Sunday, April 17, 2011

Sidney Lumet R.I.P

Legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet passed away a few days ago, on April 9 2011. He was 86. As it usually happens after such sad events, plenty of articles have been written in memoriam, celebrating and analysing his work and its importance and impact on American cinema. His first feature came out in 1957 (the all-time classic masterpiece 12 Angry Men), and his last came out in 2007 (the superb, underrated Before the Devil Knows You're Dead); his filmography spans fifty years.

Instead of writing generally about those of his movies that I have seen, I preferred to focus on what I consider Lumet's greatest skill as a director: his masterful capability to draw amazing perfromances from actors of the highest caliber, with great dialogue-driven scripts as the source material. As a proof, he guided seventeen actors and actressses in a total of fourteen Oscar nominations and four wins. Network still holds the record for most Oscar-nominated performances from a single movie (five) and the most Oscar-winning performances (three - tied with Α Streetcar Named Desire). A common feature on those performances -which probably had as its origin Lumet's work as a theatre director prior to his film career- was a scene-stealing monologue. Below I present some of those scenes which are now part of film history and set the example as acting performance at its best. WARNING: spoilers might appear.
Credits:
Network: written by Paddy Chayefsky. Dog Day Afternoon
: written by Frank Pierson. 12 Angry Men: written by Reginald Rose. Serpico: written by Walso Salt and Norman Wexler, based on the book by Peter Maas.

Peter Finch in Network (1976)
"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!"



Network is one of the most socially potent films of all time. Peter Finch won a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as the "Mad Prophet" TV presenter Howard Beale; he remained the only posthumous recipient in Oscars' acting categories, until the late Heath Ledger won one for 2008's The Dark Knight.

Ned Beatty in Network (1976)
"You have meddled with the primal forces of nature Mr Beale, and I won't have it.There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no East. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds, and shekels. It is the international system system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone!"


The great character actor Ned Beatty was nominated for a Supporting Actor Academy Award for Network. This is the famous "Corporate Cosmology" scene, some minutes before the movie's end; it is Beatty's only scene in the film. A terrifiyngly visionary and sadly prescient speech.

Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982)
"...I mean there is no justice. The rich win; the poor are powerless. We become tired of hearing people lie. And after a time we become dead, a little dead. We think of ourselves as victims - and we become victims. We become weak; we doubt ourselves; we doubt our beliefs; we doubt our institutions; and we doubt the law. But today you are the law. You are the law, not some book, not the lawyers, not a marble statue, or the trappings of the court... If we are to have faith in justice we need only to believe in ourselves and act with justice. See, I believe there is justice in our hearts."



Newman delivered one of his most heartfelt performances in this great underrated courtroom drama. He plays a cynic, stubborn, uncompromising, dispirited, heavy-drinking lawyer, who agrees to take over a quixotic case, as a last chance to save both his miserable life and dwindling career. His face expression on the verdict announcement is one to truly treasure forever.

Al Pacino
in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

"Attica! Attica!"


In this classic real-life story of a bank robbery gone wrong, Pacino, at the height of his powers, gives one of the all-time best performances in cinema. The scene above is probably the most famous of the movie; however, my favourite one is Pacino's improvised lengthy monologue on the phone with Chris Sarandon. It is a heart-wrecking, emotionally naked display of method acting. Famously, Pacino, always the method actor, was physically and mentally exhausted after the shoot of that scene. He almost collapsed when he heard Sidney Lumet telling him "That was perfect Al, we need to do this once more".

Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men (1957)
"I have a proposition to make to all of you. I'm going to call for another vote. I want you eleven men to vote by secret written ballot."



In this pivotal scene in 12 Angry Men, Fonda turned the tables in his favour. The film is the definition of ensemble acting and was Lumet's debut feature. It was shot almost completely in the "jury room"; still, thanks to Lumet's direction, it never drags or becomes too theatrical. This is one of the best films of all time: as with many of Lumet's films, its ideals and messages will always come across.

Beatrice Straight in Network (1975)
"This is your great winter romance, isn't it? Your last roar of passion before you settle into your emeritus years. Is that what's left for me? Is that my share? She gets the winter passion, and I get the dotage? What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to sit at home knitting and purling while you slink back like some penitent drunk? I'm your wife, damn it! And, if you can't work up a winter passion for me, the least I require is respect and allegiance!"

See the clip here

This is the shortest performance to ever win an Oscar. Beatrice Straight had only three scenes in the film; the most famous being the breakup scene with William Holden. Here, she brings to life all the anger, pain, and sadness a cheated woman suffers.

Faye Dunaway in Network (1975)
"Now, I don't want to play butch boss with you people. But when I took over this department, it had the worst programming record in television history. This network hasn't one show in the top twenty. This network is an industry joke... I want ideas from you people, that's what you're paid for. And, by the way, the next time I send an audience research report around, you all better read it, or I'll sack the fucking lot of you, is that clear?"

See the clip here

Dunaway won her only Oscar for her performance of an ambitious, heartless TV executive.

William Holden in Network (1975)
"You're television incarnate, Diana: Indifferent to suffering; insensitive to joy. All of life is reduced to the common rubble of banality. War, murder, death are all the same to you as bottles of beer. And the daily business of life is a corrupt comedy. You even shatter the sensations of time and space into split seconds and instant replays. You're madness, Diana. Virulent madness. And everything you touch dies with you. But not me. Not as long as I can feel pleasure, and pain... and love."

See the clip here

Holden, in his last great performance, plays the idealist, old-school executive who refuses to sacrifice his identity and his integrity. He finds the inner balance by breaking up with both women in his life. But there is price to pay for independence and freedom: he ends up alone in order to remain true to his heart and his beliefs. On the film's first breakup scene, Beatrice Straight's emotional outburst steals the show; in this scene, Holden's acidic verbal attack on the cold, emotionless Dunaway is even more impressive, delivering his speech with a downplayed, subtle acting style.

Al Pacino in Serpico (1973)
"What's this for? for being an honest cop? or for being stupid enough to get shot in the face?"



I decided to close the post with the words of the late great Sidney Lumet himself: in this video, he talks about Pacino's superb performance of real-time New York policeman Serpico, who tried to expose the deep police corruption inside the New York Police Department. "It's my life you fuck!".

Saturday, April 2, 2011

MOVIES LAST SEEN

Somewhere (2010): 4.0
Moon (2009): 7.5
Scott Pilgrim vs.the World (2010): 6.0
The King's Speech (2010): 8.0
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): 7.0
Fearless (1993): 7.0
True Grit (2010): 7.5
A Room with a View (1986): 8.0
Notorious (1946): 9.0
The Usual Suspects (1995): 8.5
The Painted Veil (2006): 7.5
In a Lonely Place (1950): 7.5
There Will Be Blood (2007): 9.0
Network (1976): 10.0
All or Nothing (2002): 7.0
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008): 5.5
Ali
(2001): 7.0
Le Samurai (1967): 8.5
JFK (1991): 8.0