From the jump cut opening against the credits we know this is going to be something quite different - a rebuttal of those who say his films are all the same. As though the artist's one-off use of 'fuck' and 'cunt' isn't enough to make the Q blush, he is using a positively Godardian loose editing style which gives a beautiful fractured, messed up feel to the material, which artfully mixes the writer's stories and reality. A film we've ignored that will need to be revisited often; it's also very funny.
A stellar cast includes the always great Judy Davis, Richard Benjamin, Demi Moore, a totally out of focus Robin Williams (!), Bob Balaban, Tobey Maguire, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Julie Kavner, Mariel Hemingway, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crystal, Paul Giamatti and Tony Sirico (The Sopranos' Paulie) again.
Loved ending where a fan says she's deconstructed Harry and finds he's really happy underneath - a commentary methinks on wrong-headed critics who are always assuming his films are autobiographical... Though of course there's always something of the auteur in all of them.
Shot by Carlo di Palma with Santo Loquasto's sets, including a Boschian Hell.
One thing to note though is that the Hollywood Pictures R2 DVD release is in 1.33:1 and that's not one of the director's innovations - it should be 1.85:1.
No comments:
Post a Comment