To be read as a direct continuation of Part 3; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/03/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt3.html
Rather playing about with the fourth wall, the imaginary barrier between performance and audience, The Brutalist found itself caught up in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) controversy. In scenes where Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones spoke Hungarian an AI assisted voice-generating computer program was used to improve their accents and pronunciation. AI assisted computer animation was also used to create images of Lázló Tóth design blueprints and the finished buildings.
During Awards Season this allowed for discussion for the very specific, technical details of the AI used and how it was used. Apparently the company which provided the voice generation, Respeecher, used the off-the-shelf Pro Tools editing suite. No doubt members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) who went on strike in 2023 will be concerned to learn just how easy it is to replace their voice performances. It seems you only need a PC and $100.
It is particularly appropriate that The Brutalist is the movie that chose to bring the issue of AI assistance into the Awards Season discussion. As I explained in the previous part you could, metaphorically, say that people who follow the Social Engineering of The Brutalist Style of Urban Planning suffer with the Algorithmic thinking of traditional computing. While Urban Planners who subscribe to Social Ecology models have actually contributed to the development of the type of Meta-Heuristic Problem Solving which makes AI possible. Arguably all Brutalists need assistance from AI.
In The Brutalist Harrison Lee van Buren's daughter, Maggie van Buren is played by Stacy Martin. It must be said that while only a small role in the movie by the standards of her career of late it probably represents a big role for her. It's hard not to think that Stacy Martin's once promising career has been somewhat stalled by her debut role in Lars von Trier's very sexually explicit "Nymphomaniac" (2013).
A discussion point which again raises the issue of Public Morals and the rather narrow type of movies that are normally considered at The Oscars. Along with the impacts that nude and sex scenes have on the people who appear in them and how those impacts can be mitigated. It also touches on that seemingly fine line between actors and sex workers. A line which is becoming even more blurred by AI assisted DeepFake pornography.
I have to say that I'm not particularly familiar with Lars von Trier's life and career. My main takeaway from Nymphomaniac is that I really don't want to watch any more Lars von Trier movies. A pretty common response, apparently.
As far as I can tell though Lars von Trier seems to have had a pretty unconventional childhood. Raised in his native Denmark in the 1960's and 1970's his parents were Communists and committed Nudists. They believed that disciplining their children was reactionary; meaning that it's likely that Lars von Trier grew up without many boundaries. He was a child actor on Danish TV before studying film theory at the University of Copenhagen. Directing his breakthrough film "The Element of Crime" in 1984. Apparently he has many severe phobias, including flying, and suffers from Depression.
All this seems to have contributed to Lars von Trier never quite understanding mainstream society and its rules. He seems to enjoy conflict with a society he doesn't see himself as part of. Lars von Trier's international breakthrough really came with; "The Idiots" (1998). This is about a group of people who find mainstream society's rules so restrictive that they pretend to be intellectually disabled (mentally retarded) as that allows them to behave however they like in public. The scenes of group sex amongst people pretending to be intellectually disabled were not well received by all.
In 2005 Lars von Trier made "Mandalay," a sequel to; "Dogville" (2003). Mandalay sees Grace Mulligan, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, travelling through rural 1930's Alabama. She discovers a plantation where Slavery is still being practiced some 70 years after Abolition, the Mandalay of the title. Grace Mulligan takes on the role of White Saviour, seizing control of the plantation from its White owners and turning the Slaves into Sharecroppers, in order to prepare them for a life outside of Slavery.
The twist of the movie is that the Slaves don't want to be freed. The reason that Slavery persists at Mandalay is that its Black population want to be kept as Slaves in order to prevent them from having to face the responsibility of living in mainstream society as free people. The movie makes liberal use of the word; "Nigger" in its most hateful and derogatory sense. There is even a list of the different types of Nigger. Apparently at one screening up to a hundred critics just upped and walked out in protest.
In 2011 Lars von Trier made; "Melancholia" with Kirsten Dunst in, really, the lead role of Justine. Although born in New Jersey in the US both of Kirsten Dunst's parents are German citizens. Her mother is actually a Swedish/German dual-national. In order to make it easier for her to work in the European Union (EU) Kirsten Dunst spent most of the 2000's trying to take up her German citizenship. A feat she achieved in 2011, the year of Melancholia's release.
The long process of applying for and being granted German citizenship no doubt forced Kirsten Dunst to explore her German heritage. I think we all know the first question asked by any non-Jew who is exploring their German heritage; "What role did my ancestors play in The Nazi Holocaust?!" It's clearly something which has played on Kirsten Dunst's mind. In 2001 she described herself using that very loaded term; "Aryan." In 2008, whilst exploring her German heritage, Kirsten Dunst was hospitalised for several months with severe Depression. Something she has in common with Lars von Trier.
As the title suggests Melancholia explores Melancholy, a sense of sadness with no obvious cause. It really centres on two sisters, Justine and Claire, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, as they wait for the end of the World. The realisation that all hope is gone.
Although I don't think the setting of the movie is ever revealed it is very Germanic in its style. It seems to be heavily influenced by the Opera; "Tristan und Isolde" by Richard Wagner. The themes of an unwanted marriage along with the relationship between Justine and Claire, as Isolde and her handmaid Brangäne are very reminiscent of the Opera. The movie features an opening prelude. The music used is the Prelude from Tristan und Isolde.
The original "Tristan and Iseult" is a Celtic folktale from the 12th Century. During The Strongbow Invasion of Ireland (1169-1170) the English, Cornish, Knight Tristan kills the husband of Irish Princess Iseult. Tristan then sex-traffics Iseult back to England where she will be forced to marry the King of Cornwall. However Iseult uses her Irish witchcraft to cast a love spell on Tristan. Saving her from the marriage.
In Wagner's Opera Tristan and Isolde's forbidden love can only be expressed at night, in the dark. It must be kept hidden during the day, in the light. Many people have commented that this contrast between night and day, dark and light is a metaphor for the conflict between our private, inner-self and the public image we present of ourselves to mainstream society. A theme which has been repeatedly explored through Lars von Trier's work.
Even amongst the astonishingly culturally insensitive world of Classical European Opera Richard Wagner continues to be a deeply problematic figure.
Outside of the world of Classical European Opera Richard Wagner is probably most well known through the very deliberate use of his; "Ride of the Valkyries" in the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola movie; "Apocalypse Now." However Ride of the Valkyries is just one small part of Wagner's Opera; "Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)." Die Walküre is just one of four Operas which make up Wagner's; "Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of Nibelung)" more commonly referred to as; "The Ring Cycle." Although some of you might know it better by its knock-off title; "Lord of The Rings."
This sort of multi-part epic is something else which seems to have particularly influenced Lars von Trier's work. Dogville and Mandalay are part of what he describes as his, uncompleted; "USA: Land of Opportunities Trilogy." While Melancholia and Nymphomaniac, along with; "Antichrist" (2009) make up his self-described; "Depression Trilogy."
At around 18:05 on 8/4/25 (UK date) I'll have to start plumbing the depths of the Wagner problem tomorrow.
Edited at around 16:25 on 9/4/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;
A full performance of The Ring Cycle takes around 15 hours. Richard Wagner himself didn't consider the first Opera in the cycle, "Das Rheingold (The Rheingold)" to be a full Opera. Just a two and half hour continuous piece of music. The final Opera in the cycle, "Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)" last for five hours. Those estimates do not include intermissions.
As was common at the time Richard Wagner's art was only made possible by the charity of a wealthy benefactor, King Ludwig II of Bavaria. However Richard Wagner then fell out with King Ludwig II and was banished from Munich, forcing him to make money from his art. The ever present conflict between art and commercialism. Richard Wagner's response was to establish a music festival in Bayreuth; The Bayreuth Festival, at a country estate reminiscent of the one featured in Melancholia. One of the main early selling points is that that it would allow visitors to experience rare full performances of The Ring Cycle.
To provide visitors to the festival with entertainment between performances Richard Wagner founded the Bayreuther Blätter (Bayreuth Pages). This grew into a monthly magazine featuring essays by Richard Wagner and his associates on a variety of topics.
Reprinted in the Bayreuther Blätter was Richard Wagner's 1849 essay; "Das Judenthum in der Musik (Jews in Music)." In which he argued that Jews are an inferior Race incapable of art and music. It is only through their love for and control of money that they have been able to play any role in the field and their presence has only degraded it.
Many of the essays published in the Bayreuther Blätter and many of those who read it were firm believers in the work of Arthur de Gobineau. Between 1853 and 1855 he published Essai sur l'inégalite des race humanies (An Essay on the Inequality of the Races).
Seen as one of the first examples of (pseudo) Scientific Racism Arthur de Gobineau's essay argues that the White Race is superior to all other Races and every successful civilisation throughout history has been established by the White Race. The reason for the downfall of these great civilisations has been the White Race interbreeding with other races. In his mind even the Persians, or Iranians, are members of the White Race. However the downfall of The Achaemenid Empire (550 B.C-330 B.C) was due to interbreeding with the inferior African and Asian Races. Creating the savages we see today. Despite being French Arthur de Gobineau believed that the Germans, the Aryans, were The Master Race. The heroic White Knights who were destined to lead the White Race to Salvation. A notion inspired by folktales and fairy stories of White Nordic (Nothern) gods.
After his death Richard Wagner's wife, Cosima Wagner, really embraced this ideology of Gobinism. Turning the Bayreuth Festival into a Gobinist Cult with the Bayreuther Blätter as its newsletter. Adolf Hitler was many of the devotees to the Gobinist Cult, making frequent pilgrimages to the Bayreuth Festival. Richard Wagner's son-in-law, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, published Diegrundlagen des neunzehnten Jahunderts (The Foundation of the Nineteenth Century) in 1899. Again based almost entirely on fictional history this reinforced Arthur de Gobineau's view of the Germans as the Aryans, The Master Race, destined to lead the White Race to salvation. In Nazi Germany it became required reading, alongside Adolf Hitler's own Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
Arthur de Gobineau's influence extended beyond Germany to the US. An Essay on the Inequality of the Races was translated and published in 1915 by pro-Slavery activists Josiah C. Nott and Henry Hotze, the Confederate South's main diplomat to Europe during The American Civil War (1861-1865). Although they chose to leave out all the criticism of White Americans as an example of a decaying society which needed to be saved by the true Aryans.
Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries is actually used in the 1915 American movie; "The Birth of a Nation" in which the heroic White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan heroically save White Women from rape by the inferior Races and the Radical Republicans who are stuffing the ballot boxes and denying Whites the vote. The Birth of a Nation was the first American silent movie to feature a live soundtrack performed by an orchestra. It was also the first movie ever shown in the White House. By Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat. It is widely credited with helping to reform the Ku Klux Klan, as a paramilitary wing of The Democrat Party.
Through his establishment of the Bayreuth Festival and the Bayreuther Blätter Richard Wagner is seen by many as the Father of Nazism. He was certainly seen by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party as the ultimate Aryan artist. His work showing the superiority of the Aryan Master Race and celebrating its destiny as the White Knights, saviours of the White Race. Richard Wagner's music is very much the soundtrack to The Nazi Holocaust.
So it seems entirely possible that Kirsten Dunst was attracted to Melancholia as an illusionary exploration of her Depression and her Germanic, Aryan heritage. An Expressionist practice so despised by Karl Marx and Brutalists with their obsession with Objective Realism.
Alongside his own Depression Lars von Trier has his own Germanic, Aryan heritage to explore. For much of his life he believed his Father was Ulf Trier - a Communist, non-practising Jew. However on her deathbed his Mother, Inger Høst, told him that his Father was actually Fritz Hartmann. Part of a long line of celebrated Danish classical musicians with German roots.
Inger Høst went on to further tell her son that she had chosen to conceive him with a member of a family of celebrated musicians rather than a Jew to ensure that he was born with superior artistic genes. Something which very much followed the theories of Arthur de Gobineau which so inspired the psuedo-science of Eugenics embraced by the likes of Josiah C. Nott and Adolf Hitler in The Nazi Holocaust
Melancholia premiered at The Cannes Film Festival 2011. During a press conference Lars von Trier was asked about the movie's very Germanic style, its influences from Richard Wagner. Apparently drunk Lars von Trier responded by describing the movie as a Nazi romance. Going on to say that for his entire life he had thought he was a Jew but now that he realises that he's a Nazi he understands and sympathises with Adolf Hitler. Although he did add that he doesn't have a problem with Jews, except for Israel which is; "a pain in the ass."
This lead to Lars von Trier being expelled from the Cannes Film Festival and declared persona non grata, banning him for all future Cannes Film Festivals. The top prize at The Cannes Film Festival 2021, the Palm d'Or, was won by "Titane." A movie about a woman who has sex with a car, becomes a serial killer, pretends to be a boy in order to be sexually abused by a Fireman and ultimately gives birth to a monster. To give you some idea of how far you have to go to get declared persona non grata by The Cannes Film Festival.
Nymphomaniac seems to be Lars von Trier's response to that scandal. A passionate defence of the freedom of expression. Including the freedom to offend. A Wagner-esque act of great wrath and vengeance against any critic who tries to curtail Lars von Trier's freedom to offend.
At around 16:55 on 9/4/25 (UK date) I'll have to pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 16:45 on 10/4/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;
The movie begins with the middle-aged virgin Seligman, played by Stellan Skarsgård, finding a middle-aged woman known only as Joe laying in the street near his home after being badly beaten up. He takes the woman in and as she recuperates she tells him the story of her life which led up to her assault. In the movie's present day Joe is played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. In the flashbacks which make up around two thirds of the movie Joe is played by Stacy Martin. Although the flashbacks are narrated by Charlotte Gainsboroug.
Joe considers herself to be a Nymphomaniac, a hyper-sexualised person whose sexual arousal is so all consuming it controls every aspect of their lives. Although Nymphomania is not a recognised Psychological disorder the Hyper-sexuality which is an element of other Psychological disorders goes far beyond mere sex addiction. With all aspects of Joe's life being consumed by her sexual arousal the story of her life is full of many sexual themes and sexual scenes. Which the movie portrays in very graphic detail. To the point that this isn't a movie which contains simulated sex scenes. It contains many scenes of actual sex.
That raises the obvious question of whether it constitutes Pornography and whether those appearing in the scenes are actors or sex workers. However US law defines; "Pornography" as; "Material which depicts nudity or sexual acts for the sole purpose exciting lascivious feelings of a particularly blatant and abberational kind." The test is not whether the material contains actual sexual content but whether the purpose of the material is to cause sexual arousal. DeepFake Pornography is computer animation. It does not depict actual people so it is impossible for it to depict actual sexual content. However it is considered pornography because its intent is to cause sexual arousal. The sexual content in Nymphomaniac, real or simulated, is not solely intended to cause sexual arousal. Arguably it is intended to achieve something very different from sexual arousal.
Around the year 2000 the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the UK version of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), made a big change to it's rules regarding sexual content. It allowed movies which showed actual sex to be given an (for persons older than) 18 Certificate and shown in mainstream cinemas. Providing the sexual content was not intended solely to cause sexual arousal. Prior to that any movie which depicted actual sex was automatically given a (Restricted) R18 Certificate. Designating it as pornography and restricting its distribution only to licensed pornographers. Sex shops etc.
At The Oscars 2016 British actor Mark Rylance won Best Supporting Actor for; "Bridge of Spies" (2015). Mark Rylance also has the dubious honour of being the first male actor to be shown receiving oral sex in a movie which received a UK 18 Certificate and mainstream release. Giving Kerry Fox the more dubious honour of being the first female actor to perform oral sex on screen. In; "Intimacy" (2001).
Obviously the BBFC rule change led to a flood of movies featuring actual sex. Which in turn caused a flurry of outrage. The tabloid newspapers were so outraged they had to describe every sex act in every scene of every movie in graphic detail.
One notable movie amid this flood was; "Baise-moi." Its title is hard to translate directly from French into English. It stops short of; "Rape Me" but is certainly more forceful than; "F*ck Me." It was made in the year 2000 but not released in the UK until after the BBFC rule change. Baise-moi is almost a hyper-sexual, hyper-violent version of; "Thelma & Louise" (1991). Two women join forces after escaping from abusive men. They then travel through France murdering men and having sex with some of them.
One of the women, Nadine, is played by Karen Lancaume who is a Porn Star having made 80+ Porn Movies between 1996 and 2000. Many other members of the movie's cast and crew also have a background in the Porn Industry. However the actual sex in the movie is portrayed in a very different way to how it would be portrayed in a Porn Movie. Although it has all the appropriate bits going in and out it just doesn't seem erotic or satisfying. The scenes of violence however seem almost sensual and orgasmic. As if the two women are committing these killings as an illusionary exploration of the lesbian relationship which doesn't exist between them.
I should point out that Baise-moi is not a movie good enough to be considered by The Oscars. It is made on an absolutely tiny budget and much of the technical execution leaves a lot to be desired. However it is built around quite an interesting idea. It's worth noting that it's written and directed by a woman, Virginie Despentes.
In one scene Nadine and Manu, played by Raffaëla Anderson, are casually talking while a nude from the waist down Manu menstruates into a bathroom sink. Something which is shown in close detail. Just in case the CIA is still unaware of what it was up against. With its shocking 2021 rumour that maybe, just maybe, Miley Cyrus menstruates.
The first sexual scene in Nymphomaniac depicts a very young looking 15 year old Joe losing her vaginal and anal virginities to randomly selected man of around 20 years old. Jerôme Morris, played by Shia LeBouf. The numerous sexual scenes then get more graphic and more shocking. At the start of this series of posts I looked at; "Challengers" (2024). Its theme of a threesome between two men and a woman. That's an actual sex scene in Nymphomaniac. Although it almost falls into insignificance amid the scenes of BDSM genital mutilation and oral sex being performed, to completion, on a paedophile as a reward for admitting he is a paedophile.
Lars von Trier argues that the intent of these scenes of sexual activity is the opposite from the intent of Pornography. Citing his upbringing by committed Nudist parents Lars von Trier claims that the intent is not to cause sexual arousal but to be so open about sex and nudity that it becomes normal and everyday. No different from watching scenes of someone eating a bowl of cereal, as Lars von Trier put it. While I do not dispute that the intent was not to cause sexual arousal I think Lars von Trier was acting with a far more malicious intent than that.
Nymphomaniac is primarily a movie aimed at critics and journalists. The critics and journalists who boo and walk out of Lars von Trier movies in protest, the people who had him declared persona non grata by The Cannes Film Festival. People who have to watch movies as their jobs. If they walk out of a movie they're not able to review it so are at risk of losing their jobs. At the very least they risk jeopardising the contacts and relationships with people in the Movie Industry they need in order to do their jobs.
With Nymphomaniac Lars von Trier's intent seems to be to trap these critics and journalists in a cinema for five and a half hours. Then bombard them with increasingly graphic and shocking sexual scenes. In the hope of finding and driving them past their breaking point. His inspiration seems to be; "The Ludovocio Technique" as depicted in Stanley Kubrick's; "A Clockwork Orange" (1971). In which those who have angered society are rehabilitated by being strapped to a chair and forced to watch random scenes of sex and violence. The sort of behaviour which is questionable under The Geneva Conventions, let alone Pornography Laws.
Arguably Charlotte Gainsboroug gets the worst of it in Nymphomaniac. It is she who has to perform oral sex on a paedophile and has her genitals mutilated.
However Charlotte Gainsboroug is the daughter of French musician Serge Gainsboroug and the British model Jane Birkin, as in Hermès' "Birkin Bag." Serge Gainsboroug and Jane Birkin caused controversy in 1968 with the song; "Je t'aime...moi non plus." The song's very realistic sounds of a woman orgasaming causing it to be widely banned. Charlotte Gainsboroug was born a couple of years later. Aged 12 she made her musical debut on her Father's 1985 song; "Lemon Incest." Her screen debut came in the song's video which very strongly implies that she was in a sexual relationship with her Father. So this has clearly been Charlotte Gainsboroug's entire life. Plus, as a Nepo Baby, it's hard to imagine she's struggling to make rent.
It's much harder not to worry about the impact that Nymphomaniac has had on Stacy Martin's career. After all it was her film debut. The role that you would expect to launch her onto bigger things.
This actually goes to the issue of the movies considered by The Oscars being difficult for people outside of the industry to understand. I do not work in the industry so feel unqualified to say whether someone is a good actor or not. However even with my limited knowledge I find it hard to judge someone based on just one performance. Ideally you want to see them out of character or, at the very least, in a different character. Otherwise it turns out that might just be what they're like.
However Lars von Trier is a well respected director. Accomplished Hollywood stars like Kirsten Dunst not only want to work with him they're prepared to put up with a lot in order to work with him. Such as leaving America to work in Europe on account of his fear of flying and what can be a difficult personality. Alongside Stellan Skarsgård and Shia LeBouf Nymphomaniac includes boldfaced acting names such as Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe and Jamie Bell in roles much smaller than they're used to. So it's hard to imagine that Stacy Martin would have been cast without her peers judging her to be a talented actress.
Although Stacy Martin has gone on to more work than I thought, appearing in both; "High-Rise" (2015) and the deeply troubled; "All the Money in the World" (2017), these have all been smaller roles than her role in Nymphomaniac. In contrast Nymphomaniac also saw the debut of Mia Goth. Who has gone onto have the type of successful career she wants. Particularly the Horror trilogy that began with; "X" (2022).
The only other role I've actually seen Stacy Martin in was her role of Juliette Voclain in the TV show; "The Serpent" (2021). This tells a version of the story of real-life serial killer Charles Sobhraj.
When I watch a movie like Nymphomaniac I know to psychologically brace myself in a way I don't in order to watch Sunday night, Primetime, TV shows like The Serpent. Being familiar with Stacy Martin's role in Nymphomaniac and knowing she was playing the wife of a sex murderer I found myself watching her scenes in The Serpent filled with this deep sense of anxiety over how far it would go. Would I need to prepare myself psychologically. Something which was not an enjoyable sensation.
It's hard not to imagine that when considering Stacy Martin for a role those making the decision have to consider the sense of anxiety she gives people who've seen Nymphomaniac. Whether they want to risk alienating potential customers by burdening them with that dread. It's even hard not to imagine that people in the industry themselves experience that sense of anxiety whenever Stacy Martin's name in suggested. Choosing not to burden themselves with the unpleasant sensation of having her audition.
At around 17:20 on 10/4/25 (UK date) I'll have to think about violating the three day stop-work order tomorrow.
Edited at around 15:40 on 14/4/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;
If Stacy Martin did inspire any feelings of revulsion in The Brutalist director Brady Corbet he's managed to get over them. The pair also worked together on; "Vox Lux" (2018).
The movie begins with a school shooting in the New Brighton area of Staten Island, New York. One of the students - Celeste Montgomery, played by Raffey Cassidy - confronts the gunman and offers to pray with him but is shot. This school shooting takes place in 1999, the year of the Columbine Shooting. Also the year of that Samurai sword attack on my childhood, neighbourhood Church. Shortly before I moved from London to Brighton.
While recovering in hospital Celeste writes a song with the help of her sister Eleanor, played by Stacy Martin. The two perform the song; "Wrapped Up" at a memorial for the victims and it becomes something of an instant viral hit, apparently capturing the mood of America at the time. This sees Celeste signed by a nameless music manager, played by Jude Law. He takes Celeste and Eleanor to Sweden to record Celeste's debut album. They return to the US to record the video for; "Hologram" the first song from the album on September 11th 2001 (11/9/01). The event that Samurai sword attack warned of and the first full day of my career.
The movie then leaps forward to 2017 and a shooting attack on a beach. The movie portrays this as happening in Croatia but it is a thinly veiled reference to the 2015 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attack in Sousse, Tunisia. The gunmen in the attack are wearing facemasks from the 2001 video for Hologram. So the attack dominates preparations the first night of the concert tour supporting Celeste's sixth album; "Vox Lux."
At this point in the movie the manager is still being played by Jude Law and Eleanor is still being played by Stacy Martin. However Raffey Cassidy is now playing Albertine, Celeste's daughter. A dual role Raffey Cassidy also performed in The Brutalist. Playing Zsófia Tóth and also Zsófia Tóth's daughter. Celeste is now being played by Natalie Portman in a hilarious parody of a celebrity. Vox Lox's Wikipedia page includes a little mistake. Natalie Portman's Celeste actually lost the sight in one eye on a cleaning products drinking binge which crossed several Southern States. It was after that she was involved in a traffic accident which left a man seriously injured and resulted in a massive lawsuit.
Natalie Portman is a US/Israeli Dual-National who was actually born in West Jerusalem, Israel. She is roughly the same age that I am. Which means she's also roughly the same age as the bisexual Israeli woman, from Tel Aviv, who I was dating in 2001. A woman I met on a Psychology course. While Natalie Portman was studying Psychology at Harvard. Later on during The Second Palestinian Intifada (2000-2005) Natalie Portman lived in Britain while filming; "V For Vendetta" (2005). A movie which has been copied by pretty every protest movement in the World ever since. So I am someone who has definitely come up in conversation in Natalie Portman's world.
Natalie Portman actually began her career as a child star. Making her debut in; "Léon; The Professional" (1994). In it she plays a very sexually precious 12 year old, Mathilda Lando, who is adopted by Léon, played by Jean Reno, an assassin in his mid-forties. Throughout the movie Natalie Portman's Mathilda is constantly trying to seduce Léon and the idea of a highly inappropriate sexual relationship between a 12 year old girl and a middle-aged man hangs over the entire movie.
Assuming that most people don't know that I first saw the movie at roughly the same age Natalie Portman was when she made the movie. I like to joke that I found Natalie Portman really sexy in the movie. No doubt adding to her irritation.
Natalie Portman has worked with Nyphomaniac's Stellan Skarsgård extensively in Marvel's "Thor" trilogy. Movies with tell a version of the White Nordic (Northern) gods which so inspired Arthur de Gobineau, readers of the Bayreuth Blätter and devotees of the Bayreuth Festival. Particularly the Nazi Party's official Occultist, Karl Maria Wiligut. A diagnosed yet untreated Schizophrenic.
At The Oscars 2011 Natalie Portman won Best Actress for her role in; "Black Swan" (2010). In which she played a Ballerina preparing for the lead role in Pyotr Tchaikovsky's; "Swan Lake."
Pyotr Tchaikovsky is said to have been quite obsessed with King Ludwig II of Bavaria, the benefactor who helped Richard Wagner in his early career. Swan Lake uses the theme of night, the dark and day, the light that Richard Wagner used in Tristan und Isolde. Within Swan Lake this conflict between the private, inner-self and the public image we present to mainstream society is widely accepted to represent Pyotr Tchaikovsky's hidden homosexuality. King Ludwig II never married and is widely considered to be a closeted homosexual. Richard Wagner's very anti-Catholic; "Tannhauser" seems to be inspired by the Catholic Church's suppression of King Ludwig II's homosexuality.
In; "Metropolis" (1927) the Freder Fredersen character seems to invoke the contemporary Russian Ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Except when he's dressed as Georgy Freder wears tights and trousers. These days all male ballet dancers wear tights when performing. However prior to Vaslav Nijinsky they wore tights and trousers. Nijinsky was the first to wear only tights, causing a massive scandal.
Vaslav Nijinsky is most famous for his work with Sergei Diaghilev in the; "Ballets Russes" company they formed together. It seems widely accepted that Vaslav Nijinsky and Sergei Diaghilev were a gay couple. Until Vaslav Nijinsky married Romola de Pulszky in order to fit in with mainstream society and have children. Romola de Pulszky is said to have known that Vaslav Nijinsky and Sergei Diaghilev were a gay couple yet chose to wreck their happy home, praying to the Catholic Saints that Vaslav Nijinsky would be cured of his homosexuality. Needless to say the marriage saw Vaslav Nijinsky expelled from Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and he ultimately ended up being confined to a Mental Institution in 1919, after being diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
One of the Ballets Russes' more infamous works was; "Jeux (Games)" (1913). It's about the sexual adventures of a man and two women as the search for a lost Tennis ball in the evening. Choreographing it Nijinsky wanted to include a, futuristic for 1913, plane crash. He also wanted it to be a story about three men having sex with each other but was forced, by mainstream society, to change it. I assume that either Zendaya or Law Roach is familiar with the work. The Ballets Russes also caused massive controversy in 1912 with; "L'Aprés-midi d'un faune (Afternoon of a Faun)." It ends with Nijinsky simulating masturbation with the scarf of a Nymph. I think we all understand that in the world of the Ballets Russes "Nymph" means; "Young Man."
During the 2011 Awards Season I seemed to particularly get on Natalie Portman's nerves. Possibly by pointing that; "No Strings Attached" (2011) really isn't a good movie. Possibly by pointing out that; "Your Highness" (2011) probably shows the true Natalie Portman. A woman who, with full malice and aforethought, chose to name her first child; "A Portman." Mainly though I think I got on Natalie Portman's nerves by reminding people of the simple fact that she's Israeli. Something she almost seemed ashamed of, as if it would hurt her popularity and career. If you watch her acceptance speech from The Oscars 2011 it seems to be a concerted effort to remind people that she is from the US State of Ohio, and only Ohio.
Vox Lux really has a main cast of five. Between them that cast of five has nine Oscar nominations for acting. The movie's music is provided by SIA who is highly accomplished in her field and was sort of caught in the crossfire during mine and Rihanna's marriage from hell, the 2013 Diamonds World Tour.
So it does have an air of a group of highly talented people rallying round Stacy Martin, who they see as a fellow highly talented actor. In order to give her some much deserved work, after her career has been stalled by Nymphomaniac. Jude Law's Manager and Stacy Martin's Eleanor do have an inappropriate sexual relationship. Something which is revealed when they're discovered in bed together on the morning of September 11th. People familiar with Nymphomaniac would be relieved to see that Stacy Martin was allowed to keep her underwear on.
The excuse this group of highly talented people used to rally around Stacy Martin was to have a great deal of fun at my expense. I would complain. Except I really don't think I'm going to be winning the sympathy vote.
Both Vox Lux and The Brutalist are divided into sections. Vox Lux has a Prologue, Act 1, Act 2 and a Finale. While The Brutalist has an Overture, Part 1, Part 2 and an Epilogue. This is something else which is common of Lars von Trier's work. Intended to invoke the structure of traditional stage plays.
At the start of movie making all movies were silent movies. The technology simply didn't exist to include dialogue and soundtracks. However what filmmakers were able to do was to show their movies in theatres where they were accompanied by a live orchestra. The Birth of a Nation was the first American movie to be shown in this way. This made movies closer to Opera's as a form of storytelling. Metropolis is actually divided into three parts; Prelude, Intermezzo and Furioso. These are normally instructions given to an orchestra. A talking point on the overlap between Opera and movies. Interestingly Richard Wagner never considered his work to be Operas. Instead likening them to Classical Greek plays which were made up three acts (tragedies) and a short Satyr play.
The Brutalist is quite a long movie at 215 minutes, or just over three and a half hours. It notably includes an intermission. Something which further references Nymphomaniac. That is intended as a 325 minute, five and a half hour, movie. However it is more often shown as two movies; a 145 minute, two and a half hour Volume I and a 180 minute, three hour, Volume II. Unlike with The Brutalist it is up to you to decide how long an intermission you want between Part 1 and Part 2.
The Brutalist's length and use of an intermission also goes to the issue of the type of movies considered by The Oscars being difficult for people outside of the industry to endure. Movies nominated in recent years just seem to be so long and getting ever longer. The big winner at The Oscars 2024 was; "Oppenheimer" which is a 180 minute, three hour, movie. Oppenheimer is a movie I'm very much interested in seeing. With it now being available on Streaming platforms it's a movie I'm able to watch at home. The only thing I'm still lacking is three hours in a day to sit down and watch a movie.
One factor in the increasing length of movies could be the increasing price of cinema tickets. Going to the cinema is something I've long been priced out of. However if you are still able to afford a cinema ticket that I would imagine for that amount of money you would want a movie that's going to fill up a significant part of your allotted 8 hour daily recreation time.
However it also seems to be an artistic rather than a purely commercial shift. Filmmakers attempting to return to a golden age of movies when movies were often in excess of three hours. As The Brutalist seems to be pointing out, as filmmakers seem to have forgotten, back in this golden age all movies were shown with intermissions. In fact back in the silent movie era movies were typically shown in serial form. So a five hour movie would have at least four intermissions. Each intermission being about a week long.
So the filmmakers who now want to return to a golden era of making really long movies in order to let a story unfold over many hours don't want to be making movies at all. They want to be making TV shows.
To be continued in Part 5.
16:41 on 14/4/25 (UK date).
