Krzysztof Kieslowski, No More Lies, My Wife is an Actress, and Barbershop

• Krzysztof Kieslowski was born in Warsaw, Poland on June 27, 1941. Between the years 1957-1962 he was at the vocational school for the theatrical technology. He studied directing at the Lodz Film School from 1964 to 1968. In 1988, he was commissioned to make Decalogue (Dekalog), a 10 episode production for television. Each episode would have an underlying theme related to one of the 10 commandments. In 1990, he garnered international attention with the release of The Double Life of Veronica (La Double Vie de Veronique), filmed in France and Poland. It was in 1993 where he found a larger audience through his "Three Colors" trilogy, a triptych based on the colors of the French flag and their symbolic representations; the first film, Blue, a meditation on liberty; White, an essay on equality; and finally Red, which brought Kieslowski his greatest acclaim. An exploration of fraternity featuring Veronique star Irene Jacob. Reportedly, he was considering a return to the cinema with a new trilogy based around the themes of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory when, on March 13, 1996, he entered the hospital to undergo open-heart surgery. Tragically, Kieslowski suffered a heart attack while on the operating table and died. He was 54 years old. His vision does live on through the eyes of other directors. Heaven, which was released in 2002, was directed by Tom Tykwer. John is looking forward to Hell and Purgatory.



• No More Lies (2002) This is a rare collection of short documentaries by French directors speaking out against racism (a similar project to Canada’s Stop Racism campaign). It is surprising that there is little information on this. I think it’s very relevant especially at this point in world history. There are various French versus Arab dynamics, as well as other immigrant groups in France. These short films mostly raise different scenarios where discrimination occurs, as opposed to offering a solution. A lot of them are powerful in just putting the message out there.
  
  
• My Wife is an Actress (Ma Femme est une Actrice) – 2002 French director Yvan Attal offers a brief glimpse of what it’s like to be married to an actress. This film stars Attal himself as a sports writer married to actress Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg, who is his wife in real life). Charlotte’s stardom starts gnawing at Yvan’s ego, especially when a complete stranger questions him whether he feels jealous when his wife makes love to another man onscreen. When Charlotte lands a role in a new movie staring opposite of John, a suave international actor (Terrence Stamp), Yvan goes over the edge with jealousy and questions his wife’s fidelity. The movie is obviously not autobiographical, but it leaves viewers wondering just how much of it is a reflection of real life. The dynamic between Gainsbourg and Attal is obviously very natural and it was both comical and intriguing to see a real-life husband and wife interact. However, Attal’s over-the-top jealous act isn’t very plausible because it is hard to believe that he didn’t know marrying an actress entails watching her make love to men onscreen. The film toys with the idea that once married, you shouldn’t find anyone else more attractive than your spouse. It had the potential to delve deeper more serious topics, but Attal’s performance made it nothing more than a lighthearted romantic comedy (which is not to say it isn’t enjoyable).



• Wangui says go check out BarberShop people!
  
  

Visual Visionaries

• According to Peter, Sam Mendes represents one of those filmmaking anomalies. He came out of a strong theatrical background and produced two visual, cinematic masterpieces: American Beauty and Road to Perdition. How so? They are genuine works of art – visually moving and firmly grounded in stories about dysfunction. As such, American Beauty and Road to Perdition, while set in different periods and based in completely different genres, are strangely similar in a marvelous way. Strong ensemble casts anchor scripts that are rich with personal redemption and/or evolution for the primary figures. In Beauty it’s Kevin Spacey as the neurotic Lester, while in Perdition it’s Tom Hanks as the soulful hitman Michael Sullivan. Even though I didn’t entirely “buy” Hanks as a hitman, I still love Perdition for the stunning visuals and the remarkable anchored performance given by Paul Newman (as a mob boss). Sam Mendes is definitely a director to watch!



• Edward Scissorhands (1990) – Tim Burton brings a comic-strip visual style on-screen to all of his films, and Edward Scissorhands is no exception. One of his most highly acclaimed films, Burton’s use of colour contrast brings this fairytale alive. Half-man, half-beast Edward lives in his gothic castle above a 1950s pastel suburbia. Avon lady (Dianne Wiest) takes Edward into suburbia one day, helping him to fit in. But a gangly and fully leathered Edward provides a jarring contrast to the plastic perfection of the community. Although Burton certainly has a visual flair, he usually places less emphasis on character-building and storyline. However, Johnny Depp is particularly well chosen to play the awkward and freakish Edward. His performance is one that transformed him from a teenage heart-throb, to a respected actor. As with his other visual masterpieces like Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice and Batman, Edward Scissorhands is eye candy.