Before we begin, it’s important to clarify which ROCKY is being discussed. There are three:

ROCKY, the character: There are people out there who’ve never even seen one of the ROCKY films, but ask them who Rocky is and they’d be able to give you the basics, he’s “the Italian Stallion”, “a boxer”, “the guy who saved America from the Russians”, “I think he sold me Brisk iced tea once”.
This is a case of a character evolving beyond the confines of its initial creation. As a character, Rocky has taken on a life of its own. There are countless caricatures, Jim Carrey used an impression of Rocky to help launch his own comedy career.

ROCKY, the movie franchise: There are six ROCKY films in all. Not all audiences have seen every film. Maybe they’ve only seen the one where Rocky fights Mr. T. Or maybe they hold fond memories of watching Rocky, a boxer, take on Hulk Hogan, a professional wrestler. Mention ROCKY and most everyone will recall the fourth film where he took Ivan Drago, the physical manifestation of the USSR, single handed.

ROCKY, the original Screenplay & Film of 1976: This is unique from the rest of ROCKY canon and is the focus here. It’s unique in that it is an extension of the American Dream, as envisioned by the immigrant class of the late 19th- early 20thcentury. And in 1976 it was a reflection of the individual, the writer and star Sylvester Stallone.

ROCKY, as it appears here in all caps, will from here on out will refer to the film and screenplay from 1976. And one more thing, it’s not a boxing movie. It’s a love story.

It begins as all things should; with a crescendo of trumpets. The title, ROCKY, scrolls across the screen, white letters on a black screen. Opening on a image of Jesus Christ, the only image of religion in the film, overlooking two boxers duking it out in the church arena. This is a bottom of the barrel bout, put together by the local church to provide some entertainment to the drunks and undesirables of 1975 Philadelphia. The winner walks away with $40, a woman yells after him, “you’re a bum!”.

Rocky Balboa is fresh in his thirties, he spent the better part of his youth and its latter years devoted to the boxing discipline, training in the local gym of Mick, a fighter long past his prime. Rocky is angry young man; not angry at anyone specific, but at his self-doubt and realized stagnation in life. When the film introduces the audience to the gym, it’s made clear by the number of bodies training that Rocky isn’t the only one looking for a way out of the slums of Philadelphia with the help of a pair of gloves. Because a way out is what Rocky needs. His day job is that of a thumb-breaker on the docks, a collector for a local Italian “businessman”, a loan-shark. In the evenings, he goes back to his single room apartment; photos of his youth and parents frame the mirror above his dresser, a poster of former boxing champion Rocky Marciano rest above the fireplace. Marciano is a figure whose success Rocky Balboa hopes to emulate. Above Rocky’s bed is a crucifix, but it’s tucked away behind a bronzed children’s shoe. If anything, its serves as relic to his bygone youth.

While the audience is introduced to Rocky’s world, so too are they introducing to the character of Adrian, a shy young woman who works at the local pet store, where Rocky likes to stop by and purchase food for his turtles and play with the store’s resident dog, Butkus. Adrian is the sister of Rocky’s only friend Paulie, a 2nd/3rd generation Greek-American who works at the local meat processing plant, barely scraping by and looking for a way by way of working for Rocky’s same loan-shark. Rocky looks at Paulie as family, and insists that the loan-shark’s line of work is not for Paulie. It’s also Rocky’s way of protecting Adrian, who he romantic feelings for. Paulie, aware of this, pushes for them to get together. It takes some time, but eventually the two shed away their layers and find solace in their relationship.

Meanwhile, the boxing champion of the world, Apollo Creed has a championship bout scheduled in honor of America’s Bicentennial. Only fortune(luck) didn’t shine too kindly on him or the fight’s promoters as the original opponent is deemed unfit to fight and they must rush to find a replacement. So they do what any sensible person would do, they pick an opponent at random. Fortune shines on Rocky Balboa as his name is picked, Apollo Creed liked his nickname, “The Italian Stallion”.

It’s around this time that the ROCKY enters familiar territory. Its structure as a boxing movie is revealed as the film takes us through the staples of the genre. In one of the film’s more famous images, Rocky greets his morning with a fresh glass of raw eggs. His trainer Mick, who was hesitant at first because of his belief that Rocky had squandered his talent and future by not going the distance with his potential, at one point ties the laces of Rocky’s shoes together in a bid to strengthen his stance. All this is paired with the montage.

The montage has become a staple of any sports movie, arguably as a result of ROCKY’s prominence in American Cinema. A series of inter cut scenarios set over a selection of inspirational/hard-hitting music. ROCKY set the standard with its sequence of Rocky training in the gym and jogging in the mornings. Easily the most recognizable image from ROCKY is of the character running up the 72 stone steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Rocky fails on his first attempt, grasping his sides in splitting pain. But at the tail end of the training montage, he leaps up the stairs and as the music hits its apex, Rocky raises his arms in victory. Now he’s in a physical condition to take on the boxing champion of the world. All it took was 3 minutes of a pop song, if only the mental preparation was as easy.

Though he may find himself physically ready, in the film Rocky has a difficult time believing he can win on the eve of the his bout against the champion. Adrian wraps her arms around Rocky. This interaction comforts him and the camera pushes in-

ROCKY
I can’t beat him

ADRIAN
You worked so hard

ROCKY
It don’t matter, I was nobody before

But it does matter, and later in that same scene we finally know what kept Rocky going.

ROCKY
It really don’t matter if I win this fight,
all I wanna do is go the distance.

There’s nothing pushing Rocky forward except his desire to be better than where he was at the start of the film. The championship isn’t important, its the feeling of accomplishment that is.

And so, as all sport based films go, ROCKY descends deep into the boxing genre for the final act of the film. This portion of the film is forgettable at best, it adds nothing to the film apart from taking the audience to the eventual conclusion and has no substance to speak of and could have driven the film into forgettable territory. Only, Rocky doesn’t win. Rocky goes “the distance”, he’s still standing after the final bell. But boxing’s a professional sport and it comes down to the points, who landed the most successful hits on their opponent; and in that regard Apollo Creed retains his championship. This would faze most sportsmen, but not Rocky.

Trainers, reporters and fans crowd the boxing ring, each wanting a piece of Rocky and his new found fame. None of this concerns Rocky though; He’s unsatisfied, the fight may be over, but there’s no peace for him, not yet. Like a child, Rocky wails out Adrian’s name. It’s not until Adrian makes her away into the ring. It’s not until he sees her that Rocky finds his peace. And blocking out the pandemonium around them-

ROCKY
Adrian! Hey, where’s your hat?

ADRIAN
I love you.

ROCKY
I love you.

ADRIAN & ROCKY
I love you.

They embrace, inseparable. The movie fades out with them repeating the final line to each other, “I love you”.

The original movie poster for ROCKY is a silhouette image of Adrian & Rocky, walking hand in hand. For ROCKY, the boxing movie angle is secondary. The boxing genre is a blueprint and in ROCKY the genre is defamiliarized to serve as a vehicle for a love story. Ah yes, the love story. ROCKY isn’t about Rocky’s rise to fame and wealth, certainly the movie franchise did go that route later, but ROCKY is something more. ROCKY’s focus is on the finding and the strengthening of the connection between Rocky & Adrian.

When Rocky first invites her into his apartment, Adrian looks over the family photos that frame Rocky’s mirror and stopping over one, asks if those are his parents. He nods and tells of how his father didn’t think Rocky would amount to anything in life and gave him the advice of focusing on the body and forgetting the mind. For Adrian, it was her mother who said she didn’t have much of a body or looks so she should build up her mind instead. One compliments the other, but in the context of ROCKY’s creation, the two halves are one in the same.

Sylvester Stallone, the writer and star of ROCKY, was born in New York in 1946. His mother, a second-generation immigrant of Russian Jewish & French descent. His father, a first-generation immigrant from Italy. To the immigrant generations of his parents and those who came before them, America was a safe haven. They were part of or sprung from the largest wave of immigration to the United States (in 1907 alone, over 1.2 million immigrated to the US). The numbers were so great that in 1924 the United States enacted the Immigration Act of 1924, effectively freezing all immigration to America from Europe, the Near-Middle East and much of Asia. Though built on a foundation of immigrants, America wanted nothing more to do with them. But why so many?

Many of the peoples who immigrated to the United States were escaping something. For many Europeans it was the rise of fascism that drove them away. The Bolshevik revolution of Russia, and subsequent creation of the USSR, drove many peoples to America escaping persecution (Russian Jews made up a large number). From the Near-Middle East countless people escaped massacres at the hands of Ottoman Turks and the German forces that supported them; these numbers were made up of Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, peoples from the Balkans and refugees of the First World War. These peoples of different backgrounds all came to America with a single purpose in mind, to realize their American Dream.

APOLLO CREED
If history proves one thing. American history
proves that everybody’s got a chance to win.

The American Dream is different for each individual. But if you’re a part of or descended from the already identified immigrant group, there the linkage of a common understanding of it. It’s moves against the idea of people as a commodity, it focuses on the uniqueness of the individual. In this understanding of the American Dream, the individual makes their own way in life, they create their own opportunity. Waiting around for divine intervention is no way of realizing your goals, its self-determination and perseverance that will find you success.

ROCKY’s ideas and demonstration of the American Dream is reminiscent of the Italian Humanism that found prominence in the 15/16th Century, the time of the Renaissance. Like in Humanism, Religion has no role in ROCKY. In ROCKY success is found through self-determination and perseverance. ROCKY further postulates that fortune plays a big role in success, as outlined by the works of Humanists such as Petrarch & Boccaccio. If not for Apollo Creed happening across Rocky’s nickname “The Italian Stallion” in a book, ROCKY would not exist. Why? Because if not for the fortune that shone on Sylvester Stallone that moment from the film is reflecting, there would be no ROCKY.

Much of ROCKY is a reflection of Stallone’s life; his fears and regrets, his doubt and above all, his success. In 1976, when ROCKY was released, Stallone was, like Rocky, in his early thirties and had only just found success.

Stallone began pursuing an acting career in his twenties hoping to find success in entertainment. After all, previous immigrant generations had done the same with Hollywood itself being founded by Jewish immigrants from Russia and Germany. He’d acted in a few small pictures that failed to find a release and so difficult was his career at the beginning that one night he found himself sleeping in a bus terminal, at wit’s end he noticed a casting call. It required him to appear nude & fornicate on screen. Stallone did it for a paycheck. The film didn’t find release until after the success of ROCKY, capitalizing on Stallone’s success, it was released as the pornographic movie “The Italian Stallion.” So like the character he would later embody, Stallone set about making his own way in life, but it’d take another 5 years.

ROCKY
Had to show that I can do it [...] that I’m not a bum!

Already inspired by Rocky Marciano, another Italian-American, Stallone was watching a 1975 boxing match between Muhammad Ali & Chuck Wepner when further inspiration struck. Going home that night after the match, Stallone would spend three day and twenty straight hours writing and completing the screenplay of ROCKY. This was to be his way out, ROCKY was Stallone going the distance and taking his shot. Hollywood loved the screenplay, Stallone had a hit on his hands and he knew. The money came pouring in alongside suggestions for who should play the role of Rocky. Stallone wanted to play the part, after all he wrote it for himself, but since he was unknown in Hollywood, producers refused and instead offered him higher sums for the screenplay. At this early stage in the career of Stallone and the story of Rocky, Greed did not prevail. Stallone took a smaller paycheck on the screenplay so he could star.

A running theme through ROCKY is Patriotism, independent from the American Dream. In 1976, when the film was released in the US, the country was celebrating its Bicentennial. This is made with Apollo Creed classifying the championship as a Bicentennial bout “in honor of America’s birthday” and equating his knocking out his opponents to that of the cracking of the Liberty Bell. ROCKY wears its Patriotism on its sleeves and its set apart from the American Dream because in this film it pushes an ideology independent of what the American Dream was to the specified immigrant class. Rallying the public under the stars & stripes was not ROCKY’s original intent, until the sequel.

ROCKY, the movie franchise would soon find itself acting as an ideological state apparatus in employ of the US. It was not the first film to do so as the US government famously did so in WWII with its employment of Hollywood directors like Frank Capra and actors like Elvis Presley & John Wayne. It was the Cold War after all, and America needed a strong image to stand behind, something beyond the outdated Uncle Sam. ROCKY filled that role and soon began its decline.

ROCKY
They don’t remember you. They remember the rep!

ROCKY found great success when it was released, beating out TAXI DRIVER, NETWORK, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN & NETWORK(all considered seminal films in not just American cinema, but cinema worldwide). But what was once a single film that encapsulated love, purity of desire and the American Dream soon found itself as the Hollywood movie franchise devoid of all that made the first film great. The purity of Rocky’s desire to only go the distance and realize his full potential found itself shifted to a want for the boxing championship (power & money). This even echoes Stallone’s own course in life. Where he was once described by the film critic Roger Ebert as the next Marlon Brando for his acting ability, Stallone soon became(and still is) the butt of many a joke, turning his success into a money making machine. If you were to find yourself in major American areas during the 1980-1990s, you’d have had a difficult time in escaping the images of Stallone plastered on Billboards, McDonald’s meals, action figures, Brisk ice tea commercials, T-Shirts, dietary supplements and anything else he could sell the licensing rights of his likeness to. Was the individual at fault here? This is not an E! True Hollywood Story. But we do have to ask ourselves, is fame good? Are those who found peace in the realization of the dreams independent of fame and wealth better off than the individuals who are only satisfied with attaining fame & wealth. It’s important to think of ROCKY (1976) independent from its future progression. And as a reflection of Stallone it should be kept free and in context of the early seventies.

In much the same way that there’s so much of Stallone in ROCKY that it’s hard to ignore; There’s much of my own past as a 4th generation Armenian-American in ROCKY’s conveyance of the American Dream that at this point all objectivity must be thrown out the window. Much of what was looked at in ROCKY is my own response to the material. My great-grandfather arrived on steamship from Armenia by was of Marseilles in 1907. Like the immigrants before him and the millions that were to follow, he too was greeted by the Statue of Liberty, with her arm in the air, a beacon to the masses that they’ve made it, they are now safe. And he too found himself in America, alone and without work. But instead of giving up, he persevered. Living on the streets of New York, he made his gains in life by first selling apples from a wheelbarrow. It was only through his hard work, devoid of divine intervention, that he would find love in America in woman whose parents had escaped the Great Famine of Ireland of the mid-19th century, they too hoping for safety and salvation in the United States.

American Cinema and the visual arts as a whole thrive off the connections they establish with their audiences. My relationship to ROCKY as an audience member is no different. And where previous generations would once look to the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of safety, salvation, accomplishment and the American Dream; I and others of my generation look upon the image of Rocky standing atop the 72 stone steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art with his arms raised in much the same way.

In his first interactions with Adrian, Rocky tells her that when he makes it, they’re “gonna stick this face on a stamp.” They did. You can now find Stallone’s face on stamps worldwide.

 

As the date for the darkest day in Armenian history comes to a close, I can’t help but think of the anger and hatred many of us hold against the Turks. And I took a moment to remember those few Turks who helped ensure our continued survival.

Our anger blinds us from the reality that many of our families found salvation thanks to some Turks, who risked their lives in providing the survivors with warning, shelter and means of escape.

It is not the Turkish people who are at fault, but a government that promotes and cultivates  a civilization of ignorance and intolerance.

We must give the Turkish people our sympathy, not our hatred. Help to open their eyes to the truth. Help them to understand why we cannot and will not forget the horrors done to our ancestors and what was stolen from us, the whole of the Armenian people.

It’s hard to believe, but they just don’t know any better.

Stories have the ability to forever shape the lives of children. This is true the world over. America being no different provides its children with a plethora of avenues to experience storytelling: books, comics, movies, theater, the internet, and so on. The Armenian-American child, with a need for integration, stands to benefit from these avenues even more so than the majority of other immigrant American children. The constant threat of assimilation and the lasting trauma of the Genocide have created the need for assistance in developing the Armenian-American child into a well-rounded, contributing member of society without forgoing the connection to the Armenian past or sense of Armenianness.

Storytelling has evolved beyond books and oratory tradition. Modern technology has given way to new methods of relaying impactful stories to children. Their power is in the ability to connect the audience to their individual or collective past, giving them a sense of who they are and what they may become. The influences of storytelling permeate through the child’s social behavior both in public and in the home. And one cannot overlook the indelible influence early storytelling has on the language skills of a child. In the case of Armenian-American children, stories have the ability to ensure proficiency in the Armenian language whether it be the spoken or written word…

There are a multitude of educational materials designed to engage children in the learning experience by shrouding the material with the guise of children’s stories. Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. There are books by authors such as Dr. Seuss, countless computer software programs, television programs like Baby Einstein, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street; they all tap into the child’s imagination, taking the path of least resistance to instill basic knowledge at the earliest ages. According to Joan Ganze Cooney, co-founder of the Children’s Television Workshop that’s behind Sesame Street’s production, “Before Sesame Street, kindergartens taught very little, and suddenly children were coming in knowing letters and numbers.” Independent research had found that regular viewers of Sesame Street tested higher that non-viewers, with the positive effects of viewership lasting through high school.

But Sesame Street goes beyond the teaching of reading, writing and arithmetic. It stands to serve as an example of the true power of storytelling. When it started in 1969, the show made a conscious effort in showing that people of differing backgrounds can and do live together without strife. And for over forty years Sesame Street, with positive reinforcement, has instilled in several generations the simple understanding that we are all created equal, with an understood goal to create a harmonious society among peoples of different backgrounds. In dealing with another of life’s issues, on one occasion the program featured the character of Big Bird dealing with the death of a loved one, sharing with children the distress and confusion one can feel with the loss. Through its combination of education, entertainment, and counseling in morality and social issues, Sesame Street stands as an example of what can be achieved with storytelling. In the case of Armenian-American children, the lesson learned here is the power storytelling can have in helping understand and even healing the trans-generational trauma and scarring left behind by the horrors of the Armenian genocide nearly a century ago.

Storytelling goes beyond simple entertainment, it is about finding out who you are. For centuries Armenians relied not on the written word but the oral tradition of past generations. These orations can be classified as myths and legends and in pre-literary Armenia they took the place of historical accounts. As with any culture, these myths were ripe with stories of legendary heroes who fought insurmountable odds against monstrous enemies. They were the defenders of the nation and people and the myths were their history. And what was the ancient pagan religion of Armenia if not a collection of myths and legend. The collective stories of Armenian myth and pagan beliefs help to paint a picture of the Armenian past. The actual background to the formation of the Armenian people and state is lost in the annals of time. So called “Armenologists” sift through the myths, legends, and fables of Armenia’s past to piece together probable actualities. For the development of the Armenian-American child these stories, be they historical or fiction, are beneficial.

The following excerpt from Margaret Bedrosian’s book on Armenian-American Literature, The Magical Pine Ring better captures the connection of Armenian stories to maintaining a certain degree of Armenianness.

Of all the art forms and relics stamped Armenian, it most effectively unlocks the Armenian sensibility. […] much that cannot be simply explained about the Armenian ethos and modern Armenian experience in America and elsewhere is here stored away as myth. The characters […] are earthy, idealistic, pragmatic, rooted in geography, and lifted by their faith. Each is a doorway into the Armenian wing of the collective unconscious and as such can lead dispersed Armenians out of the limbo.

When introduced at an early age, the stories of Armenians of lore such as Hayk, Vartan Mamikonian and David of Sassoun instill in an Armenian child something uniquely Armenian to be proud of. With a history filled with a genocide, massacres, forced removal from the homeland and the tribulations associated with immigrant life, stories that can instill hope and pride are necessary to keep the ancestral connection alive.

A role model serves as an example to others and can go so far as to dictate behavior. For youths and adults the position of the role model is often filled by an individual from their own lives, historical/revolutionary figures, and in some cases, celebrities or persons from popular culture. For a child in the developmental stage, the role model is quite often a character from a fictional story. In America, a child’s senses are inundated with characters vying for the cherished position of a role model; they exist in the multitude of storytelling avenues mentioned above. The role model is uniquely positioned to instill in a child a set of beliefs and world outlook. As in the example of Sesame Street, the belief that we are all created equal is beneficial to the child. Unfortunately, the truth of it is that many of the characters that children end up turning to for role models fail to serve as examples capable of instilling beneficial qualities in a child. A child stands to gain nothing when emulating a cartoon character such as Bart Simpson, Beavis or Butthead; or a celebrity like Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian. So it is important for the parent to take an aggressive stance at an early age in the child’s life to ensure the existence of a beneficial role model to the child. And the parent must continue to play an active role in the development of the child to ensure the continuance of the existence of beneficial role models, be they imaginary or real.

For the Armenian-American child, maintaining the existence of an Armenian role model is key. The protagonists of many of the stories that exist in the Armenian storytelling tradition can and do exist as role models to Armenian-American children and youth. Hayk, Vartan Mamikonian, and David of Sassoun are viable replacements to the presence of the Batmans, Charlie Sheens, and Brad Pitts in the lives of the American youth. In ancient times these uniquely Armenian stories helped ensure a distinct identity; in modern times these stories maintain the distinct identity in a world where ethnic and cultural divisions are blurred at an exceeding rate. Though it should be mentioned that in the Armenian tradition of stories there is a substantial lack of female characters to act as role models. This creates a difficult void to fill for the Armenian-American girl or young woman.

By default Armenian-American women are the ones best suited for ensuring the child’s introduction to Armenian storytelling. Often it is the mothers that choose the child’s first DVD or book. Between parents, they are the ones with the more active role in the development of the child. Much of the responsibility for creating the connection between the Armenian-American child and the ancestral, traditional past rests on the shoulders of the mother. In the case of daughters, the lack of female role models increases the mother’s responsibility in creating a viable, real-world role model for the daughter to connect to; often this would be the mothers themselves. In these modern times, a substantial number of mothers do work full time jobs so the responsibility of the child is transferred to a relative or as is more common in America, a nanny. In these cases it is the responsibility of both parents to ensure that the caretaker makes available Armenian material to the child’s imagination and development.

Presently there are few materials available to Armenian-American parents hoping to introduce their children to Armenian storytelling. Certainly there are children’s books available but in an increasingly technological world, storytelling by way of literature is not enough for the successful development of the Armenian-American child. America has an almost complete lack of Armenian storytelling beyond the written word. Armenian storytellers must adapt to the changing times and embrace new avenues to introduce Armenian stories to children. When trying to reach the Armenian-American child, Armenian stories face competition from movies, video games, and television programs designed to captivate and enthrall the audience until the next Harry Potter-like movie or Call of Duty-esque video game arrives.

The introduction of uniquely Armenian stories to American film and television can be pragmatic, but those avenues are already crowded with many more trying to break in. The avenue that is most conducive to helping the spread of Armenian storytelling is the internet. Children are introduced to computer technology at an early age and as technology becomes ever more intertwined in our daily lives, children adapt to using computers at an exponential rate. Following the creation of an online presence is the need for content, Armenians have a wealth of storytelling tradition to mine to make available to Armenian-American children. By taking the traditional Armenian stories and making them accessible to the new generations is easy in theory. But to keep up with the competition of American storytelling, it is necessary to make the Armenian stories appealing to the child. Sometimes a modern twist can be employed to make a story current with the times; as has been done many times with the works of William Shakespeare. Employing a similar tactic to the works of William Saroyan or other Armenian-American writers is a viable option for countering the assimilation of Armenian-American children. Most likely these authors experienced the same trials and tribulations in dealing with acclamation to American society. Making these works available on the internet can prove indispensable in the future development of Armenian-American children. Often it is the feeling of wanting to belong to a larger group that pushes the child away from his or her Armenianness. By providing access to a stranger’s own similar experiences can provide the child with that sense of belonging they so yearn for in American society.

Making an effort to introduce storytelling to an Armenian-American child in the early developmental stages can have lasting, positive effects in their adult life. Armenian stories can instill in a child a sense of belonging to an Armenian nation greater than the communities present in their own neighborhoods. This sense of belonging is key to averting assimilation and loss of Armenianness. In introducing Armenian stories at an early age, they remain present in the life of the child alongside stories introduced by American society; the cohabitation of both Armenian and American stories in the child’s mind can create the environment necessary for integration into American society without losing sight of and connection to the Armenian past. Once adults, these children will have an understanding of the importance of storytelling in the development of the Armenian-American child. The tradition will come full circle as they pass it down to their own children.

… I witness three doves flip… … Chalo, the gampr, barks something fierce…

The cows make their way across the field, back to a good night’s rest and up again in the morning.

Just one man tends to the herd of twenty, he shouts for Chalo to stop. With the crispest of words he informs Chalo(yet again) that he and his cattle are village neighbors; no need for harsh words amongst friends.

UPDATE: Since writing this post, Refn has gone on to complete and release DRIVE, he received the 2011 Cannes Film Festival’s prize for Best Director. It’s been hugely successful with American critics & audiences alike. 

I never intended to become a Nicolas Winding Refn fan. The guy’s from Denmark (for fuck’s sake). I’d never heard his name until I came across “Bronson” sometime last year. “Bronson” served as my jumping off point and you can find it on Netflix, in fact most of his filmography is available online via Netflix or Crackle.

With a random download on a lazy Sunday, I took a chance on “Bronson”, a film I’d never heard of (a rarity for anyone). Here, Refn brought me into his vision for storytelling w/o relying on digital effects, a “Now” soundtrack, large set pieces, or a clichéd obligatory romance. The performance he brought out of Tom Hardy is phenomenal. It’s a shame Hardy didn’t receive his deserved notice from the American audience.

And so from there I dove right into Refn’s “Pusher” Trilogy, again the same reaction. I walked away with a deeper understanding and respect for his work.

Interesting thing about these films: while serving time in the DVD aisles of the Best Buy stores I worked in, I would come across the “Pusher” DVDs & I could never get over the cover image. I wrote them off as low-budget slasher films, not once taking a look at the back cover (I know right?).

Anyway, flash-forward to finally having seen the films, Nicolas Winding Refn fuckin’ rocks!

The “Pusher” series is not some low-budget slasher film fest (au contraire), it takes a long hard look at the destructive nature of man and his inability to break free. And looking back on it now, I could say the three films are an exercise in modern Film Noir… hold on! Let me backtrack and lose the Film Noir label, this is the field that Refn likes to play in, this be Refn’s Playground.

I had the opportunity to watch “Valhalla Rising” today, his latest, starring Mads Mikkelsen as a one-eyed viking named… One-Eye. It’s a period piece filmed against nature’s stark beauty but there’s no question it’s the work of Refn, his visual & tonal stamp is all over the film. It was “Valhalla Rising” that spurred the writing of this post, because I’m six films in and I’m a fan. And while I like (can I love?) Refn’s vision, it’s not for everyone. His is an unapologetic look at the world, washed clean of glitz and glamour.

My hope is somehow you come across this article and decide to take a chance on this guy from Copenhagen, it’s time Nicolas Winding Refn gets his just desserts. But then again, what Auteur has ever gotten the mass recognition they deserve? In their lifetime at least.

…

…

what? you were expecting an article? Sod Off!

I like saying/using/typing/reading “dude”, it’s become a part of my vocabulary.

Many, nowadays, would be quick to point this is out as an example of The Big Lebowski‘s effect on our culture. Well dude, you’re wrong. The Summers of my formative years were spent at Huntington Beach; for better or worse, it’s there that I picked up “dude”.

I love it. The usage is universal. It can convey a multitude of emotions & thoughts. Go on, give it a shot; try it happy, then try it with sorrow…

My dad was born & raised in the Valley. He grew up a surfer along the Ventura County line. And some of my fondest childhood memories are of the times he would wake my brothers and I up before six a.m.; walk us the two blocks to Huntington’s Lifeguard tower 17; sit us down on the shore and have us watch him surf for a couple hours. I remember dropping “dude” in conversation even then.

And our afternoons were spent, through various media formats, experiencing the grandeur of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hmm… okay. Forget the whole beach bit. I guess maybe the “dude” didn’t come from there, nope. I learned “dude” from the mean, green, fighting machines.