Artist and Muse #1

Krzysztof Kieslowski and Irene Jacob at The 1994 Cannes Film Festival for Trois Couleus-Rouge.

Artist and Muse #2

Walerian Borowczyk and Sylvia Kristel prepare for a shot on the set of 1975's La Marge.

Artist and Muse #3

Mike Figgis directs Elisabeth Shue in my favorite film, 1995's Leaving Las Vegas.

The Great Ones Vol.1 (Side B Track 3)

The IMDB has very little to say about Marina Pierro. It lists her as just having ten credits, that she was born in 1960,although a specific date and location aren't given, and when you click on contact information it shows you a blank. There is no trivia concerning her or photographs. Do an Internet search and you will turn up little else. You might find some sites listing her as appearing in Argento's SUSPIRIA or Bido's WATCH ME WHEN I KILL but good luck locating her in either one of those films.
Marina Pierro becomes even more mysterious when you start looking at that filmography. Her first three roles, including one with Visconti, were just bit parts supporting more well known people like Stefania Casini and Laura Antonelli, which leaves us with just seven credits left. Why should you care about an obscure actress with only seven roles credited to her that hasn't been heard of since 1990? I'm not totally sure if I can answer that but I know that I have seen, and continue to see, something truly incredible and unique in her that would cause me to call her one of the great ones.

I have often wondered how Walerian Borowczyk and Marina Pierro met. I am sure this is recounted somewhere but I have never read of it. I have wondered if Borowczyk knew right away, the way Godard must have felt the first time he saw Anna Karina or Pabst when he layed eyes on Louise Brooks.
Borowczyk is the only director that Pierro would work with, one exception will be discussed later, and it's their collaboration that continues to stick with me. Pierro was only 17 when she first worked with the 54 year old Borowczyk yet something clicked. I have started a series on this blog focusing on artists and muses because it seems to be something that is increasingly misunderstood and undervalued. There is an equality in these rare relationships until finally the line is blurred and they are both the artist seeking and finding answers in their discovery. Pierro's stare is just as important as Borowczyk's images, just as PANDORA'S BOX belongs to Louise Brooks as much as Pabst. A true muse is an artist.
Pierro thrived in Borowczyk's period settings, looking impossibly beautiful and almost alien like. Her astonishing face seemed tailor made for his obsessive painterly framing. She is so alive in these early period pieces like BEHIND CONVENT WALLS and THREE IMMORAL WOMEN that you almost forget you are watching a film, it's almost like you are watching some strange documented time capsule. It's only when she is placed in modern roles that her mystery begins to fail, her brutal fetishistic performance in her final feature LOVE RITES is as difficult to watch as it is engrossing.

Borowczyk wasn't the first director to take her out of the past, Jean Rollin would do that with his disturbing THE LIVING DEAD GIRL. Rollin, in his commentaries for LIVING DEAD GIRL speaks of how honored he was to work with her but it's in his fantasy that strips Pierro of her magic. Separated from Borowczyk she was capable of giving a good performance but, much like Irene Jacob away from Kieslowski, something was missing. Marina Pierro is literally torn apart at the end of Rollin's film and in a way she never recovered.

Borowczyk would make one more period feature with her, the beautiful ART OF LOVE, but even here Borowczyk would add an odd coda set in the present. The dream was over and LOVE RIGHTS would mark the final feature for each of them. The TV series that followed, SERIE ROSE, is the final mark in both their filmographies.
I have left out one film. The greatness of Browczyk and Pierro is evident in all of their work together but it is 1981's DOCTEUR JEKYL AND HIS WOMEN (Bloodlust) that stands as their greatest achievement.
Borowczyk's surreal take on the Stevenson novella is one of the great films of the 80s and one of the finest works of his influential career. He would pair Marina with another one of cinema's greatest faces, Udo Kier. Borowczyk creates the only film I have ever seen that feels like an hallucination. I have watched it many times and I still can't shake it's strange dreamlike quality. Watching it is like that moment right before sleep, when everything is almost as it should be but isn't. Borowczyk's cutting back and forth between close ups of Pierro and Kier's faces in the film's final moments literally feels like they are breaking the film apart. It's a film I can't shake and, like Anger's LUCIFER RISING or Roeg's BAD TIMING, even repeated viewings can't take away it's mystery and magic.
Watching these films today I always find myself wondering where Pierro is. I wonder if she is aware, or cares, that some of these films are finally getting DVD releases and some respect. I wonder what her thoughts were when Borowczyk passed away almost a year ago, had they kept in touch or had she disappeared from his life too? I wonder in her 47th year what she looks like, I can't imagine that she has lost much of her beauty. I can imagine her face is as before and her stare could still dismantle not only any camera filming her but any audience watching.

****MAJOR UPDATE****
A kind soul left a comment pointing that Marina has an official website, and I urge everyone to check it out. It's a nicely designed site with some of the most beautiful photos you will find on the web, and shots of Marina in Argento's SSUSPIRIA so that mystery is solved for me.
It's so nice to see that she apparently has fond memories of her film career and I'm glad to see she is involved in stage work. She still retains all of her mystery and I am really thankful to have had this site pointed out to me.

Artist and Muse #4

Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst discuss a shot on the set of their first film together, The Virgin Suicides.

Artist and Muse #6

Philippe Garrell and Nico in 1972's The Inner Scar. Nico would star in, provide dialogue and compose the music (available on the Desertshore album). Garrell would write, direct and co-star in it. Pierre Clementi would also appear.

Click over to http://www.knkmusic.net/ for a splendid free download of Nico live at Ronnie Scotts. One of the better later live recordings I have heard by her.

Artist and Muse #7

Sergio Leone and Claudia Cardinale on the set of the astonishing Once Upon A Time In The West. Head over to http://www.claudiacardinale.co.uk/menu.htm for a lovely tribute to one of the most beautiful actresses in screen history.
Once Upon A Time In The West is available in a fine double disc special edition dvd from MGM for under ten dollars. Rumor has it that Leone's Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars more will finally be re-released as special editions later this year.

Artist and Muse #9

James Toback directs Nastassja Kinski in a typically intense moment during the filming of Exposed. This 1983 film remains an odd hybrid of thriller, art film and personal obsession. It features one of Kinski's most iconic performances and is currently out of print. Toback and Kinski have both made better films but Exposed is well worth searching out and it will hopefully find its way to DVD one day.

Artist and Muse #10

Chris Stein snapped this great shots of H.R. Giger preparing Deborah Harry for their video Now I Know You Know. These shots were featured in Blondie's Making Tracks book and they can be found, along with some others, at many Giger and Blondie tribute sites.
Giger would photograph and design the cover and artwork for Debbie's first solo album Koo-Koo, as well as direct two videos for her off it. The cover was banned in several parts of the world and remains controversial to this day. The videos they shot together remain some of the most unique and distinctive in the medium.

Artist and Muse #11

Arthur Penn and Melanie Griffith discuss a scene on the set of 1975's Night Moves. This is my favorite Penn film and in my view one of the five best films of the seventies. It would be Griffith's first major role and remains one of her finest. Night Moves is currently available in a fine widescreen presentation on dvd, with a vintage featurette focusing on Penn as the only extra.

Artist and Muse #12

Just a reminder that the newest Almodovar film, VOLVER, hits dvd tomorrow. Penelope Cruz decided she wanted to be an actress after seeing Almodovar's TIE ME UP TIE ME DOWN as a teenager and their partnership has been a notable one. VOLVER is a fine film with an incredible performance by Cruz whom, in my eyes, should have won the Oscar this year for it.
The disc features a commentary with Almodovar and Cruz, along with an extended interview with the actress discussing her relationship with her favorite director.
Also available now is the great box set VIVA PEDRO which features 8 of Almodovar's finest.

Artist and Muse #13

Out tomorrow is the long awaited, and much discussed, BLACK EMANUELLE's BOX VOLUME 1 from Severin Dvd. It has been a long road for these dvds to finally hit the streets. A box was originally announced several years ago by Anchor Bay but that was nixed after the were taken over by a larger and much more conservative company.
Two of the films in the box are helmed by Mr. Joe D'Amato and they all star the incredible Laura Gemser. Also included in the box is a bonus cd, GETTING DOWN WITH BLACK EMANUELLE which is a compilation of the great Nico Fidenco's work from the films.
The set is very limited and will disappear quickly and early reviews for the box are all stellar. Severin continues to be one of the most important companies for Euro film lovers currently producing discs.

Artist and Muse #14

While she is not often mentioned among the better actresses of her generation, Heather Graham's great performance as Roller-Girl in BOOGIE NIGHTS is a fine piece of work that most actor's would probably give anything to have on their resume.
Graham's career has been frustrating since Anderson cast her in her most iconic role but her dramatic work in James Toback's TWO GIRLS AND A GUY and her comedic turns in AUSTIN POWERS THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME as well as BOWFINGER are worth noting.
I am guessing that Anderson probably was remembering just how effective Graham was in 1989's DRUGSTORE COWBOY when he cast her as Roller-Girl and his faith in her paid off. Graham's layered and incredibly tragic work as one of BOOGIE NIGHTS most vulnerable lost souls is among the great performances in a film absolutely overflowing with them.

Artist and Muse #15

Despite my love for the remake, Godard's original BREATHLESS remains peerless. It is a glorious reminder of the limitless possibilities of cinema and one of the greatest debut films of all time. Here is Godard directing his legendary stars, Jean Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.

Artist and Muse #16

Among my favorite films of the decade is Julio Medem's 2001 feature SEX AND LUCIA starring Paz Vega. I have revisited this extremely striking and meditative film much more than almost any other in the past seven years and its non-linear narrative on sex, love, life and death reminds me of some of the greatest art films of the sixties and seventies.
This film followed Medem's equally captivating LOVERS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE and gave Paz Vega one of her first starring roles. SEX AND LUCIA was nominated for a whopping 11 Goya awards and won for Alberto Iglesias's haunting score and for Vega's startling performance. Paz would go on to win five additional Spanish film awards for her portrayel of Lucia and the film was a critical and popular success in Spain as well as throughout Europe.
Medem is currently finishing up work on his newest film, CHAOTIC ANA and Vega recently completed work on the newest film by the Taviani Brothers, THE LARK FARM.
I will be looking at SEX AND LUCIA in more depth in the future but I though this great shot of Vega and Medem, from the set, was well worth posting.

Artist and Muse #17

Few films have centered on the complex relationship between an artist and muse more successfully than Jacques Rivette's 1991 masterpiece LA BELLE NOISEUSE (THE BEAUTIFUL TROUBLEMAKER)
It is a film of collision as Rivette, the most uncomprimising director of the 1st French New Wave, collaborates with with possibly the greatest actress of the second New Wave, Emmanuelle Beart.
Rivette was 63 when he directed the then 27 year old Beart in their first film together. One of the great films about art, and more importantly the creation of art, LA BELLE NOISEUSE makes clear the blurring line and equal importance of the artist-muse relationship.
Rivette's masterful film, in my opinion one of the best ever made, won the Grand Prize at the Cannes film festival and is currently available on dvd from New Yorker Home Video. The intriguing companion piece DIVERTIMENTO remains out of print in America but can be obtained fairly cheaply from Asian market importers.
Rivette and Beart would meet again in 2003's THE STORY OF MARIE AND JULIEN, an astonishingly great ghost story that shows them both still at the top of their game and miles above most of their peers.
Rivette nearing 80 is continuing to create one of the most startling original canons in all of film history and has just released DON'T TOUCH THE AXE in France. Along with Eric Rohmer, Rivette remains an artist that is as fresh and vital in his 80s as most are in their 20s.
Beart turns 44 year this year and remains one of France's greatest actors and most passionate activists. She admitted in THE STORY OF MARIE AND JULIEN'S supplemental material that her collaborations with Rivette are special ones...here is hoping their mystical journey together in film continues in the future.

Artist and Muse #18

There are very few films in this world that give me greater joy than Jean-Pierre Jeunet's AMELIE. It is hard for me to believe that it has already been over five years since this wondrous French film played in American theaters. The excitement it generated at the time is still fresh in my mind and watching a French subtitled film playing so well in even smaller American communities was incredible. I hope to one day see it in a theater again.
I've watched AMELIE many times and it still gives me the same sense of discovering something special with each viewing...simply put, this is one film I will never tire of.
Audrey Tautou was one of the decade's great discoveries and, the incredibly lame DA VINCI CODE excepted, she has had a very interesting career since AMELIE. I have really admired that she has continued to make mostly French films and hasn't gone the route of mainstream Hollywood, a community that often seems to suck the life out of the greatest European talent.
Jeunet is currently working on LIFE OF PI and was last heard from with the underrated and worthwhile A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, which also starred Tautou.
Here are two photos of Jeunet and Tautou on the set of Amelie that were included in some of the original French promotional material. I might write more on AMELIE one day but I suspect that I would be disturbed by the fact that the time spent writing about it could be used on watching it again. If you haven't seen it, do so...to quote one of the film's original tag lines, "She'll change your life."

Artist And Muse #19

Filming herself with the same kind of intense scrutiny and obsessive detailing as Maya Deren did decades ago, director and actress Marina de Van is a name that isn't mentioned nearly enough.
Born in 1971 in France and a student of philosophy as well as cinema, de Van is probably best known for her work with Francois Ozon. Her name is on many of his best films as a co-writer, actress and even crew member. Her work on the scripts for UNDER THE SAND and 8 WOMEN are particularly noteworthy while her performances in SITCOM and SEE THE SEA are among the finest in Ozon's canon.
Her most intriguing and valuable work so far though has been her one feature film as writer, director and star. 2002's DANS MA PEAU (IN MY SKIN) is among the most overlooked films of the decade. A strange and at times deeply disturbing work that recalls the body horror of early David Cronenberg as well as some of the seventies most extreme works in the exploitation and art house genres.
Just 30 years old when she made this extremely effective low budget film, Marina stars as Esther and her camera rarely leaves her own striking face and body. Esther is a a young business women, seemingly normal and in a relationship. One night at a party she slips through some glass and badly cuts her leg. The deep gash, and particularly the idea that her flesh and what is underneath is all that is truly her own, began to obsess her.

IN MY SKIN could have been a simple and sick exploitation film but de Van's thoughtful and beautifully composed direction, moving script and astonishing performance turn this into one of the most genuine art films of the decade. Marina de Van obviously has a lot to say in this film, about women in the work place and about the twisted body obsession that the media is always throwing onto young women. But more than that I think IN MY SKIN is suggesting just how isolated we can become, in this increasingly mechanical and cold modern world, from ourselves and our bodies.
IN MY SKIN is a difficult film to watch and it is not for everyone. Beware of critics who attempt to psychologically dissect the film too much. One of the things that makes it great is that it is a particularly internal horror film. Just as Esther discovers something underneath her skin that is hers alone, I think the only true and accurate reading of IN MY SKIN could be given by Marina de Van herself. It is a film that alienated a lot of people and has, in my view, been unjustly pushed away. I think it is one of the best films of the decade and one of the most thoughtful and fully realized works by a female writer and director in 20 years.

The fine dvd of IN MY SKIN is still in print and features some short films that de Van made as well as a engrossing commentary track by her.

Artist and Muse #22

Congratulations to both Michael Winterbottom and Angelina Jolie for receiving some of the best reviews of their career for the just opened, A MIGHTY HEART.
Winterbottom has become one of my favorite modern directors in the last ten years and I am glad to see one of his films getting so much acclaim.
The once unbelievably kinetic and intense Jolie was, at the beginning of her career, one of my favorite American actresses, but it has been almost a decade since she really seemed to push herself in a role. As much as I have come to admire her as a person, I have really missed the excitement her early work generated. I am happy to see that apparently she has found a role that might remind people, and perhaps herself, of how good she can be.
I plan on seeing the film this weekend and the talented Winterbottom has rarely let me down so I am looking forward to it.

***POSTSCRIPT***
I saw A MIGHTY HEART yesterday and it is one of the best film's Michael Winterbottom has ever made and the best performance Angelina Jolie has given since GIA ten years ago. Highly, highly recommended.

Artist and Muse #25

PERSONA (1966)
HOUR OF THE WOLF (1968)
SHAME (1968)
THE PASSION OF ANNA (1969)
CRIES AND WHISPERS (1972)
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (1973)
FACE TO FACE (1976)
THE SERPENT'S EGG (1977)
AUTUMN SONATA (1979)
PRIVATE CONFESSIONS (1996)
FAITHLESS (2000)
SARABAND (2003)