DeZ Vylenz Log

A captain's log of activities and projects, affiliations and developments involving the Shadowsnake ship and various guerilla film expeditions. Updated in between storms by DeZ Vylenz, Writer - Director - Martial Arts Choreographer

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Classic directors: Anthony Mann and Nicholas Ray

People often ask me what my favourite films are or my main influences. This is very difficult to answer, because I'm mostly influenced by music, literature, comics --or graphic novels to use the chique word-- and by a whole range of films, but usually there are elements of films or from directors that I like. Not necessarily entire oeuvres or films, but specific parts for specific reasons.

Directors like Orson Welles, Hitchcock, Kubrick are often mentioned as part of the classical canon of cinema, while other names such as Anthony Mann and Nicholas Ray seem to be forgotten. In fact it's hard to find their films at most of the main stream DVD stores. Both had their own unique style and vision in the stories they wanted to tell and had a good understanding of architecture, surroundings and environment upon the characters and the narration.

Mann's T-men and He Walked By Night are great expressionistic noirs, while his westerns were great epic tragedies set against monumental landscapes.

http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/hyde/mann.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Mann

Ray had an architectural background, which was clearly reflected in his films. In a conservative period he was also keen to address social issues and deeper explorations into the dynamics of society and the individual spirit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Ray

Interesting to see how Ray made a film titled: They Live by Night (1949), while Mann made He Walked by Night in 1948. Not sure if the titles have anything to do with each other, but they're both noirs and show the fascination with a darker side of humanity.

I don't know their entire body of work, but I did see their films at a time that I was studying the film medium intensely and their own unique approach definitely made me aware of the language each filmmaker can develop to bring personal stories and vision across.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Film Remakes and Originals

Why remakes? I still find it a strange and unnecessary operation to copy the same story and characters to adapt them to a new film. There are of course exceptions where the remake was just as good or even better than the original, Carpenter's The Thing for example, as the special fx and story were very much evolved to the technical and political climate of the cold war 80s. Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi --although more a modern sequel than remake-- is also a great piece of work that pays respect to the original with new touches.

In recent years I find most of the efforts by very skilled directors to remake films such as King Kong or Psycho unnecessary exercises in big budget spending. Of course every film or theatre director takes on the mission to adapt any kind of story to their own vision and interpretation, Shakespeare's material for instance being regarded in the same way a classical musician or composer would take a classic work and adapt it to modern times.

But the main difference with other media is that such an experiment or undertaking wouldn't take millions of cash to produce, while even the smallest film production would need a lot of human and financial resources. Maybe I'm old fashioned in seeing film as a special opportunity to tell original stories and present new visions, not trodden paths. But fact is that even from a business POV, every film is a costly effort in terms of time and energy, so each project is should be unique and strong enough to make its mark.

Unfortunately, people find it much easier to empathise with contemporary "updated" looks, settings and characters. The Departed did the same with the Chinese "Infernal Affairs", adapt the same thriller from a specific cultural setting to a more familiar American landscape of crime and actors. I did actually enjoy the film, but also had the feeling that the whole appeal about the original was that the Chinese Triads are traditionally nearly impossible to infiltrate, which made a glimpse into that world something more special and unique. The Hollywood remake had the great craftsmanship of Martin Scorsese and the cast, yet I felt that all these actors and settings looked too familiar and nothing we really hadn't seen before.

Then there is The Prisoner, the classic British TV series with a massive cult following, just saw some news on this site:

http://www.netreach.net/~sixofone/

I'm curious to know what they'll do with it, but reading the descriptions and public announcements from the production company, it sounds like they'll swap that unique blend of 60s psychedelica and cold war paranoia to a more simplistic, flashy 24 like action series with plenty of gadgets and conspiracy theory stuff. Who knows, it could become something else entirely and stand on its own besides the original. But it's just a waste that so many talented new writers have their unread scripts gathering dust in forgotten drawers.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The crooked roads of the Entertainment Industry

Thanks for all the good response and comments, especially regarding the Mindscape of Alan Moore DVD. The positive feedback is really appreciated after months of hard work. As for the comments on the blog, unfortunately it was not really set up as an interactive platform, but rather as a diary I would occasionally update.

However, in the next few weeks the website will be updated and the weblog will have the option of adding comments, so rather than emailing your response immediate reactions will be possible.

As for the other projects I’m working on, I can only say I’m still writing the screenplays --both fiction and martial arts related-- and once they are completed I will send out more info. But in general I prefer to talk things when they’ve actually materialized or are completed. In this film business nothing is certain.

Although, the following news item is one of those rare surprises. Or as the ubiquitous William Goldman saying is often quoted: Nobody knows anything.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6914918.stm

The industry is still governed by certain formulae and genre expectations, so it will be a matter of finding the right producer and financiers who believe in the story before the projects can get to the production stage. In any case I’m itching to shoot a feature film again so the development is definitely underway and the projects are once again inspiring things to work on. I constantly find inspiration in other artists who haven't strayed from the path and continue to do what they truly believe in, rather than giving in the ephemeral trends.

Will keep you all posted.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Opera Jawa

A sad ass bunch of films on selection in the multiplex theatres, saw posters with cheesy light comedy and CGI action fantasy. Although the Harry Potter and Die Hard franchise sequels were quite effective entertainment within the limitations of their genre, nothing new there to get excited about. But I couldn't even find Johnnie To's Exiled in the listings anymore after coming back to London after one week. This is how fast the turn over time is nowadays, by the time most people have heard about a good film through word by mouth or plan to make some time, it's already gone from the cinema.

On the independent film front, I was invited last Saturday by Yume Pictures at the Barbican, where they are screening Opera Jawa this week as part of the Crowned Hope festival. There was an introduction and Q&A with Peter Sellars and the director Garin Nugroho, who had a lot of funny and interesting comments about the process. I also had the chance to meet them on the Friday before at a cocktail reception at the Indonesian Embassy, where the ambassador stated the obvious: that artists and filmmakers are in many ways the most effective ambassadors of a culture or nations, in this case the third largest democracy in the world.

The film is definitely worth watching for those who are willing to suspend their expectations of linear narrative and conventional pace and script, as it's a haunting mix of traditional Indonesian Gamelan and dance, installation art, musical, electronics, blues and a retelling of an ancient Indian myth “The Abduction of Sita” from the great classic Ramayana. I'm relatively familiar with Indonesian culture, because Suriname is the only country in the New World with a large group of Indonesian immigrants (the first generation arrving about 118 years ago), which is reflected in the great cultural enrichment, especially when it comes to the culinary and martial arts (great stuff). Indonesian culture --the nation also being a diverse group of islands-- is a very complex mix of ancient Asian traditions, with elements of Islam and animism interwoven into the spiritual fabric and this film reminded me how such a culture can easily adapt to a post-modern expression such as this.

I think once the viewers open their minds and realize there is more than a physical love triangle story going on and the fights are mostly on a metaphorical level through supernatural and magical powers, entities and forces, it can be a powerful meditative trip. In many ways it reminded me of Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain in the way it drags your consciousness into a metaphysical event, while still being a brilliant visual and visceral experience with powerful and intense performances from the actors and dancers. Watch the tyrant butcher played by Eko Supriyanto move every muscle in his foot. He will also be in a London performance:

http://www.barbican.org.uk/theatre/event-detail.asp?ID=4250

Opera Jawa is according to the director also a requiem for victims of violence and natural disasters around the world, but in particular for the earth and females who are in many ways the victim of male dominance. Garin explained that the whole film was an old idea that he wanted to do for years, but once the production was commissioned by Peter Sellars and became possible through Illuminations and the executive producers Simon Field and Keith Griffiths, he assembled a whole team of installation artists, choreographers and the main composer. The film then came together quite organically, with near total freedom for most of the artists. He said that he views himself more as a gallery in the whole process than as a director and elaborated on the fact that all the arts together form an eco-system and that film should be like that.

It was nice to hear how he had so much confidence in his collaborators and was always in for "suspense and surprise". As he said in his embassy speech: "In the Chinese language, the word 'crisis' is composed of the characters, danger and opportunity, and the latter is what a director should focus on." It's hard to describe, but the way he expressed himself in English was in quite humorous chunks of information and simple situation sketches and it gave a great glimpse of his view as a director.

Stills and trailer available soon at: http://www.yumepictures.co.uk/

The film is on this whole week a the Barbican and opens at the National Film Theatre on 7 September before wide UK release. Check it out.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Shuar Shamans

As mentioned last week, I was plunged into an extraordinary time capsule from the past, present and future, the ancient tradition of the Shuar tribe rooted in Ecuador. For centuries they defied the European conquest and finally abandoned their practice of headhunting in the 20th century, making their step towards adaptation with the “modern” world, without losing their tradition and cultural pride. The majority still live in the rain forest and only speak their traditional language, except for the few with formal education, who also speak Spanish.

A few links on Wikipedia:

http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~eschniter/AMAZONIA/index.html

http://www.head-hunter.com/

Don't know this organization, but for info on Ayuahasca, Vine of the Soul (and pictures of the Shuar shamans) :

http://www.the-awakening.net/artikelen/Tonantzin.html

Having arrived on Monday 2 July in Amsterdam for business, meetings and the usual mundane stuff that comes with the entrepreneurial responsibilities, on Tuesday I suddenly received a call from Mano --a Mexican film maker friend-- that the younger of the Shaman brothers, Miguel Chiriap, was in town before travelling to Germany (where they are often work in association with the Heidelberg university) and Spain. This would be a rare opportunity to meet him at Quetzal’s home, a Maya from Mexico who has been living in Europe for over 20 years, but besides his work in the petrochemical industry functions as translator and organizer of healing ceremonies. Refreshing to see positive and driven people for a change after all the talk and big blow up egos in the media industry, where it’s mostly form over substance. It’s an annoying and constant reminder of how many people believe that our reality only exists on a physical, material plane.

Even those with experience in mushrooms, Peyote and several of the available psychedelics seem to use it merely for recreational use, just to please the senses. To the medicine men, the curanderos, the plant is a powerful entity and they always refer to it as “la medicina”, the medicine. It’s not some vehicle to get you high, but a powerful ally to heal and teach things about life.

There are too many fascinating details to go into here, as it turned out to be an incredible private Ayahuasca ceremony with just three of us, with a whole range of fascinating music instruments we played, herbs and chants that purified the intention and drive, the shaman guiding our consciousness through the sacred spirits of the plants, animals and so on. All too complicated or personal too describe and probably only recognisable for those who have had similar experiences within spiritual traditions. It can be compared to being attached to some virtual reality kind of machine, with the hyper reality level kicking in, all senses heightened to a super alertness. If we had been in the jungle instead of a flat, the vibrations of all plants and living creatures would have been visible, audible and tangible.

Although I had a few years of Spanish in secondary modern school, it’s not my first language and I haven’t really found time to pick it up or practice my fluency in the last decade. Yet I understood nearly everything he was talking about, how there should be no fear between people, and respect for man, woman, plant, animals, seed, semen, womb, universe, God, in fact for everything alive within and around us. It seemed like days, or hours or minutes, time was suddenly a ridiculously limiting human concept. We started around 22:30 and were finished at 7:00 AM without any exhaustion, feeling completely energized as if awoken from some deep sleep or dream. Yet all the time we were fully conscious, while rain poured down heavy and violently outside with thunder and lightning.

But what is also really positive about all this: They are collecting contributions from people to attend the healing ceremonies and build a school for their collective of 18 tribes. Most are illiterate, so education is high on their priority list. Though still deeply rooted within their ancient tradition, the shaman brothers are educated and their children are in university. Their basic philosophy is that consciousness and knowledge strengthen a human being’s will and creates better understanding and more love between people. As said before, in sceptical times like this, whenever people hear the word “love” they think of the product marketed towards consumers in the form of valentine gifts or any of the saccharine meanings and perversions. In the end it’s about a deep appreciation for the powerful gift of life we’re being given, if our body and mind is healthy we often take it for granted without realizing how much wealth that is. No money in the world can buy that, but it can be maintained; and gratitude and mutual respect are definitely something these shamans propagate.

This is the same in the monotheistic religions of “respect thy neighbour” and “do onto others as you want done onto you” or the way that Samurai or martial artists from various cultures used to write poetry in respect of nature and compassion –or meditate-- as a counterpart to their way of battle.

The fact that there is such a high demand from people –often from high positions in Europe-- to invite these travelling shamans at healing rituals seems to indicate a growing interest in understanding our reality beyond the material and mundane level. Unfortunately, there are often quacks and frauds posing as real healers. Their greed and incompetence gives the real ones and the entire occupation a bad name. Fact is that a real shaman has specialized in healing and understanding consciousness and the body over an entire lifetime, acquiring skills and knowledge in so many areas. It is a great responsibility and cannot be take on by everyone. Botanical knowledge is merely one aspect.

Another interesting detail that just came flashing back: Miguel had a beautifully self crafted two string violin, very light and smooth cedar wood, with the head of a woman and her body on the front shaped by two serpents. Alan Moore’s choice of the caduceus or double helix snakes and obviously my own affiliation with Shadowsnake, immediately sprang to mind. Each probably had a certain reason why they chose the serpent (or vice versa), but that’s getting too complicated to go into cosmology and symbolism right now. You can write entire books just on those topics.

Fact is, in an increasingly materialistic society, occasional experiences like this are necessary for us to realize that the physical world is only a glimpse of what really exists. Our senses are limited, and even more so with all the advertisement and programming bombarding our brains. But most of the time, we are free to make our own choices.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz