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The Collaborators:
Billy Wilder (Writer/Director) & I.A.L. Diamond (Writer)
Billy Wilder first arrived in Hollywood in 1934 after leaving Europe due to the rise of Nazism, and in a few years he became one of the most in-demand screenwriters. During the 1940s he began to establish his reputation as a director, going on to make such classics as Double Indemnity (1944), Sunset Blvd. (1950), Stalag 17 (1953) and Sabrina (1954). In was in the mid-1950s that Wilder met I.A.L. Diamond another Hollywood screenwriter renowned for his caustic wit and the famed Wilder-Diamond team came into existence.
Wilder and Diamond collaborated on twelve films together over a period of twenty-five years, a partnership that endured throughout the rest of their lives. In 1980 they were the recipients of the Writers Guild of America's Laurel Award for career achievement in screenwriting. Writing together in the same room, the two men had obviously found a partner who had similar tastes and passions, and make their work together more than the sum of its parts. Some trademarks of their partnership include great witty dialogue, fantastic pacing, a cynical but humorous world view, and quite often a pair of characters engaged in never-ending but friendly squabbling (which is said to also descibe their own working relationship).
The Apartment (1960)
The Collaborations:
Love In The Afternoon (1957)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
One, Two, Three (1961)
Irma la Douce (1963)
Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)
The Fortune Cookie (1966)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Avanti! (1972)
The Front Page (1974)
Fedora (1978)
Buddy Buddy (1981)
What Made Them Great:
As with any creative career, some of the works stand taller than others but Wilder and Diamonds best work together are amongst the greatest films of all time. These films never feel dated they dont play as period pieces, but exist as evergreens, always living in the moment.
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Finest Work Together:
It could have easily been a tie, but at the end of the day Some Like It Hot takes the gold medal. It remains a hysterically funny experience no matter how many times you take the journey with witty banter and one-liners flying thick and fast. Jack Lemmon (himself a great collaborator with Wilder and Diamond, starring in seven pictures for them) and Tony Curtis are flawless and make a great combination. Marilyn Monroe is at her most luminous with that combination of sex appeal and vulnerability that was uniquely hers. The pacing of the film is note perfect, and the whole production is filled with great inspiration and meticulous craft. The storyline is classic screwball, blended with the cheerful cynicism that Wilder and Diamond do best. And to cap it all off arguably the greatest final line of dialogue in cinema.
These are just some the reasons why the American Film Institute named it their Best Comedy Film Of All Time.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
For further reading check-out this great AFI interview with Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond.
Previous Great Cinematic Collaborations:
Akira Kurosawa & Takashi Shimura
So we've well and truly arrived in December here at Cinema Banana, and around this time of year critics generally reveal their Top 10 list for the year. Whether they review films, television, music, or geometric shapes, you can expect to see some sort of year-ending list of the best (or worst) of whatever the given subject may be.
But I'm going to take a different look back on the year that was, and list the Top 10 films that I haven't yet seen from 2011 that I'm looking forward to catching-up on during the festive season.
I anticipate your first question may be thus: "If these are films you really want to see, then why haven't you seen them already?"
Simply put, I just didn't get around to seeing them. I fully intended to see these films on their cinematic release, but as I'm sure you can understand, sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes plans change or fall through, sometimes the film doesn't stay in release long enough for you to get around to it, sometimes I was too busy (or out of the country), and sometimes I'm just lazy.
Fortunately films are released on home-viewing formats fairly quickly these days so most of them will either already be available or should be out very soon.
Your second question (should you have one) is most likely going to be: Why isnt (insert film name here) on the list?
Well thats because Ive either seen it already (and just havent reviewed it I write very few reviews compared to the number of films Ive seen, but I intend to remedy that in future), have no desire to see it, or it just didnt make the final cut. It can only be a list of 10 films, remember. I dont make the rules, I just blindly obey them.
So, the following is my Top 10 list of the films I've missed, with a short explanation why I want to make a point of catching-up. Rather than number them, it will just be alphabetical. For the sticklers, these films were all released in 2011 in Australia.
13 Assassins
Directed by Takashi Miike.
I always love a good Samurai film, and this one has had great reviews. Samurai sword-fighting action is always cool.
Black Swan
Directed by Darren Aronofsky.
Rave reviews, a swag of awards, and a top-notch cast. Why wouldnt I check it out?
Drive
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.
Another film with a great cast and great reviews. I love interesting crime films, and really want to catch-up on this one.
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Im a Beatles fan what other reason do I need? How about the fact its made by Martin Scorcese? Sign me up!
The Help
Directed by Tate Taylor.
Again, the reviews for this were good, and it looks like a really interesting film. Comedy/Drama is always a good combination for me.
The Ides of March
Directed by George Clooney.
I really enjoy a good political thriller, and George Clooneys work as a director is always interesting. Another great cast also.
Senna
Directed by Asif Kapadia.
Ayrton Senna was my favourite F1 driver when i was growing-up so you can see why id be interested. Good reviews too.
The Tree of Life
Directed by Terrence Malick.
Its a Terrence Malik film its bound to be interesting and impressive in many ways.
Win Win
Directed by Thomas McCarthy.
Ive enjoyed McCarthys previous efforts, so you could safely say Im a fan.
Your Highness
Directed by David Gordon Green.
The trailer looked hilarious, and sometimes there is nothing better than something dumb and funny to really entertain you. Plus sword fights always a winner with me. Why havent there been more Fantasy Comedy films? Reviews have been a scale from mixed to negative on this one, but Im not expecting high art here just something funny. I can enjoy lowbrow just as much as highbrow.
Film is an inherently collaborative medium. It takes a team of professionals (or passionate amateurs) working in a range of roles to put together the finished product you seen on cinema screens. And like life in general, when you find someone with whom you can combine your efforts and make something greater than the sum of its parts, then youll want to continue finding ways to collaborate on future projects.
It also helps if you genuinely like the other person.
Ford and Wayne.
Kurosawa and Mifune.
Scorcese and De Niro.
Many great collaborations in the world of cinema are famous and widely celebrated, but there are many other creative partnerships that dont get as much time in the spotlight. It might a supporting actor who serves as a directors MVP time and time again, a writer whose creative voice finds synchronicity with a particular actor or director, a composer who adds that magic touch to a project, a producer who brings out the best in others, or a D.O.P. who can perfectly capture a moment.
In this column well be featuring some of these great collaborations that deserve a little more time in the spotlight.
* * * * *
The Collaborators:
Akira Kurosawa (Director) & Takashi Shimura (Actor)
When someone mentions the words Akira Kurosawa and collaboration it is almost a guarantee that the next two words heard will be Toshiro Mifune. And there is a very good reason for that - the collaboration between Kurosawa and Mifune is one of the all-time great combinations of a Director and an Actor. However, there is another great partnership between Kurosawa and an Actor that doesnt get as much attention, but should thought of with the same amount of reverence and that is his work with the one and only Takashi Shimura.
Stray Dog (1949)
The Collaborations:
Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
The Most Beautiful (1944)
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
Drunken Angel (1948)
The Quiet Duel (1949)
Stray Dog (1949)
Scandal (1950)
Rashomon (1950)
The Idiot (1951)
Ikiru (1952)
The Seven Samurai (1954)
I Live in Fear (1955)
Throne of Blood (1957)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
Yojimbo (1961)
Sanjuro (1962)
High and Low (1963)
Red Beard (1965)
Kagemusha (1980)
What Made Them Great:
Kurosawa's cinematic collaboration with Shimura, from 1943 to 1980, started earlier and lasted longer than his work with Mifune (194865). While Mifune became known for his visceral energy and passionate performances, Shimuras work operated on a different spectrum just as passionate when called for, but more internalised and solid. Shimura was an extremely versatile actor, able to go from playing the weak and timid clerk Watanabe in Ikiru to then play the powerful and wise leader Kambei in The Seven Samurai, and be totally convincing in both roles. In Shimura, Kurosawa found a reliable actor who could provide a solid foundation and strength to every film he appeared in.
The Seven Samurai (1954)
In the early years of their collaboration Shimura was frequently the star or co-star, but as the years past the younger and more visibly dynamic Mifune moved to centre stage in Kurosawas films while Shimura played more secondary roles. Such was the bond between director and actor that Shimuras last film performance was a role written especially for him in Kurosawas Kagemusha. Collaborators for life, both committed to their craft.
Finest Work Together:
So many classic films appear in the list above, but one collaboration stands out above the others. Ikiru is a masterpiece of a film filled with humanity, grace, and heartbreaking compassion. It is one of Kurosawas greatest films, and has what is regarded as the finest performance of Takashi Shimura's career. Shimura is superb as Watanabe, a civil servant who learns that he has terminal cancer and realizes he has nothing to show for his dreary, unsatisfying life - until a simple inspiration leads him to a final and enduring act of public generosity and meaning.
Ikiru (1952)
September 16th 2011 03:07
MacGuffin = a plot device that catches the viewers attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction. The MacGuffin must be of vital importance to the major players in the story, but its exact nature may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation or otherwise ultimately unimportant to the true meaning of the story.
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Directed by Adam McKay.
In The Other Guys, desk-jockey detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and his tough-talking partner Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) suddenly get their big chance to tackle a high-profile case and escape from working in the shadows of the super-confident and high-profile detectives Danson (Dwayne Johnson) and Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) when they encounter a corrupt investor (Steve Coogan
[ Click here to read more ]
Directed by George Nolfi.
There have been many films made that are based on stories by Phillip K. Dick, and some have worked better and been more memorable than others. What this film does right to make it one of the memorable ones is take the great premise from the original story and add elements that really make it speak to an audience. It manages to be both simultaneously specific in how it deals with the plight of one individual and universal in its themes of free will versus predestination
[ Click here to read more ]
MacGuffin = a plot device that catches the viewers attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction. The MacGuffin must be of vital importance to the major players in the story, but its exact nature may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation or otherwise ultimately unimportant to the true meaning of the story.
[ Click here to read more ]
MacGuffin = a plot device that catches the viewers attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction. The MacGuffin must be of vital importance to the major players in the story, but its excact nature may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation or otherwise ultimately unimportant to the true meaning of the story.
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Comment by David Allsopp
on Massive Giveaway to see THE GUARD at Hoyts Chatswood
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