È uno di quei successi annunciati, New Moon, uno di quei film da record di incassi prima ancora che siano usciti. È così ogni volta che intorno a un’opera si crea un alone che lo rende qualcosa di più di un semplice film. Così è il caso di soffermarsi sulle ragioni di un successo annunciato.

La prima è quella che in termini commerciali si definirebbe “fidelizzazione”. Tra la saga di Twilight e il suo pubblico si è creato un legame solido e inscindibile che nasce già dai libri. Come Harry Potter,  quella di Twilight è una saga, una serie di libri, che racconta una storia che non si esaurisce, ma prosegue attraverso i vari volumi. I lettori così si sposteranno da un libro all’altro, in modo che ogni libro verrà letto probabilmente più di quello precedente. Come per la saga del maghetto, i libri di Stephanie Meyer creano un mondo, che i lettori vogliono continuare a vivere andando al cinema, per vedere come prenderà forma sullo schermo quello che fino a quel momento era vissuto nella propria immaginazione. Così probabilmente i lettori del libro saranno i più appassionati spettatori del film. E a loro se ne aggiungeranno altri. Rispetto ai titoli della saga di Harry Potter, quella di Twilight potrebbe essere svantaggiata dal fatto che i libri non hanno un nome come comune denominatore (i titoli non iniziano ad esempio con Harry Potter e…), ma dei titoli diversi. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn (e ne arriverà prima o poi un quinto). Così al cinema i titoli sono stati raccolti sotto il nome The Twilight Saga.

Ma perché una saga abbia successo devono esserci dei contenuti. In questo senso la chiave vincente è stata travestire da horror quello che in fondo è un perfetto romanzo sentimentale. Non a caso in New Moon assistiamo a una serie di battute sul cinema, con Bella che dice di detestare i film romantici, e vorrebbe andare a vedere film d’azione, quasi che il regista volesse prendersi un po’ in giro. Perché New Moon, come Twilight, di horror ha ben poco. Non punta certo a spaventare: pensiamo che uno degli stilemi più spaventosi e spettacolari dei film di licantropi, le transizioni da uomo a uomo-lupo, qui avvengono all’istante, e il “mostro” altri non è che un lupo più grande. Invece il modello della storia di New Moon è uno degli archetipi delle sofferenza amorose, quel Giulietta e Romeo scritto qualche secolo fa da uno dei migliori “sceneggiatori” di tutti i tempi, Sir William Shakespeare, e citato in una delle prime scene del film. Anche qui ci sono due amanti divisi, non dal fatto di appartenere a due famiglie rivali, ma a due “razze” diverse, umani e vampiri (in questo il racconto potrebbe diventare una metafora della difficoltà delle coppie miste di oggi, ma non sembra mai andare in quella direzione). E il finale, in cui Edward, come Romeo, cerca la morte perché crede che la sua Bella, come Giulietta, sia morta, richiama proprio la trama di Shakespeare.

Ispirazioni celebri a parte, la saga di Twilight piace perché spinge all’identificazione. È narrata da un punto di vista prettamente femminile, quello di Bella, e riesce a cogliere molti degli aspetti tipici dell’adolescenza: il non sentirsi capiti, il non avere amici, la tentazione e il rischio di prendere una cattiva strada e di perdersi, il sentirsi diversi da chi ci sta intorno, unici, e il bisogno di ribadire, anche con rabbia, la propria unicità e la propria personalità. Bella, in New Moon, è diversa da tutti. Tra i vampiri della famiglia Cullen è l’unica umana, accettata ma mai fino in fondo, in costante pericolo. Ma è diversa anche tra i suoi simili, avendo varcato ormai una soglia dalla quale non può tornare indietro. E poi in New Moon, dopo l’innamoramento di Twilight, c’è la scoperta del sesso, del corpo, e di quel confine sottile tra amicizia a amore, come si vede nell’avvicinamento di Bella a Jacob. Per questo i film della saga Twilight sono dei film rivolti soprattutto a un pubblico giovane e femminile (e sono piuttosto odiati da quello maschile, vedi la guerra dei sessi scoppiata in rete). Lo dimostra la grande attenzione per pettorali e bicipiti che c’è in New Moon. In questo senso la cornice horror data alla storia (perché di cornice, e niente di più, si tratta) serve ad astrarre sentimenti e situazioni dell’adolescenza dalla realtà, a isolarli e renderli così più evidenti, assoluti. Le storie di Stephanie Meyer riescono, in parte, in quello in cui non riesce Moccia.

Cosa resta dunque dell’horror nella saga di Twilight? Non molto, diciamo una serie di suggestioni che servono a creare un’atmosfera intorno a una storia d’amore e di crescita. Stephanie Meyer prende una serie di figure archetipiche del cinema horror, il vampiro e il licantropo, e le svuota, interessandosi ai sentimenti e ai rapporti tra i personaggi, più che alle peculiarità dei tipi in questione. Succede il contrario di quello che capita spesso al cinema horror, dove le figure mostruose sono il cuore del film, e sono di volta in volta inserite in cornici storiche, sociali o culturali diverse, per tornare comunque prepotentemente al centro. Qui i personaggi sono il centro della storia, e sono essenzialmente caratteri con problemi e reazioni umane: il loro essere mostri è solo un contesto, un contorno, un colore. Ma al centro ci sono sempre le caratteristiche umane del personaggio. Così i vampiri non hanno il problema di non potere vedere la luce, o di uccidere gli umani a tutti i costi. E i licantropi non si trasformano con la luna piena, ma in seguito a emozioni rabbiose. Entrambi non diventano tali perché “non morti”, o morsi da altre creature, ma fanno parte di famiglie in cui tutti sono così. Quanto ai vampiri, assistiamo a una “normalizzazione” estrema della figura del vampiro. I Cullen sono persone normalissime, lontanissime dalla figura agghiacciante del Nosferatu di Murnau o di Herzog, ma anche dal Dracula di Bram Stoker di Coppola, e dai vampiri affascinanti ed eleganti anni Ottanta di Myriam si sveglia a mezzanotte, o dei dandy d’altri tempi di Intervista col vampiro, tratta dai libri di Anne Rice, e portata sullo schermo da Neil Jordan. Per andare incontro al suo pubblico, la saga di Twilight si avvicina a certi prodotti televisivi ai cui codici espressivi è abituato, cioè a serie che hanno sdoganato l’horror come prodotto per tutti, cioè Buffy, Angel e il recente True Blood.

La saga di Twilight è un perfetto esempio di film a target. Il che è interessante anche dal punto di vista commerciale, visto che permette di investire su un pubblico ben preciso. Ne è un esempio l’accattivante colonna sonora assemblando pezzi di gruppi rock, tra l’indie, l’emo e il dark, perfetti per accattivarsi il pubblico giovanile e costruire un’atmosfera oscura attorno al film. Ma, si sa, il rock è universale, e il risultato in questo caso è apprezzabile anche dai non giovanissimi. Tra canzoni dei Death Cab For Cutie, Killers e i nipotini dei Joy Division, The Editors, le cose più interessanti vengono da Thom Yorke, che, senza i suoi Radiohead, canta la sua Hearing Damage su un tappeto elettronico e cupo, che fa risaltare la sua inconfondibile voce, e dai Muse, con I Belong To You, che ripropongono il loro tipico sound con un tocco leggermente retro, vicino alle atmosfere di Feeling Good, la loro cover del pezzo reso famoso da Nina Simone.  

Prendete tutte queste premesse e metteteci quella enorme arma in più che ha il cinema: quella di creare icone e fissarle nell’immaginario in maniera indelebile. Certo, è presto, e probabilmente ingeneroso di parlare di icona, viste le vere icone che ha creato il cinema, per Edward Cullen. Ma rispetto all’aura di culto creata tra le adolescenti dai libri della Meyer, il grande schermo ha aggiunto il volto e il corpo di Robert Pattinson, diventato un vero idolo delle ragazze di tutto il mondo. La saga di Twilight lo mette in scena con un’aria alla James Dean, dimostrando di non volersi togliere nulla in fatto di esempi di ribellione giovanile. Il suo aspetto fisico, unito all’aura romantica del suo personaggio, ha fatto centro nel cuore di molte ragazze. L’attore londinese ha scatenato una mania che, restando nel mondo del cinema, non si vedeva dai tempi del primo Leonardo Di Caprio. In rete e nei negozi si trova qualunque cosa con il volto o il nome di Robert Pattinson, o del suo personaggio, Edward Cullen: magliette, tazzine, ombrelli, cappelli, borse, tende per la doccia e persino le mutande vanno a ruba. Robsessed (cioè obsessed by Rob, ossessionate da Rob) è il titolo di un documentario sull’attore (il dvd si trova in vendita su Amazon). La mania è totale. E come se non bastasse, Pattinson è anche un cantante rock, e tra qualche anno vorrebbe incidere un disco. Chissà come prenderanno le sue ammiratrici la notizia della sua love story. Chi poteva conquistare il cuore del bel Pattinson? Ma ovviamente la sua Bella, l’attrice Kristen Stewart. Dal set l’amore si sarebbe trasferito nella realtà, Edward e Bella si sarebbero impadroniti di Pattinson e la Stewart, facendo innamorare i due. Negli ultimi due mesi i due sono stati spesso fotografati insieme, e i giornali inglesi e americani stanno cavalcando la notizia. Che, diversamente dal solito, non sembra la solita trovata pubblicitaria. Speriamo che il loro amore sia meno tormentato di quello dei due personaggi. E che magari questo riesca a portare nei prossimi film un po’ più di chimica, di passione, di pathos. Cioè un tocco in più di realtà.

(Pubblicato su Movie Sushi)

Ela quer o seu filho
Com o livro Crepúsculo e o vampiro Edward, a escritora Stephenie Meyer pode desbancar o bruxo Harry Potter, de J. K. Rowling

Por NATÁLIA RANGEL

Há pouco mais de cinco anos, a jovem dona-de-casa Stephenie Meyer, mãe de três filhos, casada com um pastor mórmon e moradora da pequena cidade de Cave Creek, no Estado americano do Arizona, jamais imaginaria seduzir jovens em todo o mundo com uma fantasiosa história de amor entre uma adolescente e um vampiro. Tampouco vislumbrou que as tramas românticas forjadas em sua imaginação e materializadas em três livros (Crepúsculo, Lua nova e Eclipse) ficariam 143 semanas na lista de best-sellers do jornal The New York Times, com seis milhões de exemplares vendidos em diversos países – sendo que quatro milhões referem- se apenas às vendas nos últimos 12 meses. Pois foi o que aconteceu. O vertiginoso sucesso de Crepúsculo, que conta a relação amorosa entre o morto-vivo Edward Cullen, com 17 anos desde 1918, e sua amada e humana Isabella Swan (chamada de Bella), ambos colegas no terceiro ano do ensino médio na chuvosa cidade de Forks, conquistou uma legião de fãs. E foi além: acaba de render à escritora, de 34 anos, um lugar entre as 100 personalidades mundiais mais influentes, eleitas pela revista Time. Ela aparece ao lado de nomes como Hillary Clinton, George Clooney e Dalai Lama. Quais são os seus superpoderes?

Stephenie leva uma vida pacata, é religiosa, segue os ditames mórmons e uma de suas poucas rebeldias é o gosto por Pepsi Diet – a igreja desaconselha o consumo de substâncias que tenham cafeína. Até aí, ela não está investida de nenhum truque mágico. Os seus poderes especiais, na verdade, ganham vida graças a uma mente extremamente criativa, voltada à ficção, que monta adoráveis e sedutores vampiros – todos do bem. São seres evoluídos que mudam a dieta (só bebem sangue de animais) para resistir, a duras penas, à sede que têm de sangue humano e assim conseguem viver pacificamente em sociedade. O carisma de seus personagens junto aos adolescentes é comparado ao fascínio exercido pelo bruxo Harry Potter, da escritora inglesa J. K. Rowling, e há quem aposte que a saga dos jovens vampiros reúna qualidades suficientes para desbancá-lo de sua liderança isolada nesse filão editorial. Isso já ocorreu no ano passado quando Eclipse, seu terceiro livro, chegou às lojas quase ao mesmo tempo que a última aventura de Harry Potter.

FENÔMENO A autora Stephenie Meyer (à dir.), uma dona-de-casa mórmon, escreveu três livros e já vendeu seis milhões de exemplares em todo o mundo

No cinema, a trajetória dos vampiros já é semelhante à do aprendiz de mágico nascido na Inglaterra: o primeiro livro, Crepúsculo (que chega ao Brasil pela editora Intrínseca, 390 págs., R$ 39,90), virou filme e estreará em dezembro nos EUA. À semelhança das obras de J. K. Rowling, o quarto livro de Stephenie, Breaking down, previsto para agosto, está recebendo tratamento vip com esquema de vendas a partir de meia-noite nas grandes livrarias. A popularidade desses novos personagens já inspirou nomes de bandas de rock, centenas de comunidades de sites de relacionamento e seus nomes aparecem impressos em camisetas. Antes mesmo de suas histórias serem editadas aqui, elas já podiam ser lidas em sites da internet devidamente traduzidas pelos fãs.

É certo que há muito marketing promovendo a nova escritora e seus personagens carismáticos, e nem poderia ou deveria ser diferente. Mas é um fato que a vampiromania foi crescendo até explodir no último ano – e vale lembrar que boa parte da propaganda começou boca a boca, leitor com leitor, adolescente com adolescente. Alguns trechos do primeiro romance se tornaram cults como o momento em que Bella descobre que o lindo garoto por quem está encantada é mesmo um vampiro: “De três coisas eu estava convicta. Primeira, Edward era um vampiro. Segunda, havia uma parte dele – e eu não sabia que poder esta parte teria – que tinha sede do meu sangue. E terceira, eu estava incondicional e irrevogavelmente apaixonada por ele”. A paixão compartilhada por ambos é sempre contida, paira sobre Bella a ameaça do vampirismo de Edward. Se ele ultrapassar o sinal, ela estará morta.

O filme Crepúsculo estréia em dezembro nos EUA, com Robert Pattinson e kristen Stewart (à frente) como Edward e bella

Nas cenas românticas, nunca fica claro se ele deseja ter relações sexuais com Bella ou apenas se alimentar do seu sangue, mordendo- lhe a jugular. Num trecho, ela diz: “Eu podia sentir seu hálito frio em meu pescoço, sentir seu nariz deslizando por meu queixo, inspirando (…)”. E ele sussurra: “Só porque estou resistindo ao vinho, não quer dizer que não possa apreciar o buquê. Você tem um aroma floral, de lavanda ou frésia. É de dar água na boca”. Essa tensão permeia todo o romance e não é diferente dos dilemas humanos que envolvem uma paixão proibida. A autora afirmou em entrevista que foi pressionada a incluir cenas mais explícitas de sexo em seus livros, mas resistiu. Mesmo que algumas passagens sejam sensuais e com insinuações eróticas, os personagens nunca vão além de castos beijos e carinhos no rosto e pescoço – embora demonstrem o tempo todo desejar muito mais do que isso. Nada mais humano, e é justamente com essa humanização dos vampiros que Stephenie parece ter seduzido irrevogavelmente os seus jovens leitores. Os mesmos que J. K. Rowling brindou apenas com o cândido beijo travado entre Harry Potter e Cho Chang.

VAMPIROS FAMOSOS

Drácula (1992), dirigido por Francis Ford Coppola e protagonizado por Gary Oldman, baseia-se em livro de 1897 do escritor irlandês Bram Stoker

O filme Entrevista com o vampiro (1994), de Neil Jordan, é adaptado do romance de Anne Rice, e o personagem Lestat é interpretado por Tom Cruise

Criação do escritor e produtor de tevê Joss Whedon, o vampiro Angelus ficou conhecido pelo seriado de tevê Buffy, a caçavampiros (1997)

http://www.terra.com.br/istoe/edicoes/2010/artigo88149-1.htm

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
★★★★ / ★★★★

After being caught up with the “True Blood” craze, I decided to visit some of my favorite vampire movies. “Interview with the Vampire,” directed by Neil Jordan, was one of those movies I saw in early high school that I loved but forgot the details as years went on. I’m surprised this one strongly held up against other horror pictures, especially vampire movies. It’s something I didn’t quite expect because the movies I used to think were scary when I was younger turned out to be silly and vapid in storytelling. Tom Cruise stars as Lestat, a vampire who was as equally hungry for blood as he was with power. He one day decided to make Louis (Brad Pitt) into a vampire because, at least according to him, he wanted to give Louis a choice to relieve his pain of losing his wife and child. Despite turning into the undead, Louis still managed to hang onto his humanity by refusing to feed on humans. This bothered Lestat and thought that Louis’ loneliness would be eliminated by giving Louis a companion–in a form of a vampire child played by Kirsten Dunst. But this all happened in the past as the details which covered centuries were revealed by Louis to an enthusiastic reporter (Christian Slater). Although I did read the novels by Anne Rice, I only could remember three things: Louis, Lestat and the passion (both good and bad) between the two. What made me really engaged about this film was not because it was scary in content. I was actually more into Louis’ humanity, his efforts to abstain from human blood, and his eventual search for those who were like him. That romanticism was reflected into the elegant designs of each room in the 18th century to the dark corners of the catacombs. Another thing that was interesting was Kirsten Dunst. As an adult actress, she bores me to death because every emotion she wants to portray on screen feels the same. But in this film, she had range: she was quite magical, menacing, fascinating all rolled into one. For me, “Interview with the Vampire” is a great vampire film because it makes the argument that vampires have the capacity to choose to be good instead of just being one-dimensional fiends who crave blood and live for centuries. Although necessary to paint the nature of vampire, the gore, the violence, and the evil were secondary. It was consistent, thrilling, and very interesting.

In writer-director Neil Jordan’s haunting film, Mona Lisa, an uncommonly moral small-time hood is forced to reconcile his life with the all-too-common immorality of the big-time underworld. It is a convincing, delicately drawn crime-world story.

Movie Review – Mona Lisa (1986)
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=David_Wisehart]David Wisehart

Hollywood is in love with the small-time hood. Perhaps the industry is only looking after its own, but regardless of motives the crime milieu has been home to films running the gamut from the superb to superficial, from sublime to sordid.

In writer-director Neil Jordan’s haunting film, Mona Lisa, an uncommonly moral small-time hood is forced to reconcile his life with the all-too-common immorality of the big-time underworld. It is a convincing, delicately drawn crime-world story – and, it should be noted, it hails not from the jungles of Hollywood but from George Harrison and Denis O’Brien’s independent production company HandMade Films, which has been responsible for more than its share of quality films.

Bob Hoskins (The Long Good Friday, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Nixon) is George, an ex-con returning to the working-class London streets of his youth after serving seven years in prison. His wife won’t have anything to do with him, so he turns instead to his old buddy Thomas (Robbie Coltrane), who is fond of spaghetti art and detective stories, and to his old boss Mortwell (Michael Caine), who hires George to chauffeur one of his call girls, Simone (Cathy Tyson).

As George drives Simone to an endless series of midnight rendezvous, he becomes increasingly involved in the world of prostitution and pornography – and increasingly involved with Simone. When Simone asks George to find an old friend of hers, Cathy (Katie Hardie), a 15-year-old prostitute still on the streets, George descends into the dark inner belly of London like Dante descending through the concentric circles of Hell, where his deeply ingrained sense of personal morality will be attacked from all sides.

The true triumph of Mona Lisa lies in Bob Hoskins’ excellent portrait of the petty criminal George, who must keep his feet wet in the waters of the underworld in order to stay alive, but very nearly drowns in the process. It is the best role of his admirable career, a role for which he earned an Academy Award nomination and deservedly received the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Neil Jordan (The Company of Wolves, The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire) coaxes convincing performances from the remainder of his cast, as well. Michael Caine is simply sinister as the epitome of evil, Cathy Tyson (niece of actress Cicely Tyson) makes an admirable debut, and Robbie Coltrane is perfectly off-beat as the only stabilizing force in George’s life.

Jordan frames his film, beginning and end, with Nat King Cole’s enduring classic, “Mona Lisa.” And it is in Cole’s lush vocals that this film finds its meaning: “Are you warm? Are you real, Mona Lisa? / Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?”

Mona Lisa may, at times, seem cold and lonely. But it is also a work of art.

David Wisehart is the editor of The Wisehart Review – movies, books, and more! Visit http://www.wisehartreview.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Wisehart [http://ezinearticles.com/?Movie-Review---Mona-Lisa-(1986)&id=3209307 ]http://EzineArticles.com/?Movie-Review—Mona-Lisa-(1986)&id=3209307

Two interesting-looking anthologies coming up soon. The first I found through John Boyne’s blog: From the Republic of Conscience, a collection of stories and essays by Irish writers inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

They ran as a series in the Irish Times last year, and I’m pretty sure I already have them collected in a supplement-type thing, but it’s always nice to have them in book form. I remember really enjoying Anne Enright and Claire Kilroy’s stories, but that Neil Jordan’s was really dull.

Lestat and Louis share a late-night snack in "Interview with the Vampire".

(Neil Jordan, 1994)

November 4, 2009

by Joel Crary

Garlic and stakes through the heart are old wives’ tales. Coffins are an unfortunate necessity. “I actually like staring at crucifixes,” a man claiming to be a vampire tells a reporter in a modern apartment room somewhere in downtown San Franciso one night. Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) is there to set the record straight. Forget about that Dracula nonsense. He was the product of a drunken fool of an Irishman.

Breaking up sure is hard to do, especially if you’ve spent the last 200 years attempting to get over your first time. That is, essentially, what Neil Jordan’s “Interview with the Vampire” boils down to. For vampires as for virgins, their first time is a life-changing experience that can never be repeated, no matter how many times a night they are able to feed afterward. The movie’s homosexual undertones are not subtle; in fact, for a while there, the filmmakers make a pretty good argument for gay marriage.

The monkey wrench in that machinery is Claudia, played by a very young Kirsten Dunst, who effortlessly delivers the film’s strongest performance. Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, who plays the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, are fine, capable actors, but they struck the completely wrong tone here. Cruise in particular looks almost embarrassingly made up in his role. Rarely is he able to break through the undeniably obvious fact that, underneath the blonde straggly wig and pale makeup, Lestat is simply Tom Cruise with sharper teeth.

Pitt is not much better, but at least he is somewhat believable as a lost soul. He is able to cast baleful, melancholy looks in spite of the demonic contacts that look impressive yet seem to go unnoticed by his myriad of victims over the years. As the film opens, Louis is still alive in modern times and enlists the aid of a reporter (Christian Slater) to tell his story, which is ultimately lacking in philosophical detail. Who spends 200 years alive and yet learns so little about how the world works?

To Louis’ credit, not many of the other vampires seem to have much of a clue about the grand scheme of things either. He is given eternal life after Lestat discovers him, distraught and suicidal over the death of his wife and children. The two live together for years in New Orleans, feasting on the occasional human sacrifice to sustain their health (understandably, Louis can’t immediately bring himself to kill humans, so he swigs back rat blood like spring water). Giving in to his hunger one night, Louis bites into an orphaned girl and Lestat takes pity on his conscience, lending her eternal life as well. And then there were three.

As 10-year-old Claudia, Dunst is viciously self-aware and merciless. She bears a grudge to Lestat for her inability to grow up and dispatches him with trickery. His body is dumped in a swamp, but it’s hard to keep a good vampire down, and Lestat returns with fiery results. Louis can’t help but feel a little guilty in the midst of all this, but he and Claudia decide it best to travel to France and leave America behind altogether.

In Paris, they discover a clan of vampires who disguise themselves by way of showmanship, calling themselves the Théâtre des Vampires and offering very real shows of sacrifices as entertainment to an unsuspecting public. Their leader is Armand (Antonio Banderas), who takes a shine to Louis’ still-human soul. He claims to be the oldest living vampire, but offers still little in the way of existentialist conclusions in the vampiric circle. Rumours about what Louis and Claudia have done to Lestat circle among the clan with a nasty bit of vampire-style torture involving sunlight, but we know that Louis survives and returns to America.

What are we to gather from his story? Louis is a man whose loneliness pushes him to make a desperate choice, only for that choice to make his life eternally desperate. He gains no pleasure from his lifestyle and continually seeks knowledge that no one can give him. He offers nothing of consequence to his interviewer and hence to us. He exists in a perpetual state of guilt and is constantly taken to task by Claudia’s reminders that he made her what she is. It’s easier for her to play the victim. She’s been 10 for a hundred years.

“Interview with the Vampire” has terrific sets, costumes and special effects and benefits from Neil Jordan’s grand vision of direction. It’s too bad that the story is so un-flashy. The performances and dialogue are so over the top in moments that the whole thing might have succeeded as camp, but it repeatedly returns to wallow in its own gulag of depressing themes. The script was written by Anne Rice and based on her novel. She shows no real handle on what could make her characters cinematic as opposed to purely literary. Louis has a gift of sorts, but he’s so mopey. Where’s the fun in eternal life if you spend every waking moment wishing you were dead?

Your body’s dying. Pay no attention, It happens to us all.

– Lestat

I haven’t seen Interview with the Vampire in years. It has been so long that I forgot that Neil Jordan directed the film that was based on the book by Anne Rice. She wrote the screenplay and was famously know for disliking Tom Cruise being cast as Lestat. I still enjoy watching it again.

Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) is a 200-year-old vampire recounts his life story to an interviewer, Daniel Malloy (Christian Slater) in his sparse apartment in San Francisco. At first, Malloy doesn’t believe that he is one, but Louis’ ability to movie stealth speed convinces him.

Louis starts in beginning circa 1791 Louisiana when his wife and child die within a year each other. He doesn’t want to live until he meets Lestat de Lioncourt  (Tom Cruise), a vampire that could grant him his wish for death.

Louis decides that he wants to have the gift of immortality. Newly turned, Lestat teaches Louis about how to be a vampire. Lestat has an unquenchable thirst for blood, going through three victims a night. Louis has the hunger, the desire, the thirst for blood, but he doesn’t want to take a human’s life. Over time, Louis hates Lestat for giving him his undead life. He resents him.

Lestat turns his attentions to the slaves in the surrounding area that rises concern with their servant girl, Yvette (Thandie Newton). When Louis’ desire takes over and tries to bite her, the slaves along with himself burns the mansion him and Lestat share, down.

Louis is always tortured about being vampire. They become nomads, moving from the place to place, feeding the people of New Orleans. Everything comes to a head when Louis couldn’t kill a young woman that Lestat wants him to do.

On the streets, a young orphaned girl is dying of the plague, Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). Louis takes pity on her. She is taken in and fed Lestat’s blood when she turns. She becomes their surrogate daughter when the thirst takes over her.

She becomes Lestat’s protégé. She matched his thirst for the kill. Lestat want to rule over their lives. Over three decades pass and Claudia wonders why she cannot grow up. Both Claudia and Louis are tortured because they realize that they will never grow old, never die. They want to leave Lestat.

I was swept up with the allure of these vampires. The dialogue is still sharp. The costumes were fantastic. I have a few minor gripes with Antonio Bandera’s heavy accent as Armand. Sometimes I couldn’t understand what he was saying. You can tell that there was some wire work in this movie. It shows. There is also a portion of the film that I need explained. Spoiler section time.

Judgment: A great vampire story that makes you wonder why people are into Twilight.

Rating: ****1/2

(SPOILER SECTION)

After Claudia betrays Lestat by slicing his throat, he bleeds all over the carpet, her and Louie dump his body in the Mississippi. When the two want to leave, Lestat comes back as a zombie vampire to kill them. Louis sets him on fire, New Orleans burns to the ground. Fast forward to 1988 where Louis is back in New Orleans, he could sell Lestat who is still in his same clothes from when they left. At the end of the movie, Lestat bites Malloy in San Francisco and he knows how to drive a car.

My question is how does Lestat survive all that when Louis burned that vampire hive in France the very same way. They burned to a crisp, but when the same thing happened to Lestat he manages to survive. How does that happen?

Cinema in Ierland was lang een ondergeschoven kindje. Met de komst van het Irish Film Centre begin jaren 90 kreeg de Ierse film een flinke impuls.

Twee regisseurs maakten naam met films als In the Name of the Father en Michael Collins.
In het volgende (Engelstalige) essay probeer ik hun bijdrage aan het beeld van (Noord)-Ierland een plaats te geven.

Ter illustratie een scène uit In the Name of the Father.

Bekijk het essay ‘Irish Cinema in Northern Ireland’

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Talented, elusive, and little known actress Sarah Patterson as Rosaleen.

Neil Jordan (the Crying Game, Interview with The Vampire) directs a screenplay co-written by Angela Carter and based on the short stories concerning werewolves from her collection of short stories, The Bloody Chamber. The film is about a young adolescent named Rosaleen who dreams of various encounters with werewolves. The film has a consistent fairytale theme and it carries strongly into its visual style which stands out, in that it seemingly sprung right out of an old storybook. It is an absolutely gorgeous film. The art director for The Company of Wolves, Anton Furst, of course went on to create Gotham City and the Bat-mobile for Tim Burton’s Batman. Ultimately, the dreams that Rosaleen has and the many stories within them circle around her aroused apprehension toward entering puberty.   It is a metaphor for her blossoming sexuality.

Even moderate mainstream success would not be guaranteed without the film's unique transformation sequences and gore.

We meet Rosaleen (Sara Patterson) while she is asleep at the beginning of the movie. She is dreaming of being chased through the forest by wolves that killed her sister. After her sister’s funeral, she goes to live with her Granny (Angela Lansbury). Soon Rosaleen dons a red hood and her Grandmother begins to tell her a story that warns her about the dangers of werewolves. This story makes for some of the best visuals in the film and the segment stars Stephen Rea. Rosaleen sees her parents having sex and finds out a bit more when a boy begins to flirt with her. Eventually we see many references to Rosaleen’s new sexuality after she kisses the boy. After several other short stores told by Granny (including one with Terrence Stamp as the devil) it is soon revealed that werewolves are indeed in the village. Rosaleen’s family even kills a wolf and its paw turns into a human hand. As times passes, Rosaleen ventures out into the woods to her Granny’s house only now she seems more aware of the dangers and is armed with a knife. Before she begins her travels she is challenged to a race to get there by a young hunter. If she wins she gets his compass and if he wins, he gets to kiss her. He is of course a werewolf and he arrives first, eating Granny. Rosaleen arrives and the hunter has her remove her red hood and burn it. Then he attempts to charm her. She shoots him and he transforms into a wolf. She pities the injured animal and decides to tell him a story about a young nude wolf-girl (played by experimental musician Danielle Dax) who arrives in the village. Later, Rosaleen’s family and the villagers arrive at Granny’s house and find two wolves there. Rosaleen’s parents recognize that one of the wolves is a transformed Rosaleen. The wolves run into the forest and eventually show up inside the house where Rosaleen is dreaming.

Experimental musician Danielle Dax as the wolf girl.

The fact that this is a series of stories being told within a dream is significant as a sexual commentary via the subconscious mind. I don’t believe Carter’s stories would’ve been effective on film were they not framed within the context of a dream. Given that narrative, it is amazing how these ideas managed to translate so precisely. There must’ve been great communication between Jordan and Carter. The stories themselves are a culmination of some of Carter’s best work and a whole lifetime of brainstorming. A lot of credit also goes to the cast, especially Sarah Patterson, who was likely a young teen at the time. It is a wonder Patterson didn’t go on to become a big star and many still hold out hope that she will surface again in some capacity, even now decades later.

Rosaleen being charmed by a werewolf.

Maybe some of it is coincidence and no doubt much of it is the talent of the cast and crew, but it seems like everything comes together just right for this film and it comes off as even more cohesive and poetic to me with each subsequent viewing. I’ve watched the Company of Wolves many times and it still remains one of the best movies I have ever seen.

My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.

Ireland, UK 111m, Colour
Director: Neil Jordan; Cast: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson, Forest Whitaker

The Crying Game is an intensely dramtic film that explores gender, prejudice, sexuality and politics. The story begins with the kidnapping of an English soldier by the IRA and ends with an unusual relationship between one of the captors and the girlfriend of the now deceased soldier. As a matter of conscience, and in an attempt to make good on a promise to deliver a message to the soldier’s girlfriend, Rea’s character inadvertantly becomes involved in a relationship that is more complicated than he or the audience imagined. Ultimately, he is left with a choice  which might cost him his life (Klaus Ming October 2009).

Interview with the Vampire
directed by Neil Jordan

I admit it. Everything I used to know about vampires, I got from Anne Rice. I know better now, thank you. In time, I’ve learned that not all vampires are cultured and erotic and gay. Lately, I’m having a hard time reading her stuff. The way she describes a character bores the shit out of me. I get it, he looks like an angel, you don’t need three pages for that. Or maybe it’s just my attention span. ANYWAY.

200-year old vampire Louis (Brad Pitt) tells a reporter named Daniel (Christian Slater) the story of his life. He tells him about his maker Lestat (Tom Cruise), how he refused to feed on humans, his “daughter” Claudia (Kristen Dunst), how he met Armand (Antonio Banderas) and his coven. In the novels, the drinking of blood is something sensual, as though it’s how vampires have sex, and that is captured in the movie. Brad Pitt makes a charming Louis. I’m not sure about Tom Cruise, though. I think Stuart Townsend makes a more convincing Lestat.

Trivia: Stan Winston did the vampire make-up and effects. <3

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Vlad the Impaler (Gary Oldman) returns from the war to find that his beloved wife (Winona Ryder) had killed herself upon hearing he was dead. Pissed at God, he turns to Satan and becomes a vampire. Fast forward to the Victorian era, a young attorney named Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) was sent to Transylvania to arrange some real estate transactions with Vlad Dracul. Dracul saw a photo of Jonathan’s fiancee and believed that she’s the reincarnation of his dead wife. With the help of Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), they try to stop Dracula from taking Mina as his bride.

Trivia: Monica Bellucci plays a vampire. She gets naked. Cary Elwes is one of Lucy’s (Sadie Frost) suitors. Keanu Reeves’ accent is especially confusing in this movie.

Near Dark (1987)
directed by Kathryn Bigelow

On a night in town, Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) meets Mae (Jenny Wright). While making out, she nips him on the neck and runs off. Caleb goes home dazed, confused, and smoking. It’s morning, the sun is out. Mae managed to get to him in time with the help of her “family”. Jesse (Lance Henriksen), Severen (Bill Paxton), Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein), and Homer (Joshua John Miller) are not happy about it. If he doesn’t kill soon, they will have him for dinner.

Trivia: The screenplay was written by Eric Red, who also wrote The Hitcher (1986). Henriksen, Paxton, and Goldstein have worked together in Aliens, which came out the previous year.

From Dusk ’till Dawn (1996)
directed by Robert Rodriguez

The Gecko brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richie (Quentin Tarantino) are on the run from a bloody bank robbery. Their plan is to flee to Mexico where the cops can’t touch them. They take Jacob (Harvey Keitel) and his children hostage and force them to drive them all the way to Mexico. They are to meet Carlo (Cheech Marin) in the best-named bar in the history of ever, The Titty Twister. Unfortunately for them, the bar is home to blood-sucking freaks.

This is my favorite Rodriguez film. The script is brilliant and the cast alone is reason enough to watch it. Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek (Holy Mama, that dancing!), Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini (SEX MACHINE!), and fine, George Clooney.

Trivia: Cheech Marin has three roles in the movie: a border guard, Carlos, and Chet Pussy.

The Lost Boys (1987)
directed by Joel Schumacher

Newly divorced mom (Dianne West) moves to Santa Carla with her sons Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim). Michael falls in love with Star (Jamie Gertz) who’s running around with a bunch of vampire misfits led by David (Kiefer Sutherland). Michael becomes one of them and it’s up to Sam and the Frog brothers, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jason Newlander) to save him. Kiefer Sutherland makes a very sexy vampire. Jack Bauer’s got no shit on David!

I don’t know about you, but that right there is a good reason to see Lost Boys.

Trivia: If you pay attention, you’ll see that Sam has a poster of Rob Lowe in his closet. The title is a reference to the lost boys in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. DUH.

Part 1 here. Maybe Part 3 tomorrow. I dunno how many parts there are going to be. We’ll see.

Desde pequena, sinto um certo fascínio por vampiros. Talvez pelo toque de erotismo, talvez pela áurea misteriosa que envolve suas vítimas, as crônicas vampirescas sempre me atraíram de uma forma sedutora. Na adolescência fui apresentada a Anne Rice através do livro “O Vampiro Lestat”, que no filme “Entrevista com o Vampiro” é preciosamente interpretado por Tom Cruise. A partir de então, só pude mergulhar mais e mais nesse universo de sangue, imortalidade e romance. Depois de ler e me aprofundar bastante, restou-me apenas as boas lembranças destes vampiros apaixonantes que nos envolvem numa trama bem elaborada e contada pelo belo Louis.

Elenco
Tom Cruise …. Lestat de Lioncourt
Brad Pitt …. Louis de Pointe du Lac
Antonio Banderas …. Armand
Stephen Rea …. Santiago
Christian Slater …. Daniel Malloy
Virginia McCollam …. Prostituta
Kirsten Dunst …. Claudia
Thandie Newton …. Yvette

Informações Técnicas
Título no Brasil:  Entrevista com o Vampiro
Título Original:  Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
País de Origem:  EUA
Gênero:  Suspense
Tempo de Duração: 122 minutos
Ano de Lançamento:  1994
Direção:  Neil Jordan
Qualidade: DVDRip AC3
Tamanho: 1100Mb
Midias: 01

DOWNLOAD DE TORRENT E LEGENDA

“What explains our enduring fascination with vampires?
What is it about the vampire myth that explains our interest?
Is it the overtone of sexual lust, power and control?
Or is it a fascination with the immortality of the undead?“

Desde los tiempos de ingenuidad en que se creía que el vampiro era una encarnación del demonio hasta nuestros tiempos en que se ha convertido en un referente múltiple que abarca de lo romántico a lo melancólico a lo temible y horroroso, el mito del vampiro nunca ha dejado de interesar a los mortales.

Explicaciones hay tantas como libros y películas respecto a ellas pero lo cierto es que el vampiro nos genera una atracción tan mágica e inexplicable como sus propios orígenes.

Vampires: The Occult Truth, una desmitificación del vampiro repleta de datos históricos e historias que respaldan la existencia de los vampiros en la actualidad, por Konstantinos, $15.000.-

Los hay horrorosos monstruos sin razón ni corazón, como también los encontramos elegantes caballeros condenados por su propia naturaleza a sufrir en tinieblas. El mito ha inspirado a artistas durante tanto tiempo que sus limites se han doblado y llevado a lugares inimaginados tanto en la literatura como en el cine…

Nosferatu por F.W. Murnau,la clásica visión de Murnau al Drácula de Bram Stocker en edición especial de 2 dvds, $23.000.-

Nosferatu Phantom der Nacht por Werner Herzog, la extraordinaria performance de Kinski hace de esta edición especial de 2 discos un deber, $23.000.-

El mito del vampiro es inmortal y surgio hace siglos. Desde las culturas romanas y griegas a la Europa del siglo 18 las historias de seres que viven gracias a la vida de otros han abundado. Pero hay una historia que no sólo conjugó el folclor con la fantasía sino que transformó el antiguo mito del vampiro en la leyenda de la cual se sustenta el vampiro contemporáneo.

La novela “Dracula” de Bram Stoker es la piedra angular para la ficción vampírica moderna.

Dracula de Bram Stoker, edición de lujo, tapa dura y notas, $13.000.-

Bram Stoker's Dracula de Francis Ford Coppola, edición especial de 2 discos, $12.000.-

Este año Dacre Stoker, el heredero directo de Bram Stoker e historiador experto en el mito de Dracula, edita “Dracula: the Un Dead” la secuela a la obra que dió base al género de vampiros.

Dracula: The Un Dead por Dacre Stoker, la continuación a la novela de Bram Stoker, $18.000.-

Durante años fue “Dracula” el referente vampirico alrededor del cual se generaron peliculas y novelas de todo tipo, pero durante los años setenta una nueva visión del vampiro vendria a volverse un referente y gestor de un nuevo tipo de vampiro.

Las “Crónicas Vampíricas” de Anne Rice ofrecieron una nueva visión tanto del origen como del comportamiento vampirico, siempre respetando las limitaciones que hacen de este ser un personaje trágico asi como poderoso.

The Vampire Chronicles de Anne Rice, edición especial incluye los 3 primeros tomos de la saga, $18.000.-

El libro “Entrevista con el Vampiro”, primer tomo de “Las Cronicas Vampiricas” de Anne Rice fue llevado a la pantalla grande con gran exito por Neil Jordan. Hoy es un clásico del cine de vampiros y comparte el lugar junto con otras grande versiones del mito…

The Hunger de Tony Scott, con David Bowie, Susan Sarandon y Catherine Deneuve, $18.000.-

The Lost Boys de Joel Schumacher, edicion especial de 2 dvds, $21.000.-

Let The Right One In de Tomas Alfredson, probablemente la mejor película de vampiros de esta década, $13.000.-

Vampyr de Carl Theodor Dreyer, un clásico de culto en edición de lujo, 2 discos, $28.000.-

Durante el último tiempo se han lanzado nuevas historias de vampiros tanto al cine como al libro. Todas ellas apuntando a un píblico específico que gusta de cierto tipo de vampiro. Tanto el monstruo como el romantico caballero tienen cabida hoy en la amplia variedad de novelas y sagas editadas en el mundo.

The Strain de Guillermo del Toro, edición tapa dura, $20.000.-

Una plaga de vampiros amenzada con consumir Nueva York y una pareja de médicos, un experto en folklor y otros personajes deberán frenar lo que podria ser la epidemia que extermine a la humanidad. Mucha acción y gore en esta novela escrita por el director de “El Laberinto del Fauno” y “El Espinazo del Diablo”.

The Midnight Guardian de Sarah Jane Stratford, edición tapa dura, $19.000.-

En esta mezcla de ficción vampírica con historia, Sarah Jane Stratford enfrenta a los vampiros contra los Nazis y elimina de paso toda pre-concepción del bien y el mal.

Vampire Academy Box Set de Richelle Mead, los 3 primeros tomos en una caja protectora, $20.000.-

True Blood Saga Box Set de Charlaine Harris, los siete tomos en caja protectora, $35.000.-

Twilight Saga Box Set de Stephenie Meyer, los 4 tomos en edición de lujo, tapa dura y láminas de las portadas, $52.000.-

Los vampiros definitivamente seguirán presentes en la cultura pop y sus historias seguirán fluyendo por las páginas de miles de libros en el mundo… si buscas alguna en especial no dudes en contactarnos…

Escríbenos a kthulu.shop@gmail.com y encuentra el libro o película que buscas al precio que más te conviene.

Its pretty obvious that Zoe Kravitz is nothing short of a natural talent. You all may recall her mom Lisa Bonet from one of your all time favorite shows The Cosbys, and her dad  Lenny Kravtiz for being a musical flair. Zoe was born December 1, 1988 in New York :uhhh: (Jay-Z voice). It seems as though she may have always had a passion for films, because during her senior year of high school she began working on No Reservations directed by Scott Hicks ,where she was given the oppurtunity to work alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart, and The Brave One, directed by Neil Jordan starring Jodie Foster and Terrance Howard. She then went on to began her college experience at Suny Purchase , not to far from the inner city; however, that didn’t last to long, due to the fact that her acting career became hectic. Her a dreams of being a succuessful actress didn’t end there, she’s been featured in a few other films, and still seeks the oppurtunity to write, direct and even partake in theatre. She’s also been featured in Jay-Z’s music video for his single “I Know” off his album American Gangster. Some of you may remember her as the main character in this video. You might also remember her from Will.i.am’s online video “We Are The Ones” during Obama’s campaign. Zoe Kravtiz is also known for other things, such as being a trendsetter, and expressing herself through her unconvential swag. Zoe also takes after her dad in terms of her having musical talent. She’s the lead singer in the group Elevator Fight, which is a band based out of Philly. Kravitz has still got a lot of other treasures to attain on her journey to success, but for now be on the look out for her.

NYC hustle

Red Carpet Steez

Zoe at Highline Ballroom in NYC

Zoe at Mercedes Benz fashion week

Zoe in Jay-Z’s music video “I Know”

Un film del 2009, regia di Neil Jordan, con Colin Farrell / Stephen Rea / Dervla Kirwan / Alicja Bachleda-Curus. Prodotto da ()

Drammatico / Fantastico

Un pescatore irlandese scopre nella sua rete da pesca una donna e la scambia per una sirena.

Michael Collins.

Director: Neil Jordan

Guión: Neil Jordan.

Intérpretes: Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Alan Rickman, Stephen Rea, Ian Hart, Richard Ingram, Aidan Quinn, Brendan Gleeson.

Música: Elliott Goldenthal

Fotografía: Chris Menges.

EEUU. 1995. 140 mins. aprox.

Activismo político

Es quizá la presencia de Julia Roberts en ese reparto tan bien nutrido de rostros sajones lo que lleva a engaño: Michael Collins no es un biopic al uso, ni una adaptación encauzada en los cánones del mainstream hollywoodiense. Es, bien al contrario, un filme político de Neil Jordan (todos los suyos lo son, en mayor o menor medida) en el que el guionista y realizador de The Crying Game expone en imágenes una somera radiografía de los años de activismo político de la figura que para muchos dio carta de nacimiento a la IRA. Y Jordan se permite sus licencias narrativas, pero no pierde un marcado sentido del respeto por la veracidad de su alocución, dibujando con todo lujo de señas –de complejidad- el carismático personaje que tan bien incorpora Liam Neeson.

Descripción

El filme ofrece una cuidada puesta en escena de su época, y se caracteriza especialmente por el gusto por la descripción, expeditiva y clara, de los diversos acontecimientos que se dieron cita en Irlanda durante los turbulentos años posteriores a la primera Guerra Mundial. El logro de la pirueta radica sobretodo en hacer accesible y sencillo lo que en realidad no lo es, desarrollando la historia mediante secuencias cortas perfectamente concatenadas y que albergan, cada una de ellas, una capacidad de sugestión que sirve a los propósitos didácticos de la función. La sobriedad no está reñida con la emoción, y no son pocas las secuencias que desde el primer visionado se albergan en la retina del espectador (destacaría las secuencias que enfrentan a Collins con De Valera –tan bien matizado por Alan Rickman-, pero especialmente el tratamiento –tan novedoso, tan hábil, a la postre tan bello- de la historia de amor de Collins con Kitty, desde el triángulo inicial hasta el montaje paralelo de secuencias final, tan desalentador).

Cine e ideología

Sobre los filamentos discursivos del filme puede estarse o no de acuerdo (a mentes no cuadriculadas se les puede recomendar, por ejemplo, el visionado de The wind that shakes the bartley, de Ken Loach, que revisa algunos hechos idénticos a los que aquí ocupan la narración desde parámetros bien distintos), pero lo que es indiscutible es la calidad cinematográfica de la cinta. Siendo ésta quizá la obra más personal del autor de The Butcher Boy, las imágenes derrochan tanto corazón como inteligencia, tanta artesanía como capacidad creativa, tanta violencia como belleza.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117039/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_(Irish_leader)

http://michaelcollins.warnerbros.com/

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/estudiosirlandeses/merivirta07.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_(film)

Todas las imágenes pertenecen a sus autores

Exciting news – Neil Jordan’s giving a talk next Monday! It’s being held in the Arts Block (Synge Theatre) in Trinity College, and is part of the events organised for Fresher’s Week. There’s no way that this won’t be interesting, how many people are as multi-talented as Neil Jordan? Here’s the link to his website if you want to find out more about him, or just come along to the talk on the 21st, which starts at 7.30pm. It’s being organized by the Phil society, but the invite isn’t making it clear if you have to be a member or whether it’s okay just to show up…

El traje del muerto (Joe Hill)

El traje del muerto de Joe Hill (Editorial Suma de Letras).

El libro nos presenta a Jude Coyne una estrella del heavy metal ya un tanto olvidado por el público que tiene unas aficiones peculiares: su debilidad por las jovencitas góticas con las cuales pasa sus buenos ratos hasta que ellas le piden una relación más formal y entonces él pone tierra de por medio,  y su afición por lo macabro, lo que generará la trama del libro. Una película snuff, que provocó el fin de su matrimonio, dibujos realizados por John Wayne Gacy (Pogo, el payaso asesino), un recetario para caníbales, etc… Jude,  propietario de todas estas lindezas no se lo piensa dos veces cuando su secretario particular le comunica que se subasta por internet un traje de un muerto con su fantasma incorporado. Cuando dicho traje llega a sus manos empieza una espiral de terror que provocará que tenga que huir de su mansión para salvar la vida acompañado de la gótica de turno Mary-Beth, aunque él la llama Georgia, 30 años más joven que él y de sus dos perros fieles: Angus y Bon, los cuales desempeñarán un papel importante en el devenir de los hechos. Sin embargo, no es fácil escapar de la ira de un fantasma que viene del pasado…

Joe Hill se llama en realidad Joseph Hillstrom King y es el segundo hijo del rey del terror Stephen King. “El traje del muerto” ganó el premio Bram Stoker como mejor novela novel del 2007 y creo que merecidamente.
La historia sin ser una maravilla te engancha desde el principio y logra mantener la tensión hasta el final. Los personajes están bien dibujados, y el escritor, al revés que su padre, no llena las páginas del libro con detalles que nos son indiferentes. El personaje mejor tratado es el protagonista, Jude. Al principio se nos muestra como una persona egoísta y superflua que solo busca su propia satisfacción, pero que cuando empieza la huida del fantasma inicia un viaje a su yo interior descubriendo la banalidad de su vida y prometiéndose cambiar si sale con vida de la persecución fantasmal. “El traje del muerto” no llega a la categoría de los primeros libros de Stephen King “Carrie“, “Resplandor“, “Salem’s Lot“, pero desde luego es mucho mejor que los últimos que ha escrito este escritor, el cual últimamente nos castiga con unos  libros soporíferos  a cual peor salvo quizás “Cell” (“Celular“). Después de haber leído “El traje del muerto” me compré “Voces del silencio” coescrito por Tabitha King, esposa de Stephen King, esperando que fuera tan interesante como el libro de su hijo,  pero el resultado fué una total decepción. Una supuesta historia gótica que no tiene ni pies ni cabeza, no lo pude acabar. Simplemente horrible de lo malo que era, claro. La editorial de “El traje del muerto” visto el éxito del libro sacó poco después “Fantasmas“, una recopilación de historias de fantasmas escritas también por Joe Hill, aunque cronológicamente anteriores al libro mencionado. El resultado global de  “Fantasmas” es un tanto irregular, pero con todo ninguna de las historias se puede tachar de mediocre. Hoy mismo me he enterado que Joe Hill acaba de guionizar un comic llamado “Locke and Key- Bienvenidos a Lovecraft” que se publica precisamente este mes en España. Será cuestión de seguirle la pista. Por último, reseñaré que el director de cine Neil Jordan que nos ha deleitado con cintas del género como “Dentro de mis sueños” y “Entrevista con el vampiro” será el encargado de llevar “El traje del muerto” a la gran pantalla. Estaremos atentos…

Por Miscua.

a/n: I haven’t updated in a while because my computer has been sending me lovely messages about it exceeding its maximum temperature limits and threatening to explode, embedding molten shards into my flesh. Oh well…

“What’s your name?”

“The phantom lady.”

“That’s a funny name.”

“I know that– I’m a funny lady.”

The film Breakfast On Pluto is 128 minutes, and I’d have to say it is the first film I’ve viewed in a long time in which each and every minute is aptly used and purposeful. Breakfast On Pluto is a film adaptation of Patrick McCabe’s novel of the same name which recounts a young transwoman’s search for her biological mother against the backdrop of tumultuous 1970’s Northern Ireland and London. The main character, Patrick “Kitten” Braden, conceived from a priest’s fling with his housekeeper,  is abandoned to a fanatically Catholic foster mother. Struggling with her identity throughout childhood and adolescence, Kitten rebels against the staunch social climate in various ways, be it cross-dressing, writing scandalous in-class essays, taking home-economics, or even bejeweling her Catholic school uniform. But her hometown is unrelenting, so Kitten leaves for London in search of her biological mother who has been internally glorified as a movie star, an idolized escape from the religious fanaticism of Kitten’s foster family and the IRA’s militancy that has engulfed her childhood friendships. Leaving home, Kitten’s journey of self-discovery is nothing short of fantastical. She finds love in curious places and people, including a musician, a magician, an officer, and friends, though she ultimately seeks love and acceptance from her elusive mother, nicknamed “the phantom lady.”

I found this film beautiful not only as a biography of Kitten, a transwoman, but also of Northern Ireland as fate intrinsically binds her to the workings of the IRA’s rebel forces.  At its core, this film illustrates the construction of a personal identity, from self-discovery to love to self-acceptance. At times Breakfast On Pluto is optimistic, lighthearted and humorous, and at other times, vulnerable, confused and devastatingly poignant; its power increased tenfold by its chapter-like storytelling and phenomenal soundtrack…not to mention top-notch acting by both starring and supporting roles (Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, etc…)!

My only critique of the film would be its trepidation in exploring Kitten’s sexuality. Firstly, her film nickname is a somewhat censored version of her literary nickname “Pussy.” Furthermore, in her relations throughout the film, sexual interactions don’t extend beyond intimate hugging. As par for the course in most media, it is okay to parade around characters of an array of sexual orientations as long as they are seemingly desexualized; PDA is wholly unacceptable! Fortunately, there are films that give characters of various orientations free-range to explore their sexuality on-screen; the first that comes to mind is The Crying Game due to the Neil Jordan and Stephen Rea connection to both films.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend Breakfast On Pluto for anyone looking for a film that is not only about a transsexual’s self-discovery, but explores a universal sentiment of learning to love and accept oneself while finding others to do just the same. Kitten’s life exemplifies that though “the course of true love never did run smooth”, no one said it couldn’t be fantastic.