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Sir Gromit and his look at BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
Alrighty folks, here's Sir Gromit and his look at BRINGING OUT THE DEAD. Now, as I pointed out in the review that was posted last Friday, you should be aware that this movie is VERY far from coming out and is due to have quite a bit of tweaking here and there to make it... just so. SOOOOooo, don't rush to judge. Sir Gromit here is merely commenting on the current state of the film, which is 4 months from release. Beware of Spoilers, and note that some of the problems he has with the film may in fact not be in the print you will see months from now. But... here you go....
Thursday night I had the wonderful opportunity to see Martin Scorsese's latest movie "Bringing Out The Dead". My friends and
I were even skipped ahead in line thanks to a very cool dude working for the screening people. If you are reading this, we
thank you.
I had seen them filming this movie here in NYC twice. In fact, when they were wetting the streets for one scene they sprayed
down my car as we drove by. We then drove right by an ambulance being pulled by a camera truck, and inside was Nick
Cage. Pretty cool! Ebert fans should take note: This movie takes place almost entirely at night, and as you know, that means
that the street is wet all the time! Never rains in the movie though (at least I don't remember it raining in the movie!).
This movie is in a very early stage of post production. As Mr. Knowles stated, this is not how the final movie will be. However,
I'm under the impression that most of the people they get to come to these advance screenings care more about the fact that it's
a free film, and do not fully understand the purpose of these screenings. The screenings are done for the purpose of finding out
what works and what doesn't in order for the film maker to get an outside view of his/her movie. Also, these screenings serve
as a way for the distributor to figure out ways to market the movie at it's final release. I am writing this not as a review of the
movie, but in order to express my feelings of this early print and give what hopefully is constructive criticism, to write down all
that I could not fit into the questionnaire handed out at the end of the film.
Although I haven't read the book on which the movie is based, my feeling is that this movie is quite good considering its early
state and that it will be quite close to brilliant when all the necessary "tweaking" has been done. There is no doubt that Scorsese
is a talented director, and he and his team will be able to get things right by October 22nd.
This movie is essentially about a NYC EMS guy working the night shift over the course of a few days. But there are many other
elements which are essential to the story of this movie.
We are introduced to Nick Cage's character as a somewhat crazy guy trying to deal with all that he sees as a result of his job.
His madness is brought on as a result of continuously seeing the ghost of a girl who died while he tried to save her. The theme
of the ghost is important in the movie and is predominant through most of the first third of the movie, but then it is almost
completely forgotten before reappearing near the end of the movie. The ghost is important in understanding the nature of Nick
Cage's character, but needs to be woven throughout the entire movie, instead of appearing in what seemed to be a "forced"
sequence at the end of the film. I say that this sequence is forced because of the fact that the ghost was so integral to the
beginning of the film, that by the time it reappeared in the final third of the movie, the theme involving the ghost was resolved too
quickly and seemed almost as an afterthought.
Another reoccurring theme is that of drugs, and more specifically that of a particular drug known as "Red Death". This theme in
the movie is not resolved at all and it is unsure what purpose it serves in the movie.
The madness of Nick Cage's character (Frank Prince) is the third main theme and is contrasted by the more comical nature of
his various partners in the movie, played by. All of them have a different way of dealing with their jobs. Nick Cage enters
madness, and the rest resort to various forms of what I can only describe as "humor" to cope. There are many "jokes" made by
various medical characters in the movie which out of context would be very cruel and mean, but this movie clearly shows it for
what it is.
The Frank Prince character reminds me very much of Hamlet. Both are characters where in who's madness it is difficult to tell if
they are truly mad or not, and both have begun to go mad after having seen a ghost. It is this aspect of the character that makes
me want to read the book on which the film is based.
Nick Cage's acting is far better than that of his recent movies such as "8MM". In that movie he also plays a character who has
to cope with a harsh reality. But here he does not seem to be just "acting" or going through the motions of the film, rather he
brings to life the character which he plays.
The supporting cast is outright fabulous. My only problem is that some of their characters aren't fully developed and don't have
the time they need to at least resolve their roles in the film. John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and Tom Sizemore each play a
different partner which Nick Cage has throughout the film. However, he goes from each partner one by one and each one just
disappears. These three characters are never in a scene together and despite being very involving characters, I felt that they
didn't have the time they needed to fully contribute to the movie. There is so much more about these characters which is never
revealed. Whether or not that is how the movie should be is not clear. Because of the strength of their performances and the
complexity of the characters, it is a shame that they are gone so quickly. One note about these actor's driving abilities: If only
they would keep their eyes on the road when driving! Another one of Ebert's movie glossary entries. A lot of the movie takes
place inside an ambulance, specifically while driving. Having driven in NYC myself, I am well aware of how crazy some drivers
in Manhattan (yeah, Taxis too) are, and that keeping your eyes glued to surrounding events is not a luxury, but a must!
The setting is so perfectly brought to the screen that walking back home afterwards was a very different experience. NYC has
never been so vividly been filmed (at least as well as I can recall). Although most of the movie takes place at night or in dark
alleys and so on, there is always an abundance of color, and in the darkest of hallways it is still clear what is going on, while
maintaining the dark eerie atmosphere of late night NYC. The lighting is great and is used very well in many key scenes.
Changes in brightness occur very slowly and are subtle, and because the movie takes place at night it allows for the light that is
available to be used in new and interesting ways.
The movie is constructed using groups of threes. Nick Cage has 3 partners, he has to deal with three "demons" including his
madness, the red death, and the people of the city itself, and also the movie is divided into thirds: The long introduction, a very
intermixed middle, and a more abrupt end. I think that all these groups of threes need to be better blended together so that they
work together rather than against each other.
The editing of the film was very good considering the early state of the movie. There are some masterfully edited sequences in
the movie involving some very interesting camera angles and fast moving shots. However, I felt that the pacing of the movie
dragged on a little to slowly in the beginning of the movie. It took too long to figure out what the movie was "about" and what
was really going on. The film itself is distracted by all the different things which are happening throughout, and a proper balance
of all these various elements needs to be woven together. The ending of the movie was a popular topic I heard discussed after
the movie was over. Some thought that it was boring, while others (including myself) thought it fit the movie. I thought that the
movie could not have really ended any other way. It is not a "Hollywood" style happy ending, nor a tragic one. The ending is
where everything in the movie should be resolved, but it is not so in this print of the movie. It is an ending that will have to find a
way to resolve all the elements which are intertwined within each other.
After having seen this early version of the film, I am truly excited about the possibilities of how the final version can turn out. I
can't wait to see it again.
I hope that this piece has answered some questions you may have had about this movie, although I tried to avoid as many
spoilers as possible. But the main thing I tired to do was to keep things in context which probably explains why I repeated
myself so many times. =)
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+ Expand All
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Jun 28, 1999 12:38:57 AM CDT
I want Scorcese to direct an ER episode or maybe an X-Files
by paragonian
I never saw the ER episode that Tarantino directed since I had no idea who he was then and I wasn't a fan of the show then either. Scorcese would be perfect for one of their episodes now, and him and De Palma could do some really cool X-Files episodes.
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I thought that Scorsese was one of the few directors who had final cut on his movies and didn't need to go to that test screening-to satisfy-the-demographics process.
Is he considered as a lesser director nowadays?
I remember him saying that during the first public showing of "Goodfellas",some audience members couldn't stand that opening scene with Joe Pesci and his knife and left the room.Thank God he didn't remove that scene back then. -
Jun 28, 1999 5:15:50 AM CDT
I agree with Bruce Le on thest screenings and final cut.independ
by wittman
I agree 100%!!! What the fyck does Marty Scorsese need a test audience for? If he has started using them, then it is a sad motherfucking day for all the big directors who have that independent streak in them. Who's next? Woody Allen? John Sayles? I cringe at the prospect. I can tell you one thing for sure: He didn't test screen KUNDUN, surely. It is one of his finest films!!!
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A filmmaker like Scorsese doesn't use a 'test screening' to see what edits should be made content-wise, but rather to get a feel for pacing and such.
The guy is an uncompromising director, always has been, always will be. This is the fall project I am most looking forward to. I've read Schrader's script, and Scorsese could really breath some brilliance into it......we'll see. But I wouldn't worry about Scorsese the filmmaker. -
Let's hope this never happens! I would hate to see Scorsese's name ruined by working on this show. I like the show well enough (Grunter, if you're saying that any show with Howie Mandell in it was good, you've lost all credibility, not that you had any) but it's plots have nothing that would work with the style that Scorsese shoots. His directing style is about the solid connection between characters and that's the weak point in ER, there is no true connection between characters, they try, but it never comes off properly.
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Just for the record, most directors like feedback while they're working on a film, and I mean REAL feedback from an uneducated (film wise) audience, not a bunch of directors who are your pals and will not tell you what a steaming pile you just heaved up onto the screen. This is not necessarily a studio dictated evil, but a simple tool of film making that when used right, almost always enhances the process. Marty undoubtably has final cut, but how's he going to know what works for an audience if he doesn't show it to one. It's even harder for a film-demi-god like him to find an impartial audience among studio people who don't want to piss anybody off. And BTW, Woody Allen test screens at least some of his films. I know former NYC film students who have seen them.
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Jun 28, 1999 10:28:12 AM CDT
Want To See A Scorsese Directed Episode Of ER? (Possible Spoiler
by mrbeaks
Go see BRINGING OUT THE DEAD. I saw it last Thursday at the same test screening as the scooper above (held at the Loews Village Theater on 3rd and 11th.) I would have written up a review, but I've been way too busy to put together anything coherent. Basically, the same problems that plagued Schrader's script (which didn't change much from the draft I read last year) are what hurt the film: a maddeningly amorphous structure, an annoyingly persistent voice over, and an ending that, emotionally, feels like a cheat (not to mention, in regards to the beating of Noah, drawn out.) The only things to reccomend, at this juncture, are Ving Rhames performance (Sizemore's good, too, but we've seen him do this character before,) the soundtrack (loved the use of The Clash, and, especially, REM's "What's The Frequency, Kenneth,") and Thelma Schoonmaker's always excellent editing (which'll only get tighter as the film nears completion.) I'm hoping that, through some major trimming, the film will be salvaged, but I'm just not too hopeful at this point. It simply feels like an R rated episode of ER, and that's by virtue of the inconsequential storyline. Perhaps, if they'd cast a more New Yorker-ish actor, instead of Valley Boy Cage, there might've been more resonance. In the Scorsese oeuvre, I'd place it below CAPE FEAR, but above NEW YORK, NEW YORK.
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Movie might be good, but the book sucked. Finished it, but couldn't wait till over.
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Jun 28, 1999 3:18:58 PM CDT
Star Wars would've been a hunk of shit if it weren't for test sc
by paragonian
Lucas test screened Star Wars for his friends where Spielberg (surprise, surprise) said it'd be a blockbuster while De Palma said it was the worst film he'd ever seen. Because of a lot of De Palma's suggestions a lot of stuff was changed and we have what we have now instead of a stupid comic book good and evil film with bad acting and dialogue ( although some may say it's still that way). Billy Wilder also used test screenings for one of my favorite films (Sunset Boulevard) and an audience member said that it was a horrible film. Thankfully Wilder told him to fuck off and left it the way it is. Guys like Scorcese use test screenings not for content but to do small trims and maybe add some new stuff, they let the audience tell them if it's good or bad but won't let them tell how to fix it. James L. Brooks also changed I'll Do Anything from a musical because of test screenings, I don't know if it would've worked or not but now we'll never know.Test screenings are a very big double edged sword.
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I admire Cage since BIRDY, i love his movies,is a grest actor with humour,and very intuitive.I think he will be fabulous in BRINGING OUT THE DEAD,cause he is the best for me
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...and it was significant disappointment - the 'filmmakers' were supposed to speak with a select bunch of us afterward, but the screening was so POORLY received that they cancelled.
I don't doubt that what we saw could be made into an ok film, but it would take MAJOR recutting - too much time on Arquette, Cage was upstaged by ALL of his driving partners (esp. Ving Rhames, who was fab), and the recurring motif of a patient whom Cage lost was positively comical by the end.
I'm not too hopeful, which is sad because I am a big fan.
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