di Selene G. Rossi
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| Cosa succederebbe se i bambini fossero davvero così grandi? |
Coogan: Rob now
has a bigger part than me. […] He’s
got a battle, scene, and he’s got Agent Mulder from…
Jenny: Scully.
And
you know what? At the end of the book, he’s not even born. Who told me that?
No-one (27).
D’altronde, anche il Coogan in carne e ossa non ha
mai provato attrazione per il romanzo di Sterne; infatti, alla domanda di Sam
Wollaston che gli chiedeva se avesse letto Tristram
Shandy, Coogan rispondeva, con fare quasi sdegnato: «The novel? Come on! Of course not. I read
the script, the bit with my lines in. I heard of the novel twenty years ago - I
knew what it was about, that it goes off at tangents, that it’s about
extrapolating everything to the point of deliberately being unmanageable,
almost a willful self-conscious deconstruction of the novel. But that wasn’t
enough to get me to read it» (28).
Mentre la macchina da presa inquadra
Coogan intento a leggere, e mentre la sua voce off – corrispettivo uditivo dei
suoi pensieri declama un passaggio del romanzo («Presently I hope I shall be sufficiently understood in telling the
reader my Uncle Toby fell in love»), Jenny spiega che Widow Wadman è una
ricca vedova che «[…] sees Toby, she
falls in love with him, but she’s worried about his equipment.» Mentre Coogan
continua a leggere («He’s fallen in love,
deeply in love, up to the ears in love»), attraverso un iris siamo
trasportati nel giardino di Shandy Hall dove Widow Wadman, a passeggio con
Uncle Toby, chiede al suo spasimante di raccontarle ciò che accadde durante l’assedio;
entusiasta all’idea di poter descrivere le proprie imprese, l’uomo si offre di
mostrarle la ricostruzione del campo di battaglia, permettendo alla vedova di
farsi più audace e dar così vita a una delle scene più divertenti della
ricostruzione cinematografica:
Widow Wadman: You
must know, Captain Shandy, that I have taken an interest in you. But after we
go further on that matter, I must reassure myself of your… fitness for
marriage. Of the state of your equipment.
Uncle Toby: Would
you like to see my model?
Widow Wadman: I
must know exactly where you were injuried.
Uncle Toby: Madam,
I’ll show you the exact spot.
I
due si incamminano attraverso il modellino.
Uncle Toby: You
can put your finger on it. Just beyond
the asparagus.
Widow Wadman: Yes, quite right. (guardandosi
in giro con il fiato mozzo) Out of the
way. I’m flattered, Captain Shandy, that you would take me
so far into your confidence.
Uncle Toby: (tenendo la vedova stretta a sé) I received my injury nine of the clock,
right here (volge lo sguardo verso il basso).
Dopo aver ricevuto i complimenti di
Mark, e dopo essere stato presentato a Steve, giornalista di The New
York Times lì per scrivere un articolo su di lui, Brydon s’incammina garrulo
verso Coogan che, nudo all’interno dell’utero, diventa lo zimbello della
Anderson. «Rob! Rob! I thought you were a
mate!» urla la versione miniaturizzata di Coogan. Ed è a questo punto che,
sempre più fedele all’originale, Winterbottom conferma ciò che avevamo
sospettato; risvegliato da un colpo di cannone, Coogan osserva Jenny e Steve
placidamente addormentati nonostante nel parco risuonino i fuochi artificiali e
il clangore delle spade.
Come nota
Patrick Wildgust, questa scena «[...] exemplifies the film’s sure touch with
Sterne’s 18th century masterpiece, as well as illustrating the multiple layers
of identity and reality. The camera shows a man dressed in 18th century
military uniform walking in the company of a woman dressed in her finery. We know
that both the characters are actors. Earlier scenes have shown them secure
their contracts of employment, run through their lines, attend costume and
make-up and contemplate the importance of their parts in this cinematic
adaptation of The Life and Opinions
of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. We have
learned that the male character is named Uncle Toby and the female character is
called the Widow Wadman. We also recognise comedian/actor/impersonator Rob
Brydon as the man, and actress/star of The X Files, Gillian Anderson as the woman. The scene before us is adapted from a
well-known episode in the book. Whether we are familiar with Sterne’s work or
not, we find ourselves in comfortable territory with all the necessary
ingredients for the costume drama in place. A suitable architecturally accurate
backdrop has been found as a location, the facility fee [Shut the door!] has
changed hands and the cameras are rolling. The score has already established
the territory. We follow the couple as the pair promenade in the garden. The Rob Brydon/Uncle
Toby character speaks but delivers his lines not as either of the characters
that we might expect but impersonates the actor Roger Moore delivering them. “If I thought you was able to form the least
judgement or probable conjecture to yourself, of what was to come in the next
page, - I would tear it out of my book” (TS. 1 XXV). The cinemagoer then learns that the scene is taking place in the
imagination of Steve Coogan and further layers of reality and identity are
revealed. Sterne, too, presented himself to the public in a variety of alter
egos or identities. First he was anonymous - no author’s name appears on the
title page of the first edition of Tristram Shandy. He then became ‘Mr Yorick’
when he published his first collection of sermons. ‘Tristram Shandy’ was the
person that the crowds flocked to hear preach in Paris in 1764. ‘Yorick’ was
the name of the main character (a thinly disguised Sterne) in his other novel A
Sentimental Journey. ‘Bramin’ was the
name he gave himself when writing his Journal to Eliza Draper, the “diary of the miserable feelings
of a person separated from a Lady”» (Preface
to: Journal to Eliza)» (29).
Aggirandosi spaesato in mezzo alla calca
- e dopo essere stato messo al corrente del fatto che, non solo il film
riceverà dei finanziamenti supplementari per la battaglia grazie alla presenza
della Anderson, ma anche che Sir Walter potrà essere presente al momento del
parto – Coogan incontra la bella e provocante Jenney con la quale intrattiene
una conversazione “illuminante:”
Jenney: So, they’re
going to have the love story and the battle scene. That’s great. (osservando
i finti soldati correre nel campo) Looks
like some Hollywood version of Tristram Shandy.
Coogan: Yeah,
Fassbinder would never have sold out like this.
Jenney: (stupita) You
know Fassbinder?
Coogan:
Hhm.
Jenney: Wow!
Which is your favourite film?
Coogan:
(tentennando e gesticolando) The whole… The
corpus, the body of the work.
Seppur
interdetto, Coogan finge di conoscere la pellicola.
Jenney: There’s
more truth in that title than there is
in most movies, you know? The thing is, you know, he’s such a powerful
writer. You know Schatten der Engel?
That’s my favourite. Do you know that one?
Coogan: Is that
the one with all that sex in it?
Jenney: No, it’s
where Ingrid Caren is the prostitute. But the thing Is that she’s so beautiful
that she doesn’t even need to touch the punchers. (al primo piano in
controluce dei due si alternano le immagini dei finti soldati) They are just happy to sit in a room and
just look at her. The thing is that humanity is so disgusting that they invade
and pollute her with their problems and insecurities, so that in the end, it’s
actually better for her just to fuck them, you know. It’s cleaner for her to
fuck them than it is to listen to them. So you’re watching the movie, and you’re
like, “Just fuck them, Lily. Fuck them.” Do you know what I mean?
Coogan: Fuck
them…
Jenney lo attira a sé e lo bacia
sussurrando «fill me with your babies.»
Trascorso qualche istante, l’attore realizza la gravità delle parole
pronunciate dall’assistente e, dopo averle chiesto una spiegazione, l’abbandona
in mezzo al campo per tornare dalla compagna. Giunto in camera, Coogan si
spoglia, si infila sotto le coperte e la bacia. «I had a
nightmare» sussurra prima di fare l’amore. «Andrew Eaton [produttore della
pellicola] believes that this is the
turning point of the film, “Stories require a journey, a conclusion, some
kind of shape and in that moment you have the redemption of Steve's character.
He decides not to be unfaithful, and goes back to his wife and child. And the
next day he has remembered what's important in his life. He stops getting
worked up about his shoes, forgets about the stupid irrelevancies that he has
been so insecure about. It's about growing up; the resolution of a mid-life
crisis”» (30).
Il cambiamento di Coogan è percepibile
fin dalle prime ore del mattino successivo quando, giunto in camerino e aver provato
le nuove scarpe che lo faranno sembrare più alto sostiene, a sorpresa, d’aver
cambiato idea (31), permettendo così alla pellicola di raggiungere il proprio
climax, ovvero il conseguimento di un’autocoscienza fino a ora inesistente. È infatti a questo punto che, come nota Leslie
Felperin, anche se «[…] pic manages to be fairly faithful to the
ludic, humanist spirit if not the letter of Sterne’s tome and offers a portrait
of two similar bickering, ego-ridden extended “families:” the Shandys and
entourage, and the film crew itself,» si palesano «the biggest differences between Winterbottom and company’s “Shandy” and
Sterne’s: […] the former has a more
rounded out ending, and there is a faint but traceable arc to the Coogan
character, who transforms from self-centered jerk to slightly less selfish
jerk. Even so, Coogan deserves kudos for letting lines of reality blur so much
here, even down to the admission that, despite Around the World in 80 Days, he’s barely known in Hollywood» (32).
Dopo aver concesso a Gary la tanto
agognata intervista per un articolo intitolato The Life and Opinions of Steve Coogan, Coogan incontra la neonata
che interpreterà il piccolo Tristram Shandy. Film autocitazionista e metacinematico in cui né attori né regista
cercano di nascondere l’ingerenza della realtà in ambito cinematografico, Tristram
Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story ha permesso a Sam Wollaston di intervistare
Coogan sulla falsariga delle dichiarazioni “rubate” da Gary: «I return to Gary Wilson, the idiot-hack in
the film, for inspiration. Wilson uses an old trick to get Coogan to talk,
threatening to dish the dirt about Coogan and some girl. He wants to do a piece
more about Coogan the actor and family man - entitled The Life and Opinions of
Steve Coogan, after the full title of Tristram Shandy. I tell him the same -
that everyone in my office wants a piece about Coogan and you-know-who (about
whom more later), but I want to talk about Steve Coogan, the family man. He has
one daughter, aged nine, with someone he wasn’t with for very long and isn’t
with any longer. I ask, as Gary Wilson did, how having a child changed him. “It didn’t really change me that much. I don’t want to
be someone who’s trying to spin this public image of me. I have had some
negative tabloid press, I’m sure you’re aware [I am], but I don’t like to
portray myself as somehow a nice, well-rounded person. I regard myself as a
quite hands-on, attentive father, but even that sounds like the fucking Waltons”»
(33).
NOTE:
1.
Lo
stesso attore definisce il colore dei propri denti come «Barley Meadow,» «Tuscan
Sunset» e «Pub Ceiling» prima di
trovare la giusta definizione: «I think
once people get used to them, […] actually
it’s a nice colour. I think you’d decorate a child’s nursery in this
colour. Quite soothing.»
2.
Nello Special del DVD, dopo la prima del film,
Winterbottom e gli attori rassicurano il pubblico sulla completa
improvvisazione sia di questo dialogo sia di quello che accompagna i titoli di
coda.
3.
A. O. Scott, The New York Times, 27 gennaio 2006.
4.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Suntimes, 17 febbraio 2006.
5.
www.thecia.com.au, Patrick Wildgust, Curatore di Shandy Hall (a
cura di), The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Cock And Bull
Story.
6.
www.thecia.com.au, Patrick Wildgust, Curatore di Shandy Hall (a
cura di), The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Cock And Bull
Story.
7.
www.tristramshandyweb.it, Patrizia
Nerozzi Bell (a cura di), La memoria di
Tristram
8.
Laurence Sterne, La vita e le opinioni di Tristram Shandy
gentiluomo, Oscar Mondadori, Milano, 1983.
9.
In
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
(1841), John Locke sosteneva che tutte le nostre idee derivano dalla percezione
fisica delle cose che ci circondano; allo stadio passivo primario ne segue uno
attivo secondario grazie al quale l’immaginazione può raggiungere, in modo
imprevedibile, le idee più distanti.
11.
Costanzo
Costantini, Fellini. Raccontando di me.
Conversazioni con Costanzo Costantini, Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1995.
12.
Come
in 8 ½, anche in Tristram Shandy: A Cock and a Bull Story, la storia ruota intorno
ai ripetuti tradimenti di un uomo sposato – che alla fine tornerà dalla moglie
– e a «the struggles involved in the creative process, both technical and
personal, and the problems artists face when expected to deliver something
personal and profound with intense public scrutiny, on a constricted schedule,
while simultaneously having to deal with their own personal relationships. It
is, in a larger sense, about finding true personal happiness in a difficult,
fragmented life» (www.en.wikipedia.org).
13.
Già
interprete di se stesso in Coffee and
Cigarettes (Jim Jarmush, 2003), Coogan è perseguitato dalle sue prestazioni
nei panni di Alan Partridge, parodia dei presentatori radiofonici e televisivi.
14.
Ancora
una volta, Winterbottom si diverte a spiazzare con lo spettatore (inglese);
infatti, in 24 Hour Party People, il
personaggio interpretato da Coogan – reporter per Granada Television e
Presidente della casa discografica Factory Records - si chiamava proprio Tony
Wilson, come Anthony E. Wilson (1950-2007), famoso
giornalista, conduttore televisivo e radiofonico e Presidente della vera
Factory Records.
16.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Suntimes, 17 febbraio 2006.
17.
Tra
i film diretti da Alexander Payne si devono ricordare A proposito di Schmidt (2002) e Sideways
– In viaggio con Jack (2004).
18.
In un’intervista
rilasciata a Sam Wollaston, Coogan sosteneva che «if you do something very successful, you will then be defined by it,
and you'll be competing against yourself. […] It's like a band who want to play their new album and people only want
to hear their hit singles» (Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, 21 ottobre 2005).
19.
Tra gli articoli
comparsi in merito, si può citare quello pubblicato da The Guardian il 22 agosto 2005: «In one of the most unpredictable showbusiness pairings the rock singer
Courtney Love has claimed she is expecting a child with Steve Coogan, the alter
ego of nerdy chatshow host Alan Partridge. Love, the widow of Nirvana lead
singer Kurt Cobain, told the News of the World yesterday: “Yes, I am
pregnant with Steve’s baby,” but refused
to comment further. She and Coogan met while they were staying in the same
hotel in Los Angeles and Love is now reported to be embarrassed at the affair,
which lasted just two weeks. “What does it make me look like that I have
slept with Alan Partridge?” she allegedly
told a friend. “Given the A-grade stars I’ve dated it’s embarrassing. I
mean ... Alan Partridge!” The friend went
on to tell the newspaper that Love, the former lead singer of the rock band
Hole, claimed that Coogan had a sex and drug addiction and said no decisions
had been made about the future concerning the baby. Coogan’s spokesman has
denied any romance, insisting they are “just good friends”. The singer, 41, who has an 11-year-old
daughter from her marriage to Cobain, is undergoing a 28-day drug treatment
programme. She was ordered into rehab after using drugs while on probation and
will be sentenced for the violations next month. Coogan, 39, was divorced from
his wife of sixteen months, Caroline Hickman, last month» (Sophie Kirkham, The Guardian, 22 agosto 2005). Inoltre, due anni
dopo la fine della sua relazione con Courney Love, Coogan è stato accusato
dalla cantante di essere stato la causa del tentato suicidio commesso da Owen
Wilson: «British comedien Steve Coogan
has been blamed for the apparent suicide attempt of Hollywood heartthrob Owen
Wilson. Coogan’s former lover Courtney Love yesterday said his hard-living party
lifestyle had drawn in the actor and helped accelerate his downward spiral into
drugs and depression. Wilson, 38, has been recovering in hospital after
reportedly slashing his wrists and taking a cocktail of pills on Sunday,
apparently devastated over his break-up with actress Kate Hudson. Miss Love,
43, who had an affair with Coogan after he moved to the U.S. three years ago,
said: “Under normal circumstances I would not comment but I
care too much about Owen. I went through it with Steve. I was just out of rehab
and he was right there with the drugs. I tried to warn Owen. I tried to warn
his friends. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away
from that guy.” Wilson has allegedly been
battling an addiction to cocaine and heroin as well as struggling with
depression. Rows about his wild ways were said to have contributed to the
break-up with Miss Hudson two months ago. While they were dating Miss Hudson,
27, reportedly banned visits from Wilson’s friend Coogan, whose real life
persona is a world away from his frumpy TV character Alan Partridge. Wilson’s
friends have privately placed the blame for Owen’s problems squarely on Coogan,
who has battled his own demons. The comedian, who starred alongside Wilson in
several films, has admitted to drug-taking and being a serial womaniser -
traits which his new friend has also been accused of. Wilson’s circle of
friends became so concerned about him that some - including former Cheers star
Woody Harrelson - tried to intervene. Harrelson encouraged him to take a break
from his party lifestyle at his home in Maui, Hawaii. A source told US
magazine: “He went to Maui to kick his habit and was like a baby on the
couch.” Santa Monica police recorded his
apparent breakdown on Sunday as an attempted suicide. The actor was yesterday
being watched round the clock by doctors at Cedars Sinai hospital in LA.
Yesterday he pulled out of filming for the movie Tropic Thunder directed by his
friend and Starsky and Hutch co-star Ben Stiller. The film is already six weeks
in production and is just one of a number of projects the actor had been due to
work on over the coming months. Coogan, 41, who was also due to work on tropic
Thunder, said the allegations he was implicated in the suicide attempt were: “Unfounded,
unhelpful and hurtful to all concerned.” Wilson
first met Miss Hudson while filming You, Me and Dupree. Their six-month affair
ended her marriage to Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson and led friends to
hope he would give up his playboy ways - to little avail. But the actor was said to be devastated when
she was pictured, shortly after their split, cuddling her new boyfriend, comic
actor Dax Shephard» (Tahira Yaqoob, The
Daily Mail, 30 agosto 2007).
20.
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, 21 ottobre 2005.
21.
Canale
televisivo a pagamento della Time Warner.
22.
Durante
l’intervista rilasciata a Sam Wollaston, Coogan non negava la possibilità di
voler continuare a cercare di sfondare a Hollywood: «Is Hollywood what he does now? “Basically, there’s an opportunity there, and I’ll pursue it until I
make so many mistakes that I have to come home again.” He’s also writing a new TV character for himself, a man who used to be
a roadie and now works in pest control» (Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, 21 ottobre 2005).
23.
Ancora una volta
realtà e finzione si uniscono: «Some of
the films Coogan’s been in haven’t exactly been critical smashes - particularly
The Parole Officer, which he wrote, and Around the World in 80 Days. Not funny any more, people have said. “That
film turned out not quite the way I wrote it,” he says. “But loads of kids come up to me and say they love it, and
I’ve realised that I accidentally made a children’s film.” And the woeful Around the World in 80 Days? “Not the coolest film
in the world,” he admits. “But I
spent three months in Thailand, and three months in Berlin. Cool places to be.
And I got to watch Jackie Chan - I’ve learned a few moves from him”» (Sam
Wollaston, The Guardian, 21 ottobre 2005).
24.
Carina Chocano, Los
Angeles Times, 10 febbraio 2006.
25.
Questo
superalcolico presente ben tre volte all’interno del film, rientra anche tra i
preferiti del Coogan in carne e ossa; infatti, durante l’intervista rilasciata
a Sam Wollaston, l’attore «interrupts the
interview to go to the bar. In the film he is forever ordering vodka tonics. Is
that what he’s going to have now, I wonder? “I might, actually. What’s the time?” It’s 3.30pm. He buys vodka tonics for the two of us and the
photographer. Why vodka tonics? “It’s what I drink. I also drink warm
bitter. But you don’t associate warm bitter with narcissism, whereas vodka
tonic you might. It has more potential”» (Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, 21 ottobre 2005).
26.
Vol.
I, cap. XII.
27.
In realtà, Tristram nasce verso la fine del Vol. III.
28.
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, 21 ottobre 2005.
29.
www.thecia.com.au, Patrick Wildgust, Curatore di Shandy Hall (a
cura di), The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Cock And Bull
Story.
31.
Nonostante
il mutamento d’opinione, Coogan trova comunque un motivo per protestare,
lagnandosi per la disposizione delle tasche sulla giacca.
32.
Leslie Felperin, Variety,
18 settembre 2005.
33.
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian, 21 ottobre 2005.
34.
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times,
10 febbraio 2006.
36.
A causa della
presenza di numerosi attori già utilizzati da Winterbottom per 24 Hour Party People - e grazie a quella
di stelle del calibro di Stephen Fry - Tristram
Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story ha fatto sì che Jon Bentham si chiedesse se «is hiring such recognisable faces just a
low-budget attempt at a box-office safety net, or is it a bold move that's
revitalising the British film industry?;» sempre nello stesso articolo il giornalista
riporatava la spiegazione ufficiale fornita da Andrew Eaton, produttore delle
due pellicole, secondo il quale «it
wasn't a conscious decision to sign up so many British comedians, the casting
for Tristram Shandy just grew out of
24 Hour Party People and was focused
around Steve Coogan's relationship with Rob Brydon. There were people Steve
wanted to get involved, and Michael likes to work in a semi-improvisational
way, so it just made sense to hire the cast we did» (Jon Bentham, The Guardian, 13 gennaio 2006).
37.
Oltre
alle composizioni di Rota, la pellicola si avvale anche della colonna sonora di Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975) e de I misteri del giardino di Compton House (Peter
Greenway, 1982), utilizzando non solo i brani originali composti da Michael Nyman (Chasing Sheep is Best Left to Shepherds e An Eye for Optical Theory), ma anche
quelli da questi riarrangiati.
38.
Vera
e propria tavolozza filmica, Tristram
Shandy: A Cock and a Bull Story non solo cita classici immortali come Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly, 1969), Il Padrino (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972),
Robin Hood principe dei ladri e Braveheart – Cuore impavido (Mel
Gibson, 1995), ma si diletta a titillare lo spettatore proponendo continui
riferimenti al medium televisivo, a partire da Il Tenente Colombo, passando per X-Files.
39.
A.O. Scott, The New York Times, 22 ottobre 2005.
Una lunga e dettagliata analisi che ti lascia con la voglia di proseguire.
RispondiEliminaBrava Selene.
Anto