Subject
Fw: Siamese-twin theme: more on Balabanov and Nabokov
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----- Original Message -----
From: "yuri leving" <leving@usc.edu>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (37
lines) ------------------
>
> Dmitri Nabokov is absolutely right demanding respect for his intellectual
property. In case of Alexei Balabanov, I am afraid a literary agent may be
late at least in one case. A Nabokovian potpourri (from SCENES FROM THE LIFE
OF A DOUBLE MONSTER to LOLITA) is used in Balabanov’s movie set in St.
Petersburg of 1900s. I mean his 1998 film, OF FREAKS AND MEN (“Pro urodov i
liudei”), shot in the golden-sepia color of an early talkie-movie about
Siamese-twin boys. I noticed some striking parallels when I first watched
the film a couple years ago; Yuri Dashevsky’s comments on Balabanov’s early
interest in Nabokov’s fiction make me thinking this was not just a mere
coincidence. For those who did not see that Official Selection of the Cannes
Film Festival, here are some of the reviewers’ descriptions from the
amazon.com:
>
> “This deliciously subversive, beautifully photographed film by
award-winning Russian director Alexei Balabanov explores the seamy underside
of the early 20th century upper classes. The sinister Johann and his wicked
assistant, who photograph the floggings of bare-bottomed women, maneuver
their way into two well-to-do families, involving them in their pornographic
schemes. The principal characters on the bourgeoisie side are the charming
innocents: Leeza, the Freaks (Siamese-twin boys with angelic voices and
personalities), and their adopting mother, the blind Yekaterina. These
people are humiliatingly defiled and commercially exploited by the murderous
Johann and his kin/cohorts Grunya and Viktor.”
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dmitri Nabokov
> To: 'D. Barton Johnson'
> Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 5:14 AM
> Subject: Comment on posts of the two Yuris, Leving and Dashevsky
>
> I found both posts interesting, particularly with regard to Alexei
Balabanov. Before he starts "adapting" Camera obscura (Laughter in the
Dark), I strongly recommend that Mr. Balabanov have a good talk with my
agent. DN
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "yuri leving" <leving@usc.edu>
> >
>
>
> > The recent issue of a popular Russian men's magazine, Medved' ("A
Bear"),
> features an interview with Alexei Balabanov, the celebrated creator of
such
> post-Soviet blockbusters as "Brother" and "Brother 2". Balabanov reveals
his
> artistic plans (among other things, such as hatred for Hollywood and the
> West in general).
> >
> > Balabanov: "I have five or six ideas [for new movies]. The first would
be
> to adapt Nabokov's "Camera obscura" (Laughter in the Dark - Y.L.)"
> > Interviewer: "A girl betrays a blind man, who is unaware of the
betrayal?"
> > Balabanov: "Yes. And then there is the scene with the two adjacent hotel
> rooms that share a single bathroom. This is the most cinematic piece in
the
> Russian literature!"
> > (# 70, July-August 2003, P. 27).
>
>
>
From: "yuri leving" <leving@usc.edu>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (37
lines) ------------------
>
> Dmitri Nabokov is absolutely right demanding respect for his intellectual
property. In case of Alexei Balabanov, I am afraid a literary agent may be
late at least in one case. A Nabokovian potpourri (from SCENES FROM THE LIFE
OF A DOUBLE MONSTER to LOLITA) is used in Balabanov’s movie set in St.
Petersburg of 1900s. I mean his 1998 film, OF FREAKS AND MEN (“Pro urodov i
liudei”), shot in the golden-sepia color of an early talkie-movie about
Siamese-twin boys. I noticed some striking parallels when I first watched
the film a couple years ago; Yuri Dashevsky’s comments on Balabanov’s early
interest in Nabokov’s fiction make me thinking this was not just a mere
coincidence. For those who did not see that Official Selection of the Cannes
Film Festival, here are some of the reviewers’ descriptions from the
amazon.com:
>
> “This deliciously subversive, beautifully photographed film by
award-winning Russian director Alexei Balabanov explores the seamy underside
of the early 20th century upper classes. The sinister Johann and his wicked
assistant, who photograph the floggings of bare-bottomed women, maneuver
their way into two well-to-do families, involving them in their pornographic
schemes. The principal characters on the bourgeoisie side are the charming
innocents: Leeza, the Freaks (Siamese-twin boys with angelic voices and
personalities), and their adopting mother, the blind Yekaterina. These
people are humiliatingly defiled and commercially exploited by the murderous
Johann and his kin/cohorts Grunya and Viktor.”
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dmitri Nabokov
> To: 'D. Barton Johnson'
> Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 5:14 AM
> Subject: Comment on posts of the two Yuris, Leving and Dashevsky
>
> I found both posts interesting, particularly with regard to Alexei
Balabanov. Before he starts "adapting" Camera obscura (Laughter in the
Dark), I strongly recommend that Mr. Balabanov have a good talk with my
agent. DN
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "yuri leving" <leving@usc.edu>
> >
>
>
> > The recent issue of a popular Russian men's magazine, Medved' ("A
Bear"),
> features an interview with Alexei Balabanov, the celebrated creator of
such
> post-Soviet blockbusters as "Brother" and "Brother 2". Balabanov reveals
his
> artistic plans (among other things, such as hatred for Hollywood and the
> West in general).
> >
> > Balabanov: "I have five or six ideas [for new movies]. The first would
be
> to adapt Nabokov's "Camera obscura" (Laughter in the Dark - Y.L.)"
> > Interviewer: "A girl betrays a blind man, who is unaware of the
betrayal?"
> > Balabanov: "Yes. And then there is the scene with the two adjacent hotel
> rooms that share a single bathroom. This is the most cinematic piece in
the
> Russian literature!"
> > (# 70, July-August 2003, P. 27).
>
>
>