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]

I can easily see his Viggoness.

Well, I'm glad about that.:) I was a bit afraid it was all in my head and everyone would be like, "what the hell is she talking about???" :D

Such good news that you'll get to see him in a newer film soon.

Well, like I said above, I'm not too excited about the movie itself - it was just amusing to find out that he finally made it to Hollywood in his advanced age.:P He's been making movies all along, and some that I'd love to see much more than this one I probably never will, because they were never released in the States, of course. Or never even came out on DVD at all. Unfortunately, in this country the availability of any foreign film seems to directly correspond to its artistic value - namely, the higher the value, the less available it is (see some of Viggo's work, for example).:/ And I'm afraid Viggo is the only actor who can make me want to watch a typical Hollywood action flick any more.:P