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Septemeber 2, 2002.
I just read that Puerto Vallarta
will once again provide the setting for a movie. This
time, it will be (according to what I read) "Puerto
Vallarta Squeeze". In case you're not familiar
with this little book, it was written by the same chap
who wrote that best-seller, "The Bridges of Madison
County", Robert James Waller. Is it as romantic?
No. Will you need as many tissues to wipe away the tears?
No. This is more of an adventure-suspense-murder-type
of story, but that doesn't mean it won't be good. The
book is. And anything that is shot here is good promotion
for the town, besides, it has been years since a movie
or TV series has been shot here.
As most of you know, it all began
back in 1963 with "The Night of the Iguana"
and not because it was an Oscar-winning production,
that's for sure. But because of Richard Burton's steamy
affair with Elizabeth Taylor -while she was still married
to Eddie Fisher- that caused the paparazzi to go wild
and PV to become the focus of all the tabloids. Nothing
has been the same since…
Many, many movies and TV series have
been filmed here since then, including "Predator"
with Arnold Schwartzenegger, "Revenge" with
Kevin Kostner, and "Acapulco Heat" (no, it
was NOT shot in Acapulco and no, Vallarta never got
the credit…) among others. The others weren't so
great even though the stars were. Anyways, there was
talk about a remake of "The Night of the Iguana"
a while back but it turned out to be just that - talk.
Then they talked about Antonio Banderas making a movie
here but that too turned out to be nothing but a false
rumor. The beautiful man -and the whole film crew- went
off to the state of Guanajuato instead.
City Hall has been talking about
setting up a "Film Department" for years.
Nothing has come of it, and that's a pity because Mexico
in general offers a very attractive alternative to filmmakers.
The film crews that work here are first class, the settings
are incomparable and varied - deserts, jungles, mountains,
ocean, etc. - and of course, costs are way lower than
in Canada, not to mention the U.S. So now the municipal
authorities are at it again. They've created a Municipal
Film Commission and only time will tell how efficient
this latest endeavor will be... For this project, they're
talking Brad Pitt, or Willem Defoe or Johnny Depp, but
nothing has been confirmed. They're saying the shoot
will take about three months and should begin in a couple
of months. They're saying that the producers will invest
some $12 Million U.S…. but nothing has been confirmed.
Maybe because my business partner
and I are involved in the field, maybe because, like
so many of us, I am absolutely fascinated by movies
and how they are made, maybe because I have watched
so many of them, as well as TV series, being shot in
Montreal, I couldn't tell you the exact reason, I just
know that movies are good for the place where they are
shot. If the place is beautiful, like Vallarta, then
folks want to see it "for real", and that's
good for tourism! Furthermore, there's that wonderful
feeling you get when you're watching a movie with someone
who is enchanted by the location he or she is seeing
on the big screen, and you can nonchalantly say, "Yup.
I know it's beautiful. I live(d) there." Remember
"The Shawshank Redemption" when he finally
ends up in Zihuatanejo? Or the movie "10"
with Bo Derek?… In the case of "Puerto Vallarta
Squeeze", there are a lot of locally well-known
people involved and mentioned by name in the book, including
Lobo of Willie & Lobo, one of my favorite "nouveau
flamenco" duos, who often play at the River Café
during the high season. I'm going to keep my fingers
crossed for this one. Maybe this one will really come
to pass.
And still on the topic of paparazzi…
every week, my colleagues and I get together and try
to decide which articles from the local Spanish media
would prove most interesting to the local expat community
and the tourists in Vallarta. I have to admit that we
have a good time doing this because we always find items
that make us laugh - for one reason or another. (Some
of us have a rather odd sense of humor…)
For our readers who are only passing
through our little paradise, I have to give a little
background so that you may grasp the humor in this particular
piece. Fact is that there is a "secret and/or private"
joke among those of us involved with the English-language
media in Vallarta and it is based on the following:
a) the owner-publisher of high-class magazines Vallarta
Lifestyles and Vallarta Voice, the wonderful monthly
publication we enjoy from November to April of each
season, is Canadian. He's been in Puerto Vallarta forever.
And some of the folks on his staff are Canadian too.
All of this gentleman's publications operate under the
name of Producciones Viva, S.A. de C.V., a duly incorporated
Mexican company that also administers an excellent web
site, publishes the PV Pocket Guide, etc.; b) the Editor
of Vallarta Today is Canadian; c) the Publisher of The
Times is Canadian, and d) the Editor of this publication,
the Tribune, is Canadian.
Is this a coincidence? We don't know,
but we certainly have a good laugh every time we get
together (we're all friends, by the way) and talk about
what we have begun calling -jokingly- the "Canadian
Media Mafia" in Vallarta. Anyway, last Monday,
in a local paper called El Sol, there was an article
entitled "Mayor Interviewed by Three Renowned Canadian
Magazines." Okay, that caught our eye. So we read
on. The article continued: "Pedro Ruiz, the Mayor
of Puerto Vallarta, was interviewed by two reporters
in town from the Producciones Viva Editorial Group of
Canada… During the interview, the Canadian reporters,
Heather Wilson and Joseph Kandoll, asked the Mayor about
the progress in matters of local transportation, the
campaign against child exploitation and prostitution,
cleanliness and waste management. For his part, the
Mayor answered each one of the questions." Can
you see the humor there? Well, we sure did. I guess
you had to be there…
I hope you have a fun-filled Labor
Day, a wonderful week, and to all our readers of the
Jewish faith, I wish a wonderful New Year, L'Shana Tova
and most of all - Shalom!
Hasta luego!
anna@pvmirror.com
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