Celluloid and Immortality
De box looks at vun fellow, and de box says
“Yes, dot vun is for me!”
It looks at annoder, and it says, “Nawww!”
– Akim Tamiroff, as related by Orson Welles
Dean the Drop-out of Drop-outs
Dying young means
being young for all eternity.
He had the good luck of dying at the age of twenty-four. He personified the drop-out,
who was too sensitive and uncompromising to cope with life, but he didn’t have
much time to drop out. Life did him the favor of removing him from the scene.
That is the most commendable way of being defeated. It is true that he did his part
in exiting by recklessly speeding in his sports car.
Dean didn’t have the bad luck of surviving his accident with scars like Monty Clift,
who went on to decline and died at the age of forty-five. Fate was even more unkind
to Dean’s precursor Brando. His magnificent physique hit the skids along with his fiery rebellious mien.
Yes, Dean was lucky. He died at the peak of his career with no bald spot or streaks of grey in his hair – and no paunch.
The option for an artist seems to be between longevity and becoming immortal.
Dean’s age for eternity, will always be twenty-four. Dying young is the best way
of being done in by life.
Immortality
New chapeau invariably
becomes old hat,
and old hat
keeps making a come-back
as new chapeau.
A prince or a princess
should die young
and let things be.
Beauty fades
and is seldom hereditary.
Dean became immortal
at the age of twenty-four.
Brando due to the girt attained
as he aged – not quite!
Grace Kelly had a dream
career. As she sailed
to marry her prince
at the age of 26,
she already looked
like a dowager.
Grace proved that being
a Tinsel Town Princess
beats being a real one.
The Cranes Are Flying
The romance of Veronica and Boris is interrupted by the war.
He is inducted.
Veronica runs to the station, but his train leaves before
they can say goodbye to each other.
Boris carries a wounded comrade on his back through a marsh.
A shot rings out. Boris stiffens and lets go of the man he is carrying.
We see Boris bounding up the stairs in tattered uniform.
He comes to a door and opens it. A wedding is taking place.
He finds himself joyously marrying Veronica.
He is elegantly dressed. Veronica is at his side.
She smiles radiantly.
Boris is both groom and spectator.
We see the wounded comrade looking up at Boris.
Now he is in mortal danger, since Boris cannot continue
to carry him to safety.
Boris has been allowed to see Veronica once more,
if only in his imagination.
Boris buckles and falls to the ground.
Boris and Veronica will never see each other
on this earth again.
The cranes are flying.
Flowers on Her Grave
In Broken Flowers directed by Jim Jarmusch,
Bill Murray sets out to search for a son
that one of his old flames may have had.
He makes a call on each one.
There is a scene where he places flowers
on a grave and says, “Hello beautiful.”
When someone you have loved has died,
it breaks your heart all over again,
it breaks your heart all over again.
Dictators and Good Deeds
Did Hitler help an old lady to cross the street before he became the Führer?
There is no account of such a deed. However, in Café Hofgarten in Munich in 1922, he was sitting near Lion Feuchtwanger. When Feuchtwanger got up to leave, Hitler darted up and helped the writer put on his coat.
(A decade later, the author’s works were thrown into Nazi bonfires. The polite man of the Twenties could very well have taken on the role of Grim Reaper if Feuchtwanger had still been within reach.)
I am still in search of one good deed by Vladimir Putin, firebug of inhabited buildings, dictator, invader of countries, kidnapper of children, assassin of journalists at home and “turncoat” agents abroad.
I broke with fans of the man, but if any of them can come up with just one good deed by the despot, things will have to be patched up.
– Herbert Kuhner
Dick to Henry the Kiss (of Death):
“You’re so goddamned concerned about the civilians,
and I don’t give a damn.”
And Henry, not to be outdone chimes in:
“Why should we flagellate ourselves
for what the Cambodians did to each other?”
Nice thoughts, guys!
Dick explains how he undid himself:
“Always remember, others may hate you,
but those who hate you don’t win
unless you hate them,
and then you destroy yourself.”
(Wise words from a man I do not admire.)
– Herbert Kuhner
Vjera Vitošević (Montenegro)
A Monster
A monster slumbers in man,
deep within him
like rancid fear.
A monster slumbers in man.
Head of a lamb,
stumpy legs, wolf’s paws
and a tail
that can snap like lightning.
A monster slumbers in man.
It lies twisted in sleep
devoid of courage,
dreaming
in a rotting carapace.
A monster slumbers in man.
The days and nights
on this trodden Earth
have scarred faces
in which one can see
that a monster slumbers in man.
Translated from the Serbian
by Herbert Kuhner and the author
****
The question that has to be asked
is whether those dedicated to a good cause
are as dedicated
as those who are dedicated to an evil cause.
Your heart should be in the right place –
the same goes for your mind.
Idealists always dream of a better world,
but their dreams usually come to naught –
and the world invariably gets worse.
There’s not a bad side
and a good side.
There’s a worse side
and a better side.
Inhumanity seldom leads to humanity
but invariably to more inhumanity.
Regretfully those who are oppressed
often end up emulating their oppressors.
Herbert Kuhner
Our Business
Murder is our business.
And what we do,
we do well.
We’re professionals
who are dedicated,
to our profession,
but meting out death
is more than a profession,
it is a true vocation.
Blood is the bond
that binds us,
and nothing binds
like spilt blood.
True brotherhood stems
from shared guilt,
and our guilt
is so pure and unadulterated
that it is virtuous.
We adhere
to a scorched earth policy.
We kill every living thing
we find in our path,
whether it be man, beast or plant –
sparing none and showing no mercy.
(Mercy is a word we seldom use
and when we do,
it’s uttered mockingly
and with disdain.)
Our cruelty
knows no bounds
and is so extreme
that it is creative.
The only way to stop us
is to use our methods against us.
Murderers can only be prevented
from murdering by murderers.
And those who try to kill us,
might die themselves in the process.
Grinders establish a bond.
when they bind.
We’ve Got to Get Them
We’ve got to get them
before they get us.
And we know
they’re out to get us.
We’ve got to get them,
even if it means
getting them
before they’re born.
We’ve got to get them
before they have a chance
to grow up
and get us.
Sometimes you have to behave
like a barbarian
in order to prevent others
from behaving like barbarians.
The Great War
World War I
is referred to as the Great War.
World War II should be referred to
as the Greater War.
Is the “Greatest” one coming?