i caught "american gigolo" again today having not seen it for 10 years which translates to: i was more interested in seeing richard gere's cock than anything else at 13 but now i wanted to view how the thing was put together and why it is now considered a mini-classic.
now, this doesn't mean that i wasn't interested in seeing the weiner once again but now, at the ripe old age of 23, i was also interested in much more: the european look and feel of the film as in how it was achieved by director paul schrader and production designer("visual consultant") ferdinando scarfiotti.
julian (gere) is a high class call boy who services rich women and evidently at some point in his career, though he now says he doesn't do them anymore...men. julian dresses impeccably and almost exclusively in giorgio armani and though this film was made in the mid 1970's, his clothes are timeless, elegant and just plain groovy.
as for gere himself: he is a stone cold fox...sexy, charming, ironic and intelligent as julian.
though much of american gigolo is pretty vapid as it deals and revels in the surface of things...never going too deep into it's characters or situations, it still has a real visceral impact: somehow schrader manages to fashion, through the careful piling on of details (seeing westwood circa 1975 is a trip in itself) much like one would build a house of cards, a meaningful, thoughtful movie not limited to the impact of seeing gere's penis or watching him ply his wares.
american gigolo is definitely a case of something that is much more than meets the eye.
peace,
tyler
tuesday's listens include:
growing pains (mary j.), system (seal), forever changes (love), give me the night (xavier), steppin' out (kaskade)...some jill scott, some vintage roberta flack and luther vandross...
american idol: two monumentally great songs, one by sting and the other by luther vandross (via brenda russell) were demolished by dread locks boy and chicheze
2 comments:
I watched this last night on cable too. Haven't seen it in years. Was actually going to write a blog on male escorts. Hmm...
you should write one about rent boys/men as so much seems to be known/written about hih class women prostitutes...it's a little unfair, huh?
one of the best things about julian/gere is that he is so damn cool: well read, well informed, obviously really knowledgeable about the "ways" of love....kinda makes me want to be a whore....
peace,
tyler
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