Evil Witches, Fallen Star Light Up "Stardust"

By Alan Silverman Hollywood 12 August 2007

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Evil witches, a fallen star and a young man in search of his heart's desire: these are just some of the elements in the new fantasy-adventure film adapted from a novel by popular science fiction author Neil Gaiman. Alan Silverman has a look at Stardust.

Claire Danes and Charlie Cox star in "Stardust"

Once upon a time, a young man named Tristan embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. "The Wall" separates the old English village of Wall from a magical kingdom named Stronghold. When, like his father did before him, Tristan leaps the Wall, he does, indeed, find the star ...but she is not what he expects.

"The star" is a beautiful, wide-eyed young woman named Yvaine. In this magical universe, the stars are actually all beautiful, wide-eyed young women who gaze down upon the antics of the humans and only rarely get to walk among them. However, Tristan is not the only one searching for Yvaine. A coven of wrinkled witches sends the strongest hag of their group, Lamia, to find the fallen star and bring her back so they can all share in her heart: the secret to restoring their youth:

As they try to escape Michelle Pfeiffer as the evil witch, Tristan and Yvaine team up with some even more unusual allies, including Robert DeNiro as pirate captain Shakespeare, whose sky vessel sails the clouds capturing bolts of lightning.

Claire Danes, who stars as the star Yvaine, asks "Who wouldn't want to have long blonde hair and ride a unicorn and be a princess from outer space? I think she's really bright and kind of plucky. Some might say she's difficult, but I think she is just discerning. She is strong."

Danes, who is about to make her Broadway debut in a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, says her approach to "Stardust" was to make it seem real, not fantasy. "I wasn't thinking so much about how to play her as a celestial being. It just wasn't required. A lot of that work was done for me with the costumes and the hair and C-G-I (computer-generated images). What I really like about the script and the movie is that it walks a line between being fantastical and realistic in its tone," she says.

"It allows for more," says English actor Charlie Cox, who plays Tristan. He enjoys what he calls 'the freedom' fantasy can give an actor. "If you think of it logically, there is no realistic reaction to seeing a witch or a flying pirate, is there? So it allows for you to go a bit further with it if you wish. When you see someone in a movie react to having a gun pointed in their face, it is more likely to have happened to more people; whereas no one that I know has ever seen witch or a flying pirate. So, yes, it allows for for more."

"And that's the danger, because you do have that freedom," warns Michelle Pfeiffer, who says her challenge was to keep the witch she plays from seeming too unreal. "In the case of my character, Lamia, who is going to be there to tell you when you have to rein it in a little bit because there are a lot of pitfalls you can fall into. That's my big danger because I've never been really comfortable with being broad or slapstick humor. That's not where my comfort zone is, so I initially have to be really pushed and encouraged to go there."

The guidance from director Matthew Vaughn was simple and straightforward. "I just said 'this isn't a fantasy movie. We are playing this for real. If you do a period film, let's say in Tudor costume, it is wrong if you play the costume. Back then they weren't wearing costumes, they were wearing clothes. It was modern fashion. So I tried to ground it as much in reality as possible," he says.

Stardust, which was shot on location in Scotland and Iceland and sets in London's famed Pinewood studios, also features cameos by an array of British actors including comic Ricky Gervais, steamy Sienna Miller and veteran Peter O'Toole. Ian McKellen is the narrator. The musical score is by London-based composer Ilan Eshkeri.

Bush, Sarkozy Discuss Iran and Iraq

By Scott Stearns Washington 12 August 2007

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U.S. President George Bush and French President Nicholas Sarkozy met Saturday for informal talks on the war in Iraq and uranium enrichment in Iran. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the French leader was a guest at the Bush family home in the Northeast state of Maine.

President Bush, left, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, wave while on a boat ride off Kennebunkport, Maine

There was no official agenda for the hamburger-and-hot-dog picnic at the Bush estate on Walker's Point. It was a social lunch at the invitation of the First Lady who met the Sarkozys at the G8 Summit in Germany two months ago.

But the two leaders did meet for nearly an hour in talks that included efforts at the United Nations to stop Iran from enriching uranium. On Iraq, Mr. Bush is hoping for a better relationship with the new French leader than he had with former President Jacques Chirac who blocked a U.N. resolution on the eve of the U.S. invasion.

Welcoming President Sarkozy to his parent's seaside vacation home, President Bush says past disputes about Iraq do not obstruct progress on other fronts including Lebanon and Sudan. "We have had disagreements on Iraq in particular but I've never allowed disagreements to not find other ways to work together," he said.

President Sarkozy calls the United States a longtime friend who he admires for trying to spread freedom around the world. He says France is friends with democracies not dictatorships. "Do we agree on everything? No. Because even within the family there are disagreements but we are still of the same family and we may be friends and not agree on everything but we are friends nevertheless. That's the truth," he said.

President Bush says he appreciates President Sarkozy's involvement in freeing Bulgarian nurses held in Libya over charges of spreading AIDS. He says he is impressed with the French leader's vision and candor. "The good thing about President Sarkozy is you know where he stands. He'll tell you exactly what he thinks and I hope he'd say the same thing about me," he said.

French First Lady Cecilia Sarkozy telephoned Mrs. Bush Saturday to say that she and her children had sore throats and would not be attending the lunch. President Sarkozy came on his own for a meal that included corn-on-the-cob, baked beans, and blueberry pie.

The Sarkozy family is vacationing in the neighboring state of New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. Bush return to the White House Sunday before leaving Monday for their Texas ranch.

VOASE0811_People In America

11 August 2007

Elvis Presley, 1935-1977: He Was The King of Rock and Roll
30 Years After His Death, His Records and Films are Still Enjoyed by People Around the World.

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ANNOUNCER:

Welcome to PEOPLE IN AMERICA, a program in VOA Special English. Today Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember tell about one of America’s most popular singers, Elvis Presley.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

That song, “Hound Dog,” was one of Elvis Presley’s most popular records. It sold five

Elvis Presley

million copies in nineteen fifty-six. Music industry experts say more than one thousand million of Elvis’s recordings have sold throughout the world. He was a success in many different kinds of music -- popular, country, religious, and rhythm and blues.

Elvis Presley won many awards from nations all over the world, yet he did not record in any language other than English. He never performed outside the United States, except for three shows in Canada. Yet, his recordings and films have been, and are still, enjoyed by people all over the world.

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Aaron Presley was born in the southern town of Tupelo, Mississippi on January eighth, nineteen thirty-five. His family was extremely poor. During his childhood, he sang in church with his parents. He also listened to music that influenced his later singing, including country, rhythm and blues, and religious music. Elvis and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was thirteen.

After high school, he had several jobs, including driving a truck. In nineteen fifty-three, he made his first recording of this song, “My Happiness”:

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley recorded the song at the Memphis Recording Service. The story is that he paid four dollars to make a recording for his mother. A woman who worked at the public recording studio had another job with a local independent record company called Sun Records. She made a second recording of Elvis’s songs because she thought the owner of Sun Records should hear him sing.

VOICE TWO:

The owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, had been looking for a white performer who could sing black rhythm and blues. He suggested Elvis work with a guitar player and a bass player. Several months later Mister Phillips agreed to have the group make a record. It was released on July nineteenth, nineteen fifty-four. One of the songs was “That’s All Right”:

(MUSIC)

The record sold well in Memphis, and was played a lot on local radio stations. To let others hear Elvis, Sam Phillips organized a series of performances at country fairs in the area. One of the people who heard Elvis perform at these shows was Colonel Tom Parker. Elvis signed an agreement that Colonel Parker would organize his appearances.

One of Elvis’ first new recordings became a huge hit, and led to his many appearances on television. It was “Heartbreak Hotel”:

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

By the middle of the nineteen fifties, Elvis Presley was known around the world as the young man who moved his hips in a sexual way as he sang rock and roll music. Many adults said he and his music were bad influences on young people. Young women loved him. Huge crowds attended his performances.

He made his first movie in nineteen fifty-six. It was “Love Me Tender.” The title song was a big hit.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood for a number of years in the nineteen fifties. He acted in thirty-one movies.

In nineteen fifty-eight, just as he finished making the movie “King Creole,” Elvis received notice that he had to serve in the United States Army.

He was stationed in Germany where he lived in a large house and dated a lot of

Elvis and Priscilla Presley

beautiful women. One young girl he met in Germany was Priscilla Beaulieu, the daughter of an Army officer. She was fourteen years old. Later, after Elvis had finished his army service, she came to live with him in Memphis. They married in nineteen sixty-seven, when she was twenty-one years old. He was thirty-two. They became parents nine months later of a baby girl, Lisa Marie.

VOICE ONE:

Colonel Parker made sure that songs Elvis had recorded earlier were released during the years he was in the army. So Elvis was just as popular after his military service as he was before it.

Elvis Presley won three of the music industry’s highest award, the Grammy. He received the first one in nineteen sixty-seven. It was for “How Great Thou Art,” an album of religious music.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Elvis returned to performing live shows in nineteen sixty-nine, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He then traveled around the country performing before huge crowds. He began to take drugs to help him sleep. He gained a lot of weight so he took drugs to help control his weight. And he took extremely strong drugs to reduce pain.

Elvis also suffered from the emotional sickness, depression. It became worse after his marriage ended. Elvis never permitted Priscilla to stay with him in Las Vegas or travel with him around the country. He also did not want Priscilla to see other people when he was away from home. And he spent time with other women. Priscilla finally left him in nineteen seventy-two for another man.

VOICE ONE:

Elvis Presley released many recordings of his performances during the nineteen

Elvis Presley

seventies. He also enjoyed great success on television. His nineteen seventy-three television show from Hawaii was seen in forty countries by more than one thousand million people.

His last record album was called “Moody Blue.” He recorded it in nineteen seventy-six. One of its hit songs was called “Way Down”:

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Elvis Presley died on August sixteenth, nineteen seventy-seven. First reports said he had a heart attack, but later tests showed many drugs in his body. Experts agree that these drugs probably caused his death.

Hundreds of thousands of people still visit his home, Graceland, in Memphis every year. Fans continue to buy his music, making him the most popular recording artist ever. Elvis Presley remains the undisputed King of Rock and Roll.

(MUSIC: "Good Rockin' Tonight")

ANNOUNCER:

This program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Rich Kleinfeldt and Steve Ember were the narrators. The producer was Paul Thompson. I’m Faith Lapidus. Listen again next week for another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program in VOA Special English.