CHILE: U.S. film star John Malkovich brings serial killer Jack Unterweger back to life in a one showing only of his play "The Infernal Comedy - Confessions of a Serial Killer" in Santiago

Record ID: 366283

  • Title: CHILE: U.S. film star John Malkovich brings serial killer Jack Unterweger back to life in a one showing only of his play "The Infernal Comedy - Confessions of a Serial Killer" in Santiago
  • Date: 3rd September 2012
  • Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (SEPTEMBER 03. 2012) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ACTOR JOHN MALKOVICH ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE MALKOVICH TAKING A SEAT NEWS CONFERENCE MUSICAL COMPOSER FOR THE PLAY "THE INFERNAL COMEDY" STARING JOHN MALKOVICH PEOPLE ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOLLYWOOD ACTOR, JOHN MALKOVICH, SAYING: "Jack Unterweger is not so different from many serial killers in that he didn't have much of anything resembling what we would call a conscience. And he was exceedingly gifted at manipulating people and manipulating their perceptions, especially those of women." PEOPLE ATTENDING THE NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOLLYWOOD ACTOR, JOHN MALKOVICH, SAYING: "No character in a film is similar to a character in a play. Because a character in a film is a fixed thing and a character in a play is a living organism." NEWS CONFERENCE MALKOVICH LEAVING THE NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 18th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Chile
  • Country: Chile
  • Reuters ID: LVA433WTTEGT7A0PCS5A1NILB76B
  • Story Text: Actor John Malkovich has taken his chamber opera, "The Infernal Comedy - Confessions of a Serial Killer" in which he portrays Jack Unterweger, an Austrian serial killer who murdered prostitutes with their bra straps, on the road again, this time stopping in Santiago, Chile.
    The one-man show interspersed with opera arias and music is based on Unterweger's autobiography.
    The real life killer was jailed in 1974 before being released in 1990 by courts that were convinced he was a reformed man.
    He became a celebrated writer and journalist, but went on to kill again several times. He committed suicide after being convicted again in 1994.
    Malkovich will perform the monologue-style play with a script full of cynical black humour chronicling the life of the killer for one show only on Tuesday (September 4) along with a nearly 30 piece orchestra and two sopranos.
    "Jack Unterweger is not so different from many serial killers in that he didn't have much of anything resembling what we would call a conscience. And he was exceedingly gifted a manipulating people and manipulating their perceptions, especially those of women," Malkovich said.
    Originally the performance was to be only a one day show in Los Angeles back in 2008, but after it opened in Austria offers came in from European countries and it has been on the road since with multiple performances mostly in Europe and North America.
    The 58-year-old Hollywood veteran began his career on the stage in 1976 before moving to films though he has never ventured too far from the stage.
    "No character in a film is similar to a character in a play. Because a character in a film is a fixed thing and a character in a play is a living organism," Malkovich said.
    Malkovich starred in the 1999 comedy "Being John Malkovich" where a puppeteer finds a passage into the mind of Malkovich.
    He was nominated for best supporting actor Oscar for "In the Line of Fire" and "Places in the Heart."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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