RUTZ: Mini EP : "Neglected Behavior"

 

Neglected Behavior by RUTZ

I made most of this music about 2 years ago when I first started to create songs. Time to let these things loose and continue on with my work. Very excited about the new songs I'm working on now but these old songs are my inspiration. Through them I found my crazy form and style that I will continue to build on. A big thanks to everyone who has supported me, I know you guys are counting on me and I will not let you down. Enjoy!

Much Love.

RUTZ

Neglected Behavior

1. Hardly Wait

2. The Spaceship

3. The Shutdown

4. But mirror it feels good

5. Parade with your heart 

Written, Produced and Performed by RUTZ

Tweet to @RealRutz

RUTZ Classic Movies: Punch Drunk Love

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson



Line that stays with me: “You're being weird, stop being weird ”

Essay Warning: There are no spoilers or story details. I want to offer the emotion that a film can access within us. Plus I think the best way to watch a film is by not knowing anything about it. Just Go In…So if you haven’t watched this film yet please don’t read this essay. Read it afterwards so we can enjoy the “feeling” together.

Every filmmaker has one filmmaker they look up to and connect with on an instant level. Paul Thomas Anderson is that director for me. Not that he's my favorite director because favorite is such a limited word. I dare not compare filmmakers to each other; every filmmaker has something to offer. I am more attracted to personal films which usually will pleasantly surprise us with its storytelling.  Perfect example is David Fincher, I love his work but his films sometimes are so genre based that you do not get that feeling that you are watching something “NEW” which is very important in cinema. That’s where Paul Thomas Anderson thrives. One of the few directors left trying to continue the great tradition of cinema. His dedication to being innovative and still delivering greatness in the fundamentals of cinema such as: beautiful cinematography, great characters, amazing performances, calculated production design and always a wonderful score to keep it all together, is truly something to celebrate.  Most directors get one or two of those fundamentals right, somehow Paul Thomas Anderson has managed to hit all those marks with each one of his films. This is no easy feat!

Before we get deep into Punch Drunk Love, I believe it is necessary to chart the past a bit in order to understand the film and the various nuances it has to offer.  The 90’s was a great time to be a young filmmaker.  The first film that made me feel like I MUST BECOME A FILMMAKER was Scorsese’s "Goodfellas" which came out in 1989. I was only seven years old when I first watched it so of course I had no idea of what to do with my bottled ambition. A half a decade later, I saw Quentin Tarantino rise to fame with “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”. This was a great time for any young filmmaker to learn and dream, but still I was only 10 and puberty is a hell of a distraction. Three years after “Pulp Fiction” I ordered a movie on pay per view called “Boogie Nights” (without telling my mother, so I got busted when the bill came in) and I got the same rush that I got from watching “Goodfellas”.  “Boogie Nights” screams of pure cinema. After “Boogie Nights” I got serious about my profession. It had homages of all sorts, Paul Thomas Anderson is not shy about taking someone else’s idea and making it his. “Boogie Nights” had the Robert Altman approach; Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme elaborate shots plus many other lovely homages ranging from classic films like “I am Cuba” to “On the Waterfront”. With all those great tributes on display, Mr. Anderson was called a rip off artist and was dubbed “Robert Altman JR”.  I don’t think that sort of name calling bothered him much. There’s over a thousand starving filmmakers out there right now who wouldn’t mind being called “Robert Altman JR” but in cinema it is very important to have an identity and that’s where Punch Drunk Love comes in.  

After “Boogie Nights” Paul Thomas Anderson made “Magnolia”.  That epic film cemented Paul Thomas Anderson in the high ranks of American filmmakers.  I love that film, so much to admire, but it still has the same visual flourishes of “Boogie Nights” and the Robert Altman approach was intact. With his first three films Paul Thomas Anderson used many great ideas from the vast pool of film history, but after all the excitement of those first strings of ideas have vanished, how do you get excited about your next project? How do you find your true style? How do you find your identity as a filmmaker? "Punch Drunk Love" plays on that riff. The filmmaker and the film itself are truly one.  With every experimental shot in the film which range from shots timed to capture lens flare (I think Paul Thomas Anderson brought that old technique back, then the new Star Trek killed it) , shaky handheld shots in unique moments and stunning long takes, Paul Thomas Anderson was taking a step forward to find his next stage as a filmmaker. To become like Barry Egan is at the end of film, in tune with himself and his world. That’s why I love the last piece of dialog in the film delivered by Emily Watson to Barry Egan, “So here we go”. Throughout the film Barry plays his harmonium, each effort finds him trying to get on same wave length with the score of the film only to always miss a note. At the end of the film, after several tries, Barry and the film are on the same page. It all comes together when Barry finally finds some love in his life. Now you could interpret that as a sweet sentiment on the power of love or as a declaration from a filmmaker trying to reach a new place with his love; filmmaking. Paul Thomas Anderson followed “Punch Drunk Love” with “There Will Be Blood” so I think it’s pretty safe to say that he found that new place with his love.

Paul Thomas Anderson is very intelligent and instead of using some of his usual influences, it’s like he said how about these other filmmakers I love, how about playing with some of their ideas and mixing them with his own new approach. In “Punch Drunk Love” you get homages to the likes of Jacques Tati, Francois Truffaut and David Lynch.  Jacques Tati’s approach to physical comedy is there when we watch Adam Sandler do his little dance in the supermarket or when Luis Guzman hilariously hit the ground from a busted chair. François Truffaut’s romanticism of cinema is in the DNA of this film. The artwork of the late Jeremy Blake is used in the film with the same energy Truffaut had to turn old ideas into new ones.  It seems to me that Mr. Anderson was very concerned on delivering a new experience to film goers. The live sound is recorded in a very different manner, everything sounds louder and robust. Listen to that scene when Adam Sandler destroys the bathroom, that’s not standard Hollywood live sound. Even the score creates new ways to set up a cue for the audience, lookout for that example in the opening scene. The most powerful filmmakers are the ones that know about all the variations of storytelling and use those ideas any which they want to deliver their grand picture.  Sound comes from the radio era, and in the sense of structure Quentin Tarantino is inspired by novels. When you have a large amount of knowledge on how to tell a story, all you have to do is put some of those ideas in the right place and make sure they work together.

The main piece that makes “Punch Drunk Love” work is Adam Sandler’s performance. I remember when the film was released there were many critics who couldn’t understand why this prestigious director wanted to work with Adam Sandler who at the time was only known for his “Dumb Fun Comedies”.  To me that sort of thinking is a perfect example of the kind of truly lame dry world that cinema inhabits right now. That’s why the Oscar’s are always boring; it seems like having fun or making people laugh isn’t “deep” enough, whatever the hell that means.  I understood right away why Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to work with Adam Sandler. I love “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore”.  They are dumb fun movies that you don’t have to take seriously yet still deliver. Especially “Happy Gilmore” which is now a classic in the “Dumb Fun Comedy” genre.  Adam Sandler’s performances in those films are perfect and make those films work. From his moments of rage that make you laugh, to him dancing up the stairs in “Billy Madison”, Adam Sandler is a very unique performer with childlike innocence in his demeanor. All these ideas appear in "Punch Drunk Love" except it’s a love story built around the perfect kind of character for Adam Sandler’s gifts, an outsider with anger management issues who has not yet found his place in society. In the scene where Barry apologizes to his brother in law for destroying his glass doors, he admits to not knowing how other people are. 

The importance of making a connection, disconnection, trying to stand out and finding your identity in life are some of the themes at hand throughout “Punch Drunk Love”. Barry Egan is a character that had no place in the world. He doesn’t get along with his family and even wears a great blue suit to work because he thinks it will make people take him seriously, which winds up being a terrific joke in the film as everybody asks him “Why are you wearing that suit?”  Early in the film we watch Barry creep out into the world, he looks afraid and if you know how the world really is, he has all the right to be scared. He looks outside his shop and watches a car flip over in a horrible hellish manner. Next a taxi comes out of nowhere and drops a harmonium on the street. Now that’s a brilliant scene. Who knows what will appear before us on the road of life. I love watching that moment when Barry Egan walks over to the harmonium, gives it a good look over and then quickly finds the right moment to kidnap it back to his office; it’s like watching a kid filled with fear go through with a daring moment excited by the promise of a new adventure. That’s one of the film’s great gifts; it announces our fears but acknowledges the fact that the things we love in our lives must be stronger than our fears.  What a beautiful idea to capture since fear never dies but only changes as we get older.

Fear of not being accepted, fear of being alone are some of Barry Egan’s problems in the beginning of the film. His sisters call him weird and “Gayboy”. He thinks he should speak with a therapist. This is a person who does not understand the world around him and has probably isolated himself to the point where many people will not accept him. Barry gives a chance to some of the problem solving companies in America by calling a sex hot line and gets taken advantage of. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the few directors truly telling American stories. Barry’s problem is an American problem. With this film he is taking us to the dark places brought on by American isolation. What do you do in your valuable free time in a place like America? What if you had no friends? Taxi Driver and this film have a lot in common.  Barry Egan found love; Travis Bickle did not and went crazy. Love can truly save someone from madness. The world as we know it was not built with our best interest at heart. Some things will not make sense to us and other things will not seem attractive to us, even if it makes sense to 100 million other people. Some people will eventually find themselves on the outskirts of the American Dream; Barry Egan is one of those people.

I get a sense throughout the film that Barry doesn’t know how other people are because he truly cannot comprehend America’s façade. In the film Barry is literally trying to pull one over on the “THE MAN” by purchasing a substantial amount of pudding to receive enough frequent flier miles so that he will never have to pay for an airline ticket again. Of course when he tries to turn the pudding in, the company tells him it will take 6 to 8 weeks to process.  In that scene Barry Egan loses it and punches the American map behind him with all his might. Throughout the film we see the colors of Red, White and Blue in that exact order. Another scene has his sister saying one of the most famous American oxymoron sayings “So what, it’s a free country”. On their first date Barry tells Lena that he loves a radio personality named “DJ Justice” because he is not a phony and tells it like it is. America is very much in this film, which makes sense because Barry’s problems are American problems. In a country like America some people will have difficulty being perceived as “normal” and what will these people do? Only love can save them. Love does not require understanding. You could know 10% about a person and fall head over heels for them. After years of emotional beatings from his sisters to society (PUNCH DRUNK) Barry meets Lena, someone who accepts him for who he truly is and he falls in love. His love for her will be stronger than most, after all those beatings he knows how hard and rare it is to find someone who accepts you for who you are. He’s found someone to admit his faults to (I love that scene when Barry admits to Lena that he “Beat up the bathroom”) with no worry about being judged. That sort of love will change your whole life. You will worry less about the world’s problems and your union will become like a PLACE. That’s why I love that shot after Barry and Lena’ first date; when they're walking to the car, a moving truck passes with the words: “Relocation at its best!” on it, I agree.  That’s how powerful love is, it can turn people into places. I have said many great things about this film and still have yet to mention the terrific Phillip Seymour Hoffman performance or Jon Brion’s wonderful romantic score. I am truly Punch Drunk Love about this film especially after 2 decades of watching films. My brain was beaten to death with movies I couldn’t connect with.  Then this film arrives out of nowhere, it gets you, it speaks your language and it makes you fall in love with cinema all over again.


ABOUT RCM: Rutz Classic Movies is dedicated on writing film essays for films that in Rutz's opinion, have not gotten the credit they deserve. Next Essay: Mark L. Lester's Commando

Tweet to @RealRutz

RUTZ Song: "Sea of so many things"

 Sometimes we are not aware that we are doing too much. Sometimes we can get lost and not even notice it. We change our minds all the time.

RUTZ Classic Movies: Brazil

Directed By Terry Gilliam

Line that stays with me: “There you are, your own number on your very own door. And behind that door, your very own office! Welcome to the team, DZ-015 ”

Essay Warning: There are no spoilers or story details. I want to offer the emotion that a film can access within us. Plus I think the best way to watch a film is by not knowing anything about it. Just Go In…So if you haven’t watched this film yet please don’t read this essay. Read it afterwards so we can enjoy the “feeling” together.

When hearts were entertained in June

We stood beneath an amber moon

And softly whispered 'some day soon'
We kissed and clung together

Then tomorrow was another day

The morning found me miles away

With still a million things to say
Now when twilight beams the skies above

Recalling thrills of our love

There's one thing I'm certain of
Return I will to old Brazil

Brazil lyrics by Ary Barroso

The more I try to breakdown Brazil the more I come back to the song that inspired it. It is the only real answer to a film full of questions. Are things really that bad? Isn’t life all about “Promotion”? As people we all stand in different groups when it comes to standard of living and facing our society with unwavering honesty. One person will look at some of the miserable conditions all around this country and say it should not be like this. Another will look at the same conditions and say that’s the way things are, let me live my life. My life filled with promise and promotion. Brazil deals heavily on this terrible battle always at hand when living in this industrial world. In our search for happiness we constantly take detours, usually when we cannot perceive what is at hand or endure while trying to keep a roof over our heads. You take a chance. You want to live and dive into a journey where you will experience a breakthrough during some life changing moments when everything comes together just right. The song refers to Brazil more as a memory than an actual place. A time when everything came together and you didn’t have a worry in the world. Grabbing a moment and living it to its fullest potential. Brazil is just that. A film done with extreme care of the once in a lifetime kind, as if the film director believed “well if this is my last film, at least I made Brazil”.

The song romanticizes the idea of once in a lifetime moments. Lasting memories, which is all Sam Lowry is left with by the end of the film. In the beginning of the film I wonder, what has Sam Lowry been up to all these years? How long has he been dreaming? Coming into work late didn’t seem to be a big deal, so he was obviously comfortable with his bitter lifestyle. It didn’t bother Mr.M. Kurtzmann, Sam’s boss played by Ian Holm in a performance that will always make me laugh especially when he says “What a pathetic creature I am”. That is the stunning achievement of this film; it can make you laugh one minute and cry the next. Terrific ideas, scenes and performances all going in various directions that it would be shortsighted to treat it as some other classic movie with a grand message, even though it has one of those too.

Brazil is a satire. A very funny one, I forget sometimes because I get very excited about the overall collection of ideas on display. While I’m watching the film, I’m usually laughing and screaming. The performances all worked out to make sure you laugh and somehow take it seriously as well, a very tightrope to walk. That sort of tension is established early in the film when a poor family’s peaceful night turns into an absolute nightmare due to an error from the Ministry of Information. The breadwinner of the household, Mr. Buttle, gets arrested in a horrifying manner by the totalitarian government; they even crush the family’s Christmas tree. Still at the end of that scene I find myself laughing to the “and here’s my receipt for your receipt” dialog.  That’s Brazil magic; it offers various sensations, laughter, suspense, appreciation, shock, sadness and realization.  Ideas in performances and composition thought out for years. Terry Gilliam’s dedication to his production’s strange wonderful mix of George Orwell’s 1984, Fellini and Film Noir (plus he’s a Monty Python member) is omnipresent. Making everything come together like he has made admirers of Brazil remember the film like some great day in which they try to remember every detail. Others can’t get over the devastating ending.  Some viewers do not get it at all. People who love Brazil just love it. Maybe because it deals with subjects other films ignore. In Brazil our hero comes to the conclusion that the system he works for is worse than he thought. That he was part of a system that got an innocent man killed and near the end of the film was trying to kill the girl of his dreams. Not many films decide to be that honest with us and respect our intelligence to find our way around.

Who was Sam Lowry? A man that wanted to fly, a man who wanted to be left alone in pathetic peace before succumbing to the lifestyle of the people around him. His job had a perfect structure, his boss desperately needs him on the day to day and he did not want promotion. Living to dreaming or waiting to escape it seems. Sam’s co-workers also want to escape. They’re usually watching classic films when they should be working, one day they’re watching Casablanca, another film that deals with a memory of a great romance and a couple trying to escape. Sam Lowry was a man who gave up on finding meaning and was not attracted by anything his society was offering. Only in his dreams did he find hope. I love watching those magical dream sequences. The score floating us along as our hero flies high above everything he knows, free with all the time in world. The same beautiful woman constantly appears in our hero’s dreams.  Now put yourself in Sam’s shoes and think about that. What if tomorrow you bumped into a person you’ve been dreaming about for years? I don’t know about you but I would think it means something. I would have to speak to that person or feel like I missed out on something beyond me. (I think the dream idea itself is a direct homage to Fellini who was said to get most of his best ideas from his dreams.) Sam is put in that position except he’s in love with his dream girl. When Sam Lowry sees Jill Layton for the first time, his whole life changes, he wants to know her so bad he’s willing to get promoted.

People not facing reality is a major subject in Brazil. Sam asks his friend Jack Lint, “How are things going?” Jack says great, wonderful. Later you see him quarrel with his wife.  Sam’s mother never wants to face the fact that she is an old woman. Throughout the film we always see her with the plastic surgeon Dr. Jaffe (hilariously played by Jim Broadbent) who says one of funniest lines in the film “I’ll make you look twenty years younger”. Instead of admitting that they’ve made a mistake the Ministry of Information decides to kill a pestering witness.  Sam never wanted to face reality but like most of us he was forced to. When Sam’s dream girl Jill becomes enemy of the state, he no longer decides to hide behind his hollow facade. Sam puts his life on the line for her when he kidnaps her out of the Ministry of Information building.  The following sequence with Sam Lowry begging his dream girl to trust him and the adventure that ensues afterwards is a beautiful testament of Terry Gilliam’s vision. You can enjoy the sequence simply as is, which is funny, exciting and moving and you can also breakdown the sequence to enjoy its rich subtext. The sequence begins like many courtships with a man asking a woman to trust him. Just like in real life (a woman that respects herself) Jill doesn’t make it easy for him and by the end Sam is hanging on for dear life. Afterwards the couple is fine until they run into turmoil down the road and find themselves in a situation where they say “we have to lose the house”. I do not think for a second that Terry Gilliam was just trying to be funny when he put that line in there.

Brazil’s glory is always there to be discovered. A film that begs us to dream again and live life to the fullest before it is too late. Sometimes we forget that because the film is so damn funny and offers fantastic imagery. We end up nerd gazing about the production which is always interesting in every way possible.  From the “retro-futurism” production design layered with comical ducts to amazing dolly shots, great makeup, top notch performances and the possibility that you could always find something new when you watch it. In my last viewing I saw the letters M.O.I. (Ministry of Information) imprinted on Mr. M. Kurtzmann’s coffee mug and several other accessories on his desk. The attention to detail in Brazil sometimes makes you treat it more like a painting than a film. We keep watching it to find things we might have missed and to our amusement we usually do. Plus it has Robert DeNiro as a hero in Sam’s bureaucratic world saving Sam from first world problems saying “We’re all in it together”. Still I never forget that harrowing scene with Mrs. Buttle screaming “What have you done with his body?” That scene always reminds me of the heart of gold at the center of this film. That scene with its tears of rage and injustice truly hits home and makes people who understand that pain fall in love with this film.

We want to do so much in our lifetime. The older you get the harder it is to accomplish some of the things you want to do. Brazil always leaves me with that feeling of hope and simple truth, that in order to accomplish great things we must act upon them.  Some viewers may have wanted a happy ending but that would have destroyed the film’s idealism with romanticizing great moments in our lives.  At the end of the film when Sam Lowry is dreaming that some revolution is going to come save his life, to me that moment is the same delusion as people in the autumn of their years grand hope to win the lottery. In desperate times, we all hope to be saved. I can still remember the fever in 2008 when a large majority in this country believed Obama was the answer to all our problems. That’s what makes the ending of Brazil so brilliant, the minute you start to believe that Sam might make it out OK, (even though nothing in Sam’s reality points in that direction) you discover a great lesson about seeing things as they truly are, that’s Mr. Gilliam being honest with us as people. Honest enough to say no you are simply dreaming. Change is not going to be that easy. For Sam Lowry it was too late. For some of us right now it is too late. I think of Sam at the end of the film not only as a tragic hero but as a synonym for anyone of us in a retirement home near the end of our lives. All we will be left with is our memories. Our great “Brazil” like moments when we truly lived. In the world we live in we are promised strife. If we want to majorly change things in the world we inhabit like Sam Lowry tried to do, we will encounter tremendous grief. Terry Gilliam was simply being honest with us. We will all be gone like Sam Lowry is at the end of the film. That is an important fact to remember as we go rushing through our days. In life we are usually trying to feel a certain way again, to recapture a sort of greatness. Sam Lowry found his through loving Jill. It can be anything creating art, raising children, the path that makes you feel free. All I know is that when you find that path, your life will be changed forever. You will spend the rest of your life trying to either keep that feeling or find it again. Poor Sam only had one night with his love and then you have some people who say “High school was the best time in my life” (I do not think that’s a good thing but it makes sense that people would say that.) Thus once again I go back to the song, which romanticizes the great moments in our lives and glows in the reverence that maybe one day I won’t be able to go back to that place and time, so I better enjoy it while I can…..Or continue to fight in order to return to “Old Brazil”.

When hearts were entertained in June

We stood beneath an amber moon

And softly whispered 'some day soon'
We kissed and clung together

Then tomorrow was another day

The morning found me miles away

With still a million things to say
Now when twilight beams the skies above

Recalling thrills of our love

There's one thing I'm certain of
Return I will to old Brazil


ABOUT RCM: Rutz Classic Movies is dedicated on writing film essays for films that in Rutz's opinion, have not gotten the credit they deserve. Next Essay: Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love

Tweet to @RealRutz

RUTZ Song: "Power Love"

I was planning to post my "Brazil" essay tonight but had a tough week and I am only now catching up. I apologize. For tonight please enjoy this song of mine called "Power Love". It might mean something to you too. Working hard to release Brazil essay by Wednesday.  Oh and it's a love song. 

RUTZ Song: The Al Bundy Song

A song about a forgotten true American hero, icon, character. During a time when Americans were still honest with themselves. Enjoy!

RUTZ Classic Movies: In the Mouth of Madness

Directed by John Carpenter

Line that stays with me: “Things are turning to shit out there aren’t they”

Essay Warning: There are no spoilers or story details. I want to offer the emotion that a film can access within us. Plus I think the best way to watch a film is by not knowing anything about it. Just Go In…So if you haven’t watched this film yet please don’t read this essay. Read it afterwards so we can enjoy the “feeling” together.

I remember renting “In the Mouth of Madness” at my local mom and pop video store when I was around 10 years old. That was in 1994, boy was I excited. I caught the trailer plenty of times in the previews of previous horror film rentals like the “The Mangler”. When I got home, I raced towards my VCR, popped in the VHS, turned the lights off, shut and locked the door. About 100 minutes later I was left dumbfounded trying to figure what the hell I had just watch, I wasn’t even left afraid. To say this movie went over my head is an understatement; it soared, and then vanished. I didn’t catch up until last year when I started to study John Carpenter’s work. I reflected on my initial viewing before I watched it again, this time on DVD and realized quickly that this second viewing was going to be special. I suppose my gut feelings were being guided by strong images that never disappeared.

A piece of  artwork remains the same but over time you change, a very important fundamental truth to remember when you become introspective on films and their effects on your life. We have all had that experience; you get nostalgia hungry, and get the bad idea to watch one of your childhood movies, (in my case "Rookie of the year”) and, ten minutes in you start saying things like “I used to think this was good?” I truly believe that strong works (not Good or Bad) of art affect us all the time. From drawings to products of the printed word, music, and video games, they all have a profound impact on our lives. Some people know this outright and don’t assume. Others have no idea, but are literally living their entire life as some concoction of the content they receive. That sort of life usually doesn’t lend much room for self-discovery or self-awareness. “In the Mouth of Madness” has somehow managed to speak about this strange conundrum through a horror film. Sutter Cane tells John Trent outright “You are what I write”, which begs for us to question the effects of all popular content that we receive. I get it now, I can understand and I am very scared NOW. This film was very much ahead of its time, 19 years later, we have arrived inside the mouth of madness.

It's hard to put into words the feelings I get when I read some of the news headlines today. “Mom kills baby using a microwave” “Coach sexually molests players” “Serial killer on the loose”. These are 3 from about 300 terrible headlines you could read each day. The fact that now in defeat we assume “that’s the way things are” might be one of saddest acts of neglect in universal history. Many believe no one is at fault, that there is no culprit, which of course is not true. It just takes a long look at history to arrive at some basic truths of where we went wrong. The main character in John Carpenter’s film, John Trent, wonderfully performed by Sam Neil gets into a similar journey, to discover if something told to him is true or false. He says it loud and clear, “I bust fraud and phonies”. You got to love that anti-authoritarian attitude which is displayed all throughout the film. What makes the attack even sweeter, is the fact that John is actually searching for an author.

John Carpenter is up there as one of the best film directors with an anti-authoritarian attitude, his only rival is Brian De Palma, who’s “Blow-Out” is a masterpiece that also deals with uncovering the truth. Before I type up some more love words about this film, I want to make it clear that I do not think these films are great because they have a “message”. No, I believe these films are great because they have something to say and achieved it in a highly entertaining fashion. I love how “In the Mouth of Madness” begins with the montage of the Sutter Cane book being printed, which in a confusing essence is the birth of the movie itself. Always surprising us with exciting, haunting scores John Carpenter opens the film with some very “Motley Crue” inspired music, which does not let you settle on any idea of what might happen next. Though the screenplay was not written by John Carpenter, I’m sure when he read it, he felt right at home. The screenplay was written by Michael De Luca, which proves to me that working successfully with anyone has more to do with matters of taste than anything else.

Michael De Luca, would later become head of New Line Cinema and green light risky, beautiful, now considered untouchable classics “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia” directed by the new leader of cinematic greatness, Paul Thomas Anderson. The man has great taste. His script married with John Carpenter’s efforts have made a film that could never be dismissed or devalued. This is due to the fact that the film is delivered to you in MOVIE STYLE. Not “Realism” style, which you can witness in full dull display in boring overrated films like “Babel”(I am not saying that “Realism” doesn’t work in movies, I am saying use it right, “Traffic” is a great example of “Realism“ style.) From the very first scene, you can enjoy the fun of great MOVIE DIALOG being thrown at you and of course the performances are handled in very much the same way. Why the hell do you think Charlton Heston is in the movie? I don’t know about his personal life but I’d be hard pressed to think of an actor that could deliver lines better than Charlton Heston. He has some of the most memorable scenes in film history all attached to his unique strong delivery of great dialog. Planet of the Apes: “You maniacs! You blew it up” Soylent Green:“Soylent Green is people!”. The fact that the film is open about its offbeat intentions makes you revel in them and gets you excited about what more the film has to offer beneath the surface.

Creating a film with this sort of attitude and simple approach could have been enough but somehow John Carpenter still manages to scare you or make you feel very unsettled for long periods of time. The compositions of shots in this film are breathtaking as always in John Carpenter films. Shots thought out with the location in mind, using structures on the set to enhance the frame. Pans and dolly shots timed to perfection always thinking of the overall masterful effect. John Carpenter’s film style showcases maturity, confidence and overall intellect, which is important when making a film which could easily be dismissed as “nothing serious”. His filming style almost forces you to take him seriously; you know this thing was not just pasted together. That’s very rewarding for a viewer; you know you are in good hands and it makes you want to dig. Now what you make of it all is a different story.

I will never assume exactly what any film says. I just react to what is on the screen. I gather information and probably enjoy the ideology more than the absolute truth. “In the Mouth of Madness” has plenty of that. These days I find myself thinking what the hell is going on in this country. We praise rappers who truly celebrate that crime pays, most young women look up to talentless rich whores and we continue to cut public school funding. That’s just the tip of the iceberg that could sink this Titanic and somehow most people want you to be OK with this. You either give in or they will call you a “Hater” when you try to explain that nothing makes sense. One phone call later you are in a padded cell. The very notion that the film commits to probe America’s problem (which pretty much makes it a universal problem.) with the written word and its various outlets, excites me.

The film lays it plain and simple when suggesting that the content we praise and champion has overwhelming impact on our day to day lives. Sometimes the impact is hard to measure as the truth usually creeps up behind you when it’s too late. The Bible is referenced in the film quite often, as it should. What better comparison is there, all types of profiteers, politicians, pastors, and priests have used the Lord’s name in vain to raise capital, gain favor or kill “evil” people. All because people believe the words in a book, and they can use its power to further their careers or stature. The Bush family knows all about that. I mean no disrespect to anyone’s religion; I only desire to illustrate the power of the written word. 

Now that less people read, music a quicker way to express the written word is rapidly turning things upside down. Most music today has no purpose or life lessons to offer, just party, party, and party. Rap is a perfect example of this. The black community has been forever tarnished by the latest incarnation of rap music. How the hell did it go from “Public Enemy” (a positive movement.) to the nonsense of Lil Wayne’s Cash Money which is pretty much telling black youth, look at me “I’m a successful drug dealer, you could be too”. This is truth now; it’s in the papers, on the television and on the internet. You cannot fight the fact that people around you are enjoying it. From Mob Wives, Atlanta Housewives and Jersey Shore, it seems everyone is along for the ride of celebrating vile, pathetic declarations of success. They see nothing wrong or anything at stake; sooner or later that truth will put you in the same situation that John Trent is in near the end of the film. He’s ready to run for cover in a mental institution or at the very least a comfortable room, away from the madness. At the end of the film John Trent cannot believe his own eyes because what he has witnessed does not make any sense to him at all. In one scene near the end Charlton Heston asks him, “You don’t believe it do you?” John Trent is trying to come to terms with his reality. In this day and age coming to terms with our reality is a nonstop wrestling match for me. This film offers many mind boggling scenes, images and emotions to entertain, offer advice or gracefully scare you through the madness. Especially when you find yourself feeling like, as the “imaginary” character in the film Linda Styles puts it, “the last one left”.  

ABOUT RCM: Rutz Classic Movies is dedicated on writing film essays for films that in Rutz's opinion, have not gotten the credit they deserve. Next Essay: Terry Gilliam's Brazil 

Tweet to @RealRutz