Hollywoodland edges Dahlia in Lido Noir Derby

The 63rd edition of the Venice film festival has opened with a salvo of noir or noirish films during which the 'dark horse' "Hollywoodland" has upstaged the odds-on favorite "Black Dahlia" which arrived with far more ballyhoo.
While Dahlia, with its high-powered cast, name director Brian De Palma, and big time writer James Ellroy all on hand, was rather tepidly received at various screenings, "Hollywoodland” or 'the Death of Superman’ as the press has dubbed the film, was roundly applauded and got mostly high grades from reviewers. Director Allen Coulter has been around the industry since 1979 but has worked almost exclusively in television, with such highly popular series as "The Sopranos” and "Sex and the City” to his credit and this is his big screen feature debut.

Both films are set in the L.A. Confidential territory of fifties and sixties Los Angeles, both deal with unsolved killings, and both have strong casts but, while Dahlia got lost in the complexities of its plot, Coulter’s film,
much more tightly constructed, thrives on its own complexity despite being loaded with flashbacks and offering multiple theories as to the C.O.D. (cause of death) of the central protagonist (Ben Affleck, as TV Superman
George Reeves) – Was his death accidental, a suicide, or a homicide – and if the latter a number of people had plausible motives. De Palma spells it all out at the end whereas Coulter leaves you guessing, yet his film is much more coherent. The gold-plated cast features sexy Diane Lane as the stray cat wife of stray-dog studio head Bob Hoskins, and Adrien Brody as an investigating detective seeking his own version of instant celebrity by solving the mystery surrounding the death of a minor TV celebrity.

The film, says director Coulter, is not really a 'noir’ in the ordinary sense of the word, but rather a reflection on the desperate quest for celebrity that takes over the lives of so many people when they come to Hollywood in search of same. We all have some of that need to be recognized, he adds – a thesis open to question but interesting nevertheless. Affleck said he had to put on thirty pounds to look right for the role of Reeves, but most of the attention was on Oscar winner Brody, who was extremely intense and voluble before the press conference gathering, apparently determined to make the point that he has many more cards to play than that of a pathetic, forlorn figure wandering around the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto. Not to worry, Mr. Brody – this performance certainly demonstrates his versatility and screen charisma. Englishman Bob Hoskins said that he had no particular well-known or notorious Hollywood studio boss in mind as a model for his role, but was only interested in creating an interesting and believable character – which he certainly did as he always does. Diane Lane, it must be mentioned, is arguably the most attractive over forty actress in Hollywood –(41 to be exact) --the likes of Sharon Stone and Julia Roberts notwithstanding. To me it’s a bit of a mystery that she has never quite made it to the very top of the leading-lady list although she is well liked and has been seen in many interesting films – unfortunately more cult films than box-office smashes. (e.g., "The Cotton Club”, which was a high lustre flop)

Speaking of good-looking talented actors who were well-liked and radiated integrity but never quite made it to tip-top stardom, today’s Italian papers were full of lauditory obituaries for Canadian born Hollywood leading man, Glenn Ford, who died at ninety, one of the very last of the Golden Age stars. Two others still kicking are Kirk Douglas and Richard Widmark. Kirk will be 9O in December and Widmark is 92. Ford whose most famous role was in the classic 1946 film noir „Gilda” opposite Rita Hayworth, and who was also memorable as the harried school teacher in „Blackboard Jungle”, had the misfortune of working in the shadow of larger than life film icons such as Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, but, above all, his chief rival for top stardom and throbbing hearts, William Holden.
Which brings us to "Infamous". Who would have thought there would be room for two biopics about the same character, Truman Capote, in the space of half a year! With „Infamous” (a nifty title) director Douglas McGrath not only demonstrates that the subject is rich enough for a second treatment, but in this writer’s view, improves considerably on the earlier film “Capote” which, though it won the Oscar for Philip Seymour Hoffman in March, left me with an empty feeling when I saw it in Berlin. Granted that Hoffman’s Oscar was well earned, but the Dan Futterman screenplay was eerily off key, Bennet Miller’s direction was a bit too clever, and worst of all, actress Catherine Keener’s Harper Lee was like a loud screech from a different film. It was clear from the story that Truman was in love with killer Perry, but Miller, it seemed purposely skirted the issue as if it might offend somebody and get the film an X-rating or something. In fact, the whole film reeked of commerciality and something that J-P Sartre would call "bad faith".

In contrast, Mcgrath, who has only made three films before this, obviously decided to shoot the works and go for broke. Truman (the most remarkable actor, Tobey Jones) not only tells Perry outright that he loves him, but kisses him full flush on the mouth. And the kiss is returned by the killer!
No bullshit – no over-subtle implications ... We therefore feel Truman’s deep pain at the end when Perry goes to the gallows, whereas we understood Hoffman’s suffering, but didn’t feel it. But it’s not just this –it’s the whole approach to the material that is different in the current film, and far more engaging. Tobey not only looks like a physical clone of Capote (and didn’t need the oodles of makeup that made Seymour over), but he comes right out and plays Capote as a flaming queen all the way to the hilt whereas Hoffman was (directed into being?) far more restrained. The gallery of New York high society personalities that comment on Truman’s life in the McGrath version is a wonderful touch, adding a dimension of kitschy but lovable pseudo-documentation. Sigourney Weaver as Babe Pal shows true heartfelt concern for Truman every time we see her – terrific cameo role –
Peter Bogdanovitch is a remarkable reincarnation of suave Broadway personality Bennet Cerf, and Juliet Stevenson is a to-die-for-funny version of outrageous Vogue editor, Diana Vreeland.

All these bits really juice up the sequences between-times whenever Tobey Jones is not chewing up the scenery and everything else in sight as the unbelievably naught Truman Capote. His name-dropping scene when invited to the home of some Kansas hayseeds – where he tells how he beat „Bogey” – (You don’t mean Humphrey Bogart –do you!) -- in arm wrestling, is one for the comedic Hall of Fame. You just know you’re in for a very good time when the film opens will Gwyneth Paltrow in an off the shoulder gown doing Peggy Lee singing "What is this thing called Love?” – and nearly breaks down in the middle because she’s so touched by the song itself. Bravo cameo for Gwyneth! And of course, it doesn’t hurt to have the next James Bond (Macho actor Daniel Craig covered with tatoos) as Truman’s lover behind bars – also a very telling performance as well. Finally – Nelle Harper Lee, played by a somewhat restrained Sandra Bullock – was okay – even if La Bullock is a bit too glamorous looking for the role (in bobby sox and flat shoes yet!) – in any case half a light year better than Keener’s "Harper Lee" – without the "Nelle" by which Truman always addresses her. If anything, it was fun to see Bullock in many scenes just looking on – apparently tickled in reality by Tobey’s Trumanesque antics. In fact what I like most about McGrath’s film is that it is just as kitchy as Capote was himself – and therefore rings true! I’m sure that if Capote came back from the crypt he would love this film and would be sickened by the Miller version.

In any case, "Infamous” was a total triumph with the professional Venice audience – an unbelievable ten minute standing ovation – especially for Tobey who finally had to take an individual bow, as at an opera curtain call, but for Sandra and McGrath as well. I can’t see any reason for "Infamous" not to be a smash hit with audiences everywhere, because it’s just so damn good! And it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see a second successive Oscar for an actor doing Truman Capote at the next Academy Awads!
– Oh, yes, there was a press conference and English actor Jones said he only needed to listen to a lot of tapes of Capote to get the nuances of his odd vocal delivery down pat. In real life Mr. Jones is hetero-sexu-al – and so, of course is Mr. Craig. So, the obvious question was, how did it feel to do the explicit kissing scene in the cell ... To which Jones responded, "Well, it’s not every day you get to kiss James Bond”. The verdict is "Bravo!” –
This is one not to miss when it comes your way.

Another item on this eventful second day of the fest: Oliver Stone’s „World Trade Center” featuring Nicolas Cage as a heroic fireman in the Inferno of September 11th – did not go down very well with the Italian audience. A Russian reporter I asked about it opined that it was strictly for "an American audience”. I didn’t get to see it myself but the papers reported that the film was greeted with a mixture of weak applause and scattered Boos. Hope Oliver doesn’t take it too hard because, naturally, like everybody else – he’s here. Tomorrow, an overview of all the films in competition and the other main sections of the fest.

Alex Deleon, Venice
September 2, 2OO6