Ever wondered why the de riguer femme fatales of yesteryears’ movies have almost vanished from the screen. Some believe the dearth of old-style glamour could be one reason. Others think women were avid cinema-goers in the Forties, and maybe later, and these remarkable roles of vamps were created to spark their fantasies.
Next month sees a monster celebration of the femme fatale in all her guises in Britain, reports The Independent. “Screened as part of the Birds Eye View women’s film festival, some 30 movies will commemorate the vamp in silent cinema – the glorious likes of Louise Brooks and Theda Bara – and in later films up to today. A parallel event, at the BFI Mediatheque at QUAD, in Derby, highlights wicked ladies in British film and TV in archive material that will be available to view…
“The writer and critic Anne Billson cites changing (cinema) audiences, reports The Independent. ‘Today the target demographic is a 16-year-old boy, whose idea of what a woman consists of is not very sophisticated’. The result is the comic-book S&M of Sin City (2005): ‘An adolescent wet dream in which all the women in the world wear strippers’ costumes’.
“Mary Harron is one of few high-profile female film-makers working in the US: her films include American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page. She links the decline of the screen temptress to the rise of celebrity culture. ‘You know so much about stars now; there’s such a relentless uncovering of everything in Hollywood,” says the director, who’s giving a masterclass at the Birds Eye View festival. ‘Actors have become kind of everyday. And the femme fatale is about mystery’.
“The femme fatale had her greatest moment in the film noir of the Forties: it’s claimed that she signified male fears of women liberated by their part in the war. This period is well represented by Double Indemnity (1944), Gilda (1946) and other greats. The season’s centrepiece is the re-release of a neglected B classic: Joseph H Lewis’s sweaty, throbbing Gun Crazy (1949), the ragged blueprint for Godard’s early films and for Bonnie and Clyde.” More here…
Indian cinema, too, had its own share of unforgettable vamps, such as London-born Helen Richardson and Nadira (born Farhat Ezekiel Nadira, to a Baghdadi Jewish family).
Photo above: Rita Hayworth in ‘Gilda’
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.