[anax]

I was a bit amazed and very pleased to read in this month's Aberdeen Magazine, that Raúl Ruiz has accepted the post of Professor of Film and Modern Thought at Aberdeen Uni. With a position like that, you might think he does more thinking than movie-making but he's incredibly prolific - making up to 7 a year and over 100 in his career so far.

I saw a series of his films (or rather videos) back in the early nineties and loved how cheap they seemed... it was like reading a storyteller's handwriting, rather than a publisher's polished product. Though I do see he's moved into bigger budget films, including Klimt with John Malkovich, with whom he may make another film based on the Chanson de Roland.

I enjoyed reading about his life again, and how he was compelled to leave Chile after the CIA backed Pinochet's coup to depose the democratically elected President Allende.

I do hope he goes ahead with a project to do a version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde set in Aberdeen, or direct films of some of the Scottish folk stories he's interested in.

In any case, Raúl Ruiz' presence in Aberdeen should be a source of pride and will hopefully serve as an inspiration to the creative culture of the city. I feel inspired by the mere thought I might bump into him on Union Street

[MysticMC]

Now that's extraordinary... I heartily agree that Aberdeen must be proud and honoured by the presence of Raúl Ruiz. I think he has so much to teach, about cinema and about life.

I'd like to see his Klimt, for the character but most of all for the way Ruiz sees him.

It's one more reason to love Aberdeen and the area