January 2010
 

30 January 2010

Luhrmann's Indian Adventures - Part II

Further to my last news update, DNA India has reported the following story regarding Baz Luhrmann's trip to India. The story features many quotes from Luhrmann, including the pivotal quote, "It’s time again to explore the country and draw some inspiration for my next project." Could Luhrmann be considering an Indian project, or one that is inspired by it? Luhrmann's journey strongly indicates that he is still undecided about what to embark upon next, and I think it's great that he has travelled to India for inspiration. Hopefully the trip will provide him with the enlightenment he is searching for!

'I am here to say how much I love you', Baz Luhrmann
27 January 2010

Mumbai: You need to see it to believe it — the kind of camaraderie that AR Rahman shares with Aussie film-maker Baz Luhrmann. The Mozart of Madras quietly slipped into Mumbai late on Republic Day and rushed back to Chennai yesterday afternoon after spending a few hours with the critically acclaimed director and his artist friend Vincent Fantauzzo.

"I got in touch with Rahman while making Moulin Rouge. Since then, we’ve been constantly in touch. I don't call him by his name; I call him maestro. I am so glad that he has come all the way just to meet me," says Luhrmann as he affectionately puts his arm around Rahman. Rahman and Luhrmann are looking to work together. Rahman says, "We had a meeting and I would love to work with a director like him. We have been exchanging ideas for a long time now. I hope they fructify soon." Luhrmann adds, "We are just looking for the right story to tell. We hope to find it soon."

Speaking about the attacks on Indians in Australia, Luhrmann says, "It disturbs me everytime I hear about an attack on an Indian. These bunches of hoodlums are a very small part of the population of Australians who genuinely love India. I am here to say how much I love you. I am travelling to Rajasthan on a motorcycle with Vincent just after this. I am told that it's very physically taxing but I am doing that to paint the country. I will be stopping mid-way andspray painting whenever I see something inspiring. I have been looking for a reason to come here and a charitable cause (the proceeds from his and Vincent’s paintings will be donated to Deeds, a charity working for the hearing impaired in India) seemed a good reason. It’s time again to explore the country and draw some inspiration for my next project."

Luhrmann is in Mumbai to inaugurate Le Sutra, India’s first art hotel. So, does he want to make a film on India? "I would love to make a film on India. These trips are just to stir that urge in me. But Mumbai has changed a lot. I couldn’t recognise the Mumbai that I had left behind. I am glad I have come back to a new Mumbai," he ends.

26 January 2010

Happy Australia Day!

Luhrmann's Indian Adventures

Baz Luhrmann arrived in Mumbai today with his friend and acclaimed artist, Vincent Fantauzzo. Fantauzzo is an Australian based painter who won the Archibald Prize for his portrait of the Oscar-winning star Heath Ledger.  Luhrmann and Fantauzzo are guests of India's first art hotel, La Sutra, and tomorrow they will be painting a mural on a vacant wall. They will then will then ride across Rajasthan on motorbikes, taking photographs of their journey and displaying them in an art exhibition back at the hotel. The following article from Topnews.in includes quotes from Luhrmann about his upcoming adventure:

Baz spreads canvas from Moulin Rouge to city wall
25 January 2010

On January 27, celebrated Australian filmmaker, Baz Luhrmann, will unleash his creativity on a bare wall in suburban Khar in Mumbai. The guru of heightened reality in cinema, best showcased in his award-winning films Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, will visit Mumbai with acclaimed Australian artist and friend, Vincent Fantauzzo. The two are chief guests of Le Sutra, India’s first art hotel, and are expected to paint a mural on the theme of a fusion between contemporary and Indian dance on a vacant hotel wall.

"Cinema is a canvas. I sit with a whole team of artists for each of my projects as that line between mediums is disappearing. Vincent is leading this creative artistic adventure in Mumbai, a city in which I have had some romantic and beautiful times," said the Oscar nominated and BAFTA winning director over the phone from Hong Kong.

"I first visited India 15 years ago and have returned several times since. It has never failed me. I find a sort of spiritual renewal here. Mother India has given me very valuable lessons," said Luhrmann.

"Mother India" evidently made quite an impact as after his very first trip in 1993, Luhrmann employed India during the British Raj as the backdrop of his production of Benjamin Britten’s opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

"The play had two layers, the fairy or spiritual world and the human world, which in this case was the Elizabethan world. I noticed that Hindu religion plays with similar sensibilities, so while the characters spoke Elizabethan English they had Hindu representations," said Luhrmann of the opera, which won numerous awards at the 1994 Edinburgh Festival.

Luhrmann's passion for the Bollywood aesthetic was also forged during his early visits when he accidentally caught a Bollywood film screening with 2000 locals in Udaipur.

"It was set in Oxford about two brothers fighting each other. One moment there was song followed by comedy and then tragedy. The completeness of the experience blew me away. I didn't understand the language but that was my epiphany to bring this sensibility into a Western cinematic form, which I have incorporated in Moulin Rouge," Luhrmann admitted.

After Mumbai, Luhrmann and Fantauzzo will ride across Rajasthan on custom-made Royal Enfield bikes. The duo will display their photographs taken on this journey at an exhibition at the Mumbai art hotel. "We bear a positive message through this artistic gesture," said Luhrmann, who is next working on an adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

Note - As far as I know, Baz Luhrmann has not yet confirmed that his next project will be The Great Gatsby. We only know that he has bought the rights to the book and it is a movie project that he is 'considering'.

10 January 2010

Best Film of the Decade - Moulin Rouge!

Moulin Rouge! has been voted Best Film of the Decade through a survey run by UK movie website, lovefilm.com. 150,000 people participated in the survey and made their selections from a shortlist of 100 films. Moulin Rouge! topped the survey, beating other high profile films such as The Dark Knight, Gladiator and The Lord of the Rings.

4 January 2010

Luhrmann's 'Spectacular' Interview

Talk Asia (CNN) recently chatted to Baz Luhrmann in his home town of Sydney. Although it is not clear when the interview was conducted, the 23 minute video entitled 'Baz Luhrmann's eye for the spectacular' was recently posted on the CNN website. The presenter chats to Luhrmann while walking around Sydney Harbour and then continues the interview both inside the House of Iona and outside over tea on the front veranda!

The interview spans from Luhrmann's childhood and then throughout all his films. The video is extremely interesting, as it contains photos and footage from Luhrmann's childhood that have been provided by Luhrmann himself and which I have never before seen. Examples include a photo of his father, a photo of him pumping gas at his family's gas station and footage of him as a child which was filmed using his father's camera.

The interview itself is very intriguing, as Luhrmann seems totally at ease talking openly about his early career right through to Australia. Highlights include Luhrmann being asked to name his favourite film and not being able to, although he does reveal that all his favourite scenes centre around key relationship moments. In Strictly Ballroom, it is in the dance studio where Fran wants to dance with Scott; in Romeo + Juliet, it is the pool scene; and in Moulin Rouge!, it is the elephant scene where Christian sings Your Song.

The lucky presenter is also taken on a tour inside the House of Iona where Luhrmann shows off his famous 'red room' of movie memorabilia - a real treat for any Luhrmann fan! ;)

Luhrmann is very positive throughout the interview and seems to be looking forward to the next 'act' of his life story:

"As a little kid in the middle of nowhere in a tiny country town, I had no problem ... imagining the big story, the big myth, the big adventure. I just go, 'Wouldn't it be great if...' and I always think that'd be easy, that wouldn't be a big deal, that wouldn't cause a stir. Next thing I find myself going down that road, causing a stir, people saying, 'how experimental'."

Baz - "There's an old saying ... 'All the you've got in the end is your story and you'd better make it a good one.' And I think that's probably all there is. Your life is a story and let's hope that it's a good one to tell when you're sitting under a tree with a cup of tea.
Presenter - "Are you happy with your story so far?"
Baz - "It's not a bad first and second act. I feel like - it's about time, isn't it - I just really feel like I've only just got going."
 

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