The Crippled Corner

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Crip i mrkoye su touchdownovali na Teslu. We are back in business.

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PTT je ipak ludilo!

ADSL usluga omogućena je korisnicima na centralama: Jozo Šćurle, Veliko polje 1, Veliko polje 2, Zmaj, Aerodrom (mrežna grupa 011), Bulevar (mrežna grupa 018), Brestovac Konjuša (mrežna grupa 034) i Bronks, OŠ Nada Popović, Kolonija 14. oktobar, Kosturnica (mrežna grupa 037).
Izvršeno je proširenje ADSL kapaciteta na centrali Rasadnik (mrežna grupa 037).
Pogledajte spisak centrala na kojima je moguće realizovati ADSL uslugu.
Informišite se o ADSL usluzi koju PTT NET ima u svojoj ponudi za fizička i pravna lica i prijavite se za proveru postojanja neophodnih tehničkih uslova za uvođenje ADSL usluge.

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Vern overava ST3:

STARSHIP TROOPERS 3: MARAUDER

I've been sort of looking forward to this new STARSHIP TROOPERS, and if you got a problem with that too bad because I've gotten enough "are you gonna review Starship Troopers 3?" emails to know that we can take you. Ed Neumeier takes over as director this time, which means the satirical tone remains since this is the guy who wrote all three STARSHIP TROOPERS as well as ROBOCOP. And, uh, ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID. I didn't know that, I just found that out on IMDB. Hmmm. I had not considered watching that one. This changes everything. This could be the big one.

If you saw STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: HERO OF THE FEDERATION you may or may not remember that it was pretty different from the first one. They scaled it down for DTV, making it into mostly a one-location siege kind of story and incorporating smaller bugs that implant themselves in people's brains or something. The good part is it was directed by the effects legend Phil Tippett so it ended up having the best effects I've seen in a DTV movie.

For part 3 they got somebody else doing the effects (pretty crappy) but the story is much more in line with the first one. It expands on the mythology and themes of the STARSHIP TROOPERS universe in a somewhat charmingly cheap-ass DTV sort of way. A lightly grizzled Casper Van Dien returns as Johnny Rico "the hero of Planet P," now a colonel and still following orders to bravely kill the shit out of swarms of giant alien bugs who threaten freedom and liberty and all that. The war goes on and has escalated a little bit because there is a new piece of bug technology, a sort of bug grenade that's like a huge pill bug that gets tossed into your trench, opens up and shoots out electricity. I like that. Not that much of a threat to the humans though, at least compared to their new Q-Bomb, which can crack a planet in half.

Rico reunites with an old girlfriend named Lola (Jolene Blalock - Johnny likes lady pilots with giant lips) and her new boyfriend, General Dix Hauser (Boris Kodjoe). Lola likes Dix alot, she really really likes Dix. She just can't get enough Dix. Rico I think also likes Dix but you know Dix, obviously I don't need to tell you about Dix. So there's always a chance Rico will decide he has had enough of Dix. But remember, this is Colonel Johnny Rico we're talking about, he can handle Dix if he needs to. He can take it.

(I think Neumeier is smart enough to know that by naming a character Dix Hauser he has made the movie into an interactive game. You will not be able to restrain yourself from talking to the movie about Dix.)

I can't decide if this is good or bad, but Rico has grown slightly as a character. He's still completely loyal to the Federation and its genocidal/pesticidal goals, but he's a little more aware of the grey areas than Dix is. For example when they go to a bar and get hassled by some yahoo farmers Rico tries to make peace with them and acknowledges that their way of life has been ruined by the war and it makes sense for them to be resentful. Most soldiers are not this enlightened, so they all applaud the televised hangings of war protesters on the TV and it causes tensions. I guess sports bars are pretty different in the future.

Rico ends up thinking for himself a little too much and almost gets executed, which sort of betrays the straightfaced sarcasm of Verhoeven but does make him a slightly more sympathetic hero. Don't worry, he doesn't turn against the Federation. He ends up leading the charge to clean up a complicated mess involving betrayal, religion, secret conspiracies, a crash landing, and of course a bug that looks suspiciously vaginal. And in fact (SPOILER) one character enters bodily into the giant vagina. Sadly, it's not Dix that enters into the vagina bug. The bug doesn't get any Dix. For what it's worth though there is a little more casual co-ed nudity, and at the very end Johnny does get to wear a robot suit like you guys have been whining about since 1997.

I am also prepared to say that I think Casper Van Dien does a pretty good job. It's good to see him back, I think he's kind of cool in it. In my opinion he is not Marlon Brando or Laurence Olivier however he does know how to play a gung ho character like this who when asked by his executioner for his last words asks "Will you get on with it?"

I think part of what makes the original STARSHIP TROOPERS so fun is that it's hard to believe they actually got to make that movie. It's so epic and obviously expensive and glamourizes these intentionally vapid characters blindly following a war-hungry government. DTV sequels obviously lose that because they don't seem as subversive and of course they don't have as many toys to play with. But if you can get past that and you enjoy this world then there is goofy fun to be had. There's alot more of the Federal Network propaganda, the highlight being the character of Sky Marshall Anoke (Stephen Hogan), a high ranking military official, psychic and pop star beloved for his patriotic anthem "A Good Day To Die." It's a good song, so perfectly clueless and insidious it should get some kind of DTV Oscar. You get to hear it again on the end credits (too bad they didn't redo it as a radio version with Bebe and Cece Winans or somebody).

There were a few bits where I thought the satire got obvious by being too specific - characters use real lines from the Bush years such as "People need to watch what they say." On the other hand there are times when it's a little unclear what exactly they're trying to say, like there's a whole thread about religion being outlawed and frowned upon, but there are hardcore Christians within the ranks and then there's a conflict between Christian God and Bug God... I'm not sure what they're getting at but I guess I kind of like that. I'm sure it leaves me with more to mull over than the recent DTV sequels to LOST BOYS or WARGAMES would.

Would you like to know more?

The DTV includes a making of, commentary, exte--

Wait, you said no? You don't want to know more? Ah fuck.

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Ponovo sam pogledao Tom Hollandov THE TEMP, courtesy of Ginger. Gledao sam ga svojevremeno, kad je bio na VHS piratu, i zapamtio sam da mi je bio cool.

Sad kad sam ga reprizirao ne bih rekao da je reč o previše dobrom filmu. Ja sam veliki fan Tom Hollanda i mislim da je on jedan od vrlo značajnih scenarista holivudskog žanrovskog filma osamdesetih. Kao reditelj, Holland takođe zaslužuje pažnju. Međutim, u THE TEMP je osetno kako je njegov rediteljski pristup ostao u osamdesetim. Nešto od tog 80s minimalizma i dalje uspeva da pije vodu, međutim, THE TEMP mahom deluje underdirected.

THE TEMP pokušava da bude high concept odgovor holivudskog mejnstrim horora na Stoneov WALL STREET. Ne samo da je horor smešten u svet biznisa i da su motivi junaka pomešana psihopatologija sa poslovnom ambicijom, već deo 80s kadriranja jako liči na Stoneov klasik.

Međutim, Hollandov predirektan tretman teme čini da ona 1993. u vreme kad je Verhoeven potpuno transformisao holivudski high concept triler, i kad je Joe Esterhazs još uvek u akciji, deluje prilično naivno i isprazno.

U tom smislu rola Lare Flynn Boyle koja mi je ostala u hromozomu od 1993. sad već nije tako ubedljiva kao onomad. Timothy Hutton je solidan u glavnoj ulozi i svojom zabrintošću daje neku težinu glavnom liku. Zabavno je videti ga kako igra sličnu paranoidnu rolu u KOVAK BOX.

Ono što ostaje Hollandov adut u odnosu na kasnije cinične newcomere jeste rediteljsko neskriveno ubeđenje kako nam priča nešto novo i zanimljivo. THE TEMP to nije, ali ta vrsta energije može da se oseti iz nekih scena, koje iako obesmišljene naslovima koji izlaze u to vreme, nose tu neku energiju ubeđenosti da su edgy.

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Pogledao sam STUCK Stuarta Gordona, courtesy of Ginger.

Reč je o Gordonovom indie filmu na liniji naslova kao što su KING OF THE ANTS i EDMOND. Ako bi se gledao formalno, reč je o high concept kamernom trileru na liniji naslova poput MISERY, COLLATERAL ili PHONE BOOTH. Međutim, pošto je ovde reč o nezavisnoj produkciji, Gordon pored vrlo jasne strukture trilera unosi elemente političkog filma, socijalne kritike i satire.

Gordon uspeva da nam malom budžetu postigne odličan production value i da učini STUCK prilično prijemčivim filmom i izvan fanovskog i festivalskog circuita. Siguran sam recimo da bi ovaj film mogao biti sleeper hit na televizijama koje ne mogu sebi da priušte major naslove.

Ono što je osoben selling point filma je činjenica da je baziran na istinitoj priči što svemu daje perverznu notu pošto se retko high concept trilerske premise dešavaju u stvarnosti.

Priča je vrlo jednostavna, ambicozna mlada medicinska sestra u staračkom domu je na pragu unapređenja. Oldazi da to proslavi u gradu i kasnije intoksikovana udari jednog čoveka čija je sudbina pošla suprotnim putem pošto je izgubio posao i završio na ulici. Umesto da ga odvede u bolnicu ona ga tako izlomljenog odnese kući sa idejom da ga se reši kako joj ne bi komplikovao život.

Međutim, splet okolnosti počinje da odlaže konačno rešenje njenog problema, a žrtva počinje da shvata kako će biti ubijena i pronalazi neke neočekivane atome energije u sebi kako opstao.

Iako u mnogo navrata, STUCK zalazi sa terena mogućeg u teren nemogućeg, pa i sa linije uverljivog u neuverljivo, ipak sa trajanjem od 85 minuta i blago stilizovanim kontekstom kroz upotrebu širokougaonih objektiva, Gordonov film zaista uspeva da funkcioniše kao energičan i zaokružen film, što se jako retko sreće na američkoj nezavisnoj sceni.

Isto tako, i sam Gordon je često u svojim indie filmovima koji nisu horori ostajao nedorečen, konfuzan i neopredeljen da li da ipak ode u horor ili ne, dok je ovde koncept u tom smislu čist. Iako ima grossa svake vrste, STUCK je prevashodno baziran na hitchcockovskom supsenseu.

Politički i satirični momenat ne smeta osnovnoj žanrovskoj koncepciji priče i karaktera već ih dopunjuje i što je još važnije uspeva da dobije žanrovsku funkciju u pojedinim situacijama što je briljantno.

Drago mi je što je i Gordon posle ovog filma nekako ponovo uspeo da se pojavi na indie radaru i sasvim je jasno da ima film sa kojim može ozbiljno da konkuriše na raznim tržištima.

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Pogledao sam SOLO CON TU PAREJA Alfonso Cuarona, courtesy of Ginger.

Reč je o Cuaronovom dugometražnom debiju iz 1991. godine u kome je već pokazao sve svoje vrline i mane koje će se kasnije produbljivati. Kao osnovna vrlina ističe se zaista fantastična saradnja sa Emmanuelom Lubezkim u kojoj uspeva da iskaže izvanrednu vizulnu pismenost i sprovođenje rediteljskih rešenja koja u velikoj meri nadilaze žanr kojim se bavi, a to je u ovom slučaju romantična komedija koja tradicionalno nije poznata kao žanr sa izuzetnom vizuelnom ekspresijom.

Kad je o nedostacima reč, činjenica je da Cuaron povremeno ima probleme u postavljanju ekonomije priče i da neki delovi traju neopravdano dugo u odnosu na svoj značaj za film kao celinu.

Međutim, uprkos izvesnim šlajfovanjima na planu ritma, SOLO CON TU PAREJA jeste vrlo zanimljiv i vizuelno briljantan pokušaj da se početkom devedesetih reinterpretira Billy Wilder.

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Martin Scorsese may helm HBO pilot
May direct drama based on Nelson Johnson's book
By Nellie Andreeva and Borys Kit

Aug 8, 2008, 01:00 AM ET

Martin Scorsese (Getty Images photo)

Oscar winner Martin Scorsese is in negotiations to direct HBO's drama pilot "Boardwalk Empire."

Scorsese already is exec producer on the project, based on Nelson Johnson's book, which chronicles the 1920s origins of gambling mecca Atlantic City.

Following HBO's green light to the Terence Winter-written script last month, there had been some speculation that Scorsese might take the helm, but given his busy schedule, that was not easy to pull off. "Boardwalk" marks Scorsese's first foray into drama series; his only other TV directing credit is one episode of Steven Spielberg's mid-'80s anthology series "Amazing Stories."

Scorsese, an Oscar winner for "The Departed," is in postproduction on "Shutter Island," starring his frequent leading man Leonardo DiCaprio.

Endeavor-repped Scorsese exec produces "Boardwalk" with one of his "Departed" stars, Mark Wahlberg, as well as Stephen Levinson and Winter.

Scorsese is the second Oscar winner HBO has tapped to direct a pilot this year. Alexander Payne is on board to helm the comedy "Hung."

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Reprizirao sam REIGN OF FIRE Rob Bowmana. Još 2002. godine, kada je izašao, postao sam jedan od malobrojnih fanova ovog filma.

Sad sam ga osvežio i mogu reći da mi se sa svakim gledanjem sve više sviđa.

Može se reći da je premisa o zmajevima koje probude bušenja londonskog metroa naivna, i da je smak sveta koji potom usledi usiljen. Međutim, to je ionako datost koja se prihvata na samom početku filma. A onda nastupa jedna jednostavna i vrlo skladno napisana priča, bez suvišnih detalja, sa elementima koji vrlo precizno ispunjavaju svoju funkciju, i već na tom čisto mehaničkom nivou u tretmanu ove jednostavne priče, REIGN OF FIRE zaslužuje sve pohvale. Očigledno je da na scenariju za ovaj film nije bilo previše intervencija koje bi ga usiljeno naterivale na ovaj ili onaj vid crowdpleasinga i samim tim održao je integritet svoje priče i karaktera.

Isto tako, Bowman je dopustio baleu i McConaugheyu da deluju vrlo oronulo, kao ljudi koji se zaista već decenijama bore u uslovima apokalipse, i omogućio im je da budu cool i hunky na jedan opor način, čime su likovi dobili poseban integritet.

Fotografija pokojnog Adrian Biddlea je u najboljoj tradiciji žanrovskih klasika snimanih na Ostrvu poput ALINSa koji je takođe on radio, sa dosta sjajnih detalja, osvetljenjem koje svemu daje posebnu fizičku uverljivost, gotovo opipljivost na ekranu, i sa odličnim i vrlo suprilnim elementima stilizacije u osvetljenju.

Konačno akcija je po maniru ne samo odlična već je u najmodernijoj tradiciji reditelja koji uprkos tome što rade film sa efektima ne drže frejm u kome je sve pravilno komponovano i vidi se u celosti, već se kamera kreće, moibnstrumi ulaze iznenada u kadar, tokom borbe učesnici često ipsadnu iz vidokruga što svemu daje posebnu spontanost.

Imajući u vidu da su zmajevi bića u čije postojanje ne verujemo, povremeni glitchevi sa efektima zaista nisu ozbiljan problem.

Iako već sam Bale u postapokaliptičnom kontekstu  asocira na novog TERMINATORa, REIGN OF FIRE u svojim najboljim scenama evocira atmosferu TERMINATORa pošto se često upitaš, "Hm, kako će ga ubiti, pa on je neuništiv." To je ta emocija na granici između akcionog i horor filma koja je krasila najbolje 80s naslove i Bowman je to odlično rekreirao.

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[Savajat Erp]

Искрено, не могу да верујем да ти се свиђа овај филм! Да се разумено, ја сам можда лаик,али филм је по мени једно од већих срања које сам гледао у задњих 5-6 година...као змајеви су се пробудили и скоро сјебали цео свет...реално и војне снаге Мозамбика би са пар тешких митраљеза(које смо им ми увалили) сјебали све те ненадјебиве змајеве...у сваком случају ја сам тотално преко курца одгледао тај филм,а гледао сам Хануман,краљ мајмун, па ти види...мада је овај са змајевима ипак неупоредиво бољи(али ми је ипак срање).

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Ja poznajem samo još jednog čoveka koji voli ovaj film, rekao sam. Znam da sam u manjini, i da je sasvim moguće da grešim.

Inače, da, naravno, mislim da bi svaka toplotno navođena PVO raketa bila dovoljna da obori zmaja, dakle premisa da su srušili svet je prilično sporna. Iako, video si da je trip da su ljudi srušili svet ubijajući zmajeve, što već ima logike. Nišanjenje bi svakako bilo otežano pokretljivošću zmajeva koja je veća nego kod aviona, ali mislim da bi PVO rakete radile posao...

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Očigledno je da ću ja prvi istrčati sa svojim pogledom na HALOA-PRAZNIK KURVI Lordana Zafranovića, ali naravno svi očekujemo i Žikin response koji će sigurno biti znatno sadržajniji iz prostog razloga što žika kao stari scholar poznaje (naravno ne u biblijskom smislu) i te književne refrence iz kojih je proistekao ovaj film, koji je uostalom i snimljen po romanu.

Za razliku od njegovih velikih WW2 klasika, PRAZNIK KURVI je jedna vrlo opuštena, kamerna priča, smeštena u savremene okolnosti koja prikazuje ljubavni trougao između matorog Nemca, njegove žene-porteklom Zagrepčanke i mladog lokalca tzv. galeba koji je servisira uz muževljevo znanje.

Lordan očigledno želi da ova priča ima više nivoa. Najočigledniji nivo koji se vidi iz same postavke jeste socijalno-seksualni nivo. Unutar tog nivoa postoji više ravni u kojima Lordan pokušava da se izrazi, pre svega nivo odnosa između seksualanih potencijala mlađeg i starijeg muškarca gde je mlađi virlilniji a stariji je imućniji i iskusniji što mu daje sekusalnu snagu druge vrste. Zatim, na političkom nivou, virilnosti jugoslovenskog Jadrana u odnosu na dekadenciju Nemačke iz koje leti dolaze na naše more kako bi se psihofizički, pa i seksualno okrepili, i svesni su toga, čak do te mere da se iz seksualne veze a priori ne može razviti nikakva emocija. Konačno, tu je pitanje razlike mentaliteta i sukoba ekonomskih sistema.

Iako se ovaj prvi nivo lako čita iz filma, ostaje utisak da kroz izvesnu artificijelnost prilaza likovima koji su tek skicirani, Lordan ostavlja prostor za još jedan nivo. A to je nivo spajanja savremene priče sa antičkim mitom i dovođenja ove erotske priče u mitsku matricu. Na tom planu se Lordan veće teže snalazi. Iako se obilato koristi antičkim tekstovima i pričama koje junaci besomučno citiraju, i sve to spaja sa dosta katoličkog i antičkom imageryja, činjenica je da me Lordan ni u jednom trenutku nije ubedio da se predamnom u sadašnjem (tadašnjem) trenutku odigrava ponovno izvođenje neke antičke matrice.

Isto tako, čini mi se da je Lordan upravo kroz prikaz WW2, fašizma, oslobodilačke borbe i socijalnih tenzija u spoju sa antičko-katoličkim kič motivima i erotizmom uspevao da dobija punoću izraza, dok u savremenom miljeu, lišenom političke i istorijske pregnantnosti, Lordanov film deluje prilično prazno.

Kad je o samoj egzekuciji reč, Lordan se ponovo kreće utabanom viscontijevskom stazom, sa vrlo sporim tempom, dosta pseudosuptilnih francuskih toucheva u glumačkoj igri, generic scenama relativno energičnog seksualnog naboja, sve to obogaćeno nekim noćnim shotovima koji podsećaju na euro trash italo presijavanje neona na naočarima za sunce (nošenim noću), i besomučnom upotrebom lokalnih običaja i zanimljivih objekata.

Sa ovakvim odnosom sadržaja i forme, teško je ne nazvati PRAZNIK KURVI jednim od najkarakterističnijih primera jugoslovenskog filmskog art house kiča. Isto tako, smatram da je zanimljivo, a to će Žika još detaljnije uraditi, dovesti ovaj film u vezu sa opusom Miše Radivojevića, koji se u nekoliko navrata bavio ovakvim lapidarnim erotizovanim pričama.

Što se mene tiče, sigurno su Mišini filmovi imali jaču psihološku pozadinu, ipak čini mi se da je kod Lordana izražena ta dionizijska nota, a što ne reći da je više edgy. Ipak, čekam žikin verdict na ovu tamu.

Isto tako, mislim da ovaj film zaslužuje i Ghoulovu autopsiju na temu okultnih elemenata koji su u njemu prisutni.

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Pogledao sam YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN Dennisa Dugana, courtesy of Ginger, i neizmerno uživao.

Iako bi se ova ideja mogla smatrati krajnje dekadentnom i over-the-top, nekako u rukama Smigela, Sandlera i Apatowa uspeva da se pretvori u prilično smislen film koji uspeva da funkcioniše, i da ne bude hermetičan. Ključ je svakao u tome što nisu zaboravili da ispod naslaga grossouta i high concepta ostave autentični razvoj i sazrevanje lika.

Kad je o ritmu reč, ZOHAN je odličan za kolektivno gledanje. Verovatno u nekoj vrsti solo gledanja postaje razvučen u drugoj polovini. Međutim, kako je primaran cilj ovog filma i bio kolektivno gledanje u bioskopu, usporavanja imaju jasnu funkciju kako bi gledaoci iskomunicirali svoj utisak tokom veselja.

U svakom slučaju, čini mi se da su Sandlerovi vehicle filmovi sve zanimljiviji kako vreme odmiče, iako im box office varira, pa tako ni ZOHAN nije prošao naročito dobro ali nije ni flop.

Dugan je našao odličan ključ artikulisanja akcione komedije što je od najvećeg značaja za ovu vrstu komedije.

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[Meho Krljic]

Zajebano si perverzan. Mislim, naravno da nisam gledao Zohana, ali baš sam ovih dana razmišljao o Adamu Sandleru kao o ozbiljnom kandidatu da mu se sudi za ratne zločine. I to u miru...

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Pogledao sam THE DARK KNIGHT Christophera Nolana.

Otišao sam u bioskop očekujući da ću biti užasnut pošto mi se BEGINS nije dopao, i inače smatram da je Nolan nedorastao ovakvom projektu. Iz bioskopa sam izašao diskutujući o DARK KNIGHTu kao velikom paradoksu.

Naime, ne mogu reći da mi se DARK KNIGHT dopao. I ne mogu reći da mislim da je reč o dobrom filmu pošto ne uspeva da reši osnovnu kontradikciju superherojskog filma sadržanu u tome kako to da junak u bizarnom kostimu egzistira u realnosti, a ovde je realizam gotovo michaelmannovskog tipa; jasno je da lobuje što u svoju strukturu uvodi dva junaka jer film ipak ima primarni fokus na Jokera i Harvey Dent samo produžuje trajanje i služi radi poente a ne kao punokrvni lik; Nolan nije volšebno postao talentovan i film je pristojnije urađen od prethodnog što je premalo da bi se uopšte ulazilo u neku analizu filmmakinga; Batman govori zaista apsurdnim glasom; postoji tačka u kojoj se potpuno izgubi gledaočeva pažnja itd.

Sve su to mane. Međutim, film ima jednu vrlinu koja je presudna i koja se retko sreće u savremenim filmovima. I neki čak mnogo bolji filmovi poput HANCOCKa nemaju tu vrlinu. A to je ubeđenje autora i producenata da rade izuzetno kvalitetan film. Iako Nolanova pretenzija nema preterrano pokriće, očigledno je da se realizaciji ovog filma pristupilo sa punom pažnjom, da se ozbiljno radilo na scenariju, na snimanju, u postprodukciji, i da je na kraju nastao jedan film koji nije neki veliki filmmejkerski domet, ali za najširu publiku kojoj se obraća jeste više nego sadržajan.

Ne smemo smetnuti s uma da većina gledalaca ipak ne ide u bioskop da bi gledala vrhunski osmišljeno delo, niti je sposobna da shvati tu tananu razliku. U tom smislu THE DARK KNIGHT koji obiluje događajima, zanimljivim situacijama, dilemama koje se postavljaju pred junake, ljubavnom pričom, moralnim izborima, ma koliko sve to nama kao nadrkanim gledaocima bilo nezanimljivo, već viđeno, provaljeno, banalno, običnim gledaocima sasvim radi posao.

Isto važi i za ideološki koncept filma. Ona Žižekova analiza nije preterana. Jeste reč o jednom prilično opskurnom, represivnom, proameričkom konceptu koji se protura kroz film. Međutim, s druge strane, film je američki i pravljen je za njihovu publiku, tako da nije realno očekivati da se dopadne nama koji smo ostali da se odmaramo sa unukom Markom.

I u tom smislu, kada se na objektivnu sadržajnost THE DARK KNIGHTa doda ozbiljnost pristupa i samouverenost autora koja je svemu u umetničkom smislu dala naročitu težinu, THE DARK KNIGHT zaista jeste jedan zdrav blokbaster.

To što ja ne bih opet gledao ovaj film za sumu manju od nekoliko stotina eura, to je sasvim druga stvar. Sasvim sam siguran da publika sa ovog filma izlazi prezadovoljna, i to ne na nivou nekih najnižih gledalačkih nagone, već upravo zadovoljna time što ovaj film prevazilazi konkurenciju.

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[Meho Krljic]

Heh, to i jeste bolno: ovaj film prevazlazi konkurenciju što je indikacija koliko je konkurencija impotentna, ergo, koliko je savremeni američki mejnstrim film loš...

[crippled_avenger]

Eh, sad, Meho, ja ovde moram da se držim Žikinog kursa. Skloni smo da Holivudu prilazimo sa previše predrasuda.

Ja mislim da je THE DARK KNIGHT iako nije dobar film, jer naprosto reditelj nije dobar, upravo primer snage američkog mejnstrima. Warner je u ovom konkretnom slučaju učinio sve što je mogao da snimi što bolji film o Batmanu. Uzeli su reditelja koji je dotle radio sporadično edgy art house sa primesama žanra, pružili su mu priliku. E sad, nama je Nolan bezveze, to je drugo pitanje, ali nema ništa loše u tome što su ga izabrali uzevši u obzir njegovu reputaciju. Uzeli su glumca koji nije megastar sa uverenjem da tog lika treba da igra neko ko to može da iznese. To što je nama Christian Bale bezveze, to je opet drugo pitanje, ali iza svega stoji dobra namera.  

Štaviše, ja bih rekao da kad je reč o superherojskim filmovima, Holivud svemu tome sa prilazi sa previše poštovanja.

[Meho Krljic]

Pa, da, da, dobro, ima rezona to što pričaš, ali, konkretno u slučaju Betmena, Warner je manje više samo kopirao Spajdermen formulu. Vrlo uspešno, naravno. Treba imati na umu i da je prethodni ciklus o Betmenu išao sasvim suprotnom formulom (Tim Barton, Džoel Šumaher i gomila megastarova u glavnim ulogama) i da se na kraju dana ona pokazala kao iscrpena.

[crippled_avenger]

Da, ali imaj na umu da je SPIDER-MAN radio Raimi koji je po profilu logičniji izbor od Nolana.

[Meho Krljic]

Bah... da li je??? Jedan je radio tongue in cheek splatterfestove, drugi opskurni arthouse, a obojici je dato da rade high-profile akcionu fantaziju sa elementima melodrame...  Ako ništa drugo, Nollan je imao iza sebe Insomniju...

[crippled_avenger]

Hm, pa dobro, Raimi je pre SPIDER-MANa već dobrano bio embeddovan u mejnstrim, radio je major žanrovske filmove QUICK AND THE DEAD i DARKMAN, plus je kanalisao coenovštinu u SIMPLE PLAN i FOR LOVE OF THE GAME.

Raimi je unutar studija već imao reputaciju za nekoga ko ima comic book background, dočim Nolan je radio nešto što nema puno veze sa stripom.

[Meho Krljic]

To je tačno. Ali Darkman i ini Raimijevi poduhvati su mnogo cheesier nego što je Spajdermen na kraju ispao i ja sam, iskreno, bio dosta iznenađen što Raimi u sebi ima dovoljno sposobnostri da izgura jedan (skoro) ozbiljan superherojski film. S druge strane, mislim da su Nollana birali za Betmena baš zato što su želeli da BB (a posle njega DK) ne deluju kao yet another superhero flick nego da tu bude tog opresivnog vajba koji je Insomnia (da ne pominjem Memento) provlačila. Needless to say, nije baš da je uspelo, ali imam dojam da je Nollan bio čovek logično izabran za posao...

[crippled_avenger]

Slike iz HURT LOCKERa

[crippled_avenger]

Is Hollywood overestimating the clout of the geek?
By Steven Zeitchik

July 31, 2008, 07:24 PM ET
Everywhere you go these days, Hollywood is heralding the hard-core fan.

Michael Bay producing partner Brad Fuller told a Comic-Con audience last weekend that filmmakers were "terrified" about how the franchise's superfans might feel about their upcoming "Friday the 13th" reboot.

Paramount was nervous enough about geek reaction to its "Star Trek" prequel that it didn't even show footage at Comic-Con out of concern that it wasn't yet ready for discerning eyes.

Reaching the most devoted segments of entertainment consumers months or even years before a film or series debuts was once a luxury; now it's a priority. The hard-core fans are so powerful, the thinking goes, that they not only should be targeted but also allowed into the process, their voices shaping marketing campaigns and even creative directions.

But what if fan reaction bears only so much on a project's ultimate performance? And even if reaching fans can significantly move the needle, what if reaching them in the right ways is so elusive and inefficient that it's not even worth trying?

"I think some studios go to something like Comic-Con mainly because they're afraid that if they don't go, and their movies don't work, someone above them will say, 'Why didn't you go to Comic-Con?' " says one producer who's had movies with large fan campaigns.

Studios also have had a tough time figuring out what the prize is even if their campaigns are clearly laid out and completely successful.

"Our marketing strategy with fall release 'Choke' is to get all the Chuck Palahniuk fans in," says Fox Searchlight publicity chief Michelle Hooper, referring to the author of the book on which the movie is based. "The problem is there's no real way to measure how big that base is."

Marketing to the grassroots wasn't always this important. For years there were two tiers of marketing, usually arranged in a clear hierarchy. There were the traditional elements -- media, trailers, promos, teasers, sampling, reviews, television appearances and all the things studios have always done -- aimed at parts or all of the general public. Then there was the more niche art of appealing to the hard-core -- the well-placed insider reference, the early footage, the surprise guest appearance at fan gatherings. Where most marketing went broad, the second type trafficked in details; where mass-media marketing tried to stoke enthusiasm, this kind assumed it and cultivated it.

Most important, it spoke mainly to the people already inclined to like a product. (For all these common traits, it should be noted that the group referred to as the hard-core fan is hardly a monolith: The thirtysomething men that turned up for the "Office" panel last weekend were a far cry from the screaming teenage girls at the "Twilight" event.)

But a few years ago, some time after showrunners started quietly checking out catty TV blog TelevisionWithoutPity.com and some time before Comic-Con became the calendar's biggest corporate marketing destination, a funny thing happened: The second approach became primary.

On its face, this shouldn't be the case. A brand's cult following isn't a very large number, and it's also a group already inclined to like and spend money on a product, which by most marketing logic is exactly the group you should spend the fewest resources on.

The thinking, though, grew out of a crucial tastemaker argument -- the idea that the movie and television business functions as a series of concentric circles, with the tastes of a relatively small group on the inside radiating to the larger -- and more lucrative -- circles outside it.

But a few years of experience have yielded enough anecdotes and data to suggest that the nerd-herd strategy might not matter as much as the hype has suggested.

For starters, the science of these tastemakers is a soft one; there's just no simple way of knowing when and how it might work.

"Sometimes that small group can be loyally fanatical and will never grow to the point of critical mass," says NBC marketing chief John Miller, noting his own network's fan favorite "Journeyman" and CBS' "Jericho." "There are some shows you're never going to find profitability with no matter how much a fan base loves it."

And if the tastemaker effect doesn't happen, the strategy loses its teeth. One director who's had repeated visits to Comic-Con noted just before he went to this year's convention that "the total number of people in the blog world is probably only a few hundred thousand, and as much as they might hate to hear it, for most movies that's not going to make the difference between a success and a failure."

Possibly even more problematic is that in tracking the effects of fan campaigns, there's a tendency to emphasize success. Pundits tout how the warm Comic-Con reception to "Iron Man" last summer served as prelude to the hot blast of boxoffice that followed. But for every movie or TV show with encouraging early indications among the fancore, there are examples of movies that caught on with the grassroots and went no further. Think "Snakes on a Plane" or "Grindhouse," which was the toast of Comic-Con 2006 before becoming the fiasco of 2007. The Wachowskis' footage from "Speed Racer" was cheered last year before sputtering at the boxoffice this summer.

Even the happy endings are hardly cut-and-dry.

"Iron Man" is now regarded as a smash in large part because of the shrewd choice to cast Robert Downey Jr. -- but Downey Jr., like many a superhero casting, was initially questioned by many rabid fans.

For fans to impact the bottom line, the movie or show increasingly has to be niche-y enough that a small group can affect the numbers. That means big network series and studio tentpoles stand to benefit the least.

"Jericho" was canceled and revived based on fan protests, but when it returned -- after execs made a point of noting to fans the network's responsiveness to their pleas -- its ratings actually decreased significantly. The fan group simply wasn't large or influential enough (though that hasn't stopped them from trying again recently, with stunts like shipping large boxes of peanuts to media outlets).

On the movie side, "The Dark Knight" drew a quarter of its audience on opening weekend (or about $40 million in boxoffice, the difference between a strong opening and a spectacular one) from women over 25 -- not exactly the core Comic-Con audience.

Ironically, though, it's the tentpoles that studios often try hardest to push to the fans, as Warner Bros.' "Terminator Salvation," Disney's "Bolt" and other presentations showed last week.

It might be that the fan revolution is being driven not so much by compelling data or a clear strategy but a more intangible psychological factor. In the echo chamber of a fan campaign, it's hard for execs and creators not to get caught up in the hype.

"You sit there and think 'Six thousand people are cheering for us; we must be doing something right,' " one Comic-Con presenter says. In the end, though, the market might be less generous.

[crippled_avenger]

Pogledao sam MYRIN Blatasara Kormakura, courtesy of Ginger.

Ovo je pravi film za Meha. Murder mystery smešten na Island. Ima čak i scena u kojoj ljudi istovremeno konzumiraju herion i slušaju metal, što je naravno sasvim i očekivano za Islanđane.

Kormakurove ranije filmove sam gledao na FESTovima i to mi je uvek bilo potpuno nepodnošljivo i u međuvremenu sam ih potisnuo. Uostalom kakve filmove može da snimi čovek sa ovako čudnim imenom.

U tom smislu, MYRIN je po meni, od onoga što sam gledao, najbolji Kormakurov film. Reč je o zanimljivom trileru, čiji sam twist (verovatno je reč o profesionalnoj deformaciji) provalio prilično rano, što me je malo razočaralo, i to ne zato što sam provalio twist nego zato što sa shvatio da film neće na kraju biti onoliko bizaran koliko je obećavao.

Ipak, i ovako, islandski film j sa svojim sjajnim lokacijama i čudnim ritmom, sam po sebi jedna bizarna forma, tako da Kormakurov film u tom smislu osvežava pošto jedan nordijski rediteljski koncept spaja sa efikasnošću trilera.

U dodiru sa žanrom, Kormakurovi problemi sa tretiranjem ritma kao da su izlečeni, i ovo je njegov najkomunikativniji film (od onih koje sam pogledao). Iako je naravno nastupao na festivalima, ne bih imao ništa protiv ni kada bi se ovaj film nekada pojavio na televiziji, ubeđen sam da bi ga ljudi rado pogledali, što je za islandski film veliki uspeh i korak napred kad je o tržišnom plasmanu reč.

Kormakur odlično koristi osobenosti Islanda, i kao lokacije i kao društvene zajednice, ali ne postaje hermetičan. u ovom kontekstu njegov rediteljski minimalizam funkcioniše, ali sasvim je sigurno da takav rediteljski koncept prosističe i iz miljea i mentaliteta i nije primenjiv na sve kulture.

U svakom slučaju, MYRIN dobija umerenu preporuku od mene.

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[Meho Krljic]

Minimalizam, metal, heroin... Zaista zvuči kao dobitna kombinacija. Mogao bi da mi ga spržiš za naš sve skoriji susret.

[crippled_avenger]

Znao sam čime ću te namamiti...

[Meho Krljic]

Kao crni leptir koji se zaleće u uličnu svetiljku...

[Meho Krljic]

...što baca svetlost u krug, naravno.

[crippled_avenger]

Što bi rekao jedan od ljudi iz Butcherian Vibea, "Šveđani su izmislili muziku!"

[Meho Krljic]

Kada sam prvi put čuo anđeoskog Larsa Holmera i sam sam bio sklon da tako nešto pomislim.

[crippled_avenger]

Što bi Kiki L. rekao, "Uvek te Đavo nađe lakše nego ja..."

[DušMan]

Uh, čoveče... sad sam se setio da sam pre neku noć sanjao Kikija i da sam ga ubeđivao da nisam to ja pljuvao po njegovoj muzici.

[Meho Krljic]

Pa, da, gde da te Dinkić savata i polomi što mu diraš štićenika...

[crippled_avenger]

Ko pljuje na Kikija L. pljuje direktno na YU WAVE.

[crippled_avenger]

Pogledao sam NEVER BACK DOWN Jeff Wadlowa, courtesy of Ginger.

Konstatovati da je reč o momačkom filmu bio bi understatement. NEVER BACK DOWN je konstruisan da bude najmomačkiji film 2008. godine pošto treba da, u maniru raznoraznih revivala i reinterpretacija bude neka vrsta KARATE KIDa u svetu u kome su se desili MATRIX, FIGHT CLUB i slične stvari.

Dve ključne reference koje Wadlow uzima kako bi oblikovao svoj popcorn flick su rediteljski koncept filma i serije FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, dakle snimanje sa više kamera, glossy realističnost. akcenat na problemima mladih a ipak tako šik ljudi, naivni high concept KARATE KIDa i anti-establishment stav FIGHT CLUBa.

Iako NEVER BACK DOWN ne dostiže nijedan od navedenih uzora, barem je reč o exploitationu koji sagledava sve uglove koji bi ga mogli na bilo koji način ugroziti. U tom smislu zaslužuje svako poštovanje. Autorima ovakvih filmova se obično dešava da zanemare poneki važan ugao, tipa, zar nije glupo da osvetnik bude obučen u šišmiša. Ovde takve greške nema.

Na sve to, touch of class daje Djimon Hounsou koji igra gurua. Ovo je neobična uloga za Djimona koji radi akcijaše obično kad je reč o megabudžetnim ostvarenjima tipa ISLAND.

Ono što na kraju stoji kao problem čak nisu ni šavovi kojima su spojeni svi navedeni uticaji, već sam osećaj da smo ovo sve negde već gledali, neretko u boljem izdanju. Ne mogu reći da je NEVER BACK DOWN slab, iako bi se mogle napraviti objektivne primedbe na previše psihologiziranja glavnog lika, redundantni borilački turnir na kraju i predugo trajanje filma. Međutim, sa ovim gledalačkim iskustvom, on naprosto ne nudi dovoljno svežih ideja, čak ni meni koji uživam da se valjam po opšštim mestima testorenskog akcionog filma.

Ipak, ostavljam mogućnost da klincima, kojima je ovo ipak namenjeno, NEVER BACK DOWN nudi sasvim dovoljno inspiracije. Njih svakako u punoj meri zanimaju Djimonovi borilački saveti, prevelik broj montažnih sekvenci treninga i sl.

U svakom slučaju, Wadlow je snimio jedan vrlo bogat i kaloričan exploitation kome nažalost samo nedostaje taj mali detalj po kome se razlikuju klasici od kopija, čak i kada je sam klasik u suštini kopija.

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[Shozo Hirono]

Ko pljuje na Kikija L. pljuje direktno na YU WAVE.

I jeba ga!Obrazlozi zasto je on znacajniji,ili bar jednako znacajan kao i autori koji zaista i imaju taj status ?

[crippled_avenger]

Koliko sam ja znao, Žika i ja kao najafirmisaniji nosioci ideje YU WAVEa određujemo ko jeste a ko nije YU WAVE...

[crippled_avenger]

Olimpijada: Otkrivanje policijske države 2.0
Do sada, olimpijada je predstavljala otvoreni poziv za napade na Kinu, beskrajni izgovor Zapadnim novinarima/kama za pokušaje da se komunjarama pripiše sve redom od cenzure interneta do Darfura. Uprkos svim neprijatnim novinskim izveštajima, ipak, kineska vlada je delovala začuđujuće mirno. Razlog je u tome što se nadala sledećem: kada otpočne ceremonija otvaranja igara, u trenu ćete zaboraviti na sve te neprijatnosti pošto će vam mozak biti izložen bombardovanju kulturno/sportsko/političke ekstravagancije pekinške olimpijade.

Svidelo vam se to ili ne, osetićete strahopoštovanje prema Kini koja uliva apsolutno strahopoštovanje.


Igre su najavljene kao Kinin "coming out party" za čitav svet. Međutim one su daleko značajnije od toga. Ova olimpijada predstavlja debi za uznemirujuće efikasan način organizovanja društva, onaj koji je Kina usavršila tokom poslednje tri decenije, i sa kojim je konačno spremna da se razmeće. To je potentni hibrid najmoćnijih sredstava autoritarnog komunizma - centralno planiranje, nemilosrdna represija, konstantno nadziranje - upregnuta u korist napredovanja ostvarenja ciljeva globalnog kapitalizma. Neki to zovu "autoritarnim kapitalizmom", drugi "tržišnim staljinizmom", lično ja preferiram "MekKomunizam".

Sama pekinška olimpijada predstavlja savršeni izraz tog hibridnog sistema. Kroz izvanredne podvige autoritarnog upravljanja, kineska država je izgradila impresivne nove stadione, autoputeve i železničke pruge - sve u rekordnom roku. Sravnila je sa zemljom čitava susedstva, oivičila ulice drvećem i cvećem i, zahvaljujući kampanji "protiv pljuvanja", očistila trotoare od pljuvačke. Komunistička partija Kine je čak pokušala da tmurno nebo pretvori u plavo naredivši teškoj industriji da na mesec dana prekine sa proizvodnjom - što mu dođe kao neka vrsta generalnog štrajka pod vladinim starateljstvom.

Što se tiče onih kineskih građana/ki koji/e bi mogli/e tokom prekorače okvire poruke koju vlada želi da pošalje - tibetanski/e akativisti/kinje, učesnici/e kampanja za ljudska prava, nezadovoljni/e blogeri/ke - stotine njih su strpani/e u zatvor u poslednjih nekoliko meseci. Bilo ko ko još uvek planira da protestuje bez sumnje će biti uhvaćen na nekoj od 300.000 bezbednosnih kamera koliko ih ima u Pekingu i promptno biti ščepan od stane policajaca zaduženih za bezbednost; navodno ih je 100.000 na olimpijskoj dužnosti.

Cilj svog tog centralnog planiranja i špijuniranja nije veličanje sjaja komunizma, bez obzira kako se zvala vladajuća partija Kine. To je kreiranje krajnje potrošačkog zaštitnog omotača za Visa kartice, Adidas patike, China Mobile mobilne telefone, McDonald's srećne obede (happy meals), Tsingtao pivo, i UPS isporuke - da navedem nekoliko zvaničnih olimpijskih sponzora. Ali najprimamljivije od svih novih tržišta je sama prismotra. Za razliku od policijskih država Istočne Evrope i Sovjetskog Saveza, Kina je izgradila Policijsku Državu 2.0, potpuno profitno orijentisan posao koji predstavlja poslednju granicu globalnog kompleksa rušilačkog kapitalizma (Disaster Capitalism Complex). Kineske korporacije su finansirane od strane hedž (hedge) fondova SAD, kao i od strane nekih od najmoćnijih američkih korporacija - Cisco, General Electric, Honeywell, Google - koje su tesno sarađivale sa kineskom vladom s namerom da ovaj trenutak učine mogućim: umrežavanjem kablovskih sistema kamera koje vire sa svake druge bandere, izgradnjom "Velikog Firewall-a" koji dopušta daljinsko nadgedanje interneta, i dizajniranjem samocenzurišućih pretraživača.

Do naredne godine, interno kinesko bezbednosno tržište trebalo bi da vredi 33 milijardi dolara. Nekoliko krupnijih kineskih igrača u tom polju nedavno je iznelo svoje akcije na berze u SAD, nadajući se da će zaraditi na činjenici da se, u turbulentna vremena, akcije iz domena bezbednosti i odbrane smatraju sigurnim ulogom. "China Information Security Technology", je sada izlistana NASDAQ-u, a "China Security and Surveillance" je na NYSE-u. Mala klika američkih hedž fondova pustila je u opticaj ovaj rizični kapital, investirajući više više od 150 miliona dolara u prethodne dve godine. Prihodi su bili zapanjujući. Između oktobra 2006. i oktobra 2007, akcije "China Security and Surveillance" su porasle za 306 procenata.

Veći deo izdašnih troškova kineske vlade za kamere i drugu opremu za nadzor izvršena je pod firmom "olimpijske bezbednosti". Ali koliko je zaista potrebno da bi se obezbedio jedan sportski događaj? Cena iznosi zapanjujućih 12 milijardi dolara - da bismo to stavili u odgovarajući odnos, Solt Lejk Siti, koji je bio domaćin zimskih olimpijskih igara samo pet meseci nakon 11. septembra, potrošio je 315 miliona dolara za obezbeđenje igara. Atina je potrošila oko 1,5 milijardi dolara 2004. Mnoge grupe za zaštitu ljudskih prava su istakle da bezbednosni 'upgrade' Kine daleko prevazilazi okvire Pekinga: tamo se sada širom zemlje nalazi 660 takozvanih "bezbednih gradova", opština koje su izabrane da bi dobile nove bezbednosne kamere i drugu špijunsku opremu. I naravno sva oprema je kupljena u ime olimpijske bezbednosti - skeneri zenica, "anti-riot roboti" i softver za prepoznavanje lica - ostaće u Kini dugo nakon što igre budu okončane, spremni da budu usmereni na radnike u štrajku i seoske demonstrante.

Ono što je olimpijada pružila zapadnim firmama jeste ukusna naslovna priča za taj jezivi rizik. Još od masakra na trgu Tjenanmen 1989, kompanijama iz SAD bilo je zabranjeno da Kini prodaju policijsku opremu i tehnologiju, pošto su se zakonodavci bojali da bi ona mogla biti upotrebljena protiv, još jednom, miroljubivih demonstranata/kinja. Taj zakon je potpuno zanemaren tokom perioda koji je prethodio olimpijadi, kada, u ime bezbednosti sportista i VIP osoba (uključujući Džordža V. Buša), nijedna nova igračka nije uskraćena kineskoj državi.

U ovome ima gorke ironije. Kada su pre sedam godina Pekingu dodeljene igre, aktuelna teorija je glasila da će pažnja međunarodne javnosti primorati kinesku vladu da odobri neka prava i slobode svom narodu. Umesto toga, olimpijada je režimu omogućila zakulisne radnje i on je poboljšao svoje sisteme kontorle stanovništva i represije. A sećate li se kada su kompanije sa Zapada tvrdile da poslovanjem u Kini, one zapravo šire slobodu i demokratiju? Sada smo u prilici da vidimo suprotan proces: investiranje u opremu za nadzor i cenzuru pomaže Pekingu da aktivno suzbija novu generaciju aktivista/kinja pre nego što dobiju priliku da se umreže u masovni pokret.

Pokazatelji ovog trenda su zastrašujući. U aprilu 2007, zvaničnici iz 13 kineskih provincija održali su sastanak na kome su podneli izveštaj o tome kako funkcionišu njihove bezbednosne mere. U provinciji Điansu, koja je, sudeći po "South China Morning Post-u", koristila "veštačku inteligenciju da bi proširila i poboljšala postojeći sistem nadzora" broj protesta i nereda je "opao za 44 procenta prošle godine."  U provinciji Žeđijang, u kojoj su instalirani novi sistemi nadzora, opali su za 30 procenata. U Šianđi, "masovni incidenti" - što je šifrovan naziv za proteste - opali su za 27 procenata za godinu dana. Dong Lei, zamenik partijskog rukovodioca u toj provinciji, deo zasluge pripisao je ogromnoj investiranju u bezbednosne kamere širom provincije. "Naš cilj je da ostvarimo sposobnost celodnevnog nadzora po svim vremenskim uslovima", rekao je na skupu.

Aktivisti/kinje u Kini se sada nalaze pod velikim pritiskom, bez mogućnosti da funkcionišu čak i na ograničenom nivou na kom su to mogli da rade pre godinu dana. Internet kafei su ispunjeni sigurnosnim kamerama, a surfovanje se pažljivo nadgleda. U kancelariji grupe koja se bavi zaštitom radničkih prava u Hong Kongu, upoznala sam poznatog kineskog disidenta Džun Taoa. Upravo je pobegao sa kontinentalnog dela Kine suočen sa stalnim policijskim maltretiranjem. Nakon decenija borbe za demokratiju i ljudska prava, rekao je da su nove tehnologije za prismotru učinile "nemogućim nastavak funkcionisanja u Kini".

Lako je u dalekoj Kini videti opasnosti koja preti od države visokotehnološkog nadzora, jer su posledice koje snose ljudi poput Džuna tako teške. Teže je uočiti opasnosti koje prete onda kada se te iste tehnologije uvuku u svakodnevni život blizu vašeg doma - umrežene kamere na ulicama SAD, brze ("fast lane") biometrijske karte na aerodromima, špijuniranje imejlova i telefonskih poziva. Ali za globalni sektor domaće bezbednosti, Kina je više od tržišta; ona je takođe izložbeni štand. U Pekingu, gde je državna moć apsolutna a građanske slobode ne postoje, američka tehnologija nedzora može biti dovedena do svojih apsolutnih granica.

Prvi test počinje danas: Može li Kina, uprkos ogromnom nemiru koji u njoj ključa ispod površine, izvesti "harmoničnu" olimpijadu? Ako je odgovor da, kao i mnogo toga drugog što je napravljeno u Kini, Policijska Država 2.0 biće spremna za izvoz.

Naomi Klajn

Izvor: www.huffingtonpost.com
Prevod: KONTRAPUNKT

[crippled_avenger]

February 28, 1994 Vreme News Digest Agency No 127

Interview with Zoran Djindjic, leader of the Democratic Party

Eight Hours With Karadzic

by Uros Komlenovic

A delegation of the Democratic Party (DS) spent the night of the NATO ultimatum in Pale. This gave rise to all kinds of comments: they were praised but also criticized for scoring political points in ``a cheap way.'' Zoran Djindjic, the President of the Democratic Party, confirmed in his interview with VREME that the developments in Bosnia influenced him to decide to go to Pale:

``We had agreed in principle even before this to hold the talks with the leaders of the Serb Republic in Bosnia about creating the Democratic Party on this territory. When the ultimatum was issued it seemed to us only natural to go to Pale and express our solidarity with the people in the Bosnian Serb Republic.''

VREME: What was the reaction to your idea on founding the party? What else did you discuss?

DJINDJIC: We agreed not to found the party there until the war is over. We also agreed that the forming of a real political party on the territory of the Serb Republic in Bosnia might be taken as an act of a treacherous competition with the Serb Democratic Party (SDS). There would also be a danger that the members of this organization could get confused, because SDS is more of a combination between the national movement and the state rule than simply a party because of the circumstances. We also discussed their future state system, as well as relations between the political parties in Serbia and the leadership of the Serb Republic in Bosnia. We also wanted to instill a more relaxed attitude in these relations and question the monopoly that the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) has over the Serbs in Bosnia which I believe stifles them. On the other hand, if SDS were a classical political party I don't believe it would be close with SPScommunist and socialist ideas do not take root with the people in the Serb Republic in Bosnia. On the other hand, the mention of the Serb Republic in Bosnia causes distrust among some opposition circles in Belgrade. We want to establish fair relations with SDS and lay foundations for our cooperation in the future.

VREME: The head of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, has so far never failed to give his strong and unconditional support to Slobodan Milosevic ahead of the elections in Serbia, in spite of all attempts of the opposition to ingratiate itself with him. Let's only mention the support of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) when the VanceOwen plan was rejected or Seselj's contribution in breaking down the army rebellion in Banjaluka. Did you have an impression that Pale's attitude towards the political scene in Serbia might change?

DJINDJIC: I think that something is changing. Before the last election there was no explicit support of the leadership of SDS and the Bosnian Serb Republic to the Socialist Party of Serbia. The Serbs from Bosnia have always given their support to Slobodan Milosevic as a presidential candidate but not to his party. The problem is that many opposition parties in Serbia are not perceived to be patriotic. We wanted to challenge this thesis proving that radical demagogy and rough verbalism do not represent a proof of patriotism, that the national interests can be successfully protected with the policy of peace and that a division into those parties which are patriotic and those which are not is not justified. There are no nonpatriotic parties in Serbia. We are different from all political organizations which have visited the Serb Republic in Bosnia so far because of the way we presented ourselves and because of our party mentality. Our hosts (and we talked with Karadzic and some fifteen people in the political and military leadership of this state) told us that no one had enjoyed such a reception as we did. Eighthourlong talks in one day only, mean something.

VREME: It can be heard that a diplomatic action linked to the NATO ultimatum and the withdrawal of Serb artillery from the positions around Sarajevo is actually Milosevic's defeat. Would you agree that politically speaking Karadzic's is becoming independent from Milosevic?

DJINDJIC: I certainly would. This should not be interpreted as Milosevic's defeat, but as a natural process of becoming politically mature. The Serb Republic in Bosnia does not need a tutor. The more Milosevic and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia influence the Bosnian Serbs, the greater is the pressure of the international community on Serbia. Therefore, if Milosevic and Yugoslavia were to be removed from the current diplomatic positions the number of reasons to pressure the Serbs would be reduced and render the economic blockade senseless. The best thing would be if Milosevic announced he was leaving the Geneva peace talks. This would clearly prove that Yugoslavia is not involved in the conflict in Bosnia and that the Serb Republic in Bosnia can protect its interest.

VREME: You said that you discussed the future system with Radovan Karadzic. Whose system?

DJINDJIC: We agreed that the Serb Republic in Bosnia should join Serbia. An interim solution should be reached, and everything should be done in agreement with the international community, which I believe would have no objections on condition there is peace. We, therefore, discussed the future system of our joint state which should not be burdened with ideological dogmas of the socialist bureaucracy. Our common assessment is that this state has to be a parliamentary democracy. I'd like to stress that we were more moderate than our interlocutors when it comes to the pace of changing the ideology.

VREME: After the talks with Radovan Karadzic you said that the ultimatum is the last attempt of the international community at carving out the map of former Yugoslavia. On the other hand, it seems that the pressure of the international community is mounting, the Sarajevo model may be applied on other towns in Bosnia, the preparations for the action around the Tuzla airport are underway...

DJINDJIC: But, one should say that the latest ultimatum was a failure.

VREME: I would say it was accepted...

DJINDJIC: That's what the papers say. The conditions were fulfilled only partially and clumsily, and the international community showed its lack of confidence and knowledge in defining the terms of withdrawal and in speculating about the next moves. In my opinion the threats to the Serbs should be interpreted as an attempt to create a more favorable atmosphere before the talks in Geneva and make more territorial concessions for the Muslims. This clumsy and diluted way can be applied in other places but without much successthe threat did not make an impression as far as the Serbian people and its army are concerned, quite the contrary. Actually, the Serbs favor the international control since it represents a guarantee that the Muslims, who have three times more people, will not try to seize the entire city. Demilitarization of other towns and peace suit the Serbs. They don't have to fight for the territorythey are on their own land and are even ready to make some concessions. What they need is peace and legalization of their status. Therefore, one could say that the ultimatum, although it at first looked like something the Muslims would welcome, actually represents an autogoal to Alija Izetbegovic.

[Shozo Hirono]

Koliko sam ja znao, Žika i ja kao najafirmisaniji nosioci ideje YU WAVEa određujemo ko jeste a ko nije YU WAVE...

E ako je tako,onda u redu.

[crippled_avenger]

Warner Bros. KISS KISS, BANG BANG-ing Guy Ritchie's ROCKNROLLA?
Beaks here...

Warner Bros. President and COO Alan Horn on Guy Ritchie's ROCKNROLLA (per LA Times):

"I think it's a well-made picture, but while it's funny in spots, it's very English," he said. "I don't think it's broadly commercial. It feels like a film that deserves a spirited release, but not a wide one. Joel has an 800-screen deal, which we'll honor, but we might not be willing to spend the marketing money he wants us to."

A paragraph later...
For now, we're preparing to release the film in October, but I don't see it starting out on 800 screens. If Joel is thinking there is someone out there willing to spend twice as much money as we're willing to, I'm sure he will pursue that."

I'm not the ideal advocate for Guy Ritchie: I didn't get much out of LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS or SNATCH; I think he was most dialed-in as an auteur on the over-hated (but not necessarily "good") SWEPT AWAY; and I can't understand how anyone, no matter how talented, could rebound from a movie as unreleasably bonkers as REVOLVER. That said, I respect the Guy. He turned his back on a potential Hollywood windfall to make two highly uncommercial passion projects, and crawled out from under the resulting rubble to make another British caper movie on WB's dime. He does not lack for moxie, which makes him a perfect filmmaking partner for Joel Silver.

Unfortunately, WB doesn't feel terribly indebted to Silver at the moment, so they've decided to dump ROCKNROLLA in a very crowded October on fewer than 800 screens. If this sounds familiar, it's because the studio did roughly the same thing to Shane Black's KISS KISS, BANG BANG in 2005.

I understand that WB is overwhelmed at the moment with the remaining treasures of New Line (and kudos to them for getting the Gavin O'Connor's inexplicably delayed PRIDE AND GLORY out into theaters this year), but there's nothing prohibitively "British" about this:





That's pretty slick. Also, I've spoken to a nearly respectable individual who's seen ROCKNROLLA, and he thinks it's "as good as SNATCH". If so, it makes plenty of sense for Silver to shop his Ritchie flick to Lionsgate and Sony (again, per the LA Times), neither of which is contending with a backlog of Robert Shaye-greenlit gems. Gerard Butler may have cooled a bit sense 300, but put him in a dude-skewing movie like this, and I think he's still pretty valuable. Throw in Jeremy Piven (who'll be back on ENTOURAGE this fall), Tom Wilkinson, Idris Elba, Thandie Newton and Ludacris, and that thar's a very appealing ensemble.

Mostly, I need Silver to succeed one way or another with the modestly-budgeted ROCKNROLLA because that's probably the only way he'll get another Shane Black movie made. Then again, even a flush-with-success Silver couldn't force WB to release KISS KISS, BANG BANG wider than 226 screens. If this all goes south, I'm afraid I'd settle for a Black-scripted LETHAL WEAPON 5.

Here's hoping SPEED RACER becomes the Blu-Ray buy of the fall.

[crippled_avenger]

John le Carré at the NFT (1)On stage at the NFT, John le Carré looks back over his career and pays tribute to Alec GuinnessAdrian Wootton guardian.co.uk, Saturday October 05 2002 08:52 BST Article historyAdrian Wootton: It's been 18 years since we last welcomed you onto this stage. Tonight we're primarily talking about Alec Guinness, so could you start by telling us how Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy made it to the screen?

John le Carré: Good evening. We're here to do honour to Alec, which I really want to do. Like every novelist, I fantasise about film. Novelists are not equipped to make a movie, in my opinion. They make their own movie when they write: they're casting, they're dressing the scene, they're working out where the energy of the scene is coming from and they're also relying tremendously on the creative imagination of the reader. Therefore, any piece of any piece of casting is, by definition, a limitation of the possibilities of the character.

When Flaubert was asked whether he wanted Madame Bovary illustrated, he said, "No. On no account. Because everybody will lose their individual picture of her." By the same token, my love affair with movies was a love-hate relationship. But, coming from a bookless household, I've always had great sympathy for people who don't read, and I wanted to reach a larger audience. So the first movie that came along, inevitably, was the first literary success I had which was with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I was thrown in at the deep end with Richard Burton, who was then still married to Liz Taylor, and so on.

It was actually a very decent film, directed by Martin Ritt and scripted by Paul Dehn. I had problems with Burton as that character. I found him too noisy, too theatrical. I wished at the time, I still, in a way, wish, that we could have had Trevor Howard or Peter Finch, or someone like that. So that was movie number one, and that was O.K.

Movie number two followed very fast upon it. Sidney Lumet, for Colombia, made a small, not very distinguished movie of my very first novel [Call for the Dead, retitled The Deadly Affair as the film]. This was also a Smiley novel, but we couldn't have Smiley in it because Paramount owned the rights to Smiley - the usual movie nonsense. Then a truly bad film was made called The Looking Glass War. It wasn't really until Tinker, Tailor came along - and my own writing was slightly in the doldrums then, and I felt I'd peaked - that an actor appeared who so beautifully represented Smiley and left the character intact.

With Tinker, Tailor everything worked. We had Alec, his first television performance, and John Irvin directing it. Alec and John loved each other from the start. It was an extremely happy production - we could empty the National Theatre if we wanted to once Guinness was aboard because everyone wanted to be in the show.

In those days there was no such thing as a budget at the BBC and no such thing as a schedule, and the barons at the BBC did not see a clip of the movie, nothing, until we were ready to show it to them. I have also to efface myself a little bit in this situation, because I didn't write the screenplay. I had absolutely nothing to do with the filmmaking, except that I became, through Tinker, Tailor, very, very fond of Alec. 'Close', you could never say, but he began to fascinate me. With Smiley's People, it was a sequel. It didn't begin easily. We had one director who we lost for various reasons. We had one script, which wasn't popular so I had to write the script. We had the awful situation of a cast, a budget, a green light from the BBC and virtually no script to work with. So the script for Smiley's People, I wrote in about three weeks. There was no time.

That doesn't necessarily mean that I would have written a better script if I'd had thirty weeks. On the rare occasions when I've done screenplay, I've always worked very fast. I hate committee work, as any novelist does. Well, that's the background of how we came to this.

AW: After some of those unfortunate experiences, had you become disillusioned with screenwriting? Did you want to write adaptations of your own work?

JLC: I wanted to write the adaptations, and I was innocent enough to believe I could influence the film when it was going to be made by being aboard. I really don't think that that's ever been the case, except when I worked with John Boorman on The Tailor of Panama. I don't think it should be the case. I do believe very much in movie as a one-man-show. I think that where I've watched movie go wrong, it's usually because the dread committee has been interfering with it.

But I did work, before we came to Tinker, Tailor and Smiley's People, I had worked, uselessly, for the better part of a year with Sidney Pollack, Karel Reisz, Jack Clayton and (I can't remember whether it became before or after) I played footsie with Stanley Kubrick. Some foot! So I was in and out of trying to make movie. Thank heaven that the roar of the greasepaint has now left me. I think that there are books that I hope I will still write where I really would not wish a movie to be made. I think the book I'm writing now is such a book - thirty years ago I never would have thought that.

AW: Tinker, Tailor, with its huge success, contributed to making Alec the personification of your character.

JLC: Yes, that's true. I did, incidentally, receive film offers for Tinker, Tailor but I didn't feel comfortable with the idea. I was very leery, then, of the short form and I thought that Tinker, Tailor would work far better in long form. When Jonathan Powell, who was then at the BBC, approached me and asked if I would do it, I said, "Yes". He asked me who I thought should play Smiley and I think we both said, "Guinness" at the same time.

A whole lot of things accounted for the success of Tinker, Tailor. First of all, ITV did us a great favour by having a strike, so we opened on BBC Two, but the viewing figures, of necessity, were fourteen-to-seventeen million. Then it was incomprehensible to many people, and Terry Wogan ran a daily quiz on how much anybody had understood it. It became, for those seven weeks, a sort of national conundrum.

They're both such period pieces now - even Smiley's People is twenty-two years ago now, but one must remember the Cold War atmosphere. People were looking to interpret society in terms of conspiracy. There was such self-censorship about intelligence gathering, it was so shrouded in mystique and absurdity and the reigning figure was this obscene caricature of an intelligence operator in the form of James Bond - amusing but not reality - that there was a counter-Bond market established in people's minds. There was a great appetite to establish something that was the 'real thing'.

This wasn't the real thing, but it had a very serious genealogy. It had the Philby Affair, George Blake, Burgess, Maclean - everybody knew about that stuff and it was really waiting to be dramatised.

AW: Guinness always considered himself to be a theatre rather than a film actor. How difficult was it to get him to do it?

JLC: I can only answer very subjectively. Alec had reached a point in his career when he wasn't going to get any sexy parts. There were only limited parts available to him. There was something else that attracted him, that made him step over the doorstep into television, there was something in the part, that became apparent to me as we went along, that was almost spiritual to him. We never discussed such things, we always played the gentleman to one another. But even in this flawed thing, Tinker, Tailor, with its good and bad scenes, what you see in Alec is some kind of dramatic extension of a religious belief. I think that his view of his role as that person was almost as a Jesuitical moderator in a sinful society. There was no talk of pleasure, not for Alec. His own life was forfeit. I think there was something at that age in Alec that was very, very moving and identifiable for him in the character. It was a very personal thing.

There's something called the actor's guilt, the feeling that you're playing with life - you're acting life but you're never living it. It can amount to a kind of puritanical self-hatred. I think part of the amazing range Alec produces in his face, and everywhere else, derives from that genuine, internal concern about his own identity.

AW: What did he take from you in terms not only of your personal relationship, but in terms of research?

JLC: Alec and I, as far as I can remember, never had a personal discussion in our lives. We told stories about ourselves to one another. Alec came from a wretched background. His mother was a lady of the town, he never knew who his father was, and so on. I came from an equally dysfunctional background, a semi-criminal background, and both of us knew, even as children, that we were show-offs. Rather like Frankie Howerd who when he was asked why he wanted to make people laugh replied, "All my life I've been terrified of ridicule". If you're growing up in a chaotic world without reason, your instinct is to become a performer and control the circumstances around you. You lead from weakness into strength, you have an undefended back. I think Alec and I understood that of each other very well.

The other element is much more amusing. Alec was an absolute thief, and I knew that he was watching this gesture, these sort of shy-boy things that I do, and he was just stealing from me. Particularly in Tinker, Tailor I think, "Crikey! That's really cheeky!" Really for him I was an orang-utan. He used to go to London Zoo and watch orang-utans because it told him about mime. He rang up just before we were going to start Tinker, Tailor:

[In Guinness voice] "May I speak to Mr. David Cornwell, please."

I'd say, "Hello, Alec!"

"How did you know it was me?"

Then he said, "I've never met a real spy." Which I found rather offensive. " Could you possibly introduce me to a real operator?"

So I rang, in all innocence, Sir Maurice Oldfield, who'd been head of SIS and who, unknown to me, had been living under a cloud. He said, "Oh, yes, David. I'd love to. I'm a great admirer of Sir Alec."

Alec then rang me and said, "What should I wear? Something, very, very grey?"

So then we arranged to meet at a restaurant in Chelsea. He said, "If you come along at one-o-clock I will have done everything that is necessary." So I thought, "What on earth is this?"

I arrived at the restaurant and say, "I belive Sir Alec Gu..."

"Sssh!" The head waiter then lead me through the room, into a private room where I find Maurice Oldfield and Alec Guinness sitting. We have lunch, and by then Alec, in his mind, has joined the secret service.

Maurice said, "I think young David here has gone a bit over the top about this spying stuff."

Alec said, "Oh, I do agree."

Maurice suddenly says, "I must go now" and gets up and leaves the restaurant. Alec says, "May we? Do you mind?" And we watch Maurice Oldfield, with his umbrella, going down the road. He's watching the orang-utan. Then he says, "May we pop back and have a little brandy?" So we go back. He then says, "Do they all wear those very vulgar cuff links?"

I said, "No."

"Can you tell me something else? I've seen people do that [drinking mime], and I've seen people do that [mimes another drink], but I've never seen anyone do this [another mime]. Do you think he's looking for the dregs of poison?"

The identification was absolutely extraordinary. Because he was also a highly intelligent man, and an extremely sensitive one, I really think it's the process of controlled schizophrenia. He did what every good artist does - he kept the child alive in himself.

There was another time when my wife and I went down to Camden Lock for the very last scene of Tinker, Tailor, and the mole was going to be revealed. Here Alec was in the safe house - making love, first of all, with all the properties, all the things he was going to touch. He's in his long-johns, half made-up and it's quite cold, he's all wrapped up.

"Who do you think it's going to be? Tinker, Tailor? It could be that nice Roy Bland." He was really working himself into the mode of believing that he didn't know and that he was about to make a discovery. You prick that bubble at your peril.

AW: You were finishing Smiley's People at the time of Tinker, Tailor. Having had Alec personify Smiley, how difficult was it for you to disassociate Guinness from Smiley in terms of your fictional work.

JLC: The truth is that I don't know how much was me and how much was him. I had originally intended to do an espionage comede humaine of the Smiley-Karla stand off, and take it all over the world. Make it a kind of fool's guide to the Cold War. I began to become intensely bored with this stand-off. The Cold War was over long before it was officially declared dead. But from the moment Alec's voice became that music in my ear, I felt that I was hampered.

I cannot help voicing my characters and listening to them - that's the failed actor in me - so I think that Alec must have accelerated my departure. I wanted to bury Smiley, I wanted to write about younger people, I wanted to be unencumbered. Alec made that happen faster.

AW: You had had a thought of trying to persuade Alec to do another one as well as Smiley's People?

JLC: Yes, that's right. There was an ITV television production of the second novel I wrote, called Murder of Quality. It was a little murder story set in a public school - I'd once taught at Eton and I used that stuff. It was a little book that I'd written while I was in the Foreign Service, just in a few weeks and they were going to make it. But Alec had a wonderful instinct for when to leave the stage, and I think he felt he'd done enough Smiley. I think he knew that we could never match the fun or the concept of Tinker, Tailor.

Tinker, Tailor centred on a wonderfully simple premise: that there is a spy inside our secret service, and we can use the secret service as a vision of the British establishment at play. I think he felt that we'd got by with Smiley's People. I think, with me, that he felt that the final scenes were very good as a goodbye to the Cold War. To make a final appearance as Smiley on a weaker story was something he wouldn't do.

I've always believed that his wife played a great part in guiding him in those matters. It was very interesting with Alec, what he thought he was proud of. He often dismissed the Ealing Comedies completely and in his memoirs I don't think he ever spoke of the Smiley part, but I still think that Smiley really was his secret sharer for those last years of his life.

AW: His memoirs are interesting because he writes very well but reveals nothing about himself. He was a great master of disguise and could embody characters without ever being one of them. You never knew where Alec Guinness was.

JLC: He loved the dissembler's part. I mentioned actor's guilt. I think that, because he had no centre himself, to play the part of a man like Smiley, who can enter one shell after another, was a very strong refuge for him. That identity. Socially, too, he was exactly the same. What you got, you could only communicate with in sub-text. There was never a moment when he let his hair down and became a more frank person. Not in my experience, anyway.

When he was 80, a bunch of us got together to make him a book which we presented to him. It made him furious, he hated that kind of celebration. I wrote a piece that began:

"The child in this eighty-year-old man is not yet appeased."

I didn't think it was very flattering of Alec. I turned quite a corrosive eye on him. And he loved it. When he came to publish the next volume of his memoirs, he asked if he could put the whole piece at the beginning of the book. I felt that I had hit a nerve there. He would agree, though he would never be so frank, that he could attribute a great deal of who he was to his childhood.

AW: Another common friendship you had was Graham Greene.

JLC: Yes. I didn't know Greene well, but I knew him over a period. We had one of those public quarrels that Greene was quite addicted to and I didn't mind. I think the relationship between Alec and Greene, I don't think it endured very much. With Greene, a relationship had to move. With Alec, it didn't. But they both had Catholicism in common, and at a certain level, they met on that. They got to know each other quite well during the making of Our Man in Havana, and Alec always remembered with enormous admiration, the speed with which Greene would re-write his lines for him. I don't know where the director was in that, but I should think he was having a fit.

I don't otherwise know how the relationship worked between them. With Alec you had to function on very military lines: you arrived on time, or a minute before, properly dressed and you left at eleven-fifteen. These were the rules he lived by. One of the things that Alec and I had in common was that feeling of living on enemy territory. Home is a very dangerous place.

[Comment on the clip]

AW: Alec stayed at your house one time...

JLC: It was just before the shooting of Tinker, Tailor, and he was coming up in order to get his act up to a critical mass of nervousness and concentration.

By the way, on the first day of shooting he fluffed everything and said, "As long as you take back the part I shall give you all the money back." John Irvin took him away and soothed him down. The following day he came in and gave the camera lens a kiss and went to work.

Anyway, he rang and said, "I really think I should spend a few days beside the Atlantic. Do you know anywhere?"

I said, "Well, it so happens that I have a house in Cornwall." As he very well knew. So we lent him the house. You either like it or you don't, it sits up on a Cornish cliff looking straight at the Atlantic. So he moved in with his wife, Merula. I only heard later what happened.

I was in contact with the British Ambassador in Bonn about some other matter, and the phone rang while Alec was there, with the wind rattling around this house. And a voice said, "Can I speak to John le Carré?"

"No, I'm afraid this is Alec Guinness."

"Will you tell him that the British Ambassador needs to speak to him as soon as possible?"

Alec had already been thinking that the house had an awful lot of electric equipment in it. He suddenly decided that I was in London, or somewhere nearby, listening. He left the house and walked up to the headland where, as fate would have it, my neighbour, a wicked, adorable man called Derek Tangye, who was a writer, happened also to be standing.

Derek says, "I know who you are. You're Guinness, you're staying at Cornwell's house."

"Yes. Yes I am. Do you know much about him?"

Tangye said, "A bit. Why?"

"I have a curious feeling that we're being overheard."

"Yes, you probably are. I know that equipment. You have to stay three-hundred yards away from the house and you'll be perfectly all right."

I knew nothing of this conversation. In London I get a call from Alec:

"We're having a marvellous time, but I must tell you a very tragic thing has happened. A very dear friend of ours is very ill in London and we shall have to visit him immediately."

I said, "that's awful. I'm very sorry." And he fled. But it was another extreme example of him thinking himself into the part. He was, really, stoking the paranoia in himself and beginning to interpret the whole of life in terms of intrigue.

AW: Could you share another of these great Alec moments with us?

JLC: The most famous story, and I don't know if Alec ever knew it, was when Alec was making a film in Hollywood with all the knights. It was written by Neil Simon, in the first instance, and I think it was called Theatre of Blood. Olivier was in it, Truman Capote was in it, Gielgud was in it, and they were all assembling. As they were coming up to the first day of shooting, Neil Simon's phone rang in the evening:

"Hello. Is that Mr. Simon? This is Alec here. How are you? Could we possibly take a quick look at the script? Page seventeen, for some extraordinary reason, seems to be the earliest point at which I come into the film. There is a first speech there that I find absolutely unsayable, could you possibly re-write it for me."

The next day Neil Simon sends some pages off to the studio, but these calls kept coming. It was driving Neil crazy. He'd be having dinner and...

"...can we have another look at page eighty-four?"

Then, eve of shoot, the phone goes again:

"I'm afraid I'm being rather a nuisance. My wife, Merula, has decided she is not going to come over to California, and I was wondering whether, for want of a better expression, you could find me a piece of fluff?"

Neil Simon drew himself up to hi four-foot nothing and said, "I'm afraid I am not a pimp!"

And it was Peter Sellers doing the whole thing.

There were also Alec's own stories about himself. He often lunched or dined with the Queen Mother. He loved the Royals and they loved him. She said to him after he came back from America, "Where have you been, Sir Alec?"

"Oh, M'am, one was picking up a rather silly thing called a Special Oscar."

To which the Queen Mother said, according to Alec, "Oh! Hurrah for England!"

He also told a wonderful story about after making Star Wars - one of the parts he wanted to disown - and discovering that he was in the money. They had a reunion and Alec found himself talking to a Dalek without his helmet on. Alec said to him, "What are you going to do with all the lovely money we've got?"

"Well, Sir Alec, you may not know this, but I'm very fond of roses. The problem with me is that my kitchen door has glass at the top and wood at the bottom, so I'm constantly doing that [mimes jumping up and down], so what I'm going to do is put glass at the bottom and wood at the top!"

For Alec, it was the orang-utans.

AW: Let's open this to the audience.

Q: Where did the humour in Smiley's People come from?

JLC: I put it into the script and the director liked it and Alec liked it. Where it comes from is from my own awareness that secret work function on the edge of farce the whole time. The most inane things go wrong. The reality of a conspiracy is that some idiot leaves a briefcase on the tube. Or they've forgotten that it's summertime. So you may be in the middle of committing a fantastic burglary to steal all the secrets that Moscow centre ever had and you do meet someone on the stairs who says that it's nice to be fancied. When I was a young student, W. H. Auden, who was professor of poetry, made a very indecent proposal to me when I was a young student and I said, "No." He said, "Well, never mind. It's nice to be fancied."

John le Carré at the NFT (2)guardian.co.uk, Saturday October 05 2002 08:57 BST Article history·Click here to return to part one of the le Carr&eacute interview

Q: Would you consider writing for television again, or allowing your work to be adapted for television?

JLC: Yes. I really would like that. I made a series of wrong decisions about moderately recent books, and I've sold the rights to studios for ridiculous amounts of money and the films have never been made. That's the saddest thing of all, because they're locked up and no-one else can make them. Also, I think I have been better served by television than film. It also depends on the product itself, and there are some books that lend themselves more naturally to it. There are other films that have been made that are so inept, The Little Drummer Girl, for example, with Diane Keaton, where nothing went right. Now there's talk of doing a re-make which is hugely laborious and expensive, buying up the old rights.

But, yes, I would certainly consider it if the book lent itself to that adaptation.

AW: How many times have you laboured long and fruitlessly on adapting other people's work for the screen?

JLC: I don't think I've done any. Kubrick wanted me to do Eyes Wide Shut. I'm sure he approached several writers. I knew the Schnitzler story and admired him as a writer. The original story is very erotic, and much more erotic than Kubrick's film was. Kubrick asked me how I'd do it, and I said that in that kind of erotic story, inhibition was essential. Constraint, manners - it's out of that that the electricity is generated.

The central story is the same - a young doctor whose marriage is not right and who meets up with an old friend who takes him to an orgy where he is wearing a Pierrot costume and is unmasked. A woman then steps forward and offers herself to everybody if they will let him go. It's a dream really. I said to Kubrick that it should be done in a walled town with a lot of clergy around. I think we could even have an ecclesiastical hierarchy at work, and you wouldn't know whether when you were at the Bishop's dinner party whether you'd enjoyed the lady to your right last Thursday or not. That is a kind of tension that I understand, and you need the social inhibition that goes with it.

Kubrick listened to all of this and said, "I think we'll do it in London." And that was that.

Q: Did you think that you were making a deliberate antithesis to James Bond in Smiley's People?

JLC: No, I thought I'd done that in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. It had become my trademark, as it were. The answer is quite simply, no. Fleming, ironically, was also an old spook himself, but chose to make a delightful, unreal pastiche of the whole thing.

Q: Do you think that in today's film industry we lack actors like Alec Guinness, and if so, why?

JLC: I don't know that Alec wanted to see himself first and foremost as a film actor. But his type of acting is no longer suited to modern film. That's the reality. Alec was useless as a screen lover. I don't know if you saw The Captain's Paradise, but it was an embarrassment. When Alec kissed somebody, you blushed. You could not produce such a beautifully trained, mannered, self-conscious actor and hope that he could front modern filmmaking.

AW: He was quite brilliant at playing the cuckold. Otherwise, he was pretty much an asexual character.

JLC: His sexuality was un-discussable. He was totally guarded in that respect.

Q: Your female characters have become far more important in your books, but are often a structural absence. Can you say some more?

JLC: In the Constant Gardener, Tessa is a kind of fantasy. I've always had difficulties with female characters and the reasons are two-fold. Firstly, in my own bizarre childhood, I had no mother and I didn't have a very normal upbringing with girls in my own peer group. It wasn't that I felt secretly gay and didn't know it, I would say if that was the case. But it was always difficult for me to get to women on the page. The other thing was that when I did the stuff that was so formative in my life, went into the secret world from an early age, it was predominantly a man's world. The comedy of human behaviour enacted on the tiny secret stage was a man's comedy.

I have always felt that the great botched decisions of my life were the work of men in secret conclave. Women's voices were too absent. It's very interesting to me in retrospect watching Smiley's People that women in this story are actually pawns, they are not players. Connie Sachs is a kind of memory bank, and she's dumped. The wretched girl, Alexandra, is dumped. I believe that that was a reality of the attitudes of that time. It's not something I admire, but I perceived it to be a fact of how people behaved in those days.

It was partly my own ignorance of women and partly what I saw around me.

Q: [Inaudible]

AW: [Summing up] A Perfect Spy and The Constant Gardener are two of your favourite novels...

JLC: Certainly that was tactical voting. We always think that we are prisoners of our own image. I didn't want my image to be stuck with cold spy stuff. I thought A Perfect Spy was a well-told autobiographical novel, to put it immodestly. The Constant Gardener was written with real anger, and I felt it was emotionally justified. I was very proud of that. Mostly I was proud of the aftermath - the law suits that never quite came off, and the tremendous support from the medical profession and activists. The rage of the pharmaceutical industry itself was so delightful that I had to proclaim it.

AW: It's interesting that the questioner said that The Constant Gardener is required reading for anti-capitalists. Would you say that you have put your head above the parapet in the last few years? You've been a very private man, but with The Constant Gardener you seemed to be prepared to talk about the world more directly.

JLC: During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity. Now we are actually living with very real and clear choices, and what is profoundly shocking to me is that they are not being articulated for what they are. We can all have strong views, and they may differ, but the issue that is on the table is really where we stand on the power of one nation, and the exercise of that power. And where we believe that the popular voice and will are being overridden by factions which are totally undemocratic. I think the choices have become very clear, but they are awesome.

AW: American narrative cinema doesn't seem to have altered in response to 9/11 at all. But serious story-telling has changed.

JLC: I think it's my responsibility, and it's not one I'd wish on other people that if they feel how I feel they must act in that way... There are some subjects that can only be tackled in fiction. If I wrote some polemic in the Guardian or Observer, it would be gone in a second. If I'd done a series of articles on the pharmaceutical industry, it would be gone in a second. But if you can really tell a story that catches people by the arm and says, "Listen. This is what happened to this guy. Now go on reading because it's exciting" then you get somewhere. I'm sure you do.

Q: What were the compromises in casting between Tinker, Tailor and Smiley's People?

JLC: Well, Michael Jayston, who was wonderful in Tinker, Tailor, was not available. Guillam in Smiley's People is not a big part.

There was wonderful casting in Smiley's People. Beryl Reid's transition from Tinker, Tailor to Smiley's People was very moving because Beryl Reid was suddenly old and unwell. Alec complained about her in Tinker, Tailor. He said, "I will not act with a comic, because that's what she is." But actually everyone thought those scenes with Beryl Reid in Tinker, Tailor were wonderful. But Beryl Reid was no kind of comic in Smiley's People, she was very moving and very angry.

I think the parts in Smiley's People weren't as good as in Tinker, Tailor - they weren't written as well in some ways. They weren't as contributory to the main theme as they should have been.

Michael Elphick is also sadly dead. On the night shoot in Smiley's People, where the General is lying dead on Hampstead Heath, Michael Elphick plays the copper. He was so nervous about acting opposite Guinness that he over-refreshed himself. That was his problem. So the scene had to be abandoned, which was a very expensive thing to do on a night shoot. Because it was near our house in Hampstead, we brought everyone in for a drink. Alec was seething. My wife took him downstairs and gave him a large scotch. He said, "It is exactly the same, as far as I'm concerned, as a soldier going to sleep on sentry duty."

He had his drink and then straightened himself up, went upstairs and was sweet to everybody. He gave Elphick a little pat and went home. That was Alec, having created antithesis, having to restore thesis and go.

Q: Did you ever want to become an actor?

JLC: When the embarrassing film, The Little Drummer Girl, was in rough cut, it was brought to London by George Roy Hill. George could not speak a sentence without the f-word. He was on stage and had a tame audience brought in and showed the thing in rough cut. George gets up afterwards and says, "Has anyone here got any comment on the structure of this movie?"

The fourteen-year-old daughter of a man in my publishing house spoke to her father. He said, "My daughter can't understand why the police went to Charlie's flat."

So George said, in front of everyone, "Why did the fucking police go to Charlie's flat?"

I said, "Well, we had it in George, it was in the script but it got taken out."

He said, "What do we do about that?"

I said, "Well, we could apply the Herod principle to girls. That would be the first thing. Or we'll have to put a scene in."

"What kind of fucking scene would that be?" So I tell him what kind of scene it would be and he says, "Well you write it. And you fucking-well play it."

So, three weeks later, at a cost of $400,000 to Warner, they reassembled the night shoot. They rented a square in London and all the bit actors had to be in the scene again and their agents held Warner's feet to the fire to squeeze every last penny. I find myself in a trailer wearing a policeman's hat. The line was, "She's running, if that's what you want." I had to say this to a very good Israeli actor who was sitting in the car with me and had a face like he was the first man on earth, you couldn't take your eyes off him, so no-one was going to look at me anyway.

George said, "OK, David."

So I said, "She's running, if that's what you want."

"Jesus Christ, David. That's too fucking broad."

"Can I do it regional?"

"Do what you want."

[Yorkshire] "She's running, if that's what you want."

So my debut and my farewell ran to 17 takes and my total humiliation. So the answer is, no.

AW: I want to ask you about the other time you were asked to be an actor in Wim Wenders' film. You declined this opportunity?

JLC: Yes, I did. Wim Wenders wrote to me having seen my face on the back of a book. He wanted me to play, knowing that I spoke German, the sea captain in Erskine Childer's Riddle of the Sands. It was a distraction that I couldn't resist. I thought it could be a second profession. Wim Wenders came over for lunch at the Connaught Grill and I waited for him to come in with his friend. Two Neanderthals come in wearing frayed jeans with bite-marks in them, and one of them was Wim Wenders. I got them out of the Connaught immediately.

Wim Wenders insisted on speaking English, and said, "Vot is required here is six months in ze Baltic. Zere vill be no women. Also you vill have to fall about sixty metres off ze back of ze boat, into ze water. Is zat OK?"

"Of course." I took the script home and read it. Rather feebly I made an excuse. So movies lost another great opportunity.

[crippled_avenger]

Pogledao sam SON OF RAMBOW Gartha Jenningsa, courtesy of Ginger.

Ne mogu da kažem da sam oboren sa nogu kao što bi sudeći po kritikama i opštoj histeriji ovaj film trebalo da obara sa nogu. No, vaistinu jeste zanimljiv i sporadično zabavan. Iako sam koncept filma o odrastanju u osamdesetim sa sve fandomom za Ramba i britanski pop ume da natera vodu na usta, Jenningsova realizacija prečesto pokušava da se osloni na bizarnost i neke neuverljive idiosinkrazije likova čime gubi tu osnovnu emociju koju pokušava da postigne i devalvira neke vrlo solidne domete pre svega u domenu artikulisanja dečjeg sveta mašte koje je sporadično maestralno.

Od Gila Kenana u MONSTER HOUSE nisam sreo mlađeg reditelja koji ume dobro da artikuliše unutrašnji svet deteta. A Garth Jenings tek u pojedinim detaljima to uspeva.

Među6tim, krajnji rezultat njegovog novog eksperimenta je svakako zaokruženiji film od HITCHIKERa, i vrlo solidan ponovljni debi posle koga treba voditi računa o njegovim sledećim projektima. Ipak, nadam se da ga ogromne pohvale koje dobija neće pokvariti.

Inače, zanimljiv detalj je da klinci u filmu pokušavaju da učestvuju u BBCjevom kvizu SCREEN TEST u kome su između ostalih klinci slali svoje amaterske filmove. Među pobednicima ovog kviza a koji su posle napravili karijeru su saradnici Brad Birda Will i Jan Pinkawa (koji je na odjavnoj špici RATATOUILLE potpisan kao ko-reditelj), Štaviše, u filmu se vidi detalj iz kviza kada je Pinkawa primio nagradu.

* * 1/2 / * * * *

[crippled_avenger]

Harry Knowles gledao plivanje...

Hey folks, Harry here... did you see that fucking race? OH MY GOD! I'm an Olympics Junkie. I stay up all night watching crazy events. Archery, Skeet shoot, weightlifting, judo, fencing, round robin baseball, softball and on and on and on. But like most crazed Americans - this fucking Phelps thing has got me.

I can't believe that race. For the past several days NBC and the world seems to be conspiring to convince us that Phelps is some sort of SUPERMAN. Yesterday, they did this crazy scan of Phelps where they showed us his "superhuman measurements" and how much more blood his heart pumps than us mere mortals. Other swimmers have been calling him a space alien - a future man - and the hyperbole... well it's catching. I get so caught up in it.

Flash to just a bit ago. The race. It really came to two men. Michael "Superman" Phelps... and Milorad "Luthor" Cavic. I'm telling you. Right now. Cavic has got to be transformed into Lex Luthor - he'll be inventing crazy devices to humiliate and destroy Phelps.

The race was unbelievable. Phelps lost the race for all but a centimeter of the pool. Cavic was killing Phelps' dream - and as I watched - I was typing to a friend, PHELPS LOST and right as I went to hit ENTER - he won. In a keystroke he changed his fate. The visual looked like Cavic was 4 inches from winning - and Phelps was a foot and a half away - and he made the difference. He won by 1 one hundredths of a second. The narrowest possible margin of victory. And it doesn't make visual sense.

I don't care how many times NBC replays it, it seems Cavic won. Phelps' touch is obscured by SPLASH - and they say he won by a fingernail and folks... Folks - it's unfuckingbelievable.

The whole race made me believe the dream was just a dream, but the race was reality and the reality was... PHELPS DID IT! It's like he just doesn't know how to lose - it was unreal. Absolutely unreal. I can't believe it actually happened. WOW.

What'd you folks think?

Way to go PHELPS! Very Cool. And there's not a chance in hell that I'll miss the relay tomorrow!

If I was UNIVERSAL - I'd sign Phelps to play Sub-Mariner and give him 3 years of the best acting classes available to become the character. He is a man from Atlantis.

[Meho Krljic]

Moja žena je ustajala da gleda tako da sam iz druge sobe slušao krike (i šaputanja). Zaista nezemaljski događaj.

[crippled_avenger]

Kako rekoh na Dobu, drago mi je što je Milorad overio prvu medalju za nezavisnu Srbiju, čovek je true believer, setimo se akcije sa majicom.

Inače, na B92 je sramotno mala vest o vom događaju o kome govori ceo svet. Najbolji izveštaj sam našao na Yahoou.

[crippled_avenger]

Ponekad se samom sebi smučim kada shvatim na koji način izuzetne domete nečijeg duha i tela smeštam u kontekst vlastitih nacionalističkih zabluda!

[---]

ali si dobar dečko zato što si toga svestan. i lepo se šališ na svoj račun  

a ima nekih pojava, drugovi, kada ljudi nisu toga svesni pa, duboko u svojim nacionalističkim zabludama (ili globalističkim) pričaju o ljudima koji su superiorniji duhom "s prezirom koji nisu zaslužili".

[mrkoye]

ja zaista ne vidim drugu svrhu dometa necijeg duha i tela, osim da budu ugradjeni u vecu slavu majke Srbije...

[crippled_avenger]

mrkoye nam je sada spontano odao tajnu svog uspeha kod žena. On im predočava da će njihovo podavanje tela biti ugrađeno u slavu majke Srbije. Ali, da li je stvarno tako?