neff (04/23/83)
I've just come back from seeing Nastassja Kinski in her latest movie, EXPOSED and i thought I'd waste your time with my comments on the actress and the movie. First, Nastassja - her performance in TESS was to me little short of perfection. I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job in that role. I am also one of those few people who actually liked CAT PEOPLE. I think Kinski's acting in that movie was incredibly underrated; she incorporated beautifully the elements of innocence, mystery and sensuality that the role required. To be perfectly honest, I'm an unabashed Nastassja Kinski fan. No number of negative comments or reviews have ever deterred me from going to her movies. In fact I fought rush hour traffic going into Chicago with a friend just to see her new movie. Now that I have "exposed" myself as a Kinski addict here are my comments on EXPOSED. EXPOSED is the first film by James Toback that I've seen and it is sure to be my last. Toback wrote, directed, produced and acted in the movie. As an actor his talent is nonexistent. Fortunately he has only a small role. Unfortunately his acting ability far outshines his ability as a screenwriter. I won't bore you with the plot. The story is too inconceivably idiotic to mention, I've never heard so much awkward, irrelevant and contrived dialogue. Toback has absolutely no ear for the way normal people talk. The direction was chaotic and the scenes between Kinski and Rudolf Nureyev are embarrassing to watch. It is hard to believe that any responsible filmmaker would take credit for the production of this travesty. Toback is definitely a man to avoid in the movies. Any display of acting ability in this movie was totally wasted. Everyone was smothered by the ridiculous script. Kinski was watchable during some of the early scenes but those scenes weren't worth the pain of sitting through the entire movie. When the audience starts laughing during what is supposed to be a touching death scene you know you're watching a loser. With roles like this Kinski can kiss her acting career goodbye. I still have hopes for in her upcoming films though. She will be starring with Dudley Moore in "Unfaithfully Yours", in "The Moon in the Gutter" - the new film by the director of "Diva" and she is set to play the part of Susie the bear in the film version of "Hotel New Hampshire". These films should provide her with sufficient opportunity to prove herself as an actress. I hope she survives, I know she has the potential.
rs55611 (04/24/83)
Did anyone see Nastassia Kinski's appearance on the David Letterman show a week or two ago? She came out with her hair standing straight up in a foot-higgh cone, apparently held up with a lot of hair spray. Letterman's first comment to her was "What happened to your hair? Did you stick your fingger in a socket?" The funniest thing was that Kinski didn't seem to comprehend that her appearance was at all unusual. She sat through the interview in kind of a daze, made a few unintelligible remarks, and got a little mad at Letterman for joking at her rather wierd behavior. After she left, the next guest was John Candy of SCTV fame. As a joke, he came out with all his hair sticking straight up. It was hilarious, but Kinski would not have been amused. My own impression? Maybe she is a tremendous actress, but she must get her inspiration/motivation from from books, or something other than real life. She appears to be out of touch with reality, and gives the impression of being incredibly impressed with herself.
hutch (04/28/83)
I saw the interview, and it looked to me like Kinsky let Mr Letterman get her flustered. As is obvious to anyone who has watched more than one of the Late Night shows, Letterman is an amiable asshole of the first water, (oops - I spoke vulgarity without filtering. Frank Adrian now has permission to send back at me the nasty letter I sent him on that very subject) and tends to try to embarrass and torment guests if he can. This can make the show rather hard to take, and I can see why Kinsky, who did seem rather spaced out, would be bugged by the man. The John Candy bit was mercilessly funny. Especially as it was followed by a clip of him as "Divine" doing Peter Pan - which I never got to see on SCTV. Incidentally, ought this discussion move to net.tv? -Hutch
joe (04/28/83)
But, last night she was on the Tonight show, where she seemed to be much more in command than Johnny did, and her English was nearly flawless. She didn't seem the least bit spaced out, either. I didn't see the Letterman interview, but it sounds like she must have just not been prepared for it (either intellectually or emotionally).
FtG (04/29/83)
As the original poster of the observations on Kinski's behavior on the Letterman show (when it was shown the first time), I've followed her TV appearances closely for the pure sadistic fun of it. The real topper was her role as presenter on the Academy Awards- SHE DIDN"T LOOK AT THE CAMERA! She kept her head turned except to read to the cue cards are giggled. This from someone who is supposed to be a professional actress and model. Clearly the lights bothered her. Gee... I wonder what would make her eyes dilated so much ... FtG
rs55611 (05/01/83)
I had posted the original comment on Kinsk's Letterman show appearence, and have to admit that she was totally different on her recent Carson show stint. She seemed to be very warm and "together". She also came off well at the Oscar show. Will the real Nastassia Kinski please stand up? Bob Schleicher Bell Labs, Naperville, Ill. ihuxk!rs55611
bin (05/02/83)
#R:ihuxf:-35700:uiuceml:23200004:000:420 uiuceml!bin May 1 15:36:00 1983 I didn't see the Kinski interviews, but part of the difference may be due to Letterman & Carson. Letterman has improved but he is still incapable of doing a serious interview. He is best at "interviewing" his unsuccessful comedian buddies. I had no respect for Carson until I saw a couple of Letterman interviews. Carson can handle almost any guest. Letterman should stick to comedy for the time being. Gentle Bin