Watched 'Ladyhawke' for the umpteenth time yesterday. A sad but ultimately uplifting story of two cursed lovers; she a hawk by day and a woman by night, he a man by day and a wolf by night. Absolute tosh I hear you cry. Well it is! It gets worse - Rutger Hauer plays one of the male leads!
Now don't get me wrong, I know Rutger's garnered several Golden Globe nominations for various performances but it's always seemed to me that like Jack Nicholson he appears to be better at playing himself than a character or maybe like Jack he can only play one character which may or may not be himself. The truth is, poor old Rutger never quite managed to better his first major role, Batty in Blade Runner, and perhaps he should have given up then. Or just worked for Ridley Scott! The final scene, with the rain lashing down, his predetermined lifespan coming to an end (and you know he's crying); "Oh, if you had seen the things I have seen......". Rutger, you should have retired early and gone into real estate. Or at least gone for the role which Voerhoeven offered you in 'Black Book'!
So why do I keep watching the damn film? Well, Michelle Pfeiffer has never looked more gorgeous but the truth is, it's the only film I know that stars a red-tailed hawk! Beautiful birds! And native to the US which makes it a little hard from here to get to see them in the wild! So.......
What makes the film doubly 'disappointing' is the lack of any real emotion. After all, if you accept the premise and suspend disbelief then wouldn't the pain of being so close but never being together be unbearable; Dante and Beatrice? Whether this is due to the actors or the script (I suspect the latter) or the quite nauseating peformance by Matthew Broderick (as a young pickpocket who befriends the pair, the other male lead), the director, Donner, surely missed a golden opportunity to explore what such a seperation might mean?
Ah well, sometimes fairy stories are just that!
You have to hand it the Germans sometimes. Kaiser Bill, Bismark and Adolf Hitler notwithsanding, diesel engines, Beamers, the rockets at Peenemunde, autobahns and .......Rockpalast!
Now to someone of my generation, the huge treasure trove of goodies broadcast, and more importantly saved on tape, by Rockpalast means that the heady music, alcohol and drug fuelled days of our youth are only a dvd away! The reason for mentioning it is that 'Nils Lofgren, Live at Rockpalast' arrived just as I was starting to write this blog and I keep stopping writing to watch it! With largely the same band (and music) as the Hammersmith Odean gig in 1977, so many happy memories. And one truly awesome (and vastly underrated) player. He is so wasted in Bruce's E-Street band however much a kick he might get out of it.
It's almost as good as Rory Gallagher - Live at Rockpalast.
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