Father Geek here with a special Euro-Column for this week by Robert Bernocchi devoted to Formula One racing legend TAZIO NUVOLARI of the Ferrari Grand Prix teams of the 1930's. But before we get to that there are a couple of bits I collected here at Geek Headquarters in Austin that may interest you...
Lomart here with the welcome news that a notorious rape film passed uncut for video release in England. A movie notorious for its violent rape scenes has been passed uncut by censors for video release for the first time here in the UK. The British Board Of Film Classification took advice from clinical psychologists who said Straw Dogs would not be harmful to viewers. The 1971 film, starring Dustin Hoffman and recent EastEnders actress Susan George, had previously been refused a certificate for home viewing. It was last rejected in 1999 because of the double rape scene which is widely regarded as one of the most disturbing images in cinema history. Although Straw Dogs was passed for cinemas, the BBFC tends to be more guarded about the images which can be viewed at home.
In rejecting the film three years ago it pointed out its guidelines were "stricter with scenes of sexual violence on video than film, because of their potential to be played over and over at home". The film failed to get a certificate because the distributor refused to make the cuts which the BBFC required. However, the film which has now been given a certificate is a different version, and restores the film to its original form. The version presented three years ago had already cut much of the most unsettling material from the second rape. This, the BBFC said, had tended to leave the audience with the impression that the woman Amy - played by George - had enjoyed the experience.
The board said: "The ambiguity of the first rape is given context by the second rape, which now makes it quite clear that sexual assault is not something that Amy ultimately welcomes." Psychologists who specialise in work with sex offenders were consulted about the film and they concluded it was not likely to encourage interest in rape or abusive behaviour.
A focus group of members of the public largely favoured passing the film uncut with 20 out of 26 people agreeing 18 was the most appropriate certificate. In the film Amy is raped first by an ex-boyfriend and then by another man.
.... Harry Lomart
Father Geek back with this about one of my most favorite comic book artists and Spain's phantastic Festival of Darkness...
Spain's gala Semana Negra festival of the arts has announced the appearance of this year's special Guest of Honor, writer-artist-entertainer Jim Steranko. Sponsored by the Gijon Museum of Modern Art, the event will showcase the largest exhibition of his work ever to be shown in Europe.
From his ground-breaking Marvel comics to his evocative full-color paintings and his conceptual film work, the creator's entire career will be commemorated in STERANKO: ARTE NOIR, a 200-page catalog annotated by pop-culture historian J. David Spurlock and exhibit curator Angel de la Calle. Published in bi-lingual format, the volume promises to be the most significant book ever published about Steranko and includes essays by prominent European art critics, plus commentary by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon.
To highlight the event, Steranko has agreed to return to the theatrical stageto recreate one of the escape stunts that brought him early fame as a daredevil magician and influenced many world-class celebrities, including illusionist David Copperfield and comic-book colossus Jack Kirby, whose super escape artist Mister Miracle was inspired by the Steranko performances. Additionally, he will also participate in a discussion of his many media careers, which range from one of the top ten most-influential comic-book artists in the world to vintage rock-and-roll musician to international magazine publisher to cinematic collaborator with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola.
Originally founded to celebrate Mystery Literature, the festival's title roughly translates to Mystery Week or Festival of Darkness. Extending from July 5-14, the ten-day celebration currently focuses on a wide variety of cultural arts and activities. Italian, French, German, Spanish, American, and Latin-American publications, radio, and TV stations will both cover and participate in the event.
In recent years, the Discovery Channel produced a program on Semana Negra and The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post have also reported on the festival, which will have an attendance of 1,000,000 visitors.
Leticia 'La Valkiria'
Coooool, I'd love to be there... Now here's our editor in Rome...
Hi people. This is a very special column, entirely (even because this week I didn't receive any contributions at all) dedicated to a project regarding Tazio Nuvolari, a legendary Italian racing driver well known by the fan of cars competitions. Before leaving you with my impressions, I just want to tell you that I will be on vacation for the next two weeks. Thus, if you have something interesting for us, send it directly to Father Geek .
The Tazio Nuvolari Project
I received the script (which was written by David Baxter and Michael Hamilton-Wright) from an anonymous european source. He told me that it's going out to financiers as we speak and it seems that Nicolas Cage is very interested to produce the movie and play the part of Nuvolari. Philip Kaufman could be behind the camera. What did Nuvolari do to become more of a hero than a simple sportsman?
He started his career as a motorcycle driver in 1920 and he competed randomly in car races. Of course, even if he didn’t get the great results he will obtain with the four wheels, he was very popular in our country and was called “two wheeler Campionissimo”. In 1924, Nuvolari meets the man who will be very important in his activity, Enzo Ferrari. Ferrari, in his memories, wrote: “met Nuvolari for the first time in front of the Basilica di S. Apollinare in Classe, near Ravenna, during the 2nd "Circuito del Savio". At the start I did not take into consideration that small, thin man; but during the race I realized he was the only one who could threaten my success”.
Between 1927 and 1928 Tazio made his choice: in order to intensify his own activity as a car driver, he started his own racing team in Mantua. In 1930, he obtained his first triumph at 4th Mille Miglia. This is the point where the movie begins to tell the Nuvolari story. I took this information from the official site of TAZIO NUVOLARI This is the english version of the site, take a look at it if you want to know more about the Flying Mantuan, but consider that the facts of Nuvolari’s life are depicted very faithfully in the script, so if you won’t know anything, it's better to avoid reading.
When I started reading the script, I was worried it could contain all the stereotypes usually connected to Italians. Also, I was afraid it could be a usual and banal tale of a car racer, concentrating too much on the competitions and forgetting the other characters (Days of Thunder, anyone?). Instead, I had the pleasure to read a very good screenplay, which could be the basis for a great Oscar contending motion picture.
- First, as an Italian it’s great to see Hollywood describing one of our national heroes with respect. This could be for my country what Braveheart was for Scotland. In fact, this is a classic tale of a man who never gave up and overcame all the difficulties to achieve his goals. And the ending reminded me of the last thirty minutes of Escape to Victory (even if it’s a bit strange to see a fascist disappointing Hitler…). If the audiences worldwide loved the John Huston flic making it a classic, I suppose it could be the same with “Nuvolari”.
- I really enojoyed the characters. And not only the Nuvolari character as I could imagine, but also the other ones, like Ferrari, Carolina (Tazio’s wife), Tazio's childrens, Varzi (one of the most important rival of Nuvolari and not only in car competitions…). In fact, I adored that we can't divide these people into good and bad stereotypes. For example, Ferrari at first seems much more interested to his machines than in their drivers’ lives. But during the script we can see him make difficult and dangerous decisions to follow his ideals, helped sometimes by his cunning to achieve his goals. And even the Carolina character is more than the champion’s babe and could be a very good role for an Italian actress (the first name I have in mind is of course Monica Bellucci, but why not Valeria Golino, who is very well known also in the States for her work in Rain Man and Hot Shots! and who recently made a great performance in the Italian movie Respiro, which received a prize in Cannes). Even the parts of Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio and Tazio’s mechanic Decimo are well described, even if it would have been very easy to fall into the ridicolous. I just hope that this deepness will stay even in the finished movie...
- The dialogue is almost perfect. I think the audience will love the conversations between Tazio and Ferrari or Tazio with Varzi. There are funny moments and dramatics ones and the words the characters are saying are never out of place. And the exchanges between Tazio and his wife are deep, without being ridiculous as many recent Hollywood romances are.
- Even if there is so much stuff to tell, it seems to me that the screenwriters worked very well, passing easily and clearly from a race to Hitler's offices. In fact, one of the most original ideas in the screenplay is to tell how much the political influences of Mussolini and Hitler could influence the competitions. Since the beginning, we are easily introduced in the world on the ’30 and even if there are plenty of speaking parts it’s quite simple to follow the facts. Of course, there are some differences with the actual events (for example, Tazio’s second driver in the Mille Miglia wasn’t his mechanic Decimo and a very important moment of Varzi’s life doesn’t occur in the thirties but in the 1948), but this is absolutely normal in such a project and doesn’t seem to me that these changes could offend anyone.
- I found great (and very modern) the dualism between the man and the machine. This is what makes Nuvolari a real hero, to defeat the power of the German machines. Nowadays, the supremacy of the Ferrari team is so evident that the championship races have lost much of their interest. But there was a time when a man could make the difference. Curiously, in one of the first races described in this project, Ferrari asks Nuvolari to give up winning in favor of another pilot. Even if the Ferrari team didn’t exist then (it was in fact the Alfa Romeo team), I immediately thought (as I suppose everyone who is interested in formula 1) at the recent controversy about a very similar fact, when Barrichello had to leave passing Schumacher during a competition. Will this scene stay in the movie? We’ll see…
- I found very interesting the power of the objects (for example, the tortoise pin that D’annunzio gives to Nuvolari) in the script. It will work very well in the movie.
There is also something that I didn’t appreciate, but I’m sure it could be fixed in the final script.
- I really enjoyed the fact that there are not stereotypes about Italians. But there is a small thing that (I assure you) is very annoying for Italians (but I suppose is the same for French or German people when there is a movie about them). I can of course understand that Italian people are talking in English for productive reasons. Then, why use sometimes the words "Signore" (which means “Mister”) or "Ciao"? The risk (mostly for Decimo's character) is to look a bit ridicolous. I'd prefer they speak entirely in English.
- I would extend the Ferrari character. Not only because he's a too powerful figure to have a second role, but because it's been a longtime since Hollywood promised a film about "Il Duca". I suppose it would be easier to find the budget selling it as a movie about "Ferrari and Nuvolari".
- Even if I don't consider it as a flaw, reading the script I had the impression (if it will be transposed faithfully) it will cost a lot of money, mostly because they have to recreate the Tripoli, Monaco, Adenau circuits and also the Mille Miglia towns. Probably somethings will miss the final script, but I hope it won’t ruin the project.
Just a last opinion of my own. If I was a screenwriter, I would be excited to have Nicolas Cage as the star of my movie. But if I were Nicolas Cage (and I’m unfortunatelly not ) I absolutely wouldn't miss this chance. First, because it seems to me that he’s more skilled playing these kind of troubled and uncontrollable characters than cardboard cutout heroes as in Windtalkers. I heard he could be in the next John Woo movie, but I think that it’s too early to recreate this team after the Windtalkers flop.
The second important reason for Nicolas Cage to accept this role and to be involved in the project is to make Italian (and worldwide) audiences forget his performance in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (“Ciao, bella bambina…”, sic…). To say that Italian people HATED to be represented that way, is a simple euphemism….
Anyway, I reckon that this is a perfect screenplay to make a very good movie about racing. Considering that the next announced project about this subject is a movie with Britney Spears, I’m praying to everyone involved with it (Nicolas Cage, Philip Kaufman and the executives) to make this pic. They won’t regret this decision…
