Getting Hitched?

Do you know who said this?

"A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it". And,

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake... Revenge is sweet and not fattening!"

Here is a clue:



Have you got it yet?

"Always make the audience suffer as much as possible".

Incidentally, in passing, I have seen a couple of foreign language films recently, which have very much given me pause for thought...

I saw this one last night: The Yacoubian Building (2007), based on a novel by Alaa Al Aswany, it offers a panoramic view of contemporary Egypt, glimpsed through the stories of a number of fairly challenging folk living in (and in the case of the poorest, living on the rooftop of), the Yacoubian Building in Cairo. There's Zaki, a faded aristocrat or Pasha, Bothayna, the beautiful, poor girl he falls for, a young student seduced into religious extremism, and Haj Azzam, a rich businessman, wishing to take a second, but secret wife, among other characters.

I've never seen an Egyptian film before, and found it thought-provoking. My almost 3 year old niece is mixed heritage - Her dad is in fact from Cairo, and this made me think strongly about the country of her father's birth, which I have yet to visit.

The second film I slouched before was from Belgium - Have you seen many Belgian films yourself, I wonder? I'll bet you've sampled Belgian Chocolate or the country's amazingly rich and diverse beer? I know I have!

Anyhoo, this was the Flemish film: Rosie: The Devil In My Head (1998), which offered an insight into the troubled upbringing, in a deeply industrial Antwerp, of the teenaged Rosie, of the film's title.

I won't spoil the film for you by giving much away, but I found it charming and intriguing by turns, curious and ultimately a bit sad. The film attracted many awards for its cast and director, but of the talented young actress, Aranka Coppen, playing Rosie, I can find no further (Internet) trace... If anyone knows what she went on to do next, I'd love to hear it?

I adore film, especially in foreign languages but when, last week doing my usual half-listening to the TV, while tippy-tappying away here with my toes in Blogland, GJ was watching a very interesting programme with British presenter, Jonathan Ross, 'interviewing' Alfred Hitchcock...

This got me thinking on Hitchcock's oeuvre and his considerable influence on the movie industry.

When you look at this director's work overall, it is more than impressive, and I hope to use some of the words attributed to 'Hitch' over many years, to illustrate some aspects of his life and work over the next couple of days, if that's all right with you, mes cinephiles?!

"A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake".

"Drama is life with the dull bits cut out".

Hitch is said to have offered us these reflections, "Luck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film".

And isn't that what we think most of Hitch, that he was the consummate master of suspense, keeping us, as stiff as a board, on the edge of our seat, observing, (far from calmly), the fate of the heroes and heroines, victims and villains, up on the wide silver screen?

"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder".

"Give them pleasure - the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare".



When, later in life, Hitch was accepting the American Film Institute Life Achievement award, he opined importantly: "I beg permission to mention by name only four people who have given me the most affection, appreciation, and encouragement, and constant collaboration.

The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter Pat [Patricia Hitchcock], and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville."

Here, Hitch was paying homage to his wife, Alma Reville, to whom he would be married for 54 years. (That's some record these days, n'est-ce pas?) Alma worked alongside her husband for practically her entire career, often unnamed, refining Hitch's scripts and film direction.



La Goddess Wiki, a keen movie buff herself, had this to say about Alma: "... best known as the wife of Alfred Hitchcock, whom she met while they were working together at Paramount's Famous Players-Lasky studio in London, during the early 1920s.

They married on 2 December 1926 at Brompton Oratory in London. Alma became his collaborator and sounding board, with a keen ear for dialogue and an editor's sharp eye for scrutinizing a film's final version for continuity flaws so minor they escaped Hitchcock's own notice, and that of his top-notch crew.

Cinema was the couple’s passion. A talented editor, Alma worked on British films with directors like Berthold Viertel and Maurice Elvey, though her main focus was her husband’s work. She was particularly good at revising dialogue and spotting inconsistencies in his plots".



Did you know that? I've heard it's often the case that, behind many successful men, stands an intelligent woman?!



"To make a great film you need three things - the script, the script and the script".

"Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After all, weren't we all frightened as children? Nothing has changed since Little Red Riding Hood faced the big bad wolf.

What frightens us today is exactly the same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. It's just a different wolf. This fright complex is rooted in every individual.

The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them..."

Wiki, again - Sometimes, you just cannot shut the Goddess up! : "Hitchcock became famous for his expert and largely unrivalled control of pace and suspense, and his films draw heavily on both fear and fantasy. The films are known for their droll humour and witticisms, and these cinematic works often portray innocent people caught up in circumstances beyond their control or understanding".



We all know about that, don't we? Don't we all struggle with circumstances and sometimes a hand dealt by fate, which we cannot control or barely even understand?



Go on, admit it, now I've whet your appetite, you want to know more about the life and work of the man who said this:

"These are bagpipes. I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equalled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig".

And of Tallulah Bankhead's lack of undergarments. Hitch said : "I didn't know whether to send her to make up or the hairdresser".



A demain, mes chums! Toodles!

Happily Ever After (not!) Camille Claudel Continued

Today, I just want to complete the tale of Camille Claudel, artist, sculptress, Rodin's Muse, and one of my heroines, if that's okay with you?

Confession time here, I read literature and learned art history while at school, and wondered exactly what it took to be an artist's muse, his inspiration... I day-dreamed of becoming a muse, with no chance whatsoever of experiencing at first hand what it might feel like.

Well, I guess, the closest I came once, was meeting an artist in Cumbria. He was a friend of my OH's cousin, and worked part-time in industry, while earning part of his crust selling his paintings.

He was reasonably well established and his canvases were, well... Interesting.

Cumbria, you say' All those wind-whipped, fluffy sheep, the dramatic, rolling hills, the lush greenery, the cavernous lakes, the pendant mists...

This chap painted Mexican scenes: Men in colourful sombreros and multi-layered ponchos... Nice!

He got a glint in his eye when we were discussing Paul Klee and modern art, in fact, he finally got me to appreciate modern art, and that was some task, I can tell you!

It must have been my Viva Zapata moustachio he was interested in! Can't have been anything else!

Camille was able to break free of the shadow of the famous sculptor with her later works, influenced by Japanese art, and Art Nouveau, in particular, the onyx and bronze Wave (La Vague 1897) shows us a group of women figures, holding hands in a circle before the towering Tsunami style wave...


Similarly, Les Causeuses, is a tiny sculpture, showing a group of women, again in bronze, enrapt in conversation, oblivious to their surroundings, chattering and gossiping away, as only (perhaps) women and gay men can do!

However, from 1905 onwards, Camille began to exhibit odd behaviours, odd even for a Bohemian artist. She went on to destroy some of her art, send mischievous letters and drawings to Rodin and Rose Beuret, and I believe other important figures in the art world, perhaps also the press...

Camille became unreliable, she probably drank too much, as she likely attempted to self-medicate against the evils of the world as she perceived them... She continued to rattle around her workshop, accusing Rodin of stealing her ideas and of leading a conspiracy to kill her.

When Camille's beloved father, who had continued to bankroll her career, died in March 1913, she was not told of his death, and on 10 March 1913, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, under the signatures of her brother and a doctor. A later diagnosis of her ills, describes her suffering from, " a systematic persecution delirium mostly based upon false interpretations and imagination". (Wiki).

It may be that committing her to an asylum was the best thing for Camille; It may also have been a question of her socially aware and influential family finding it easier to have their vagabond genius child sequestered away, out of harm's way... as her brother's art, influence and position in French society grew Did Rodin himself have anything to do with her being hidden away from view? Who really can tell?



The facts remain that for a time, "the press accused her family of committing a sculptor of genius, and her mother forbade her to receive mail from anyone other than her brother. The hospital staff regularly proposed to her family that Claudel be released, but her mother adamantly refused each time. On 1 June 1920, her physician sent a letter advising her mother to try to reintegrate her daughter into the family environment. Nothing came of this".
In 1929 Jessie Lipscomb visited her, and her brother called in every few years...

Camille Claudel died on 19 October 1943, after having lived 30 years in the asylum at Montfavet without a visit from her mother or sister. Her body lies at Monfavet.

What remains is her very personal, intimate and spell-binding art.

You can see it yourself at the Musee Rodin (formerly Hotel Biron), in Paris. It is well worth a visit of a few hours, and the gardens of the house on a summer's day are very welcoming.

Rodin gave his studios for a museum to the state before his death, and continued to work there rent-free as a result. Camille may even have stayed with him there, I'm not certain without consulting the book I have about her, written in French by her relation... A great-grand-niece, or something of that ilk...
There is also a film of Camille's life - It is beautifully acted, with Isabelle Adjani and the inimitable Depardieu, not without its own fans, it also has its detractors, in terms of possible artistic licence. Once again, where are the experts? What is real, and what is fiction, when we talk about heroism and beauty?

One thing is certain, whatever the tragedy of her life, love and fate, Camille's art tells us all that we would ever wish to know about her...

“My very dearest down on both knees before your beautiful body which I embrace.” Letter from Rodin to Camille Claudel (end of 1884 - beginning of 1885).

“A superb brow above magnificent eyes of that rare blue so seldom encountered outside the covers of a novel,” Paul observed in 1951.

And Rodin wrote, “With regard to the Hôtel Biron, nothing is settled yet. The idea of including some sculptures by Mlle Say [a phonetic pseudonym for Camille Claudel, Mademoiselle C., based on the French pronunciation of “c”] would please me very much. This house is quite small and I don’t know how the rooms will be arranged. There could be a few buildings for her and for me.”

In Rodin's own words, "I invent nothing, I rediscover".

"The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation".


"To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature".



And finally, while I was typing this on Monday, I experienced the serendipity of listening to Bette Midler on a UK TV chat show, singing Wind Beneath My Wings, with its lyrics, "Did you ever know that you're my hero..?"

So dedicated to all our heroes, I offer up a version of Bette singing that lovely song on her own show, "Bette". She is accompanied on the piano by the fabulously talented British actor, James Dreyfus.

The clip I saw of Bette might not ever make it to Youtube, so this might serve to raise a smile with you today - The quality is not great, but the sound is okay.

I hope you enjoy it after a couple of days of seriousness about all our heroes and heroines here!

Heroes Part Deux!

Continuing our diatribe, or ramble, on heroes, one of my wise commenters - For there are many - Protege, wrote beautifully yesterday:

" To me a hero is just a human being, a man or a woman, who can make it through each and every day and face the difficulties with an open mind and an endless optimism. ;)
Someone who never ever stops dreaming, never stops being kind and compassionate... No matter what they face".

Similarly, Jinksy said,

"My vote goes to the unsung heroes who live their lives simply and quietly but still manage to inspire others by their example".

Others were able to point the finger at people they knew: Strong and honourable parents; brave and stoical friends; People struggling through circumstances you would never wish your worse enemy to experience...

I am glad to have encouraged people to think about heroes and heroines, for to hold close and recall bits and pieces, fragments, of their lives is to continue to honour them - No matter what background they might have come from - Great or humble - And if, in some respects, we choose to emulate some of their strengths or better behaviours, then it might in turn help us to become stronger ourselves - It is important to appreciate that everyone can take the lead, even 'though we might not see ourselves as such...

"Heroism breeds heroism. In a world of ever-increasing materialism and cynicism, heroes (can) bring out the best in people and highlight what is truly important in the world.

Heroes are role models who inspire us to lead better lives and refind our love for (our) fellow man... Heroism is an eternal force, an infinite loop. Just as there will always be heroes, there will always be a need for heroes.

Heroism transcends typical human divisions; class, nationality, religion".

...from Dean Duke, The Importance of Heroes



One of my most recent heroes is Odetta Holmes, December 31 1930 – December 2 2008. And here I make my (almost daily) trip to see the Goddess Wiki:

"Known as Odetta, she was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she was influential musically and ideologically to many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin.

* Joan Baez said "Odetta was a goddess. Her passion moved me. I learned everything she sang."

* Janis Joplin - "Janis spent much of her adolescence listening to Odetta, who was also the first person Janis imitated when she started singing".

* Poet Maya Angelou once said, "If only one could be sure that every fifty years a voice and a soul like Odetta's would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly we would hardly recognize time.""


Earlier still, I listened to the mellifluous sounds of Paris in the Thirties and Forties, and came across the tunes, La Petite Tonkinoise and J'ai Deux Amours, enchantingly rendered by Josephine Baker, who was an American expatriate entertainer and actress, who became a French citizen in 1937". (Wiki)

Baker was a celebrated dancer in her early career, performing practically topless and causing delight and public scandal by turns - One of her famous stage costumes had a skirt of huge bananas, and she would perform like some bizarre disembodied dancer atop a little girl's flower bedecked jewellery box. Josephine turned to singing once she had gained considerable popularity in France, where she has always been known as "La Baker".

"Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture, to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. She was offered the leadership of the Civil Rights movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, but turned it down, for assisting the French Resistance during the Second World War" (in occupied France) "and being the first American-born woman to receive the highest French military honor, La Croix de Guerre, and for being an inspiration to generations of African American female entertainers and others.

La Baker "protested in her own way against racism, adopting 12 multi-ethnic orphans, whom she called the "Rainbow Tribe."," long before la Jolie, people! And long before magazines and the press began to dictate whom we should regard as our heroes...




One of my own heroines is an earth angel. Ellen is someone I met through work. Disabled by a ski-ing accident, subsequently divorced and bringing up a fabulous student son, Ellen lives her life as a quadraplegic. She has an extraordinarily positive, endlessly difficult life, not without daily barriers in terms of managing on her own - She is always beautifully turned out, elegant and poised - I so envy that in other women! and this is usually on those days when I arrive at the office with my dress inside out, holes in my opaque tights (pantyhose), and a piece of toast still stuck to my head!



Ellen commutes each day, driving her adapted car to meetings, accessing often challenging buildings, and she is raising a fabulous son, and holds down a high-powered career - And her job is one in which she has helped others - Young people without career direction, and now those who are homeless - to improve their own lot in life...

Ellen is a star, leading from the front - Perhaps not in such a public way as Odetta and Josephine, but she is a star nonetheless.

If you haven't already told me who your heroes and heroines are, then please do choose to leave a comment. Who are the stars in your sky?!


We could be heroes, just for one day...
David Bowie