Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Asia Pacific
World
Search
Search:
At 100, Portuguese filmmaker Oliveira has 'lots more left'
AFP - Wednesday, December 10
LISBON (AFP) - - When Portugal's Manoel de Oliveira turns 100 on Friday, the world's oldest filmmaker will be doing what he loves most: shooting a movie -- in this case his 46th feature-length film.
"To stop my work means to die," said Oliveira, who was born December 11 but marks his birth in line with his official registration on earth the day after.
His latest film, "Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura" -- roughly "The Uniqueness of a Young Blond-Haired Girl" -- is adapted from a tale by Jose Maria Eca de Queiroz, considered Portugal's greatest realist writer.
It recounts the story of Macario, a young man -- played by Oliveira's grandson Ricardo Trepa -- who confides his passionate love for a blond-haired girl to a stranger on a train.
It's "on the idea that one can confess to a stranger things one would not tell a friend or a spouse," he said.
Far from fast-paced, Oliveira's films have often baffled the general public but left movie buffs raving -- and he has walked off with repeated prizes at major festivals like Cannes and Venice.
In May he was awarded the coveted Palme d'Or at Cannes for his entire body of work, which spans silent films to talkies and survived the country's long-time, right-wing dictatorship.
With his trademark felt hat and piercing gaze, the centenarian is shooting his latest film in Lisbon's elegant Chiado district.
"He knows exactly what he wants but like most directors he has lots of ideas that come to him in a flash and he improvises a lot during the shooting," said Catarina Wallenstein, who plays the leading female role.
And he is a man in a hurry. He wants to wrap up the movie quickly -- not because of age but so it can compete in the Berlin International Film Festival in February.
"I only rest when I shoot," said Oliveira who has made 20 of his stable of feature-length films since turning 80.
Born in the northern city of Porto in 1908, Oliveira fell in love with movies as a child when his industrialist father took him to see Charlie Chaplin and Max Linder films.
He began his career at the age of 20, playing in the silent film "Miraculous Fatma". In 1931, he shot his first silent documentary about the life of workers on the Douro River that runs through his home town, and two years later acted in Portugal's first talking movie, 'Song of Lisbon'.
After making several documentaries, he returned to fiction in 1942 with "Aniki-Bobo" tracing the life of children in a hardscrabble Porto neighbourhood.
"I did everything by myself: production, direction," said Oliveira of the early years. "I was behind the camera. I was involved in the sound and picture. The actors -- I found them on site. I carried all that was needed in a delivery van: projectors, cables, two 24-volt batteries for lighting."
Despite working with industry greats like Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni and John Malkovich, Oliveira still worries about finding backers.
"Who knows, I may have to return to those (early) conditions if I can't find financing," he joked.
He has known time away from the camera -- during the dictatorship of Antonio Salazar who kept tight control over the country's cultural output. Oliveira bowed out to manage the family vineyard and a textile factory inherited from his father, but returned to film in 1963 with his second feature-length movie, 'Rite of Spring', evoking the passion of Christ.
He is known as demanding, a reputation underscored by his monumental, seven-hour 1985 work, "The Satin Slipper", based on a work by French poet Paul Claudel.
Convinced that "the world is walking toward an abyss," he uses dialogue, music, a languid pace and long, painterly frames to focus viewers' attention on the "essentials" - the meaning of life and death, the human condition, generosity, humanity.
"Artistic films are not made to earn money or satisfy the public," he insists.
But he concedes: "It's great to win prizes, it's fun. And it means money to make movies."
Now, he says, "the biggest present I can be given is to be allowed to finish the rest of my movies.
"And there are lots more left."
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle
Attorney: Suspect in Ruffalo death clearedAP - 44 minutes ago
Art Basel's Miami fair feels brush of recessionAFP - Thursday, December 11
At 100, Portuguese filmmaker Oliveira has 'lots more left'AFP - Wednesday, December 10
Review: Reeves remake is a bad day on `Earth'AP - Wednesday, December 10
Kiefer Sutherland seeing star in HollywoodAFP - Wednesday, December 10
Enlarge Photo
Portuguese film director Manoel de Oliveira is seen here on December 6, as he leaves a press conference dedicated to the movie he is currently filming, "Singularidades de Uma Rapariga Loura" (Singularities of a Blong Girl). Oliveira is the oldest film director currently working, and he turns 100 years-old on December 11.
Most Popular – Entertainment
Viewed
New recession warnings hit leading economies
Muslim pilgrims stone Satan at the hajj
Dow Chemical to cut 5,000 jobs, close 20 facilities
Stocks take flight on prospects for anti-recession moves
Military jet crashes in California suburb, three dead
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular