MODERNISM, MADNESS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
So… what has happened to The Restless Hungarian film, to which this website was dedicated almost seven years ago, along with the book? Many of you have asked me where and when they can see the film streaming, online. The is a short answer and a long answer to this question. The short answer […]
About a year ago I suggested to Sharon that she might want to record an audio version of her book Burning Woman, Memoirs of an Elder. I think my wife has a lovely, dulcet, low voice and that she would narrate her own book beautifully. I would be her producer, director, and sound engineer. Neither […]
I visit a remote railroad station looking for clues regarding my parent’s immigration to Bolivia in 1939. The video at the end of the blog post documents the journey. My father never admitted to me that he was a Jew. This fact, as well as his denial, is important subtext in the story […]
I am in possession of two curious drawings made my by father in late 1939. They are cartoon sketches of Pouqui and Mouqui, the love names my parents gave each other. The drawing shows them settled into their apartment in La Paz, Bolivia. Furniture and personal effects are carefully labeled in French. By naming these […]
Four years ago, as part of my research for The Restless Hungarian, I embarked on an extended cross country road trip to visit structures that Paul Weidlinger engineered. Driving from West to East, I started experimenting with time-lapse photography from my car. In western Wyoming, with great cumulus clouds scudding overhead, I listened to medieval […]
When I was a boy my father shaped human figures out of sand on the beach in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. Sometimes I asked him to cover me with sand and shape it around my body, so that I could be a part of the Sand People family. There was something magical about this and […]
Today I meet actors in the new Restless Hungarian production office in Budapest. To make it official, Máté spells out the words RESTLESS HUNGARIAN with round magnetic buttons on our bulletin board. Sitting around a huge table, at least four people are on their phones talking in a language I do not understand. Among […]
Have you ever had a dream, something you ardently wished for, and experienced the realization of that dream in a way that far exceeded your expectations? That is what happened to me today, on the first day of shooting The Restless Hungarian recreations. Károlyi, the driver, picked me up at 7:30 AM Budapest time. I […]
This letter was written in three parts, separated by several days. It’s about scouting a dubious location…and then filming there. It is also about the man who is the voice of Paul Weidlinger in the film. Lupa beach is the tackiest place in Hungary. According to the PR, “Here you can get a true seaside […]
Yesterday was our sixth day of shooting. Today we are off. Tomorrow begins the final three-day push. I am tired but pleased. I would like to sleep, but I would also like to write about what has transpired since Lupa Beach while the details are fresh in my mind. Each day on the White Light […]