Of course, ’60 Minutes’ hinges on the performance of Emilio Sakraya, who impressively brings his real-life martial arts background to our TV screens. And when – sorry for the mini spoiler – the cat Onion, who was chosen as a birthday gift for her daughter, is not only seen for the first time in a photo, she will certainly take everyone’s hearts by storm with her incredible cuteness. But For me, the real star of “60 Minutes” is the man responsible for Emilio Sakraya’s ears (!).
From the first second, it wasn’t the huge muscles Sakraya had trained that fascinated me, but rather those downright ugly ears. They are so-called cauliflower ears, also called wrestler’s ears, as they are especially widespread among wrestlers and martial artists. They are caused by bruises in the auricle that are not treated immediately. These are the result of hitting the ear or pulling it forcefully. The result is that cartilage is no longer sufficiently supplied, sometimes even dies and, above all, deforms. This is how the ear becomes cartilaginous.
Many mixed martial arts fighters and former wrestlers have these cauliflower ears – Randy Couture (“The Expendables”) is of Hollywood fame. In David Ayer’s “The Tax Collector”, Shia LaBeouf surprised us with cauliflower ears, which were supposed to show that his character also has a martial arts background – although this is never really important in the film and remains an unnecessary gimmick. That’s what makes “60 Minutes” better.
A paean to Birger Laube for cauliflower ears
Here the cauliflower ears contribute a lot to the atmosphere. They tell us a lot about the main character, Octavio Bergmann, the numerous battles he has already fought in mixed martial arts fights and especially the blows he has already taken. Most of all, despite their ugliness, they look damn good – which brings me back to my initial fascination with them.
Because despite his martial arts background, protagonist Emilio Sakraya doesn’t have ears like that. They are prosthetics and throughout the film I wondered when the fake ears would reveal themselves as such, given the many energetic action scenes and movements. The answer: under no circumstances! On the contrary: The prosthetics always look impressive – and even better than in the aforementioned (and certainly much more expensive) “The Tax Collector”
In the credits of “60 Minutes” Birger Laube is listed as the person responsible for the ear prostheses (yes, there is – rightly – a separate credit for that). Therefore at this point: Well done, Birger. You and your work are the real star of “60 minutes“.