Geraldine Chaplin's Actress Daughter

Oona Castilla Chaplin (born in Madrid, 1986), is the daughter of actress Geraldine Chaplin and Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla, which means she is also the granddaughter of movie genius and music composer (example, "Smile") Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (Charlie) and her namesake Oona O'Neil Chaplin, the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. The original Oona never became an actress, but chose instead to marry Charlie, his fourth and last wife. Together, while living in Switzerland, they produced eight children, Geraldine being the oldest, Michael next.

During a long-term relationship, Geraldine, whose first starring role was Tonya in "Dr. Zhivago," and Spanish director Carlos Saura had a son, Shane Saura Chaplin. [In Spain, everyone has two last names, first that of the father and last, the mother's]. Shane is Oona Castilla's half-brother.

The current Oona began her career with a small role in the Bond movie "Quantum of Solace," moved up to the role in "Purgatory," and now has the role of Talisa Maegyr (converted by marriage to Talisa Stark) in "Game of Thrones." She now resides in the Los Angeles area. So, once again, history repeats itself. Onna, IMDb: http://splashurl.com/l9v9hzj

Geraldine in Dr. Zhivago, 1965

Some Major Film Festivals in June 2010

SERIES: Major Film Festivals

First, three events:

Number one. The Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, opened 28 May and closed on the 31st. It began in 1979 as an opportunity for climbers and mountaineers to enjoy the rugged outdoors surrounding Telluride during the day, and watch mainly documentary films about mountains and mountain cultures at night. It has evolved over the intervening decades to embrace a much wider and more diverse audience and the programming now stretches to the leading edges of contemporary social, cultural and environmental issues. The orientation toward activism has not diminished. Watch for it next year. Here is the Festival's Official Site.

Second, the 12th Festival of German Films in Madrid, Spain, is in progress. It opened 1 June and will run through the 5th. Hey, I follow German and Spanish cinema, so I put it here for my own selfish benefit and for others who might like to know.

The Spaniards and Germans have had a surprisingly good relationship since World War II, which is odd since the German Junker airplanes attacked the Basque village of Gernica prior to the declaration of war and almost destroyed it as part of a sick experiment hatched by Franco and the Nazis to test the new German planes on real people. The German's helped finance Franco's overthrow of the elected Republican Government, based in Barcelona, which alas, was soon crushed just like the people of Gernica.

I frequently visited Spain and Germany, including Gernica, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich and Berlin, in the late 1970's and early 80's. I found the Spanish film community mesmerized by the then New German Film, and especially by director Werner Von Fassbinder, considered its Wunderkind. I was in Spain when he died suddenly and the film community in Madrid was devastated.

On the other hand, the German film industry in the 1970's quickly embraced the anti-Franco New Spanish Cinema directors such as Berlanga, Bardem, Borau, and especially Carlos Saura. It was at the 1966 Berlin Film Festival that Saura met Geraldine Chaplin shortly after her role in DOCTOR ZIVAGO. She became his greatest muse, star of nine of his films and mother of one of his sons, Geraldine Chaplin.

This is the 12th Festival of German Film in Madrid, and it will center at the Cine Palafox, Calle Luchana, 15. Tickets cost less than $5.00. The program is funded mainly by Lufthsansa Airlines and the Goethe Institute, with the participation of the Federal Republic of Germany and Kodak, and the Spanish cinema magazine, Fotogramas, which specializes, ironically, in movies extranjera (outside Spain).

Films will include THE TIN DRUM, THE WHITE RIBBON, THE CROCODILES, and the retrospective of the films of German director/ cinematographer Joseph Vilsmaier, whose first three films were HERBSTMILCH (Autumn Milk, 1989), RAMA DAMA (no English title, 1991) and STALINGRAD, 1991. He was the director and cinematographer on those as he is on his latest NANGA PARBAT (no English Title, 2010). German Film Festival in Madrid.

Third, the film Society of Lincoln Center is presenting their "Open Roads: New Italian Film” 3 - 10 June. Info and tickets.

The 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), 16 - 27 June 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland.

The full Festival program was announced yesterday. The 2010 retrospective is 'After the Wave: Lost and Forgotten British Cinema 1967-1979'. There will be a special 3D Gala Screening of Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3 on Saturday 19 June. Press registration is now open. The Festival will be on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter.

There will be 133 features from 34 countries at the Festival. It will open 16 June with a gala screening of THE ILLUSIONIST, directed by from Sylvain Chomet.

The Closing Night Gala on 26 June will be the World Premiere of THIRD STAR, a British tragi-comedy buddy movie from first-time director Hattie Dalton, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Burke.

THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS will screen in competition. Any objections?

Also, if you see the video promo for the festival, the lady says Edinburgh is the oldest continuously running film festival. Technicality. This year will be the Venice Film Festival's 67th year. It is the oldest festival, ever, but not continuously because it had to be suspended when the Nazis occupied Italy during World War II. Hey, Edinburgh cut them some slack and make a true statement!

To see more films in the lineup, click title of this post, and read article in the EdinburghGuide.com.

Other festivals later this month:

The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival (17 - 27 June); AFI Silver Docs Documentary Festival, Silver Spring, Maryland (21 - 17 June); and screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, California, "Tribeca in Hollywood" (25 June - 8 July).  

ORPHANAGE (El orfanato) Leads Goya Wins

The Academy of Cinematic Arts and Sciences of Spain handed out its Goya Awards (considered equivalent to the U.S. Academy Awards®) last night in Madrid, and there were a few surprises. THE OPHANAGE, Spain's submission for an Oscar nomination in the BFLF category but didn't make the cut, received the most Goya Awards (Premios Goya), named for the famous Spanish painter. However, the biggest surprise of the evening was that SOLITARY (La soledad) won all three categories for which it was nominated, including the two big ones: Best Motion Picture and Best Director (Jaime Rosales). The other was for Most Promising New Actor, José Luis Torrijo. SOLITARY came in under the radar, so to speak.

For the most nominees and winners, the scores break down this way: THE ORPHANAGE = 14 / 7; 13 ROSES = 15 / 4; SEVEN FRENCH POOL TABLES = 10 / 2; AND SOLITARY = 3 / 3. Carlos Saura's feature documentary FADOS = 2 / 1. Juan Antonio Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE), not nominated for Best Director, won for Best Director of a Movie Based on a Novel.

Other than Bayona's award, and the Best Original Screenplay for Sergio García Sánchez, THE ORPHANAGE'S other awards were for craft (makeup and hair, art direction, and production direction) and technical awards (sound, and special effects). Surprisingly, the best and supporting actress awards did not go to THE ORPHANAGE'S Belén Rueda and Geraldine Chaplin, but to Maribel Verdú and Amparo Baró, both for their performances in SEVEN FRENCH POOL TABLES (Siete mesas de billar francés), directed by Gracia Querejeta, the daughter of prominent producer Elías Querejeta.

The movie that received the most Goya nominations, 13 ROSES, won only 4: Best Supporting Actor, José Manuel Cervino; Best Original Score, Roque Baños; Best Cinematography, José Luis Alcaine; and Best Costume, Lena Mossum. Even more disappointing was that Iciar Bollaín's MATAHARIS - - no English title but translates to Female Private Detectives - - nominated for 6 Goyas, received none, nada.

Two other movies won two each, UNDER THE STARS (Bajo las estrellas) and REC. STARS garnered Best Actor for Alberto San Juan, and Best Original Screenplay for Félix Viscarret. REC's wins were for Most Promising New Actress (Manuela Velasco) and Best Sound (David Gallart). Carlos Saura's FADOS, nominated for two won only one, Best Original Song, "Fado da saudade".

The HONORARY GOYA was presented to actor Alfredo Landa. Javier Bardém produced the Best Feature Documentary, INVISIBLES. Yes, that's the same Bardém nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.

See all the nominees and winners, plus links and much more info, on my Awards Page, permanent link on right sidebar, but go directly to my translated Goya Awards' list here.

ORPHANAGE Opens Today

THE ORPHANAGE (EL Orfanato), Spain's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film (BFLF) Oscar®, opens in select theaters today. It was directed by J. A. (Juan Antonio) Bayona - - directing his first feature, produced by Guillermo del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH), and scripted by first-timer Sergio Sanchez. LABYRINTH won three Academy Awards last February, but not for the BFLF. That honor went to Germany's THE LIVES OF OTHERS.

Belén Rueda plays Laura, a former ward of the orphanage who returns to the house 30 years later with her doctor husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo), and their son Simon (Roger Princep). Simon does not know he is adopted, acquires an imaginary friend named Tomás, then he goes missing.

Laura goes into the cavernous areas of the house searching for her son. Aurora (Geraldine Chaplin) is a paranormal who goes into a trance. She suggests Simon's disappearance may be connected to the harrowing fate of the other orphans who lived there decades ago, and also went missing.

Critics tend to refer to the movie with lines similar to: "A mystery in a well-crafted, if familiar, haunted house," "A horror story with tears," or "A tale of love and a story of horror." I'm sure there will be many more attempts to write the perfect tag line for this movie.

For anyone who knows Spanish cinema, ORPHANAGE is much more than a tag line. I've seen more than 200 Spanish-language movies, all from the best directors Spain, Mexico, and other Latin countries have produced since before the rule of Francisco Franco. The Aragonian Carlos Saura, who followed "The Master," Aragonian Luis Buñuel but has never eclipsed him, is fading, and the Catalonia Bayona will hopefully deserve a place in the line of succession. PAN'S LABYRINTH is a wonderful movie, but it isn't "Spanish" in the Spanish surrealism tradition of Buñuel and Saura. THE ORPHANGE comes darn close.

The Goya of Honor is given by Spain's Academy of Cinematic Arts and Sciences, and is considered Spain's "Oscar." This year, OPHANAGE is nominated for 14 Goya Awards, including best picture and best director of a movie based on a novel. Rueda is nominated for a Goya as best actress, Chaplin for best supporting actress, and Princep for promising young actor.

The movie did not garner the most Goya nominations. That honor went to 13 ROSES (Las trece rosas, directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro). It received 15. Nonetheless, over a million Spaniards rushed to the theaters in the first four days of ORPHANAGE'S release in Spain.

I must point out that Spaniards normally don't rush to see a Spanish movie, period. They rush to see the latest dubbed Hollywood movie.The population of Spain is only about 40 million in contrast to the U.S, which boasts over 300 million. Therefore an initial $36 millon gross for a Spanish movie in Spain is huge in comparison.

Some viewers have suggested the movie is based on the video game "Rule of Rose." I don't know, but Bayona's best director Goya nod is for "direction based on a Novel." I do know that ORPHANGE is backed by PictureHouse, a specialty film production and releasing company that is an arm of Time Warner, the same company that backed LABYRINTH. That is huge, too.

See my 30 September post, "Spain Sends THE ORPHANAGE to Fetch BFLF Oscar®." To find the post quickly, simply type ORPHANGE in the search box above. To see all the Goya nominations on my 2008 Awards Page, click this link that goes directly to my translated list of nominations.

Spain Sends THE ORPHANAGE to Fetch BFLF Oscar®

It's official. THE ORPHANAGE (EL Orfanato, Spain, 2007) directed by J. A. (Juan Antonio) Bayona and produced by Guillermo del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH), will represent Spain in the contest for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®. That's a movie in languages other than English, and countries may submit only one film in the BFLF category.

ORPHANAGE bypassed the top film festival in Spain, San Sebastián, for the Film Festival of Catalonia at Sitges, a festival for fantasy and the fantastic. It will have its Spain premiere in Sitges at the opening gala 4 October.

Meanwhile, the Picturehouse release is making its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival as I write this, and is in competition. The movie stars Belén Rueda (Laura), Fernando Cayo (Carlos) and Geraldine Chaplin (Aurora), and it is the last name on the list that is very interesting, I think.

You see, one of the reasons the movie may have bypassed San Sebastián could be because that festival was pulling out all the stops to honor Carlos Saura for 50 years of filmmaking. They honored him with a Golden Shell. Before Saura, only Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, "the master," received one in 1981. Buñuel died in 1983.

If you don't know, Saura and Chaplin had a close relationship for many years in which she collaborated on the writing of the scripts, helped finance some of his projects, starred in a number of his movies and gave him his third son, Sean Saura Chaplin. Carlos was married with two sons. She was not. They never married, but were together shortly after she starred in DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965) until the filming of her last movie with Saura, MAMA TURNS 100 (1979). There's much more, but you must wait for my book.

FADOS ("a musical documentary," from Portugal/Spain) is Saura's latest. The movie's Spanish premiere was at San Sebastián 21 September. It was a gala event where Saura received the Golden Shell from former Festival director and movie critic Diego Galán. Not only that, there was a live production of fado singers with flamenco dancers.

FADOS will have its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival in NYC, screening as a special event on 13 October. No word as yet if the fado singers will perform. The world premiere was at Toronto, the Spain one at San Sebastián, and the Canadian one at Vancouver. ORPHANAGE didn't appear at any of those.

Here, the plot thickens. FADOS is a Portuguese/Spanish production and Portuguese is spoken. So, I can hardly wait to find out if Portugal is submitting FADOS to AMPAS® as their official submission.

Geraldine Chaplin on the set of EL ORFANATO, 2007
The story of ORPHANAGE is that Laura (Rueda) returns with her family to the orphanage in which she grew up with the intention of opening a residence for children with disabilities. The new environment wakes up her son's imagination, and he begins to take on more and more intense games of fantasy.

As the games intensify, Laura becomes increasingly disturbed until she reaches the point where she thinks there is something in the house that is threatening her and her family. The escalation of events lead her to take her son for psychological help.


Scandinavian actor Per Oscarsson and Géraldine Chaplin in LA MADRIGUERS (The Burrow, 1969)
Have you seen Saura's movie LA MADRIGUERS, 1969? Take your pick of English titles: Honeycomb, The Burrow, The Den. If you have seen this movie, the above synopsis should prick your ears, because there is definitely a psychological similarity between the synopses of the two movies. At any rate, from what I am hearing, Geraldine may receive an Oscar nomination for her performance in this movie, and the movie stands a good chance, too.

Will someone please go see these movies in New York and send me a report? I Will appreciate it. If you have a fast Internet connection, you can catch the trailer here.

Three Movie Trilogies For Summer's Dog Days

The Dog Days of Summer have been with us for a couple of weeks, and the forecast does not predict any relief in sight for the rest of August, with temps well above 95 degrees F, mostly above 100, and heat indices of 105 or higher. So, if you are living through the dog days where you are, now is the time to consider renting some movies you may not have previously considered.

Nothing like turning off the telephone, sending everything to your mailbox, kicking back with a tall cool drink, a snack, and watching a movie all by yourself, or with a significant other, without the distractions in the average movie theater. The experience of watching a movie which does not follow the formula of the usual Hollywood concocted pablum - - most now written with pre-programmed computer programs and filled with computer-generated images (CGI) - - provides new stimulation for one's mind and emotions.

The movies I recommend here are definitely not computer generated pablum. Warning: Attention, brain power and reading (subtitles) are required, unless you understand French, Polish, Spanish, Hindi! The movies all have simple one-word titles, but there is nothing simple about any of them, cinematically or thematically.

FIRST TRILOGY

There was a Polish filmmaker, most call him a cinematic genius, who made a a movie trilogy in French and Polish, which he titled THREE COLORS (Trois Coleurs). He had made other films before discovering that he had congenital heart failure, and died shortly after he finished the third film in the trilogy. I am referring to the late Krysztof Kieslowski, and the award-winning movies in the three colors trilogy are, in the order they were made and in the order they should be viewed: BLUE (Bleu, 1993), WHITE (Blanc, 1994), and RED (Rouge, 1994).

The colors represent the tricolors in the French flag, left to right as it flies: Blue, White and Red. And, everyone should know that the French chose those colors after their revolution to express their ties and appreciation to America. They simply reversed the Red, White and Blue. The national motto of France is: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (Liberté , Egalité, Fraternité). The last, fraternity, refers to brotherhood, not a keg party.

BLUE (1993)
Trois Couleurs: Bleu

In the first installment of Kieslowski's three colors trilogy BLUE represents liberty in the French national motto and is the first color of the French flag. A young Frenchwoman Julie Vignon (Juliette Binoche), tries to uncover her famous composer husband's secret life when she finds a couple of not-so-subtle clues after he and their young daughter die in an automobile accident. Blue in this movie also represents fidelity, a trait lacking in Julie's late husband. He not only betrayed her sexually, he took her musical talents and claimed them as his own. Each step takes her both closer and farther from the truth as she journeys on a path ultimately leading to self-discovery, a man who will not betray her, and a liberating life.

WHITE (1994)
Trois Couleurs: Blanc

Julie Delpy stars in WHITE (Blanc, 1994), a dark comedy that is the middle segment of the trilogy, representing the middle section of the French flag and equality in the French motto. It is about the price of passion. Polish immigrant Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski) is humiliated in a public courtroom by his wife Dominique (Delpy) during their divorce proceedings in a French court. She is divorcing him because he cannot perform in bed. Shamed and brokenhearted, he finds an ally in a fellow countryman. The two concoct a way back to post-Communist Poland, where Karol sets about rebuilding his life, but not without some missteps until he and his countryman come to view each other as equals.

RED (1994)
Trois Couleurs: Rouge

RED (Rouge, 1994), is the final film in Kieslowski's three-colors trilogy, and in the French flag. The plot is an excellent fit with the last word in the French motto, fraternity. In this meditation on the need for passion and human connection, Valentine (Irene Jacob) accidentally hits a dog with her car, and the accident brings together two very different people -- Valentine, a model, and Joseph (Jean-Louis Trinignant), a retired judge who owns the dog. Random fate chooses to pair them and, although deeply improbable, their eventual relationship becomes a true romance.

The movie is poignant when we know what was happening behind the scenes. Before and during the production, Kieslowski was aware that he had heart failue and that he was dying, but RED ends on a positive note.

SECOND TRILOGY

Deepa Metha

The second trilogy, featuring three films directed by Indian-born and current Canadian resident Deepa Mehta, a female, is a trilogy about Indian Women in the early to mid Twentieth Century. All the movies are set in times past. How far in the past? We know only that the events in the movies, as well as references to Mahatma Gandhi as being alive, free in India and advocating nonviolent resistance, place the timeframe of all the movies in, or around, the 1940s.

FIRE (1996)

Deepa Mehta's FIRE, the first Indian film about lesbians, follows two Hindu women struggling with loveless arranged marriages. When Sita discovers that her husband Jatin has a mistress, she shares her unhappiness with her sister-in-law Radha, who cannot give birth. As the lukewarm coals of their long-term relationships fade, they ignite passion in their lives by finding comfort in each other. The fire that has smoldered within each of them is finally free to blaze.

The movie almost didn't get made because of the lesbian content, and fires were set in Movie theaters in India when the film was shown. Be sure and watch all the features on the DVD.

EARTH (1998)

This middle film in the trilogy is a stirring tale about the real-life religious and civil wars that broke out in India and Pakistan in 1947. The battle to gain independence from the British brought about horrendous violence between Muslims and Hindus, finally causing the splitting of India (mainly Hindu) by carving from it he nation of Pakistan (mainly Muslim). EARTH, the second movie in a trilogy from Mehta, is based on the autobiographical novel Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa and is told through the eyes of a little girl Lenny, who has one leg in a brace. Again, the DVD special features are almost as interesting as the movie itself. Don't miss them.

WATER (2005)

After losing her much older husband to illness, 8-year-old Chuyia is forced to live out the rest of her days in a temple for Hindu widows, communing with 14 other women with a cruel headmistress who agrees to take her into the Ashram. It is through the trials of another widow that Chuyia learns the many restrictions of widowhood.

Chuyia's friend is a beautiful young woman Kalyani (Lisa Ray), who is forced into prostitution by the greedy headmistress. Meanwhile, Kalyani is being courted by Narayan (John Abraham), a wealthy educated man from a higher caste. Marriage between the star crossed lovers Kalyani and Narayan is forbidden by law for two reasons. First, because widows are forbidden to remarry (unless they marry a relative of their deceased husband) and second, because the young people belong to different castes.

Chuyia and Kalyani both eventually escape their bondage but only after being cruelly used by Narayan's father. Chuyia escapes through the kindness of a fellow widow and Narayan, but Kalyani does not understand the concepts of forgiveness and redemption through the use of holy water and makes a tragic mistake.

WATER was nominated for an Oscar as the Best Foreign Language Film of 2006 (Canada/India), but lost to THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Germany). The art direction and visuals are absolutely stunning, as are Ray and Abraham. A visual feast almost as mesmerizing as a Bernardo Bertolucci movie.

All these movies are available to rent from NETFLIX (see link on right sidebar), and WATER may be downloaded for instant viewing at NETFLIX.

ADDED NOTE: I just saw Mehta's BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD (2000) "Different tree. Same wood". It is the first film of Metha's in which Lisa Ray stars. It is a hoot!

THIRD TRILOGY

There is another trilogy of movies that I whis to recommend. I highly recommend the first dance trilogy of Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura: BODAS DE SANGRE (BLOOD WEDDING, 1981), CARMEN (1983), and EL AMOR BRUJO (aka, Love Bewitched, 1986). All three star the famous late male flamenco dancer Antonio Gades. The marvelous dancer Cristina Hoyos dances with Gades in all the movies, starring in the first. Laura del Sol danced the featured role with Gades in CARMEN and AMOR BRUJO, but Hoyos is fabulous in the supporting roles. So, too, are the soundtracks. I have the soundtrack for BRUJO, but don't know about availability of the others.

FYI, Saura may have completed his second dance trilogy that began with FLAMENCO (1995), followed by TANGO (1998) only recently. Some critics are writing that FADOS (2007) is the last movie in the trilogy, but I'm not sure they are correct. From what I have read, it may relate more to Sevillanas (1992), or ¡Ay, Carmela! (1990). FADOS will receive a special screening at the San Sebastián Film Festival next month (see link to my Film Festival Page on the right sidebar). I'll keep you advised about the trilogy.

FLAMENCO and TANGO are available to rent at NETFLIX. UPDATE 10/07: BLOOD WEDDING, CARMEN and EL BRUJO are now available to rent on DVD. NETFLIX has them as a set (see link for NETFLIX on right sidebar). All the movies are also available on video tape (VHS and PAL).

Happy Dog Days!