Lee Marvin stars as Walker (originally named Parker in the novel), a career criminal who is recruited by old friend Mal Reese ( John Vernon) to intercept and rob the courier of a major underground gambling operation.Īfter the successful robbery within the abandoned Alcatraz prison, Reese double-crosses Walker, shooting him multiple times and leaving him for dead. When breaking down the plot of Point Blank, it sounds like a quite conventional neo-noir film, essentially a man vs the mob plot with the undercurrent of the worn-out revenge genre, fueled by the 1970’s nihilistic energy of the time. Like most great films that fared poorly upon initial release, Point Blank has become a definitive cult classic, a film whose reputation has grown incredibly over the years due to its groundbreaking avant-garde techniques that it introduced into mainstream American cinema, and just for how incredibly unique it is. Shocked at the film’s unconventional storytelling, they immediately ordered re-shoots and an entirely new edit, until it was luckily saved by Margaret Booth, an established editor and executive who starkly told them “You touch one frame of this film over my dead body!” Coupled with this and Marvin’s star power, the film was left untouched once released into mainstream audiences, where it received rave reviews from critics but lackluster box office reception. When the first cut of Point Blank was submitted, executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were obviously befuddled. These pre-production stages just set-up the overall feel and structure for the film – experimental and putting faith in something new. Putting his trust on the unknown director, Marvin used his huge star power to gain control of casting and script approval, which he then gave to Boorman in complete trust, a risky move which gave the young director the power that most seasoned directors dream of. Marvin was interested in making an adaptation of Richard Stark’s novel The Hunter, but had been straddled with a terrible script that Marvin had hated. source: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayerīoorman‘s American debut would come from acting legend Lee Marvin, who he initially met on the set of Marvin’s most well-known film, The Dirty Dozen. Whilst not matching the commercial success of that film, the film scored enough critical success (including influential critic Pauline Kael), that it gave him a smooth transition into the film industry. At age 32, Boorman had his debut feature film with the documentary Catch Us if You Can.Ī musical picture, Catch Us If You Can focused on The Dan Clark Five, purely made to capitalize on the success of Richard Lester’s successful Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night. This is the case with the English director John Boorman creating the eclectic Point Blank in the United States, with the film being his American debut. Jules Dassin made Rififi in France, Canadian Ted Kotcheff made Australia’s best film with Wake in Fright, and Polish Roman Polanski made one of the definitive American noir films with Chinatown these are just some of the examples of talented directors creating iconic films in foreign territories. It has been shown repeatedly in cinema that a director working in foreign territory can bring brilliant results. With this in mind, we talk about John Boorman’s avant garde masterpiece Point Blank, a crime thriller which opens with a literal bang, setting up Boorman’s portrayal of violence within the film and immediately grabbing the audience’s attention with a stunning piece of sound design one which harks back to the old school tactic of the horror jump scare: silence, false sense of security, and BANG! An Outsider’s Vision Porter’s iconic visual to draw the point home. Peckinpah‘s telling us that violence has stayed the same, but it’s much more confronting and in your face, using Edwin S. In Sam Peckinpah’s brilliant nihilistic drama Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Peckinpah’s misanthropic middle finger to his outspoken detractors, features a drawn out gunfight which ends with a tight closeup with a gunshot blasting the screen. Porter’s game-changing decision, some directors have even gone out of their way to directly reference the famous confronting shot. ![]() Whilst unknowingly, any director of any action film has been influenced by Edwin S. It’s a cinematic weapon which can be used in a variety of different fashions to communicate plot, emotion and more. ![]() Alien in Real Life Part 1 - Alien Chasing From Outsite The World Fun Movie by Funny Action
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |