Marc Forster is the New Richard Fleischer

posted by Gareth Higgins

OK – so Richard Fleischer was this great director of actors, particularly in the 1950s – 1970s; he made films like ’20 000 Leagues Under the Sea’, Kirk Douglas & Tony Curtis in ‘The Vikings’, the crazy kitsch precursor to ‘Innerspace’ ‘Fantastic Voyage’, one of the most compelling dueling performance films of all time – ‘The Boston Strangler’, and eventually ‘The Jazz Singer’, which, I think you’ll agree is the greatest Neil Diamond film ever made.

Point is – he was a working director who filmed stories in a vast range of genres, but managed to have a clear directorial stamp.  You didn’t know what you were going to get – it could be a psychological thriller or a sea-faring adventure; but you did know what you were going to see: elegant photography, striking performances, loud music and great close ups.  Directors with such a broad range are rare today – Rob Reiner can make Stephen King horror stories, iconic comedies, and courtroom thrillers, but it’s been a long time since I’ve really enjoyed one of his movies; while watching Marc Forster’s 2005 ‘Stay’ this afternoon I realised that he might be Fleischer’s heir.

Here’s why: I found a copy of ‘Stay’ lying around the other day, and meant to give it away.  Was about to put it in an envelope this morning when I remembered Forster’s other films:

‘Monster’s Ball’ – a serious and troubling film that tries to take on racism, poverty, capital punishment and the rest of the criminal justice system, childhood obesity and the needs that sexuality can fulfill or even heal.

‘Finding Neverland’ – magic and grief wrapped around the most natural thing of all: human beings trying to form families.

‘Stranger than Fiction’ – how literature (or any art form) grants a measure of the transcendent to our lives.

‘The Kite Runner’ – a story of innocence corrupted and sins atoned for, this time set mostly in Afghanistan, with no easy answers.

‘Quantum of Solace’ – I know I’m in a minority – but I think this is the smartest Bond film, and the only one that feels like an art movie.  Its politics aren’t too shabby either.

So I watched ‘Stay’, a psychological drama with echoes of Kafka and both ‘Se7en’ and ‘Angel Heart’, and one of the most visually interesting films of the past ten years (mostly because it’s actually doing something with its photographic tricks) – I haven’t finished watching it yet, and that’s the main reason I’m writing this: because in some senses, it doesn’t really matter if it’s any good – the fact is, no director I can think of in Hollywood today is making a more diverse range of stories.

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(Photo at top by Karen Ballard)

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 4:01 pm. It is filed under Action, Adaptations, Blog, Directors, Drama, Gareth Higgins, Gareth Higgins Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.