Directed by Nicolas Roeg and written by Terry Johnson that is based on the play by the latter, Insignificance is the story of a meeting between four famous figures in a hotel room in New York City in the year 1954 as they all deal with fame and such. The film is an exploration of four famous people who deal with their own celebrity as none of them are named by who they are as they all talk about their own world inside a hotel room. Starring Gary Busey, Michael Emil, Theresa Russell, Will Sampson, Patrick Kilpatrick, and Tony Curtis. Insignificance is a rapturous and enthralling film from Nicolas Roeg.
Set during a day at a hotel in New York City in 1954, the film revolves around four iconic figures who all meet at a hotel room as they all discuss themselves and their contributions to the world. It’s a film with a simple premise as it revolve around these four people as they would all meet at the hotel room of one of the film’s protagonists in the Professor (Michael Emil). Terry Johnson’s screenplay play into this period that spans nearly 24 hours as it has the Professor going over notes as he would meet with the Senator (Tony Curtis) while the Actress (Theresa Russell) is making a movie while her husband in the Ballplayer (Gary Busey) watches with disdain. Later on as the Senator goes into his room at the hotel after a discussion with the Professor doesn’t go well as he planned. The Actress would meet the Professor as it would lead to discussions of existence as the Ballplayer and the Senator would later join in as the script has these four characters plus an elevator attendant known as the Indian (Will Sampson) be part of this sociological experience on existence.
Nicolas Roeg’s direction is definitely stylish in the fact that much of the action takes place inside a hotel and a hotel room as much of the film is shot inside a studio soundstage in Wembley. While there are some exterior shots of New York City, the film is more about four people often engaging in conversations in a hotel room with recurring flashbacks appearing every now and then as it play to these people and who they are. There are some wide shots in the film including in a few of the locations as it relates to some of the flashbacks that the Professor is thinking about that also include these dark images as it relates to his own guilt. Much of Roeg’s direction is intimate in its usage of medium shots and close-ups to get the characters to talk with one another as there’s also a lot of close-ups relating to the Actress and her beauty that also feature flashbacks of how she became this icon through extreme close-ups of her ass and breasts.
There are also a lot of symbolism in the imagery whether it’s the Actress in how she’s seen by the world or images of clocks and watches as it relates to time where the Professor carries a stopwatch with the time 8:15 as if it means something. Roeg also maintains this air of tension once the Ballplayer appears at the Professor’s room while there are also these chilling images of the Actress dealing with her insecurities. Even as she is trying to prove that she’s not this dim-witted beauty as she does know things yet her husband doesn’t get it as he’s kind of a raging buffoon who does mean well. It also play into this air of foreshadowing and the growing sense of fear in all four of these characters whether it’s from their past or what is to come. Most notably its ending as it relates to time and the guilt that looms from the Professor into what he’s created as well as what the Senator wanted from him and the Ballplayer pleading to have another chance with the Actress. Overall, Roeg creates a provocative yet captivating film about four popular figures in the 1950s meeting in a hotel to deal with their fame and the world around them.
Cinematographer Peter Hannan does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its stylish usage of lighting and shadows for the scenes in the hotel room along with the way a bar is lit and the streets at night as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Tony Lawson does excellent work with the editing as it help play into the drama and emotional suspense as well as the stylish usage of jump cuts for some of the flashback scenes. Production designer David Brockhurst, with art directors Arthur Max and Celia Barnett, does amazing work with the look of the hotel room and other interiors as well as the bar and a few of the exteriors in the film. Costume designer Shauna Harwood does fantastic work with the costume from the suits that the Senator and the Ballplayer wear as well as the sweatshirt that the Professor wears and the white dress that the Actress wears.
Hair stylist Jan Archibald and makeup designer Christine Beveridge do terrific work with the look of the Professor with his hair and the Actress with her platinum blonde hair. The special effects work of Alan Whibley is wonderful for the film’s end sequence as it play into the horrors and fears of the characters involved in the film. The sound work of Paul LeMare is superb for the way things sound in and out of the hotel room as well as the sounds of things happening in the hallway and in some of the exterior settings outside of the hotel. The film’s music by Stanley Myers and Hans Zimmer is incredible for its mixture of jazz, lush orchestral music, hip-hop, and electronics to play into the sense of chaos and drama that occurs throughout the film that also features a soundtrack of music ranging from jazz, blues, and country that are performed by Roy Orbison, the trio of Will Jennings, Glenn Gregory, and Claudia Brucken on a song, and Theresa Russell.
The casting by Lucy Boulting and Margery Simkin is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Patrick Kilpatrick as the Actress’ driver, Raynor Scheine as an autograph hunter, and Will Sampson in a fantastic performance as the elevator attendant known as the Indian who is often in the elevator meeting the protagonists and have brief conversations with them while observing everything they’re thinking about. Gary Busey is excellent as the Ballplayer as a man driven with envy for his wife while trying to understand what she wants as he’s also a man with some knowledge despite the fact that he is a bit of buffoon that means well yet knows a lot about baseball. Tony Curtis is brilliant as the Senator as a man trying to uphold some idea of law and order as well as get some documents from the Professor and have him testify or else the Professor gets in trouble as Curtis brings a charm and a devious approach to the character.
Michael Emil is amazing as the Professor as a man trying to come up with answers about existence and the shape of the universe while dealing with his pasts and the horrors of what he had created as it would haunt him as he’s also looking at his stopwatch. Finally, there’s Theresa Russell in a phenomenal performance as the Actress as this woman who exudes immense beauty but is also insecure yet curious about the ideas of existence and the universe as Russell has this charm and exuberance in her character as well as selling the chaos that is her emotions as it is a career-defining performance from Russell.
Insignificance is a tremendous film from Nicolas Roeg. Featuring a great ensemble cast, dazzling visuals, studies of fame and existence through these famous cultural figures of the 1950s, incredible art direction, and a sumptuous music score. The film is definitely a unique look into the world from the viewpoint of four famous figures along with the events that haunt them. In the end, Insignificance is a spectacular film from Nicolas Roeg.
Nicolas Roeg Films: Performance - Walkabout - (Glastonbury Fayre) – Don't Look Now - The Man Who Fell to Earth - (Bad Timing) – (Eureka) – (Castaway) – (Aria-Un ballo in maschera) – (Track 29) – (The Witches (1990 film)) – (Heart of Darkness (1993 film)) – (Two Deaths) – (Full Body Massage) – (Samson and Delilah) – (Puffball)
© thevoid99 2020
Based on the play Indians by Arthur Kopit, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson is the story of Buffalo Bill trying to stage a Wild West show where he gets the services of a deposed chief in hoping to present a show for the American president. Directed by Robert Altman and screenplay by Altman and Alan Rudolph, the film is an unconventional western that explores a man’s desire to uphold his own mythological persona while dealing with the realities around him including his own conflicts with Native Americans. Starring Paul Newman, Geraldine Chaplin, Joel Grey, Shelley Duvall, Harvey Keitel, Will Sampson, and Burt Lancaster. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson is a whimsical yet engrossing film from Robert Altman.
Set in 1885 during the last years of a conflict involving Native Americans, the film revolves around a legend of the West who learns he’s gotten the services of the famed Chief Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) for his show celebrating the West as it would prove to be more troubling as he would have to stage it in front of President Grover Cleveland (Pat McCormick). It’s a film that explores some of the behind-the-scenes moments of Buffalo Bill Cody (Paul Newman) trying to stage this show as he wants to present the ideas of the West as something wild and with its own sense of mythology. The film’s screenplay by Robert Altman and Alan Rudolph doesn’t just explore Cody trying to present his stage show as this façade of what the Wild West was but is forced to cope with the realities of what really happened. Especially when he meets Sitting Bull who he thought was this savage that enjoys killing people but it’s revealed to be this very calm, quiet, and morally pure which complicate everything that Cody wants to stage to the people.
The script also showcase Cody’s attempt to play up this persona he’s created as he becomes upset over not just Sitting Bull’s presence but also the fact that Sitting Bull doesn’t want to compromise very much as his interpreter Halsey (Will Sampson) has to speak up for him. Cody would also get into some tension with some of the players including Annie Oakley (Geraldine Chaplin) who is more sympathetic towards Sitting Bull. After a stage show with Sitting Bull where Cody expected him to be booed, it goes the other way around as it destroys everything Cody wanted to present in his idea of the American West. Adding to this turmoil is the fact that Cody isn’t just getting older but he’s having a hard time living up to the persona he’s created as his loyal nephew Ed Goodman (Harvey Keitel) is forced to realize this while his biographer Ned Buntline (Burt Lancaster) is trying to tell many about the many myths of Cody and romanticize to the people working at the show.
Altman’s direction is definitely stylish for not just creating a film that is quite chaotic and loose but also play up into this conflict of reality vs. myth with the West as its backdrop. Shot on location at the Stoney Indian Reservation in Alberta, Canada, the film does play into this idea of a man trying to recreate the Wild West in the middle of a forest near the Rocky Mountains as Altman would use some wide shots to establish the beauty of the location. Yet, he would go for more intimate shots in the usage of close-ups and medium shots as it play into the events happening behind the scenes as everyone is trying to stage the show. The presentation of the shows are quite lavish including the recreation of the Battle of Little Big Horn which shows Cody trying to show the battle from his view but the reality turns out to be more troubling.
The conflict of reality vs. myth is what is at stake in the film as Altman showcases these scenes where Cody is surrounded by things that aren’t real as he has opera singers as lovers, a biographer trying to embellish his legend, and people working with Cody trying to create the greatest show possible. Yet, there are things in the second half that showcase Cody’s struggle to create this myth in a moment where Sitting Bull and some of his people from his tribe have left as Cody and his men try to find them. What happens is that unveiling of the reality that Cody couldn’t face as he has to maintain his persona as this mythological figure of the West to President Grover. Though there are times the sense of looseness in the film does meander a bit for the film’s pacing, Altman does try to maintain a sense of liveliness to capture a moment in time with its protagonist being unaware of what is ahead. Overall, Altman creates a very intoxicating yet offbeat film about a legend of the Wild West trying to stage the ultimate show to present his vision of that world.
Cinematographer Paul Lohmann does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography in using some gorgeous natural lighting to capture the beauty of the locations in the day along with some lights for some of the scenes set at night. Editors Peter Appleton and Dennis M. Hill do terrific work with the editing as it’s mostly straightforward with a few jump-cuts to play into some of the humor and moments of the show. Production designer Anthony Masters, with set decorator Dennis J. Parrish and art director Jack Maxsted, does amazing work with the look of the sets for the stage show as well as the room where Cody sleeps in as well as the bar and a few other places at the circus area.
Costume designer Anthony Powell does excellent work with the costumes from the clothes that Cody wears as well as some of the actors to the simpler look of Sitting Bull and his tribe. Makeup artist Monty Westmore does nice work with the look of Cody as well as some of the makeup the characters wear during a performance. Sound editors Richard Oswald and William A. Sawyer do superb work with the sound as it play into the raucous sounds such as the overlapping dialogue and other things in and around the field for the stage show and circus. The film’s music by Richard Baskin is wonderful as it’s mainly an orchestral score filled with woodwinds and brass instruments that is often played on location to create this sense of pageantry into Cody’s own legend.
The film’s incredible ensemble cast include some Jerri and Joy Duce as cowboy trick riders, Bert Remsen as the bartender Crutch, Robert DoQui as an African-American actor who would often play the Indian chiefs in the stage performances, Bonnie Leaders and Evelyn Lear as a couple of opera singers who try to entertain Cody with the latter being the one who would sing in front of the president, Patrick Reynolds as the president’s aide, Patrick McCormick as President Grover Cleveland, and Shelley Duvall as the First Lady. Will Sampson is terrific as Sitting Bull’s right-hand man and interpreter Halsey as a man that is just trying to keep the peace and explain Sitting Bull’s view of things while Frank Kaquitts is superb as Sitting Bull as the revered Indian chief who rarely says anything as he maintains this presence of purity throughout the film.
John Considine is fantastic as Frank E. Butler as the husband of Annie Oakley who would often be the person holding her targets as well as deal with the chaos of the show. Kevin McCarthy is excellent as Major Burke as a military official who would be the one to get Sitting Bull to be involved as he’s this boisterous individual that likes to have fun and make sure everyone have fun. Joel Grey is brilliant as the producer Nate Salisbury as a man trying to keep everything in control while being announcer for the stage shows while Harvey Keitel is amazing as Cody’s nephew Ed Goodman as an assistant for Cody who is trying to keep him calm and deal with Halsey and Sitting Bull.
Burt Lancaster is marvelous as Ned Buntline as a journalist who is writing Cody’s biography as he tries to maintain that air of mystique for Cody though he is aware that the idea of myth won’t last. Geraldine Chaplin is remarkable as Annie Oakley as the famed sharpshooter who is seen with her right arm in a sling as she copes with not just her injury but the treatment of Sitting Bull as she becomes frustrated with Cody and his desire to present his idea of what the Wild West is. Finally, there’s Paul Newman in a phenomenal performance as Buffalo Bill Cody as a man that is trying to live up to the mythical persona he’s created as he copes with not just the reality of the West but also himself as it’s a performance with charm but also humility as it’s one of his finest performances of his career.
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson is a vivacious film from Robert Altman that features an incredible leading performance from Paul Newman. Along with its great supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, and themes on mythology vs. reality, it’s a film that doesn’t play by the rules into the ideas of the Wild West though it does have a few flaws in its pacing. In the end, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson is a sensational film from Robert Altman.
Robert Altman Films: (The Delinquents) – (The James Dean Story) – Countdown - (That Cold Day in the Park) – M.A.S.H. - Brewster McCloud – McCabe & Mrs. Miller - (Images) – Thieves Like Us - The Long Goodbye - California Split - Nashville - 3 Women - (A Wedding) – (Quintet) – (A Perfect Couple) – (HealtH) – Popeye - (Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean) – (Streamers) – (Secret Honor) – (O.C. and Stiggs) – Fool for Love - (Beyond Therapy) – (Aria-Les Boreades) – (Tanner ’88) – (Vincent & Theo) – The Player - Short Cuts - Pret-a-Porter - (Kansas City) – (The Gingerbread Man) – Cookie's Fortune - Dr. T & the Women - Gosford Park - The Company (2003 film) - (Tanner on Tanner) – A Prairie Home Companion
© thevoid99 2017
Based on the novel by Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the story of a criminal who pretends to be mentally ill in order to avoid jail time where he finds himself in a mental hospital where he deals with a world that is far crueler. Directed by Milos Forman and screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman, the film is an exploration of a small-time thief who hopes to take it easy only to deal with authorities who treat people in the most inhumane way. Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, William Redfield, and Brad Dourif. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a tremendous yet engrossing film from Milos Forman.
Wanting to avoid jail time by staying in a mental hospital in the hopes that he can relax and have fun, a small-time criminal finds himself dealing with a very strict nurse who treats many patients in very inhumane ways where he rebels against her rules and the system in the hospital. Set in the fall of 1963, the film plays into a man that thinks he will be out of the hospital in 90 days and go back to doing all of the shenanigans he’s done though his crime was statutory rape where he had no clue the girl he slept with was 15. During his stay at this hospital in Oregon, Randall Patrick “Mac” McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) doesn’t just see a world where a group of sick men are being goaded and forced to unload into their own issues but also see that there’s a possibility that they might not get better. By being this rebellious figure who wants to watch baseball and go fishing, McMurphy would be this figure that would antagonize the orderlies and this head nurse in Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).
The film’s screenplay doesn’t just explore this environment that is this mental hospital in Oregon but also the people who are there as many of them have trouble with the real world. Among these men that McMurphy meets include a young man with a bad stutter named Billy (Brad Dourif), a profane and confrontational man in Taber (Christopher Lloyd), a delusionist in Martini, an epileptic in Seflet (William Duell), a man prone to childish tempers in Cheswick (Sydney Lassick), a paranoid intellectual in Harding (William Redfield), and a quiet yet tall Native American that McMurphy calls Chief (Will Sampson). Many of them are revealed to be men with real problems but need the time to feel better as McMurphy helps them have a chance to live normal lives while being antagonistic towards Ratched and the other doctors who believe that McMurphy is dangerous but not entirely crazy until Ratched makes a decision that would change things for the film’s second half.
Especially when McMurphy knows more about the patients in his ward and what is happening to him where it raises a lot of questions into the state of inhumanity that he would endure. Especially as the other patients are also being tested against their will where McMurphy would have some revelations about his own and the people around him. It would cause a series of events for him to revolt and try to escape but also endure the growing state of what Ratched and the doctors at the hospital are doing where it is obvious that the men in the ward really need help and McMurphy is the one person that really seems to care and offer them a glimpse of a world without problems no matter how fucked up it is. Yet, it’s a world that is better and can be organized instead of being pressed on and treated like an animal in this abusive and controlling mental hospital under the control of this heartless bitch.
Milos Forman’s direction is quite intimate for the fact that it was shot largely in Salem, Oregon as well as nearby areas including the Oregon State Hospital where much of the film is shot. While there are some wide shots that occur outside of the hospital including a sequence where McMurphy and the gang go on a fishing trip with one of McMurphy’s girlfriends in a day of fun. Much of the film has Forman use close-ups and medium shots to play into the world of the hospital where it is very controlled as Forman’s compositions would have this sense of repression that looms throughout the film. Once the McMurphy character comes in, it’s as if the hospital is starting to come alive little by little as it also has an air of imagination where McMurphy looks into a TV that isn’t on where he comments about a baseball game.
The direction also has Forman find ways to balance humor and drama where the latter becomes very prevalent in the film’s second half as it relates to what McMurphy is dealing with and the outcome of what he has to endure. The usage of extreme close-ups do come into play it does feel very unsettling in terms of what McMurphy has to be put through as well as the other patients. Some of which are here because they actually need help but are being treated inhumanely. Even as the film’s climax that relates to McMurphy’s attempt to escape and throwing a party for himself and the patients would showcase a group of men needing an escape from their own problems and a chance that there is hope for them in the real world. Yet, it is followed by the harshness of reality in the form of Nurse Ratched who is pretty much a monster that needs to be taken down in the hopes that those who suffer from mental illness can be saved and treated humanely. Overall, Forman creates a riveting yet exhilarating film about a small-time criminal trying to buck the system at a mental hospital.
Cinematographers Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler do amazing work with the film‘s cinematography from the look of the many interiors inside the hospital for the scenes set in day and night as well as some of the exteriors in the locations near Salem, Oregon. Editors Richard Chew, Sheldon Kahn, and Linda Klingman do brilliant work with the editing with its usage of rhythmic cuts to play into the drama and some of the film‘s humor while creating moments that are engaging in some of the livelier moments of the film. Production designer Paul Sylbert and art director Edwin O’Donovan do fantastic work with some of the minimal set pieces created such as the ward room and its bathroom that featured a prop that would be key to the story.
Costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers does nice work with the costumes design as it‘s mostly casual for all of the patients as well as the look of Nurse Ratched‘s uniform. The sound work of Mark Berger is superb for the atmosphere that is created in the ward with its usage of calm music to soothe the patients to the raucous sounds that would occur upon McMurphy‘s arrival and presence. The film’s music by Jack Nitzsche is wonderful for its low-key, folk-based score that plays into some of the elements of drama and humor as well as what is going on outside of the hospital.
The casting by Jane Feinberg and Mike Fenton is incredible as it features notable small roles from Nathan George as the attendant Washington, Marya Small as a girlfriend of McMurphy in Candy, Louisa Moritz as Candy’s friend Rose, Kay Lee as a night supervisor at the hospital, and Scatman Crothers in a hilarious performance as the night orderly Turkle who finds himself in big trouble. Other noteworthy small performances as some of the patients in the film include Josip Elic as the somewhat-catatonic Bancini, Michael Berryman as the deformed Ellis, Delos V. Smith as the hippie-like patient Scanlon, Willam Duell as the epileptic Seflet, and Vincent Schaivelli as the annoyed Frederickson. Dean Brooks superb as the hospital administrator Dr. Spivey as a man that is trying to understand what is going on while believing that McMurphy isn’t a totally bad influence despite Ratched’s opinion.
Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd are excellent in their respective roles as the delusional Martini and the aggressive Taber who both enjoy McMurphy’s presence while William Redfield is brilliant as the educator Harding who copes with the idea that his wife might be cheating on him. Sydney Lassick does amazing work as the child-like Cheswick as a man who has been repressed by his surroundings where he is fit to have tempers where McMurphy is the one person that can help him. Brad Dourif is phenomenal as Billy Bibbit as a young man with a bad stutter who is reluctant to enter the real world while being given the chance to live through McMurphy. Will Sampson is remarkable as the Chief as a tall and silent Native American who is an observer as well as this mysterious being that McMurphy befriends as well as someone who seems to revel in McMurphy’s presence.
Louise Fletcher is great as Nurse Ratched as this head nurse of a ward that is trying to maintain control and oppress everything as there is this coldness to her along with the fact that she is really just a straight-up bitch. Finally, there’s Jack Nicholson in a tour-de-force performance as Mac McMurphy as a small-time criminal who goes to the hospital to avoid jail time only to find himself in bigger trouble by antagonizing Nurse Ratched as it’s a performance that is manic but also one filled with depth as Nicholson creates a character that we all can root for.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an outstanding film from Milos Forman that features great performances from Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. Along with a phenomenal supporting cast as well as a compelling screenplay, the film isn’t just a unique study into madness and oppression. It’s a film that also showcases a world of men being treated inhumanely by an unjust world that was supposed to help them only to make them less human. In the end, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a spectacular film from Milos Forman.
Milos Forman Films: (Black Peter) - (Loves of a Blonde) - (The Fireman’s Ball) - (Taking Off) - (Visions of Eight) - (Hair) - (Ragtime) - (Amadeus) - (Valmont) - (The People vs. Larry Flynt) - (Man on the Moon) - (Goya’s Ghost)
© thevoid99 2016
