There’s something about Cate Blanchett. And it’s not just the Meryl-Streep ability to chew accents, nor the Madonna-like penchant for rotating hair color.
It’s in the roles she picks, which sometimes defies a regular movie-goer’s common sensibilities. So she didn’t win the Oscar for Elizabeth, which she was hotly tipped to in 1999. But she did have a Golden Globe, and there was no shortage of movie offers after the post-Academy Awards party.
So why is it that your regular movie-goer would be hard pressed to name a film she’s headlined since the critically-acclaimed Elizabeth? Well, that’s because there were hardly any.
Not in An Ideal Husband, Pushing Tin, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Shipping News, nor even The Lord Of The Rings – all films she made post-Elizabeth, and all smallish characters. Those she did front, were hardly what you’d call box-office material. Think The Man Who Cried, The Gift and Charlotte Gray.
Yet, the 32-yeard-old insists things wouldn’t have been any different even if she’d taken home the coveted bald statuette that night. She said in a phone interview with The New Paper On Sunday. “It was great to be there, but I don’t think that was the high point of my life. I’ve had a lot of high points since then.” Ah. Spoken like a true actress, especially if you consider her earlier work in theatre.
Theatre became her life line after she graduated from Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Then director Bruce Beresford spotted her and cast her in Paradise Road, alongisde Glenn Close and Frances McDormand.
Fast forward to the present and her new movie Bandits. Now showing in Singapore cinemas, Bandits is a comedy by Rain Man director, Barry Levinson.
Blanchette plays Kate Wheeler, a bored, neglected housewife who gets caught between two very different friends, played by Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. One is strong, the other sensitive, but together, they make a perfect team of bank robbers. Here, she goes for redhead, but the accent is undistinguishable.
But Blanchett in a comedy?
“I never see a role as purely comic or purely tragic. I think if you play tragedy or drama with an irony of levity, then it becomes terribly unwatchable,” she explained. Thespian-speak again.
Ask her who she had better chemistry with – Willis or Thornton – and the exceedingly polite actress maintains her non-commital stance. “The chemistry is very different and that’s the cornerstone of the film…”
It’s hard to get anything out of Blanchett. But she did manage: “I love a guy who makes me laugh. And I’m married to him. I like the off-beat, I like things that are unpredictable. I don’t think I’d choose either type.” Her type, to be precise, takes the shape of Andrew Upton, a screenwriter she’s been married to since 1997.
The couple just had a son last December. But her marriage too, as most who’ve interviewed her would know, is also off-limits.
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will be the first glimpse many in this country have had into J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle Earth, populated by elves, wizards and furry-footed hobbits.
The task of conveying the rich, old-style English of Tolkien’s novels to a Japanese audience fell to Natsuko Toda, a translator who for more than 20 years has been Japan’s language link to Hollywood, churning out subtitles for such blockbusters as Apocalypse Now, E.T., Back to the Future and more than 1,000 others, including the recently released Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
And now hobbits. “I had never read the book and was not familiar with the material,” admitted Toda, a freelancer who does 40 to 50 films a year. “Suddenly the film arrived and I had to have it done in a week.”
She received help, however, from Teiji Seta, who translated Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings book trilogy into Japanese, as well as from Japanese Tolkien fans, for whom altering the Master’s words was no trifling matter.
Thankfully, however, she was spared translating the elvish language used in the movie, a task handled instead by a Tolkien expert at Kyorin University.
Toda found similarities in translating both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings for the big screen, though not for the reasons one might expect. Although they are both fantasies, “the background and the language used is totally different,” she said. “Both films are based on very widely read books (that had already been translated into Japanese), so it was not like ordinary films where I could translate freely. The Japanese translator of the Harry Potter books (Yuko Matsuoka) had very definite ideas about how the characters, such as the English schoolmasters, should speak, and I tried to do as much as I could within the limitations of subtitles.”
Although Peter Jackson went to great pains to preserve Tolkien’s original language, Toda felt that the archaic Japanese used in the original translation would be difficult for today’s young people to understand, and that a lighter style would be more appropriate.
Through meetings organized by Herald, the movie’s Japanese distributor, compromises between all parties were reached in January on the language that would end up on screen.
Though Teiji’s book had included literal translations for many of Tolkien’s names and places, Toda favored rendering them into katakana for the movie version.
Gollum, the cave-dwelling creature drawn by the ring’s call, goes by a katakana rendering of his name in the movie, but was known as “gokuri” (the sound made when swallowing) in the book.
Likewise, Aragorn’s nickname of Strider was rendered in katakana, whereas the original translation referred to him as the more poetic “haseyo” (a person who runs fast). Toda worried that while die-hard fans of the book would feel more comfortable with haseyo, the general public would not understand its meaning, let alone be able to read the characters.
“There were many people who wanted to stick to the original Japanese translation,” said Toda, “but some things look really strange on screen. Subtitling isn’t a literal translation and you cannot translate word-for-word.”
The basic rule, she said, is that due to the speed at which most people read, there can be only three to four Japanese characters per second of dialogue, making it a challenge to squeeze vital information into a short space.
“When translated, Japanese tends to be longer than English,” Toda explained, “but subtitling is the reverse; we are trying to make it shorter.”
I thought I would share with theonering.net my experience on the Red Carpet Movie Tour’s LOTR ultimate fantasy 12-day tour (http://www.redcarpet-tours.com). I’m on a small VIP tour of travel agents. I’ll send in updates as time and connectivity permit. This is the sixth installment.
Feb 23rd
Today’s installment will be fairly short, as we spent much of the day in travel. We got up bright and early, and headed to the inter-island ferry. The trip across Cook’s Straight takes about 3 hours. It was a pleasant trip, especially for someone like me who loves to be on the water. When we landed, we piled into our minivan and headed off to Nelson. On the way there we stopped in Havlock at The Muscle Boys for some of the fabulous local green muscles. They were so good we ended up ordering more. We continued along the coastline into Nelson and headed for WOW, the wearable art museum (http://www.worldofwearableart.com). We had the fortune of being given a guided tour – really nice. Several of the artists who worked on LOTR have pieces at the museum, and our guide pointed them all out to us. As a costume designer, I found the place, very, very cool. There are some really amazing works in the place and I’d love to meet the designers. Finally, we topped the day off by going to the shop of Jens Hansen, the jeweler who designed the one ring. Unfortunately, the Jens himself has passed on, but his son, Thorkild now runs the shop. There is a small display in the window that talks about Jens’ and Thorkild’s work on LOTR (Thorkild worked on the one ring as well as doing a ring for Elrond). The original prototype for the one ring is in the window.
How cool is that?
Tomorrow – more travel – this time down to Christchurch.
Strider-Girl from TheOneRing.net message boards had a chance to attend the Viggo Mortenson poetry reading yesterday and sends in this report:
Friday March 1st, 2002. It was a beautiful night in Santa Monica; the moon was high and bright, stars were sparkling in the dark sky. A long line of people stretched at the doors of Track 16 Gallery. Any winged creature, good or evil, flying by at that time may have wondered what this was all about. A Council of Elves, Men and Dwarves? An Entmoot? No. The return of a King? Close. The crowd had come together for "Just Words", a sold-out special night of poetry hosted by Track 16 Gallery as a benefit for the organization "Youth Speaks". Founded in San Francisco in 1996 (with branches in New York and Seattle) Youth Speaks, in the words of their own website (www.youthspeaks.org) is the "premier youth poetry, spoken word, and creative writing program in the country."
Of course, many of the people in line were also there for a chance to see, hear, and possibly meet their Brother, their Captain, their King, him of many names, the Ranger, the Dunedain, Strider, the King of Gondor. In this part of the universe he goes by the name of Viggo Mortensen. In Middle Earth, Aragorn has a gift for poetry and song. And fittingly enough, among his many talents as actor, painter, photo-artist, Viggo is also a remarkable poet.
As a vast audience of more than 300 people settled in rather uncomfortable chairs in front of the stage, many spotted Viggo, quietly making his way to the front left and sitting down among his peers. The show immediately opened with a group of four kids from Youth Speaks, exchanging words of poetry, rap style, from each corner of the crowded room. A brief and exciting glimpse of the kids’ fresh yet mature talent. After a few words of welcome from the organizers, Viggo was the first performer to take the stage.
He had elected not to act out his poems but simply read them. And so he did, humbly, without artifice, in his trademark soft-spoken way. At first he struggled a bit, charmingly nervous, perusing the pages of his book in search of the right piece to start with. "I’m going to read a few old ones, and then maybe some new ones… if I have the guts", he said, punctuating his speech with soft giggles. One of his papers slipped from his book and fell to the floor, and as the audience laughed, he commented "That’s my invitation". His first poem was a beautiful and intense piece entitled "Home". Two other older pieces followed. From the generous applause, it was clear the audience truly enjoyed his work. Then he grabbed a yellow notepad darkened with scribblings, and said: "This is called "Communion". I will probably take most of it out eventually as I always do, but here it is". "Communion" is a wonderful, deep, haunting love poem, which among the five pieces he read was my favorite. He treated us to one last piece, then he thanked us and quietly, almost bashfully, left the stage under a big round of applause.
Besides Viggo, the other two highlights of the evening were an appearance by Dave Eggers, the best-selling author of "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius", who brilliantly read an hilarious excerpt from his book. The second was Mark Smith, the founder of the Slam Poetry movement, who using the audience as an active participant, delivered a rousing performance. But the true stars of the evening were undoubtedly the kids from Youth Speaks, who came on stage last, and literally dazzled us with their bright talent. None of these kids is older than 16, and they’re already accomplished, brilliant writers and poets.
As the show ended one of Youth Speaks’ spokespeople reminded us that this was a benefit, and urged us to open our wallets and be generous. And he added: "Now, Viggo Mortensen, he’s a very handsome man, right?" "Yes!" replied the audience, half laughing. "Well", he continued, "someone in the back of the room told me that if anyone writes a check for $30,000, they get to take him home for the weekend!" He paused in the middle of the laughter and applause that followed, and added: "It may be a joke, but who knows? After all, it’s Hollywood!". (Oh, didn’t we all wish then to be wealthy?!!!).
Poetry reading had ended, but the evening was far from over, as a large group of people started moving towards Viggo’s corner. I ran back to my car and grabbed my two LOTR books which I had brought just in case. Back inside, as I joined the line I recognized a few faces from the Brentano’s book signing. For over an hour, Viggo mingled with his fans, tirelessly shaking hands, accepting presents, giving autographs, occasionally giving hugs, and having his picture taken. Always patient and gentle, always giving his full attention to the person speaking to him, never distracted or anxious to leave.
When my turn came to have my books signed, he thanked me for waiting (how gracious is that?!). As he grabbed my Official Movie Guide, he remarked "This is a great book", and asked for my name. I said "Catherine, with a C". He asked: "Are you French?". "Yes", I replied, amused and somewhat astonished. People usually have a hard time identifying my accent (accent, what accent anyway?!) but Aragorn cannot be fooled. He knew! To my delight, Viggo wrote a special autograph on my book IN FRENCH! Yes, among his many talents, the man can also speak some French! Like many other Eowyns before me, I had fallen under the charm of Aragorn, son of Arathorn. A poet, a true artist, a being of light, a prince. He wrote something that said "Catherine, thank you for your visit. See you next time. Viggo" (by the way his signature is quite extraordinary, like some form of ancient Elvish…).
Then I asked if he could also sign my brother’s LOTR Visual Companion, and he replied (in French!) "Sure, what’s his name?". "Francois" I said, and as I watched him writing, I noticed he’s one of the few people I’ve ever met in this country who didn’t struggle with the spelling of that name…! I thanked him for a great evening, and he said "Yes, aren’t these kids fantastic? How do they do it?!". One last "thank you", and I quickly stepped out of the crowd. I lingered on for a while, taking this opportunity to admire Viggo’s paintings and photos in the gallery. A great way to end a perfect evening. My only regret is that I didn’t get my picture taken with him. Everybody was doing it, and Viggo always accepted gracefully. I guess I was as bashful as a hobbit caught eavesdropping! But there will be other chances. As Viggo wrote in my book, "See you next time". Indeed, Strider.
Don’t try to stump Christopher Lee. The towering, aristocratic British actor, best known for his epicurean interpretation of Count Dracula in the Hammer horror films of the 1960’s, has appeared in well over 200 feature films. Mr. Lee is unsure of the exact figure, though he says he remembers something about each of them.
“In England, they brought out a book called `Christopher Lee: The Authorized Screen History’ by a man named Jonathan Rigby,” Mr. Lee said in his room at the Carlyle Hotel. “And I think the poor man – I really sympathize with him – had to look at nearly every film I’ve been in, which is a ghastly thought.”
O.K., how about “Babes in Bagdad,” a film he made in Spain in 1952? “Oh, God,” Mr. Lee sighed, “heavens above! Paulette Goddard, Richard Ney, Gypsy Rose Lee and John Boles, who in fact played the doctor’s younger brother in the 1931 `Frankenstein.’ I played some sort of awful slave trader in a black silk dress, or that’s what it looked like. The director was Edgar G. Ulmer, and we had a shared passion for opera. We went to see `Tristan’ in Barcelona, and he kept making comments about how little he thought of it all the way through. I said, `Shhh!’ ”
Resplendent in a light brown tweed jacket and a canary yellow vest, Mr. Lee was visiting New York to help with the Oscar push for “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” in which he plays the wizard Saruman the White. Mr. Lee appears in the next two episodes of the “Rings,” as well as in “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones,” to be released on May 16, a week before Mr. Lee’s 80th birthday.
He seems destined to be linked to horror and fantasy films, despite appearances in films like Billy Wilder’s “Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” and Steven Spielberg’s “1941.” It’s an identification he protests. “It’s the media that keep on saying `horror veteran,’ ” he said, “but by my own estimation I don’t think I appeared in more than 15 films that could be called horror movies. But everyone gets labeled.”
Mr. Lee made his screen debut as an uncredited spear carrier in Laurence Olivier’s 1948 “Hamlet.” After 54 years in the movies, is the work still fun? “Not always,” he said. “Sometimes I ask myself, why am I doing this? Why do I bother? There’s so much fear in this business now. They won’t go for anything new. If it’s different, they’re frightened of it.”
