O pianista de Roman Polanski

França, 2002

Com Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann , Frank Finlay , Maureen Lipman , Emilia Fox

Varsóvia, 1939. Um pianista tocando delicadamente Chopin, numa rádio. Repentinamente, o local começa a ser bombardeado, mas o pianista não deixa de tocar a sua música, mesmo que todos já tenham ido. É como se estivesse imerso num sonho; continua a tocar enquanto estilhaços de vidro e segmentos de pedra caem sobre sua cabeça. Ele vê o que ocorre à sua volta, mas prefere não desistir. Esse é Wladyslam Szpilman, personagem do filme O pianista. E é assim que somos apresentados a ele.

Roman Polanski, diretor do filme, ou melhor, da obra-prima, consegue chocar-nos com o filme. Retrata os horrores da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Hoje esse tema pode já estar um tanto repetitivo, porém depende do diretor que o aborda. E Roman Polanski, sem dúvida, conseguiu colocar O pianista como um dos melhores filmes atuais, vencedor de 3 Oscar (diretor, ator e roteiro adaptado).

Revendo filmes acerca do Holocausto e Segunda Guerra Mundial, O pianista se difere em um ponto importante: a proeza do herói é sobreviver. Parece que a morte lhe acompanha por todo o caminho, mas é como se ela desviasse de Szpilman. Ou ele desvia dela.

Acompanhamos Szpilman na sua tentativa de sobreviver. De um esconderijo a outro, ele consegue fugir. E assim, a cada tentativa de sobrevivência até o final da guerra, é que nos surpreendemos. O mais interessante é que não se trata de ficção, Szpilman realmente existiu. E o seu livro, hoje nomeado de O pianista, foi a base do roteiro. Após ter passado pela Segunda Guerra Mundial, ele relatou o que ocorrera, mas a sua perspectiva da guerra incomodara as autoridades (grande novidade). Assim, teve a tiragem de livros reduzida.

Para quem quiser ver o filme (o que aconselho, vale a pena), devo destacar que preste atenção nas músicas do filme. São do pianista polaco Chopin e são elas que direcionam o filme às melhores cenas. É surpreendente “sentir” a emoção da música, como se estivéssemos com Szpilman na mesma jornada. A cena em que ele toca Ballade nº1 diante de um soldado é incrivelmente emocionante e é o clímax do filme. Depois dela, não se sabe o que vai ocorrer com o personagem. É o primeiro momento que ele pôde tocar, deixar-se ouvir. A música, representando a alma de Szpilman, precisou manter-se reprimida para sobreviver. O toque do piano existia apenas na memória dele. Quando se depara com um futuro extremamente incerto, se sobreviverá ou não, Szpilman expõe sua alma e a infelicidade pela qual passara. E é Chopin que silencia-nos a fim de ouvirmos o sentimento do personagem. A música invade o filme e nos emociona.

O pianista do início do filme, aquele que continuou a tocar mesmo com a cidade sendo bombardeada, sempre esteve em Szpilman. A guerra apenas tratou de colocar o sobrevivente num palco principal. Apenas ele e o piano.

Yes, his name is Nimrod, but the director of ‘Predators’ is not a real nimrod because he had the foresight to hire Adrien in his new film.  ComingSoon.net talked to Nimrod Antal about the shoot and why he cast Adrien in the lead role.  He also said there’s about another month of filming left.

From talking with the director over the years, we know he’s a fan of all movies but especially those of the ’80s and Predator was no exception: “Let me tell you, I was so much of a fan that I stood in line when I was 14 and I had the poster on my wall. I was a huge fan,” he responded enthusiastically, so we wondered how hard it was going to be not to be so faithful to the original that he’s not able to bring any of his own vision to it. “Again, it was a challenge in finding a balance. I think when we cast Adrian, there were a lot of people going, ‘What?’ but at the same time, if we cast a Vin Diesel in that role or if we cast anyone who is Arnold-esque, we would have been attacked for doing that. So we decided early on to go in a very different direction as far as the casting process, but it turned out fantastic. He plays a mercenary in the film and if you look at the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan today, they’re not ‘yolked-out’ Schwarzenegger-looking guys. They’re all very wiry and thin guys, and I think it’s going to play well.”

I blogged on here a while back about the upcoming sci-fi creature feature, Splice coming out starring Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley. There wasn’t really too much info out there at the time on this one. But today I saw a cool little featurette that sheds alot more light on this movie. Directed by Vincenzo Natali who also helmed the awesome sci-fi classic “Cube” ( if you have not seen that movie go rent it now!), I have high hopes and with Guillermo Del Toro as the executive producer it’s a safe bet this won’t be a peice of trash. Check this out and towards the end you’ll get to see a clip from the movie that I think looks pretty promising…  

Check out the Cube trailer too if you’ve never seen it before..

Finally! A confirmed UK release! Probably in May. Which is ages away. And the DVD is already out in America. I’ll wait. Because I want to see it on a big screen first time.

The Brothers Bloom is the second film from writer/director Rian Johnson, the creator of Brick, my favourite film in the whole wide world. It is a con-man/heist film starring Mark Ruffalo, Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz, Rinko Kikuchi and Robbie Coltrane.

Wait, what? Why has this only just been confirmed for a UK release, you ask? Why has a film with a bankable mainstream star like Mark Ruffalo that cost a decent amount not been pushed here? A film that stars two Oscar winners in Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz, plus another (Maximillian Schell) and a recent nominee (Rinko Kikuchi), from a critically acclaimed writer/director, whose first film made more money in the UK than it did in the US?

What the hell, Summit?! Too busy with your little vampires to spare a thought for the rest of us and find a UK distributor?

This really has me puzzled. Is this merely an issue of UK audiences, or the producers focussing on the Twilight movies, or what?

In other news, Johnson has also created a tumblr for his next film, a sci-fi/gangster flick called Looper. There’s some interesting bits and pieces about Looper floating around, not least the little quotations and images on the tumblr account. I’m excited already!

David

Esta peli es difícil para mi porque muta de vez en cuando.

Añoré mucho verla en cine en el 2007, no se cuánto pero fue demasiado. Me devolvía de mi viaje a Argentina y en el avión la estaban poniendo, creo incluso que sin subtítulos, no iba a aguantarme semejante ignominia: Una peli en una pantalla menor a una hoja carta doblada a la mitad y menos doblada al español. Apreté los ojos, mascullé oraciones hasta que al fin logré dormir, conciliar un sueño y olvidarme de la peli.

Después estuve esperado que los benditos distribuidores colombianos trajeran la peli y nunca fue. Luego azares del destino trajeron consigo buena fortuna y logré encargarla por Amazon. Le puse demasiada fe, una montaña rusa que empezaba en The Royal Tenembaums, seguía The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou y finalizaba en The Darjeeling Linited. Mi expectativa había agotado toda la belleza de esta peli.

Mi primera impresión fue desalentadora, un balance bastante ordinario, nada del otro mundo, mi segunda vez fue como observar que aunque el sol se oculta todos los días, todas las veces lo hace de una forma diferente, mi tercera vez fue realmente entrañadora y justifica el éxito de la vuelta, finalmente, esta mi cuarta vez puedo afirmar que es un éxito. No es la mejor peli de Anderson pero tampoco es como la venía calificando. Es, realmente, un viaje en el desarrollo psicológico de los personajes, un tren que los lleva a madurar, a perdonar, a conocerse, a entenderse y a quererse. Esa sóla aseveración la hacen muy destacable. Su equipo intacto, su fotografía impecable, la música excelente, la historia muy bien desarrollada. Y, sin embargo, para mí lo más bonito, sigue siendo, que su actor fetiche, Bill Murray, esté presente en una escena tan romántica como la del principio y donde le dice algo como: “Llavería, me voy a la India, se que usted no puede acompañarme, lo llevo en mi corazón, espéreme, vuelvo y planeamos el siguiente golpe”. The Businessman es lo mejor y me sigo preguntando si no habrá un corto alrededor de este personaje.

Pero hay muchas más cosas buenas. Después hay una serie de chistecitos, un poco subidos de tono, un poco muy demasiado para el estilo de Anderson pero se entiende que los diálogos y el equipo encargado de la historia y los parlamentos son frescos, son nuevos. Qué bueno que cada vez que arma equipo de escritura se mantiene como líder pero se refresca en escencia, esta vez fue Schwartzman y el hijo de Coppola quienes lo acompañaron en la tarea. Se nota el cambio. Schwartzman es un marico que me cae bien, todo el tiempo está frunciendo el ceño en la peli y haciendo pucheros pero es capaz de mojarse los dedos mientras besa a una mujer, correrle los calzones y penetrarla. Un lord. Un gentleman.

Rotten Tomatoes dice que lo destacado de esta peli con el resto de lo que venía haciendo Anderson es que el director no está encasillado como si lo puede estar Tarantino, es una oda completa a Satyajit Ray una eminencia en el cine indio y es una reinvención de lo que venía haciendo (esto se puede demostrar fácilmente estudiando la banda sonora y analizando que en más de una ocación Anderson parafrasea a Ray). Yo destaco la música, el tren como metáfora de crecimiento personal y las citas o frases de cada uno de los personajes que son como pequeñas gotas filosóficas que hacen mella en nuestra cotidianidad.

A continuación un listado de esas frases que me encontré por ahí y que hacen, de esta, una delicia:

**
[Francis y Peter están peliando]
Francis: You don’t love me!
Peter: Yes I do!
Jack: I love you too, but I’m gonna mace you in the face!
**
Jack: I wonder if the three of us would’ve been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people.
**
Rita: What’s wrong with you?
Jack: Let me think about that. I’ll tell you the next time I see you.
Rita: Okay, let’s do that
Jack: Thank you for using me
Rita: (suspiro entrecortado) You are welcome
**
Jack: Which direction did your’s go?
Francis: What do you mean?
Jack: Your feathers… mine blew toward the mountains
Francis: That’s not right. It’s not suppose to get blown away. You’re suppose to blow on it then bury it.
Peter: I didn’t get that. I still have mine.
Francis: You guys didn’t do it right. I asked if you read the instructions. You did it wrong… I tried my hardest. I don’t know what to do.
**
Francis: How did it get to this? Why haven’t we spoken in a year? Let’s make an agreement.
Peter: To do what?
Jack: Okay.
**
Francis: A: I want us be become brothers again like we used to be and for us to find ourselves and bond with each other. Can we agree to that?
Peter: Okay.
Peter: Yeah.
Francis: B. I want us to make this trip a spiritual journey where each of us seek the unknown, and we learn about it. Can we agree to that?
Jack: Sure.
Peter: I guess so.
Francis: C. I want us to be completely open and say yes to everything even if it’s shocking and painful. Can we agree to that?”
[Peter y Jack voltean sus cabezas y se miran. Francis simplemente continúa]
**

Nota personal: Qué divertida que es la aparición de Barber Schroeder como mecánico del padre, despidiendose de la escena con los ojos enrojecidos, completamente conmovido y con la voz quebrantada. Y qué divertido es ver a Owen Wilson quitarse las vendas y aprovechar esa nariz peculiar que tiene en aras de la historia.

Austin360.com reports that Adrien is filming ‘Predators’ in Southeast Austin.  That’s all, that’s it.  I wish we had more about the production and some photos would be nice too.  I’ve been watching Twitter and nothing as been said about Adrien being in Austin, Texas.  Let’s cross our fingers for something soon.

According to HelloMagazine.com, one of Adrien’s hotel getaways is in Fiji and called The Wakaya Club and Spa.  I wonder when he had the time to fly to the Fiji Islands with his busy schedule?  They say it’s very private and only eight couples are allowed on the private island at a time so I can understand why he would love it so much.  We know how much Adrien loves his privacy.  Well, that is until he did that silly Hello piece with Elsa and the castle and opened himself wide to criticism.  You know he won’t be doing anything like that in the future.  Now that he and Elsa seem to be on the outs, I guess he won’t be visiting his secret hideaway for a while either…or at least, not until he finds a new love.

“Science newest miracle…is a mistake.”

Vincenzo Natali, director of ‘Cube’ has a new film coming out called ‘Splice’. It stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley as two scientists who successfully splice human DNA with animal DNA. It premiered in October at Sitges International Festival of Fantastic and Horror Cinema in Spain. Looks like it is going to show up every where else early 2010.

Filmed in Toronto and Hamilton Ontario, starring a Canadian actress and directed by the guy who made ‘Cube’. I’m definitely curious.

Since this decade is winding down, every writer seems to be making their best movies of the last ten years lists.  Here’s another one from PasteMagazine.com (?) of their Top 25 Movies and once again ‘The Pianist’ made it on there.  It barely made the list at 25, but I’m thankful it got on there anyway.

TelegraphIndia.com has its top 100 films of the last decade and ‘The Pianist’ made it to number 88.  I don’t know who helped the writer make this list.  My guess is he got a handful of his office co-workers to help him, and one of them had to be a young, single guy since ‘Knocked Up’ made it on there.  I’m surprised that ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ wasn’t on there since the above mentioned site is based in Calcutta, India.  It’s also insane that ‘King Kong’ didn’t make it either.  His co-workers must not be Adrien Brody fans.

Film.com is offering you the chance to see ‘Love the Hard Way’ for free on their site.  If you don’t own it already, and I can’t imagine how you couldn’t if you’re visiting my fanblog, you can see it there.  This movie was the one that made me a bonafide Adrien Brody fan.  I was flipping around on the cable channels a few years back and came across it one day.   He mesmerized me from the get go.  I was a goner.  I hadn’t seen ‘The Pianist’ and I actually rooted for Daniel Day Lewis back when Adrien won the Oscar.  I had vaguely remembered his infamous Oscar kiss/speech, but didn’t know who he really was until I saw this movie.  ‘Love the Hard Way’ has always been my favorite Adrien pleasure.  He’s done a lot of movies since then, but I always find that this one holds a special place in my heart.

The last time I posted about Adrien on that other site which belonged to someone else, was November 2007. It’s not that I lost interest in Adrien. I’ve kept up with what was going on with him and all.  I just got tired of reporting only the facts ma’am and leaving out the gossip and gushing stuff that the webmistress banned on her site. I’m not bashing her, she was a wonderful person and had a very respectable site.  But I’m one of those fangirls who likes the pap pics and lives on the rumor mill. That’s what makes fandom fun for me. So I just wanted you to know that I believe in major gushing and squeeing and you will find all kinds of Adrien pics I could possibly upload in my gallery. The only conditions I have is that there is no nastiness, craziness, rudeness and terroristic stuff on my site. Fun and pleasure is the name of the game!

I doubt they will be getting a tip for this haircut.

Bloody Disgusting has provided three high quality pictures from the upcoming remake of Oliver Hirschbiegel’s “Das Experiment” from 2001. “The Experiment” stars Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Clifton Collins Jr., Cam Gigandet and Maggie Grace to round out an ensemble cast. Both films are based around the “Stanford Prison Experiment” from the 1970s that Dr. Philip Zambardo conducted. The synopsis of the experiment from his own website dedicated to the discussion and effects is after the jump along with the two other pictures, director information and possible release date.

“What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? These are some of the questions we posed in this dramatic simulation of prison life conducted in the summer of 1971 at Stanford University.”

Behind the lens and script for the remake is Paul Scheuring known for his writing and directing in TV’s “Prison Break”. The film is currently in post production with a planned release in 2010. Look for more on this film soon.

Un film del 2010, regia di Paul Scheuring, con Cam Gigandet / Elijah Wood / Adrien Brody / Forest Whitaker. Prodotto da ()

Drammatico / Thriller

Un gruppo di uomini viene sottoposto a un esperimento. Gli individui, divisi tra detenuti e guardie cacerarie, vengono osservati per registrare le loro mutazioni comportamentali in seguito alla prolungata prigionia.

Un film del 2010, regia di Paul Scheuring, con Cam Gigandet / Elijah Wood / Adrien Brody / Forest Whitaker. Prodotto da ()

Drammatico / Thriller

Un gruppo di uomini viene sottoposto a un esperimento. Gli individui, divisi tra detenuti e guardie cacerarie, vengono osservati per registrare le loro mutazioni comportamentali in seguito alla prolungata prigionia.

I saw this movie when it first came out and thought it interesting but not much more. This may be because when initially released it was weighed down heavily by expectations with its star-studded cast and the fact that it was Terrence Malick’s first movie in twenty years. Perhaps this all warped my ability to watch this movie with an objective eye. Today I’m here to tell you that in my mind, this is one of the very best war movies ever made. It follows none of the regular conventions of the genre and is a very meditative take on war and it’s effect on the human psyche.

This may be lazy, but a good way to discuss what makes this movie so unique is to compare it to another successful WWII movie released around the same time: Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg’s was a visceral onslaught, completely immersing you in the intensity of battle from the moment the ramp of the landing craft goes down on Omaha Beach. It focuses on the more ‘noble’ part of WWII – the European theater. Though compelling, it does follow traditional plot format (intro, character exposition, conflict, climax, resolution, denouement) and wasn’t the most intellectually challenging movie. (Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine film and is worthy of praise.)

The Thin Red Line, on the other hand, follows no traditional structure. It’s more free-form and doesn’t focus around any obvious conflict-resolution. It’s driven by revelatory flashbacks and inner dialogue, while the ugliness of battles are interspersed with scenes of incredible natural beauty. To me, that’s the central point Malick is trying to make but more on that later. This movie also takes place in the less-discussed and less-celebrated Pacific theater, one where the Japanese were willing to sacrifice their own lives simply to kill more enemy. (Much like our current quagmire in Afghanistan, but I digress.) Even when performing courageous acts, here the soldiers all look scared shitless.

The movie focuses mostly on Private Witt (Jim Caviezel), a rebellious type of soldier who draws the ire of his 1st Sgt (Sean Penn). Witt has seen another world within this one, a world of light and beauty. Penn’s character seemingly hates Witt’s perspective on life in addition to his soldiering. Witt though, loves Charlie Company. “They’re my people,” he explains. The other character who gets the most exploration is Private Bell (Ben Chaplin), a former officer who resigned his command because he couldn’t stand being separated from his wife, only to be sent to a frontline infantry unit as punishment for his action. Meanwhile the Battle of Guadalcanal awaits. And when the loading ramps lower for them, it opens with a bang. Actually, no. It opens with them being opposed by nothing but the tropical breeze (another way it differs from Private Ryan).

Charlie Company is commanded by Captain Staros (Elias Koteas), a quiet leader who cares about his men too much to send them to certain death without protest. (I’ve always felt Koteas to be an underrated commodity in the acting community.) Lt. Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) has no tolerance for this approach. He’s hungry for glory and recognition, regardless of cost. Others in Charlie Company include characters played by John Cusack, Adrien Brody, John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson. George Clooney and John Travolta also make cameos. (Like I said, this movie has A LOT of folks in it.)

I don’t want to get into too much of what happens. It’s the Battle of Guadalcanal and we all (hopefully) know how it ends and at what heavy human cost. But the historical results of battle are irrelevant here. The cost on the casualties and the survivors is what’s really explored here. The battle scenes are well done and includes more of the insanity that goes along with it. The scenes of Japanese soldiers praying or simply going insane mid-battle are truly eye opening.

But there’s a bigger picture here and it’s one that doesn’t fall directly out of any obvious themes of most war movies. Here, Malick seems to be making a statement on conflict as an inherent part of nature. War is not good or glorious and it is perhaps, unavoidable. What it’s survivors give up they can never get back. This is a long movie at almost three hours. But it was time spent that was paid back in full and then some. I couldn’t help but become completely enthralled by some of these characters. The demise of one nearly brought me to tears.

I give this movie an A-plus.

In 1999’s Summer of Sam, Spike Lee shows us how one neighborhood can react in panic to having a serial killer running amuck so close to home. From July 29, 1976 to his capture on August 10, 1977 David Berkowitz terrorized New York by going on a killing spree, claiming a neighbor’s black dog gave him orders to do so.  Originally dubbed “The .44 Killer” due to his choice of weaponry, he was eventually called “The Son of Sam”.

Lee’s main focus here is not about the actual killer, but how a neighborhood reacts to him.  In particular, the main key player here is a hair dresser named Vinny who just can’t keep it in his pants when it comes to women other than his wife.  Vinny is played by John Leguizamo, who’s acting is all over the place here.  At times it seems like he is way over the top and other times the complete opposite.  I had a real hard time sympathizing with him as he goes on toying with his wife played by Mira Sorvino.  Sorvino almost channels My Cousin Vinny’s Marisa Tomei.  The other key player here is Ritchie, plyed by Adrien Brody, who is Vinny’s longtime childhood friend.  To me Brody was one of the few bright spots to the film.  Granted we don’t know what brought him to be the Italian boy turned British punk rocker, but he does it well.  It’s this sudden change in attitude and appearance, along with bad timing, that makes him the perfect suspect in the eyes of some of the neighborhood hooligans he grew up with.

Lee himself makes a cameo appearance as a reporter who delivers the news in such a dull and lifeless manner that makes you wonder why he would even bother putting himself on-screen.  A cameo appearance I did like was Soprano’s Michael Imperioli, who also was a writer on the film.

Overall I was disappointed with the slow pace, and dragged out, and sometimes unneccessary scenes.  Despite a few decent performances, I was dissatisfied with the film.  I give Summer of Sam 2 1/2 pitchforks.

Veja as primeiras imagens do remake de A Experiência

Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker e Cam Gigandet aparecem em cena no filme-de-cadeia

O caso verídico que deu origem a A Experiência (Das Experiment), produção alemã de 2002 e primeiro longa de Oliver Hirschbiegel (A Queda!), está sendo transformado em filme mais uma vez, agora em Hollywood. As primeiras imagens de The Experiment acabam de sair – veja AQUI.

Em 1971, Philip Zimbardo, professor da conceituada Universidade de Stanford, reuniu um grupo de alunos e dividiu-os entre presos e guardas para estudar padrões de comportamento em presídios. O ensaio foi cancelado depois de apenas 6 dias, quando a relação de poder e autoridade entre os dois grupos começou a se exarcerbar, atingindo níveis alarmantes de violência.
Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace, Clifton Collins Jr. e Cam Gigandet estão no elenco. Brody faz o líder dos prisioneiros, enquanto Whitaker faz um guarda que se deixa levar por seu poder dentro do experimento. Paul Scheuring, co-criador da telessérie Prison Break, dirige o filme. Fonte: Omelete.

O filme estreia em 2010.

Do you ever see a movie and recognize so many people in it that you wonder why you’re never heard of it before?  The was me watching ‘The Jacket’.  To be fair, I fell asleep half way through (I’ve been fighting a cold), so I really can’t tell you how the movie was.  The part I saw was disturbing…but sort of intriguing. 

The funny thing was that, before we turned the movie on, neither of us had ever even heard anything about this film.  The Direct TV synopsis mentioned Adrien Brody and Kris Kristofferson, so we expected them.  But as I watched the movie, I kept asking Jason “Hey, isn’t that….”.  This was hilareous because Jason could watch the year’s blockbuster starring the biggest star in the world and not remember what movie is was or who was in it.

It was a really strange mix of talent…some A-list, some not…but, yeah, it was stacked…..