c.y.joe~我現在比穢多都不如

A very sad day for me, Paul Newman, one of the greatest 20th-century movie stars, passed away last Friday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 83.



He’s one of those rare celebrities who makes me want to be a better person. Not “better” in terms of skinnier, prettier and more fashionably dressed, but kinder, more humble, less aware of “my” world and more aware of the world that’s around me. His death makes me sad, but I have no doubt that his life and his works made the world a better place.

I still remember watching his movies at night when i was a child , even though i was too young to really appreciate his works. It is also a little embarrassing to tell people i watched all these oldid and enjoyed them more than i did with today's movies. Among Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Ingrid Bergman and others, Mr. Newman certainly is one of my favorite stars, maybe the most.

When it comes to Hollywood's classic actors, people always brings up Marlon Brando and the other late-1940s Method actors. With films like A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, The Godfather, critics consider Marlon Brando as the greatest actor after World War 2. But somehow his performances never really touch me, instead i feel more relate to Newman's characters. Besides those piercing blue eyes and charismatic smile, there is no exaggeration or vanity you can find in his acting, it just seemed more naturalistic and less stylized. He didn't try to "create" characters but more to embrace them, It's more to say that there was no filter, veneer or visible style to his acting.

My favorite Paul Newman movies will be "Cool Hand Luke"(1967), "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"(1958), "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"(1969), "The Sting"(1973), and "Hud"(1963).( "The Hustler"(1961) comes very close too.)

Than i realize none of those characters are your so-called good guy, you won't see them end up helping old ladies carrying their groceries out to the car or preaching the good will of men. They are criminal, drunk, outlaw, gambler, and cynic, most important of all, they are rebels of their times, anti-heros if you may say, but the same time they are still ordinary guys in fairly ordinary situations. Because he's a troublemaker, a malcontent, a loner, those with power in the movies will try to break his spirit if given the chance, but he always fights back, no matter how much it hurts. You saw he smiling at the idiots who were crossing him. He didn't give a damn what people thought of him, a real outsider, yet the audience identified with him no matter what. 

The line i remember the most is from Dragline, speaking of Cool Hand Luke, who ate 50 hard-boiled eggs on a bet and collected all the money in the camp.

"You wild, beautiful thing. You crazy handful of nothing."

Could any other actor played the role and described as a "wild, beautiful thing" like he did? I really can't think of any name that apply to such demand, not even today.

And that is how i will remember Mr. Paul Newman, someone who is cooler than dry ice.