Taki's Take

It's been nearly ten years since Whisper's attended the Cannes Film Festival. We may be there next year for a film project we have been working on for years. We met Taki Theodoracopulos many moons ago in London at the launch of a book he contributed to : High Life, Low Life by Jeffrey Barnard. Barnard wrote a column in The Spectator titled Low Life while Taki wrote one called High Life. They were complete opposites. Taki is so far to the Right he makes Margaret Thatcher look like a Girl Scout. Here is Taki's take on Cannes. It's hard to fault him. Click here.

Watch This Film

There is a real buzz in the industry about director Cate Shortland's new film Lore. The flick was premiered at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday night and it has been picked up by Music Box through French-based international sales agent Memento Films for distribution in the US.

Lore is a joint Australian, German and the UK production by Porchlight Films which had a huge success with the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. 

An adaptation by Cate (left) and Robin Mukherjee of Rachel Seiffert’s The Dark Room it's the story of Lore, a young German girl who must get her four younger siblings to her grandmother on the other side of the country after her Nazi parents are arrested by Allied Forces.

Lore fans Rachel Ward &Matilda Brown

Saskia Rosendahl

     

Underbelly Razor star Jeremy Lindsay Taylor & wife Marnie Pleffer at Lore

Lore is beautifully filmed and newcomer Saskia Rosendahl gives a superb performance as the main character. A name and a movie to watch.










Below: watch Cate talk about Lore on SBS:

Another Movie From The King

Everyone over 30 years of age should know Jonathon King : impresario, pop singer, song writer, journalist and record producer. He's the man behind such massive hits as Everyone's Gone to The Moon and many from the famous Genesis band. In fact he gave Genesis their name. He's sold over 40 million records in his day, reported for Entertainment Tonight and helped bring the Eurovision Song Contest to a world-wide audience using his undoubtedly brilliant promotional skills.

He's even responsible for the most annoying hit of all time-Una Paloma Blanca. For a time in every beach bar from the Costa Del Sol, Puerto Rico or the Gold Coast in Queensland  the song launched a million Happy Hours for holidaying Brits. ( The Shuttle once heard it being played over and over in the smartest cocktail bar on Paradise Island in the Bahamas while movie star Richard Harris sang along.)

King had a slight mis-hap with the law a few years ago and was a guest of Her Majesty for about 3 years. Unlike others who may plunge into depression, King put his time to good use assisting less articulate inmates (he was Cambridge educated) with their court appeals. He became one of the most popular blokes in the slammer.

When he left prison, instead of skulking out in embarrassment, he emerged in a jaunty baseball cap and gave the assembled media a cheery wave.

Jonathan King produced a film that describes his experiences during that period of his life. It's titled

Vile Pervert-The Musical ( apparently the sentencing beak gave King the moniker in a stern dressing down during sentencing).

 He also has an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights as King says he can prove he was in the USA when the alleged offences took place and at his trial prosecuting shenanigans prevented him from presenting that evidence.

Vile Pervert is available for free and it's incredibly amusing. King wrote the songs, the script, acted in numerous parts, produced and directed the film and it's a must see. Why he never pursued a career in Hollywood is a mystery. He entered Vile Pervert in the Cannes Film Festival and publicised it by driving up and down Boulevard de la Croisette in a red Rolls Royce with a huge sign atop of the car.

You can either watch Vile Pervert here or download it for future viewing. It's well worth watching a few times. And he has another film in the works titled Me Me Me- which we will bring news of when it's available.

King also published his autobiography last year-65 My Life So Far which is a terrific read and has exclusive tales about some of the world's most famous pop stars.

In the meantime here is the legendary Jimmy Saville introducing Jonathan King on Top Of The Pops with his famous Una Paloma Blanca. I guarantee you won't be able to get it of your mind for hours after watching !