tripping down memory lane :)

[floatingleaf]

Okay, so this is going to be something completely different, again. Probably not of much interest to most of my flist, but has that ever stopped me before?...:D Anyway... I had this conversation (or rather, comment exchange) with stormatdusk some time ago where I was telling her about my massive teenage crush on a certain Polish actor. Who was, in many ways, similar to Viggo (though much older). And so she was understandably curious what the guy looked like - but I couldn't find any pictures of him when he was younger, and didn't want to post current ones, since he really hasn't aged very well (quite unlike Viggo in this one area, lol). However, today I went searching again, and guess what? Still no archival photographs old enough for my liking... BUT - surprise, surprise - there is a shitload of movie clips on YouTube (of course - is there anything in this whole wide world that hasn't been uploaded on YouTube yet?... I'm really wondering, you know ;P). Some of which I had never seen before (understandably, since that guy's been in the business for about 45 years, and as for the number of movies he's done, I'm pretty sure it's well over a hundred). So here's a little clip for you, stormatdusk - as well as anyone else who might possibly want a glimpse of "my first Viggo" when he was a fresh twenty-something.:)



I guess I should start with some background info, though. The movie is Krajobraz po bitwie (A Landscape After the Battle) by Andrzej Wajda - a pretty well-known cinematic achievement that has won some major international awards. It was made in 1970 - before I actually came into this world (though I may have already existed in embryonic form at that point, lol). It tells the story of a guy who survived a concentration camp, and is dealing with some serious psychological trauma even as he finds himself suddenly 'liberated' by the Americans in 1945. Luckily, most of the dialogue in this clip is actually in English - which is one of the main reasons I picked it. So I don't have to do much explaining.:P Anyway... my erstwhile 'crush object' is the blond guy in the wire-rimmed glasses. Incidentally, the woman he's talking to is a very popular Polish singer who died in the early eighties, and it's her name you'll see on the clip. The actor's name is Daniel Olbrychski.

Obviously, the movie is very dark and depressing, but I love it, and I think Daniel was wonderful in it (I used to have it recorded on VHS back in Poland and watched it many times). He really is a great actor - one of the best my home country ever produced, and possibly the one who's most popular abroad (he's been in lots of foreign films: French, German, Italian, what have you). Which brings me to the actual reason I went on a search for him again today. Namely, one of my good old friends from Poland sent me a piece of info from some online forum, stating that he is going to star in a movie with Angelina Jolie. I kid you not. The movie is a thriller called Salt by Phillip Noyce, and it's supposed to start filming soon in Washington and New York. Daniel is going to play the male lead, and they picked him because they needed an actor who speaks both Russian and English fluently. I found that bit rather amusing, since if you've seen the above clip, you'll know that his English leaves much to be desired.:) But then again, that was almost 40 years ago - it's quite reasonable to assume he might have improved since then.:P Anyway - the snippet was accompanied by the following pictures:



I know... not nearly as good looking as Brad Pitt, lol. But then, who knows what Brad Pitt is going to look like when he's 64? :P Incidentally, it was his birthday yesterday (not Brad's, obviously). So let's say I'm celebrating by getting a bit sentimental here. There's nothing like reminiscing on teenage crushes, after all, is there?... Even if (or especially if) they happened a lifetime ago - as the above picture clearly confirms. *nostalgic sigh*

Comments

[floatingleaf.livejournal.com]

Heh. I was wondering when you were gonna see this post. Was gonna send you a message if you didn't respond by tomorrow.:P

he has a lovely mouth, and voice

Yes. I love his voice. He did a lot of radio work as well, and I used to collect recordings of him reading poetry or prose. Great for a bedtime thrill - especially love poetry, you know?... *wink*

i think he looks great now! - - you don't, huh?

Well... could have been worse, I guess.:P It's just that he has changed so much, and most people I know were always telling me how incredibly ugly he was, even when he was young.:( How his eyes were too small, too deep set and too close to each other etc. You wouldn't believe how much shit he had to put up with whenever he was cast as a male lead in a movie based on a popular love story. But he always made the character work, and got lavish praise afterwards (often by the same people who had said he was the wrong choice before). He's not classically handsome, though, like Viggo is - there was never much symmetry to his face, and now it's all gone.;)

has he been acting all this time, or is this new movie sort of coming out of retirement?

Retirement?... Hell no, he's been very active ever since he was plucked right out of acting school to do his first movie when he was 19 or something.:P I lost track of his roles long ago, he's been acting all over Europe - he does at least two new movies or so each year, I think. He seems to be one of those people who never stop until they drop.:P Not all his movies are good or worth seeing, obviously, but there's still plenty I've never seen and would love to, at some point. Especially earlier ones that I missed because they weren't available anywhere.:(

Sorry for the ramble... I do get carried away when it comes to my numerous fannish obsessions.;)

[stormatdusk.livejournal.com]

I do get carried away when it comes to my numerous fannish obsessions

and thank goodness for that. i do too, obviously. hell, it's how we all met, right? xo

[floatingleaf.livejournal.com]

Right.:D