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Tuesday, December 09, 2003 22:06 // Arthouse Alba, Zurich, Switzerland // href
The other night I went to see "Wilbur wants to kill himself" (xrl.us ...) a movie about a guy, his brother, a women kid living in some Scottish town. The guy has a book shop, falls in love with the women and the brother tried to kill himself. The movie is by Lone Scherfig a Danish writer/director who was quite successful with the movie Italian for Beginners. I loved the story and the acting and above all the Scottish accent.
The strangest thing happened to me a few minutes into the film. When Alice (the women) entered the scene for the first time. She looks exactly like a friend of mine. I am quite sure it was not here, because she does not speak with a Scottish accent, and she is not an actress. Never the less I kept comparing her and Alice all through out the film. How would she act in a similar situation? And just to make it more complex, Alice is just a role, played by Shirley Henderson (xrl.us ...) but written by Sherfig, so how can it have any bearing on my friends behavior, or do looks influence how people behave, did Sherfig write the part of Alice for Shirley? Are Alice and my friend twins separated a birth?
Well it was a wired experience, but definitely a great movie. Go watch it!
Tuesday, December 09, 2003 22:36 // Aarweg, Olten, Switzerland // href
I admit, I am a soap opera junkie. I just love watching them. My current favorite is The West Wing written by Aaron Sorkin (en2.wikipedia.org ...). Tonight I made it through the final episode of the first season. This time the outlook is great, as the show is till running in the US, now in its fifth season.
The West Wing is about people working in the White House for the President. It's also about the President himself. President Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen is a liberal Democrats dream. What a contrast to the current reality. An American friend told me recently that she finds it rather disturbing to watch the show, seeing what the reality could also be. Michael Moor even nominates Bartlet for President, along with Oprah in his latest book.
I am watching the West Wing on DVD, there was also the 15 minutes Making Of feature on one of the disk. There the actors talk about their parts and some bits of the sets are shown. Hearing the actors talk was odd. They were so different from the roles they play in the show. Not only did they talk differently, but also their body language was altered. I have never noticed something like this before in such a show. The characters in the West Wing make a very authentic impression on me, much more than the actors themselves actually. At least as far as the story line and the dialogs are concerned this has to be credited to Aaron Sorkin. Maybe Michael Moor should be nominating Aron Sorkin along with Oprah and Bartlet, someone has to write their lines after all.
Content © by Tobias Oetiker