George Fasel, 1938-2005

The news of George 'A Girl and a Gun' Fasel's passing came as quite a blow this past weekend. Obviously, none of us in the blogosphere knew of his battle with cancer, and the news was quite shocking.

A Girl and a Gun and Like Anna Karina's Sweater debuted (coincidentally) within weeks of each other, and it wasn't long before George wrote me to introduce himself. Besides the obvious mutual admiration for Anna Karina and Jean-Luc Godard, we soon learned that we had a similar taste in films, and began an email correspondence that lasted up until this month. My biggest regret is never having met him in person -- though we made plans on several occasions to meet either at Film Forum or BAM, we never managed to coordinate our schedules.

George was a real gentleman blogger, and though the discussions on his site were often confrontational, they were always civilized. Even when he was having a go at the critics, he remained incredibly dignified. As he told me via email "...better to puncture the critical credentials than to sling the mud. [...] If we can make them think harder, and be a little less lazy, then we're not wasting our time."

Then of course there were the reviews, which were fueled by George's lifelong passion for the cinema. He was equally enthusiastic about the classics as well as the new guard, and his unique take on every film made his posts a joy to read. His longer pieces, such as this one on Godard, were not only invaluable, but they were simply great reads as well.

I wrote George not long after that Godard post, and he told me a humorous story about his encounter with the master that I'd like to share, for I feel it captures the essence of the George we knew from the blog:

"Thanks for your generous words. He's a pain in the ass, no doubt. When I talked to him, thirty years ago, I asked him (re "Tout Va Bien") what it was like to co-direct a film. He said, dismissively, "It's like two people bringing up their child." I asked him if he'd ever been a parent. End of interview."

Farewell George. You will be missed.

Comments

[logboy]

i remember the oldboy review debacle - one of the most memorable events with regards a films review i can ever remember... shame ms.fasel has passed on - rest in peace.