The art (& bark) of sacrifice
LENA Olin’s 2000 breakout was in her Swedish director husband Lasse Hallström’s “Chocolat.” She’s now in “The Artist’s Wife” film with Bruce Dern. She’s now in the TV series “Hunters” with Al Pacino. She’s now in the maybe Oscar mix for “The Artist’s Wife.”
Our phone chat began with a problem. My dog was growling. The two dogs with her were barking.
Lena: “It’s a love story about a creative art couple. When his memory fails, her own career takes a backseat. Dementia is devastating. I know. Someone close to me had it. So much of the person perishes.
“We filmed in the Hamptons. It was winter. Two years ago January. Everyone said that would be horrible. I loved it. No people. Restaurants open. Staying in a hotel, we lit a fire over morning breakfast.” (They live in Sweden so to them subzero is like the Caribbean.)
“My favorite was long walks with my dog and my daughter’s dog on the frozen beach. The King Charles and the 4-pound runt Cavapoo play together. They’re so attached. Mine’s in my lap now, and I bring her in a bag.” (The thing was barking louder than Giuliani.)
“We actually shot scenes on the beach. Everyone in cars or trucks bundled in puffers and me in simple things, small shoes and the director saying, ‘We need one more shot.’ I thought I’ll never get warm again. But I loved it.
“In our movie, the husband’s losing it. My character tries talking to him and shielding his condition from the art community. She’s younger but, despite having forfeited her own art career to help him, he yells at her, ‘I don’t give a damn about your painting.’
“It’s often in real life the woman who steps back. In this story, they met in art school. With lots of money at stake, she did what wives often do. Relinquished her career and let the husband be the star. And then, in this case, he starts losing it all.”
While we talked, the dog was eating her chair.
High ranking
THIS almost forgotten story about the absolutely not forgotten ‘21’ club comes directly from the Australian mouth of editor Col Allan, our New York Post’s never ever to be forgotten monitor:
“My assistant, making my very first reservation there, said the name is Col Allan. Someone put a full point after Col. When I arrived, they addressed me as colonel. At one luncheon, when I was to introduce the hero of Baghdad, Gen. Tommy Franks, as guest speaker, he asked,
“Why were you chosen to introduce me?” I replied: “General, I am a colonel.” Says he: “What unit, son?”
My answer: “The ‘21’ club in New York.” The general: “Never heard of that outfit. It must be Black Ops.”
Name game
SO renaming the Cleveland Indians, what’s Iowa’s Sioux City to be now? Irving City? Tuscaloosa turns possibly into Theresaloosa? Upstate Oneida’s maybe Cuomoville? Punxsutawney could be Town of Poplar — unless, of course, that upsets tree people.
This phone is so smart
WANT a piece of Apple’s Steve Jobs?
Company Caviar’s offering a gold and titanium iPhone 12 thing that has some fragment of Jobs’ original turtleneck sewn into the logo. What this is or how big’s this old sweater thing, who knows? I don’t know. They probably don’t know.
Better they should do a garage sale. This thing is $9,140. Hurry, race, rush, run, they’re only making 10 of them.
BUTTIGIEG’s husband, whom he met on a dating app, told me: “We planned to change the White House by playing music all the time.” Given such wisdom, may we applaud Biden’s most sensible cabinet choice?
Only in Washington, kids, only in Washington.