Our Declaration of Principles
We'd make our promises now...if we weren't so busy arranging to keep them
The Varnished Culture hereby undertakes as follows: To: Declare interest, if any; Publish sans fear or favour; Encourage, though not necessarily respect, other views; Try to moderate and critically self-assess ingrained or fixed opinions; Neither boycott nor sanction those for what they say or publish; Be fair to Art whilst being harsh to Art; Eliminate gratuitous metaphysics and safe spaces; Be honest in all things; Tirelessly and fearlessly champion the individual’s rights, dreams, and artistic expressions; Tirelessly and fearlessly remind the individual of responsibilities. [*Explanatory Notes: We might accept…
Continue Reading →The French Connection
"Au revoir"
(directed by William Friedkin) (1971) We were reminded of this terrific cops-and-robbers film recently in another context. That film genre came into vogue in the early part of the 20th century, as a modernist complement to the penny-dreadful western. The world’s first full-length narrative feature film was about cops-and-robbers, the Australian-made Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). In the 1930s and 1940s the genre came of age (often courtesy of Warner Bros.) – notably, Little Caesar (1930), The Public Enemy (1931), Scarface (1932), The Petrified Forest (1936), The Roaring Twenties (1939) Double Indemnity (1944) and White Heat (1949). Friedkin’s insistence on gritty…
Continue Reading →Everybody’s Talkin’
Songs in Our Heart # 70 Everybody’s Talkin’ (Harry Nilsson version) (written by Fred Neil; released July 1968, re-released 1969) [A perfect accompaniment to one of The Varnished Culture‘s favourite films, Midnight Cowboy, this sublime, tastefully produced and performed cover by Nilsson is a perfect meld of mawkish optimism and detached sadness, in a callous cold world of noise. “People stopping, staring, I can’t see their faces. Only the shadows of their eyes…”] “Everybody’s talking at me I don’t hear a word they’re saying Only the echoes of my mind People stopping, staring I can’t see their faces Only the shadows of…
Continue Reading →The Great Aussie Bloke Slim-Down
Why is Lisa Always Wincing? (image by Alpha from Melbourne, Australia)
(by Peter FitzSimons). Like the caring and observant types at TVC, you will have wondered why TV butterfly Lisa Wilkinson always looks ashamed and sad. We think it could be this:-
Continue Reading →“No overheads” – Joseph Losey
Joseph Losey (January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) directed some absorbing films (The Boy With Green Hair, The Go-Between, A Doll’s House, Galileo) and two masterpieces, The Servant and Accident. After The Servant was rescued from a dusty shelf and became celebrated (at least, critically) around the world, Dirk Bogarde threw a party at the Connaught. In his book, Snakes and Ladders, he recalls the director Basil Dearden kneeling at Losey’s feet and asking him “…how could I make a film like this?…How should I even start?” Losey replied “Sure I know. Shall I tell you? Well; first of all…
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