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filmstruck · 7 years ago

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A Different Kind of Bronx Tale: FIVE CORNERS (’87) by Greg Ferrara

John Patrick Shanley was not known to the moviegoing public in September 1987 when his first foray into cinema, FIVE CORNERS, was released. Three months later, his second film, MOONSTRUCK, introduced him to the world, and an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. Had FIVE CORNERS been released after MOONSTRUCK, it probably would have been a lot more successful. As it is, it’s a fascinating look into a troubled community, with lots of young talent that would soon make an impact in the next couple of years.

FIVE CORNERS takes place in 1965 and begins with a shot of Harry (Tim Robbins) watching Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking on television to a crowd of fellow civil rights supporters. This cuts to a shot of Heinz (John Turturro) walking menacingly along the streets of the Five Corners neighborhood in the Bronx. He’s got a large scar on the right side of his head and we can instantly see this guy is trouble. When he walks into the local bakery and bullies the owners, we see our instincts were right.

It turns out Heinz was more than the neighborhood bully. He was, and still is, a violent, troubled individual who attempted to rape Linda (Jodie Foster) and attacked the two men trying to save her, Harry and Jamie (Todd Graff), leaving Jamie with a permanent limp. Now that Heinz is back in town, Linda is justifiably worried that she might be in danger and tries to get assurances from Harry that he will once again protect her. Problem is, Harry is now a pacifist Buddhist who rejects violence of any kind, even in self-defense.

If this weren’t enough, there’s another story going on in the film as well. Two girls, Melanie (Elizabeth Berridge) and Brita (Cathryn de Prume), high on glue and riding in the back seat of Melanie’s fiancé’s car, get dumped by the fiancé, Sal (Carl Capotorto), who hands them off to two teenagers, Castro (Rodney Harvey) and Willie (Daniel Jenkins), and drives away. He feels guilty the next day and tries to find them. Melanie and Brita, on the other hand, seem fine hanging out with Castro and Willie who don’t have school because their teacher was murdered.

Oh, right, the teacher. Preceding all of this is a shot of a teacher giving everyone an “F” at his desk before walking home for the evening. Suddenly, his back is pierced by an arrow. Yes, an arrow. He falls dead and we don’t go back to him for a while, except to follow a couple of detectives trying to solve the case.

At this point, you’re probably thinking the first story was enough and the side story, plus the one about the murdered teacher and the detectives trying to piece together who could have killed him with an arrow, only confuses the situation. You would be correct in thinking so. The problem with FIVE CORNERS is that Shanley has two scripts in mind and tried to jam them into one.

The first and central story, that of Heinz returning to the neighborhood, presenting an immediate ethical and physically threatening dilemma by his very presence, would have been enough for a whole movie and, in fact, we feel a little cheated that we have to keep going away from it to follow Castro and Willie as they goof off with Melanie and Brita. In the end, Shanley marries the two storylines with some tape and glue but it doesn’t quite hold.

SPOILER ALERT: Turns out Castro murdered the teacher as we find out in the end when he shoots and kills Heinz before Heinz can kill Harry. The story of a high school student murdering his teacher to get the day off to hang out with some girls is its own movie. The story of Heinz returning and eventually flying into a murderous rage forcing Harry to choose between pacifism and active resistance, is also its own story. END SPOILER

The two would have made great movies on their own, where their morally ambiguous protagonists could have been fully studied and developed. As it is, neither is fully developed and the reveal in the spoiler above comes off as pointless. We see who did it and there are no consequences. They did something good in the end so maybe they’re okay? Maybe? Who knows? The central story, with Heinz, becomes a chase scene rather than an examination. Both stories get short changed as a result.

But here’s the thing: John Turturro wasn’t famous yet. DO THE RIGHT THING (’89) was two years away. Tim Robbins wasn’t famous yet. BULL DURHAM (’88) was a year away. Jodie Foster was slowly trying to make a comeback into adult roles. After TAXI DRIVER (’76), she slowed down to attend college while maintaining a modest presence in front of the camera. In another year, she would make THE ACCUSED (’88) and her career would take off. So here we have three actors, making their way before their careers dictated how we were to think about them.

It’s clear to see how Spike Lee came to cast Turturro in DO THE RIGHT THING because his sense of menace leaps off the screen. He was clearly a talent that was going to break out sooner or later. As for Robbins, he’s excellent as well and his scenes with Turturro are probably the best in the movie. After BULL DURHAM, there was a chance Robbins could have been typecast as the simple, lovable tall guy but he resisted and this performance shows his range early on. With Foster, it was probably never in doubt that she was a great actress, but this movie did more than any of her previous efforts to show how far she had come since her child roles.

The director was Tony Bill and he directed one of the best high school movies ever, MY BODYGUARD in 1980. Bill was never a flashy director, following the action without much cinematic commentary, and here that’s probably for the best. Given the dueling personalities of the storylines, any kind of cinematic virtuosity might have actually gotten in the way. Except, maybe at the end. The climax, filled with chases and violence, could have used a bit more punch. Of course, by that point, maybe Bill was just trying not to get in the way.

FIVE CORNERS has a lot going for it and a little too much going on to keep it tight. Shanley would hone his skill and talent over the years, winning both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for

Doubt: A Parable

but in 1987, he didn’t have the confidence, or perhaps just the experience, to go with one story or the other. FIVE CORNERS shows promise and it’s no surprise so many talented people worked on it and became successful later, but despite everything, it simply gets away from itself too soon.

#FilmStruck #Tim Robbins #Jodie Foster #John Turturro #John Patrick Shanley #Five Corner #Tony Bill #Criterion Channel #StreamLine Blog #Greg Ferrara

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made-from-galaxies · 5 years ago

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TERCEIRA E ÚLTIMA TEMPORADA DE ‘THE DEUCE’ ESTREIA EM SETEMBRO NO CANAL HBO

O fim de THE DEUCE se aproxima com o início da terceira e última temporada da série da HBO, marcado para 9 de setembro, às 22h. Em oito episódios inéditos, a série faz um balanço do surgimento da indústria da pornografia e da transformação desse setor bilionário nos Estados Unidos – sete anos após o fim da segunda temporada. Assista ao teaser da série aqui. Na terceira temporada de THE DEUCE voltamos ao ano de 1985, época em que as fitas VHS ultrapassaram os filmes como principal meio de produção e distribuição da indústria pornográfica. A glamourização da Califórnia, a invasão de conteúdo sexual nos outdoors da Times Square e o impacto da epidemia da AIDS marcam o fim de uma era. Após a festiva década de 70, a Rua 42 se deteriorou, tornando-se um lugar repleto de crimes violentos e lojas de vídeos decadentes. Acompanhando as vidas entrelaçadas de prostitutas, policiais, mafiosos, atores pornôs e produtores, os últimos episódios de THE DEUCE conduzem a trama a um final dramático. Criada por George Pelecanos e David Simon, ambos veteranos de séries da HBO, como ‘THE WIRE’ e ‘TREME’, THE DEUCE tem produção executiva de Pelecanos, Simon, Nina K. Noble e James Franco. Maggie Gyllenhaal (indicada ao Globo de Ouro pela primeira temporada e ao Critic’s Choice pela segunda temporada) e James Franco (ganhador do Globo de Ouro por “Artista do Desastre”) protagonizam a produção. O elenco conta ainda com Margarita Levieva (“Revenge”) no papel de Abby, proprietária do Hi-Hat e defensora dos artistas e moradores da Times Square; Emily Meade (“The Leftovers”) como a estrela pornô Lori, que agora mora em Los Angeles e luta contra a dependência química; Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (“The Wire”) como Chris Alston, agora dedicado ao Midtown Enforcement Project e associado a Gene Goldman (Luke Kirby); Chris Bauer (“The Wire”), como o gerente de salão francês Bobby; Chris Coy (“Banshee”) como o empreendedor gay Paul, que deve enfrentar a epidemia de Aids, e Michael Rispoli (“Família Soprano”), como o chefe da máfia Rudy. Na terceira temporada estão presentes também David Krumholtz (“The Plot Against America”, futura série da HBO) como o veterano pornógrafo Harvey; Daniel Sauli (“House of Cards”) como Tommy Longo; Olivia Luccardi (“Channel Zero”) como Melissa, uma atriz pornô amadora que tem que enfrentar seu passado, e Sepideh Moafi (“Falling Water”) como Loretta, bartender no the Hi-Hat, envolvida no movimento feminista contra a pornografia. Entre os atores convidados estão Zoe Kazan (“The Plot Against America”), Mustafa Shakir (“Jett”), Roberta Colindrez (“I Love Dick”), Kim Director (“She’s Gotta Have It”), Corey Stoll (“House of Cards”), Aaron Dean Eisenberg (“Public Morals”), Michael Gandolfini (“Ocean’s Eight”) e Ralph Macchio (“Karatê Kid”). Os roteiristas são David Simon, George Pelecanos, Carl Capotorto, Iturri Sosa, Will Ralston, Chris Yakaitis e Stephani DeLuca. Alex Hall, Susanna White, Tanya Hamilton, Roxann Dawson e James Franco assinam como diretores.

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Source: https://opengeekhouse.com.br/2019/08/16/terceira-e-ultima-temporada-de-the-deuce-estreia-em-setembro-no-canal-hbo/

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