I keep forgetting that Mike Myers is not actually playing an Indian in The Love Guru, and yet I’m constantly reminded by the film’s commercials, which show that ridiculous shot of a little kid’s body with Myers’ giant head digitally superimposed onto it. Really, Myers’ character (Pitka) is a white American who is left on the doorstep of an Indian ashram when he’s a child. Then he’s raised as Indian, I guess (or simply Hindu, but then why the accent?).
Apparently the character, Pitka, couldn’t simply look and talk like Myers. He had to have that silly accent and the clothes and the facial hair, despite the fact that Deepak Chopra, who partially inspired the character (and who appears in the movie), is able to wear jeans and be clean-shaven. Because who would believe Myers as an Indian guru with just the voice, the clothes and his baby face?
Of course, Myers is not the first actor to wear or grow a beard and/or mustache in order to take on the guise of another ethnicity. Sure, it’s also the accent and the makeup that transforms the actor, but with the most recognizable faces, it’s the facial hair that really seals the deal for supposed authenticity.
Charlton Heston as Mexican in Touch of Evil (pictured above) - Maybe if Heston could maintain the accent he wouldn’t have needed the mustache. But then in photos he still would have just looked like regular old Heston. With the whiskers, however, he looks like regular old Heston with a mustache. If this look defined a man as Mexican, then many characters from the ’30s must have been Mexican. Rhett Butler? Mexican. Nick Charles (and anyone else played by William Powell)? Mexican. …Read more
I couldn’t believe that news of another Ben-Huradaptation would appear in the trades so soon after the death of Charlton Heston, but this story indeed appeared in Variety yesterday, detailing plans for a $30 million miniseries to be directed by Christian Duguay (The Art of War) and produced by David Wyler, whose father, William Wyler, directed the 1959 classic starring Heston.
And as is common for modern versions of things, the miniseries will be targeted at a younger audience, few of whom are likely watching Turner Classic Movies for its regular showings of the the Oscar-winning 1959 version (hey, kids, it’s in color, at least), despite the existence of this very, very appealing trailer (for the similar, earlier The Ten Commandments).
Charlton Heston’s passing reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Youtube videos, the above Ten Things I Hate About Commandments. Considering that the original star of Ten Things I Hate About You, Heath Ledger, also passed this year, it’s a bit like watching old SNL skits with Chris Farley, Phil Hartman, or John Belushi, funny, but also quite sad.
Ronald Bergan has a nice piece on the Guardian Unlimited Film Blog exploring the idea of boycotting Heston’s films due to his affiliation with the NRA and his other staunch right-wing beliefs. While Bergan doesn’t exactly encourage a boycott, his point that actor’s political lives color our perception of their work is spot on.
I for one think that boycotting Heston or Jane Fonda or anyone else for their political views is silly. For one thing, the work that any artist makes is automatically open for interpretation. Even propaganda can be misread. And if the fickle nature of the viewer weren’t enough, we now have mash-ups on Youtube like the one above, where one of Hollywood’s most serious leading men is transformed into a pitch-perfect comedian. The political views of celebrities are what we make them, literally.
My favorite anecdote about Charlton Heston, who died over the weekend at the age of 84, has to do with him fighting for the role of the Mexican cop in Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil. As Glenn Kenny tells it:
…any self-respecting cinephile knows that it was only through Charlton Heston’s intervention that Welles directed Touch of Evil in the first place. Welles had only been contracted to co-star in the picture as corrupt bordertown cop Hank Quinlan. When the producers contacted Heston for the lead role of Mexican narc “Mike” Vargas, they told him, “We’ve got Welles,” to which Heston replied, “Any picture Welles directs, I’ll make.” Which sent producers scurrying back to Welles, who rewrote and directed the picture for no extra fee.
Manohla Dargis, in her tribute to Heston, also waxes rhapsodic on Welles’ film, and particularly, its infamous opening tracking shot.
Shortly after the film opens, Vargas and his delectable new American bride, Susan (Janet Leigh), kiss at the Mexican-American border, a passionate embrace that leads to a cataclysmic explosion and soon plunges the newlyweds into a phantasmagoria of sleaze, violence and very low camera angles. Vargas, a celebrity cop who has brought a case against a drug ring that’s about to go to trial in Mexico City, spends much of the story separated from Susan and circling Quinlan, a dirty American lawman.
You can watch the first five minutes of Touch of Evil above. For more Heston memorials, check out David Hudson’s master list at GreenCine Daily.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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I couldn’t believe that news of another 
