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At the Movies

March 2011

Now showing: a celebration of film around the world. We’re offering a double bill of documentaries and features, with memoirs from international directors and screenwriters complemented by tales of characters immersed in a world of film. From close-up to wide angle, on location and off in a dream world, these writers provide a panoramic view of the cinematic world. In two stories of film’s international reach, Ryu Murakami’s yakuza finds a soulmate in small-town Texas, while João Paulo Cuenca’s Brazilian slacker aspires to la dolce vita. Montreal’s Robert Paquin describes the delicate art of dubbing profanity. Japanese director Nishikawa Miwa recalls the nightmare origins of her Sway, and Michelangelo Antonioni’s assistant director Flavio Niccolini shares his diary from the set of the masterpiece Red Desert. Strega Prize-winner and screenwriter Domenico Starnone recounts the beginning of his lifelong infatuation with film. And the great Saadat Hasan Manto pens an amused portrait of the Pakistani star Noor Jehan. We hope you’ll find this issue a blockbuster.

Making a Scene
By Domenico Starnone
This tiny, tiny kid shot down the right aisle, then under the screen, then popped up the left aisle, to the back of the theater, and started all over again—propeller going all the while.
Translated from Italian by Elizabeth Harris
Noor Jehan
By Saadat Hasan Manto
The barber pulled out a sharpened razor, placed it in his friend’s hand, and said, “Cut out any piece of my flesh that you like.”
Translated from Urdu by Richard McGill Murphy
Mastroianni Day
By João Paulo Cuenca
The classic “Mastroianni Day” requires a three-piece suit, dark sunglasses, and, preferably, a hat.
Translated from Portuguese by Jethro Soutar
Director’s Notes on “Sway”
By Nishikawa Miwa
The man might not escape the death penalty. And I had become deeply involved with him and with his crime.
Translated from Japanese by Linda Hoaglund
Learn
(Bleep), You (Bleeping) (Bleep): Dubbing American Films into Canadian French
By Robert Paquin
There are two mortal sins in film dubbing.
The Last Picture Show
By Ryu Murakami
It felt funny being called a delinquent by a yakuza.
Translated from Japanese by Ralph McCarthy
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