emonome

I’m always fascinated by the one-person enterprise. Someone who will take on a grand mission on his/her own and won’t stop for permission or support to see it come to fruition. This particular story is extra remarkable because it brings together two such people; one who embarked on a mission to change lives, the other to document that story.

Matthew Clift’s solo journey started when he was asked to volunteer for a project in Uganda. He writes:

In 1992, Irene Gleeson, an Australian grandmother, sold all she had and moved to Uganda to setup an orphanage for children made orphans by a AIDS and a 20 year civil war. By 2007 the organization she set up had grown to the stage it was caring for over 7000 children daily and it was our hope that by creating a documentary about her, we would be able to build awareness of the organisation and in turn raise funds so she could assist more children.

The article is mainly a guide to the essentials of being a one man crew but to me it’s about heart. Why should the lack of anything material keep you from creating a story or capturing one? If you let it, it will. It didn’t stop James Longley.

It shouldn’t stop anyone.

Cinderella Children.

Thank you Scott Simmons of Studio Daily Blog for the links to the Walter Murch interviews.

It’s a fine, fine book I’m sure. But the movie’s trailer smelled of typical westernized version of Asian stories. The female singer drone, the thick accent - by the way, the father and grandmother’s accent (because they’re in the preview) is the heavy Indian accent. Bangladeshi-accented English is very distinct. I know because I’m one (Bangladeshi, that is). We don’t pronounce ‘what’ as ‘vwat.’ We don’t pronounce ‘father’ as ‘faatha.’ We just fucking don’t. Bengali’s from Calcutta is a different thing. Listen to Dr. Yunus talk on Charlie Rose and you’ll have a good idea what I’m talking about. We don’t do legato. But who gives a shit when a film needs to be made.

Yeah yeah…the actor’s union this and that and yeah yeah there are no Bangladeshi’s in the UK - yeah right - who could’ve played those parts. Blah blah. I watched the trailer and wondered if Om Puri turned down the part of the father. Puri faked a Bangladeshi father in White Teeth. Not only was his accent there as fake as that pit bull’s drivers license, in parts of the movie when he cursed he threw in Hindi words as if no one would notice. For example: ‘haraamzaade’ - meaning bastard - instead of ‘haramjada’. No legato, bitches!

You’re telling me they couldn’t find one dialect coach to teach these actors to speak - at least- the accented-English properly?

Aw…fuck it! Why bother.

Some movies are better without previews as a marketing tool, because the previews fuck it up for the rest of us. But how will you promote the film, you ask. Well, not with previews for sure. I remember watching the previews for this and didn’t know what to make of it. No, that’s not true…I did know that I wasn’t going to watch it; the story seemed goofy and stupid.

So I admit that I’m stupid for letting a stupider preview make the judgment for me. It’s a beautiful movie! One of 2007’s best.  If you haven’t seen it - see it! I love movies that doesn’t feel the need to explain everything. Let me come to my own conclusions. ‘Lars’ had to be handled very carefully, I have no doubt. The wrong set of people could’ve - to put it nicely - fucked it up! Thankfully, everyone fell into place in making this story. Doesn’t happen that often.

Good films are out there, being written and being made.  ‘Real’ has been a reel pleasure.

He is one of the greatest film actors of all time, I stand by it even after what he’s been doing for the past decade. Whenever I see a clip of this - one of my favorite DeNiro/Scorsese films - I don’t see DeNiro, I see Rupert Pupkin.

How many actors that recognizable can do that?