Best Hotels in South America | National Geographic Traveler
National Geographic Traveler’s annual list of authentic, sustainable hotels ranges from Cartagena to Patagonia. These properties all exhibit an extraordinary sense of place, authenticity, a sustainability ethic, and community involvement.
Bonus points for the interactive map.
And speaking of South America, ever heard of Boipeba? I hadn’t. The New York Times recently did a little feature on the island off the coast of Brazil. According to the Times:
Boipeba may lack glamour, but it compensates with ridiculously perfect weather and the kind of vacant, palm-shrouded beaches that make you forget about the pleasures of air-conditioning. For those needing more diversions, there is a rare swath of unmolested Atlantic rain forest to be explored, acres of coral reef and picturesque colonial-era villages where the fish you glimpsed during your afternoon snorkel could very well end up on your dinner plate.
Sounds dreadful.
Orson Welles’s “Unseen Masterpiece”
Speaking of movies, I came cross this Guardian article, “Orson Welles’s Unseen Masterpiece Set for Release,” via John Gruber. Gruber highlights the key passage:
The Other Side of the Wind portrays the last hours of an ageing film director. Welles is said to have told John Huston, who plays the lead role: “It’s about a bastard director… full of himself, who catches people and creates and destroys them. It’s about us, John.”
The unedited film has been hidden away in a vault until now amid doubts that it could ever be shown.
Rumours of its release have surfaced repeatedly since it was shot in 1972, but an ownership dispute has always scuppered any plans. However, a Los Angeles lawyer told the Observer last week that the film will finally be seen.
Forget for a moment that something “unseen” by definition can’t be called a “masterpiece.” It might be, but it would take seeing it first. No, the big elephant in the room is that “unedited” word in there. The success or failure of a film probably hinges most on its editing. I find it hard to believe a film could be a masterpiece without having gone through the editing process.
According to the story, Welles left behind “editing notes” for his friend, fellow director, and featured actor in the film, Peter Bogdonavich, and apparently he’s “involved in efforts to bring” the movie to the masses. So there’s at least some hope that something close to Welles’s original vision will be achieved. It might even earn “masterpiece” status when all is said and done.
Still there are a number of people who believe the film should not be touched an exhibited unedited.
Françoise Widhoff, a producer who collaborated with Welles on his F for Fake, spent a month on set of the unedited film, which she described as a masterpiece – “the way it’s shot, the way it’s acted. It’s very modern and free.”
However, Widhoff has reservations about anyone editing the film; she says the raw footage should be seen.
Andrés Vicente Gómez, a Spanish film-maker who worked with Welles on various productions, including the unedited film, agreed that its completion would be an “act of betrayal”.
I understand the sentiment, but outside of a minority of cinephiles, watching the raw footage wouldn’t likely be very compelling. It might be interesting, sure, but it wouldn’t be a movie per se. I mean, how much raw footage is there? Wouldn’t it include multiple takes of every scene? What about coverage shots? An edited movie is about 2 hours. You have to assume the raw footage clocks in at least five times that — probably closer to ten.
Given the unique nature of this film, they should release both the raw footage and an edited version based on the late director’s notes. It’s the perfect approach for a special edition DVD. They could have commentaries from the editors explaining the process, and perhaps even from those against the idea giving their perspective.
In my opinion, the finest DVD ever made was the 3-disc Criterion Collection set of Brazil, which featured multiple different edits of the movie — including one the studio did against Terry Gilliam’s wishes and without his input. The Criterion DVD showed how a film really is composed in the editing room. Gilliam’s cut and the “Love Conquers All” version (as the director calls it) are fundamentally different films despite using the same raw footage. I could see a similar treatment for The Other Side of the Wind.
Already making plans to attend the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. How could you not want to have that experience in a place like this? (This doesn’t hurt either.)
Photo source: theworldwelivein via bossa67
Source: Flickr / bossa67
