Welcome to the second installment of our Latin-AICN column which will be appearing here every Tuesday morning. Father Geek wants to encourage all of you that are interested in the Latin American Film Industry to send whatever news, reviews, festival reports, or set reports to our column's editor Coffin Joe . He has news to cover from 3 continents and he can't do Latin Cinema justice without the help of all of you sending him your E-mails stuffed with film information. So become a vital part of this column and contact our editor in Sao Paulo.
You know I got to thinking the other day that many of you may not be familar with the real Coffin Joe, so I decided to relate how Father Geek came to know this great Brazilian film maker. Back in 1969 Father Geek was in film school at the University of Texas in Austin. I discovered that all the different forign language departments had a cinema course too. Russian film, French film, Spanish film, etc... were offered by their departments, Harry's mom and I began to work our way through each of them. We eventually ended up in the Portuguese Department where we were introduced mainly to the cinema of Brazil. One night we were treated to a double feature of films by writer-director-actor Jose Mojical Marins. That evening we saw "A Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma", At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, and "Estranho Mundo de Ze do Caixao", The Strange world of Coffin Joe, two fantastic little Black and White Horror films that we would never forget. Years later at a Drive-In Horror triple feature Helen, Harry (age 4), and I would run into Coffin Joe again when "O Exorcismo Negro", or The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe hit the screen as the third feature. It was another great little work of horror from Marins. So folks our reporter/editor of this column chose a ultra cooooool name for himself. This guy's films are out there on video, they're hard to find , but well worth the effort geeks. Dig, there's no telling what you'll unearth...
Spooky old man Coffin Joe here , with the second latin-aicn report .
Let´s get to what matters shall we ? ok , here it goes :
Years later at a Drive-In Horror triple feature Helen, Harry (age 4), and I would run into Coffin Joe again when "O Exorcismo Negro", or The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe hit the screen as the third feature. It was another great little work of horror from Marins. So folks our reporter/editor of this column chose a ultra cooooool name for himself. This guy's films are out there on video, they're hard to find , but well worth the effort geeks. Dig, there's no telling what you'll unearth...
Spooky old man Coffin Joe here , with the second latin-aicn report .
Let´s get to what matters shall we ? ok , here it goes :
-Two members of the Brazilian metal band Sepultura , drummer Igor Cavalera and guitarist Andreas Kisser , have done some work on the score for a Brazilian adventure movie called " No Coração dos Deuses " ( " In the Hearts of Gods " ) . The score itself was composed by André Moraes , and it also features Mike Patton , former lead singer of Faith No More ( remember Epic ? ) . Check out the movie , and everything else related to this cool little flick in its website : www.deuses.com.br .
-Pedro Almodovar is in talks to direct Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina in a movie called "Frida" , based on the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo . At some point Walter Salles Jr ( Central Station ) was attached to direct it , but apparently he dropped out .
-A box containing 5 of Coffin Joe´s classic films has been released here in Brazil , all films being available in their uncut glory for every fanboy´s enjoyment .
-A film based on the life of classical music composer Villa-Lobos has just hit thetres here in Brazil , and Antônio Fagundes ( Bossa Nova ) , plays the character in his adult life , and actor Marcos Palmeira portrays him in his twenties.
COFFIN JOE NOTE : A bio-pic with great performances all around , beautiful art direction and , despite the fact that I thought the film didn´t call for a non-linear structure , it´s a movie worth checking out for its production values and , like I said , strong performances.
-That rumor you may have heard about Steven Spielberg getting down here in May to produce a documentary about the number one sport around the globe , soccer , has appeared in some sites and newspapers over in these parts , so consider it to be more than just a rumor.
Now for a report from our new Argentinean spy Ulysses...
Ulysses here.
Buenos Aires, a town of never ending excitement and continuous joy and discovery. The latest jewel this magnificent city on the shores of the River Plate had to offer us was the International Film Festival of Independent Cinema. And ¡wow! was it great. We got films of all types of nationalities such as Iran, Japan, USA, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, etc. We also got to see a fascinating retrospective of John Cassavettes´s work and a couple of very interesting seminars. One of these featured Darren Aronofsky, his producer and two gals from Sundance and it was titled something like "The PI case".
I arrived at the auditorium at 9:15 AM, forty-five minutes before the scheduled starting time. When I got there, there was already a huge line at the entrance and I could hear the excited talk of hundreds of raving film fans, who were discussing the values and ideas of Mr. Aronofsky´s film and whether or not he would direct a new Batman. So there I stood in the blistering morning eating croissants and sipping hot coffee; after sharing with my partner in crime, Achilles, the terrific experience of seeing "Ghost Dog" in a midnight screening some hours before (review coming soon), and discussing the genius of Magnolia, a seriously underrated film which I consider one of the best of 99. We also talked a bit about a really weird Japanese film we recently saw called Dead or Alive, that contains two sequences you have to see with your own eyes in order to believe it.
At 10:00 AM, the doors of the auditorium opened and two gorgeous ladies delivered each attendant a pair of headphones for simultaneous translation. Once we got inside we immediately nose dived into the front rows and picked two seats in the fourth one, from which we could get a good glimpse of Aronofsky and Co. without breaking our necks trying to view whatever was playing on the screen behind them. Well, approximately fifteen minutes later, the PI screening began and, although I had seen this film a considerable number of times, the pleasure of experiencing it on the big screen was welcome. After it finished there was a short exchange of questions and answers between the filmmakers and the audience. This lasted for about twenty minutes, after which there was a brief time to have lunch in the numerous restaurants and bars of the central city.
When most of the people left to satisfy their craving stomachs, Achilles and I still remained in the theatre. In fact, we were having a very engaging conversation with Darren et pals, which included topics such as Batman and the neat, clean edition of PI. Whether or not he would opt to direct Batman was a subject on which he couldn't comment at all, because of some type of agreement with Warner Bros. "I won't do it unless they give me complete creative control" he said and then he made reference to a very close friend of his, who happened to be a great indie director who signed in for the big bucks to direct "The Mod Squad". As everyone who had to experience that heinous piece of excrement knows, this was one of the worst films since the times of "Batman in Rubber". Aronofsky´s version of the story is that his friend had no control of the film and that the producer of the film, the eternal Aaron Spelling, was the one who ruled the set. For instance, he obliged him to start every scene with a master shot, you know, like in "The Brady Bunch" where every show began with a shot of the family´s house, despite the fact that the audience knew perfectly well that that was the location where the characters interacted. I mean, it is a way of laughing at the intelligence of the public.
After that, there was some excited talk about Mr. Aronofsky´s new film, "Requiem for a dream" which still hasn´t got a confirmed release date in the US. It seems that this baby will be even more twisted and complex than his prior work. The film stars Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connely and Marlon Wayans. Later on, Mr. Aronofsky confided to us that he got scammed shamelessly by Artisan Entertainment, who still owes him money. In fact, he said that all he got from PI was a mere ten thousand dollars, which is laughable considering that it grossed over five million worldwide, which is a great figure considering that Artisan bought the film for peanuts and that the marketing costs were really nonexistent.
After a half hour we let them go, realising that we were wasting their precious lunchtime in a conversation they must have had a thousand times. So, we told them about a great restaurant nearby where they serve these really thick and juicy steaks smothered in garlic and allowed them to leave with a handshake.
I hope you give this a chance...Ulysses.
Then from the lovely Osa Blanco I received this interesting bit of info...
The New York Museum of Modern Art will be screening from July 27th to September 7th a print of Paolo Agazzi's enchanting, multi-layered fable THE DAY SILENCE DIED.
This film is reminiscent of the magic realism of writers Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Luis Borges. It shows how mass communication corrupts a small, insular village in Bolivia when a self-described radio operator arrives in town to install a public loudspeaker that will broadcast news and music. This instrument of progress becomes a mouthpiece for the townspeople to air dirty laundry and secret desires. How a cukolded husband keeps his daughter locked up as punishment for his wifes infidelity, and how the radio operator still manages to fall in love with the shackled beauty can only be understood by viewing this film masterwork.
Sensuously photographed with sun draped exteriors and chiaroscuro interiors this 1998 film captures with ease the sleepy rhythms and honeysuckle scented air of the earthy, provincial town in which its set. Director Agazzi's beguiling mix of politics and the lives of the peasants is a playful peeling of narrative layers one after another. Don't miss the chanch to see this masterpiece with an audience on the big screen later this summer.
