Stanley Kramer

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Stanley Kramer

#51 Post by knives » Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:09 pm

The masochist in me continues to find some bright spots as Pressure Point, about to be removed from Criterion channel, is 9/10 a great film and a powerful 1/10 of Kramer's amazing ability to fuck up other's work. The central film is really amazing as one of the better uses of psychology on film. Things start off rough with Poitier's psychologist blowing his top off at Darin's Nazi sympathizer as the film gives so many pointers that it is a period piece I thought I was watching Julia again.

It eases after the introduction though with a stylish representation of a therapeutic method (TWBB maybe you could use the correct language for me) that I thought was a compelling representation using all aspects of film to play into that. For example the flashbacks will often shift between Darin's voice and the child's voice as a way to indicate his status. Cornfield's script handles this fairly well. After some rough highlighting that this is a racist guy things become a two person play wherein we have to travel with Poitier to overcome our disgust to find the sympathetic person within so that Darin can realize that sympathetic person also exists. Poitier's character seems to have originally been written for a white man and outside of a few moments Poitier's job for once is to represent the average audience member. This gives him room to really stretch his acting skills and in the Cornfield directed stuff he's as dynamic as he could be with a power equivalent to Wallace Shawn in My Dinner with Andre. Darin also does an amazing job balancing between the disgusting nature of his character's words and actions and the sympathetic child that lead to that road. It really shows Too Late Blues wasn't a one off.

The key to the film's almost greatness though is the look. Conrad Hall was a camera operator on this and it wouldn't surprise me if the experience was a major one in his development. Ernest Haller does perhaps his best work ever by trying to transform theatrical techniques representing abstract experiences into a fully filmic experience. It reminds me a lot of the work for Mishima to give a sense of how much the film depends upon lighting to give a sense of what the characters are thinking.

So, that sounds like I'm fairly enthusiastic for the film, but a few additions clearly brought forth by Kramer really sour the experience. There's an idiotic framing device where Poitier has the worst make up on ever as if they prepped and shot it in under an hour that is so stiff that it genuinely takes a half hour to wipe its bad taste out. The closest thing to a redeeming element is Peter Falk who could sell ice to an eskimo as the framing device seems to exist only so that the audience knows that Poitier is black. Because, you know, movies are like radio and you can't figure that out unless Peter Falk tells you. It also completely undermines the rest of the film's drama by explaining the whole plot to you so that every plot point. It's a galling act of stupidity. Can't forget it either as Kramer has stuffed the film with an idiotic voice over that works like a Schwarzenegger commentary. At best it presents an interesting case study in the effect of director's on actors because the difference is clear to the point of embarrassment what was original voice over and what is stiffly delivered Kramer voice over. It really is impressive how every movie is made worse by this one man.

It also ends with Peter Falk heroically telling Poitier that he will wear blackface.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Stanley Kramer

#52 Post by colinr0380 » Sat Mar 02, 2024 11:32 am

A 1955 BBC interview with Stanley Kramer, tackling the subject of his 'flop films', including The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

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