In Secret

Based on the novel Therese Raquin by Emile Zola and its stage play by Neal Bell, In Secret is the story of a young woman who has an affair with a friend of husband as they conspire to get rid of her husband whom she is forced into marriage by her aunt. Written for the screen and directed by Charlie Stratton, the film is an exploration of a woman trying to fulfill her sexual and emotional desires in an affair as well as the actions that would occur to maintain this affair. Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton, Matt Lucas, Shirley Henderson, Mackenzie Crook, and Jessica Lange. In Secret is a riveting and haunting film from Charlie Stratton.

Set in 19th Century France, the film revolves around a young woman who lives with her aunt and her ailing cousin as she is forced to marry the latter upon moving to Paris where she begins an affair with her cousin’s best friend in the city. It’s a film with a simple premise as it play into a woman’s own sexual desires and feeling repressed in her family home but the move to Paris would bring a lot but also trouble when she and her lover decide to kill her cousin/husband. Charlie Stratton’s screenplay does have a straightforward narrative as it play into repression that Therese Raquin (Elizabeth Olsen) is dealing as she was sent to live with her aunt (Jessica Lange) when she was a child and had to share the room with her sickly cousin Camille (Tom Felton).

The move to Paris would mark a change for Therese except that she would be forced to marry Camille for the move to happen as she accepts the decision only to find herself falling for his friend Laurent LeClaire (Oscar Isaac). The affair would fulfill Therese sexually and emotionally but it would also lead to troubles that include the film’s second half where there isn’t just this element of guilt looming but also this air of grief that starts to loom throughout the characters.

Stratton’s direction is straightforward in terms of the compositions that are created as much of the film is shot on location in Belgrade, Serbia and some of the city locations at Budapest, Hungary. While there aren’t a lot of wide shots in the compositions, Stratton would use medium shots and close-ups to play into the drama as well as characters dealing with their environment and situations. Notably in scenes that play into Therese’s attraction with Laurent as they keep their affair a secret while they also conspire in getting rid of Camille though he’s never did anything wrong other than be dependent on due to his ailments. It would add Therese’s own anguish as even though doesn’t like Camille much, she still cares about him and his mother who would succumb to grief in the most extreme way during its third act. Stratton’s direction would create elements of surrealism as well as playing up to this idea of guilt and torment along with the possibility of the actions that Therese and Laurent have committed. Overall, Stratton creates a compelling and eerie film about a woman and her lover trying to maintain an affair by committing a horrible crime.

Cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as it does play into some of the dark colors and low-key lights for some of the interior scenes at night as well as the look of some of the daytime exteriors including the scenes at the forests and rivers. Editors Celia Haining, Leslie Jones, and Paul Tothill does nice work with the editing as it is straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into the drama. Production designer Uli Hanisch, with set decorator Michael Fechner and supervising art director Kai Koch, does brilliant work with the look of the shop Therese and her aunt would run as well as the clerk station that Camille and Laurent would work at and the apartment above the shop. Costume designer Pierre-Yves Gayraud does fantastic work with the costumes as it play into the period of mid-19th Century France that includes the gorgeous dresses that Therese wears.

Makeup designer Erika Okvist does amazing work with the sideburns that Laurent sports as well as the oily look of Camille. Visual effects supervisor Robert Pik does terrific work with the visual effects as it largely play into bits of set-dressing as well as a few surreal moments in the film. Sound designer Paul Carter and sound editor Michael Maroussas do superb work with the sound as it play into some of the dramatic moments that goes on at the apartment as well as at some of the film’s locations. The film’s music by Gabriel Yared is wonderful for its orchestral score that ranges from being serene for the romantic scenes to ominous themes for the dramatic and suspenseful moments in the film.

The casting by Katalin Baranyi, Deanna Brigidi, and Elaine Grainger is marvelous as it features some notable small roles from Dimitrjie Bogdanov as the young Camille, Lily Laight as the young Therese, Matt Devere as Therese’s father, John Kavanagh as Inspector Michaud who is a family friend of the Raquins that would later try to investigate matters in the film, Matt Lucas as the inspector’s son Olivier who provides some humor while he along with his wife and father and a friend would play dominoes with the Raquins, and Mackenzie Crook as Grivet as a family friend who is befuddled by the events during the film’s second half. Shirley Henderson is fantastic as Olivier’s wife Suzanne who suspects something is up between Therese and Laurent while becoming concerned for both Therese and Madame Raquin during the film’s third act.

Tom Felton is excellent as Camille as an ailing young man that at times selfish and demanding yet is also someone who wants to impress Therese and be a good man for her despite his many shortcomings as it has Felton play a role of humility. Oscar Isaacs is brilliant as Laurent LeClaire as a childhood friend of Camille who falls for Therese where he begins an affair with her only to bring dark ideas that he would share with Camille only to act out through cruel ways in its aftermath. Jessica Lange is amazing as Madame Raquin as this woman who doesn’t like the idea of being alone where she is a bit cruel but also is understanding as Lange shows her best work in the way she copes with grief but also anger through a sense of physicality as it is a master at work. Finally, there’s Elizabeth Olsen in an incredible performance as Therese Raquin as a young woman who is forced into a marriage with her cousin as she deals with being in a one-sided marriage despite her efforts to make it work while falling for Laurent that fulfills her sexual desires only to later deal with guilt and unhappiness in the aftermath of the actions she and Laurent had committed.

In Secret is a marvelous film from Charlie Stratton that features great performances from Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, and Jessica Lange. Along with its gorgeous locations and setting as well as its emphasis on suspense and romantic drama. It’s a film that explore the idea of desire and sexual fulfillment but also what some will do to maintain that desire to great extremes. In the end, In Secret is a remarkable film from Charlie Stratton.

Related: Thirst

© thevoid99 2018

Cape Fear (1991 film)

Based on the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald, Cape Fear is the story of a convicted rapist who has been released from a 14-year prison stint as he decides to go after the attorney who put him in jail through some moments of injustice. Directed by Martin Scorsese and screenplay by Wesley Strick that is based on James R. Webb‘s script of the 1962 film, the film is a remake/homage of sorts to the 1962 film of the same name as it plays more into a man who is hell-bent on making the life of a public defender and his family a living hell. Starring Robert de Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Illeana Douglas, Joe Don Baker, and special appearances from Martin Balsam, Robert Mitchum, and Gregory Peck from the 1962 film. Cape Fear is a thrilling and mesmerizing film from Martin Scorsese.

The film is a simple story of a released convict who served a 14-year sentence for a rape charge as he decides to make the life of the man, who put him in jail for mishandling his case, a living hell. It is a revenge story of sorts as a battle of wits and wills between this convict and an attorney yet it is the convict that feels wronged where an attorney’s past actions are catching up with him. Even as the sins of this attorney named Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) have his own family live in fear but also wonder what did he do as Bowden is driven to the edge to protect them with the help of a private investigator where things don’t go very well.

Wesley Strick’s screenplay doesn’t just explore the dynamics of two men but also a growing sense of distrust towards Bowden from his wife Leigh (Jessica Lange) and daughter Danielle (Juliette Lewis). Especially as the former is suspicious of Sam’s supposed infidelities while the latter would have her own meeting with the convicted man in Max Cady (Robert de Niro) who would charm her. All of which adds to Bowden’s determination to rid of Cady one way or the other but at the cost of his own reputation and who he is as a man.

Martin Scorsese’s direction is definitely very stylish for not just the fact that he pays homage to the original 1962 film by J. Lee Thompson. It is also a film in which Scorsese pays homage to the many thrillers and suspense films of the past while doing something that is an update of sorts to those genres. Shot largely on location in South Florida as well as some sequences shot in Universal Studios Hollywood, the film does set itself in the American South but in a more modern idea of the South as it tries to maintain elements of tradition but in a world that is ever-changing. With its stylish usage of wide and medium shots along with some close-ups, Scorsese would go for something that is very stylistic in the way he would put actors into a frame where one would be in the foreground and the other in the background.

Scorsese also provides these moments that are quite surreal with its usage of different film stocks, color schemes, and moments that feel very artificial as it relates to the fear that is growing in Sam and his family. It says a lot to this kind of reality that Bowden has created but one that feels false where Cady would come in and disrupt everything as if he is this wronged man that is trying to make their lives a living hell. Featuring some dazzling imagery that includes this exotic opening credits sequence created by Saul and Elaine Bass that serves as a homage to the works of Alfred Hitchcock. It would add to the film’s unique look with some stylish camera angles that Scorsese would inject as it would also play into the film’s climax that is set on a river. The impact of the violence as well as some religious-based imagery would say a lot into what is happening where it does take place on this houseboat where it is about not just some truths coming out but also what one is willing to do to survive. Overall, Scorsese creates an exhilarating yet provocative film about a convicted rapist stalking and preying on lawyer for the sins he had committed.

Cinematographer Freddie Francis does amazing work with the film‘s cinematography with its usage of different film stocks and lighting schemes for some of the surreal sequences while creating some moods in the lighting for some of exteriors scenes in the day and at night. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker does brilliant work with the editing with its stylish montages for some of the more eerie sequences that play into Bowden‘s fear as well as some stylish rhythmic cuts to play into the suspense, drama, and much of its dark humor. Production designer Henry Bumstead, with set decorator Alan Hicks and art director Jack G. Taylor Jr., does excellent work with the look of the Bowden home to play into its sense of artificial world that Sam lives in to the look of the houseboat for the film‘s climax.

Costume designer Rita Ryack does nice work with the costumes from the more casual and clean look of the Bowden family to the stylish clothes that Cady wears. The hair/makeup work of Ilona Herman does fantastic work with the look of Cady from his slick hair to the tattoos on his body that features a lot of religious text and imagery. Sound editor Skip Lievsay does superb work with the sound in the way some of the quieter moments such as Danielle‘s meeting with Cady sounds like in its intimacy to the chilling moments in the film‘s climax. The film’s music largely consists of the film score Bernard Herrmann made for the 1962 film as it is adapted by Elmer Bernstein which does maintain that air of suspense and high drama as it proves anything that was used in the past can still be used again while the soundtrack would also feature music from Guns N‘ Roses and Aretha Franklin.

The casting by Ellen Lewis is wonderful as it features some notable small roles from Zully Montero as the Bowden’s family maid Graciella, Fred Dalton Thompson as Bowden’s law partner Tom Broadbent, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese as Danielle’s friend, Charles and Catherine Scorsese as a couple of fruit stand customers, and Martin Balsam in a terrific cameo appearance as a judge who would disbar Bowden early in the film’s third act. Illeana Douglas is fantastic as the law clerk Lori Davis who is rumored to be Bowden’s mistress until she has a meeting with Cady that would prove to be extremely ugly. Gregory Peck is excellent in his brief yet mesmerizing appearance as Cady’s attorney Lee Heller who would defend the man after an assault as he would have this passionate plea to disbar Bowden. Robert Mitchum is brilliant as Lt. Elgart as this police detective who realizes what is happening to Bowden and what Cady is doing as he sort of plays the film’s conscience in telling Bowden to not descend into darkness which is a surprise since Mitchum played Cady in the 1962 film. Joe Don Baker is amazing as Claude Kersek as a private detective who tries to see what Cady is up to while realizing that he is in the middle of a game where does whatever he can to stop Cady.

Juliette Lewis is incredible as Danielle as this 15-year old girl who deals with the chaos surrounding her family as she becomes intrigued by Cady and the books she is given until she realizes the severity of his terror. Jessica Lange is remarkable as Leigh Bowden as a wife/artist who deals with not just Cady’s presence but also the sins of her husband as she has a hard time trusting him. Nick Nolte is marvelous as Sam Bowden as an attorney who is terrorized by a man he was supposed to defend only to bury evidence that could’ve given Cady a lesser sentence as he tries to outwit Cady only to realize the flaws of himself. Finally, there’s Robert de Niro in a phenomenal performance as Max Cady where de Niro brings a charm that just exudes in every moment he is in as well as a sense of terror that is menacing as it one of de Niro’s most definitive performances.

Cape Fear is a sensational film from Martin Scorsese that features great performances from Robert de Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, and Juliette Lewis. In being an updated version of the 1962 film as well as a homage to that film, Scorsese creates a film that isn’t just a thriller that oozes with excitement and terror. It’s also a study of sin and what one man would do to make another man pay for his sins. In the end, Cape Fear is a riveting film from Martin Scorsese.

Related: Cape Fear (1962 film)

Martin Scorsese Films: (Who’s That Knocking on My Door?) - (Street Scenes) - Boxcar Bertha - (Mean Streets) - Italianamerican - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Taxi Driver - New York, New York - American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - (The Last Waltz) - Raging Bull - The King of Comedy - After Hours - The Color of Money - The Last Temptation of Christ - New York Stories-Life Lessons - Goodfellas - The Age of Innocence - (A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies) - (Casino) - (Kundun) - (My Voyage to Italy) - Bringing Out the Dead - (The Blues-Feel Like Going Home) - Gangs of New York - (The Aviator) - No Direction Home - The Departed - Shine a Light - Shutter Island - (A Letter to Elia) - (Public Speaking) - George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Hugo - The Wolf of Wall Street - (The 50 Year Argument) - Silence (2016 film) - (The Irishman) - Killers of the Flower Moon - (An Afternoon with SCTV)

© thevoid99 2016

Titus (1999 film)

Based on the play Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare, Titus is the story of a general who tries to seek vengeance against a queen as it would play into his own downfall. Written for the screen and directed by Julie Taymor, the film is a radicalized interpretation of the Shakespeare play where the Roman Empire is set in the mid-20th Century in a world that is very anachronistic and chaotic as it plays to this general’s downfall as the titular character is played by Anthony Hopkins. Also starring Jessica Lange, Harry Lennix, Alan Cumming, Laura Fraser, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Colm Feore, James Frain, Matthew Rhys, Angus MacFayden, and Geraldine McEwan. Titus is a sprawling and rapturous film from Julie Taymor.

Set in a world that mixes Fascist-era Italy and Ancient Rome into an anachronistic world, the film revolves the downfall of a general in the hands of a queen whose life he had destroyed as she would seek vengeance for the death of her son in the most graphic way. There, Titus Andronicus copes with the decisions he has made in his life as well as the decision of who would be Rome’s new emperor as it would come back to haunt him as he faces dishonor and ruin in himself and his own family. Much of it involving a plot by the Queen of the Goths in Tamora (Jessica Lange) who sways the mind of Rome’s new emperor Saturninus (Alan Cumming) while conspiring with her moor lover Aaron (Harry Lenix).

Julie Taymor’s script does explore the world of vengeance in all of its fallacies where Titus would descend to madness not only by his own hands but also in the way his own family would be affected. Much of it is observed by his young grandson in young Lucius (Osheen Jones) who is mostly silent for much of the film. The script also involves commentary by Aaron who would break the fourth wall to unveil many of his plans to destroy Andronicus and his family. Even as Aaron becomes an integral part into playing both sides for his own gain until he would become vulnerable in his attempt to play into observing Titus’ own fragile state of mind.

Taymor’s direction is definitely grand in not just the way he tells the story but in how she would fuse to different periods of Roman history into a story where it could’ve been told in any time frame. Shooting on location in various areas in Rome and nearby as well as a few of its ancient monuments. Taymor definitely aims for something that mixes decadence and surrealism in her approach to telling the story as she goes for all sorts of dazzling visuals in her compositions. Even as she isn’t afraid to put in things like video game arcades or pool floats into the film as it is obvious they weren’t around during Fascist-era Italy. Using a lot of wide and medium shots as well as some low camera angles, Taymor goes for a film that plays into a man coping with a world that is changing as the decisions he made for this next era of Rome would have some serious repercussions.

Taymor also infuses a lot of these lavish moments about the way some of the parties emerge as well as some of the film’s violence. The latter of which involves rape and other graphic moments where it is told in a very stylistic manner. Even as the impact of what Titus would see are shown in some very eerie close-ups as while Taymor would use wide shots and some unique framing devices to play into his own confusion and the need to comprehend about what had happened. All of which would lead to some definite extremes into Titus’ own plot for vengeance as it played into its fallacies as well as the cost of what one man did for vengeance as well as Tamora’s own quest as it led to tragedy. Overall, Taymor creates a very extravagant yet harrowing film about the fallacy of revenge.

Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful and lavish cinematography with its use of stylish lights and shades for some of its nighttime interior/exterior scenes along with vibrant colors for the daytime scenes. Editor Francoise Bonnot does amazing work with the editing as it is very stylized with its jump-cuts and dissolves to play into some the craziness that goes on in the film as well as in some of the drama. Production designer Dante Ferretti, with set decorator Carlo Gervasi and supervising art director Pier Luigi Basile, does fantastic work with some of the film‘s set pieces from the palace where Saturninus lives in with Tamora to the home of Andronicus. Costume designer Milena Canonero does excellent work with the costumes as they’re lavish from the gowns that Tamora wears as well as the design of the uniforms and clothes that the men wear.

Special makeup effects artist Tony Gardner does superb work with the makeup for some of the characters in their look as well as some of things they wear to play into Andronicus‘ troubled mind. Visual effects supervisor Kent Houston does terrific work with the visual effects with its emphasis on surrealism for the dream sequences as well as some of the key elements that drive the story. Sound designer Blake Leyh does nice work with the sound to play into some of the sound effects as well as the sense of terror that occurs in the film in terms of its plotting and in Titus‘ mad state of mind. The film’s music by Elliot Goldenthal is wonderful for its orchestral-based score that features elements of bombast to play into the drama as well as some comical moments as the score features elements of electronic music and rock with contributions by Page Hamilton of the alternative-metal band Helmet.

The casting by Irene Lamb and Ellen Lewis is incredible as it features some notable small performances from Raz Degan as Tamora’s eldest son Alarbus, Geraldine McEwan as a nurse who would bring Aaron his son, and as the trio of Titus’ youngest sons, there’s Kenny Doughty, Blake Ritson, and Colin Wells as the men who become victimized in Aaron and Tamora’s plot. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Matthew Rhys are superb as Tamora’s son in Chiron and Demetrius, respectively, who create chaos and cause trouble while James Frain is terrific as Saturninus’ brother Bassianus who is love with Lavinia as he tries to bring peace only to be a source of ire for Saturninus. Osheen Jones is wonderful as the young Lucius who is the film’s observer while Angus MacFayden is excellent as Titus’ eldest son Lucius who tries to see reason for everything while coping with the chaos that is emerging. Colm Feore is fantastic as Titus’ brother Marcus who is sort of the film’s conscious as he copes with the decisions his brother has made as well as the sense of chaos that has loomed over his entire family.

Laura Fraser is amazing as Titus’ daughter Lavinia who becomes victimized by Chiron and Demetrius in the worst way where she spends much of the film in silence to display the loss of innocence that she once represented. Harry Lennix is great as Tamora’s lover Aaron who would be the architect of the conspiracy as he often breaks the fourth wall to create elements of chaos. Alan Cumming is brilliant as Saturninus as the new emperor who is this man that represents a form of chaos as he becomes drunk with power. Jessica Lange is remarkable as Tamora as Lange brings a lot of theatricality and ferocity to her performance as a woman who felt wronged as she plots the ultimate revenge. Finally, there’s Anthony Hopkins in a tremendous performance as the titular character as a general whose decisions that he makes would come back to haunt him as he descends into madness where Hopkins brings a lot of energy to his role as well as not afraid to ham it up.

Titus is a phenomenal film from Julie Taymor. Armed with a great cast as well as dazzling visuals and sprawling set pieces. It’s a film that plays into the fallacy of revenge as it’s told with such style that pays true to the works of William Shakespeare. In the end, Titus is a spectacular film from Julie Taymor.

Julie Taymor Films: Frida - Across the Universe - The Tempest - The Auteurs #42: Julie Taymor

© thevoid99 2015

Tootsie

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 6/4/08 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Directed by Sydney Pollack and written by Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal, and Don McGuire with additional contributions from Barry Levinson, Robert Garland, and Elaine May. Tootsie tells the story of Michael Dorsey, an actor who is brilliant but extremely difficult as he tries to raise money for a play he co-wrote. Realizing that no one will hire him after his friend lost a huge part, he decides to play the part in a TV soap opera by dressing as a woman. During this time, he battles a sexist director while falling for one of his co-stars as well as attracting the attention of men. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, George Gaynes, Sydney Pollack, Geena Davis, Doris Belack, and Bill Murray. Tootsie is a brilliant, funny, sweet comedy that shows how a man becomes a better man as a woman.

What happens when a brilliant but difficult actor who can't get work when he decides to dress up as a woman to get a role for a TV soap opera? That is essentially the premise of the film as it is a mixture of comedy and romance where it all centers around the character of Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) who is a very gifted actor but is always difficult as the last job he got was playing a tomato for a commercial. He also helps out other actors where one of his friends in Sandy (Teri Garr) got turned down in an audition to play a role in the daytime soap opera Southwest General where Michael dresses up as a woman to get the part. With only his roommate Jeff Slater (Bill Murray) and his agent George Fields (Sydney Pollack) know the truth, Michael becomes a hit in the show despite having to deal with a sexist TV director (Dabney Coleman) while helping out an aging lead actor (George Gaynes) and falling for one of his co-stars in Julie Nichols (Jessica Lange). Throughout the course of the film, Michael Dorsey not only learns how to be a better man but also find out more about what it means to be a woman.

The film's script is a mix of romance, comedy, and light-hearted drama where it acts as a genre-bender but it is rooted in its comedy genre. What makes this film so brilliant is a funny, witty script that is filled with lot of light-hearted humor and dialogue, improvisation, and characters that audiences can relate to and root for. The script written by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal is truly wonderful in how a brilliant but out-of-work actor is so desperate for work to raise money for his own play. He'll even dress up like a woman to get the role only to fall for a woman while realizing that being a woman makes him a better man in understanding them. The film is also in some strange way, a feminist film as Michael Dorsey makes Dorothy Michaels into a feminist of sorts. Particularly in one scene where she is acting on the TV show to a character playing an abused woman. Michaels' point of view about things makes her into a feminist character who helps women stand up for themselves and such.

While the script works as a part-feminist film with a man playing the feminist, it's still a comedy but also a romantic-comedy in the storyline between Michael/Dorothy and Julie. When Michael is being himself in a scene with Julie, he acts like a jerk but as Dorothy, he acts as her close friend as he gets a sense of understanding in being a woman. This is where Sydney Pollack's direction is at its brilliance in building up the relationship between Michael/Dorothy and Julie while allowing the audience to get to know its supporting characters including Julie's father Les (Charles Durning) who falls for Dorothy. With Pollack's background in television and theater, he explores the world of acting through its different forms. Both TV and theater as the character of Michael uses his skills to play to both mediums. Pollack's presentation of the TV soap format is very realistic in how the director and producer work around everything and how the actors rehearse and read their lines.

The sense of improvisation and looseness is also key to Pollack's direction as he lets the comedy flow naturally while not go way into silly, slapstick humor. Allowing the actors including himself, to say funny lines and be in character while letting the audience feel relaxed and giving them a good time. The result is truly superb as Pollack's direction is truly top-notch and smoothly entertaining.

Cinematographer Owen Roizman does a good job with the film's look with his polished yet colorful camera work to show the style of lighting for TV soaps and such while the shots of the exterior of New York City is wonderful to look at. Editors Fredric and William Steinkamp do an excellent job with the film's pacing and cutting style that is smooth and relaxing to play to the film's unique tone. Production designer Peter S. Larkin and set decorator Thomas C. Tonery do a fantastic job with the looks of the different apartments of Michael and Julie as well as the set designs of the soap opera set they created. Costume designer Ruth Morley and supervisor Bernie Pollack do a fantastic job with the film's costumes. Particularly on the dresses that Dustin Hoffman wears as well as the clothes of the cast for the soap opera.

Sound recordist Phillips Rogers does a fine job with the film's sound including the atmosphere of TV production and such. The film's music by Dave Grusin is bouncy and melodic as it leans towards the sound of soft rock. Yet, Grusin along with noted lyricists Alan & Marilyn Bergman create two memorable songs for the film both sung by Stephen Bishop. The upbeat title song and the love ballad It Might Be You, the latter of which was a hit song that works for the film's light-hearted romantic tone.

The cast assembled by Toni Howard and Lynn Stalmaster is excellent as it features small appearances from the likes of Estelle Getty, Ellen Foley, and Christine Ebersole plus cameo appearances from Andy Warhol and a then-unknown Marg Helgenberger. Memorable small performances from Amy Lawrence as Julie's daughter, Anne Shropshire as Amy's scary nanny, and the late Lynn Thigpen as Carlisle's assistant director. Doris Belack is great as the show's producer Rita Marshall who hires Dorothy on the spot while convinced that the show's success and increased ratings is all due to her. In her film debut, Geena Davis is good as a young actress who first appear in her underwear as she makes Dorothy a bit nervous while being one of the women Ron is having an affair with. George Gaynes is wonderfully funny as an aging actor who is forced to read his line through cue cards and such as Dorothy gives him confidence as he also falls for her. Sydney Pollack is great in his cameo as agent George Fields who has some of the funniest lines as Michael's agent who keeps telling him that no one will work with him.

Dabney Coleman is excellent as the sexist TV director Ron Carlise who likes to sleep around with other women and treat Julie inferior to him as he dukes it out with Dorothy Michaels. Charles Durning is brilliant in his charming role as Julie's father Les who tries to woo Dorothy while showing a softer side as a man longing for love since the death of his wife a long time ago. Teri Garr is great in her role as the insecure Sandy, a struggling actress who has a hard time getting a role only to duped by Michael's own flirtations as she finally gains confidence as an actress. Bill Murray is amazingly funny as Jeff Slater, Michael's laid-back roommate who knows what Michael is doing as Murray has some of the funniest one-liners film with his deadpan delivery that is Murray in classic form. Then there's Jessica Lange in an Oscar-winning performance as Julie Nichols. Lange's understated, graceful performance is a wonderful mix of beauty and depth as a young actress struggling to be a single mom and juggling an unhappy relationship as she gains confidence with help from Dorothy on her life as a woman. Lange, often seen as a pretty face, proves her talents as an actress in which, she wins her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Finally, there's Dustin Hoffman in one of his iconic performances as both Michael Dorsey and Dorothy Michaels. Hoffman's performance as Dorsey is brilliant for someone who is trying to be a total professional and artist who can't catch a break only to understand what women are. Hoffman as Michaels is a character full of charm and attitude as it's a brilliant performance-within-a performance that just knock the walls down. Hoffman is truly amazing from start to finish from the early scene of him acting various characters like an old man to a boy that shows his superb talents as one of cinema' finest actors.

Tootsie is a magnificent film from Sydney Pollack thanks to Dustin Hoffman's incredible leading performance. Along with Jessica Lange's touching supporting performance as well as other memorable performances from Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, and Bill Murray. The film is definitely one of the finest comedies of the genre as well as engaging for the way an actor whose desperation to find work has him getting a better understanding of what it means to be a man by pretending to be a woman. In the end, Tootsie is a spectacular film from Sydney Pollack.

Sydney Pollock Films: (The Slender Thread) - (The Property is Condemned) - (The Scalphunters) - (Castle Keep) - They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - (Jeremiah Johnson) - (The Way We Were) - (The Yakuza) - (Three Days of the Condor) - (Bobby Deerfield) - (The Electric Horseman) - (Absence of Malice) - (Out of Africa) - (Havana) - (The Firm) - (Sabrina (1995 film)) - (Random Hearts) - (The Interpreter) - (Sketches of Frank Gehry) - (Amazing Grace (2018 film))

© thevoid99 2013

Broken Flowers

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 8/5/05 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

One of the most celebrated and influential of independent filmmakers, Jim Jarmusch has been known for making films about eccentric outsiders and loners starting with his 1982 student feature Permanent Vacation and his 1984 feature-length debut film Strangers in Paradise that won him the Camera D'or for best first film. Jarmusch continued to make eccentric and strange films like Down by Law, Mystery Train, Night on Earth and 1995's idiosyncratic western Dead Man that showed his range as a writer and director. Jarmusch also took the time to act in films including Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade in 1996 while in 1997, Jarmusch did a documentary with Neil Young & Crazy Horse for Year of the Horse.

After 2000's Ghost Dog which was an homage to hip-hop and samurai films, he took a break to compile footage of several shorts he did called Coffee & Cigarettes. In 2003, he released his collection of shorts where one of them included a meeting with the RZA and GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan and actor/comedian Bill Murray. Murray was riding high on the universal acclaim for his performance in Sofia Coppola's 2003 masterpiece Lost in Translation as he began to team up with Jarmusch again for another look into a loner for the comedy-drama Broken Flowers.

Written and directed by Jarmusch, the film revolves about a Don Juan womanizer named Don Johnston whose life as a womanizer is over as he receives a letter that he had possibly given birth to a son 19 years earlier. Starring Bill Murray as Johnston, the film is a part road trip, part human exploration of a man who explores his pasts and trying to find himself through the women he had been with. Also starring Sharon Stone, Tilda Swinton, Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy, Julie Delpy, Chloe Sevigny, Christopher McDonald, Mark Webber, and Jeffrey Wright. Broken Flowers is Jarmusch's most straightforward film to date while remaining true to his unique approach to storytelling.

After his girlfriend Sherry (Julie Delpy) leaves him, Don Johnston finds a mysterious pink letter with claims that he has a long-lost son. Turning to his Ethopian-neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright), Winston believes that the letter is from an ex-girlfriend of Don as he gives Don maps to find out which of these ex-girlfriends are the father of his long-lost son. Johnston is reluctant to take the trip as he finally decides to go with Winston's map and a mixtape of music Winston has made filled with Ethopian jazz.

Arriving into his first destination, he meets Laura (Sharon Stone) who has become a widowed closet organizer with a kooky daughter named Loliga (Alexis Dziena). After learning about Laura's late race-car driver husband, the meeting Don has with Laura was strange as was Lolita's seductive presence. His next trip to meet with Dora (Frances Conroy) where she has become a real estates agent living in an upper class world with her husband Ron, also a real estate agent, that proved to be awkward and repressing. Don continues his journey to meet with Carmen, a veterinarian who talks to animals, that also proved to be another strange journey as he also meets her assistant (Chloe Sevigny).

During his stop to meet the fourth woman in the trip in Penny (Tilda Swinton), the meeting becomes a big disaster as he encounters bikers as he goes into one last trip to the fifth woman that already had died. Returning home, he meets a young man (Mark Webber) at an airport where Don ponders about his life and the trip he had taken.

While the story of the film is clearly Jarmusch's most straightforward film to date, the film still contains his strange, idiosyncratic views on the world, notably suburban America. The offbeat comedy style of the film works very well since it matches a lot of the dramatic scale in which the Don character grows up to learn of his own flaws for being a Don Juan. Jarmusch as a writer definitely gives a story that is filled with a lot of heart and humanity in a man who is trying to rediscover himself through women while trying to find the idea that he might have a son so he can teach him some life lessons.

On the directing front, this is Jarmusch at his best since he uses all sorts of styles from French New Wave (in which he dedicated his film to filmmaker Jean Eustache), European cinema, and everything he's learned about comedy and drama. From that standpoint, it's his most mature work to date that has some elements that appeals to a wide audience. The only flaw that is done in the film in terms of its writing and directing is the ending which can be described as abrupt. Still, that's typical Jarmusch who refuses to have some kind of happy ending but it's the kind of ending that leaves you thinking afterwards.

Helping Jarmusch to capture a natural, authentic look to the film without any kind of gloss is cinematographer Frederick Elmes who uses a realistic look to many of the film's locations in exterior and interiors. Even in the dream sequences, the look of the film is a bit grainy but in a dreamy texture. Production designer Mark Friedberg also captures the authentic feel of the film from the restaurant that Don and Winston drink coffee at to the homes and places of the women Don's looking for. Even John A. Dunn's costume design has a realism to the film where it doesn’t looked polished. Editor Jay Rabinowitz definitely scores with the film's editing style which has some nice jump-cut sequences in the driving scenes along with some nice fade-out cutting in some scenes that gives the film a nice, stylized editing approach that is clearly from the mind of Jim Jarmusch.

The film's music is widely diverse and original since most of it is from a mix-CD of music from Winston that definitely plays well to his character. Most of the music and score is dominated by some unique and catchy Ethiopian jazz music from composer Mulatu Astatke along with a few cuts from the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Marvin Gaye. The film's opening theme music and other cuts from Holly Golightly and the Greenhornes that has a nice, 1960s garage feel that is a pure discovery of some great music that leaves you humming and wanting to pick up the soundtrack.

Then there's the film's wonderful cast which includes some nice small performances from the children of Winston including one little girl who has a nice scene with Murray and Wright. Also doing well are Chris Bauer and Larry Fessenden as Penny’s biker buddies, Pell James as a flower girl clerk, Heather Simms as Winston's wife, Chloe Sevigny as Carmen's assistant, and most of all, Alexis Dziena as Laura's precocious, offbeat daughter Lolita who manages to steal a scene from Bill Murray in the most peculiar way. Mark Webber is also wonderful in the scene as a kid who might be Don's son.

Tilda Swinton and Julie Delpy might have small moments in the film but each actress use their brief time to shine. Delpy brings her frustration and beauty to the mix as Don's most recent girlfriend who wanted more from him in a wonderful performance. Swinton brings her chameleon-like approach to play a dirty, aggressive biker chick who just wreaks havoc into a single moment as she gets her moment to be funny. Jessica Lange gives her quirkiest performance to date as a Dr. Doolittle figure who likes to speak to animals while freaking out Bill Murray in a reunion of sorts from their 1982 film Tootsie.

Frances Conroy gives a restrained but offbeat performance in the film as the most straight-looking woman of the film but her lifestyle and ideas are so off in comparison to Don's lifestyle, Conroy is very funny. Christopher McDonald is even funnier as Dora's husband who manages to be a bit funnier and very off to the more restrained Murray as he continues to be one of the funniest character actors around. Sharon Stone is wonderful in a very funny performance as Laura as she uses her sexiness and sweetness into comedic levels that we haven't seen from her. It's by far one of her more enjoyable performances.

The best supporting performance of the entire movie easily goes to the wonderfully talented Jeffrey Wright who manages to shine in every second he's on film. Taking on an Ethiopian accent, Wright plays the funny man to Murray's more straight man approach. Wright is wonderfully generous and offbeat in his search to help Murray on his quest where in every scene he has with Murray, he does everything by coming into his house without knocking or giving him a mix-CD. There's a wonderful chemistry in Wright and Murray as the two uses different styles of comedy where it works and Wright deserves a lot of credit and recognition for his performance.

Then there's Bill Murray who gives a masterfully, minimalist performance that is almost as good as the one he gave as Bob Harris in Lost in Translation. Murray uses his restraint and face to give out all kinds of emotions that gives you an idea on what his character is doing to himself. Murray makes sure the character isn't a total likeable guy but one who has made mistakes. Murray even manages to be funny by doing so little and even in the words he says sometimes. He makes his character grow and have people care about him since he's trying to do wrong as it's one of Murray's best performances of his career.

While it's not up to par with Strangers in Paradise, Dead Man, or other favorites to some, Broken Flowers is a wonderful movie from Jim Jarmusch featuring a great cast led by Bill Murray and Jeffrey Wright. Fans of Jarmusch who might fear that the film is an attempt for him to go commercial will better think again cause it's not. The film as all the element of a Jarmusch picture that is very real with a bit of style. Fans of Bill Murray will definitely find this film that will feature one of his best performances to date while the real standout aside from Murray in the film is Jeffrey Wright who will definitely gain some new fans. For a film that is smart and with heart, Broken Flowers is truly one of the year's best films.

Jim Jarmusch Films: Permanent Vacation - Stranger Than Paradise - Down By Law - Mystery Train - Night on Earth - Dead Man - Year of the Horse - Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Coffee and Cigarettes - The Limits of Control - Only Lovers Left Alive - Paterson - Gimme Danger - The Dead Don’t Die - (Father Mother Sister Brother) - The Auteurs #27: Jim Jarmusch

© thevoid99 2011

2011 Cannes Marathon: All That Jazz

(Co-Winner of the Palme D’or w/ Kagemusha at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival)

While Bob Fosse’s name is synonymous with dance and theater, his work as a film director has been one of the most celebrated in his prolific career. With musicals such as Sweet Charity and Cabaret, Fosse moved away from the musical with 1974’s Lenny about the controversial comedian Lenny Bruce. In 1979, Fosse would make a semi-biographical picture that mixed the dazzling musicals he’s known for with a gritty outlook on life entitled All That Jazz.

Directed by Bob Fosse with a script co-written with Robert Alan Arthur, All That Jazz follows a choreographer/film director whose workaholic lifestyle is spinning out of control. Struggling to get a new musical play going and finishing a film, he is visited by an angel of death as his health begins to take a toll. Based on Fosse’s own life, the film is a study of creativity and the toll it takes on its creator. Starring Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, Ann Reinking, John Lithgow, and Ben Vereen. All That Jazz is spectacular yet hypnotic musical-drama from the late Bob Fosse.

Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) is a brilliant artist who is known for making great Broadway shows and movies that he’s directed. Yet, Joe’s life is going out of control as he is trying to work on a new musical while finishing up a film about a standup comedian that is still in its rough cut. Every day, Joe chain-smokes and pops up various pills to get himself going as he’s under numerous deadlines while often forgetting to do other things in his life like spending time with his daughter Michelle (Erzsebet Foldi) much to the ire of his ex-wife Audrey (Leland Palmer). Joe also spends his time sleeping with other women much to the dismay of his girlfriend Katie (Ann Reinking).

Joe’s workaholic schedule is starting to take his toll as he’s imagining talking to an angel of death named Angelique (Jessica Lange) about his life and the fact that he a schmuck. With Joe trying to find ideas for his show while being under pressure from collaborators and backers including Jonesy Hecht (William LeMassena) trying to get him to finish. Thanks to some prodding from Audrey, Joe gets an inspiration for his show though it would alienate his backers as he continues to work on his varied projects where it would finally take a toll on his health. After finally suffering chest pains, Joe is sent to the hospital as a cardiologist (Michael Tolan) suggests that Joe should relax.

Instead, Joe continues to play with death in his ways at the hospital while learning about the reviews over his film which he knew wasn’t finished. While Jonesy and other financiers try to figure out how to salvage the show with its expensive production by even turning to another Broadway director in Lucas Sergeant (John Lithgow). Joe starts to realize his own faults as his perception of reality is blurred through his own imagination featuring the people in his life as he starts to face his own mortality.

While the film is based partially on Bob Fosse’s own life at the time he was trying to finish his 1974 film Lenny, some of it is definitely inspired by the works of Federico Fellini. Particularly 8 ½ which was about a film director’s life that is unraveling by his writer’s block and the women in his life. In this film, it’s about a man whose lifestyle and antics finally takes a toll on him in a lot of ways. His personal life is becoming messy due to his womanizing while professionally, he is uninspired and having a hard time getting or finishing projects. This would eventually lead to him facing mortality in the guise of a beautiful angel who would have him see parts of his own life.

The character of Joe Gideon is essentially a scumbag and he knows it. He doesn’t spend a lot of time with his daughter though doesn’t mean to hurt her. He sleeps around with other women much to the chagrin of his ex-wife Audrey and current girlfriend Katie. He likes to flirt around with death by drinking, chain-smoking, pill-popping, and fucking every piece of ass out there as if it was his last day. Yet, he knows that he couldn’t help himself in doing these things as a way to cope with his own work as he is his own worst critic. He wants to do something great but has a hard time trying to please himself and others. The fact that he’s taking much longer to finish a film because of a long monologue that he’s cut over and over again.

The script that Fosse and Robert Alan Arthur create is an intriguing study on art and how artists tend to suffer for their work literally. Yet, it’s also about how the world of Broadway works as there’s a bit of a subplot when Joe’s financiers try to salvage the play they’re working by figuring out how to make money if things go bad while getting another director involved. Fosse and Arthur’s dialogue is phenomenal for its humor as well as the way characters respond to each other and their actions.

Fosse’s direction is truly magnificent in its ambition and presentation by creating a film that is gritty and stylish. For many of the musical sequences that is early in the film, he shoots it on location in the stages or rehearsal halls. Yet, there is something very real to the look and the rough presentation as he allows the staging of these numbers to make it seem intense with sweat dripping on the dancers, musicians, and Joe himself. At the same time, he doesn’t sugarcoat anything that is happening when people are rehearsing as the scene where Joe is looking for dancers. What he shows is everything from people are on time and have rhythm to the lone dancer who is lost in the shuffle knowing he or she won’t make it.

Fosse’s look of the fantasy sequences is truly mystical in the way it plays off to Joe’s messy head as it’s filled with decayed objects and such along with memories including a young Joe (Keith Gordon) dancing around. One of the film’s great moments is a montage of images that play up to the way Joe opens his day to the music of Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in G as it always feature Joe saying “It’s show time folks”. If Fosse’s staging of the musical and smaller dramatic moments are wonderful, it’s also the way he frames those scenes where he definitely gets a wide depth of field of what is happening along with allowing the camera to soak in the atmosphere. Using tracking shots and steady hand-held work to allow Joe to be followed along with the intensity of the dance numbers that is choreographed by Fosse himself. The overall work in Fosse’s direction is mesmerizing and masterful as he creates what is truly an engaging yet entertaining film.

Cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno does a phenomenal job with the film‘s photography in bringing a sense of realism with atmospheric lighting to some of the rehearsal scenes. In the fantasy sequences, Rotunno goes for that same kind of grit along with a ghostly look as the film while the dance sequences late in the film are filled with dazzling lights that brings a lush yet seductive look to Rotunno’s camera. Editor Alan Heim does a superb job with the editing in not just creating amazing rhythmic montages to Joe’s daily routine but also to the dance numbers and dramatic moments in the film. Heim’s work is really the technical highlight of the film for the way he plays off Joe’s intense lifestyle with its frantic cutting as well as playing to the repetition of Joe’s day that includes a slow half-frame speed.

Production designer Philip Rosenberg, along with set decorators Gary J. Brink and Edward Stewart, does an amazing job with the art direction in the creation of the fantasy sequences from the decayed look of Joe‘s world with Angelique to the dazzling stage setting for the many of the film‘s dance sequences in the latter part of the film. Costume designer Albert Wolsky does a great job with the costumes from the all-black clothes that Joe wears to the lush dress that Angelique wears along with the fantasy dance sequences in the film. Makeup artist Fern Buchner does a nice job with the make-up for some of the dance fantasy sequences that play up to the Felliniesque elements of the film.

Sound editor Maurice Schell does a fantastic job with the sound work to capture the feet on the floor to the atmosphere of rehearsals and the meetings. Notably a scene where Joe is in a meeting with all of these people and all he can hear are sparse sounds as it’s one of the highlights of the film. The music by Ralph Burns is superb for its creation of some amazing music pieces that are played for the film including rehearsal music and stuff that’s made up in the scene. The soundtrack includes Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in G plus George Benson’s On Broadway and a snazzy cover of Bye Bye Love sung by Ben Vereen. The soundtrack is another of the film’s highlights as it’s an important part of the film.

The casting by Howard Feuer and Jeremy Ritzer is brilliant for its large ensemble that features early appearances by actors who would go on to bigger things such as Sandahl Bergman as a principal dancer, C.C.H. Pounder as a nurse, Wallace Shawn as an accountant, Keith Gordon as the young Joe Gideon, David Margulies as a financier, and John Lithgow as a rival Broadway director. Other notable small roles include Ben Vereen as a singer whom Joe likes to watch, Deborah Geffner as a dancer Joe sleeps with, Cliff Gorman as the actor in Joe’s standup comedy film, Michael Tolan as the cardiologist, and William LeMassena as a financier who tries to help Joe with his play while protecting his investment.

Erzsebet Foldi is great as Joe’s teenaged daughter Michelle who adores her father despite his absence as she always try to get him to slow down while has a few great dance numbers including one with Ann Reinking at an apartment as it’s a fun performance to watch. Ann Reinking is excellent as Joe’s girlfriend Katie, a woman who has a hard time dealing with Joe’s womanizing while trying to ground him. Leland Palmer is superb as Audrey, Joe’s ex-wife and Michelle’s mother who is also a former dancer as she tries to pull him back to real life while dealing with his workaholic persona. Jessica Lange is wonderful as Angelique, an angel of death who is a seductive woman but also quite terse in how she makes Joe confess his own faults.

Finally, there’s the late Roy Scheider as Joe Gideon in what is his best performance of his career. Scheider brings a sense of charm and weariness to a character that is at times, a schmuck but also knows the fact that he is a schmuck. Yet, Scheider makes Joe Gideon into a fascinating figure who is willing to do great things for his art while is willing to accept criticism knowing that the critics could be right. It’s a very fearless yet entertaining performance from the great actor.

All That Jazz is a brilliant yet entertaining musical from Bob Fosse featuring a remarkable performance from Roy Scheider. Featuring great supporting work from Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, and Ann Reinking, it is definitely one of the best musicals that strays away from the idea of what a musical is. Even as Fosse makes it personal and engaging as it’s one of his greatest films in his short filmmaking career. In the end, All That Jazz is a marvelous film from the late, great Bob Fosse.

Bob Fosse Films: Sweet Charity - Cabaret - Liza with a Z - Lenny - Star 80 - The Auteurs #56: Bob Fosse

© thevoid99 2011