julian schnabel: pre-dialogue readings

Some of you may be all geared up for the Regis Dialogue this Saturday at the Walker with artist/director Julian Schnabel.  Others might want to do some prep work prior to the talk, and, for that, I'm providing you all with some readings (yeaaaa...).

First up, It'll be good for y'all to be aware of this UN controversy Schanbel's found himself in the middle of.  The Walker has a good round-up of what's going on surrounding the screening of his latest film Miral at the UN's General Assembly Hall aka controversy hotbed for the world.  For the author of the post, this is personal:

I can’t help but feel entangled in this debate. With renewed Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, and increasing condemnation from the UN and the world, a film bringing attention to the issue is not the problem. The problem is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict itself. And the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be cured by censoring discussion.

On a national level, the HuffPost has some love for the debate in an article that focuses much of its attention on the content of the film.  The post's author, E. Nina Rothe, discusses her experience watching the film at the Doha Tribeca Film Fest:

While I watched this extraordinary film, both times I could not help but feel, cry, love, hope and believe like Miral, her unapologetically beautiful creator Jebreal, modern Renaissance man Schnabel and the people of Palestine -- whose soul and endurance make up the most evocative theme of Miral and give poignancy to the story. The film marks absolute perfection for me and I would not change a thing.

But apparently the film has changed since then.  After some negative reviews from early screenings, the LA Times reports that about 13 minutes of the original film were cut out for its US release next Friday.  Apparently those negative reviews really got to Schnabel:

Without singling anyone out, Schnabel said that he was irked by the early coverage, some of which pondered the idea of an Indian actress playing a Palestinian character. "I read some pretty stupid reviews, where people said silly things about Freida," Schnabel said. "If you saw her and Rula, they could be sisters."

Schnabel said that the critical ambivalence was counterbalanced for him by "beautiful comments from people I respect" such as directors Jonathan Demme, Bernardo Bertolucci and Milos Forman.

Enough focus on one film.  Here's an interview that appeared in Art Info three years ago, where Schnabel discusses all his works prior to Miral (cause it hadn't been made then- as if I need to tell you that):

A Reiki master once told me that the reason I had claustrophobia when I was a child was that I had suffocated to death in a previous life. Who knows why we do things? Maybe what my movies have in common is that filmmaking is not just a job to me.

I've seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a very claustrophobic film, and I still don't really understand what he was talking about there.  Maybe some insight into his personal life might help.  And for that, we have a profile of the whole Schnabel family, courtesy of a 2006 New York Observer article.  Let's see what Julian's then 20-year-old son had to say about the family:

“My little brother Cy loves to paint. He did a great painting of his dogs that hangs about his bed,” said Vito. “Olmo is a film nut. We’ll be watching The Deer Hunter, and he’ll be able to recite the whole cast and knows the movie backwards and forwards.”
“They also like soccer,” he said.

That soccer part's ok, I guess.  But it's not really enough to detract from the creepiness of that Deer Hunter comment.  Yikes...

Well, between that and watching all his movies at the Walker, you should be pretty prepped for some lively discussion, and maybe even a few questions of your own.  Any articles you'd like to add to this, add 'em in the comments section, and once again, the dialogue is this Saturday at 8:00pm.