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

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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 

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RUTZ Song: "That's What Happens When You Love Me"

This is a song from what I call the RUTZ genre. The title of the song speaks for it self. Someone once told me "Some times Love is not enough" I can understand that now. Tweet to @RealRutz

RUTZ Classic Movies: DUNE

Directed by David Lynch

 Line that stays with me:  “Without change something sleeps inside us and seldom wakens”

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 want to start this essay by saying, please watch this film on Blu-Ray. I don’t think any other format has done this film justice. A mighty epic hidden under murky darkness, technology has saved this film. Without Blu-Ray, Dune is a hard film to love. You can’t see all the details and everything looks muggy even in the DVD version. So please do yourself a favor and watch it on Blu-Ray, give a feast to your eyes. Too much to look at it, I promise. 

Dune is the sore thumb in the Lynch catalog. He’s even admitted that maybe he shouldn’t have directed it and the film as it stands is not truly his cut. There have been rumors of a director’s cut for years and till this day, nothing. I don’t think he wants to go back there.  Can’t blame him, that was over twenty years ago and when you watch the film on BLU RAY!...You will know he did more than put his time in. This is the film he decided to direct instead of “Return of the Jedi” (George Lucas offered David Lynch to direct “Return of the Jedi”, crazy 80’s) I’m glad he did, because he got to make a sci-fi epic that was oddly enough truly tailored for him. 

 

Now let’s get things straight, Dune was not a simple “Work for hire” film for Lynch.  This is a personal epic, told through the classic Frank Herbert’s novel Dune.  David Lynch wrote the screenplay and his voice is heard all throughout the film. Luckily Frank Herbert and David Lynch have similar visions. It’s a very interesting match especially now after watching more of Lynch’s offerings.

 

Lynch, always the painter, never puts up one ugly frame on the screen. The set designs, costumes, and makeup have been put together with precise care. It’s a joy for me to just watch the colors on the screen and how great they complement each other.  Those visual treats can especially be enjoyed in the various wide shots in the film. Pause the film during one of those great wide shots and catch the massive amount of work that has gone into this film which you probably have never noticed. Only major flaws are the special effects but hey it was the 80’s! At least the special effects are effective (Those worms look serious.) the same cannot be said about every CGI mess that comes out these days.  Many of the film’s important moments happen in dream sequences, something which David Lynch has now mastered, that “Dream Sense” in his films. If you truly want to understand Dune on another level, pay attention to those dream sequences. It’s all about the images.  

What makes David Lynch’s Dune so exciting to watch though is the same energy that makes all his film exciting to watch, he’s not afraid to make a FUCKING MOVIE! I don’t know what it is these days, filmmakers have become wimps, afraid to make a movie a MOVIE, and instead we get crappy personal sappy sad stories that we are supposed to “relate” to.  Watch “2012” if you want a sample of that nonsense. Heroes in movies used to be just that, heroes, we’re supposed to be watching a “Hero’s Journey”.  Great directors know that you have to take a risk and make people believe in some crazy shit. Whether it’s Indiana Jones or Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) great films don’t tell you about a sad story, it shows it to you, that way you and film are on the same page.  This is where Dune truly excels, it’s not afraid to be a movie with its over the top dialog and score. It plays every scene with epic intentions as it should.

Great Over the top dialog examples: Let’s enjoy them, thank you David Lynch!

·         Gurney Halleck: Behold, as a wild ass in the desert, go I forth to my work.

·         Paul: Father... father, the sleeper has awakened!

·         Piter De Vries: It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

·         Gurney Halleck: Not in the mood? Mood's a thing for cattle and loveplay, not fighting!

·         Baron Harkonnen: He who controls the Spice, controls the universe!

·         Alia: And how can this be? For he is the Kwisatz Haderach!

·         Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV: Bring in that floating fat man, the Baron!

·         Paul: I remember your gom jabbar, now you'll remember mine. I can kill with a word.

·         David Lynch Cameo: But sire we can’t leave all this spice.  (Every time I hear that line I instantly become the happiest person in the world, and the line that comes after that puts me over the top: DAMN THE SPICE! )  

Dune is the story of young Paul Atreides, the chosen one who must rise up against the evil Baron Harkonnen, save his people and avenge his father’s death. It takes place in the year 10,191 and the film’s outlandish theme was created by Brian Eno, now doesn’t that sound epic. Every scene in the film plays out with that sort of bravado. Whether it’s the voiceovers from various characters, or Patrick Stewart charging into war with a Pug in hand (Classic!) the film never distracts you with “Reality” instead it pulls you in with its compelling characters, twisting storyline and powerful images. It helps that David Lynch knows how to create a great villain. In this film, Baron Harkonnen, with all those disgusting pimples gushing with pus, is one of the nastiest villains ever put on screen. It makes rooting for Paul very easy and gets you wrapped up in the story. These elements I’m speaking of are the fundamentals of a great film. Not being afraid to show people another world, and delivering that vision with hardcore dedication. Movies (Documentaries not included) should not be too concerned with “Reality” but more concerned with a “Reality” maybe one we can’t see, thus letting us dream. I believe filmmakers should take us to another place and time. Make that place real and let us be voyeurs. There is nothing worse than a sappy movie trying to “connect” with you, with characters you don’t give a damn about.  Dune talks like a movie, acts like a movie, sounds like a movie and looks like a movie, wish more new film directors had Lynch’s balls. Nothing is spoon fed in DUNE you must use your brain to keep up and to truly discover all the mysteries within.  

The last thing I want to say about this classic film is that it is my favorite coming of age story. Maybe because the coming of age story is so hidden, just like it is in real life. Many people say The Graduate (Great Movie) is their favorite coming of age story but I’m not the college type and its message is too direct for me. Unfortunately, coming to terms with your future and the man you will become is not. It is very hazy and complicated becoming a man. Paul goes through it in Dune, just like we do. From losing his father, to rising into a bigger position in life, he faces this and more all the while scared yet hopeful. Just like us he must concern himself with war, while still trying to answer the simple/complex question: “Who am I”. That’s where I think Dune succeeds like some sort of miracle. You are trying to grow up, to become the man (Or Woman), many people want you to be and even you want to be, but you don’t know yourself that well yet, you do not know if you are up for the task plus there’s a war and innocent people are dying. Paul dreams and wakes up searching for signs, looking for that next step in his life, and there’s no Yoda. Just his dreams, his parent’s guidance (Some of us don’t have that) and pure hope. That’s where Dune succeeds and mirrors itself with its striking images. The dark beautiful truth of becoming a man, you will do it all by yourself. 

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: John Carpenter's In The Mouth Of Madness

Tweet to @RealRutz

RUTZ Classic Movies: THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU

Directed by Wes Anderson


 

Line that stays with me: “I still wish I could breathe underwater” 

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’ve been trying to write this essay for almost two weeks now. The only explanation why I have taken this long to write what seems to be a simple film essay, is the fact that this film encompasses many aspects of my life. This film, when released, was my own personal Star Wars. I watched it five times at my local cinema and yes I paid each time. This film to me is a dream come true and a sad swan song of sorts, since it will be a while before anyone will get $65 million to make a film of its caliber.

“The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” came out in the winter of 2004. It didn’t win any awards and it tanked at the box office. Wes Anderson took a huge risk bringing this film to the screen. This is the film he followed up after the success of “The Royal Tenebaums”. That film made over $50 million at the box office and got nominated for a few Academy Awards. So I’ve to come believe that after the success of “The Royal Tenebaums” Wes Anderson was offered the “Do whatever you want director deal” which many have squandered (The Postman, Heaven’s Gate, Matrix Reloaded just to name a few.)

All “wanna be” directors dream of that day; the day some company gives you a crazy amount of money to make whatever film you want. Seriously, how else could one explain how somebody got to make a film that takes place in water (budget no-no) shot in Fellini’s Cinecitta Studios and stars Bill Murray, who has not been box office gold in the last decade or so (The Man Who Knew Too Little, nuff said.) Wes Anderson took a risk. He could’ve played it safe but he chose not to and I believe he did it for us. That’s why I look at this film and many great films that require sacrifice as gifts. 

The gift of “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” is that it offers us a chance to be children again. There’s a reason for the unique color scheme that makes it seems like you are watching a Nickelodeon cartoon. For God’s sake the film’s score composer long time Wes Anderson collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh use to score the Nickelodeon cartoon “Rugrats”. A mood, and feeling, of childhood are embedded in this film. Many of the creatures on the screen are animated and the soundtrack is always jubilant. One of the greatest moments in the film is watching Bill Murray feed a beautiful Killer Whale. Scenes like that or the one that takes place up on a hot air balloon, are pure child like moments. Later you realize that scene is really about a girl interviewing her childhood hero and what a beautiful way to interview someone you use to hold up so high. 

You can look at the film as an adventure. The great adventure that very few of us our offered in life, which is freedom. Steve Zissou got to travel the world and be a celebrity. The very dreams that kids have today and I’m sure many of us had. On a boat in open sea with your best friends and that’s all you do for a living. It’s hard to even imagine a life like that. It reminded me of drawings I made as a kid of me and my friends living under the same roof. Our heroes get to live that life for us and create art. Another beauty of the film is basically embracing that lifestyle. A life spent creating entertainment for people. People that later look up to you.

The heroes we look up to. How many of you out there are afraid to meet your heroes? This film basically shows a boy and girl meeting their childhood hero. Which is such a great question for a film, to test, simply ask yourself, who was your hero when you were 5 years old. Now imagine dropping into that person’s life right now and finding out all the sad truths of their lives. Which I think would be the case if I walked into Jim Carrey’s life right now.

Most people in the entertainment industry don’t live a simple life. They have the power to get up and do things that we can only dream of. In most cases that power corrupts some of their ideals along the way. I’m not pleading a case for celebrities but we do have a unique relationship with our heroes since we are ones that gave them the “power”; this film tries to understand the effects of that relationship. All with the cheeriness and joy of a child to not make the film’s subject too dreary. That is such a rare and beautiful idea that it drives me mad. We adore them; they get fame and fortune but can never live the “normal” life of having a family and a home. Steve Zissou does not know the pleasure of reading a book to his unborn child, he lived like a rock star, even had an African Mistress thus he could never imagine being a father. That’s the life he’s afraid of and can not understand because he’s chosen to live, to be our hero, to be our rock star.

In the back of his mind, I’m sure Steve wonders what his life would have been like if he was part of his son’s life but he will never know because of the lifestyle he chose. A lifestyle that many of us want our heroes to live, subconsciously some of us consciously, we want them to be crazy for us. Any legendary artist has that to their credit. From Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, our heroes have had their moment of pure wonderful madness. We wonder why they do these crazy things that are so damn interesting. I’ll end this review with 2 things that show Wes Anderson’s brilliance for empathy. In the last scene of the film you watch Steve Zissou pick up Klause’s nephew Werner and put him up on his shoulders. Maybe like he always wanted to and he finally got a perfect chance. The last thing is a verse from one of the songs in the film “30th Century Man” by Scott Walker. “See the dwarf and see the Giant, which one would you choose to be”. 

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: David Lynch’s Dune

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