tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post1920548224507037413..comments2023-03-30T16:56:53.692-07:00Comments on Icebox Movies: In the Heat of the Night (1967): The Hands of Virgil TibbsAdam Zanziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-5911415179820838852014-08-11T14:11:41.183-07:002014-08-11T14:11:41.183-07:00Great review!
We're linking to your article f...Great review!<br /><br />We're linking to your article for Academy Monday at SeminalCinemaOutfit.com<br /><br />Keep up the good work! danyulengelkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01090974811730703238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-8384966733925563542011-07-12T16:33:26.529-07:002011-07-12T16:33:26.529-07:00Adam:
I did like The Hurricane quite a bit until ...Adam:<br /><br />I did like The Hurricane quite a bit until the final act. I hope I made the clear. Denzel Washington was superb and I did like the relationship with the young boy. That part of the film is well written and passionately directed by Jewison. <br /><br />I just wish he had maintained that intimacy and drive for the entire film.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-59169776860479455542011-07-10T16:18:55.938-07:002011-07-10T16:18:55.938-07:00Tom, I've got Exodus lying around somewhere. T...Tom, I've got <i>Exodus</i> lying around somewhere. Trying to find time to watch it, although since my last experience with a Preminger epic (<i>In Harm's Way</i>) wasn't a pleasant one, I'll probably have to devote a whole day to it!<br /><br />Jewison is, as you say, better with humanistic films than with cerebral films. Films like <i>Fiddler on the Roof, A Soldier's Story</i> and <i>Agnes of God</i> are so powerful, I think, because they're armed with such a rich, theatrical language. His other, more cerebral films like <i>Jesus Christ Superstar</i> or <i>Rollerball</i> have always struck me as interesting but slight. The one movie of his I've been dying to see is <i>...And Justice For All</i>, which Blockbuster Online still refuses to mail to me for some strange reason.<br /><br />The one movie of his we differ over is <i>The Hurricane</i>. I like to think of it as Jewison's "flawed great film". It's far from perfect, of course: the white Canadian characters played by Liev Schrieber and Deborah Kara Unger are pretty thankless, and Dan Hedaya's arch-villain is borderline silly. But Denzel Washington is so remarkable as Carter, his relationship with Vicellous Shannon's Lesra so well-written, and the film's overall emotional effect so immense that I find myself loving the movie altogether. It's probably Jewison's last top-notch effort: his last two films, <i>Dinner With Friends</i> and <i>The Statement</i>, don't really come together very well. As we speak, I hear he's even trying to get another project with John Patrick Shanley off the ground, but that he's finding funding hard to come by because of, well... his age.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-31771516228476142772011-07-08T19:54:25.246-07:002011-07-08T19:54:25.246-07:00Adam:
As for Bound For Glory, it's Ashby'...Adam:<br /><br />As for Bound For Glory, it's Ashby's finest film by far, in my opinion. I also liked his first film, The Landlord very much, but found Coming Home to be too preachy and awkward, while Shampoo is a clumsy film without a defining point of view. <br /><br />But with Bound for Glory, Ashby delivered on all his promises. There are quiet scenes in here that remind you of John Ford, given the simplicity and honesty in which Ashby tells them. In fact, I would rate the first two-thirds of this film a near masterpiece - it's that good. <br /><br />Unfortunately, the last third boils down to a much more mundane type of film that deals with Woody Guthrie's domestic and business problems. It's watchable. but it lacks the power of the scenes on the open roads of California and other environs. Yet the overall message still remains strong. (If you look at my home page at Cinema Directives, you will see this film in my list of favorite movies.)<br /><br />Of course, Ashby had the wonderful fortune of working with Haskell Wexler as his director of photography on this film (as you said, probably some pleasant memories between the two of them from two previous Jewison films they both worked on). This is one of Wexler's two or three finest accomplishments and he deservedly won the Oscar for this work.<br /><br />Together Ashby and Wexler combined in a way rarely seen since John Ford and Winton Hoch (he photographed several of Ford's most beautiful films, yet few know his name).<br /><br />By the way, in "Bound For Glory", there is the absolute first use of Stedicam for one scene. See if you can pick it out when you watch the film.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-53600381727895442082011-07-08T18:03:06.239-07:002011-07-08T18:03:06.239-07:00Adam:
I think Jewison was at his best exploring h...Adam:<br /><br />I think Jewison was at his best exploring human relationships, which of course, is at the center of "Heat of the Night" as well as "Cincinnati Kid." It's also what drives "Thomas Crown" - the relationship between McQueen and Dunaway. She is supposed to catch him of course, but she falls in love with him and admires his gumption. Jewison's focus on their feelings toward each other really gives the film its meaning and irony- he overcame a so-so script and made one of his most stylish films. <br /><br />If he had stayed with the exploration of human behavior, his film "The Hurricane" could have been great. This first half of the film with Denzel Washington as the title character in jail is mesmerizing and tough. Jewison gets in trouble mid-way through the film however, when his liberal views get in the way and he explores those do-gooders from Canada who will do anything to get Carter out of prison. The tone of the film moves from savage to soft and in reality becomes a tired series of clichés we've seen before, as the little people overcome the big city police. It really trivializes the film and Hurricane Carter's story.<br /><br />Maybe since Jewison is a Canadian himself, he really had a soft spot for those characters. If so, it's a shame as that robbed the film of its excellence, as those scenes were amateurishly written and poorly acted.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-70985203780044603812011-07-08T17:21:09.573-07:002011-07-08T17:21:09.573-07:00Adam:
I didn't know that bit of information a...Adam:<br /><br />I didn't know that bit of information about Pauline Kael- the business about not learning anything from seeing a movie a second time. How stupid is that? Now I have even less respect for her.<br /><br />Speaking of seeing a film for the second time, that's exactly what I did a few weeks ago with Exodus (1960) from Preminger. I recall you mentioning you wanted to see this film. Have you had the chance yet? <br /><br />Watching this a second time brought out so much more and showed how gracefully Preminger worked his way through this multi-layered story. The final scene is one of the most heartbreaking and elegant in his career.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-15260939122348694402011-07-07T13:55:48.842-07:002011-07-07T13:55:48.842-07:00The funny thing about Warren Oates is that he'...The funny thing about Warren Oates is that he's one of those character actors whom I was never able to place until I actually saw him in a starring role. I remember seeing both <i>In the Heat of the Night</i> and Terrence Malick's <i>Badlands</i> around my preteens, and being totally oblivious to the fact that the cop in the former also played Spacek's father in the latter. When I finally saw Oates in Peckinpah's <i>Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia</i>, however, and made sure to remember his name, I was astonished to leearn that he was also in those other films. Once I returned to those films, I felt stupid for not having recognized him earlier! It's a shame he died so early.<br /><br />The final parting between Gillespie and Tibbs feels... <i>sort of</i> real to me. I guess I always thought it was odd how Jewison and Silliphant try to wrap up the whole movie -- literally -- in the last five minutes, during which Tibbs' arrest of Ralph, Ralph's confession and Tibbs' parting with Gillespie all feel incredibly rushed in order to meet the 2-hour time limit. I think this was even back before Jewison had final cut on all his films. Still, it's a minor criticism I have of an otherwise amazing film.<br /><br />Thanks for the comment, Stacia! It's always a pleasure to see you around these parts.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-21089738645824107182011-07-06T02:14:13.011-07:002011-07-06T02:14:13.011-07:00Excellent review, Adam. When I last watched ItHot...Excellent review, Adam. When I last watched ItHotN, I was struck at how earnest and real Warren Oates played Sam. Arbogast on Film just posted that it is Oates' birthday today (well, yesterday now).<br /><br />While I agree the ending could have been more cinematic, I think it really reflected the reality of what society was feeling in 1967. There were advances, some of them huge, but still an uneasy undercurrent where everyone was tense and wary. Considering how Gillespie and Tibbs had ended their talk when they were unguarded and honest, discussing loneliness in their lives, I can see how neither would want to attempt a connection again so soon after such awkwardness. It felt very real to me, if not spectacular.Staciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05250238254417726987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-18433825427748352672011-07-05T12:09:48.929-07:002011-07-05T12:09:48.929-07:00Tom, Bound of Glory is one I still have to see -- ...Tom, <i>Bound of Glory</i> is one I still have to see -- I've been trying to watch as many of Hal Ashby's 1970's movies as I can recently, and that one's on my list for sure (guess Ashby and Wexler remembered each other from their work on <i>In the Heat...</i>). And Wexler's black & white cinematography on <i>Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf</i> is sublime. I can't get enough of that opening intro with the lamps in the college courtyard (when Burton and Taylor are making their way home over the Alex North music).<br /><br />We're in agreement for the most part on Pauline Kael. I haven't read too much of her stuff, although I will consent that she had a narrow criteria for examining films; Jonathan Rosenbaum once revealed that she only believed it was necessary to see films once, and that multiple viewings of films wouldn't enhance appreciation of them. So, she was obviously wrong there.<br /><br />It's unfortunate, also, that she often wasn't willing to embrace the works of filmmakers who had begun to change direction in their careers, i.e. Kubrick post-<i>Dr. Strangelove</i>, Spielberg post-<i>Color Purple</i>, etc. I haven't read her "Raising Kane" book yet, but yeah: she must've been wrong about charging that Mankiewicz wrote nearly all of the screenplay.<br /><br />Still, Kael was useful here and there. She was a De Palma apologist in all her days; and even though she overreached her predictions of <i>Last Tango</i>, I'm glad she loved it as much as she did. There used to be a website containing archives of her reviews, but apparently it's been shut down. Her capsule on <i>Mississippi Burning</i> was considerable, if not exactly great film criticism.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-69031910895494572522011-07-04T20:38:58.005-07:002011-07-04T20:38:58.005-07:00Adam:
Regarding Pauline Kael, she certainly was a...Adam:<br /><br />Regarding Pauline Kael, she certainly was an influential critic and I did enjoy reading some of her work.<br /><br />However, I lost a lot of respect for her when she wrote that book in which she claimed that only Herman Mankewicz and not Orson Welles wrote the screenplay to "Citizen Kane." She was clearly wrong and other film critics pointed that out. But to dismiss Welles like that? He had more talent in his left hand than she had in her entire body.<br /><br />Of course, Kael was also the one who wrote about "Last Tango in Paris" that "this is a movie that people will be arguing about as long as there are movies." She also compared the opening of this film at the 1972 New York Film Festival to the opening performance of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" in 1913. <br /><br />Yea, she really nailed that one, didn't she? Sorry, but I'm not as won over with her criticism as some. Give me Andrew Sarris any time.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-40813496935289146642011-07-04T20:10:58.748-07:002011-07-04T20:10:58.748-07:00Adam:
Back to Haskell Wexler now! Yes, that shot ...Adam:<br /><br />Back to Haskell Wexler now! Yes, that shot of the gas canister is memorable in "Thomas Crown" as is the beautifully staged scene in the cemetery at the end, to which we have to credit both Wexler and Jewison.<br /><br />One of us should write a post on Wexler's work. He is a brilliant cinematographer (some of his best work was on "Bound For Glory", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"<br /><br />It's hard to imagine those films without the amazing work turned in by Wexler.<br /><br />And, yes, once I view "In Cold Blood" again soon, I'll write that post. It is a stunning film, one too often left out of the discussion of the finest films of the last 50 years.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-34083360843833765692011-07-03T15:43:13.238-07:002011-07-03T15:43:13.238-07:00Whew. I sure hope everything's okay now!
Happ...Whew. I sure hope everything's okay now!<br /><br />Happy 4th of July, one and all.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-63350720874698780732011-07-03T14:35:06.863-07:002011-07-03T14:35:06.863-07:00Craig:
I just added your blogsite THE MAN FROM PO...Craig:<br /><br />I just added your blogsite THE MAN FROM PORLOCK to the Wonders in the Dark blogroll, and commend you an a terrific site. I read your essay on MIDNIGHT IN PARIS and thought it quite excellent. I'll comment there to be more specific.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-31828910628231681272011-07-03T14:11:05.136-07:002011-07-03T14:11:05.136-07:00Adam, the disagreement with Craig's position w...Adam, the disagreement with Craig's position was not in any way to disparage him personally. I've seen his name at ICEBOX MOVIES and at other places for years now, and I do really, absolutely respect him. Perhaps I'm jaded by the "anything goes" freedom of WONDERS IN THE DARK, but there wasn't any name calling here by either side, just some subtle ribbing, which I think both of us will get over pretty fast. To be honest, this is the kind of discussion in the comment section that benefits any blosgsite that purports to examine its subject with full candor.<br /><br />MISSISSIPPI BURNING, as I said, has some issues for sure. I do not, nor have I ever thought as Roger Ebert does, that the film is remotely close to the best of 1988 (that would be between Tornatore's CINEMA PARADISO, Davies' DISTANT VOICES STILL LIVES and Kieslowski's A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING) but it's not as disposable as Emerson would have you believe. It has some powerful moments, Hackman is electrifying, and in subtle ways it depicts a particularly ugly time in our national conscience.<br /><br />I respect Craig greatly. You may have overracted to the dialogue here.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-74708935724193324552011-07-03T13:47:11.689-07:002011-07-03T13:47:11.689-07:00Come on, guys... no more flame wars. I hate it whe...Come on, guys... no more flame wars. I hate it when this happens.<br /><br />Craig, the slapping scene was definitely one of the hardest scenes in the movie for me to analyze, since it's essentially the heart of the film -- and there's so much going on within the short time frame of the two consecutive slaps. Ashby's editing kind of skews it so that we don't see the reactions all at once. When Tibbs gets slapped, we can see Gillespie reacting with some minimal alarm, while Henry the butler can be seen practically shrieking. Ashby's editing, unfortunately, doesn't show us Henry's immediate reaction when Endicott gets slapped back. We do get to see Henry shaking his head at Endicott when the scene ends, however, which suggests -- tellingly, I believe -- that for the first time ever, a butler is openly acknowledging his own boss' weaknesses. He wouldn't have been able to do that before Tibbs came in smacked him!<br /><br />The film's ending feels curiously undernourished to me. It's not that I wish there had been a big speech at the end, just something that might have been more... <i>cinematic</i>. And memorable. One possible reason why the movie hasn't stuck in the minds of people as much as <i>Bonnie and Clyde</i> or <i>The Graduate</i> or <i>In Cold Blood</i> is because it doesn't quite get to end on a strong note, as those films did.<br /><br />As for this <i>Mississippi Burning</i> debate, which I admit I'm to blame for inviting discussion into the matter... we should probably end it right here. Sam, your defense of the movie has encouraged me to want to watch it again -- trust me. That was a movie I liked when I was 15, and my emotional response to it was, at the time, similar to the one Ebert had. But I was young back then, and I responded much easier to movies like that than I do today. Whatever all of our opinions on that movie (and, again, I haven't seen it in ages), I do think Craig is right when he points out that it's everything <i>In the Heat of the Night</i> is not.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-16352732154416005632011-07-03T13:02:33.789-07:002011-07-03T13:02:33.789-07:00"Also, your typo is in the corrected version ..."Also, your typo is in the corrected version of the sentence, rather than the original version."<br /><br />Ooooh you are right, I left out the "s." Touche! <br /><br />Yeah, you don't need to tell me that either, since my fair regard for MISSISSIPPI BURNING has never mirrored Pauline Kael, whom you apparently parrot here. I am more concerned with the film's acute and harrowing sense of time and place, and of race relations, facts which were most persuasively asserted by Roger Ebert, who named the film the 'best of 1988.'<br /><br /> http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19881209/REVIEWS/812090301/1023<br /><br />I don't always agree with Roger, but heck I think his views came closest to collaring what the film intended to do. Emerson's review is laughably mean-spirited and seemingly intended to gain attention. <br /><br />Sorry I took your original comments as aimed at me.<br /><br />Adam, check out Ebert's review before you embrace Emerson too profoundly.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-56405649577116014892011-07-03T12:28:29.115-07:002011-07-03T12:28:29.115-07:00Actually, Sam, I was responding more to Mr. Hyland...Actually, Sam, I was responding more to Mr. Hyland's comments than your own, which perhaps I should have made more clear. I also deeply regret that my three-sentence paragraph on "Mississippi Burning" didn't tell you anything you didn't already know; I guess you also don't need me to tell you that any movie depicting Hoover's FBI as advancing the Civil Rights movement has about as much validity as would a version of "The Killing Fields" that depicted the Khmer Rouge as staunch opponents of the death penalty.<br /> <br />Also, your typo is in the corrected version of the sentence, rather than the original version.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-67671102545005464362011-07-03T11:58:28.190-07:002011-07-03T11:58:28.190-07:00Typo above.
It should have read:
"Thank tho...Typo above.<br /><br />It should have read:<br /><br />"Thank though, for telling me everything about the film that I've already known since it's 1986 release."Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-8127274515528211892011-07-03T11:56:42.457-07:002011-07-03T11:56:42.457-07:00Craig: I am not and was not "admiring compari...Craig: I am not and was not "admiring comparisons" between the two films; I was simply establishing a thematic similarity. I know it has become quite fashionable to trash MISSISSIPPI BURNING these days and state all the obvious problems. Thanks though for telling everything me everything about the film that I've already known since it's 1986 release.<br /><br />MISSISSIPPI BURNING has its problems but it's hardly the abomination that you and Jim Emerson make it out to be.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-29919828976715153342011-07-03T07:32:02.526-07:002011-07-03T07:32:02.526-07:00Beautifully written piece, Adam, especially the fo...Beautifully written piece, Adam, especially the focus on Poitier's hands. I don't think <i>In the Heat of the Night</i> is a great movie, but it's a very good, very strong film that's aged better than most pictures in the 1960s "social problem" genre, mainly because the issues come organically out of the characters and how they interact with one another. (As a mystery-thriller, I think <i>Night</i> is serviceable though somewhat lacking.)<br /><br />I disagree on only two points. First, I interpret the butler's reaction to the slapping scene differently: I think the point is that that kind of abuse is <i>exactly</i> what happens on the Endicott plantation -- brutality beneath faux-civility -- and that, like Gillespie (and the audience at the time), he's stunned when Tibbs strikes back. I also find the ending beautifully understated: Gillespie carrying Tibbs's bag is much more effective than any speech he could have delivered. ("I could have done more..." etc.)<br /><br />Lastly, I'm surprised to find in the comments admiring comparisons between <i>In the Heat of the Night</i> and <i>Mississippi Burning</i>, of all films, since Jewison's approach to this subject is everything Parker's isn't: thoughtful rather than facile; probing rather than bludgeoning; understated rather than overblown. The point of <i>In the Heat of the Night</i> is that Virgil Tibbs <i>is</i> the law -- natural, legal, moral, ethical -- and succeeds because he enforces it rather than undermines it (as we see in <i>Burning</i>). Like most of Alan Parker's work, <i>Mississippi Burning</i> has aged poorly, and makes <i>In the Heat of the Night</i> look like a masterpiece by comparison.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-52925899776572858762011-07-02T22:41:28.792-07:002011-07-02T22:41:28.792-07:00Tom, it's been awhile since I've seen The ...Tom, it's been awhile since I've seen <i>The Thomas Crowne Affair</i>, but I remember admiring a couple of those Wexler shots. One of them being, of course, the "sex with chess" montage. Another one being that amazing shot during the opening bank robbery sequence, when one of the thieves throws a smoke can and the camera (I think) hurriedly tracks up to it. For me, that movie is, above all, a triumph of style over substance: it doesn't have much in the way of story, though McQueen and Dunaway do have great chemistry. Somehow I find myself preferring the work that Jewison and McQueen did on <i>The Cincinnati Kid</i> so much more.<br /><br />I'm intrigued by your defense of <i>Mississippi Burning</i> -- I've been thinking for some time that I may need to revisit it. I really loved it when I was 15, probably because I enjoyed seeing FBI agents beat up racist cops. I know Roger Ebert loved it and called it the best movie of 1987. But I recall reading a capsule by Pauline Kael, in which she suggested that the movie wasn't really about the Civil Rights' movement and was more about vigilante justice than anything else. I was particularly troubled when I later found out that 95% of what's in the movie never happened: apparently, the only thing factual about the film is that those four civil rights workers were all murdered. Still, I do have a soft spot for Parker's work (even if he tends to get bombastic at times), which is why I'm considering reviewing <i>Midnight Express</i> one of these days and then trying my hand at a <i>Burning</i> review.<br /><br />Let me know when you finish that <i>In Cold Blood</i> piece. If I had to choose the absolute best film of '67, I'd probably go with that one. A few months ago I was on a temporary Richard Brooks kick, actually: <i>Elmer Gantry</i> and <i>Cat on a Hot Tin Roof</i> are pretty swell movies, too. I've also got <i>Lord Jim</i> laying around somewhere, but I haven't watched it yet.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-11343282914292197732011-07-02T20:57:27.220-07:002011-07-02T20:57:27.220-07:00Also, one of these days I'm going to write abo...Also, one of these days I'm going to write about "In Cold Blood." This along with "Bonnie and Clyde" were the two finest films of 1967, in my opinion. Clearly both films were too intense for the Academy members - "Blood" being too chilling and "Bonnie and Clyde" being too violent (at least at that time - it's rather tame by modern standards.<br /><br />Thus "Heat of the Night" was a compromise winner as Best Picture that year- though the voters that loved "The Graduate" did get Mike Nichols as Oscar as Best Director. However, as a compromise choice, "Heat of the Night" is a pretty good selection!<br /><br />Interestingly, Jewison on the "Heat of the Night" DVD comments that the nomination (he was nominated as Best Director) is the most important thing - not the award. His thoughts are that if the award was the most critical thing, then Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick (among others) would have won an Oscar for their work as director somewhere along the line.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-55748465957263219182011-07-02T20:48:16.637-07:002011-07-02T20:48:16.637-07:00Adam:
I too would love to meet Haskell Wexler, on...Adam:<br /><br />I too would love to meet Haskell Wexler, one of the greatest cinematographers of the last 50 years. He is from Chicago, my home town, but I've never had the chance to speak with him. <br /><br />His work here is not as celebrated as in some other movies, but he is on solid ground in this film - check out the scene in the greenhouse - perfectly lit.<br /><br />Wexler also did an outstanding job on Jewison's "The Thomas Crown Affair." I know you're a big admirer of Jewison's work, so I'd love to read your thoughts on this film. What a stylish piece of work!<br /><br />I disagree with you on "MIssissippi Burning." I think the film is excellent and the white on white violence is simply a reflection of this particular case. The message is one of setting things right and Hackman and Dafoe are brilliant.tom hylandhttp://cinemadirectives.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-62837500102169446492011-07-02T17:48:19.196-07:002011-07-02T17:48:19.196-07:00Tom and Sam, thanks a million to both of you for t...Tom and Sam, thanks a million to both of you for the excellent comments. Since I've come to really love this film, and have even embraced it as a great film through repeated viewings, I must admit I'm not too bothered that it won multiple Oscars. Though it's probably not a superior film to <i>Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate</i> or <i>In Cold Blood</i>, I can sort of take solace in knowing that at least all three of those films were passed over in favor of another film that's gone on to age as a modern classic. I feel the same way about <i>Close Encounters</i> losing to <i>Annie Hall</i> in '77: even if I prefer CEOT3K, I love Woody's film so much that I can't gripe.<br /><br />Wexler's cinematography is amazing here, isn't it Tom? I once tried to send Wexler a Facebook friend request and even hoped to send him a link to this review. Unfortunately, his profile has already reached the FB Friends 4,998 limit. I was pretty mad about that! lol<br /><br />Sam, it's interesting that you bring up <i>Mississippi Burning</i>, a film I enjoyed when I was a kid, but for which I've lost some enthusiasm for in recent years. What turned me around on the movie was Jim Emerson's <br /><a href="http://www.cinepad.com/reviews/mississippi.htm" rel="nofollow">scathing attack</a> on it, in which he lambasted Alan Parker for making a movie that, in many ways, was a celebration of Black Panther revenge porn and wiped its feet on the nonviolence messages of MLK. For me, what really hurts that movie is that the heroes are whites: seeing white cops beat up white villains is not exactly the equivalent of parity. <br /><br />I actually like Parker's <i>Midnight Express</i> a great deal better, since that's more of a survival story (despite the Turkish stereotypes). I'm not sure how I would react if I watched <i>Mississippi Burning</i> again, but I'm skeptical as to how well it would compare to a movie like <i>In the Heat of the Night</i> where the message is more good-natured, and where one of the heroes is actually black.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545661733980837263.post-20359246941454455472011-07-02T12:48:25.608-07:002011-07-02T12:48:25.608-07:00Like Alan Parker's MISSISSIPPI BURNING this is...Like Alan Parker's MISSISSIPPI BURNING this is often an underestimated film. Jewison's best film is the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1973) but I'd say this one ranks up there. But is it the best picture of 1967? Not by a country mile, in the same year that THE GRADUATE and BONNIE AND CLYDE were released and nominated. (THE GRADUATE deserved to win). Steiger was excellent as he was in THE PAWNBROKER back in 1962, and the film made a profound statement on race relations and small-town prejudice. Wexler's cinematography was quite impressive,and the film boats some now-classic lines.<br /><br />This is quite a masterful essay as usual.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.com