The Wrestler

Un film şi o melodie având acelaşi titlu, ambele descoperite ieri, m-au făcut să revin la tema cinefilă mult mai curând decât credeam. The Wrestler mi-a atras atenţia prin review-urile foarte bune şi prin cele 3 nominalizări la Globurile de Aur (una dintre ele fiind pentru cel mai bun cântec, The Wrestler) dar am fost sceptic datorită faptului că wrestlingul este cel mai idiot sport din lume (asta dacă poate fi considerat sport). Însă am fost foarte inspirat să văd acest film excelent, cu un Mickey Rourke pe cât de hidos pe atât de bun ca actor şi (ştiu din surse sigure) încă deosebit de fascinant pentru femei. Domnilor, nici noi nu suntem neglijaţi: Marisa Tomei este cât se poate de sexy chiar şi la cei 44 de ani pe care (nici nu zici că) îi are. 

Filmul ne prezintă povestea tristă a unui showman (să nu-i spunem luptător - wrestling-ul mimează lupta în cea mai mare parte) care, dispreţuit de fiica sa, îndrăgostit de o femeie ce nu putea fi numai a lui şi lovit de un infarct care-l scoate din circuit, realizează că nu poate fi el însuşi decât în ring. Pe genericul de final (apropo, sfârşitul filmului este foarte frumos realizat) am recunoscut vocea inconfundabilă a lui The Boss, pentru ca după rapide săpături pe net să descopăr că melodia se va afla pe noul său album care va fi lansat foarte curând. Dar despre asta vom vorbi la vremea respectivă. Acum vă las cu câteva lucruri inedite despre The Wrestler, filmul şi piesa deopotrivă, luate de pe site-ul springsteenlyrics.com:

"Intro

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, THE WRESTLER is the theme song for the upcoming motion picture of the same name. It plays in an acoustic arrangement over the film's closing credits. The song also gets significant play over the film's promotional trailer.

THE WRESTLER will be included as a bonus track on Springsteen's upcoming album Working On A Dream.

The Film

The Wrestler is directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Mickey Rourke. Production began in January 2008 and the film debuted on 05 Sep 2008 at the 65th Venice Film Festival. It also screened on 07 Sep 2008 at the Toronto Film Festival and on 12 Oct 2008 at the closing night of the New York Film Festival. Fox Searchlight acquired rights to distribute the film in the U.S. The Wrestler was released in the U.S. in a limited capacity on 17 Dec 2008, and will be released nationwide on 16 Jan 2009.

The film won the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. On 11 Dec 2008, it was nominated for three Golden Globes: Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for Rourke, Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Drama for Marisa Tomei, and Best Original Song for THE WRESTLER.

Springsteen and Rourke

Bruce Springsteen and Mickey Rourke met at the Stone Pony back in the eighties. They became motorcycle cruising buddies in 1989 and 1990 when Springsteen was living in Los Angeles, CA. Rourke owned a short-lived club in Los Angeles called Rubber Club, and Springsteen is known to have made two onstage appearances in that club; on 10 Mar 1989, he joined local band The Mighty Hornets for one song (CC RIDER) and, on 25 Apr 1989, he joined an unidentified local band onstage for one song - (STAND BY ME).

According to film director Darren Aronofsky, Springsteen is a huge fan of Rourke's. He's seen every movie of his and he was hoping for him to get back on track making movies. He was following him and he wanted to know about his projects. Bruce heard about the movie so he called Mickey and asked him how he was doing. Mickey gave him the script; Bruce read it and said he loved it, nothing more.

Awards and nominations

On 11 Dec 2008, THE WRESTLER was nominated for a Golden Globe award for "Best Original Song - Motion Picture". The 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, on 11 Jan 2009 and will be telecast on NBC.

Composition

Springsteen wrote THE WRESTLER in Europe during the Magic Tour, sometime between late May and early July 2008. In July, he called Rourke and Aronofsky complimenting them on the movie and adding that he wrote a song for the film's character. The song came while the movie was at the end of its editing phase. This late addition caused the movie's screening debut to take place at the end of the Venice Film Festival.

The Song

On THE WRESTLER, Springsteen handles guitar, piano, and vocals. Director Darren Aronofsky described it as "a wonderful acoustic piece; makes me choke up every time I hear it. [Springsteen] really captured the spirit of the film and Mickey [Rourke]'s character in the piece.""