Shame, a film by Roger Corman, is really a startling piece of cinema. Corman is well known as a schlock-meister. It was a strong business model, he would hand some young director a small budget and have them create a cheap, marketable B movie. This was how he paid the bills, but, beyond the B horror and exploitation movies, he was also a truly skilled filmmaker, and more than a few movies beyond on your queue the next time you sign into your movie download service.
The film is remarkably brave, focusing on racial hatred and tension in the south. This may not sound like a big deal, and civil rights movement films have since become a genre. However, you have to consider... It's easy to make a movie about tolerance in the 1990's, filming on Hollywood sets designed to look like towns in Georgia and Alabama. Corman actually took his crew to a small southern town at the start of the movement. It's not hyperbolic at all to say that he really risked his life for this movie, as he and his team received death threats.
The real star of the film is William Shatner as a villainous political agent. He's currently working for a segregationist running for office, and he moves into this town with one purpose in mind: Stir up racially motivated violence. It's a dark, disturbing character, and Shatner is incredible in the role. He usually plays the sort of roles that play off of his boyish charm and good looks, his uniquely friendly sense of machismo and his humor. To see this reversed in this early role is something like seeing Henry Fonda as the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West.
The concept may have begun with Adolf Hitler. It seems odd that Corman would cast such a charismatic young man in such a seedy, nasty role as villain, but as Hitler made clear, you need charisma, you need charm, and you need a handsome face to sell ugly ideas. Shatner is just incredible in the film, and you can see exactly how he scams and cons the people of the small town to believe what they know in their hearts is not true.
Corman and his crew were actually run out of town when the local police got wise to what sort of a movie he was doing, and the last few shots he grabbed were literally filmed with the police only a few blocks away and closing in. Literally, the police were walking towards Corman at the time he was filming the last few shots, and he had to hurry up and wrap the shoot, and then pack everything in the truck and vamoose.
Corman may have his lifetime achievement Oscar by the time you read this. It's about time. Corman's reputation as a schlockmeister has always seemed to invalidate the immense contributions he's made to the world of American film.
Corman primarily made his name producing and directing schlocky monster movies, girly flicks and so on, but he also directed some real classics, and launched the careers of many cinematic legends, including Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Dennis Hopper. His studio taught many young actors, writers and directors the ropes, showing them how to produce a good movie on a limited budget and schedule, and he truly was one of the key figures in shaping the world of the modern American cinema.
If you still haven't seen any of Corman's good movies, start with this one, then check out X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. Yes, he made a lot of cheap monster movies, he made the sort of sci-fi flicks where you could see the zippers on the alien's suit, but he also made some true classics both in the horror and sci-fi genres, and outside of his familiar territory, and Shame is an example of what gifts the man has when he can step away from the marketable genres and really put his heart and daring into a project.
The film is remarkably brave, focusing on racial hatred and tension in the south. This may not sound like a big deal, and civil rights movement films have since become a genre. However, you have to consider... It's easy to make a movie about tolerance in the 1990's, filming on Hollywood sets designed to look like towns in Georgia and Alabama. Corman actually took his crew to a small southern town at the start of the movement. It's not hyperbolic at all to say that he really risked his life for this movie, as he and his team received death threats.
The real star of the film is William Shatner as a villainous political agent. He's currently working for a segregationist running for office, and he moves into this town with one purpose in mind: Stir up racially motivated violence. It's a dark, disturbing character, and Shatner is incredible in the role. He usually plays the sort of roles that play off of his boyish charm and good looks, his uniquely friendly sense of machismo and his humor. To see this reversed in this early role is something like seeing Henry Fonda as the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West.
The concept may have begun with Adolf Hitler. It seems odd that Corman would cast such a charismatic young man in such a seedy, nasty role as villain, but as Hitler made clear, you need charisma, you need charm, and you need a handsome face to sell ugly ideas. Shatner is just incredible in the film, and you can see exactly how he scams and cons the people of the small town to believe what they know in their hearts is not true.
Corman and his crew were actually run out of town when the local police got wise to what sort of a movie he was doing, and the last few shots he grabbed were literally filmed with the police only a few blocks away and closing in. Literally, the police were walking towards Corman at the time he was filming the last few shots, and he had to hurry up and wrap the shoot, and then pack everything in the truck and vamoose.
Corman may have his lifetime achievement Oscar by the time you read this. It's about time. Corman's reputation as a schlockmeister has always seemed to invalidate the immense contributions he's made to the world of American film.
Corman primarily made his name producing and directing schlocky monster movies, girly flicks and so on, but he also directed some real classics, and launched the careers of many cinematic legends, including Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Dennis Hopper. His studio taught many young actors, writers and directors the ropes, showing them how to produce a good movie on a limited budget and schedule, and he truly was one of the key figures in shaping the world of the modern American cinema.
If you still haven't seen any of Corman's good movies, start with this one, then check out X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. Yes, he made a lot of cheap monster movies, he made the sort of sci-fi flicks where you could see the zippers on the alien's suit, but he also made some true classics both in the horror and sci-fi genres, and outside of his familiar territory, and Shame is an example of what gifts the man has when he can step away from the marketable genres and really put his heart and daring into a project.
About the Author:
And to read his word and teach it I know that my Master is alive and kicking. Download Film Online Lyrical hooks generally come into play as the chorus of a song but they can occur in other places of the song. Are There Any Disadvantages To Using How To Play The Guitar DVDs'
No comments:
Post a Comment