So long, Sydney

« He even took the gramophone with him on safari. Three rifles, supplies for a month, and Mozart. He began our friendship with a gift. And later, not long before Tzavo, he gave me another–an incredible gift: a glimpse of the world through God’s eye. And then I thought, “yes, I see. This is the way it was intended.” I’ve written about all the others not because I loved him less, but because they were clearer, easier. He was waiting for me there. But I’ve gone ahead of my story. He’d have hated that — Denys loved to hear a story told well. You see, I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. But it really began before that; it really began in Denmark. And there I knew two brothers. One was my lover, and one was my friend. I had a farm in Africa…I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. I had a farm in Africa… »

As palavras são de Karen von Blixen, mas foi na voz de Meryl Streep e nas belas imagens de África bebidas pela câmara de Sydney Pollack que ficaram imortalizadas. África Minha foi apenas uma das pérolas que o grande realizador (e, a espaços, também actor) nos deixou. Partiu hoje, vítima de cancro. Mas as suas imagens e as suas histórias ficam para sempre.

Adeus e obrigado, Sydney Pollack.