Einde van een tijdperk (over Boardwalk Empire)

Posted on 15 juli 2015 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Let op: bevat spoilers voor seizoen 5 – het laatste seizoen

‘Boardwalk Empire’, de serie die een 10 scoort voor productieontwerp en een drie voor emotionele impact is voorbij. Na ‘The Sopranos’ en ‘The Wire’ had HBO de vrijwel onmogelijke uitdaging een nieuw misdaaddrama te ontwerpen om de harten van serieliefhebbers wereldwijd te veroveren. Ze trokken het grootste schrijverstalent aan dat ze in huis hadden. Tim van Patten en Terence Winter verdienden beide hun sporen met ‘The Sopranos’. En Martin Scorsese ging produceren. De kaarten van ‘Boardwalk Empire’ waren meer dan uitstekend. Toch is het eindresultaat niet het ‘Once Upon a Time in Atlantic City’ geworden dat het had moeten zijn.

Tot zover het negatieve, want met een bevredigend laatste seizoen is er toch veel goeds te schrijven over het droogleggingsdrama. Alhoewel nee, er is toch nog wat te klagen. Arnold Rothstein, het beste personage uit de show (ja, Richard Harrow is ook cool), is al dood bij aanvang van de eerste aflevering van het laatste seizoen! Dat komt omdat er een sprong van zeven jaar gemaakt wordt van seizoen 4 naar seizoen 5 en de echte Rothstein in de tussenliggende periode was vermoord tijdens een pokerwedstrijd. Historisch correct dus, maar wel eeuwig zonde. Acteur Michael Stuhlbarg vertolkte Rothstein perfect. Nooit was een glimlach zo bedreigend als van A.R., zoals hij door zijn vrienden in de serie genoemd werd. Sinds zijn speech in aflevering 2 ben ik gefascineerd door hem geweest. Voor de liefhebbers:

Arnold Rothstein: ‘There was a man once – I don’t recall his name – frequented the billiard parlors downtown. He made a comfortable living wagering whether he could swallow certain objects, billiard balls being a specialty. He’d pick a ball, take it down his gullet to here, then regurgitate it back up. And one evening I decided to challenge this man to a wager. Ten thousand in cash for him to do the trick with a billiard ball of my choosing. Now, he knew I’d seen him do this a dozen times, so I can only surmise that he thought I was stupid. We laid down the cash and I handed him the cue ball. He swallowed it down. It lodged in his throat, and he choked to death on the spot. What I knew and he didn’t was that the cue ball was one-sixteenth of an inch larger than the other. Just too large to swallow. Do you know what the moral of this tale is, Mr. Yale?’

Frankie Yale: ‘Don’t eat a cue ball?’

Arnold Rothstein (smiles): ‘The moral of this story is that if I’d cause a stranger to choke to death for my own amusement, what do you think I’ll do to you if you don’t tell me who ordered you to kill Colosimo?’

Voor de historische personages is de afloop bekend, maar haalt Nucky het einde van het laatste seizoen?

Geen Rothstein in seizoen 5

Symbolisch einde van de drooglegging?

Dit citaat illustreert ook meteen het beste schrijfwerk van de serie, want hoewel de recreatie van het tijdperk authentiek voelt, mist het soms de scherpte en de humor, die in HBO’s eerdere misdaad meesterwerken te vinden was. Dat lag ook aan de personages (nu gooi ik alles er maar uit). De protagonist Nucky Thompson is nogal een dode pier in de eerste seizoenen. Misschien is dat ook logisch, want gangsters als Nucky zijn nu eenmaal vrijwel gevoelloos. Toch weet het laatste seizoen middels flashbacks over Nucky’s jeugd enige kleur aan dit personage te geven. Maar wie is die verschrikkelijke acteur die de jonge Nucky gestalte geeft? En is dat een gebitsprothese in zijn mond om hem meer op Steve Buscemi te laten lijken? Daar zal de goede ouwe Steve wel om gelachen hebben.

Als maffiakenner wist ik natuurlijk al hoe het historisch correcte ‘Boardwalk Empire’ zou aflopen. Tenminste met de echte personages, zoals Al Capone, Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano, Meyer Lanski, Salvatore Maranzano en Joe Masseria. Maar zou Nucky het einde van de serie gaan halen? En Chalky White? En Van Alden, de ex-droogleggingsagent en moordenaar die in Chicago verstopt zit? Ik vroeg me laatst af of Nucky überhaupt echt bestaan heeft. Het antwoord staat op Wikipedia (waar anders?): Nucky is loosely based on former Atlantic City political figure Enoch Lewis ‘Nucky’ Johnson.

Maar omdat het ‘gebaseerd op’ is, zegt het lot van de echte Johnson niks over het lot van de fictieve Thompson. En dat lot is uiterst toepasselijk: Thompson wordt doodgeschoten door Tommy Darmody, zoon van de door Nucky vermoorde Jimmie Darmody op het einde van seizoen 2. Er vloeit nog veel meer bloed. In aflevering 6 van het laatste seizoen leggen maar liefst twee memorabele hoofdpersonages het loodje: Van Alden en Chalky White. En het er wordt daarmee eindelijk – zeker met de dood van laatstgenoemde – ingespeeld op het gevoel van de kijker.

Het gangstergeweld in seizoen 5 doet ook denken aan de verbeten strijd tussen HBO en het steeds machtiger wordende Netflix. Geen goede overwinning zonder vijanden, dus HBO zal de creatieve capaciteiten moeten aanwenden om prominent op het toneel te blijven. Ze hebben sinds ‘The Sopranos’ begon in 1999 een gouden decennium beleefd, maar lijken nu net niet die draai terug te kunnen vinden. Het ambitieuze vlaggenschip ‘Game of Thrones’ nadert ook een climax, en met ‘Boardwalk Empire’ ten einde is er op misdaadvlak ook nog geen opvolger in zicht. Ik wacht in spanning af met een herkijk van HBO’s excellente ‘In Treatment’ op het programma.

Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995)

Posted on 26 september 2010 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘They can die quickly. They can die slowly. But they must die!’

Directed by:
Gary Fleder

Written by:
Scott Rosenberg

Cast:
Andy Garcia (Jimmy ‘The Saint’ Tosnia), Christopher Lloyd (Pieces), William Forsythe (Franchise), Bill Nunn (Easy Wind), Treat Williams (Critical Bill), Jack Warden (Joe Heff), Steve Buscemi (Mister Shhh), Fairuza Balk (Lucinda), Gabrielle Anwar (Dagney), Christopher Walken (The Man with the Plan)

Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) is a decent guy with a criminal background. He now runs a video business where dying people can record final words of wisdom for their loved ones.

Things are going well for Jimmy: he meets a nice girl (Gabrielle Anwar) and leads a pleasant life, but then his old boss calls for him. The crippled gangster ‘The Man with the Plan’ (Christopher Walken) asks Jimmy to do one final job. Jimmy agrees and brings along four old friends. The job goes horribly wrong, and the five friends are now marked for death.

What is especially notable about Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead is the awesome cast. The ‘good’ guys are a wonderful collection (Lloyd, Forsythe, Williams, Nunn), with a charismatic Garcia in the lead. The other camp isn’t shy of great players either: Christopher Walken gives a very sinister performance, but the scene-stealer is Steve Buscemi. The scenes in which his character Mr. Shhh appears are the best in the whole movie.

The problem with Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead is that during the first hour, it is hard to see what the makers wanted to achieve. It appears to be a whacky gangster film / black comedy, seemingly inspired by Tarantino, who brought out Pulp Fiction a year earlier. But if that is the case, it is not whacky enough – and not funny enough, for that matter.

When Christopher Lloyd starts talking about the good old days and says, “We did the things,” I couldn’t help but think: why not now? There is too much talking about stuff that happened before the movie. Things to do in Denver when you’re dead? These guys don’t even do stuff when they’re alive!

Then again, as the movie approaches its ending, it becomes clearer what the screenplay is aiming for. The ending is a fairly impressive piece of writing. It makes you think about death, only in an enjoyable way. Now that can’t be too bad, can it?

Rating:

Quote:
CRITICAL BILL: “I am Godzilla, you are Japan!”

Trivia:
Screenplay writer Scott Rosenberg (Con Air, High Fidelity) wrote the script in two weeks. It was partly in reflection to the death of his father from cancer.

King of New York (1990)

Posted on 29 juli 2010 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘Not everyone who runs a city is elected’

Directed by:
Abel Ferrara

Written by:
Nicholas St. John

Cast: Christopher Walken (Frank White), David Caruso (Dennis Gilley), Larry Fishburne (Jimmy Jump), Victor Argo (Roy Bishop), Wesley Snipes (Thomas Flanigan), Janet Julian (Jennifer), Joey Chin (Larry Wong), Giancarlo Esposito (Lance), Paul Calderon (Joey Dalesio), Steve Buscemi (Test Tube)

The Godfather meets Black Caesar in Abel Ferrara’s violent 90’s gangster tale. Christopher Walken plays the disturbing and eccentric gang lord Frank White, who is characterized by a short fuse temper, a Robin Hood-like attitude and a pretty cool haircut.

When White is released from prison he starts effectively wiping out all his competitors whom he views as the real scum of New York because they take money from the poor and weak. He is different: he uses his drug money to finance schools and hospitals. For him, this easily justifies the killing of some vermin, but a small group of Irish cops look at the matter entirely differently. They hate the idea that a drug dealer can get away with murder and so they start a war with Frank and his gang.

Ferrara and his regular screenplay writer Nicholas St. John show the viewer that crime is dirty. There is nothing glamorous about King of New York, not even the sex and coke parties. In the world these characters live in, death and betrayal could come any time. Frank knows this. In one scene he expresses his desire to stay around for just two more years, so he can finish his charity work. Death could come soon and it is hardly a heroes’ death waiting for him. Still, he has the makings of a hero.

King of New York is easily Ferrara’s most accessible movie. There is hardly any complex subtext like in basically all of his other works, but it does contain some criticism on society as can be expected from an artist like Ferrara. Basically, it is a modern day morality tale, but the message is certainly delivered in an entertaining fashion. Apart from Walken’s excellent performance, many other cast members shine as well, most notably Larry Fishburne in scene stealing form. Also contains a fair amount of violent action.

Rating:

Quote:
LARRY WONG: “You know something Frank…this conversation made me realise how fucking crazy you really are.”

Trivia:
The work of real-life friends David Caruso and Wesley Snipes in this film helped them get casted in, respectively, NYPD Blue (1993) and New Jack City (1991) each of which launched both actors into stardom.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Posted on 25 juli 2010 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘Let’s go to work’

Directed by:
Quentin Tarantino

Written by:
Quentin Tarantino

Cast:
Harvey Keitel (Mr. White / Larry Dimmick), Tim Roth (Mr. Orange / Freddy Newandyke), Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde / Vic Vega), Steve Buscemi (Mr. Pink), Lawrence Tierney (Joe Cabot), Chris Penn (Nice Guy Eddie Cabot), Eddie Bunker (Mr. Blue), Quentin Tarantino (Mr. Brown), Randy Brooks (Holdaway), Kirk Baltz (Marvin Nash)

‘Mr. Brown, Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, and Mr. Pink.’
‘Why am I Mr. Pink?’
‘Because you’re a faggot, all right!’

Meet the Reservoir Dogs. It’s 1992, and cinema firebrand Quentin Tarantino has just exploded onto the scene. Reservoir Dogs is easily the most impressive directorial debut of the 1990s – arguably of all time.

Joe Cabot and his son, Nice Guy Eddie, assemble a six-man crew for a daring diamond heist. None of the men have met before. To maintain anonymity and protect against betrayal, each is given an alias. Despite meticulous planning, the robbery goes catastrophically wrong. Someone talked. At the rendezvous point – an abandoned warehouse – the crew turns on each other in a deadly showdown.

This relatively simple premise is executed with striking ingenuity. Tarantino crafts a masterful nonlinear narrative, shifting back and forth in time between the heist’s setup and its bloody aftermath – yet never showing the actual robbery. Background details are revealed with precision, each revelation tightening the suspense until the traitor is unmasked and tensions reach a violent climax. It’s absolutely riveting cinema.

Since its release, Reservoir Dogs has inspired countless indie filmmakers hoping to capture the same low-budget brilliance, but few have come close. Why? Because they can’t write a screenplay this sharp, that’s why. Tarantino delivers more than just clever structure – he populates his film with complex, vividly drawn characters. And then there’s the dialogue: razor-sharp, darkly funny, and endlessly quotable.

At times, the film plays like a black comedy of the highest order. Yet it never loses its edge as a hyper-tense thriller. “My heart is beating so fast I’m about to have a heart attack”, Mr. Blonde says at one point and the same could be said for the audience. Whether it’s Mr. Pink’s frantic getaway, the desperate escape attempts, or the slow-burn mystery of the undercover cop, the tension never lets up.

The atmosphere swings from effortlessly cool – see the iconic opening credits—to grim and downright brutal. The casual banter gives way to explosive violence with little warning. The warehouse itself becomes a chamber of horrors: Mr. Orange bleeding out for most of the film, the infamous torture scene – it’s disturbing and hard to watch, and that’s exactly the point.

The cast seals the deal. With actors like Harvey Keitel and Steve Buscemi delivering Tarantino’s dialogue with perfect rhythm, even conversations about Madonna or tipping become electric. Chris Penn gives what might be his best performance, and Lawrence Tierney is unforgettable in his final tough-guy role.

Tarantino’s debut might still be his finest work. Pulp Fiction may be equally brilliant, but it occasionally meanders. Reservoir Dogs, in contrast, never loses momentum. It’s lean, vicious, and near-perfect – a film so good it’s almost a curse. Tarantino didn’t just enter the scene with a bang; he set the bar impossibly high from the very start.

Rating:

Quote:

MR. WHITE: “What you’re supposed to do is act like a fucking professional. A psychopath ain’t a professional. You can’t work with a psychopath. You don’t know what these sick assholes are gonna do next.”

Trivia:

Michael Madsen auditioned for the part of Mr. Pink. But Tarantino told him: “Here’s the thing: you’re not Mr. Pink, you’re Mr. Blonde. And if you’re not Mr. Blonde, then you’re not in the fucking movie.”