The first time I remember feeling totally crushed out on Donald Sutherland, was around the age of 16, during a late-night viewing of Klute, glued to his soulful, sad eyes on our tiny '70s kitchen TV. He mesmerized me with his regal baritone voice, cosmic stare, and dramatic intensity, and from the moment he kisses Jane Fonda for the first time (playing a highly fashionable call-girl he is hired to protect from a killer), I knew he was a force to be reckoned with . . . you could've knocked me over with a feather (and if you haven't yet seen it, rent it asap)!
He is also just the living end in Altman's MASH, and as Julie Christie's sexy, grieving husband in the horrific thriller Don't Look Now, but film that really sealed the deal for me, in terms of placing Donnie on a glimmering pedestal of adoration, was the sick 1971 black comedy, Little Murders, wherein he plays an unforgettable radical shaman priest, and delivers one of the funniest, most wickedly cynical wedding nuptial monologues ever captured on film (view it in all its bleak brilliance here).
He's still a total stunner, and I wish some smart, young director would write the perfect film for him today . . . introducing his awesomeness to a whole new audience, in the same way that Wes Anderson wrote the wonderful role of Royal Tenenbaum for Gene Hackman. Here are some of my favorite Sutherland shots to swoon over (click to view full size):
The man just keeps on getting cooler, as does his son, Kiefer, who enjoys head-butting poncey fashion designers, throwing Icelandic raves on New Years Eve, starting record labels, drunken karaoke performances with his pants down, diving into Christmas trees in hotel lobbies, and getting arrested. I totally wish we could hang out.
He is also just the living end in Altman's MASH, and as Julie Christie's sexy, grieving husband in the horrific thriller Don't Look Now, but film that really sealed the deal for me, in terms of placing Donnie on a glimmering pedestal of adoration, was the sick 1971 black comedy, Little Murders, wherein he plays an unforgettable radical shaman priest, and delivers one of the funniest, most wickedly cynical wedding nuptial monologues ever captured on film (view it in all its bleak brilliance here).
He's still a total stunner, and I wish some smart, young director would write the perfect film for him today . . . introducing his awesomeness to a whole new audience, in the same way that Wes Anderson wrote the wonderful role of Royal Tenenbaum for Gene Hackman. Here are some of my favorite Sutherland shots to swoon over (click to view full size):
The man just keeps on getting cooler, as does his son, Kiefer, who enjoys head-butting poncey fashion designers, throwing Icelandic raves on New Years Eve, starting record labels, drunken karaoke performances with his pants down, diving into Christmas trees in hotel lobbies, and getting arrested. I totally wish we could hang out.