Father Geek here with the Latin-AICN column for this week. Coffin Joe Jr. was a little late due to Brazil's Carnaval which is in full swing right now. We have another letter from ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY about his distribution problems and Guillermo del Toro's DEVIL'S BACKBONE has their website up and running in Spanish. All that and more below...
ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY VS ALLEN KLEIN, another letter to all interested from Jodorowsky....
Allen Klein is an astute bureaucrat who -in 1970- would appropriate of the Apple Society by winning a trial against the Beatles. Through the Apple society he acquired the rights of my movies ³El Topo² and ³The Holy Mountain² from a Mexican cheat, Roberto Viskin, general manager of my panic productions, who -in the middle of The Holy Mountain¹s filming- ran away to Israel with half the money of the production that Klein, on the basis of John Lennon¹s recommendations, had destined for the movie. Klein, even though I had signed NO engagement whatsoever, took the movie¹s negatives objecting that they were forever in his hands.
Seeing the huge success that El Topo had in the United States, he decided not to show The Holy Mountain, that he wasn't able to understand, and he pushed me for an almost pornographic movie for which he would have invested many million of dollars. For economic problems, (I had to maintain my family), I accompanied him to London, England, where he had an appointment with other producers. While they discussed the contract¹s terms, that aimed to realize a quite hot version of "History of O", I felt myself on the suicide¹s edge. In that instant my fate was sealed : I abandoned all my productions in Klein¹s hands, ran away toward the airport and took the airplane that brought me to France to start working on the Dune script, an epic of science-fiction...
Allen Klein never forgave me. HE DECIDED TO KILL ME ARTISTICALLY. He picked up all the copies that had been distributed in Europe and Japan and destroyed them. He buried the negative in such an inappropriate place that they ended up damaged. Today, when the distributors ask him for an arrangement to get the rights of distribution, he answers that his company is not interested in selling my movies.
THIRTY YEARS HAVE PASSED. And this man, morally sick, using methods similar to the gangsters¹ , every time that someone shows my movies in some festivals or publishes them in bootleg Video, he still pushes his fierce lawyers to send threats letters to the distributors, terrifying them since they don't have the economical means to begin a trial and demand the proofs that would assess his lifetime rights upon my two movies. He has come even to threaten those people that have published on DVD my first film ³Fando y Lis" ON WHICH HE DOESN¹T HAVE ANY RIGHT at all. A man like Allen Klein is a shame for the United States, because he pushes everybody to believe that, in his country, the justice depends only on whoever pays the lawyers more. In all these years, because of his pathological hate and despite the proposals that I have left on his answering machine - I was ready to let them be shown to the public even without getting a cent - he insists into hide my works. HE IS A CULTURAL KILLER...
What happens to me, happens to many artists. I think that murdering a work of art is as monstruous as murdering a human being. The men have already become conscious of the CRIMES AGAINST THE HUMANITY... and people have judged and imprisoned the murderous dictators. It is necessary to establish THE CONCEPT OF CULTURAL CRIME AGAINST THE HUMANITY now and to ask for these cultural killers a sentence of a perpetual jail. It is also owed to imprison the lawyers that -defending such criminals- are accomplices of their crimes. After 25 years an artist, (whichever this expression means are - movie, visual audio, multimedia, written, and so on), has become the only owner of his work, in accord with the principles of HUMAN RIGHTS.
I MAKE A PUBLIC CALL SO THAT DISTRIBUTORS, OWNERS OF MOVIES THEATRES, ARTISTIC FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS, MANAGERS OF MOVIES, and so on, UNITE THEMSELVES IN A COMMON FRONT WITHOUT FEARING ALLEN KLEIN AND MAKES A COMMON FRONT TO COMPLETELY ACCEPT THE LEGAL BATTLE.
EL TOPO AND THE HOLY MOUNTAIN ARE MY ABSOLUTE PROPERTY AND WHOEVER WANTS TO EXHIBIT THEM SHOULD REQUEST IT ONLY TO ME.
THAT IS THE REASON WHY I ALSO REQUEST, SINCE ALLEN KLEIN DESTROYED MY NEGATIVES, THAT WHOEVER HAS A COPY OF MY MOVIES IN A GOOD STATE, ESPECIALLY OF THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, SHOULD INFORM ME SO I CAN RECONSTITUTE THEM.
My friends: this it is the beginning of a great battle. If the gangster attacks me and he wins, I WILL THEN, taking whichever risk there is, BROADCAST MY MOVIES FOR FREE ON THE INTERNET so all the interested people can see them. We have to send all the Allen Klein of the world to the jail where they belong.
This cultural criminal takes refuge in:
ABKCO PRODUCTIONS; 1700 Broadway; NY. NY. 19919. (New York. U.S.A.) His telephone is the 212 399 0300
Thank you
ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY
Want to Help? Contact: Anne Caisson By Clicking Here
Father Geek back again. Here's the poster and other info on Guillermo del Toro's new thriller "El Espinazo del Diablo", including the link to their homepage and teaser trailer. That link will also take you to the homepages of 3 other Spanish flicks including "Accion Mutante". Check them all out...
Durante los últimos dÃas de la guerra civil española, Carlos llega a un orfanato, donde se encuentra a otros jóvenes abandonados como él. Poco a poco, Carlos irá vislumbrando los vÃnculos existentes entre los habitantes del imponente edificio y se le irá revelando el ominoso secreto que permanece grabado entre sus finos muros...
Here you can see a flash teaser for "The Devil's Backbone", Guillermo DelToro´s new movie. Just Click Here for their homepage.
Hello Father Geek , everybody , sorry , I know the report is a bit late , but it´s Carnaval here in Brazil , and nothing actually works this time of the year , almost no news . Fear not though , we´re here with Latin-AICN . Call me call Coffin Joe Jr. ( new nick plced in the middle of the sentence without a formal warning ) , with this week´s column .
-The IMDB ( Internet Movie Data Base ) is listing actor Rodrigo Santoro as part of the cast of " Assumption of a Virgin " , under the direction of Walter Salles , but that´s not correct . " Assumption of a Virgin " is a project that Walter Salles was talking about doing with Miramax , there was the strong possibility that Juliette Binoche ( " Chocolat " ) would be the lead , but then Mr.Salles started work on " Broken April " here in Brazil , with his producer Arthur Cohn ( " Central Station " ) . " Broken April " is currently in production for a September 2001 release here in Brazil , and Rodrigo Santoro is one of the cast members of this movie , " Broken April " , NOT " Assumption of a Virgin " . The title "Broken April " is tentative , we´ll only know closer to the release . Other projects on Walter Salles´ plate include the movie " The Motorcycle Diaries " to be produced by Mr.Sundance , Robert Redford .
-Paulo Machline , director of the short film " Uma História de Futebol " , which has been nominated for an Academy Award this year inthe live-action short film category , is currently preparing to make his feature film debut in the movie " Socorro " , which tells the story of a young lady from the countryside of the state of São Paulo , whose life is religiously devoted to soap operas .
-Director Marcelo Masagão , whose last film was the documentary " Nós que Aqui estamos por Vós Esperamos " ( Coffin Joe Jr. NOTE : This doc was an interesting exercise in alternative forms of storytelling , trying to convey the entire 20th century in 73 minutes , with stock footage and stories that were fictional , mixed with real events . It´s pretty cool . ) and is the man behind the Festival do Minuto ( something like *The One Minute Festival , which is dedicated to short films that last only one minute ) , follows the same path of his previous effort in another experimental film called " Nem Gravata , nem Honra " , which talks about the differences between men and women , and it will be totally shot with digital cameras .
-Arnold Schwarzenegger was here in Brazil this week , in Rio de Janeiro to be more specific , to watch the Carnaval parade there . He was with his wife Maria Shriver .
-Not much else this week , so here´s a review of HANNIBAL , by me .
HANNIBAL
Review by Coffin Joe Jr.
First things first , let´s get all the controversial crap out of the way before we talk about this movie . It´s different than " Silence of the Lambs " so don´t compare both movies ( Silence was about Clarice , Lecter was just a catalyst to changes that had to happen to clarice in that movie , but he was such an interesting catalyst of change that the sequel is about him . Here´s how it works : " Silence of the Lambs " = Clarice Starling / " Hannibal " = Take a wild guess Sherlock ) . " Hannibal " is one big opera , not a thriller , it plays more like Greek tragedy than your average Hollywood thriller . Don´t get me wrong there are definitely elements of suspense , but this is not about who kills who , or who is after who , or any of that crap , this is about Lecter having some fun , Hopkins having some fun , and the audience cheering for the bad , but oh so interesting , guy . Root for the villain . Root for a moster . Root for a cannibal . Hard to swallow ? Not really , Hannibal Lecter is basically a really fine , educated and polite man who enjoys classical music , good food , and beautiful art . Quite a fine individual , who just happens to kill and eat those who bother him . He´s got almost unreal qualities , being able to pull off the most amazing stunts and all without a drop of sweat . He´s like a real mean 007 , minus the gadgets . Does anyone really want him to get caught by wooden , boring Clarice ? Hell no . I know I didn´t . Mason Verger , who some people complained about , saying he was too cartoony or over-the-top , is a fun , peculiar addition to the cast of characters of this twisted universe . The reality where these people exist is not ours . Everything is heightened , bigger , bolder , like I said before , one huge opera . Enjoy it for what it is . Ridley Scott´s style is more about fantasy and escapism , than Jonathan Demme´s , who tends to go for a more realistic , gritty approach . You can´t expect him to simply emulate what Demme did before . The movie is sleeker , the visual canvas Scott works with is richer and wider in scope than Demme´s . I don´t think it is better or worse , it´s just different . Julianne Moore had some big shoes to fill , and honestly she pulled it off very well . Those final scenes with the doc were pretty intense and you showed everybody you could do it just as well as Jodie Foster . Congrats . As far as the script , no complaints from me , I did not think the movie was slow or that it wasn´t building tension , I thought the pacing was just right to create the right mood and atmosphere , the doctor´s menace was wonderfully developed , increasing as the movie went on , so I can´t think of something that wasn´t working . I mean it Mamet and Zaillian . These guys are pros . There you go . It´s a great movie , not really a straight sequel , more of one of those "another adventure in that strange universe " type of movies . I liked it .
