So Many Films So Little Time
Before our Pygmalion frenzy I was preparing a post with the title above. At least, I was thinking of a post with some of the information I was sharing with our principal backers for the film Seditiosa and with the intension of answering to some questions about many things.
I was also going to share a sad story that I saw in the news… well, everyone in the world saw it. The passing of Raquel Welch at 82. So, I begin with that. As everyone knows Raquel Welch was the sex symbol of the sixties, with a number of films, the best known of a long list are Fantastic Voyage y One Million Years B.C.
One film that is particularly linked to Jac is Bluebeard, where she plays one of the wives of the psycho killer played by Richard Burton. The link to Jac is in a review of Amy’s Barbazul, where Jac plays the famed killer. In it, the reviewer says that he can finally eliminate Richard Burton from his head as the image of Bluebeard and replace it with Jac Avila. Cool.
There’s more to the links between Raquel and Jac. One little known fact is that she was Bolivian by father.
But not only that, her Bolivian family were known to Jac’s family in La Paz. Her name was Raquel Tejada, she was related to Lydia Gueiler Tejada who became president of Bolivia. The Tejada family was part of a very tight group of families in La Paz including Jac’s family. The Welch last name comes from her first marriage.
Lastly, one amazing image is the famous picture of Raquel Welch on a cross.
And now to some questions before I embark in what is coming.
Just a question, I saw the trailer for execution of the unrepentant. There’s a part where camille is freshly crucified and an impalement pole is quite vicerly screwed in between her legs, it’s looks like her vagina is actually being penetrated . My question is was this some kind of visual camera trickery or did Ms Duka , actually ahem…
Guard
…take one for the team?
The Execution of the Unrepentant is a very vicious film where Camille is, indeed, impaled, after she’s nailed to the crossbar, raised up and left there, dangling, supported by her nailed hands. She is swaying high up there for a while, as a lesson to Gabriele who does not learn and refuses to confess and as a punishment is, herself, crucified; but in Gabrielle’s case she’s raised up the pole and her feet are nailed as well. Not so for Camille, who, after Gabrielle is crucified, suffers the impalement.
Was it real, was she a trooper and let Jac pierce her body with a stick? In the film the impalement device goes into her, she’s raised all the way up with it and then, slowly, she slides down the pole as it penetrates her entire body, slowly. At the end we see the sharp point of the pole emerge through her mouth.
Well… she lived to make many more movies after that. Right?
Another question
Glancing through VermeerWorks today and saw advertised a movie from 2011 with Amy in the cast.. ‘The Spectres of Blood Castle’ .. Couldnt get anymore info.
portis
Anybody fill in the gaps??
Back in 2008, when Vero arrived to shoot Amy’s first film Sirwiñakuy, Jac asked Vero to try a wedding dress that Amy bought at the open air market where they normally bought stuff for movies. Vero tried it on and Jac was in wonder. Vero looked very pale, her dark hair framing her face, the weeding dress had a high neck. She looked stunning. Jac said “You look like a ghost” followed by “we should make a movie about a ghost after we shoot this movie! (Sirwiñakuy)”
Soon after that comment Amy and Jac visited the offices of a castle in the rain forrest, proposed to them to shoot a movie there, they agreed and voila, soon after Sirwiñakuy was produced, the three of them went to the castle for three days and shot the ghost movie.
Sirwiñakuy was released in 2010, after the release of films like Agent X, Fantom, Via Crucis of Jane 1 and 2, Aristocrux, Romana Crucifixa Est… and so on. All of them were in the post production line in 2008, like a new bunch of films is now.
Jac had an assembled cut of 3 hrs of Specters when at the end of 2010 the dynamic duo engaged in the production of Maleficarum, Barbazul, Le Marquis de la Croix, all of those were released beginning in 2011. Specters was shelved. Unfortunately. The plan is to release it at the end of this year, after Seditiosa, 69, CruXtreme V, Crux Simplex, Agent Honey Trap, and Deep Cover Mole.
So, we are still working on the 69 film, and have yet to start production/fliming of the Seditiosa film.
When is the Seditiosa flim actually going to start filming? Will it still be finished by the end of April as previously promised?
wanttoknowmore
Yes I thought it was mid March. Been a long time since any news regarding the film.
johnjha
I will soon expand on the progress of the Female Christ movie that the world can’t wait to see, maybe the universe as a whole.
What I can say now is that Seditiosa is already in the production face. The team is working on all those details that need to be in place before the shooting starts. It is not pre production, it is the organizing of the production itself.
Most of the organizing is taking place as I type this. Jac is at the Cinemateca arranging for the meeting of the entire cast and crew. Other members of the crew are working on getting many of the details ready, like the transportation.
The person in charge of the art direction is working on getting what he needs to go to the location and build the sets, crosses and so on. I’m giving a very broad description of what is happening because I cannot describe all that is happening because it is an organic thing that moves on minute by minute.
A lot with be happening this week related to the props, costumes, EFX. The team is learning now that they will have to find good looking skulls! For Calvary!! Which have to be in place on the first day of shooting!
The person in charge of making the swords and spears came through very nicely. Jac is happy with his work. That person, who has a long history of working in films and theater as Art Director, told Jac that he has been hoping to work with him since 1992! Imagine that!
The Seditiosa project is at the final stages of organization right now, Jac is going through the script.
After going over the location and setting up the structure of the story on the physicality of the place, he is now going over the elements of each sequence, particularly the dialogues. They are pretty much based on what is already written, with some additional discussions, particularly at the beginning, a lot of debate and conflictive arguments with the people in power, to mention part of it.
The one element that he will be testing with Simonne is the scourging, as I said before. It will be a two day work, where all Jac wants to put in the scene will be tried and the Make-Up person will be working on the wounds produced by the lashes. It’s very important for that to be realistic and impressive, as never done before in our work.
Although the crucifixions will be more impressive, Jac knows what the potential is and we will do some testing, but it’s not as complicated as Simonne’s scourging for many physical reasons that Jac has to test with the leading lady, to see if she can handle it, before settling into it.
As it happened with our past productions, one day we will be talking about it, discussing it, planning it and all of a sudden, the very next day, we will be totally engulfed in the production. That will be happening pretty soon.
