Kirk Douglas 1949

Man oh man I been busy. This is national novel writing month. The idea is to write about 1500 words a day, without thinking about it too much and see what you get at the end of the month. The idea is you’ll have a first draft of a novel that is at least 50.000 words. Nanowrimo link.

I started writing late in the month so I have had to average high-about 3,000 words a day to get to where I am now which is 35,000. It’s been fun and I’m pleased with what I have written. It’s  Mid grade story and Freddie, the hero has just escaped the giant spider and the evil princess.

Steve Martin said the subconscious mind is the writer the conscious mind the editor. This process of writing in a month with out planning or editing is all subconscious work. It’s great to be able to work in this free wheeling kind of way. Two pals have also taken the challenge. One of them is buzzing with life, kinda energized by the experience. When I was most focused on the novel, last week, I was writting from somewhere ‘deep’ with in and that night I had the MOST trippy visual dreams, reflecting what I had been writing. It was fab. At one point there was knock on the door. “Whose there?” I asked.” Meisner”, a man replied. (actors will get it)

But I have still been getting on with my Hollywood lifestyle!! Last week I went to the Britannia awards, Bafta’s given to Americans. It was a super star studded event. I brushed shoulders with some huge Hollywood animals, the biggest shouldered of whom was the Governator himself Arnie. He can’t talk proper, he mumbled on about park benches or something, said Kirk Douglas was his entire inspiration and grinned those big gnashers of his. But imagine that, without Kirk there’d have been no Arnie, then no body building, then no gyms and we’d all be fat. Arnie then handed a life time achievement award to screen legend Kirk Douglas. Despite his stroke Kirk ran onto the stage. He told us all a lovely story about how he and Burt Lancaster had performed to the Queen in the London Paladium. He then sung “Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner.” And fairly scooted off the stage again! He is 92 but still a super star.

A whole bunch of other stars got awards but I can’t be bothered mentioning them becos they weren’t in the wild. They were indoors which I feel is less celebrity safari and more celebrity safari park. However Ben Stiller did take the piss out of Robert De Niro in a very funny speech (He took all the credit for De Niro’s career) then gave him another very important Bafta. Bob was cool as can be. He took the mick out of british theatrical lovies and retold his Travis Bickle lines from the Taxi Driver in a Sir John Geilgud voice “I say sir. Are you looking at me sir? I mean I wonder very much are you looking at me sir?”

Talking of Geilgud, god bless his thespian soul, I went to a really good production of Harold Pinters play “No mans Land” at the Odyssey theatre. Geilgud was one of the original cast, with Ralph Richardson (Oh I miss those chaps so!) Everyone was good but the lead, Alan Mundell was world class. The play is wonderfully from the subconscious. It is about success, the lack of it and the price of the two! Mandell has a wonderful monologue where he begs a character to change his life. See the play if you can. Mandell is Beckett scholar and worked with the man. Below is a link of his performance in the original version of ‘The endgame’ he is the guy in the bin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN0oXalNQ1Q

Also congratulations to my good buddy KJ Miller whose film ‘Nobody the great‘ ( a comedy about 2 posho brits who mistake the Gasman for a terrorsist) won the Bel Air Film Festival audience award.

Rock on.

Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America. Scorsese is president of the Film Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation and the prevention of the decaying of motion picture film stock.

Scorsese’s body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, machismo, and violence. Scorsese is widely considered to be one of the most significant and influential American filmmakers of his era, directing landmark films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas; all of which he collaborated on with actor Robert De Niro. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed and earned an MFA in film directing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Trivia:

Listed as one of 50 people barred from entering Tibet. Disney clashed with Chinese officials over the film Kundun (1997), which Scorsese directed. [19 December 1996]

Awarded third annual John Huston Award for Artists Rights by the Artists Rights Foundation. [1995]

Presented with a special tribute at the 1976 Telluride Film Festival. It was presented by Michael Powell. [1976]

He is a longtime friend and was once a housemate of The Band’s Robbie Robertson. He directed The Last Waltz (1978), the documentary of their supposedly last gig which Robertson produced. Robertson later produced the soundtrack for Scorsese’s The Color of Money (1986).

Good friends with editor Thelma Schoonmaker & cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. Scorsese introduced Thelma to her husband Michael Powell and he often quotes Powell as an influence.

His name is pronounced “Scor-sez-see”.

He directed Michael Jackson’s Bad (1987) (V) music video. The full length video runs 16 minutes and is in both black & white and color. It is usually shortened down to just the color segment for television.

He appears as attached to his pet white Bichon Frise Zoe as he was to his beloved parents – except Zoe is right beside Marty every day in the office.

Daughter Francesca Scorsese born. [16 November 1999]

John Woo dedicated his action film Dip huet seung hung (1989) (“The Killer”) to Scorsese on a commentary he did for the movie’s DVD.

Daughter Domenica Cameron-Scorsese with Julia Cameron.

Taught both Oliver Stone and Spike Lee at NYU.

Was at one point going to make a movie about the life of comedian Richard Pryor.

He was an altar boy at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was used in his early films I Call First (1967) and Mean Streets (1973). Old St. Patrick’s is also where the baptism scene in The Godfather (1972) took place.

Was at one point slated to direct Clockers (1995), but for reasons that are not entirely clear, handed the directing chores to his onetime NYU student Spike Lee, while staying on as producer. He was also at one point going to direct Little Shop of Horrors (1986) for David Geffen, with Steven Spielberg as the executive producer. He was ultimately uninvolved, but claims that he wanted to shoot the movie in 3-D. It no doubt would have been a loving homage to Roger Corman, for whom he directed Boxcar Bertha (1972).

He took a cameo in his film Taxi Driver (1976) (as a man about to kill his wife) only because the actor who was supposed to play the role was sick on the day the scene was to be shot. Says he is generally uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Has a dog named Silas.

Is the subject of the song “Martin Scorsese” by alternative band King Missile.

Father of actress Cathy Scorsese from his first marriage.

Is of Italian-Sicilian descent.

Has asthma.

Of the three films he’s been trying to make since the mid-1970s, he has done two: The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Gangs of New York (2002). The third film, a biopic of Dean Martin called “Dino”, has been on hiatus at Warner Brothers since the late 1990s. Scorsese has a very specific all A-list cast in mind, probably why it has yet to be produced. He wants Tom Hanks to star as Martin, Jim Carrey to play Jerry Lewis, John Travolta to play Frank Sinatra, Hugh Grant to play Peter Lawford, and Adam Sandler to play Joey Bishop.

Was voted the 4th greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the only living person in the top 5 and the only working film director in the top 10 (Ingmar Bergman being retired as a filmmaker).

Appeared on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000) as a shrill version of himself who comes to regret his decision to cast Larry David as a violent gangster in a movie after David repeatedly ruins the suit he needs to wear as the character.

Several characters in his films refer to the legendary (noir) actor John Garfield, star of the original The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), which is also mentioned.

He was one of three major directors to have been offered the opportunity to direct Schindler’s List (1993) by producer Steven Spielberg, the other two being Roman Polanski and Billy Wilder. Scorsese thought a Jewish filmmaker should direct it; Polanski wasn’t yet ready to deal with the painful subject (having lost his mother in the Holocaust); and Wilder (who was retired and who lost his mother and grandmother in the Holocaust) finally told Spielberg that he should do it himself.

Because so many of his actors win or are nominated for awards, actors are dying to work with him. The film With Friends Like These… (1998) pokes fun at this very real desire.

Both The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Gangs of New York (2002) were personal passions of his that he had wanted to make since the 1970s. When he first starting considering them, Robert De Niro was in his mind to play the lead characters in both (Jesus Christ in “Temptation” and Bill Cutting in “Gangs”). De Niro ultimately turned down the part in “Temptation” and it was decided he was too old to play Cutting by the time that “Gangs” finally went into production.

He has famously collaborated with Robert De Niro in 8 films. Scorsese has said that his creative collaboration with De Niro is very deep and that they can often understand each other without even talking. Their collaboration has had many dry spells (including recently), but Scorsese says he shows almost every script he writes or considers directing to De Niro to see what the actor’s thoughts on them are even when De Niro ultimately has no involvement the film.

Appeared in an “American Express” ad where he goes to pick up photos of his nephew’s birthday party at a drug store, and then proceeds to nervously pick through what’s wrong with each picture while trying to get the clueless photo-lab clerk’s opinion on them. He proceeds to buy more film with an American Express card and calls the people on the pictures saying they need to reshoot. Scorsese says this funny ad is probably the closest he’s come to accurately “playing” himself.

Apart from his legendary work as a filmmaker, he has been a vocal supporter of film preservation for almost three decades. His efforts to create a strong public awareness for the work of film archives include The Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation which he started together with other filmmakers. The Film Foundation regularly partners with the American film archives on the restoration of “lost” or endangered films. With this background he has agreed to serve as Honorary President of the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna.

Personally spurns the notion of the “director’s cut” feeling that once a film has been completed, it should not be further altered in any way.

He lost three best director – and best picture – Oscars to leading-man actors turned directors: Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, and Clint Eastwood (Raging Bull (1980) lost to Redford’s Ordinary People (1980); Goodfellas (1990) to Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990); The Aviator (2004) to Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004)). On the only two occasions when he was Oscar-nominated as Best Director in years ending in zero, he was beaten by actors making their directorial debuts (Redford and Costner).

In 1975, he accepted the Oscar for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” on behalf of Ellen Burstyn, who wasn’t present at the awards ceremony. She won for her performance in Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998.

Has mentioned that he thought Robert De Niro’s best performance under his direction was as Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy (1982).

Ranked #3 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Greatest directors ever!” [2005]

His favorite films include: Citizen Kane (1941), The Red Shoes (1948) and Il gattopardo (1963) (“The Leopard”).

Was friend, protégé, and employee of actor-director John Cassavetes.

When asked where audiences would find the next Martin Scorsese, he said to look to Wes Anderson, the young director of Rushmore (1998).

Has directed, as of 2008, 6 biopics: Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), Kundun (1997) and The Aviator (2004).

He received a Degree ad honorem in “Cinema, TV and Multimedia Production” from the University of Bologna on 26 November 2005.

Served as mentor to Georgia Lee and invited her to apprentice for Gangs of New York (2002) in Europe.

The 1912 American Mutoscope & Biograph Company short The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) heavily influenced Scorsese in the making of his own gangster films Goodfellas (1990), and Gangs of New York (2002). The film was picked by Scorcese for his 2005 tribute at Beaubourg, centre d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou (1977) in Paris, France. Biograph is the oldest movie company in America and in existence today, headed by producer/director Thomas R. Bond II.

Scorsese and Taxi Driver (1976) are, among others, named as inspiration for the Massive Attack debut “Blue Lines”.

He signed a four-year, first-look deal to develop projects with studio executives of Paramount. [November 2006]

The Departed (2006) is the highest-grossing movie of his 40-year career ($132,373,442 (USA)).

The Aviator (2004) was his first movie to gross over $100 million in the U.S.

He has worked with big names of music business: Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, ‘Michael Jackson (I)’ and David Bowie.

Directed 17 different actors in Oscar nominated performances: Jodie Foster, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis , Cate Blanchett, Winona Ryder, Ellen Burstyn, Sharon Stone, Diane Ladd,Cathy Moriarty, Juliette Lewis, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Newman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Alan Alda and Mark Wahlberg. (Burstyn, De Niro, Newman, Pesci and Blanchett won Oscars for their roles in one of Scorsese’s movies).

When he won his Best Director Oscar for The Departed (2006), he received the award from legendary directors, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg. The four were part of the “New Hollywood” movement of the 1970s and combined have 9 Academy Awards and 38 Nominations.

As a teenager in the Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Michael Powell’s The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) from a store that only had one copy of the reels. When it wasn’t available the owner told him, “that Romero kid has it,” referring to George A. Romero who was also a big fan of the film. Today, both directors cite the film as a major influence.

Says he was happy with the fact that it took so long for him to win Best Director, because if he had won it earlier, it would have affected his directing and films.

Recipient of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients that year were Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, and Brian Wilson.

Says the only thing he regrets in his career is that he was only able to make The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) on a small budget although he imagined it to be a grand version.

Was originally going to direct The Honeymoon Killers (1969), but was replaced after a week of shooting.

Served as a guest critic on “Siskel & Ebert & the Movies” (1986) following the death of ‘Gene Siskel’. The episode was “The Best Films of the 90s” in which Roger Ebert cited Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) as one of the best films of the 90s (#3). Scorsese’s full list of his favorite films of the 1990s: 10.) Tie: Malcolm X (1992) and Heat (1995), 9.) Fargo (1996), 8.) Crash (1996), 7.) Bottle Rocket (1994), 6.) Breaking the Waves (1996), 5.) Bad Lieutenant (1992), 4.) Eyes Wide Shut (1999), 3.) Duo sang (1994) (“A Borrowed Life”), 2.) The Thin Red Line (1998), 1.) Dao ma zei (1986) (“Horse Thief”).

He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Resides in New York City. His production offices are located on W. 57th Street in Manhattan.

Attended Cardinal Hayes high school in the Bronx as a young man. Fellow alumni included George Carlin, George Dzundza, Regis Philbin and Jamal Mashburn.

Is a fan of the British Hammer Films series.

A huge fan of Fawlty Towers (1975). He describes the episode “The Germans” as “so tasteless, its hilarious.”.

In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 7 of Scorsese’s films are listed: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and The Departed (2006).

Haig Manoogian was Scorsese’s mentor at NYU. He eventually produced Scorsese’s first film (I Call First (1967)) and when he died in 1980, Scorsese dedicated Raging Bull (1980) to Manoogian.

Roger Ebert is a great admirer of Scorsese’s work. 14 of Scorsese’s films were given four stars by Ebert (Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), Kundun (1997), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shine a Light (2008)), seven of his films are in Ebert’s Great Movies list (“Mean Streets”, “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull”, “After Hours”, “The Last Temptation Of Christ”, “Goodfellas”, and “The Age of Innocence”), and Ebert has written an entire book of his reviews, interviews and essays on Scorsese’s work simply titled “Scorsese By Ebert”.

As of November 10th 2009, five of his films are on the IMDb’s Top 250 Films list: Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Departed (2006), and Casino (1995).

Amazon Specials!

I.

The spring of 2015 is when Emma and I will meet. It will be at Elton John’s Oscar party. Emma will be cavorting with a group of her friends, one of them nominated and winning Best Supporting Actress. It will shock the world. Their group will trot about with Emma being dragged around. The friend wields the statuette like an axe and gets her photo taken. Emma will be trying to quell her jealous feelings. She will believe she is bored. I, who will not be working in Hollywood, but will know many of the powerful figures in the industry, will be sitting with my good friend Robert DeNiro and what will be left of his inner circle. I will be drinking a whisky sour, as I will have rejected clear liquor at this point in my life. Emma will be wearing a svelte black cocktail dress, her breasts accentuated by the firmness of the fabric. She will be drinking chardonnay. She will be trying now, at this important junction of her young career, to be considered not merely a beautiful young movie star, but rather a beautiful actress. She will be fighting for the role in the next Neil Simon adaptation, playing a tortured young transvestite, coming to grips with her fathers recent suicide, which or may not have been about her characters sexual identification. She is hoping she will be the one carrying a statuette at this time next year. As of the spring of 2015, she will have been considered a shiny piece of meat, bombarded with stiff drinks and high compliments in routine attempts to get into her pants. She wouldn’t mind meeting a more serious man, a creative man, who could assist in her elevation into a more respected level. Plus the boys, the parties, and unfortunately, the drugs, do not seem to be filling the empty gaps in her existence.

The Best Supporting Actress winner will burst into the conversation at our table, which is not uncommon considering the self-complimenting nature of the Oscars. As the Best Supporting Actress winner interrupts Bob’s anecdote about waking up with Peter Lorre and missing a digit on his hand, I will gaze off into the chandeliers, and exhale my cigarette wistfully. I will be satisfied with my decision to distance myself from Hollywood, but also happy to be able to visit; to remind myself of the fortunes in my own life. I will think of one of my cats, a stray I picked up and named Crayon, and imagine what he must be doing at that future date. After the Best Supporting Actress winner leaves to go on enjoying the highest point in her career, Emma will stay behind to catch up with Bob, good friends from their recent remake of Pearl Harbor, in which Emma reprised the role portrayed by the recent Kate Beckinsale and Bob playing the role of FDR. The film will be met with near universal acclaim, and will be nominated for multiple awards to be handed out this very evening.

And as she kisses Bob on his wrinkly cheek and turns to leave, she will notice me, in the corner, still looking off wistfully and meaningfully, and think to herself “My god? Who is that stunning creature?” However, the Best Supporting Actress winner will pull Emma away, and she will look over her shoulder three times, trying to capture a mental image of my frame for later, when she will approach me, a when she will not know. I will notice her ogling me. I will always be fond of prime numbers.

Emma will approach me seventeen minutes later, as I get up to stretch my legs and retrieve a handful of drinks for myself. She will swear later, many months later, during an intimate moment in bed, that she could see into my soul at that moment, when our eyes first met.

And she will say that what she saw was a gentle, brave and lovely man, one that she may very well love forever.

And she will be half-right. She will have seen into my soul. But, from my perspective, at that moment, our eyes did not meet. My eyes will have been following a curvy young caterer’s frame, and my mind will be planning out what gratuitous thing I will say to her to her in twenty-three minutes to coerce her into coming into the walk-in freezer with me to engage in coitus against the vegetable counters, with a chair propped under the wide door handles. The caterer will not want to lose her job over a spontaneous fling, but she will find my charm irresistible, and her supervisor will later find dollops of tomatoes all along the floors of the freezer. Such is the rollercoaster of life.

To my future surprise, when Emma will approach me, the very first thing she says will be “Just what do you think you’re looking at?” in a wispy, overtly sexual voice. And my mind will mentally scramble, thinking maybe she is hitting on me, or maybe she noticed my stealth-like leering, but my face won’t show this debate. I will take a gamble. “You, beautiful.” She will smile; flashing her gums and running her tongue across her front teeth, quickly and tempestuously, narrowing her eyes.

“Can I get you a drink?”

II.

About a month or so into our relationship, I won’t be able to ascertain for sure in the future- as my conception of time will be completely warped from an incident in which a young man, who I exchanged unkind words with, will stab me in the temporal lobe with a salad fork- I will take Emma to the opera.

My third novel, Time, and Its Death (A Vacuum, A Seal, A Corset), will have just been published, and the media storm will be in full swing. The critical consensus will be divided- it’s wide lyrical scope will be interpreted as a cruel joke on readers. The characters, each one killed and resurrected as one of the other characters, and then killed and resurrected as one of the more obscure Muppets will be considered one of the great metaphors in art for the oneness of humanity, although it will remain altogether very beguiling to readers. The New York Times Book Review will say like “Rosencrantz and Gildenstern if Stoppard did brown-brown and went on vision quests.” In private circles, most critics will admit adoring the lyrical prose paired with the unflinching sparseness of the third-person descriptions. They will also admit, to publishing their negative reviews in complicity with the future conspiracy that will be paid by my publishers to further publicity for the work. The majority of the critics will also admit to not having even finished the 4,498 pages that will comprise the work, much less parsing the introduction. This will not be due to a lack of understanding, but due to a disabling amount of patience, not wanting to waste the joyful experience of reading due to some asshole editor’s deadline.

I will be taking Emma to the opera to lift her spirits. The day before she will have lost out on the part in the Simon adaptation to Abigail Breslin, that snotty little bitch, we will agree. The opera date is a surprise. She thinks that Elektra is her favorite, but it is truly mine, and convinced her that it is hers. I will personally feel, yet of course will not communicate to Emma, that Breslin isn’t just better for the part, but a better looking person, and actress, if not person, in sum. I will not able for sure to ascertain that final fact for a few months, as I will not be able to return Breslin’s frantic and steamy voicemails in a timely fashion. Emma will be attached to my hip, against my will, since we meet. I haven’t decided how I feel about her company, outside of the sex.

Our seats will be in the sixth row, in the center of the aisle. During the opera, she lean into my shoulder, and firmly nuzzle into place there, and I will smile. A few times, Emma will pet my bicep or begin to kiss the fabric on my forearm, and I will casually shoo her away, and will quietly communicate to her that she is distracting me from enjoying the show to its fullest. It will be a rare thing to see James Gandolfini and Michael Cera perform opera together.

During the second hour of the performance, she will take a tactile attempt to fellate me. I will push her away, bit-lip red with embarrassment and march out of the show, my head slung low, trying to avoid a scene. Emma will follow, holding her evening gown up, so not to trip or sully the fabric, and whisper-yell to me to get my attention, so she can apologize properly. I will ignore her and continue marching.
Prince William will notice we are beginning to make a scene, the who’s-who of the crowd will point and look at us as we leave, and the Prince will stand up to assuage me, he will know how short my temper can be, and his face will look indignant. I will wave him off, and he will slowly sit back down, making the phone-hand with his thumb and pinky, mouthing for me to call him when I get the chance. I will try not to roll my eyes, and I nod at him in acknowledgment.

Emma will apologize profusely, explaining that she just wanted to show me how much I meant to her, and what she would do for me, without my asking, and how it didn’t matter who saw, she just wanted to do it, she wanted the whole world to know how passionately she felt for me, so why not now. I will tell her first that I love her, and that I appreciate the gesture, but she needed to understand that I did care who saw. She will nod knowingly, and I will wipe a single tear from her eye. She will buy me two beers from a tavern a few blocks away and I allow her to fellate me in the taxi on the way back to my west side loft.

So is life.

III.

Against my initial wishes, during the summer of 2015, Emma will move into my house in the Pacific Northwest. My spare room, a space previously designated for nomads, jilted lovers, vengeance-seeking lovers, wandering animals, and close friends to sleep in, will be taken over by her collection of rare and antique stuffed animals and the pile of fan mail she has received over the course of her career.

This will became her sort of ‘safe place’ during the times that I will upset her, which will be often, considering life-style choices and living situation when she will move in. I will not have revealed to her that I chop wood in the living room while I am asleep, and also awake, completely dependant on the events of my dreams or the fluctuations of my mood, something a medical professional will diagnose as ‘schizophrenic’ in 2021. I will also then be staging my undisciplined creative endeavor of recreating Fellini Satryicon with a group of elderly Philippino women who speak no English, and had only seen the bizarre source material once, on a small television set with no sound on. The point, and quality of this work will be grasped by very few, deservedly.

Unfortunately for Emma, sweet patient Emma, this stage of our relationship will coincide with the first peak of my infamous addiction to morphine of 2014-2017, something I will have kept under wraps pretty well I imagine. However I will need her to bathe me, change me and provide me with my limited nutrition, which will consist of saltines with feta cheese, bananas, airline peanuts and brown rice. I will see this as one of the few ‘upsides’ of her moving in – that I could release Henrietta, my Swedish nurse and save a few dollars. I will be suspicious that was stealing from me. Upon opening her coffin my suspicions will be confirmed.

One of the ‘upsides’ for Emma will be that she will not be present for the famous morphine addiction of 2021-2024, which will prove to be fatal, albeit temporarily.

And when she is upset, and in her ‘safe place,’ she will read the fan mail, and remember when she was young and nubile, and unconditionally loved. She will feel small against the crushing tidal wave of the adult world, and feel she cannot handle it. And in the moments when she hates me to the very core, and whenever I am coherent and sober enough to stand up and take care of myself, I will present her with an ice mocha latte, a Star magazine and a container of JuJuBee’s; her three favorites. I’ll remind her that I love her, and that I am completely dependent on her, and without her, my work, integral to the future of art, and culture itself, would be lost.

IV.

In the fall of 2015, I will pack my things, and leave for my winter retreat, with my partner in creative expression, Sir Richard Van Diesendorg and his alluring mute wife Purra. It will become our annual tradition to stay at my cabin, in an undisclosed location, and brainstorm potential future accomplishments. Emma, understandably, will not be invited, and I will impolitely inform her of this fact minutes before we leave the house. The preceding days will have been my detox from a three week cocaine-orgy-meth binge. I will be a little on edge and still unable to feel my left hand. Emma will be beginning to move her bags from our room when I tell her. She will cry, and I will explain to her that I need someone, someone important, to watch over my four beloved cats – Crayon, Fernando, Albert and the newest addition to the family Xxyuog, whom Purra playfully named.

I will explain that if I feel they are in danger or unsafe in any way whatsoever, it will comprise the integrity of my fragile creative mind. She will not understand why we can’t just hire a nanny, or ask the neighbors to come over, what with my unending funds and countless friends, why does Emma need to watch over the cats? She will be completely right. My assertion will make zero sense. But I however, will become oblivious to common sense, as additional side effect from the salad fork incident, immortalized in an SNL sketch.

She will say she wants to be with me, that she wants to watch my genius unfold. I will be understandably flattered, and even briefly consider allowing her to come. Then I will remember that she will more than likely see Purra and I engaged in some unimaginably fantastic gymnastic-like coitus, where I am practically pounding Purra into the fucking ceiling, and that may upset Emma and infuriate her with jealously. I will not want to upset her. I will care about her. I will love her after all. I will sigh and look down at the marble floor, and I will feel a pain in my huge loving heart, enlarged from years of chronic alcoholism and loving too much. I will feel that small segment tear.
“Em,” I will say “This just isn’t the year. The Guggenheim is all up my ass for something bold and exciting, and I gotta deliver. Next year for sure.” And we will deliver. The art world will be shattered when “The Great Pantomime” is first exhibited in Dubai. It will be a 50m installation art piece. It will consist of Richard, Purra’s and yours trulys own vomit and bile from the substance binging during the winter brainstorm, and said vomit will be poured upon a bed of hardcore Turkish pornography and white roses, with the center of the piece being a recreation of Michelangelo’s “David” constituted from cigarette butts and whittlings of squirrels that Richard will be just banging out like every five minutes.

Emma will nod and tears will trickle down her face. I’ll place my thick, tan hands on her thin, beautiful neck and pull her close to me. I will then lick the side of her face, catching some of the tears, with my big pulpy tongue, leaving a trail of saliva embedded with hash resin and bits of brown rice upon her plump, lovely cheek.

“I love you Emma Watson,” I will say. And she will hug me tight, and weep into my chest, muttering nearly incomprehensibly “I understand, go, I understand.”

Crayon will be looking up at us, confused and curious, and will then roll on his , flicking his fat furry tail, playful and lovely, alive and incandescent.

V.
In the spring of 2016, the paparazzo’s fury will reach its peak. At the time of this hoopla, I will be 28 and she 24. The American and British media will theorize that Emma will be the one to tame my wild spirit, or what is reported of it. As time goes on there will be less and less that is dangerous or wildly ascetically experimental for me to engage in, and my known romantic qualities would be due to dominate my needs. And a strong beautiful woman, which Emma surely is, they will say, would ground my life in the best of ways. ‘Why cannot one make convention and tradition dangerous?’ they will say. They will say I am the only man with the potential to do it.

And I will be tamed. I will immerse myself in a life of purity and restraint, under a self-designed monastic discipline. I will abstain from illicit substances, meat, all preservatives and additives, all forms of cheese, socks, television and sexual climax. This last constraint will frustrate Emma immensely, as her principal joy in life will have become my sexual satisfaction. She will find methods of relieving this frustration, dabbling in haiku and skeet shooting, enjoying the meditative qualities of creative composition and the jolt of a rifle against her shoulder. The force will be quite thrilling, feeling a wave of release when hearing the clang and shatter of the clay pigeons.

The media’s central question, after they’ve realized my new dogmatic lifestyle is not temporary, will surround the concept of us marrying; a subject Emma will have never brought up verbally, but will be of evidential stress in her facial patterns and body language, whenever hinted at in social situations. When I see her skin tense up, and her shoulders go rigid, pushing out her breasts – I realize I would be more than happy to enter a binding written partnership contract with her for an indefinite period of time.

I will propose to Emma in the fall, at the previously-secret cabin, and will begrudgingly revise my final constraint, to offer her an avenue of happiness. She will bound up and down, throw her arms around my neck, and wrap her legs around my waist, saying yes, a thousand times yes, a million times yes.

The marriage will mark a new era in her career, she will be offered roles usually only reserved for the Charlize-Theron, Mary-Kate-Olsen or Abigail-Breslin type actress. She will star in the long-troubled Janis Joplin biopic and pick up her long awaited golden statuette, and pick up a second one for her portrayal of Amelia Earhart’s disfigured lesbian lover in the Earhart biopic. She will even receive offers to direct.

However, for myself, the road will not be paved so well. I will complete my directorial debut, The Prior Engagment, which will concern the plight of a fictional Haitian poet, and his phobia of the sun and physical contact, and will receive stunning reviews and bring in another small fortune for my Swiss Bank account. After its release I will begin another personal downward spiral. Whilst at work on my fourth novel, a book with no characters, no discernabe plot, and page upon page of childish-doodles of stick figures fighting battles with tanks, planes and shark-machetes, I will relapse on morphine.

After three months of full-bore abuse, with no sleeping or eating anything beyond saltines, I will be found catatonic in my office and hospitalized. Emma will be away on the shoot for the highly anticipated Pearl Harbor II, and will be frustrated beyond all understandable words that no one in my inner circle had the nerve to call her and tell her about my descent. However, this will not be their fault, as I will have crafted legal-contracts, signed in blood, with their promise not to divulge any of the information regarding my lifestyle choices while she was away. And I will also have threatened to kill them on the off-chance that they decide to break the contracts.

I will remain hospitalized during the Christmas of 2016, and she will keep vigil, having taken a vow of silence and dressed entirely in black. She will wait, for her love to return to her. As time will wear on, she will become more and more frustrated with my unresponsive self. She will think to herself “Why? Why would my lovely James do such self-destructive things, with such talent, with so many lovely people surrounding him?” She will stand up at this point in her thoughts, words hear and there will be spoken aloud “Why did I devote myself to such a man, who after these two years still treats me like a rotten kid, who ignores me, cheats on me, borderline tortures me, and all for what? WHAT?” She will climb on top of my virtually-lifeless body and begin to pound my chest viciously. The nurses will at first move in to stop her, but will understand, and let her continue, “I wish, I wish, that I never spoke to him at that party, I wish I never tolerated all his behavior, I wish that James Case had never been born!” and she will slap me in the face. And my head will slowly turn, brought back to life and look her straight in the eyes. There will be an endless sorrow behind them, needing her. And she will know this. And her questions will be answered.

And she will smile. It will be an hour shy of midnight on New Years Eve. She will smile, and she will cry, and she will tell me that she missed me, and I will apologize, and say I will never do another drug again, and that I love her, and a priest will then enter our room, and perform the ceremony as I lay in bed, unable to stand from the protein deposits in my knees. The MS patient I will share the room with and one of the nurses will act as the witnesses. And Emma will be happy. And after she sees my body return to life, she will have forgotten all of her protests, all her complaints, because my living presence will wash her mind clean.

She will exclaim that she’s never been happier, and that she loves me, endlessly.

And “I know,” will be my reply, as the nurses leave after we take our vows.

MAFIA: FINI, STOP A CANDIDATI VICINI A MAFIOSI

Dopo aver sollecitato più mezzi e risorse per la lotta alla mafia, il presidente della Camera Gianfranco Fini, nel corso del suo intervento a Pescara durante la cerimonia di premiazione del 14/o premio Paolo Borsellino, ha chiesto uno “scatto” anche alla politica. “Bisogna avere la forza – ha detto Fini – di dire ”Io quel signore non lo voglio candidato perche’ magari è portatore di interessi che non hanno nulla a che vedere con gli interessi generali della collettivita” .

“La lotta alle mafie si fa attraverso una forte azione di contrasto, ma anche mostrando da parte delle istituzioni concreta vicinanza e solidarietà alle vittime delle intimidazioni mafiose, ai commercianti ai quali viene chiesto di pagare il pizzo, ai cittadini che vengono intimiditi dai boss”. Lo ha detto il presidente della Camera, Gianfranco Fini.

“A volte – ha sottolineato Fini – l’indifferenza uccide più del tritolo o di una calibro 9. Chi ha dimestichezza con i fenomeni mafiosi criminali, soprattutto in alcune aree del Paese, sa che le istituzioni vogliono sollevare la resistenza morale della società e incentivare la collaborazione degli onesti; non devono limitarsi alle buone intenzioni e nemmeno al varo di leggi di grande rilievo. Devono dimostrarsi attenti alle esigenze di commercianti e cittadini”.

ANSA

Ad Alcamo qualcuno sembra si sia risentito.

Medizton De NIro Butar butar. c.SH

Pendahuluan :

Lingkungan Hidup di Indonesia menyangkut tanah, air, dan udara dalam wilayah negara Republik Indonesia. Semua media lingkungan hidup tersebut merupakan wadah tempat kita tinggal, hidup serta bernafas. Media lingkungan hidup yang sehat, akan melahirkan generasi manusia Indonesia saat ini serta generasi akan datang yang sehat dan dinamis.

Pembangunan industri, eksploitasi hutan serta sibuk dan padatnya arus lalu lintas akibat pembangunan yang terus berkembang, memberikan dampak samping. Dampak samping tersebut berakibat pada tanah yang kita tinggali, air yang kita gunakan untuk kebutuhan hidup maupun udara yang kita hirup. Apabila tanah, air dan udara tersebut pada akhirnya tidak dapat lagi menyediakan suatu iklim atau keadaan yang layak untuk kita gunakan, maka pencemaran atau kerusakan lingkungan hidup telah terjadi.

Pencemaran lingkungan hidup, bukan hanya akan berdampak buruk bagi kehidupan masyarakat yang ada sekarang namun juga akan mengancam kelangsungan hidup anak cucu kita kelak.

Oleh karena itu baik masyarakat, maupun pemerintah berhak dan wajib untuk melindungi lingkungan hidup. Masyarakat diharapkan secara aktif dapat berperan serta aktif dalam pelestrian lingkungan sedangkan pemerintah berupaya dengan memberikan perlindungan bagi lingkungan hidup negaranya dan masyarakat yang tinggal dalam lingkungan hidup negaranya melalui berbagai peraturan perundang-undangan.

UU Lingkungan Hidup No. 23 tahun 1997 adalah suatu produk pemerintah untuk menjaga kelestarian lingkungan hidup sekaligus memberi perlindungan hukum bagi masyarakat agar selalu dapat terus hidup dalam lingkungan hidup yang sehat.

METODE PENYELESAIAN PERKARA LINGKUNGAN

Beberapa Pengertian

“Pencemaran lingkungan hidup adalah masuknya atau dimasukkannya makhluk hidup, zat, energi, dan/atau komponen lain ke dalam lingkungan hidup oleh kegiatan manusia sehingga kualitasnya turun sampai ke tingkat tertentu yang menyebabkan lingkungan hidup tidak dapat berfungi sesuai dengan peruntukannya.”

“Perusakan lingkungan hidup adalah tindakan yang menimbulkan perubahan langsung atau tidak langsung terhadap sifat fisik dan/atau hayatinya yang mengakibatkan lingkungan hidup tidak berfungsi lagi dalam menunjang pembangunan berkelanjutan”

(Definisi yang digarisbawahi merujuk pada ketentuan peraturan pelaksana lingkungan hidup yang lain, dengan melihat kepada standard baku mutu lingkungan, media lingkungan yang dicemari/dirusak)

“Baku mutu lingkungan adalah, ukuran batas atau kadar makhluk hidup, zat, energi atau komponen yang ada atau harus ada dan/atau unsure pencemar yang ditenggang keberadaannya dalam suatu sumber daya tertentu sebagai unsure lingkungan hidup “

ATURAN PROSEDUR PIDANA DALAM

UNDANG-UNDANG LINGKUNGAN HIDUP ( UULH ) NOMOR 23 TAHUN 1997

KETENTUAN PIDANA

Ketentuan Pidana dalam perkara lingkungan hidup ditentukan dengan memperhatikan niat batin seseorang (mens rea atau mental elements) yang sering disebut sebagai kesalahan si pelaku (schuld-verband). Niat batin seseorang di dalam pertanggungjawaban pidana di dalam hukum lingkungan dibedakan atas kesengajaan dan kelalaian.

Berdasarkan niatnya maka seseorang dapat dituntut pidana atas:

Dalam perkara yang mengakibatkan pencemaran dan / atau perusakan lingkungan hidup:

dengan sengaja melakukan perbuatan yang mengakibatkan pencemaran dan/atau perusakan lingkungan hidup, ancaman pidananya penjara paling lama 10 (sepuluh) tahun dan denda paling banyak Rp. 500. 000. 000,- (lima ratus juta rupiah) (vide pasal 41 UULH)

karena kealpaannya melakukan perbuatan yang mengakibatkan pencemaran dan/atau perusakan lingkungan hidup, diancam dengan pidana penjara paling lama 3 (tiga) tahun dan denda paling banyak Rp. 100. 000. 000,- (seratus juta rupiah) (vide pasal 42 UULH)

Dalam perkara penggunaan Bahan Berbahaya dan Beracun (B3) (vide PP No. 74 Tahun 2001):

dengan sengaja melepaskan atau membuang zat, energi dan/atau komponen lain yang berbahaya atau beracun masuk di atas atau ke dalam tanah, ke dalam udara atau ke dalam air permukaan, melakukan impor, ekspor, memperdagangkan, mengangkut, menyimpan bahan tersebut, menjalankan instalasi yang berbahaya, padahal mengetahui atau sangat beralasan untuk menduga bahwa perbuatan tersebut dapat menimbulkan pencemaran dan/atau perusakan lingkungan hidup atau membahayakan kesehatan umum atau nyawa orang lain, diancam dengan pidana penjara paling lama 6 (enam) tahun dan denda paling banyak Rp. 300. 000. 000,- (tiga ratus juta rupiah)” (vide pasal 43 UULH)

karena kealpaannya melakukan perbuatan sebagaimana dimaksud dalam pasal 43, diancam dengan pidana penjara paling lama 3 (tiga) tahun dan denda paling banyak Rp. 100. 000. 000,- (seratus juta rupiah)” (vide pasal 44 UULH)

JALUR HUKUM PERDATA

GUGATAN ATAS PERKARA LINGKUNGAN HIDUP DAPAT DILAKUKAN OLEH:

Orang/korban yang terkena langsung pencemaran/perusakan lingkungan hidup (163 HIR)

Organisasi Lingkungan Hidup (LSM) yang memiliki hak gugat (ius standi) berdasarkan undang-undang untuk kepentingan pelestarian fungsi lingkungan hidup (vide pasal 38 ayat (1) UULH)

Instansi pemerintah yang bertanggungjawab di bidang lingkungan hidup, bertindak untuk kepentingan masyarakat jika pencemaran dan/atau perusakan lingkungan hidup terjadi sedemikian rupa sehingga mempengaruhi perikehidupan pokok masyarakat (vide pasal 37 ayat (2) UULH)

BENTUK GUGATAN ORANG/KORBAN YANG TERKENA LANGSUNG PENCEMARAN/PERUSAKAN LINGKUNGAN HIDUP ADA 2:

Gugatan individu (vide pasal 163 HIR)

Gugatan perwakilan kelompok (class action) (vide pasal 37 ayat (1) UULH Jo. Per. MA N0. 1 Tahun 2002)

ISI GUGATAN BERDASARKAN UNDANG-UNDANG LINGKUNGAN HIDUP:

Dapat meminta ganti kerugian dan / atau tindakan tertentu kepada pelaku usaha yang menimbulkan pencemaran dan/atau perusakan lingkungan hidup yang menimbulkan kerugian pada orang lain atau lingkungan hidup berdasarkan kesalahan pelaku usaha (berdasarkan pasal 34 UULH)

Dapat meminta ganti kerugian terhadap penanggungjawab usaha yang usaha dan kegiatannya menimbulkan dampak besar dan penting terhadap lingkungan hidup, yang menggunakan bahan berbahaya dan beracun, dan / atau menghasilkan limbah bahan berbahaya dan beracun dengan beban pembuktian pada pelaku usaha berdasarkan prinsip tanggung jawab mutlak (berdasarkan pasal 35 UULH)

Perkecualian untuk LSM tidak dapat meminta ganti rugi hanya terbatas pada tindakan tertentu, menyatakan seseorang telah melakukan perbuatan melanggar hukum dan membuat atau memperbaiki unit pengolah limbah

Selain ketentuan pidana sebagaimana dimaksud dalam Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana dan Undang-undang ini, terhadap pelaku tindak pidana lingkungan hidup dapat pula dikenakan tindakan tata tertib berupa:

• perampasan keuntungan yang diperoleh dari tindak pidana; dan/atau
• penutupan seluruhnya atau sebagian perusahaan; dan/atau
• perbaikan akibat tindak pidana; dan/atau
• mewajibkan mengerjakan apa yang dilalaikan tanpa hak; dan/atau
• meniadakan apa yang dilalaikan tanpa hak; dan/atau
• menempatkan perusahaan di bawah pengampuan paling lama 3 (tiga) tahun. (vide pasal 47 UULH)

Penyelesaian Sengketa Lingkungan di Luar Pengadilan

Penyelesaian sengketa lingkungan di luar pengadilan hanya dapat ditempuh pihak-pihak bersengketa dalam masalah perdata seperti untuk menentukan ganti kerugian maupun menentukan tindakan tertentu dalam hal pemulihan/perbaikan lingkungan kepada keadaan semula yang bertujuan untuk menjamin tidak akan terjadi atau terulangnya dampak negatif terhadap lingkungan

Jalur ini ditempuh berdasarkan kesepakatan pihak-pihak yang bersengketa dalam masalah lingkungan dengan menunjuk mediator/jasa pihak ketiga untuk membantu menyelesaikan sengketa

Apabila penyelesaian sengketa di luar pengadilan gagal/tidak berhasil, upaya selanjutnya yang dapat digunakan oleh para pihak yang tidak puas dengan penyelesaian di luar pengadilan adalah mengajukan gugatan ke pengadilan.

Penerapan Sanksi administrasi dapat  berupa upaya paksa pemerintah yang berupa segala tindakan tertentu bagi para pelaku usaha untuk mencegah dan mengakhiri terjadinya pelanggaran lingkungan, menanggulangi akibat yang ditimbulkan oleh suatu pelanggaran, pemulihan lingkungan kepada keadaan semula atas biaya pelaku usaha

(Berupa paksaan pemerintah, uang paksa, penutupan tempat usaha, penghentian kegiatan mesin perusahaan, dan pencabutan izin)

Upaya paksa pemerintah itu juga dapat diganti dengan pembayaran sejumlah uang tertentu/denda

Pelanggaran lingkungan tertentu juga dapat dijatuhi sanksi administrasi berupa pencabutan ijin usaha dari pejabat yang berwenang yang diusulkan oleh Kepala Daerah atau Pihak yang berkepentingan yang merasa dirugikan atas pelanggaran lingkungan oleh pelaku usaha tersebut.

Think Globally, Act Locally

(Berpikirlah Global untuk kepentingan pelestarian lingkungan hidup di dunia dan bagi masa depan anak cucu kita kelak, dengan berlaku ikut menjaga lingkungan hidup yang ada disekitar kita)

Digamos que fue una coincidencia: este fin de semana arrendé (sin saber bien de qué trataba la trama) “What just happened?” y “Rebobinados”. La primera la elegí porque en la portada salía De Niro y, hasta donde recuerdo, él nunca me ha decepcionado. La segunda la quería ver desde hace un tiempo, sustentándome en la idea de que iba a reír mucho al amparo de Jack Black. Fortuitamente arrendé dos películas que trataban un mismo tema: la crítica a la fórmula hollywoodense de hacer cine. Casualmente las dos no me gustaron del todo en cuanto a su narración, pero, sin embargo, estoy de acuerdo en cada una de sus motivaciones y manifiestos. “Rebobinados”, por su parte, es demasiado lenta para ser una comedia y carece de dinamismo… quizá intencionalmente con  afán de salirse del molde. A pesar de que a los espectadores graves y criticones nos gustaría haber podido modificar de alguna manera el guión de este tipo de películas, hay que decir que da gusto ver que el cine se da el tiempo para reflexionar sobre sí mismo y se burla, llora y ríe a carcajadas en torno a lo que ha llegado a ser. Estas dos creaciones en cuestión nos dejan un sabor amargo a nostalgia cuando terminan, pero también nos abren una ventana en cuanto a lo que nos ofrece el arte audiovisual de ahora en adelante. Es urgente dejar los manuales de escritura de guiones y demases y volcarse hacia dentro de la naturaleza humana, que es donde brotan y nacen las verdaderas historias, las que permanecen en el tiempo y nos dejan un aroma a infinito. Coincidencia o no, hay que saber leer en cómo se tejen los hechos cotidianos.

Pembangunan Berkelanjutan adalah pembangunan yang upaya sadar dan terencana, yang memadukan lingkungan hidup, termasuk sumber daya, ke dalam proses pembangunan untuk menjamin kemampuan, kesejahteraan, dan mutu hidup generasi masa kini dan generasi masa depan.

žPrinsip-Prinsip dalam Konsep Pembangunan  Berkelanjutan

Prinsip Berkeadilan antar Generasi adalah Tiap -tiap generasi terutama manusia di dunia memiliki hak untuk menerima dan menempati bumi yang selalu dalam kondisi yang sama, bahkan harusnya lebih baik dari generasi-generasi sebelumnya.

žPrinsip Keadilan dalam Satu Generasi adalah Harus Adanya keadilan di dalam sebuah generasi terutama manusia yang termasuk di dalamnya, yang penuh dengan keberhasilan dalam memenuhi kebutuhan-kebutuhan dasar lingkungan dan social,

tidak ada kesenjangan antar individu kelompok-kelompok dalam masyarakat tentang pemenuhan kualitas hidup mereka.

ž

Prinsip Pencegahan Dini

→ Jika terdapat ancaman yang berarti atau adanya ancaman  kerusakan lingkungan yang tidak dapat dipulihkan, bahkan bersifat memusnahkan dari pembangunan tersebut, maka dapat dijadikan sebagai alasan untuk menunda upaya-upaya  mencegah terjadinya kerusakan lingkungan tersebut,

ž žPrinsip Perlindungan Keragaman Hayati adalah

menjaga berbagai jenis keragaman agar alam ataupun manusia terus-menerus bahkan mengalami penigkatan taraf hidup menuju kesejahteraan yang layak.

ž žInternalisasi Biaya Lingkungan adalah biaya kerusakan lingkungan harus diintegrasikan ke dalam proses pengambilan keputusan yang berkaitan dengan penggunaan sumber-sumber alam dalam lingkungan.

žContoh Implementasi Setiap Prinsip

›Keadilan antar Generasi

Reboisasi atau penanaman hutan di daerah  Hutan wisata Penggaron. Jawa tengah

›Keadilan dalam Satu Generasi

Mereklamasi atau perbaikan terhadap suatu kerusakan lingkungan di kawasan Suaka Marga satwa di Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon.

ž ž

Implementasi Pencegahan Dini

Penanaman Hutan Bakau didaerah lepas Pantai di Cilacap, Jawa tengah.

Implementasi  Perlindungan  Keanekaragaman Hayati

Taman Nasional Leuser Sumatra utara sebagai ekosistem pelestarian Orang Utan Sumatra

ž žImplimentasi  Internalisasi Biaya

Pengontrolan penggunaan pupuk terhadap sawah di sekitar Danau  dengan maksud mengontrol pertumbuhan gulma di danau  tersebut

Gunungpati adalah sebuah kecamatan di Kota Semarang, Provinsi Jawa Tengah, Indonesia. Dilokasi tersebut terdapat banyak tempat yang hingga saat ini masih terlihat hijau, dalam rangka SPA (Semarang Pesona Asia), Gunungpati dijadikan lahan hijau. Di Gunungpati terdapat Universitas Negeri Semarang.

“Universitas Konservasi” secara sederhana di miliki oleh UNNES terlihat dari:

Letak Geografis

• Wilayah perbukitan yang dapat digunakan Fungsi hidrologisnya
• Sebagai terobosan awal untuk tahun 2009/2010 Universitas Negeri Semarang (Unnes) akan membangun tiga embung (semacam waduk penampung air hujan) yang akan dijadikan sebagai cadangan air untuk kebutuhan masyarakat sekitar
• Di kelilingi berbagai tipe habitat hutan, kebun, sawah, sungai, permukiman
• Luas wilayah UNNES : 1.444.251 m²
• Kekayaan Flora dan Fauna
• Kekayaan flora
• ± 51 jenis tanaman di Kampus UNNES
• 103 jenis tanaman, 3364 individu di Kebun Wisata Pendidikan Biologi
• Kekayaan fauna
• 58 jenis, 14 jenis dilindungi Peraturan Perundangan Indonesia, 2 jenis :

kategori CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora) appendix II, 1 jenis : kategori IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) : Endangered Species, 5 jenis: endemik Jawa

Universitas Negeri Semarang turut peduli dengan kondisi tersebut, yaitu dengan membuka beberapa fakultas yang terdiri dari beberapa jurusan yang diharapkan dapat turut serta membangun pendidikan. Inovasi yang dilakukan pihak UNNES tersebut ternyata disambut baik oleh kaum pelajar yang ingin melanjutkan ke Perguruan Tinggi, melihat animo masyarakat yang cukup tinggi pihak UNNES berusaha meningkatkan sarana dan fasilitas perkuliahan. Pengembangan Pembangunan Gedung  Kampus dan Infrastruktur UNNES merupakan sarana yang dibangun dan diharapkan dapat memperlancar kegiatan belajar mengajar tanpa mengesampingkan kelestarian lingkungan sekitar UNNES.

Sebuah pembangunan tentu tidak lepas dari efek yang ditimbulkannya terhadap lingkungan sekitarnya. Sudah barang tentu tata vegetasi merupakan elemen mempunyai  pengaruh  besar dari sebuah pembangunan bagi lingkungan sekitarnya. Tata vegetasi merupakan bagian dari elemen lembut (soft material) yang terdiri dari tanaman, pepohonan, semak, penutup tanah dan air yang dapat menciptakan iklim mikro setempat. Perubahan tersebut akan terlihat dari bentuk, tekstur, warna dan ukurannya.

Perubahan ini diakibatkan oleh karena tanaman adalah makhluk yang selalu tumbuh dan dipengaruhi pula oleh faktor alam dan tempat tumbuhnya sehingga dalam perancangan kedepannya harus disesuaikan dengan kondisi alam lingkungannya sehingga pertumbuhannya tidak terhambat serta tumbuh dengan bebas. Penataan tanaman pada ruang luar mencakup habitus tanaman, karakter tanaman, fungsi tanaman dan peletakan tanaman. Konsep penanaman pohon berfungsi sebagai pembatas, pengarah dan peneduh. Konsep penanaman tanaman dan pohon di area Kampus UNNES Sekaran harus dibuat dalam yang seproporsional mungkin.

Perubahan ini juga mempengaruhi lingkungan sosial, yang dalam perkembangannya mengalami suatu proses perubahan sejalan dengan terjadinya perubahan yang terjadi di sekitarnya, termasuk akibat pesatnya pembangunan, mengingkatnya kebutuhan manusia akan barang dan jasa, serta terjadinya perubahan pandangan manusia terhadap alam di sekitarnya. Pembangunan yang di lakukan oleh kampus UNNES pun tentunya telah menimbulkan perubahan yang sedikit banyak mempengaruhi pola lingkungan sosial masyarakat di area kampus. Oleh karena itu, penting untuk memperhatikan kondisi lingkungan dengan pelaksanaan pengelolaan lingkungan sosial.

Pengabdian kepada masyarakat merupakan hal yang tak bisa lepas dari sebuah universitas yaitu  kegiatan yang mencakup upaya-upaya peningkatan kualitas sumber daya manusia antara lain dalam hal perluasan wawasan, pengetahuan maupun peningkatan ketrampilan yang dilakukan oleh Sivitas Akademika sebagai perwujudan dharma bakti serta wujud  kepedulian untuk berperan aktif meningkatkan kesejahteraan dan memberdayakan masyarakat luas terlebih bagi masyarakat ekonomi lemah.

Masyarakat kampus harusnya berbaur dan membangun masyarakat sekitarnya kampus UNNES untuk menjadi penggerak masyarakat menjaga linkungan.  Mahasiswa-mahasiwa diharapkan menyatu dengan masyarakat sekitarnya untuk bersama-sama mencari peluang memberdayakan keluarga yang berada di sekitar kampusnya dalam menjaga lam kampus tersebut.

Mereka diharapkan menyatu bersama masyarakat mengembangkan inovasi yang memungkinkan kehidupan keluarga dan kampusnya saling isi mengisi. Mereka mengharapkan agar proses isi mengisi itu menghasilkan sinergi yang menguntungkan semua pihak sehingga kehidupan masyarakat dan kampus yang ada di sekitarnya membawa manfaat yang sangat menguntungkan terkhusus terhadap lingkungan.

Untuk meringankan beban anggota masyarakat dan pihak universitas, Universitas Negeri Semarang harus mempunyai kata sepakat untuk mengembangkan tanggung jawab yang saling berhubungan terhadap lingkungan yang dibutuhkan masyarakat sekitar kampus. Universitas tentu akan menempatkan pembangunan kampus yang ramah lingkungan dan mempunyai  tata ruang yang proporsional. Dengan cara itu hampir dapat dipastikan bahwa seluruh komunitas di sekitar kampus bisa ikut berpartisipasi dalam usaha pembangunan yang saling mengutungkan.

Bagaiamana dengan yang  kejadian dengan  Dinas Tata Kota dan Pemukiman mengeluarkan rekonmendasi bahwa proyek pembangunan rumah susun (Rusun) Mahasiswa Unnes terancam di bongkar (Suara Merdeka, 25 Mei 2009).

Statement yang dilontarkan oleh Dinas Tata Ruang Kota dan Pemukiman bukanlah merupakan gertakan sambal semata. Surat tersebut berisi peringatan telah dilayangkan sebanyak 3 kali kepada pihak instansi Unnes. Hal ini merupakan Somasi sekaligus peringatan tegas atas pembangunan Rumah Susun Mahasiswa yang terletak di Kelurahan Kalisegoro Gunungpati.

Tentunya bagi kalangan civita akademika Universitas Negeri Semarang maupun publik merasa tercengggang ketika salah satu media lokal melangsir pemberitaan tersebut.

Padahal bila meninjau program pembangunan Rusunawa telah disetujui dan bahkan telah didanai oleh pihak pemerintah pusat.

Mengapa hal demikian di persoalkan oleh pihak Dinas Tata Kota dan Pemukiman Kota Semarang?

Perlu disadari pula dengan semakin meningkatnya intensitas pembangunan, baik diproyeksikan untuk tempat tinggal atau pembangunan proyek yang lainnya membutuhkan tanah/lahan yang tidak cukup sedikit. Karena kalau  melihat dengan semakin menyempitnya lahan otomatis penggunaanya harus digunakan secara efisien yang sesuai dengan peruntukan dan pemanfaatanya. Bukan berarti dengan adanya pembangunan Rusun ini akhirnya adanya penolakan atau kesalahan dalam konstruksi bangunan.

Akan tetapi mekanisme pembangunan Rusun yang belum sesuai dengan standar perizinan yang telah digariskan dalam peraturan perundang-undangan mapun peraturan yang lain. Kembalikanlah pada mekanisme hukum yang sudah ada karena konstitusi kitapun telah mengamanahkan dalam undang-undang bahwa Negara Indonesia merupakan Negara hukum.

Jadi dengan begitu patuhilah aturan tersebut sebagai bentuk sikap konsekuen dan komitmen dalam menjalankan aturan yang sudah ada. Berlaku pula bagi Para developer, seyogyanya memperhatikan sekaligus mematuhi fungsi ruang yang telah tetapkan dan dicanangkan oleh Dinas Tata Kota dan Pemukiman . Dengan begitu alih fungsi atau konversi lahan dapat diminimalisir sejak dini.

Pembangunan Rumah Susun Mahasiswa Unnes boleh jadi akan menjadi magnet dengan menjamurnya permukiman di sekitar kawasan tersebut. Tentunya ini sudah melawan alam (lingkungan) dan bahkan telah menyalahi konsep pembangunan di Kecamatan Gunung Pati yang diperuntukan sebagai daerah resapan air dan bahkan termasuk wilayah konsevasi.

Maka dengan begitu program Green Kampus yang selama di diperdengarkan ditelingga terasa timpang dengan keadaan atau kondisi pembangunan Rusunawa.

Dilanjutukan kembali dengan pembangunan embung pengendali banjir dan air, di dekat Masjid Ulul Albab Unnes, Sekaran. Berdasar dari informasi terpercaya Pembangunan embung seluas sekitar 3.400 meter persegi dengan kedalaman 4 meter itu, dibiayai oleh DIPA Unnes dan menelan anggaran sebesar Rp 687.060.000.  Rencananya, pembangunan yang dimulai sejak 30 Juni itu, akan selesai pada 27 Oktober mendatang atau memakan waktu selama 120 hari.

Menurut Pembantu Pelaksana Proyek dari CV Duta Muda Indah, Slamet Widodo, Selasa (Suara Merdeka 25/8/2009), pembangunan embung dengan maksiaml 5.000 m³ air tersebut ditujukan untuk menampung air dari lingkungan sekitar Unnes agar tidak terjadi banjir di musim penghujan. Sehingga unnes dapat memanen hujan dan menggunakannya di musim kemarau. Apakah nantinya ini tepat pada sasarannya atau mempunyai efek yang membahayakan   membawa sebuah keberhasilan bagi lingkungan sekitar kampus UNNES?

Oleh karena itu pembangunan yang tidak sesuai dengan konsep ruang pastinya akan menimbulkan berbagi dampak kerusakan lingkungan yang sangat parah yang mana nantinya akan memerlukan pemulihan yang cukup lama pula. Sulit dipungkiri, pada kenyataan telah terjadi konversi (alih fungsi) lahan yang seharusya untuk ruang terbuka hijau telah berubah fungsi.

Berkurangnya kemampuan lahan dalam menyimpan air saat musim hujan memperburuk keadaan ini sehingga sumber air tidak mampu memenuhi kebutuhan tersebut. Persaingan penggunaan air oleh sektor diluar pertanian serta kurang diprioritaskannya penggunaan air waduk untuk pertanian menyebabkan terjadinya kelangkaan air dalam memenuhi kebutuhan usahatani.

Kelangkaan air yang terjadi jika tidak segera dicarikan solusi yang tepat akan menyebabkan kejadian yang sama terulang pada lokasi yang sama disetiap musim. Langkah strategis yang menjadi prioritas penangan yang dipilih  Konservasi yang dilakukan ole Universitas Negeri Semarang dengan membangun Embung dengan fungsi penampung air di musim hujan, dan dapat nantinya digunakan kalau musim kemarau.

Padahal tanpa diadari berbagai kejadian bencana alam, seperti banjir dan kekeringan yang panjang merupakan dampak dari telah terjadinya pemanasan global dan perubahan iklim. Setiap pembangunan pasti mempunyai dampak terhadap lingkungan di sekitarnya. Universitas Negeri Semarang sebagai salah satu perguruaan tinggi yang harus terus berbenah dan memperbaiki kualitas SDM disatu sisi ditutut tetap menjaga kualitas lingkungan hidup sekitar kampusnya.

Banyak hal-hal yang menjadi faktor sebuah suksesnya pembangunan yang dilakukan oleh universitas. Berbicara tentang lingkuangan hidup merupakan hal yang tak bisa dipandang sebelah mata. UNNES hanya akan mendatangkan masalah jika pembangunan yang telah dilakukan hanya bersifat searah saja kemanfaatanya.

Untuk itu paradigma dan pandangan masyrakat sekitar merupakan hal yang perlu diperhatikan demi keserasian pembangunan Unnes  yan konservative.

Mengapa anda hidup?

Mengapa anda mau hidup?

Sampai kapan anda akan hidup?

Kenapa takut mati?

Siapa yang berani-beranian untuk hidup?

Jangan pernah untuk takut mati,

Kalau anda takut mati?

Mending jangan hidup,

Kalau anda takut hidup?

Lebih baik anda  mati saja sekarang….(jangan baca tulisan ini)

Jutaan sperma yang berlari yang sampai bumi itu hanya yang bisa baca tulisan ini..

Awal dari kehidupan saja kita sudah bersaing….

Padahal disitu kita Masih belum punya jiwa bukan…?

Untuk apa kita berusaha sewaktu kita belum bernyawa itu…

Toh….. Sampai disini apa yang telah diperbuat masih belum jelas…

Lalu siapa yang membuat kita merasa hidup?

Banyak yang hidup tapi mereka sudah mati

Tetapi banyak yang mati tapi semangatnya selalu hidup di bumi ini…

Kalau anda merasa tertipu datang ke bumi…

Buatlah semuanya lebih berarti disini…

Penyesalan bukan jembatan untuk berbakti

Hargai ribuan usaha dan bahkan satu usaha mu…..

Tuhan tidak pernah memberikan anugrerah yang salah…

Hidup dan mati adalah anugerah…

Buat apa anda hidup lama tak berarti …

Kekalan itu tidak akan pernah melekat di badan, tapi akan selalu melekat dijiwa…

Jiwa yang kuat , penuh semangat dengan perjuangan akan menyelamatkan ragamu….

Hargai hidup…….

Du 13 au 18 octobre avait lieu dans l’agglomération lyonnaise le premier Festival Lumière, qui organisé par l’Institut du même nom, redonnait une seconde jeunesse à des œuvres dites de patrimoine, sous le regard bienveillant d’un Clint Eastwood invité d’honneur de la manifestation, et qui recevra au passage le tout premier Prix Lumière, sorte de Nobel du cinéma. Au programme des festivités : des rétrospectives très peu risquées mais imposantes sur Sergio Leone et Don Siegel, les deux mentors de Clint auxquels ce dernier rendait hommage lors du générique de fin d’Impitoyable, à travers un « To Sergio and Don » resté dans les annales. Revoir les fabuleux westerns de Leone sur très grand écran n’a pas de prix, et visionner quelques inédits de la filmographie de Siegel, maître inégalable de la série B américaine, également.

Du travail de défrichage orchestré par Thierry Frémaux et son équipe, on retiendra la découverte du premier long-métrage de Siegel, The Verdict (1946), une intrigue « à la Sherlock Holmes » où Sydney Greenstreet et Peter Lorre tentent d’élucider un meurtre dans l’un des premiers films policiers dits de « chambre close ». Adapté d’un roman d’Israel Zangwill, le Charles Dickens juif, The Verdict captive l’attention du spectateur dès les premiers plans jusqu’à un final étonnant qui en surprendra plus d’un. Méconnu également, L’Enfer est pour les héros (1962) est un film de guerre d’une rare violence pour l’époque, et visuellement sublime. Steve McQueen y interprète un soldat américain isolé avec une maigre compagnie dans les tranchées françaises, et sous les canons de plusieurs régiments allemands. Sans concession et affublé de principes qu’il n’abandonnera jamais (à l’image de la plupart des héros des films de Siegel), le personnage de McQueen résume à lui seul la pensée et la morale d’un film anti-militariste chaudement recommandable. Et pour ceux, encore convaincus que Siegel est un cinéaste réactionnaire, on ne saura leur conseiller de voir Les Révoltés de la cellule 11, film de prison humaniste et progressiste qui milite, déjà en 1954, pour des conditions de détention plus humaines des prisonniers, tout en abordant la question toujours chaude aujourd’hui des détenus psychiatriques et du manque de traitements appropriés à leur égard.

Entres autres nombreuses découvertes comme un mini-panorama de l’œuvre du cinéaste coréen Shin Sang-ok, d’ailleurs perçu comme inégal par les festivaliers, et quelques ressorties en copie neuve pour réviser ses classiques (dont la fable poético-burlesque de Pierre Etaix, Yoyo, sommet d’humour et d’émotion), le Festival Lumière était surtout l’occasion de découvrir sept films noirs américains totalement inédits, et issus des collections des studios hollywoodiens. Présentée par Eddie Muller (fondateur et président de la Film Noir Foundation de Los Angeles) et Philippe Garnier (journaliste et écrivain français exilé en Californie), cette série sobrement intitulée The Art of Noir, réunissait donc des films méconnus des années 40 et 50. Deux métrages ont particulièrement retenu notre attention. Le premier, Dans l’ombre de San Francisco (Woman on the run en v.o.), signé Norman Foster en 1950, raconte les mésaventures d’un homme témoin d’un règlement de comptes mafieux, et qui plutôt que d’aider la police, préfère prendre la fuite. Sa femme et un journaliste partent à sa recherche avant qu’il ne lui arrive malheur. Sur un scénario typiquement hitchcockien qui place un quidam au centre de l’intrigue, Norman Foster (qui co-réalisa avec Orson Welles Voyage au bout de la peur en 1943) accouche d’un polar au suspens haletant, et aux rebondissements aussi imprévisibles que pertinents. Supporté par d’excellents seconds rôles (l’épouse malaimée qui tente de regagner le cœur de son mari pour sauver son mariage, et l’inspecteur qui possède toujours un temps de retard), Dans l’ombre de San Francisco réussit sans mal à convaincre son audience, préfigurant même le final dans le parc d’attractions de L’Inconnu du Nord-Express.

L’autre sommet de la série The Art of Noir est signé Michael Gordon, avec Le Traquenard (1949), dans lequel Edmond O’Brien (acteur culte des séries B de l’époque, présent également dans 711 Ocean Drive de Joseph M. Newman, autre belle découverte du Festival) interprète un avocat qu’engage un riche industriel soucieux de préserver ses arrières alors que son ancien associé sort de prison, bien décidé à en découdre avec lui. Le personnage d’O'Brien sera finalement manipulé par son nouvel employeur, et plongé dans une affaire de meurtre où il risque bien plus que sa carrière. Le Traquenard a pour lui un humour corrosif qui redonne un coup de fouet au genre, et qui souligne l’élasticité des frontières de ce dernier. Une histoire d’amour n’est d’ailleurs jamais loin, et le couple que forment O’Brien et la délicieuse et méconnue Ella Raines, femme fatale magnifique comme seul le polar sait en renouveler l’espèce à chaque film, est l’autre point fort d’une pellicule rythmée qui contient dans son final son quota de suspense et d’action. The Art of Noir était aussi l’occasion de découvrir le médiocre The Threat de Felix E. Feist (1949), film court (à peine plus d’une heure) dont la seule utilité a sans doute été de préparer le terrain à un métrage plus long dans le cadre d’un double-programme de l’époque. Enfin L’Homme à l’affût d’Edward Dmytryk (1952) peut se vanter d’être, malgré ses travers psychologisants, le tout premier film de l’histoire sur un serial killer. Se déroulant à San Francisco, l’intrigue et la mise en scène de Dmytryk annoncent à la fois l’affaire du Zodiac, et la chasse à l’homme sur les toits de la ville de L’Inspecteur Harry de Don Siegel. Façon habile de boucler la boucle référentielle du Festival.

Reste une question pour la prochaine édition : qui pour succéder à Eastwood ? Le choix du Prix Lumière implique en effet des contraintes et des enjeux commerciaux importants. Quelle autre personnalité peut ainsi faire vendre en quelques minutes des milliers de places et ainsi remplir les deux plus grandes salles de spectacle de Lyon ? Si un Scorsese ou un De Niro pourraient faire l’affaire, on doute qu’un cinéaste européen ou asiatique feraient se déplacer autant les foules. A voir et à suivre l’année prochaine.

Julien Hairault

Bande-annonce / trailer de L’Enfer est pour les héros (Hell Is For Heroes, 1962) de Don Siegel, avec Steve McQueen.

Extrait (générique de début et premières séquences) de Dans l’ombre de San Francisco (Woman On The Run, 1950) de Norman Foster, avec Ann Sheridan & Dennis O’Keefe.

Je ne sais plus trop si j’en ai parlé ici mais je suis fan de ce film, Casino.

Ce film de Mônsieur Scorsese (avez-vous vu Les Infiltrés ? ou Les Affranchis  aussi ?) avec un De Niro impeccable et un Joe Pesci génialement déjanté (j’adore ce gars !). Mais il y a aussi Sharon “sexy” Stone, James Woods (toujours excellent dans les seconds rôles).

Ce film est épique : déjà par la longueur du film (près de 3 heures) mais aussi par les thèmes traités, à savoir l’argent, le pouvoir, les trahisons, la fameuse Mafia omniprésente telle une pieuvre gigantesque, la passion du jeu, l’amour, l’ascension puis la chute de ce même pouvoir et ce même amour. Ca parle fort, ça utilise des “fuck” au moins 350 fois, ça gesticule beaucoup avec les mains, ça canarde dans tous les recoins, ça explose de partout.

Et puis la musique, enfin les musiques (d’Otis Redding aux Rolling Stones, etc.)… Une vraie plongée au coeur de Las Vegas comme on peut l’imaginer.

Si mon écriture devait m’emmener au-delà, vers l’écriture d’un scénario pour le cinéma, il est certain que je m’inspirerais de ce film notamment !

☺☺☺☺☺

Vi è mai capito di dover sbrigare un’azione semplicissima ed essere sommersi da documenti e permessi da compilare fino allo stremo? di dover pagare una bolletta o riscuotere un assegno ed essere rimpiattellati da un ufficio all’altro , da uno sportello ad un altro? ecco questa è la burocrazia. Perchè questo preambolo? Ma perchè il nostro protagonista Sam Lowry (J.Pryce) ,impiegato al Dipartimento informazioni, vive nella burocrazia, lavora per la burocrazia ed è a sua volta vittima della burocrazia, da sfondo una città distopica di un futuro non troppo lontano dal nostro (certo il contrario di utopica) e di contro il suo spirito sognatore e libero incatenato. Parteciperà al risveglio di Sam dalle artificiali abitudini l’incontro con Harry Tuttle (De Niro).

Avvertenze:

Perchè l’esigenza della burocrazia verrebbe da chiederci? I ben pensanti subito azzarderebbero una miglior razionalizzazione dei servizi ed effettivamente così dovrebbe essere ma quando questa diventa asfissiante l’unica possibile motivazione è il controllo. Il controllo è assenza di libertà e assenza di libertà è costrizione, costrizione è dittatura. Chiari i rimandi alle letture di Orwell e Huxley e così Gilliam tra onirici incubi e sogni (sua marca di fabbrica) ci regala uno dei suoi gioiellini.

Alla prossima pillola. 

Why? Because developers think they’re writing films. A big mistake. Current technology simply isn’t sophisticated enough to capture the nuances of a movie script, even if a Hollywood star’s providing the voiceover. Dialogue always ends up sounding stunted and unnatural, acted unconvincingly by 3D models with about four facial expressions (see Fallout 3). Look at the scene in Heat in which Pacino and De Niro meet in the diner. Look at the power and subtlety of their performances. Do you think a video game could ever recreate that? Of course not. Developers have to play to the strengths of the medium.

Take Ico, for example. Its story is as impactful as any film, with absolutely no discernible dialogue. The developers used the environment and your own actions to tell the tale. Same goes for Half-Life 2. Its dialogue is sparse, but tells an incredible story through background detail and set-pieces. The newspaper clipping pinned to Dr. Kleiner’s wall with the headline “EARTH SURRENDERS” has the same impact an expository cut-scene or piece of dialogue would. This is a narrative method unique to games that’s ignored to make way for cut-scenes filled with Hollywood cliché and stilted characterisation. Some games get it right. Uncharted tells a story in a Hollywood style without it feeling trite thanks to the quality script, expressive character models, and the nature of the game itself; a pastiche of Saturday matinee action films.

Still, the best examples of game storytelling are the ones that give the environment a chance to direct to direct the narrative: the cold, oppressive streets of City 17, the ruined depths of BioShock’s Rapture and the barren and isolated Forbidden Land in Shadow Of The Colossus.

Game narrative + cut-scenes + clever storytelling = better stories.

I remember a twitter discussion about doing a short video ..

check this qatari one out .. compared to RDN’s original

Un día te das cuenta que nadie está de tu lado, que Robert de Niro se afeita la cabeza y pasea entre los demócratas con una pistola bajo la bomber.

Un día la gente te da asco, ya no es un tema de derechas o de izquierdas, de tolerancia o de xenofobia. Un día decides que te extirpas del mundo, que vas por libre, que nada te va a afectar porque los otros están en una división que no es la tuya.

Un día, el extranjero eres tú.

AIT! – Il mondo è morto ( Trent’anni fa) (2007)

Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” is one fucked up movie. This depressing, gray scale poster shows Robert De Niro’s character, Travis Bickle at the beginning of the film. Bickle works long night shifts as a taxi driver and frequents sketchy porn theaters during the day. He is a lonely, socially outcast man, as evidenced by his posture: hands in his pockets and looking down at the ground, along with the lack of other people in this scene. Even from the poster, De Niro looks like someone with a disturbed psyche who is easily capable of being a serial killer. This scene foreshadows Bickle’s decsent into being a mohawk-sporting, gun-slinging killer. Before going on his shooting rampage, he looks in the mirror and practices intimidation, repeating to himself, “You talkin’ to me?” The grey and white font and layout of the poster text add to the drab atmosphere.

Il cinema può cambiare la Storia? Forse no. Ma forse può farlo “un” cinema. Come il piccolo cinema di Parigi dove si riunisce il gotha del Terzo Reich per la prima di un film di propaganda voluto fortemente da Goebbels. Riuscire a far bruciare quel cinema, con all’interno Adolf Hitler, vorrebbe dire cambiare la Storia. È di questo che parla Bastardi senza gloria, il nuovo, grande film di Quentin Tarantino. “Mi piace l’idea che il cinema potesse far crollare il Terzo Reich” ha dichiarato il regista americano oggi a Roma per presentare il film. “È una metafora succosa. E poi nel film non è solo una metafora, succede davvero”.

Fa i conti con la Storia, Tarantino. Per la prima volta nella sua carriera gira un film ambientato dichiaratamente nel passato, in un periodo storico preciso. E, da Deus ex machina per eccellenza, burattinaio in grado di manipolare a suo piacimento i suoi personaggi e lo spettatore, si permette di manipolarla, la Storia. “Il primo motivo che mi costringe a sedermi e scrivere un film è la sperimentazione” ci racconta. “In questo caso ho deciso di fare un sottogenere italiano del film bellico, che potremmo chiamare Maccheroni Kombat. Mentre scrivi poi vengono fuori i sentimenti. Così la prima idea che mi era venuta in mente è stata quella di fare un film di guerra. In un secondo momento sono riuscito a far venire fuori le mie riflessioni”. Il risultato è un universo parallelo, nel quale il Terzo Reich potrebbe cadere grazie a un manipolo di coraggiosi eroi, e a una ragazza ebrea che, scampata a un eccidio, gestisce un cinema a Parigi. “Quando ho iniziato a scrivere la sceneggiatura non sapevo che sarei andato così lontano dalle verità storiche: credevo che sarei stato più fedele alla Storia” confessa Tarantino. “Quando stavo arrivando alla fine della sceneggiatura mi sono chiesto cosa diavolo stessi facendo: avevo lasciato scrivere la storia ai miei protagonisti. Nei miei film non ci sono state mai cose che non si potessero fare. Allora ho pensato: i  miei personaggi in quel momento non sanno come va a finire. E allora hanno cambiato il corso della Storia. Ovviamente, non essendoci stati, non hanno potuto farlo, ma se ci fossero stati forse tutto questo sarebbe stato possibile”.

Tra i personaggi chiave del’Operation Kino c’è un ufficiale inglese, che parla perfettamente il tedesco, interpretato da Michael Fassbender. “Il personaggio di Fassbender è importante: tutta la missione si basa su di lui, è l’unico che sa il tedesco, in poche parole è l’uomo della missione” spiega Tarantino. “Senza di lui non si può fare. È come David Niven ne I cannoni di Navarone, che è l’unico in grado di distruggere i cannoni. Quello che gli succede è il mio modo di mescolare le carte”. Il personaggio di Fassbender è un critico cinematografico. Il fatto che non faccia una bella fine ci fa chiedere quale sia il rapporto con i critici di Tarantino. “Ci sono critici che conosco e che sono miei amici” ci racconta. “Mi piacciono i critici: se non facessi quello che faccio, probabilmente sarei un critico. Forse in futuro mi metterò a scrivere di cinema, o pubblicherò un libro con le recensioni che scrivo e non faccio leggere a nessuno. Nel 1994, quando è uscito Pulp Fiction, alcuni critici dissero: Tarantino non sarà mai un maestro della suspence, perché  è troppo dedito ai dettagli. In questo film ho giocato molto sulla suspence, come nella prima scena o in quella nel bar. Mi sono ricordato di quella critica.” Ed è davvero carico di suspence Bastardi senza gloria. Hitchcock diceva che se vediamo delle persone sedute a un tavolo, e se sappiamo che sotto a quel tavolo c’è una bomba che sta per scoppiare, staremo in ansia in attesa dell’esplosione. È questa la suspence. Ne troviamo almeno tre, di questi apparenti momenti di quiete attorno a un tavolo, nel film. E la bomba sono i nazisti. Che, lo sappiamo, possono far esplodere la loro violenza in qualunque momento. Una di queste è la prima scena, in cui conosciamo Hans Landa, terribile/irresistibile ufficiale nazista interpretato da un grandioso Christoph Waltz, premiato come miglior attore a Cannes. “Quando si scelgono buoni attori, loro prendono il personaggio e lo capiscono” ci spiega Tarantino. “Nella scena in cui Hans Landa interroga il contadino e tira fuori una pipa enorme alla Sherlock Holmes, in sceneggiatura la pipa appariva in scena un paio di volte. Mangiando una Wiener Schnitzel (tipico piatto austriaco, la nostra cotoletta alla milanese, ndr) con Christoph Waltz, gli ho suggerito: forse Landa non fuma la pipa, ma sa che può essere una tecnica di interrogatorio, visto che lui sa tutto, e sa che LaPadite usa la pipa. E quando la tira fuori vuole dire: la mia pipa è più grande della tua. E anche: sono come Sherlock Holmes, sono un investigatore e ti scoprirò! Waltz era d’accordo con me, e se mi avesse detto di no, che Landa fuma comunque la pipa, avremmo fatto la scena in un altro modo”.

Per far bruciare il cinema non servirebbero esplosivi. È la pellicola stessa, altamente infiammabile, a farlo bruciare. “Ogni tanto da sceneggiatori esistono momenti in cui si hanno idee eccezionali” spiega Tarantino. “È come se Dio venisse e ti toccasse con un dito. Ho pensato che si potessero usare le pellicole per bruciare un cinema: un tempo il primo compito di chi gestiva un cinema era impedire che il cinema andasse a fuoco, e ho pensato che se questi personaggi potevano evitarlo, erano anche in grado di farlo bruciare. È la pellicola, la pellicola a 35mm che fa cadere il Terzo Reich. Mi sono chiesto anche quale film avrebbe dovuto dare il via all’incendio, se un film censurato dal Reich, come un film di Renoir, e allora a bruciare i nazisti sarebbe stata una vendetta, o un film di propaganda di Goebbels, e allora il Reich sarebbe stato annientato dal suo stesso odio”.

È un film catartico, Bastardi senza gloria, un film dove la violenza estetica e artificiale di Tarantino incontra per la prima volta la violenza vera, quella nazista. E le si ritorce contro. Non è mai stato così bello essere violenti. Per una volta (era successo anche in Defiance) sono gli ebrei a ribellarsi e ad affondare i colpi, invece di venire sopraffatti. “Volevo fare un film su un gruppo di uomini con una missione, come Quel maledetto treno blindato, un Maccheroni Kombat” racconta il regista. “Mi sono chiesto chi potessero essere questi uomini e quale potrebbe essere la loro missione. Perché non un gruppo di ebrei americani che effettuano una resistenza come quella degli Apache? Loro operano dietro le linee nemiche, prendono gli scalpi ai nemici, li lasciano senza scarpe. Ho pensato che così i tedeschi avrebbero avuto paura, e la leggenda dei bastardi senza gloria si sarebbe diffusa. Era una storia che non avevo mai visto: gli ebrei al cinema venivano sempre uccisi, io volevo vedere l’altra parte della storia”. Il capo dei “bastardi” è Aldo Raine, interpretato da Brad Pitt, con un accento irresistibile, e le mandibole gonfie come il Marlon Brando de Il padrino. Con lui Tarantino ha fatto un gran lavoro. “Si lavora in modo diverso con ogni attore: ognuno ha la propria personalità” ci spiega. “Io sono uno scrittore, creo dei personaggi. Sono i miei bambini, li amo, ho dato loro la vita. Scelgo attori che possano fare al meglio questi personaggi, che diano vita alla pagina scritta. Se tempo fa mi avessero chiesto: ‘vuoi lavorare con Brad Pitt?’ Avrei risposto di sì, ma ci sarebbe voluto un personaggio adatto. Quando ho lavorato con De Niro, ho spiegato io a lui il personaggio, perché lo avevo creato. Conosco un sacco di cose su un mio personaggio. Cose che il pubblico non saprà mai. Ma voi dovete sapere che io le so”.

Il film Nazi-Pop di Tarantino riesce a conquistare tutti: i cinefili e il pubblico che ama divertirsi, due categorie che da noi non si incontrano quasi mai. “C’è qualcosa del genere nel cinema italiano: due mondi che non si toccano mai” concorda Tarantino. “A me piace fare incontrare mondi diversi. Userò Le iene come esempio: io non mi considero un cineasta americano. Sono americano, ma faccio i film per il mondo. Le iene è un film di gangster. Io sono stato influenzato dal cinema di tutto il mondo, ho visto i film sulla Yakuza, i polizieschi italiani di Fernando Di Leo, i noir di Jean-Pierre Melville. Ne Le iene ci sono tutte queste influenze. Non ho messo i trench a tutti per farli sembrare in un film di Melville. Se gli americani non hanno visto mai un film di Di Leo, potrebbero dire che Le iene assomiglia a Quei bravi ragazzi. Qui in Italia potete dire che si avvicina anche ai film di Di Leo. Io sono come un aspirapolvere, ho colto tutte le influenze dei film che ho visto, e che ora funzionano a livello subliminale. Per questo il pubblico di tutto il mondo risponde ai miei film, e ogni pubblico lo fa alla sua maniera”. Lo avevamo definito frullatore cinefilo, o deejay filmico, per la sua abilità nel mescolare. Ma la definizione migliore è la sua: l’aspirapolvere del cinema.

(Pubblicato su Moviesushi)