Understanding Roy

Roy Anderson is just an amazing filmmaker.

There is a certain melancholia to his films, a atmosphere of wonder and brutality intertwined with humor and understanding.

He works with space in a way no other filmmaker does - it is like watching a mixture of paintings and polish comedy from the '60.

His characters are at the same time deeply human and totally superficial.

His use of music is next to none.

Yes - he is by far the best filmmaker in Scandinavia.

Here is my favorite movie song involving a dog-loving nazi and an alcoholic woman!

And he got his training in commercials

Thor - God or Cartoon

Montreal is suffering a thunderstorm - in more meaning than one.

Since I god back to Montreal there has been a subtle change in the use of language from the people around me.

Before, when I would tell people my name, Thor, they would comment "like the God". (Which I rather liked).

But now they ask me "Oh, like the movie".

Of course it hurts to be downgraded from a God to a figure out of a Marvel comic - but even worse is the confirmation of the power of entertainment in modern culture.

Of course the Marvel comic Figure - THOR - is based on the God of thunder from the old nordic religion. But that fact seems to be transplanted, taken out of context and given it own (and very simplified) meaning.

Gone is the connection to thursday (derived from Thor), gone is the heathen influences on Anglo - Saxen culture. All that is left is - THOR the comic character.

Sometimes it is hard not to think that we are evolving into idiots...

All the best

Thor

Thor and the art of Butchering

I went to my butcher today - Vito's.

The butchers name is Tony (I guess Vito sounds more like a butcher from the old country).

There is a very special feeling shopping at his butchery. For starters, Einsteins view on the relativity of time gets confirmed. With Tony time becomes relative - relative to the needs of his clients.

Tony take his time. Even though there is a line at the counter, he talks to his clients, knows their stories, what meats they like, what the cooked yesterday and shares his view on everything from your evening dinner to last nights hockey results.

And there is more.

he has a genuine passion about his product. he visits the farms where he buys his meat. He knows (and tells you) how the animals are treated. And not out of a concern for animal wellfare (even though he might care about that) - more important is the effect the treatment has on the quality and the taste of the meat.

He cares. his butchery is not only a job - it is a way of being. he loves his meat like I love my theater.

Today he told me that in Italy butchers are sometimes called doctors:

"Hey doctor, give me 800 grams of aged beef"

and added that over here (in canada) they were closer to the buttom of the food chain (so to speak) then the top.

And why is that?

Could this be the price of economic "progress" and increased productivity?

Well...

At least I looked very cool at the butcher today

Thor

Farwell to Hemmingway

Sat down in the park today with a bottle of water and this most famous of book.

I have been waitng quite long for this moment - having left King Lear and Mother Courage behind me - back in Montreal and finally there was this first (and long overdue) meeting with master Hemmingway.

And I started reading. The famous opening lines. Something about a tree and mountains and soldiers marching by.

I thought that maybe I had missed something. Maybe there was something wrong with the printing. That they had forgotten to print the opening; this amazing opening which has brought shivers to strong hearts and tears to stony faces. This beginning was totally lost on me.

So I read on - in hope of proving myself wrong. That I would wake up to the fact that I had misunderstood something and that this really was a great great book.

One fourth through and I could not stop thinking about how much better "Catch 22" or "Live and Fate" were. At least there was real take on the absurdity of war in one and the terror of the war in the other.

Farewell is just about this rather boring man and his rather uninteresting relationship to ms. Barkeley. All rather dull - really.

Would take Stefans Zweig "the World of Yesterday" over "Farewell" any day.

So - for now - the only farwell I am saying is "Farwell to Hemmingway".

Thor

The talented mr. Van Trier

What a press conference!

The poor man.

I have never seen a man dig himself into such a mess before. It was like watching suicide live on tv.

Of course everybody can see where he meant to take it but the wording got in the way and instead of putting a point to it and start the thought from scratch he really totally fucked himself.

Ending up talking about wanting a "final solution" for journalists, talking about admiring Albert speers work and saying "Im a Nazi".

Of course there is a context but at a certain point what you say exceeds the context and creates his own.

I dont think this man will make many more movies on international scale - this will drive everybody in their right mind away.

And leave him to deal with his (self admitted) alcohol problem and his Melancholie!

Thor

ps. Here is the video of the press conference - it starts to heat up on minute 28.

Rómeo and Juliet - Production diary

Day 17

Read the text yesterday to prepare for this new direction that the production has taken. The problem with this text is that it is too long.

In some parts I just dont get where Shakespeare is going with it.

For example, why write the whole 5th act with all it's twists and turns and plots and brimborium when Juliet is already in a coma and we (the audience) know that she is going to die. Why the wait? Suspence? Building hope? delaying the action in order to delay the inevitable. What is the point??!

After the death of Mercutio this play turns from a light, interesting, tragicomic love story into a tragedy. And that is well done, all things considered. The current of this play runs in one direction, exept the 5th act, which runs against the current.

So I just edited it out!

Since I have to do this text as written I will at least tell the story in such a way that it has some action.

After finishing with the downsizing and decided to go look from the girl from last night, the one with the beautiful eyes, eyes that spoke volumes in their misterious silence. And I found her - and her boyfriend.

I watched sleepless in Seattle in the hotel room.

Love is deception, idioticy, spinning of tales, fools gold and misunderstanding all in one.

It is hard to stage a play about a feeling that is past it's sale by - date.

Rómeo and Juliet - Production diary

Days 15 and 16

I did not reherse today or yesterday.

Better to let things settle a little before we go on.

It seems that I wrote a little email when I got back to my hotel room the other night.

I was maybe a little to candid about the problems I saw within the group and how certain people were holding the production back.

And there are some that think I went overboard with my graphic descriptions of the sex scenes I want to have in the play.

But problem solved.

We will work according to the original text.

But there is a lesson here. You cannot stuff originality down peoples throat, they have to find it within themselves.