miercuri, 5 aprilie 2017
The Marathon Man, screenplay by William Goldman
The Marathon Man,
screenplay by William Goldman
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books
are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
William Goldman has won the Academy Award for best
screenplay, for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
He has also worked on:
-
All the
President's Men
-
A Bridge
Too Far
And many other films
He is the author of a classic book on Hollywood...
-
Adventures
in the Screen Trade
You can read there about what happened on the set of The
Marathon Man, A Bridge Too Far and other movies.
The mean things did by Redford after Butch Cassidy and
during the preparation for All the President's Men.
How Redford, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando and James Dean have
become stars.
What stars demand...such a lot!
I think the reader of this book is so much more enlightened
about The Screen Trade after reading it.
To say from the start, I did not like Marathon Man too much.
The acting is not brilliant.
There is a sense of artificiality, from my angle.
Laurence Olivier is a Titan, but I understand he was really
sick when he came to play the supporting role.
And Dustin Hoffman was cruel to him.
It was evident to all those working on the set that The
great Olivier was in pain.
And yet, Hoffman wants to walk together and improvise.
Dustin Hoffman we are told is an actor who loves
improvisation.
And so they walk and they walk...and they walk.
The feet of Laurence Olivier were swelling.
It is probable that Hoffman wanted to get control and assert
his position as the lead actor in front of a Demiurge of acting profession.
As an adage, we learn that another actor, knowing that he
has to face Laurence Olivier in another production, could not sleep and had a
breakdown, fearing the stature, brilliance of this lord.
For all the reverence, the awe that William Goldman has
inspired, I still think that the plot is not excellent in the case of Marathon
Man.
Predictable, rather long, the brother who is such a great
fighter is killed too easily, the scene with the diamonds being ingested sounds
outre to me.
Another revelation from Adventures in the Screen Trade
refers to the same Dustin Hoffman.
In a scene, he has to wake up in the middle of the night.
He is scared and looks for a flashlight on the table near
the bed.
That is the idea in the script.
Only he does not like it and doesn't want to do it.
He keeps everyone on hold.
His partner is waiting at the door, for one hour or more...
-
Why is he
fussing so much over this?
-
So much
Ado About Nothing?
Because he wants his fans to keep that image of a tough man,
not given to looking for flashlights...
The superhero, macho, Superman...
luni, 3 aprilie 2017
Michael Clayton written and directed by Tony Gilroy
Michael Clayton
written and directed by Tony Gilroy
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books
are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Michael Clayton is an excellent film.
George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson act perfectly.
Nevertheless, it is Tilda Swinton that won the Academy
Award, BAFTA and other prizes.
And I am not crazy about this actress and I know I am
biased.
Michael Clayton has a powerful, fantastic story to tell.
One of Redemption.
To begin with, he is nearly the epitome of the villain.
A fixer who takes care of dirty work.
He says so himself:
I am the janitor, the one they call to clean up the mess.
He has big debts, he plays cards and helps people who have
committed crimes.
Yes, that is what a lawyer does and everyone needs a defense
and someone to help them.
But for some time he is on the side of the really bad
corporation, one which kills people.
Knowingly.
The viewer sees Michael Clayton in a less serious situation.
Even if there has been a traffic accident and somebody was
hit, it is not the large scale damage done by a product.
The man who caused the injury is a major client and so The
Fixer is sent to him...
Having hit and run, Michael Clayton is warning him about the
consequences.
It happened right near the police station
Very soon they will find traces at the spot and they will be
looking for a white Jaguar...
-
So help
me!
-
You need a
different kind of help.
-
They said
they are sending A Miracle Worker
-
And here
Clayton contradicts with the aforementioned janitor line
I will pause here to say how impressed I am, not only with
the exceptional performance of George Clooney, but also his humility.
In the classic book about the film industry Adventures in
the Screen Trade, William Goldman writes about all aspects of making movies.
There are quite a few stories with stars...
How Dustin Hoffman misbehaved on the set of Marathon Man.
The fact that the famous Humphrey Bogart whined about others
getting roles he wanted.
Robert Redford has been mean to Goldman on two occasions, maybe
more.
But the stars want to have roles where they appear as
strong, handsome, powerful, good, which was the reason of one of the Redford
incidents.
The fact that George Clooney took a role in which he has to
say that he is just a janitor mad otherwise a rather negative character is
impressive.
Granted, there is Redemption!
After this humiliating start, the man who says that he can
be bought, finds the Dao
The Way
He is purified and
absolved of all sins
He becomes...Shiva,
The God of Death
First, he is called in to clean another mess.
A man of the big company has had a breakdown.
The character is brilliantly portrayed by the fabulous Tom
Wilkinson.
No matter what role he has, he plays to perfection.
Michael Clayton is supposed to watch over him, make him come
to his senses and again, to fix this disaster.
Only he gets attached to the victim of ruthless leaders and
begins to understand the size of the crime that these people are willing to
commit.
For money, power, status, some Machiavellian individuals are
ready to murder competitors, bystanders, anyone.
And this is what they do here.
They hire contract killers and try to eliminate anyone who
is in the way, might talk, knows too much...
-
The Usual
Suspects
Even if some of this is well known and predictable, I still
appreciated greatly the acting, the optimistic message and this very good film.
duminică, 2 aprilie 2017
Suntan written (with Syllas Tzoumerkas) and directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos
Suntan written (with
Syllas Tzoumerkas) and directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books
are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Suntan is a very interesting film.
Not many people have seen it though.
I had my chance on Cinemax 1...or was it Cinemax 2?
With the arrival of the competitor Netflix, HBO has taken to
offer more programs.
Hence the possibility that viewers have to look into niche
productions...
-
Afterlife,
a Hungarian film
-
Demon an
Israeli- Polish co-production
-
The Price
of Desire
The last one is so much ignored by streaming services that
it only had one critic on IMDB.
I doubled the figure with my input.
Suntan is about a Greek doctor called Kostis.
He arrives on a Greek island, in offseason.
There are few people at this time of the year.
He is met by the mayor who shows him his place and office.
A local who seems to think he is a version of Don Giovanni
tells him about summer:
-
Oh!
Summer!
-
Wait to
see the many women!
-
Foreigners
that can hardly wait to get in your bed...
Words to that effect.
Indeed, when the season starts, the island is crowded with
tourists.
Especially at night, the lovely streets of this small
village are busy with parties and drinkers.
One day, Anna enters the office of the Doctor.
And all hell breaks loose!
Not immediately.
In fact, it seems like heaven for some time.
She is very alluring, provocative, free spirited, somewhat
rude, daring, demanding and seductive.
Her friends enter the cabinet and start fooling around,
playing with instruments.
You need to wait outside
Says the poor Doctor, but he is too gentle, naive and
mesmerized too really oppose this group of naughty, impolite, careless and
young visitors.
The doctor is off to the beach that they said they use, once
he finishes his program.
He always uses lotion and a hat.
Therefore I figured that Suntan- the title refers to his
habit.
But it is an insider joke, meaning that the man is
protecting against the bad effects of the sun, while getting into much more
serious trouble.
The initial games look innocent enough.
Notwithstanding the fact that there is a big difference
between the apparently introverted Kostis and the outgoing, extroverted and
outre members of this sex group.
They are all nudists, it appears as if they may have all sex
with everyone else in the group or nearly.
One night, after drinking, one of the men kisses Kostis who
is revolted.
Little did he know then what outrageous things he would do
later.
The Doctor is fascinated by Anna.
She is all that he cares about.
To be accepted by the wild group, he arrives at the beach
with lots of beer, right at the end of the program.
When a patient arrives at closing time, he does not want to
spend another minute, he is in a hurry to meet with his obsession.
I don't think that this was love that took over him.
Maybe I am wrong.
The young woman, eager to experiment and without a strong
attachment plays with Kostis.
Once she has conquered and seduced him, and especially after
a failed sexual act, she loses interest in the case.
Much like Marcel Proust has explained in the best novel of
all
A La Recherche du Temps Perdu
-
„We want
what we don't have
-
Once we
have it, we don't want it anymore”
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