(Revisited) Icons. Is there a way to update an iconic style? It’s difficult, because the icon has a precise symbolic meaning, which is “untouchable”. The English poet Thom Gunn (1929-2004) chose to move to San Francisco to come out. In those years, the Sixties, even in the States this matter was a taboo (it doesn’t mean that now it’s a bed of roses…). In the picture on the right we see Gunn in a biker-casual outfit: checked shirt, gun belt and jeans. An iconic attire, in fact, adopted by many Hollywood stars, from Steve McQueen to Jude Law (when he’s far from the red carpet, of course). It reminds us the costumes of Brokeback Mountain, just to stay on the topic. Well, this week I throw down the guantlet: I try to “debunk” that old-fashioned image with a base close to the original, but with a modern styling. Look at the pictures, and tell me if I’m wrong. The English poet Thom Gunn

Revival. Chinatown is one of the best American movies of the 70s. It won the Oscar Award for the screenplay by Robert Towne but it should have deserved to win also for the direction by Roman Polanski and for the performances by Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, the two main actors, and by John Huston as actor in a supporting role. This movie is 40 years old but it looks more recent: the rhythm is fast, the plot is engaging, the end leaves breathless. The love story between Evelyn and Noah takes shape in the middle of a mistery that is disclosed in the end, leaving the spectator with a bad taste and upset for a irreversible damage, that has no way out. “When it was released it was considered a new-noir; now, many years later, it could be included in the original noir movies” we read on the Chicago Sun-Times, highlighting its modernity. Even the costumes, that trace fashion of the late 30s, are up-to-date: the sunglasses with round lenses, the wide-brimmed hat, light colours in the shades of beige for the outerwear and printed ties. If you’ve never watched it, you have to. If you know it, it’s a masterpiece to rediscover. Jack Nicholson in “Chinatown”