Venezuela was hit by two earthquakes yesterday, a 7.2 and a 7.5. Many parts of the country have been reduced to rubble, and areas of Caracas have been flattened. Their infrastructure has already been under immense strain. Here's how you can help:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-relief-for-venezuela-earthquake-victims

Donate here.

It is a little difficult for me to format this information, as I am getting it through WhatsApp messages and Instagram reels, but I will be using this post to add collection centres outside of Venezuela. I will not be using this platform to spread information for those who are inside Venezuela as I know there are better platforms for that.

Most of the information I share will be in spanish and I also will not be doing any translation work. The addresses are clear and the items needed are universal in every catastrophe of this magnitude.

Collection centres in Puerto Rico:

Collection centres in Argentina:

Collection centres in Chile:

Collection centres in Bogotá:

Collection centres in Miami:

There were also significant changes to Boris Lermontov’s character between the novelization and the film.  In the scene in which Boris discovers that Julian and Vicki are an item, he is described in the novelization as merely being furious.  Anton’s face registers crushing disappointment and heartbreak in the scene in the film.  There is no fury there.  That comes later.  It is this reaction that always led me to believe that Boris was in love with Vicki, perhaps unconsciously and that he had just begun to recognize his feelings when he finds out he is too late.  This adds an extra dimension to Boris’ character.  Far from being the heartless monster that the world thinks he is, Boris, is for one brief moment, all heart and a soft one at that. 

Pressburger had originally painted Boris as cold and manipulative but Anton managed to find layers within the character.  Take for example the scene in which Boris has Vicki pinned into the chair and he is talking about her future.  Anton works his hand nervously on the chair in a similar manner to his fetishistic stroking of the foot statue in his office in an earlier scene.  It is a crushing hand motion, that of an ardent lover, or an artist working with clay.  Apart from admiration of Walbrook’s technical brilliance in these scenes, I’m left wondering what sublimated passions lay behind these gestures.

The biggest difference between Boris of the final film and Boris of the novelization, is that in the latter, Boris actually relents on the issue of whether or not Julian can stay in the company.  The first meeting on the train has Boris defeated by Vicki.  He plays his hand to the hilt and loses, so he says Julian can stay out of desperation to keep Vicki in the company.  She decides not to tell Julian about this change in his status and leaves with him for London.  Perhaps the idea just complicated matters too much, but I think it’s really too bad it was not left in the film.  First it would have shown a needier Boris, one willing to compromise, if only with one person, and second it would have made Vicki much more interesting.  It would have made her to decision to leave about rebelling against Boris, rather than being solely about Julian. 

Istanbul, 1997.

“Tour Guides”