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VN Sightings in UK
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FROM: j.coates@texterity.demon.co.uk (Jenefer Coates)
Excerpt from The Independent, England, 21 November 1999. Chess Column by
Jon Speelman [British Grandmaster]
"I'm back tomorrow after a fortnight in Budapest, not at a
tournament but on location with a film, Luzhin's Defence. This is an
adaptation by Peter Berry from Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel (simply The
Defence in English) and should come out some time next year. The director
is Marleen Gorris and the film stars John Turturro as the Russian
grandmaster Alexander Ivanovich Luzhin and Emily Watson as the vibrant
Russian beauty Natalia Katkov.
My job was as "Chess Adviser", which entailed collecting more than
50 contemporary (round about 1929) games for the tournament, and about the
same number again (here I mainly used recent junior games) for various
simultaneous displays and casual games by Luzhin as a boy.
More important though, was to convey the emotions and body language of a
chess-player under extreme pressure -- a task that was particularly
rewarding with John Turturro himself, esepcially in a couple of desperate
time scrabbles.
Not having been on a film set before, I was struck by the immense
diligence required, both in terms of working hours, from actors and crew
alike; the painstaking assembly of the image that eventually appears on the
screen; and the minute attention to detail required to maintain the
integrity of this other world [sic!] where the action takes place.
In the making of the film, the art department under Tony Borrough
(who was Oscar-nominated for Richard III) commissioned some amazing props.
These include a gigantic chess set, with the kings and queens taller than a
man, made of solid wood; a set so massive that the original script
direction, which entailed a little boy playing Qd1-h5, was physically
impossible - so instead I had him "push" or rather heave a pawn. There were
also a glass chess set based on an old Chinese design; 10 demonstration
boards 6ft square and one huge one 10 ft square; and two beautiful wooden
boards for tournament cross tables.
Once shooting is completed, the film-makers would be happy to sell
these; anyone interested is welcome to contact me and I'll put them in
touch. This classic victory [White: Capablanca, Black: Vidmar, New York
1927] is one of several games of which we see a snapshot."
Contact: jspeelman@compuserve.com
Excerpt from WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON: FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLISHING by John
Curtis (for private distribution by the publishers) in The Independent, 23
November 1999
... As always in publishing, prestige was not the same as
profitability, and it was not until 1959, with the publication of Vladimir
Nabokov's Lolita that the company had its first really commmercial
bestseller. This novel had originally appeared on the list of the Olympia
Press, the wellknown erotic publisher in Paris, and had come to fame when
Graham Greene chose it as one of the three best books of the year. The
Sunday Express reacted by calling it 'sheer unrestrained pornography' and,
as moral censorship was still almost as strong in this country as it had
been in the Victorian period, no British publisher dared to bring out
Lolita until Weidenfeld made the decision to do so.
Nigel Nicolson admits that he was shocked by the book, both his
parents violently objected to it and he realised that its publication would
put an end to his political career. It was Nicolson who came up with the
idea of 'token publication', printing a few copies, one of which would be
sent to the Director of Publications to see if prosecution would follow. To
this day Weidenfeld plays down his immense courage in going through with
the whole business. The strategem of token publication did not produce the
immediate result which had been hoped for and the critical moment arrived
when 20,000 copies had to be printed if the publication date was to be met.
Nabokov and his wife arrived in London for a grand party at the Ritz and
there was still no reaction from the DPP [Department of Public
Prosecutions]. Elizabeth Longford remembers it as the most lowkey book
launch she has ever attended.
Nicolson described what happened next: 'In the middle of the party
George [Weidenfeld] was called to the telephone and an anonymous voice,
possible from the DPP's office, or from an even higher source, told him,
"This is highly irregular, but I am a great supporter of your cause. You
can go ahead. The DPP has decided not to prosecute." I announced the news
to the assembled company, which included the cream of literary and
political London. The cheers could be heard as far as Hyde Park Corner.'
________________________________
Jenefer Coates
TEXTERITY
23 Woodland Rise
London N10 3UP
tel: 0181 883 0258
fax: 0181 883 2800
email: j.coates@texterity.demon.co.uk
________________________________
Excerpt from The Independent, England, 21 November 1999. Chess Column by
Jon Speelman [British Grandmaster]
"I'm back tomorrow after a fortnight in Budapest, not at a
tournament but on location with a film, Luzhin's Defence. This is an
adaptation by Peter Berry from Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel (simply The
Defence in English) and should come out some time next year. The director
is Marleen Gorris and the film stars John Turturro as the Russian
grandmaster Alexander Ivanovich Luzhin and Emily Watson as the vibrant
Russian beauty Natalia Katkov.
My job was as "Chess Adviser", which entailed collecting more than
50 contemporary (round about 1929) games for the tournament, and about the
same number again (here I mainly used recent junior games) for various
simultaneous displays and casual games by Luzhin as a boy.
More important though, was to convey the emotions and body language of a
chess-player under extreme pressure -- a task that was particularly
rewarding with John Turturro himself, esepcially in a couple of desperate
time scrabbles.
Not having been on a film set before, I was struck by the immense
diligence required, both in terms of working hours, from actors and crew
alike; the painstaking assembly of the image that eventually appears on the
screen; and the minute attention to detail required to maintain the
integrity of this other world [sic!] where the action takes place.
In the making of the film, the art department under Tony Borrough
(who was Oscar-nominated for Richard III) commissioned some amazing props.
These include a gigantic chess set, with the kings and queens taller than a
man, made of solid wood; a set so massive that the original script
direction, which entailed a little boy playing Qd1-h5, was physically
impossible - so instead I had him "push" or rather heave a pawn. There were
also a glass chess set based on an old Chinese design; 10 demonstration
boards 6ft square and one huge one 10 ft square; and two beautiful wooden
boards for tournament cross tables.
Once shooting is completed, the film-makers would be happy to sell
these; anyone interested is welcome to contact me and I'll put them in
touch. This classic victory [White: Capablanca, Black: Vidmar, New York
1927] is one of several games of which we see a snapshot."
Contact: jspeelman@compuserve.com
Excerpt from WEIDENFELD & NICOLSON: FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLISHING by John
Curtis (for private distribution by the publishers) in The Independent, 23
November 1999
... As always in publishing, prestige was not the same as
profitability, and it was not until 1959, with the publication of Vladimir
Nabokov's Lolita that the company had its first really commmercial
bestseller. This novel had originally appeared on the list of the Olympia
Press, the wellknown erotic publisher in Paris, and had come to fame when
Graham Greene chose it as one of the three best books of the year. The
Sunday Express reacted by calling it 'sheer unrestrained pornography' and,
as moral censorship was still almost as strong in this country as it had
been in the Victorian period, no British publisher dared to bring out
Lolita until Weidenfeld made the decision to do so.
Nigel Nicolson admits that he was shocked by the book, both his
parents violently objected to it and he realised that its publication would
put an end to his political career. It was Nicolson who came up with the
idea of 'token publication', printing a few copies, one of which would be
sent to the Director of Publications to see if prosecution would follow. To
this day Weidenfeld plays down his immense courage in going through with
the whole business. The strategem of token publication did not produce the
immediate result which had been hoped for and the critical moment arrived
when 20,000 copies had to be printed if the publication date was to be met.
Nabokov and his wife arrived in London for a grand party at the Ritz and
there was still no reaction from the DPP [Department of Public
Prosecutions]. Elizabeth Longford remembers it as the most lowkey book
launch she has ever attended.
Nicolson described what happened next: 'In the middle of the party
George [Weidenfeld] was called to the telephone and an anonymous voice,
possible from the DPP's office, or from an even higher source, told him,
"This is highly irregular, but I am a great supporter of your cause. You
can go ahead. The DPP has decided not to prosecute." I announced the news
to the assembled company, which included the cream of literary and
political London. The cheers could be heard as far as Hyde Park Corner.'
________________________________
Jenefer Coates
TEXTERITY
23 Woodland Rise
London N10 3UP
tel: 0181 883 0258
fax: 0181 883 2800
email: j.coates@texterity.demon.co.uk
________________________________