2012-máj-28
May 25th, 2012. I had to arrive at 10:00 am in a beautiful part of London called Kensington. As I did not want to be late, not for here, I can tell you, I was roaming the neighboring streets at 9 o’clock in the morning; well one thing’s for sure: it was not a slum 
I sat down for a while in a nearby park to calm down (I was a wee bit nervous to say the least), but the more I was thinking about what would happen soon, the more agitated I got. I had discussed via e-mail with the assistant, Phil Boot to meet in front of the house, but you bet the throbbing of my carotid artery was clearly audible from the inside. Brief self-introduction, clarifying a few important questions… and then I got ushered through the front door… and from that moment on I had the feeling that I had got into an entirely different world. I have never visited any 92-year-old Oscar-winning gentlemen at their homes ever, particularly not one that had inspired and influenced generations of filmmakers, and I was awestruck even by the interior of the hall. And then I turned right, entered a door and then came the moment I will never forget, never in my life, because sitting in an armchair, in three dimensions, smiling cheerfully, waiting for the encounter, offering his hand (the hand that made so many miracles) to welcome me – there was Ray Harryhausen.
I don’t know whether you can grasp the spirit of that moment – if I have to draw a comparison it’s like the moment for a Madonna fan to meet their idol, for a Star Wars fan to meet George Lucas – but I think those who regularly read my blog posts can somehow imagine how I felt.
I didn’t go empty handed. For Ray, knowing his affection for hats, I brought an authentic, traditional Hungarian “Tshikosh” hat, he never had anything like that (he loved it and it fitted him to a nicety!); Milo, the butler took the bunch of flowers I brought for Diana, and we started talking. During our conversation there was a moment when Diana asked me to go upstairs as she also wished to meet me – FYI she is the great-granddaughter of the famous Africa-explorer, David Livingstone. After a few minutes I went back downstairs and we continued talking. We talked about everything! He showed me some of his bronze sculptures (I had already mentioned them in a former blog post) and we discussed stop motion, CGI, old and new movies, film scores, we talked about London, about growing old (but never growing up), about dinosaurs, about Greek mythology, about King Kong and about countless other things. I was luxuriating!
Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take any photographs. I had been told no less than four times before (the fourth request was by Phil Boot himself, right before my entry), and although I gave a last try when we said goodbye, to no avail: Ray told me he didn’t look too great on photos those days. However, I had been allowed to record our conversation, and when I come to think of it, that is a much more valuable keepsake for me. After all, a photo can be taken at a convention or when signing a picture or a book, even if one just meets him for a single moment – but I have a one-hour taped conversation to cherish, I was let in his own home as a guest, sitting on his sofa, drinking his coffee, talking like pals. We were laughing and giggling a lot (sometimes we sound like Beavis and Butthead), but hey, he is a heartsome, jolly old chap who tells his anecdotes and the stories of his life ex animo, and his wonderful, charming personality helped me to forget that I was sitting face to face with the living legend of fantasy film making.
A Conversation with Ray Harryhausen from Péter Kollárik on Vimeo.
Now if I told you that it was the greatest day of my life, would you believe me?
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WOW
Ez tényleg nagy élmény lehetett, gratulálok!!!
Wow, gratulalok, szivesen lettem volna a helyedben
Le a kalappal! Izé, fel!
Micsoda beteljesülése lehetett rajongásodnak és kitartó munkádnak!
Ugye majd közzé teszel egy magyar kivonatot a beszélgetésből, azoknak, akik nem tudnak olyan jól angolul?
Hát ha tényleg igény van rá, megoldható. Nem tudom még mikor, de közzé.
A poston érezni, hogy egy álmod vált valóra.
Gratulálok.
Életreszóló élmény lehetett.
Az volt, Jonathan!!!
Azóta sem nagyon tudok napirendre térni.
Hát hallod Chello, pici vagyok, sárga, és nem a C-vitamin
Azóta tűkön ültem, mióta a fészen privátban beharangoztad a nagy eseményt, és azt hiszem, most legalább annyira ragyogok, mint te
Komolyan nagyon, nagyon örülök a te valóra vált álmodnak.
Beszaras, komolyan… Vannak dolgok, amiknek az erteket nem lehet penzben kifejezni.. Ez olyan.
Óriási!!!
Jéééé… sikerült belépnem… :9
No, Péter, akkor…
Ha valaki, te megérdemled, hogy találkozzon a Mesterrel.
Azt hiszem, el sem lehet mondani számára azt, amit te tettél a múlt fennmaradása érdekében. Nem az öregsége miatt, hanem a mi kultúránk ismeretének hiánya miatt.
Ez annyira jó!
))
Örülök, hogy teljesült ez az álmod. Remélem, mikor kész a könyved, akkor újra meglátogatod az öreget. Az is eszméletlen nagy élmény lenne, nem?
Örülök, hogy örültök az örömömnek
és természetesen ha kijön, az lesz az első, hogy a kezébe nyomok egyet.
Jelen pillanatban amúgy nemigen tudok olyan álmomról, aminek a megvalósulása ezt a pénteki találkozást felülmúlhatná. Hihetetlen volt, azóta sem nagyon ocsúdtam fel belőle.
Gratula, már csak a könyvet kell befejezni
Jól van, na: megígérem, hogy amikor legközelebb megyek hozzá, ÉN fogok dedikálni NEKI!
Gratulálok!:)
Az a helyzet, hogy ha valaki valamit nagy lelkesedéssel, őszintén, odaadóan csinál, akkor nem kell meglepődnie azon, hogy a végén ilyen helyzetbe kerül…:)
Veled örülünk!
remélem ez a nagy csönd itt a blogon azt jelenti amire gondolok
Great article man. I only wish that I too had had the chance to meet and talk with him. A once in a lifetime experience to be sure.
It was, Jesse, it felt like I was in a dream.