The Hospital (1971)
Directed by: Arthur Hiller
Written by: Paddy Chayefsky
Starring: George C. Scott, Diana Rigg
Doctors becoming patients, Nurses killing patients (who happen to be doctors), Naked Indian witch doctors, George C. Scott drun on vodka rapes a patients daughter, Chayefsky!!! The Hospital features all this and so much more.
Scott plays Dr. Herbert Bock a suicidal, drunken chief of staff in a hospital full of more monkeys than your local zoo. The film is 24 hours in his life at the hospital from hell. Outside its walls a protest grows ever more violent. Inside, Bock rules over the nurses and doctors (who’s staggering number makes it hard to know who is who). 3 members of Staff end up dead and a riot f protesters nearly breaks out. All this plot is moved forward with the dialog and pacing that Chayefsky brings to everything he has written.
While Marty is claimed to be his greatest work, I disagree. For my money, the middle section of The Hospital is his best writing. It is a 20 minute dialog between Diana Rigg and George C. Scott culminating in his sexual assault of her, though it’s not mean spirited… it’s out of desperation, a last act before his suicide. The scene illustrates why Chayesky is the best screenswriter/playwright ever. So stop reading, and run to the nearest video store (hopefully TLA video on 1520 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA… and while you’re there renting The Hospital, stop by and see me… I’m the guy with the filmstrip tattoo.)
The Brave (1997)
Directed by Johnny Depp
Written by Paul McCudden, Johnny Depp and D.P. Depp
Based on the novel by Gregory McDonald (who also wrote the Fletch novels)
This, unreleased in America flick, is Johnny Depp’s debut as writer/director. Shown at Cannes in 1997 it was well received by European audiences but panned by American critics. Depp backlashed by vowing to never release it in the states. You can track down region 0 copies of the film through ebay, and I think you should because it shows another side of Depp’s creativity, one which I believe to be a flawed success.
Depp plays Raphael a down on his luck Native American who has just been released from prison. He is a 3 time loser trying to do good for his family. His family and friends all live in abject poverty in a trash dump, which is set to be destroyed by construction. In an attempt to finally do something for his family Raphael accepts $50,000 which will allow his family to rise above poverty and have a chance at a life… of course to get the money he had to sell himself to a snuff film producer (played by Brando in a brief cameo) who intends on making him the ’star’ of his next film.
The film is far from perfect but I found it to be amazing. I think think that Depp was doing too much and couldn’t divide his attention. I think that if he had chosen to just direct or just act this film would bed amazing. As it stands it’s good, but it could be so much better.
Anyone familiar with Depp’s celebrity friendships and his collaborations with other filmmakers will sense them in this flick. Jim Jarmusch is especially felt as Depp fuses existentialism and spirituality to create the tone of the film. The cinematography is pretty good and there are some great dolly shots (especially in the amusement park scene) and the score, by Iggy Pop (who makes a cameo), is amazing and the performances by Clarence Williams III and Floyd ‘Red Cow’ Westerman are equally impressive.
The Hit (1984)
Directed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, My Beautiful Laundrette, The Queen)
Written by Peter Prince
Starring Terrence Stamp, John Hurt, Tim Roth
This brilliant British character study also doubles as a meditation/lamentation on the nature of death. Of course that is an over complication of the plot (or is it?). Terence Stamp is Willie Parker, a British gangster who testifies against his friends. 10 years later, John Hurt (with Tim Roth in tow) come to kill him.
Terence Stamp owns this movie! His demeanor throughout the film is like a slap in the face, his reaction to the situation around him is 180 degrees opposite what you would expect. Hurt is frightening as the stone faced, world weary assassin and Roth is energetic, slightly stupid and all around youthful as the upstart criminal on his first ‘job’.
The screenplay by Peter Prince is an exercise in style and shows a careful balancing act whereby each character is equal in the eyes of the viewer. Terence Stamp may be the good guy, but one could argue that John Hurt is less of a villain and more of a man stuck between doing a job he doesn’t want and the wrath of his employers. This flick is definitely worth tracking down!
The Boys From Brazil (1978)
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes, Patton, Papillon)
Written by Heywood Gould (who also co-wrote the Rolling Thunder) from the novel by Ira Levin
Dr. Josef Mengele, Hitler Clones, Gregory Peck vs. Laurence Olivier, Steve Guttenburg, Rosemary Harris (Aunt May from the Spider-Man films) looking gorgeous, Blood Thirsty German Shepherds, Nazi War Criminals… do any of these things sound entertaining to you? If so than The Boys From Brazil is the flick for you.
Peck plays Mengele, who unfurls a plans to clone Hitler. Peck plays Ezra Lieberman an aging Nazi hunter who stumbles upon Mengele’s plot. What follows is a great thriller with plenty of great moments and a truely mesmerizing performance by Jeremy Black (who plays 5 different roles in the film), it’s sad that he chose to leave film for the stage. Peck is terrifying and terrifically scene chewing.
The film is based upon the book of the same name, written by Ira Levin who has written the novels, The Stepford Wives, Rosemary’s Baby, Sliver… I think every book he has written has been turned into a movie. The direction by the great Franklin Schaffner is great and every scene plays pitch perfectly.
I highly recommend this flick, if you see it in a store buy it immediately!
