After Lunch Catastrophe

We were finishing lunch when a driver ran into our area and started screaming. We ran outside and the barn was in flames. Several crew members ran inside with fire extinguishers and unloaded six canisters unto the flames as others pulled out camera equipment. But with so much hay, the fire raced through our set and soon the tin roof began to glow red. The fire fighters, Bomberos, arrived 20 minutes later to our remote location. By that time the huge timbers supporting the roof were preparing to collapse.
The fire fighting truck looked to be from the 1940's.
We packed up what was left undamaged and called it a night. As we drove away, los bomberos were still fighting the diminishing flames.

More Pics

My fave statue on the grounds is one of the hunt. And the otherrs are from a burning car we had in the first shots last night. In the states, the effects team would have a controlled burn. Here, the guys throw gas on the car and then light the interior gas bars for a spectacular but unruly burn.

Roughing it in the Country

We are 2 hours south of Buenos Aires in a castle. A french architect brought our castle over from the Loire Valley in 1901. Stone by stone. Massive gardens and grounds. It is now a polo club. Lots of horses. I've not tried then yet. There are bikes to get you everywhere since the pool is a quarter mile away. and the restaurant is a further half mile past that. The roads are classic french countryside. wide dirt avenues with towering trees on either side.
It makes working nights okay.

Day 1

A few pics from the fun of day one. Today, we travel two hours away for four nights of shooting. The thunderstorm outside my window now is making me abit leery. I checked the forecast and it is indeed for rain the next four days. Ugh........
The good news is the mosquitos won't be so bad.......

San Telmo

We left the hotel this morning to meet up with some members of the crew @ tomorrow's location. Upon entering the cab, I was taken back to Almodovar's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown". Carmen Maura's character keeps hailing down the "Mambo Taxi". The groovy cab has everything a woman on the verge needs except Kleenex. Our cab does not have stockings or mascara but it did have smokes, free maps, cards to local businesses and Kleenex.

After our meeting, we grabbed our driver Mario and headed to where all BA shoppers go on sundays, San Telmo. The square @ Plaza Dorrego hosts a huge flea market and the surrounding streets spill out onto the pavement with antiques, Quilmes umbrellas and street bands. Alot of schlock and alot of great buys. But before we hit the square, we went to my favorite secret courtyard. Hardly a secret but on the last job here, the producer and I stumbled upon it and loved it. A place where Che and Marilyn can cohabitate in peace and the antique linens are hanging from the balconies.






We ran into Robert Elswit's wife Helen while in a leather store. Seems she was well known by the staff and she skillfully guided me into a purchase of uniquely indiginous leather gloves.
After a few hours of purusing the goods and a quick lunch, we ducked down a sidestreet to get back to our driver. We came upon an imposing cathedral. I suppose there's something imposing about the point of a battle ax.



We then returned to the mirrored, sconced lit comfort of the hotel. Tomorrow everything hits the fan as we begin day one of six.

The Butler

Ellen loves her butler. I have not seen mine since I arrived and she cheerily interrupted my shower. Every floor has a butler to attend to your wishes, laundry and to keep the show running smoothly.
Ellen's white gloved, gray jacketed sprite has become a friend. His small frame belies a wide bright smile and he has promised us the perfect local restaurant. Genuine "abuela" food. No english menus or waiters. Supossedly his vacation boyfriend from Los Angeles loves it.
While soaking in the tub today, I was re-reading George Sanders' autobiography " Memoirs of a Professional Cad". Written in 1960 after his divorce from Zsa Zsa Gabor, he dispenses his wit and advice on a variety of subjects, including butlers.
"The most indispensable adjunct to a happy life as a bachelor is money. For a poor man it is on the whole better to be married, for a man must either have a wife or a servant to look after him and the intial cost of a wife is usually within the means of a workman."
"Albert was an excellent cook and knew how to do all the things around a house that wifes do, except of course the one thing that women are indispensable."

Green Bamboo

Just got back from a great Vietnamese restaurant in Palermo Hollywood. Called the Green Bamboo, the decor was funky and the food amazing. My dish, cilantro beef with a side of peanut encrusted bananas was fantastic. The walls had really cool funky paintings and there were enough Budhas on the bartop to satisfy the best feng shui master. Well, off to bed....... more scouting tomorrow. We had wanted to get over to Uruguay by ferry but it'll have to wait till our next trip.

A Few More Argentina Pics

Some morning light in the room.

fresh roses everyday in the room. they alternate between red and white.

The blinding morning sun outside and the tungsten glow from the many chandeliers inside.

So many scones and torchieres and chandeliers. They are everywhere. The electric bill must be huge!


The director and El scouting the exterior of our new flat location. An old woman came up to me and thanked us for shooting there because now they would be able to paint the courtyard with the fee paid to the building.


Twilight at our last location. The intense sodium vapor street lights and the fluorescent overhead in the van giving our assistant director an unglamorous look.


We came walking back today from the Museo des Belles Artes and came across these huge trees in a park. Amazing how massive.

Laguna de Lobos

We drove 2 hours out of the city yesterday to visit our principal location. A quiet camping area around Lago de Lobos, "Wolf Lake". Our second location is an old farm for Polo horses. Magnificent barns which appear to be more like churches from the outside than stables. Amazing grounds. The sun was bright and after 15 hours in vans and walking around, everyone was red, red, red.
We went back to the office to meet some other crew members. There was to be a dinner last for the birthday of our art director but unfortunately a crisis emerged around 9pm and that squashed the evenings plans. So Ellen and I returned to the hotel. Standing outside the hotel, The Alvear Palace, was none other than James Carville, President Clinton's political guru. So we chatted with him for a few moments before he was whisked away in a car.
Ellen and I had a quiet dinner in the bar. Just as Ellen was thinking that the bartender reminded her of her agent in Los Angeles, she received a text from Robert warning her about suave italian argentines. Whacky.
We retired and it was good to get a full night's sleep. Today is more meetings and a visit to the local equipment house.
Stables and grounds of the polo farm:



The director, Fredrik Bond, discusses shots with Ellen:




We scouted a block of depressing early 1980's housing flats in the city. Very delapitated and reminiscent of eastern european bleakness. I tried to think of it in it's sterile heyday. A setting worthy of Antonioni. A pouty Monica Vitti wandering aimlessly amongst the complex's bleak angles.
I was, however, taken aback by this mural hidden between two buildings. A reproduction of Picasso's famous anti-war mural, Guernica and this other image of an insane man with gun.

MidNight in Palermo

I'm just getting back from a party in Palermo Hollywood in Buenos Aires. We arrived this morning about ten am. The hotel is a symphony of marble, sconces and white gloved servants. A bit much for me but who am I to dispute luxury.
We went into immediate meetings with the producer and director of this commercial. But there are four other shoots with amazing directors and director of photographies happen in this city. So at 4 pm, we headed to Palermo to meet some of our fave swedish directors for lunch. They are renting an amazing townhouse with old stainglass windows and shabby chic furniture, Argentina style. Then back to the hotel for a dinner meeting.
Afterwards, we were whisked back to Palermo for a wrap party for a JC Penny's underwear commercial. I got to meet two of my favorite french director of photographies. One of them shot "Evita" amongst other great films while Bruno DP-ed "Amelie".
We were reunited with our fabulous grip and electric crew from 2 years ago. Everyone is doing well. Fermin's boy turns 3 next week. The "Monkeys" are no more. They have gotten rid of the moniker that defined them for 4 years. Now Fermin says they should be called "The Survivors".
Lovely Flora has lost many pounds on a very strict diet of water, fruit, vegggies, fish once a week and excercise. It shows and she's in dynamite shape.
There seems to be a party planned for every night this weekend as new crews come and the other ones wrap up their jobs. El and I hope to visit the town of Colonia in Uruguay on saturday. Fun.
But for now, 6 am will come quickly as this is our start time for tomorrow. Good night.