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Det uperfekte menneske #4
Det uperfekte menneske /4 - Mine helte
Fra bogens indledning: “Jeg har altid haft helte. Den første var min far. Senere cykelryttere som Reg Harris, Joseph Scherens, Børge Gissel. Så jazzmusikere som Duke Ellington, Monk, Bud Powell. Og mange flere. Jeg har altid haft et bredt felt af helte. Også en ældre mand som Ove Brusendorff. Ham kunne jeg jo lære god smag af, ro, langsomhed, kræsenhed. En ældre kvinde som Katherine Dunham, jeg kunne se alt det, hun havde levet og kunnet, når jeg betragtede hende hvile sig på sin divan.Jeg bryder mig ikke om ordet rollemodel. Det er et dumt pædagogisk begreb. Jeg har ingen rollemodeller. Og jeg er ikke selv en rollemodel. Jeg roder bare rundt med det, jeg kan lide, og det, jeg ikke kan lide. Det er rigeligt, det giver god mening. Jeg synes, helte er godt. En helt, det er en, der står og lyser i nattemørket. En, der kan noget særligt, og som gør indtryk på mig. Som får mig til at forstå noget, der forekom kompliceret. En helt kan også være en skurk, en særlig slem person, som spreder ondskab om sig. Han lyser op på en mere dæmonisk måde.”
- GenresBiography
232 pages
First published May 29, 2015
4 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Jørgen Leth
59 books35 followersJørgen Leth is a Danish poet and film director who is considered a leading figure in experimental documentary film making. Most notable are his epic documentary A Sunday in Hell (1977) and his surrealistic short film The Perfect Human (1967). He is also a sports commentator for Danish television and is represented by the film production company, Sunset Productions.
Biography
Born on June 14, 1937 in Århus, Denmark, he studied literature and anthropology in Århus and Copenhagen and was a cultural critic (jazz, theatre, film) for leading Danish newspapers from 1959 to 1968. His interest in Polish anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski had a profound influence on his work. He travelled in Africa (1961), South America and India (1966) and Southeast Asia (1970–71). His first book was published in 1962 and he has written 10 volumes of poetry and eight non-fiction books. He made his first film in 1963 and has since made 40 more, many distributed worldwide. His most acclaimed is a 1967 short, The Perfect Human, which also featured in the 2003 film The Five Obstructions made by Leth and Lars von Trier. Leth's sports documentaries bring an epic, almost mythic, dimension to the field, as seen in Stars and Watercarriers (Stjernerne og Vandbærerne) (1973) and A Sunday in Hell (En forårsdag i helvede) (1977).
He has been a creative consultant for the Danish Film Institute (1971–73, 1975–77) as well as chairman of the Institute's board (1977–82). He has also been a professor at the Danish National Film School in Copenhagen, at the State Studiocenter in Oslo and has lectured at UCLA, Berkeley, Harvard and other American universities.
Leth covered the Tour de France for Denmark's TV 2 from 1988 until 2005 as the expert commentator in partnership with journalist Jørn Mader. In 1999, he was appointed Danish honorary consul in Haiti.
He attracted controversy in Denmark after publication of his autobiography Det uperfekte menneske (The Imperfect Man). It included a graphic account of sexual relations with the 17-year-old daughter of his cook in Haiti.[3] This created a media storm in Denmark,[4] partly because of his plan to make a film called Det Erotiske Menneske ("The Erotic Man"), funded by the Danish Film Institute, in collaboration with DR (Danmarks Radio) and Nordisk Film and TV Commission. The controversy upset several groups in Denmark. In October 2005, due to the controversy, he resigned his post as Danish consul in Haiti and was dismissed as commentator with TV2, but was reappointed in 2009. The film Erotic Man, Leth's homage to his sexual encounters with young women in third world countries, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010. The film received lacklustre reviews which deemed it "dirty-old-man cinema" and colonialist exploitation.
Leth has had retrospectives at the National Film Theatre, London (1989), in Rouen, France (1990), at the American Film Institute, Washington D.C. (1992), in Mumbai, India (1996), New York (2002), Sao Paulo (2003), Toronto (2004), Florence (2005), Rome (2006), Sao Paulo (2008), Warsaw (2008) and Teheran (2008) and Athens International Film Festival, Athens (2009).
He lived in Jacmel, Haiti from 1991 to 2010 where the Haiti earthquake destroyed his house.
Biography
Born on June 14, 1937 in Århus, Denmark, he studied literature and anthropology in Århus and Copenhagen and was a cultural critic (jazz, theatre, film) for leading Danish newspapers from 1959 to 1968. His interest in Polish anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski had a profound influence on his work. He travelled in Africa (1961), South America and India (1966) and Southeast Asia (1970–71). His first book was published in 1962 and he has written 10 volumes of poetry and eight non-fiction books. He made his first film in 1963 and has since made 40 more, many distributed worldwide. His most acclaimed is a 1967 short, The Perfect Human, which also featured in the 2003 film The Five Obstructions made by Leth and Lars von Trier. Leth's sports documentaries bring an epic, almost mythic, dimension to the field, as seen in Stars and Watercarriers (Stjernerne og Vandbærerne) (1973) and A Sunday in Hell (En forårsdag i helvede) (1977).
He has been a creative consultant for the Danish Film Institute (1971–73, 1975–77) as well as chairman of the Institute's board (1977–82). He has also been a professor at the Danish National Film School in Copenhagen, at the State Studiocenter in Oslo and has lectured at UCLA, Berkeley, Harvard and other American universities.
Leth covered the Tour de France for Denmark's TV 2 from 1988 until 2005 as the expert commentator in partnership with journalist Jørn Mader. In 1999, he was appointed Danish honorary consul in Haiti.
He attracted controversy in Denmark after publication of his autobiography Det uperfekte menneske (The Imperfect Man). It included a graphic account of sexual relations with the 17-year-old daughter of his cook in Haiti.[3] This created a media storm in Denmark,[4] partly because of his plan to make a film called Det Erotiske Menneske ("The Erotic Man"), funded by the Danish Film Institute, in collaboration with DR (Danmarks Radio) and Nordisk Film and TV Commission. The controversy upset several groups in Denmark. In October 2005, due to the controversy, he resigned his post as Danish consul in Haiti and was dismissed as commentator with TV2, but was reappointed in 2009. The film Erotic Man, Leth's homage to his sexual encounters with young women in third world countries, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010. The film received lacklustre reviews which deemed it "dirty-old-man cinema" and colonialist exploitation.
Leth has had retrospectives at the National Film Theatre, London (1989), in Rouen, France (1990), at the American Film Institute, Washington D.C. (1992), in Mumbai, India (1996), New York (2002), Sao Paulo (2003), Toronto (2004), Florence (2005), Rome (2006), Sao Paulo (2008), Warsaw (2008) and Teheran (2008) and Athens International Film Festival, Athens (2009).
He lived in Jacmel, Haiti from 1991 to 2010 where the Haiti earthquake destroyed his house.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 30, 2015
Spændende personligheder som jeg ikke kendte allesammen.
October 25, 2016
For få cykelryttere, for mange Haitianere, men ellers rigtig god. Som altid er Jørgen Leth velskrivende og interessant.
June 18, 2023
Jeg fortrækker personligt at høre Jørgen Leth snakke om Jørgen Leth. Men for folk, der gerne vil høre Jørgen Leth tale om andre (udelukkende nærmest) er det sikkert en god bog.
September 15, 2015
Hvis man kan lide Jørgen Leth, så vil man kunne lide denne bog - jeg hører til en af dem der kan.
Leth fortæller om sine helte, som spænder over dansere, filmfolk, journalister, billedkunstnere, jazz-musikere, embedsmænd, politikere, sportsfolk, tidligere tjenere og krigsforbrydere. Sidstnævnte vidner om en fascination af ondskab. Beskrivelserne får et biografisk præg, da de samtidig afspejler Leths egne livsbegivenheder og sindsstemninger.
Jeg vil dog sige, at der til tider er for meget namedropping til min smag.
Den måde Leth percipere verden på fascinerer mig. Eksempelvis er der en fin passage, hvor han fortæller om en filmoptagelse, hvor han filmer Andy Worhol spise en hamburger. Dette beskriver han som en episk oplevelse - den måde Warhol tørre sig om munden, tygger, krøller emballagen er fuldendt. Et perfekt øjeblik, der fortæller utrolig meget. Det jeg prøver at sige er, at jeg inspireres af Leths måde at opleve på
Leth fortæller om sine helte, som spænder over dansere, filmfolk, journalister, billedkunstnere, jazz-musikere, embedsmænd, politikere, sportsfolk, tidligere tjenere og krigsforbrydere. Sidstnævnte vidner om en fascination af ondskab. Beskrivelserne får et biografisk præg, da de samtidig afspejler Leths egne livsbegivenheder og sindsstemninger.
Jeg vil dog sige, at der til tider er for meget namedropping til min smag.
Den måde Leth percipere verden på fascinerer mig. Eksempelvis er der en fin passage, hvor han fortæller om en filmoptagelse, hvor han filmer Andy Worhol spise en hamburger. Dette beskriver han som en episk oplevelse - den måde Warhol tørre sig om munden, tygger, krøller emballagen er fuldendt. Et perfekt øjeblik, der fortæller utrolig meget. Det jeg prøver at sige er, at jeg inspireres af Leths måde at opleve på
September 25, 2015
Le danois mythique (journaliste, écrivain, artiste etc.) Jørgen Leth nous présente une liste de ces héros. Des personnes qui pour lui a eu une importance d’une manière ou une autre; ils ont joué un rôle pour lui dans sa vie. Il les présentent lentement, il prends son temps. C’est intéressant, même si pour moi, il y a un héros qui manque. Car pour moi, mon héros, c’est Jørgen Leth.
July 27, 2015
Jørgen Leth har interessante helte. Om de er kunstnere, politikere, videnskabsmænd eller tjenestefolk; gode eller onde. Og han kender sine helte godt. Derfor tegnes på samme tid et portræt af en række interessante personligheder, og af Leths egen person.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews