionally interlink. This adds to the confusion, because if Woody’s story is set in the 1950s, how can he come into contact with Billy the Kid?

Dylan fans will recognise all the songs in the soundtrack including The Times They are A-Changing and All Along the Watch Tower, and will pick up various references to important points of his career.

But overall the film is so non-linear and confusing, you find yourself having to concentrate from start to finish and never manage to just sit back and relax.

Who are your five favorite actors, and what's your favorite performance by each, and then who are your five favorite actresses, and what's your favorite performance by each?

(Sorry to double up, but we've got some big Whatevers coming up and I didn't want to spread this out over two weeks. Besides, you guys are you guys, and I know you can do it.)

ACTORS

1. Harrison Ford. It's got to be Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I like Ford because he's fearless in the sense that he's not afraid to show vulnerability, be it physical fear in a fist-fight or emotional fear like in the scene in Patriot Games when Jack Ryan comes apart while trying to tell his wife that their daughter's spleen has to be removed after they were almost killed by terrorists. For my money, he's the greatest actor of all time.

2. Bill Murray. From the man who made me laugh in What About Bob? to the man who made me cry in Lost in Translation, Murray delivers in everything he does. As brilliant as his work was in the Wes Anderson outings he's been in, including Rushmore, which is my favorite film of all time, I'm going to have to go back to the work he did in What About Bob? as a dazzling piece of sociopathic comic insanity.

3. Steve Martin. Like Murray, he can turn on a dime from hilarious to heartfelt. I loved him in Bowfinger but I'm going to have to go with Father of the Bride as his finest hour. My parents always let me watch his movies when I was little, and I thank them for that.

4. Denzel Washington. He's awesome in everything, but he's a man on fire in Man on Fire. Or that speech he lays down in The Siege: "Come on General! You've lost men! I've lost men! But you -- You! -- you can't do this! What if they don't even want the sheik? Have you considered that? What if what they really want is for us to herd our children into stadiums, like we're doing? And put soldiers on the street, and have Americans looking over their shoulders? Bend the law, shred the Constitution just a little bit? Because if we torture him, General ... we do that, and everything we have fought, and bled, and died for is over. And they've won. They've already won!" Whoa.

5. Christian Bale. This guy can do anything. And even though he showed us the heart of Bruce Wayne while still creating our most ferocious and powerful Batman, my favorite performance is his inspiring turn in Rescue Dawn, in which he plays a prisoner of war whose indomitable spirit brings so much hope to his fellow captives that they plan one of the craziest and most dangerous escapes in history. Bale brings total physical and emotional dedication to every role he takes on. Bravo, sir.

ACTRESSES

1. Cate Blanchett. She's ethereal, and versatile, and utterly amazing in everything she's in. But as much as I love all the characters she's created, her channeling of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator is otherworldly.

2. Maggie Gyllenhaal. Like Christian Bale, Maggie's another entertainer who's gotten to the level she's at by being totally emotionally and physically fearless. That's why I've said before and I'll say again that it's hard to find a hotter case of the hots than the hots I've got for Maggie Gyllenhaal. She really grabbed me as Giselle in Mona Lisa Smile because I've known that kind of girl before and Maggie captured it perfectly. And one time, when I was in Chicago, I passed her on the street, and she is 11 times more beautiful in person than she is on screen. If that's even possible. And it is. I should have said something. Oh, well.

3. Laura Linney. Beautiful, earnest, capable Laura Linney. Put her in something and I immediately believe her. I particularly loved her as the small-town sheriff in The Mothman Prophecies, which scares me to death just thinking about it.

4. Lauren Graham. Like Laura Linney, I immediately believe everything that comes out of her mouth. Her body of work as Lorelai Gilmore -- in more ways than one, WHAMMY! -- is the most powerful proof on the planet that the Emmy Awards are a friggin' joke. And she makes me laugh. I love her.

5. Tina Fey. This girl came out of nowhere and has become one of the great comic actresses of all time, in a very short time. Though Baby Mama was beneath her, she was excellent in it. But as Liz Lemon on NBC's 30 Rock, she's as funny and as brilliant as they come. And sexy beyond all comprehension. "Chocolate! Chocolate! ACK!"

Your turn!

Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt

Director: Steven Spielberg

Genere: azione & avventura             Produzione: USA 2008

InVoto: 6 1/2

Henry Jones Jr. a.k.a. Indiana (Harrison Ford) è oramai un cinquantenne professore universitario, ma gli anni sono passati ed il potere di calamitare azione e disastri è rimasto intatto. A causa del tradimento di un suo vecchio amico, passato al KGB, che lo aveva attirato in una trappola ordita dal perfido ufficiale ucraino Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) viene coinvolto nel mistero dei teschi di cristallo, mistero che se sciolto potrebbe portare all'individuazione della mitica El Dorado. Sfuggito alla trappola, si mette subito alla ricerca della soluzione del mistero partendo alla volta del Sud America, seguendo gli appunti di un suo ex collega (ormai uscito di senno) che ha disseminato indizi per raggiungere la chiave per El Dorado. Il tutto cercando di battere sul tempo i russi. Che però hanno un asso nella manica...

Come al solito, dopo un congelamento ventennale di una saga che ha segnato l'infanzia di molti, il timore di trovarsi di fronte un altro disastro tipo "Star Wars" c'era. Non è stato così. Indubbiamente, qualche deja-vu c'è stato, ma in fin dei conti è stato un bel film, Indy è sempre lui. Ford non fa il ragazzino (divertente nella scena di apertura, quando sbaglia il suo classico uso della frusta come liana: "porca miseria, ho calcolato male!"), ed è perfetto nella parte del cinquantenne esperto, Cate Blanchett come al solito è impeccabile (e bellissima anche con i capelli corti neri) nel ruolo dell'ufficiale del KGB, il ritmo tiene, non si sbadiglia e la storia fila. Chi ha definito il film schifoso? Evidentemente chi non ha una fresca visione dei primi tre episodi. Il pre-finale è in classico stile Indiana, ed anche il finale: di Indiana Jones ce n'è uno solo.

"E tu saresti un professore?"

I was impressed with the movie.  I like how strong Elizabeth was portrayed and Cate Blanchett did a great job.  Of course, I think that Cate Blanchett is a spectacular actress anyway.  She comes off as one of those actresses that just fully becomes every character she takes on.  I knew that Elizabeth was either a) having an affair or just involved in a b) extremely close relationship with Robert Dudley.  But in the movie I never see his wife or her scandal causing death.  I only heard mention of her very slightly and this causes Elizabeth to shun him.  I confess that I spent much of the first half of the movie trying to figure out where I had seen Geoffrey Rush before.  Then it clicked after studying his nose.  He's Barbossa!  After I solved that mystery, I invested much more of my time in watching the film.

The one thing I was slightly disappointed in is that I read the back of the movie and expected all kinds of thrills and adventure.  Then the movie, while it provided thrills & adventure, didn't seem to live up to the blurb on the back.  But I suppose you have to edit some things out because if you were to do a full story of any monarch, it would take a lot of film.  That's probably why they made "Elizabeth: The Golden Age".

So tonight I think I'm going to rent "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" while I've got Elizabeth's monarchy on the brain, and then since I'm admiring Cate Blanchett's work, I might pick up "The Aviator".

Fotos do novo filme de Brad Pitt, O Curioso Caso de Benjamin Button, começaram a ser divulgadas na rede e mostram o ator velho e magro, resultado de um trabalho cuidadoso da equipe de maquiagens envolvida.

O filme é baseado em um conto de 1922, de F. Scott Fitzgerald, e conta a história de um homem que, ao contrário da cronologia do tempo, nasce aos 80 anos e começa a rejuvenescer ao longo dos anos.

Por volta dos 50 anos de idade, Benjamin Button conhece o amor de sua vida, interpretado por Cate Blanchett, mas acaba com um dilema: viver esse romance sabendo que ele vai ser cada vez mais jovem.

Veja outra foto e leia mais a respeito clicando aqui.

QuickTime Trailer

Site Oficial

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (EUA, 2008)

Direção: Steven Spielberg

Roteiro: David Koepp, George Lucas, Jeff Nathanson, Philip Kaufman

Elenco Famoso: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt

Este é o 4º filme da série Indiana Jones, mas parece que Indie realmente está demonstrando sinais de cansaço e precisando se aposentar. Indiana Jones é um arqueólogo e renomado professor que tendo sido demitido e agora sendo perseguido pelos soviéticos decide seguir um jovem rebelde numa missão mirabolante.

Indie vai atrás da caveira de cristal que tem poderes para normais e assim devolvê-la ao seu devido lugar no coração da Amazônia do Peru, numa caverna escondida atrás da Foz do Iguaçu onde existe uma pirâmide que foi construída pelos aborígines locais. Se isso pareceu confuso... bom, é porque realmente é.

O filme é realmente uma salada mista sem sentido, parece que o pessoal podia ter estudado um pouco mais história e geografia antes de escrever o filme de um arqueólogo. Detalhes a parte o filme também não tem um dos melhores roteiros, contando com uma história bem fraca e que não empolga.

As atuações também não são das melhores, comprovando mais uma vez que Shia LaBeouf é péssimo ator (não sei o que Spielberg viu nele para chamá-lo para todos seus filmes recentes) e Harrison Ford demonstra claramente como a personagem de Indie está velha e sem o mesmo vigor de antigamente. Isso sem contar cenas bizarras como uma que parece q trouxeram as formigas assassinas de um daqueles filmes trash q passavam na Record.

Se você odiou os outros filmes do Indie com certeza esse filme não vai mudar sua opinião, esse filme é recomendado somente para aqueles que realmente são fãs incondicionais de Indie, porque senão é bem provável você ter uma enorme decepção.

Nota: 2

By Kaf

Below are the trailers for each movie:

imaj: cheezburger
sorse: agnes

shee needz a gud wacksin.

Blindness: Starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo and directed by Fernando Meirelles(City of God, The Constant Gardener), this one is sure to be a hit. A city is affected by an epidemic of 'white blindness' which instantly renders the person blind. The first groups of people are thrown into quarantine. Soon, everyone becomes ill and the more powerful individuals begin to take over. Julianne Moore, who plays the role of the doctor's wife, and Mark Ruffalo, the doctor, are the main protagonists where Moore is not afflicted with the blindness and has to venture out of quarantine with 7 other people. Premise sound's unique and interesting, and I can't pass up something by Meirelles.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0861689/

Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Tilda Swinton(Hello AMAZING cast) and directed by David Fincher(Fight Club, Zodiac). Triple A Cast, and fantastic director, and an interesting premise about a man who begins to age backwards, with interesting consequences. Count me in.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421715/

Gonzo: A documentary about Mr. Hunter S.  Thompson. Thompson was a literary master who is most well known for writing Fear and Loathing in Vegas. He  created what is known as "Gonzo Journalism", a style of writing where reporters put themselves so much into the action, that they become a central part of their stories. He was a brilliant, if not controversial, character during the Nixon administration, and we need someone like him to step up now. Very high hopes for this documentary.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/05/31/gonzo-the-life-and-work-of-dr-hunter-s-thompson/

Baghead: Hard to say why I'm excited, just click the link..

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/05/01/worth-watching-may-1-the-duplass-brothers-baghead-trailer/

Hell Ride: One word. Tarantino. Starring Larry Bishop and Michael Madsen. Bishop watches his woman die by the hands of a group of satanic bikers called the 666ers. Seeking revenge, he takes his motorcycle gang out to set the record straight.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/12/13/first-look-quentin-tarantino-presents-hell-ride/

Burn After Reading: Ooohhh, the Coen's brother's new film! FIrst off, it looks F***ing AMAZING. Definitely one of my most anticipated films. It tells the story of a group of people working at a gym who find a cd containing the memoirs of a CIA operative. Then, hilarity ensues.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/05/29/must-watch-the-coen-brothers-burn-after-reading-trailer/

Taken: A french film starring Liam Neeson about a girl, Nesson's character's daughter, who get's kidnapped in france on a trip. I know, a kidnap plot, but do yourself a favor and watch the trailer. It looks fantastic and Neeson is a fantastic lead.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/02/04/another-new-trailer-for-taken-with-liam-neeson/

Choke: I am quite a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk, and I recently finished my first novel by him, Diary. This is his second book turned movie, the other one being Fight Club(fantastic), and looks to stay true to form. I haven't read the book yet, but I definitely will before this releases later this year.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/05/27/must-watch-trailer-for-chuck-palahniuks-choke/

Religulous: Bill Maher. Larry Charles. Oh  My Gawd, YES! This is my most anticipated movie of the year, and it's a documentary! With religion, I don't even know where to start, but this documentary sure looks to change that. Documenting Maher's current take on world religion, and the ridiculousness of it. A film sure to offend people. Sure to inspire people. And one that will definitely raise a few eyebrows. Count me in.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/06/07/must-watch-bill-mahers-religulous-trailer/

W.: I'll let the teaser poster speak for itself..

Alright, that's enough for now.

Eh, one more for kicks. I'm also looking forward to Savage Grace, I don't want to write much about it right now, but check out imdb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379976/

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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This film looks absolutely amazing, there isn't many other way to describe how great this looks. Brad Pitt ranks up there among my favorite actors, and Cate Blanchett is always phenomenal. The plot is extremely interesting, the art direction looks stunning, and the score was the perfect bow to wrap it all up into one amazing looking film.

Death Race

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I missed this trailer by about an hour when I did last week's round-up so I'm including it today. I always enjoy a good Jason Statham movie - though sometimes for the wrong reasons (I hate transporter 2 but enjoyed ridiculing it). This has some promise if simply for the fact that the action looks pretty cool and it gives off a Mad Max kinda vibe which is pretty wicked.

The Wackness

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After Sundance the blagosphere erupted with praise for this film. It was said to be the best of the show this year and I was looking forward to seeing it. And then the first trailer hit, and the second and I had no interest at all. It didn't look very good and I never understood why people would like it so much. Now with the red band I finally understand - they just couldn't faithfully present this movie in a normal trailer.

Bottle Shock

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There is two reasons why I am going to love this movie, Alan Rickman and wine. Not to mention that the trailer was hilarious and the story sounds pretty interesting. This is like Sideways for people who aren't pretentious wine "connoisseurs". I am definetly looking forward to this one.

I'm not sure which is more ubiquitous in TV and movies over the last twenty years: the relatively short-lived Tudor Dynasty of Great Britain's monarchy or Jane Austen, but I know who I'd rather be watching. While Henry VIII and Elizabeth I had their moments of deserved greatness as rulers, viewers of their recent TV productions and films would have a hard time remembering those moments amidst their mercurial, sometimes paranoid tantrums and their fixations with the opposite sex. The films keep getting made, and we keep watching because we can't quite believe that these two huge personalities really behaved the way they did, or that they lived amidst the better-than-fiction things that took place during their reigns. But lately it seems that the purveyors of all-things-Tudor have decided that history needs some 21st-century tinkering, and the most recent, "The Other Boleyn Girl" is the worst stumble of the bunch.

One glance at the suit of young Henry VIII's armor and its prominent over-sized codpiece displayed in the White Tower at the Tower of London serves as ample evidence of this monarch's monumental ego and vanity (it must be viewed in profile to get the full effect). However, Showtime's "The Tudors" is the only recent rendering that at least hints at Henry being anything but codpiece, when in fact, he was an intellectually brilliant, artistically talented, and athletically gifted Renaissance Man. Still, Henry was often more Ray Winstone ("Henry VIII" 2003) than Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Everything about him was oversized (though the obesity didn't develop until his late forties). His presence took up the whole room. How could anyone who had the most marginal knowledge of the man imagine him as wallpaper in a film where he was a major character? Yet that is exactly what he is in "The Other Bolelyn Girl." To be fair to Eric Bana, the characterization throughout this film was done with one-note heavy handedness. Bana had little to work with. He was little more than a contrivance to set up the conflict between Natalie Portman's Anne and Scarlett Johansson's Mary.

Most historians agree that Mary Boleyn was the elder of the Boleyn girls, and that Anne grew up largely in the Netherlands and France. She did not meet Henry until after her sister's affair was over. As far as Henry still pining and respecting Mary after their affair, records again support that after Mary married a second time and was disinherited by her family because of his lack of rank, only through Anne's intervention out of her own purse did Mary receive any financial relief. Henry turned a deaf ear.

I honestly don't get why this film was made. Anne Boleyn was a fascinating and complex person. She was ambitious, probably manipulative and under great strain, but she was not only those things. She had things she cared about, and very possibly Henry was one of them. Most portrayals of Anne, from "Anne of a Thousand Days" to the Anne we meet in The Tudors do her that justice. In "The Other Boleyn Girl" Anne was painted entirely in dark bloody reds and slashes of black, despite the consistent dressing in green gowns (as if it wasn't obvious enough that she was jealous of her sister). Mary was portrayed in shades of light and sun, down to the far too obvious color of her hair. Every short cut that could be made in characterization the filmmakers made.  The daughters' Boleyn and Howard patriarchs were cartoon villains. [SPOILER] The attempted incest scene with her brother George that Anne's panic after a miscarriage inspires is ludicrous.

Granted I am better read on the Plantagenet Dynasty (a potential gold mine of filmmaking-HINT!!), but even my cursory research and that of most who have ventured to film this period shout at how trumped up the evidence was against Anne and George Boleyn and the other supposed lovers who were beheaded for incest and/or adultery and treason. It was a travesty of justice, not a guilt of intent.

Henry and Anne's daughter Elizabeth is only slightly better served in Shekhar Kapur's "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" in terms of being infused with fiction and wishful speculation, but they are at least well-written, powerfully acted (Cate Blanchett is extraordinary), and spectacular to look at. The inherited bigger than life personality of the daughter fills every inch of film. It has a certain truth of spirit, however outrageously anachronistic and inaccurate in the details. Just as with Henry's over active codpiece, we will always be voyeuristically fascinated with whether Elizabeth I was truly the Virgin Queen, but Helen Mirren's HBO Elizabeth I is almost certainly closer to the truth about Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, than the youthful consummation scene in "Elizabeth."

I don't know. Is it defamation and slander if the people are dead?

If "The Other Boleyn Girl" is any indicator, it's time to take a break from the Tudors. The soil is barren from overuse and overexposure. Maybe Jane Austen had the right idea. Small, elegant and human-sized relationships wear better with repetition in storytelling, not only because of size, but also because we see ourselves. After a while extremes of human behavior and steal-all-the-air drama lose their punch. We get overloaded and numbed. They drain rather than nourish. No portrayal of Henry VIII or Elizabeth I should ever be anything but big, and hence, it bears the seeds of it's own wearing thin with the retelling.

If another Tudor story needs to be told, Hollywood should look to the story of how a Welsh family found its way to the throne in the first place. (Henry VII was the son of Edmund Tudor, whose parents were the Welsh Owen Tudor and Henry V's French consort Catherine of Valois. Henry VII's mother was Margaret, daughter of the legally set aside from succession Beauforts (the after the fact legitimized offspring of Edward III). That may be the craziest Tudor soap opera of all. I wonder how Jane would tell it.

¿Ya viste esta película? Dejá tu comentario ;)

Now if you'll excuse me...I need to watch "The Dark Knight" trailer on my iPod.

Este mismo martes dio comienzo en Iruña / Pamplona la presente edición de Cine accesible que, auspiciada por Fundación Orange y Navarra de Cine S.L., llevará a la pantalla grande en versión adaptada para personas con discapacidad la tercera entrega de la mítica saga de Indiana Jones.

Tras su paso por la capital navarra, “Indiana Jones y el Reino de la Calavera de Cristal” de Steven Spielberg con Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf y Cate Blanchett en los papeles principales, continuará su periplo hoy mismo por Santander a la que seguirán a lo largo del verano Valladolid (24 de junio), Toledo (26 junio), Logroño (22 de junio) , Alicante (22 de septiembre) y Murcia (24 de septiembre).

El objetivo de este programa de proyecciones no es otro que propiciar que personas con y sin discapacidad puedan compartir juntos su ocio con normalidad sin verse apartadas a guetos de uso específico.

La proyección del filme cuenta con un subtitulado digital sobre una pantalla de 5 m x 0,5 m situada bajo la superficie de proyección. El subtitulado en castellano responde a un código de colores que facilita la identificación de los personajes, amén de otras referencias al hecho acústico de la película.

Las personas con discapacidad visual podrán hacer uso del sistema de audiodescripción que habilitará unos auriculares personales con volumen regulable, a través de los cuales recibirán una descripción pormenorizada de las situaciones y reacciones de los personajes que sirvan para contextualizar adecuadamente los diálogos y demás referentes acústicos de la cinta.

Aunque la situación de la exhibición cinematográfica no es precisamente boyante, espero que este tipo de iniciativas que son un paso más hacia el derecho a la igualdad dejen de ser excepciones para convertirse en norma común.

Basierend auf einer Kurzgeschichte von F. Scott Fitzgerald, dessen Werke nicht selten mit den Zusatz unverfilmbar einhergehen, ist Benjamin Button die dritte Zusammenarbeit Finchers mit Brad Pitt. Letzterer verkörpert die titelgebende Hauptfigur, deren merkwürdiges Schicksal darin besteht, dass sie rückwärts altert. Benjamin Button wird also als alter Mann geboren und im Verlauf seines Lebens immer jünger.

Cate Blanchett und Tilda Swinton ergänzen das prestigeträchtige Ensemble. Überhaupt schreit der nun veröffentlichte erste Teaser-Trailer, die Geschichte und das Cast nach dem ersten Regie-Oscar Finchers. In Deutschland startet Der Seltsame Fall des Benjamin Button bezeichnenderweise am 29. Januar 2009, mitten in der Oscar-Saison.

Den Trailer gibt es auch im HD-Format bei apple.com.

Die Kurzgeschichte von F. Scott Fitzgerald kann man (in Englisch) hier lesen.

El director de Lejos del paraíso habla de su inusual homenaje al músico norteamericano

Escapando de las convenciones del biopic , el talentoso Todd Haynes filmó I´m Not There -que se estrenará pasado mañana en nuestro país-, una película en la que deconstruye a Bob Dylan, dividiéndolo en distintos personajes que representan, cada uno, un período particular de la vida y la música del artista. Por el film desfilan Jude, interpretado por Cate Blanchett, la personificación del controvertido Dylan que abandonó el folk y tomó la guitarra eléctrica; un joven cantautor folk que se transforma en pastor evangélico, encarnado por Christian Bale; un actor con problemas matrimoniales, interpretado por Heath Ledger; un nene negro que vagabundea con su guitarra y Billy the Kid, interpretado por Richard Gere.

La fascinación del director de Lejos del paraíso por Dylan comenzó cuando estaba en la secundaria. "Me encantaba escucharlo porque representaba un tipo de libertad de expresión y de identidad, que tenía un gran significado para mí a esa edad", comenta Haynes a LA NACION, en una entrevista telefónica. Después de no escucharlo durante 20 años, el cineasta volvió a Dylan cuando, en busca de un nuevo ambiente, se mudó de Nueva York a Portland. "En ese espíritu me puse a pensar acerca de la vida de Dylan y la forma en que pudo conducir su carrera, retrayéndose de las distintas personalidades y los distintos lugares que ocupaba como artista. No bien el público esperaba que él ocupara ese lugar, lo forzaba a abandonarlo."

-Entonces, este escape de la estructura tradicional del biopic fue por el personaje y no un experimento formal...

-Exactamente. Cuando empecé a leer sus biografías y relatos directos de gente cercana a él, particularmente durante los años 60, esto se volvió algo inevitable. Una y otra vez era descripto como un camaleón, alguien que cambiaba frente a tus propios ojos. Después, esos cambios se hicieron más grandes y culturales, como cuando pasó de la música acústica a la eléctrica.

-¿Encontrás en esos cambios de Dylan algo que te gustaría explorar como artista?

-Hoy en día, nadie carga con el peso de las implicancias de ser Bob Dylan. Esta es una época muy distinta y no puedo realmente identificarme con la carga de esas expectativas y esa fama, pero puedo entender cuán difícil es mantener modelos de identidad cuando tenés una sensibilidad creativa. Creo que hay un conflicto perpetuo entre el trabajo creativo y la estabilidad. Así que, en ese sentido, me siento inspirado por esos cambios y me identifico con ellos. Lo que también es interesante de Dylan es que él tiene un gran poder sobre muchos hombres y mujeres, que realmente se quieren identificar con Dylan o quieren sentir que lo entienden, y se crea un ciclo de insatisfacción porque él nunca va a estar en donde vos querés que esté.

-¿Cómo conseguiste los derechos para usar su música? -Fue muy simple. Habiendo leído tanto sobre Dylan, en algún lugar de mi mente sospechaba que este acercamiento, esta idea de desdoblarlo en varias personas distintas, podría ser la única manera en la que él aceptara. Con mi productora Christine Vachon, nos acercamos a su manager, Jeff Rosen, a quien le pareció interesante y nos dijo que describiéramos el concepto de la película en una carilla y se la mandáramos con los DVD de mis películas. Lo hicimos y él simplemente dijo que sí. No lo conocí, nunca hablé con él. Ese fue el fin de su intervención en la película.

-¿Cómo fue el proceso de elección de los actores y cómo trabajaste con cada uno?

-Comencé por elegir a los mejores que se me ocurrieron para cada parte de Dylan, según la edad. Quedé encantado cuando la mayoría aceptó ser parte del proyecto. Era un guión muy difícil de leer. Supongo que todos los actores presintieron que la película iba a ser especial, difícil y desafiante. Una vez que aceptaron estar en la película, compartí con ellos todos los materiales que yo había utilizado para generar la historia de su personaje; desde música hasta libros y cuadernos con distintas imágenes que yo había coleccionado.

-¿Tuviste algún referente estético para cada parte de la película?

-Me pareció que el film tenía que tener ciertos límites y centrarse en un período de su vida y lo limité a los años 60. Eso me dio una gran cantidad de referencias cinematográficas, porque fue un período muy rico y diverso en lo que se refiere al cine, particularmente el europeo. La historia que protagoniza Cate Blanchett, es un guiño a 8 ½, de Federico Fellini, que para mí, se convirtió en el mejor punto de referencia de la música de Blonde on Blonde y el período eléctrico, en el que estaban combinados el sentido de lo surrealista con el sentido de lo absurdo. Godard fue la referencia clave para la parte del matrimonio, la sección que protagoniza Heath Ledger.

-Hiciste Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story y Velvet Goldmine , ¿qué es lo que te resulta tan interesante del mundo de las estrellas del rock?

-Porque es un material cultural que está bajo la piel de todos nosotros y no siempre lo notamos. Hay música que ni siquiera sé si la amo o la odio, como la de los Carpenters, pero está dentro mío. Cuando somos adolescentes y empezamos a buscar nuestra independencia, la música se convierte en un factor clave. El rock, en general, es una invitación a la libertad. Como Dylan es tan famoso en todo el mundo y para tanta gente es parte de la colección de discos de sus padres, se olvidan los riesgos que tomó él en su momento. Su música fue muy radical, cambió la noción de lo que era posible para todos los que vinieron después. El casi fue el primer músico punk, porque provocó cierta hostilidad en su público cuando empezó a tocar su música eléctrica a mediados de los 60. Ese fue un momento definitorio en la expresión de la libertad en la música.