Claude Monet (14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a founder of French impressionist-painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement’s philosophy of expressing one’s perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. The term Impressionism is derived from the title of his painting Impression, Sunrise.
Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer on 22 September 1940) is a Danish film actress, director and writer who has spent most of her life working life in France. Karina is known as the muse of the director Jean-Luc Godard, one of the pioneers of the French New Wave. Her notable collaborations with Godard include The Little Soldier (1960), A Woman Is a Woman (1961), Vivre sa vie (1962), Alphaville (1965) and Pierrot Le Fou (1965). With A Woman Is a Woman, Karina won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival.
Chinatown is a 1974 American neo-noir film, directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne and starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston. The film features many elements of the film noir genre, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama. It was released by Paramount Pictures.
Chinatown is one of those films that appear to be flawless, it has a terrific director, amazing cast, great screenplay and photgraphy. The first time I saw it, about two years ago (I was 12 years old or so), I didn’t understand it, therefore I did not like it; but some time later I watched it again and loved it. Jack Nicholson is one of my favourite actors, he can do anything and he certainly does an excellent job as Jake Gittes, a detective who came right out of a Raymond Chandler novel. I’ve always thought of Faye Dunaway as a very decent actress with good looks, although I don’t care much for her as a person, Mommie Dearest totally ruined her, but she gives a great performance as Evelyn. Then, we have John Huston, one of the most legendary directors of Hollywood, his performance surely makes the movie even better.
Polanski is one of the best directors ever, and Chinatown is definitely his opus one. Another thing I like about the film is how it accomplishes the feeling of an old noir motion picture, it captivates the 1930′s Hollywood perfectly well.
Klute is a 1971 film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a missing person’s case. It stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi and Roy Scheider. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula.
I adore 1970′s gritty films about corruption, crimes and murders, and Klute is definitely one of the best. It’s one of my favourite films, simply incredible. The truth is I love Jane Fonda and I’m not ashamed of it, she’s amazing and, in my opinion, this is the performance of her career. Then, we have Donald Sutherland, who is one of the many great and terribly underrated actors cinema has. One of the things I like about the film is that, although it’s not a horror movie at all, it scares me an awful lot, I get completely paranoid every time I watch it. Alan J. Pakula is a wonderful director, and he achieved that fear/paranoia factor with every thriller he directed, which is great. I’m very fond of Roy Scheider, he’s always perfect for whatever part he plays and I think he uses the short time he has on screen perfectly well. The character Fonda plays, Bree Daniels, is a terrific one, I’d give anything to interpret her, and don’t get me started on her clothes… fabulously stylish.
Anyhow, I always pay loads of attention to the way films are shot, their aesthetic and visuals, sometimes too much. I like the way Klute was filmed, it’s rather normal but it looks quite good, it has the right colors and close-ups.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a 1961 romantic comedy film starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, and featuring Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney. The film was directed by Blake Edwards and released by Paramount Pictures. It was loosely based on the novella of the same name by Truman Capote.
I’ve read many times about people who dislike Breakfast At Tiffany’s, or even hate it. Of course, it isn’t Sunset Blvd (1950) and Audrey Hepburn isn’t Bette Davis, but I’ve always thought it is quite a decent film to watch. The thing is, I believe BAT was highly important to pop culture and it influenced it in a lot of ways. It’s the film that assured Hepburn her position as a world-wide known movie star, while is not her best though. I own the novel by Capote, and I love it, it is much better than the movie, although it has almost nothing to do with it, honestly. Why do I think Breakfast At Tiffany’s was so important, pop-culture wise? Well, because, in my opinion, it’s one of the first examples of what romantic comedy means nowdays, among other things. Yes, you have It Happened One Night (1934), and while that is a favourite motion picture of mine, I do think it’s a bit dated if you watch it in 2011; BAT isn’t. Then you’ve got the huge impact this film had on the fashion world, with Holly Golightly’s sleeping mask and black Givenchy dress.
A Woman Is a Woman (French: Une Femme est une femme) is a 1961 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, featuring Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Claude Brialy. It is a tribute to American musical comedy and associated with the French New Wave.
The main characters are Angela, a cabaret dancer, her boyfriend Emile and Alfred, Emile’s best friend, who happens to be in love with Angela. One day, she tells Emile she wants to have a baby right away, but he doesn’t. Therefore they start to argue in a rather childish and fun way, such as using book titles to insult each other. In the end, Angela will have to choose what she truly wants to do and who will she stay with.
A Woman Is A Woman is one of my favourite French films (by the way, my favourite is The Last Metro by Francois Truffaut). I love Godard, his movies entertain me a lot, even dramatic ones like Vivre Sa Vie and I absolutely adore Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo. From my point of view, Pierrot Le Fou is Godard’s most beautiful movie, but I felt like doing a post about AWIAW, maybe because it’s more of a comedy. Anyhow, if you’re stuck at home one afternoon/night, you should really watch this film, you won’t regret it.
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era’s top stars. She appeared in 61 films over 37 years and is listed as one of the American Film Institute’s Greatest Stars of All Time.
I’m not such a huge fan of Rita, but my cousin from Spain bought me a book about Orson Welles for Christmas, and it has quite a few pictures of Rita, mostly from The Lady From Shanghai. Those photos made me remember how beautiful and lovely she was, so here you have some images I saved the other day.
Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that “his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century.”
William Burroghs
Twiggy and Andy Warhol
Truman Capote
Karen Graham
Self-portrait
Groucho Marx
Elizabeth Taylor
Bob Dylan
Jackie and John F. Kennedy
Charles Chaplin
Sophia Loren
Patti Hansen
Viva
Patti Smith
Marilyn Monroe
Truman Capote
Audrey Hepburn
Sunny Hartnett
Sophia Loren
Paul McCartney
Cher
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
Self-portrait, 1963
Ringo
Richard Avedon
Self-Portrait, 1964
Pablo Picasso
Bianca Jagger
Tennessee Williams
Truman Capote
Sophia Loren
John Ford
Fred Astaire
Alfred Hitchcock
Marlon Brando
Simon & Garfunkel
Joan Baez
Pablo Picasso
Marilyn Monroe
Liz Pringle
Kennedy Family Portrait
Jackie and John F. Kennedy
Jerry Hall
Isabella Rossellini
Elizabeth Taylor
Diana Vreeland, Dovima and Richard Avedon
Cole Porter
Coco Chanel
Cher
Brigitte Bardot
Elizabeth Taylor and Jack Nicholson
Marilyn Monroe
Julie Christie
Jean Shrimpton
Self-portrait
Penelope Tree
Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer
Audrey Hepburn
