ISSUE #27
BEAM FROM THE BOOTH | GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY
[EDITED BY: GRIFFIN SHERIDAN]
Hello and welcome back to an all-new installment of BEAM FROM THE BOOTH brought to you by GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY!
To begin, we want to provide you all with an update regarding our FILM SOCIETY ROUNDTABLE social events. We decided to not host an event this month; instead, we focused our efforts on considering some of your feedback and putting together a very special version of this event for October. We look forward to sharing more details about FILM SOCIETY ROUNDTABLE: PITCH NIGHT next week.
Our fall programming officially begins THIS WEDNESDAY (9/27) with our first screening in nearly a month: BRIAN DE PALMA’S BLOW OUT! This screening was championed by our own Lauren Patchett all summer long, and we finally found the perfect spot to put it on our schedule. In fact, Lauren has a De Palma-centric essay to share with you all as our first piece this week...
DE PALMA & ME — HOW COULD BODY DOUBLE BE MADE AFTER DRESSED TO KILL?
[BY: LAUREN PATCHETT]
I was introduced to Brian De Palma on a random Sunday this June. Body Double (1984) was my first experience with his work.
Body Double’s synopsis, put simply (by Turner Classic Movies) is: “A working actor finds himself house-sitting for a friend, becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman he's been eyeing through the telescope, and ends up in the middle of a murder plot.”
The actor is trying to work in a smutty vampire B-movie but can’t because his claustrophobia interferes with shooting the scenes in a coffin. He has to house-sit because his girlfriend kicked him out. The woman he’s spying on just happens to, essentially, perform a striptease in front of her unshaded window every night. AND, after involving himself in the solving of a murder, he watches porn and seemingly finds clues in it that lead him to solving the crime.
While watching Body Double I was honestly having a hard time taking it seriously. It’s so coked-out 80s. It’s raunchy and overacted at times. It’s sprinkled with questionable choices...such as the murder weapon which can be described as “phallic.”
There’s even a scene where the main character finds himself in the middle of a Frankie Goes To Hollywood music video...VERY camp to say the least. Overall though, it is outlandish in a way that was enjoyable to watch. So, after watching, I went to Letterboxd and searched up his work. To my surprise, he made Carrie (1976), one of my longtime nostalgic favorites! This piqued my interest, and I set out to watch more of his movies.
Dressed to Kill (1980) was on the Criterion Channel at the time, so I watched it going in blind. I found some similarities in these two movies: obvious influence from Hitchcock, voyeurism, and fetishism. They’re also some form of psychological thriller and often contain some element of graphic violence.
Dressed to Kill really impressed me. For fear of spoiling anything about this movie, I will let IMDb give the shortest synopsis: “A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.”
In my opinion, the camerawork is stunning and the score is remarkable. The plot, while very flawed, is complex and much more polished than Body Double. It even feels like De Palma is showing off at times — it feels sure of itself.
So — after watching both of these movies, Body Double was some weird beginning work for De Palma...right? It felt to me that he was trying things out, experimenting with his storytelling and techniques.
To my surprise, Body Double came out 4 years AFTER Dressed to Kill…how could that be?
“He faces the dilemma of appealing to a mass audience with a style that is guaranteed to alienate them. In every interview, De Palma insists that he has no illusions about Hollywood, but he frequently laments how difficult it is to test the boundaries of our viewing habits. Part storyteller, part agitator, De Palma vacillates between restraint and excess.” (From Brian De Palma: Interviews edited by Laurence F. Knapp)
De Palma’s career shows that his movies either fit into the commercial film category or his psychological thriller category. Having built his career off of his thrillers, he wanted to return to his roots for his next picture after Dressed to Kill. BUT NOT WITHOUT BEING PETTY!
At this point, De Palma had multiple fights with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and their Code and Rating Administration (CARA). Over what? Not shocking to imagine, it was because of the sex and violence in his films.
They had battles over the ratings of Dressed to Kill and Scarface. With Dressed to Kill, they had originally rated it X. After some adjustments and choice words, it was changed to R. This history prompted De Palma to lash out somewhat, and this is essentially why he made Body Double.
He’s quoted in the February 12th, 1984 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer to have said “If this one doesn't get an X, nothing I ever do is going to. This is going to be the most erotic and surprising and thrilling movie I know how to make...I'm going to give them everything they hate and more of it than they've ever seen. They think Scarface was violent? They think my other movies were erotic? Wait until they see Body Double.”
The most ironic part of all of this is that they DID, in fact, rate it X. Because many theaters declined to play X-rated films, he was again forced to go back and re-edit the movie. All he had to do was make some minor cuts, more so in the porn movie scenes, and he got it to R. De Palma said Columbia did not support the film due to its excessive violence. He was angrily quoted in the October 28th, 1984 issue of The Boston Globe saying "Do you think the guys who run Coca-Cola (Columbia Pictures' parent company) want publicity about violence? They are very aware of their public images, and when they start seeing articles in The New York Times about their product and violence, they go crazy. They're not showmen. They're corporation types.”
In the theaters, it didn’t do well. This caused Columbia to cancel their three-picture deal with De Palma.
“De Palma feels that all forms of media are inherently coercive (“The media can make what is seemingly real false, and what is seemingly false real” [Rubinstein interview], so his schizophrenic style is designed to make you aware of how cinema can conceal and confound perception and the truth.” (From Brian De Palma: Interviews edited by Laurence F. Knapp)
Today, Body Double is somewhat of a cult film; most of his movies have that type of following. I know there are some MAJOR issues with the plot as well. I could joke by saying “tell me this movie was made by a man without telling me it was made by a man” and let the montage roll.
But I’m not the only one who has respect for his work. Tarantino has said that Blow Out (1981) is one of his all-time favorite movies, with Carrie also placing on his list. Many other well-respected directors have credited him as an influence on their work. Even esteemed critics Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael admired his work frequently.
Roger Ebert said in one of his reviews that “De Palma deserves more honor as a director...look at the range here, and reflect that these movies contain treasure for those who admire the craft as well as the story, who sense the glee with which De Palma manipulates images and characters for the simple joy of being good at it. It's not just that he sometimes works in the style of Hitchcock, but that he has the nerve to.”
Between the two movies I saw, De Palma released Blow Out and his remake of Scarface (1983). At the time, Scarface was so successful it’s what drove Columbia to offer him the three-picture deal.
And what about Blow Out?
Well, many consider that film to be De Palma’s best work.
The Film Society is here to let you decide. Tell us what you think THIS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th at 8PM!
SUBMIT TO OPEN PROJECTOR NIGHT: HALLOWEEN EDITION!
GRFS is thrilled about this special HALLOWEEN EDITION of OPEN PROJECTOR NIGHT!
Michigan filmmaking has a long history of horror classics. This evening will highlight short films specifically in the horror/spooky genre from Michigan filmmakers that have submitted to OPN. And, for a limited time, we are opening up submissions for new films too. Submit now and join us this October at Wealthy Theatre!
Submission Deadline: September 29th, 2023 (THIS FRIDAY!)
Notification Date: October 6th, 2023
Event Date: October 18th, 2023
[SUBMIT ON FILM FREEWAY]
5 BOOKS EVERY FILMMAKER SHOULD READ
[BY: MATT EVERITT]
I love watching movies. So fucking much.
Somehow, I thought the best way to get better as a filmmaker was to watch as many movies as possible. As if movies were somehow special in that they were the one medium where simply observing them would bypass your brain’s normal way of learning and you’d just get it.
I’m sure Michael Jordan watched basketball games too to learn a bit when he wasn’t, you know, actually playing basketball. The big difference is he could practice any time there was a basketball around. As a filmmaker, it’s a lot harder to practice the core skills when you’re not on set. But I found a secret (slightly cursed for my ADHD brain) that can actually make me a better director without being on a set: books.
I can’t think of a single movie that made me a better director, but I can easily name a dozen or so books that have helped me be more prepared and nimble on set. [DISCLAIMER: it’s ironic how much books help me learn because ADHD dictates that reading is remarkably challenging depending on the season of life. Most of the books on this list are audiobooks.]
Everyone’s different so I’ll just speak to my experience. Here are my five YOU’RE GONNA LEARN TODAY books if you want to get better at filmmaking.
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
There’s no way I can express how much more this book is than the sum of its parts. It’s pretty much a creative manifesto. The book is a series of Russian short stories from the 19th century combined with George Saunders’ lectures on those stories. This book changed my life as a filmmaker for two reasons: 1. You have an incredibly celebrated author who writes about writing with the type of emotional resonance I’ve never experienced. I SAW myself in the way that he works, and this motherfucker won a Pulitzer. He gave me a framework to FEEL my way forward through my work, how to identify the parts to not worry about yet, how it feels to read a first draft and want to die, and what it feels like when you start making choices to make better work. There’s an analogy about refurnishing an apartment that liberated my brain from the tyranny of the first draft. 2. This is the only book I’ve ever read that shares insights into the writing of short stories, and therefore short films. There’s remarkably strong advice for how to write a great short film. Plus you get the origins of so many archetype characters in these shorts, you’ll feel quite learned (bonus points because they get people like Nick Offerman to read Tolstoy to you).
Space Odyssey by Michael Benson
I don’t think there’s any book I’ve read that shatters the illusion of directorial brilliance quite so sharply as this book on the making of 2001. What it reveals is how much a director is at the mercy of their team, and Kubrick was exceptionally skilled at getting the best to work with him. It shows you how close the production was to all falling apart at every stage, how genuinely absurd it was to attempt to do what they were doing, and the human cost of working with someone like Kubrick. It shows that you can, in fact, ask a lot of your crew IF they know what they’re signing up for. It shows the cost of working for a perfectionist director who can’t always communicate his ideas and so crew are stuck in endless loops trying to match an unspoken expectation. Ultimately, it shows that a director’s primary responsibility is in communicating well with everyone.
Leverage by Roger J. Volkema
Shout out to Dean Fleischer Camp, the director of Marcell the Shell — he recommended this in an interview as a book every filmmaker should read, and I agree. This one is a crash course on the business side of show business. It’s written in the simplest terms possible and genuinely feels like you gain a super power in understanding how to navigate trying to hire crew when you don’t have money for their day rate, fundraising, and how to ‘cold email’ well. It’s short. It’s simple. Hell, you don’t even have to read more than 50 pages for it to change your life.
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
This blew the doors open on making sense of the world and myself. Among its many incredible insights, it helps walk you through how your intuition as an artist is an asset for yourself and a potential liability for others. It’s hard to explain without just copy and pasting the whole book. The big thing is we’re led to believe we’re all rational beings, but the science (and just looking at the world) shows us how strongly our emotions hurt or help our ability to let the truth change us. It’s also great at giving insight on how to write authentic characters.
Sculpting in Time by Andrei Tarkovsky
There’s my life before I read this book, and my life after I read this book. This was what my soul needed to finally make the jump to taking myself seriously as a filmmaker. And here’s the thing: I didn’t necessarily want to include it on this list because I don’t think this book is made for everyone. But everyone has a book that was written for them, and this was mine. There are incredible directors who can share about their process in their own words, and THAT is what I want to include on this list.
Start any and every book you can where a director shares about their own work. If it’s not hitting, leave it behind and keep looking. I’m willing to bet at some point you’ll find one that lights a fire in your soul so strong you won’t be able to finish it before you start prep for your next project.
UPCOMING EVENTS
BLOW OUT (DePalma, 1981)
WHAT: While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terri enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 27th, 8:00pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
POSSESSION (Żuławski, 1981)
WHAT: After Anna reveals to her husband, Mark, that she is having an affair, she leaves him and their son. Anna descends into madness, and it's soon clear that she is hiding a much bigger secret -- one that is both inexplicable and shocking.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 4th, 8:00pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
EVIL DEAD II on VHS (Raimi, 1987) & TAPE SWAP
WHAT: Grand Rapids Film Society, B-Movie Euphoria, & Static Tape have combined forces to bring you an epic tape swap and screening of Evil Dead II on VHS!
WHEN: Friday, October 6th, 6:00pm (8:00pm film start)
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
FRIDAY THE 13th PART III in 3D (Miner, 1982)
WHAT: Celebrate a spooky Friday the 13th with us as we present: Friday the 13th: Part III in 3D on the big screen! (3D glasses provided with ticket purchase)
WHEN: Friday, October 13th, 8:00pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
And so we’ve arrived at the end of another BEAM FROM THE BOOTH! We appreciate you taking the time to read it and truly hope you’ll continue to do so. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to get each issue in your inbox every SUNDAY, and stay up-to-date on all things GRFS.
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Look for ISSUE #28 in your inbox NEXT SUNDAY, 10/01!
Until then, friends...
