Film News,
The Establishing Shot: Week 44 News Round-up
This week: UK Top 10 Films, Bond 23 - Skyfall announcement, Chivas Regal unveils it's Here's to Big Bear & Here's to Twinkle Short films, New Cars announced for the Bond in Motion Beaulieu James Bond Vehicle Exhibition, BAFTA launches BAFTA GURU, Tom Cruise does his own stunts on Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, More Secret Cinema tickets released, Entertainment One UK Adds The Sweeney to their line up, Vertigo Films Acquires WILL for UK Release, Paloma Faith twinterview!, First Guests Confirmed For Memorabilia Birmingham, 15th UK Jewish Film Festival - Launch Night!, British Academy Children’s Awards: Nominations Announced, Jackson Family And David Gest Unite To Celebrate Michael Jackson: Life Of An Icon, Exclusive Media Group acquires Dax Shepard's Action Romantic Comedy Outrun, Black Gold heralds a New Historical Era of Arab Film and 10 Things you may not know about the original Straw Dogs film and Rod Lurie’s remake.A super bumper deluxe edition of The Establishing Shot Film News Round-up . I have split the news into 2 easier to digest posts as I'm catching up on bits from the last month.
UK Top 10 Films Friday 28 - Sunday 30 October, 2011 - from Digital Cinema Media
1. The Adventures Of Tin Tin: Secret Of The Unicorn
2. Paranormal Activity 3
3. Johnny English Reborn
4. Contagion
5. The Lion King 3D
6. Ra. One
7. The Help
8. The Ides Of March
9. Real Steel
10. Dolphin Tale 3D
Bond 23 - Skyfall
Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment announce Skyfall. All the official news from James Bond 23's Skyfall, Crew, Cast, Title, Plot & official logo (title treatment) here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/11/establishing-shot-all-official-news.html
Here's to Big Bear & Here's to Twinkle Short films
Chivas Regal unveils it's 2 short films Here's to Big Bear & Here's to Twinkle by director Joachim Back. See Here's to Big Bear and Here's to Twinkle shorts & QA with Joachim Back here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/10/establishing-shot-see-chivas-regals.html
Bond In Motion - Beaulieu James Bond Vehicle Exhibition to open 18th January 2012
New Cars announced for the Bond in Motion Beaulieu James Bond Vehicle Exhibition. More info here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/11/establishing-shot-bond-in-motion.html
BAFTA launches BAFTA GURU
BAFTA have just unveiled their handy new online resource BAFTA GURU that will allow one to access talks and interviews with almost anyone in the entertainment field.
Looking for inspiration? BAFTA Guru is a brand new site that brings together some of the most exciting voices in Film, TV and Games in one handy hub.To celebrate we will be live streaming the Academy's Annual Film Lecture to be delivered by Errol Morris at 8pm on Sun 6 Nov. More Info here: http://guru.bafta.org/
Tom Cruise has balls of steel and does his own stunts on Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
More info here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/10/establishing-shot-mission-impossible.html
Secret Cinema December 2012 January 2013
Secret Cinema announce that tickets for it's December Secret Cinema are now dold out but additional places for January are available from 1 pm(4 Nov, 2012) here: http://www.wegottickets.com/secretcinema
Sign up to Secret Cinema newsletter on www.secretcinema.org
Or follow them on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Secret-Cinema/46896241052
Or Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/secretcinema
Entertainment One UK Adds The Sweeney to their line up
Entertainment One UK is pleased to announce the acquisition of all UK and Irish rights to the explosive feature film adaptation of cult TV Show The Sweeney. The film is directed by Nick Love (The Football Factory, The Firm), co-written by BAFTA winning John Hodge (Trainspotting) and co-produced by Vertigo Films and Embargo films.The deal for UK rights was negotiated by Alex Hamilton, Director of Entertainment One UK and Vertigo’s MD Rupert Preston.
Set in modern day England, The Sweeney is packed full of fast cars, faster action and smart arse wise cracks delivered by the legendary Ray Winstone as Flying Squad detective Jack Regan and the uniquely talented Ben Drew (aka Plan B) as George Carter. They are joined by Hayley Atwell (Captain America), Damien Lewis (The Escapist), Steven Mackintosh (Underworld: The Rise of the Lycans) and Paul Anderson (The Firm).
The film, set to start shooting in and around London on October 30th, will be released in autumn 2012.
Vertigo Films Acquires WILL for UK Release
Will set for wide national release on the 4th November 2011. Vertigo Films are proud to announce the wide UK theatrical release of Will. This much anticipated film that tells the story of a young boy’s emotional journey across Europe to watch the football team that he loves will be released in the UK on the 4th November 2011. More Info: http://www.facebook.com/WillMovie
Paloma Faith twinterview!
The Future written and directed by Me and You and Everyone We Know’s Miranda July hits the silver screen tomorrow - November 4th! To celebrate the release of this purrrfectly formed love story between Sophie (Miranda July), Jason (Hamish Linklater) and Paw-paw (cat). We’re thrilled to announce that Miranda will be conducing her first (and only) twinterview with the wonderful performance artist Paloma Faith! Keen an eye out for @Palomafaith and @Miranda_July in ‘conversation’ today (4 Nov) at 5pm sharp.
As if that wasn’t enough, Miranda and Picturehouse have also developed a bespoke cultural calendar packed with interesting must-do’s in and around London, Edinburgh, York and Brighton. Get it on your Facebook page now! http://apps.facebook.com/the_future_calendar/
First Guests Confirmed For Memorabilia Birmingham
From sci-fi to soaps, Hollywood to Hi-De-Hi!, the Winter Memorabilia Show has it all! Held at NEC Birmingham on 19-20 November, Britain’s biggest collector’s show features a stunning line-up of special guests from the world of film, TV and sports.
This year’s guest list includes Kai Owen (Torchwood); Sir Derek Jacobi (The King’s Speech, I Claudius); Colin Baker (Doctor Who); Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who); Bruce Boxleitner (Tron, Babylon 5); Bruce Davison (X-Men, Star Trek Enterprise & Voyager); John Challis (Only Fools And Horses); Barry Howard (Hi-De-Hi!) and Doctor Who Companions Katy Manning, Sophie Aldred, Deborah Watling, Sarah Sutton and Frances Barber.
Other stars meeting fans and signing autographs include Marshall Lancaster (Ashes To Ashes, Life On Mars); Anthony Valentine (Coronation Street); Ian Ogilvy (Return Of The Saint); Alexandra Bastedo (The Champions); Susan Jameson (New Tricks, Coronation Street); Peter Egan (Ever Decreasing Circles); Fenella Fielding (Carry On Screaming, The Avengers); Martine Beswick (From Russia With Love, One Million Years B.C.) And Many More!
To stay up-to-date with show news, visit www.memorabilia.co.uk/birmingham, follow www.twitter.com/mcmexpo or go to www.facebook.com/mcmexpo
15th UK Jewish Film Festival - Launch Night!
The 15th UK Jewish Film Festival launched with tremendous panache last night (November 1st) when 600 people packed into the Odeon West End to watch the opening film, ‘This Must Be The Place’, directed by Paolo Sorrentino and starring Sean Penn, Frances McDormand and Judd Hirsch.
Judy Ironside, the Festival’s Executive Director gave a warm welcoming speech to thank the Festival team, sponsors, friends and volunteers involved in putting on this important London-based film festival. She received a hearty round of applause from the capacity audience – and a large bunch of beautiful flowers – before the film opened.
The star studded audience included Steven Berkoff, Maureen Lipman, Lesley Joseph, David Schneider, Amina Harris as well as a healthy smattering of high profile business men and women from the world of entertainment. International filmmakers were also represented by Jonathan Sagall (Director: Lipstikka), Trinity Films’ General Director Cedric Behrel, Simon Rumley (writer/director Red White & Blue), Bob Portal (producer) and more.
The UK Jewish Film Festival runs between November 1st and 20th with a dynamic programme of 70 international features, documentaries, shorts and TV specials, talks, workshops and Q&As – all made by and presented by filmmakers worldwide. The UKJFF provides an unrivalled showcase for works on Jewish themes by filmmakers of all backgrounds and nationalities and has grown massively since Judy Ironside founded the festival in 1997 as the Brighton Jewish Festival. The UKJFF runs year-round programmes of interfaith screenings, emerging filmmakers workshops, talks, discussions and film tours.
Next up! – Saturday November 5th 7.30pm at the Tricycle in Kilburn – ‘Footnote’ directed by Joseph Cedar and winner of the Best Screenplay Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. On Sunday November 6th the Tricycle will screen three terrific films: at 2.30pm ‘Carrying The Light’ directed by Guy Natanel; at 6pm ‘I Shall Remember’ directed by Vitaly Vorobiev and at 8pm ‘Lipstikka’ written and directed by Jonathan Sagall.
More info here: http://www.theestablishingshot.com/2011/09/establishing-shot-2011-uk-jewish-film.html
British Academy Children’s Awards: Nominations Announced
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Parts 1 And 2 Nominated
Blue Peter Presenter Barney Harwood To Host Awards
Peppa Pig Receives Its Tenth Nomination
Voting For Bafta Kids’ Vote Opens Today – Jls Confirmed To Present Award
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is delighted to announce the nominations for the 2011 British Academy Children's Awards, which will take place on Sunday 27 November at the London Hilton, Park Lane.
The Awards will be hosted for the second year running by Blue Peter presenter Barney Harwood, who previously won in the Presenter category in 2007 for Smile. The Awards celebrate the very best in children’s media including television, film, video games and online.
Some of the most notable nominees this year include Peppa Pig, which receives its tenth nomination to date; Horrible Histories, which receives three nominations; and The Sarah Jane Adventures, which is nominated for a fourth consecutive year. Continuing Harry Potter’s phenomenal success, both Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 have been nominated in the Feature Film category alongside Kung Fu Panda 2 and Disney hit, Tangled.
Jamie Oliver features for the first time at the Children’s BAFTAs with his hit Channel 4 show Jamie’s Dream School, which has been nominated in the Learning–Secondary category. The seven-part television documentary devised and hosted by the celebrity chef aimed to encourage 20 young people who left school with few qualifications to join Jamie’s Dream School; the programme also resulted in participants giving advice to the Education Select Committee.
Voting for the BAFTA Kids’ Vote powered by Yahoo, opens today (24 October 2011) and closes at 18.00 on Friday 25 November 2011. Children can cast their votes at www.baftakidsvote.org. Winners of each category will this year be presented their Award by BAFTA’s very special guests, JLS.
Jackson Family Members And Producer David Gest Unite With Fans And Stars In London To Celebrate Michael Jackson: Life Of An Icon
London, 3rd November 2011 – Michael Jackson’s family members and fans from across the globe gathered in Leicester Square at a star-studded red carpet event to celebrate the life and legacy of the ‘King of Pop’ at the World Premiere of Michael Jackson: Life of an Icon, to mark its release on DVD and Blu-ray, courtesy of Universal Pictures International Entertainment.
Producer, TV star and lifelong friend of Michael Jackson David Gest was joined by Michael’s brother Tito Jackson, sister Rebbie Jackson and his former lawyers Thomas Mesereau and Susan Yu, at a memorable and moving event that was viewed live by tens of thousands of fans around the world through Livestream.
Stars from the worlds of music, film and entertainment graced the red carpet, from Motown legends including Martha Reeves, to rising stars such as X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke, all expressing how they have been inspired by the iconic life of Michael Jackson.
Producer David Gest said: “It was like putting a puzzle together. It took over 15 months to do. I’m really proud of it and I think Universal have done an incredible job. There were so many misconceptions about Michael that we wanted to set the record straight.”
Tito Jackson (Michael’s brother) said: “I can’t think of anyone else that would have done such a good job as David Gest. It’s so important that the world knows the real Michael Jackson. David knew Michael for many decades and we have been friends since I was fifteen. “
The evening was rounded off in style at a star-studded after party at The Grand Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden, which included stunning tribute performances from Motown legends Martha Reeves, Kim Weston, Peabo Bryson, Brenda Holloway and Michael’s sister Rebbie Jackson, as well as an auction of Michael Jackson memorabilia including a personal hat worn by Michael and a rare original Jackson 5 cartoon cell.
Exclusive Media Group acquires Dax Shepard's Action Romantic Comedy Outrun
Exclusive Media Group (“Exclusive”) has acquired worldwide rights in all media excluding US and Canada to the high-octane, action romantic comedy OUTRUN, written and directed by Dax Shepard (acting credits Employee Of The Month, Baby Mama and MTV’s “Punk’d”) who, co-directs with David Palmer, and stars with Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper and Tom Arnold, it was announced today by Exclusive co-chairmen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East. The all-star ensemble cast featuring some of the industry’s leading comedic actors also includes Kristin Chenoweth, Beau Bridges, David Koechner, Michael Rosenbaum, Joy Bryant and Ryan Hansen.The feature film is being produced by Andrew Panay (Wedding Crashers), Nate Tuck (Brother’s Justice), and Kim Waltrip & Jim Casey (Expecting Mary).
Living under an assumed identity in central California, ex-getaway driver “Charlie Bronson” (Shepard) agrees to break the rules of his Witness Protection and drive his sexy girlfriend (Kristen Bell) to Los Angeles so that she can land her dream job. When the authorities and his former gang (led by Bradley Cooper) learn he is back behind the wheel, they hit the road to chase him down. Desperate to stay one step ahead, Charlie upgrades to an even faster car as the story shifts into high gear; cranking up the horse power and increasing the speed to make it to Southern California in time and, more importantly, in one piece.
Exclusive Films International, led by Alex Walton, President, International Sales and Distribution, will handle international distribution for OUTRUN. The film, which is currently in post-production, is being unveiled for sales at the upcoming American Film Market. Head of Production Tobin Armbrust acquired the film on behalf of Exclusive. Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman, Inc. acted on behalf of the filmmakers.
Black Gold heralds a New Historical Era of Arab Film
The director, producer and key cast members of Black Gold, the Doha Film Institute’s first international co-production, were on hand Tuesday, October 25, at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) to discuss the film ahead of its glittering opening night world premiere in the Festival’s spectacular Katara Open Air Cinema (KOAT).
The packed press conference saw the film’s producer Tarak Ben Ammar, director Jean Jacques Annaud, cast Freida Pinto, Mark Strong and Tahar Rahim discuss the making of the film on location in Tunisia which coincided with the revolution in the country during the recent Arab Spring and Black Gold’s four weeks of location shooting in Qatar at the spectacular sand dunes of Mesaieed.
Set in 1930’s Arabia, Black Gold tells the story of two warring Emirs who make a truce that binds them to respect a no man’s land between their desert kingdoms. However, after oil is discovered, the stage is set for control of the area and the riches it promises to yield.
At the press conference Tuesday morning, Tarak Ben Ammar, the film’s producer and CEO of co-production partner Quinta Communications, said: “We are proud to be here presenting the film at DTFF which is being seen here at the same time by the Qatari people, six years after I first came to Doha,” and said the film wouldn’tve been possible without the involvement of the Doha Film Institute.
Ben Ammar spoke of his pride in filming the movie during the Tunisian revolution, comparing the new openness of Tunisia after the fall of former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and yesterday’s elections as reflective of some of the key themes of the story of Black Gold – revolution, freedom, and a changing future depicting a new view of the Arab world.
The film’s director, Jean-Jacques Annaud, said: “My experiences of being on holiday in the Arab region were very different from what I had heard and read in the media. This world became my passion, and I wanted to make a film about the Arab world made in the Arab world.”
Ben Ammar praised the “wonderful authenticity” of Tahar Rahim in creating the central character of the Emir in the film as an Algerian actor playing an Arab character. Rahim called Black Gold “a noble movie that portrays lofty ideas and a new vision of the Arab world.”
British actor Mark Strong agreed, saying: “The film is about dignity, integrity, honesty, and being a good father, universal themes which cross cultural boundaries. As King Amar, I didn’t feel like I was playing ‘An Arab,’ it just so happened that he is an Arab character. I felt like I was playing a father who just happened to have those qualities.”
Freida Pinto was asked about playing an Arab woman in the film, and stated that her character was brought up in a different time with different traditions: “Princess Lallah wants freedom, but she pushes delicately against her tradition by respecting her father as opposed to rebelling against it outright.”
Pinto joked that if there were a Black Gold 2 her character would be very different and be about the changing freedoms of young women in the Arab world and how to balance that while remaining true to Arab culture.
In closing, director Jean-Jacques Annaud said that “Black Gold is not just a film about the Arab world. At the heart of the film is an open discussion about what the future will hold, how we deal with modernity, which every civilization in the world has had to deal with. It is in keeping with the time period in which the film is set.”
Black Gold stars Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Tahar Rahim, Mark Strong and Liya Kebede. In a novel collaboration, legendary composer James Horner (Titanic, Troy, Avatar) composed the film’s score, featuring Qatari vocalist Fahad al Kubaisi on the moving opening track and collaborating with Qatari composer Abdullah al Manai on an adaptation of a traditional Bedouin song.
10 Things you may not know about the original Straw Dogs film...and 10 things about Rod Lurie’s remake
Rod Lurie’s remake of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs was always bound to cause a stir. Peckinpah is one of those directors whose work tends to inspire a certain brand of obsessive cult fandom, and Lurie knew from the beginning that, by daring to take on a film like Straw Dogs, he was painting a big red bull’s-eye on his back.
It comes at an interesting moment: long delayed, the film finally makes it to cinema screens almost exactly forty years after Peckinpah’s original. 1971 was a crucial year for controversial film, with Ken Russell’s extraordinary The Devils (still unavailable on home video in the UK and the US), A Clockwork Orange (withdrawn by its director Stanley Kubrick from UK distribution) and Straw Dogs (banned on home video in the UK for eighteen years) all sending shockwaves through audiences, critics and censors at the time.
Rod Lurie may have drawn some of the sting out of the critical response by re-imagining the film in a very different setting, and rethinking everything from the film’s characterisation to its philosophy and its gender politics. Nevertheless, the remake is acutely aware of the long shadow that the original casts. The interior of the farmhouse is a remarkably detailed replica of the original, despite the very different settings. There are moments, snatches of dialogue, and shot sequences which are clearly intended as a kind of homage to Sam. However, forty years is a long time in the film industry. What are some of the most startling differences and parallels between the 1971 original and the 2011 remake?
1. The character David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) was originally an academic writing about an obscure eighteenth century poet, and then a lawyer, before being re-crafted as the “astro-mathematician” of the finished film.
The 2011 version of David Sumner is a Hollywood scriptwriter working on a film about the siege of Leningrad in the Second World War.
2. Sam Peckinpah asked Harold Pinter to redraft the script; Pinter declined, rubbishing the screenplay’s ‘pathetic assumption that it is saying something “important” about human beings’.
Rod Lurie says he has ignored Gordon Williams’ original novel, The Siege at Trencher’s Farm, for his remake. The screenplay is credited to Lurie, Sam Peckinpah, and the screenwriter of the first version, David Zelag Goodman, who went on to collaborate with Peckinpah on subsequent drafts.
3. Gordon Williams believed that the movie, unlike his novel, contained a rape scene because Peckinpah ‘liked to abuse women in his films’. Peckinpah was less than complimentary about his source material: ‘Read the goddamn book’, he told one interviewer. ‘You’ll die gagging in your own vomit’.
Long before shooting began, Rod Lurie told one journalist, ‘You can be certain that Amy's not going to be smiling in the rape in MY film’.
4. Sam Peckinpah was heavily influenced by the writings of Robert Ardrey, who saw man as no different from other animals, driven by a territorial imperative.
Rod Lurie has declared his film is about how violence is not innate or natural to humans, but learned. He sees it as the chief philosophical difference between his film and Peckinpah’s.
5. An early title for the film was The Square Root of Fear. Peckinpah shot it down as “bloody phucking awful”.
Long before Rod Lurie began work on his remake, Edward Norton’s name was attached to the production, under the working title... The Square Root of Fear.
6. T.P. McKenna, playing the role of the local magistrate Major Scott, had his arm in a sling throughout the film, leading to speculation about the symbolism of the “broken arm of the law” in this village which preferred to police itself. In fact, the sling was required after McKenna broke his arm falling off a table he had been dancing on with two prostitutes at a pre-shoot party.
The equivalent of the Major in Rod Lurie’s version is an African-American Iraq veteran played by Laz Alonso. The Iraq connection is a reminder that Peckinpah’s original was made very much in the shadow of the Vietnam War, including the news of the massacre at My Lai of five hundred Vietnamese women, children and old men at the hands of US soldiers.
7. Many British critics were offended by Peckinpah’s take on their homeland, and his depiction of Cornish country folk. Gavin Millar remarked, ‘Peckinpah’s acquaintance with English life, let alone rural and regional life, is unsurpassedly faint’.
Some critics have been uneasy about Rod Lurie’s depiction of rural Mississippi life, which is the setting for his remake. A critic for popmatters.com complains about ‘a number of uncomplimentary Southern stereotypes, substituting Mississippi rednecks for the British working class tormenters from the original film’.
8. Peckinpah famously declared of Amy, ‘There are two kinds of women. There are women, and then there’s pussy. … Amy is pussy, under the veneer of being a woman’.
In an interview for www.ifc.com, Rod Lurie claims, "Our Amy is a fierce Amy ... "She's a feminist Amy. She's an Amy of 2011."
9. Peckinpah employed two body doubles for the film’s infamous rape scene. In the final cut, only a few frames featuring a double were used.
According to www.opposingviews.com, Kate Bosworth was ‘left shaken’ after filming the rape scene in the remake: “The panic you see flooding me in that rape scene is real.”
10. The 1971 film fell under the wheels of the Video Recordings Act in the 1980s, and was unavailable on home video in the UK for eighteen years. BBFC Secretary James Ferman was convinced that the film eroticised and endorsed sexual violence, and refused to grant it a certificate. In September 1999, BBFC President Andreas Whittam Smith told The Guardian that Straw Dogs would never be passed by the Board in its uncut form. In September 2002, the BBFC, apparently following advice from a viewer panel and evidence from clinical psychologists, performed a quite spectacular U-turn, and Peckinpah’s film was once again made available for UK viewers to make up their own minds.
On 26 August 2011, Rod Lurie’s film was passed at ‘18’ uncut by the BBFC. However, sexual violence remains one of the most troublesome issues for the BBFC in terms of censorship and certification. Recent films that have fallen foul of their guidelines on sexual violence include Murder Set Pieces (2008), Grotesque (2009), A Serbian Film (2010) and Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011).
Stevie Simkin, 31 October 2011.
Dr. Stevie Simkin is Reader in Drama and Film in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Winchester, UK. He is the co-editor with Professor Julian Petley of the Controversies series: in-depth studies of key controversial films of the past 40 years. His book about Straw Dogs for the series has been described by Peckinpah biographer Garner Simmons as 'Exceptionally well-written .... needs to be read by anyone interested in understanding Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs as a serious work of cinematic art’; veteran US film critic Stephen Farber calls it ‘a swift, compelling read. Thorough and scholarly without the faintest whiff of academic stuffiness, Stevie Simkin's study of Straw Dogs summons up the turmoil of the 1960s and 70s and illuminates the highly charged subject of sexual violence on film'.
The Controversies series will be launched formally on November 9th 2011 at 7pm at the Barbican, London, with a special screening of Straw Dogs followed by a panel discussion featuring Katy Haber (Peckinpah’s assistant on all his films throughout the 1970s), the film’s co-star Susan George, Stevie Simkin and Julian Petley.
More Info:
Barbican launch: http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/event-detail.asp?ID=12824
Controversies book series: http://www.palgrave.com/products/Series.aspx?s=CONTRV
Interview with Stevie Simkin about the series: http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature.php?id=918
Rod Lurie’s remake of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs was always bound to cause a stir. Peckinpah is one of those directors whose work tends to inspire a certain brand of obsessive cult fandom, and Lurie knew from the beginning that, by daring to take on a film like Straw Dogs, he was painting a big red bull’s-eye on his back.
It comes at an interesting moment: long delayed, the film finally makes it to cinema screens almost exactly forty years after Peckinpah’s original. 1971 was a crucial year for controversial film, with Ken Russell’s extraordinary The Devils (still unavailable on home video in the UK and the US), A Clockwork Orange (withdrawn by its director Stanley Kubrick from UK distribution) and Straw Dogs (banned on home video in the UK for eighteen years) all sending shockwaves through audiences, critics and censors at the time.
Rod Lurie may have drawn some of the sting out of the critical response by re-imagining the film in a very different setting, and rethinking everything from the film’s characterisation to its philosophy and its gender politics. Nevertheless, the remake is acutely aware of the long shadow that the original casts. The interior of the farmhouse is a remarkably detailed replica of the original, despite the very different settings. There are moments, snatches of dialogue, and shot sequences which are clearly intended as a kind of homage to Sam. However, forty years is a long time in the film industry. What are some of the most startling differences and parallels between the 1971 original and the 2011 remake?
1. The character David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) was originally an academic writing about an obscure eighteenth century poet, and then a lawyer, before being re-crafted as the “astro-mathematician” of the finished film.
The 2011 version of David Sumner is a Hollywood scriptwriter working on a film about the siege of Leningrad in the Second World War.
2. Sam Peckinpah asked Harold Pinter to redraft the script; Pinter declined, rubbishing the screenplay’s ‘pathetic assumption that it is saying something “important” about human beings’.
Rod Lurie says he has ignored Gordon Williams’ original novel, The Siege at Trencher’s Farm, for his remake. The screenplay is credited to Lurie, Sam Peckinpah, and the screenwriter of the first version, David Zelag Goodman, who went on to collaborate with Peckinpah on subsequent drafts.
3. Gordon Williams believed that the movie, unlike his novel, contained a rape scene because Peckinpah ‘liked to abuse women in his films’. Peckinpah was less than complimentary about his source material: ‘Read the goddamn book’, he told one interviewer. ‘You’ll die gagging in your own vomit’.
Long before shooting began, Rod Lurie told one journalist, ‘You can be certain that Amy's not going to be smiling in the rape in MY film’.
4. Sam Peckinpah was heavily influenced by the writings of Robert Ardrey, who saw man as no different from other animals, driven by a territorial imperative.
Rod Lurie has declared his film is about how violence is not innate or natural to humans, but learned. He sees it as the chief philosophical difference between his film and Peckinpah’s.
5. An early title for the film was The Square Root of Fear. Peckinpah shot it down as “bloody phucking awful”.
Long before Rod Lurie began work on his remake, Edward Norton’s name was attached to the production, under the working title... The Square Root of Fear.
6. T.P. McKenna, playing the role of the local magistrate Major Scott, had his arm in a sling throughout the film, leading to speculation about the symbolism of the “broken arm of the law” in this village which preferred to police itself. In fact, the sling was required after McKenna broke his arm falling off a table he had been dancing on with two prostitutes at a pre-shoot party.
The equivalent of the Major in Rod Lurie’s version is an African-American Iraq veteran played by Laz Alonso. The Iraq connection is a reminder that Peckinpah’s original was made very much in the shadow of the Vietnam War, including the news of the massacre at My Lai of five hundred Vietnamese women, children and old men at the hands of US soldiers.
7. Many British critics were offended by Peckinpah’s take on their homeland, and his depiction of Cornish country folk. Gavin Millar remarked, ‘Peckinpah’s acquaintance with English life, let alone rural and regional life, is unsurpassedly faint’.
Some critics have been uneasy about Rod Lurie’s depiction of rural Mississippi life, which is the setting for his remake. A critic for popmatters.com complains about ‘a number of uncomplimentary Southern stereotypes, substituting Mississippi rednecks for the British working class tormenters from the original film’.
8. Peckinpah famously declared of Amy, ‘There are two kinds of women. There are women, and then there’s pussy. … Amy is pussy, under the veneer of being a woman’.
In an interview for www.ifc.com, Rod Lurie claims, "Our Amy is a fierce Amy ... "She's a feminist Amy. She's an Amy of 2011."
9. Peckinpah employed two body doubles for the film’s infamous rape scene. In the final cut, only a few frames featuring a double were used.
According to www.opposingviews.com, Kate Bosworth was ‘left shaken’ after filming the rape scene in the remake: “The panic you see flooding me in that rape scene is real.”
10. The 1971 film fell under the wheels of the Video Recordings Act in the 1980s, and was unavailable on home video in the UK for eighteen years. BBFC Secretary James Ferman was convinced that the film eroticised and endorsed sexual violence, and refused to grant it a certificate. In September 1999, BBFC President Andreas Whittam Smith told The Guardian that Straw Dogs would never be passed by the Board in its uncut form. In September 2002, the BBFC, apparently following advice from a viewer panel and evidence from clinical psychologists, performed a quite spectacular U-turn, and Peckinpah’s film was once again made available for UK viewers to make up their own minds.
On 26 August 2011, Rod Lurie’s film was passed at ‘18’ uncut by the BBFC. However, sexual violence remains one of the most troublesome issues for the BBFC in terms of censorship and certification. Recent films that have fallen foul of their guidelines on sexual violence include Murder Set Pieces (2008), Grotesque (2009), A Serbian Film (2010) and Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011).
Stevie Simkin, 31 October 2011.
Dr. Stevie Simkin is Reader in Drama and Film in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Winchester, UK. He is the co-editor with Professor Julian Petley of the Controversies series: in-depth studies of key controversial films of the past 40 years. His book about Straw Dogs for the series has been described by Peckinpah biographer Garner Simmons as 'Exceptionally well-written .... needs to be read by anyone interested in understanding Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs as a serious work of cinematic art’; veteran US film critic Stephen Farber calls it ‘a swift, compelling read. Thorough and scholarly without the faintest whiff of academic stuffiness, Stevie Simkin's study of Straw Dogs summons up the turmoil of the 1960s and 70s and illuminates the highly charged subject of sexual violence on film'.
The Controversies series will be launched formally on November 9th 2011 at 7pm at the Barbican, London, with a special screening of Straw Dogs followed by a panel discussion featuring Katy Haber (Peckinpah’s assistant on all his films throughout the 1970s), the film’s co-star Susan George, Stevie Simkin and Julian Petley.
More Info:
Barbican launch: http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/event-detail.asp?ID=12824
Controversies book series: http://www.palgrave.com/products/Series.aspx?s=CONTRV
Interview with Stevie Simkin about the series: http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature.php?id=918
The Establishing Shot: Week 44 News Roundup
UK Top 10 Films, Bond 23 - Skyfall announcement, Chivas Regal unveils it's Here's to Big Bear & Here's to Twinkle Short films, New Cars announced for the Bond in Motion Beaulieu James Bond Vehicle Exhibition, BAFTA launches BAFTA GURU, Tom Cruise does his own stunts on Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, More Secret Cinema tickets released, Entertainment One UK Adds The Sweeney to their line up, Vertigo Films Acquires WILL for UK Release, Paloma Faith twinterview!, First Guests Confirmed For Memorabilia Birmingham, 15th UK Jewish Film Festival - Launch Night!, British Academy Children’s Awards: Nominations Announced, Jackson Family And David Gest Unite To Celebrate Michael Jackson: Life Of An Icon, Exclusive Media Group acquires Dax Shepard's Action Romantic Comedy Outrun, Black Gold heralds a New Historical Era of Arab Film and 10 Things you may not know about the original Straw Dogs film and Rod Lurie’s remake.
0 comments: