The blog of author Dennis Cooper

Author: DC (Page 16 of 1085)

Ich *

* (restored/expanded)

 

“I need love! Avete capito? The endless theme of my life is my longing for love. I just can’t get enough love.” — Helmet Berger

‘Unfortunately, Helmet Berger’s autobiography Ich has not been translated into English yet. So it is my duty and a pleasure to introduce you to the contents of Helmut Berger’s autobiography and provide you with a few anecdotes from the life of this great actor who was born in 1944 in the small Austrian town Bad Ischl. He wrote the book together with his friend Holde Heuer, a journalist from Munich.

‘As a sort of prologue Berger tells the reader: “Yes I am tainted by the beautiful things in life. But to all those who only want to see my as an agent provocateur and an excentric I can only say: With every day of my life the number of people I don’t give a damn about grows and grows. All my friends know: This book belongs to Luchino Visconti the great director. By the end of the book all my readers will know that the world is not only round and that love is the only true source of life.”‘ — Holde Heuer

 

 

‘Berger begins with his biggest personal problem: He has two sides – one nice and kind as an angel the other bad as the devil. He goes on and tells the reader a few examples of people who got to know his dark side: Alain Delon who wanted to take his part on Visconti’s side.’

“I fucked Delon’s wife Nathalie. I really liked her. We had fun in bed together with Maria Schneider who became famous on Marlon Brando’s side in The Last Tango in Paris. To make my success complete I contacted a journalist and made sure that Delon got to know about the whole affair. It is dangerous to pick a fight with me.”

 

 

Richard Burton was an alcoholic and had another quarrel with his wife Liz ‘Taylor. Berger sprayed chocolate truffles on a couch just before Burton lay down there. When he stood up again to go to the film set his trousers were all brown. Berger: “Richard looked shit.”‘

“Sometimes I don’t understand myself. I drink all night long I fight I destroy bars… I ask myself why I have to do this. After one of my excesses I was imprisoned in Rome for four days. A terrible time. But that other thing in me was stronger once again. That satanic devil just won’t let me be.”

 

 

‘He then goes back to 1974 and talks about the famous “Bad taste” Party on his 30th birthday in the famous “Jackie O.” Nightclub in Rome. Everyone: Valentino, Bianca Jagger, or Ursula Andress dressed in strange kind of ways. The more cocaine there was the crazier the party people became. Everything was fun to Berger back then. Over the past few years he became more and more thoughtful about many things in his life.

‘After arriving in London, Berger took his first acting lessons and worked as a waiter in an ‘In-Restaurant’ on King’s Road and as a model. All of the houses of the stars (for example Cat Stevens) were open, joints were smoked and free love – to be precise: orgies – were en vogue. Berger made his first sexual experiences involving men.

“There were so many of us. You touched your neighbour. It just happened. You are relaxed, a bit high, you caress and want to be caressed. Everything gets very erotic and you feel horny. You undress. Feel free from rules and morals. Oh, I, I, you play with yourself and with others. We are all sisters and brothers. A sweet boy turns me on, it feels natural.”

 

 

‘His first LSD-experience was in the USA, during the promotion-tour for The Damned (it must have been 1969). He was there together with his friend Ylia Suchanek from Austria. Berger took it in the house of Hair producer Michael Butler, “a master of this drug”. He describes his trip – thank god, a good one! – and tells the reader that it is necessary to drink a lot of juice to clean the body. No alcohol! But we all love Berger because he is so human. He makes mistakes. Berger’s cocaine-career started in 1971 in Rome (Nightclub “Number One”).’

“It was the jet-set-drug. If everybody was on it, I had to be too. You know, I am very easily influenced by other people. I like modern things. I wanted to be “in” back then. Immediately I took half a pound…”

‘His friend Egon von Furstenberg lead him to the club “The Glory Hole”, a nasty place. There were holes everywhere. The two men put their private parts in there. You never knew who or what was behind there. They had great fun there an stayed until six in the morning. Visconti had to leave America soon (he was not wanted as a communist and only allowed to stay for the premier of “The Damned”. Visconti did not like the USA anyway, but he must have enjoyed the “dirty” T-shirts Berger brought him.)’

 

 

‘The craziest thing happened on the ball of Monte Carlo. Berger sniffed cocaine of bad quality. Then he sat down to eat, but a fart become very liquid and landed in his trousers. He wore white trousers! So they became brown and he could not stand up and had to sit still from 9 till 4 in the morning. All his friends thought he was sick because he did not want to dance with them – usually, Berger is a passionate dancer. After he got home he changed his clothes and danced ecstatically in a club because he had to get all the stress of the evening out of his head.’

“I become the opposite of what I really am. A person that I hate. This liar, this monster, this anti-human being, it acts as if it were the devil himself. A horror! It started after Visconti’s death in 1976. The shock of my life. I used strong alcoholicas, drank them more and more often. I knew: My life is divided in the Helmut Berger before Luchino Visconti and the one with L.V. And, of course, the one after L.V. And this one could be a nightmare.”

 

 

‘When they first met and had lunch, Visconti would not leave Berger for one second, but the young man was afraid of his feelings. Berger wanted a real relationship. He wanted to live in Paris. And – he wanted luxury. They lived together in Paris. Visconti was a bit conservative, he did not want people to know he was gay – even the people working for him (he had several maids, a cook, etc.). So they had seperate bedrooms, but Berger would come to Visconti’s room at night… But Visconti also told him to leave afterwards and sleep in his own bed. His behaviour shows that he belonged to a different generation. Berger needed young people around him. So often at night he left the house in secret. And his night flights became wilder and wilder. Visconti prefered to read and hear classical music between his films or wrote scripts. Berger confesses that he played a game first, but very soon he really fell in love with Visconti.

‘Visconti also introduced him to new people. Were it musicians and models first (in London), was Berger now introduced to international artists – conductor Leonard Bernstein, opera singer Maria Callas, ballet dancer Rudolf Nurejev – Berger had an affair with him, Nurejev was sexually hyper-active, but Berger disliked the Russian’s passion for garlic and vodka. Nurejev wanted to live with Berger but he could not give him the safety of Visconti. For a short time, Nurejev was his lover, Visconti was his husband and his father.

‘The Beatles played a concert in Rome in 1967. Visconti wanted to make Berger happy, so he invited the Fab Four to a private dinner. They talked about music. Visconti said that pop and classical music should come together, they should make a concert with Leonard Bernstein. The Beatles were enthusiastic about this idea, but their manager did not like it. It was too soon for such a project back then. Berger liked all four of the Beatles, but he had the best relationship to Ringo Starr, they are still friends. The superstars were all a bit shy and nervous because of Visconti. But when he talked about his opera productions for too long, they also got a bit bored. After the Beatles had left Visconti said: “Why don’t they cut their hair?” Berger also wanted to have long hair, but Visconti had forbidden it.’

“Love is easier with men. They all have a mother complex, they don’t look at the eyes of a woman or at her hands, but at her breasts. Men don’t think about love and rainbows. You go out and then you do it, simply because you are horny. You say “Ciao” afterwards and not “Ti amo”.”

 

 

‘Berger writes about his friendship with Liz Taylor. They shot “Aschermittwoch” (“Ash Wednesday” 1973) together. Richard Burton was very jealous when Berger and his wife had to play a love scene. They all celebrated new year’s party in Switzerland afterwards, Burton broke his arm, because he was drunk and fell. Berger liked him, although Burton often treated his wife Liz Tayler bad. They had great fun. When Liz Taylor woke them in the morning, both men wore very small red slips. She was surprised. But Italians say that you should wear red clothes for the first 24 hours of ever new year. If you do it, it will become a happy year.

‘Berger was very tired after that film and so Visconti told him to visit Florinda Bolkan in her house in Rio de Janeiro. Florinda and her friends behaved strangely. Berger knew that something was wrong. After a few hours they told Berger that Visconti had suffered a stroke and died while Berger was flying from Rome to Rio. Visconti had smoked 80 cigarettes a day his whole life through!’

“I had a black out. I beat up Marina, Florinda’s friend. After I had come to my senses again, I packed my suitcases and drove to the airport. I wanted to buy my first-class-ticket to Rome, but the Italian “Alitalia” took me to Rome for free. Why? Because of respect for the master Luchino Visconti. Only Italians do such things. There was a state funeral for Visconti. Everyone was there: the government, Fellini, de Sica, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, everyone. They all wore dark sunglasses. Only I didn’t. I wanted that people could see my face. I wanted to say goodbye to Luchino naked. There was nothing to hide. No tears were rolling out of my eyes. I guess I was in a state of trance. I only looked at the huge heart made of flowers that I built for the funeral. Everything else seemed unreal to me. I was acting in a film, without sound, without soul, without Luchino. I was alone. God, I think I deserved it. No!”

“One year later, March, 17, 1977, I wanted to follow Luchino. I believed and hoped to meet him in his new world. What should I do down here on earth withouth him? My preparations were perfect. I had collected all the pills I could get. I had to be careful, because all my friends and Maria were watching me. When I had enough pills, I was happy and swallowed them. But by chance, Maria, who started working in the afternoon already arrived in the morning on that day. She found me. I don’t know if this was good or not. I don’t know that, even now, twenty years later. Scusi!”

 

 

‘Berger talks about his friendship with Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger. They were partying in New York, Paris, everwhere. No city was safe from them. Bianca Jagger was there, too. Berger liked both of them, he even landed in bed with them. But he tells us that there was no sex. The window of their hotel room was open, so they awoke at noon. Beneath their window was the garden of the hotel, with an outdoor cafe. Mick and Helmut could not fall asleep again. Angry, as they were, they urinated on the heads of the guests of the cafe. Of course, their hotel bill was enormously high. There are bans on Berger entering the Paris “Plaza”, the Munich “Four Seasons” and “Palace”.’

“Without sex I get nervous and hysterical. I take a cold shower. I am not one of those men who have to fuck every night. My libido is quite controlled. I need one or two drinks before I can really feel free. When I was young, I wanted to be seduced. Now I take all the pretty young men into my bed and say: ‘Rock me, babe.’ My affairs never last long. I often ask myself ‘Why?’. I am too critical. I am bossy, aggressive. I ask for too much. If I think about it, sex really is not that important for me. Why not masturbate for six months?”

 

 

‘Berger went skiing in the winter time. Visconti wanted him to go to Kitzbhel, because he thought that Berger would only be doing nasty things in St. Moritz. Of course, that could not stop Berger. He spent the annual income of many people in four weeks (although he had a cheap room). Visconti feared that Helmut hurt himself when he skied, so he had a good insurance for “Ludwig II”, which started a bit later. Berger liked playing Ludwig and still can identify with this man who was against war. He says that Ludwig is the role of his life. He was very nervous at the shootings and could not sleep.’

‘It was a hard shooting and Berger would not have survived it without co-star and friend Romy Schneider. She did not want to be in “Ludwig II” first. But Visconti changed her mind: “Times have changed. You are not the little Sissy any more. Trust me. Start to hold your head up high. And walk like an empress.” But Schneider was not happy in real life. Though she was married again and had an affair with German Chancellor Willy Brandt, she still loved Alain Delon. He was the love of her life. She was a great actress, but pills and alcohol lead to her early end.’

“Who understands the schizophrenia of an actor? You play a role for months, as if it was your real life. Then you are at home for a while, but after that you play the next role. What a chaos. And then there are all the people, they want to know what sort of life you lead. The looks behind your back. I don’t feel good all the time. It is a very exhausting job. And if I have a problem, I simply leave and travel around. That’s me. I don’t want to talk about problems. I just leave.”

 

 

‘In 1978 Berger played in “The Fifth Commandment” (Duccio Tessari), a film about two brothers who are gangsters and are finally shot by the police. The film was shot in Germany. In Munich he was introduced to Holde Heuer, the co-author of his autobiography. She was responsible for the promotion of the Hilton Hotel and saved Berger from being kicked out of the house due to misbehaviour: Holde saved Berger. She kept him from the cheap Munich drug scene. She warned him not to deal with the people around Rainer Werner Fassbinder. During this time in Germany Berger had lunch with Maria Schell, Curd Jegens and director Werner Herzog. Berger paid the enormous bills. A project with Fassbinder did not work out.’

“Fassbinder wanted to work with me. I sat in the cafe and waited. He arrived an hour late together with a friend, just as I was about to leave. He was full of cocaine. I told him that I could not talk to him in the state he was in. And I left. Fassbinder tried to get me for two of his films later. But I did not like the fact that Fassbinder never had a script and only followed his intuition. And I also did not like Fassbinder’s looks, his dirty leather-clothes and that he had not shaved for days.”

“After Luchino’s death, I received hundreds of letters. But only three from Rome (from Flora Mastroianni, Virna Lisi and his agent Carol Levy). But what about all the other friends and artists? What had happened? Suddenly people said that Visconti’s style was out of fashion. ‘Viscontian’ was a negative word. But his films were classics. I believe that his colleagues were envious. He was dead, so there was no one who could show that all the films of the other directors were crap. I was out of my mind for the next years. For the other directors I was a ‘Viscontian’ actor. Without Luchino I was not half the man and actor I used to be. He had tainted me. Tainted by the beautiful things in life. The taste in his films, the style, the design. … All those things were reasons for my suicide attempt. Even now I am not used to the fast-food-filming of so many other actors. I want quality in the films. Is that too much? The producers fear that I want my own make-up artist, Alberto del Rossi, that I want my own secretary. They fear class and style. But I believe in the creative power in artists. I don’t give up.”

 

 

“Let’s think big. I was never interested in mediocrity. I wanted to play big parts.”

‘And so he did, in The Voracious Ones (Sergio Gobbi), Vittoria (Antonio Ribas) or in the American movie Entebbe with Liz Taylor, Richard Dreyfuss, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Linda Blair.’

“Linda Blair – we had a wild, fast flirt. We had an affair in the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. But I also had sex with her brother. He seduced me. It was a family-affair. I hope that God will not damn me.”

 

 

‘When Berger became a member of the cast of the TV series Dynasty – Denver Clan he was not allowed to even speak to colleagues and friends who played in Dallas, because there was a rivalry between the two tv-series. His colleagues Linda Evans, Joan Collins, Pamela Sue Martin and John Forsythe were friendly in the beginning, and so were Spelling’s secretaries. But Berger immediately realized that they did not mean what they said. As said before, he never liked America and its citizens. The Denver people said that Berger was not allowed to meet people like Nicholson or Marlon Brando because everyone in Hollywood knew that those people were sniffing cocaine. He was also not allowed to visit the best night club, “Studio One”, because it was known for his homosexual guests.’

“I could not believe it. All those jerks. Puritans. But secretely they all watch porno movies. I did not follow their rules. I had to come to the office every second day. They told me that my role would slowly disappear, if I would not do what they said. I answered: ‘You really believe that I stay at home and don’t meet my friends? Really? Heil Hitler.’ So I was only part of Denver for eleven episodes. In the end my airplane crashed against a mountain.”

“I was out of my mind for the next years. For the other directors I was a ‘Viscontian’ actor. Without Luchino I was not half the man and actor I used to be. He had tainted me. Tainted by the beautiful things in life. The taste in his films, the style, the design. … All those things were reasons for my suicide attempt. I want quality in the films. Is that too much? The producers fear that I want my own make-up artist, Alberto del Rossi, that I want my own secretary. They fear class and style. But I believe in the creative power in artists. I don’t give up.”

 

 

‘A very strange fact is that Berger says he is attracted to Fidel Castro, he calls him “a sexy bitch” and states that Cuban men are “well-built”. Berger would like to be alone with Castro and a video camera….!’

“I take a lot of power from nature nowadays. I go to the country, visit friends in Upper Austria and relax. I read Musil and erotic books. My wildest days are over. Only sometimes I allow myself to act crazy. When I travel. Shopping- and party-orgies. But even when Luchino was alive I could have a quiet day without any action. Well, of course I became a bit restless on the second day. If I don’t feel free, I just leave. There are so many beautiful things, I would not want to miss them. I went out or drove to Ischia. You know, life goes on. And today? I am still curious about new roles, new impressions, my friends and about myself. You know, I like myself. I am what I am. Take me or leave me!”

 


Helmut Berger ICH ICH ICH


Helmut Berger interview naked in bed with a cigarette talking about Visconti


Helmut Berger on German TV in “Harald Schmidt Show“


Official Trailer – HELMUT BERGER, ACTOR (2015)

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** James, Les Blank no doubt sends his greetings back to you from the grave. As do I from aboveground, much appreciated attentive one. Haha, age verification. Happy to have helped de-virginize you on the tentacle front. Well, presumably, depending on what you do with your newfound wisdom. Thanks for using ‘Closer’ as a metaphoric champagne bottle on the stern of your 2025-housed bookwormy future. I think the dude on the cover of the American ‘Frisk’ is underwater too but more subtly. Trivia: the dude/model on the cover grew up to be the currently rather well known drag performer Sherry Vine. Socks need to be reinvented. I hope you survived Tuesday. Seemingly so, no? ** Dominik, Hi!!! I’ve fallen way behind on PJ Harvey. Strange how that happens. Same with Nick Cave, but, in that case, I’ve lost actual interest. I had to look that love up. Soko. Never heard of that entity. And it says they’re French. Okay, this one’s easy. I love L.A. (We love it!), G. ** Misanthrope, What’s that old saying … ‘Fool me once, … etc.’. Yikes, poor Elio. Where do people ski around where you are? My geography knowledge isn’t that good, but I think of your general realm as being pretty mountain-free. Enjoy home while it lasts. Or probably lasted by now. ** _Black_Acrylic, Excellent, re: Blank’s impression upon thou. I hope you were sufficiently rested that your ‘pen’ met ‘paper’. I haven’t seen ‘The Girl with the Needle.’ I need to. I think you know Puce Mary did the score for Zac’s and my imminent new film, and she said working on that film was conventionally fun. ** James Bennett, Hi, James. Naturally, sir. Okay, your story sounds very promising and fascinating. And I can see why it might’ve been labor intensive. Excellent. Enjoy the last polishing. I really look forward to partaking. Have a fine midweek day. ** Steeqhen, Hi. Good, or better than the alternative: it having in fact been exhaustion. I used to be obsessed with the Oz books. I think I read every single one of them. And in fact I have a pop-up book edition of ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ right here on my desk (only because I can’t figure where else to put it). I think Bresson was a semi-lapsed Catholic. I might be misremembering that, but it would make sense. Your dissertation is exciting to hear about and such an honor, thank you, man. It sounds pretty sharp to me. No rush on the Who post, obviously, just whenever or if-ever t’would be swell. ** Steve, Sadly, to my mind at least, gay tentacle porn is pretty lame looking. UbuWeb was still there, but it was a dead duck. I’m very happy it’s back in action too. Amazing resource, and not only for the blog. The Bertolucci stuff I was thinking of was: Pierre Clementi’s character molesting the young boy and getting shot by him in ‘The Conformist’, Donald Sutherland’s character having sex with the young boy then killing him by swinging him around by his legs and smashing his head over and over against stone walls of his hut in ‘1900’, the fact that Maria Schneider’s character in ‘Last Tango’ was originally supposed to be a boy, the young boy in ‘Luna’ being picked up forcefully in the gay bar, and etc. Some pretty heavy, cramped authorial intent going on there. ** Chris Kelso, Hi, Chris. I thought so. Obviously. I wasn’t influenced by David Lynch, but I think he was an enormously important artist. I can’t think of another visionary, avant-garde American filmmaker whose work not only became widely popular but influenced so many younger artists. Yes, in the early 90s David Lynch offered to produce a film that would have made by his assistant and me, but the assistant and I did not see eye to eye, so it never happened very unfortunately. How are you intending to fund the film? That part of filmmaking is so fucking awful, or can be. It took us four years to raise the funds for ‘Room Temperature’, and it was a massive struggle. You stay as well and safe as well and safe can be too. ** HaRpEr, Yeah, when you say zap it’s almost like the word has a little electrical jolt. It’s nice. Agreed, of course, about repression’s value to art making. There must be thousands of examples. My favorite Bertoluccis are ‘The Conformist’ and ‘Luna’. I think all of his films up through ‘Luna’ are very worth seeing. Ha, interesting/funny about the Corn Flakes guy. Makes me want to buy a box. ** Charalampos, Hey. Yes, I know that Rivette film. I like it a lot. Ideally one never makes sense of romantic encounters. If they start to make sense, they aren’t working. Maybe. The blog has a secret text feature, but only I can use it. Kind of a fascist set up really. Warmest from not warm here. ** PL, Welcome back. Sounds lively. No, I’ve never been to Brazil. One of my brothers lived there for a while. The only countries in South America I’ve been to are Peru, Venezuela, and Chile. That is unexpected about the largest expat Japanese population. Do you know why? Or does anyone know why? No, I had no say in ‘The Sluts’ cover. Usually I get a say, but in that case they just published it and didn’t let me see it until it was already a book. I have no idea what the story is behind it. No, I don’t have any groupies as far as I know. I’m not so sharp at picking up on those kinds of signals though. When I was young and starting out I got hit on by a number of older gay writers, most of whom probably weren’t interested in my work at all, which was most unpleasant. Not recently, but I used to get these young writers who seemed to think they would have to put out for me to support their work, so there was flirting there, but I’ve never been an exploitative guy, and I just ignored the come-ons. But mostly I’m kind of clueless and don’t really notice if someone has groupie intentions with me. Enjoy the fruits of your lustful fans, I guess? I mean it’s better than being treated like you’re a possible predator? ** Justin D, Happy to trigger your latent Les Blank interest. ‘The Here After’, hm, interesting. Okay, I think I need to watch on that. It’s actually streaming on MUBI? Cool. MUBI can be such a tease with that ‘not currently streaming’ tag they put on so many of the films they act like they house. Thanks! Here’s the evolution of your day! ** Uday, I didn’t remember that you look like Jesus. That could come in handy. Except amongst the grudgeful. Kant, yikes, okay, got it. That kind of important. Physical mail is weird because I”m so completely out of the habit of writing letters and buying stamps and so on that when I get mail, I feel immediately guilty because I know I’ll never respond. But I do still appreciate the effort people put into writing to someone in an analog way. Get some sleep. I can’t survive without at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep a nights, so, yeah, sweet dreams. ** Okay. I have brought Helmut Berger back to blog life so he can glom onto you for 24 hours. See you tomorrow.

Les Blank’s Day

 

‘Pinocchio started it all for me, in 1940, when I was 4 years old. It happened at the Tampa Theater, one of the grand old depression-era movie palaces thankfully preserved still today, with all of its ornate and excessive decor, in Tampa, Florida. It has twinkling stars in the ceiling and clouds that float by. Plus lots of bare-breasted women with long flowing tresses seemingly everywhere I looked. One held the water fountain out for me to drink from. Others waved huge candlelabra of light and were strategically situated throughout the wondrous and mysterious, darkened stucco caverns. For a breast-fed kid of four it was most stimulating. There was no question of my willingness to suspend disbelief. And suspend it I did. I was instantly sucked into the cartoon from the first frame and I’m not sure I’ve ever completely returned.’ — Les Blank

‘Much like the bastions of freedom and vernacular art he so lovingly recorded, Les Blank’s films seem a kind of arcadia on the horizon of documentary film. Blank died earlier this month at the age of 77, leaving behind a singularly festive body of work. Especially in the many small masterpieces shot in Louisiana (Spend It All, 1971; Dry Wood, 1973; Hot Pepper, 1973; Always for Pleasure, 1978), Texas (The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins, 1968; A Well Spent Life, 1971; Chulas Fronteras, 1976), and North Carolina (Sprout Wings and Fly, 1983), the infectious joie de vivre found in Blank’s films offers the best imaginable antidote to the ossifying tendencies of so much documentary portraiture. No matter the subject, Blank’s films hazard to show it close to life.

‘Frederick Wiseman makes for an especially intriguing point of comparison to Blank: both filmmakers developed a consistent enough approach in style and subject as to make their numerous works seem kaleidoscopic pieces of a single chronicle of American life (Blank’s would be a roiling picaresque); both formed their own distribution companies; both emerged from the verité generation with a seemingly inexhaustible interest in observing the individual in his or her social context. Their films present contrasting pictures of what constitutes that common society, however, with Wiseman preoccupied with the institutional structures that are anathema to Blank’s freewheeling portraits. Tempting as it is to read their respective works as polarized expressions of 1960s consciousness—structuralist critique on the one hand, a kind of utopic pastoral strain on the other—both filmmakers transcended these familiar frameworks by dint of genuine curiosity and an unstinting work ethic.

‘Musicians were of special interest to Blank as figures bridging communalist folkways with stark individualism. His immersive shooting style and preference for filming these subjects at home or else in a familiar space (dances, country stores, the side of the road—anything to avoid an actual stage) lends the performances an unmistakable tang of authenticity. At home in long takes, Blank liberally employs the zoom lens for close-ups of hands and faces. The deeply subjective pleasure in gesture and expression is already apparent in those rapt moments of Dizzy Gillespie (1964) during which Blank moves in to the trumpeter’s horn and blurs focus with a musical crescendo. Blank’s lyricism depended in large measure on his subjects’ spontaneity, however, which made Gillespie’s celebrity a problem. By contrast, the variety of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ impromptu performances in The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins affords a layered portrait far more nuanced than the usual mythologies of the bluesman as lone wolf.

‘Digression is a path towards wisdom in Blank’s work, both in the space of the shot and the open narration style. Mance Lipscomb’s explanation in A Well Spent Life that his greyhounds can fetch him five or six dollars worth of jackrabbits every day is a nice example of the kind of tangent Blank’s films gladly accommodate: not worth mentioning except for being there, which is exactly the point. Meandering rivers and roads are consistent leitmotifs, and there is always time for a close-up of green onions and seasoned meat stirred into a pot over an open flame. Sprout Wings and Fly’s gentle portrait of North Carolina fiddler Tommy Jarrell includes a disquisition on moonshine whiskey and an extended sequence in which Jarrell’s sisters show Blank’s camera the many layers of tablecloths pasted over her mother’s picnic table. A Well Spent Life leaves Mance Lipscomb behind entirely for a climactic depiction of a river baptism. These are all scenes that might well furnish the film’s central subjects with material for song lyrics, giving the unmistakable impression of a deep accord existing between art and its environment, an insight most fully realized in melodic group portraits like Always for Pleasure, Spend It All, and Dry Wood—city symphonies set to the languid pace of Cajun country.

‘It was more than mere whimsy that led Blank to credit Porter Houston’s Bar-B-Q and “The People of Texas, 1967” along with Hopkins himself in the hand-painted opening titles for The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins. For one thing, the filmmaking credits are similarly generous (Blank often shared director credits with his editors and sound recorders). More to the point, the credits reflect something basic about the structure of the films, which, uniquely among such documentary portraits, do not discriminate between the marquee subject and more incidental walk-ons, but rather place them on the same plane of experience, the better to enter their world.

‘There’s a wonderful scene at the end of Sprout Wings and Fly in which one of Jarrell’s admirers asks him about Blank’s film crew. “They got some money from the government some way,” he reports. “I don’t know how they done it, and I ain’t asked them. It’s none of my business.” Blank clearly appreciated the irony of his drawing on government funds to film his pastoral lives (his work seems a late blooming of the WPA model in this respect). Similarly, he could offhandedly indicate the racial dynamics at work in his Southern settings without allowing it to frame the portrait (e.g., a wonderfully incongruous shot of white teenagers waterskiing past Hopkins and a friend fishing). A pastoral style invariably entails a certain degree of wishful projection, but Blank’s lyricism doesn’t dress his subjects up with manufactured dignity: rather, it works to expand upon the matter of fact. Blank’s slow lap dissolves are extraordinarily beautiful, more of a piece with 1930s documentary (or Bruce Baillie’s experimental films) than straight-laced verité. More specifically, there is the majestic purple sky stretching behind Lipscomb as he offers his shining account of love and religion; the dissolving images of a man canoeing that end Spend It All in grandeur and mystery; the slow final dissolve from Hopkins’ face tilted back in song to an exterior that racks focus from an idyllic field of flowers to barbed wire in the foreground (freedom and enclosure in the same image, just like the blues). These are but a few of examples of the beguiling ease with which Blank migrated between literal and abstract forms, simultaneously documenting and dreaming.

‘Many of Blank’s older subjects worry over the “fast living” that signals the demise of their traditions, though secondhand enthusiasts and avowed preservationists like Marc and Ann Savoy (the subjects of the 1991 Marc and Ann) would seem closer to onscreen vicars for Blank. Like him, they cherish the handmade, informal old-time ways; unlike him, they identify with a single culture. The films themselves act as a go-between, with Blank’s faithful attention to food and music reflecting an idealistic conviction in certain universals (as does his decision to distribute Kidlat Tahimik’s utterly simpatico Perfumed Nightmare). Every one of Blank’s films feels like a kind of homecoming, with the title of the Mance Lipscomb portrait illuminating the guiding question for all his work: What makes for a well spent life? Blank never tired of finding answers to that question, and the gusto with which he carried out the search is indeed an answer in itself.’ — Max Goldberg

 

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Stills





















































 

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Further

Les Blank’s Site
Blank Slate: Remembering Les Blank
Les Blank, American Hero
Les Blank @ IMDb
Les Blank @ The Criterion Collection
The Essentials: 7 Films You Should Know From Les Blank
WHAT TODAY’S FOOD FILMS OWE TO LES BLANK
Time Well Spent: Les Blank
A Journey w. Les Blank by Comet Radio
Les Blank interviewed (2009)
Les Blank: Folklife on Film
Criterion collects the joyful, humane documentaries of Les Blank
‘The Realness’ Episode 3: A Discussion of Les Blank
Sprout Wings and Fly turns 35
The Road Les Traveled: A Les Blank Filmography
Jonah, American Epic Session and Les Blank
Filmmaker Les Blank Made Cinematic Art Out Of Interests
Damaged Goods: Les Blank
Harrod Blank’s salute to his father and film-maker Les Blank
My Favorite Documentaries: Burden of Dreams
THIS DANCE IS FOR LES BLANK

 

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Extra


How Les Blank Mastered The Art Of The Show (Don’t Tell)


Screening Room with Les Blank


Remembering the great Les Blank

 

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Interview

 

Sally Berger: One of your earliest titles is Pleasure Faire, directed by Terry Nowak, which documented the second Renaissance Fair in California in 1963/64. You were the cinematographer, using a Bell and Howell spring-wound camera. This work reminds me of another title by you, God Respects Us When We Work, but Loves Us When We Dance, which captures the first big “love-in” in Los Angeles, on Easter Sunday 1967. I believe some of the same revelers are in both films; certainly the Renaissance-style clothing inspired a lot of the “hippie” styles. Perhaps you could say something about your experience of the relationship between the Renaissance fairs and the beginning of the California counterculture?

Les Blank: There is an overlapping. People at the Pleasure Faire and the love-in were a free-spirit type of people who lived outside the box. There was something in the fairs that reflected a purity of spirit. Their sound recordings were genuine Renaissance music authentically gleaned from the period and played on the Renaissance instruments. The love-in was one of the first outdoor rock concerts filled with talented musicians such as Ray Manzarek, then the bass player from the Doors, among many others.

We didn’t have a person recording sound, so the sound track had to be recreated. I was invited to a Halloween party in an old house sponsored by the public independent television station KCET. We all dressed up in costumes inspired by Fellini films—I was dressed as a country priest. There I heard the psychedelic rock band Spontaneous Combustion and asked them to do the soundtrack. I projected the film on screen in the practice session and recording studio and they made the soundtrack to that. I tweaked the final version in the editing room.

SB: You made Dizzie Gillespie, about the jazz trumpeter, in 1965; interviewed him 20 years later for your film about Afro-Cuban percussionist Francisco Aquabella (Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aquabella, 1985); and then again for Roots of Rhythm (1994), a series narrated by Harry Belafonte (not in the program). Gillespie is such a showman! How did you gain access to him for making your portrait and what was it like working with him?

LB: Dizzie Gillespie was an ebullient, uplifting person. He loved being around people. We filmed one afternoon and in the evening of the second day and at a rehearsal of the Stan Kenton Neophonic Orchestra at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The performance at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach was shot with non-sync sound!

SB: You have worked with some of the same individuals over the years on your films, including Skip Gerson, Chris Strachwitz, Maureen Gosling, Chris Simon, and Gina Leibreicht. Please talk a bit about the role of collaborators and what working with the same people on several films brings to the quality of your productions.

LB: All these people were very social. I am shy, so working with others who are more at ease in a social situation helps. They also have good film ideas. Chris knows music and what he likes. He came to the U.S. after WWII, heard Louis Armstrong and knew that he had come to heaven. This brought him to the blues in Texas and to become an expert on Norteño, Cajun, Creole, and zydeco music. Maureen is a natural editor and worked as sound recordist, assistant camera starting in 1972, fresh out of college with a degree in anthropology. In time, she became full editor. She has a very sensitive, loving spirit and this carries through in her work.

SB: Gosling has worked with you on a number of films, including most recently the music videos of the music group and art center Los Cenzontles, and earlier on Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers, Burden of Dreams, Dry Wood, and Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking. You both traveled twice to the Amazon to shoot your documentary on Werner Herzog’s making of Fitzcarraldo, and kept fascinating journals of the adventure. You seemed really miserable at times—bored, lonely, uncomfortable with the situation and physically out of your element—and at other times, when in nature, you were full of delight. Today, when you look back at the experience, do you see it with any fresh insights?

LB: As time passes I only remember the pleasant things. It was a very rich experience. I had known Werner for a while before making the film. He knew that the film he was making was very risky and wanted it documented. He convinced the Peruvian businessman who showed him one of the abandoned boats that helped inspire the story to specifically support the documentary.

SB: Gina Leibrecht collaborated with you as a codirector on All in This Tea (2007) and the work-in-progress How to Smell a Rose (2011) (about Ricky Leacock). These recent works seem to have a more developed dramatic structure, less based on pure observation and music. What accounts for this change in style?

LB: Gina needs a dramatic arc; this is the way she works. She majored in film at the University of Oregon. She edited Frank Green’s Counting Sheep and Karina Epperlein’s Phoenix Dance, which made the short list for Best Short Subject Documentary in 2006.

SB: What kind of advice might you have for emerging documentary filmmakers today? What types of things are different from when you started out making films in the mid 1960s to an emerging filmmaker in 2011?

LB: Do it while you can do it. Just plunge in, don’t put all your energy into making preparations. Everyone is making films today—you have to find a way to distinguish yourself.

SB: Please share some of your favorite shooting experiences and some of your least favorite experiences. Your films are often about having a good time, but is this always the case for the filmmaker?

LB: One of my worst experiences was in New York City while working on an industrial film; I did industrials to support my independent filmmaking. The company made carbon paper and White-Out—these materials either absorbed light or reflected it and the shooting conditions were terrible. The film got finished somehow, but not without me being covered in black carbon.

While making Burden of Dreams I remember vividly a long boat ride at night, at the end of an exhausting, difficult day shooting a big scene with hundreds of Indians and canoes. The stars and moon were shining very bright in the clean, pure air and aromatic, night-blooming blossoms were thoroughly intoxicating—you could only experience something like this in the jungle. Michael Goodwin had come down to work as my assistant, replacing Pacho Lane in the last couple of weeks and was sitting next to Herzog. Goodwin said something like “Aren’t the stars beautiful?” and Herzog responded, “The stars are a mess.” I knew we had to capture these sentiments about the shoot that Herzog was feeling; we soon found an opportunity to do so and the interview is in Burden of Dreams.

SB: I would characterize your work as being about humanity, culture, and unique individuals, as well as the inspiration of music, dance, food, and abandon. What are the things in your life—early experiences, people, your own nature—that helped define this vision?

LB: Eating, music, theater, and the arts inspire me. Hearing the musical notes of a trombone and the steel guitar for the first time…listening to Ernest Tubb’s Midnight Jamboree at Summer camp in Tennessee… I grew up in Tampa, Florida and enjoyed meeting people who were different from me—Cubans and African Americans lived in my neighborhood. My mother made me go to Sunday school, but I liked the country honky tonks better. I would go to the Florida State Barn Dance where it was rowdy and the music lively. People opened up their tailgates and talked, drank, fought, and danced all night.

SB: What other filmmakers, artists, film, art, music, culinary arts, writing, poetry, dancing, drinking, and socializing helped you to define your own ideas in filmmaking?

LB: Ingmar Bergman made me realize I wanted to become a filmmaker. When I saw The Seventh Seal for the first time I was in a pretty low state—he showed me a world where someone was worse off then me. And he showed me that art and beauty can come from the worst misery of the human experience. I was also profoundly moved by the work of Robert Flaherty, Robert Gardner, and Slavko Vorkapich.

SB: For people who are discovering your work for the first time, which films would you suggest they go to see first?

LB: The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins, Burden of Dreams, Chulas Fronteras, Gap Toothed Women, Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers, Always for Pleasure, God Respects Us When We Work, but Loves Us When We Dance, In Heaven There Is No Beer?, Spend It All, Sprout Wings and Fly, A Well Spent Life, Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, Dry Wood, Hot Pepper—I like all of my films!

 

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18 of Les Blank’s 43 films

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Dizzy Gillespie (1964)
‘This is Les Blank’s earliest music film, focusing on the renown trumpet player, Dizzy Gillespie, who along with Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins and others sparked the change from traditional Jazz to “Bebop” in mid 1940s America. The film includes rare images of Gillespie playing on his famous bent horn, and talking about his beginnings, as well as his theories about music.’


Excerpt

 

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God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance (1968)
‘Hippies and flower children dance and create rituals at the historic Los Angeles “Love-In” of Easter Sunday, 1967. This ’60s classic documents a once-in a lifetime phenomenon, preserving all the fashions, energy and idealism of the first “alternative lifestyles.” Psychedelic special effects!’


Trailer


Excerpt

 

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The Blues According to Lightnin’ Hopkins (1967)
‘The great Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins is captured in this emotional and revealing feature length film. Blank reveals Lightnin’s inspiration, and features a generous helping of classic blues.’


Excerpt


Excerpt

 

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Spend It All (1971)
‘Blank’s rich portrayal of the lives and music of the French-speaking Cajuns of Louisiana, featuring the Balfa Brothers, Marc Savoy and Nathan Abshire.’


Excerpt


Excerpt


Werner Herzog on ‘Spend It All’

 

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Hot Pepper (1973)
‘Blank’s musical portrait of Zydeco King Clifton Chenier, who combines the pulsating rhythms of Cajun dance music and black R&B; with African overtones, belting out his irresistible music in the sweaty juke joints of South Louisiana.’


Excerpt

 

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A Poem Is A Naked Person (1974)
‘After seeing Les Blank’s seminal film, The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins, Leon Russell and Denny Cordell wanted to work with him. Les directed, filmed, and edited, A Poem Is A Naked Person during 1972-74, while he was living at the Russell/Shelter Records recording studio compound on Grand Lake Of The Cherokees in NE Oklahoma. This feature-length film includes appearances by Willie Nelson, George Jones, and some amazing characters in Oklahoma, where much of it was shot.

‘The film was never released, and was rarely shown in public, except at non-profit institutions with Blank in attendance. After Les Blank’s death in 2013, his son Harrod Blank came to terms with Leon Russell in order to re-master and finally release the film, some forty years later. At least two major critics have declared it the best film ever made about Rock and Roll. Criterion and Janus Films are distributing the film in North America.’ — Les Blank Films


Trailer


Excerpt

 

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Always for Pleasure (1978)
‘An intense insider’s portrait of New Orleans’ street celebrations and unique cultural gumbo: Second-line parades, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest. Features live music from Professor Longhair, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Neville Brothers and more.’


Excerpt


Excerpt

 

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Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
‘Blank’s zesty paean of praise to the greater glories of garlic is a passionate foray into the history, consumption, cultivation and culinary/curative powers of the stinking rose.’


Excerpt


Excerpt

 

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Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980)
‘German film director Werner Herzog really does eat his shoe to fulfill a vow to fellow filmmaker Errol Morris — boldly exemplifying his belief that people must have the guts to attempt what they dream of.’


Excerpt


the entire film

 

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Burden of Dreams (1982)
‘Blank’s feature-length documentary about the messianic German director Werner Herzog struggling against desperate odds in the Amazon basin to make his epic feature, Fitzcarraldo.’


Excerpt


Excerpt

 

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Sprout Wings and Fly (1983)
‘Blank’s emotional tribute to Appalachian culture profiles legendary, old-time fiddler Tommy Jarrell.’


Excerpt


Excerpt

 

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In Heaven There is No Beer? (1984)
‘Blank’s joyous romp through the dance, food, music, friendship, and even religion of the Polka.‘


Trailer


Excerpt

 

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Cigarette Blues (1985)
‘This is a microcosmic Les Blank film in which bluesman Sonny Rhodes simultaneously addresses three of the filmmaker’s longstanding obsessions: death, cigarette smoking, and the nature of the blues. Soundtrack features Sonny Rhodes and the Texas Twisters performing at Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland, California.’


Trailer

 

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Innocents Abroad (1991)
Innocents Abroad takes an amusing look at how Europeans and Americans stereotype each other, and also examines the validity of twentieth-century-style high speed, mass tourism. It is a glimpse into an important industry which is vital to the European economy, but which also takes a very real toll on the continent, both culturally and ecologically. The eclectic soundtrack includes Mozart, Bob Dylan, Sandy Denny, Jonathan Richman, and others.’


Trailer


Excerpt

 

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Sworn to the Drum (1995)
‘Blank’s documentary tribute to Francisco Aguabella, perhaps the finest Afro-Cuban master percussionist still living.’


Trailer


Excerpt

 

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All In This Tea (2007)
‘All In This Tea takes us into the world of tea by following world-renowned obsessive tea expert David Lee Hoffman to some of the most remote regions of China in search of the best handmade teas in the world.’


Trailer


Excerpt

 

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How to Smell a Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock in Normandy (2014)
‘This film documents Les Blank’s year 2000 visit with the legendary co-founder of Direct Cinema, Richard Leacock (1921-2011). At his farm in Normandy, France, Blank, and co-director Gina Leibrecht, recorded conversations with Leacock about his life, his work, and his other passion: cooking! In the early sixties, together with Robert Drew, D.A. Pennebaker, and the Maysles brothers, Leacock changed the way documentary films were made. Before then the standard way of making films involved heavy and cumbersome equipment—standing lights, tripods, cables, etc.—that limited the access the filmmakers had to their subjects. Leacock’s technical and aesthetic innovations were instrumental in creating a new form of documenting events on film by abandoning these impediments, giving birth to America’s version of cinéma vérité. His quest was to create, “the feeling of being there.” While cooking, and taking walks in the French countryside, Leacock shares with Blank the memorable moments of his filmmaking career, and the extraordinary people he met along the way.’


Excerpt

 

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Thailand Moment (2015)
‘In 1967 Les Blank and Skip Gerson were hired to work in Thailand on a documentary about the B52 Bomber and its use in bombing campaigns over Vietnam. The producer had difficulty getting permission from the Thai government allowing the filmmakers access to the plane. Weeks went by with Les and Skip on payroll, but having nothing to shoot. So they traveled around the country filming whatever attracted them. The two made a side trip to Chiang Mai, but mostly focused in and around Bangkok. Ultimately, access to the B52 Bombers was never granted, so the paid job was cancelled.’ — IMDb


Trailer

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** _Black_Acrylic, I know that track but not that vid. Charming as hell at first glance. Gracias. Cool, I’ll find that Celine. The brokenness sounds fun. Are you writing at all? ** Lucas, Okay noted about the theater, thanks! The collage turned out great! So cool to have been able to see it grow. Everyone, Take a gander at an awesome and spooky new collage by the mighty Lucas here. Korine … Well, you can’t go wrong by starting with ‘Gummo’. I especially like ‘Julien Donkey Boy’. If you want him at his most vexing, ‘Trash Humpers’. If you want him at his most user friendly, ‘Spring Breakers’. Luck getting through your laptop-less day. I’d be lost. ** Steeqhen, Hi, S. I grew up with no religion, and religion damage on those who grew up believing is very interesting to observe and study a bit. Especially with Catholics it’s true. Seems like you usually can spot the work a Catholicism exile artist almost immediately. My guess is you’re probably just exhausted and getting that negativity burn that goes with it. Deadlines help, or least if they’re not hard and fast but you can fool yourself into believing that they are. ** James Bennett, Hi, James! Great to see you! Thanks for the video. I’ll watch it once I’m out of here, but the first few seconds look extremely promising. Very best of luck and as much as you need finishing the story. That’s great news. It sounds like you’re well bound to the finish line now. Anything you want to say about the story? No pressure. xo, me. ** Dominik, Hi!!! It could be argued that nothing is more important, haha. Ah, PJ Harvey. I actually caught that one. Strange because I don’t know her stuff as well as I should. And it’s love and it’s war and they say it’s all fair, But what’s weird is that she not to mention that he didn’t care, G. ** James, Yeah, I thought I’d let him come inside and take a look around. Luckily he only had a 24 hour attention span. If he rendered you pious for a day, he did his job, I guess. There’s a fair amount of gay tentacle porn on PornHub if you want to take a look. Slaves can surprise you. There’ve been a number of times when I was searching for blog prospects and happened upon a profile by a friend or acquaintance of mine who I had no idea was into that. If any of them are reading this, your secret is safe with me. As long as your new stepmom isn’t evil, c’est la vie. If you have the US version of ‘Closer’ you can always show nosey people the cover and say that it’s a novel about a swim team. May Tuesday float all your boats. ** Bert, Hey, Bert! Thank you for filling in the blank about ‘Surrender Dorothy’. I’m now sufficiently intrigued. Huh. It must be gettable even over here in good old France. My short time at college was spent pretty much like you’re spending yours, it sounds like. There are other ways to learn what you want, as I’m sure I don’t need to tell you. Complicated choice: your imminent one. As someone who’s run away to another country, I won’t proselytize because … what do I know, but I’m not sorry I did. But then there’s the grad school as better option than getting a job angle. Gosh, what’s your instinct? Maybe a perversion and an extension at the same time. Is that possible? Seems so, but I’m not religious, and thus grain of salt on that guess. Happy day. ** HaRpEr, Zapping mold sounds fun. I guess zapping anything sounds fun. Nice word, zap. Nice weightless <-> sharpness quality or something. Interesting, thank you, about the photos and poetry relationship. A site sounds like a good idea. ‘Narrow Rooms’, yeah. Purdy is a very odd duck of a novelist. All that leaky repression. I was just talking with someone the other day about how one of the things that’s great about Bertolucci’s earlier films is how rife and unstable they are with his tormented homosexual leanings/fantasies, whatever, and how they kind of force themselves into the films at times. I think that when he stopped accessing that secretive stuff after ‘Luna’, his films sort of blanded out. But anyway … ‘Storytelling’ is terrific. I’m a big Solondz fan too. Majorly sucks how difficult it is for him to raise funds to make his films. Although I read he has a new one in the works. ** jay, Thanks, man. Let’s just say it was a fair amount of fun and chuckles gathering together those gifs from far and wide. Right, ‘Moby Dick’s’ clunky sentences, it’s true. Stendahl’s sentences are very dry and awkward too. Great writers should always keep a degree of clunk as one of their goals. Well, ‘should’ is a crap term, but you get the drift. It’s already almost Valentines Day? Whoa. You sounds like you have a very appropriate weekend ahead whatever your bf’s energy level allows. Nice to be in the heady phase of being in love on Valentines Day. Hm, I don’t remember celebrating Valentines Day, or not after the American elementary school ritual of being forced to exchange valentines with your classmates and trying to very subtly use your message/autograph in chosen ones to vaguely let another student know you have the hots for them. I think under the circumstances I’ll take a lack of damnation, thank you very much. I hope the clouds in your sky today look like clunkily written, personalised sky writing. ** SP, Hi. I just looked up that show you saw online, and it does look lovely, and I can totally see why you’re into it. ** Dan Carroll, Hi. Aw, thanks. Congrats on the dispensary job. So you’ll be like a bookish Santa Claus at a price? ** Okay. Today you are invited to explore the films of Les Blank, a fine documentarian best known to those far and wide for ‘Burden of Dreams’, his great doc about the making of Herzog’s ‘Fitzcarraldo’. but he made a lot of other very interesting films too, so check them out, why don’t you. See you tomorrow.

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