The latest on what’s happening at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, dispatches from the New York Film Festival and exclusive content from Film Comment magazine.
Allow us a blast from the past for a moment: The Wrestler closed the 46th annual New York Film Festival last October, but it’s generating a lot of Oscar buzz. And if you’re checking it out in theaters now, you may enjoy some of our past coverage:
In a rare treat that would make an extra-special pre-holiday present for the cinema loving/hair metal-listening/professional wrestling fan in your life, the Film Society screens Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler with a whole host of key behind-the scenes contributers on deck to talk about the making of the buzz-worthy film.
On Tuesday, December 9 at 7 join producer Scott Franklin, cinematographer Maryse Alberti and editor Andrew Weisblum as they discuss the peculiar challenges of their own spin on the underdog-sports-hero-makes-good story. Buy tickets
PLUS, check out our archives for exclusive coverage on the Wrestler:
Getting the sense that we are just a tad excited about this event? Check out everything the filmlinc blog has written about the Wrestler. We’ll see you front row center.
10. “Beast of Burden” by the Rolling Stones in Basquiat
As movie soundtracks go, I really have to hand it to the Basquiat team for putting together a compilation that so perfectly captures the subject matter and era, heavy on classics from the eighties and nineties, covering everything from “White Lines” to Public Image Limited to the Pogues. But this quick cameo from Courtney Love gets me every time.
9. “Le Tourbillon De La Vie” sung by Jeanne Moreau in Jules et Jim
Staff member Irene gives props to this selection from the Truffaut gem.
8. “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding in Pretty in Pink
If Molly Ringwald needed any more evidence that Jon Cryer’s Ducky was the man for her.
7. “Get Up off at That Thing” by James Brown in Dr. Detroit
Staff computer whiz Benno says: “I like James Brown and I like Devo, and I just think it’s funny that they’re in the same film. I think that’s why I went to see it.”
6. “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John in Almost Famous
High schmaltz factor, and extremely catchy. Go ahead, sing along, no one’s watching.
5. “Everybody’s Talkin'” by Harry Nilsson in Midnight Cowboy
I had a legendary teacher at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts who taught the art of screenwriting through lengthy examination of Keats’s “negative capability” an exhaustive analysis of Midnight Cowboy, where the central conflict is never actually ever expressly stated in the film and very little actually happens. It affected me forever after, and what’s truly impressive is how well this song ties up the meadering, sidelong narrative.
4. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones in Mean Streets
This super cool slo-mo intro of a young Bob DeNiro as Johnny Boy was not only a perfect pairing of sound and image, it also helped set the tone for Scorcese’s inventive use of pop music to undercut his gripping mob dramas.
Bonus! You can see Mean Streets during our Manny Farber series later in the month!
3. “The Wrestler” by Bruce Springsteen in The Wrestler
Writing for the Vulture blog, Will Leitch said this bespoke creation is “straight from The Ghost of Tom Joad — aching, sad, gorgeous. The song’s so good, you almost expect Sean Penn to write another movie based off it, like with The Indian Runner and Bruce’s ‘Highway Patrolman.'” I just thought it was the perfect capper to a Aronofsky’s take on the classic underdog sports movie.
2. “Ring Them Bells” by Sufjan Stevens in I’m Not There
Confession: I’ve never actually seen this movie. But I give the soundtrack big ups for blessing the marriage of Sufjan Stevens’s maximallist stylings (complete with glockenspiel and trademark harmonies) with Dylan’s minimalist songwriting style. Who knew a Dylan song could sound like this? The matching seems to bring out the best in each, even the hundred millionth time you hear it.
1. “Trouble” by Cat Stevens in Harold and Maude
This is a gimmick I’d like to see revived: a singer-songwriter taking control of an entire movie soundtrack (and I think the Stevens above might be the perfect person to carry the torch). Cat Stevens + this unlikely love story starring Ruth Gordon and Bud Court comes together as an idiosyncratic masterpiece with the climactic “Trouble” montage.
Of course, this is a highly unscientific survey. Complaints, additions? Please leave them in the comments.
Darren Aronofsky, director of the virtuoso Requiem for a Dream (2000) and last behind the camera for The Fountain (2006), is striking at new ground with The Wrestler, a film of surprising compassion about the small-town circuit of professional wrestling.Aronofsky himself mentioned at the NYFF press screening that he’s always been curious why there were so many boxing films as an American oeuvre, but none that tackle the sensation of professional wrestling.With this film, he does it graceful justice.
Ahead of the camera is a sublime, anchoring performance by Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a man well past his heyday from the sold-out crowds of his professional wrestling career in the mid-1980s.His very vitality, however, still lies with wrestling; it’s his only source of income, all he knows how to do, all he loves to do, and he moves up and down the mid-Atlantic through towns like Rahway, New Jersey and Wilmington, Delaware to do it.He’s well-respected among his fellow wrestlers, though it’s clear that he’s approaching the eclipse of his career.Playing to smaller arenas and various perversions of the standard WWF glam of the 80s (including one match involving stapleguns and barbed wire), The Ram is running out of gas, finally collapsing of a heart attack after a particularly brutal match.
This heart attack is the pivot of the film; The Ram, more aware of his mortality than ever, is adrift with a job behind the deli counter at a Central Jersey supermarket.He tries to reach out to his estranged young adult daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), though he isn’t sure of his own intentions.He tries to forge a deeper relationship with Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a simpatico stripper he’s known over the years; it’s perhaps with her that he is able to grapple with hope with respect to What Comes Next in his life, and a scene where the two share a mid-afternoon beer at a dive bar is both tender and unflinching in its honesty.
The screenplay by Robert D. Siegel is a fascinating deconstruction of two people whose lives are critically connected to their jobs; both are past the prime their profession requires, and this fact alone is an inevitable threat to their respective occupations as professional entertainers.Tomei’s Cassidy serves as an effective foil to Rourke, playing both parallel and counterpoint to The Ram and thereby provides a satisfying depth of context to the film.Rightful praise is being showered upon Rourke; his performance is effortless and careful not to drift toward the sentimental.Tomei (who likely can boast more shirtless screentime than many other over-40 Oscar-winning actresses) is always a welcome presence onscreen, though this role doesn’t grant her the access to the break-out intensity of some of her past work.
Much of the pleasure of Aronofsky’s work is in his sincerity to the material.Reaching out to the professional wrestling community, Aronofsky casted only professionals as the wrestlers in his film.He’s careful to not mock his characters despite their flirtations with destitution.This ode to a fictional wrestler at the pinnacle of his life is captivating and never rings false; Aronofsky is consistently proving himself to be one of his generation’s most gifted and earnest filmmakers.
The Wrestler closes the New York Film Festival this Sunday night.
The film festival may close this Sunday with a body slammin’ “Ram Jam” in Darren Aronofsky’s paean to professional wrestling, hair metal, and Mickey Rouke. But before then, there’s plenty for festival-goers to take in:
Close to the bone: Sometimes horror doesn’t involve things that go bump in the night. Master of J-horror Kiyoshi Kurosawa delivers a chiller that hits close to home with Tokyo Sonata, the story of a recently-laid-off salaryman who hides his predicament from his family. (Thursday and Saturday)
A date with a master: The New York Film Festival offers unique opportunities to hear directors talk about their craft. This Saturday, watch Arnaud Desplechin’s Catherine Deneuve-starrer A Christmas Tale, then listen to the celebrated director talk about his craft in an HBO Director’s Dialogues.
Make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan: No, Borat isn’t back. Instead, two fine films showcase the flourishing of cinema in an emerging region, according to FilmCatcher’s Damon Smith. This Saturday, travel halfway across the globe, and see the world with new eyes, through Tulpan and Chouga.
Oshima Triple Threat: Soak in three of the director’s finest films on Sunday.
It’s Hard Being Loved By Jerks: This thought-provoking French doc unravels the controversy around the publication, in a satirical weekly, of a number of cartoons poking fun at Islam. A panel of experts help unpack the film’s findings after the screening, making this Sunday afternoon event a post-brunch no-brainer.
The blog continues: The festival may be winding down, but we’ll continue to use this blog to give you sneak peeks at our programming, exclusive video content, special giveaways and much more! Coming next week: Film Comment magazine brings your the chance to win one-of-a-kind Wong Kar-Wai goodies in a competition judged by the master himself!
From the folks from Filmcatcher, an interview in which Darren Aronofsky holds forth on the powerful collaborations that made The Wrestler possible, including working with Mickey Rouke and the Boss.
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The Wrestler closes the 46th annual New York Film Festival on Sunday.
“There have been so many boxing movies–it’s become its own genre–and yet no one had made a serious film about wrestling.”
-Darren Aronofsky
“Darren had a ring put in his office, and every day for two hours Darren made go practice with these guys…Wrestling and boxing are like ping pong and rugby. With wrestling, everything is choreographed like a dance and you work with another person to acheive something that looks magical…These guys really put their ass on the line working off the adrenaline of the crowd.”
-Mickey Rourke on training for his starring role the The Wrestler
“Darren did not put a strip pole in his office.”
-Marisa Tomei on preparing for her role as a stripper in The Wrestler
The latest on what's happening at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, dispatches from the New York Film Festival and exclusive content from Film Comment magazine.
Header: Karen Weeks (design), Susan Sermoneta (photography)
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