poliphilo: (Default)
poliphilo ([personal profile] poliphilo) wrote2011-12-15 12:18 pm

Morning, Afternoon, Evening

In the morning I did some pruning. There's a tree embedded in the hedge at the front that I think is an elder. It entertains ideas above its station. Ideally I'd like to cut the hedge back to waist height, but Rene, who shares it with us- wants it left as it is. She thinks it protects her windows from footballs.

In the afternoon we went to the Nativity play at Fabi's nursery. He was a shepherd. He had a line but I don't think he said it. At one point he came and joined us in the audience. I was sitting behind a tall woman with tall hair so I didn't see very much.

In the evening I watched Fellini's Toby Dammit on YouTube. A drunken English actor arrives in Rome, attends an awards ceremony, bails out early, goes for a spin in his new Ferrari and has a nasty accident. Of course the story is nothing. The interesting thing is the hallucinations. Are they Toby's hallucinations or Fellini's? I think they must be Fellini's because if I were Toby and I were having such interesting hallucinations I'd sit back and enjoy them and stop being such a raging knobhead. Here's the problem about presenting depression on the screen. If you make it interesting you misrepresent it- and if you don't no-one will come see your movie. Toby Dammit fits into Fellini's oeuvre somewhere between Guilietta and Casanova- and is an exercise in pure style- like a person waving a stick- but beautifully. Terence Stamp- an actor generally hired for his immobility- gets to wear white make-up and emote like a star of the silents.

[identity profile] aellia.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 12:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I was lucky and sat at the end of the row at the Nativity play.
I could crane my neck sideways :-)
x

[identity profile] poliphilo.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
That was a smart move.

[identity profile] aellia.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 01:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Especially as I'm 4.10 and the man in front was a six footer!

[identity profile] time-shark.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
In film class, we were taught that "Toby Dammit" is Fellini's adaptation of Poe's "Never Bet the Devil Your Head," with the little girl with the ball representing the Devil, of course.
sovay: (I Claudius)

[personal profile] sovay 2011-12-15 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"Toby Dammit" is Fellini's adaptation of Poe's "Never Bet the Devil Your Head," with the little girl with the ball representing the Devil, of course.

For that reason combined with Terence Stamp, I've wanted to see it for some time. YouTube?

[identity profile] poliphilo.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, YouTube. That's where I found it.

[identity profile] poliphilo.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
That's sort of true. Fellini was commissioned to adapt Poe's story, but really there's very little resemblance between the movie and its source. Never Bet The Devil Your Head is a laboured piece of facetiousness and Toby Dammit is something else. About the only thing they have in common is a decapitation.

[identity profile] halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 03:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Terence Stamp. I haven't heard that name in years.

[identity profile] poliphilo.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
He's still working. His most recent movie is The Adjustment Bureau.