dimanche, juin 27, 2010

goetheanum 1

The first Rudolf Steiner's Goetheanum in Dornach, not far from Basel. I've never been there, while it's only 40 kilometers from my hometown. Florence, when she was a student in the art school of Basel, went to see how the inhabitants made colour pigments with minerals. Because Rudolf Steiner was also an artist.
In 1982, during holidays in Uzès where my parents had a house, I recall having had the visit of two men, who were adult students at the Goetheanum II. They were both followers of the macrobiotic diet. One was introvert and his arm was stiff. The other one was extravert, he was like a solar playboy; also an actor, giving acting courses. Every morning, they both went to see the dawn and probably, made some antroposophical prayers to the sun.
One night, the stiff armed man, who I really appreciated, told me that he made a journey in Amazonia for some antroposophical reasons. He told me about the hidden treasure of the Incas, that he tried to find in some Andean caves, on the Amazonian side of the mountains. We spoke all the night about the destiny of man in the universe. Later, I started to read books about Amazonia and became kind of frenetic about it.
He made a strong impression on my very young soul. For the first time, I heared someone talking about a cosmic movement in which the man is included, as a fragment of nature. There were some religious elements in his discours. I was a little bit scary about it. His beliefs seemed to have swallowed him, body & soul, like Jonas in the whale. He was illuminated, like his friend. For me, he also seemed kind of stuck in the cosmos, in an enormous and much too big jail. And the sun dawn wasn't offering any solution. I was feeling that this antroposophical response leads to an incurable pain. If you look at Rudolf Steiner's faces carved in his wooden sculptures, you can see this pain, the face of abandonment and délaissement.
What the two visitors were offered through Rudolf Steiner's teaching was a positive understanding of the universe, completed by an aporia. Almost a faith, which helps you to live a better and healthier life. But one life that also leaves you alone in a labyrinth of contradictory energies, bio corridors filled with an endless void, where nobody calls your name. This 1982 conversation probably was the first step to my conversion in 1986. I was in search for someone. Someone who would call me by my name. After a time of wandering, I eventually found it in the person of Christ. A divine person who has become a friend.

« I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. » (John 15:15).

samedi, juin 26, 2010

villettesonique1
villettesonique2
villettesonique3

This was my shortest "Villette Sonique". I went to see King Midas Sound and left after 5 minutes, didn't like it. But it was nice to see the crowd on the grass. For me, the real stars of the festival were these remarquable cyclists.

vendredi, juin 18, 2010



Carlo Rambaldi, who did the special effects on the Mario Bava film "Reazione a catena" (1971) talks about himself as a "sculptor" who became an element of the cinema industry only by chance (not in this program but in « L’Ospitte delle due » - RAI, 1975). Rambaldi made for himself, an animated & hyperealistic sculpture that drew attention toward his work. In the seventies, his studio is separated in two distinct spaces: one for his artistic work, the other one for the special effects. The distinction seems to be very important for him, but the journalist says that his cinema work can also be called "art". Born in 1925, Carlo Rambaldi, still alive, made King Kong, Alien, Dune, E.T. and other Spielberg-eries; but what I like the most is his incredible spiders.

lundi, juin 14, 2010



Yesterday, I was reading in "Malle on Malle" by Philip French, the chapter relating to the film "Alamo Bay" (1985). After having spent weeks with the rural community of Glencoe, Minnesota, where he made a beautiful documentary by chance (he wanted to make a film about the Minneapolis mall (!) but the neverstopping music was a problem - he started to wander with his crew), Louis Malle decided to make a film about the "war" between American and Vietnamese fishermen, also refugees, on the Gulf of Mexico. A shrimp war. Surprisingly, I read today in the French news, an article about the Vietnamese fishermen community of Louisiana; they cannot work anymore.

......

If you live in Berlin, or if you have friends in Berlin, please come or tell them to come and see me at Bar 25 on friday evening (18th). At 10 PM there is my documentary film "Prelude to sleep" about Jean-Jacques Perrey. At 11 PM I will be on stage, reading, singing, trying new things (I can't say more). Thanks for passing the kutchie!

samedi, juin 12, 2010

remake

I'm working on my first feature film. It's a remake of David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Here is the plot: Jeffrey Beaumont returns to his logging home town after his father suffers a near fatal stroke. While walking home from the hospital, he cuts through a vacant lot and discovers a severed elephant ear, instead of a human ear.

mardi, juin 08, 2010

rjshaughnessy

rjshaughnessy2


This photographic work ("L.A. Herzog" by RJ Shaughnessy) is very relevant.

Where are you Werner Herzog? It looks like he's tempted by the Hollywood entertainment system; maybe I'm wrong. Entertainment means more money & fame, but less freedom & spirit. For me, it's very important to see that an artist respects the coherence of his entire work, from the beginning. He can balance from culture to entertainment, if he keeps les mains libres, like Louis Malle did.

I respect immensely Herzog, after having watched so many of his movies. If "No one can serve two masters, culture & entertainment. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money", I personally need the Werner Herzog from God.

"Bells from the Deep: Faith & Superstition in Russia"
"The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner"
"Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen"
"Fata Morgana"
"Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes"
"Herz aus Glas"
"Cobra Verde"
"Fitzcarraldo"
"Stroszek"
"Lebenszeichen"
"Lektionen in Finsternis"
"Little Dieter Needs to Fly"
"Mein Liebster Feind"
"The White Diamond"
"Grizzly Man"
"How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck"
"Die Fliegenden Arzte von Ostafrika"
"The Wild Blue Yonder"
"Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit"
"Echos aus einem düsteren Reich"
"Encounters at the End of the World"

dimanche, juin 06, 2010

Gilles 05 may 2010

My wife is such a good photographer. This picture was taken yesterday, a sunny & hot day. I was part of the first edition of a secret Festival, called "Solo Mio" in Paris (Montreuil). The organizer, Philippe, who I proposed to call his project "Qui va Solo", made a mistake when he tried to recall my proposal. But "Solo Mio" sounds better than "Qui va Solo". Thanks to the friends who came, David & Caroline and a long long life to this excellent idea.

jeudi, juin 03, 2010



It's very sad that Dennis Hopper died. We had a chance here in Paris to have a big exhibition at the cinematheque with a lot of art, photos, huge paintings by him, plus a film retrospective. That was 18 months ago. I love his films as a director and saw many of them. "Out of the Blue", "Colours", "The Hot Spot", "The Last movie", "Homeless" impressed me a lot. Surprisingly, I didn't like "Easy Rider" that much. As an actor, my absolute favorite one is "Tracks" by Henry Jaglom (1977). Who will take over from Hopper the actor, the director, the artist? Vincent Gallo?