Monday, March 16, 2020 — 7
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Last Tuesday evening, book critic
Donna Rifkind spoke to a modest
audience in the sun-soaked coffee
shop above Literati bookstore.
Rifkind’s reviews have appeared
frequently in the Wall Street
Journal, The New York Times
Book Review and Washington
Post. However, earlier this week
she presented her own first book,
entitled, “The Sun and Her Stars:
Salka Viertel and Hitler’s Exiles
in the Golden Age of Hollywood.”
This biography follows the untold
true story of Salka Viertel (the
“sun”), the Austrian-born actress
and screenwriter who opened her
door in Santa Monica to countless
European
actors,
composers,
scientists and artists (the “stars”)
after they were forced out of
Hitler’s Germany.
Weaving in facts about the life
of her “sun,” Rifkind spent the
evening at Literati describing her
writing process for the book. She
grew up in Los Angeles in a self-
described
bookish
house
with
somewhat
mysterious
eastern
European grandparents. Naming
the Beach Boys and Disneyland as
examples, she explained
how everything at the time
of her adolescence was new;
California was thought of
as a “cultural wasteland” in
comparison to the artistic
and relatively diverse East
Coast. After a decade of
living on the “superior”
East
Coast,
Rifkind
returned
to
California,
and it was then that she
came across Salka Viertel’s
name.
Viertel
was
famous
for
being
one
of
the
best-connected
women
in
Hollywood’s
Golden
Age. One of her well-
documented
friendships
was with Greta Garbo, who
was one of the most famous
actresses of the 1920s and
’30s. Salka was married to
Berthold Viertel, a famous
Viennese
filmmaker.
The list goes on and on. When
researching this interesting yet
forgotten woman, Rifkind realized
that Viertel could be found almost
exclusively in the footnotes of more
famous actors’ books. She decided
she would have to write Viertel’s
biography herself.
In her discussion of the subject of
her book, Rifkind made it clear that
Viertel was an exceptional woman.
She
invited
exiled
strangers
into
an
international
community of struggling
yet
immensely
talented
artists. Viertel herself was
also a screenwriter and an
actor, classically trained in
Europe and fluent in eight
languages. At the time,
women had a lot influence,
but no actual formal power
in the film industry; Viertel
used this influence to act
as a connector between
the German emigrants and
Hollywood.
Rifkind also explained
some of the background
necessary to understand
just
how
impactful
Viertel’s actions were at
the time. While there was
an abundance of new and
innovative technology in
Los Angeles and the film
industry
seemed
to
be
progressing by leaps and
bounds in technique, there was a
relative shortage of real creativity.
As the artists who had been
greatly successful in Germany
began to arrive in California, they
needed help, both financially and
linguistically. Viertel used her
connections and experience in both
the film industry and in Europe
to become a sort of “cultural
broker.” She opened up her home,
connected struggling artists with
filmmakers in need of content,
acting as a translator and liaison.
Rifkind said Viertel “softened the
boundaries between high culture
and commerce in Hollywood.” She
went on further to say that a lot of
the famous stories coming out of
Hollywood from that time period
“had their genesis in Salka’s living
room.”
In her research, she came across
German
playwright
and
poet,
Bertolt Brecht, who was one of
the many exiled artists during the
Third Reich. With the chaos and
uncertainty in the world during
the lives of the people in this book,
Brecht is perhaps most famous for
this quote: “In the dark times will
there also be singing? Yes, there
will also be singing. About the dark
times.” This is the clear and simple
message of Rifkind’s piece.
The most famous review of “The
Hunt” comes from the 45th president
of the United States. The man
formerly known as Donald Drumpf
tweeted that “The Hunt” was made
“to inflame and cause chaos. They
(the filmmakers) create their own
violence, and then try to blame others.
They are the true Racists, and are very
bad for our country!”
The 45th president wasn’t the only
person to weigh in. Much has been
said about “The Hunt,” most of which
came before its release. The buzz
concerned the plot, which consists of
“liberal elites” sport hunting radical
conservatives, dubbed “Deplorables,”
at a manor in Vermont.
Now, this reviewer is no President
of the United States, but I do know
a bit about movies — enough to
determine that “The Hunt” isn’t
inflammatory,
racist
or
harmful
to Americans. Real dangers, like
shootings and viral infections, easily
combatable by gun control and test
kits respectively, probably should be
higher on this President’s priority list
than exploitation cinema, but that’s
neither here nor there. Now, back to
“The Hunt.”
The movie was originally supposed
to be released in September 2019, but
was pulled in the wake of the Dayton
and El Paso shootings, and moved to
Mar. 14 of this year (ironically perhaps
an even worse time to release the
movie, but who could have known).
The release date switch was both
spurred by and accompanied with
controversy, from both sides of the
political aisle. Be it because of its
perceived “glorification of violence,”
or depiction of deplorable hunting,
many deemed “The Hunt” “a movie
that should never have been made.”
However,
others
lamented
the
movie’s delay, with one pundit calling
it “left-wing political correctness…
getting out of control.” Everyone had
something to complain about, yet no
one had even seen the movie.
Like
with
“Joker,”
so
much
had been predicted, analyzed and
determined about “The Hunt” before
its release that it was always destined
to fall short of every hyperbolic claim
lobbed its way.
First of all, it’s not hate speech.
“The Hunt” takes aim at everyone,
reflecting current politics through
a fun-house mirror that inflates
the worst qualities of both sides
of the political aisle. The liberals
are arrogant, touchy “holier than
thou” CEOs of huge companies. The
conservatives are racist, homophobic
and trophy hunters. While “The
Hunt” is undoubtedly satirical, it does
not try to solve America’s problems —
its politics are too exaggerated to be
sincere, leaving the viewer to make
their own conclusions. They’re also
incredibly funny. One highlight is
when one of the elites shoots someone
and leans in, exclaiming, “For the
record, climate change is real!”
Political flourishes aside, though,
“The Hunt” is really just a well-done
thriller. There’s a fascinating swap
of protagonists at the start, where
it seems that every character is
expendable, as well as a few cool fight
scenes. Betty Gilpin (“Killing Eve”) is
great too. It’s basically “Black Mirror”
meets
“Inglourious
Basterds,”
a
hyper-
violent,
imaginative
and satirical thrill ride
which
doesn’t
take
itself too seriously. Still,
this feels like somewhat
of an anticlimax. Was
all the arguing really
about something this
harmless?
It’s high time movies
stopped
becoming
hotbeds of controversy
for
no
reason.
All
the
hand-wringing
creates
unreasonable
extremes
that
the
movies involved rarely
live up to. Don’t presidents and TV
news anchors have better things to
do than lament the perceived politics
of an action movie? The conservative
pundits couldn’t get over the term
“Deplorable,” even though it is only
used once or twice in the entire movie.
Keep in mind, these people are fine
with hurling “snowflake” at most
liberal pleas for decency.
Movies aren’t meant to be picked
apart
by
political
demagogues.
They’re meant to be watched, and
hopefully enjoyed, by individuals. It’s
past time to move past the outrage
machine — turning cinema into an
ideological battleground does nothing
but cloud the movies themselves. If
people watch a movie before arguing
about it, everyone will be better off as
the films can actually stand on their
own.
That’s not to say that cinema
shouldn’t engage with contemporary
issues or be debated for doing so.
However, if any movie that includes
politics is going to become a flashpoint
of societal rage before it is even
released, studios may eventually start
avoiding them entirely which, in the
age of masterpieces like “Get Out”
and “The Invisible Man,” would be
something truly deplorable.
‘The Hunt’ is just another thriller,
despite what the president claims
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
FILM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW
The Hunt
Ann Arbor 20 + IMAX, Quality 16
Universal Pictures
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
Rifkind discusses her bio of Hollywood hero of Holocaust
CAROLINE ATKINSON
Daily Arts Writer
This biography follows
the untold true story of
Salka Viertel (the “sun”),
the Austrian-born actress
and screenwriter who
opened her door in Santa
Monica to countless
European actors,
composers, scientists and
artists (the “stars”) after
they were forced out of
Hitler’s Germany.
ANDREW WARRICK
Daily Arts Writer
Movies aren’t
meant to be picked
apart by political
demagogues.
They’re meant to
be watched, and
hopefully enjoyed,
by individuals.