Ullate. La danza de la vida

a film by Elena Cid Sebastián

Mónica Cruz says that when she was a child, Víctor Ullate was considered to be a dancer of the caliber of Baryshnikov and Nureyev. Maybe. I first heard his name yesterday — fittingly, on International Dance Day, thanks to Filmoteca Canaria.

It was no one else but Antonio Gades who, after seeing Víctor dancing, insisted that the boy had to study ballet. So Ullate was accepted to the school of María de Ávila in Zaragoza — the first male student there. In 1964, he became a principal dancer of the Ballet du XX^e siècle of Maurice Béjart. How cool is that?

Like many biographical documentaries, this one suffers from too many talking heads and too many too short snippets of actual Ullate performances. Still, I’m glad I watched it. Now to do my own research.

This film was screened as a part of the cycle Tiempo de memoria, memoria en el tiempo.

Klara and the Sun

by Kazuo Ishiguro

I first spotted the name of Kazuo Ishiguro on the back cover of Homo Deus. I had no idea who he was, so I looked him up. Wow.

Next thing, I went to the library in search of his books. And there they were. I picked this one, read the first page and took it with me.

The mildly dystopian society of the novel is dystopian only mildly because it’s pretty much like the present, at least in the West. (Replace “lifted” with “priveleged”, “oblong” with “smartphone”, and “The Yard” with “nursing home”.) The protagonist, Klara the Artificial Friend, religiously follows the First Asimov’s Law — to the degree of self-sacrifice. And how do the humans repay her, the ungrateful monkeys they are? (Jessie the cowgirl of Toy Story springs to mind.)

...Manager placed a hand on my shoulder and said, in a quieter voice than before:

‘Let me tell you something, Klara. Children make promises all the time. They come to the window, they promise all kinds of things. They promise to come back, they ask you not to let anyone else take you away. It happens all the time. But more often than not, the child never comes back. Or worse, the child comes back and ignores the poor AF who’s waited, and instead chooses another. It’s just the way children are. You’ve been watching and learning so much, Klara. Well, here’s another lesson for you. Do you understand?’

I like the way Ishiguro writes. As far as I know, his other works are not narrated by intelligent gynoids, so I don’t expect to find this particular style there. Off to the library to check out the next novel.

My mum used to say — Part 5

Every year, I think “this is the last one”; then my memory brings up a few more of her words or expressions. Here is another чёртова дюжина (baker’s dozen) of them.

• до лампочки: всё равно // don’t give a hoot; see also наплевать, начхать
• дохать: кашлять // to cough
• закрой поддувало: заткнись! // shut up!



• засандалить: забросить // to throw (something at somebody or somewhere); see also зафитилить
• маць-маць (Ukrainian): onomatopoeia of slapping at one’s pockets ♦ «маць-маць, а нема»
• от верблюда: joking (non)answer to the question «откуда?» (a quote from the poem «Телефон» by Korney Chukovsky)
• поворачивать оглобли: поворачивать назад // turn back
• прибедняться: to act modest ♦ «ладно, не прибедняйся»
• принципиально: as a matter of spite (rather than principle) ♦ «ты со мной что, принципиально не разговариваешь?»
• причандалы: пожитки // things, belongings, stuff; see also манатки
• через пень-колоду: кое-как, небрежно, плохо // anyhow, slapdash, poorly
• чучундра: a shaggy creature; from Chuchundra the muskrat, a character in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling; see also лахудра
• шурудить: to rustle, to move things noisily, especially in the dark

A follow-up to the first, second, third and fourth parts.

Antoine et Colette

a film by François Truffaut

A few years after the events of Les quatre cents coups, Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) falls in love.

Co-starring Marie-France Pisier as Colette, Rosy Varte and François Darbon as her parents, and Patrick Auffay as René.

Private Parts

a film by Betty Thomas

The Wikipedia article about it bored me from the start (who is Howard Stern and why do I need to care?). Thankfully, I ignored it and went to see the film anyway. I’m glad I did.

After an unpromising intro, Ozzy Osbourne, as himself, says “what a fucking jerk” about Howard — from that moment on it’s getting better and better. A hilarious biopic/mockumentary mix with soundtrack featuring David Bowie, Deep Purple and Jimi Hendrix, among others, plus live AC/DC — what not to like?

Private Parts was screened as a part of the cycle La radio en el cine by Vértigo.

Les quatre cents coups

a film by François Truffaut

Considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, Truffaut’s debut feature introduces the director’s alter ego Antoine Doinel portrayed by Jean-Pierre Léaud.

Is Antoine really a “troubled youth”, “unhappy child” or “outcast”? I didn’t have such an impression. True, the teacher picks on Antoine, but he doesn’t spare other kids either. Here’s one of the IMDb trivia:

All the young actors who unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Antoine were used in the classroom scenes.

That’s it: all schoolchildren are like Antoine. And, kids being kids, they enjoy themselves even in the most boring and oppressive environments — or find ways out. A gym class scene is simply perfect.

Another scene is often claimed to be improvised but, according to Laura Truffaut, was not:

My father and Jean-Pierre both knew this was a very important scene and they had a long time to prepare for it. My father just gave him the questions he was to be asked but then told him to come up more or less with his own answers. That worked beautifully.

Co-starring Claire Maurier and Albert Rémy as Antoine’s parents and Patrick Auffay as his best friend René.

Les quatre cents coups opens the new cycle Las cinco edades de Antoine Doinel (The Five Ages of Antoine Doinel) by Filmoteca Canaria.

Umbro vintage windbreaker

by Umbro

Leeds, West Yorkshire, 1995.

The snowy January gave way to a wet and windy February and then to an equally unpleasant March. The sidewalks were filling with mutilated corpses of umbrellas, and I was worrying that mine would join them in a matter of days, if not hours. (The glorious Fulton was yet to be discovered by me.)

One of those rainy afternoons a thought struck me: maybe intead of an umbrella I need, um, an Umbro? This windcheater stared at me through the shop window with its lonely diamond-shaped eye. “Will you take me home? Please?”

So I did. It must have been the first item of clothing I acquired in Leeds. Naturally, it was not called “vintage” back then. I don’t remember how much I paid for my “famous blue raincoat” but it couldn’t have been more than a tenner. I never expected this oversized piece of 100% nylon to become my best investment, garment-wise. And here it is, three decades later, still up to its job (of protecting me from the elements), as good as new. That’s quality. I’ve worn it over any other garb in my possession, including a puffer jacket and a backpack, from Leeds to Boston to Porvoo to Santander, etc. etc.

Here’s to another 30 years!

Small Time Crooks

a film by Woody Allen

Closing the cycle Conociendo a Elaine May by Vértigo, this feel-good cookie comedy stars Allen himself, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant is a typical Hugh Grant role and, surprise surprise, Elaine May.