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Oscar-nominated Mortensen finds inspiration in intellect

Peter Mountain/Focus Features/MCT

Viggo Mortensen is seen here starring in 'Eastern Promises.'

There's no vexing Viggo.

Viggo Mortensen, 49, is an actor of some distinction. He also is a painter, photographer, poet and jazz musician who believes that answers to life's vexing questions surface in quiet moments, surrounded by paintbrushes and a blank canvas with "a few candles burning as the day fades into the night."

Also an actor of some distinction, Mortensen thinks our most authentic occupation as people is to discover as much as possible about life and ourselves.

Which may explain his approach to research for film roles, such as his Oscar-nominated turn in David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises."

"I'm the type of guy who just likes to observe and fade into the crowd," he told an interviewer recently. "I live to be a fly on the wall, soaking up everything and anything. I didn't bring anyone with me, which was an intentional decision. I didn't want my experience to be filtered through anyone else's eyes. I wanted to go and see what I saw, feel what I felt."

Mortensen, whose next picture is "Appaloosa" (his second man-meets-horse outing after 2004's "Hidalgo"), listened to only Russian music, read Russian-language history books and prepared notes in Russian while in the country.

"Russia was perfect. I could go anywhere — any city, town or village — and just be the most ignored person on the planet. It was very freeing. It wasn't until my very last day that a young Russian boy looked at me quizzically, walked over and whispered, 'Aragorn?' "

CSO film contest

Charleston Symphony Orchestra is panning for filmmakers, amateur or pro, for its third annual Silent Film Contest. The submission deadline is April 4 for the performance event, to be held April 10 at 9 p.m. at the Charleston Music Hall.

Filmmakers are asked to create original silent films employing one of six pre-selected musical pieces averaging five to 10 minutes in length, which serve as the score for his/her original film.

The CSO's contest challenges both the orchestra and directors to "create a crowd-pleasing combination of film and music" for the season finale of the Out of the Box series.

The finale enables winning filmmakers to see their work projected on the big screen while a full orchestra plays the musical score live. Grand prize is $1,000.

This year's musical selections include Rossini's "Barber of Seville Overture," Grieg's "The Last Spring" and "March of the Sardar" by Ippolitov-Ivanov, as well as works by Mozart, Ives and an original composition by Trevor Weston, a composer and professor at the College of Charleston.

Film submissions will be judged in advance by a panel.

Advance tickets ($15 for adults, $5 for students) may be reserved at the Gaillard Auditorium box office, through Ticketmaster at 554-6060, at all Ticketmaster Outlets, and at www.charlestonsymphony.com.

For more information, including the complete repertoire, guidelines and submission forms, go online to www.charlestonfilm.com.

All inquiries about creating and submitting films should be directed to Colin Dillon at colin@charlestonsymphony.com.

'City of Men'

Those who recall "City of God," the acclaimed 2002 film from co-directors Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, doubtless recall it vividly. A hit in the U.S. as well as in South America, it corralled four Oscar nominations and blazed a new trail in the Brazilian cinema.

"City of God" was a marvel of seat-of-the-pants filmmaking, using nonactors in the most convincing (and harrowing) way. Dealing with feuding drug lords in Rio de Janeiro's sprawling hillside slums, the documentary-style movie told a story of mindless violence and a war for survival.

By contrast, Paulo Morelli's "City of Men" uses this drug war strictly as a backdrop to examine the lives of ordinary people in these same communities, or "favelas," housing millions of people.

It also offers a cautionary tale about fatherhood and responsibility, given that most of the young males in the film who might be drawn into the drug gangs have grown up without fathers, at risk of repeating the same dysfunctional cycle as young people and parents.

Though produced by Meirelles, and "starring" some of the same figures as the first film, "City of Men" should not be mistaken for a sequel. As Morelli said in a recent interview, " 'City of God' was maybe the best Brazilian film in decades, and I knew comparison with our new film would be inevitable. I would suffer with this comparison, of course. But I am very proud of what we've done. We created something independent, a film that can stand on its own. It grew out of a whole world that began when the first film was made. And we've broken new ground."

About face

The Associated Press reports that as of this week, Paramount Pictures has become the first major studio to make clips from thousands of its films available for use on the Internet. Paramount is partnering with Los Angeles-based developer FanRocket to launch the VooZoo application on Facebook.

Facebook users now have access to footage from thousands of movies, old and recent, to send to others on the social networking site. The clips last from a few seconds to several minutes and range widely across the genres.

Paramount also is marketing DVDs of the movies through a button that appears after each clip is played. The studio eventually hopes to use the application to "virally" market upcoming releases.

Bits and pieces

A film crew with the Documentary Group (formerly known as Peter Jennings Productions) was shooting at several Charleston area recently for a documentary on the Marquis de Lafayette tentatively titled "Lost Hero." Though earmarked for TV, the producers hope to partner with a French group to expand the audience abroad, as well as in U.S. theater. The director is Oren Jacoby, an Academy Award nominee. Also involved is Thomas Bender, a 1999 College of Charleston graduate. ... Warner Brothers has announced that the screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling's final book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will be released in two parts, and that director David Yates, who helmed 2007's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," will return for his third stint. Yates is now in production on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." ... Philip Seymour Hoffman joins forces with screenwriter and first-time director Charlie Kaufman ("Adaptation," "Being John Malkovich") for the new comedy "Synecdoche," about a theater director who constructs a reproduction of New York City.

Javier Bardem goes the inevitable post-Oscar Woody Allen route in the latter's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," playing a Spanish painter being read the riot act from his ex (Penelope Cruz) over his relationship with two American tourists (one of whom is Allen's latest protege, Scarlett Johansson). ... Next up for Saoirse Ronan, the 13-year-old Oscar nominee for "Atonement," are a role opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in the upcoming "I Could Never Be Your Woman" and the part of the title character in Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lovely Bones." ... Ruby Dee, 83, isn't resting on her recent laurels from "American Gangster," having lined up a role opposite Ally Sheedy in the indy feature "Steam." ... Casey Affleck plays a young man working for a mobster in "The Kind One," based on the recently released novel by Tom Epperson.

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