Monday, July 07, 2008

Saïd @ the Beach

Saïd Taghmaoui in 2000 at 27 years of age. This was shot presumably somewhere in France. They have lovely beaches...


And men. I really like Saïd's work though no one ever speaks of him. At the turn of the millenium he was still rapidly ascending since his breakthrough film La Haine (1995, a must see) and had just delivered a devastating supporting turn in Three Kings (1999)... that oil in the mouth scene between him and Mark Wahlberg ---damn.

Things have been quieter for him since (at least on this continent) but hopefully his supporting role in G.I. Joe (2009, pictured left) will repolish his appeal to U.S. casting directors. He's a fine actor and definitely has screen presence.

Time Capsule: Oh, you remember what was happening in 2000. Steven Soderbergh was all the rage at the movies (Erin Brockovich and Traffic), Toni Braxton was dumping her fictional guy ("He Wasn't Man Enough for Me"), Destiny's Child was begging you to "Say My Name" by which we presume they meant only "Beyoncé", and Florida, half of the voting public and the US Supreme Court f***ed over the USA for the next eight years. Great, now I'm depressed again.

2 comments:

Shaun said...

Nathaniel ~ I noticed Said in "The Kite Runner" as Farid, the protagonist Amir's driver, who aids Amir in rescuing his [spoiler] nephew. He was more convincing than the lead in their scenes together, and they way he looked at the destruction in Afghanistan as they drove through its rugged and scorched terrain was very moving. He was so great in his too few scenes.

NATHANIEL R said...

he really is a strong actor. Glad someone else has noticed ;) the response to this post felt like Hollywood's response to him. Anyway, he's in a movie coming out this summer that i didn't know about Traitor so more on him later. Wheeee