ALL ABOUT CINEMA (world over)

3 IDIOTS

2009-12-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

Nice movie,another good effort by aamir.This movie will join the list of the ones which have a good impact on audience taste,and effectively try to innovate it(the taste) to a much realistic cinema.Aamir is doing something that will creat audience taste to like movies made by persons like kashyap(Anurag) in future.It is very nice to visualise that in future realist movies will also attaract such crowd.

Their is logic in such thinking,aamir is innovating,he is trying to put realist ideas along with the fantasy and entertainment.I watched the movie on the first show and saw a huge crowd in the local cinema hall here,and find it interesting that peoples were enjoying,and when the 3 hours were over discussing the topic seriously,i really found many of them doing so.this means they are somewhere changing their attitude,this change they will try to attain but will become unsuccessful shortly,and then will search for a more serious solution,this means change in taste.World is growing ,only real truth can save us and audience will headoff to find it.Day will come when realist cinema will have impact,attract audience.

The plot of cinema was extremly situation based.Situations creating problem and then it self giving solution,the hero(rancho)just continue to be honest(both with work and mind).And that honesty was the reason how he kept him self cool and smiling,rancho was actually a portrayal of a good man(which is still growing and innovating) moving in situations attaching itself with the honesty.This was the reason why he was not depressed,dont gave up,not only in others eye,but in front of his own soul,example may be quoted,like just give a look at the tragedy where they were caught stealing question paper,situations created the problem their(like pia was not near her mobile phone,they accidently called her,and the phone was in front of her dad,also she became busy with another call),situation also gave the solution ,like mona was at the verge of delevery,rain came etc.Rancho's role was that he just dont make him self the victim of the situation,and kept him self honest,that was the source of his believe on him self.

The same situation might have been shot in another way,like the director don't get any hint about their activity and they become success ful in their mission.Making raju pass its exam and keeping the director down(as was done in M.B.B.S),but that would not have created the rancho to its completness.

Rest of the movie was good ,with fine technical and sound effect,nice acting,good music and song,with a much better touch of reasonable comedy.Very nice character sketch of all the characters with only limitation of that of time.The theater in which i watched is booked for the next three days(i got the ticket because i purchased it 2 days before and that also of the front row ,only 25 bucks!),the best reply from the audience in that theater was this,i have never heared whistels and shouts from audience because they were passionate for continue the movie before schedule after the interval,but believe me they were really passionate.

The Most Beautiful

2008-02-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

The Most Beautiful (一番美しく, Ichiban utsukushiku?, aka Most Beautifully) is a 1944 film (docudrama) written and directed by Akira Kurosawa.

The film is set in an optics factory during the Second World War. The U.S. film Twelve o'Clock High was directly influenced by it.

It is considered by many to be a war propaganda film from wartime Japan, but it does show Kurosawa's developing talent as a director. Inexpensive copies with English subtitles are easily found online. No examples of the original movie poster exist for this film. What is shown in place of the poster are newspaper advertisements. Some of the backgrounds are valuable for showing conditions in war-time Japan. At one point the Marine Corp theme song "Semper Fi" is heard in the background. When the women complain of Japan's enemies, they list Britain ahead of America, but it was the USA that was preparing to invade. One of the leading actresses in the film later became Kurosawa's wife.

The central struggle is to achieve very high production targets, but much of the drama centers upon workers in the dorm/factory setting hiding their illnesses to prevent being sent home to get well. It's an interesting insight into the challenges people faced inside a society that, like all countries at the time, was fully mobilized for military production. Kurosawa's story also shows Japanese management approaching the issues of quality and productivity from a scientific standpoint. It is a revealing look into management science generally and the motivating factors for the workers are not negative views of Americans and Europeans, but the desire to meet the challenges they face as individuals, workers, and citizens.

The climax of the film occurs when a supervisor cannot locate a lens that did not pass quality control, and therefore must re-check an entire production lot. As she re-checks each lens, footage of Japanese fighter pilots looking through the finished product to aim their machine guns is shown. Another high point in the drama occurs when a worker is urged to return home to care for her father after her mother has died. She politely refuses, explaining that her mother had urged her to continue her work at the factory before she died. The supervisors do not enforce the request of the father to have the daughter return home, which appears to be a break with tradition. Kurosawa's use of the camera to frame this scene is characteristic of his later work

Gabbeh (film)

2008-02-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

Synopsis:
Gabbeh is a brilliantly colorful, profoundly romantic ode to beauty, nature, love and art. Mohsen Makhmalbaf originally traveled to the remote steppes of southeastern Iran to document the lives of an almost extinct tribe of nomads. For centuries, these wandering families created special carpets – Gabbeh – that served both as artistic expression and autobiographical record of the lives of the weavers. Spellbound by the exotic countryside, and by the tales behind the Gabbehs, Makhmalbaf’s intended documentary evolved into a fictional love story which uses a gabbeh as a magic story – telling device weaving past and present’ fantasy and reality.
On the banks of a stream, an old woman and her husband are washing their Gabbeh. From this carpet comes forth a beautiful young woman – aptly named Gabbeh – who shares her epic tale: she is desperately in love with a mysterious horseman who follows her clan from after. Though her father has agreed to let her marry the man, season after season, the horseman follows Gabbeh—always present, always waiting, howling songs of love after nightfall.
Delicately interlaced with this simple and touching love story are the people whose lives are shaped by the rhythms of nature, and who instinctively express the joys and sorrows of life through song, poetry, and the tales they tell in their brilliantly-hued weavings.

Title:
Screenwriter, Editor, Set Designer, Sound Designer & Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Director of Photography: Mahmoud Kalari
Sound: Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Executive Manager and Still Photographer: Mohammad Ahmadi
Music: Hossein Alizadeh
Cast: Abbas Sayyahi
Shaghayegh Jowdat
Hossein Moharrami
Roghayyeh Moharrami
Parvaneh Ghalandari
1996, Color, 72 mins.

International Sales: MK2 (France)

Festivals:
1) Cannes International Film Festival, France 1996.
2) Festival of Iranian films in Royal film Archive , Belgium 1996 .
3) Melbourne International Film Festival , Australia 1996 .
4) Montreal International Film Festival, Canada 1996.
5) Toronto International Film Festival, Canada 1995.
6) Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada 1995.
7) New York Film Festival ,USA 1996.
8) Tellurid International Film Festival, USA 1996.
9) International Film Festival of Vienalle, Austria 1996.
10) Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan 1996.
11) Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada 1996.
12) Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil 1996.
13) Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Argentina 1996.
14) Sitges International Film Festival, Spain 1996.
15) The 14th Turin International Festival of young Cinema , Italy 1996.
16) London International Film Festival, UK 1996.
17) Lisbon International Film Festival, Portugal 1996.
18) New Delhi International Film Festival, India 1997.
19) Goteborg International Film Festival, Sweden 1997.
20) The 10th Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore 1997.
21) Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech 1997.
22) Sochi international Film Festival, Russia 1997.
22) Hamburg International Film Festival, Germany 1997.
23) Film From the South’97 Film Festival , Norway 1997.
24) Phnom Penh Film Festival , Combodia 1997.
25) The Festival of Iranian Films at The Cinematheque Ontario, Toronto, Canada 1997.
26) The Festival of Iranian Films at Montreal Conservatoire ,Canada 1997.
27) The Festival of Iranian Films at The Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver, Canada 1997.
28) The Festival of Iranian Films at The Northwest Film Center , Portland, 1997.
29) The Festival of Iranian Films at The Film Center of Chicago, USA 1997.
30) The Festival of Iranian Film at The Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA 1997.
31) Museum of Fine Arts of Boston ,USA 1997.
32) Museum of Modern Art of New York, USA 1997.
33) Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, USA 1997.
34) The Festival of Iranian Films at The UCLA Film Archive, USA 1997. “A Tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
35) The Festival of Iranian Films at Cleveland Cinematheque, Canada 1997.“A Tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
36) Festival of Iranian films at Stockholm, Sweden 1997.
37) Philipines Film Festival , Philipin 1997
38) Copenhague Film Festival, Denmark 1997
39) Hambourg Film Festival, Germany 1997
40) Oslo Film Festival , Norway 1997
41) The Festival of Iranian films at Cinematheque Bonn , Germany 1997
42) Taipei Film Festival , Taiwan 1997
43) Dhaka Film Festival , Bangladesh 1998
44) Polfilm Stockholm , Sweden 1998
45) Buenos Aires Film Festival , Argentina 1998
46) Gotebourg Film Festival , Sweden 1998
47) Vienne Film Festival, Austria 1998
48) Beirut Film Festival , Lebanon 1998
49) Ljubljana Film Festival, Latvia 1999
50) Festival of Iranian film Festival at Rabat, Maraco 2000.
51) The Festival of Iranian Films in Hungary, 2000
52) The Festival of Iranian Films in Leipzig, 2000.
“ A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”

International Awards:

1. Best Artistic Film – Tokyo Festival (Japan) 1996.

2. One of 10 selected films by critics – Times (USA) 1996.

3. Best Director – Sitguess Festival (Spain) 1996.

4. Special Critics Award - Sitguess Festival (Spain) 1996.

5. Best Asian Feature Film – Singapore Festival (Singapore) 1997.

Director’s view:
I think Gabbehs are like good Iranian films. What attracts foreign audiences to Iranian films is their simplicity and their re-creation of nature. These are the same two qualities that have made Gabbehs popular in foreign markets as well. In western countries, people are overwhelmed by difficult, complicated, and rough situations. When they go to the movies they don’t want to see the same complexity and violence they are surrounded by. That is why they are fascinated by simple Iranian films that remind them of nature. Iranian Gabbehs also have a sort of naturalistic poetry about them that gives you a sense of tranquility. You feel that you have spread nature on the floor of your living room.
“Gabbehs have soothing designs somewhat similar to the simple paintings of children. Unfortunately, out of every ten thousand Iranians, only one might have a Gabbeh at this house, or out of every one thousand Iranians, only one might have heard of it. What did we used to sit on forty years ago? A carpet or a kelim. And what is a carpet, except some wool and color and the labor of the weaver? And what is wool, except the labor of a herder? And what is color, except the labor of girls picking flowers in the fields? And don’t we make all of these out of our own labor our own materials here? Gabbeh is one of the most original types of nomadic carpets.

GABBEH(script)

Unspecific surrounding, Day.
(A green gabbeh is being carried by the stream. A wolf howls in the distance. A girl against the blue background of a gabbeh, whose silhouette is a blue gabbeh, carrying a jar of water on her shoulder, turns her head and smiles when she hears the howl.)

A small spring, Day.
(An apple falls from a tree into the spring. An old woman in blue and an old man carrying a gabbeh on his shoulder and a basket in his hand slowly walk towards the pond.)
Old woman: You were groaning with pain last night. I could see you couldn’t go to sleep because of your sore feet. I won’t allow you to wash the gabbeh any more.
Old man: Let me wash it.
Old woman: I have rubber boots. I’ll do it.
Old man: So give me the rubber boots too.
Old woman: You have sore feet. You’d better make the food. I’ll wash it to entertain myself for a while.
(The old man goes to the fire pit where food is being cooked. The old woman spread the gabbeh on the ground. Woven in the rug are a male figure in black and a girl riding in tandem on a white horse. The old woman touches it wistfully.)
Old woman: May I wash the gabbeh?
Old man: My pretty lady, who else but you is to wash it, after all?
Old woman: (touches the gabbeh) My pretty gabbeh, why are you blue? Why are you silent? Why won’t you tell me who that horseman is?Let me know at least who has woven you.
(A gentle breeze blows. A girl in blue appears through the gabbeh. A canary flies off a branch. The old man raises his gaze from the fire. He is astonished.)
Old man: Fantastic! She is as beautiful as the full moon.
Old woman: What is your name, my young lady?
Girl: Gabbeh. (She puts her hand in and out of the limpid water of the spring. Drops drip from her fingers.) What a clear water! Won’t you wash me?
Old man: Whom we’d wash if not you, Gabbeh Khanum?
(The blue gabbeh is immersed in the transparent water of the spring. Now the old woman is alone, scrubbing it with her feet.)
Old woman: May I rest my arms on your young shoulders? I’m old. I no longer have the energy.
Girl: (Who is again there, takes the old woman’s hands and puts them on her shoulders) You are welcome.
Old man: You seem so familiar to my eyes. What is your father’s name?
Girl: His name is warp. His name is warp and weft. There he is.
(Insert of nomads on the move. The girl’s father, on horseback, is leading the caravan.)
Girl’s voice: That’s my father. He is a nomad. We are Qashqais. We can’t feel at home anywhere. Even if we did, my father would set out a caravan so that we’d stop falling in love with any place. I fell for a loved one, a rider, a strange voice, someone like an illusion, who was following our caravan like a shadow so to take me away with him.
Old man: (excited) Were I young enough, I would come to win your hand. Your father is a good fellow.
Girl: Don’t be fooled by her appearance. He’s ill-temperd.
Old woman: (with her feet on the gabbeh, her hands on the girl’s shoulder) That much for your father. What about your mother? Is she kind? Beautiful?
Girl: No. The tribesmen say my father is so sulky ’cause my mother is so ugly. There she is.
(Insert. The girl’s mother is whisking a milk goatskin to make butter.)
Girl’s voice: She is Sakineh, my mother. I’m her eldest daughter.
Old man: Give me the rubber boots so that I can wash the gabbeh.
Old woman: (who is now alone) You have sore feet. You’ll have a bad time if you put them in the water. I’ll wash it myself.
(The old man walks away from the fire to the pond. They are alone again, though the old woman’s arms are still stretched in the air, as if on the imaginary girl’s shoulders. The old man rubs his hand on the gabbeh.)
Old man: Look how beautiful it is now that you have washed it! I fell for it once again.
Old woman: (as if to the girl standing in front of her.) He once again forgot me as soon as his eyes were set on you.
Old man: (as if to the girl standing in front of her.) This old woman is even jealous of herself. Gabbeh Khanum! Gabbeg Khanum! Isn’t anyone in love with a girl as beautiful as you are?
Old woman: You were the one who was in love with me, when you were young.
Old man: (rises and turns his back to the old woman who is standing in the pond, with her arms stretched in the air) What a damned fool I was when young.
Old woman: (as though complaining to the girl standing in front of her) Look how cruel he can be.
(The girl caresses her own cheek with the old woman’s hands. A wolf howls. The girl gazes at the crest of the mountain in the distance. So does the old woman. A rider in black on a white horse appears at the top of the mountain. The old woman turns to the girl.)
Old woman: Then why does his voice sound like that of a wolf?
Girl: That’s a secret between him and me. He says he is mad for me. Then why don’t you come if you really are?
(Wolf howl.)
Old woman: If you’re really in love, why don’t you elope with him?
Girl: My father has vowed to kill me if I did.
Old man: (with his eyes full of tears from the smoke of the fire) I’d rather be killed than pestered all along by you.
(Wolf howl.)
Girl: He is saying we’d better go off with each other. Should I?
Old woman: (stretches the girl’s arms onto her shoulders and keeps them there.) Don’t do that. Your father would kill you if you did. You’d better first talk with him.
Girl: My father wouldn’t speak to me because my granmother is ill. My uncle is to arrive from the town to take her to the doctor. My father says he’d let me marry him when my uncle arrives. But he’ll be mad by then.

A mobile school in the plain, Day.
(A cock crows. Fade in to a plain full of palms. The white tent of the mobile school is amidst the palms. The uncle, an elderly man with a white bag on his shoulder, walks towards the school tent. The pupils are answering to the teacher’s questions in unison. The uncle enters the tent. The teacher calls them to stand up. The uncle in his turn allows them to sit down.)
Uncle: Where is here?
Children: The tribal school of Fars Province.
Uncle: Where does Fars Province belong to?
Children: Iran.
(A small girl shakes a bell hanging from the neck of a goat. The pupils rush out of the tent. Now the uncle is standing before the blackboard, facing the class.)
Uncle: What’s this colour?
(He stretches his right hand out of the frame. Insert of tulips. His hand enters the frame.)
Children’s voice: Red.
(The uncle’s hand grabs as though the red flowers in the tulip prairie. Cut to the blackboard. A bunch of red flowers is in his hand.)
Uncle: The redness of the tulips. Now, what’s this colour?
Children’s voice: Yellow.
(Insert. His hand grabs as though the yellow flowers in the prairie. Cut to the blackboard. A bunch of yellow flowers is in his hand.)
Uncle: The yellowness of the wheat farm. And what’s this colour? (Stretches his arm towards the blue sky.)
Children’s voice: Blue.
(His hand. Blue to the wrist, returns to the frame of the blackboard.)
Uncle: The blueness of the clear sky of God.
(Puts his hand down and out of the frame. Insert. A blue sea with his hand in foreground pointing at it.)
Uncle: What’s this colour?
Children’s voice: Blue.
(His hand, drops dripping from it, returns to the frame of the blackboard.)
Uncle: The serene blue of the seas. Now, tell me what this colour is.
(Stretches his arm towards the sun.)
Children’s voice: Yellow.
Uncle: the yellowness of the shining sun. The yellowness of the sun and the blueness of the water turn into the exquisite greenness of the grass.
(Puts his yellow and blue hands above his head. Cut to a green prairi, with his hand entering the frame.)
Children’s voice: Green.
(Back to the frame of the blackboard. There is some green grass in his hand.)
Uncle: Exquisite green. (Puts his yellow hand, with the bunch of red flowers in it, above his head. Cut to sunset.) The yellowness and the redness of the sun are orange at the sunrise and sunset.

Nomads’ caravan in the plain, Day.
(The uncle is moving in the opposite direction of the caravan.)
Girl’s voice:The spring arrived, but the uncle didn’t. In the spring the whole tribe decamped save our clan. My father said we had better wait for the uncle to arrive to take the ailing grandmother to the town. But she was dead when he arrived. My father buried her in an all-green graveyard.
(Insert of a green prairie, with the uncle’s yellow and blue hands entering it.)

The family’s black tents, Day.
(Three black tents. Sakineh is whisking the milk goatskin to make butter. Other women are baking bread. Children are playing with small goats. The uncle reaches the tents.)
Uncle: Hello everybody.
Sakineh: Hello.
Uncle: You remember me, don’t you?
Sakineh: I don’t
Uncle: (takes off his hat) And now?
Sakineh: You’re my husband’s brother.if you’re married, then why are you travelling alone?
Uncle: I’m still too young for marriage. No woman gets married to a child.
Zeinab: Hello, brother.
Uncle: hello, Zeinab Baji. How is everything? I’m surprised you remember me.
(The clan jovially gathers round the uncle to greet and welcome him.)

At the small spring, Day.
Old man: (raises his head from the fire on which the food is being cooked) Your uncle has arrived, Gabbeh Khanum. You’re going to get married soon.
Old woman: Go to ask your uncle to convince your father.
Girl: He doesn’t remember me. I know he’ll ask me if he’s my father’s or my mother’s brother.

The brother’s black tents, Day.
Uncle: (to Zeinab) Is this your child?
Zeinab: You’ve been so long absent that you hardly know your nieces and nephews.
Uncle: Now I’ll show you that I know everybody well enough. Zeinab, you stand on this side of the tree. Sakineh, you on the other side. That child of zeinab’s on her mother’s side. That child of Sakineh’s goes to his mother.
(The uncle makes his nieces and nephews stand on either side of the tree.)
Girl’s voice: The uncle gathered everybody under the tree that shows our family. When a child is born into the family, a new branch grows on it, and when one from our clan passes away, a branch of it falls off.The grandmother remembered which branch stood for what member of the family.
Uncle: I can tell who’s who, can’t I?
Children: No.
Uncle: What is the correct row?
(The children appropriately move to the side of their mothers.)
Children: Now this is OK.

At the small spring, Day.
(The girl and the old woman are sitting at the pond with their arms round each other’s shoulder.)
Girl: You see? He didn’t ask anything about me. He didn’t even mention my name. All he wanted to know was to see the grandmother before he returns to the town.

The brother’s tents, Day.
(The uncle goes from the family tree to the grandmother’s black tent.)
Uncle: Where’s my mama? Where’s my Naranj Khanum? Mama ! Mama Naranj! Your abbas is back. Where are you?
(The mother’s black tent is empty save for the framework of a gabbeh that has not been started and a dog that wags its tail for the uncle.)
Girl’s voice: You are too late, uncle, your loved one vanished.
Sakineh’s voice: She wanted to weave that gabbeh so to send it to the town for your wedding.
(The uncle is overcome by grief. Insert of the grandmother’s grave in the green prairie. The uncle and the girls are standing at it. Inserts of green prairies undulating in the breeze and the girl’s fingers weaving gabbeh. The sorrowful lullaby of a woman could be heard. The background of the gabbeh is being woven in green.)

At the small spring, The mobile school, Yellow prairies, Day.
(Red flowers are being carried by the stream. The girl in blue picks them from water. She is crying. The old woman tries to cheer her up.)
Old man: The mourning period is over. Now it’s wedding time.
Girl: It is wedding time, but not my wedding. My father says the uncle has grow old without getting married. First his wedding, then mine.
(She turns her head and takes the flowers in his hand out of the frame.)
Congratulations uncle, take them. You’d better arrange your wedding as soon as possible.
(The uncle’s hand takes the flowers and puts them before the blackboard.)
Uncle: The redness of the tulips. What is the sound you are hearing, kids?
Children’s voice: A sparrow’s.
(The old man takes a sparrow from a nest and puts it out of the frame. The uncle’s hand takes it to the blackboard.)
Uncle: Sparrow. (He puts a wheat sheaf on the sparrow and takes it out of the frame over his head. Looks skyward.)
O Almighty!
Thanks to Your yellow
This humble fellow’s sparrow
Was turned into a canary.
(He takes a yellow canary into the frame and let it go. Cut to a yellow prairie through which the caravan, now being led by the uncle, is on the move. The girl, a blue gabbeh on her shoulder, looks back every time she hears a wolf howl.)
Girl’s voice:The uncle had dreamed that he would find his mate by a spring; a girl that would sing like a canary. My father went to every family in the clan to seek the hand of several girls for him. All of them were beautiful, but none would sing like a canary. Our caravan called at every spring it knew. But no girl that would chirp like a canary was found at them.

An oasis, Day.
(The caravan reaches an oasis. A chiled is thirsty. The uncle inquires an old man weaving a rope.)
Uncle: Where is the spring?
Old man: Wherever you happen to hear the sound of water.

A larg spring, Day.
(Carrying a goatskin on his shoulder, the uncle is listening for the sound of water in the plain. He hears someone sing. He traces the voice to a spring amidst verdure. It is a girl singing while washing dishes at the pond.)
Uncle: Fine. The fountain of water and song.
Allahdad’s daughter: Hello.
Uncle: Hello. What us your name?
Allahdad’s daughter: I’m Allahdad’s daughter.
Uncle: I was looking for water but I discovered song. What a beautiful lyric! I don’t remember to have heard it before.
Allahdad’s daughter: I composed it just last night. No one could have heard it before.
Uncle: You mean you composed it just the night before?
Allahdad’s daughter: That’s true.
Uncle: You yourself composed it?
Allahdad’s daughter: That’s true.
Uncle: Are you a poetess?
Allahdad’s daughter: No, I’m Allahdad’s daughter.
Uncle: Could you please repeat it?
Allahdad’s daughter: At the upper end of the spring it is me,
At the lower end of the spring it is me.
The stone in the pond is me.
My beloved passes from here,
I am like a partridge in his hand,
I am several pieces in one.
Uncle: Did you compose this piece for your beloved?
Allahdad’s daughter: I don’t have a beloved.
Uncle: Then why? Aren’t you married?
Allahdad’s daughter: Well . . .
Uncle: It’s getting late. How old are You? (The girl remains silent.) Would you get married if someone proposed marriage?
Allahdad’s daughter: It depends on who my lot of life may turn out to be.
Uncle: Suppose I . . .
Allahdad’s daughter: (stops washing things.) If I marry you, how violent would you go when you get cross with me?
Uncle: I won’t get violent. When and if I’m sore at you, I get depressed and recite poems.
Allahdad’s daughter: What sort of poems?
Uncle: (Puts his hand in hand out of the water, drops dripping from it.) I’ll recite:
I am the thirsty one, you are the running water.
I am fatigued, you are full of strength and energy.
I am aged, old and emaciated,
You are a flourishing branch on a tree.
Allahdad’s daughter: I accept to marry you, because I liked your poem.
(Sakineh arrives with the thisty child.)
Sakineh: (to the uncle) We’ve been waiting for you. This baby is dying of thirst.
Uncle: I go with Allahdad’s daughter and will be back while you are filling this goatskin.
(The uncle takes the utensils and follows Allahdad’s daughter. Sakineh fills the goatskin with water. When it is full, the uncle is back with Allahdad’s daughter and carries a red gabbeh as her dowry. The caravan is by now gathering round the spring.)
Uncle: I went to have Allahdad’s consent to my suit. I myself read the sermon to marry her daughter and this for the sweet of the wedding.
(The old woman, the old man and the girl have been watching the scene from the small pond.)

Various plains, At the small spring, by the pond, Day.
(The caravsn is moving in the plain, with the newly-wed bride among them. The girl in blue who has a blue gabbeh on her shoulder turns her head when the wolf howl is heard on and off. The caravan camps somewhere to shear the sheep’s wool, spin it and dye it with the flowers small girls pick from the prairie. Once the rider in black tries to approach the camp to steal the girl, but he is kept at bay by ferocious shepherd dogs. The wool is dyed and spread in the sunshine, but the girls have to collect them hurriedly as it begins to rain.)

Beside Naghsh-e Rustam, Day.
(The plains are suffused with the green of the verdure. Colourful wools are spread on the roof of black tents. A wedding ceremony. The dance of handkerchiefs in the hands of children. The bride milks a goat. Older girls are weaving gabbeh. The uncle spreads the red one his bride has brought as dowry.)
Uncle: Why have you woven a rider on your gabbeh, Allahdad’s daughter?
Allahdad’s daughter: Once I thought my luck would come to me on horse back.
Uncle: A young luck would take home his bride on horse, not an old one.
(He stands in front of the mirror to prepare himself for the wedding. Looking at himself, he whispers a poem ruefully.)
I can hear the looming disaster of old age
As I see my hair turn white.
(Goes to his bride.)
The folk have no keen eyesight,
And all the better they have none;
Otherwise they could see a grave beyond every cradle,
And a looming grief in every merrymaking.
Allahdad’s daughter: Why are you reciting poems? Are you cross with me?
Uncle: I am now past fifty-seven
Alas, how rapidly and futilely it all went away.
Though my body is old and my hair is white,
I have a heart full of longing, full of hope.
My body is as cold and silent as a prison,
My soul as lively as a vivacious child.
(The uncle beging to dance to the rhythm of the shoulders of the gabbeh-weaving girl. Now everyone is dancing. Even the old man at the small spring is dancing for the girl in blue. The wedding scene is being woven on gabbeh. The caravan passes by a river the bank of which is covered with gabbehs all along. A tent is set up for the newly-weds on the river bank. They wave hands and handkerchiefs for a caravan passing by.)
Girl’s voice: The uncle’s wedding was woven on gabbeh. Our clan left the uncle and his bride for their honeymoon on the carpet-washing river bank.

At the small spring, Day.
(The weeping girl is sitting by the pond. The old woman is not around.)
Old man: Why are you crying. Gabbeh Khanum?
Girl: I have to wait a lot longer. My father has said I should wait for my mother’s childbirth before I get married.
Old man: He had promised you to have it after your uncle’s marriage, hadn’t he?
Girl: Now he has changed it to after my mother’s childbirth.
Old man: When is it supposed to be, this month?
Girl: When we have long decamped, when we have gone long ways, when we toiled a lot, when we have passed the water.

The river bank, Day.
(The caravan reaches the river bank. Woman blow up skins and men make a raft with the inflated ones to pass the stream. Wolf howl.)
Girl’s voice: Girls blew into the skins, while men, the uncle and my father fastened them below a raft, and boys placed the lambs and kids on its safe spots where they would not fall off. And we herded the flock past the stream, with my mother working before all of us. But there was no sign of delivery pain in her.

At the lake, Mountains, Valleys, Ponds, The small spring, Day.
(The caravan is on the move beside the lake. A hen lays an egg into the hand of a girl who takes it out of the frame and dorps it. It lands in the hand of the girl in blue.)
Girl: (joyfully) It’s the time.
(Fog cloaks the caravan. Sakineh, in labour pain, walks into the fog. Girls are weaving gabbeh. As women gather round the mother, the uncle disappears in the fog.)
Uncle: Life is colour.
Weaving girls: (in chorus) Love is color.
Uncle: Man is colour.
Weaving girls: (in chorus) Woman is colour.
Uncle: Child is colour.
(The figure of a child is being woven in gabbeh while the cry of an infant fills the air. Now the egg is in the hand of the old man. The girl in blue is beside him. The old man is crying.)
Old man: (to the girl in the blue) You never gave birth to a child. I very much want to have a baby.
Old woman: (goes away jealously) I go and I’ll never be back.
Old man: You could go to hell and stay there. (Turns to the girl.) the oldie is gone, Gabbeh Khanum. Would you like to go off with me?
Girl: But my father’ll kill us.
Old man: Don’t be a liar, Gabbeh Khanum. Lying is a sin. Tell me the truth. You don’t love me, do you?
Girl: I swear I love you.
Old man: I bet you’re lying. Your father isn’t round here. You are a liar.
(The old woman is back and passes the kid she is carrying to the old man. The girl is not there.)
Old woman: Here you are. This kid for you. Stop nagging.
Old man: (embraces the kid) How beautiful is this kid! Has it had its milk?
Old woman: No.
Old man: (lets the kid go) Poor creature, go have your milk.

Sheep-pen, Day.
(the kid, baaing, runs into the fold. The newly born infant is crying. Sakineh is milking the sheep. Kids are bleating behind the closed fence of the fold. When Sakineh takes the milk to her baby, the kids and lambs rush in and start to suck their mother’s teats. The figure of a kid sucking a nanny-goat’s teats is being woven on the gabbeh.)

The small spring, Day.
(The girl in blue, weeping is sitting by the pond. The old woman is not around.)
Old man: You said you would feel better if you washed the gabbeh, didn’t you? Then why are you crying?
Girl: I have to keep waiting and waiting. My father isn’t around. My uncle isn’t around. My mother isn’t around. Everyone has gone to the town. The uncle’s wife is to have a baby. I have to take care of the sheep and the cildren. A sheep is struck by cold. My sister Sho`leh is missing.
(a sick sheep is moaning under a heap of wool. Sho`leh falls off a cliff when running after a kid. The gabbeh-weaving girls weave rows of black against the background of the sunset. Now the mourning girl and the old woman, both in blue, are bitterly ululaling for Sho`leh.)

Snow-covered mountains, Villages near oilfields, Day.
(The rider in black is following the caravan in the deep-cold weather. The girl in blue has the blue gabbeh on her shoulder and looks back when she hears the wolf howl. Thw flock’s dog is watching her. The girl leaves a red scarf for the rider and puts a ball of snow on it to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.the rider reaches the red scarf, takes the snowball and rubs it on to his hands. The girl in blue tries to warm her cold hands by blowing on them. Cut to the columnn of fire rising from the gas valves of oil rigs. There is a small fire in every house of the village near the oilfield.)

Near the oilfield village, Night and day.
(The girl is sleeping under a gabbeh. The uncle is near her. The wolf howls. She decides to escape but when notices that her uncle is watching her returns under the gabbeh and goes back to sleep. The wolf howl is answered by the dogs barking. The dawn sets.)
Girl’s voice: I was being watched by the girls during the day and by the men during the night, leaving me no opportunity to escape. When the gabbeh left unfinished by grandmother was finally complete, the uncle kindly and confidentially told me that he would take my father to a distant place so that I could run away.
(The green gabbeh being woven during the seasonal migration is now complete and spread on the ground. The uncle and the father lie on it.)
Uncle: We finally finished your gabbeh, Mama Naranj. I wish I would lie on it and never rise again.
(Both men lie on the gabbeh and disappear.)
Girl’s voice: Now I had the opportunity, but not the courage, to escape.

At the small spring, Day.
(The old man, trying to imitate wolf howl, is beating with a stick the blue gabbeh hanging from a tree. A gentle breeze.)
Old man: Why are you so nasty to me? Why shouldn’t we go off with each other? Your father isn’t around. You’re liar. You ruined my life. You kept me wandering. You had me rove in the wilderness and mountions. You don’t love me. Now that your father isn’t around any more, we could go off.

Beside the pond, Day.
(A lamb is born. The girl in blue is weaving gabbeh. The ewe is licking its newly born lamb. The girl in blue is weaving gabbeh. The lamb tries to learn to stand up and walk. The girl in blue beats the weft thread and the row of knots she has woven by a heavy iron comb beater. The ewe stamps its foreleg on the ground so to make its feeble baby rise. The girl heavily beats the weft. The ewe stamps its foreleg. The lamb rises. So does the girl in blue. The wind is blowing in the green plain and the girl goes off with the man on horseback. With the stamp of the horses’ hoofs speeding away at a gallop, the two men reappear on the green gabbeh. The father grabs his gun from beside the fire and goes after the fugitives. The echo of two shots and the moan of a wolf in the distance. The yellow grass is undulating in the wind. The father is back with his rifle hanging from his shoulder. The clan is anxiously gathering to know what has happened. The father throws down his daughter’s blue gabbeh. Everything turns blue.)

At the spring, Day.
(The old woman wraps the blue gabbeh, fills the jar from the spring and walks back to the hut.)
Old man: (to the old woman)
Would you come to wash the gabbeh, Gabbeh Khanum?
Old woman: I have sore feet. I won’t do it any more.
Old man: Don’t disappoint me, Gabbeh Khanum.(Howls like a wolf.) You don’t love me, or now that your father isn’t around you’d go off with me. You are a liar, you don’t love me.(The old woman walks towards the hut with the jar on her shoulder.)
Girl’s voice: My father did not kill us, thought word spread that he had, so to make sure that my sisters would not be infatuated with a wolf howl. That is why in the past forty years no one has heard a canary chirp by a spring.
(The green and blue gabbeh are being carried by the stream.)

Children of Heaven

2008-02-11T06:00:00.001-08:00

Children of Heaven (Persian: بچه‌های آسمان) is a 1997 Iranian film. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1998. It deals with a brother and sister and their adventures over a lost pair of shoes.

Contents [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Background and critical response
3 Awards
4 Homerun
5 References
6 External links

1 Synopsis
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (December 2007)

Ali takes his little sister Zahra's shoes to the shoemaker to be repaired, but loses them on the way home. The siblings decide to keep the predicament a secret from their parents, knowing that there is no money to buy a replacement pair and fearing that they will be punished. They devise a scheme to share Ali's sneakers: Zahra will wear them to school in the morning and hand them off to Ali at midday so he can attend afternoon classes. This uncomfortable arrangement leads to one adventure after another as they attempt to hide the plan from their parents and teachers, attend to their schoolwork and errands, and acquire a new pair of shoes for Zahra. Zahra sees the shoes on a schoolmate's feet, and follows her home, but the two soon become friends.

Ali enters a high-profile children's footrace in hopes of receiving the third prize of a new pair of sneakers. He accidentally places first and wins another prize instead. The film ends with Zahra finding out that she will not get a new pair of shoes, but an epilogue explains that Ali eventually achieves the larger-scale success of having a racing career. However a quick shot of their father's bicycle at the end of the movie shows what appears to be the pink shoes Zahra had been focusing on earlier, implying she got the shoes after all. The shoes are definitely tied to his bicycle and it is clear he has just bought these shoes for his children (and there may have been two pairs of shoes- one for each child).

2. Background and critical response
The film was shot in Tehran. It was attempted to keep the filming secret in order to capture a more realistic image of the city. The production costs have been estimated at US$ 180,000.

Children of Heaven premiered in February of 1997 at the Teheran Fajr Film Festival and was awarded several national film awards. It started in the US on 22 January 1999, with a total US box office result of $930,000. After the film had become well-known worldwide due to the Oscar nomination, it was shown in several European, South American, and Asian countries between 1999 and 2001.

Critical response to the film was very positive. Some critics compared it to Vittorio de Sica's 1948 Bicycle Thieves. The few negative voices found fault in a too simplistic storyline and unanswered questions in the movie. Roger Ebert's review in the Chicago Sun-Times called it "very nearly a perfect movie for children" that "lacks the cynicism and smart-mouth attitudes of so much American entertainment for kids and glows with a kind of good-hearted purity" [1].

3. Awards
In 1998, the film was the first Iranian film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but lost to the Italian film Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni.

It was successfully shown on numerous film festivals and won awards at the Fajr Film Festival, the World Film Festival, the Newport International Film Festival, the Warsaw International Film Festival, and the Singapore International Film Festival. It was nominated for the Jury's Grand Prize at the American Film Institute's festival.

4. Homerun
Homerun, a 2003 Singaporean film by Jack Neo, is an adaptation of Children of Heaven. Unlike Children of Heaven, Homerun's theme is friendship and the film is set in Singapore in 1965. Homerun received two nominations at the 2003 Golden Horse Awards, for Best Theme Song (拥有) and Best New Performer (Megan Zheng). Megan Zheng, then 10 years old, became the first Singaporean to win a Golden Horse Award, sharing her Best New Performer award with Wang Baoqiang, who plays a miner in Blind Shaft.

5. References
This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of 2006-09-16.

^ Roger Ebert Review of Children of Heaven Chicago Sun-Times

[edit] External links
Children of Heaven Website
Majidi Interview
Drift Reality review of Children of Heaven

Dogville

2008-02-10T05:37:00.000-08:00

Dogville is a 2003 movie written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Chloë Sevigny, Stellan Skarsgård and James Caan, among others. It is a parable that uses an extremely minimal set to tell the story of Grace (Kidman), a fugitive from mobsters, who arrives in the small town of Dogville and is provided refuge in return for physical labor.

The film is the first in the USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy, followed by Manderlay (2005) and Wasington (2009).

The film was in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival but Gus Van Sant's Elephant won the award.

Contents [hide]
1 Staging
2 Plot
2.1 Prologue
2.2 Chapter 1
2.3 Chapter 2
2.4 Chapter 3
2.5 Chapter 4
2.6 Chapter 5
2.7 Chapter 6
2.8 Chapter 7
2.9 Chapter 8
2.10 Chapter 9 and ending
3 Interpretations
4 Crew
5 Cast
6 External links

[edit] Staging
The story of Dogville is narrated by John Hurt in nine chapters and takes place on a stage with minimalist scenery. Some walls and furniture are placed on the stage, but the rest of the scenery exists merely as white painted outlines which have big labels on them; for example, the outlines of gooseberry bushes have the text "Gooseberry Bushes" written next to them. While this form of staging is common in black box theaters, it has rarely been attempted on film before (the 1954 musical Western Red Garters being a notable exception). The bare staging serves to focus the audience's attention on the acting and storytelling, and also reminds them of the film's artificiality. As such it is heavily influenced by the theatre of Bertolt Brecht. The film does however employ carefully designed lighting to suggest natural effects such as the moving shadows of clouds, and sound effects are used to create the presence of non-existent set pieces (i.e. there are no doors, but the doors can always be heard when an actor "opens" or "closes" one).

The movie was shot on high-definition video using a Sony HDW-F900 camera in a studio in Trollhättan, Sweden.

Tagline: A quiet little town not far from here.

The story of Dogville is given in 9 chapters and a prologue, with a description of each chapter given as it takes place in the film. These descriptions are given below.

[edit] Plot

[edit] Prologue
Dogville is a very small American town in the Rocky Mountains with a road leading up to it, but nowhere to go but the mountains. The film begins with a prologue in which we meet a dozen or so of the fifteen citizens. They are portrayed as lovable, good people with small flaws which are easy to forgive.

The town is seen from the point of view of Tom Edison (Paul Bettany), an aspiring writer who procrastinates by trying to get his fellow citizens together for regular meetings on the subject of "moral rearmament." It is clear that Tom wants to succeed his aging father as the moral and spiritual leader of the town.

[edit] Chapter 1
In which Tom hears gunfire and meets Grace
It is Tom who first meets Grace (Nicole Kidman), who is on the run from gangsters who apparently shot at her. Grace, a beautiful but modest woman, wants to keep running, but Tom assures her that the mountains ahead are too difficult to pass. As they talk, the gangsters approach the town, and Tom quickly hides Grace in a nearby mine. One of the gangsters asks Tom if he has seen the woman, which he denies, and so the gangster offers him a reward and hands him a card with a phone number to call in case Grace shows up.

Tom decides to use Grace as an "illustration" in his next meeting - a way for the townspeople to prove that they are indeed committed to community values, and willing to help the stranger. They remain skeptical, so Tom proposes that Grace should be given a chance to prove that she is a good person. Grace is accepted for two weeks in which, as Tom explains to her after the meeting, she has to convince the townspeople to like her.

[edit] Chapter 2
In which Grace follows Tom's plan and embarks upon physical labour
On Tom's suggestion, Grace offers to do chores for the citizens - talking to the lonely, blind Jack McCay (Ben Gazzara), helping to run the small shop, looking after the children of Chuck (Stellan Skarsgård) and Vera (Patricia Clarkson), and so forth. After some initial reluctance, the people accept her help in doing those chores that "nobody really needs" but which nevertheless make life better, and so she becomes a part of the community.

[edit] Chapter 3
In which Grace indulges in a shady piece of provocation.
In tacit agreement, she is expected to continue her chores, which she does gladly, and is even paid small wages in return. Grace even begins to make friends with some of the members of town, including Jack McKay, an old blind man who pretends that he is not blind. Grace tricks him into admitting that he is blind, earning his respect. After the two weeks are over, everyone votes that she should be allowed to stay.

[edit] Chapter 4
Happy times in Dogville
But when the police arrive to place a "Missing" poster with Grace's picture and name on it on the mission house, the mood darkens slightly. Should they not cooperate with the police?

[edit] Chapter 5
Fourth of July after all
Still, things continue as usual until the 4th of July celebrations. After Tom awkwardly admits his love to Grace and the whole town expresses their agreement that it has become a better place thanks to her, the police arrive again to replace the "Missing" poster with a "Wanted" poster. Grace is now wanted for participation in a bank robbery. Everyone agrees that she must be innocent, since at the time the robbery took place, she was doing chores for the townspeople every day.

Nevertheless, Tom argues that because of the increased risk to the town now that they are harboring someone who is wanted as a criminal, Grace should provide a quid pro quo and do more chores for the townspeople within the same time, for less pay. At this point, what was previously a voluntary arrangement takes on a slightly coercive nature as Grace is clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Still, being very amenable and wanting to please Tom, Grace agrees.

[edit] Chapter 6
In which Dogville bares its teeth
At this point the situation worsens, as with her additional workload, Grace inevitably makes mistakes, and the people she works for seem to be equally irritated by the new schedule – and take it out on Grace. The situation slowly escalates, with the male citizens making small sexual advances to Grace and the female ones becoming increasingly abusive. Even the children are perverse: Jason (Miles Purinton), the perhaps 10-year-old son of Chuck and Vera, asks Grace to spank him, until she finally complies after much provocation. Soon thereafter Chuck returns home and rapes Grace, as it becomes obvious that she is hardly able to defend herself against exploitation.

[edit] Chapter 7
In which Grace finally gets enough of Dogville, leaves the town, and again sees the light of day.
After Tom discusses the possibility of escape with her, Grace is blamed by Vera both for spanking Jason and for being raped by Chuck. In revenge, Vera threatens Grace with destroying the porcelain figurines created by the town shop that she had acquired with the little wages she was given, Grace begs for mercy, reminding Vera of how she taught her children about stoicism. In response, Vera challenges Grace to stand up without shedding a tear while she destroys the first two of the porcelain figurines. Grace not being able to hold her tears, Vera destroys the remaining figurines. The symbol of her belonging in the town gone, she now knows that she must leave. With the help of Tom and Ben, the freight driver, she attempts escape in his apple truck, only to find herself 'raped' by Ben ("It's not personal. I just... have to take due payment, that's all") and then returned to the town.

The town agrees that they must not let her escape again. The money that she used to pay Ben had been taken by Tom from his father, and Grace is blamed for the theft. Tom refuses to come forward because, he explains, this is the only way he can still protect Grace without people getting suspicious. At this point, Grace's status as slave is finally confirmed as she is collared and chained to a large iron wheel which she must carry around with her, too heavy to allow her to move anywhere outside the town. More humiliatingly still, a bell is attached to her collar and announces her presence wherever she goes. Suffice it to say that at this point, she becomes both work and sex slave for the town. Tom is the only male citizen of the town that does not rape her.

[edit] Chapter 8
In which there is a meeting where the truth is told and Tom leaves (only to return later).
This culminates in a late night general assembly in which Grace —following Tom's suggestion— relates calmly all that she has endured from everyone in town. Embarrassed and in complete denial, the townspeople finally decide to get rid of her. When Tom informs Grace to console her, he attempts to make love to her, having been the only adult male townperson who hasn't had sex with her. Grace, however, refuses to have sex with him. Angry partly at Grace's rejection, but even more at himself for his realization that he would eventually stoop to force himself upon her like everyone else in the town, Tom ends up personally calling the mobsters, and later proposes to unanimous approval that she be locked up in her shack.

[edit] Chapter 9 and ending
In which Dogville receives the long-awaited visit and the film ends
When the mobsters finally arrive, they are welcomed cordially by Tom and an impromptu committee of other townspeople. Grace is then freed and we finally learn who she really is: the daughter of a powerful gang leader who ran away because she could not stand her father's dirty work. Her father confronts her in his big limousine and tells her that she is arrogant for not holding others to the same high standards to which she holds herself. At first she refuses to listen, but as she looks again upon the town and its people, she is compelled to agree: she would have to condemn them to the worst possible punishment if she held them to her own standards, and it would be inhumane not to do so.

So she accepts to be again her father's daughter, and immediately demands that the whole town be eliminated. In particular, she gives the order to have Vera look on at the murder of each of her children, having been told that it would stop if she can hold back her tears. The film ends in a crescendo of violence: the town is burned and all its citizens are brutally murdered by the gangsters on direct order from Grace, with the exception of Tom, whom she kills personally with a revolver. As the ashes of Dogville smolder around her, she finds and spares the only surviving resident, Moses the Dogville dog. Ironically, the only "dog" that hasn't wronged her was the town dog that had disappeared while the town was revealing its true nature. It is at this point that the audience realizes that Kidman was one smooth criminal all along...

[edit] Interpretations
The film is set in the 1930s, and the small dead-end town of Dogville can be a symbol for any similar town in the United States. As the fifteen citizens and the children of Dogville are introduced to Grace, they are put to a moral test: Are they willing to save a woman on the run who might be a criminal, and to potentially risk their own lives for her, receiving little more than kindness in return? Grace too, is faced with a test: when faced with cruelty from the people of Dogville, can she forgive them, or will she seek revenge?

Critics have accused Dogville of having strongly anti-American messages. Ebert and Roeper repeatedly expressed this sentiment during their television review citing, for example, the closing credits sequence with images of poverty-stricken Americans accompanied by David Bowie's song "Young Americans." However, others feel that the message is much broader: the human species is just naturally inclined toward evil and that, like a dog who cannot help but behave in a dog-like fashion, humans simply cannot be expected to live up to their own high ideals.

[edit] Crew
Writer/Director -- Lars von Trier
Cinematographer -- Anthony Dod Mantle
Production Design -- Peter Grant
Costume Design -- Manon Rasmussen
Production Manager -- Tina Winholt
Foley Artist -- Julien Naudin
Sound Designer -- Per Streit
Lighting Designer -- Asa Frankenberg

[edit] Cast
Grace Mulligan -- Nicole Kidman
Ma Ginger -- Lauren Bacall
The Big Man -- James Caan
Narrator -- John Hurt
Tom Edison, Jr. -- Paul Bettany
Chuck -- Stellan Skarsgård
Vera -- Patricia Clarkson
Bill -- Jeremy Davies
Tom Edison, Sr. -- Philip Baker Hall
Jack McCay -- Ben Gazzara
Mrs. Henson -- Blair Brown
Gloria -- Harriet Anderson
Martha -- Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Liz Henson -- Chloë Sevigny
Jason -- Miles Purinton

[edit] External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
DogvilleOfficial site
Dogville at the Internet Movie Database
Dogville at Rotten Tomatoes
Dogville at AboutFilm.com: analysis by Carlo Cavagna
On the Nature of Dogs, the Right of Grace, Forgiveness and Hospitality: Derrida, Kant, and Lars Von Trier's Dogville by Adam Atkinson
Newsweek review
BBC Collective review
Dogville, or, the Dirty Birth of Law Theoretical Essay
Movie stills

Gone with the Wind (film)

2008-02-10T05:35:00.000-08:00

Gone with the Wind is a 1939 film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming. The epic film which was set in the American South in and around the time of the Civil War, starred Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland. It told a story of the Civil War and its aftermath from a white Southern point of view.

It was awarded ten Academy Awards, a record that would stand for years. It has been named by the American Film Institute as number four among the top 100 American films of all time. It has sold more tickets than any other film in history. Today it is considered one of the most popular and greatest films of all time, and one of the most enduring symbols of the golden age of Hollywood.

Contents [hide]
1 Story
2 Behind the scenes
3 Responses
3.1 First public preview
3.2 1939 response
3.3 Worldwide debuts
3.4 Racial politics
3.4.1 Portrayal of Black characters
3.4.2 Unquestioned racist comments
3.4.3 Racial politics at Atlanta premiere
3.5 Legacy
4 Sequel
5 Trivia
6 Credits
6.1 Principal cast
6.2 Other cast members
7 Academy Awards
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

[edit] Story
The story opens on a large cotton plantation named Tara in rural Georgia in 1861, on the eve of the American Civil War. Scarlett O'Hara is the eldest of three daughters of Irish immigrant Gerald O’Hara and his wife, Ellen. She is seemingly sought after by every young man in the county, except the refined Ashley Wilkes, for whom Scarlett longs. She is upset to hear of Ashley’s imminent engagement to his cousin Melanie Hamilton, to be announced the next day at a barbecue at his family’s home, the nearby plantation Twelve Oaks.

Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind. Photo: Howard Frank ArchivesAt Twelve Oaks, she notices she is being admired by a handsome but roguish visitor, Rhett Butler, who had been disowned by his Charleston family. Rhett finds himself in further disfavor among the male guests when, during a discussion of the probability of war, he states that the South has no chance against the superior numbers and industrial might of the North.

When Scarlett is alone with Ashley, she confesses her love for him. He admits he finds Scarlett attractive, but says that he and the gentle Melanie are more compatible. She accuses Ashley of misleading her and slaps him in anger, which is heightened when she realizes that Rhett has overheard the whole conversation. “Sir, you are no gentleman!” she protests, to which he replies, “And you, miss, are no lady!”

The barbecue is disrupted by the announcement that war has broken out, and the men rush to enlist. As Scarlett watches Ashley kiss Melanie goodbye, Melanie’s shy young brother Charles Hamilton, with whom Scarlett had been innocently flirting, asks for her hand in marriage before he goes. She consents, they are married, and she is just as quickly widowed when Charles dies not in battle, but of pneumonia.

Scarlett's mother sends her to the Hamilton home in Atlanta to cheer her up, although the O’Haras' outspoken housemaid Mammy tells Scarlett she knows she is going there “like a spider”, to wait for Ashley’s return. Scarlett and Melanie attend a charity ball in Atlanta, where Rhett makes a surprise appearance. Now he is a heroic blockade runner for the Confederacy. Scarlett shocks Atlanta society by accepting his bid for a dance, even though she is still in mourning. While they dance, Rhett tells her of his intention to win her, which she says will never happen.

The tide of war turns against the Confederacy. Scarlett makes another unsuccessful appeal to Ashley’s heart while he is visiting on Christmas furlough. Eight months later, as the city is being besieged by the Union Army in the Battle of Atlanta, Melanie goes into a premature and difficult labor. Scarlett must deliver the child herself. Rhett appears with a horse and wagon to take them out of the city on a perilous journey through the burning depot and warehouse district. He leaves her with a kiss on the road to Tara. She repays him with a slap, to his bemusement, as he goes off to fight with the Confederate Army.

On her journey back home, Scarlett finds Twelve Oaks burned out and deserted. She is relieved to find Tara still standing, but learns that her mother has just died, and her father's mind has begun to crumble under the strain. With Tara pillaged by Union troops, and the fields untended, Scarlett vows she will do anything for the survival of her family and herself: “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again!”

Intermission
Scarlett sets her family and servants to picking the cotton fields. She also fatally shoots a Union deserter who threatens her during a burglary, and finds gold coins in his haversack. With the defeat of the Confederacy and war's end, Ashley returns from being a prisoner of war. Mammy restrains Scarlett from running to him when he reunites with Melanie. The dispirited Ashley finds he is of little help to Tara, and when Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately, but says he cannot leave Melanie.

Gerald O'Hara dies after he is thrown from his horse while chasing a Yankee carpetbagger off his property. Scarlett is left to care for the family, and realizes she cannot pay the taxes on Tara. She knows that Rhett is in Atlanta. Believing he is still rich, she has Mammy make an elaborate gown for her from her mother’s drapes. However, upon her visit, Rhett tells her his foreign bank accounts have been blocked, and that her attempt to get his money has been in vain. However, as she departs, she encounters her sister’s fiancé, the middle-aged Frank Kennedy, who now owns a successful general store and lumber mill.

Soon Scarlett is Mrs. Frank Kennedy. She becomes a hardheaded businesswoman, willing to trade with the despised Yankees and use convict laborers in her mill. When Ashley is about to take a job offer with a bank in the north, Scarlett preys on his weakness by weeping that she needs him to help run the mill; pressured by the sympathetic Melanie, he relents. One day, after Scarlett is attacked while driving alone through a nearby shantytown, Frank, Ashley, and others make a night raid on the shantytown. Ashley is wounded in a melee with Union troops, and Frank is killed.

With Frank’s funeral barely over, Rhett visits Scarlett and proposes marriage. Scarlett is aghast at his poor taste, but takes him up on his offer. After a honeymoon in New Orleans, Rhett promises to restore Tara, while Scarlett builds the biggest and most crassly opulent mansion in Atlanta. A daughter, Bonnie, is born. Rhett adores her as a less spoiled version of her mother, and does everything to win the good opinion of Atlanta society for his daughter’s sake. Scarlett, still pining for Ashley and chagrined at the ruin of her figure, lets Rhett know that she wants no more children and that they will no longer share a bed. In anger, he kicks open the door that separates their bedrooms to show her that he will decide that.

When visiting the mill one day, Scarlett listens to a nostalgic Ashley wish for the simpler days of old that are now gone, and when she consoles him with an embrace, they are spied by two gossips including Ashley's sister India Wilkes, who has always held a grudge against Scarlett. They eagerly spread the rumor and Scarlett’s reputation is again sullied. Later that night, Rhett, having heard the rumors, forces Scarlett out of bed and to the party in her most flamboyant dress. Incapable of believing anything bad of her beloved sister-in-law, Melanie stands by Scarlett's side so that all know that she believes the gossip to be false.

At home later that night, Scarlett finds Rhett downstairs drunk. Blind with jealousy, he tells Scarlett that he could kill her if he thought it would make her forget Ashley. Picking her up, he carries her up the stairs in his arms, telling her, "This is one night you're not turning me out." She awakens the next morning with the look of guilty pleasure, but Rhett returns to apologize for his behavior and offers a divorce. Rhett then takes Bonnie on an extended trip to London while Scarlett discovers that she is pregnant again. For the first time, she is glad.

When Rhett returns with Bonnie, Scarlett is delighted to see him however he rebuffs her attempts at reconciliation. She then resentfully tells him that she is pregnant and does not even want the baby. Hurt, Rhett tells her "cheer up. Maybe you'll have an 'accident,'" Enraged, Scarlett lunges at him, falls down the stairs, and suffers a miscarriage. Rhett, frantic with guilt, cries to Melanie about his jealousy. He refrains from telling Melanie about Scarlett's true feelings for Ashley.

As Scarlett recovers, and Rhett attempts reconciliation, while young Bonnie, as impulsive as her grandfather, dies in a fall from her pony when she attempts to jump a fence. Scarlett and Rhett are devastated and exchange recriminations over her death. Melanie visits to comfort them, but then collapses in labor from a pregnancy she was warned could kill her. On her deathbed, she asks Scarlett to look after Ashley for her, as Scarlett had looked after her for Ashley. With her dying breath, Melanie also tells Scarlett to be kind to Rhett, that he loves her. Outside, Ashley collapses in tears, helpless without his wife. Only then does Scarlett realize that she never could have meant anything to him, and that she had loved something that never really existed.

She runs home to find Rhett packing to leave her, saying it is too late to salvage their marriage. She begs him not to leave, telling him she realizes now that she had loved him all along, that she never really loved Ashley. Rhett tells her that as long as there was Bonnie, whom he could spoil and love unconditionally, as he wished he could with Scarlett, there was a chance that they could have been happy, but now that chance was gone.

As Rhett walks out the door, she begs him, "Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?" He answers,

“ Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. ”

and turns away. She sits on her stairs and weeps in despair, "What is there that matters?" She then recalls the voice of her father Gerald: "Land's the only thing that matters, it's the only thing that lasts." And Ashley: "Something you love better than me, though you may not know it. Tara." And Rhett: "It's from this you get your strength, the red earth of Tara."

Hope lights Scarlett's face: "Tara! Home. I'll go home, and I'll think of some way to get him back! After all, tomorrow is another day!" In the final scene, Scarlett stands once more, resolute, before Tara.

[edit] Behind the scenes
Producer David O. Selznick, head of Selznick International Pictures, decided that he wanted to create a film based on the novel after his story editor Kay Brown read a pre-publication copy in May 1936 and urged him to buy the film rights. A month after the book's publication in June 1936, Selznick bought the rights for $50,000, a record amount at the time.[1] Major financing for the film was provided by Selznick business partner John Hay Whitney, a financier who later went on to become a U.S. ambassador.

The casting of the two lead roles became a complex, two-year endeavor. Many famous or soon-to-be-famous actresses were either screen-tested, auditioned, or considered for the role of Scarlett, including Norma Shearer, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Lana Turner, Susan Hayward, Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne, Merle Oberon, Ida Lupino, Joan Fontaine, Loretta Young, Miriam Hopkins, Tallulah Bankhead, Frances Dee, and Lucille Ball.

Four actresses, including Jean Arthur and Joan Bennett, were still under consideration by December 1938. But only two finalists, Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh, were tested in Technicolor, both on December 20.[2] Selznick had been quietly considering Vivien Leigh, a young English actress little known in America, for the role of Scarlett since February 1938, when Selznick saw her in Fire Over England and A Yank at Oxford. Leigh's American agent was the London representative of the Myron Selznick talent agency (headed by David Selznick's brother, one of the owners of Selznick International), and she had requested in February that her name be submitted for consideration as Scarlett. By summer of 1938, the Selznicks were negotiating with Alexander Korda, to whom Leigh was under contract, for her services later that year.[3] But for publicity reasons David arranged to meet her for the first time on the night of December 10, 1938, when the burning of the Atlanta Depot was filmed. The story was invented for the press that Leigh and Laurence Olivier were just visiting the studio as guests of Myron Selznick, who was also Olivier's agent, and that Leigh was in Hollywood hoping for a part in Olivier's current movie, Wuthering Heights. In a letter to his wife two days later, Selznick admitted that Leigh was "the Scarlett dark horse", and after a series of screen tests, her casting was announced on January 13, 1939. Just before the shooting of the film, Selznick informed Ed Sullivan: "Scarlett O'Hara's parents were French and Irish. Identically, Miss Leigh's parents are French and Irish."[4]

For the role of Rhett Butler, Clark Gable was an almost immediate favorite for both the public and Selznick. Nevertheless, as Selznick had no male stars under long-term contract, he needed to go through the process of negotiating to borrow an actor from another studio. Gary Cooper was thus Selznick's first choice, because Cooper's contract with Samuel Goldwyn involved a common distribution company, United Artists, with which Selznick had an eight-picture deal. However, Goldwyn remained noncommittal in negotiations.[5] Warner Bros. offered a package of Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland for the lead roles in return for the distribution rights. But by then Selznick was determined to get Clark Gable, and eventually found a way to borrow him from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Selznick's father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer, offered in May 1938 to fund half of the movie's budget in return for a powerful package: 50% of the profits would go to MGM, the movie's distribution would be credited to MGM's parent company, Loew's, Inc., and Loew's would receive 15 percent of the movie's gross income. Selznick accepted this offer in August, and Gable was cast. Nevertheless, the arrangement to release through MGM meant delaying the start of production until Selznick International completed its eight-picture contract with United Artists.

Principal photography began January 26, 1939, and ended on June 27, 1939, with post-production work (including a fifth version of the opening scene) going to November 11, 1939. Director George Cukor, with whom Selznick had a long working relationship, and who spent almost two years in preproduction on Gone with the Wind, was replaced after less than three weeks of shooting.[6] Victor Fleming, who had just directed The Wizard of Oz, was called in from MGM to complete the picture, although Cukor continued privately to coach Leigh's and De Havilland's performances. Another MGM director, Sam Wood, worked for two weeks in May when Fleming temporarily left the production due to exhaustion.

Cinematographer Lee Garmes began the production, but after a month of shooting what Selznick and his associates thought was "too dark" footage, was replaced with Ernest Haller, working with Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan. Most of the filming was done on "the back forty" of Selznick International with all the location scenes being photographed in California, mostly in Los Angeles County or neighboring Ventura County.[7] Estimated production costs were $3.9 million; only Ben-Hur (1925) and Hell's Angels (1930) had cost more.

[edit] Responses
Ratings
Argentina: Atp
Australia: PG
Belgium: KT
Canada (BC/SK): G
Canada (Ontario): PG
Canada (Manitoba): PG
Canada (Maritime): G
Canada (Quebec): G
Chile: TE
Finland: K-16
France: U
Germany: 12
Iceland: L
India: U
Mexico: A
Netherlands: AL
New Zealand: PG
Norway: 16
Peru: PT
Portugal: M/12
South Korea: 12
Sweden: 11
United Kingdom: PG
United States: G

[edit] First public preview
When David O. Selznick was asked by the press in early September how he felt about the film, he said: "At noon I think it's divine, at midnight I think it's lousy. Sometimes I think it's the greatest picture ever made. But if it's only a great picture, I'll still be satisfied."[8]

On September 9, 1939, Selznick, his wife Irene Mayer Selznick, investor Jock Whitney, and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California with all of the film reels to preview it before an audience. The film was still unfinished at this stage, missing many optical effects and most of Max Steiner's music score. They arrived at the Fox Theatre, which was playing a double feature of Hawaiian Nights and Beau Geste. Kern called for the manager and explained that they had selected his theatre for the first public screening of Gone with the Wind. He was told that after Hawaiian Nights had finished, he could make an announcement of the preview, but was forbidden to say what the film was. People were permitted to leave, but the theatre would thereafter be sealed with no re-admissions and no phone calls out. The manager was reluctant, but finally agreed. His only request was to call his wife to come to the theatre immediately. Kern stood by him as he made the call to make sure he did not reveal the name of the film to her.

When the film began, there was a buzz in the audience when Selznick's name appeared, for they had been reading about the making of the film for over two years. In an interview years later, Kern described the exact moment the audience realized what was happening:

When Margaret Mitchell's name came on the screen, you never heard such a sound in your life. They just yelled, they stood up on the seats...I had the [manually-operated sound] box. And I had that music wide open and you couldn't hear a thing. Mrs. Selznick was crying like a baby and so was David and so was I. Oh, what a thrill! And when "Gone with the Wind" came on the screen, it was thunderous!

In his seminal biography of Selznick, David Thomson wrote that the audience's response before the story had even started "was the greatest moment of his life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings."[9]

After the film, there was a huge ovation. In the preview cards filled out after the screening, two-thirds of the audience had rated it excellent, an unusually high rating. Most of the audience begged that the film not be cut shorter and many suggested that instead they eliminate the newsreels, shorts and B-movie feature, which is eventually how Gone with the Wind was screened and would soon become the norm in movie theatres around the world.

[edit] 1939 response
The film premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15, 1939 as the climax of three days of festivities hosted by the mayor which consisted of a parade of limousines featuring stars from the film, receptions, thousands of Confederate flags, false antebellum fronts on stores and homes, and a costume ball. The governor of Georgia declared December 15 a state holiday. President Jimmy Carter would later recall it as "the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime."

From December 1939 to June 1940, the film played only advance-ticket road show engagements at a limited number of theaters, before it went into general release in 1941.[10]

It was a sensational hit during the Blitz in London, opening in April 1940 and playing continuously for four years.

[edit] Worldwide debuts
Country Date
Argentina December 27, 1939
Brazil January 1, 1940
U.K. April 17, 1940
Australia July 4, 1940
Sweden October 6, 1941
Spain April 28, 1947
Norway December 15, 1947
Belgium, Netherlands March 3, 1949
Hong Kong June 16, 1949
France May 20, 1950
Finland September 15, 1950
Italy November 3, 1951
Philippines May 20, 1952
Japan September 10, 1952
West Germany January 15, 1953
Austria January 30, 1953
Denmark September 9, 1958

[edit] Racial politics
Some have criticized the film for romanticizing, sanitizing or even promoting the values of the antebellum South, in particular its reliance on slavery. For example, syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts has referred to it as "a romance set in Auschwitz."

[edit] Portrayal of Black characters
The character of Mammy, played by Hattie McDaniel, has been linked with the stock character of the "happy slave", an archetype that implicitly condones slavery. But Helen Taylor, in Scarlett's Women: Gone with the Wind and Its Female Fans argued that Mammy's character is more complex than this, that her character represents someone who cared for others, despite the racism and oppression she suffered. Other writers[attribution needed] also point out that despite her position as slave, she is not shy about upbraiding her white mistress, Scarlett; and indeed, she is yelling at Scarlett in her first scene.

On the other hand, Mammy frequently derides other slaves on the plantation as "field hands", implying that as a House Servant she is above the "less-refined" blacks. Most apparent is the scene in the film where Mammy accompanies Scarlett to Atlanta, in order to convince Rhett Butler to help them pay the taxes on Tara. As they walk down the streets, Mammy passes by a Yankee carpetbagger who promises a group of ex-slaves "forty acres and a mule." The ex-slaves are excited, but Mammy glares at them disapprovingly.

Responding to the racial critiques of the film, Selznick replied that the black characters were "lovable, faithful, high-minded people who would leave no impression but a very nice one." While Mammy is generally portrayed in a positive light, other black characters in the film are not so fortunate.

The character of Prissy, played by Butterfly McQueen, perpetuates the stereotype that black slaves were stupid and childlike. In one especially famous scene, as Melanie is about to give birth, Prissy bursts into tears and admits she lied to Scarlett: "Lawzy, we got to have a doctor. I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!" (In response, Scarlett slaps her).[11] In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the former civil rights leader recounted his experience of watching this particular scene as a small boy in Michigan: "I was the only Negro in the theater, and when Butterfly McQueen went into her act, I felt like crawling under the rug."

The role of Prissy catapulted Butterfly McQueen's film career, but within ten years, she grew tired of playing black ethnic stereotypes. When she refused to continue being typecast that way, it ended her career.

Members of the African-American community criticized many black actors for agreeing to play a role in the film. Oscar Polk, who played the role of Pork, wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Defender — a prominent newspaper in the black community — to respond to that criticism. "As a race we should be proud," he said, "that we have risen so far above the status of our enslaved ancestors and be glad to portray ourselves as we once were because in no other way can we so strikingly demonstrate how far we have come in so few years."

[edit] Unquestioned racist comments
After the Civil War, Gerald O’Hara (Scarlett’s father, who owns the plantation Tara), scolds his daughter about the way she is treating Mammy and Prissy. “You must be firm to inferiors, but gentle, especially darkies,” he advises her. While Scarlett was criticized for being too harsh on the house servants, Gerald’s premise that black people are “inferior” is not questioned, however “inferior” could be interpreted as their social status as workers, just as one’s boss is referred to as his “superior.” In the novel, author Margaret Mitchell made a point of the importance of social hierarchy in the Antebellum South.

Some scenes subtly undercut the apparent romanticization of Southern slavery. During the panicked evacuation of Atlanta as Union troops approach, Scarlett runs into Big Sam, the black foreman of the O'Hara plantation. Big Sam informs her that he (and a group of black field-hands who are with him) have been impressed to dig fortifications for the Confederacy. But these men are singing Go Down Moses, a famous black spiritual that slaves would sing to call for the abolition of slavery.

The Shantytown Raid scene was changed in the film to make it less racially divisive than the book. After Scarlett is attacked in a Shantytown outside Atlanta, her husband Frank, Ashley, and others leave to raid the Shantytown that night to avenge Scarlett's honor. In the book, Scarlett's attacker was black, and those who raid the Shantytown after her attack are identified as members of the Ku Klux Klan (although Scarlett herself disdains the Klan).[12] In the film, no mention of the Klan is made. In both the film and the book, a black man, Big Sam, saves her life during the attack.

[edit] Racial politics at Atlanta premiere
Racial politics spilled into the film's premiere in Atlanta, Georgia. As Georgia was a segregated state, Hattie McDaniel could not have attended the cinema without sitting in the "colored" section of the movie theater; to avoid troubling Selznick, she thus sent a letter saying she would not be able to attend. When Clark Gable heard that McDaniel did not want to attend because of the racial issue, he threatened to boycott the premiere unless McDaniel was able to attend; he later relented when McDaniel convinced him to go.[13]

At the costume ball during the premiere, local promoters recruited blacks to dress up as slaves and sing in a "Negro choir" on the steps of a white-columned plantation mansion built for the event. Many black community leaders refused to participate, but prominent Atlanta preacher Martin Luther King, Sr. attended, and he brought his 10-year-old son, future civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who sang that night in the choir.[citation needed]

The film also resulted in an important moment in African-American history: Hattie McDaniel won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first time an African-American actor received the award.

[edit] Legacy
In an attempt to draw upon his company's profits, but to pay capital gain tax rather than a much higher personal income tax, David O. Selznick and his business partners liquidated Selznick International Pictures over a three-year period in the early 1940s. As part of the liquidation, Selznick sold his rights in Gone with the Wind to Jock Whitney and his sister, who in turn sold it to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1944. Today it is owned by Turner Entertainment, whose parent company Turner Broadcasting acquired MGM's film library in 1985. Turner itself is currently a subsidiary of Time Warner, which is the current parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Gone with the Wind was given theatrical re-releases in 1947, 1954, 1961, 1967 (in a widescreen version),[14] 1971, 1989, and 1998. It made its television debut on the HBO cable network in June 1976, and its broadcast debut the following November on the NBC network, where it became at that time the highest-rated television program ever presented on a single network, watched by 47.5 percent of the households in America, and 65 percent of television viewers. Ironically, it was surpassed the following year by the mini-series Roots, a saga about slavery in America.

Gone with the Wind also holds the record as being the biggest box-office hit in the history of movies.

In 1989, Gone with the Wind was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it #4 on its "100 Greatest Movies" list.

Rhett Butler's infamous farewell line to Scarlett O'Hara, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", was voted in a poll by the American Film Institute in 2005 as the most memorable line in cinema history.[15][16]

In 2005, the AFI ranked Max Steiner's score for the film the second greatest of all time. The AFI also ranked the film #2 in their list of the greatest romances of all time (100 Years... 100 Passions).

After filming concluded, the set of Tara sat on the back lot of the former Selznick Studios as the Forty Acres back lot reverted to RKO Pictures and then was sold to Desilu Productions. In 1959, Southern Attractions, Inc. purchased the façade of Tara, which was dismantled and shipped to Georgia with plans to relocate it to the Atlanta area as a tourist attraction.[17] [18] David O. Selznick commented at the time,

Nothing in Hollywood is permanent. Once photographed, life here is ended. It is almost symbolic of Hollywood. Tara had no rooms inside. It was just a façade. So much of Hollywood is a façade.[19]

However, the Margaret Mitchell estate refused to license the novel's commercial use in connection with the façade, citing Mitchell's dismay at how little it resembled her description. In 1979 the dismantled plywood and papier-mâché set, reportedly in "terrible" condition, was purchased for $5,000 by Betty Talmadge, the ex-wife of former Georgia governor and U.S. senator Herman Talmadge.[20] She lent the front door of Tara's set to the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum in downtown Atlanta, Georgia where it is on permanent display, featured in the Gone with the Wind film museum. Other items from the movie, such as from the set of Scarlett and Rhett's Atlanta mansion, are still stored at The Culver Studios (formerly Selznick International) including the stained glass window from the top of the staircase which was actually a painting. The famous painting of Scarlett in her blue dress, which hung in Rhett's bedroom, hung for years at the Margaret Mitchell Elementary School in Atlanta, but is now on permanent loan to the Margaret Mitchell Museum, complete with stains from the glass of sherry that Rhett Butler threw at it in anger.

[edit] Sequel
Rumors of Hollywood producing a sequel to this film persisted for decades until 1994, when a sequel was finally produced for television, based upon Alexandra Ripley's novel, Scarlett, itself a sequel to Mitchell's original. Both the book and mini-series were met with mixed reviews. In the TV version, British actors played both key roles: Welsh-born actor Timothy Dalton played Rhett while Manchester-born Joanne Whalley played Scarlett. Original plans were used for the reconstruction of a replica of the original Tara set in Charleston, South Carolina for the filming.

[edit] Trivia
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Gone with the Wind is Ted Turner's favorite movie, as such he launched the TNT network with a broadcast of this film.
Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh spent their time between takes playing battleship as said by Olivia de Havilland during an interview called, "Melanie Remembers". They permitted de Havilland to play once and she promptly beat the both of them. She was not allowed to play again.
Also in Olivia de Havilland's interview, she stated that when it came time to get into character she would take at least twenty minutes to fully become Melanie while Vivien Leigh could march before the camera and become Scarlett O'Hara.
All the liquid used for alcohol was tea, but during the scene where Clark Gable and Hattie McDaniel are drinking to the birth of Bonnie Butler, Gable (as a joke) replaced the tea with real alcohol. McDaniel did not know until she took a swig. (Courtesy of IMDB).
Olivia de Havilland's character Melanie is the only principal character to die in the movie. Ironically, de Havilland is the only member of the top four members of the cast to still be alive. Leslie Howard died in a plane crash during the war, Clark Gable died of a heart attack in 1960, and Vivien Leigh died of tuberculosis in 1967.
Vivien Leigh reportedly stated that she did not like kissing Clark Gable citing his breath smelled foul due to his false teeth.
During the filming of Gone with the Wind, Vivien Leigh was reported to have smoked four packs of cigarettes a day.
Olivia de Havilland said that she had learned of George Cukor's firing on the day they were filming the Atlanta bazaar scene. She saw a distressed Vivien Leigh and asked what the trouble was. Leigh told her that Cukor had been fired. The pair went to David O. Selznick's office in full costume with their handkerchiefs and begged him to not get rid of George Cukor. Selznick apologized but refused to change his mind.

[edit] Credits

A promotional poster for the film's 1998 "remastered" re-release.Directed by
Victor Fleming
George Cukor (uncredited, left the production)
Sam Wood (uncredited, took over while Fleming was away)
Writing credits
Margaret Mitchell (novel)
Sidney Howard - adapted screenplay
Ben Hecht (uncredited)
David O. Selznick (uncredited)
Jo Swerling (uncredited)
John Van Druten (uncredited)
Produced by
David O. Selznick

[edit] Principal cast

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes
Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton

[edit] Other cast members
Thomas Mitchell .... Gerald O'Hara
Barbara O'Neil .... Ellen O'Hara
Evelyn Keyes .... Suellen O'Hara
Ann Rutherford .... Carreen O'Hara
George Reeves .... Stuart Tarleton (miscredited on screen as Brent Tarleton)
Fred Crane (actor) .... Brent Tarleton (miscredited on screen as Stuart Tarleton)
Hattie McDaniel .... Mammy
Oscar Polk .... Pork
Butterfly McQueen .... Prissy
Victor Jory .... Jonas Wilkerson
Everett Brown .... Big Sam
Howard C. Hickman .... John Wilkes
Alicia Rhett .... India Wilkes
Rand Brooks .... Charles Hamilton
Carroll Nye .... Frank Kennedy
Marcella Martin .... Cathleen Calvert
Laura Hope Crews .... Aunt Pittypat Hamilton
Eddie Anderson .... Uncle Peter
Harry Davenport .... Dr. Meade
Leona Roberts .... Mrs. Meade
Jane Darwell .... Dolly Merriwether
Paul Hurst .... Yankee Deserter
Cammie King .... Bonnie Blue Butler
Ona Munson .... Belle Watling
Eric Linden .... Amputation case
Cliff Edwards .... Reminiscent Soldier

[edit] Academy Awards
Winner of 10 Academy Awards. The first eight received the "Oscar" statuette:

Best Picture - Selznick International Pictures (David O. Selznick, producer)
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Vivien Leigh
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Hattie McDaniel
Best Cinematography, Color - Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan
Best Director - Victor Fleming
Best Film Editing - Hal C. Kern, and James E. Newcom
Best Writing, Screenplay - Sidney Howard
Best Art Direction - Lyle Wheeler
Special Award - William Cameron Menzies - "For outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind." (plaque)
Technical Achievement Award - Don Musgrave and Selznick International Pictures - "For pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production Gone with the Wind." (certificate)
Five additional nominations:

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Clark Gable
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Olivia de Havilland
Best Effects, Special Effects - Fred Albin (sound), Jack Cosgrove (photographic), and Arthur Johns (sound)
Best Music, Original Score - Max Steiner
Best Sound, Recording - Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)
Also:

David O. Selznick was given the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his career achievements as a producer.

[edit] References
^ Selznick gave her an additional $50,000 as a bonus when he dissolved Selznick International Pictures in 1942.
^ Haver, Ronald (1980). David O. Selznick's Hollywood. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-42595-2.
^ Pratt, William (1977). Scarlett Fever. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 73-74, 81-83. ISBN 0-02-598560-4. In a memo to George Cukor on October 21, 1938, Selznick said he was "still hoping against hope for that new girl." Memo, p. 184
^ Letter from David O. Selznick to Ed Sullivan, Jan. 7, 1939. Research by Leigh's biographer Michelangelo Capua has called into question both ancestral claims.
^ Selznick, David O. (2000). Memo from David O. Selznick. New York: Modern Library, 172-173. ISBN 0-375-75531-4.
^ Myrick, Susan (1982). White Columns in Hollywood: Reports from the GWTW Sets. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 126-127. ISBN 0-86554-044-6. From a private letter from journalist Susan Myrick to Margaret Mitchell in February 1939:
George [Cukor] finally told me all about it. He hated [leaving the production] very much he said but he could not do otherwise. In effect, he said he is an honest craftsman and he cannot do a job unless he knows it is a good job and he feels the present job is not right. For days, he told me he has looked at the rushes and felt he was failing... the thing did not click as it should. Gradually he became convinced that the script was the trouble... David [Selznick], himself, thinks HE is writing the script... And George has continually taken script from day to day, compared the [Oliver] Garrett-Selznick version with the [Sidney] Howard, groaned and tried to change some parts back to the Howard script. But he seldom could do much with the scene... So George just told David he would not work any longer if the script was not better and he wanted the Howard script back. David told George he was a director — not an author and he (David) was the producer and the judge of what is a good script... George said he was a director and a damn good one and he would not let his name go out over a lousy picture... And bull-headed David said, "OK get out!"
Selznick had already been unhappy with Cukor ("a very expensive luxury") for not being more receptive to directing other Selznick assignments, even though Cukor had remained on salary since early 1937; and in a confidential memo written in September 1938, Selznick flirted with the idea of replacing him with Victor Fleming. (Memo, 179-180.) Louis B. Mayer had been trying to have Cukor replaced with an MGM director since negotiations between the two studios began in May 1938. In December 1938, Selznick wrote to his wife about a phone call he had with Mayer: "During the same conversation, your father made another stab at getting George off of Gone with the Wind." Scott Eyman, Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer (2005), pp. 258-259.
^ Molt, Cynthia Marylee (1990). Gone with the Wind on Film: A Complete Reference. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 272-281. ISBN 0-89950-439-6.
^ "G With the W", Time, vol. 34, December 25, 1939.
^ Thomson, David (1992). Showman: The Life of David O. Selznick. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-56833-8.
^ In February 1940, the movie was playing in 156 theatres in 150 U. S. cities.
^ wav file
^ Chapter 38:
I won't be a big-mouthed fool, she [Scarlett] thought grimly. Let others break their hearts over the old days and the men who'll never come back. Let others burn with fury over the Yankee rule and losing the ballot. Let others go to jail for speaking their minds and get themselves hanged for being in the Ku Klux Klan. (Oh, what a dreaded name that was, almost as terrifying to Scarlett as to the negroes.)
^ Harris, Warren G. Clark Gable: A Biography, Harmony, (2002), page 211.
^ The American Widescreen Museum, Gone With the Wind.
^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1398449.htm
^ Although legend persists that the Hays Office fined Selznick $5,000 for using the word "damn", in fact the Motion Picture Association board passed an amendment to the Production Code on November 1, 1939, that forbade use of the words "hell" or "damn" except when their use "shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore … or a quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste." With that amendment, the Production Code Administration had no further objection to Rhett's closing line. Leonard J. Leff and Jerold L. Simmons, The Dame in the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Production Code, pp. 107-108.
^ Los Angeles Times, May 17, 1959, p. G10.
^ Jennifer W. Dickey, "A Tough Little Patch of History": Atlanta's Marketplace for Gone With the Wind Memory, Ph.D. dissertation, Georgia State University, 2007, pp. 85–89.
^ Murray Schumach, "Hollywood Gives Tara to Atlanta," New York Times, May 25, 1959, p. 33.
^ The disassembled set was later sold to the owner of a Gone with the Wind-themed bed and breakfast inn in Concord, Georgia, who determined that the façade would be impossible to restore. Dickey, pp. 120–121.

The Shawshank Redemption

2008-02-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 drama film, written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the Stephen King novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding.

The film portrays Andy spending nearly two decades in the cruelty of Shawshank State Prison, a fictional penitentiary in Maine, and his friendship with Red, a fellow inmate. This movie exemplifies the gap between box office success and popularity. Despite a lukewarm box office reception, The Shawshank Redemption received favorable reviews from critics and has enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television, home video, and DVD, and continues to be noticed by popular culture fourteen years after it's initial release. It is frequently ranked amongst the greatest films of all time.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Interpretations
5 Critical reaction
6 Music
7 References in King's other works
8 References to other works
9 Impact
10 References
11 Further reading
12 See also
13 External links

[edit] Plot
In 1947, a young banker named Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover based on strong circumstantial evidence, and is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences (one for each victim) at the notorious Shawshank Prison in Maine. Days later, prison inmate Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman) appears before the Shawshank Prison Parole Board, which rejects his parole. Red emerges into the prison yard in time to witness the arrival of new inmates, including Andy Dufresne. Following an ominous and intimidating introduction by Warden Samuel Norton and Chief Prison Guard Captain Byron Hadley, Andy and the other new inmates are deloused and shuffled to their cells. One of the prisoners breaks down in his cell, whereupon Captain Hadley yanks him out and beats him unconscious, inflicting injuries that will eventually kill the man.

Andy asks Red for a Rita Hayworth poster as the inmates watch GildaAndy gradually becomes acquainted with Red's circle of friends, and specifically Red himself, who is known as a clever supplier of contraband to his fellow inmates. Andy approaches Red and orders from him a rock hammer, so as to pursue his hobby of rock collecting. A friendship soon develops. Andy initially works in the prison laundry, where he is harassed and raped by a group of sadistic inmates known as "The Sisters."

One day, Andy's knowledge of finance enables him to set up a tax shelter for Captain Hadley. The only payment he asks is some beer for his friends.

One night during a film screening, Andy asks Red to get him a poster of Rita Hayworth for his cell. When Andy is once again accosted and severely beaten by The Sisters as he leaves the theater, the prison guards commit vigilante punishment against the Sisters' leader, Boggs. It becomes clear to all prisoners that the guards are now protecting Andy from mistreatment. Boggs is permanently hospitalized by a brutal act of retribution by Captain Hadley, and Andy is never again victimized by any of the inmates.

Andy is appointed to assist Brooks Hatlen in the prison library, his first instance of preferential treatment, and writes to the Maine Senate for funds to improve the library. Andy sets up a makeshift office to provide tax and financial services to a growing number of guards and his "clientele" grows to include the entire prison staff, guards from other prisons, and even Warden Norton.

After spending nearly ten years in Shawshank, Andy and Red find a distraught and hostile Brooks holding a knife to Heywood's throat. Brooks' parole has finally been granted and he, in prison since 1905, is so accustomed to life inside that he fears the real world. Outside the prison walls, Brooks encounters nothing but loneliness, isolation, and a dead-end job. He writes a final letter to his friends back at Shawshank before hanging himself in his room at a halfway house.

Warden Samuel Norton capitalizes on Andy's skills and devises a program to put prison inmates to work for local construction projects. His real motive is to profit from corruption in the system, and Andy hides the embezzled funds for Norton by creating a fraudulent identity. The same year, the prison library is expanded, and Andy begins helping inmates obtain their high school diplomas. Then, in 1965, a young prisoner named Tommy Williams enters Shawshank and tells a story about a previous cellmate that appears to confirm Andy's long-held claim of innocence. Fearing exposure if Andy is set free, Norton has Hadley kill Tommy and sends Andy to solitary confinement. He threatens Andy that he will withdraw the guards' protection if he does not continue conspiring with him.

Two months later, Andy is released from solitary confinement and returns to the main prison population a seemingly broken man. Out in the yard, he gives ominous instructions to Red, telling him that if he is ever released, he is to go to a specific spot in a certain hayfield to find something that has been buried there. Andy's friends are concerned that he may commit suicide like Brooks. The following morning, however, Andy is missing from his cell, in which only a poster of Raquel Welch, who has replaced Rita, stares at the Warden, who discovers to his shock, that the poster covers a long escape tunnel that Andy had been able to dig secretly over the course of many years. Warden Norton loses his composure and commits all of his resources to tracking the escapee down, but Andy is never found.

In a flashback sequence, it is revealed that Andy escaped the prison by tunneling through the walls with his rock hammer for nearly 19 years, slowly chipping away at the cement wall and using the poster to cover up his work. He completed his escape by crawling 500 yards through a sewage tunnel. After his escape, Andy assumes the fake identity he created earlier for the purpose of concealing the warden's embezzlements. Wearing Norton's clean suit and shoes, Andy withdraws the funds that he had deposited for Norton over the years. He also sends evidence of the scams to a local newspaper, exposing the warden. Hadley is arrested, reportedly "sobbing like a little girl" as he is taken away, and Norton commits suicide in his office.

Soon after, Red is finally released on parole. After trying to cope with life outside prison (and being given the same job and apartment Brooks had had years earlier), he recalls his promise to Andy shortly before Andy's escape. Red finds money and instructions hidden in the field, and eventually reunites with Andy in Zihuatanejo on the coast of Mexico.

[edit] Cast
Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne
Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding
Bob Gunton as Warden Norton
William Sadler as Heywood
Clancy Brown as Capt. Hadley
Gil Bellows as Tommy
Mark Rolston as Boggs Diamond
James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlen
Jeffrey DeMunn as 1946 DA
David Proval as Snooze
Jude Ciccolella as Guard Mert
Paul McCrane as Guard Trout
Scott Mann as Glenn Quentin

[edit] Production
Darabont secured the film adaptation rights in 1987 from Stephen King after impressing the author with his short film adaptation of "The Woman in the Room" in 1983. This is one of the more famous Dollar Deals made by King with aspiring filmmakers. Darabont later directed The Green Mile, which was based on another work about a prison by Stephen King, and then followed that up with an adaptation of King's novella The Mist.

The Shawshank Redemption was filmed in and around the city of Mansfield, Ohio, located in north-central Ohio. The prison featured in the film is the old, abandoned Ohio State Reformatory immediately north of downtown Mansfield. The Reformatory buildings have been used in several other films, including Harry and Walter Go to New York, Air Force One and Tango and Cash. Most of the prison yard has now been demolished to make room for expansion of the adjacent Richland Correctional Institute, but the Reformatory's Gothic Administration Building remains standing and, due to its prominent use in films, has become a tourist attraction. The real warden of the Richland Correctional Institute had a cameo appearance in Shawshank as the prisoner seated directly behind Tommy on his bus ride to prison and several other staff members from the nearby Mansfield Correctional Institution have small roles.

Several exterior scenes were shot at the Malabar Farm State Park, in nearby Lucas, Ohio.[1] The sequence in which Andy is parked outside his home contemplating murdering his wife was filmed at the Pugh Cabin within the park. The sequences representing the village of Buxton and the field where Red finds Andy's hidden letter were filmed on private land located opposite the park entrance on Broomfield Road. The oak tree is clearly visible from the roadside. The adjacent rock wall, which was constructed specifically for the film, is located on the far side of the hill away from the roadside. The wall is still standing, although it has been somewhat eroded. Other scenes were shot in Ashland, Ohio, Butler, Ohio, Upper Sandusky, Ohio and Portland, Maine.

The photo of a young Red on his parole forms is that of Morgan Freeman's son, Alfonso. Alfonso is also seen in the yard when Andy's load of prisoners is first dropped off, shouting enthusiastically "Fresh Fish! Fresh Fish" whilst reeling in an imaginary line. Alfonso later played a parody of his father's character, Red, in a short spoof titled The Sharktank Redemption, available on the second disc of the 10th anniversary DVD.

The film ends with the prominent dedication "In Memory of Allen Greene". Darabont dedicated the film to his friend and agent, Allen Greene II, who died just before the completion of the film due to complications from AIDS.[2]

[edit] Interpretations
Roger Ebert suggests that the integrity of Andy Dufresne is an important theme in the story line,[3] especially in prison, where integrity is lacking. Andy is an individual of integrity (here referring to adherence to a code of morality) among a host of criminals, and guards, with little integrity.[4] Additionally, some critics have interpreted the film as a Christian parable due to its handling of hope, original sin, redemption, salvation, and faith in the afterlife. Some Christian reviewers have referred to it as a film "true to Christian principles."[5] In the director's commentary track on the tenth anniversary DVD, Darabont denies any intent to create such a parable, and calls such interpretations of the film "fantastic."

[edit] Critical reaction
In 1999, film critic Roger Ebert listed Shawshank on his "Great Movies" list,[6] and in reader polls by the film magazine Empire, the film ranked fifth in 2004 and first in 2006 on the lists for greatest movie of all time.[7][8]

In the 1994 Academy Awards the movie was nominated for seven awards (Best Picture, Best Actor – Morgan Freeman, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound) but, in the shadow of 1994's big winner Forrest Gump, failed to win a single one. In 1998 Shawshank was not listed in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, but nine years later, it placed at the 72nd position on the revised list, outranking both Forrest Gump (76th) and Pulp Fiction (94th), the two most critically acclaimed movies from the year of Shawshank's release.

[edit] Music
Main article: The Shawshank Redemption (soundtrack)
The score was composed by Thomas Newman, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1994. Interestingly enough, the main theme ("End Titles" on the soundtrack album) is perhaps best known to modern audiences as the inspirational sounding music from many movie trailers dealing with inspirational, dramatic, or romantic films in much the same way that James Horner's driving music from the end of Aliens is used in many movie trailers for action films.

[edit] References in King's other works
In the Stephen King novella, Apt Pupil, Arthur Denker mentions that the banker who helped him buy stocks was named Andy Dufresne, and in the movie adaptation of the King novel Dolores Claiborne, the titular character threatens her abusive husband with a "stint at Shawshank." Shawshank State Prison is also mentioned in It when Steven Bishoff Dubay gets convicted of first-degree manslaughter and is sentenced for fifteen years. Shawshank State Prison is mentioned again when Cheryl Lamonica's death was presumably done by one of her boyfriends, one of which is serving Shawshank for armed robbery, who can also presumably be Tommy. Shawshank is also mentioned in Needful Things where Ace Merril went shortly after his exploits in The Body. The Body is a Novella by King which was adapted to film as the coming of age movie Stand by Me. Shawshank was also recently mentioned in the TV series The Dead Zone which is based on characters from the novel of the same name.

Blaze is a Richard Bachman novel polished from a version written years previously and described by King as a 'trunk novel'. In it, the titular criminal character often finds himself talking to his dead partner-in-crime George, the real brains of the partnership. On one occasion, George accuses Blaze of stupidity and asks if he wants to end up in Shawshank.

[edit] References to other works
Andy asks Red for a Rita Hayworth poster during a screening of Hayworth's film Gilda. The poster depicts a scene from that film. He eventually replaces the poster with one of Marilyn Monroe in her skirt blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch and later with Raquel Welch from One Million Years B.C., which was not released until 1967.
When Andy receives the first response to his letters to the Maine Senate concerning the prison library, the shipment includes a record of The Marriage of Figaro. Defying Norton, Andy plays the duet "Sull'aria Che soave zeffiretto" over the prison loudspeakers for all the inmates and guards to hear.
While sorting books in the library, Heywood asks Andy what to do with a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. When Andy notes that the book is about a prison break, Red advises that they file it in the educational materials section.
While talking to Red about Randell Stevens, an imaginary man used to cover up money laundering, Andy mentions that Randell Stevens is a "...second cousin to Harvey the rabbit." Andy is referencing an imaginary six-foot rabbit from the 1950s movie Harvey.
Andy's prison break is quite like that of Giacomo Casanova, as outlined in his memoirs History of My Life. When planning his escape from the Leads, Casanova had a pick which he kept in the back of a Bible, which Andy did with his rock hammer. Also, Casanova instructed a fellow prisoner to put pictures of saints up on the wall to cover up the hole he was making.

[edit] Impact
As reported in the New York Times,[9] this movie was in news headlines on December 17, 2007, as two jail inmates escaped from a high-security unit of the Union County jail, New Jersey, in what news reporters described as "Shawshank-style escape". They used photos of bikini-clad women to hide their escape holes and left behind a thank-you note, signed with a smiley face, for a guard they claimed helped them. The guard in question committed suicide soon after.
In the popular MMORPG World Of Warcraft, a quest in Tanaris is given to players with the name "The Scrimshank Redemption."

[edit] References
^ The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Filiming Locations. imdb.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
^ The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Trivia. imdb.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
^ Roger Ebert (1994-09-23). Review: The Shawshank Redemption.
^ Joseph Kellard. "Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying: A Review of "The Shawshank Redemption"", Capitalism Magazine, July 17, 2000.
^ Debra L. Lewis (1994). Review: The Shawshank Redemption. Retrieved on 2007-12-26.
^ Roger Ebert (1999-10-17). Great Movies: The Shawshank Redemption.
^ "The 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time", Empire, 2004-01-30, pp. 97.
^ "The 201 Greatest Movies Of All Time", Empire, 2006-01-27, pp. 100-1.
^ Fernanda Santos. "Inmates Chip Away Jail’s Walls and Leap From Roof to Freedom", New York Times, December 17, 2007.

[edit] Further reading
Mark Kermode (October 1, 2003). The Shawshank Redemption. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 978-0851709680.

[edit] See also
List of fictional prisons
Films considered the greatest ever

Casablanca (film)

2008-02-09T01:01:00.000-08:00

Directed by Michael Curtiz
Produced by Hal B. Wallis
Written by Julius J. Epstein
Philip G. Epstein
Howard Koch
Starring Humphrey Bogart
Ingrid Bergman
Paul Henreid
Claude Rains
Conrad Veidt
Sydney Greenstreet
Peter Lorre
S.Z. Sakall
Music by Hugo W. Friedhofer
Max Steiner
Cinematography Arthur Edeson
Editing by Owen Marks
Distributed by Warner Brothers (1942 theatrical release)
AAP (rights holder, 1956–1958)
United Artists (rights holder, 1958–1981)
Turner Entertainment (current rights, 1986–present)
MGM (1992 re-release, 1998 DVD release, and film rights from 1981–1998)
Warner Home Video (current home video distributor via-Turner, 1998–present)
Release date(s) November 26, 1942
Running time 102 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1,039,000

Casablanca (1942) is an Oscar-winning romance film set in the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund. It focuses on Rick's conflict between, in the words of one character, love and virtue: he must choose between his love for Ilsa and doing the right thing, helping her and her Resistance leader husband escape from Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis.

Although it was an A-list movie, with established stars and first-rate writers, nobody involved with its production expected Casablanca to be anything out of the ordinary;[1] it was just one of dozens of pictures being churned out by Hollywood every year. The film was a solid, if unspectacular, success in its initial release, but has grown in popularity as time has gone by, consistently ranking near the top of lists of great films. Casablanca is now ranked among the greatest cinematic achievements of all time.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Production
2.1 Writing
2.2 Direction
2.3 Cinematography
2.4 Music
3 Cast
4 Reception
4.1 Critical response
4.2 Interpretation
4.3 Influence
5 Awards and nominations
6 Sequels and other versions
7 Rumors
8 Errors
9 Quotations
10 Notes
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Plot
Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine, a bitter and cynical American expatriate in Casablanca, who owns "Rick's Café Américain." This upscale nightclub and gambling den attracts a mixed clientèle of Vichy French and Nazi officials, refugees and thieves. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, it is later revealed that he had run guns to Ethiopia to combat the 1935 Italian invasion, and fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War against Francisco Franco's Nationalists.

Ugarte (Peter Lorre), a petty criminal, arrives in Rick's club with "letters of transit" he obtained by killing two German couriers. The papers allow the bearer to travel freely around German-controlled Europe, including to neutral Lisbon, Portugal, and from there to the United States. They are almost priceless to any of the continual stream of refugees who end up stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to make his fortune by selling them to the highest bidder, who is due to arrive at the club later that night. However, before the exchange can take place, Ugarte is arrested by the local police under the command of Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), a corrupt Vichy official who accommodates the Nazis. Unbeknownst to Renault and the Nazis, Ugarte had left the letters with Rick for safekeeping, because "...somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust."

At this point, the reason for Rick's bitterness re-enters his life. His ex-lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), arrives with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) to purchase the letters. Laszlo is a renowned Czech Resistance leader on the run from the Nazis. The couple must have the letters to leave Casablanca for America, where he can continue his work. The next night, Laszlo, suspecting Rick of having the letters, speaks with him privately, but Rick refuses to part with them, telling Laszlo to "ask your wife" for the reason. They are then interrupted when a group of Nazi officers, led by Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt), begins to sing "Die Wacht am Rhein", a German patriotic song. Infuriated, Laszlo tells the house band to play "La Marseillaise", a patriotic song of pre-occupation France. When the band leader looks to Rick for guidance, he nods his head. Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then long-suppressed patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. In retaliation, Strasser orders Renault to close the club.

The main characters, from left to right: Rick Blaine, Captain Renault, Victor Laszlo and Ilsa LundThat night, Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted cafe. When he refuses to give her the documents, she threatens him with a gun, but is unable to shoot, confessing that she still loves him. She explains that when she first met and fell in love with him in Paris, she believed her husband had been killed in a concentration camp. Upon discovering that Laszlo had in fact escaped, she left Rick without explanation and returned to Laszlo. She explains that she pretended to have left him in order to prevent him from being captured by the Germans, knowing he would stay in Paris and try to find her if he believed she was still in the city. After hearing this, Rick agrees to help, leading her to believe that she will stay behind with him when Laszlo leaves.

Laszlo arrives after Ilsa leaves, and explains that he is aware "something" is up between her and Rick. He attempts to arrange for Ilsa and Rick to take the letters of transit, thereby saving her life. However, the police arrive and Laszlo is arrested on a petty charge. Rick convinces Renault to release Laszlo, promising to set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters. When Renault asks why Rick is doing this, the American explains that he and Ilsa will be leaving for the U.S.

Later, Laszlo obtains the letters from Rick, but when Renault tries to arrest him, Rick double crosses Renault, forcing him at gunpoint to assist in the escape. At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with her husband, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed. "Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

Major Strasser drives up, having been tipped off by Renault, but Rick shoots him when he tries to intervene. When the police arrive, Renault saves Rick's life by telling them to "round up the usual suspects." He then recommends that he and Rick leave Casablanca, suggesting they join the Free French at Brazzaville. They walk off into the fog with one of the most memorable exit lines in movie history: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

[edit] Production
The film was based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison's then-unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick's.[2] The Warner Brothers story analyst who read the play, Stephen Karnot, called it (approvingly) "sophisticated hokum",[3] and story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal Wallis to buy the rights for $20,000,[4] the most anyone in Hollywood had ever paid for an unproduced play.[5] The project was renamed Casablanca, apparently in imitation of the 1938 hit Algiers.[6] Shooting began on May 25, 1942 and was completed on August 3. The film cost a total of $1,039,000 ($75,000 over budget),[7] not exceptionally high, but above average for the time.[8]

The entire picture was shot in the studio, except for the sequence showing Major Strasser's arrival, which was filmed at Van Nuys Airport. The street used for the exterior shots had recently been built for another film, The Desert Song,[9] and redressed for the Paris flashbacks. It remained on the Warners backlot until the 1960s. The set for Rick's was built in three unconnected parts, so the internal layout of the building is indeterminate. In a number of scenes, the camera looks through a wall from the cafe area into Rick's office. The background of the final scene, which shows a Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior airplane with personnel walking around it, was staged using midget extras and a proportionate cardboard plane. Fog was used to mask the model's unconvincing appearance.[10] Nevertheless, the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida purchased a Lockheed 12A for its Great Movie Ride attraction, and initially claimed that it was the actual plane used in the film.[11] Film critic Roger Ebert calls Wallis the "key creative force" for his attention to the details of production (down to insisting on a real parrot in the Blue Parrot bar).[12]

Bergman's height caused some problems. She was some two inches (5 cm) taller than Bogart, and claimed Curtiz had Bogie stand on blocks or sit on cushions in their scenes together.[13]

Wallis wrote the final line ("Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship") after shooting had been completed. Bogart had to be called in a month after the end of filming to dub it.

Later, there were plans for a further scene, showing Rick, Renault and a detachment of Free French soldiers on a ship, to incorporate the Allies' 1942 invasion of North Africa; however it proved too difficult to get Claude Rains for the shoot, and the scene was finally abandoned after David O. Selznick judged "it would be a terrible mistake to change the ending."[14]

[edit] Writing
The original play was inspired by a 1938 trip to Europe by Murray Burnett, during which he visited Vienna shortly after the Anschluss, as well as the south coast of France, which had uneasily coexisting populations of Nazis and refugees. The latter locale provided the inspirations for both Rick's cafe (the nightclub Le Kat Ferrat) and the character of Sam (a black piano player Burnett saw in Juan-les-Pins).[15] In the play, the Ilsa character was an American named Lois Meredith and did not meet Laszlo until after her relationship with Rick in Paris had ended; Rick was a lawyer.

The first main writers to work on the script were the Epstein twins, Julius and Philip, who removed Rick's background and added more elements of comedy. The other credited writer, Howard Koch, came later, but worked in parallel with them, despite their differing emphases; Koch highlighted the political and melodramatic elements.[16] The uncredited Casey Robinson contributed to the series of meetings between Rick and Ilsa in the cafe.[17] Curtiz seems to have favored the romantic parts, insisting on retaining the Paris flashbacks. Despite the many writers, the film has what Ebert describes as a "wonderfully unified and consistent" script. Koch later claimed it was the tension between his own approach and Curtiz's which accounted for this: "Surprisingly, these disparate approaches somehow meshed, and perhaps it was partly this tug of war between Curtiz and me that gave the film a certain balance."[18] Julius Epstein would later note the screenplay contained "more corn than in the states of Kansas and Iowa combined. But when corn works, there's nothing better."[19]

The film ran into some trouble from Joseph Breen of the Production Code Administration (the Hollywood self-censorship body), who opposed the suggestions that Captain Renault extorted sexual favors from his supplicants, and that Rick and Ilsa had slept together in Paris. Both, however, remained strongly implied in the finished version.[20]

[edit] Direction
Wallis' first choice for director was William Wyler, but he was unavailable, so Wallis turned to his close friend Michael Curtiz.[21] Curtiz was a Hungarian Jewish emigre; he had come to the U.S. in the 1920s, but some of his family were refugees from Nazi Europe. Roger Ebert has commented in "Casablanca" "very few shots ... are memorable as shots", Curtiz being concerned to use images to tell the story rather than for their own sake.[12] However, he had relatively little input into the development of the plot: Casey Robinson said Curtiz "knew nothing whatever about story... he saw it in pictures, and you supplied the stories".[22] Critic Andrew Sarris called the film "the most decisive exception to the auteur theory",[23] to which Aljean Harmetz responded, "nearly every Warner Bros. picture was an exception to the auteur theory".[24] Other critics give more credit to Curtiz; Sidney Rosenzweig, in his study of the director's work, sees the film as a typical example of Curtiz's highlighting of moral dilemmas.[25]

The second unit montages, such as the opening sequence of the refugee trail and that showing the invasion of France, were directed by Don Siegel.[26]

[edit] Cinematography

The Cross of Lorraine, emblem of the Free French.The cinematographer was Arthur Edeson, a veteran who had previously shot The Maltese Falcon and Frankenstein. Particular attention was paid to photographing Bergman. She was shot mainly from her preferred left side, often with a softening gauze filter and with catch lights to make her eyes sparkle; the whole effect was designed to make her face seem "ineffably sad and tender and nostalgic".[12] Bars of shadow across the characters and in the background variously imply imprisonment, the crucifix, the symbol of the Free French and emotional turmoil.[12] Dark film noir and expressionist lighting is used in several scenes, particularly towards the end of the picture. Rosenzweig argues these shadow and lighting effects are classic elements of the Curtiz style, along with the fluid camera work and the use of the environment as a framing device.[27]

[edit] Music
The score was written by Max Steiner, who was best known for the musical score for Gone with the Wind. The song "As Time Goes By" by Herman Hupfeld had been part of the story from the original play; Steiner wanted to write his own composition to replace it, but Bergman had already cut her hair short for her next role (María in For Whom the Bell Tolls) and could not re-shoot the scenes which incorporated the song. (As it turned out, the song enjoyed a resurgence after the film's release, spending 21 weeks on the hit parade.) So Steiner based the entire score on it and "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem, transforming them to reflect changing moods.[28] Particularly notable is the "duel of the songs", in which "La Marseillaise" is played by a full orchestra, rather than just the small band actually present in Rick's club, competing against a small group of Germans singing "Die Wacht am Rhein" ("The Watch on the Rhine") at the piano. Originally, the piece intended for the iconic sequence was the "Horst Wessel Lied", the de facto second national anthem of Nazi Germany, which was still under international copyright in non-Allied countries. Other songs include "It Had to Be You" from 1924 with lyrics by Gus Kahn and music by Isham Jones, "Knock on Wood" with music by M.K. Jerome and lyrics by Jack Scholl, and "Shine" from 1910 by Cecil Mack and Lew Brown, with music by Ford Dabney.

[edit] Cast
The cast is notable for its internationalism: only three of the credited actors were born in the U.S. The three top-billed actors were:

Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine. The New York City-born Bogart became a star with Casablanca. Earlier in his career, he had been typecast as a gangster, playing characters called Bugs, Rocks, Turkey, Whip, Chips, Gloves and Duke (twice). High Sierra (1941) had allowed him to play a character with some warmth, but Rick was his first truly romantic role.
Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund. Bergman's official website calls Ilsa her "most famous and enduring role".[29] The Swedish actress's Hollywood debut in Intermezzo had been well received, but her subsequent films were not major successes—until Casablanca. Ebert calls her "luminous", and comments on the chemistry between her and Bogart: "she paints his face with her eyes".[12] Other actresses considered for the role of Ilsa had included Ann Sheridan, Hedy Lamarr and Michèle Morgan; Wallis obtained the services of Bergman, who was contracted to David O. Selznick, by loaning Olivia de Havilland in exchange.[30]
Paul Henreid as Victor Laszlo. Henreid, an Austrian actor who left Austria in 1935, was reluctant to take the role (it "set [him] as a stiff forever", according to Pauline Kael[31]), until he was promised top billing along with Bogart and Bergman. Henreid did not get on well with his fellow actors (he considered Bogart "a mediocre actor", while Bergman called Henreid a "prima donna").[32]
The second-billed actors were:

Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault. Rains was an English actor, born in London. He had previously worked with Michael Curtiz on The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Sidney Greenstreet (left) alongside Humphrey Bogart.Sydney Greenstreet as Signor Ferrari, a rival clubowner. Another Englishman, Greenstreet had previously starred with Lorre and Bogart in his film debut in The Maltese Falcon.
Peter Lorre as Signor Ugarte. Lorre was a Hungarian character actor who left Germany in 1933.
Conrad Veidt as Major Strasser of the Luftwaffe. He was a German actor who had appeared in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) before fleeing from the Nazis and ending his career playing Nazis in U.S. films.
Also credited were:

Dooley Wilson as Sam. He was one of the few American members of the cast. A drummer, he could not play the piano. Hal Wallis had considered changing the role of Sam to a female character (Hazel Scott and Ella Fitzgerald were candidates), and even after shooting had been completed, Wallis considered dubbing over Wilson's voice for the songs.[33]
Joy Page as Annina Brandel, the young Bulgarian refugee. The third credited American, she was studio head Jack Warner's stepdaughter.
Madeleine LeBeau as Yvonne, Rick's soon-discarded girlfriend. The French actress was Marcel Dalio's wife until their divorce in 1942.
S.Z. (or S. K.) "Cuddles" Sakall as Carl, the waiter. He was a Hungarian actor who fled from Germany in 1939. A friend of Curtiz's since their days in Budapest, his three sisters died in a concentration camp.
Curt Bois as the pickpocket. Bois was a German Jewish actor and another refugee. He may have a claim to the longest film career of any actor, making his first appearance in 1907 and his last in 1987.
John Qualen as Berger, Laszlo's Resistance contact. He was born in Canada, but grew up in America. He appeared in many of John Ford's movies.
Leonid Kinskey as Sascha, whom Rick assigns to escort Yvonne home. He was born in Russia.
Notable uncredited actors were:

Marcel Dalio as Emil the croupier. He had been a star in French cinema, appearing in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion and La Regle de Jeu, but after he fled the fall of France, he was reduced to bit parts in Hollywood. He also was a key performer in another of Bogart's films, To Have and Have Not.
Helmut Dantine as Jan Brandel, the Bulgarian roulette player. Another Austrian, he had spent time in a concentration camp after the Anschluss.
Norma Varden as the befuddled Englishwoman whose husband has his wallet stolen. She was a famous English character actress who received small, usually uncredited, roles in over 100 movies.
Jean Del Val as the French police radio announcer who opens Casablanca by reporting the news of the murder of the two German couriers carrying letters of transit. He transmits an order to "round up all suspicious characters", foreshadowing the memorable and often quoted line, "Round up the usual suspects."
Torben Meyer a Dutch banker who is seated at a baccarat table in Rick's. He tells Carl, "Perhaps if you told him I ran the second largest banking house in Amsterdam." Meyer was a Danish actor who in his 50 year career appeared in over 180 films.
Dan Seymour as Abdul, the Doorman. He was an American actor, who at 265 pounds received a number of roles as Hollywood heavies, appearing in over 60 movies for Warner Bros. in 35 years.
Gregory Gaye as the German Banker who is refused entry to the casino by Rick. A Russian-born actor who came to the United States in 1917 after the Russian Revolution, he appeared in small roles in over a hundred movies. He and Kinskey were the only two Russian actors in the film.
Part of the emotional impact of the film has been attributed to the large proportion of European exiles and refugees among the extras and in the minor roles. A witness to the filming of the "duel of the songs" sequence said he saw many of the actors crying, and "realized that they were all real refugees".[34] Harmetz argues that they "brought to a dozen small roles in Casablanca an understanding and a desperation that could never have come from Central Casting".[35] The German citizens among them nevertheless had to keep curfew as enemy aliens. Ironically, they were frequently cast as the Nazis from whom they had fled.

Some of the exiled foreign actors were:

Wolfgang Zilzer who is shot in the opening scene of the movie, was a silent movie actor in Germany who left when the Nazis took over. He later married Casablanca actress Lotte Palfi.
Hans Twardowski as a Nazi officer who argues with a French officer over Yvonne. Born in Stettin, Germany (today Szczecin, Poland), he fled Germany because he was a homosexual.
Ludwig Stössel as Mr. Leuchtag, the German refugee whose English is "not so good". Born in Austria, the Jewish actor was imprisoned following the Nazi Anschluss. When he was released, he left for England and then America. Stössel became famous for doing a long series of commercials for Italian Swiss Colony wine producers. Dressed in an Alpine hat and lederhosen, Stössel was their spokesman. His motto was, "That Little Old Winemaker, Me!"
Ilka Grünig as Mrs. Leuchtag. Born in Vienna, she was a silent movie star in Germany who came to America after the Anschluss.
Lotte Palfi as the refugee trying to sell her diamonds. Born in Germany, she played stage roles at a prestigious theater in Darmstadt, Germany. She journeyed to America after the Nazis came to power in 1933. She later married another Casablanca actor, Wolfgang Zilzer.
Trude Berliner as a baccarat player in Rick's. Born in Berlin, she was a famous cabaret performer and film actress. Being Jewish, she left Germany in 1933.
Louis V. Arco as another refugee in Rick's. Born Lutz Altschul in Austria, he moved to America shortly after the Anschluss and changed his name.
Richard Ryen as Strasser's aide, Colonel Heinze. The Austrian Jew acted in German films, but fled the Nazis.

[edit] Reception

A poster used to advertise the original release of the film.The film premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City on November 26, 1942, to coincide with the Allied invasion of North Africa and the capture of Casablanca; it went into general release on January 23, 1943, to take advantage of the Casablanca conference, a high-level meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt in the city. It was a substantial but not spectacular box-office success, taking $3.7 million on its initial U.S. release (making it the seventh best-selling film of 1943).[36] Initial critical reaction was generally positive, with Variety describing it as "splendid anti-Axis propaganda";[37] as Koch later said, "it was a picture the audiences needed... there were values... worth making sacrifices for. And it said it in a very entertaining way."[38] Other reviews were less enthusiastic: The New Yorker rated it only "pretty tolerable".[39] The Office of War Information prevented screening of the film to troops in North Africa, believing it would cause resentment among Vichy supporters in the region.[40]

At the 1944 Oscars, the film won three awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. Wallis was resentful when Jack Warner, rather than he, collected the best picture award; the slight led to Wallis severing his ties with the studio in April that year.[41]

The film has maintained its popularity: Murray Burnett has called it "true yesterday, true today, true tomorrow".[42] By 1955, the film had brought in $6.8 million, making it only the third most successful of Warners' wartime movies (behind Shine On, Harvest Moon and This is the Army).[43] On April 21, 1957, the Brattle Theater of Cambridge, Massachusetts showed the film as part of a season of old movies. It was so popular that it began a tradition of screening Casablanca during the week of final exams at Harvard University which continues to the present day, and is emulated by many colleges across the United States. Todd Gitlin, a professor of sociology who himself attended one of these screenings, had said that the experience was, "the acting out of my own personal rite of passage".[44] The tradition helped the movie remain popular while other famous films of the 1940s have faded away, and by 1977, Casablanca was the most frequently broadcast film on American television.[45]

However, there has been anecdotal evidence that Casablanca may have made a deeper impression among film-lovers than within the professional movie-making establishment. In the November/December 1982 issue of American Film, Chuck Ross claimed that he retyped the screenplay to Casablanca, only changing the title back to Everybody Comes to Rick's and the name of the piano player to Dooley Wilson, and submitted it to 217 agencies. Eighty-five of them read it; of those, thirty-eight rejected it outright, thirty-three generally recognized it (but only eight specifically as Casablanca), three declared it commercially viable, and one suggested turning it into a novel.[46]

[edit] Critical response
According to Roger Ebert, Casablanca is "probably on more lists of the greatest films of all time than any other single title, including Citizen Kane" because of its wider appeal; while Citizen Kane is "greater", Casablanca is more loved.[12] Ebert said that he has never heard of a negative review of the film, even though individual elements can be criticized, citing unrealistic special effects and the stiff character/portrayal of Laszlo.[22] Rudy Behlmer emphasized the variety in the picture: "it's a blend of drama, melodrama, comedy [and] intrigue".[22] Leonard Maltin has stated that this is his favorite movie of all time.

Ebert has said that the film is popular because "the people in it are all so good". As the Resistance hero, Laszlo is ostensibly the most noble, although he is so stiff that he is hard to like.[12] The other characters, in Behlmer's words, are "not cut and dried": they come into their goodness in the course of the film. Renault begins the film as a collaborator with the Nazis, who extorts sexual favors from refugees and has Ugarte killed. Rick, according to Behlmer, is "not a hero, ... not a bad guy": he does what is necessary to get along with the authorities and "sticks his neck out for nobody". Even Ilsa, the least active of the main characters, is "caught in the emotional struggle" over which man she really loves. By the end of the film, however, "everybody is sacrificing."[22]

A dissenting note comes from Umberto Eco, who wrote that "by any strict critical standards... Casablanca is a very mediocre film." He viewed the changes the characters undergo as inconsistency rather than complexity: "It is a comic strip, a hotch-potch, low on psychological credibility, and with little continuity in its dramatic effects." However, he argued that it is this inconsistency which accounts for the film's popularity by allowing it to include a whole series of archetypes: unhappy love, flight, passage, waiting, desire, the triumph of purity, the faithful servant, the love triangle, beauty and the beast, the enigmatic woman, the ambiguous adventurer and the redeemed drunkard. Centermost is the idea of sacrifice: "the myth of sacrifice runs through the whole film."[47] It was this theme which resonated with a wartime audience that was reassured by the idea that painful sacrifice and going off to war could be romantic gestures done for the greater good.[48]

[edit] Interpretation
Critics have subjected Casablanca to many different readings. William Donelley, in his Love and Death in Casablanca, argues that Rick's relationship with Sam, and subsequently with Renault, is, "a standard case of the repressed homosexuality that underlies most American adventure stories".[49] Harvey Greenberg presents a Freudian reading in his The Movies on Your Mind, in which the transgressions which prevent Rick from returning to the U.S. constitute an Oedipus complex, which is resolved only when Rick begins to identify with the father figure of Laszlo and the cause which he represents.[50] Sidney Rosenzweig argues that such readings are reductive, and that the most important aspect of the film is its ambiguity, above all in the central character of Rick; he cites the different names which each character gives Rick (Richard, Ricky, Mr Rick, Herr Blaine and so on) as evidence of the different meanings which he has for each person.[51]

[edit] Influence
Many subsequent films have drawn on elements of Casablanca: Passage to Marseille reunited Bogart, Rains, Curtiz, Greenstreet and Lorre in 1944, while there are many similarities between Casablanca and two later Bogart films, To Have and Have Not and Sirocco. Parodies have included the Marx Brothers' A Night in Casablanca (1946), Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam (1972), Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective (1978), Barb Wire (1996), and Out Cold (2001), while it provided the title for the 1995 hit The Usual Suspects. Casablanca itself was an elemental plot device in the science fiction television movie Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1983), based on John Varley's story. Warner Brothers produced its own parody of the film in the homage Carrotblanca, a 1995 Bugs Bunny cartoon included on the special edition DVD release.

Steven Soderbergh paid homage to Casablanca with The Good German, a post-World War II Berlin-set murder mystery shot in black and white using technology from the period in which Casablanca was made. The film ends with a scene between two former lovers (played by George Clooney and Cate Blanchett) at an airport. The film's poster echoes the iconic one for Casablanca.

Television has also drawn on the fame of this film. For example, an episode of the American TV series Moonlighting, parodied Casablanca starring Curtis Armstrong as "Rick" and Alyce Beasley as "Agnes".

[edit] Awards and nominations
Casablanca won three Oscars:

Academy Award for Best Picture – Warner Bros. (Hal B. Wallis, producer)
Academy Award for Best Director – Michael Curtiz
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay – Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch
It was also nominated for another five Oscars:

Academy Award for Best Actor – Humphrey Bogart
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – Claude Rains
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, black-and-white – Arthur Edeson
Academy Award for Film Editing – Owen Marks
Academy Award for Original Music Score – Max Steiner
In 1989, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1999, it was ranked by the American Film Institute as the second greatest American film ever made, behind only Citizen Kane. The 2007 revised AFI list moved it down to third, after Citizen Kane and The Godfather. In 2005, it was named one of the 100 greatest films of the last 80 years by Time.com (the selected films were not ranked).

In 2006, the Writers Guild of America, west voted the screenplay of Casablanca the best of all time in its list of the 101 Greatest Screenplays.[52]

[edit] Sequels and other versions

Scenes from the controversial colorized version.Almost from the moment Casablanca became a hit, talk began of producing a sequel. One entitled Brazzaville (in the final scene, Renault recommends fleeing to that Free French-held city) was planned, but never produced. Since then, no studio has seriously considered filming a sequel or outright remake. François Truffaut refused an invitation to remake the film in 1974, citing its cult status among American students as his reason.[53] However, it has been reported that Bollywood filmmaker Rajeev Nath is remaking the film, describing it as a "tribute to the original."[54]

The novel, As Time Goes By, written by Michael Walsh and published in 1998, was authorized by Warner.[55][56] The novel picks up where the movie leaves off, and also tells of Rick's mysterious past in America. The book met with little success.[57] David Thomson provided an unofficial sequel in his 1985 novel Suspects.

There have been two short-lived television series based upon Casablanca, both considered prequels to the movie. The first aired from 1955 to 1956, with Charles McGraw as Rick and Marcel Dalio, who played Emil the croupier in the movie, as Renault; it aired on ABC as part of the wheel series Warner Bros. Presents.[58] It produced a total of 10 hour-long episodes. Another series, briefly broadcast on NBC in 1983, starred David Soul as Rick, Ray Liotta as Sacha and Scatman Crothers as a somewhat elderly Sam.[59] A total of 5 hour-long episodes were produced

Several radio adaptations of the film have been created. The two most well-known adaptations were the thirty minute adaptation on The Screen Guild Theater on April 26, 1943, starring Bogart, Bergman and Henreid, and the hour-long adaptation on the Lux Radio Theater on January 24, 1944, featuring Alan Ladd as Rick, Hedy Lamarr as Ilsa, and John Loder as Victor Laszlo. Two other adaptations that were aired were a thirty minute adaptation on the Philip Morris Playhouse on September 3, 1943 and another half hour adaptation on the Theater of Romance on December 19, 1944, where Dooley Wilson reprises his role as Sam.

Julius Epstein made two attempts to turn the film into a Broadway musical, in 1951 and 1967, but neither made it to the stage.[60] The original play, Everybody Comes to Rick's, was produced in Newport, Rhode Island in August 1946, and again in London in April 1991, but met with no success.[61]

Casablanca was also part of the film colorization controversy during the 1980s,[62] when a color version aired on television. This was briefly available on home video, but it was unpopular with purists. Bogart's son, Stephen, said "if you're going to colorize Casablanca, why not put arms on the Venus de Milo?"[63]

[edit] Rumors
Several rumors and misconceptions have grown up around the film, one being that Ronald Reagan was originally chosen to play Rick. This originates in a press release issued by the studio early on in the film's development, but by that time the studio already knew that he was due to go work for the army, and he was never seriously considered.[64]

Another well-known story is that the actors did not know until the last day of shooting how the film was to end. The original play (set entirely in the cafe) ended with Rick sending Ilsa and Victor to the airport. During scriptwriting, the possibility was discussed of Laszlo being killed in Casablanca, allowing Rick and Ilsa to leave together, but as Casey Robinson wrote to Hal Wallis before filming began, the ending of the film "set up for a swell twist when Rick sends her away on the plane with Victor. For now, in doing so, he is not just solving a love triangle. He is forcing the girl to live up to the idealism of her nature, forcing her to carry on with the work that in these days is far more important than the love of two little people."[65] It was certainly impossible for Ilsa to leave Laszlo for Rick, as the production code forbade showing a woman leaving her husband for another man. Such dispute as there was concerned not whether Ilsa would leave with Laszlo, but how this result could be engineered.[66] The confusion was most probably caused by Bergman's later statement that she did not know which man she was meant to be in love with. While rewrites did occur during the filming, Aljean Harmetz' examination of the scripts has shown that many of the key scenes were shot after Bergman knew how the film would end: any confusion was, in Ebert's words, "emotional", not "factual".[12]

[edit] Errors
The film has several logical flaws, the foremost being the two "letters of transit" which enable their bearers to leave Vichy French territory. It is unclear whether Ugarte says the letters had been signed by Vichy General Maxime Weygand or Free French leader General Charles de Gaulle. The audio clearly says "de Gaulle" listen (help·info) and the English subtitles on the official DVD also read "de Gaulle", but the French subtitles specify "Weygand". Weygand had been the Vichy Delegate-General for the North African colonies until a month before the film is set (and a year after it was written). De Gaulle was at the time the head of the Free French government, the enemy of the Vichy regime controlling Morocco. A Vichy court martial had convicted De Gaulle of treason in absentia and sentenced him to life imprisonment on August 2, 1940. Thus, it seems implausible that a letter signed by him would have been of any benefit.[7] A classic MacGuffin, the letters were invented by Joan Allison for the original play and never questioned.[67]

Even in the film, Rick suggests to Renault that the letters would not have allowed Ilsa to escape, let alone Laszlo: "People have been held in Casablanca in spite of their legal rights." In the same vein, though Laszlo asserts that the Nazis cannot arrest him as "This is still unoccupied France; any violation of neutrality would reflect on Captain Renault," Ebert points out that "It makes no sense that he could walk around freely....He would be arrested on sight."[12]

Other mistakes include the wrong version of the flag for French Morocco, Renault's claim that "I was with them [the Americans] when they 'blundered' into Berlin in 1918" (the German capital was not captured in World War I), and no uniformed German troops ever set foot in Casablanca during the Second World War.[7] There are the inevitable continuity errors; for example, in the final scene, Major Strasser's military overcoat is seen both with and without epaulets, and when Strasser is killed, he falls to the ground still clutching the phone receiver, even though the previous shot shows that the cord was not long enough. Also, during the scene where Rick leaves Paris on the train, it can clearly be seen when Rick's coat gets sopping wet due to heavy rain, but while stepping on to the train, the coat all of a sudden appears dry. Curtiz's attitude towards such details was clear: he said "I make it go so fast, nobody notices."[22]

[edit] Quotations
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
CasablancaOne of the lines most closely associated with the film—"Play it again, Sam"—is a misquotation. When Ilsa first enters the Café Americain, she spots Sam and asks him to "Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake." When he feigns ignorance, she responds, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.' " Later that night, alone with Sam, Rick says, "You played it for her and you can play it for me." and "If she can stand it, I can! Play it!"

The line "Here's looking at you, kid.", spoken by Rick to Ilsa, is not in the draft screenplays, and has been attributed to the poker lessons Bogart was giving Bergman between takes.[68] It was voted in a 2005 poll by the American Film Institute as the fifth most memorable line in cinema history.[69] Six lines from Casablanca appeared in the top 100, by far the most of any film (Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz were next, with three apiece). The others were: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."(20th), "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.'" (28th), "Round up the usual suspects." (32nd), "We'll always have Paris." (43rd), and "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." (67th).

[edit] Notes
^ Ebert, Roger (September 15, 1996). Casablanca (1942). Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
^ Behlmer, Rudy (1985). Inside Warner Bros. (1935–1951). London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 194. ISBN 0297792423.
^ Harmetz, Aljean (1992). Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 17. ISBN 0297812947.
^ Harmetz, p. 18
^ Wilson, Kristi M. (2002). Casablanca. St James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Gale Group. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
^ Harmetz, p. 30
^ a b c Robertson, James C. (1993). The Casablanca Man: The Cinema of Michael Curtiz, p. 79. ISBN 0415068045.
^ Behlmer, p. 208
^ Behlmer, pp. 214–215
^ Harmetz, p. 237
^ The Plane Truth. Snopes (August 21, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
^ a b c d e f g h i Ebert, Roger. Commentary to Casablanca (Two-Disc Special Edition DVD).
^ Harmetz, p.170
^ Harmetz, pp. 280–81
^ Harmetz, p.53–54
^ Harmetz, pp.56–59
^ Harmetz, pp.175 and 179
^ Sorel, Edward (December 1991). Casablanca. American Heritage magazine. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
^ Casablanca' writer dies at 91. CNN (January 1, 2001). Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
^ Harmetz, pp.162–166 and Behlmer, pp.207–208 and 212–213
^ Harmetz, p.75.
^ a b c d e Quoted in Ebert commentary.
^ Sarris, Andrew (1968). The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 (New York: Dutton, 1968), p.176.
^ Harmetz, p.75
^ Rosenzweig, Sidney (1982). Casablanca and Other Major Films of Michael Curtiz. Ann Arbor, Mich: UMI Research Press, pp. 158–159. ISBN 0835713040.
^ Harmetz, p.264
^ Rosenzweig, pp.6–7
^ Harmetz, pp. 253–58
^ From quintessential "good girl" to Hollywood heavyweight. The Family of Ingrid Bergman. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
^ Harmetz, pp. 88, 89, 92, 95
^ Harmetz, p. 99
^ Harmetz, p. 97
^ Harmetz, pp. 139–40, 260 and Behlmer, p. 214
^ Harmetz, p. 213
^ Harmetz, p. 214
^ Harmetz, p. 12
^ Film reviews through the years. Variety magazine (December 2, 1942). Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
^ Sperling, Cass Warner and Millner, Cork (1994). Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story. Rocklin, CA: Prima, p. 249
^ Harmetz, pp. 12–13
^ Harmetz, p. 286
^ Harmetz, pp. 321–24
^ Interviewed in Casablanca 50th Anniversary Special: You Must Remember This (Turner: 1992)
^ Harmetz, p. 283
^ Harmetz, p. 343
^ Harmetz, p. 346
^ Zinman, David (April 10, 1983). The Magazine (Sunday supplement to the Vancouver Province newspaper), p. 12
^ Eco, Umberto (1994). Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers (Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon, eds.) Bedford Books.
^ Gabbard, Krin; Gabbard, Glen O. (1990). "Play it again, Sigmund: Psychoanalysis and the classical Hollywood text." Journal of Popular Film & Television vol. 18 no. 1 p. 6–17 ISSN 0195-6051
^ Donnelly, William (1968). "Love and Death in Casablanca" Persistence of Vision: A Collection of Film Criticisms, ed. Joseph McBride. Madison: Wisconsin Fim Society Press, pp. 103–7 quoted in Rosenzweig, p. 78 and Harmetz, p. 347
^ Greenberg, Harvey (1975). The Movies on Your Mind New York: Saturday Review Press, p. 88 quoted in Rosenzweig, p. 79 and Harmetz, p. 348
^ Rosenzweig, p. 81
^ 101 Greatest Sceenplays. Writers Guild of America, west. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
^ Harmetz, p. 342
^ "'Casablanca' to be remade by Bollywood", Independent News. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
^ Borders.com presents Michael Walsh, Author of "As Time Goes By". LiveWorld, Inc (January 8, 1999). Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
^ Walsh, Michael (1998). How Did I Write "As Time Goes By"?. Hachette Book Group USA. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
^ Lawless, Jill (May 31, 2006). 'Mrs. Robinson' Returns in Sequel. CBS News. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
^ Casablanca (1955). Internet Movie Database Inc. Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
^ Casablanca (1983). Internet Movie Database Inc. Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
^ Harmetz, p. 338
^ Harmetz, p. 331
^ Krauthammer, Charles (January 12, 1987). Casablanca In Color?. Time. Retrieved on 2007-08-06.
^ Harmetz, p. 342
^ Harmetz, p. 74
^ Behlmer, pp. 206–207
^ Harmetz, p. 229
^ Harmetz, p. 55
^ Harmetz, p. 187
^ 'Frankly, my dear...' named number one movie quote. American Broadcasting Company (June 23, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.

[edit] References
Behlmer, Rudy (1985). Inside Warner Bros. (1935–1951). London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0297792423.
Casablanca (Two-Disc Special Edition DVD) (1942) (with audio commentaries by Roger Ebert and Rudy Behlmer and documentary Casablanca 50th Anniversary Special: You Must Remember This, narrated by Lauren Bacall).
Eco, Umberto (1994). Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers (Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon, eds.) Bedford Books. ISBN 0-312-25925-5.
Harmetz, Aljean (1993). Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca. Warner Books Inc. ISBN 1-56282-761-8.
Robertson, James C. (1993). The Casablanca Man: The Cinema of Michael Curtiz London:Routledge. ISBN 0-415-06804-5
Rosenzweig, Sidney (1982). Casablanca and Other Major Films of Michael Curtiz. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press. ISBN 0-8357-1304-0
The Official Ingrid Bergman Web Site. The Family of Ingrid Bergman. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.

Maqbool

2008-02-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

Maqbool (Hindi: मक़बूल, Urdu: مقبُول), a 2004 Bollywood film directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and starring Pankaj Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Tabu and Masumeh Makhija is an adaptation of the play Macbeth by Shakespeare.

The film had its North American premiere at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. Though the film failed to entice much of an audience during its theatrical run in India, critics were appreciative and Pankaj Kapoor went on to win a Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Critics) and a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Crew
4 Soundtrack
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Plot
Maqbool (Irfan Khan) is an orphan who was adopted by Abba Ji (Pankaj Kapoor), a powerful underworld don. Maqbool is grateful and feels a close connection and personal indebtedness to Abba ji, and works for him as his right hand man. Nimmi (Tabu) is Abba Ji's mistress, but she secretly loves Maqbool. Maqbool loves Nimmi, too, and they begin a passionate affair which leads to her persuading him to kill Abbaji in order to take over as don, and inherit her as mistress in addition to the fortune, repute and responsibility of leading the mafia. Maqbool is torn between his love for Nimmi and his loyalty to Abba ji, but he begins to prepare the ground for becoming don by ensuring that others in the line of inheritance cannot interfere. Finally, in a dramatic scene, Maqbool murders Abba ji in cold blood while he is bed at night, with Nimmi next to him. Maqbool gets away with it and takes over as don, just as planned; but both he and Nimmi are haunted by guilt, seeing Abbaji's ghosts and unable to wash the blood from their hands. There is also suspicion within the gang of Maqbool's role in the death of Abba ji, and eventually the lovers meet with tragic ends.

In addition to the fantastic portrayals of the three tragic heroes, the film offers stellar performances by supporting cast members, in particular Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah, who open the film in their roles as black comic relief corrupt police inspectors cum astrologers, who predict the fall of Abba ji--who has them on his payroll--and the rise and fall of Maqbool. Contrary to the original play, the corrupt cops are not just passive soothsayers. In an effort to what they refer as "balancing forces," they also actively involve in shaping events, like aiding in providing information to Abba ji's enforcers to wipe out a rival gang, using subtle nuances in coercing Maqbool to shift loyalties, deliberately botching an "encounter" attempt on Riyaz Boti (Macduff) and subsequently setting up an alliance between a rival politician (to the incumbent one, backed by Abba ji) and a fleeing Guddu (Fleance) and Riyaz Boti against Maqbool.

[edit] Cast
Actor Character in the movie Character in the play
Irfan Khan Miyan Maqbool Macbeth
Tabu Nimmi Lady Macbeth
Pankaj Kapoor Jahangir Khan aka Abbaji Duncan I of Scotland
Om Puri Inspector Pandit Witch (Weird Sisters)
Naseeruddin Shah Inspector Purohit Witch (Weird Sisters)
Piyush Mishra Kaka Banquo
Ajay Gehi Guddu Fleance
Ankur Vikal Riyaz Boti Macduff
Pubali Sanyal Riyaz Boti's wife Lady Macduff
Masumeh Makhija Sameera, Abbaji's daughter -
Gyanchand Rikki Mughal Macdonwald

[edit] Crew
Director: Vishal Bharadwaj
Screenplay: Vishal Bharadwaj & Abbas Tyrewala
Story: Vishal Bharadwaj & William Shakespeare
Dialogue: Vishal Bharadwaj
Producer: Bobby Bedi
Music: Vishal Bharadwaj
Editing: Aarif Sheikh
Cinematography: Hemant Chaturvedi
Stunts: Ravi Shinde
Costume Designer: Payal Saluja
Choreography: Bhushan Lakhandri
Lyrics: Gulzar

[edit] Soundtrack
Maqbool

Soundtrack by Vishal Bharadwaj
Released 2004
Recorded Nirvana Studio
Genre Film soundtrack
Label Music Today
The soundtrack features eleven songs composed by Vishal Bharadwaj with lyrics by Gulzar.

"Jhin Min Jhini" – Sadhana Sargam, Ustad Sultan Khan, Anuradha Sriram, Rakesh Pandit
"Ru-Ba-Ru" – Daler Mehndi, Rakesh Pandit, Sabir Khan, Dominique
"Rone Do" – Rekha Vishal
"Dheemo Re" – Ustad Sultan Khan
"The Maqbool Theme" – Instrumental
"Rukhe Naina" – Sanjeev Abhyankar
"Chingari" – Rekha Vishal
"The Killing" – Instrumental
"Nirvana" – Instrumental
"Shoonya" – Instrumental
"Jhin Min Jhini (extended)" – Sadhana Sargam, Ustad Sultan Khan, Anuradha Sriram, Rakesh Pandit

[edit] See also
William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth

No Man's Land (1987 film)

2008-02-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

No Man's Land is a 1987 film directed by Peter Werner and starring D.B. Sweeney, Charlie Sheen and is noted for being Brad Pitt's first movie role, in which he played a waiter.

[edit] Plot
Benjy Taylor is a police officer who goes undercover to catch a gang of car thieves led by Ted Varrick.

[edit] Cast
D.B. Sweeney - Benjy Taylor
Charlie Sheen - Ted Varrick
Lara Harris - Ann Varrick
Randy Quaid - Lieutenant Vincent Bracey
Bill Duke - Malcolm
R.D. Call - Frank Martin
Arlen Dean Snyder - Lieutenant Curtis Loos
M. Emmet Walsh - Captain Haun
Al Shannon - Danny
Bernie Pock - Ridley
Kenny Endoso - Leon
James F. Kelly - Brandon
Lori Butler - Suzanne
Clare Wren - Deborah
Philip Benichou - Michel
Linda Carol - Party Girl
Danitza Kingsley - Margot
Peggy McCay - Benjy's Mom
Linda Shayne - Peggy
Robert Pierce - Jim
Claude Earl Jones - Uncle Roy
Jan Burrell - Aunt Rhea
Channing Chase - Aunt Fran
Jessica Puscas - Mary Jean
Molly Carter - Colleen
Florence Schauffler - Apartment manager
Guy Boyd - Jaws
Henry G. Sanders - Heath
Gary Riley - Cal
Jenny Gago - Tory Bracey
Scott Lincoln - Bailey
James W. Smith - Shopping center guard
Jack Yates - Shopping center guard
Tom Santo - Juio
Anthony Palmer - Supplier
Jeff O'Haco - Valet
Mario Roberts - Valet
Michael Riley - Horton
Denis Hartigan - Duncan
Richard Burns - Auto repair shop customer (uncredited)
John Gocha - Porsche mechanic
Brad Pitt - Waiter
Jeff Duran- Kid Auto Thief (uncredited)

Schindler's List

2008-02-08T00:19:00.000-08:00

Schindler's List is a 1993 biographical film directed by Steven Spielberg, telling the story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust. It was based on the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally, and starred Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as the SS officer Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's accountant Itzhak Stern. The film was a box office success, and won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Score.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Production
2.1 Development
2.2 Casting
2.3 Filming
2.4 Cinematography
2.5 Music
3 Symbols
3.1 The girl in the red coat
3.2 Smoke
4 Reception
5 Controversies
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Plot
The film begins with the relocation of Polish Jews from surrounding areas to Krakow in late 1939, shortly after the beginning of World War II. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), an unsuccessful businessman, arrives from Czechoslovakia in hopes of using the abundant slave labor force of Jews to manufacture goods for the German military. Schindler, an opportunistic member of the Nazi Party, lavishes bribes upon the army and SS officials in charge of procurement. Sponsored by the military, Schindler acquires a factory for the production of army mess kits. Not knowing much about how to properly run such an enterprise, he gains a contact in Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley), a functionary in the local Judenrat (Jewish Council) who has contacts with the now underground Jewish business community in the Ghetto. They loan him the money for the factory in return for a small share of products produced (for trade on the black market). Opening the factory, Schindler pleases the Nazis and enjoys his new-found wealth and status as "Herr Direktor," while Stern handles all administration. Stern even suggests that Schindler hire Jews instead of Poles because they cost less (the Jews themselves get nothing; the wages are paid to the Reich). Workers in Schindler's factory are allowed outside the ghetto though, and Stern falsifies documents to ensure that as many people as possible are deemed "essential" by the Nazi bureaucracy, which saves them from being transported to concentration camps, or even death.

Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes) arrives in Krakow to initiate construction of a labor camp nearby, Płaszów. The SS soon clears the Krakow ghetto, sending in hundreds of troops to empty the cramped rooms and shoot anyone who protests, is uncooperative, elderly or infirmed, or for no reason at all. Schindler watches the massacre from the hills overlooking the area, and is profoundly affected. He nevertheless is careful to befriend Göth and, through Stern's attention to bribery, he continues to enjoy the SS's support and protection. The camp is built outside the city at Płaszów. During this time, Schindler bribes Göth into allowing him to build a sub-camp for his workers, with the motive of keeping them safe from the depredations of the guards. Eventually, an order arrives from Berlin commanding Göth to exhume and destroy all bodies of those killed in the Krakow Ghetto, dismantle Płaszów, and to ship the remaining Jews to Auschwitz. Schindler prevails upon Göth to let him keep "his" workers, so that he can move them to a factory in his old home of Zwittau-Brinnlitz, in Moravia, away from the "final solution", now fully underway in occupied Poland. Göth acquiesces, charging a certain amount for each worker. Schindler and Stern assemble a list of workers that should keep them off the trains to Auschwitz.

"Schindler's List" comprises these "skilled" inmates, and for many of those in Płaszów camp, being included means the difference between life and death. Almost all of the people on Schindler's list arrive safely at the new site, with exception to the train carrying the women and the female children, which is accidentally redirected to Auschwitz. There, the women are directed to what they believe is a gas chamber; but they see only water falling from the showers. The day after the women are shown waiting in line for work. In the meantime, Schindler had rushed immediately to Auschwitz to solve the problem and to get the women off from Auschwitz; to this aim he bribes the camp commander, Rudolf Höß with a cache of diamonds so that he is able to spare all the women and the children. However a last problem arises just when all the women are boarding the train because several SS officers attempt to hold some children back and prevent them from leaving. So Schindler, who is there to personally oversee the boarding, steps in and is successfull in obtaining from the officers the release of the children. Once the Schindler women arrive in Zwittau-Brinnlitz, Schindler institutes firm controls on the Nazi guards assigned to the factory, permits the Jews to observe the Sabbath, and spends much of his fortune bribing Nazi officials. In his home town, he surprises his wife while she's in church during mass, and tells her that she is the only woman in his life (despite having been shown previously to be a womanizer). She goes with him to the factory to assist him. He runs out of money just as the German army surrenders, ending the war in Europe.

As a German Nazi and self-described "profiteer of slave labor", Schindler must flee the oncoming Soviet Red Army. After dismissing the Nazi guards to return to their families, he packs a car in the night, and bids farewell to his workers. They give him a letter explaining he is not a criminal to them, together with a ring engraved with the Talmudic quotation, "He who saves the life of one man, saves the world entire." Schindler is touched but deeply distraught, feeling he could've done more to save many more lives. He leaves with his wife during the night. The Schindler Jews, having slept outside the factory gates through the night, are awakened by sunlight the next morning. A Soviet dragoon arrives and announces to the Jews that they have been liberated by the Red Army. The Jews walk to a nearby town in search of food. As they walk abreast, the frame changes to another of the Schindler Jews in the present day at the grave of Oskar Schindler in Israel. The film ends by showing a procession of now-aged Jews who worked in Schindler's factory, each of whom reverently sets a stone on his grave. The actors portraying the major characters walk hand-in-hand with the people they portrayed, also placing stones on Schindler's grave as they pass. We learn that the survivors and descendants of the approximately 1,100 Jews sheltered by Schindler now number over 6,000. The Jewish population of Poland, once numbering in the millions, was at the time of the film's release approximately 4,000. In the final scene, a man (Neeson himself, though his face is not visible) places a rose on the grave, and stands contemplatively over it.

[edit] Production

[edit] Development
Poldek Pfefferberg was one of the Schindlerjuden, and made it his life's mission to tell the story of his savior. Pfefferberg attempted to produce a biopic of Oskar Schindler with MGM in 1963,[1] with Howard Koch writing,[2] but the deal fell through. In 1982, Thomas Keneally published Schindler's Ark, which he wrote after he met Pfefferberg. MCA president Sid Sheinberg sent director Steven Spielberg a New York Times review of the book. Spielberg was astounded by the story of Oskar Schindler, jokingly asking if it was true. Spielberg "was drawn to the paradoxical nature of [Schindler]... It was about a Nazi saving Jews... What would drive a man like this to suddenly take everything he had earned and put it in all the service of saving these lives?" Spielberg expressed enough interest for Universal Studios to buy the rights to the novel, and in early 1983 Spielberg met with Pfefferberg. Pfefferberg asked Spielberg, "Please, when are you starting?" Spielberg replied, "Ten years from now."[1]

Spielberg was unsure of his own maturity in making a film about the Holocaust, and the project remained "on [his] guilty conscience". Spielberg attempted to pass off the project to director Roman Polanski, but Polanski turned down the project, finding the subject matter too sensitive because his mother was gassed at Auschwitz,[3] and from his own personal experiences in (and his eventual survival of) the Kraków Ghetto. Spielberg also offered the film to Sydney Pollack.[2] Martin Scorsese was attached to direct Schindler's List in 1988. However, Spielberg was unsure of letting Scorsese direct Schindler's List, as "I'd given away a chance to do something for my children and family about the Holocaust." Spielberg offered him to direct the Cape Fear remake instead.[2] Billy Wilder also expressed interest in directing the film, "as a memorial to most of [his] family, who went to Auschwitz." Spielberg finally decided to direct the film, after hearing of the Bosnian genocide and various Holocaust deniers.[1] Spielberg stated that with the rise of neo-nazism after the fall of the Berlin Wall, people were once again tolerating intolerance, as they did in the 1930s. In addition, Spielberg, who suffered Antisemitism as a child, was accepting his Jewish heritage while raising his children.[4] Sid Sheinberg greenlit the film on one condition: that Spielberg make Jurassic Park first. Spielberg later said, "He knew that once I had directed Schindler I wouldn't be able to do Jurassic Park".[2]

Thomas Keneally was initially hired to adapt his book in 1983, and he turned in a 220-page script. Keneally focused on Schindler's numerous relationships, and admitted he did not compress the story enough. Spielberg hired Kurt Luedtke, who wrote Out of Africa, to write the next draft. Luedtke gave up almost four years later, as he found Schindler's change of heart too unbelievable. During his time as director, Scorsese hired Steve Zaillian to write the script. When he was handed back the project, Spielberg found Zaillian's 115-page draft too short, and asked him to extend it to 195 pages. Spielberg wanted to focus on the Jews in the story, and extended the ghetto liquidation sequence, as Spielberg "felt very strongly that the sequence had to be almost unwatchable." Spielberg also felt Schindler's transition had to be ambiguous, and not "some kind of explosive catharsis that would turn this into The Great Escape."[2]

[edit] Casting
Liam Neeson auditioned as Oskar Schindler very early on in the casting process, and was cast in December 1992, after Spielberg saw him perform in Anna Christie on Broadway. Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson also expressed interest in portraying Schindler.[2] Neeson felt "[Schindler] enjoyed fookin' with the Nazis. In Keneally's book it says he was regarded as a kind of a buffoon by them... if the Nazis were New Yorkers, he was from Arkansas. They don't quite take him seriously, and he used that to full effect."[5] To prepare for the role, Neeson was sent tapes of Time Warner CEO Steve Ross, who had a charisma Spielberg compared to Schindler.[6]

Ralph Fiennes was cast as Amon Göth after Spielberg viewed his performances in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Spielberg said of Fiennes' audition that "I saw sexual evil. It is all about subtlety: there were moments of kindness that would move across his eyes and then instantly run cold." Fiennes put on 28lbs to play the role and looked at newsreels and talked to Holocaust survivors who knew Göth. In portraying him, Fiennes said "I got close to his pain. Inside him is a fractured, miserable human being. I feel split about him, sorry for him. He's like some dirty, battered doll I was given and that I came to feel peculiarly attached to." Fiennes looked so much like Göth in costume that when Mila Pfefferberg, a survivor of the events, met Fiennes she trembled with fear.[7]

Overall, there are 126 speaking parts in the film, and thirty thousand extras were hired during filming. Spielberg cast children of the Schindlerjuden for key Jewish speaking roles, and also hired Catholic Poles for the survivors. Halfway during the shoot, Spielberg conceived the epilogue where 128 Schindlerjuden pay their respects to Schindler's grave in Jerusalem. The producers scrambled to find the real life people portrayed in the film.[2]

[edit] Filming
Shooting for Schindler's List began on March 1, 1993 in Kraków (Cracow), Poland, and continued for seventy-one days.[1] The crew shot at the real life locations, though the Plaszow camp had to be reconstructed in a pit adjacent to the original site, due to post-war changes to the original camp. The crew were also forbidden to enter Auschwitz, so they shot at a replica outside the camp.[6] The Polish locals welcomed the filmmakers. There were some antisemitic incidents; anti-Semitic symbols scrawled on local billboards near shooting locations.[2] An elderly woman mistook Fiennes for a Nazi and told him "the Germans were charming people. They didn't kill anybody who didn't deserve it",[7] while Kingsley nearly entered a brawl with an elderly German-speaking businessman who insulted Israeli actor Michael Schneider.[8] Nonetheless, Spielberg stated that at Passover, "all the German actors showed up. They put on yarmulkes and opened up Haggadas, and the Israeli actors moved right next to them and began explaining it to them. And this family of actors sat around and race and culture were just left behind."[8]

"I was hit in the face with my personal life. My upbringing. My Jewishness. The stories my grandparents told me about the Shoah. And Jewish life came pouring back into my heart. I cried all the time."
Steven Spielberg on his emotional state during the shoot[3]
Shooting Schindler's List was a deeply emotional time for Spielberg, as the subject matter forced him to confront elements of his childhood, such as the anti-semitism he faced. He was furious with himself when he didn't "cry buckets" while visiting Auschwitz, and was one of many crew members who did not look on during shooting of the scene where aging Jews are forced to run naked being selected by Nazi doctors to go to Auschwitz.[6] Kate Capshaw and Spielberg's five children accompanied Spielberg on set, and he later thanked his wife "for rescuing me ninety-two days in a row... when things just got too unbearable." Spielberg's parents and his rabbi also visited him on set. Robin Williams called Spielberg every two weeks to cheer him up with various jokes. Spielberg forwent a salary, calling it "blood money", and believed the film would flop.[1]

[edit] Cinematography
Spielberg decided not to plan the film with storyboards, and to shoot the film like a documentary, looking to the documentaries The Twisted Cross (1956)[9] and Shoah (1985) for inspiration. Forty percent of the film was shot with handheld cameras, and the modest budget meant the film was shot quickly over seventy-two days. Spielberg felt that this gave the film "a spontaneity, an edge, and it also serves the subject." Spielberg said that he "got rid of the crane, got rid of the Steadicam, got rid of the zoom lenses, [and] got rid of everything that for me might be considered a safety net."[6] Such a style made Spielberg feel like an artist, as he limited his tools for a film he felt didn't have to be commercially successful.[4] This matured Spielberg, who felt that in the past he had always been paying tribute to directors such as Cecil B. DeMille or David Lean.[8] On this film, his shooting style was purely his own. He proudly noted that in this film, there were no crane shots.[2]

The decision to shoot the film in black and white lent to the documentarian style of cinematography, which cinematographer Janusz Kaminski compared to German Expressionism and Italian neorealism.[6] Kaminski said that he wanted to give a timeless sense to the film, so the audience would "not have a sense of when it was made."[6] Spielberg was following suit with "[v]irtually everything I've seen on the Holocaust... which have largely been stark, black and white images."[10] Universal chairman Tom Pollock asked Spielberg to shoot the film in a color negative, to allow color VHS copies of the film to be sold, but Spielberg did not want "to beautify events."[6] Black and white did present challenges to the color-familiar crew. Allan Starski, the production designer, had to make the sets darker or lighter than the people in the scenes, so they would not blend. The costumes also had to be distinguished from skin tones or colors being used for the sets.[10]

[edit] Music
John Williams composed the score for Schindler's List. The composer was amazed by the film, and felt it would be too challenging. He said to Spielberg, "You need a better composer than I am for this film." Spielberg replied, "I know. But they're all dead!" Williams played the main theme on piano, and following Spielberg's suggestion, he hired Itzhak Perlman to perform it on the violin. In the scene where children are transported away on trucks, while their screaming mothers give chase, the folk song "Oyf'n Pripetshok" is sung by a children's choir. The song was often sung by Spielberg's grandmother, Becky, to her grandchildren.[11]

[edit] Symbols

[edit] The girl in the red coat

Schindler sees a little girl wearing a red coat The red coat is one of the few instances of color in the black-and-white scenes of the filmThough the film is primarily shot in black-and-white, red is used to distinguish a little girl in a coat. Later in the film, she is seen dead. This character is based on Roma Ligocka, who was well known in the Warsaw Ghetto for her red coat. Ligocka in fact survived the Holocaust and, after the film was released, published a novel in 2000 entitled The Girl in the Red Coat: A Memoir.[12]

According to Andy Patrizio of IGN, the girl in the red coat is used to indicate that Schindler has changed: "Spielberg put a twist on her [Ligocka's] story, turning her into one more pile on the cart of corpses to be incinerated. The look on Schindler's face is unmistakable. Minutes earlier, he saw the ash and soot of burning corpses piling up on his car as just an annoyance."[13] Andre Caron wondered whether it was done "[t]o symbolize innocence, hope or the red blood of the Jewish people being sacrificed in the horror of the Holocaust?"[14] Spielberg himself has explained that he only followed the novel, and his interpretation was that

"America and Russia and England all knew about the Holocaust when it was happening, and yet we did nothing about it. We didn’t assign any of our forces to stopping the march toward death, the inexorable march toward death. It was a large bloodstain, primary red color on everyone’s radar, but no one did anything about it. And that’s why I wanted to bring the color red in."[15]

[edit] Smoke
The beginning features a family observing the Shabbat. Spielberg said, "to start the film with the candles being lit... would be a rich bookend, to start the film with a normal Shabbes service before the juggernaut against the Jews begins." When the color fades out in the film's opening moments, smoke symbolizes the horror of bodies being burnt at Auschwitz. Only at the end do the images of candle fire regain their warmth when Schindler holds a Shabbat service for his workers. For Spielberg, they represent "just a glint of color, and a glimmer of hope."[2]

[edit] Reception
The film opened in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto on December 15, 1993. The film grossed $96.1 million dollars in the United States and over $321.2 million worldwide.[16] In Germany, over 5.8 million admission tickets were sold.[16]

Schindler's List won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively, but did not win.[17] At the British Academy awards the film won Best Film, the David Lean Award for for Direction, Best Supporting Actor (Ralph Fiennes), Cinematography, Editing and Score.[16] Schindler's List also won Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Director and Best Screenplay, with John Williams awarded the Grammy for the films musical score.[16]

The American Film Institute voted it #9 on their AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies series, and in 2007 was voted in at #8 for the tenth anniversary list. In addition, the American Film Institute voted Liam Neeson's Schindler as the 13th greatest movie hero of all time, while Ralph Fiennes' Göth was voted the 15th greatest villain in the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains series. In 2006 it was selected as the 3rd most inspiring movie of all time by AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers. In 2004, the Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.[18]

In addition, Schindler's List also featured on a number of other "best of" lists, including the Time magazine's Top Hundred as selected by critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel, Time Out magazine's 100 Greatest Films Centenary Poll conducted in 1995, Roger Ebert's "Great Movies"' series, and Leonard Maltin's "100 Must See Movies of the Century". In addition, The Vatican named Schindler's List among the top 45 films ever made [19]

The readers of the German film magazine Cinema voted Schindler's List #1 to the best movie of all time in 2000.[20]

Following the success of the film, Spielberg founded and continues to finance the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, a non-profit organization with the goal of providing an archive for the filmed testimony of as many survivors of the Holocaust as possible, so that their stories will not be lost.[16] Spielberg also used the money from the film to finance several related documentaries including The Lost Children of Berlin (1996), Anne Frank Remembered (1995) and The Last Days (1998).[16]

[edit] Controversies
According to Czech filmmaker Juraj Herz, the scene in which a group of women confuse a gas chamber with an actual shower is taken directly, shot by shot, from his Zastihla mě noc (1986). Herz says he wanted to sue, but was unable to come up with the money to fund the effort.[21]

On Sunday, February 23, 1997, the film was shown on television in the United States, being carried by NBC with a pair of intermissions by the Ford Motor Company (they consisted of the Ford logo on a black background, the film's soundtrack playing and a small clock indicating how long before the film resumes). This was deemed rather hypocritical by some.[citation needed] Sources attest to Henry Ford being anti-semitic.[22]

As to the 1997 television showing of the film itself, per Spielberg's insistence, it aired unedited and nearly uncensored, although the sex scene was mildly edited by removing nearly all of the "thrusting." The telecast was the first ever to receive a TV-M (now TV-MA) rating under the TV Parental Guidelines that had been established at the beginning of that year. Many fundamentalist and evangelical Christian groups, which had previously been squeamish about the movie, stridently objected to the film being shown on network television at all, due to scenes of nudity, violence, and the use of vulgar language which were not edited out of the TV production. Senator Tom Coburn, then an Oklahoma congressman, stated that NBC, by airing the film, had brought television "to an all-time low, with full-frontal nudity, violence and profanity," adding that airing the film was an insult to "decent-minded individuals everywhere."[23] Under fire from fellow Republicans as well as from Democrats, Coburn apologized for his outrage, saying: "My intentions were good, but I've obviously made an error in judgment in how I've gone about saying what I wanted to say." He said he hadn't reversed his opinion on airing the film, but qualified it ought to have been aired later at night, when there aren't, as he said, "large numbers of children watching without parental supervision."[24]

[edit] References
^ a b c d e McBride, Joseph (1997). Steven Spielberg. Faber and Faber, 424-27. ISBN 0-571-19177-0.
^ a b c d e f g h i j "Making History", Entertainment Weekly, 1994-01-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ a b McBride, Joseph (1997). Steven Spielberg. Faber and Faber, 414-16. ISBN 0-571-19177-0.
^ a b (1994-01-31). Face to Face. BBC Two.
^ "OSKAR WINNER", Entertainment Weekly, 1994-01-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ a b c d e f g McBride, Joseph (1997). Steven Spielberg. Faber and Faber, 429-33. ISBN 0-571-19177-0.
^ a b Richard Corliss. "The Man Behind the Monster", TIME, 1994-02-21. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ a b c David Ansen; Abigail Kuflik. "Spielberg's obsession", Newsweek, pp. 112-116.
^ Steven Spielberg. (2006-11-04). The Culture Show [TV]. BBC2.
^ a b Behind The Scenes: Production Notes. Official site. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ Susan Goldman Rubin (2001). Steven Spielberg. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 73-74. ISBN 0-8109-4492-8.
^ INSTYTUT KSIĄŻKI: Roma Ligocka
^ Andy Patrizio. "Schindler's List", IGN, 2004-03-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
^ Andre Caron. "Spielberg's Fiery Lights", Senses of Cinema. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
^ David Anker (director), Steven Spielberg. (2005-04-05). Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust (TV). AMC.
^ a b c d e f Freer, Ian (2001). The Complete Steven Spielberg. Virgin Books, 220-237. ISBN 0-7535-0556-8.
^ Schindler's List - Awards and Nominations. Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ National Film Registry, List of Films 2004. National Film Registry. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
^ The Vatican Film List — Ten Years Later. Decent Films. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
^ Cinema.de 100 Magische Filmmomente: Die besten Filme aller Zeiten
^ Ivana Kosulicova. "Drowning the bad times", Kinoeye, 2002-01-07. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ Jonathan Logsdon. "[http://history.hanover.edu/hhr/99/hhr99_2.html Power, Ignorance, and Anti-Semitism: Henry Ford and His War on Jews]", Hanover University, Indiana. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
^ Reason. "The Minority Leader", Reason. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
^ Associated Press. "After rebuke, congressman apologizes for 'Schindler's List' remarks", CNN, 1997-02-26. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.

A Clockwork Orange (film)

2008-02-08T00:17:00.000-08:00

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 crime-drama-thriller film adaptation of a 1962 novel of the same name, by Anthony Burgess. The adaptation was produced, written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It stars Malcolm McDowell as the charismatic and psychopathic delinquent Alex DeLarge.

A Clockwork Orange features disturbing, violent imagery to facilitate social commentary on psychiatry, youth gangs, and other topics in a futuristic dystopian society. The film features a soundtrack comprising mostly classical music selections and Moog synthesizer compositions by Wendy Carlos.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Themes
3.1 Morality
3.2 Psychology
4 Adaptation
5 Production
5.1 Direction
5.2 Locations
6 Critical reaction
7 Responses and controversy
7.1 United States censorship
7.2 British withdrawal
8 Academy Awards
9 Awards and nominations
10 DVD releases
11 Anthony Burgess's response
12 Soundtrack
12.1 Track listing
13 Previous film versions
14 Differences between the film and the book
15 Trivia
16 References to other Kubrick's films
17 References
18 See also
19 External links

[edit] Plot
Set in 1995 England the film follows the life of a teenage boy named Alex DeLarge whose pleasures are classical music (most especially Beethoven), rape, and ultraviolence. He is leader of a small gang of thugs, whom he refers to as his "droogs" (from the Russian word друг meaning "friend" or "buddy"). Alex narrates most of the film in "nadsat"; the fractured, contemporary adolescent argot comprising Slavic (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang. The boy Alex is irreverent and abusive of others; he lies to his parents to skip school and has an expensive stereo sound deck blasting a classics recordings collection.

After drinking narcotic-laden milk at the Korova Milk Bar, Alex and his droogs brutalize an old homeless man with chains and canes under a motorway flyover. They then proceed to a run-down theater, where a rival gang led by Billy Boy are about to rape a woman. A fight between the two gangs ensues; Alex and his droogs emerge victorious and leave before the police arrive. Alex and the gang steal a Durango 95 (which is actually an Adams Probe 16 [2]) for a reckless drive into the countryside, where he leads his droogs in a home invasion, beating a reclusive writer named Mr. Alexander and raping his wife while singing and dancing to "Singin' in the Rain".

While skipping school for the day, Alex picks up two teenyboppers in a record shop, takes them home, and hurriedly has sex with them to the strains of the William Tell Overture. (In 1971, there was journalistic controversy about whether this scene constituted "obscenity" or not.)

Alex is soon faced by an attempted coup by two of his subordinate droogs, Georgie and Dim. Alex is slightly threatened, but seemingly deals with the problem by kicking the droogs into a decorative urban pool as they walk along the "flat block marina" and slashes the back of Dim's hand, demonstrating his leadership and unwillingness to be overthrown.

That night, Alex is caught during a burglary, a mutinous set-up by his ill-contented droogs. Alex breaks into a woman's house and uses a phallic sculpture to beat (and accidentally kill) the owner. Alex is then attacked by his droogs, hit in the head with a milk bottle and left helpless at the scene of their crime to be caught by the police. After being arrested, he learns that his robbery victim has died, making Alex a murderer. He is sentenced to 14 years in prison.

After serving two years, he is offered a chance at parole if he submits to the Ludovico technique, an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government to solve societal crime. The technique involves being exposed to extreme depictions of on-screen violence under the influence of a nausea-inducing drug. Alex is unable to look away from the screen and has his head held immobile and each of his eyes held open by small specula.

Consequently, Alex is rendered incapable of violence, even in self-defense, and also incapable of touching a naked woman during a test of the technique. Sadly, in an unintended side effect, the technique has also rendered him averse to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the background score used in one of the films that is a montage of images of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis; the scientist-doctors apologize: "It can't be helped", saying that musical aversion is "the punishment element, perhaps?"

Once Alex has successfully completed the therapy, he returns home, joyful at the thought of starting afresh. However, he is unpleasantly surprised by the discovery that his parents have rented out his room to a new young man, essentially "replacing" their son. With no place to go, stripped of the ability to defend himself, Alex despondently wanders London. He soon encounters the same homeless man, who, with his street friends, attacks the defenseless boy. He is then discovered by his two former droogs, Georgie and Pete, who have now become policemen. They take him into the outskirts of town, where they beat him and torture him by holding his head underwater.

Alex wanders through the woods and unwittingly arrives upon the house of the writer whose wife he had raped and beaten earlier in the film. Mr. Alexander takes him in before discovering his identity; subsequently, he drugs Alex and attempts to drive him insane with an electronic version of the Ninth Symphony (Second Movement) played at full volume below Alex's locked bedroom. The boy attempts suicide by jumping out a window, but he survives.

During his long recovery in the hospital, Alex talks about half remembered dreams he has of people "messing about with me gulliver [head]". It is unclear if Alex is remembering his old treatment, or is undergoing new treatment to turn him back to what he was. Soon he is visited by the Minister of the Interior who earlier had personally selected Alex for the Ludovico treatment. He apologises to Alex for the treatment's consequences, saying he was only following his staff's recommendations. He ultimately rewards Alex's gesture of support by presenting him with an enormous stereo playing the Ninth Symphony's finale (Fourth Movement), to which Alex listens with no physical reaction.

The government has promised Alex a job if he agrees to campaign on behalf of the ruling political party, whose public image has been severely damaged by Alex's attempted suicide. Anticipating his return to havoc, Alex relives his surreal fantasy of having sex with a woman in the snow, surrounded by applauding Victorian ladies and gentlemen. With the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the background, Alex narrates the film's end: "I was cured, all right..." .

[edit] Cast
Malcolm McDowell as Alexander "Alex" DeLarge
Warren Clarke as Dim
James Marcus as Georgie
Patrick Magee as Frank Alexander
Adrienne Corri as Mrs. Alexander
Michael Bates as Chief Guard
John Clive as Stage Actor
Aubrey Morris as Mr. P.R. Deltoid

[edit] Themes

[edit] Morality
One of the film's central moral questions — as well as in many of Burgess's other books — is the definition of "goodness". After aversion therapy, Alex behaves like a good member of society, but not by choice; his goodness is involuntary and mechanical, like that of the titular clockwork orange. In prison, the chaplain criticises the Ludovico Technique, saying that true goodness must come from within. Another theme is the abuse of one's liberties — both by Alex and by those using him for their various ends. The film is also critical of both parties using Alex as a tool to those ends: Frank Alexander, writer and victim of Alex and the droogs, not only wants revenge over Alex, but sees him as a means to definitively turn the people against the government and its new regime — Mr. Alexander is afraid of this new government. Speaking on the phone, he says:

…Recruiting brutal young roughs into the police; proposing debilitating and will-sapping techniques of conditioning. Oh, we’ve seen it all before in other countries; the thin end of the wedge! Before we know where we are, we will have the full apparatus of totalitarianism.

On the other side, the Minister of the Interior puts Mr. Alexander away, using the excuse of him being a danger to Alex. Whether he has been harmed or not remains unclear, but from what the Minister tells Alex, it is obvious that the author has been denied his ability to write and, more importantly, to produce “subversive” material, critical of the current government and prone to cause unrest.

The character of Alexander was also meant to be a satire of liberal hypocrisy. In the book, Mr. Alexander is happy to describe Alex as a victim, until he realises that he, the writer, was a victim of Alex's thuggery. It is no coincidence that they have the same name.

[edit] Psychology
Another central theme is outrage against behavioral psychology (popular throughout the 1940s and the 1960s), as propounded by psychologists John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner. Burgess disapproved of behaviorism, calling Skinner's most popular book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, "one of the most dangerous books ever written".[1] Although Watson conceded behaviourism's limitations, Skinner argued that behavior modification (learning techniques of systematic reward and punishment) is the key to an ideal society (see Walden Two). Dr. Ludovico's technique, which is highly reminiscent of the notorious Project MKULTRA, is the form of behavior modification the scientists applied to Alex to condition associating violent acts with a sensation of severe physical illness, thereby preventing him from being violent. This film embodies a mistrust of behaviourism, especially the perceived dehumanisation and lack of choice associated with behaviour modification methods.

[edit] Adaptation
Kubrick's film is relatively faithful to Burgess's novel, omitting only the final, positive chapter in which Alex matures and outgrows sociopathy. The film ends with Alex offered an open-ended government job, implying that Alex remains a sociopath at heart, while the novel ends with Alex's positive change. This plot discrepancy occurred because Kubrick based his screenplay upon the novel's American edition, its final chapter deleted on insistence of the American publisher.[2] Director Kubrick claimed not having read the complete, original version of the novel until he had almost finished writing the screenplay, and that he never considered using it. In the introduction of the 1996 edition of the novel, it is said that Kubrick found the end of the original edition too blandly optimistic and unrealistic.

Some other notable differences:

Alex and his droogs are a few years older in the movie than in the book, and the two 10-year-old girls Alex raped in the novel are likewise several years older, and the sex consensual, in the analogous scene in the movie. Also, instead of former enemy Billy Boy becoming Dim's police partner, it's fellow-former-droog Georgie.

[edit] Production
During the filming of the Ludovico scene, Malcolm McDowell scratched a cornea and was temporarily blinded. The doctor standing next to him in the scene dropping saline solution into Alex's forced-open eyes was not just there for filming purposes, but was a real doctor needed to prevent McDowell's eyes from drying. McDowell also suffered cracked ribs during filming of the humiliation stage show and nearly drowned when his breathing apparatus failed while being held underwater in the trough scene.

When Alex jumps out the window to try to end his torment, the viewer sees the ground coming toward the camera until they collide. This effect was achieved by dropping a portable camera from two or three stories up, lens pointing downward, thus presenting a realistic sense of what such a fall could be like (although the way Alex (either McDowell or a stuntman) jumped, he actually would have landed on his back, presumably into a net). Reportedly the camera sustained lens damage but it was otherwise still functional.

[edit] Direction
Director Stanley Kubrick was a notorious perfectionist, and so he demanded many takes during the making of his films. In the words of actor Malcolm McDowell, however, he usually got it right, so Kubrick did not have to do too many takes. Despite his perfectionism Kubrick was able to complete filming between September 1970 and its wrap on April 20, 1971, making it the fastest-produced film by Stanley Kubrick.

Kubrick wanted to give the film a dream-like, fantasy quality, and filmed many scenes with fisheye lenses. He also used fast and slow motion after being influenced by certain scenes in Toshio Matsumoto's masterpiece, "Funeral Parade of Roses" (which was also one of Kubrick's favorite films[citation needed]).

[edit] Locations
A Clockwork Orange is shot almost entirely on location in and around London with comparatively little of the film filmed in a studio.

The scene where the tramp is attacked was filmed at an underpass near Wandsworth road roundabout, London.
The Billyboy gangfight takes place at the now-demolished theatre, Taggs Island, Kingston upon Thames.
Alex's apartment is in Borehamwood.
The house where the writer was attacked and his wife raped was filmed in a house called Skybreak in The Warren, Radlett, Hertfordshire. The house was designed by Sir Norman Foster and Wendy Foster with Sir Richard Rogers.
The scene where Alex throws Dim and Georgie into water takes place at the Thamesmead South Housing Estate in London.
The house where Alex is caught by the police is Shenley Lodge in Hertfordshire at Blackhorse Lane.
The prison exterior is HMP Winchester. The interior scenes were filmed at Woolwich Barracks.
The Ludovico centre was filmed at Brunel University
Alex's suicide leap was from the Edgewarebury Country Club, Elstree.[3]

[edit] Critical reaction
The film has received a positive reception and received nominations for important awards including 4 nominations at Oscars (see below).The film received an 89% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However some critics had mixed opinions, with Roger Ebert giving the film 2 stars and calling it an "ideological mess".

The film was also known as inspiring a brutal murder in Pittsburgh, PA. An 18 year old boy named Michael Anderson murdered his best friend Karen Hurwitz in her own back yard using a katana. The murder was dubbed by the national media as "The Clockwork Orange Murder." [4]

[edit] Responses and controversy
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture (it lost to The French Connection) and reinvigorated sales for recordings of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. It also caused considerable controversy (see below) and was withdrawn from release in the UK. By the time of its re-release in the year 2000, it had already gained a reputation as a cult classic. It was recently placed at number 21 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills and number 46 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, though in the second listing it ranked in 70th place. Alex De Large was placed at number 12 in the villain section of the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list.

[edit] United States censorship
The film was rated X on its original release in the United States. Later, Kubrick voluntarily replaced roughly 30 seconds of footage from two scenes with less bawdy action for a 1973 re-release, rated R. It is a common myth that only the R-rated version can be seen nowadays, but in fact the opposite is true: all DVDs present the original X-rated form, and only some of the early 80s VHS editions are in the R-rated form.[5]

The film was rated C (for "condemned") by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting because of its explicit sexual and violent content; such a rating conceptually forbade Catholics from seeing the film. The "condemned" rating was abolished in 1982, and since then films deemed by the conference to have unacceptable levels of sex and/or violence have been rated O, meaning "morally offensive".

[edit] British withdrawal
In the United Kingdom, the sexual violence in the film was considered extreme. Furthermore, it was claimed that the film had inspired copycat behaviour. In March 1972, a prosecutor at a trial of a 14-year-old boy accused of the manslaughter of one of his classmates referred to A Clockwork Orange, telling the judge that the case had a macabre relevance to the film.[6]

The attacker, a boy age 16 from Bletchley, pleaded guilty after telling police that his friends had told him of the film "and the beating up of an old boy like this one"; defence counsel told the trial "the link between this crime and sensational literature, particularly A Clockwork Orange, is established beyond reasonable doubt".[7] The press also blamed the influence of the film for a rape in which the attackers sang "Singin' in the Rain". Kubrick subsequently requested that Warner Brothers withdraw the film from UK distribution.

At the time, it was widely believed that the copycat attacks were what led Kubrick to withdraw the film from distribution in the United Kingdom. However, in a television documentary made after Kubrick's death, his widow Christiane confirmed rumours that Kubrick had withdrawn A Clockwork Orange on police advice after threats were made against Kubrick and his family (the source of the threats was not discussed). That Warner Bros. acceded to Kubrick's request to withdraw the film is an indication of the remarkable relationship Kubrick had with the studio, particularly the executive Terry Semel.

The ban was vigorously pursued during Kubrick's lifetime. One art house cinema that defied the ban in 1993, and was sued and lost, was the Scala cinema at Kings Cross, London, on the same premises as the present-day Scala nightclub. Unable to meet the cost of the defence, the cinema club was forced into receivership. [8]

Whatever the reason for the film's withdrawal, it could not easily be seen in the United Kingdom for some 27 years. The first VHS and DVD releases followed shortly after Kubrick's death. It was also shown in many UK cinemas.

[edit] Academy Awards
The film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards. However, "The French Connection" won in all these categories for that year.

Best Director (Stanley Kubrick)
Best Film Editing (Bill Butler)
Best Picture (Stanley Kubrick, producer)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Stanley Kubrick)

[edit] Awards and nominations
"A Clockwork Orange" was Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 12 nominations.

BAFTA Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1972 Nominated

BAFTA Film Award Best Art Direction John Barry

Best Cinematography John Alcott

Best Direction Stanley Kubrick

Best Film

Best Film Editing William Butler

Best Screenplay Stanley Kubrick

Best Sound Track Brian Blamey John Jordan Bill Rowe

Directors Guild of America, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1972 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Stanley Kubrick

Golden Globes, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1972 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture Stanley Kubrick

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama Malcolm McDowell

Hugo Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1972 ****Won Hugo Best Dramatic Presentation****

Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1972 Won Silver Ribbon Best Director - Foreign Film (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) Stanley Kubrick **********

Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1972 Won KCFCC Award Best Film *********

New York Film Critics Circle Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1971 Won NYFCC Award Best Director ******** Stanley Kubrick

Best Film

Writers Guild of America, USA Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 1972 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Stanley Kubrick

[edit] DVD releases
In 2000, the film was released on videotape and DVD, both individually and as part of The Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD set. Consequent to negative comments from fans, Warner Bros re-released the film, its image digitally restored and its soundtrack remastered. A limited-edition collector's set with a soundtrack disc, movie poster, booklet and film strip followed, but later was discontinued. In 2005, a UK re-release, packaged as an "Iconic Film" in a limited-edition slipcase was published, identical to the remastered DVD set, except for different package cover art. In 2006, Warner Bros announced the September publication of a two-disc special edition featuring a Malcolm McDowell commentary, and the releases of other two-disc sets of Stanley Kubrick films. Several UK retailers had set the release date as November 6, 2006; the release was delayed and re-announced for 2007 Holiday Season. An HD DVD, Blu-ray, and DVD re-release version of the film was released on October 23rd, 2007. The release accompanies four other Kubrick classics. 1080p video transfers and remixed Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (for HD DVD) and uncompressed 5.1 PCM (for Blu-ray) audio tracks are on both the Blu-ray and HD DVD editions. Unlike the previous version, the DVD re-release edition is anamorphically enhanced.

[edit] Anthony Burgess's response
Burgess had mixed feelings about the film adaptation of his novel. Publicly, he loved Malcolm McDowell and Michael Bates, and its use of music; he praised the film as "brilliant," even as a film so brilliant that it could be dangerous. His initial reaction to the film was very enthusiastic, insisting that the only thing that bothered him was the removal of the story's last chapter, for which he blamed his American publisher and not Kubrick.

According to his autobiography, Burgess got along quite well with Kubrick. Both men held similar philosophic and political views; both were very interested in literature, cinema, music, and Napoleon Bonaparte (Burgess dedicated his book Napoleon Symphony to Kubrick). However, things turned bad when Kubrick left it to Burgess to defend the film from accusations of glorifying violence. Himself a (lapsed) Catholic, Burgess tried many times to explain the story's Christian moral points to outraged Christian organisations who felt it a Satanic social influence; to defend it against journalistic accusations that it supported "fascist" dogma; and Burgess even received awards for Kubrick.

Burgess was deeply hurt, feeling Kubrick had used him as a film publicity pawn. Malcolm McDowell, who did a publicity tour with Burgess, shared his feelings, and at times said harsh things about Kubrick. Burgess and McDowell cited as evidence of Kubrick's uncontrolled ego that only Kubrick's name appears in the authorial opening credits. Burgess spoofed Kubrick's image in later works: the musical version of A Clockwork Orange, featuring a character resembling Kubrick who is beaten early in the work; The Clockwork Testament, wherein the fictional poet FX Enderby is attacked for supposedly glorifying violence in a film adaptation; and Burgess's novel Earthly Powers, which features a crafty director named Zabrick.

[edit] Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack comprises classical music and electronic synthetic music composed by Wendy Carlos (credited at the time to Walter Carlos).

Some of the pieces of classical music excerpted make only the briefest appearance in the film, a case in point being the "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1" theme better known as "Land of Hope and Glory", which is used in highly ironic fashion to herald the appearance of a politician in the prison, and is not heard again.

The film's music can be interpreted as a thematic extension of Alex's psychological conditioning, affecting the viewers.

[edit] Track listing
"Title Music from A Clockwork Orange"[3], Wendy Carlos
"The Thieving Magpie (Rossini, Abridged)", A Deutsche Grammophon Recording
"Theme from A Clockwork Orange (Beethoviana)", Wendy Carlos
"Ninth Symphony, Second Movement (Abridged)", A Deutsche Grammophon Recording, probably the one conducted by Ferenc Fricsay.
"March from A Clockwork Orange (Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement, Abridged)", Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind
"William Tell Overture (Rossini, Abridged)", Wendy Carlos
"Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1", Sir Edward Elgar
"Pomp and Circumstance March No. IV (Abridged)", Sir Edward Elgar
"Timesteps (Excerpt)", Wendy Carlos
"Overture to the Sun", Terry Tucker (instrumental from the 1969 album of her group, "Sunforest")
"I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper", Erika Eigen (from the 1969 album of her group, "Sunforest" - movie version is somewhat different from soundtrack)
"William Tell Overture (Abridged)", A Deutsche Grammophon Recording
"Suicide Scherzo (Ninth Symphony, Second Movement, Abridged)", Wendy Carlos
"Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement, (Abridged)", A Deutsche Grammophon Recording (Von Karajan, 1963, uncredited)
"Singin' in the Rain", Gene Kelly, lyrics by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown.
^ The main theme is an electronic transcription of Henry Purcell's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary[4], composed in 1695 for the procession of Queen Mary's cortège through the streets of London enroute to Westminster Abbey.
Three months after the official soundtrack's release, composer Wendy Carlos released a second version of the soundtrack (Columbia KC 31480) containing unused cues and musical elements unheard in the film. For example, Kubrick only used part of "Timesteps", and a shortened version of the synthesiser transcription of the Ninth Symphony's Scherzo. Additionally, this second soundtrack LP contained a synthesiser version of Rossini's "La Gazza Ladra"; Kubrick used an orchestral performance in the film's soundtrack. In 1998, an edition of the soundtrack containing digitally-remastered tracks of the synthesiser music was released. It contains Carlos's compositions, including those unused in the film, and the "Biblical Daydreams" and "Orange Minuet" cues unincluded in the 1972 soundtrack LP record.

Carlos composed the first three minutes of "Timesteps" before reading Burgess's novel. Originally, she had intended as the introduction to a vocoder rendition of the Ninth Symphony's Choral movement; "Timesteps" was completed at roughly the time when Kubrick completed the film's photography; "Timesteps" and the vocoder Ninth Symphony were the foundation for Carlos's and Kubrick's collaboration.

Reportedly, Stanley Kubrick asked Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters if he could use elements of the "Atom Heart Mother" suite in the soundtrack; Waters rejected the request. Later, Waters asked Kubrick if he could appropriate sounds from 2001: A Space Odyssey - a request Kubrick rejected.

"March from A Clockwork Orange" was the first recorded song featuring a vocoder for singing, and often is cited as inspiration for many synthpop bands.

Neither the end-credits nor the soundtrack album name the orchestra playing the classical excerpts from the Ninth Symphony, however, in Alex's bedroom, early in the story, there is a fleeting close-up of a microcassette tape labelled: "Deutsche Grammophon – Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphonie Nr. 9 d-moll, op. 125 – Berliner Philharmoniker – Chor der St. Hedwigskathedrale – Ferenc Fricsay – Irmgard Seefried, Maureen Forrester, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Ernst Haefliger".

[edit] Previous film versions
The first dramatisation of A Clockwork Orange (excerpted from the story's first three chapters only) was by the BBC, for part of the programme Tonight, broadcast shortly after the novel's original publication in 1962. No recording of this dramatisation has survived.

Six years before Stanley Kubrick's film version, Andy Warhol produced a low-budget version in 1965, titled Vinyl). Reportedly, only two scenes are recognisable: "Victor" (a renamed Alex) wreaking havoc, and undergoing the Ludovico Treatment.

[edit] Differences between the film and the book
In the book, Dr. Branom is a male. In the film, the character is female.
The film uses Nadsat significantly less often than the book in order to make the film more accessible.
In the film Alex has a pet snake. There is no mention of this in the book. This was added by Kubrick due to Malcolm McDowell's fear of snakes.[citation needed]
In the film, Alex and his droogs beat a tramp, who later recognizes him and, with other homeless people, assaults him after his treatment. In the book, Alex beats an old man carrying library books, who later recognizes him and (with other aged people) assaults him in a library after his treatment. Alex and his droogs also beat a tramp in the book, but Alex did not meet him again as he was presumably killed.
In the book, Alex and his gang pay for a group of old ladies' drinks, bribing them into providing the police with an alibi to cover a "crast" (shop burglary). None of this appears in the film; the scene with the old ladies was shot, but not used.[citation needed]
The girl that is about to be raped by Billy Boy's gang is ten in the book, but a young woman in the film.
In the book, the writer whose wife Alex rapes is named "F. Alexander", leading to an ironic comparison between the two "Alexander"s. The film does not mention his surname, though he is called "Mr. Alexander" in the credits. In the film, he is addressed by his first name, "Frank," a detail not revealed in the book.
In the book, Alex takes home and rapes two ten-year-old girls, Marty and Sonietta, after meeting them in a record shop. In the film, the girls are about 14 years old, and their sexual encounter with Alex is consensual.
In the film, the "cat lady" whose house Alex breaks into possesses a great deal of sexual artwork, including a rocking penis sculpture with which Alex delivers the (inadvertent) killing strike. None of this artwork is mentioned in the book, in which Alex uses a small silver statue of a naked woman to deliver the fatal blow. The "cat lady" in the novel is elderly, addled, and living in a cat-ridden house of Mrs. Haversham-style dilapidation; the "cat lady" in the movie is in her early 40s, sharp, and living in a house which is clearly also her highly successful business—some sort of upscale health/yoga resort.
When trying to escape from the cat lady's house, Alex is stopped by Dim, who attacks him and leaves him for the police. In the book, Dim uses his "oozy" (or chain) to whip Alex across the face. In the film, Dim smashes a milk bottle across the side of Alex's head.
In the film, Alex's surname is spoken as "DeLarge" on arrival at prison; this surname is a pun based on the book, when Alex (referring to his penis) calls himself "Alexander the Large" (in turn a reference to "Alexander the Great"). In a close-up shot of a newspaper article, Alex is identified as "Alex Burgess". In the book, Alex's surname is unknown.
In the book, Alex's prisoner number is 6655321; in the film, it is 655321.
In the book, Alex is beaten by prison guards. The film does not show this, but Alex mentions it in his narration.
In the book, an imprisoned Alex learns of the death of his former droog Georgie. In the film, Alex meets with Georgie after being freed from prison (see below).
In the book, the incarcerated Alex and cell mates brutally beat a man just put in their cell, for being a nuisance. Alex is told to give the man some "tolchocks", and accidentally kills him. For such persistent violence, Alex is selected to undergo the Ludovico Technique. In the film, Alex volunteers for the treatment and is chosen in part for his good behavior in prison.
In the book, Alex is beaten by his former droog, Dim, and his former rival, Billy Boy, who have both joined the police; the beating itself is not described (though it is implied he was raped as well as beaten). In the film, Billy Boy is replaced in this scene by Georgie, another former droog (who had died in the novel); they take Alex down a wood path to a watering trough, where Dim forces Alex's head underwater, and Georgie beats him with his truncheon. Actor Malcolm McDowell nearly drowned during filming when his air tank failed, as the (unbroken) scene lasted 60 seconds.[citation needed]
In the book, F. Alexander lives alone after the death of his wife, and manages most of the housework by himself despite his condition. In the film, he is shown to have hired a bodyguard named Julian to help him around the house and guard the home from future break-ins. The bodyguard is played by former bodybuilder and future Darth Vader, David Prowse in a brief role.
In the book, F. Alexander recognizes Alex through a number of careless references to the previous attack (i.e. his wife then claiming they did not have a telephone). Whereas, in the film, Alex is recognized when singing the song 'Singing in the Rain', in the bath, which he hauntingly does whilst attacking F. Alexander's wife. The song does not appear at all in the book, as it was an improvisation by actor Malcolm McDowell when Kubrick complained that the rape scene was too "stiff".[citation needed]
Alex is conditioned against all music in the book, but in the film he is only averse to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
During one of the applications of the Ludovico Technique, Beethoven's Fifth symphony is played, and Alex begs for them to stop. In the movie, it is the Ninth symphony which is played during this scene.
The last chapter (21) of the book was not filmed. In this chapter, Alex encounters Pete, the third member of the original gang, who has grown beyond his violent ways and married; Alex realises that he wishes to do the same, but believes his violence was an unavoidable product of his youth.

[edit] Trivia
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

There is occasional confusion about the title. Posters for the film, and the soundtrack album cover, read "Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange", with Alex (Malcolm McDowell) emerging from what appears to be a large "A" to complete the title. The spin-off album cover is called "Walter/Wendy Carlos' Clockwork Orange". As the film's title cards make clear, the actual title of the film is the same as that of the book: A Clockwork Orange.
The film includes the phrase "A Clockwork Orange" only once. We see A Clockwork Orange written on a piece of paper in Mr. Alexander's typewriter. The book explains that the author Frank is supposed to have written a political tract by that name (with a passage explaining the title), but this is not mentioned in the movie.
In the film, while Alex is being tortured by Mr. Alexander, Kubrick composes the shot so that the author is transformed into a bust of Beethoven. Even the arrangement of the scarf around his neck suggests the contours of a statuette.
Mr. Alexander's doorbell chimes the famous first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Within classical tradition, this famous opening has been likened to "fate knocking at the door".
In the film, the car seen before the home invasion is the M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16, in the book however, it is referred to as Durango 95. Only three were produced. In the TV-programme Top Gear (Season 2004, 2nd episode, aired October 31, 2004), the one used in the film was nominated for restoration in the Restoration Rip-off feature.
The sculptures of females in the Korova Milkbar were based on works by sculptor Allen Jones.
When Alex is dragged through the forest by the two droogs-turned-policemen, their badge numbers are 665 and 667, implying that Alex (between them) is 666, the number of "The Beast", or commonly referred to as Satan.
Philip Castle's poster artwork for A Clockwork Orange incorporates the Eye of Providence.
Underground Rapper Cage Kennylz references A Clockwork Orange in his song Agent Orange.

[edit] References to other Kubrick's films
The album cover of the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey, also directed by Stanley Kubrick, is visible in the record-shop scene, as is the cover to The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, and Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother.
Alex is given Experimental Serum 114, a phonetic play on the CRM-114 radio seen in Dr. Strangelove. The number 114 also appears in other films by Stanley Kubrick, including Eyes Wide Shut and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The red chairs in the Korova Milk Bar are also seen in the space-station lounge in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[edit] References
^ SparkNotes: A Clockwork Orange: Context
^ The Kubrick FAQ Part 2
^ Filming Locations Malcommcdowell.net, accessed 2007-07-22
^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07267/820015-42.stm - Article discussing the murder of Karen Hurwitz and the insipiration Michael Anderson received from watching Clockwork Orange.
^ [1] - Article discussing the edits, with photographs.
^ "Serious pockets of violence at London school, QC says", The Times, 21 March 1972.
^ "'Clockwork Orange' link with boy's crime", The Times, 4 July 1973.
^ Scala's History The Scala website, accessed 12 November, 2007
Burgess, Anthony. 1978. "A Clockwork Orange". In his 1985[citation needed]. London: Hutchins

Apocalypse Now

2008-02-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 Academy Award, Cannes Palme d'Or and Golden Globe winning American film set during the Vietnam War. It tells the story of Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard who is sent into the jungle to assassinate United States Army Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, who is said to have gone insane. The film has been viewed as a journey into the darkness of the human psyche.

The film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, and was in large part based on Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness (1899), as well as drawing elements from Herr's "Dispatches" (1977), and from Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972); Coppola himself has noted, "Aguirre, with its incredible imagery, was a very strong influence. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it."[1]

The film stars Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin L. Willard (based on Marlow in Conrad's novella), Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz, Dennis Hopper as a photojournalist, and Robert Duvall in an Oscar-nominated turn as the wild Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore. The movie became notorious in the entertainment press due to its lengthy and troubled production. In the end, Coppola had to finance the film with his own money.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Alternative versions
2.1 Endings
2.2 Apocalypse Now Redux
3 Adaptation
4 Background and production
5 Controversy over the Killing of a Water Buffalo for the Film
6 Responses
7 Home video release aspect ratio issues
8 Cast
9 Awards
10 References
11 External links

[edit] Plot
U.S. Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard has returned to Saigon; a seasoned veteran, he is deeply troubled and apparently no longer fit for civilian life. A group of intelligence officers approach him with a special mission: go up-river into the remote Cambodian jungle to find Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, a former member of the United States Army Special Forces.

They state that Kurtz, once considered a model officer and future general, has allegedly gone insane and is commanding a legion of his own Montagnard troops deep inside the forest in neutral Cambodia. Their claims are supported by very disturbing radio broadcasts and/or recordings made by Kurtz himself. Willard is ordered to undertake a mission to find Kurtz and "terminate... with extreme prejudice."

Willard studies the intelligence files during the boat ride to the river entrance and learns that Kurtz, isolated in his compound, has assumed the role of a warlord and is worshipped by the natives and his own loyal men. Another officer, Colby, sent earlier to kill Kurtz, may have become one of his lieutenants.

Willard begins his trip up the Mekong River on a PBR (Patrol Boat, Riverine), with an eclectic crew composed of by-the-book and formal Chief Phillips, a black Navy boat commander; GM3 Lance B. Johnson, a tanned all-American California surfer; GM3 Tyrone, a.k.a. "Mr. Clean", a black 17-year-old from "some South Bronx shit-hole"; and the New Orleanian Engineman, Jay "Chef" Hicks.

The PBR arrives at a Landing Zone where Willard and the crew meet up with Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore, the eccentric commander of the regional AirCav unit, following a massive and hectic mopping-up operation of a conquered enemy town. Kilgore, a keen surfer, befriends Johnson. Later, he learns from one of his men, Mike, that the beach down the coast which marks the opening to the river is perfect for surfing, a factor which persuades him to capture it. The problem is, his troops say, it's "Charlie's point" and heavily fortified. Dismissing this complaint with the explanation that "Charlie don't surf!", Kilgore orders his men to saddle up in the morning so that the AirCav can capture the town and the beach. Riding high above the coast in a fleet of Hueys accompanied by H-6s, Kilgore launches an attack on the beach. The scene, famous for its use of Richard Wagner's epic "Ride of the Valkyries", ends with the soldiers surfing the barely claimed beach amidst skirmishes between infantry and VC. After helicopters swoop over the village and demolish all visible signs of resistance, a giant napalm strike in the nearby jungle dramatically marks the climax of the battle. Kilgore exults to Willard in a famous speech in which he eulogises "the smell of napalm in the morning", which he says smells "like...victory."

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning…It smells like…victory."The lighting and mood darken as the boat navigates upstream and Willard's silent obsession with Kurtz deepens. Incidents on the journey include a run-in with a tiger while Willard and Chef search for mangoes, an impromptu inspection of a Vietnamese sampan that leads to a massacre, a surreal stop at the last American outpost during a Vietnamese attack against a wood bridge under construction there, and the shocking deaths of both Clean and Chief Phillips during a gunfire ambush with hidden Viet Cong soldiers and a spear thrown by a native on the shore, respectively.

After arriving at Kurtz' outpost, Willard leaves Chef behind with orders to call in an air strike on the village if he does not return. They are met by a borderline-psychotic freelance photographer (Hopper) who explains Kurtz's greatness and philosophical skills to provoke his people into following him. Brought before Kurtz and held in captivity in a darkened temple, Willard’s constitution appears to weaken as Kurtz lectures him on his theories of war, humanity, and civilization. Kurtz explains his motives and philosophy in a famous and haunting monologue in which he praises the ruthlessness of the Viet Minh: If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. For it is judgment that defeats us.

While bound outside in the pouring rain, Willard is approached by Kurtz, who places the severed head of Chef in his lap. Coppola makes little explicit, but we come to believe that Willard and Kurtz develop an understanding nonetheless; Kurtz wishes to die at Willard's hands, and Willard, having subsequently granted Kurtz his wish, is offered the chance to succeed him in his warlord-demigod role. Juxtaposed with a ceremonial slaughtering of a water buffalo, Willard enters Kurtz's chamber during one of his message recordings, and kills him with a machete (This entire sequence is set to "The End" by The Doors, as is the sequence at the very beginning of the film). Lying bloody and dying on the ground, Kurtz whispers "The horror... the horror." (This line is taken directly from Conrad's novella.) Willard walks through the now-silent crowd of natives until he comes upon Lance, who seems to have integrated himself into the society. The two of them make their way to the PBR and float away as Kurtz's final words echo in the wind as the screen fades to black.

[edit] Alternative versions

[edit] Endings
At the time of its release, many rumors surrounded the ending of Apocalypse Now. Coppola stated an ending was written in haste in which Willard and Kurtz joined forces and repelled the air strike on the compound; however, Coppola never fully agreed with the two going out in apocalyptic intensity, preferring to end the film in a more encouraging manner[citation needed].

When Coppola originally organized the ending of the movie, he had two choices. One involved Willard leading Lance by the hand as everyone in Kurtz's base throws down their weapons, and ends with images of Willard's boat pulling away from Kurtz's compound superimposed over the face of a stone idol which then fades into black. Another option showed an air strike being called and the base being blown to bits in a spectacular display, consequently killing everyone left at the base.

The original 1978 70 mm theatrical release ended with Willard's boat, the stone statue, then fade to black with no credits. Later, when it was no longer practical to not have any credits, Coppola elected to show the credits superimposed over shots of Kurtz's base exploding (anamorphic 16 mm rental prints circulated with this ending, and can be found in the hands of a few collectors); however, when Coppola heard that audiences interpreted this as an air strike called by Willard, Coppola pulled the film from its 35 mm run, and put credits on a black screen. In the DVD commentary, Coppola explains that the images of explosions had not been intended to be part of the story; they were intended to be seen as completely separate from the film. He had added them to the credits because he had captured the footage during the demolition of the set in the Philippines, which was filmed with multiple cameras fitted with different film stocks and lenses to capture the explosions at different speeds.

Because of the confusion over the misinterpreted ending, there are multiple slightly varying versions of the ending credits. Some TV screenings maintain the explosion footage at the end, others do not, and there are several other versions.

The 70 mm release ends with no credits, save for 'Copyright 1979 Omni Zoetrope' right after the film ends; This mirrors the lack of any opening titles, and supposedly stems from Coppola's original intention to "tour" the film as one would a play: the credits would have appeared on printed programs provided before the screening began. This was, in fact, done in certain cinemas and was repeated during the theatrical release of Apocalypse Now: Redux.[citation needed]

The first DVD of the theatrical version plays like the 70 mm version, without beginning or ending credits, but has them on a separate part of the DVD. The credits to Apocalypse Now: Redux are different again: the credits play over a black background, but with ambient music by the Rhythm Devils.

[edit] Apocalypse Now Redux
Main article: Apocalypse Now Redux
In 2001, Coppola released Apocalypse Now Redux (Latin for "brought back") in cinemas and subsequently on DVD. This is an extended version that restores 49 minutes of scenes cut from the original film. Coppola has continued to circulate the original version as well: the two versions are packaged together in the Complete Dossier DVD, released on August 15, 2006.

The most significant footage added in the Redux version is an anticolonialism chapter involving the de Marais family's rubber plantation, a holdover from the colonization of French Indochina, featuring Coppola's two sons Gian-Carlo and Roman as children of the family. These scenes were removed from the 1979 cut, which premiered at Cannes, presumably because political critiques of the French colonization of Vietnam were taboo in France at the time. However, in behind the scenes footage in Hearts of Darkness, Coppola expresses his anger, on the set, at the technical aspects of the shot scenes, the result of tight allocation of resources. At the time of the Redux, it was possible to digitally-enhance the footage to accomplish Coppola's vision. In the scenes, the French family patriarchs argue about the positive side of colonialism in Indochina and denounce the betrayal of the military men in the First Indochina War. Hubert de Marais argues that French politicians sacrificed entire battalions at Điện Biên Phủ, and tells Willard that the US created the Viet Cong (as the Viet Minh), to fend off Japanese invaders.

Other added material includes extra combat footage before Willard meets Kilgore, a humorous scene in which Willard's team steals Kilgore's surfboard (which sheds some light on the hunt for the mangoes), a follow-up scene to the dance of the Playboy playmates, in which Willard's team finds the playmates awaiting evacuation after their helicopter has run out of fuel, and a scene of Kurtz reading from a Time magazine article about the war, surrounded by Cambodian children.

[edit] Adaptation
Although inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the film deviates extensively from its source material. The novella, based on Conrad's real experiences as a steam paddleboat captain in Africa, is set in the Belgian Congo during the 19th century. Kurtz and Marlow (who is named Willard in the movie) both work for a Belgian trading company that brutally exploits its native African workers.

When Marlow arrives at Kurtz's outpost, he discovers that Kurtz has gone insane and is lording over a small tribe as a god. The novella ends with Kurtz dying on the trip back and the narrator musing about darkness of the human psyche: "the heart of an immense darkness."

In the novella, Marlow is the pilot of a river boat sent to collect ivory from Kurtz's outpost, only gradually becoming infatuated with Kurtz. In fact, when he discovers Kurtz in terrible health, Marlow makes a concerted effort to bring him home safely. In the movie, Willard is an assassin dispatched to kill Kurtz. Nevertheless, the depiction of Kurtz as a god-like leader of a tribe of natives and his malarial fever, Kurtz's written exclamation "Exterminate the brutes!" (which appears in the film as "Drop the bomb. Exterminate them All!") and his final lines "The horror! The horror!" are taken from Conrad's novella.

Coppola argues that many episodes in the film — the spear and arrow attack on the boat, for example — respect the spirit of the novella and in particular its critique of the concepts of civilization and progress. While Coppola replaced European colonization with American interventionism, the message of Conrad's book is still clear.[2]

[edit] Background and production
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2006)

The film was originally written in the late 1960s by John Milius, who would later direct films such as The Wind and the Lion, Red Dawn and Conan the Barbarian. Milius claims to have been inspired by his film professor's claim that no one had successfully adapted the book Heart of Darkness, despite attempts by such legendary directors as Orson Welles and Richard Brooks. Ironically, given that the finished film is seen as an anti-war movie, Milius, who is politically a rightist, originally conceived the title as a cynical answer to the leftist hippie slogan "Nirvana Now!" and his original screenplay includes several speeches by Kurtz extolling the virtues of combat and the warrior way of life.

The script was originally to be directed by George Lucas, who was then Coppola's protege at American Zoetrope. Coppola founded Zoetrope to create an alternative to the major Hollywood studios which would support the work of the rising generation of film-school graduates who would become known colloquially as "the movie brats." The war in Vietnam was still active at the time and the initial plan was to shoot Apocalypse Now guerilla-style in Vietnam itself. Warner Bros., which had a production deal with Zoetrope, refused to finance the project both for commercial reasons and the fear that the filmmakers would be killed trying to shoot it in a war zone. Lucas has claimed that the studio saw the project, as well as him and his colleagues, as "crazy." After Lucas found success with American Graffiti, Coppola chose to direct the film himself. This reportedly caused some friction between the two men. Coppola chose to finance the film entirely with his own assets, using money earned from the two Godfather films and a bank loan, in order to retain total creative control over the final product.

Coppola also rewrote the script to accommodate his vision, removing much of Milius's macho dialogue and changing the film's ending. Milius's original ending showed Kurtz and Willard joining forces to fight an American air assault on Kurtz's compound. The compound is destroyed in a massive air strike and Kurtz dies of his wounds as Willard looks on. Coppola dismissed this ending as cartoonish. The ending would be rewritten multiple times over the course of production and most of Kurtz's role would eventually be improvised by Marlon Brando. The film's narration was written during the editing process by Michael Herr, who had written the book Dispatches while a war correspondent in Vietnam.

Apocalypse Now was the first time Coppola worked with cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who had shot several films for Bernardo Bertolucci, including The Conformist, one of Coppola's favorites.

It was said that Coppola had approached legendary B-movie director Roger Corman, Coppola's mentor who gave him his first break as a director about Corman's experience with shooting in the Philippines. (As much of the film was shot in the country, most notably the Pagsanjan River and Hidden Valley Springs), had Corman advising the director: "Don't go." as the film would start shooting during the country's monsoon season. Such weather helped fuel the shoot's history as being legendary for its length and difficulty; filming took so long, critics eventually began referring to it as "Apocalypse When?". The film went far over budget and over schedule for several reasons. A typhoon destroyed many of the sets, which had to be rebuilt at great expense. The Philippine Air Force helicopters used for shooting Col. Kilgore's attack on a Vietnamese village were constantly being called back by President Ferdinand Marcos to serve in actual combat against anti-government rebels.

The lead role of Captain Willard was to be played by Harvey Keitel but it was recast two weeks after shooting began. Keitel's footage was re-shot with Martin Sheen, who suffered a near-fatal heart attack during production and was suffering from alcoholism during the shoot. In 50 Films to See Before You Die, aired on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 on the 22 July 2006, Sheen reveals that the opening scene was completely improvised, that he had been drinking all day, his 36th birthday, before it was shot, and that he broke the mirror by accident. When he started bleeding, Coppola wanted to stop filming, but Sheen insisted that he continue. Watching the scene back, Sheen said it was good to see where he'd come from knowing that he was never going to go back there again. It took Sheen weeks to recover and return to the set, during which time the film was in danger of being shut down. Being similar in appearance and voice, Joe Estevez, Sheen's brother, stood in for Sheen in some of the long shots and would later record some of the film's narration.

Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz.Marlon Brando appeared on set massively overweight, despite his character's description as sick and emaciated. The majority of Brando's dialogue had to be improvised, despite the short time during which the actor was available.

Coppola famously said of the shoot: "We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane." The director faced bankruptcy and financial ruin if the film was not finished or shut down; his personal investment and the bizarre circumstances of the production created immense personal pressure. According to the 1991 documentary, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse directed by Eleanor Coppola, George Hickenlooper and Fax Bahr, Coppola's marriage almost fell apart and the director suffered a nervous breakdown, including declaring to commit suicide three separate times through the making of the film.

The film took over a year to edit, with the editor making an average of three cuts a day, mostly on state-of-the-art editing equipment purchased by Coppola specifically for the production. The initial rough cut was just over four and a half hours long and had to be severely cut. A three-hour version was screened as a "work in progress" at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme D'Or for best film. It was at the Cannes press conference that Coppola made his famous comment that "My film is not about Vietnam, it is Vietnam." The director, according to archival materials in the recent "Complete Dossier" edition, also stated that his plan was to create a single theater, in the geographical center of the United States (likely Kansas) that would show Apocalypse Now, and only Apocalypse Now. It would be specially tailored to the film, with 3D 70mm projectors, 5.1 surround sound, and the Sensurround system, which would vibrate the seats at the appropriate intervals. In his eyes, it would be "an event", and he likened it to travelling to Mount Rushmore. It was, incidentally, exactly the same idea which motivated Richard Wagner's Bayreuth Festival. Wagner's Parsifal was initially only to be shown in Bayreuth and Bayreuth too was chosen as the festival location because it is more or less in the heart of Germany. Considering that Wagner's music features so prominently in Apocalypse Now, Coppola may have been inspired by Wagner's example.

The original released version of the movie was just over two and a half hours long, and was a box-office success in the United States and overseas. It eventually made over 100 million dollars at the box office.

Coppola re-released the film in 2001 under the title Apocalypse Now Redux. The new print was supervised by Vittorio Storaro, who used a color process of his own invention to restore the film for release. Storaro has claimed that Apocalypse Now Redux looks better than the original release print of the film.

The catastrophic production of the film made it symbolic of the dangers of excessive directorial control over major productions. The shooting was said to have taken a toll on all involved, especially Coppola, both mentally and emotionally.

[edit] Controversy over the Killing of a Water Buffalo for the Film
A water buffalo was slaughtered with a machete for the climactic scene. It was in fact a real ritual performed by local natives, with Coppola and a film crew on the sidelines as honored guests. Although this was an American production subject to American animal cruelty laws, scenes like this filmed in the Philippines were not policed or monitored, and the American Humane Association gave the film an "unacceptable" rating.[3]

[edit] Responses
Apocalypse Now premiered in 1979 to mixed reviews and received polarized responses from audiences. It is said that it was as lauded as it was reviled. Many critics slammed the film, calling it overly pretentious, while others felt that it ended anticlimactically after a splendid first act.[citation needed]

Roger Ebert, who hailed it as the best film of 1979 and added it to his list of Great Movies, stated:

Apocalypse Now is the best Vietnam film, one of the greatest of all films, because it pushes beyond the others, into the dark places of the soul. It is not about war so much as about how war reveals truths we would be happy never to discover.

Today, the film is regarded by many as a masterpiece of the New Hollywood era. It is on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list at number 28. Kilgore's quote "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" was number 12 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list. In 2002, Sight and Sound magazine polled several critics to name the best film of the last 25 years and Apocalypse Now was named number one. It was also listed as the second best war film by viewers on Channel 4's 100 Greatest War Films, and ranked number 1 on Channel 4's 50 Films To See Before You Die.

BBC listed this speech as the most famous movie speech, in a poll of viewers.

You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...

This is the speech where the famous "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Smells like...victory" originates. (BBC News)

[edit] Home video release aspect ratio issues
The first home video releases of Apocalypse Now were pan-and-scan versions of the original 35 mm Technovision anamorphic 2.35:1 print, and the closing credits, white on black background, were presented in compressed 1.33:1 full-frame format to allow all credit information to be seen on standard televisions. The first letterboxed appearance (on laserdisc on 12-29-1991) cropped the film to a 2:1 aspect ratio (conforming to the Univisium spec created by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro), featuring a small degree of pan-and-scan processing - notably in the opening shots in Willard's hotel room, featuring a composite montage - at the insistence of Coppola and Storaro. Although the end credits, from a videotape source, not a film print, were still crushed for 1.33:1 and zoomed to fit the anamorphic video frame. All DVD releases have maintained this aspect ratio in anamorphic widescreen, but present the film without the end credits, which were treated as a separate feature. As a DVD extra, the footage of the explosion of the Kurtz compound was featured without text credits but included a commentary by director Coppola explaining the various endings based on how the film was screened.

[edit] Cast
Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin L. Willard
Marlon Brando as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz,
Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore, Cavalry battalion commander
Frederic Forrest as Engineman 2nd Class Jay "Chef" Hicks
Sam Bottoms as Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Lance B. Johnson
Laurence Fishburne as Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller
Albert Hall as Quartermaster Chief George Phillips, Navy boat commander
G. D. Spradlin as Lieutenant General Corman, military intelligence (G-2)
Harrison Ford as Colonel Lucas, aide to Corman
Dennis Hopper as American Photojournalist
Scott Glenn as Captain Richard M. Colby, previously assigned Willard's current mission
Bill Graham as Agent (announcer and in charge of Playmate's show)
Cynthia Wood as Playmate of the Year
Colleen Camp as Playmate, "Miss May"
Christian Marquand as Hubert de Marais (redux version)
Aurore Clément as Roxanne Sarraut-de Marais (redux version)
Roman Coppola as Francis de Marais (redux version)
Several other actors who were, or later became, prominent stars have minor roles in the movie including Harrison Ford, G.D. Spradlin, Scott Glenn, and R. Lee Ermey. Fishburne was only fourteen years old when shooting began in March 1976, and was credited as "Larry Fishburne." Another cast member with a future as a prominent actor and film director was Martin Sheen's eldest son, Emilio Estevez, who played a young soldier in the movie[citation needed]. Apocalypse Now took so long to finish that Fishburne was seventeen (the same age as his character) by the time of its release.

[edit] Awards
Wins

Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Vittorio Storaro)
Academy Award for Best Sound (Walter Murch, Mark Berger, Richard Beggs, Nathan Boxer)
Cannes Film Festival: Palme d'Or
Golden Globe Award for Best Director (Francis Ford Coppola)
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Duvall)
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (Carmine Coppola & Francis Ford Coppola)
In 2000 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The movie poster art for Apocalypse Now is by Bob Peak, who is considered an influential artist in the world of movie posters.

Nominations

Academy Award for Best Picture
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - (Robert Duvall)
Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration (Angelo P. Graham, George R. Nelson and Dean Tavoularis)
Academy Award for Directing (Francis Ford Coppola)
Academy Award for Film Editing (Lisa Fruchtman, Gerald B. Greenberg, Richard Marks and Walter Murch)
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Francis Ford Coppola & John Milius)
WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen (John Milius & Francis Ford Coppola)
Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture (Carmine Coppola & Francis Ford Coppola)

[edit] References
^ Peary, Gerald. Francis Ford Coppola, Interview with Gerald Peary. GeraldPeary.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
^ Heart of Darkness & Apocalypse Now: A comparative analysis of novella and film
^ Movie Review: Apocalypse Now. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.

Amélie

2008-02-08T00:13:00.000-08:00

Amélie is a 2001 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Audrey Tautou. Its original French title is Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain ("The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain"; poulain is French for foal). Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical and somewhat idealised depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story of a painfully shy waitress who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better, while struggling with her own isolation.

Amélie won best film at the European Film Awards; it won four César Awards (including Best Film and Best Director), two BAFTA Awards (including Best Original Screenplay), and was nominated for five Academy Awards. (See below for other awards and recognition.)

Plot
Amélie is the story of Amélie Poulain, a girl who grows up isolated from other children. Raphaël, her taciturn, antisocial ex-Army doctor father, mistakenly believes that she suffers from a heart condition (a mistake, in fact, resulting from the increase in her heartbeat caused by the rare thrill of physical contact by her father, who only ever touches her during medical check-ups). Her mother Amandine, a neurotic schoolteacher with shaky nerves, sees to Amélie's education. Amandine dies when Amélie is young, the victim of a freak accident involving a suicidal Québécois woman who throws herself off the top of Notre Dame Cathedral and lands on Amélie's mother. Raphaël withdraws even further as a result, and devotes his life to building a rather eccentric shrine in the garden in Amandine's memory, which houses her ashes. Left to amuse herself, Amélie develops an unusually active imagination.

When she grows up, Amélie becomes a waitress in a small Montmartre café, The Two Windmills, run by a former circus performer. The café is staffed and frequented by a gang of eccentrics. By age 22, life for Amélie is simple; having spurned romantic relationships following a few failed efforts, she has devoted herself to simple pleasures, such as cracking crème brûlée with a teaspoon, going for walks in the Paris sunshine, skipping stones across St. Martin's Canal, trying to guess how many couples in Paris are having an orgasm at one moment ("Fifteen!", she informs the camera), and letting her imagination roam free.

L'épicerie of Monsieur Collignon, Rue des Trois Frères, Paris, used as a film location.Her life begins to change on the day that Princess Diana dies. After hearing the news of her death on television, Amelie drops her perfume bottle cap, knocking loose a bathroom wall tile. Behind the loose tile she finds an old metal box of childhood memorabilia hidden by a boy who lived in her apartment decades ago. Fascinated by the find, she resolves to track down the now-grown man who put it there and return it to him, making a deal with herself in the process: if she finds him and it makes him happy, she will devote her life to bringing happiness to others.

She meets her reclusive neighbour, Raymond Dufayel, a painter who continually repaints Luncheon of the Boating Party (Le Déjeuner des canotiers) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He is known as 'the Glass Man' because of his brittle bone condition. With his help, she tracks the former occupant down, and places the box in a phone booth, ringing the number as he passes to lure him there. Upon opening the box, the man, moved to tears, has an epiphany as long-forgotten childhood memories come flooding back. She trails him to a nearby bar and observes him secretly. On seeing the positive effect she had on him, she resolves from that moment on to do good in the lives of others.

Amélie (Tautou), her father Raphaël (Rufus), and the travelling garden gnome.Amélie becomes a secret matchmaker and guardian angel, executing complex but hidden schemes impacting the lives of those around her with subtle, arm's-length manipulation, leading to several sub plots and episodes. She escorts a blind man to the Metro station, giving him a rich description of the street scenes he passes. She persuades her father to follow his dream of touring the world by stealing his garden gnome and having an air-hostess friend send pictures of it from all over the world. She matches a co-worker with one of the customers in the bar. She convinces the unhappy concierge of her building that the husband who abandoned her had in fact sent her a final love letter just before his death. She supports Lucien, the young man who works for Mr. Collignon, the bullying owner of the neighbourhood green grocer. By playing practical jokes on Collignon she undermines his confidence until he questions his own sanity.

However, while she is looking after others, Mr Dufayel is observing her and begins a conversation with her about his painting. He has repeatedly painted the same piece because he cannot quite capture the excluded look of the girl drinking a glass of water. They repeatedly discuss the meaning of this character and although it is never explicitly said, she comes to represent Amélie and her lonely life. Through their discussions Amélie is forced to examine her own life and her attraction to a stranger, a quirky young man who collects the discarded photographs of strangers from passport photo booths, with whom she has never spoken. She begins to observe him from a distance and is on the scene to pick up his photo album when he drops it in the street. She discovers his name is Nino Quincampoix, and she plays a cat and mouse game with him around Paris before eventually anonymously returning his treasured album; however, she is too shy to actually approach him, and almost loses hope when, having finally attempted to orchestrate a proper meeting, she misinterprets events when he enters into a conversation with one of her co-workers. It takes Raymond Dufayel's insightful friendship to give her the courage to overcome her shyness and finally meet with Nino, and the two begin a relationship.

Cast

The Two Windmills cafe in Montmartre, used as a film locationAudrey Tautou - Amélie Poulain
Mathieu Kassovitz - Nino Quincampoix
Rufus - Raphaël Poulain
Lorella Cravotta - Amandine Poulain
Serge Merlin - Raymond Dufayel
Jamel Debbouze - Lucien
Clotilde Mollet - Gina
Claire Maurier - Suzanne
Isabelle Nanty - Georgette
Dominique Pinon - Joseph
Artus de Penguern - Hipolito
Yolande Moreau - Madeleine Wallace
Urbain Cancelier - Collignon
Maurice Bénichou - Dominique Bretodeau
Michel Robin - Mr. Collignon
Andrée Damant - Mrs. Collignon
Claude Perron - Eva, Nino's colleague
Armelle - Philomène, air hostess
Ticky Holgado - Man in photo
Kevin Fernandes - Bretodeau, as a child
Flora Guiet - Amélie, 6 years old
Amaury Babault - Nino, as a child
André Dussollier - Narrator

Le déjeuner des canotiers by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The girl drinking the glass of water in the centre of the picture comes to represent Amélie

Production

In his commentary on the DVD edition, Jeunet explains that he originally wrote the role of Amélie for the British actress Emily Watson; in the original draft, Amélie's father was an Englishman living in London. However, Watson's French was not strong, and when she became unavailable to shoot the film, owing to a conflict with the filming of Gosford Park, Jeunet rewrote the screenplay for a French actress. Audrey Tautou was the first actress he auditioned.

The filmmakers made use of computer-generated imagery and a digital intermediate.

The studio scenes were filmed in the Coloneum Studio in Cologne (Germany).

Distribution and responses
The film was released in France, Belgium, and French-speaking western Switzerland in April 2001, with subsequent screenings at various film festivals followed by releases around the world. It received limited releases in North America, the UK and Australasia later in 2001.

Racism accusation

Lucien (Jamel Debbouze)The film was a critical and commercial success, but it was attacked by critic Serge Kaganski of les Inrockuptibles for its depiction of a largely unrealistic and picturesque vision of contemporary French society, a postcard universe of a bygone France with few people from ethnic minorities. If the director was trying to create an idyllic vision of a perfect Paris, Kaganski argued, he seemed to think that it was necessary to remove nearly all black people from the scene in order to do so.Jeunet dismissed such criticism by pointing out both that the photo collection contains pictures of many different people from numerous ethnic backgrounds, and that Jamel Debbouze, who plays Lucien, is of North African descent.

Cannes rejection
Cannes Film Festival selector Gilles Jacob described Amélie as "uninteresting", and therefore it was not screened at the festival, although the version he viewed was an early cut without music. The absence of Amélie at the festival caused something of a controversy because of the warm welcome by the French media and audience in contrast with the reaction of the selector.[5]

Awards
The film was a critical and box office success, gaining wide play internationally as well. It was nominated for five Academy Awards:

Best Art Direction, Aline Bonetto (art director), Marie-Laure Valla (set decorator)
Best Cinematography, Bruno Delbonnel
Best Foreign Language Film, France
Best Original Screenplay, Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Best Sound, Vincent Arnardi, Guillaume Leriche, Jean Umansky
In 2001 it won several awards at the European Film Awards, including the Best Film award.

It also won the People's Choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Crystal Globe Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

In 2002, in France, it won the César Award for:

Best Film
Best Director
Best Music
Best Art Direction
The film was selected by The New York Times as one of "The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made."

In 2006, the film came second in a national poll of Australia's favourite films, conduced by television station ABC TV.

Although not an award from the film-industry, a recently discovered new species of frog was named as Cochranella amelie in honor of the movie Amelie.A significant honor in the academic world, the scientist that described the new species stated: "The name of this new species of Glassfrog is for Amelie, protagonist of the extraordinary movie “Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain”; a movie where little details play an important role in the achievement of joie de vivre; like the important role that Glassfrogs and all amphibians and reptiles play in the health of our planet". This new species was described in the scientific journal Zootaxa in an article entitle d "An enigmatic new species of Glassfrog (Amphibia: Anura: Centrolenidae) from the Amazonian Andean slopes of Ecuador"

Artwork featured
The film features the artwork of Michael Sowa, whose paintings adorn the walls in Amélie's bedroom, at one point engaging in a surreal conversation about Amélie's love life.

Film clips used
The film featured film or video clips from the following:

A TV performance by the manic guitar-playing gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe;
An excerpt of the documentary Born for Hard Luck, by Tom Davenport, featuring "Peg Leg" Sam Jackson
An excerpt of the 1998 documentary Seventeen Seconds to Sophie by Bill Cote
A clip from Father's Little Dividend
Three clips from François Truffaut's French New Wave film Jules et Jim:
Jules, Jim and Catherine running across an overpass.
A "kissing scene" during which a bug crawls across the screen behind two lovers and appears to enter the woman's mouth. This clip is specifically discussed by the narrator of Amélie, and during the clip a circle is superimposed around the bug to highlight its travel.
A brief excerpt of Catherine singing her song, Le Tourbillon.
A segment from French television where a horse runs along a road with cyclists during the Criterium International.
A short scene of Zorro and his trademark of slashing with his sword a "Z".

Soundtrack

Track listing

Disc 1 (54:15)
"J'y suis jamais allé" - 1:34
"Les jours tristes (Instrumental)" - 3:03
"La valse d'Amélie (Original version)" - 2:15
"Comptine d'un autre été: l'après-midi" - 2:20
"La noyée" - 2:03
"L'autre valse d'Amélie" - 1:33
"Guilty (Al Bowlly)" - 3:13
"À quai" - 3:32
"Le moulin" - 4:27
"Pas si simple" - 1:52
"La valse d'Amélie (Orchestral version)" - 2:00
"La valse des vieux os" - 2:20
"La dispute" - 4:15
"Si tu n'étais pas là (Fréhel)" - 3:29
"Soir de fête" - 2:55
"La redécouverte" - 1:13
"Sur le fil" - 4:23
"Le banquet" - 1:31
"La valse d'Amélie (Piano version)" - 2:38
"La valse des monstres" - 3:39

Translation differences
In the English subtitled version, the concierge, Madeleine Wallace, is renamed Madeleine Wells in order to maintain a joke in the screenplay: in the original French, she mentions that she is destined to cry because of her surname Wallace (referring to the Wallace fountains of Paris). The English version keeps the joke by comparing Wells to water wells.

In the Region 1 English subtitled DVD when Amélie orders Nino to look at 'page 51' of his scrapbook, the subtitle erroneously reads 'Page St.' This mistake does not appear on U.S. television sets programmed to display closed captioning.

In the Region 1 English subtitles, Amelie says "But I hate it in old movies, when drivers don't watch the road"; but the French dialogue in fact means "But I hate it in old American films when the drivers don't watch the road." This distinction, however, remains in the Region 2 English subtitling.

Citizen Kane

2008-02-08T00:11:00.000-08:00

Citizen Kane is a 1941 mystery/drama film. Released by RKO Pictures, it was the first feature film directed by Orson Welles. The story traces the life and career of Charles Foster Kane, a man whose career in the publishing world is born of idealistic social service, but gradually evolves into a ruthless pursuit of power. Narrated principally through flashbacks, the story is revealed through the research of a newspaper reporter seeking to solve the mystery of the newspaper magnate's dying word, "rosebud."

Citizen Kane is often cited as being one of the most innovative works in the history of film. In 1997, the American Film Institute placed it at number one in its list of the 100 greatest U.S. movies of all time. In a recent poll of film critics and directors conducted by the British Film Institute, Citizen Kane was ranked the number one best film of all time by both groups.[1][2]

The film's main character, Kane, was inspired, in part, by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.[3] Upon its release, Hearst prohibited mention of the film in any of his newspapers.

Contents [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Development
3.1 Sources
3.1.1 Hearst
3.1.2 Welles as Kane
3.1.3 Jim Gettys
3.1.4 Rosebud
3.2 Production
3.3 Filmmaking innovations
4 Overview
5 Reception
5.1 Hearst's response
5.2 Awards
5.2.1 Academy Awards
5.3 Debate over authorship
5.4 Criticism
6 Prints
7 See also
8 References
9 Additional reading Synopsis
When wealthy media magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) dies, he utters the word "rosebud". An obituary newsreel documents the events in his public life. The producer of the newsreel asks a reporter, Thompson (William Alland), to find out about Kane's private life and personality, in particular to discover the meaning behind his last word. The reporter interviews the great man's friends and associates, and Kane's story unfolds as a series of flashbacks.

First, Thompson approaches Kane's second wife, Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore), who refuses to tell him anything. Thompson then goes to the library of Mr. Thatcher (George Coulouris). It is there that Thompson learns about Kane's childhood. In the first flashback, Kane as a young child is forced to leave his beloved mother (Agnes Moorehead) when he becomes suddenly wealthy, and is sent to live with his banker, Mr. Thatcher, despite the misgivings of Kane's father.

Thompson then interviews Kane's personal business manager Mr. Bernstein (Everett Sloane), best friend Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten), Susan for a second time, and Kane's butler Raymond (Paul Stewart). Other flashbacks show Kane's entry into the newspaper business and his profit-seeking with low-quality "yellow journalism." He takes control of the newspaper and hires all the best journalists (which he gets from the Inquirer's rival, The Chronicle). His attempted rise to power is documented, including his first marriage to Emily Monroe Norton (Ruth Warrick), a President's niece, and his campaign for the office of governor. A "love nest" scandal ends both his marriage and his political aspirations. Kane remarries, but his domineering personality destroys his relationships and pushes away his loved ones.

Despite Thompson's interviews, he is unable to solve the mystery and concludes that "Rosebud" will forever remain an enigma. At that point, the camera pans over workers burning some of the character Kane's many possessions. One throws an old sled, with the word "Rosebud" painted on it, into the fire – the same sled that Kane was riding as a child the day his mother sent him away. There is a shot of a chimney with black smoke coming out. For the viewer this solves the "Rosebud" mystery: The sled is a token of the only time in his life when he was poor; but it also represents a time in which he was truly happy and wanted for nothing. After this twist ending, the film ends as it began, with the "No Trespassing" sign. The closing shot shows the "K" on top of the iron fence.

[edit] Cast
Actor Role
Orson Welles Charles Foster Kane
William Alland Jerry Thompson
Georgia Backus Bertha Anderson
Fortunio Bonanova Signor Matiste
Sonny Bupp Charles Foster Kane III
Ray Collins Jim W. Gettys
Dorothy Comingore Susan Alexander Kane
Joseph Cotten Jedediah Leland
George Coulouris Walter Parks Thatcher
Agnes Moorehead Mary Kane
Erskine Sanford Herbert Carter
Gus Schilling The Headwaiter
Harry Shannon Kane's Father
Everett Sloane Mr. Bernstein
Paul Stewart Raymond
Buddy Swan Young Charles Foster Kane
Ruth Warrick Emily Monroe Norton Kane
Philip Van Zandt Mr. Rawlston

[edit] Development
For some time, screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz had wanted to write a screenplay about a public figure – perhaps a gangster – whose story would be told by the people that knew him.[4] He had already written an unperformed play entitled, The Tree Will Grow about John Dillinger. Orson Welles liked the idea of multiple viewpoints but was not interested in playing Dillinger. Mankiewicz and Welles talked about picking someone else to use a model. They hit on the idea of using William Randolph Hearst as their central character.[4] Mankiewicz had frequented Hearst's parties until his alcoholism got him barred. Mankiewicz resented this and became obsessed with Hearst and Marion Davies.[4]

Once they settled on this project, Welles abandoned two other projects, The Smiler with a Knife and an adaptation of Heart of Darkness.[4] Mankiewicz was put under contract by Mercury Productions and was to receive no credit for his work as he was hired as a script doctor. According to his contract with RKO, Welles would be given sole screenplay credit. He had written a rough script consisting of 300 pages of dialogue with occasional stage directions under the title of John Citizen, USA.[4]

[edit] Sources
The principal source for the story of Citizen Kane was the life of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst, and the film is seen by critics as a fictionalized parody of Hearst. Hearst often entertained Hollywood celebrities at Hearst Castle (just north of San Luis Obispo, California) – but only as long as they revealed secrets that would be published the following week in the Hearst newspapers. Because of this quid pro quo, Hearst was widely resented by many actors and directors in Hollywood, and Citizen Kane was seen by many as payback for Hearst's exploits. Welles was also inspired by other figures of the day, and the film also contains autobiographical elements.

[edit] Hearst
The most overt reference to Hearst comes early in the film, as Kane provides a quote that paraphrases an apocryphal quote attributed to Hearst on the Spanish American War: "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." Kane states, "You provide the prose poems, I'll provide the war". In real life, Hearst denied saying it, and the only source for the quote is a James Creelman memoir published several years after the statement was reportedly made.

Welles himself insisted that there were also differences between the men. In 1968, he told Peter Bogdanovich, "You know, the real story of Hearst is quite different from Kane's. And Hearst himself—as a man, I mean—was very different". In his documentary F for Fake, Welles claims Kane was originally intended to be based on Howard Hughes (who was to be played by Joseph Cotten) but he later changed it to Hearst. Hearst's biographer, David Nasaw, finds the film's depiction of Hearst unfair:

"Welles' Kane is a cartoon-like caricature of a man who is hollowed out on the inside, forlorn, defeated, solitary because he cannot command the total obedience, loyalty, devotion, and love of those around him. Hearst, to the contrary, never regarded himself as a failure, never recognized defeat, never stopped loving Marion [Davies] or his wife. He did not, at the end of his life, run away from the world to entomb himself in a vast, gloomy art-choked hermitage."[5]
Several other candidates for the basis of the Kane personality have been suggested, the most likely being that of Jules Brulatour, millionaire head of distribution for Eastman Kodak and co-founder of Universal Pictures. Brulatour's second and third wives, Dorothy Gibson and Hope Hampton, both fleeting stars of the silent screen who later had marginal careers in opera, are also believed to have provided inspiration for the Susan Alexander character.

Orson Welles also claimed that Harold Fowler McCormick's lavish promotion of his second wife Ganna Walska's opera career–despite her renown as a terrible singer–was a direct influence on the screenplay. Roger Ebert, in his DVD commentary on Citizen Kane, suggests that the Alexander character had very little to do with Davies, but, rather, that it was based on Walska, mistress and later wife of Chicago heir Harold Fowler McCormick.[6] McCormick spent thousands of dollars on voice lessons for her and even arranged for Walska to take the lead in a production of Zaza at the Chicago Opera in 1920. Unlike Alexander, Walska got into an argument with director Pietro Cimini during dress rehearsal and stormed out of the production before she appeared.

Like the Susan Alexander character, she had a terrible voice, pleasing only to McCormick. Other sources say the Alexander role - and the disastrous opera singing - is a composite of Hampton, Davies, Walska, and the story of Samuel Insull, who built the Chicago Civic Opera House in 1929 for his daughter, who hoped to become famous and sing at the Metropolitan Opera but never did.

[edit] Welles as Kane
There are autobiographical elements to the film. Orson Welles lost his mother when he was only nine years old and his father when he was 15. After this, he became the ward of Chicago's Dr. Maurice Bernstein - and Bernstein is the last name of the only major character in Citizen Kane who receives a completely positive portrayal.

The documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane points out the great irony that Welles' own life story resembled that of Kane far more than Hearst's: an overreaching wunderkind who ended up mournful and lonely in his old age. Citizen Kane's editor Robert Wise summarized

"Well, I thought often afterwards, only in recent years when I saw the film again two or three years ago when they had the fiftieth anniversary, and I suddenly thought to myself, well, Orson was doing an autobiographical film and didn't realize it, because it's rather much the same, you know. You start here, and you have a big rise and tremendous prominence and fame and success and whatnot, and then tail off and tail off and tail off. And at least the arc of the two lives were very much the same . . ."[3]

[edit] Jim Gettys
The character of political boss Jim Gettys is based on Charles F. Murphy, a political leader in New York City's Tammany Hall political machine, who was an enemy of Hearst. In one scene Gettys admonishes Kane for printing a cartoon showing him in prison stripes. This is based on the fact that Murphy, who was a horse-cart driver and owned several bars, was depicted in a 1903 Hearst cartoon wearing striped prison clothes. A caption, referring to the restaurant Murphy frequented, said: "Look out, Murphy. It’s a short lock-step from Delmonico’s to Sing Sing."

[edit] Rosebud
According to Louis Pizzitola, author of Hearst Over Hollywood, "Rosebud" was a nickname that Orrin Peck, a friend of William Randolph Hearst, gave to his mother, Phoebe Hearst.[7] It was said that Phoebe was as close, or even closer, to Orrin than she was to her own son, lending a bitter-sweet element to the word's use in a film about a boy being separated from his mother's love.

In 1989, essayist Gore Vidal cited contemporary rumors that "Rosebud" was a nickname Hearst used for his mistress Marion Davies; a reference to a sensitive part of her anatomy,[8][9] a claim repeated as fact in the 1996 documentary The Battle over Citizen Kane. A resultant joke noted, with heavy innuendo, that Hearst and/or Kane died "with 'Rosebud' on his lips."[3]

[edit] Production
During production, Citizen Kane was referred to as RKO 281. Filming took place between June 29 and October 23, 1940. Welles prevented studio executives of RKO from visiting the set. He understood their desire to control projects and he knew they were expecting him to do an exciting film that would correspond to his The War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Welles' RKO contract had given him complete control over the production of the film when he signed on with the studio, something that he never again was allowed to exercise when making motion pictures.

[edit] Filmmaking innovations

A deep focus shot: everything, including the hat in the foreground and the boy in the distance, is in sharp focusFilm scholars and historians view Citizen Kane as Welles' attempt to create a new style of filmmaking by studying various forms of movie making, and combining them all into one. The most innovative technical aspect of Citizen Kane is the extended use of deep focus.[10] In nearly every scene in the film, the foreground, background and everything in between are all in sharp focus. This was done by renowned cinematographer Gregg Toland through his experimentation with lenses and lighting. Specifically, Toland often used telephoto lenses to shoot close-up scenes. Anytime deep focus was impossible — for example in the scene when Kane finishes a bad review of Alexander's opera while at the same time firing the person who started the review — Toland used an optical printer to make the whole screen appear in focus (visually layering one piece of film onto another). However, some apparently deep-focus shots were the result of in-camera effects, as in the famous example of the scene where Kane breaks into Susan Alexander's room after her suicide attempt. In the background, Kane and another man break into the room, while simultaneously the medicine bottle and a glass with a spoon in it are in closeup in the foreground. The shot was an in-camera matte shot. The foreground was shot first, with the background dark. Then the background was lit, the foreground darkened, the film rewound, and the scene re-shot with the background action.

Another unorthodox method used in the film was the way low-angle shots were used to display a point of view facing upwards, thus allowing ceilings to be shown in the background of several scenes.[11] Since movies were primarily filmed on sound stages and not on location during the era of the Hollywood studio system, it was impossible to film at an angle that showed ceilings because the stages had none. In some instances, Welles' crew used muslin draped above the set to produce the illusion of a regular room with a ceiling, while the boom mikes were hidden above the cloth.

One of the story-telling techniques introduced in this film was using an episodic sequence on the same set while the characters changed costume and make-up between cuts so that the scene following each cut would look as if it took place in the same location, but at a time long after the previous cut. In this way, Welles chronicled the breakdown of Kane's first marriage, which took years of story time, in a matter of minutes.

Welles also pioneered several visual effects in order to cheaply shoot things like crowd scenes and large interior spaces. For example, the scene where the camera in the opera house rises dramatically to the rafters to show the workmen showing a lack of appreciation for the second Mrs. Kane's performance was shot by panning a camera upwards over the performance scene, then a curtain wipe to a miniature of the upper regions of the house, and then another curtain wipe matching it again with the scene of the workmen. Other scenes effectively employed miniatures to make the film look much more expensive than it truly was, such as various shots of Xanadu. A loud, full screen closeup of the typewriter typing a single word magnifies the review for the Chicago Inquirer—"weak".[12]

The film broke new ground with its use of special effects makeup, created by makeup artist Mel Berns, believably aging the cast many decades over the course of the story. The details extended down to hazy contact lenses to make Cotten's eyes look rheumy as an old man.[citation needed] Welles later claimed that his own dashing appearance as a young man also involved a lot of makeup (including some strategically applied surgical gauze and tape) skillfully applied by Mel Berns to give him a mini-facelift.[citation needed]

Welles brought his experience with sound from radio along to filmmaking, producing a layered and complex soundtrack. In one scene, the elderly Kane strikes Susan in a tent on the beach, and the two characters silently glower at each other while a woman at the nearby party can be heard hysterically laughing in the background, her giddiness in grotesque counterpoint to the misery of Susan and Kane. Elsewhere, Welles skillfully employed sound effects to create a mood, such as the chilly echo of the monumental library, where the reporter is confronted by an intimidating, officious librarian.

In addition to expanding on the potential of sound as a creator of moods and emotions, Welles pioneered a new aural technique, known as the "lightning-mix". Welles used this technique to link complex montage sequences via a series of related sounds or phrases. In offering a continuous sound track, Welles was able to join what would otherwise be extremely rough cuts together into a smooth narrative. For example, the audience witnesses Kane grow from a child into a young man in just two shots. As Kane's guardian hands him his sled and wishes him a "Merry Christmas" we are suddenly taken to a shot of Kane fifteen years later, only to have the phrase completed for us: "and a Happy New Year". In this case, the continuity of the soundtrack, not the image, is what makes for a seamless narrative structure.[13]

Welles also carried over techniques from radio not yet popular in the movies (though they would become staples). Using a number of voices, each saying a sentence or sometimes merely a fragment of a sentence, and splicing the dialogue together in quick succession, the result gave the impression of a whole town talking - and, equally important, what the town was talking about. Welles also favored the overlapping of dialogue, considering it more realistic than the stage and movie tradition of characters not stepping on each other's sentences. He also pioneered the technique of putting the audio ahead of the visual in scene transitions (an L-cut); as a scene would come to a close, the audio would transition to the next scene before the visual did.

[edit] Overview

Susan (Dorothy Comingore) with a jigsaw puzzleCitizen Kane has inspired myriad interpretations over the decades. In Orson Welles: Hello Americans, Simon Callow argued that Citizen Kane should not just be understood as a fictional work but also as a post-fictional piece: a piece where the audience is drawn in to view themselves in the process of watching the film.

[edit] Reception
In a 1941 review, Jorge Luis Borges called Citizen Kane a "metaphysical detective story," in that "... [its] subject (both psychological and allegorical) is the investigation of a man's inner self, through the works he has wrought, the words he has spoken, the many lives he has ruined..." Borges noted that "Overwhelmingly, endlessly, Orson Welles shows fragments of the life of the man, Charles Foster Kane, and invites us to combine them and reconstruct him." As well, "Forms of multiplicity and incongruity abound in the film: the first scenes record the treasures amassed by Kane; in one of the last, a poor woman, luxuriant and suffering, plays with an enormous jigsaw puzzle on the floor of a palace that is also a museum." Borges points out, "At the end we realize that the fragments are not governed by a secret unity: the detested Charles Foster Kane is a simulacrum, a chaos of appearances."[14]

Despite numerous positive reviews from critics at the time,[15] the film was not a box office success (just making back enough to cover the budget, but not enough to make a profit), which resulted in Welles' career suffering a crippling blow. He spent the rest of his life struggling to make films on his own terms. He lived long enough to see his debut film acknowledged as a classic, and late in life he famously remarked that he'd started at the top and spent the rest of his life working his way down.

Due to the Second World War, Citizen Kane was little seen and virtually forgotten until its release in Europe in 1946, where it gained considerable acclaim, particularly from French film critics such as André Bazin. In the United States, it was neglected and forgotten until its revival in the late 1950s, and its critical fortunes have skyrocketed since. Critics worldwide began listing it among the best films ever made. The Sight & Sound Top Ten list, revised every ten years, began in 1952 and first listed Citizen Kane in 1962.[16]

[edit] Hearst's response
On hearing about the film, Hearst offered RKO Pictures $800,000 to destroy all prints of the film and burn the negative. Although it's often said that Hearst was upset because the film was about him, one alternative theory is that Hearst was more upset about the portrayal of his mistress, Marion Davies (as talentless singer Susan Alexander) than himself in the film. Davies was a light comedic actress who was talked by Hearst into starring in pompous costume dramas many thought were out of her depth.

When RKO refused Hearst's offer to suppress the film, Hearst was so angry that he banned every newspaper and station in his media conglomerate from reviewing or even mentioning the movie. The documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane lays the blame for Citizen Kane's relative failure at the feet of Hearst. Even though it did decent business at the box-office and went on to be the sixth highest grossing film in its year of release, this fell short of its creators' expectations but was still acceptable to its backers. In The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst, David Nasaw points out that Hearst's actions were not the only reason Kane failed, however: the innovations Welles made with narrative, as well as the dark message at the heart of the film (that the pursuit of success is ultimately futile) meant that a popular audience could not appreciate its merits (Nasaw, 572-573).

In a series of documentaries about Welles' career made and broadcast by the BBC in 1982, Welles claimed that during opening week, a policeman approached him one night and told him: "Do not go to your hotel room tonight; Hearst has set up an undressed woman to leap into your arms when you enter and a photographer to take pictures of you. Hearst is planning to publish it in all of his papers." Welles thanked the man and stayed out all night. However, it is not confirmed whether this was true or not. Welles also described his only meeting with William Randolph Hearst: in an elevator in a building in San Francisco, where the film was being premiered. Welles offered Hearst some free tickets but the tycoon declined to answer; Welles later stated that Charles Foster Kane would probably have accepted the offer.

Although Hearst's efforts damaged the film's success, they backfired in the long term, since almost every reference of Hearst's life and career made today typically includes a reference to the film's parallel to it. The irony of Hearst's efforts is that the film is now inexorably connected to him. This connection was reinforced by the publication in 1961 of W. A. Swanberg's extensive biography titled Citizen Hearst.

Theatrical release poster
[edit] Awards

[edit] Academy Awards
Wins:

Best Original Screenplay - Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz
Nominations:

Best Picture - Orson Welles
Best Director - Orson Welles
Best Actor - Orson Welles
Best Film Editing - Robert Wise
Best Art Direction - Perry Ferguson, A. Roland Fields, Van Nest Polglase, Darrell Silvera
Best Cinematography (black and white) - Gregg Toland
Best Sound Mixing - John Aalberg
Best Music Score - Bernard Herrmann
Boos were heard almost every time Citizen Kane was referred to during the Oscars ceremony that year.[17] Most of Hollywood did not want the film to see the light of day considering the threats that William Randolph Hearst had made if it did.

The American Film Institute put the film at the top of its "100 Greatest Movies" lists, having the top on the 1997 and 2007 lists. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. This film is consistently in the top 25 on the Internet Movie Database. Beginning in 1962, and every ten years since, it has been voted the best film ever made by the Sight and Sound critics' poll. The quote, "Rosebud," was listed as no. 17 on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. The film has also ranked number one in the following film "best of" lists: Editorial Jaguar, FIAF Centenary List, France Critics Top 10, Kinovedcheskie Russia Top 10, Romanian Critics Top 10, Time Out Magazine Greatest Films, and Village Voice 100 Greatest Films.

Other Awards

NYFCC Best Picture for 1941

[edit] Debate over authorship
One of the long standing academic debates of Citizen Kane has been the nature of the authorship of the original screenplay, which the opening credits attributes to both Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz.

Most famously, film critic Pauline Kael, in an essay titled "Raising Kane" (originally published in The New Yorker in 1971 and later reprinted in The Citizen Kane Book and in her omnibus collection For Keeps) claims that Welles downplayed veteran screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz's contribution. Kael argues that Mankiewicz was the true author of the screenplay and therefore responsible for much of what made the movie great. This angered many critics of the day, most notably critic-turned-filmmaker (and close friend of Welles) Peter Bogdanovich, who rebutted many of Kael's claims.

Bernard Herrmann was equally vocal in his criticism of Kael's claim not only on her position that it was Mankiewicz and not Welles who made the main thrust of the film but also in her assumptions about the use of music in the film without consulting him:

Pauline Kael has written in The Citizen Kane Book (1971), that the production wanted to use Massenet’s "Thais" but could not afford the fee. But Miss Kael never wrote or approached me to ask about the music. We could easily have afforded the fee. The point is that its lovely little strings would not have served the emotional purpose of the film.[1]
Robert L. Carringer, in a 1978 essay titled "The Scripts of Citizen Kane", and in his 1985 book The Making of Citizen Kane, refutes Kael's claim that Mankiewicz was the sole author of the screenplay. After analysis of the seven script revisions of the film, Carringer found the film's dual credit for both Welles and Mankiewicz to be accurate. The script revisions indicate the different contributions and the author of each of those contributions and prove, according to Carringer, that Mankiewicz did not write the script entirely on his own and that Welles contributed to it significantly.

[edit] Criticism
Despite its status, Citizen Kane is not entirely without its critics. Boston University film scholar Ray Carney, although noting its technical achievements, criticized what he saw as the film's lack of emotional depth, shallow characterization and empty metaphors. Listing it among the most overrated works within the film community, he accused the film of being, "an all-American triumph of style over substance... indistinguishable from the opera production within it: attempting to conceal the banality of its performances by wrapping them in a thousand layers of acoustic and visual processing." Of its director, he went on to state, "Welles is Kane – in a sense he couldn't have intended – substituting razzle-dazzle for truth and hoping no one notices the sleight of hand." He also criticized critics and scholars of allowing themselves to be pandered to, stating "critics obviously enjoy being told what to think or they'd never sit still for the hammy acting, cartoon characterizations, tendentious photography, editorializing blockings, and absurdly grandiose (and annoyingly insistent) metaphors... When will film studies grow up? Even Jedediah Leland, the opera reviewer in the film, knew better than to be taken in by Salammbo's empty reverberations." [2]

Similarly James Agate wrote, "I thought the photography quite good, but nothing to write to Moscow about, the acting middling, and the whole thing a little dull... Mr. Welles's high-brow direction is of that super-clever order which prevents you from seeing what that which is being directed is all about."[3]

[edit] Prints
Welles' original master film negative of Citizen Kane was destroyed in a fire in the 1970s at his villa in Madrid, Spain, along with the only known print of Welles' 1938 short film Too Much Johnson. Until 1991, all existing theatrical prints of the film were made from copies of the original. When the rights to the film were purchased by Ted Turner's Turner Entertainment (which bought the rights to the MGM and RKO film libraries), film restoration techniques were used to produce a pristine print for a 50th Anniversary theatrical revival reissue in 1991 (released by Paramount Pictures). The 2003 British DVD edition is taken from an interpositive held by the British Film Institute. The current US DVD version (released by Warner Home Video) is taken from another digital restoration, supervised by Turner. The transfer to Region 1 DVD has been criticised by some film experts for being too bright. Also, in the scene in Bernstein's office (chapter 10) rain falling outside the window has been digitally erased, probably because it was thought to be excessive film grain. These alterations are not present in the UK Region 2, which is also considered to be more accurate in terms of contrast and brightness.

In 2003, Orson Welles' daughter Beatrice sued Turner Entertainment and RKO Pictures, claiming that the Welles estate is the legal copyright holder of the film. Her attorney said that Orson Welles had left RKO with an exit deal terminating his contracts with the studio, meaning that Welles still had an interest in the film and his previous contract giving the studio the copyright of the film was null and void. Beatrice Welles also claimed that, if the courts did not uphold her claim of copyright, RKO nevertheless owes the estate 20% of the profits, from a previous contract which has not been lived up to.

On May 30, 2007, the appeals panel agreed that Beatrice Welles could proceed with the lawsuit against Turner Entertainment, the opinion partially overturns the 2004 decision by a lower court judge who had found in favor of Turner Entertainment on the issue of video rights.[18]

In the 1980s, this film became the catalyst in the controversy over the colorization of black and white films. When Ted Turner told members of the press that he was considering colorizing Citizen Kane, his comments led to an immediate public outcry. The uproar was for naught, as Turner Pictures had never actually announced that this was an upcoming planned project. Turner later claimed that this was a joke designed to needle colorization critics, and that he had never had any intention of colorizing the film. Turner could not have colorized the film had he wanted to. Welles' original contract prevented any alteration to the film without his, and eventually his estate's, express consent.

[edit] See also
Beyond Citizen Kane
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Films that have been considered the greatest ever
Twist ending

[edit] References
^ "Critics' Top Ten Poll", British Film Institute, 2002. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ "Directors' Top Ten Poll", British Film Institute, 2002. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ a b c Epstein, Michael; Thomas Lennon. "The Battle Over Citizen Kane", PBS, 1996. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ a b c d e Callow, Simon. "Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu", Penguin Books, 1995, pp. 484.
^ Nasaw, David. "The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst", Houghton Mifflin, 2000, pp. 574.
^ Ebert, Roger. "Citizen Kane DVD commentary", Turner Home Entertainment, 2001.
^ Pizzitola, Louis. "Hearst Over Hollywood", Columbia University Press, 2002.
^ Vidal, Gore. "Remembering Orson Welles", New York Times, June 1, 1989. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ Vidal, Gore. "Rosebud", New York Times, August 17, 1989. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ Ogle, Patrick L; Bill Nichols. "Technological and Aesthetic Influences Upon the Development of Deep Focus Cinematography in the United States", Movies and Methods, University of California Press, 1985, pp. 73.
^ Toland, Gregg. "The Motion Picture Cameraman", Theater Arts magazine, September 1941. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ Thomas, François. in Naremore, James: Citizen Kane: The Sound Track, in Orson Welles's Citizen Kane: A Casebook. US: Oxford University Press via Google Books limited preview, 173. ISBN 0-1951-5891-1. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
^ Cook, 330.
^ Borges, Jorge Luis. "Selected Non-Fictions", Viking Press, 1999.
^ Griffith, Richard; Arthur Mayer and Eileen Bowser. "The Movies", Simon and Schuster, 1981.
^ "The Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1962", British Film Institute, 1962. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ Robert Wise's interview, found in The Battle Over Citizen Kane, PBS
^ Heir to sue for 'Citizen Kane' video rights ABC local, retrieved May 31, 2007

10 External links

Seven Samurai

2008-02-08T00:10:00.000-08:00

For other uses, see Seven Samurai (disambiguation).
Seven Samurai (七人の侍, Shichinin no samurai ) is a 1954 Japanese film co-written, edited and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film takes place in Warring States Period Japan (around 1587/1588). It follows the story of a village of farmers that hire seven masterless samurai (rōnin) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.

Seven Samurai is frequently described as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, and is one of a select few Japanese films to become widely known in the West for an extended period of time. It is the subject of both popular and critical acclaim; it was voted onto Sight & Sound's list of the ten greatest films of all time in 1982 and 1992, and remains on the director's top ten films in the 2002 poll.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast of characters
2.1 The Seven Samurai
2.2 The villagers
2.3 The bandits
2.4 Cast notes
2.5 Structural innovations
3 Legacy
4 Edited versions and DVD releases
5 Academy Awards
6 External links

[edit] Plot
A gang of marauding bandits approaches a mountain village. The bandit chief recognizes they have ransacked this village before, and decides it is best that they spare it until the barley is harvested in several weeks. One of the villagers happens to overhear the discussion. When he returns home with the ominous news, the villagers are divided about whether to surrender their harvest or fight back against the bandits. In turmoil, they go to the village elder, who declares that they should fight, by hiring samurai to help defend the village. Some of the villagers are troubled by this suggestion, knowing that samurai are expensive to enlist and known to lust after young farm women. Recognizing that the impoverished villagers have nothing to offer any prospective samurai except food, the village elder tells them to find "hungry samurai."

The men go into the city, but initially are unsuccessful, being turned away by every samurai they ask — sometimes very rudely — because they cannot offer any pay other than three meals a day. Just as all seems lost, they happen to witness an aging samurai (Kambei) execute a cunning and dramatic rescue of a young boy taken hostage by a thief. In awe, they ask him to help defend their village; to their great joy, he accepts. Kambei then recruits five more masterless samurai (ronin) from the village, one by one, each with distinctive skills and personality traits. Although Kambei had initially decided that seven samurai would be necessary, he leaves for the village with only five companions because time is running short. A clownish ersatz samurai named Kikuchiyo, whom Kambei had rejected for the mission, follows them to the village despite their protestations.

The Seven Samurai.When the samurai arrive at the village, the villagers cower in their homes in fear, hoping to protect their daughters and themselves from these supposedly dangerous warriors. The samurai are insulted not to be greeted warmly, considering that they have offered to defend the village for almost no reward. Suddenly, an alarm is raised; the villagers, fearing that the bandits have returned, rush from their hiding places hoping to be defended by the newly-arrived samurai. It turns out that Kikuchiyo, until this point merely a tag-along, had raised the alarm. He rebukes the panicked villagers for running to the samurai for aid after first failing to welcome them to the village. It is here that Kikuchiyo demonstrates that there exists a certain intelligence behind his boorish demeanour. The six samurai symbolically accept him as belonging with them, truly completing the group of wanderers as the "seven samurai."

As they prepare for the siege, the villagers and their hired warriors slowly come to trust each other. However, when the samurai discover that the villagers have murdered and robbed fleeing samurai in the past, they are shocked and angry, and Kyūzō, the most accomplished of the samurai, even comments that he would like to kill everyone in the village. The always clownish Kikuchiyo passionately castigates the other samurai for ignoring the hardships that the farmers face in order to survive and make a living despite the intimidation and harassment from the warrior class (and in the process, also reveals his own roots as a farmer's son). The anger the samurai had felt turns to shame, and when the village elder, alerted by the clamour that this revelation instigates, asks if anything is the matter, Kambei humbly responds that there is not. The samurai continue their preparations without any animosity, and soon afterwards show compassion toward the farmers when they share their rice with an old woman who, her son having been killed by bandits and her family gone, cries out that she merely wants to die.

The middle of the film follows preparations for the defense of the village, including the construction of fortifications and the training of the farmers for battle. Katsushirō, the youngest samurai, begins a love affair with the daughter of one of the villagers who had been forced to masquerade as a boy. The film has an intermission at this point.

The second half of the film chronicles the battle between the samurai-led village militia and the bandits. When three bandit scouts are captured, and one divulges the location of the bandit stronghold, three of the samurai, along with a guide from the village, carry out a raid. Many bandits are killed, but one of the samurai, Heihachi, is struck down by gunfire. When the bandits arrive in force soon after this raid, they are confounded by the fortifications put in place by the samurai, and several are killed attempting to scale the barricades or cross moats. However, in addition to having a superior number of trained fighters, the attackers possess three muskets, and are thus able to hold their own. In fact, all four samurai who die in the film are killed by distant gunfire, rather than in single combat. Many of the subplots of the battle revolve around capturing or disabling the guns.

During the night of siege, Katsushirō's affair is revealed, and after an initial uproar, his amorous adventures provide comic relief to the embattled militia.

Apart from defense, the initial strategy of the samurai is to allow the bandits to enter a gap in the fortifications one at a time through the use of a closing "wall" of spears, and to then kill the lone enemy. This is repeated several times with success, although more than one bandit manages to enter the village several times. On the second night, Kambei decides that the villagers will soon become too exhausted to fight and instructs them to prepare for a final, decisive battle. When morning breaks and the bandits make their attack, Kambei orders his forces to allow all 13 remaining bandits in at once. In the ensuing confrontation, Kyūzō is killed by musket fire from the bandit chief. Enraged, Kikuchiyo bravely pursues revenge, only to be shot in the belly himself. Despite this wound, Kikuchiyo pursues and kills the bandit chief, finally proving his worth as a samurai before dying from his wound. Dazed and exhausted, Kambei and Shichirōji sadly observe "we've survived once again," while Katsushirō wails over his fallen comrades. The battle is ultimately won for the villagers.

The three surviving samurai, Kambei, Katsushirō, and Shichirōji, are left to observe the villagers happily planting the next rice crop. The farmers now ignore the samurai, as they no longer have any use for them. The samurai reflect on the relationship between the warrior and farming classes: though they have won the battle for the farmers, they have lost their friends with little to show for it. This melancholic observation sheds new light on Kambei's statement at the beginning of the film that he had "never won a battle." This contrasts with the singing and joy of the villagers, whose figuratively life-sustaining work has prevailed over war and left all warriors as the defeated party.

[edit] Cast of characters

[edit] The Seven Samurai
Kambei Shimada (島田勘兵衛, Shimada Kanbei ) (Takashi Shimura) — The leader of the group and the first "recruited" by the villagers, he is a wise but war-weary samurai.
Shichirōji (七郎次) (Daisuke Katō) — The third samurai. A skilled archer who was once Kambei's deputy. Kambei meets him by chance in the town and he resumes this role.
Gorōbei Katayama (片山五郎兵衛, Katayama Gorōbei ) (Yoshio Inaba) — The second samurai, recruited by Kambei. He acts as the second in command and helps create the master plan for the village's defense.
Heihachi Hayashida (林田平八, Hayashida Heihachi ) (Minoru Chiaki) — The fourth samurai, recruited by Gorōbei. An amiable though less-skilled samurai whose charm and wit maintain his comrades' good cheer in the face of adversity.
Katsushirō Okamoto (岡本勝四郎, Okamoto Katsushirō ) (Isao Kimura) — The fifth samurai. A young unblooded samurai from an aristocratic family who wants to be Kambei's disciple.
Kyūzō (久蔵) (Seiji Miyaguchi) — The sixth samurai, who initially declined an offer by Kambei to join the group, though he later changes his mind. A serious, stone-faced samurai and a supremely skilled swordsman; Katsushirō is in awe of him.
Kikuchiyo (菊千代) (Toshirō Mifune) — The seventh samurai, though he is never officially invited to join the group. A would-be samurai (right down to the false noble birth certificate) who eventually proves his worth. He is mercurial and temperamental. Of all the samurai, he most closely identifies with the villagers and their plight. Always the show-off, his sword is considerably larger than everyone else's.

[edit] The villagers
Gisaku 儀作 (Kuninori Takadō) — The village patriarch, who tells the villagers to hire samurai to protect themselves.
Yohei 与平 (Bokuzen Hidari) — An awkward, rubish old villager who shares some memorable comic scenes with Kikuchiyo.
Manzō 万造 (Kamatari Fujiwara) — He fears for his daughter's safety with all these attractive samurai around.
Shino 志乃 (Keiko Tsushima) — Manzō's daughter, who falls in love with Katsushirō.
Rikichi 利吉 (Yoshio Tsuchiya) — Hotheaded and relatively young, he has a painful secret concerning his wife.
Rikichi's Wife (Yukiko Shimazaki) - Unseen in the early part of the film, the secret of her whereabouts will lead to tragedy.
Mosuke 茂助 (Yoshio Osugi) — His house is one of the four outlying buildings that will have to be abandoned in order to save the twenty in the main hamlet.

[edit] The bandits
The Bandit Chief (Shinpei Takagi) The leader of the 40 bandits.
Bandit Second-In-Command (Shin Ōtomo)
Musket Bandit (Toshio Takahara)
Roof Bandit (Masanobu Ōkubo)

[edit] Cast notes
The actors playing the three surviving Samurai were the first to die in real life: Daisuke Katō (Shichirōji) died in 1975, Isao Kimura (Katsushirō) died in 1981 and Takashi Shimura (Kambei) died in 1982.
Minoru Chiaki (Heihachi Hayashida), whose samurai character was the first to die, was the last surviving star (he died in 1999).
In the commentary provided in the Criterion Collection DVD it is pointed out that Tatsuya Nakadai, an actor who would become a feature player in Kurosawa's later films, has a brief, uncredited, appearance as one of the samurai the villagers see when they arrive at the city and that Seiji Miyaguchi, whose character was a master swordsman, had never handled a sword before this picture.

[edit] Structural innovations
According to Michael Jeck's DVD commentary, Seven Samurai was among the first films to use the now-common plot element of the recruiting and gathering of heroes into a team to accomplish a specific goal, a device used in later films such as The 13th Warrior, Ocean's Eleven and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (and also a common plot device in role-playing game adventures). Film critic Roger Ebert wonders in his review that the sequence introducing the leader Kambei (in which the samurai shaves off his symbolic hairstyle in order to pose as a priest to rescue a boy from a kidnapper) could be the origin of the practice, now common in action movies, of introducing the main hero with an undertaking unrelated to the main plot.[1] Other plot devices such as the reluctant hero, romance between a local girl and the youngest hero, and the nervousness of the common citizenry had appeared in other films before this but were combined together in this film.

[edit] Legacy
The single largest undertaking by a Japanese filmmaker at the time, Seven Samurai was a technical and creative watershed that became Japan's highest-grossing movie and set a new standard for the industry. Its influence can be most strongly felt in the western The Magnificent Seven, a film specifically adapted from Seven Samurai. Director John Sturges took Seven Samurai and updated it to the Old West, with the Samurai replaced by cowboys. Many of The Magnificent Seven's scenes mirror those of Seven Samurai in most details, and the final line of dialogue is nearly identical: "The old man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose." There was also a short-lived 1998 television series based on Sturges' film.

The Indian film Sholay borrowed its basic premise from Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. The film was declared BBC India's "Film of the Millennium" and is the highest-grossing Indian film of all time.

George Lucas states in the DVD commentary for Star Wars Episode III, that Yoda's running his hand over his head (like Kambei) is a nod to Kurosawa and this movie. Also the line about the farmers lot in life is to suffer is quoted in Star Wars (New Hope) but as droids.

In 2004, Kurosawa's estate approved the production of an anime remake of the film, called Samurai 7, produced by GONZO, which provided an alternate steampunk-themed retelling of the classic story. The movie Star Trek: Insurrection puts a new spin on the tale, with an "away team" of seven crewmates defending the village of "The Baku" against the villainous "Sona," and a sixth season episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine entitled "The Magnificent Ferengi" also spoofs the film. Even the 1986 comedy ¡Three Amigos! borrows several themes from Kurosawa and the idea of non-heroes who are mistaken for warriors is also used in the comedy space adventure Galaxy Quest. The game Throne of Darkness gives you control of seven samurai (four at a time) who all closely resemble Kurosawa's characters in role, style of combat and appearance. Pixar's A Bug's Life is also a remake. Flick seeks out warrior bugs to defend their ant hill against the soon to be invading grasshoppers.

[edit] Edited versions and DVD releases
While the initial Japanese release of the film ran 207 minutes long, edited versions were shown in international markets. An edited version of 160 minutes was shown in many countries except the UK and U.S. which originally showed 150 minute and 141 minute versions respectively. A re-release version of 190 minutes was shown in the UK in 1991 and a near-complete 203 minute version was re-released in the U.S. in 2002. A Criterion DVD version of the film is currently available containing the complete original version of the film (207 minutes) on one disc, and a second, more expansive Criterion DVD released in 2006 also contains the digitally-remastered, complete film on two discs, as well as an additional disc of extra material.

[edit] Academy Awards
Award Person
Nominated:
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White So Matsuyama
Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Kôhei Ezaki

Bicycle Thieves

2008-02-08T00:06:00.000-08:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Bicycle Thieves

Italian Theatrical Poster
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Produced by Giuseppe Amato
Written by Screenplay:
Vittorio De Sica
Cesare Zavattini
Suso Cecchi D'Amico
Gerardo Guerrieri
Oreste Biancoli
Adolfo Franci
Story:Luigi Bartolini
Starring Lamberto Maggiorani
Enzo Staiola
Music by Alessandro Cicognini
Cinematography Carlo Montuori
Editing by Eraldo Da Roma
Distributed by Italy:
Ente Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche
United States:
Arthur Mayer
Joseph Burstyn
Release date(s) Nov. 24, 1948
Dec. 12, 1949
Running time 93 minutes
Country Italy
Language Italian
IMDb profile
The Bicycle Thief redirects here. For the band of the same name, see The Bicycle Thief (band)
Ladri di biciclette (known in English as The Bicycle Thief or Bicycle Thieves) is a 1948 Italian neorealist film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of a poor man searching the streets of Rome for his stolen bicycle, which he needs to be able to work. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Luigi Bartolini and was adapted for the screen by Cesare Zavattini. It stars Lamberto Maggiorani as the father and Enzo Staiola as the son.

The film is frequently on critics' and directors' lists of the best films ever made. It was given an honorary Academy Award in 1949, and, just four years after its release, was deemed the greatest film of all time by the magazine Sight & Sound's poll of filmmakers and critics in 1952.[1] The film placed sixth as the greatest ever made in the latest directors poll, conducted in 2002.[2]

Contents [hide]
1 Title
2 Plot
3 Cast
4 Style
5 Critical reception
6 Influence
7 Awards
8 Footnotes
9 External links

[edit] Title
The original Italian title is literally translated into English as Bicycle Thieves, but the film has also been released in the USA as The Bicycle Thief. According to critic Philip French of The Observer, this alternate title is misleading, "because the desperate hero eventually becomes himself a bicycle thief."[3] The most recent North American DVD release uses Bicycle Thieves.[4]

[edit] Plot
The film tells the story of Antonio Ricci, an unemployed worker who gets a job posting flyers in the depressed post-World War II economy of Italy. To keep the job, he must have a bicycle, so his wife Maria sells her wedding sheets to get the money to get his bicycle from the pawnbroker.

Early in the film, the bike is stolen, and Antonio and his son Bruno spend the remainder of the film searching for it. Antonio manages to locate the thief (who had already sold the bicycle) and summons the police, but with no proof and with the thief’s neighbors willing to give him a false alibi, he abandons this cause.

At the end of the film Antonio, desperate to keep his job, attempts to steal a bicycle himself. He is caught and humiliated in front of Bruno, but the owner of the bicycle declines to press charges, realizing that the humiliation is punishment enough. Antonio and his family face a bleak future as the film ends, coupled with Antonio's realization that he is not morally superior to the thief.

[edit] Cast
Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio Ricci
Enzo Staiola as Bruno Ricci
Lianella Carell as Maria Ricci
Gino Saltamerenda as Baiocco
Vittorio Antonucci as The Thief
Giulio Chiari as a beggar
Elena Altieri as a charitable lady
Carlo Jachino as a beggar
Michele Sakara as secretary of the charity organization

[edit] Style
Bicycle Thieves is the best known neo-realist film, a movement begun by Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943), which attempted to give a new degree of realism to cinema.[5] Following the precepts of the movement, De Sica shot only on location in Rome, and instead of professional actors used ordinary people with no training in performance; for example, Lamberto Maggiorani, the leading actor, was a factory worker.[6]

[edit] Critical reception

Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio.Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, lauded the film and its message in his review. He wrote, "Again the Italians have sent us a brilliant and devastating film in Vittorio De Sica's rueful drama of modern city life, The Bicycle Thief. Widely and fervently heralded by those who had seen it abroad (where it already has won several prizes at various film festivals), this heart-tearing picture of frustration, which came to the [World Theater] yesterday, bids fair to fulfill all the forecasts of its absolute triumph over here. For once more the talented De Sica, who gave us the shattering Shoe Shine that desperately tragic demonstration of juvenile corruption in post-war Rome, has laid hold upon and sharply imaged in simple and realistic terms a major—indeed, a fundamental and universal—dramatic theme. It is the isolation and loneliness of the little man in this complex social world that is ironically blessed with institutions to comfort and protect mankind."[7]

When the film was re-released in the late 1990s Bob Graham, staff film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle , gave the drama a positive review, and wrote, "The roles are played by nonactors, Lamberto Maggiorani as the father and Enzo Staiola as the solemn boy, who sometimes appears to be a miniature man. They bring a grave dignity to De Sica's unblinking view of postwar Italy. The wheel of life turns and grinds people down; the man who was riding high in the morning is brought low by nightfall. It is impossible to imagine this story in any other form than De Sica's. The new black-and-white print has an extraordinary range of gray tones that get darker as life closes in." He also comments on the on-going criticism of the title, adding, "Purists have criticized the English title of the film as a poor translation of the Italian ladri, which is plural. What blindness! The Bicycle Thief is one of those wonderful titles whose power does not sink in until the film is over."[8]

[edit] Influence
Indian director Satyajit Ray quoted the film as the seminal influence on his choice of film-making as a career.
Italian director Ettore Scola's film C'eravamo tanto amati (We All Loved Each Other So Much) (1974) utilizes Bicycle Thieves as a major point of admiration as well as criticism. One of the characters, Nico, becomes obsessed with the film. Scola's film is dedicated to De Sica.
The plot of Tim Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), which features Pee-wee Herman trying to find his stolen bike, is loosely based on Bicycle Thieves.[9]
In 1990, Italian director Maurizio Nichetti produced a spoof of Italian neo-realist cinema, named The Icicle Thief.
Robert Altman's Hollywood satire The Player (1992) uses Bicycle Thieves as an emblem of the perfect non-Hollywood movie, with an unhappy ending of the kind that would not be permitted in Hollywood.
In an episode of My So Called Life, Angela attempts to have her first date with Jordan be a screening of The Bicycle Thief. Brian however mocks her plans, asking "Do you think Jordan Catalano will understand one word of The Bicycle Thief? You only understand it because I explained it to you!"
Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai's 2001 film Beijing Bicycle is an homage to Bicycle Thieves in which the main protagonist becomes a poor boy from the countryside who lands a job as a bicycle courier in Beijing. Events following the theft of his bicycle take a slightly different turn, reflecting contemporary social conditions in China.

[edit] Awards
Wins

Academy Awards: Honorary Award, Italy. Voted by the Academy Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1949.
Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland: Special Prize of the Jury, Vittorio De Sica; 1949.
National Board of Review: NBR Award, Best Director, Vittorio De Sica; Best Film (Any Language), Italy; 1949.
New York Film Critics Circle Awards: NYFCC Award, Best Foreign Language Film, Italy; 1949.
British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from any Source; 1950.
Bodil Awards, Copenhagen, Denmark: Bodil, Best European Film (Bedste europæiske film), Vittorio De Sica; 1950.
Golden Globes: Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film, Italy; 1950.
Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain: CEC Award, Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera), Italy; 1951.
Kinema Junpo Awards, Tokyo, Japan: Kinema Junpo Award, Best Foreign Language Film, Vittorio De Sica; 1951.
Wins, Silver Ribbon, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists

Best Cinematography (Migliore Fotografia), Carlo Montuori.
Best Director (Migliore Regia), Vittorio De Sica.
Best Film (Miglior Film a Soggetto).
Best Score (Miglior Commento Musicale), Alessandro Cicognini.
Best Screenplay (Migliore Sceneggiatura), Cesare Zavattini, Vittorio De Sica, Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Oreste Biancoli, Adolfo Franci, and Gerardo Guerrieri.
Best Story (Miglior Soggetto), Cesare Zavattini.
Nominations

Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Writing, Screenplay, Cesare Zavattini; 1950.

[edit] Footnotes
^ Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, film review, March 19, 1999. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
^ BFI. Sight and Sound Top 10 Poll, 2006. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
^ French, Philip. The Guardian, DVD review, February 19, 2006. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
^ DVD Talk review of the Criterion Collection DVD, 17 Feb, 2007.
^ Megan, Ratner. GreenCine, "Italian Neo-Realism," 2005. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
^ Associated Press. Published in The New York Times. Lamberto Maggiorani Obituary. April 24, 1983. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, "Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief, a Drama of Post-War Rome, Arrives at World," December 13, 1949. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
^ Graham, Bob. San Francisco Chronicle, film review, November 6, 1998. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.
^ The Gods of Filmmaking. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) page. Last accessed: December 30, 2007.

[edit] External links
Ladri di biciclette at the Internet Movie Database
The Bicycle Thief at All Movie Guide.
The Bicycle Thief at DVD Beaver (includes images).
The Bicycle Thief / Bicycle Thieves at Arts and Faith.
Interview with Suso Cecchi d'Amico on writing The Bicycle Thief.
Bicycle Thieves essay at Criterion Collection by Godfrey Cheshire.

The Godfather

2008-02-07T02:42:00.000-08:00

The Godfather is an Academy Award-winning 1972 crime film based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, with screenplay by Puzo and Coppola. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and James Caan. The story spans ten years from 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the Corleone crime family.

The Godfather has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In addition, it is ranked as the second greatest film in American cinematic history, behind Citizen Kane, on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list by the American Film Institute.[1] It is also the top movie on Internet Movie Database's Top 250 list,[2] as well as #1 on Metacritic's top 100 list and in the top 10 on Rotten Tomatoes' all-time best list.[3][4]

Two sequels followed The Godfather, The Godfather Part II in 1974 and The Godfather Part III in 1990.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Differences from the novel
4 Production
4.1 Coppola and Paramount
4.2 Casting
4.2.1 Star salaries
4.3 Filming
5 Reaction
5.1 Cinematic influence
5.2 Influence on popular culture
6 Symbolic significance of oranges
7 Adaptations
7.1 Chronological versions
7.2 DVD release
7.3 Video game
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

[edit] Plot
At the wedding reception of Don Vito Corleone's daughter Connie and Carlo Rizzi in the late summer of 1945, Vito, the head of the Corleone Mafia family – who is known to his friends and associates as Godfather – and Tom Hagen, the Corleone family lawyer and consigliere (counselor), are hearing requests for favors from friends and associates, because "no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day". Meanwhile, the Don's youngest son Michael, who has returned from World War II service as a decorated war hero, tells his girlfriend Kay Adams anecdotes about his father's criminal life, reassuring her that he is not like his family.

Among the guests at the celebration is the famous singer Johnny Fontane, Corleone's godson, who has come from Hollywood to petition for help in landing a movie role that will revitalize his flagging career. Jack Woltz, the head of the studio, will not give Fontane the part, but Don Corleone explains to Johnny: "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse." Hagen is dispatched to California to fix the problem, but Woltz angrily tells him that he will never cast Fontane in the role, for which he is perfect, because Fontane seduced and "ruined" a starlet that Woltz favored. The next morning, Woltz wakes up to find the bloody severed head of his prize stud horse in the bed with him. Woltz gives in.

Upon Hagen's return, the family meets with Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, who is being backed by the rival Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone for financing and political and legal protection for the importation and distribution of heroin, but despite the huge amount of money to be made, Corleone refuses, explaining that his political influence would be jeopardized by a move into the narcotics trade. The Don's oldest son, hotheaded Sonny, who had earlier expressed to the Don his support of the family entering into the narcotics trade, breaks rank during the meeting and questions Sollozzo's assurances as to the Corleone Family's investment being guaranteed by the Tattaglia Family. His father, angry at Sonny's dissension in front of a non-family member, privately rebukes him later. Don Corleone then dispatches his top button man (hit man), Luca Brasi, to infiltrate Sollozzo's organization and report back with information.

Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, the Godfather.Soon after his refusal to support Sollozzo, Don Corleone is shot several times in an assassination attempt, and it is not immediately known whether he has survived. Meanwhile, Sollozzo and the Tattaglias kill Luca Brasi. Sollozzo then abducts Tom Hagen and persuades him to offer Sonny the deal previously offered to his father. Enraged, Sonny refuses to consider the deal, and issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias – turn over Sollozzo or face war. They refuse, and Sonny responds by having Bruno Tattaglia, son of Don Phillip Tattaglia, killed.

Michael, who is considered a "civilian" by the other Mafia families, not involved in mob business, visits his father in the hospital, but is shocked to find there is no one guarding him. Realizing that his father is again being set up to be killed, he calls Sonny with a report, moves his father to another room, and goes outside to watch the door. With the help of Enzo the baker, who feels indebted to the Don and has come by the hospital to pay his respects, he bluffs away Sollozzo's men. Police cars soon appear with the corrupt Captain McCluskey, who breaks Michael's jaw when he insinuates that McCluskey is being paid by Sollozzo to set up his father. Just then, Hagen arrives with "private detectives" licensed to carry guns to protect Don Corleone, and takes Michael home.

Following the attempt on the Don's life at the hospital, Sollozzo requests a meeting with the Corleones, which Captain McCluskey will attend as Sollozzo's bodyguard, and Michael volunteers to kill both men during the meeting. This initially amuses Sonny and the other senior members of the family, however, Michael convinces them that he is serious, and that killing Sollozzo and McCluskey is in the family's interest: "It's not personal. It's strictly business." Although cops are usually off limits for hits, Michael argues that since McCluskey is serving as Sollozzo's bodyguard he is fair game.

At the meeting, after being searched by McCluskey, Michael excuses himself to go to the restroom, where he retrieves a planted revolver and immediately assassinates Sollozzo and McCluskey. For his safety Michael is sent to Sicily, while the Corleone family prepares for all-out warfare with the rest of the Five Families, united against the Corleones, as well as a general clampdown on the mob by the police and government authorities. In Sicily, Michael lives under the protection of Don Tommasino, an old friend of the family. While there, he falls in love with and marries a local girl, Apollonia Vitelli, who is later killed by a car bomb intended to assassinate Michael.

Back in New York, Don Corleone returns home from the hospital and is distraught to learn that it was Michael who killed Sollozzo and McCluskey. Some months later, in 1948, Sonny severely beats Carlo Rizzi for brutalizing the pregnant Connie, and threatens to kill him the next time he abuses her. An angry Carlo responds by plotting with Tattaglia and Don Emilio Barzini, the Corleones' chief rivals, to have Sonny killed. Carlo beats Connie again in order to lure Sonny out. Furious, Sonny drives off alone to fulfill his threat. On the way, he is ambushed and machine-gunned to death in his car.

Instead of seeking revenge for Sonny's killing, Don Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families to arrange an end to the war. Not only is it draining all of their assets and threatening their survival, but ending the conflict is the only way that Michael can return home safely. Reversing his previous decision, Vito agrees that the Corleone family will provide political protection for Tattaglia's traffic in heroin. At the meeting, Don Corleone determines that Don Barzini, not Tattaglia, was ultimately behind for the mob war and Sonny's death.

With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns from Sicily. More than a year later, he reunites with his former girlfriend, Kay, telling her that he wants to marry her. With the Don semi-retired, Sonny dead and middle brother Fredo considered incapable of running the family business, Michael is now in charge, and promises Kay to make the family completely legitimate within five years.

Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, two Corleone Family caporegimes (captains) complain that they are being pushed around by the Barzini Family and ask permission to strike back, but Michael refuses. He plans to move the family operations to Nevada and after that, Clemenza and Tessio may break away to go on their own. Michael further promises that Connie's husband, Carlo, is going to be his right hand man in Nevada. Tom Hagen has been removed as consigliere and is now merely the family's lawyer, with Vito serving as consigliere. Privately, Hagen complains about his change in status, and also questions Michael about a new regime of "soldiers" secretly being built under Rocco Lampone. Don Vito explains to Hagen that Michael is acting on his advice.

Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen (left) and Al Pacino as Michael Corleone (right)In Las Vegas Michael is greeted by Fredo and Johnny Fontane in the hotel-casino partly financed by the Corleones, and run by Moe Greene. Michael explains to Johnny that the Family needs his help in persuading his friends in show business to sign long-term contracts to appear at the casino. In a meeting with Moe Greene, Michael offers to buy out Greene but is rudely rebuffed. Greene believes the Corleones are weak and that he can secure a better deal from Barzini.

Michael returns home. In a private meeting, Vito explains his expectation that the Family's enemies will attempt to kill Michael by using a trusted associate to arrange a meeting as a pretext for assassination. Shortly afterwards, Vito dies of a heart attack while playing with his young grandson Anthony in his tomato garden. During the funeral, Tessio conveys a proposal for a meeting with Barzini, which identifies him as the traitor that Vito was expecting.

Michael arranges for a series of murders to occur while he is standing as godfather for Connie and Carlo's son:

Don Stracci and his bodyguards are shot by Clemenza with a shotgun as they exit an elevator;
Moe Greene, while having a massage in one of his hotels, is shot in the eye by an unknown assassin;
Don Cuneo, while leaving a hotel, is trapped in a revolving door by Willi Cicci and shot;
Don Tattaglia and a prostitute he is with are gunned down while in bed by Rocco Lampone and another unknown assassin;
Finally, Don Barzini is shot on the steps of a courthouse by Al Neri, who is disguised by wearing his old policeman's uniform.
After the baptism, Tessio believes he and Hagen are on their way to the meeting between Michael and Barzini he has arranged. Instead, he is surrounded by Willi Cicci and other button men. Realizing that Michael has found out about his betrayal, Tessio tells Hagen that his betrayal was just business. Meanwhile, Michael confronts Carlo about Sonny's murder and gets him to admit his role in setting up the ambush. Michael informs Carlo that his punishment is to be excluded from the family business and hands him a plane ticket to exile in Las Vegas. Carlo gets into a car to go to the airport, where he is garroted to death by Clemenza.

Later, Connie confronts Michael, accusing him of Carlo's murder. Kay questions Michael about Connie's accusation, but he refuses to answer. She insists, and Michael lies, assuring his wife that he had no role in Carlo's death. Kay is relieved by his denial, believing it to be true. The film ends with Clemenza and new caporegime Rocco Lampone paying their respects to Michael. Clemenza kisses Michael's hand and greets him as "Don Corleone." Kay is watching – Michael has become the new Godfather.

[edit] Cast
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone — the head (the "Don") of the Corleone family, Formerly known as Vito Andolini. He is the father of Sonny, Fredo, Michael and Connie and surrogate father to Tom Hagen. Husband of Carmella Corleone. A native Sicilian.
Al Pacino as Michael Corleone — the Don's and Carmella's youngest son, recently returned from military service following the end of World War II. He initially wants nothing to do with the Corleone family business. He is the main character of the movie.
James Caan as Santino "Sonny" Corleone — Vito and Carmella's hot-headed eldest son; he is being groomed to succeed his father as head of the Corleone family. He is the family's underboss.
Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen — an informally adopted son of Vito and Carmella Corleone, he is also the family lawyer and the new consigliere (counselor).
Diane Keaton as Kay Adams — Michael's WASP-ish girlfriend and, ultimately, his wife and mother to his children.
John Cazale as Fredo Corleone — the middle son of Vito and Carmella Corleone. Fredo is not very bright and appears to be the weakest of the Corleone brothers.
Talia Shire as Connie Corleone — Vito and Carmella's only daughter. She marries Carlo Rizzi.
Richard S. Castellano as Pete Clemenza — a caporegime for the Corleone family.
Abe Vigoda as Sal Tessio — a caporegime for the Corleone Family.
Al Lettieri as Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo — a heroin dealer associated with the Tattaglia family.
Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi — Connie's husband. Becomes an associate of the Corleone family.
Sterling Hayden as Captain McCluskey — a corrupt police captain on Sollozzo's payroll.
Lenny Montana as Luca Brasi — an enforcer utilized by Vito Corleone.
Richard Conte as Emilio Barzini— Don of the Barzini family.
Al Martino as Johnny Fontane — a world-famous popular singer and godson of Vito.
John Marley as Jack Woltz — a powerful Hollywood producer.
Alex Rocco as Moe Greene — longtime associate of the Corleone family who owns a Las Vegas hotel.
Morgana King as Carmella Corleone — Vito's wife and mother of Sonny, Fredo, Michael and Connie, and surrogate mother to Tom Hagen.
John Martino as Paulie Gatto — A "button man" (soldier/hit man) under Capo Pete Clemenza and Vito's driver.
Victor Rendina as Philip Tattaglia— Don of the Tattaglia family.
Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone — A stunningly beautiful young girl Michael meets while in Sicily.
Sofia Coppola as Michael Francis Rizzi — Connie and Carlo's infant son (seen in big baptism scene at the end of the movie).
Louis Guss as Don Zaluchi — Don of the Zaluchi family of Detroit.
Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone — a caporegime in the Corleone family.
Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci — a soldier in the Corleone family.
Richard Bright as Al Neri — Michael Corleone's bodyguard. He eventually becomes a caporegime.

[edit] Differences from the novel
One of the primary parts of Puzo's novel which was not used for the movie was the flashback story of Don Corleone's earlier life, including the circumstances of his emigration to America, his early family life, his murder of Don Fanucci, and his rise in importance in the mafia, all of which were later used in The Godfather Part II.

Many subplots were trimmed in the transition from the printed page to the screen, including: singer Johnny Fontane's misfortunes with women and his problems with his voice; Sonny's impulsive dabbling in street crime as a teenager and his utter lack of the tact and coolheadedness possessed in such abundance by his father; Sonny's paramour Lucy Mancini's new-found love in Dr. Jules Segal (a character entirely missing from the film), who not only repairs Lucy's vaginal malformation but puts Michael in touch with the surgeon who repairs Michael's facial bones (which had been damaged by Capt. McCluskey) and also operated on Johnny Fontane's vocal cords, thus restoring his singing voice; Jack Woltz' increasing pedophilia; Kay Adams's home life; Luca Brasi's demonic past; the Corleone family's victorious rise to power in earlier New York gang wars in which Don Corleone survives a previous assassination attempt and Al Capone sends triggermen from Chicago in an unsuccessful attempt to aid a rival gang; Don Corleone's ingenious plan used to take Michael out of exile in Sicily; the detailed savage attack on the two men who assaulted Bonasera's daughter, which was led by Paulie Gatto and involved retainer thugs (which was only alluded to in the film).

Additionally, the novel makes it clear that Lucy was not pregnant by Sonny when she moved to Las Vegas, thus leaving no room for Vincent Mancini of The Godfather, Part III. Curiously, Puzo wrote the screenplays of all three movies, so the contradiction was well known to him.

Characters with smaller roles in the film than in the novel include Johnny Fontane, Lucy Mancini, Rocco Lampone, and Al Neri (the latter two are reduced to non-speaking roles). Characters dropped in the film adaptation beside Dr. Segal include Genco Abbandando (only spoken of, he appears in a deleted scene featured in The Godfather Saga; he first appears on film in The Godfather II) and Dr. Taza from Sicily. Also, in the book, Michael and Kay have two sons, but in the movies they have a son and a daughter.

The novel and film also differ on the fates of Michael's bodyguards in Sicily, Fabrizzio and Calo. The film has them both surviving (Calo, in fact, appears in the third installment). In the book, however, Calo dies along with Apollonia in the car explosion, and Fabrizzio is shot and killed as one more victim in the famous "baptism scene" after he is tracked down running a pizza parlor in America. Fabrizzio's murder was deleted from the film but publicity photos of the scene exist.[1] (He is later killed in a completely different scene in The Godfather Saga which was deleted from The Godfather: Part II).

The ending of the book differs from the end of the movie: whereas in the film Kay suddenly realizes that Michael has become "like his family", the drama is toned down in the book, where Tom Hagen lets her in on secrets for which, according to him, he would be killed should Michael find out. During the film's baptism scene, all the heads of the Five Families were killed. In the novel, only Barzini and Tattaglia, previously at war with the Corleones, are killed.

[edit] Production

[edit] Coppola and Paramount
Francis Ford Coppola was not the first choice to direct, as at least two other directors were approached first. Italian director Sergio Leone was offered the job, but he declined on the basis that he did not find the story interesting as it glorified the mafia. (He went on to direct his own gangster opus, Once Upon a Time in America, which focused on Jewish-American gangsters.) At the time, Coppola had directed eight previous films, the most notable of which was the film version of the stage musical Finian's Rainbow — although he had also received an Academy Award for co-writing Patton in 1970.[5] Coppola was in debt to Warner Bros. for $400,000 following budget over-runs on George Lucas' THX-1138, which Coppola had produced, and he took The Godfather on Lucas' advice.[6]

There was intense friction between Coppola and the studio, Paramount Pictures, and several times Coppola was almost replaced. Paramount maintains that its skepticism was due to a rocky start to production, though Coppola believes that the first week went extremely well. Paramount thought that Coppola failed to stay on schedule, frequently made production and casting errors, and insisted on unnecessary expenses. Coppola says, in the DVD commentary, that he was shadowed by a replacement director, who was ready to take over if Coppola was fired, but despite such intense pressure, Coppola managed to defend his decisions and avoid being replaced.

Paramount was in financial troubles at the time of production and so was desperate for a "Big Hit" to boost business, hence the pressure Coppola faced during filming. They wanted The Godfather to appeal to a wide audience and threatened Coppola with a "Violence coach" to make the film more exciting. Coppola added a few more violent scenes to keep the studio happy.

[edit] Casting
Coppola's casting choices were unpopular with studio executives at Paramount Pictures, particularly Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone. Paramount, which wanted Laurence Olivier (who could not take the part due to health problems), originally refused to allow Coppola to cast Brando in the role, citing difficulties Brando had on recent film sets. One studio suit proposed Danny Thomas for the role citing the fact that Don Corleone was a strong "family man." At one point, Coppola was told by the then-president of Paramount that "Marlon Brando will never appear in this motion picture". After pleading with the executives, Coppola was allowed to cast Brando only if he appeared in the film for much less salary than his previous films, perform a screen-test, and put up a bond saying that he would not cause a delay in the production (as he had done on previous film sets).[7] Coppola chose Brando over Ernest Borgnine, as the former won him over with his screen test. Brando later won an Academy Award for his portrayal, which he refused to accept.

The studio originally wanted Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal to play Michael Corleone, but Coppola wanted an unknown who looked like an Italian-American, who he found in Al Pacino.[8] Pacino was not well known at the time, and the studio did not consider him right for the part,[7] in part because of his height. Pacino was given the role only after Coppola threatened to quit the production. Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Martin Sheen,[7] and James Caan also auditioned.[7] Elvis Presley was also interested in the role, but did not audition. The part is heavily influenced by the acting style pioneered by George Raft who in real life grew up with some and came in contact with prominent mobsters where he himself did some bootleg delivering.[citation needed]

Before Robert Duvall was cast, Bruce Dern, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen were considered for the role of Tom Hagen.

A then unknown Robert De Niro auditioned for the roles of Michael, Sonny, Carlo and Paulie Gatto. He was cast as Paulie, but Coppola arranged a "trade" with The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight to get Al Pacino from that film. De Niro later played the young Vito Corleone in Part II, winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.

Sylvester Stallone auditioned for Carlo Rizzi and Paulie Gatto, Anthony Perkins for Sonny, and Mia Farrow auditioned for Kay. William Devane was seen for the role of Moe Greene. Mario Adorf was approached for a role as well.

Coppola cast his infant daughter, Sofia, as Connie and Carlo's newborn son, Michael Francis Rizzi, in the climactic baptism scene near the movie's end. Sofia Coppola played roles in the later Godfather movies. In Part II, she plays a nameless immigrant girl on the ship that brings Vito Corleone to New York. In Part III, she played the major speaking role of Michael Corleone's daughter Mary. Coppola also cast his sons as Frank and Andrew Hagen, the two sons of Tom Hagen. They are seen in the Sonny-Carlo streetfight scene and behind Al Pacino and Robert Duvall during the funeral scene.

[edit] Star salaries
Al Pacino, James Caan and Diane Keaton each received $35,000 for their work on The Godfather, and Robert Duvall got $36,000 for eight weeks of work. Marlon Brando, on the other hand, was paid $50,000 for six weeks and weekly expenses of $1,000, plus 5% of the film, capped at $1.5 million. Brando later sold his points back to Paramount for $300,000.[9]

[edit] Filming
Most of the principal photography took place from March 29, 1971 to August 6, 1971, although a scene with Pacino and Keaton was shot in the autumn — there were a total of 77 days of shooting, fewer than the 83 for which the production had budgeted.

Locations [10] around New York City and its environs were used for the film, as well as the Sicilian towns of Savoca and Forza d'Agrò outside of Taormina. At least one location in Los Angeles was used also (for the exterior of Woltz' mansion). A scene with Pacino and Keaton was filmed in the town of Ross, California. Interiors were shot at Filmways Studio in New York.

One of the movie's most shocking moments comes early, involving the real severed head of a horse. Animal rights groups protested the inclusion of the scene. Coppola later stated that the horse's head was delivered to him from a dog food company; a horse had not been killed specifically for the movie. This scene was shot in Port Washington, New York. [8][7]

In the novel, Jack Woltz, the movie producer who has his horse's head put in his bed, is also shown to be a pedophile as Tom Hagen sees a young girl (presumably one of Woltz's child stars) crying while walking out of Woltz's room. This scene was cut from the film but can be found on the DVD release (though Woltz can still briefly be seen kissing the girl on the cheek in his studio in the film).

The opening scene of The Godfather is a long, slow zoom, starting with a close-up of the undertaker, Bonasera, who is petitioning Don Corleone, and ending with the godfather, seen from behind, framing the scene. This zoom, which lasts for about three minutes, was shot with a computer-controlled zoom lens designed by Tony Karp[11]. The lens was also used in the making of Silent Running.

A side entrance to Bellevue Hospital was used for Michael's confrontation with police Captain McCluskey.[12] As of 2007, the steps and gate to the hospital were still there but victim to neglect.

The scene where Don Barzini was assasinated was done on the steps to the New York State Supreme Court,[13]

Two different churches were used to film the film's baptism scene. The interior shots were filmed at Old St. Patrick's in New York. For the baptism itself, Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 was used, as were other Bach works for the pipe organ. The exterior scenes following the baptism were filmed at Mount Loretto Church in Pleasant Plains on Staten Island, New York. In 1973 much of Mount Loretto Church was destroyed in a fire. Only the facade and steeple of the original church remained, and were later incorporated into a new structure that was built to replace the structure destroyed in the fire.

[edit] Reaction
Academy Awards record
1. Best Actor, Marlon Brando
2. Best Picture, Albert S. Ruddy
3. Best Adapted Screenplay, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Golden Globe Awards record
1. Best Picture - Drama
2. Best Director, Francis Ford Coppola
3. Best Actor - Drama, Marlon Brando
4. Best Original Score, Nino Rota
5. Best Screenplay, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
BAFTA Awards record
1. Best Music, Nino Rota
The film is greatly respected among international critics and the public and is routinely listed as one of the greatest films ever made. It was voted greatest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly,[2] and is now ranked as the second greatest film in American cinematic history – behind Citizen Kane – on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movies list,[14] after being initially ranked third, behind Casablanca.[15]

In the 2002 Sight & Sound poll of international critics, The Godfather was ranked as the 4th best film of all time. Both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II have been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. This is not the case for the third installment in the "Godfather" trilogy.

The soundtrack's main theme by Nino Rota was also critically acclaimed; the main theme ("Speak Softly Love") is well-known and widely used.

The Godfather was an enormous box office hit, smashing previous records to become the highest grossing film of all time. It made USD $5,264,402 in its opening weekend and went on to gross $81,500,000 in its initial run[16]; nearly fourteen times its budget and marketing campaign. Re-releases boosted its North American total to $134 million.[17]

Love Theme From The Godfather

The famous theme, composed by Larry Kusic and Nino Rota.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.
The Godfather won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Marlon Brando refused to accept the award and sent actress Sacheen Littlefeather in his stead to the Oscars to explain why) and Best Writing (adapted screenplay) (Francis Coppola, Mario Puzo). The film was nominated for eight additional Academy Awards. Furthermore, it won five Golden Globes, one Grammy, and numerous other awards. Nino Rota's music score for the film was initially nominated for an Oscar, but was subsequently withdrawn when it was discovered that Rota recycled some of the music he had written for an obscure 1958 Italian film Fortunella.

Stanley Kubrick believed that The Godfather was possibly the greatest movie ever made, and without question the best cast.[18]

[edit] Cinematic influence
Although many films about gangsters had been made prior to The Godfather, Coppola's sympathetic treatment of the Corleone family and their associates, and his portrayal of mobsters as characters of considerable psychological depth and complexity[19] was hardly usual in the genre. This was even more the case with The Godfather: Part II, and the success of those two films, critically, artistically and financially, opened the doors for more and varied depictions of mobster life, including films such as Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and TV series such as David Chase's The Sopranos.

The image of the Mafia as being a feudal organization with the Don being both the protector of the small fry and the collector of obligations from them to repay his services, which The Godfather helped to popularize, is now an easily recognizable cultural trope, as is that of the Don's family as a "royal family". (This has spread into the real world as well -- cf. John Gotti — the "Dapper Don", and his celebritized family.) This portrayal stands in contrast to the more sordid reality of lower level Mafia "familial" entanglements, as depicted in various post-Godfather mafia fare, such as Scorsese's Mean Streets and Casino, and also to the grittier hard-boiled pre-Godfather films.

In the 1999 film Analyze This, which starred Robert De Niro, who played Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part 2, many references are made both directly and indirectly to the Godfather. One scene is almost a shot by shot replica of the attempted assassination of Vito Corleone.

[edit] Influence on popular culture
The Godfather along with the other films in the trilogy, had a strong impact on the public at large. Don Vito's line, "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse" was voted as the second most memorable line in cinema history in a 2005 poll, called AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute.

Reports from Mafia trials and confessions[citation needed] suggest that Mafia families began a "real life" tradition of paying respect to the family don by kissing his ring, in imitation of the ending scene of the movie. There is no evidence of this custom being mentioned prior to the movie.

The scene where a delivery is made of a pair of pants and bullet proof vest wrapped around a fish is explained to be an old Sicilian message, "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes!" This expression has made it into widespread American parlance.

An indication of the continuing influence of The Godfather and its sequels can be gleaned from the many references to it which have appeared in every medium of popular culture in the decades since the film's initial release. That these homages, quotations, visual references, satires and parodies continue to pop up even now shows clearly the film's enduring impact. In the television show The Sopranos, Tony Soprano's topless bar is named Bada Bing after the line in The Godfather when Sonny says "You've gotta get up close like this and bada-bing! You blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit."

In addition, the 1997 Welsh film Twin Town (dir. Kevin Allen) set in Swansea features a scene in which a severed dogs head is discovered in its owner's bed just as Jack Woltz finds the head of his prize stud in his bed. Another homage to the famous decapitated horse scene was a 2008 Audi commercial for their new R8 model, first aired during Super Bowl XLII, in which it is the grill of a rival luxury car is discovered in the oil-soaked bed.

[edit] Symbolic significance of oranges
See also: The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III
Some film scholars and fans[attribution needed] of the Godfather movies note what they believe is the symbolic significance of oranges in the films, suggesting that after the appearance of an orange in the film an important "death scene" follows.[20] In the first film, Tom Hagen and Woltz negotiate Johnny's movie status at a dinner table with a plate of oranges on it, and Woltz soon discovers his dead horse's head; Don Vito Corleone is buying oranges from a fruit seller when he is attacked; Sonny drives past a billboard promoting Florida Oranges before he is attacked at the toll booth; Michael is seen eating an orange while discussing his plans of revenge for his father's assassination attempt with Tom Hagen; oranges are placed on the table at the meeting of the Mafia bosses (and specifically in front of the ones who will be assassinated at the film's climax); and Don Vito Corleone dies while eating an orange, as he plays with his young grandson. Tessio is also seen peeling an orange at Connie's wedding. Carlo, who is responsible for Sonny's death, is wearing an orange suit when Sonny beats him up. In Part II, Fanucci grabs an orange from a stand just before he is murdered by Vito in the hallway of his apartment building. Johnny Ola brings Michael an orange from Miami and is later killed. Michael is also seen eating an orange while in a meeting with Tom Hagen and Rocco Lampone, as they are planning the assassination of Hyman Roth, who is killed in the final scene. Finally, as Michael Corleone dies at the end of part III, he drops an orange and it rolls away.

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] Chronological versions
Main article: The Godfather Saga
In 1975, Coppola edited The Godfather and The Godfather Part II together for TV, putting the scenes in chronological order and adding some previously unseen footage, but also toning down the violence, sex, and profanity. It is rated TV-14. This version of the story was called The Godfather Saga. In 1992, Coppola created another chronological version, this time including Part III as well, for a direct-to-video release that had a running time of 583 minutes. This version also incorporated new previously deleted scenes that had not been seen in The Godfather Saga.

[edit] DVD release
The Godfather was released on DVD for the first time on October 9, 2001 as part of a DVD package called The Godfather DVD Collection. The collection contained all three films with commentary from Francis Ford Coppola and a bonus disc that featured a 73 minute documentary from 1991 titled The Godfather Family: A Look Inside, plus a 1971 documentary. The package also contained deleted footage, including the additional scenes originally contained in The Godfather Saga; "Francis Coppola's Notebook" a look inside a notebook the director kept with him at all times during the production of the film; rehearsal footage; and video segments on Gordon Willis' cinematography, Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola's music, Francis Ford Coppola, locations and Mario Puzo's screenplays. The DVD also held a Corleone family tree, a "Godfather" timeline, and footage of the Academy Award acceptance speeches.[21]

It appears that in 2008, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II will be re-released to theaters and on DVD in a new restoration, to be overseen by Robert A. Harris. The restoration was confirmed by Francis Ford Coppola during a question and answer session for The Godfather Part III, when he said that he had just seen the new transfer and it was "terrific". Further evidence for this upcoming re-release came when the American Film Institute canceled screenings in August and September of the two films, stating, "The Godfather shows have been cancelled. The film has been pulled from circulation in anticipation of its restoration and re-release in 2008." However, Paramount has yet to confirm these reports.

[edit] Video game
Main article: The Godfather: The Game
In March 2006, a video game version of The Godfather was released by Electronic Arts. Prior to his death, Marlon Brando provided voice work for Vito, however, due to poor sound quality from Brando's failing health, a sound-alike's voice had to be used instead. James Caan, Robert Duvall and Abe Vigoda lent their voices and likenesses as well, and several other Godfather cast members had their likeness in the game. However, Al Pacino's likeness and voice (Michael Corleone) was not in the game as Al Pacino sold his likeness and voice for the Scarface video game. Francis Ford Coppola said in April 2005 that he was not informed and did not approve of Paramount allowing the game's production, and openly criticized the move.[22]

[edit] References
^ AFI's 100 YEARS...100 MOVIES. Retrieved on [[February 2]], 2007.
^ IMDb Top 250. IMDB. Retrieved on [[April 2]], 2007.
^ Metacritic: Best Reviewed Movies. Retrieved on April 13, 2007.
^ "Rotten Tomatoes: Top Movies: Best of Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on [[April 13]], 2007.
^ (1998) in Jon E Lewis: New American Cinema. Duke University Press, 14-17.
^ Hearn, Marcus (2005). The Cinema of George Lucas. New York City: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 46. ISBN 0-8109-4968-7.
^ a b c d e The Godfather DVD Collection documentary A Look Inside, [2001]
^ a b The Godfather DVD commentary featuring Francis Ford Coppola, [2001]
^ The Godfathers' Stats
^ THE GODFATHER: Scene Locations
^ "Doing the impossible - Part 1 - The Godfather" - - Art and the Zen of Design
^ Photo of Bellevue side entrance
^ NY State Supreme Court steps
^ AFI's 100 YEARS...100 MOVIES. Retrieved on [[February 2]], 2007.
^ AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies. American Film Institute. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
^ The Godfather (1972) - Box office /business. IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
^ The Godfather (1972) - Box office /business. IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
^ VisualMemory.co.uk Article
^ CBSnews.com CBS
^ 2. The Godfather. Writer's Guild of America. Retrieved on 2007-02-08.
^ The Godfather DVD Collection [2001]
^ "Coppola Angry over Godfather Video Game", 8 April 2005. Retrieved on [[August 22]], 2005.

[edit] Further reading
Burr, T, The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, New York: Time-Life Books ISBN 1-883013-68-2. Lists The Godfather as "the greatest film of all time."
Cowie, Peter, The Godfather Book, London: Faber and Faber, 1997
Nourmand, Tony, The Godfather in Pictures, London: Boxtree, 2007 ISBN 978-07522-2637-8

[edit] External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
The GodfatherThe Godfather at the Internet Movie Database
The Godfather at Filmsite.org
The Godfather at the TCM Movie Database
The Godfather at Rotten Tomatoes
The Godfather at the All Movie Guide
The Godfather family tree and crime structure
The Guardian, April 22, 2006, "Mob mentality"
The Godfather movie posters at MoviePosterDB.com

Apur Sansar

2008-02-07T02:40:00.001-08:00

The World of Apu (Bengali: অপুর সংসার Opur Shôngshar), also known as Apur Sansar, is the third and final installment of the famous film series, the Apu Trilogy, about a boy named Apu in early twentieth century Bengal by Satyajit Ray. Released in 1959, The World of Apu focuses on Apu's adult life, and also introduces the actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore, who would go on to appear in many subsequent Ray films. The film is based on the novel Aparajito by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Awards
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Plot
A large part of the story unfolds in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Apu (played by Soumitra Chatterjee) is an unemployed graduate living in a rented room in Calcutta. He is working on a novel based on his life and hopes to get it published some day. Incidentally, one day he meets his old friend Pulu, who coaxes him to join him on a trip to his village to attend the marriage of a cousin named Aparna (played by 14 year old Sharmila Tagore).

On the day of the marriage it turns out that the bridegroom has a serious mental illness. The bride's mother cancels the marriage, despite the father's protests: he and the other villagers believe that the young bride must be wedded off during the previously appointed auspicious hour. Otherwise, she will have to remain unmarried all her life. Apu, after initially refusing when requested by a few villagers, ultimately decides to take Pulu's advice and come to the rescue of the bride by agreeing to marry her.

He returns with Aparna to his apartment in Calcutta after the wedding. He takes up a clerical job, and a loving relationship begins to bloom between them. Yet the young couple's blissful days are cut short when Aparna dies while giving birth to their son, Kaajal. Apu is overcome with grief and holds the child responsible for his wife's death.

He shuns his worldly responsibilities and becomes a recluse, while the child is left with his maternal grandparents. Pulu finds Kaajal growing wild and uncared for and advises Apu one last time. At last, Apu decides to come back to reality and reunites with his son. They return to Calcutta together to start life afresh.

[edit] Awards
National Film Award for Best Film, India - 1960
National Board of Review, USA - 1960

[edit] Trivia
Apur Sansar was the debut of both Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore. They acted together the next year in Devi as well; once again, Soumitra Chatterjee acted as a husband and Sharmila Tagore played the role of his wife.

[edit] External links
Apur Sansar at the Internet Movie Database
Apur Sansar at SatyajitRay.org

Pather Panchali

2008-02-07T02:38:00.000-08:00

Pather Panchali (Bengali: পথের পাঁচালী Pôther Pãchali) is the 1955 directorial debut of Satyajit Ray. It is the first film in Ray's Apu trilogy and depicts a boy's childhood in the Indian countryside in the early twentieth century. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by noted Bengali writer Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay.

Contents [hide]
1 Title
2 Plot
3 Production
4 Property
5 Reception
5.1 Contemporary responses
5.2 Recent responses
6 Awards
7 Notes
8 Bibliography
9 References

[edit] Title
The title is usually translated as "song of the little road". Pather literally means "of the path" in Bengali, while panchali refers to a type of narrative folk song that used to be performed in Bengal, and was the forerunner of another type of folk song now known as jatra.[1]

[edit] Plot
Pather Panchali portrays life in rural Bengal in the 1920s. It focuses on the lives of Apu (full name: Apurba Kumar Roy) and his family members.

The story revolves around a poor Brahmin family. The father, Harihar, is a priest who is unable to make ends meet to keep his family together. The mother, Sarbajaya, has the chief responsibility for raising her mischievous daughter Durga and caring for her elderly sister-in-law Indir, who is a distant relative and whose independent spirit sometimes irritates her. With the arrival of Apu in the family, scenes of happiness and play enrich their daily life, occasionally interrupted by tragedy (e.g. the death of Indir). Life, however, is a struggle, so Harihar has to find a new job and departs, leaving Sarbajaya alone to deal with the stress of this family's survival, Durga's illness and the turbulence of the monsoon. The final disaster, Durga's death, causes the family to leave their village in search of a new life in Benares.

[edit] Production

Wide open eyes, a continual motif in the Apu TrilogyFor his first film, Ray decided to adapt Pather Panchali, the classic bildungsroman of Bengali literature. Published in 1928 by Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, this semi-autobiographical novel describes the growing up of Apu, a small boy in a Bengal village. Ray's adaptation makes many changes and cuts. Ray always claimed that cinema, as a medium of artistic expression, was entirely different from literary modes such as novels, short stories, and dramas. He restructured the entire story and cut away what he thought were unnecessary elements of the novel.[citation needed]

The film was made on a shoestring budget. Bandopadhyay was deceased at that point, but his widow was generous enough to allow a complete novice to shoot her husband's masterpiece. The film never had a complete screenplay; it was made from Ray's drawings and notes. Shooting started in early 1953. In retrospect, the technical team was immensely talented, even apart from Ray; both Subrata Mitra (cinematographer) and Bansi Chandragupta (art director) would later be considered undisputed masters of their craft. However, at that point, Ray had never directed anything and Mitra had never operated a movie camera, though Chandragupta was a young professional.

The father Harihar, was played by a professional film actor, but Sarbajoya, the mother, was played by Karuna Banerjee, an amateur theatre actress and the wife of a friend of Ray's. Apu was spotted on a neighbor's terrace by Bijoya Ray, while Durga was chosen from an interview. The hardest to cast was of course the character of the wizened, 80 year old Aunt; Ray eventually found Chunibala Devi, a retired stage actress, then living in a brothel.

Funding was a problem from the beginning, as no producer agreed to produce the film. Ray kept working in Keymer, exhausted his last penny, and sold the LP records close to his heart. His production manager Anil Chowdhury was reduced to sleeping in a taxi at one point, and he (Chowdhury) convinced Bijoya to pawn her jewels as well (Ray's life insurance policy had already been pawned). Still, partway through filming Ray ran out of funds; the Government of West Bengal loaned him the rest, allowing him to finish the film. The money was loaned on record for 'roads improvement', a reference to the film's title.[2]

[edit] Property
This section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details.(October 2007)

The film's representation of property may be unfamiliar to non-Indians.

In the beginning of Pather Panchali, Durga (Apu's elder sister) is shown stealing one fruit a day from her neighbor Mrs. Mukherjee's orchard. She then gives the fruit to her aunt Indir. Sarbajaaya (Durga's mother) is not fundamentally opposed to the idea of her daughter stealing, but she scolds her when Mrs. Mukherjee threatens to complain to the local panchayat or village council. (Ironically, Sarbajaaya herself steals banana leaves from the orchard).

In India, particularly during the colonial era when it was still a British colony, wealth was measured chiefly in terms of property. Mukherjee claims that her property was "bought and paid for," but Sarbajaaya claims it was "stolen" from Harihar's family. We later learn from Harihar that Mukherjee's family claimed that Harihar's dead brother was in debt to them and that the family was forced to repay the debt by giving up the orchard. Harihar's explanation implies the following situation, which was not uncommon in India at the time.

Harihar's brother borrowed money from, and lent money to, several people. He never kept written accounts of his transactions since he felt he was able to remember them otherwise. When he died, however, the Mukherjees (and possibly other families) claimed that he had owed a certain sum of money. Since Harihar's family was now unable to provide evidence to the contrary, the Mukherjees took away the orchard as compensation. Nevertheless, Indira, who has enjoyed the fruits of the orchard for many years, desires the fruit and encourages Durga to steal some.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Contemporary responses

A frame from the 'discovery of train' scene. The scene is widely considered as the magic moment of the film[3].While it was in production, a number of westerners, including Monroe Wheeler from the Museum of Modern Art, saw the rushes and immediately recognized its originality. This helped Pather Panchali to get a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was screened toward the end of the festival and at the same time as a party thrown by the Japanese delegation, so only a small number of critics attended; however, although some were initially unenthusiastic at the propect of yet another Indian melodrama, they reportedly found "the magic horse of poetry" slowly invading the screen.[4] The film was awarded the Best Human Document prize at the 1955 Cannes film festival.

Akira Kurosawa said of the film, "I can never forget the excitement in my mind after seeing it. It is the kind of cinema that flows with the serenity and nobility of a big river."[5]

Newsweek critic Jack Kroll reviewed the film as "One of the most stunning first films in movie history. Ray is a welcome jolt of flesh, blood and spirit."

Hazel-Dawn Dumpert of LA Weekly wrote that the film was "as deeply beautiful and plainly poetic as any movie ever made. Rare and exquisite."[6]

"The first film by the masterly Satyajit Ray - possibly the most unembarrassed and natural of directors - is a quiet reverie about the life of an impoverished Brahmin family in a Bengali village. Beautiful, sometimes funny, and full of love, it brought a new vision of India to the screen" said Pauline Kael.[citation needed]

"A beautiful picture, completely fresh and personal. [Ray's camera] reaches forward into life, exploring and exposing, with reverence and wonder" wrote Lindsay Anderson.[6]

After the success of Pather Panchali, Ray was able to obtain a grant from the government of West Bengal, and completed the Apu trilogy at the behest of the Prime Minister of India; this indicates the extent of the first film's cultural impact.

[edit] Recent responses

An alternate DVD coverPhilip French of The Observer has described Pather Panchali as "one of the greatest pictures ever made".[7]

The Village Voice ranked the film at #12 (tied with The Godfather) in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.[8]

Prolific web reviewer James Berardinelli writes, "This tale, as crafted by Ray, touches the souls and minds of viewers, transcending cultural and linguistic barriers".[9]

In 2005, the film was included in Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies list.

The novel is included as part of the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) and ICSE syllabus for students in India choosing to study Bengali.

[edit] Awards
President's Gold & Silver Medals, New Delhi, 1955
National Film Award for Best Film, India, 1956
Best Human Document, Cannes 1956
Diploma Of Merit, Edinbugh, 1956
Vatican Award, Rome, 1956
Golden Carbao, Manila, 1956
Best Film and Direction, San Francisco, 1957
Selznik Golden Laurel, Berlin, 1957
Best Film, Vancouver, 1958
Critics' Award: Best Film, Stratford (Canada), 1958
Best Foreign Film, New York, National Board Of Review 1959
Kinema Jumpo Award: Best Foreign Film, Tokyo 1966
Bodil Award: Best Non-European Film of the Year, Denmark, 1966

[edit] Notes
^ Banglapedia: Panchali. Banglapedia. Retrieved on 9 September 2006.
^ "Filmi Funda Pather Panchali (1955)", The Telegraph, 2005-04-20. Retrieved on 2006-04-29.
^ upperstall.com - Pather Panchali Review
^ Seton 1971, pp. 33
^ Critics on Ray. SatyajitRay.org. Retrieved on 3 April 2006.
^ a b Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road). SatyajitRay.org. Retrieved on 3 April 2006.
^ Philip French (5 May 2002). Pather Panchali. The Observer. Retrieved on 27 July 2006.
^ Take One: The First Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll. The Village Voice (1999). Retrieved on 27 July 2006.
^ James Berardinelli (1996). Review: Pather Panchali. ReelViews. Retrieved on 3 April 2006.

[edit] Bibliography
Seton, M (1971), Satyajit Ray: Portrait of a director, Indiana University Press.

Lagaan

2008-02-07T02:36:00.000-08:00

Lagaan (Bhojpuri/Hindi: लगान; Urdu: لگان; translation: Land tax), also known as Lagaan: Once upon a time in India, is an award-winning Bollywood musical made in India. It became the third Hindi language film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (after Mother India in 1957 and Salaam Bombay! in 1989). The film, which is based on an original story by Ashutosh Gowarikar, was also directed by him. It starred Aamir Khan and Gracy Singh in the lead roles while Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne and A. K. Hangal play other prominent roles.

The movie, which is set in the Victorian period of the British Raj, revolves around the peasants from a barren village who are oppressed by high taxes imposed by the British. When the peasants attempt to persuade the officers to reduce the taxes, the officers put forth a proposition to the peasants. One senior officer offers them to cancel their taxes for three years if their village team beats them at cricket. After accepting this proposition, the villagers face the arduous task of learning the game and playing for a result that will change their village's destiny.

The film gathered critical acclaim and awards at several international film festivals, apart from winning many Bollywood awards. The film, which had its theatrical release on June 15, 2001, also released twice as the highest selling DVD in India of its time.

Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Developments
3.1 Pre-production
3.2 Location, language and costumes
3.3 Production
4 Release and reception
4.1 Screenings at film festivals
4.2 Commercial release
4.3 Reviews
4.4 Awards
4.5 The Oscar nomination
5 Soundtrack and DVD
5.1 Soundtrack
5.2 DVD
6 Merchandise
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

[edit] Plot

Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) and Gauri (Gracy Singh) in a song.Lagaan is set in late 19th century India. Captain Andrew Russell (Paul Blackthorne), the commanding officer of a British cantonment, oppresses the people of Champaner with high taxes (lagaan). The local ruler, Rajah Pooran Singh, asks that taxes be lowered, to ease the suffering of the drought-stricken villagers. Captain Russell humiliates the rajah by asking him to eat meat if he wishes the taxes to be lowered. The rajah says that he must keep the rules of his religion and his caste; he cannot eat meat. Captain Russell then doubles the taxes.

The peasants, who are already suffering from a prolonged drought, are devastated by this news. The monsoon is late; they will be unable to pay regular taxes, much less double taxes. They beg the rajah to help them, but he says he cannot persuade the British to mercy.

The villagers, returning from their fruitless audience with the rajah, stop to watch the British officers playing cricket. Captain Russell notices them and sees the young, impetuous Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), who has previously angered him. The captain offers Bhuvan a wager: He will cancel the taxes of the whole province for three years if a village team can beat his men at cricket. If they lose, they will owe triple tax. To the horror of the other villagers, Bhuvan accepts this wager on their behalf. Later, he explains that as they can pay neither double nor triple taxes, they should grab the chance for a tax remission.

Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) raises his voice against the oppressive taxation.Nonetheless, the villagers of Champaner, and of all the neighboring villages, are furious with Bhuvan. No one has ever played cricket. How can complete novices beat the British?

The British Government, on learning of Captain Russell’s wager, admonishes him for his arrogant and irresponsible behaviour. His superiors tell him that if he loses the match, he will have to reimburse all the taxes from his own pocket and moreover suffer a transfer to Central Africa.

Led by the courageous Bhuvan and helped by Russell’s good-hearted sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley), a few villagers begin to learn cricket. As time progresses, more and more villagers are convinced to join Bhuvan's team. Bhuvan accepts them on merit alone, disregarding all considerations of religion and caste. This is controversial, but eventually accepted by the villagers. The team works hard and it seems that they might have a chance to win.

As they spend time together, Elizabeth falls in love with Bhuvan, who is himself attached to a charming local girl, Gauri(Gracy Singh). Though Bhuvan feels nothing but respect for Elizabeth and Elizabeth never expresses her feelings, Gauri sees how matters stand and is anxious until Bhuvan declares his love. This infuriates the woodcutter Lakha, who had hoped to win Gauri himself.

Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) with an eclectic mix of the village-folk forming their cricket team.Lakha decides to humble Bhuvan by forcing him to lose the match. Lakha joins the team, but secretly meets with Captain Russell, informing him of everything that is happening. The captain tries to prevent his sister from helping the villagers, but she defies him. On the first day of the match when the villagers are fielding, Lakha deliberately drops many catches. That night, Elizabeth sees Lakha travelling to the British camp to meet her brother and she informs Bhuvan. The villagers attempt to kill Lakha on the spot but Bhuvan reprieves him. Lakha takes a diving one-handed catch the next day which sparks the British batting collapse.

So matters stand when the three-day cricket match starts. An immense crowd of villagers gathers to watch the British and the local team face off at cricket. The last hour of the movie is a condensed rendition of the game, with many improbable changes in the match situation. Bhuvan strikes a six from the final ball to seal a one wicket victory for the Indians.

Memorable quotes Quote in Hindi Translation Note
“ तुम्हार खोपदी घूम गयी है, भुवन?...खुद तोह डूबोगेय, हुम सब क लैके डूबोगेय! ”
Have you gone crazy, Bhuvan? Not only you, we will all be ruined Head of the village to Bhuvan when faced with the prospect of the cricket match.
“ हा अर्जन, हम सप्ना देखत है. और सप्न वोही साकार कर पावे है, जो उन्हे देखत है ”
Yes Arjan, I dream. For only those who can dream can make their dreams come true Bhuvan to Arjan during an altercation.
“ जो है तुम्रे मन मै, वोही हम्रे मन मै. जो सप्ना है तुम्रा, सप्ना वही हम्रे है जीवन मै ”
What's in your heart, is in my heart too. The dream you have is also my dream in life. An excerpt from a song

[edit] Cast
Aamir Khan as Bhuvan. For the casting, Ashutosh first thought of having Shahrukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan for the role of Bhuvan. While Khan suggested the name of Aamir for the role, Bachchan chose to enter cinema with J. P. Dutta's Refugee (2000). It was only after this, Aamir was approached with the idea. After Aamir agreed for the film, Ashutosh felt that both of them might not have played the role better than Aamir.[4]
Gracy Singh as Gauri. Many prominent actresses had offered to act in the film, but Aamir needed someone according to the script. After considering many such as Sonali Bendre, Nandita Das and Rani Mukherjee,[5] Ashutosh had selected Gracy Singh for the female lead because he was convinced that she was a good actress and dancer. Gracy, a newcomer, devoting all her time for the film was an added plus to the debutant producer.[6]
Rachel Shelley as Elizabeth Russell.
Paul Blackthorne as Captain Andrew Russell. Since the script also demanded a British cast, Ashutosh and Aamir hired Danielle Roffe[7] as one of the casting directors. After Danielle and Ashutosh screen-tested many, Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne were chosen for the prime roles. Overall, the film had cast 15 foreign actors.[8]
Suhasini Mulay as Yashodamai.
Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Raja Puran Singh.
Raghuvir Yadav as Bhura, the poultry farmer. Yadav was selected based on his performance in Earth (1998). He had undergone an appendicitis operation in between the filming schedule and returned to complete some of his scenes.[9]
Rajesh Vivek as Guran, the fortune teller. Vivek was spotted by Ashutosh in the film Junoon (1978). His like for cricket helped him in his role.[10]
Raj Zutshi as Ismail, the potter. Zutshi's friendship with Aamir and association in several films brought him the role of Ismail after the auditions.[11]
Pradeep Rawat as Deva, the Sikh from the neighboring village. Rawat's association with Aamir in Sarfarosh (1999) brought him the role of Deva, which was initially thought to be given to Mukesh Rishi. He claimed that it was the highest ever compensation he received in his career.[12]
Daya Shankar Pandey as Goli, the man with the largest piece of land. Pandey, who preferred the role of Kachra, was known to Aamir and Ashutosh through previous films (Pehla Nasha (1993), Baazi (1995) and Ghulam (1998)). After successfully auditioning for the role, Ashutosh and he used to discuss the required emotions and expressions. Pandey credited Ashutosh for all his acting in the film.[13]
Yashpal Sharma as Lakha, the woodcutter. Sharma was chosen by Ashutosh after his portrayal in Samar (1999). He said it was a good experience working with Aamir and Ashutosh during the film.[14]
Amin Hajee as Bagha, the mute. Hajee earlier worked in a film with Ashutosh. The friendly association soon brought Ashutosh to him with the script, which he liked, and thereafter he successfully auditioned for his role. His knowledge of mute people and some assistance from a music band helped him better prepare for his role. Ashutosh, who believed that Amin was like Sylvester Stallone, used to fondly refer to him as Stallone during the shots.[15]
Aditya Lakhia as Kachra, the untouchable. Lakhia's association with Ashutosh in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1993) and Pehla Nasha (1993) that fetched him this role. He read the book Everyone Loves A Good Drought by P. Sainath to better understand and portray his character. To get the distinct tanned look of the respective characters, the cast were asked to lie down under the sun.[16]
A. K. Hangal as Shambukaka.
Ben Nealon as Lt. Patrick Smith
John Rowe as Major Boyle
David Gant as Major Warren
Jeremy Child as Major Cotton

[edit] Developments

[edit] Pre-production
Director Ashutosh Gowariker once said that it was almost impossible to make Lagaan. When he first put forth the idea of the film to Aamir Khan, he not only refused to act in it but also dissuaded him from making it. Even after Aamir agreed to act after the narration of a detailed script, Ashutosh found the script lacking a producer. All those producers, who evinced interest in the script, wanted budget cuts as well as script modifications. Eventually, Aamir agreed to his suggestion of producing the film.[17] Aamir corroborated this by saying that the faith he had in Ashutosh, the story and script of the film,[18] and the opportunity of starting his own production company[19] had inspired him to produce Lagaan. He also said that by being a producer himself, he was able to allow greater creative freedom to Ashutosh. He cited an example: "If the director tells the producer that he wants 50 camels, the latter will probably say, Why not 25? Can't you manage with 25 camels? Whereas, if he is telling me the same thing ... I will not waste time asking him questions because I am also creatively aware why he needs them."[6] Jhamu Sughand co-produced the film because he liked the emotional and patriotic story very much.[20]

[edit] Location, language and costumes

Ashutosh Gowarikar panning the camera for a good angle in the barren landscape of Champaner.The film was primarily shot in an ancient village near Bhuj, which is located in Gujarat's Kutch district. The script demanded a dry location; an agricultural village where it had not rained in several years. To depict the 1890s era, the crew also required a village which lacked electricity, communication and automobiles.[18] Kutch faced the same problems at that time and hence the village of Kanuria, located a few miles away from Bhuj, was chosen. During the filming of Lagaan in this region, it did not rain at all during the entire shoot. However, a week after the shoot finished, it rained heavily bringing relief to Bhuj, which had a lean monsoon in the previous year.[5] This typical old Kutch hamlet was built by the local people four months before the arrival of the crew. They erected 56 small houses, many of them being ghumbas (round-shaped huts), that were common in ancient Kutch. A village mukhiya (head), a blacksmith and other such people occupied these houses. A temple was specially built on a hill, with Lord Krishna as its deity.[8] At the end, all the female members of the crew and cast were presented with beautiful pieces of Kutchi embroidery made by the friendly womenfolk of Bhuj.[5] The 2001 Gujarat earthquake devastated this region and displaced many locals. The crew, including the Englishmen, contributed monetarily to their cause by donating Rs. 2.5 million with further contributions during the year.[21]

Avadhi, which is a dialect of Hindi, is primarily from a region in Uttar Pradesh. This was chosen to give a the feel of the language spoken during that era. However, the language was diluted such that the common man could understand it.[6] The dialogues, which were a combination of three different dialects: Avadhi, Bhojpuri and Brajbhasha were penned by noted Hindi writer, K. P. Saxena.[5]

Bhanu Athaiya, an Oscar winner for Gandhi, was the costume designer for the film. With large number of extras used in the film, it was a challenge for the designer to make enough costumes. She spent a lot of time researching to lend authenticity to the characters of the film.[5]

[edit] Production
After pre-planning for a year, that included ten months for production issues and two months for his character, Aamir was a tired man. For a first-time producer, he managed a crew of about 300 people for six months. With a good hotel lacking in Bhuj, they hired a newly constructed apartment and furnished it completely for the crew. Security was setup and a special housekeeping team was brought to take care of the crew's needs.[19]

Most of the ancient tools and equipment that are depicted in the movie were lent to the crew by the local villagers. Initially, they did not want to part with their equipment, but after much coaxing, they gave in. However, they traveled to different parts of the country to collect the musical instruments used in that day and era.[19]

During the shooting, Ashutosh suffered from a slipped disc and was to rest for 15 days. However during this period, he had his bed next to the monitor and passionately continued with his work.[22]

The filming schedule was spread across the winter and summer seasons commencing early January and finishing in mid-June. This was physically challenging to many with the temperatures ranging from 0 - 50 degrees Celsius throughout the shoot.[11][15] Throughout the shoot, the actors had to hydrate themselves and sit in the shade.[10][12] The schedule was strict. The day began at 6 A.M., getting dressed up and getting into the actors' bus, which took them to the sets in Kanuria. All the actors, including Aamir, travelled on that bus. If anyone missed the bus, it was up to them to reach the sets. One day, Aamir was late and missed the actors' bus that took us to the sets. That day, his wife Reena, the executive producer, reprimanded him for being late. She told him he had to set an example for the rest of the crew. "If he started coming late, how could she tell the others to come on time?"[12] While on the sets, the actors were given call sheets with the day's timetable such as breakfast, hair styling, make-up, costumes, etc.[23]

[edit] Release and reception
Much before its worldwide release, Aamir Khan had screened the film for the locals of Bhuj, as promised.[24]

[edit] Screenings at film festivals
In 2001, Lagaan had a world premiere at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend in Sun City, South Africa.[25] The Locarno International Film Festival authorities published the rules of cricket before the film was screened to an crowd which was reported to be dancing to its soundtrack in the aisles.[26] Lagaan was shown four times due to public demand as against the usual norm of showcasing films once at the festival.[27] It subsequently won the Prix du Public award at the festival.[28] After the film's publicity in Locarno, the director, Ashutosh Gowarikar said that distributors from Switzerland, Italy, France, Netherlands, North Africa, Finland and Germany were wanting to purchase the distribution rights.[27] Special screenings were held in Russia, where people were keen on watching the film after its Oscar nomination.[29]

It shared the Best Film prize at the Portland International Film Festival,[30] won the Audience Award at the Leeds International Film Festival[31] and the The Norwegian Film Institute's award at the Bergen International Film Festival.[32] Apart from these screenings, it was also screened at the Sundance Film Festival,[33] Cairo International Film Festival,[34] Stockholm International Film Festival,[35] Helsinki International Film Festival[36] and the Toronto Film Festival.[37]

[edit] Commercial release
The film made it to the U. K. Top 10 after its commercial release.[38] The film, which was the first Indian film to have a nationwide release in China,[39], had its dubbed version released in Italy.[27] With favorable reviews from the French press, the movie premiered in Paris on June 26, 2002 and continued to have an unprecedented nine weeks of screening with over 45,000 people watching the movie.[40] It also released in United States, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa and the Middle East with respective vernacular subtitles.[27][41]

The film garnered a cumulative of $2.5 million at the international box-office[1][42] and Rs. 38 crores at the domestic box-office.[43]

[edit] Reviews
Derek Elley of Variety said that the film "could be the trigger for Bollywood's long-awaited crossover to non-ethnic markets".[44] About the story, he says that it "never drags, thanks almost entirely to its warm, very human feel and -- in Bollywood terms -- believable characters."[44] About cricket which was not native to United States, he said that "the device of having a local explain the game to the assembled Indian audience cleverly gets round the problem of elucidating the mysteries of cricket for territories where it isn't played."[44] About the film, The New York Times said that it was "a carnivalesque genre packed with romance, swordplay and improbable song-and-dance routines"[45] Roger Ebert wrote in his review of the film:

Lagaan is an enormously entertaining movie, like nothing we've ever seen before, and yet completely familiar. This film is like nothing they've seen before, with its startling landscapes, architecture and locations, its exuberant colors, its sudden and joyous musical numbers right in the middle of dramatic scenes, and its melodramatic acting (teeth gnash, tears well, lips tremble, bosoms heave, fists clench). At the same time, it's a memory of the films we all grew up on, with clearly defined villains and heroes, a romantic triangle, and even a comic character who saves the day. Lagaan is a well-crafted, hugely entertaining epic that has the spice of a foreign culture.[46]

A review from The Guardian said that "Lagaan is a lavish epic, a gorgeous love story, and a rollicking adventure yarn. Larger than life and outrageously enjoyable, it's got a dash of spaghetti western, a hint of Kurosawa, with a bracing shot of Kipling."[47] About the film, The BBC said "Lagaan is anything but standard Bollywood fodder, and is the first must-see of the Indian summer. A movie that will have you laughing and crying, but leaving with a smile."[48] The review also added that the "director Ashutosh Gowariker captures the beauty and simplicity of rural life in India at the turn of the century."[48] Los Angeles Times wrote that the film was "an affectionate homage to a popular genre that raises it to the level of an art film with fully drawn characters, a serious underlying theme, and a sophisticated style and point of view."[49] The review added by saying that "Lagaan masterfully integrates song and drama into a sophisticated but lengthy tale of injustice."[49]

A medley of many such reviews on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a approval rating of 95%.[50]

A review from The Hindu wrote that "the movie is not just a story. It is an experience. An experience of watching something that puts life into you, that puts a cheer on your face, however depressed you might be."[51] The Times of India wrote that "Lagaan has all the attractions of big-sounding A. R. Rehman songs, excellent performances by Aamir Khan [..] and a successful debut for pretty Gracy Singh. In addition, there is the celebrated David vs Goliath cricket match, which has audiences screaming and clapping."[52] An Indian entertainment portal in its review said that "the film has many brownie points. A R Rahman's music, Anil Mehta's cinematography (even though some obtrusions to the eyes exist in the many jerky pans), Bhanu Athaiya's costumes and Nakul Kamte's sound."[53] About the performances, it said that "though as an artiste, Gracy could do well with less of her eager facial contortions and hone her admittedly good enunciation and emoting to perfection."[53] About the rest of the cast, "Raghuveer Yadav as Bura, the poultry owner, and Yashpal Sharma as the village baddie, stand out."[53] It, however, attributed the film with a poor script by saying "what is one to say about a film which exhausts its plot in the first two hours and 40 minutes, and devotes an hour to a cricket match?"[53]

Ashutosh Gowarikar (in white) posing with directors of the other nominated foreign films at the 74th Academy Awards.
[edit] Awards
Main article: Awards and nominations for Lagaan
Apart from winning several awards at the film festivals, Lagaan won several Bollywood awards.

In 2002, it won Filmfare Awards for the music director, lyricist, male singer (Udit Narayan for Mitwa), female singer (Alka Yagnik for O Rey Chhori), story, lead actor, director and for the film.[54] In the same year's IIFA Awards, it won the best music director, best female singer (Asha Bhosle for Radha Kaise Na Jale), best actor, best director and the best film awards in the ceremony held in Malaysia.[55] It won the National Film Awards for art direction, costume design, audiography, lyrics, male singer (Udit Narayan for Mitwa), music director and the film for providing wholesome entertainment[56] Apart from these major awards, it also won awards in the Star Screen Awards and Zee Cine Awards ceremonies.

Apart from being a nominee at the 74th Academy Awards, it was also a nominee for the Screen International Award at the 2002 European Film Awards.[57] Besides these, it was also nominated for several Bollywood awards.

[edit] The Oscar nomination
Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker, went to Los Angeles for generating publicity for the Academy Awards. Khan said, "We just started showing it to whoever we could, even the hotel staff."[58] About India's official entry to the 2002 Oscars, British daily, The Telegraph said, "A Bollywood film that portrays the British in India as ruthless sadists and Mafia-style crooks has been chosen as Delhi's official entry to the Academy Awards in America."[59] It, however, added saying that the film was expected to win the nomination.[59]

On February 12, 2002, Lagaan was nominated for the best foreign language film at the Academy Award nominations ceremony.[60] After the nomination, Khan reacted by saying, "To see the name of the film and actually hear it being nominated was very satisfying".[61]

Post-nomination, reactions poured from several parts of the world. USA Today said "Hooray for Bollywood, and India's Lagaan".[58] With Sony Pictures Classics distributing the film and Baz Luhrmann, director of award-winning Moulin Rouge!, raving about Lagaan, it gave Lagaan a chance to win.[58][62] The BBC said, the nomination raises Bollywood hopes that Indian films will become more popular in the US.[63] While in India, the nomination was celebrated with news reports about a win bringing in "a great boost for the Indian film industry"[64] and "a Bharat Ratna for Aamir Khan and the status of a ‘national film’ for Lagaan".[65]

After No Man's Land won the Academy Award for the best foreign language film,[66] there was widespread disappointment in India. Aamir Khan said, "Certainly we were disappointed. But the thing that really kept us in our spirits was that the entire country was behind us".[67]

There was criticism about the Oscars after the ceremony. One film maker, Mahesh Bhatt said that the "American film industry was insular and the foreign category awards were given just for the sake of it."[67] Gowarikar added by saying, "Americans must learn to like our films".[68]

[edit] Soundtrack and DVD
Lagaan: The Official Motion Picture Soundtrack

Studio album
Released April 6, 2001[69]
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length 43:08
Label Aamir Khan Productions

[edit] Soundtrack
No. Song Singers Length (m:ss) Lyrics Notes
1 Ghanan Ghanan Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Shankar Mahadevan, Chorus 06.11 Javed Akhtar A song where the village-folk celebrate the arrival of clouds in the sky.
2 Mitwa Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik 06:47 Javed Akhtar The song picturized on Bhuvan cheering up the village-folk.
3 Radha Kaise Na Jale Asha Bhonsle, Udit Narayan, Vaishali, Chorus 05:34 Javed Akhtar The song picturized on Gauri expressing her jealousy on Bhuvan's companionship with Elizabeth.
4 O Rey Chhori Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik 05:59 Javed Akhtar Bhuvan expressing his love for Radha.
5 Chale Chalo A. R. Rahman, Srinivas 06:40 Javed Akhtar Bhuvan motivating his team-mates for the cricket match.
6 O Paalanhaare Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan, Chorus 05:18 Javed Akhtar A song where the village-folk praise Lord Krishna.

Los Angeles Times said that the "songs and dances are not mere interludes inserted in the action, bringing it to a halt--a Bollywood trademark--but are fully integrated into the plot and marked by expressive, dynamic singing and dancing that infuse a historical drama with energy and immediacy."[49] A review of the tracks suggests that "the music is true to the time period (the British Raj)."[70] Another review says that "A. R. Rahman is again at his prodigious best. His score for Aamir Khan’s period drama Lagaan is a delectable blend of Indian classical music, folk melodies and jazzy snazzy tunes."[71]

Lagaan DVD
[edit] DVD
There were two releases for the DVD. The first, as a 2-DVD set, was released on May 27, 2002 in limited regions. It contained subtitles in Arabic, English, Hebrew, Hindi, Turkish and several European languages. It is available in 16:9 Anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, progressive 24 FPS, widescreen and NTSC format. It carried an additional fifteen minutes of deleted scenes, filmographies and trailers.[72]

The second was released as anniversary edition three-disc DVD box after six years of the theatrical release. This also included Chale Chalo which was a documentary on the making of Lagaan, a curtain raiser on the making of the soundtrack, deleted scenes, trailers, along with other collectibles.[73] After its release, it became the highest selling DVD in India beating Sholay (1975).[74]

[edit] Merchandise
The film had associated merchandise being sold commercially. In the anniversary DVD edition, a National Film Award winning documentary, "Chale Chalo - the lunacy of film making", 11 collector cards, a collectible Lagaan coin embossed with the character of Bhuvan, a 35 mm cinemascope filmstrip hand-cut from the movie's filmstrip were bundled together with the film.[73]

A comic book, Lagaan: The Story, along with two coloring books, a mask book and a cricket board game were subsequently released to the commercial market. The comic book, available in English and Hindi, was targeted for children between the ages of six and 14. At the book's launch, Aamir Khan said that they were keen to turn the film into a comic strip during the pre-production phase itself.[75][76]

The cricket bat, which Bhuvan used for scoring the winning runs in the film, was auctioned for six million Pakistani rupees as a fund raiser for a cancer hospital in Lahore, Pakistan.[77]

[edit] References
^ a b "Lagaan (2001): International Box-Office Results", Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Aamir Khan causes traffic jam. Tribune India (2001-06-01). Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Top Earners 2000-2009. BoxOffice India.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Khubchandani, Lata (2001-08-27). 'I approached Shah Rukh and Abhishek for Lagaan'. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ a b c d e Verma, Sukanya (2001-06-01). Lagaan: A ready reckoner. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ a b c 'Many top heroines had offered to work in this film'. Rediff.com (2000-02-21). Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ Lagaan (2001): Full credits. IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ a b Pandya, Haresh (2000-02-14). Where time stands still.... Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ Bhura, the poultry farmer: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ a b Guran, the fortune teller: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ a b Ismail, the potter: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ a b c Deva, the Sikh from the neighboring village: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ Goli, the man with the largest piece of land: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ Lakha, the woodcutter: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ a b Bagha, the mute: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ Kachra, the untouchable: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ Nandy, Pritish (2001-07-17). The Ashutosh Gowariker interview. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ a b Pandya, Haresh (2000-02-21). 'A true actor can play any role'. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ a b c Mukherjee, Sanjeeb (July 2001). Aamir Khan on 'Lagaan' - the surprise of the year!. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ Kulkarni, Ronjita. 'I'm sure Lagaan will win the Oscar'. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ Das, Ronjita. "'One contribution isn't enough'", Rediff, 2001-02-03. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Koppar, Arati. Gracy Singh: Interview. Indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
^ Arjan, the blacksmith: The Ten Samurai. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
^ "Aamir Khan screens ‘Lagaan’ at Bhuj", The Tribune, 2001-06-13. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "Showcase IIFA 2001 - Sun City". Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Da Cunha, Uma. "LAGAAN scores a six!", The Times of India, 2001-08-21. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ a b c d Jha, Subhash K. "Lagaan wins top honours at Swiss film festival", Rediff, 2001-08-13. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Lyons, Charles. "SPC googly for 'Lagaan'", Variety, 2002-02-05. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Times News Network. "Russia calling, Bollywood answering!", The Times of India, 2002-05-02. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ "Portland International Film Festival 2002". Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "Indian film scoops top Leeds award", BBC, 2001-10-16. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "Bergen International Film Festival". Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Ramnarayan, Gowri. "Memorable flicks that made it big", The Hindu, 2001-12-28. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "Cairo Film Festival Programme", Al-Ahram Weekly. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "History - Stockholm International Film Festival", Stockholm International Film Festival. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "Helsinki International Film Festival", Helsinki International Film Festival. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Tsering, Lisa. "Spidey neighbourhood asks for Lagaan", The Times of India, 2002-05-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "BBC - Leicester - Movies - Lagaan", BBC, 2001-07-26. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "“Lagaan” released in China", Press Trust of India, 2002-11-20. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ Indo-Asian News Service. "Lagaan a big hit in France", The Times of India, 2002-08-17. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ "Aamir has NY in a jam", Rediff, 2001-05-30. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "‘Lagaan’ loses to ‘No Man’s Land’", UNI, PTI. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ "Top Earners 2000-2009", Box Office India. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
^ a b c Elley, Derek. "Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India Review", Variety, 2001-07-19. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Sengupta, Somini. "The World: Bollywood Dreams; A Movie Recalls India to Its Ideals", The New York Times, 2002-03-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Ebert, Roger (2002-06-07). Reviews: Lagaan - Once upon a time in India. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Bradshaw, Peter. "Film Reviews: Lagaan", The Guardian, UK, 2001-06-22. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ a b Singh, Kuljinder. "Film Review: Lagaan (Tax) (2001)", BBC, 2001-06-18. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ a b c Thomas, Kevin. "Movie Review: 'Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India'", The Los Angeles Times: Calender Live, 2002-05-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ "Lagaan - Rotten Tomatoes", Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Kamath, Sudhish. "Scoring sixers with every scene", The Hindu, 2001-06-29. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ "Film-hungry fans lap up Gadar, Lagaan fare", The Times of India, 2001-06-28. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ a b c d Menon, Sita. "Lagaan: The Review", Rediff, 2001-06-15. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Lagaan walks away with eight Filmfare awards. Apunkachoice.com (2002-02-17). Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Lagaan scoops Bollywood awards. BBC (2002-04-06). Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ South takes the lion's share; `Lagaan' wins 8 national awards. The Hindu (2002-07-27). Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Lagaan: Once Upon a Time In India (2001). The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ a b c Wloszczyna, Susan. "Hooray for Bollywood, and India's 'Lagaan'", USA Today, 2002-03-08. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ a b Chris Hastings, Susan Bisset. "Anti-British Indian film in chase for Oscar", The Daily Telegraph, 2001-11-25. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ "'Rings' lords over Oscar with 13 nominations", CNN, 2002-02-12. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Chandran, Rina. "A `golden' push for Indian cinema", The Hindu Business Line, 2002-03-03. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Mahajan, Nupur. "It’s Lagaan for Luhrmann", The Times of India, 2002-05-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ "Bollywood's hopes for Oscar dollars", BBC, 2002-02-13. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Murari, Timeri N.. "Lagaan lives on", The Hindu Business Line, 2002-02-15. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Gangadhar, V.. "Lagaan's ultimate test", Tribune India, 2002-02-23. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ "Bosnian war film gets Oscar", CNN, 2002-02-25. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ a b "Indians mourn Oscar miss", BBC, 2002-02-25. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ "Americans must learn to like our films: Ashutosh", The Times of India, 2002-04-15. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ Borah Tandon, Runima (2001-04-05). 'Depressed? Listen to Mitwah!'. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Khanna, Anish. Music Review: Lagaan. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ K Deoshi, N. Lagaan: Music album review. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ Amazon: Lagaan (2001) DVD. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ a b Lagaan Special Anniversary Edition 3-Disk DVD Set. Lagaan DVD. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Lagaan beats Sholay in DVD sales. Financial Express (2007-07-21). Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ Fernandes, Vivek (2002-02-09). Egmont unwraps Lagaan comic book, game for kids. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ 'Lagaan' nominated for Oscar. Agence France-Presse (2002-02-13). Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
^ ‘Lagaan’ bat auctioned for Rs 6m. DAWN (2004-12-12). Retrieved on 2008-01-20.

[edit] Further reading
Bhatkal, Satyajit. The Spirit of Lagaan. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan, 1995. ISBN 81-7991-003-2.

Taxi driver

2008-02-07T02:33:00.000-08:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Taxi Driver

Directed by Martin Scorsese
Produced by Julia Phillips & Michael Phillips
Written by Paul Schrader
Starring Robert De Niro
Jodie Foster
Harvey Keitel
Cybill Shepherd
Peter Boyle
Albert Brooks
Leonard Harris
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Cinematography Michael Chapman
Editing by Tom Rolf
Melvin Shapiro
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) February 8, 1976
10 June 1976
Running time 113 min.
Country U.S.
Language English
Budget $1.3 Million (estimated)[1]
IMDb profile
This article is about the 1976 American film. For other uses, see Taxi Driver (disambiguation).
Taxi Driver is a 1976 film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The movie is set in early post-Vietnam Era New York City and stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, a lonely, isolated taxi driver, and Jodie Foster as the 12-year-old prostitute he attempts to save.

Contents [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Production
3 Controversies
4 Interpretations of the ending
5 Cast
6 Critical response
7 Awards
8 Proposed sequels and spin-offs
9 John Hinckley, Jr.
10 References
11 See also
12 External links

[edit] Synopsis
Travis Bickle (De Niro), a Marine who fought in the Vietnam War, is a lonely and depressed young man. After getting honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, he settles in New York City where he becomes a nighttime taxi driver due to chronic insomnia.[2] Bickle spends his restless days in seedy porn theaters and driving around Manhattan.

Bickle becomes interested in Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), an aide for New York Senator Charles Palantine, who is running for the presidential nomination and is promising dramatic social change. She is initially intrigued by Bickle and agrees to a date with him after he flirts with her and sympathizes with her own apparent loneliness. On the date, however, Bickle is clueless about how to treat her, and thinks it a good idea to take her to a pornographic film. Offended, she ends the date early and takes a taxi home alone. The next day he tries to reconcile with Betsy, phoning her and sending her flowers, but all attempts are in vain.[2]

"You talkin' to me?" Alone in his apartment, Bickle postures and practises his moves in front of the mirror.Rejected and depressed, Bickle begins to turn violent. Disgusted by what he witnesses while driving through the city, he decides to get organized and start getting in shape. He buys a number of pistols from an illegal dealer and practices a menacing speech in the mirror, while pulling out a pistol that he attached to a home-made sliding action holster on his left arm ("You talkin' to me?" was ad-libbed by De Niro.) Being psychologically attached to Betsy and angry at the world, he begins to stalk Senator Palantine.

Bickle is revolted by what he considers the moral decay around him. Iris (Foster), a 12 year-old child prostitute, gets in his cab one night to escape her pimp.[2] Later he talks to her pimp and pays for her time, although he does not have sex with her and instead tries to convince her to leave this way of life behind. The next day, they meet for a breakfast and Bickle becomes obsessed with saving her, despite her lack of interest, explaining that she was "stoned" when she tried to escape, and that her pimp Matthew (Harvey Keitel), whom she calls "Sport", appears to be a kind and caring person.[2] Travis then tries to convince her to return home to her parents and go back to school, but fails. Of Sport, Bickle says, "Someone has to do something to him...he is the lowest kind of person on earth, He is the worst...sucking scum I have ever seen."[2]

Bickle then attempts to assassinate Senator Palantine at a public rally. He is spotted by Secret Service men and flees.[2] Bickle returns to his apartment, then drives to Alphabet City where he shoots Sport, before storming into the brothel and killing the bouncer, the wounded Sport (who has followed Bickle), and Iris's mafioso customer.

A brief epilogue ends the film and shows Bickle recuperating from the incident. He receives a letter from Iris's parents who thank him for saving their daughter, and the media hails him as a hero for saving her.[2] Bickle returns to his job, where one of his fares is Betsy. She comments about his saving of Iris and Bickle's own media fame, yet Bickle denies being any sort of hero.

[edit] Production
In the original draft of the screenplay, writer Paul Schrader had written the role of Sport as a black man. There were also additions of other negative black roles. Scorsese believed that this would give the film an overly racist subtext, so they were changed to white roles.[3]

Travis Bickle's first name was a homage to the Mick Travis character (played by Malcolm McDowell) in if.... (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973), the latter of which was one of Scorsese's favorite films at the time.[citation needed]

When Bickle determines to assassinate Senator Palantine, he cuts his hair into a mohawk. This detail was suggested by actor Victor Magnotta, a friend of Scorsese's who had a small role as a Secret Service agent and who had served in Vietnam. Scorsese later noted, "Magnotta had talked about certain types of soldiers going into the jungle. They cut their hair in a certain way; looked like a mohawk... and you knew that was a special situation, a commando kind of situation, and people gave them wide berths ... we thought it was a good idea."[3]

The actress who played Iris's friend in the film was a working prostitute studied by Jodie Foster to help create her role.[3]

[edit] Controversies

Jodie Foster as "Iris"The climactic shoot-out was, for its era, intensely graphic.[4] To attain an "R" rating, Scorsese desaturated the colors, making the brightly-colored blood less prominent.[5] In later interviews, Scorsese commented that he was actually pleased by the color change and he considered it an improvement over the originally filmed scene, which has been lost. However, in the special edition DVD, Michael Chapman, the film's cinematographer, regrets the decision and the fact that no print with the unmuted colors exists anymore.

Some critics expressed concern over young Jodie Foster's presence during the climactic shoot-out. However, Foster stated that she was present during the setup and staging of the special effects used during the scene; the entire process was explained and demonstrated for her, step by step. Rather than being upset or traumatized, Foster said, she was fascinated and entertained by the behind-the-scenes preparation that went into the scene.[3] In addition, before being given the part, Foster was subjected to psychological testing to ensure that she would not be emotionally scarred by her role, in accordance with California Labor Board requirements.[6]

[edit] Interpretations of the ending
Some have seen the epilogue, in which Bickle is hailed as a hero, as Bickle's dying fantasy, while others see it as a real resolution of his acts. Statements by Schrader in which he said the final scenes were meant to comment on how criminals become celebrities in America's unbalanced society, seem to strongly indicate that the ending was not intended to be a fantasy. Comments by Scorsese on the ending also do not show any intent to imply that the ending is taking place only in Travis's head. Nevertheless, a large group of fans, including some film critics, still argue for this interpretation. Interestingly, the letter supposedly from Iris' father is in handwriting that is very similar to Travis' own writing from his diary entries.

At the very end, as Betsy departs his cab, Bickle drives away, and a curious ring sounds as Bickle quickly adjusts his mirror, before the credits roll on the background of the bright and distorted city lights seen from the cab's perspective. Director Scorsese comments on this final moment in his Laserdisc commentary, mentioning that the "mirror glance" could be a symbol that Bickle might fall into depression and violent rage once again in the future.

Roger Ebert has written of the film's ending,

"There has been much discussion about the ending, in which we see newspaper clippings about Travis's 'heroism' of saving Iris, and then Betsy gets into his cab and seems to give him admiration instead of her earlier disgust. Is this a fantasy scene? Did Travis survive the shoot-out? Are we experiencing his dying thoughts? Can the sequence be accepted as literally true? ... I am not sure there can be an answer to these questions. The end sequence plays like music, not drama: It completes the story on an emotional, not a literal, level. We end not on carnage but on redemption, which is the goal of so many of Scorsese's characters."[7]

James Berardinelli, in his review of the film, argues against the dream or fantasy interpretation, stating "Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader append the perfect conclusion to Taxi Driver. Steeped in irony, the five-minute epilogue underscores the vagaries of fate. The media builds Bickle into a hero, when, had he been a little quicker drawing his gun against Senator Palantine, he would have been reviled as an assassin. As the film closes, the misanthrope has been embraced as the model citizen -- someone who takes on pimps, drug dealers, and mobsters to save one little girl."[8]

[edit] Cast
Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle
Jodie Foster as "Easy" Iris
Harvey Keitel as "Sport" Matthew
Cybill Shepherd as Betsy
Peter Boyle as "Wizard"
Albert Brooks as Tom
Leonard Harris as Sen. Charles Palantine

[edit] Critical response
Taxi Driver was a financial success and was nominated for several Academy Awards and received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.[9] In later years, the film was ranked #52 on the American Film Institute's list of "100 Years, 100 Movies",[10] and #22 on its "100 Years, 100 Thrills".[11] Bickle was also named as #30 on their villains list.[12] It has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.[13] Roger Ebert added Taxi Driver to his list of "Great Movies,"[14] alongside other Scorsese films also on the list such as Raging Bull, GoodFellas, Mean Streets and The Age of Innocence. The film earned $28,262,574 in the United States.[15]

The film was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best films of all time.[16]

[edit] Awards
Wins

Cannes Film Festival – Palme d'Or
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor – (Robert De Niro)
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – (Jodie Foster)
BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer – (Jodie Foster)
BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – (Bernard Herrmann)
Nominations

Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Actor – (Robert De Niro)
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – (Jodie Foster)
Academy Award for Original Music Score – (Bernard Herrmann)
BAFTA Award for Best Film
BAFTA Award for Direction – (Martin Scorsese)
DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures – (Martin Scorsese)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama - (Robert De Niro)
Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture – (Bernard Herrmann)
BAFTA Award for Best Editing – (Marcia Lucas, Tom Rolf, Melvin Shapiro)
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture – (Paul Schrader)
WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen – (Paul Schrader)

[edit] Proposed sequels and spin-offs
In an interview on Inside the Actor's Studio in 1999, Robert De Niro stated that he and Martin Scorsese had discussed the possibility of making a sequel to this film. According to De Niro, the two agreed that it would be interesting to see where Travis Bickle ended up 30 years later. But during Scorsese's interview on the show in 2002, the director stated that he would never make a sequel to any of his films.

In May 2005 Majesco announced that it was going to publish a video game sequel to Taxi Driver, developed by Papaya Studio. [17] In January 2006 the game was canceled due to financial problems. [18]

[edit] John Hinckley, Jr.
Taxi Driver was reportedly part of a delusional fantasy on the part of John Hinckley, Jr.[19][20] which triggered his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, an act for which he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.[21][22] His stated reason was that the act was an attempt to impress Jodie Foster by mimicking Travis' mohawked appearance at the Palantine rally. The movie was so influential that his attorney concluded his defense by playing the movie.

[edit] References
^ IMDb Taxi Driver: Business http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/business
^ a b c d e f g Taxi Driver 1976. Columbia Pictures
^ a b c d Making "Taxi Driver" DVD Documentary [1]
^ "a stupid orgy of violence".Down these mean streets, David Robinson (The Arts) The Times, Friday, Aug 20 1976; pg. 7; Issue 59787; col C
^ Taxi Driver at All Movie Guide Accessed 2007-09-16.
^ Foster interview by Boze Hadleigh (March/June 1992)
^ Ebert's Review of Taxi Driver Rogerebert.com 1 January 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
^ http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/t/taxi.html
^ Canes Film Festival Retrieved 10 March 2007.
^ AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Retrieved 10 March 2007.
^ AFI's 100 Years... 100 Trills Retrieved 10 March 2007.
^ AFI 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains Accessed 14 March 2007.
^ Films Selected to The National Film Registry, Library of Congress, 1989-2005 Retrieved 10 March 2007.
^ Roger Ebert's List of Great Movies Rogerebert.com Added to the list 1 January 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
^ Box Office Mojo - Taxi Driver Retrieved 31 March 2007.
^ http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html
^ http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/11/news_6124186.html
^ http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62534
^ Taxi Driver: Its Influence on John Hinckley, Jr.
^ Taxi Driver by Denise Noe
^ The John Hinckley Trial & Its Effect on the Insanity Defense by Kimberly Collins, Gabe Hinkebein, and Staci Schorgl
^ Verdict and Uproar by Denise Noe