De Palma a la Mod

Saturday, May 5, 2018

VIDEO - ADAM ZANZIE'S 10 FAVORITE DE PALMA FILMS
'CASUALTIES' & 'UNTOUCHABLES', MADE BACK-TO-BACK IN LATE '80s, RISING IN RANKS & RECOGNITION?

https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/zanzievid.jpg

Between Brian De Palma himself set to present a Masterclass next month in Paris following a screening of Casualties Of War, and EMPIRE's podcast ranking of The Untouchables as De Palma's best film (really guys??-- great film, but ... really?!?), it is interesting to note that this expertly-made video, in which Adam Zanzie picks his ten favorite Brian De Palma movies, has each of those two films within its top three. Zanzie's preference is not simply directed toward the more mainstream of De Palma's features-- he states at the beginning of the video that his "favorite De Palma movies are the ones where he has married his trademark visual talents with good characters and good storytelling." Of course, those latter characteristics are subjective, but it is Zanzie's subjective viewpoint that make his video essay so compelling. A step up from the EMPIRE ranking, if for no other reason than the simple fact that Zanzie has at least seen all of De Palma's feature films, whereas the EMPIRE crew had admitted holes in its viewing.

Posted by Geoff at 1:36 PM CDT
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Saturday, May 5, 2018 - 10:17 PM CDT

Name: "Adam Zanzie"

Thanks a bunch for sharing the video, Geoff. Your website is the best resource around for this director, who has had a huge influence on my own career. I definitely find "The Untouchables" and "Casualties of War" to be very interesting late 80's companion pieces for one another, as one was an enormously entertaining commercial triumph, while the other was a very personal, powerful labor of love for him.

While making this video, I realized that next year, not only will Casualties be celebrating its 30th anniversary, but the original Daniel Lang article which was published in the New Yorker will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. This makes me think that the time has come for a more in-depth examination of the real-life incident which inspired the film (as well as the other two movies, Michael Verhoeven's "o.k." and Elia Kazan's "The Visitors", both of which I still need to see). I found out that Michael J. Fox’s character Eriksson is based on a real man named Robert M. Storeby. There is a Robert M. Storeby, aged 73, living in Minnesota. Not sure if this is the same man. I tried sending an email to Art Linson's company, asking him if they'd be interested in a more in-depth feature doc about the legacy of Casualties of War. Linson hasn't replied to my email, though.

I frequently think about that sad anecdote in Julie Salamon's "The Devil's Candy" where Dawn Steel calls De Palma to inform him that Casualties has flopped. I'm happy that De Palma has survived to see what a lasting impact the film has had on those who saw it. The film may not have made much money, but I hope Dawn Steel knew that in greenlighting the film, she made the right choice, and paved the way for a masterpiece.

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Saturday, May 19, 2018 - 12:44 AM CDT

Name: "Mustafa"

I also made this comment on your youtube video, but let it be here also for future viewings by others!

 
 
loved your video! De Palma is a cinematic God for me, he makes pure visual cinema like no other director could ever do. He could tell most of the film visually with very little dialogue, conveying the dramatic impact of the scene more powerful than any storyteller ever lived! Of course, it is difficult for me to make a top 10 of his films, as most are masterpieces for me, save for Bonfire of the vanities, but my personal favorite is Femme Fatale, he has put everything he learned in his career, and perfected it, there. Every frame of that movie is a masterpiece, everything matters, every corner of a frame, every street sign, every person, gesture, his one take shot is the best here, he didn't use split screen better than he used it here, nor his slow-motion technique, pure visual delight from start till finish. Talk about the finish, that last frame of the movie is the best painting ever done by any artist for me!  Carlito's Way was my favorite movie of all time, but after seeing Femme in a retrospective screening in Toronto recently, it easily replaced it, making Femme my favorite movie of all time. Also, I tend to disagree on Scarface, personally, it is my least favorite De Palma film, crime doesn't pay, we know, but the film is really devoid of any real content other than that, no dramatic impact, didn't feel the characters, besides, it has few of the master's touches, it is more a studio film with De Palma's touches than De Palma's film financed by a studio. 

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