A Girl and a Gun: Montage

September 04, 2005

Montage

Books
Once, about twenty years ago,at the beginning of our friendship, Geo
and I spent a 2-3 hour car ride from Springfield MA to NYC --we had
been at a press check for the company he worked for, overseeing a
brochure that I had designed-- talking about the books we had read and
enjoyed. Not just talking, but igniting that spark of excitement in
reliving those literary experiences. We covered Roth,Updike, Bellow,
Chekhov, Marquez, Pynchon, Rushdie, Dickens, Kesey and on and on and
on.Geo was a voracious and most generous reader with an appetite for
literature that probably surpassed or at the very least conflated with
his interest in film. We were always passing on “must reads” to each
other and I always wondered how he found the time to read as much as he
did. Ruth recently told us that he was disciplined about how he spent
his time-- reading always trumping tv.

Philip Roth was definitely one of his favorites. Geo had just recently
reread all of Roth’s novels (24) in chronological order and had written
an essay filled with probing analysis and insight. I have a another
piece he wrote in appreciation of James Salter’s Light Years. And then
there’s the novel
he wrote-- an exciting story filled with all the moral intrigues of the
French Resistance under the Nazis during WWII...and on and on.

Film
I think it was August 3rd, I remember meeting George for a quick lunch
at Burritoville in the Village. Despite his difficulty in getting
around-- he was walking with the aid of a cane-- he was not going to
miss our plan to see The Conformist.
We hurriedly scanned the menu ( he invariably picked the hottest item
on the menu ) and then got down to talking about what we did over the
previous weekend. He gave me his latest medical news--with maddening
equanimity -- he was incredibly frustrated trying to push up the date
for his upcoming operation. Before our food came, he dipped into his
briefcase pulled out a book and slid it to me across the table, dust
cover down.It was Alan Lelchuk’s Brooklyn Boy. Lelchuk’s book is about
the Brooklyn of the 40’s and 50’s.
My Brooklyn. There was an expression on his face of such satisfaction
that somehow in this present he’d given me the perfect gift. I was so
moved by his thoughtfulness and generosity.
We cabbed it to the Film Forum to see “Le Conformiste”. We sat in the
dark and were mesmerized by every frame. Every so often we’d exchange
“did you see that” elbow nudges for the “sweet spots” in the
film--those stunning scenes in which framing, staging, and choreography
come together with surety and grace. There were so many of those I was
black and blue for days.
FIN.The credits rolled. The lights went up. There was an expression on
George’s face of such satisfaction that he had received the perfect
gift... a masterpiece. We filed out of the theatre with words of wonder
for Bertolucci and co. hanging in the air.
We talked excitedly for a few minutes about the film then he took a cab
home and I went back to work.The next day on his site he reviewed the
film and in his explosion of praise was probably responsible for the
unprecedented stampede of people queuing up at the Film Forum that
week.

I think what I’m trying to say is obvious -- George’s love of art in
words and images was the siren song for thinking. He found it
irresistable.
He left us wanting more.
He was a great friend.
I miss him immeasurably.

Elliot Schneider

September 04, 2005 at 11:56 AM | Permalink

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A Girl and a Gun

September 04, 2005

Montage

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