Monday, April 02, 2007
LAST SNORT
Today we watched Ionesco's
This was a production of The American Film Theater (AFT) which was a failed attempt to film famous contemporary plays and then play them in a theatrical kind of way; reserved seats and all that.
It was a failed venture with many bad casting decisions.
Of course, for many of these plays, this is the only record we have and so we must do the best we can.
Zero Mostel who starred in a Broadway production of the play is in this film along with Gene Wilder.
It is directed by Tom O'Horgan, a brief bright flame of talent in the 70s.
He takes the play outside and ruins it. It is a theatrical piece meant for the imagination of the viewer.
Another example of an AFT bust.
But I was there to see Zero Mostel. It is his Film Festival after all.
And amid the wreckage of the production, his performance does come alive and we get a glimpse of the stage work.
The play is about the unaccountable spread of fascism in the 30's and 40's.
The hero, an anti-hero, is a weak, alcoholic man who does not go along with the crowd, all of whom have turned into rhinoceri.
There are a lot of metaphors and symbolism. Overloaded.
This was a nice trip back.
Remember, we were all waking up from the 50's.
Think of this, if and when you see this film, and be kind.
We were innocents trying to make sense of a world that had just gone from one mindless conformity to another one. Never mind what they say about pink shirts and charcoal flannel pants; white bucks.
They were the early signs that things were changing.
It would not be long until we had the flower child and public nudity to say nothing of faggots and all that stuff.
They say that the 60's are over but you know the culture wars continue. It is the same thing today.
Labels: avant garde, films, society, Zero Mostel
