La Grande Illusion by Jean Renoir (1937)

"Morning glory" was so bad that I needed immediately to erase this out of my memory with something good, so I went for Jean Renoir WW1 classic.

Now, usually I avoid war movies whenever I can - saw too many of them as a child + been to real war myself and don't need to see any uniforms as long as I live. However, the cast sounded good and I was completely unhappy with Hepburn's acting in "Morning glory" so I needed a fix of something good immediately. To my biggest surprise Renoir's movie turned out to be not only very interesting and watchable, but also moving and human, I mean here we have war movie without one single fighting scene,its all about the story and great acting.

Renoir paints a picture of a different world - this is way before Nazis and Hitler changed our perception of german soldiers, in WW1 there were actually old-school army gentlemen who would honor the enemy, shake hands and apologize for inconvenience. So we have characters of obvious aristocratic background behaving like gentlemen towards each other even as enemies and working class common soldiers going trough the horrors of war together. Interestingly, Renoir shows both french war prisoners and german soldiers with deep understanding of humanity, I dare to say he shows them all as human and not enemies. Jean Gabin is suffering in a solitary imprisonment and old german soldier feels sorry for him. His friends war prisoners are all lovable rascals, just like some of german "enemies" are simply people mobilized (kids in uniforms marching). Friendships that grow out of sharing the same circumstances (wealthy jew who shares his food with everybody), young german widow who lives in a house with a big empty table because all of her family had died in a war. I understand this all too well,because I was in a war myself and people around me (and probably on the other side) were ex-civilians who happened to be pulled out of their usual circumstances, postman, the butcher and such.

There is a very interesting story - divided into several parts - that I won't go into right now,it really has to be seen. It definitely deserves its reputation as masterpiece and one of greatest films ever made. I dare anybody to watch it and not be moved. Its really up there with "The Best Years Of Our Lives" except that its done with european sensibilities and a lot of compassion for both sides. Because it was so famous, germans banned and seized the copies as soon as they occupied Paris (this turned out to be a blessing in disguise when decades later this copy was found in excellent condition). If in the beginning I was simply following the story, eventually I got so involved that towards the end I found myself crying several times because I loved and understood the characters so well. When Gabin tries to explain (in his bad german) to a german widow "After war.. if me no die.. I come back" I bawled like a baby. Definitely one to watch again.

"Morning glory" (1933)

O.K. This is it.
The.Worst.Old."Classic".Black.And.White.Movie.I.Have.Ever.Seen.

Film adaptation of a stage play about young,naive actress coming to New York searching for a big break, with pockets full of dreams and hopes about becoming theatre legend like her idols. Along the way, she is pitied, abused and laughed at, than suddenly gets a last-minute-chance and turns out to be new discovery. At the end she realizes that success means personal sacrifice and accepts it for the sake of her art.

At the paper,it sounds fairly harmless arty warning against sharks in show business, but in reality this must be the worst over acting I have ever seen in my entire life. Usually I love old black & white movies and have no problem if they are a bit dated, but this was laughable, annoying and simply bad. Don't know should we blame the script, director or Katherine Hepburn - we see her first waiting with other hopefuls in front of producer's office, talking and introducing herself to strangers (so far so good,she is obviously not sophisticated and very naive) but during the next five minutes we realize something is wrong with this girl, she talks to much, she is too eager, in fact she never listens anyone and talks constantly about herself without pausing for a breath. Again, maybe this were director's instructions - Hepburn is so annoying that today we would classify her as deluded,deranged and definitely off-balance. All trough the movie her character talks,talks,talks and than talks some more, gestures like she is on a stage, lives on another planet from other people around her and in a final scene when she yells "I'm ready!" it sounds so overbearing that she might as well be ready for a hospitalization.

Now, this is all very confusing - I have seen lots of old classics from 1920s,1930s and 1940s and from what I have seen, these old movies reflect atmosphere and public morals of the times,however this is simply bad case of overacting. All the other characters, including obvious comical cameos, have certain human, normal touch to them but Hepburn is simply mad. I mean, I would press "help" button under my table and call for the ambulance to sedate her and get her away. That Hepburn actually won "Oscar" for this movie is absolutely mystifying - just look at the acting of Mary Astor,Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow not to mention Bette Davis,Garbo or any other actress of the 1930s and underneath obvious Hollywood cellophane we can see natural acting or at least attempts to appear human. This was so bad that it spoiled my enjoyment of Hepburn and keep me wonder about point of Academy Award at all.

"Dok razmišljam o nama" by Josipa Lisac (Zagreb '72)

This is such a evergreen and classic written in stone now,that its forgotten what an uproar it got when it won pop first prize on pop festival "Zagreb '72".

Young singer (only 22 at the time) was well known and respected but up to this point mainstream audience never really warmed up to her. As lyric writer Ivica Krajač told me once, "in those early years people were still just getting used to her unique style of singing". Translated in commercial terms, Lisac was highly visible festival performer who obviously didn't fit in "family entertainment" group of colleagues - others were recording sunny bubble gum jingles and selling records, while Lisac (who could obviously sing circles around them) simply was not commercial.

This is where Karlo Metikoš steps in - huge star and a rock pioneer in a previous decade,somebody who proved himself in international charts and stages was so impressed with young lady that he decided to take direction of her career in his hands, as her composer. Convinced that she can sing anything, he not only dived head-on into composing material for her debut LP album (that would eventually turn into rock masterpiece) but submitted this song for pop festival "Zagreb '72". It was a complete make-over that presented Lisac in a different light, surrounded with lush orchestration and sounding like seductive siren (up to this point, on her recordings she was thunderous). Perhaps instinctively, Metikoš gave her stage to sound markedly different and be as sexy & mannered as she wants - never before Lisac was so breathtakingly weary and introspective like in this song, perfectly tailored for her (in fact, we could say that this is true beginning of Josipa Lisac we know). Bluesy "schlager" ballad, with beautiful orchestration (Ozren Depolo?) and vocal choir ("Melos" with Ksenija Erker)  introduced her as a torch singer who paints the picture of disappointment and resignation. Interestingly enough, while simultaneously composing rock music for her album,Metikoš understood that for pop festival he needed different sound and came up with a classy blues that in itself was tribute to music from previous decade. From the orchestrated introduction to the very last note,it was perfect festival song. And it won.

Unfortunately the clique of usual commercial composers/performers was outraged - instead of congratulating Lisac on her victory, media was focused on criticism and expressing opinions that other singers were more deserving to win. That Lisac was too mannered, that it she wasn't even contender against some bigger names, that Metikoš actually copied "Never been to Spain" not by note and therefore he was plagiarist. It sounds completely ridiculous now but it went so far that some colleagues refused even to talk to Lisac. Very next February, her debut LP was released and put those same colleagues to shame - she continued for decades, with Metikoš at her side trough highs and lows, while most of performers on "Zagreb '72" are long forgotten now. With a few exceptions, they all belong to history while this song continued life as a evergreen and lives in cover versions even today.

Contemporary media coverage:

http://nada-knezevic.blogspot.com/2011/02/zagreb-72.html

"Red Dust" (1932.)

In the previous essay on a film "Dodsworth" I really liked the actress Mary Astor - both her character and acting were complete antithesis of "Mrs.Dodsworth" (curiously enough,these two actresses were actually very good friends in real life). So I did a little research and found out I actually have her in my movie collection, appearing in a movie filmed before notorious 1934. moral code that strictly forbade basically everything and wanted the cinema industry to became wholesome, clean, family entertainment. In one sweep of legal registration, so called "Hayes code" formally blocked anything that was exciting (sex,crime,horror, murders, gangsters) and proclaimed that from now on, movie characters have to behave morally acceptive - out went Mae West with her dirty jokes,in came Shirley Temple. Luckily for us, pre-code movies are well preserved and some of them (like this next one) actually today celebrated as historically important national treasures.

"Red dust" (1932.) is a typical,delightful pre-code Hollywood movie where good guys are boring and bad guys are the one we love. Sweating on his rubber plantation, young Clark Gable is surrounded with men who are cursing, drinking and beating native workers (yes,its offensive for today's standards but obviously it was different time) when out of the blue sky sexy bombshell Jean Harlow falls in this "menagerie" clothed in silky frou-frou's that are constantly falling of her shoulders. Both Gable and Harlow are perfect for each other - he drinks and curses, she is obviously a prostitute who is hiding from some trouble and knows how to handle men like him. As a complete opposite we have young,married couple who arrive on plantation - engineer who is so well behaved that Gable can eat him for breakfast and his elegant, classy wife (Mary Astor) who is everything Harlow is not.

The rascal he is, Gable sends engineer for a week somewhere to work in a jungle and uses time to seduce his wife who is so well behaved that this new found passion completely shakes her from her usual stylishness and now she can't see anything but Gable's rough manliness. (To be fair,he washes and shaves for her.) A strange complicated story than follows, with four characters tormented not only with passions and lust,but also with a rain, wind and red dust that blows everywhere. The tiger roars outside, tropical nights are hot, what else to do but to seduce each other,I guess. The movie is full of fast dialogues that main characters spit out so easily that one can't help but to giggle, I must admit that these old pre-code movies had some fun scripts - I mean, there's nothing truly spectacular happening and still we can't help but watch like hypnotized.

Acting is surprisingly modern - Gable and Harlow look and behave like any today's superstar team would do (with noticeable chemistry between them) completely overshadowing "good" couple who are unfortunately so nice that we want them out of the picture. The engineer (Gene Raymond) is just obstacle and his wife (Mary Astor) is clearly out of place in a jungle - she is a sophisticated lady who can't imagine even washing in a barrel, while Harlow happily jumps in the same barrel naked and teases Gable. Lots of people today find faults with many details shown here - treatment of native workers and wild animals, not to mention stereotype of house servant (chinese actor Willie Fung) who basically just clowns around, makes grimaces and appears simple-minded. If you think this is demeaning, think again - recently I worked with somebody just like this for six months and the guy was spitting image of "Hoy" so people like him DO exist even today.

"Dodsworth" (1936)

While I am on a roll with 1930s movies,I decided to check something that I know absolutely nothing about - I switched lights off, lit the candle, surrounded myself with dinner, coffee, beer and cigarettes (while outside was still snowing) and purred next to fire in a stove, than started the movie. Oh joy. No wonder,it was directed by William Wyler.

Now, this is not the name that pops out often in conversation today because Wyler belongs to category of classic Hollywood - audiences have incredibly short memory span and usually can remember directors from past decade or two, however this is somebody who in my opinion has BUILT Hollywood - he started in early 1920s, cleaning the stages and moving things around, than slowly started making movies and oh,what a movies he made - "Jezebel","The Letter" and "The Little Foxes" with Bette Davis, "Mrs. Miniver" (his first "Oscar"), "The Best Years of Our Lives" (that I reviewed here, another "Oscar"), "The Heiress" (with Olivia de Havilland, who won "Oscar"), "Roman Holiday" (with Audrey Hepburn) and if that's not enough, he topped it all with 11 "Oscars" for "Ben-Hur". And than again directed Barbra Streisand in her movie debut "Funny girl" that immediately made her international superstar and got her "Oscar". I probably forgot some titles along the way, the man was genius.

Anyway, I approached "Dodsworth" not knowing anything about it. Except that it was made in 1930s so I would probably like it.

Sometimes its even better to approach the movie without knowing anything about it - no friends recommending "funny" comedies or blockbusters with earth-shattering explosions and computer animated effects that are getting old the very next week. "Dodsworth" started to roll before my eyes and sucked me in the 1930s world immediately, though I must admit the story could have been placed in any time - its very easy to imagine it happening today. It turned out to be a brilliant drama about a long-married couple who lived together as long as it was convenient for both of them. Husband is successful businessman, used to have things done his way and having wife fluttering around the house, ordering the servants and being decorative. They could probably spend the rest of their lives living comfortably if not for wife's conviction that trip to Europe would be a magical idea. While the husband easily gets carried away with innocent excitement about finally seeing England, wife has other things on her mind - she is seriously feeling that time is passing and wants to dance, flirt and enjoy life with european high society before they both grow old. From this moment, a terrific drama starts to take place with both of them slowly going in opposite directions and discovering that they actually never really knew each other.

Script, acting, costumes, locations - everything is done by perfection. Husband is played by Walter Houston (father of John and grandfather of Angelica) who under his blunt appearance hides such gentleness and patience that he actually made me cry at one point. Wife (Ruth Chatterton) couldn't have been better choice, everything about her suggest desperate fight to escape golden cage and stop the time - even when she appears silly and superficial, we understand her behavior - she is described as basically negative character but I would not agree, after all, what other options she had except slowly shrinking and turning into another aged party hostess who pours drinks to her husband. Not one,but two excellent russian actors appear in small roles of austrian nobility (Gregory Gaye and his stern mother Maria Ouspenskaya), when regal Ouspenskaya (famous for her cameo in original "Wolfman" as Gypsy Woman who talks about wolfbane) faces the wife, this is one of the most stunning moments of the movie. And finally there is a beautiful actress Mary Astor, previously unknown to me, who meets the couple during their transatlantic voyage and from the beginning understand what would happen between them.

It's interesting to imagine how this film would turn out if it gets new version - probably directors would not resist to add a lot of sex, violence and whatnot - wife might get some understanding instead being characterized as shallow for the crime of aging and wanting something else from life. Wyler also knowingly describes gaps between american and european society, though I must admit european men all appear strangely decadent and permanently horny while americans are presented as basically good natured and innocent (than again, this is adaptation of a novel and a stage play).

"Bolja prošlost" by Petar Luković (1989)

Every time I return from my sailing adventures and happily start re-arranging, dusting and checking out my books collection, there is one particular book that means a world to me and I hold it in my hands like its made of gold. I actually went so far to have it re-furnished again with a help of book-binder who sewed pages that were falling out. It is long out of print and the only book I wish to have with me on deserted island.

I had discovered it at some point in my local library (Krvavi most,Zagreb) filed under several volumes about music. Back than there were not as many books about music as today, mostly some encyclopedias translated from foreign languages.And lo and behold, suddenly I discovered this wonderful,large book titled "Bolja prošlost" ("The Better Past?") by journalist Petar Luković that was exclusively focused on pop music of Ex-Yu and how it grew,changed, metamorphosed and slowly integrated into society hat was slowly recovering from WW2 and was suspicious towards anything that came from the "rotten west". Luković had this brilliant idea to present half a century of popular music trough some 40+ chapters with most visible artists from different backgrounds, starting from very early ones who started right after WW2 and ending the story in 1989. when the book was published.

It was such a staggeringly brilliant idea that I adored it back than and still do, this is kind of book I would write myself simply for the pleasure and joy of writing.

Than, something very ugly happened. It is mostly forgotten now, but at the beginning of our war, people became very sensitive towards anything that came from Serbia - I was working as DJ on the radio and was forbidden to play any serbian artists, for example - public libraries suddenly removed anything that was printed or published in Serbia from their shelves. My beloved "Bolja prošlost" was nowhere to be found. I asked for it,of course, searched and was rebuffed - all those mousy little ladies in libraries behaved like they would end in prison if they tell me what happened with serbian books. (I suspected they locked them in some basements and cursed myself for not simply stealing "Bolja prošlost" when I had a chance).Tons of books printed in Serbia disappeared from the shelves, including those I used for my studies (history, WW1 and such, nothing really dangerous or threatening) in fact, than current media hysteria was far more dangerous than collection of poetry by serbian poets, to be honest. O.K. so I couldn't fight the windmills and let it at that. In retrospective, it was maybe better that way since I moved and changed address so many times that all my collections were lost and left somewhere behind, including my treasured LP collection.

Fast forward to a next decade: I was living in Amsterdam and thanks to internet found out about than-new encyclopedia of Ex Yu Rock music written by Petar Janjatović and was intrigued enough to order it directly for him, instead paying some on-line shops. His book was very informative and covered a lot but its nature meant that he was focused exclusively on Rock music and I could not forget all the musicians who came before that, so I gently inquired are there any copies of "Bolja prošlost" in second-hand bookshops of Belgrade. As author of his own book, Janjatović could simply ignore my question but he recognized music fan and sent me copy of "Bolja prošlost" right to my Amsterdam's address. To this day I am so grateful to him that from time to time I think about sending him some gift as expression of my gratitude.

Every time I open "Bolja prošlost" I am reading it like for the very first time. There are simply so many stories about first jazz musicians who played music strictly forbidden by communist regime, how they eagerly watched rare US movies and memorized music so they could play it later. Than interviews with very first stars of pop music in than new country - Ivo Robić who was hanging out with Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole but at home would be summoned in the middle of the night to sing for president Tito.

Orchestra leaders like Bojan Adamič who was one of the first who played Jazz and simultaneously brought thousands to his concerts and dangerous criticism from Communist Party who attacked him in media for playing "US propaganda trash". Predrag Cune Gojković who had the first best selling record in a country that didn't even had so many record players. Đorđe Marjanović and Vice Vukov, clash of pop music giants. Our very first female superstar Lola Novaković who had media on her trails all the time.People like Nikica Kalogjera and Stjepan Mihaljinec who helped to built our own glamourous pop festivals as platforms where new stars were catapulted. Young Gabi Novak who sang in a TV cartoon and was immediately invited to perform with country's biggest Jazz band.
Arsen Dedić writing lyrics for pop songs under pseudonym because he was embarrassed for dabbling into something so trivial. Father of Tereza Kesovija selling a pig to buy her a flute, instrument that would eventually lead her to singing in "Olympia". Beautiful Majda Sepe who saw herself as some kind of slovenian Doris Day.
Karlo Metikoš who was ignored at home and than welcomed as a hero once he became rock star in France....

All these singers share same enthusiasm and great memories for the time when pop music was still innocent and full of enthusiasm. Than money and politics started to creep in. Radmila Karaklajić basically got blacklisted, accused of buying votes on traveling pop festival. Miki Jevremović accused of plagiarism. Olivera Katarina going from being the biggest star in a country to forgotten and ignored by media. The rivalry between "new folk" stars Lepa Lukić and Silvana Armenulić.
Emergence of new rock stars, managers and big money.Occasional interesting story like Mišo Kovač refusing to sing for nationalistic emigrants in US or Lepa Brena giving away all the funds of her concerts to help building a new hospital. As the book progresses and reaches end of 1980s, managers and producers completely take over and materialism replaced previous love for music - even more dangerously, recording companies are pushing banal material that "people love" which means urban, schooled and educated composers and performers are pushed aside, while novelty acts of dubious quality rule radio waves and therefore create new standards. The book ends in 1989. but I could easily imagine a sequel that would cover the next two decades and gradual decline of music culture as such - today its all a gimmick, short-lived TV exposure, choreography and scandals - nostalgic and ironic title "The better past?" points that even though it was hard to be musician way back, it still had a certain dignity completely lost today.

LOTS of beautiful, rare photographs from private collections: elegant dresses on pop festivals of 1960s, our singers touring SSSR in 1970s, very first photograph of Karlo Metikoš and Josipa Lisac together, camaraderie behind the stages, Zdravko Čolić in army uniform (than again,hanging around with Đorđe Balašević who is also pictured while in a group with Bora Đorđević) .... it is the most exciting and complete work about popular music of some 40+ years in Ex Yu and I take my hat off to its author.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935.)

Why do I love old black & white movies so much?
Maybe because I found them far superior to almost anything that I see around me and old "classics" obviously had to have a certain class and quality in order to survive decades. I am aware that there was probably crap in every single decade (just like in music) but when the dust settles, people remember only the best, not the mediocre.
Take for example, oh-so-popular comedy "The Hangover" that I was finally forced to watch a few nights ago on TV, with friends telling me how they saw it TWICE already. Well, just as I thought, it turned out to be a nadir of crude, vulgar jokes (farts, naked asses and such) that would probably fascinate me was I teenager - I survived the ordeal and it did not made my life any richer for experience. If anything, it made me longing for my old favorites.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" from 1935. fascinated me from the start - myself,I am sort of living "ship life" though of course my daily routine has nothing to do with pulling the ropes and climbing the masts, today its all done by pressing the buttons. However, I was completely spellbound from the very first scene when sailors are basically forced to join the ship that would keep them separated from families and loved ones for the next two years. There was even a character of a young sailor who had to leave wife and baby behind. The story is well known - it is historical fact that "Bounty" sailed to Pacific Ocean and sailors mutinied against cruel and sadistic captain who kept the order by flogging and punishing them on daily basis. Knowing their mutiny means they would be imprisoned if they ever return to England, they left him in a small boat in the middle of the Ocean and hide in another little island to spend the rest of their lives in tropical paradise. Sadistic captain eventually finds his way back home and some of the officers and sailors were punished, however the experience pointed at cruelty at sea and was wildly publicized at the time.

Because this version was filmed in 1935. (it is not the first time, it was already adapted for the movie as far as 1916.) of course the focus was on historical costumes,action and Hollywood stars of the time - certain questions were simply glossed over, like for example the shock of sailors used to brutal life when they encountered Pacific Heaven where people lived simply, without money, half naked, singing and dancing in the sun. Pretty, smiling women everywhere. No wonder sailors refused to return to that sailing prison with flogging,starvation and prospect of facing cruel discipline again. And why they let this rotten captain to live instead flogging him first, than throwing him of the ship?

Charles Laughton is excellent as captain, though his behavior is today somewhat one-dimensional: he is simply nasty and cruel as opposite to much later Anthony Hopkins interpretation. In Hopkin's hands, captain suffers inner torture when faced with enormous difference of his strict upbringing and hedonism in Island. Because this is old fashioned Hollywood movie, the main focus is on Clark Gable (clean shaved!) who keeps his inner rage in check as long as he can, until the mutiny - we never find out what later became of him but history tells us he actually lost control over his mutinous crowd and was killed by drunken sailors in a fight. Franchot Tone (who was than at the peak of popularity) got a role of goodie who smiles and charms everybody around and he actually survives even the court back home. He got a nice speech in front of the court and later continued his naval career, as it actually happened in real life.

The main difference of movies back than and today is that old movies always had some moral message - we had good boys and bad boys, heroism, idealism, justice and truth shown as a main qualities. You can watch 1937. version of "Mutiny on the Bounty" with little kids and they would get a message, even if just from heroic speech of Franchot Tone. On the other hand, you show them "The Hangover" and all they will learn is how with enough money you can get ridiculously drunk in Las Vegas, vomit, insult everybody who is not drunk and steal police car.

Bob Dylan debut LP (1962)

This morning, as I woke up in my snow-covered cottage and run to get some wood for a stove, the very first thing that came to my mind was to play Bob Dylan.

Now, this is very strange because in usual circumstances he would not be my first choice - naturally,I am aware of his reputation and what a huge influence he had on popular music but he never really caught my attention enough to give him proper listening. Not that this was proper listening - I put on his very first LP album from 1962. and continued to run around, outside in the snow to get some more wood, inside to light it and such. Than something abut his lyrics got me - it was "Talkin' New York" that turned out to be poetic and funny and literate as anything I heard in my life. Humorous story about real,authentic mountain musician arriving in New York and looking for a job in those fashionable "coffee houses" where he is rejected for sounding like "hillbilly" - "we want folk singers here". The song was so good that I actually forgot that I disliked Dylan's basically ugly voice and listened the whole darn album several times with greatest pleasure, not to mention proper attention finally.

If there is anything to say about his recording debut, its only unfortunate lack of his own material - as a young man he idolized people like James Fuller or traditional material he covers a lot. If anything, "Talkin' New York" was so good that I wanted to hear more of his own writing. Yes, he started here and it just gets better - somehow this morning everything came in the right moment and I was finally ready to listen and enjoy his music.I am still not completely converted but I am getting there and appreciating the lyrical power of his artistry.

"Sačuvali smo od zaborava"

One of the biggest rarities,oddities and (to me at least) mysteries of "Jugoton" releases was this 2-LP compilation titled "Sačuvali smo od zaborava" (Saved from obscurity?) that was exclusively focused on ancient "schlager" hits popular in 1930s and 1940s, performed with virtually unchanged, faithful orchestration exactly like decades ago but with voices of current pop singers. I still remember my befuddlement, standing in records shop as a teenager, somehow I ended holding this in my hands, wondering what were these singers doing singing this material. 

Now, "Jugoton" was no stranger to compilations - just like its descendant, today's "Croatia Records" that apparently milks archives mercilessly - rules of the business even back than demanded occasional compilation album with titles "Music for you","Music for lovers" and such (with series of unforgettable,undistinguishable covers of either young,smiling girls or flowers, nature and sunlights). But so far nobody (with notable exception of Stjepan Jimmy Stanić) visited long-forgotten material of pop charts decades ago. I suspect that perhaps some old composers, still alive and kicking, had their input and wanted to have their songs re-recorded, who knows? In any case, somebody in "Jugoton" had brilliant idea to collect voices of new generation and have them faithfully sing sentimental ballads of 1930s. 

To be honest, singers here were not exactly spring chicken - in fact, many of them were stars in 1960s and found difficult to get any media exposure except in nostalgic TV shows. But without exception,all of them were old-school professionals who knew how to sing,deliver and emote, even if the genre seems far removed from what they were usually doing. Considering that most of them grew up on a diet of foreign pop covers, it was surreal to hear them singing Tango or 1930s torch ballad. First of all, there is operatic voice of Krunoslav Cigoj who obviously enjoys every second of Tango called "Noćas" ("Tonight") and before you can scratch your head, he is followed by Zdenka Vučković, Kićo Slabinac, Radojka Šverko, Tonči Kljaković, Dušan Dančuo, Bojan Kodrič and the whole bunch of people known from TV variety shows - singing tribute to their music ancestors. To my delight, Višnja Korbar got two songs but her talent was never in question (she does beatiful Bossa Nova version of "Snivaj" and lovingly covers old "Tiho plove moje čežnje" by Ivo Robić) and again I must express my love for that beautiful voice that never got deserved exposure. Here is occasional oddity like duet Drago Diklić/Olivera Marković (?) or almost forgotten Dušan Jakšić who is simply heartbreaking in old torch song "Ulicama kružim" that is our own relative of classic french chanson. the biggest surprise, however is inclusion of my old Nemesis Elvira Voća who actually sings note-perfect, credible cover of "Ti ni ne slutiš" that has been hit for young Ivo Robić in 1949. (this song opens a CD Box with Ivo Robić career retrospective).

Back than,I was too young to appreciate this. So I bought something else,probably something from current pop charts that appealed to me. Not surprisingly, this LP got no promotion or media coverage, therefore it had slipped into obscurity. But I remember. And when, many years ago I found it again, my joy was almost too much - today I love it and treasure it for what it is, a loving tribute to music ancestors. It's not just wonderfully nostalgic collection but also a very classy album that sounds wonderful even now as I am writing this. 

"The Door" (2012) by István Szabó

Last night I watched not one,but TWO episodes of "Life on Earth" and than, having another sip of mulled vine, decided to check out this new Hungarian movie with Helen Mirren.

Intrigued with the idea that Mirren, after all her high-profile work and awards chose to act in a Hungarian movie instead of making millions for high paid cameos in some blockbuster SF, I almost forgot the director - István Szabó who years ago directed one of the best movies I have ever seen, famous "Mephisto" where Klaus Maria Brandauer sold his soul to Nazi party in order to prosper. Being Hungarian, Szabó knows everything about the fight of ordinary man with a system and I expect something similar this time.

However, Szabó glosses over some very obvious opportunities where danger of political involvement might potentially bring disaster - this time he is focused on  difference of how we see our acquaintances,friends and neighbors, in short, what do we actually know about people we see every day. In the centre of story is grumpy old maid (Helen Mirren) who serves as a house help for rich couple living in a comfortable house on the other side of the street - though is clear the couple lives without any financial problems and have much higher position in a society, Mirren's character slowly becomes master of the house and everything depends on her. Mirren is brilliant as she completely dominates everybody around even though she wears rags and aprons most of the time - if you compare her costumed "queenly" roles from not so long ago, you are aware her charisma is by far above such trivia, she simply has a great cinematic presence. The big part of the plot is how she - clearly uneducated working class woman who despises politics and religion (and her superstitions border on paganism) jealously  and fiercely guides her privacy and nobody is ever allowed to enter trough her "door" - her neighbors and employees can always count on her but no one is allowed in. Even local police is frightened by her.

Fascinating as it was,the movie than moves into maudlin territory - trough series of flashbacks and occasional outburst of temper, we learn about scars from Mirren's past and why she is the way she is.  At this point I couldn't help but to think about similar old lady neighbors from my own life who appeared harmless and slightly eccentric but in their solitude nurtured fear, suspicions and old-age dementia. And as the movie progressed, I couldn't for the life of me understand why would anybody bother with such cranky old turtle who only scares everybody around. Szabó suggest that Mirren is intellectually superior to her employers but I was not buying it - her limited life experiences only made her bitter and suspicious about everybody's motives and she strictly refuses anybody's opinion or help. Yes,there were some fundamental questions posed here - old age, right for one's privacy and right to die if the person chose so - but Mirren's character is so close to old age dementia that towards the movie I lost any sympathy for her. If she refuses to open the darn door even to her neighbors who want to help her, well good riddance, she made up her choice. The very last scene is so pathetic that its simply embarrassing.

All the best about director, his cast (everybody is dubbed in english) and of course hats of to Mirren who was adventurous and brave enough to move into non-commercial but artistically satisfying direction. I lover this woman,but not necessary the character she plays.

Višnja Korbar - Izvan našeg svijeta (1963)

Korbar debuted on the big national stage just a year earlier (pop festival Opatija' 62 - this was the time when festivals were rare,glamourous and had wide media coverage) with a moody ballad "Jednom kad odem" that presented 20 years old singer like some world weary torch singer in film noir setting - it just shows how far we were from current music trends.

For her recording debut (strangely enough,not in her hometown "Jugoton" but in Belgrade's "PGP RTB") Korbar got a swinging band (led by Tomica Simović) but again,for a girl who is merely 21 this is a very inappropriate choice - not that I think she should do something chirpy, but somehow all these american songbook covers are approached as ten commandments - even when orchestra is swinging (as much as they could,band is functional but not exceptional or innovative)  Korbar is wooden and so serious that her naturally pretty alto voice sounds strangled, subdued and strangely mannered - obviously Gershwins and Cole Porter were not her natural environment. It has to be noted that many of the singers of that time sounded very much alike on records so perhaps there were expectations how one should sound on the radio - clear diction and all - however, this little EP recording does not present Korbar in the best light and I am not 100% sure what she exactly thinks about her recording debut. French chanson and even croatian traditional folk suited her much better than "A foggy day in London town" no matter how much she would have liked it differently. This is not a jazz recording. It's a schlager singer doing jazz impersonation.

Vacation!!!

Finally - VACATION!

Only those who work like me, seven days a week, non stop, brutal working hours (often from morning to late after midnight) can understand and appreciate what it means to wake up each morning with a time on my hands and no obligations looming on horizon, no place I have to be at exact time, no inventories, price changes, standing all day long or dealing with customers who would like to buy something "inexpensive" (read: 1 euro,if possible) . The only thing that surprised me somewhat was the fact that I couldn't wait to escape to my countryside retreat and found it covered with snow. At the end of the March! So much for the Spring, oh well.

Not that anybody would bother me anyway, but I had locked all the doors and pulled down the shades (my friends joke its because I live in windowless tiny ship cabins all these years) and protected from storm outside, I watch my documentaries, listen ancient croatian schlager music (or occasional classical piece)  going trough my book collection and sitting by the fire while something is cooking on the stove.

The first thing I selected to watch (or re-watch) was a DVD Box titled "The Movies Begin" which is a five-volume boxed set with very,very early black & white movies I ordered online many years ago. It is a wonderful document about very early beginnings of cinema with lots of goodies thrown in it, of course they are all silent (with added piano music or occasional comment) and the one I always return to is of course masterpiece "A Trip to the Moon" ("Le Voyage dans la Lune") by early french film-makers, brothers Méliès. It was probably inspired by Jules Verne and a huge success in its time, I think its actually the first (saved) "movie" instead of just a little snippets we have at the beginning of the box. The whole box set is so rich, that I usually enjoy it only in the little doses (I must also add wonderful "The Great Train Robbery") but other DVDs from the box deserve re-watching again as they are divided between "Experimentation and Discovery", "The European Pioneers", "The Magic of Méliès" and "Comedy,Spectacle and New Horizons". Some of this ancient cinema pieces are very short, other last a little longer - there is occasional piece like documentary-like "Moscow in the snow" that looks like something from a dream and I watch it fascinated. Real time machine, with long gone streets and faces looking back at me from the movie camera.

Back to documentaries - instead of checking any of the current blockbusters, I decided to enjoy what I like most and selected classic 1970s "Life on Earth" by David Attenborough. Of course in the meantime documentaries had changed and today everything moves faster & has computer animation - it is in fact this old fashioned TV presentation that I enjoy so much and so far I had spend two wonderful evenings sitting next to a stove watching Attenborough climbing the rocks and standing with his feet on some corrals in the Pacific explaining what he holds in his hands. Probably I have seen it all as a child but this is the first time I have time to see it all as adult and enjoy the explanations (he is informative and intellectual without being patronizing) so in a way this weather has been good to me. 

"Pan's Labyrinth"

"Pan's Labyrinth" was without any doubt the best movie I have seen this year so far - another movie that escaped me before as I was constantly sailing, working and doing other things - if I remember correctly it won Academy Award and rightfully so because it has all elements of true classic movie no matter what language it was made. I really wonder how did I miss this one the first time around, either I was at sea or (more possibly) my working colleagues were more interested in action movies - maddeningly, they all have some collections with Stallone or Schwarzenegger but hardly ever someone collects movies worth truly seeing. 

Back to "Pan's Labyrinth" - the main protagonist is a child Ofelia who is daydreaming above her fairy tales books while the civil war rages around her. All kind of cruelty is going on around her, soldiers killing each others, people living in a fear, mother re-married a sadistic army captain who in turn is focused to fight guerilla soldiers hidden in a forrest close to his army base. We are aware that times are dangerous but Ofelia is not - like so many children lost in books,she has built her own magic world where fairies invite her into enchanted forrest, the king of underworld is waiting for her and magic creatures expect her to solve difficult heroic tasks (all of this is visible naturally only to her). The "magic" parts of the movie (done by perfection) are contrasted to "real" life where killings, fighting, fear and torture are parts of daily life. Eventually these two worlds collide in a only possible ending that comes as surprise though we could all probably expect it. 

What moved me the most (besides visual beauty of the movie) was the understanding director and script writers had for a children psychology - as a children we all live in our own fantasy worlds (specially kids who are book readers) but this is somehow forgotten once we reach adulthood and move to "reality". To be honest, I don't think I've ever really moved to "reality" since I spend at least half of my day in daydreaming anyway. Creators of this movie understand that children have different point of view, often created as a protection wall against the world (probably like here) - adults have no patience or understanding for this, as shown in several scenes where Ofelia is harshly criticized for actions that they can't understand. Of course, she was told by fairies. I perfectly understood Ofelia since I was kid like this myself, living in my own world, perpetual visitor to a local library and often cruelly reminded of a difference between real life and my books. 

Thinking about the movie this morning, I realized that I don't really know spanish cinematography besides internationally celebrated Pedro Almodovar - we all know about him and somehow unconsciously assume spanish movies are "like that". But he must have been very special and original to rise above hundreds of other directors in his country (not to mention in Europe and than internationally) so my perception was probably completely wrong, Almodovar is only one. Thinking how many "other" spanish movies I have ever seen (besides Almodovar) I realized it could probably counted on one hand, I need to do some research about this. 

"Mary Reilly"

Last night I literary stumbled upon a movie I have not seen previously before - "Mary Reilly" - one of those movies that somehow slipped under my attention,God knows was it because my nomadic lifestyle, constant moving & traveling or simply I was not attracted by main actors, however now I gave it a chance and surprisingly found myself mulling it over in my head even this morning.

It is a interesting re-telling of a famous 1886. novel "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson that was a huge bestseller in its time and supposedly freaked out even Queen Victoria - a case of split personality (good and evil in one body) later celebrated trough theatre and movie adaptations - each time a new re-telling would move away a little bit further from the original so today it seems nobody is aware of a main twist in a story, that not until very end we find out that both Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde are in fact one person. This is the way novel was written originally and it was the main mystery of the story - later in theatre and in the movies the role would have been played by the same actor so with time it has lost its element of initial surprise.

Back to the movie. 

It is a re-telling so of course we approach the story from a completely different angle - in fact, several main characters from the novel are completely erased here (Dr.Lanyon, Mr.Utterson) or some other like Mr.Enfield are shown in a second. This movie is all about the story as seen from a perspective of a "maid" (who was completely in the background of the novel) and it also gives an interesting starting point to other,future movie adaptations of the famous literary classics where we could possibly follow the story as re-told by other characters. No wonder Disney is just around the corner with another adaptation as told by Dr.Jekyll's little dog, few mouses and a street cat. 

What I really enjoyed about the movie was the way certain long gone era was brought to screen - everything is happening in a scary, grey, cloudy and misty city bustling with ugliness, nasty screaming people, dirt everywhere except in a Dr. Jekyll's clean house that must have been seen as a elegant Haven to poor servant Mary Reilly. Of course the house itself is not so safe as we find out later, neither it has a particularly happy atmosphere - five servants are working hurriedly and silently around Dr.Jekyll, running up and down the stairs for him, polishing his shoes,ironing his shoe laces and what not. But I was fascinated with a clever way movie makers reconstructed the whole victorian era without showing anything particularly historic - we simply know when the story is happening without seeing much. The costumes, the furniture, occasional horse carriage, inside of a whorehouse, everything was done by perfection. The way house servants are silently and submissively working around the "master" carefully avoiding expressing their humble opinions, clear fear of losing the job that hangs above Mary Reilly's head as she works from the early hours up to the evenings, the little details thrown here and there, I found them excellent. 

Naturally as the movie was made relatively recently, it had to hint to Mary's troubled background - of which Stevenson never bothered to mention as he only wrote about doctors, politicians and aristocracy - script writers were inspired to guess she must have been impoverished and tortured (movie hints, abused) child who escaped poverty and probable death from starvation with life in permanent work (" in service") and would do anything to stay safely indoors. As shown in the movie, Mary Rilley is a little bit too delicate to really be a house servant - if she was really a child from the streets who survived by her own wits, she would have been more similar to brassy servant who sleeps in the same bed with her, not a genteel servant who is shocked to walk in the streets and can hardly wait to came back in the house. 

The main reason why I avoided this movie for such a long time were main two actors about who were so omnipresent in the cinema for the last several decades that I lost any interest to ever see them again. Sorry Julia Roberts and John Malkovich but its a clear case of overkill. At certain point it really felt like I can't see the movie without at least one of them playing in it. And yes, they are famous and celebrated and its all right but please move over and give a chance to somebody else. So I approached the movie with certain suspicion but it turned out fine - as I said earlier, the costumes and atmosphere (perpetual fog) made it up for everything else. I could think about hundred other actors in the places of genteel, aristocratic and melodramatic Julia Roberts (highly unlikely house servant) or nervously twitching Malkovich but supporting actors were fine and I was delighted with scene stealing cameo by Glenn Close who put more spirit and humor in her five minutes on the screen that both main actors together in a whole movie. It is a interesting gothic thriller and I could easily recommend it even if it lays too heavily on big budget Hollywood stars - but ideas in the script were interesting and I loved a fresh look at the old literary classic.

"The Stranger's Child" by Alan Hollnghurst

Another book recommended (in fact, given to me as a gift by dear friend) was Alan Hollinghurst's " The Stranger's Child". 

I was vaguely aware of author's name, probably saw it somewhere in bookshops - I am sure nobody had ever mentioned him to me since 99% of my working colleagues are not reading anything. So I approached "The Stranger's Child" with curiosity, not knowing anything about it except that its recommended.

Nice surprise. 

It turns out Hollinghurst is one of those rare writers more about the style than the story itself - like Umberto Eco whom I reading because of the wonderful style but hardly follow what's going on, Hollinghurst has a particular, very original approach to his characters more like a movie camera that circles around than usual straight line used by so many writers who don't understand there are many different ways to tell the story. For example, at the very beginning of a chapter Hollinghurst dives immediately into a sentence "She'd been lying in a Hammock reading a poetry over an hour" without any explanation who is "she" and than proceeds from there on. Its up to a reader to follow chapter to chapter as the story circles in a smoke clouds trough several decades. It is a british relative to "Rashomon" with the same story told from different points of view, except that here Hollinghurst mixes in another addition, a very relative issue of time and what it does to our memories - at the very beginning we got a hint about secret relationship and than later trough subsequent chapters (each set in different decades) survivors try to remember (or to hide) what they exactly knew about it. There are so many interesting questions posed here - never mind the story itself - for example how much can we rely on our memories as they are mostly impressions, besides several people might have completely different memories about the same subject. Secrecy of relationships and curiosity of others about it. Loves lived and imagined. Lives lived in loneliness. Old age and bitterness. Family and its chains. Even though occasionally I got a little bit lost with ever-changing decades and characters new & old, I enjoyed the book very much and in fact I believe this is kind of the novel that deserves repeated reading in order to enjoy it more. Highly recommended.