Donald and Desire
Jun. 21st, 2024 08:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingbootDonald Sutherland introduced me to desire.
He was not my first crush, but watching him in Klute was the first time I really got that sense of hunger. I like my men hungry but not needy-creepy. I remember him looking like this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Moviesinthemaking/comments/1dkhfv7/donald_sutherland_sits_for_his_portrait_on/#lightbox
He was no beauty, but he had presence. Those hands! He used them tenderly in the film. I didn't really notice any other evident feature of his body though now it seems impossible to miss. I was a girl-woman when I first saw this film, I knew nothing about sex except local boys and men trying it on and being too gross to allow anywhere near me. Heart throbs like Donny Osmond and David Cassidy were the dream princes of my time; they didn't attract me at all. My first crush was on a hanging mobile of that famous Che Guevara graphic, completely dashed by seeing a proper photo of him and reading his utterly dull diaries. I had a thing for Mr Spock, but we were always going to have adventures together and maybe we could kiss, my thoughts never went further because I was pretty vague on what happened next. When I saw Donald Sutherland in Klute, I knew exactly what I wanted to happen next.
The next time I saw him was in Don't Look Now. By then I had been subjected to the lucifer-like beauty of Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, and Sutherlands's charismatic ugly man appeal had lost some of that magnetic power. Also, his hair and moustache were just unfeasible. The whole did they didn't they moment with Julie Christie was beside the point; yes, they are sexy and beautiful together. But that weird animal thing for the man was gone. I was curious but not caught. Besides, I was too wrapped up in the story; this was Venice and it would haunt me, the ending would terrify me for years. I was annoyed with poor John Baxter who was getting such obvious warnings. Nothing turns me off like stupid; why not just leave Venice quickly? Who would stay and why? I was captivated, but the story had overtaken the man. And after that, throughout so many films, I would note him, enjoy his performance, though never again did he reach out and grab me through the screen. Just as well really.
RIP Donald Sutherland, superlative actor. Thank you for your great gifts, and for bringing so much.
He was not my first crush, but watching him in Klute was the first time I really got that sense of hunger. I like my men hungry but not needy-creepy. I remember him looking like this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Moviesinthemaking/comments/1dkhfv7/donald_sutherland_sits_for_his_portrait_on/#lightbox
He was no beauty, but he had presence. Those hands! He used them tenderly in the film. I didn't really notice any other evident feature of his body though now it seems impossible to miss. I was a girl-woman when I first saw this film, I knew nothing about sex except local boys and men trying it on and being too gross to allow anywhere near me. Heart throbs like Donny Osmond and David Cassidy were the dream princes of my time; they didn't attract me at all. My first crush was on a hanging mobile of that famous Che Guevara graphic, completely dashed by seeing a proper photo of him and reading his utterly dull diaries. I had a thing for Mr Spock, but we were always going to have adventures together and maybe we could kiss, my thoughts never went further because I was pretty vague on what happened next. When I saw Donald Sutherland in Klute, I knew exactly what I wanted to happen next.
The next time I saw him was in Don't Look Now. By then I had been subjected to the lucifer-like beauty of Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, and Sutherlands's charismatic ugly man appeal had lost some of that magnetic power. Also, his hair and moustache were just unfeasible. The whole did they didn't they moment with Julie Christie was beside the point; yes, they are sexy and beautiful together. But that weird animal thing for the man was gone. I was curious but not caught. Besides, I was too wrapped up in the story; this was Venice and it would haunt me, the ending would terrify me for years. I was annoyed with poor John Baxter who was getting such obvious warnings. Nothing turns me off like stupid; why not just leave Venice quickly? Who would stay and why? I was captivated, but the story had overtaken the man. And after that, throughout so many films, I would note him, enjoy his performance, though never again did he reach out and grab me through the screen. Just as well really.
RIP Donald Sutherland, superlative actor. Thank you for your great gifts, and for bringing so much.
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no subject
Date: 2024-06-21 11:21 am (UTC)And yes to yr observations about Donald Sutherland in Klute—though I think a great part of that was Jane Fonda's superb acting in that film: We were channeling him through her character's eyes.
I still think about what she tells her therapist about why she fell in love with him: He's seen me ugly...
no subject
Date: 2024-06-21 11:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-06-21 02:58 pm (UTC)I love how he brought something so extra and human to all of his roles. In P&P there is the tiniest scene where at a ball he goes in search of a bereft Mary and comforts her. Everything in that teensy teensy scene emanates father and caregiver and protector. It just slays me every time.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-22 07:06 am (UTC)But I don't recall that scene! I'm going to seek it out!
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Date: 2024-06-23 08:45 pm (UTC)https://youtu.be/7kCrrjp2epY?si=-UI2g1RYJNF9kJ22
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Date: 2024-06-26 08:43 am (UTC)