Hal Prince 1928-2019

Pelle The Conqueror 1987

Two and a half hours of pure joy. This Foreign film Oscar winner spreads across time in a beautiful and leisurely fashion telling the story of a young boy and his old father making their way in a new land. Based on the first book in a series of autobiographical works by Martin Andersen Nexe the film opens in the early 20^th century as Pelle an eleven year old boy and his father Lasse land in Denmark from Sweden looking for a better future. Set on the dock at Bornholm after their long voyage things immediately look grim for them, but soon the father played by one of the great actors of cinema Max Von Sydow (Oscar nominated for the film) is hired as a worker on a large farm where his young son Pelle will also be required to work. Its a hard life for sure, but soon they are getting settled and are embraced by their fellow workers and the rich landowners, a jolly kind  but cheating husband and his sorrowful wife who cries herself to sleep while keeping everyone up at night with her baleful wales . The film is directed by Bille August who with his able screenwriters and great cinematographer fill the wide screen with great characters, incidents and beautiful vistas and landscapes mostly set in the barren winter months. The many characters, villagers, farm workers,teachers and young lovers are all well known souls who have passed through many works of fiction and movies. However these lovely people are full of surprises for us. They don’t fit our expectations of what small town characters should be, and just when we think we know what to expect from them the story and the director flip them and us on our heads. They don’t do what we expect of them. The young actor who plays Pelle is also named Pelle with the last name of Hvenegaard and he is remarkable. Kind and  lovable with a beautiful face and a sometimes rebellious nature who like all children can also be mean and vicious.  He loves his father dearly even though Max can sometimes disappoint and fail him as a parent. I can happily add this film about childhood and adolescence to a group of some of my favorite films on this subject, The Little Fugitive, The 400 Blows, The Fallen Idol, The Night Of The Hunter and many others. This would be the perfect film to watch in the cold dark months of winter, but this great film is watchable and appreciated even on a hot summer night in New York City. One of the ten best films of 1987. 

Rutger Hauer 1944-2019

July 2019 mixed on cardboard

oddball magazine july 2019

https://oddballmagazine.com/poem-by-richard-l-ratliff-2/?fbclid=IwAR2qmD_YJxrj3bRfrfz9fcbwqrvtQqSDl0t9CEZLROuA7CzyPka2h3AnY9w

douglas crimp 1944-2019

valentina cortese 1923-2019

Jim Bouton 1939-2019

Ben Barenholtz 1935-2019

Forgot to post this on Mr. Barenholtz. When I moved to Chelsea in 1967 I lived right across the street from the Seedy run down Elgin Movie theatre, which on that day in Oct. showed Spanish speaking movies. Overnight or so it seemed it became a repertory theatre and it was my home away from home where I saw many classics including birth of a nation which burnt up in front of our eyes, also my first viewings of truffaut and so many others including some of those famous midnight movies. Me and my roommates lived on the top floor of a 6th floor walk up, and the getting up those stairs were a test of endurance, once up you didn't want to go back down. But we would get stoned out of our minds and rush down the stairs and race across the street to sit stonafied (is that a word) and giggle till the early morning hours. Its change over to the Joyce was a sad day for me, even though it became a lovely place for the dance.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/05/movies/ben-barenholtz-dead.html

Rip Torn 1931-2019

Torn and his wife Geraldine Page lived up the block from me in Chelsea in the late 60's and yes its true the name on their bell said Torn/Page. I never saw him, but I would see Geraldine in our neighborhood A&P on 8th ave pushing her wagon full of beer through the aisles wearing a housecoat and a kerchief around her head. The Clerks calling out to her Hi Gerry, she would respond Hi girls. I stood star struck at the check out counter.

Collage mixed on cardboard July 2019

oddball magazine july 2019

https://oddballmagazine.com/poem-by-estrella-del-valle-translated-by-toshiya-kamei/