Dracula Of Bram Stoker

I am looking forward to seeing this film again tonight, for the 3rd time. Not that I am normally a fan of horror films. My addiction is more for classic and serious dramas, where the story and the way it's presented is artistic and dramatic, with impeccable direction and acting. This one though is not just a horror movie like most others of the same theme.

It's directed by Francis Ford Coppola, no less. Featured in the leading rolls are Gary OLdman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanue Reeves, all Ace actors. It's one of the most brilliant adaptations other movie makers have done, before or since, of this immortal literary classic of terror, of the highest esthetic category of Nosferatu de Murnau, or Dracula of Fisher, voluntarily faithful to the letter and with absolutely dazzling visual art.

It was filmed entirely in the studio, Coppola succeeded in a spectacle both fascinating and mesmerizing, in the atmospheric setting, the most beautiful costumes and the combinations of the most eye catching red and black colour theme, with the right dose of gothic undertone and charm throughout.

Gary Oldman's Dracula is enthrallingly romantic, hypnotic, his presence in the incipient scene is one the most beautiful and memorable of the film, so very beautiful as that captivating ethereal scene of the tail of the peacock, extending and spreading the chains of dreamy colours. All that irrigated with the majestic music arrangements of W. Kilar.

Coppola orchestrated a miracle. His film seduced us to a story we all know so well by heart, yet to be enticed by it all over again as if seeing it for the first time

.

Tags:Dracula,FrancisCoppola

Current Mood: Artistic

The Suite Of Ava Gardner

The suite of Ava Gardner, the room of David Niven, the table of Truman Caporte ..... with all these credentials, a classic hotel of the Mediterranean is reborn, in the Paseo del Mar, in front of the Bay of Palamos (Girona). The Hotel Trias, which was inaugurated in 1900 and, 3 decades later, received the determined impetus of Rafael Maso, the architect and mayor of Girona, who reformed the structure destroyed during the civil war, and converted it to the emblematic destination of Costa Brava.

So much so, that half the Hollywood stayed in or passed through it in the era between 1960 - 1962. Caporte finished his book 'In Cold Blood' there. Robert Ruark stayed there too, author of 'Breakfast in Tiffany'. In fact he stayed there the longest, as his mortal remains rest in the cemetery of that town. In his memory the Bar of the hotel is dedicated to him.

Palamos is also historical in that it had just relived the Spanish Civil War with the discovery of a bomb just few days ago of that battle. This location is one the many Catalan coasts that had suffered the hardship of bombing by the Italian aviation, as well as the sea attack under Franco's orders.

As to Ava Gardner, much was and still is talked about. What is certain is that without her the Bar of Trias would not be the Bar of Trias. Of the local scale, Jordi Pujol immediately comes to everybody's mind, who relaxed and recovered there after he came out of the prison in Zaragoza, in the era of Franco not all that many years ago.

The hotel was acquired by the businessman Lluis Camos (Restaurant Bazaar, La Finca de Susana in Madrid, and the Hotel La Malcontenta in Palamos). The Hotel Trias leaves somebody cold though if he tries to relive the bygone glamour. The interior now offers a nautical ambience with the cold blue and white as dominant colours, and the solid walls heavily covered with oceanic decorations hardly allow sunshine to penetrate.

The vast, out of all proportion dinning room distracts one's attention to the designer lamps, and carefully structured food plates, the whole place sadly lacking coziness and intimacy. Rather a waste and incongruous for a hotel with such a history of interesting legend.

Perhaps because the tradition obliges it, the service is excellent, especially round the outdoor swimming pool area. Courteous, swift, always at the ready to attend to your every wish with a smile. Quite a pleasant contrast to the somewhat melancholic and impersonal interior.

I am very much for cosy ambience and an incorrigible romantic, so just one visit for curiosity, I won't go back except by invitation; as I also like to indulge in good food and impeccable service.

 

Tags:avagardner,trumancaporte,palamos

Current Mood: Artistic

How Effective Are Polls - Woody Allen Versus Paco Pena

Fame, like a spoilt little rich kid, is fickle and can be extremely cruel. As applied to individuals, it's effects may span thousands of years, or be consumed in a week. For some reason, certain successful people only attain fame far from home. It's believed, for example, that God-fearing adults in Nebraska or Utad wouldn't know Woody Allen from a bar of soap, whereas in Barcelona, who doesn't know Woody Allen? When his Barcelona movie is finally released (soon!), there's no telling what level of collective hysteria could possibly afflict the citizens of this fair city. As usual, head nodding and thigh slapping audiences will get the jokes way before they are finished.

Now if we were to ask the average Spaniards - oh yes, it's widely held that such a being does indeed exists, maybe a bit worse for wear, but still alive and kicking - to name a famous flamenco guitarist, he or she would most likely say Paco de Lucia. Maybe Tomatito would even get a mention. In a similar poll posed to average Brit, Paco de Lucia might possibly register a mention or two. But for most members of the 4o-ish group, the immediate answer would be Paco Pena, with Manitas de Plata not far behind.

Let's move on to the next leg of this intriguing poll. Spaniards chosen at random in any city of the kingdom are asked point blank: Who is Paco Pena? Excluding the long winded replies of caballeros who happen to have been christened with the said name, it's odds on nobody knows. Ah, but if an astute interviewer were to ask former Prime Minister Aznar the same trick question, the whole nation would soon learn that Paco Pena (Cordoba, 1942) is no other than a world famous Flamenco guitar virtuoso, composer, dramatist, and Tony Blair's personal friend and mentor.

Does his name ring a bell now? Think back a decade to the balmy April days of 1998. Blair was Paco Pena's guest for a few days in Cordoba. There are photos to prove it.

Tags:PacoPena,WoodyAllen,TonyBlair

Current Mood: Pensive

After Lolita, Comes Laura

It was one of the literary secrets in English language that has caused the most curiosity and debate for the last 30 plus years. The last unfinished novel of a modern classic, written by Vladimir Nabokov. Before he died, in 1977, he asked his wife, Vera, to destroy all his unconcluded manuscripts, including the novel he was writing since 1974 of which he had only completed about 100 pages.

Vera who died in 1991, didn't have the heart to burn his manuscripts and passed the responsibility to their son Dmitri, who tried to be an opera singer then later became a racing car pilot. Now an old man and after years of hesitation, decided not to comply with his father's wish but publish the what would be the last work of the author of the memorable 'Lolita', as it was, unfinished.

Dmitri announced his intentions and within 3 monthes, the literary agent Wylie got the right of the incomplete manuscripts. Numerous publishers hastily bid for the book 'blind' - without reading a single page. But Dmitri wished to give priority to the traditional publishing firms his father trusted in, amongst them Knopf in the United States.

The German weekly 'Die Zeit' revealed in 2008, Rowolth will publish it in September of 2009 and offered 4 chapter fragments in advance, from the novel called 'The original of Laura'. According to Dmitri, the text will be published in English. Asked if the decision was for economic rather than literary motivation, he answered, rather ironically:

"Sure, my wheelchair requires very costly modifications so that it can be put inside the car boot of my Maserati Coupe."

With the same irony, he sent mail to a lady friend, in which he told her that the ghost of his father had appeared in his dream, telling him to publish the manuscripts, so as to satisfy the investigators, and earn some money at the same time.

Do the manuscripts have any literary value? They were written in pencil and were conserved in the security box in a Swiss bank. Up to now, only a few people have read them. It seems that the story has a beginning and the ending, leaving a huge gap in the middle.

No doubt there would be another movie here, cashing in on the glory 'Lolita' had achieved and unexpectedly become an all time classic. The answer is obvious then: leave it in the hands of
competent script writers to fill in the gap.

Tags:lolita,Laura,nabokov

Current Mood: Accomplished