#i also want to give credit to the dialect coach who is helping with the elvish language direction | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kevkesblog · 5 years

Text

Translation: Kai Havertz portait in ZEIT newspaper (January 2019)

NOTE: Hey guys! This time I tried something new. I translated an exclusive portrait the german weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT did with Kai in January. They interviewed him as well as Kai’s family. Its very candid and has alot of details. I hope you guys like it, since DIE ZEITs writing is usually very difficult - even for germans. And I apologize for spelling errors as usual.

The original text in German

Kai Havertz: the peace itself

(January 23, 2019)

People praise Leverkusens national player Kai Havertz, 19, for his serenity with the ball which put him on the radar of many European top clubs. His parents start to realize that he is likely becoming world famous.

By Jörg Kramer

The most promising german football talent these days picked a table very far behind in an restaurant somewhere in Cologne to order himself some spagetti gnocchi – inconspicuous.

There is no star posturing with Kai Havertz. The 19 year old could even go through as a normal university student; with his bright hoodie and somewhat cheap and not even special occurence.

And with his voice, which has this typical regional dialect, without the typical empty phrases that young football player use to often in order to cover up their meaningless sentences. But people know his face by now. So thats why he doesnt sit right next to the entrance.

He belongs to the celebrities of the football scene. European top clubs are scouting the young men in stadiums, team mates from Bayer Leverkusen praising him and forecasting him to have the potential to become a world star.

He already scored nine goals this season, decided some games by his own and played his first games for the national team. Havertz became the centre of his clubs game by playing at the centre midfield. His role only changed slightly and the importance of his role not at all, since Peter Bosz took over as head coach. He views this very relaxed and talks in an restaurant somewhere in the Belgian Quarter of Cologne about Leverkusen being the „perfect place“ in order to develop as a young player. And thats where he wants to give his all for the last half year ahead. Ooops!

His last half year? That was a slip of the tongue of course, he meant to say the next half year. Because his contract with Bayer is still running until 2022 without an exit clause. But things now are developing in a rapid way which runs parallel to his explosive performance currently. Its just a matter of the perfect timing that someone like him will end up going to Barcelona, Manchester or at least Munich – a choice between summer 2019 or summer 2020 maybe.

Havertz walks over his misspelled sentence like nothing happend. Once in Nuremberg in the middle of a turmoil of an rainy game, it seemed as if he stopped – as if he was reconsidering the situation with him having the ball. Like if somebody pressed a ‚Stop‘-button. And he chiped to ball in an cool and unemoitional and scored.

Coaches and team mates are citizing his body language, he says. So he works on looking more aggresive. He even participates on useless discussions between his teammates and referees after controversial decisions on the pitch, in order to get a penalty for the other team or some revenge. But it doesnt really look good him when he does it, he admits – even after a though tackle or when going after the ball. „I’m a player that shines with his tranquility.“ A nice sentence that gives away his elegante style of play.

Havertz remained an artist on the pitch. Every foul is a sign of weakness. Everytime he gets the ball, which is his job as an offensive player, he never runs into his opponents – he anticipates. „I try to imagine, which options my opponent has, what he would do if I were him.“ He then runs with a planned pass way and he gets the ball.

Havertz learned in the past almost two and a half years all systems and tatics of modern football. Starting with a radical system, almost a raid-strategy under coach Roger Schmidt, by which the goal keeper kicked the ball high and it flew wide over the pitch – almost always directly aimed at Havertz‘ head – because he is 1,88 meters tall.

Then the mixed system under Heiko Herrlich. He always had to look for his team mates before he passed. Now with Bosz, a planfull offensive style with flat passing. He runs through all the chapters. The first began on October 15, 2016.

It was a Saturday. A day where the Havertz family from Mariadorf near Aachen still couldnt realize that their youngest son, will probably end up living off football and perhaps even become famous. They cant really believe it up until today, says Anne Havertz, his mother.

On that day – October 15 – Kai was a youth player, in a big house next to the woods in Mariadorf having breakfast – when suddently coach Schmidt called. Lars Bender, professional Bayer-player who was supposed to play against Werder Bremen that evening, got injured and had to quit. Kai had to come to Bremen, immidiately! His mother drove him to Leverkusen. A special shuttle took him to Bremen. His whole family was sitting in front of the TV that night.

Kai was sitting on the bench as expected. Then, during the 83th minute, the commentator saw already more than the viewes and said: now we are experiencing a debut. Kai Havertz was ready to get subbed. In the real Bundesliga. Anne Havertz said: „Oh my god!“.

(Credit: Instagram: kaihavertz29)

Kai’s mother, who worked as a lawyer until she got pregnant with her eldest son, came to the restaurant in Cologne one day after Kai to talk about life as a family of an future world star. She brought her husband – Kai’s father, and her daughter Lea, Kai’s sister. The sister is studying marketing and digital media in the city.

People can reach his father in an emergency by dailing 1-1-0. He is a police officer working at the police station 3 in Cologne-West. He says he is really impressed, about how cool and routinely his football playing son manages post-game interviews and how we stays cool when people recognize him in public and everybody is watching,

The Havertz family is still perplexed about a football world where colleagues of their son, order their own cooks to cook for them at home. And whenever he puts his legs into an special bag in order to regenerate. Almost the whole family – except his oldest brother and the dog – are having apple pie and salate and looking back at the stages of his career, which started at Alemannia Mariadorf. Kai skiped two age-groups. He then played with older players than actually intended. Then he transfered to Bayer Leverkusen. All because the scout was tough but not intrusive like the other scouts. By the age of ten, Bayer drove Kai to training sessions three times a week.

4 year old Kai Havertz (Credit: kicker tv)

He was still among the smallest players in the team by the age of 14. Then suddently - a growth spurt which resultet in issues with his knees and his back. They were responsible for Kai loosing his fixed spot on the team. This was also the hard time because he left home and moved to Leverkusen. The club doesnt have an academy so he stayed at a guest family – the family of the stadium announcer from Bayer, together with two other players. A year later he moved into an apartement with his older brother, until Jan had to move to Nuremberg – he has a marketing job at adidas now.

A lasting memory: endless discussions within the Havertz family about the overarching question: does the boy need a german high school diploma (Abitur)? Will he pass the tests when he is travelling around with his professional teammates?

Kai Havertz attended the Landrat-Lucas-Gymnasium. An elite school of sports where he could skip classes in the morning for training. But he always had to catch up school stuff from the day. Once he played with Leverkusen at the DFB-Cup at Sportfreunde Lotte. He was subbed late, it went into penalities and after the team was eliminated from the cup he arrived home late – at 3am. At 8am he had an English exam.

The family became a team. His mother and sister helped him with biology exams. One day the young football player said to his family, he has no power left anymore. „But he never said: I want to quit!“ his mother insists. This was a breaking point by which his parents thought about quitting and stop pursuing the Abitur. But suddently coach Roger Schmidt intervened and said Kai should pull through. The whole Bayer team will support him.

The Abitur became a factor of will power, a test of life. The school supervisor of Bayer, a former athlete herself, said something memorable: it will shape his whole life if Kai quits school now. Whenever something becomes difficult, if something goes beyond your pain barrier, he will always have this option to quit in his head, that you can just give up.

Kai Havertz choose the pain, the Abitur. Now he will always choose the hard way if the theory of his supervisor holds.

On this January afternoon in Cologne, he is being asked what other job he would have picked if it wasnt for football. He likes the job as a barber, for men’s hairstyle. He smiles. Some curls are hanging on his forehead from left to right. A Barber. He wouldnt have needed an Abitur for that.

He is a genius at football. He won the German junior championship with Bayer and scored 19 goals in 29 games. He got awarded as a Under-19-player as the best of his age with the Fritz-Walter-medal from the DFB. Kai made it onto second place on his position after Marco Reus from Dortmund in a list of the football magazine „kicker“ which they publish every half year – but seven spaces in front of Munich’s Thomas Müller.

Coach Heiko Herrlich says Havertz reminds him of Toni Kroos. Football critic Reiner Calmund compared him to Franz Beckenbauer. His head goals remind him of Michael Ballack. Mesut Özil was always Kai Havertz idol, because of his tranquility with the ball and his ability to read a game. Sometimes Kai misses the final conciseness in front of the goal, which was visible after the recent 0-1 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Having the ability to remain calm, even when you get tackled is the result of a deep confidence in your own strenghts: screen your surrondings – in short time if necessary – and then make the right decision. Joachim Löw praises Havertz „good orientation“, something he said about Özil years ago. What he means is a certain sense of space on the pitch – an inner compass. Something that has to do with attention and memory. Havertz, who is a master of navigation, doesn’t even need practice. Some creatures have special senses and are able to find orientation on earth through a magnetic field – like migratory birds for example.

Kai Havertz likes watching Champions League games. And while watching them, there is always a wish inside him to participate as well whenever the big games of the quarter- and semifinals are on. „I think you can only reach that level by going to a top club at some point“ he says.

Mother, father and sister Havertz say, they don’t expect things from him. Something they never did in his career. But if someone asks them, who will follow Kai in a foreign country to get used to everything – they start to think about it. They would alternate. One week his mother would visit, next week his sister and then his grandmother maybe.

Kai Havertz still has a room back home in Mariadorf. Back in the day he used to have posters from FC Barcelona. So it could happen maybe one day, that youngsters in Barcelona will have posters with Kai Havertz on them.

++END++

#kaihavertz #kai havertz #bayerleverkusen #bayer leverkusen #German NT #diemannschaft #DFB Team #dfb #bravertz #julianbrandt

25 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 174: Fancy Rich People Tea

Previously on BnHA: Mirio and Deku took Eri on a whirlwind weekend tour of U.A. We learned that class B is putting on a play for the festival which sounds amazing and also appears to be infringing on no fewer than three copyrights. We ran into Hadou and Amajiki who were doing some preparations for Hadou’s Miss Con campaign. We learned that the support department has a tech exhibition at the festival each year which is a big deal for them. We also learned that Shinsou is Still At It. Not sure what it is. But he’s still here guys! Finally we ran into Midnight and the Rat Principal at the cafeteria and learned that Rat Principal had to pull lots of strings and jump through a bunch of hoops in order to run the event this year. Basically security is going to be crazy, and if someone so much as sneezes something that sounds like ‘villain attack’ they will immediately call the whole thing off and evacuate. Sounds fair. All in all, Eri had a good time and is looking forward to the actual event! Also Deku got fired from the dance squad. That’s rough, buddy.

Today on BnHA: Mina explains that they need Deku to help the staging team turn Aoyama into a human disco ball. Deku agrees so long as he still gets to dance a little bit. The next morning Deku and All Might run into Mei while training in the woods. We learn that she’s working on a new support item for Deku which will be ready soon. That evening Momo makes some fancy tea for everyone while Deku fucks around on Youtube and accidentally stumbles across one of Gentle’s videos. We then cut to Gentle and La Brava, and Gent breaks down the details of his plan. They’ll take a sneaky route to approach U.A. on the day of the festival, using back streets and side roads. Then they’ll stop and drink tea (the same fancy brand that Momo uses) for an hour and a half. Then they’ll approach U.A. from the woods, and La Brava will breach U.A.’s security barrier with her mad hacking skills. We learn that she used those same skills to track down Gentle after she first saw his videos, and afterwards she devoted herself to his cause. Gentle says he is putting his heart and soul into this new plan for her sake and for the sake of his own dreams.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 199 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

look at this sweet girl trying to soften the blow

yeah because Aoyama totally ditched them. sorry Deku, they need a new disco ball

...or maybe not!

sorry Deku we need a new dispersal method for our disco ball

so wait. they’re really going through with this, huh. this wild stream-of-consciousness rambling from Mina really became the centerpiece for the entire dance floor

and Aoyama is FULLY ON BOARD now

so now this job is perfect for you huh. well you sure are a good sport

so they want Deku to break off from the main group at the same time as Aoyama and help him out

so once he has been “dispersed” you can probably still go have your dance with Eri, Deku! you can do that thing where she stands on top of your feet and you waltz around. it’s going to be so cute omg. make sure your mom videotapes it

speaking of are the parents going to get to come to this thing too? or will it really only be the kids. let their moms and dads come see all of their hard work!

(ETA: I was hoping we would see some of the parents but if they were there we missed it. booooo)

now Kiri is doing that hands-clapped-together pleading thing and apologizing to Deku, but he says they really need his help

lol so they’ve realized that they can’t put all their eggs into the “Aoyama as disco ball” basket

this is an honest-to-god serious conversation these kids are happening. with note-taking and everything. Todoroki fucking Shouto is in on this. “how long can we hold people’s attention by transforming Aoyama into a disco ball.” science

okay but. you guys... are planning other stuff too. right. ...???

(ETA: they sure are. that ice stuff that Mina also suggested. I’m telling you guys, she’s the undisputed MVP of this whole arc, and without her their festival program would have been shit)

lol well okay then. this is going to be so interesting

anyway so Deku’s all “I guess it’s okay then as long as I have a turn dancing,” and he’s agreeing to it

now we’re cutting to 6:30 a.m. on some random unknown day and Deku is training for his new move under All Might’s supervision

All Might is chock full of sage mentor wisdom

“always remember: bleeding internally is bad.” good stuff. write that down, Deku

he’s asking All Might if he has any tricks for maintaining control of the attack, since this is the first move he’s learned that he can’t just use freely

sage mentor wisdom

so apparently All Might was some sort of OFA prodigy and was able to control 100% OFA almost instantly. so he really genuinely has no idea how to teach it, because to him it just came naturally

was he just that buff when he got the quirk?? how old was he when he got it? did he actually attend U.A. as a quirkless kid? because middle school Toshinori sure as hell wasn’t ripped just yet, I can definitely tell you that much

I’m very, very, very curious about this, ngl. because I feel like the series has yet to clarify whether you need to be built like a Marvel Chris in order for your body to have the stamina to withstand OFA, or if that actually doesn’t have that much to do with it and the control needed to master it is actually more mental/spiritual than physical

like obviously physicality has a lot to do with it, though. but All Might could still use 100% for a long time even in his withered and weakened body. and Shimura, the only other OFA user we’ve seen at this juncture, was obviously super cool and tough, but it wasn’t like she was a female body builder or anything

and then of course there’s the question of exactly how much stronger Deku’s version of OFA is, though. how much of a difference is there because All Might’s strength was added to the mix? that obviously makes a big difference as well

basically I still have a lot of questions! maybe I should get back to this training scene and see if it answers any of them!

so he’s telling Deku to visualize the image of OFA -- the egg in microwave image again, I guess? -- and remember that sensation in his body. basically he’s trying to coach him on bringing it out intuitively

and Deku’s thinking to himself that even though they were both born quirkless, there’s a big difference between them still

so this does make it sound like a lot of it is mental

honestly that’s exciting and very important to me because it means that if Deku ever has a breakthrough, he could potentially make a huge leap forward in progress very suddenly

(ETA: LOOOOOOL good god I’ll say.

also! now that I know more about future developments with OFA, I’ve been thinking that I wasn’t giving Deku enough credit here. he is, in fact, just as much of a prodigy as All Might, I think. the difference is that All Might was able to master the physical aspects of OFA, whereas Deku seems to be more in touch with the spiritual side that All Might (supposedly) never really awakened. or to put it in Avatar: The Last Airbender terms, All Might was more of a Korra and Deku is more of an Aang. fortunately for Deku, it seems that being in tune with the spiritual part of OFA gives you access to some really neat stuff, holy shit.)

HOLY SHIT

THIS DUDE’S STILL GOT IT

holy shit that came out of nowhere at top speed and he caught it without looking like a total badass. WHO EVEN NEEDS ONE FOR ALL. OR ORGANS

so now Mei’s traipsing out of the woods and asking if anyone got hurt. nope, but you almost killed my husband and my son so try to be more careful next time

Deku’s belatedly realizing that this looks kind of weird, him being out in the middle of the woods having SECRET TRAINING with All Might at the crack of dawn

so All Might, master of improvisation that he is, is switching to Kansai dialect for some reason. to try and disguise himself. because of course that’ll work

thankfully, out of everyone they could have stumbled across in the woods, Hatsume Mei is the most singularly one-track-minded person they could have possibly met, and she’s barely even batting an eye

hmm?

new item, eh?

and he’s surprised and says he thought it wouldn’t be ready until after the cultural festival

but she already had the materials, so she says it’ll take no time at all

so he’s thanking her and now she’s walking off again

and by the way, this thing that All Might caught literally is a golden snitch, though

All Might > Harry Potter confirmed

(ETA: and by the way, this makes two HP references two chapters in a row, given the title of 1-B’s play. Horikoshi must have recently marathoned the films or something)

now he’s asking Deku about the new item

Deku says there was something he wanted to try out with his new technique

All Might is mentioning that he also tried using support items at one point back in the day, but apparently they only ended up getting in his way and tended to break whenever he went over 20-30%

oh hey

haven’t seen this in a while. here I thought his suit was way too fitted to accommodate this sort of thing anymore. he’s probably ruined it now

(ETA: you can actually see that the top button is about to pop off lol)

anyway, he’s telling Deku that using support items is great, just so long as he doesn’t end up relying on them too much

he says he’s seen a lot of instances where heroes that relied too much on their items had a bad time when those items were lost

this kinda seems to go against what Aoyama was saying a few chapters earlier. he’s an example of someone who does rely on a support item, and he seems to do all right. but I get what All Might is trying to tell him though

so Deku is all “got it!” and clenching his fist determinedly

aww

it is, though. I was just thinking that. I adore these All Might/Deku training scenes and it’s been great to have a return to this

so now we’re cutting back to Heights Alliance, and I’m assuming it’s the evening because the moon is up

Bakugou is squabbling with Kaminari and telling him he he plays too fast. Kaminari says Bakugou is the one screwing them up because he keeps improvising

obligatory posting of this panel of MomoJirou being lesbians

I live for the little things, I really do

omg

okay, (1) this is the cutest thing that’s ever happened ever in history, and (2) I just remembered that that was the chapter title. “imperial golden tips.” so it appears the chapter is named after Momo’s fancy tea that her mom sent her

everyone’s all excited to try it because it’s fancy rich people tea

lmao. Ochako’s asking if Deku’s going to have any, and

“am I... a bad nerd??” Deku berates himself while lying awake in bed that night sobbing uncontrollably

so I think that while Deku and Ochako are being clumsy dorks here they’re going to accidentally click on one of Gentle’s videos perhaps?

yep

in a way it’s kind of charming to know that Youtube’s suggested videos algorithm is still complete shit even in the BnHA universe 200 years from now. Deku was looking for All Might support items. Youtube: [brings up villain tea videos]

so Ochako has no idea who he is, but Deku’s actually heard of him although he says he’s not too familiar. but he knows he’s an infamous Youtube Villain

:) the answer may surprise you!

though it shouldn’t, actually. you guys should just go ahead and assume you’re the targets of every upcoming villain plot from here on out. that’s the way the dice seem to be falling nowadays

now we’re cutting to Gentle and La Brava

Gentle is writing something out with a feather quill like some sort of Harry Potter character. I couldn’t come up with a more creative simile because my mind’s still in that mode thanks to the golden snitch earlier

this man just sits around in full costume writing letters with a quill even as a laptop sits inches away. he’s just that committed to his gig. he lives this life 24/7 huh

he says that the public is growing more and more dissatisfied with heroes nowadays, and it’s because they’re “feeble-minded”

I’d actually argue that at this point, them being attacked is the predictable thing

now La Brava is asking if he’s going to involve the kids that will become future heroes. YEAH, GENTLE

I’D ARGUE THAT THEY’VE HAD ENOUGH WAKE UP CALLS BY THIS POINT

like. can they live. can they just have this one little thing though, god

oh my god

thanks La Brava. this is why he keeps you around

so now they’re going over the route!

so they’re going to approach at 5 a.m. that morning, taking a route that passes by the fewest hero offices

then they’re going to turn onto a side road, go through a residential area, and then they’ll end up at a park

blah blah so about an hour will elapse during this time and they’ll end up at a rundown house that’s actually a cafe

and he says they’re going to stop there to get some tea

apparently they serve the same tea that that Momo was coincidentally serving to everyone earlier. the imperial golden tips stuff

so... they’re going to wait until the shop opens, and then take a 90-minute tea break

let me tell you, it sure is riveting going through every detailed step of this elaborate criminal operation

then they go back outside and pass through a construction site and then climb a hill

ah, finally!

yeah probably at like 5pm at this rate. the festival will have already ended and you shrug and turn around and head back home

he says that since Hounddog will probably be guarding the area, they’ll rub themselves with dirt and leaves to mask their scent

then they’re gonna hit the famed U.A. barrier, which is impossible to get through without a permit

but apparently La Brava is A HACKING PRO, so she’s gonna hack U.A.’s network and shut down their sensors

is it really that easy? shit. doesn’t U.A. have any IT heroes? little did we know this whole time the password to their network was 1234

lmao we’re flashing back to when they first met

“corrupt businessman scolded” sounds like the kind of shit that should have gone viral tbh

then one day La Brava tracked him down and said she was a huge fan and she offered to help him

she apparently hacked his address. since the police haven’t found them yet, I’m assuming they’ve since moved, or taken down that initial video, or both lol

so now he’s proclaiming that this time around he’ll proudly put his life on the line

aww

yeah so that’s basically it. and now time is progressing to the night before the cultural festival OH GOODNESS

BONUS:

so as promised, we’re gonna do two pages today since I flaked out yesterday!

page one - class B painting the prop dragon

nothing much to say about this one except that obviously they’re going to keep painting it until they’re fucking done painting it, Colander Man

page two - Kenrazaki Bibimi’s profile. I couldn’t find a scanlation for this, so my Google Translate-assisted version is below lol

likes: glittering people, glittering things

the beauty gal

“too beautiful. it’s fun to draw her eyelashes.” lol

is it weird that now that the shock of said lashes has died down some, I actually do think she is really pretty? lol what is this manga doing to me

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #all might #hatsume mei #gentle (bnha)#la brava (bnha)#bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #before this chapter I never realized just how much of U.A. is surrounded by woods #serious question: where the hell did they find that much undeveloped land in goddamn tokyo #or did they buy the land and then demolish all the buildings and plant a new forest themselves #also how old is u.a. the school anyway #like how long ago was it established #I have a lot of questions about this actually and I'd like to know #hopefully horikoshi will give us a bit more history someday

52 notes · View notes

spanishbuenosaires2-blog · 5 years

Text

Learn Spanish Buenos Aires

Headaches Time and Money through Finding Out the best way to Understand Spanish

Spanish School Buenos Aires

What is typically the simplest way to learn The spanish language? To answer which problem, the first thing a person need to do is usually figure out how numerous different ways there are actually for you to learn Spanish. Once an individual know different learning approaches available to you, it is advisable to identify how you find out and are your studying advantages. By understanding exactly how you learn, you may present yourself a strong maneuvering in knowing what to help look for since you look for the market place to the easiest way to study Spanish.

Spanish School Buenos Aires

Solutions to Learn Romance language

There are several various routes you can acquire to learning to speak spanish and nevertheless end up at around the same end place. Formula that many associated with us are familiar using is definitely taking a college or university Spanish training course. This process will cost you at any place from some hundred money to a few 1, 000 dollars depending on which often company you decide in order to complete the Spanish language program in. There are several strengths that are linked with learning Spanish in the college course: you get usage of an individual (professor) who knows anything you would likely every want to understand in regards to the Spanish language, anyone also have guy class mates to help and really encourage you throughout the understanding course of action, and you could test your level regarding progress through the quizzes and assessments offered simply by the professor. In spite of these types of advantages, you should not necessarily be ready to become fluent throughout any dialect after a single course. It can take multiple lessons and almost certainly years involving public communication for the reason that specific language to become progressive in that language. Credited to the reasonably excessive cost, the inappropriate time of many Spanish instructional classes sold at the college levels, and the conclusion that will you are most very likely not to become smooth in a timely method, many people are cancelling on the "Do It On your own Mentality".

My definition connected with the "Do It By yourself Mentality" rapid buying some sort of Spanish educational reserve as well as teaching yourself the fabric with out the aid of a new tutor or other training origin.

There are a lot of benefits to becoming fluent in spanish via the Do It Your self Mentality: Initial, you will certainly save yourself the further dollars that would include been spent on Speaking spanish college courses. Secondly, it will be easy to set your individual learning tempo. And Additionally, you don't have to be able to restrict yourself to often the inappropriate the right time of quite a few Spanish courses supplied with college institutions. Regardless of these kinds of great advantages, you will be continue to limiting your power to understand Spanish. For instance, the most significant problems individuals face in mastering Spanish is learning just how to accurately pronounce every letter from the alphabet. All these letters do not possess a similar pronunciation as the actual letters inside English delineation. Some of these albhabets can actually be the little tricky for you to enunciate if you're not mindful. Basically, you run the particular rick of learning The spanish language within the wrong way. The idea would be any waste to put all associated with the time and energy in to learning Spanish only to help uncover that you mastered the vocabulary incorrectly. No longer let this remain via pursuing your want to discover Spanish. There is yet another method that combines typically the strengths of all often the advantages as listed above. So sure, you've suspected it! The actual easiest way to find out Romance language is through some sort of Spanish educating software.

Right now there are a lot regarding Spanish instructing software's about the market today. Hoping to decide on apart each and every one based on it can benefits and downfalls may appear like a daunting process. The good news is, there are a new lot of really fine reviews in which break along each software directly into is actually pro's and con's. Nevertheless before you start in order to do that you need to understand precisely what to look for within the learning Spanish software program. For instance: How can the software instruct? Is usually it beneficial to the actual way My spouse and i learn? Could I afford the application?

All of these are generally questions that you have to ask your self before you even check for a Spanish coaching computer software. If you avoid figure out this data before you start then you may probably get caught in all the marketing media hype. And so stay strong, realize what you are looking for. You can find what you need and need to assist you to study Spanish.

How You Discover and What Your Mastering Benefits Are

Each and also every person is unique. A number of people are visual individuals, while others are audio tracks scholars. You need to be able to ask yourself how accomplish I understand? This may well seem kind of well not required but it's crucial if you plan on finding a training program that will genuinely help you discover Spanish language. Think back to your own personal workday or to just about any certain thing you encountered now and ask oneself what was diverse regarding that moment that authorized me to remember this experience? Or even what does I remember almost all concerning that experience? Was this a visual presentation this sort of as electrical power point? Or perhaps was that a introduction give by way of a speaker? Probably you recall an appointment call up more clearly or perhaps the specifics in a printout? Any you remember from this particular prior week is the clue for you to how you actually learn. Also, may reduce yourself. You may find out through a combination involving methods, for instance audio, aesthetic, and public interaction. By simply taking the time to help appreciate how you learn along with what your mastering talents are you will always be replacing the same with chances of properly learning Spanish. Essentially, aiding yourself find the easiest method to learn Spanish.

The particular easiest way to study Spanish is through any Speaking spanish teaching software. Using a The spanish language teaching software program you can advance with your own rate. You could have the aid of Romance language tutors in addition to support staff members. These individuals will probably guideline you through any troubles you may encounter when you are finding out. Anyone can be tested on standard intervals or ascertain your performance to identify whether you must move ahead of time or repeat some sort of tutorial. There are grammar as well as vocabulary lessons to support you understand the composition of essay sentences and the particular words used in these people. Some Spanish software's offer you games and other advantages. Generally giving you typically the look and experience connected with being in a school room with no time restraints or maybe agendas. I hope this specific has been a valuable write-up to you and also that you now be aware that the easiest way in order to learn Spanish is actually by means of a Spanish teaching application. If you a sovrano enthusiastic about taking a better look at many of the top rated ranked Spanish educating software's among customers subsequently remember to take a look in one of the back links right below.

1 note · View note

peacocksonice · 6 years

Text

Ask Stephane

Many years ago, on his old website, Stephane would respond to questions sent in by fans. These were later compiled & shared by a poster in the Lambiel-Ru Livejournal community. The time span is from about 2003-2007. I cherrypicked a few of my favorite responses, but there are many more at the source. Happy reading ;-) (Sorry, they’re not in chronological order.)

Taskira (Izhevsk, Russia): 1. How are you able to create such a different impression on ice from what you are off ice? I mean that when I see you on ice, you almost always have serious, tragic, dramatic programs, but in your life you seem to be so merry and funny. Well, actually I can only judge according to your answers on your site, for instance about the Swiss chocolate helping to spin. Can you guarantee that if I eat ten chocolate bars, I will be able to rock some championships in the coming years? 2. You've named Miss Spears as one of your favorite singers. Would you like to skate to her music? 3. Now that you've become really popular, what is the best thing you got from it: money, popularity, the opportunity to meet other celebrities, self-esteem or maybe just the opportunity to say that you're happy that your family can be proud of you? 4. Do you believe in destiny? SL: 1. I don't want to make a fool of myself on the ice, I'd rather let other people do that. And yes, if you eat ten bars of Swiss chocolate each day for a whole year, you'll become a world champion! [Warning: Stéphane's insurance doesn't cover the medical costs of his fans.] 2. Yes, I'd like to skate on a remix without lyrics of Britney's music. 3. The best thing is just that I can do what I love, not everybody has that chance. I don't feel so famous, people don't recognize me in the streets. 4. Yes

Guyleen (Nendaz, Switzerland): You say that Alexei Yagudin is one of your favorite skaters. Now that he's turned pro, aren't you disappointed by the fact that you won't compete against him anymore? Wouldn't you have been incredibly proud to steal "his" first place and only let him the silver medal? SL: Honestly, I never even wondered about that. I respect him very much, so I'd have been very proud to beat him, but I wouldn't have been like "yeah, cool, I beat Yagudin!" And I don't know if I'd ever been able to anyway, because we'd have grown and improved differently, it sure wouldn't have been easy!

Tatyana (Russia): 1. I read that you trained with Alexei Mishin in St-Petersburg. Has his advice helped you? Will you continue training with him? Did you like St-Petersburg? 2. You performed in difference countries. In which country do you like performing most (except Switzerland)? 3. Could you be a coach when you finish skating? SL: 1. His pieces of advice are very useful and constituent. I don't know if I'll train with him again though. St-Petersburg is absolutely amazing, a beautiful city, the most beautiful maybe, spacibo bolshoye ! 2. I love Mexico because it's very warm there ! 3. No. I have other projects, and I'd like to study at the university.

Anastasia (Russia): I saw you at the Cup of Russia and noticed that while looking at ice dancing, the only skaters you didn't clap for were the Russians, and during the exhibition, the situation was the same - you applauded Evgeni Plushenko, but not the others Russian participants. Does it mean that you don't like Russians in general and skaters in particular? SL: Are you kidding? Russian skaters are the ones I admire most, they inspire me so much! Ilia Kulik and Alexei Yagudin are among my all-time favorite skaters! So I'm sorry if I gave you that feeling, but it really isn't the case!

Terry (San Francisco, USA): I was wondering why Swiss skaters are so talented at spinning. There have been so many Swiss skaters that have excelled in spinnng over the years. Do you feel good spinning should receive more credit in the judges' marks? SL: Swiss can spin so well thanks to the good Swiss chocolate! That makes them fat, which then creates a better centrifugal force and therefore makes them spin faster!!! LOL No, seriously, Swiss skaters give more importance to the spins, already when they're really young... I think that the spins are given more credit with the new judging system, that's not too bad, but still, I wouldn't mind getting even more credit - spinning takes me more energy than jumping in my programs.

Guyleen (Nendaz, Switzerland): What's your opinion about the collaboration between Brian Joubert and Alexei Yagudin? SL: I've never seen them work together and I've never seen Alexei Yagudin supporting Brian at a competition I also skated at, so I don't really have an opinion about that.

Muriel (Zurich, Switzerland): 1. What do you think of animals? 2. Do you like going to the circus? 3. Do you speak German German or also Swiss-German [a dialect], and if so, with which accent? SL: 1. I don't like insects, spiders and such little things, except for ladybugs of course. My favorite animals are the big cats, I find them beautiful and powerful, and I also like the animals that live in the savanna. I'd love to have a cat again, because Sabri's now living at one of my mom's friends and I don't see him any longer. 2. Yes, I do, especially to the Cirque du Soleil. 3. I speak German German, and I understand Swiss German if I know the person who speaks it, if I'm used to their voice.

Elina (Latvia): 1. I am 16 years old, but unfortunately I don't know how to skate. It would be great to learn, but it would be even better if you could teach me. Could you do that? 2. Why do you usually skate in black velvet costume? SL: 1. No, sorry, I have neither the time nor the patience for that! 2. I like black, I like sobriety.

Rita Hypnarowski (California, USA):

1) Once school is over for you, how long would you delay school to keep skating full-time? Your fans want to see the incredible heights you will reach focusing solely on skating. 2) You've won over thousands and thousands of fans in North America, and with your high placement at 2004 Worlds, you will undoubtedly be asked to join one of the prestigious North American skating tours. Would you accept, or will you prefer to do only shows in Europe? 3) Do you rely on religion and spirituality to get you through your programs, or do you approach your skating *tests* with a lighter, more physical/mental approach? SL: 1. I'll focus on skating until the Olympics in Torino. Beside that, I just want to perfect my English and learn how to play the guitar. 2. I'll accept when I'll have time. 3. I don't do any kind of psychological training.

Vanessa (Portugal) Do you think that you would feel differently if Evgeni Plushenko hadn't withdrawn and you had won against him? SL: In my head, I beat him. Even if he wasn't 100%, I did beat him in the qualifying round and in the short program, and when he withdrew, I took it as a sign that he felt that he wouldn't be able to beat me during the free program.

Petra (Czech Republic) 1. You are twenty and it seems that you've already reached your biggest dreams. I hope you realise your huge luck. There are so many people who, no matter how hard they try, will never see their dreams come true. What do you think is the reason why you've crossed this personal line of success? 2. Do you still have a dream (not necessarily related to figure skating) that hasn't come true? Something that is more important for you than these moments of absolute happiness that you've lived lately? SL: 1. I've worked very hard to get there, it didn't fall down from heaven! 2. Of course, I have dreams like everybody, it's what keeps me going on. The most important, it's that my family stays healthy. And I would love to meet Britney.

Elena (Russia) I heard that you've taken some lessons from our famous Professor Alexei Mishin. Why have you decided to consult Alexei Mishin and not another coach? And what do you think of the Russian figure skating school? SL: Alexei Mishin is an excellent coach and I admire the Russian skating style. It's a very very very good school.

Gabrielle (USA) 1. Who was you favorite skater growing up? 2. Who is your favorite skater now? 3. If you could go on a date with anyone in the world who would it be and why? SL: 1. Ilia Kulik 2. Carolina Kostner 3. Britney Spears, to see if she's really the person she pretends to be.

Noémie I'm wondering if you're planning on coaching later, and I'd also like to know if it's possible to watch your practices. SL: I give advice to the skaters who train with me, but I don't think I would be patient enough to become a coach. And no, my practices are not open to the public.

Kari (Japan) Do you enjoy skating in Japan? Please tell me what you feel, eat and buy when you’re here! SL: Yes, the audience is really amazing. I love to shop in Shibuya, once I had a very expensive ice cream in the Omotesando Mall and it was the best I’ve ever tried. The Prada and Christian Dior stores are fantastic!

Erika (Sweden) I read on "Ask Stéphane" that you want to be Gabrielle's second lover in "Desperate Housewives", and that you could be her cook for example. Are you a great cook? And if yes, do your friends think so to, or is it only you? SL: I’ve learned from my grandma and I really like to bake cakes. I think the people who’ve tasted them had a nice experience…

Craig (Honolulu, Hawaii, USA) What is your interest in "The Little Prince"? Do you identify with this character and in what way? SL: I like the way he sees the world, which is totally different from how mass society sees it.

Varvara (Kiev, Ukraine) Do you have a motto? SL: Semper Profice - Always forge ahead!

#Stephane Lambiel

46 notes · View notes

missanthropicprinciple · 6 years

Text

Super-long rant-review post about Werewolf of London (1935) with images and spoilers...

I love Werewolf of London, this 83-year-old film. It’s got some problems typical of 1930s Hollywood, but I still find a lot of value in it.

The setting, the moonlit hills of Tibet. Accuracy? not so much.

Apparently the “Tibetans” are actually speaking Cantonese...and the white actors are clearly not speaking anything. 30 years before Star Wars and it honestly sounds like they’re speaking Ewok...but it’s just gibberish. I think the only realistic part of this scene is the fact that there actually are bactrian camels in Tibet. At least it’s quite well filmed.

The sequence where Dr. Glendon (Henry Hull) is attacked by the werewolf is really eerie and holds up well.

The actual bite is so quick but if you screencap that second it’s creepy AF.

Despite the attack, Dr. Glendon gets his coveted “Mariphasa Lupina Lumina” flower (sadly, completely fictitious) and heads back to England.

In his lab, Dr. Glendon lives out his mad-scientist aesthetic surrounded by some high tech equipment. He even gets buzzed by his wife on what is basically an old-timey FaceTime device that lacks audio. Even though we know it’s superimposed footage it’s fairly seamless.

Next we get a little portrait of a marriage. He’s working on an experiment with flowering and artificial light and his wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson) wants to know what the hell he’s up to. He’s secretive and she’s understandably annoyed. But she calls him “dear old bear” which is quite sweet but ironically hints at the animalistic transformation to follow. He says that after the experiment he will try to be more “human” but we know that ain’t gonna happen.

Henry Hull’s accent. It needs its own paragraph. It’s not bad for someone from Louisville, Kentucky, and in fact sometimes it’s really amazing, but other moments it crosses your mind that the dialect coach was out sick that day of shooting. He enunciates very strongly. His jaws much have hurt him a bit. He’s fun to listen to though and you gotta give the guy credit because he doesn’t shy away from being über-Brit.

Enter Lisa’s old childhood sweetheart Paul, played by the adorkable yet suave Lester Matthews. He and Lisa, whom he refers to as “Lee”, reminisce about their joint childhood exploits.

Cue Dr. Glendon’s jealousy:

Understandably, Dr. Glendon is quietly dying inside because he hates all the socializing that comes with being a world-renowned botanist. Seeing another man making his wife smile does not help his mood.

Lookit ‘em; holding hands for heaven’s sake. Aunt Ettie also likes to stir up trouble and add to Glendon’s jealously which isn’t very nice of her.

Side note, Dr. Glendon has some tricked-out plants:

Now we meet Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland).

Warner Oland, who was often cast as Asian characters because he “looked Asian”, was actually Swedish. (One would think that 80 years later this casting of white actors in non-white roles would have come to an end but we’re still dealing with this crap.) While Oland is a fairly good actor, he’s still NOT Asian and it would have been so much better if they had cast Sessue Hayakawa as Yogami as he was not only gorgeous but a better actor.

However, Yogami is implied to be Chinese or Tibetan and Hayakawa is Japanese. Still, if the character was stated as Japanese it would have been perfect. Ironically, later on in the film Aunt Ettie keeps calling him Yokohama which is the second largest city in Japan. And I can’t find the surname Yogami anywhere. I can find Yagami and that’s a Japanese surname, not Chinese or Tibetan as far as I can tell. Oh, Old Hollywood and your stomach-churning whitewashing.

Dr. Yogami says that they met before in Tibet...in the dark. He’s giving him a really big hint that he’s the one who bit him (...either that or he’s implying they met for an evening liaison). Dr. Glendon is trying to piece it together.

Dr. Yogami says, “The medical term is ‘lycanthrophobia’.” WRONG. The medical term is lycanthropy, if being a werewolf was actually real. (The uncommon thing were people grow all the excess facial hair is hypertrichosis.) Clinical lycanthropy is a rare psychological condition that is linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and/or clinical depression. (More on that later.)

Here’s a cap of Dr. Yogami intimately stroking Dr. Glendon’s injured arm while making hella awkward eye contact. As modern viewers we may or may not have a strong impulse to read this as somewhat sexual, or maybe as an identification of repressed homosexual desire. Lycanthropy in literature and film mythology has occasionally been used or identified as a metaphor for homosexuality.

In a world where stabbing yourself with a plant gets rid of monthly hair growth. I’m curious to know why it looks like his stabbing it into a dorsal metacarpal vein and not the palmar (inside) side of wrist....medical side of Tumblr help me out here. Maybe they just wanted to feature the hairy hand.

Dr. Yogami essentially asks Dr. Glendon for a blossom of the glow-in-the-dark flower to save his soul (and his fellow botanist as well), albeit in a cryptic way. He says “But remember this Dr. Glendon, the werewolf instinctively seeks to kill the thing it loves best.” Sadly, Dr. Glendon thinks he’s full of crap and ignores his warnings despite knowing that stabbing himself with this rare flower magically makes his moon-grown hand-hair disappear. Dumb or in denial?

So of course Dr. Yogami steals not one, but two flowers. For two of the four nights of the full moon. Technically there is only one night of full moon at any given time but I’m going to give this a pass. Maybe during the time that the moon is still almost full, though waning, it still have the power to change man into the “satanic creature.”

Meanwhile, skeptical Dr. Glendon does a little lycanthropic research:

Lisa drops by and asks him to join her and Paul at a society party but he pegs out or course, and then adds a jibe about not wanting to hear anymore childhood memories. Is the werewolf infection making him bitchy or is he just like that? Hard to tell.

Lisa is hurt. But he says she should go out and enjoy herself. She tries to show him this brocade he bought her but he flips out when she turns on the lights. Presumably being a werewolf makes you sensitive to light.

He responds with the “I put some medicine in my eyes” routine and they clearly don’t buy it.

Seems fake, but ok.

I feel like this is one of many allusions to depression in this film: sensitive to light, wanting to be alone, disliking small-talk and society parties, general introversion and distrust of others. We get a sense that he’s kind of this way anyway at the core of his personality but the werewolf contamination has made that all worse.

Dr. Glendon may be a jerk but it’s hard not to feel sympathy for him. He really does love her. She’s still too annoyed to reciprocate.

Even his cat’s pissed at him.

When animals start rejecting you, ya know you got problems.

And lo, he thought, “oh shit.”

The moonlight transformation sequence is quite simple by today’s standards of physical and special effects, but it’s still effective. Using the shadows to break up the footage isn’t fooling anyone, especially nowadays, yet it has a kind of fluidity that makes it oddly very evocative.

A word about Jack Pierce’s makeup. Believe it or not it was originally going to look like this:

Oink oink. Thank heavens someone talked Jack into a more minimalist look. Jack Pierce, known for his incredible work on films like Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), and The Wolf Man (1941), to name but a few, appears to have been a tad stubborn depending on the actor he worked with. He had a great relationship with Boris Karloff as far as I’m aware but the harmony working with Hull didn’t last long. There was a rumor going around that Hull was super vain and didn’t want the makeup to obscure his face. The truth of it was there are a couple scenes when Lisa and Paul both recognize him and if the werewolf makeup was applied too heavily, this part of the plot just wouldn’t work. Apparently Hull went over Pierce’s stubborn head straight to Carl Laemmle to fix the problem. The book Universal Horrors: The Studio’s Classic Films, 1931–1946 by Tom Weaver and John Brunas has more on this. (And in the Svengoolie intro to the film featured on ME TV.) The incident paid off because the final makeup was stellar.

That awkward moment when someone steals your flowers:

Suddenly filled with jealous rage...

...but wait lemme just put my hat and coat on first. If he does that when he’s full-on werewolf can you imagine how much time it takes for him to get ready normally? Diva.

The obligatory party scene...

...with a comic interlude from Aunt Ettie who drunkenly says to “Dr. Yokohama” as she calls him, pointing to a dodgy district visible from her flat, that people there would “knife you for a shilling.” But then they hear the howl of a “lost soul” which is the chilling call of Dr. Glendon and it’s time to go inside.

Drunk lady trope scene. No point in rescuing her she already made a fool out of herself but off they run:

There is a ring of sadness to Aunt Ettie’s drunk scene because she says “she gets so nervous.” Hello social anxiety. She is a tad obnoxious as a character but this part makes her seem so much more sympathetic.

“A-woooooooooooo!”

Ok, that’s not a dog.

Dr. Yogami is quaking in his spats at this point.

Even though you know that this is Dr. Glendon, this remains creepy. Who hasn’t thought of a monster clawing their way into your bedroom late at night? They really milk the suspense in this scene.

Lisa is offended by Dr. Yogami’s seemingly sexist and controlling behavior but in reality he’s trying to save her life. He knows that Dr. Glendon is on the loose and can probably smell her and will likely kill her. But she goes up to comfort her friend anyway.

Cue the “you just had a bad dream” scene. For once Ettie isn’t full of hogwash.

Poor Ettie. Seeing a werewolf will sober you up pretty quick.

Mr. Hyde? Oh wait, wrong movie.

Apparently all young women of a lower class looked like Hollywood starlets back then. Pretty stylish.

This is why I don’t have a Tinder.

Dr. Yogami executes an A+ facepalm. His wrist-leaning skills are classic. 10/10:

I mean, what did he think was going to happen? You can’t blackmail a guy who’s in denial about being a werewolf, it doesn’t work. But then, if he left one flower there you wouldn’t have a second act.

Paul says that it might be a werewolf attack. He’s almost joking but he makes the suggestion anyway. His uncle, head of Scotland Yard no less (now that’s convenient) thinks this is ridiculous.

Meanwhile Dr. Glendon reads about how he accidentally murdered a woman last night:

“You’re being utterly hateful, Wilfred.” She sees that he’s not happy and we all know that he’s past the point of no return. Someone has already died. His bitterness at her relationship with Paul is exacerbated by this revelation. But he doesn’t storm from the room or hurt her. He actually acts like an adult, says he’s sorry, and says that he will go out horseback riding with her after all. A lot of reviewers don’t like his character but I find him continually sympathetic.

Again, it’s a realistic portrayal of a marriage. Dr. Glendon “forbids” his wife to go out on a midnight horseback ride with her ex. As sexist as his I’m-the-man-putting-my-foot-down-with-the-wife routine is, he has a couple genuine reasons for acting this way. He’s worried about her safety cause he knows the moon is gonna make him crazy and he could unintentionally kill her in a fit of jealous rage. And of course he’s ticked off that Lisa is galavanting around with another man. She in turn is appropriately angry with his controlling remarks without having good reason for his concern...plus she wants to prove a point that he’s not making enough time for her in their marriage.

Mrs. Moncaster explains how decking her “dearest friend” Mrs. Whack was an appropriate action to take in the sake of business.

Dr. Glendon calls himself “Singularly single, madam. More single than I ever realised it was possible for a human being to be...” Which seems to evoke qualities of his situation and depression. He feels so isolated.

He prays that this transformation won’t happen again but it does.

“If I ran the zoo I'd let all the animals go” - Dr. Seuss. This is Glendon’s way of causing a distraction so that he can attack another woman but it’s also symbolic of him releasing his inner animalistic nature.

Ya gotta appreciate the special effects:

Dr. Yogmai hails from the University of Carpathia. Here to represent.....an institution that I’m fairly certain doesn’t exist. Unless they mean Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University but that wasn’t established until 1940. Still, he’s a professor of botany so that’s cool. Kind of like Professor Lupin.

Presumably, Dr. Yogami goes to Paul because he’s well connected and he wants to prevent Dr. Glendon from doing anymore damage.

A+ usage of the scary uplighting effect.

Dr. Glendon instructs a servant to lock him in until sunrise. Oh the upper-classes and their odd demands.

Paul still loves her. Duh. She can’t reciprocate because she’s married.

Those bars are toast.

Henry Hull does a great job of prowling with just the right balance between animal and man.

Now that’s a scream:

Paul to the rescue.

Paul recognizes Dr. Glendon. (Thanks, Mr. Hull.)

Dr. Yogami’s rooms “smelled like a kennel" when they found the mutilated maid. Yuck. Did he pee all over the room? Not something anyone likes to think about for too long. Especially the head of Scotland Yard. Just look at his face.

Paul digs through the trash and finds the discarded flowers.

Maybe Paul should work for Scotland Yard instead of his uncle.

Hey how was your trip? So, Hawkins (J.M. Kerrigan) doesn’t think it’s odd that Dr. Glendon is hiding from the police? Does he even know why? Did Glendon tell him “hey I’m a werewolf and I accidentally killed people?” or does Hawkins just give him a pass like “it’s his life and none of my business.”? Well, as the scene suggests, Hawkins clearly does not know because he’s confused by how important this damn flower is to Dr. G.

I have to say, I get this excited about my sweet peas every year so I totally identify with his reaction. #humor

How does he even get into the lab?! Dr. Glendon needs better security or just, ya know, locks.

Somehow Glendon doesn’t see Yogami tip-toeing down the steps. How bad does your peripheral vision have to be?!

"You brought this on me that night in Tibet!” (You don’t say.)

The problem with stealing a plant that only blooms as the moon emerges is that the werewolf might kill you mid-transformation. Exhibit A:

They were both doomed anyway.

Dr. Glendon goes looking for Lisa.

Lycanthropy makes Dr. Glendon strong. Those chintz curtains and flimsy doors are no match for him.

Paul also lacks clear peripheral vision, apparently. Funny how ya don’t see a werewolf perched above a door you’re about to go into.

With all that jumping off buildings, werewolves must be prime candidates for knee replacement surgery.

More great uplighting to do justice to some remarkable makeup:

“It’s Lisa!”

Who the hell is Lisa?

Maybe he remembers at this point. Hard to tell.

A regular bullet does the job. The myth that a werewolf can only be killed by a silver bullet most likely dates back to the legend of the Beast of Gévaudan, in which a humungous wolf is killed by a hunter named "Argent" which is Latin for silver, who uses a gun loaded with silver bullets. The filmmakers clearly don’t feel that this is a necessary part of this movie’s mythology. And in a way, this is a good decision because it makes the werewolf more pitiable and certainly less mythological. If a werewolf has most of the same vulnerabilities as a human, most of the same human rules of existence apply because werewolves are not semi-indestructible. It also just makes werewolves more human and more sympathetic. Werewolf!Glendon is basically afflicted with a kind of disease that could hypothetically be explained by medical science; he isn’t some mythological beast.

We can presume his soul is saved. “Thanks...thanks for the bullet. It was the only way. In a few moments now, I shall know why all of this had to be.”

“Good-bye, Lisa. Lisa – good-bye...I’m sorry...I couldn’t have made you...happier...”

(This is immediately followed by the sound of my heart breaking.) Seriously, this isn’t a guilt trip like he thinks Lisa is some overly-needy wife. He knows that he’s not always equip to give Lisa what she needs out of a relationship. He genuinely feels bad. It isn’t because of the lycanthropy, he was like this before, as a scientist. Did he have depression anyway? He might have. He really does love her and they have an understanding. This is probably some of the best acting in the film, the way that Hull delivers his lines and the look on Valerie Hobson’s face tells you so much.

Thankfully, his death means that he is free of lycanthropy.

The sun comes up.

A plane is in the air, presumably Paul and Lisa are off to California.

And then we get a nice transition into the Universal Studios plane.

What a trip. Hope you enjoyed my rambling. Until next time.

#Werewolf of London #this took me a month to compile #1935 #Henry Hull #Warner Oland #Valerie Hobson #Lester Matthews #old hollywood #whitewashing #classic hollywood #Jack Pierce #werewolves #film reviews #my reviews #long post #movies #films

27 notes · View notes

amandajoyce118 · 6 years

Text

Black Panther Easter Eggs And References

Instead of doing a Six Sentence Sunday this week, I thought I’d finally get around to writing up and sharing some Easter eggs and references from Black Panther. I’ve now seen the movie twice, so I think I’ve got a fair amount, but I’m also sure there are going to be things I missed.

If you haven’t yet seen this movie, there are spoilers in my list! So. Many. Spoilers. You have been warned.

I’m not going to give you everyone’s comic book history and what’s been changed for each character for the movie, but what I will say is that I think this is one of the few MCU movies where every single named character exists in the comics, which is pretty fantastic.

The Marvel Comic flip.

Before the Marvel characters and logo appear on screen, the studio still uses the flipping comic book pages to give you a little nod to their history. Usually, the images are the same for the MCU with the Avengers you see across Phase 1. This time, if you blink you might miss it, there’s a Black Panther symbol in those pages.

The history of Wakanda.

The movie’s opening has a father telling his son (you might have that it was T’Challa getting the story when the movie first opened, but that’s definitely Erik being told the story by his father) the story of vibranium landing in the middle of Africa, tribes separating, and Wakanda being built around the vibranium mound. He also details the lineage of Black Panthers. All that is almost exactly out of the comics. The MCU often changes bits and pieces of the story, like it does for T’Challa’s father dying when he’s an adult instead of a boy, but this stunning set up is almost exactly the same.

Oakland, 1992.

Oakland happened to be where director Ryan Coogler grew up and it’s also where the Black Panther political movement was born in the 60s - shortly after the comic book character made his debut. I’m not sure if 1992 is a significant year for him because it’s not for Black Panther. The previous comic book series ended in 1991 and another volume wasn’t published until 1998. It was considered a particular “bloody” year by local papers though. There were 167 known murders that occurred in Oakland that year, which apparently was a record at the time. Since that’s particularly dark, let’s also note that the Oakland Athletics (that’s baseball, folks), finished first in the American League West that year. (When the movie returns to Oakland at the end, that’s also a nod to Coogler’s real life dream: to be able to give back to the community that raised him. T’Challa puts a Wakandan Outreach program in place. Coogler spoke in some of his very first interviews about wanting to bring his movies to Oakland, to film there, to generate revenue for the city, to work with kids that live there in arts programs.)

Public Enemy.

One of the posters on the wall of the Oakland apartment is for Public Enemy, which seems appropriate for a guy in 90s Oakland who wants to bring power back to his people.

The MCU timeline.

The movie references it being a week since the UN conference and T’Chaka’s death, so it’s set right after the events of Captain America: Civil War, putting it right before Spider-Man: Homecoming and Doctor Strange, but also possible happening during the last few episodes of Agents of SHIELD’s third season. So, don’t expect a crossover there.

Killmonger’s mask.

In addition to being inspired by real life ceremonial masks worn by the Igbo, the mask also draws on comic book inspiration. Killmonger wears a mask very similar to the one in the movie during his first confrontation with T’Challa in the comics.

Killmonger’s girlfriend.

So, this might not have been intentional, and this might not even really be an Easter egg, but one relationship long time comic book readers will remember is that of Killmonger and Madam Slay. Madam Slay had trained leopards (and we do see leopard-like spots in Killmonger’s costume later), and she was his right hand for a few issues when Black Panther stories were being told as part of Jungle Action comics. She had a thing for knives and wanted to help Killmonger kill T’Challa. Of course, she was also Wakandan, so maybe the woman seen in the movie isn’t her.

Klaue’s arm.

The cannon in Klaue’s arm is inspired by the comic book design. He has a “sonic cannon” in his arm in the comics, which gets something of a shoutout when he says it’s sonic mining equipment that was used to give him the arm in the movie.

Shuri’s buns.

When T’Challa meets his family off the plane, Shuri’s hair is in a couple of buns. That’s your Star Wars reference as it was meant as an homage to another princess in a galaxy far, far, away. Letitia Wright confirmed the nod in an interview.

“What are thoooose?”

I hear this is a nod to a famous vine. LOL Okay, I have to admit that I was never into vine, but everyone in the theater under 30 found this hilarious. I found it more adorable that Shuri bases her shoe design on Back to the Future. But hey, we all find different things funny.

Mount Bashenga.

Shuri’s lab is inside a mountain named for the first known king of Wakanda that becomes Black Panther. He’s even named in the opening sequence of a bed time story.

M’Baku makes a move toward Shuri.

During the challenge, as M’Baku talks about the things he disagrees with in Wakanda, one of them is “a child” being in charge of the technology. In the comics, M’Baku specifically wants to get rid of all of the futuristic tech in Wakanda. He also, at one point, kidnaps Shuri. So, that brief moment struck me as a nod to that.

So, I’ll also note here that M’Baku is a big departure from the comics, but a lot of things were kept to provide a nod to the source material. Like Nakia calling him the “Great Gorilla” when she meets him because the villain name Man-Ape is pretty racist, no? Her term is more a sign of respect. The skin he wears over his shoulders? A nod to him killing a White Gorilla in the comics in a ritual that gives him the strength and stamina of the animal.

(Also, side note: the movie cut, but set design kept, the Jabari tribe loving the wood from a sacred tree in the mountains and using that to build their homes with. It’s in direct contrast with the high tech Vibranium. Winston Duke also worked with a dialect coach so his rhythms would be closer to different Nigerian dialects instead of South African dialects to differentiate himself from the rest of the main cast, setting the Jabari apart from the rest of Wakanda. It was also his idea to do the barking/grunting sounds as a nod to the comic book source material, but to give the Jabari a way to make an entrance and shut people up.

Okoye complains about that wig.

Honestly, this only struck me because Danai Gurira has to wear a massive wig for her role as Michonne on The Walking Dead. I know she’s spoken at length about loving that role, but I immediately thought her character’s hatred for wigs was a nod to the fact that she spends so much of the year in one.

The Pan African flag.

The stripes of the Pan African flag are green, black, and red, so when Nakia, T’Challa, and Okoye walk into the underground gambling ring in Korea and stand at the guardrail, you’re seeing that flag brought to life. (And for those who think that’s reaching for symbolism, Ryan Coogler confirmed in an interview that was the intention of the costuming decisions in that scene.)

Stan Lee’s cameo.

We all recognize Stan Lee by now, but in case you missed him, he’s one of the gamblers. He talks to Agent Ross and takes T’Challa’s winnings when he leaves them behind.

“Every breath you take is mercy from me.”

T’Challa says this line to Klaue in the movie, but in the comics, he said it to someone else. He said it to Namor following the arrival of Thanos in Wakanda. T’Challa and Namor have a complicated frenemy-ship, we’ll say. I kind of hope Namor (since the rights are back with Marvel) gets to make his debut in a Black Panther movie.

Vibranium from Sokovia.

When Agent Ross and T’Challa chat in the casino, Ross mentions the guy he’s dealing with also having been traced to the events in Sokovia. So, just in case you needed another big flashing sign for an MCU connection, there you go.

The story of El Dorado.

Klaue tells the story of a Golden City, and how people searched for it in South America. In addition to trying the movie to the legend of El Dorado, it’s also a nod to the capital city of Wakanda in the comics, called the Golden City. It’s where the royal family lives and where most of the activity takes place in the comics.

Another broken white boy.

When Shuri makes the comment that there’s another broken white boy for them to fix (after the CIA agent is brought in to have his spine repaired), I actually didn’t think about the fact that Bucky Barnes was cryogenically frozen in Wakanda for safe keeping, though I’m sure plenty others did, but of Hunter, T’Challa and Shuri’s adopted brother. T’Chaka saved the boy after his parents died in a plane crash over Wakanda and raised them with his children. Hunter grew to be jealous of T’Challa and the leader of the War Dogs. He was a sometimes enemy of his adopted brother. Of course, the post-credit scene makes it clear that Bucky is standing in for Hunter since the kids even call him by Hunter’s comic book name, “White Wolf,” even if the timeline doesn’t quite add up.

The influence of African cultures.

Yes, Black Panther is a comic book movie, but Black Panther also takes a whole lot of inspiration from different African cultures. For example, the Dora Milaje are inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all female military group that essentially died out after the mid twentieth century. The costuming, the body modification, the language, and even the hairstyles in the movie are all rooted in different African cultures. This twitter thread does an amazing job at explaining so much of what you see in the movie.

It’s also worth noting that you won’t see a Wakandan character in the movie with relaxed hair. Why? The country was never colonized. I believe it was Lupita Nyong'o who explained in interviews that the idea of relaxing kinky hair was brought about by colonizers shaming Africans for their looks. Because Wakanda has never been colonized, the residents have pride in something as simple as natural hair.

War Dog assignments.

The “War Dogs” are referenced several times, but outside of Nakia being called a spy, there’s not a whole of information about them. So, the term War Dog is actually in reference to the Hatut Zeraze, which are the “secret police” in Wakanda in the comics. T’Challa actually disbands them when he becomes King because he doesn’t like the idea of sending out people to assassinate others around the world, which is one of their jobs. The movie appears to have made them literal spies instead of assassins.

Shuri’s gauntlets.

I’m sure a lot of people noticed that she built her gauntlets to resemble the heads of panthers. While that’s obviously a nod to the Black Panther being Wakanda’s hero, it’s likely also a nod to Shuri becoming the Black Panther in the comics. She takes her brother’s place when he’s gravely ill and she also becomes the Queen her country needs.

Over the waterfall.

The moment where Killmonger tosses T’Challa over the edge of the cliff? Taken exactly from the comics. T’Challa survives that fall as well, though he doesn’t get help from M’Baku in the comics since they were enemies as well there.

War Dog cities.

When Killmonger and W’Kabi discuss which War Dogs have responded to his plans to take over the world, they are in very specific cities. New York, London, and Hong Kong are mentioned. Those also happen to be the cities that house Sanctum Santorums in the Doctor Strange movie, which means they’re hot spots for magic, lines between realms, etc. (Though this could be a coincidence as they’re also well known and well populated cities that world wide audiences would recognize.)

Killmonger’s Black Panther suit.

I already mentions that he gets leopard-like spots on it, which could serve as a nod to Madam Slay’s leopards, but there’s more. Black Leopard was the name used for Black Panther briefly in the comics to distance the character from any politics. Killmonger also had a sidekick in the form of a leopard he called Preyy. The gold tones in his costume - and particularly the look of the necklace - are a direct callback to what the actual Black Panther suit most often looks like in the comics as well.

T’Challa wrestles a rhino.

The scene where Black Panther takes down a rhino? Pretty much exactly out of the comics. In his very first comic book run in Jungle Action comics - the run is actually called Marvel’s first graphic novel - he had to wrestle a rhino to the ground in the same way.

Alex R. Hibbert.

The young actor, famous now for his role in Moonlight, gets a cameo at the end of the movie as the little boy who chats with T’Challa about his ship. Ryan Coogler is a big fan of Moonlight and has said that the director actual gave him a lot of support in his career. Hibbert gets the last official line in the movie, though there is a mid credits scene and a post credits scene.

#black panther #black panther easter eggs #marvel comics #mcu #marvel easter eggs

4 notes · View notes

thebookworm0001 · 5 years

Text

Gonna watch episode 1 of Outlander since it’s on Netflix

-not super excited about the narration

-oh my god why the close-ups on the bloody broken open wound leg nooooooo

-I’m a fan of this cover of the Skye Song

-main lady is super pretty dang

-Uh hello up-close taxidermy fox

-blood on door posts to honor a saint (whose was buried alive voluntarily???? Is this legit?)

-local tells visitors to watch out for their Local Troubles

-I feel like this narration could be folded into the scene somehow

-stop jumping on the bed you’ll break it

-also good job the landlady thinks you’re super horny now

-so do you actually love your husband because it seems like you barely know him?

-okay but he definitely loves her - the hand story is a nice ‘show not tell’ example

-oh the jacket is coming off

-landlady is happy they’re gettin’ some

-I’m not angry that these fictional characters are on a trip I desperately want to be on not at all

-dead parents cliché, gotta establish our main lady is Not Like Other Girls (the archeology thing is pretty cool though ngl)

-botany thing is gonna be helpful in medieval Scotland

-oooooh castle ruins

-Frank seems nice

-please don’t break the castle

-okay but really how is Claire so pretty it’s not fair

-okay lets not get sexy in the ruins

-you are in the crumbling remains of a castle

-oh he’s- this show was written by a woman then. Good for Claire.

-Roll Credits

-so at what point in Scottish history does Claire get sent back to? Because her being British doesn’t win her points in… well any point in Scottish history but I feel like it’ll be not a Good Time for her

-lady reads tea leaves - so we about to hear the plot of the story. Oh she also reads palms.

-ngl I love this trope

-oh so all this is gonna go down on Samhain (the division between worlds are thin and all that)

-what was that curse???? Did she just give Jesus the middle name Roosevelt?

-stranger standing in the darkness (hey tommy how’s the peeping) aaaaaand he’s gone

-weird light activity

-I want her nightgown/robe combo

-oh hubby is a good dude. Not gonna judge his wife is she sought comfort in the arms of another man during the war (and thereby giving the audience permission not to judge her when she inevitably has sex is the past)

-maybe don’t use sex as the anchor point for your relationship????

-hey maybe don’t spy on the druids, it’s rude

-well at least your inner voice recognizes that you’re not supposed to be there

-(gonna ignore my inner voice telling me to do research to figure out accuracy of all of this because I don’t think I’ll like the answers)

-oh pretty flowers

-random girl in a float dress (who will be plot relevant later on I’m sure)

-holy crap she’s pale - she’s the same shade of her dress

-oh we’ve got slow-motion kisses. This is the last kiss. Time to get thrown back in time

-having been inside a circle of standing stones, it honestly does feel like you should be taken to another place just by being near them

-Mysterious Wind

-dont touch the rock Claire

-she touches the rock

-so is Outlander written like a diary entry? I’m trying to pin the narration style down because I’m assuming it’s from the novel

-hey it’s the redcoats

-so assuming the Scots are speaking their native language how the hell is Claire gonna communicate with them?

-oh shit hello husband (ancestor of husband?)

-dude why are you trying to kill her

-thank you random scot for saving her oh no we’re knocking her out dude that will give her all the brain damage

-oh good the language barrier is an actual issue thank you

-oh Jamie needs medical attention and she’s a nurse

-they’re just gonna let her do this? They don’t know who she is why do they trust her?

-I like bald Scottish dude

-death threats, that’s more like it

-I can’t imagine riding a horse all night with a formerly dislocated shoulder feels good

-what language are the speaking? Scottish Gaelic? If they are that’s freaking awesome. Do they have a dialect coach or something?

-that kilt has a damn cape to it I love it

-hi him threatening to kidnap her is not romantic

-oh bald man thinks Jamie likes her and is Not Happy

-Jamie got hurt and didn’t tell anyone, didn’t he?

-yep

-lol these men have no idea what medicine she needs but they definitely understand alcohol

-sterile bandage ha do you see these men there’s nothing sterile anywhere near here

-gotta get in that ‘she’s not like other women’ thing again but she’s from a different century so hey it makes sense here

-if he lost enough blood that he passed out he’s not in a good way

-hey it’s the castle she got eaten out in

-bagpipes yes

You know, I might just like this series

#hannah watches outlander

0 notes

sarafinamagazine · 7 years

Text

Robyn Scott and Roxane Hayward have joined forces to star in The Fugard Theatre‘s star-studded production of Shakespeare in Love. Not only are Robyn and Roxane tackling roles that awarded their film counterparts Academy Awards, Shakespeare in Love marks a return to the stage for both women. We sat down in the audience of The Fugard Theatre to chat about the show, the journey back to theatre and the current climate for female actors in South Africa.

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in the arts?

Roxane Hayward: Acting has always been my first love, it’s always been what I’ve wanted to do since before I could speak. I think, for me, the inspiring thing is that I had a dream and I decided that I would do everything in my power to make that dream come true. That, in and of itself, is inspiration to keep going and motivation to go, “Don’t give up on that little girl’s dream.”

Robyn Scott: I literally came out of the womb knowing that this is what I was going to do. I was incredibly fortunate to have parents who saw that I had some talent and then they nurtured that talent. I consider myself very blessed because I know why I am on this planet and that is to tell stories. It’s a wonderful thing to know every day that this is why I am meant to be here, to tell stories, to make people feel moved and forget that they have tax returns or that they’ve had a fight with their husband.

L-R: Roxane Hayward & Robyn Scott. Photo credit: Chris de Beer

What was it about this production that made you want to be involved?

Roxane Hayward: I’m an absolute fan of the film Shakespeare in Love. It came out when I was quite young. It’s one of those films that I watched over and over again. Three years ago, I was in London when the original West End production took place. I loved it. I thought that the role of Viola was amazing and the fact that it is now onstage and there is an opportunity to maybe one day in the future perform in the play, was just a really great thought. Three years later and here we are.

Robyn Scott: It’s fate, baby. It was meant to be.

Roxane Hayward: As soon as I heard it was coming to South Africa and that there were auditions, I thought to myself, “I haven’t done theatre in 10 years but if I ever was to get back onstage and do it, this is the moment. This is the role. This is the production. This is the director. This is the theatre.” It just ticked absolutely every single box.

Robyn Scott: I’m a romantic by heart. I absolutely just adored the movie. I am a huge Queen Elizabeth fan and I’m a massive Judi Dench fan. I loved her in that. I haven’t been onstage in over four years since London Road. To get my tootsies back on the boards again, to play Elizabeth at The Fugard Theatre under Greg Karvellas‘ direction…I had never worked with Greg before and I have been wanting to work with him for a really long time. All the stars aligned and here we are.

Photo credit: Chris de Beer

You both mentioned that this is your return to the stage. What has the process been like of coming back to the theatre?

Robyn Scott: I’m a nervous Nellie by nature so it’s all pretty terrifying. I’ll be nervous until we close the show but that is who I am as an actor. The journey for Shakespeare in Love has been absolutely wonderful. The cast is just a crazy bunch of mad loons who are just incredibly generous and kind and I haven’t laughed in a process like this, ever before. All we’ve done is laugh and I’m talking about wee-laughter. All we’ve done is laugh and work hard. It’s been an absolute joy.

Roxane Hayward: It was really interesting to transition from film, which I’ve been fortunate enough to work in since the age of 10/12, to theatre. I trained in Theatre. I love Shakespeare. I’ve always wanted to do a play at Maynardville or a full Shakespearean play. The requirement for the first round of auditions for Shakespeare in Love was a Shakespearean monologue. I was like, “It’s been a while but let’s see if I can pull it off.” It’s amazing how it all just kind of comes back to you. It was really just a thing of going, “Ok. They are two separate mediums, let’s get my head space into the theatre medium and give it a go.” On the first day of rehearsals, I felt like a fish out of water. We’ve got some of the most reputable, established, critically acclaimed actors in the country, Robyn being one of them, who have really made a name for themselves in the theatre world in South Africa and internationally. I was really quite intimidated to be honest because here is this film actress on theatre turf. The nerves very quickly turned into excitement and a few days into rehearsals I had my first dialect session with Robyn [who] was also the dialect coach on Shakespeare in Love. That day was an anchor point just having those moments with Robyn and thinking, I’ve got this and I’ve got this lovely lady with me who will be with me along the ride.

Robyn Scott: Because you need to feel safe. That is the difference between those mediums and that is why my greatest love is theatre because it’s alive. No night is the same. There is an element of danger to it. You don’t know what is going to happen. You need that safety and that nurturing.

Roxane Hayward: And that camaraderie and team spirit. There are 21 actors in this and numerous people behind the scenes. It’s a well-oiled machine and we all have one goal and that is to make an amazing production and do something successful to tell the story. It’s been really incredible to be a part of that. Every actor is just phenomenal. It’s been a real honour working with them.

Robyn Scott: It’s a shit show backstage. It’s actually easier to be onstage than it is backstage. The costumes are extraordinary. They come from the RSC. Rox and I both have quick changes that in the beginning you think, “We are never going to be able to do this. This is absolutely impossible.” There are amazing dressers and an amazing crew backstage but the generosity of everybody is that we all muck in. It’s actors opening these sliding doors. There are some crew but it’s actors doing those. We are all helping each other dress and undress. It’s a beast back there. It’s a well-oiled beast now. I think we’ve got it but it’s still dodgy. It’s that generosity of a company of people who come together to tell a story [that] is incredibly special. I think that helps so much for us coming back to the theatre again when you are working with these people who are just so insane and amazing.

Photo credit: Daniel Rutland Manners

I was already dying to ask you about the quick changes backstage because I feel like it must be more of a show backstage than onstage.

Roxane Hayward: Offstage is a full-on cardio workout. I do Muay Thai and I normally go every single day. I haven’t been for three weeks because I’ve just gone, “I actually don’t need to because I am doing all of my cardio running up and down the stairs backstage and changing.”

Robyn Scott: The costumes are beautiful. They are exquisite and we are honoured to wear them but my gold dress that I wear is 7kgs! That’s the one I have to walk in and then do the jig and they keep adding stuff to it! Like, “More pearls! Let’s give her more pearls!” You’ve got to make those costumes work and they do.

Roxane Hayward: The one thing for me, working with Robyn, was just learning how to breathe again. If you don’t breathe, the people even sitting in the fifth row aren’t going to hear you.

Robyn Scott: You’ve got to hit the back row.

Roxane Hayward: I’m working on all these exercises that Robyn gave me and then we put the costumes on and it’s a corset! It was like Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean where she goes, “Try wearing a corset!” That was literally me. I had my Pirates of the Caribbean moment because I couldn’t breathe.

Robyn Scott: And I was like, “No my Roxi, the corset is there to support you.” That is why opera singers love a corset because it supports everything. The tighter, the better.

Roxane Hayward: I still haven’t wrapped my head around that one.

Photo credit: Chris de Beer

Robyn, you are no stranger to Queen Elizabeth I. What is it about this character that keeps drawing you back to her?

Robyn Scott: When I was about 13, my brother was living in London and my mom and I went to visit him. I had never been to London before. We went to The Tower of London where Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother, was beheaded. I can remember walking in and looking around and having an overwhelming sense of, “I’ve been here before. I know this place.” It was absolutely overpowering and overwhelming. I became absolutely obsessed with Henry VIII, his wives but particularly with Anne Boleyn. I studied at UCT and in my final year, you have to do an audition program and all the people come and watch. I had chosen to do a piece out of a Dario Fo‘s Elizabeth: Almost By Chance a Woman. At the time, Marthinus Basson was the Artistic Director at Artscape and he came to watch the audition programs. I ended my program with playing this mad Queen Elizabeth as a 60-year-old woman. Two days later, I got called in by Christopher Weare, who headed up Drama and I thought, “I’m in trouble.” Chris said to me, “From what Marthinus has seen, they are going to put it on at The Arena.” I was 22 about to play a 60-year-old queen and it was my debut professional performance. 10 years later, Chris and I did it again and now this, although this is a very different Elizabeth. The first one was very large whereas this one is Stoppard. Stylistically it has to be a bit more real and [it’s] also difficult because Judi Dench played it and everyone knows the part because she won the Oscar for, I think it was the shortest time on screen in a movie.

Roxane Hayward: It was seven minutes or something total screen time.

Robyn Scott: There is also all of that. It’s like what I said to Rox, it is just fate. I still have a love for her. I still have rituals with her. Every night before we go onstage, I stand onstage and I take my moment and I look around the theatre and I honour her and I thank her.

Photo credit: Chris de Beer

I wanted to reference one of the lines your character says, “I know something of being a woman in a man’s world.”

Robyn Scott: “Yes by god I do know about that!”

Let’s chat about that because it’s a large cast that is predominantly male….

Robyn Scott: Is this coming off the back of Harvey Weinstein?

I think it’s always coming off of the back of something.

Robyn Scott: It’s so funny because it changes but when I said that line last night, I thought that as I said that line.

Roxane Hayward: I heard the reaction of the audience with that. It’s so prevalent at the moment. I think it’s always been prevalent but I think now it has been brought to light.

Robyn Scott: It doesn’t matter LA, Cape Town, Jozi.

Roxane Hayward: It doesn’t matter [what] industry either. It does happen everywhere. I think it really is a great line in the play. It comes at the end of the play and when you say it, it sums up the role of the character of Viola. The whole play is about her trying to be a part of this theatre world, this world of poetry which was run by men and was a man’s world. She desperately wants to be a part of it. She gets a taste of kind of knowing what it is like to be a woman in a man’s world.

Robyn Scott: What she [did], in those days, was dangerous. She would have been put in the tower and it’s because of that cheeky wink with Elizabeth because Elizabeth knows about being a woman in a man’s world. The funny thing is that her reign was glorious. It’s like you kind of want to go, “Well girls really should be running the world anyway.” That’s a whole other thing and it’s also that Harvey Weinstein thing and it was so weird because that popped into my head last night as I said it.

Roxane Hayward: It hasn’t before?

Robyn Scott: No. I have had nights ago where I did think, “I’ve been bullied by male directors and it’s so nice to dig it in.” It feels powerful and fab saying it. I love it.

Photo credit: Chris de Beer

Going off of that, in your position as actresses in South Africa, how do you feel about the current state of the industry? Do you feel as though there are enough roles for women?

Roxane Hayward: I think it’s definitely on the rise. There are a lot more productions coming to South Africa. The quality of productions coming to South Africa is fantastic. The South African productions that are being done locally and being born from within our country is amazing and it is all on the rise which is great. There are some really great roles for women.

Robyn Scott: The film stuff is amazing.

Roxane Hayward: But, saying that, I do have a lot of friends in the industry who are male and 90% of the time, my male actor friends are a lot busier and getting seen for roles and working because there are so many.

Robyn Scott: Without a doubt. Across the board.

Roxane Hayward: Now talking feature films and TV work, predominantly a lot of the roles are male roles. There is more work for men in the industry but it’s on the rise. I think the more we talk about it and the more we voice our opinion, the more roles will be created for women to get involved in.

Robyn Scott: There are amazing movies and TV series coming and that is fantastic and please God may it please continue. The theatre scene in Cape Town also has exploded. Should there be more roles for women? Yes. Should there be more female directors? Yes. Should female actresses be getting more money than male actors? Yes and yes again.

Roxane Hayward: I worked with an amazing female director the other day on a short film. She was so great and it was such a refreshing experience for me because I actually hadn’t ever worked with a female director before. And it was really fabulous. I also have a few friends who are scriptwriters who are female and the work that they produce is also lovely and because they are writing from a female’s point of view with a female voice, the female characters are slightly more predominant in their work. We are getting there.

Robyn Scott: Should there be more roles for female actresses in Cape Town? Fuck yeah. I haven’t worked in four years. It’s not because I chose not to work for four years, I haven’t been employed. No one has employed me and then people last night are like, “You are amazing! Where have you been?” And it’s like, thank you God for people like Greg Karvellas and The Fugard Theatre and thank you god for Eric Abraham to go, “Let’s do a show and let’s have 21 actors.” That’s another amazing thing. You just don’t get that.

Roxane Hayward: The other interesting thing that I would like to add to this question, the rise of social media has really influenced a lot of casting. I think it is kind of trickling into the theatre industry as well but definitely for the international film and TV productions. A lot of the time, you have to harness a bit of a social media following which takes up so much time and we see so many young actresses wanting to get into the industry dedicating their time and their energy on their social media accounts, which is very important to get out of non-existence and have a bit of an outflow but we must never forget that using our time and our energy to hone our actual skills and our craft and our knowledge is the thing that will create longevity in your career. At the end of the day it always boils down to talent. I think we will soon be reminded of that within the industry.

Photo credit: Daniel Rutland Manners

What has playing these characters taught you?

Robyn Scott: I have learned how to take a character that I know in my bones and delicately change her and find humor and how to go about doing that. That was the job for me. How do I play her again but completely differently that will serve the style of Tom Stoppard and tell this style in this play for this story? I think, as an actor, that is what it was about for me. It was how to go about doing that and keeping everyone happy who does love the movie and who loves Judi Dench and all of that because I am not Judi Dench. I am Robyn Scott. That was the task for me and I hope that I have made her my own.

Roxane Hayward: If I have to sum it all up, this role has taught me to be brave in so many aspects of the term. Viola, herself, is a brave young woman but coming back into theatre and working with such an incredible team, I’ve really had to be brave. The words that Greg has said to me throughout the rehearsal process have been, “Rox, be brave. Just do it and give me more. I can always reign you in but just be brave.” They are words that I go to bed at night thinking, “Ok. It makes sense to me. Be brave.”

Robyn Scott: And you are being brave, babe.

Who are some South African woman in the arts that inspire you?

Robyn Scott: Sylvaine Strike, Karin van der Laag, Lucinda Hooley [and] Jaci Smith were the women and actresses that I got to look up to when I was in my 1st year at UCT Drama School. I always said, if I can be a combination of all of those women, watch out world. I’m “mummy” to a lot of actors. I take on that role but they are my mummies. When I’m with them, I get to be the baby and I love it. I just hope that they are proud of me. I must also say Antoinette Kellerman is like, I actually get nervous when she walks into a room. I get quite starstruck and I can’t talk. That voice! She is like stratospheric.

Roxane Hayward: Taryn Sudding! I used to watch Kideo growing up and I loved her. I wanted to be her. I thought she was the most fabulous thing I’d ever seen. She was my Kideo woman and that was it and then I saw her in The Wizard of Oz and a few other productions that she had been in over the years. I kept all the programs of all the shows she was in. I kept everything. I was going through things for a visa application and I came across The Wizard of Oz program with Taryn Sudding. She crossed my mind and then I thought, “Come Roxane, you have a flight to catch. Put it away.” I got on the plane and Taryn Sudding was sitting next to me! I went, “I’m so sorry, this is going to make me sound like a psycho but I have to introduce myself. You’ve been such an inspiration to me!”

Robyn Scott: Was she amazing?

Roxane Hayward: Yes! She’s such a beautiful soul and she just exudes this light. I also love Anthea Thompson. I’ve seen her in a few things and trained with her briefly. It was a great experience and in that short space of time, she really did give me a few pointers that I’ve kept with me. Sabrina Chinneli-Smith and Bronwyn Gottwald were my drama teachers when I was little. They helped me create the foundation blocks for me as an actress and gave me that confidence and that drive from a really young age. They are lessons that I will never forget. And last but not least, the lovely Robyn Scott. I can’t not mention her and I’m not just saying this because we are sitting next to each other right now. It’s been eight weeks now that we’ve known each other but I’ve learned so much. It’s really been special having you by my side through this journey.

Robyn Scott: But not just this journey.

Roxane Hayward: And more to come!

Shakespeare in Love is now playing at The Fugard Theatre until November 25th. For tickets, click here.

You can follow Roxane on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

You can follow Robyn via her official webstie.

Special thanks to Christine Skinner, Hannah Baker and Chris de Beer.

All black and white images were taken by Chris de Beer at The Fugard Theatre on October 19th 2017.

Sarafina Magazine and Chris de Beer maintain copyrights over all images. For usage or inquires, please contact us.

We chat with @Roxane Hayward and Robyn Scott about starring in #ShakespeareinLove @TheFugard Robyn Scott and Roxane Hayward have joined forces to star in The Fugard Theatre's star-studded production of…

0 notes