Marisa Berenson Day

 

‘When Marisa Berenson was 16, her father took her to a ball in New York where Vreeland spotted her and decided she must start modelling. Vreeland, she remembers, “said, ‘We have to photograph Marisa.’ That was it. That’s how it started.” Berenson had already been turned down by one model agent, the influential Eileen Ford, but with Vreeland’s backing, she became one of the most sought-after faces of the 60s and 70s. Elsa Schiaparelli wasn’t too pleased. “I think she was afraid for me,” says Berenson. “I was so young, and living in New York alone.” Also, she adds with a smile, “I was a little bit outrageous too. I did the first nude in Vogue, and things like that, and she was horrified.”

‘In her spare time she was hanging out at parties with artists and rock stars, and in relationships with actors and rich heirs. She remembers doing a shoot for Vogue in Iran. “In those days, everything was accessible.” She makes it sound so glamorous and bohemian. Was she a wild hippy? “Not at all,” she says with a laugh. “I was a combination of very well-brought-up, and an old-fashioned romantic way of looking at life.” She was on, she says, a “spiritual quest”. Being into health and meditation probably saved her. “Unfortunately, a lot of people didn’t survive. I went through that whole period on orange juice and meditation.” Drugs, she says, were “terrifying to me. I couldn’t imagine losing it like that. And then sexually I was kind of romantic, so I never did the whole crazy thing that way.”

‘Back in New York, Berenson took acting classes in the evenings. “And then I started doing very off-off-Broadway things, just to learn and to get past my insecurities and shyness.” She met Visconti though her then-boyfriend Helmut Berger – he had also been in a relationship with Visconti – and he virtually cast her on sight for Death in Venice. “The first day, I thought I was going to die of fright. But then I set foot on that stage, and I just had this incredible feeling that this is where I’m supposed to be.”

‘She was doing Death in Venice when she got a call from a producer who said Bob Fosse wanted to see her for a film, which turned out to be Cabaret. On the set of that, she says she remembers trembling so badly that Fosse asked her why her hat was shaking. “It was terrible. It was only my second movie.” Then Kubrick saw Cabaret and decided he wanted her to play Lady Lyndon in his adaptation of the Thackeray novel Barry Lyndon. He called her when she was in bed with pneumonia and could hardly speak. “I was practically unconscious,” she says. “I just let him speak because I was speechless anyway. But he carried on for quite a while about every detail of what he’d liked about my performance in Cabaret.” She didn’t meet him until she was on the set.

‘Berenson moved into the wing of a draughty castle in Ireland, where they were shooting. Every day Kubrick would tell her she might be needed on set, but she never was (her scenes were filmed once the production suddenly moved to England, reportedly following a threat from the IRA). “It was the most depressing place,” she says. “I had visions of going riding in the Irish countryside and all that, but in the end, it rained all the time and I was so lonely. I think Stanley liked the idea that I became very melancholic there.” She would cook spaghetti bolognese for the crew, just to have visitors.

‘Kubrick was, she recalls, “totally kind and respectful, and very amusing. He never raised his voice, he was always very gentle, but he wanted what he wanted, so if he wanted a scene shot 50 times then it would be shot 50 times. Yes, he was a perfectionist and he wanted you to give the best of yourself, and he expected people to be available.” She understands that, she adds. “Every great person I’ve worked with, whether a director or photographer, they have this exceptional kind of rarity. You have to be demanding, you have to be a perfectionist, you have to know what you want, and you have to have the best of what you can have because otherwise you don’t do extraordinary things.”

‘Her acting career had got off to an electrifying start, but Berenson walked away. “I got married shortly after that, so my career sort of …” She pauses, then says crisply, “I put everything on hold for a period of time, which was a choice.” Her marriage to rivet tycoon Jim Randall didn’t last. “And then I went through a series of very challenging things in my life, so I had to kind of move through all of that and come out the other side. I had a marriage, a divorce, a car crash” – she was injured, but the two people in the other car were killed – “and another marriage and another divorce.”

‘She started working again, in theatre and European films, but none of her roles have had the same impact as her first three. Does she regret not pushing her career? “I can’t regret anything because I had a great, beautiful daughter,” she says. “And now I have a granddaughter, so I’m thrilled. With Hollywood, I don’t know what would have happened if I had stayed. It’s true that Barry Lyndon was such an amazing thing for me, that had I continued on that road, maybe, I don’t know … But one makes choices and I made that choice at the time so I can’t regret it.”’ — Emine Saner

 

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Stills

 

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Further

Marisa Berenson @ Wikipedia
Marisa Berenson @ IMDb
‘I did the first nude in Vogue’: Marisa Berenson on being a blazing star of the 70s and beyond
Marisa Berenson @ instagram
Marisa Berenson @ The Marque
MB interviewed @ Purple Magazine
Happy birthday Marisa Berenson: Style file
Book: ‘The Legend Marisa Berenson’
Book: ‘Marisa Berenson: A Life in Pictures’
Glass interviews former ‘70s It girl and actor Marisa Berenson
Marisa Berenson, The Girl of the ’70s
Marisa Berenson on the making of Barry Lyndon
Marisa Berenson interviews @ AnOther
The It-girl who grew up

 

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Extras

Interview With Marisa Berenson For Cinema Showcase – 1975

Marisa Berenson, model

Sujet de 6 min sur l’actrice Marisa Berenson

marisa berenson (on The Muppets) 1976

 

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Interview

 

OLIVIER ZAHM — One of your first movies was Death in Venice. How did it happen?

MARISA BERENSON — Yeah, my first movie. It happened really like a miracle. I was living in New York and went to the opening of The Damned — one of the most beautiful movies ever. And after seeing it, I fell in love with Helmut. I went to dinner with Diane and Egon von Fürstenberg, who were also, like, my closest friends, and who protected me a lot in New York. I said Helmut Berger was the most amazing guy. Egon said, “He’s not interested in women.” I said, “You never know.” Helmut was there for the opening. And then we were placed next to each other at the dinner and fell madly in love. It just happened like that.

KATERINA JEBB — Was Visconti there?

MARISA BERENSON — No, Luchino was in Rome. Luchino had a beautiful house in Ischia; so did my mother. So when I started going out with Helmut and we were in Italy, he stayed at Luchino’s, and I was at my mother’s. He would invite me over to lunch, and so I met Luchino. There were always incredible people at a big table talking about music, literature, and art. One day, when I was sitting next to Luchino, he turned to me, looked at my face, and said, “You have the perfect classical physical beauty for my next film.” I didn’t believe it. In this business, people say a lot of things. But being in his romantic house a lot, writing poetry and stuff like that … one night I was sitting in a big armchair, Mahler’s fifth symphony was playing, and I started to cry. It was like a premonition of becoming Madame Mahler in the film I was actually going to do.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You didn’t know Death in Venice was about Mahler?

MARISA BERENSON — No, I knew nothing about it. Luchino just said, “In my next film.” But it was as if I were literally inhabited by the music. Luchino also said: “I need a very emotional actress for this part. I don’t know if you can act, as you’re a model, and you have the physique, but I don’t know if you have the emotions, so I’m going to do a screen test.” Then I went back to New York, and to modeling, and didn’t hear from him for a while. Then he sent me letters about the screen test, that he needed an actress who knows how to show a lot of emotion.

KATERINA JEBB — Were you still studying acting at night?

MARISA BERENSON — I was. But I was modeling and didn’t really believe it was going to happen. Then I get a telegram saying I’ve got to be in Rome in 10 days for costume fittings and that the film starts in three weeks or something. And I thought, “What?” Plus, he never did the screen test, so he didn’t know if I could act or not. When I arrived at his house, Helmut was there.

KATERINA JEBB — You were still with Helmut Berger, or…?

MARISA BERENSON — Yes. But in Luchino’s house, I was so nervous I was hyperventilating. I said to Helmut, “How am I ever going to do this?” Before the shooting, for 10 days, there was a lot of preparation, costumes, etc.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Wasn’t Visconti also in love with Helmut Berger? Was he jealous of your relationship?

MARISA BERENSON — He was more like a father to Helmut. They were not in a romantic relationship anymore. And he wasn’t at all jealous. He encouraged our relationship because he thought I had a stabilizing effect on Helmut. Luchino literally adopted me, and I loved him. He was so kind and so wonderful to me.

KATERINA JEBB — Was he a father figure to you, as well?

MARISA BERENSON — He was. At one point in our relationship, he said: “Please marry Helmut. You’re his one chance to be happy and have a normal life. I’ll give you the house.” I said I couldn’t marry him. I was already thinking of leaving Helmut because it was too destructive a relationship, and even though I loved him, I didn’t see myself married to him. It would have destroyed me.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Helmut wasn’t in Death in Venice.

MARISA BERENSON — No. But the entire experience was extraordinary.

OLIVIER ZAHM — What about the shoot?

MARISA BERENSON — My first day was a big scene where I had to be very emotional, fainting and crying, running to Mahler. There were 500 extras in this huge room, and I had to make an entrance, and I thought, “My God, all these people, andI have to do something miraculous.” But once I was on the set, it was like I was at home. It was where I was supposed to be. This was my life. It was the most wonderful feeling. I had no fear.

OLIVIER ZAHM — Did you speak Italian in the movie?

MARISA BERENSON — I didn’t speak at all. It was just emotions. I cried. I fainted.

OLIVIER ZAHM — But in a way, you’ve always been in dramatic movies. Barry Lyndon is dramatic, existential, too.

MARISA BERENSON — It’s part of who I am, playing deep emotions.

KATERINA JEBB — Some of the most powerful scenes in cinema are without dialogue.

MARISA BERENSON — Stanley [Kubrick] always said cinema is more powerful without dialogue.

OLIVIER ZAHM — So how do you see things today, in fashion and cinema? You’re still part of the scene, but you’re very discreet. You don’t play the celebrity.

MARISA BERENSON — I like my life, you know? People have often said I should be doing this or that. But it’s not my character or my personality. I guess it’s a question of education, too. I’m not pushy. I find it embarrassing.

OLIVIER ZAHM — People think if you’re not pushy and don’t force a situation, things don’t happen.

KATERINA JEBB — I think what should happen, will happen.

MARISA BERENSON — I think so, too. I really do. Obviously there are a lot of people who push doors, and celebrities make huge amounts of money. I don’t want to be like that. It’s not that I have something against the Hollywood establishment. I’ve privileged other things. At the top of my career, having done Barry Lyndon, I could probably have done anything I wanted, you know, the covers of Newsweek and Time magazines…

OLIVIER ZAHM — Barry Lyndon was a masterpiece and also a commercial success.

MARISA BERENSON — Yes. But then I chose to get married and have a child. I went against the grain then. Maybe it was a mistake, a child, not married for very long. Maybe it ruined my career. Then I went through another very difficult marriage. I could have probably done things differently. But, you choose your life. And I chose to take a certain path.

KATERINA JEBB — Do you think it’s because men want to possess you?

MARISA BERENSON — Definitely. But I’ve never been one to be possessed. So I left them all.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You left them even though you still loved them?

MARISA BERENSON — I left for survival. And so it was hard, and then even harder, because divorces are difficult.

OLIVIER ZAHM — You made your life artistic. Does the man you love today understand that?

MARISA BERENSON — He does, and others have, too. But it wasn’t easy for him. And it’s rare to find a man who can be your partner in life, who gives you the freedom to be yourself, who wants the best for you, and on top of that supports you, instead of crushing you. There’s always the fear that somebody can come along and take you away because you never know in life. I never take anything for granted, not with him, or with anyone.

 

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16 of Marisa Berenson’s 84 roles

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Luchino Visconti Death in Venice (1971)
‘The film, which was lavished with praise from reviewers for its cinematography, art direction and costume design, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design and won BAFTA Awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Soundtrack. The picture won several other awards given by film critics and festivals throughout the world. Visconti received a special 25th Anniversary Prize at Cannes in May 1971 for both Death in Venice and his entire body of work. According to a Feb 1971 DV news item, “special allowances” were made for the film so that it could represent Italy in the competition, despite its primarily English-language soundtrack. The news item also noted that the film had been the first picture selected for competition at Cannes that year. Several of the film’s premieres, including the Royal Premiere in London, were benefits for charities dedicated to the restoration of Venice.’ — AFI

Excerpt

 

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Bob Fosse Cabaret (1972)
‘Berenson’s role as the Jewish department store heiress Natalia Landauer in the 1972 film Cabaret led to two Golden Globe nominations, a BAFTA nomination and an award from the National Board of Review.’ — Wikipedia

Excerpt

 

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Stanley Kubrick Barry Lyndon (1975)
‘The all-but wordless scene where Barry and Lady Lyndon, who go on to marry, face each other at the gaming table and share their first kiss, stands for me as one of the most superb moments in cinema. Partly it’s the restrained, unhurried step of Schubert’s piano trio, partly it’s Marisa Berenson enigmatic loveliness as Lady Lyndon; it’s the depths hinted at in each surface gesture, how she looks all but ill as she realises she’s falling in love with him, how she distances herself in order to come closer. Most of all, the scene is a candlelit, melancholy masterclass in the art of glances, an object lesson in how film seduces us into looking, and looking again.’ — Michael Newton

Excerpt

Excerpt

 

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Franz Antel The Rise and Rise of Casanova (1977)
‘Tony Curtis plays Jacomo Casanova – on the run from a Venetian prison, trying to catch up with his true love. Tony Curtis also plays Jacomino, a con-man who looks just like him, also on the run. Casanova – not so much in the able-to-get-it-up-even-when-three-naked-lesbian-nuns-throw-themselves-at-him department; Jacomino – pretty good in the sack so takes full advantage of the inevitable mistaken identity with legendary lover Casanova, bedding lots of married noble women and then some. All this is complicated by others at times also pretending to be Casanova; various of these women becoming convinced that the con-man is the true Casanova; and idiot Venetian police trying to catch Casanova but inevitably getting it wrong all the time. Meanwhile, Venice needs Casanova back to bed the beautiful wife of a backgammon-obsessed old Caliph in return for a (rose) oil contract.’ — jeffrouk

Watch the entirety here

 

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Antonio Margheriti Killer Fish (1979)
‘This flick was directed by Antonio Margheriti who was a prolific but fairly middling Italian director responsible for the likes of Naked You Die (1968). This flick was obviously one of the many water-based horror flicks from the time but for the first two thirds of the movie it’s more-or-less a crime film. The piranhas of the title take a while to get involved and it’s only towards the end that we actually see them. But once a dam breaks and the killer fish are set loose around the surrounding area, the movie moves more squarely into horror territory. The cast isn’t too bad all things considered. We have the cheesy Lee Majors in the ostensibly good guy role. The interesting Karen Black is one of the thieves torn between Majors and the brains behind the gang, James Franciscus. Black, Franciscus and Marisa Berenson are better actors than Majors and have more interesting parts.’ — IMDb

the entirety

 

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Blake Edwards S.O.B. (1981)
‘A movie producer who made a huge flop tries to salvage his career by revamping his film as an erotic production, where its family-friendly star takes her top off. Stars: Julie Andrews, William Holden, Marisa Berenson.’ — IMDb

Trailer

 

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Danford B. Greene The Secret Diary Of Sigmund Freud (1984)
‘Supposedly focusing on the life of Sigmund Freud by means of a fictional secret diary, this attempt at satirizing the man from his childhood through his first forays into psychoanalysis is weak on laughter, especially since it is difficult to tell whether a scene is serious or not. Freud (Bud Cort) is portrayed as being too nauseated by blood and physical anatomy to make it through medical school, and because he misunderstands what practicing medicine is all about, he accidentally starts psychoanalyzing his patients. His Ultimate Patient (Dick Shawn) provides him with the theories that would make him famous. Presented as a series of nearly disconnected vignettes, this story about the relationships between Freud and a nurse (Carol Kane), and his mother (Caroll Baker) and a doctor, are meant to be funny, but are not quite.’ — RT

Trailer

 

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Clint Eastwood White Hunter Black Heart (1990)
‘A thinly fictionalized account of a legendary movie director, whose desire to hunt down an animal turns into a grim situation with his movie crew in Africa.’ — IMDb

Excerpt

Excerpt

 

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David Irving Night Of The Cyclone (1990)
‘A young woman joins a photo shoot on a tropical island as a model and falls for the artist. Dad, who’s a cop, arrives to check up on her. When one of the models ends up dead, he looks into it. Are the models being used for sex tourism?’ — IMDb

Trailer

 

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Bassek Ba Kobhio Le grand blanc de Lambaréné (1995)
‘Cameroonian filmmaker Bassek ba Kobhio provides a fascinating revisionist perspective on Albert Schweitzer, Noble Peace Prize winner and secular saint of the colonial era. Like FRANTZ FANON: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASK, this film begins to rewrite the history of colonialism from the point of view of the colonized. LE GRAND BLANC DE LAMBARÉNÉ is not, however, a facile exercise in iconoclasm but rather a deeply-felt lament for a missed opportunity, for a cross-cultural encounter between Africa and Europe which never happened. The film reveals that the ultimate tragedy of colonialism may have been its refusal to see and value the colonized as autonomous, creative human beings. The film’s epigraph, ironically, is a famous remark by Schweitzer himself: “All we can do is allow others to discover us, as we discover them.”‘ — IMDb

Trailer

 

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Brian W. Cook Colour Me Kubrick: A True…ish Story (2005)
‘The idea and screenplay for Colour Me Kubrick was conceived during the filming of Eyes Wide Shut. Alan Conway had been impersonating Kubrick for many years, but it was during the filming of Eyes Wide Shut that the information reached the director. Kubrick’s assistant, Anthony Frewin, had been receiving various calls and complaints of people who had met with Conway, while he was impersonating Kubrick, and were offered money, gifts or even parts in upcoming films. Frewin brought the information to Kubrick, who asked to find those affected. Very little progress was made in reprimanding Conway, however, because none of the people who were conned would come forward. Frewin decided to write these accounts and stories into a screenplay, which would later become Colour Me Kubrick. Brian Cook, an assistant director who worked with Kubrick on many films, including Eyes Wide Shut, read Frewin’s work and enjoyed it. Cook also knew of Conway’s actions, and how they affected Kubrick’s work and personal life. He mentioned that one of the worst incidents was “when he signed Stanley’s name on a bank loan for a gay club in Soho”. Cook made his debut as director on the film.’ — The A.V. Club

Trailer

 

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Mark Mitchell Vote and Die: Liszt for President (2008)
‘Had enough of politics? So has eccentric billionaire Neil Liszt. He’s running a self-financed campaign for President to offer the people of America and the world a better alternative: NONE OF THE ABOVE! “Vote and Die!” is a dark, comedy satire that ruthlessly skewers all things political. With a cast that includes Yancy Butler (“Witchblade, “Drop Zone”) Holt McCallany (“Fight Club”, “Three Kings”), Marisa Berenson (“Barry Lyndon”, “Cabaret”), Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Larry Pine, and an incredible performance by Stephen Bradbury, it’s guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, chortle, and maybe even get really ticked off. Which will YOU do? WATCH and find out! See the film that won Best Non-European Dramatic Feature at the Independent Film Festival 2008 in Paris, the birthplace of Democracy! See the film that makes both Liberals and Conservatives question their beliefs! See the film that both Visa and Mastercard called: “seriously behind on its payments”! Vote and die! Why wait around?’ — Film Affinity

Trailer

 

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Luca Guadagnino I Am Love (2009)
‘“I Am Love” is an amazing film. There is Allegra (Marisa Berenson), gatekeeper of her husband. There is the long-serving housekeeper Ida (Maria Paiato), who sees and understands everything and in many ways is Emma’s (Tilda Swinton) refuge in the household. For this role, Tilda Swinton learned to speak Italian with a Russian accent, as Tilda Swinton would, but her performance is nothing as trivial as a feat of learning. She evokes Emma as a woman who for years has accepted the needs of the Recchis and discovers in a few days to accept her own needs.’ — Roger Ebert

Excerpt

 

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Frédéric Sojcher Hitler à Hollywood (2010)
‘Actress Maria de Medeiros is making a documentary about an actress she admires, Micheline Presle, who began her career in the 1930s. During her research, she comes across a director with whom the actress filmed in 1939, a certain Luis Aramchek, who mysteriously disappeared in 1945. Maria de Medeiros then sets out to find him without suspecting that his investigations will lead him to put his life in danger. She discovers indeed that a conspiracy fomented by Hollywood aimed to stop the emergence of post-war European cinema. The director will learn the hard way that the film industry doesn’t like us digging into its archives…’ — Josh Kruger

Trailer

 

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Arielle Dombasle Opium (2013)
‘The frustrated loves of Jean Cocteau and Raymond Radiguet at the beginning of the 1920s. The death of Radiguet that sank Cocteau into opium. A story under the influence of drugs. A narrative in the spirit of Cocteau. And all this in a musical.’ — TMDB

Trailer

 

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Emilio Ruiz Barrachina Broken Poet (2020)
‘Broken Poet stars Elliott Murphy, Michael O’Keefe, Marisa Berenson, Joanna Preiss and Françoise Viallon and is the story of 1970s rock star Jake Lion, who is presumed dead in Paris until a former roadie happens to be riding in the Paris Metro 40 years after his much-publicized suicide and hears an aged street musician who sounds just like him. Rolling Stone sends a rock journalist to investigate, and she uncovers something unexpected. Produced by Traloinver Ltd. and Directed by Emilio Ruiz the film is based on an Elliott Murphy short story (who co-wrote the script) and was shot in both Paris and New York with a soundtrack by Elliott Murphy & Gaspard Murphy.’ — ink19

Trailer

 

 

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p.s. Hey. ** Joe, Joe! Holy moly! It’s so very great to see you, man! And you are exactly correct that this post was originally a reward to you for winning a blog contest to do with identifying foreign film posters. Maybe I should try that again. I have not heard that about the discovered Genet texts. Wow. I will immediately ask around. That’s obviously extraordinary possible news. I do know about the discovered Celine novels. One of them has indeed been published here recently, and a friend who’s a hard-core Celine fan said it’s pretty fantastic and much worthier than just being a fans-only leftover or something. Obviously I hope he gets translated, although I think he’s pretty cancelled outside of France. Such great news about your imminent new work! I’m slathering. Wait, slathering is sort of like maximised slobbering, isn’t it? I can’t remember. Paris is good as always, although we’re heading into a brutal heatwave so there’s a bit of anxiety in the air. I’m hopefully in the last stages of raising money to make Zac’s and my new film later this year. And writing the new Gisele Vienne piece. And working on some short fiction. Can’t complain other than about the sky. A tonnage of the best possible wishes to you, great pal and maestro! Big love! ** Dominik, Hi!!! Mm, I think I’ve never been a fan of myself in the mirror, as I can recall. And now that I’m older and sometimes see that I am older when my eyes focus on my reflection, it freaks me the fuck out. I don’t mind being photographed, but I never like to see the photos, mostly for the same reason. I think I’ve always just sort of seen myself as a brain-containing vestibule of a head with a mobile platform for a body below it. Ha ha, nice Warhol quote. He was so mean. Love reversing the sky so the stars are fully visible during the day and at night it’s just pitch black, G. ** T. J., Hi, T. J.! Those are beauties, those word combos, for sure. I used a Genet quote as the epigram for one of my novels, but I cant remember it at the moment, yikes. From ‘Prisoner of Love’. Ha ha, Genet did just kind of nail Henry Miller in a mere few words there, yes. So nice to see you! You good? ** David Ehrenstein, ‘Genet: A “Broom” that sweeps clean.’ That’s fucking great. ** Bill, Hi, B. Nice to know M/S holds up. Yeah, I should retest it too. It must be on soap2day, surely. ** John Newton, Hi, John. I seem well, or well enough, yes, thank you. ‘Black nightshade’ is a nice name. Based on the photo, I can’t quite figure how it got that nickname, but that’s even better, I guess. I obviously miss Kevin mucho too. I tried heroin three times because my boyfriend of the time was a pretty bad junkie, and I just wanted to know why. But I didn’t find out. The film funding is in process and very stressful. Deadline is very soon. Don’t know yet. No, the escort posts are my sequel to ‘The Sluts’, basically. I have no doubt I will enjoy the anthology. Splash Mountain is only being temporarily closed while they re-theme it. Wildcat is going to be turned into a hybrid wood/steel coaster a la Colossus at Magic Mountain. I’m a theme park news sponge. I don’t know about Bobby Driscoll. My first boyfriend lived across the street from Dean Martin. I’ve seen clips from ‘Dirt’. I may have seen it entirely, but it would have been a long time ago. It’s a terrific film, I think. I just had a post about Piero Heliczer here the other week. Yes, RIP LQ Jones. ** _Black_Acrylic, Play Therapy was by far the most interesting thing that happened to me this weekend, sir! Sweet about the gathering. ** Steve Erickson, Twitter is cutting off its nose to spite its face, as my mom used to say. ** Okay. For whatever reason the other day I thought about the strange career of Marisa Berenson, i.e. that her first three films were/are reversed classics and she was buzzy and sought after by great directors and then, kerplunk, she spent the rest of her career making mediocre films and having tiny parts in a few semi-good films. Wondering why, I investigated and made a post in hopes of finding out, and her reasons don’t really seem like the answer, but hey. If you want to take a look through an actor’s strange, top-heavy, thwarted body of work, this post is for you. See you tomorrow.