Carry On Ken!

The Lake of the Monster, Rotorua
I caught the last hour of the Harry Palmer flick, 'Billion Dollar Brain', directed by Ken Russell. Obviously all the computer stuff is very cute nowadays. However, it reminded me once again of Russell. I wouldn't make any claims for him being a brilliant director in the manner of a Kubrick, for instance, but his work is always interesting, and frequently a lot more than that. He is very consciously an auteur in a way that very few directors are, particularly today. Last time I saw him he was on the news talking about Bergman. Before that though I saw a supremely sad documentary about him making home movie-style features literally at home, and trying to raise the capital to keep on doing it. Britain should be a little more respectful to him. If Ireland had a director like him we wouldn't be trying to forget him so quickly. He deserves another chance. Even in the Harry Palmer movie, you could see that this was no ordinary hack at work. The close-ups of Ed Begley pontificating Hitler-style intercut with the burning of Soviet icons, the use of Shostakovich's 7th, the wild camera-work when Harry struggles with Tanya; Russell isn't afraid to push his personality into the picture. His work can be over-the-top and garish, but in a good way, like Fuller before him or Baz Luhrmann after. And I still love 'Altered States'. Anyhow with Ken Russell very definitely in mind, the film industry should respect its elders.

I just learnt that 'Watchmen' is finally going to be made. All my friends who love graphic novels have been telling me about it for years, and anything I've heard about it seems to suggest that this is the 'War and Peace' of graphic novels. It just strikes me as a shame that Terry Gilliam, who has been trying to get this project made for years, has been passed over for the director's honours.

I picked up the second volume of Chandler's Collected Works, and a volume of Leigh Brackett's Mars stories earlier. It only struck me now that they are connected. Brackett worked on the screenplay (with William Faulkner, no less!) of the film adaptation of Chandler's 'The Big Sleep'. So there you go.

I had been thinking of going in to the free outdoor screening of 'Manhattan'. The heavens have just opened, as usual. Guess I'll stay in and read.