RIP Jonathan Demme, "A Champion of the Soul"

April 26, 2017 12:45 PM

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who observed emphatically American characters with a discerning eye, a social conscience and a rock ’n’ roll heart, achieving especially wide acclaim with “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” died on Wednesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 73. [NYT]

Jodie Foster Pays Tribute to Jonathan Demme, ‘A Champion of the Soul’ [Variety]
Jonathan Demme: 'A storyteller of bold and muscular force' [The Guardian]
Our Favorite Jonathan Demme Movies [The Ringer]
Remembering Jonathan Demme’s Unbelievable Meeting with Francois Truffaut [Vanity Fair]
Jonathan Demme Directed One of the Greatest Live Music Videos of All-Time for New Order [Billboard]
Does Jonathan Demme's Style of Close-Up Shots Make You Feel Uncomfortable, Too? [No Film School]
Jonathan Demme [Senses of Cinema]
"Hi. I've got a tape I want to play." [MetaFilter on "Stop Making Sense"]
“It rubs the lotion on its skin.” [MetaFilter on "The Silence of the Lambs" at 25]

posted by chavenet (67 comments total)

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Married to the Mob is one of my all-time favourite films: so quotable, so funny, so many great actors, such a great soundtrack, and an underlying tale of female empowerment.

Thank you, Mr Demme.
posted by kariebookish at 12:50 PM on April 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

. Oh darn. I love so many of his films. Just watched Stop Making Sense a few weeks ago and was struck again over how perfect it is.
posted by octothorpe at 12:52 PM on April 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

Thanks, Mr. Demme. Say hi to Spalding Gray for us.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:54 PM on April 26, 2017 [12 favorites]

It's been years since I've seen one of his first mainstream films, Something Wild, but it's memorable (not the least for basically introducing Ray Liotta in a movie-stealing role). So much so that when Stop Making Sense came out, I was all, "Hey, it's that guy who did Something Wild!"

Demme also directed the performance film of Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia, which shares with Stop Making Sense the quality of skillfully presenting a performance without calling undue attention to itself.
posted by Gelatin at 12:54 PM on April 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

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From Something Wild to Silence of the Lambs to Rachel Getting Married, for me he was always a unique and truly stand-alone voice in film. His best work is like nothing else, and he definitely marched to his own drummer. His had a musical cinematic voice and he will be missed.
posted by buffalo at 12:56 PM on April 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

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posted by Ranucci at 12:58 PM on April 26, 2017

I need to watch Storefront Hitchcock tonight.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:58 PM on April 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 12:59 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by Thorzdad at 1:02 PM on April 26, 2017

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For SoTL alone, he's a legend. There are so many ways that film could have been made Dumb and with Cheap Scares. It was truly frightening.
posted by lalochezia at 1:03 PM on April 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Fans of Demme's Stop Making Sense might be interested to hear the latest episode of The Canon podcast in which host Amy Nicholson and guest Armond White (previously) have a fascinating and in-depth discussion about the film, along with Prince's similarly ground-breaking concert film Sign o' the Times.
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:09 PM on April 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

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posted by Halloween Jack at 1:10 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by Melismata at 1:19 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by Samizdata at 1:24 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by sammyo at 1:36 PM on April 26, 2017

Roy Blount, Jr wrote about Jonathan Demme. Sorry for the long link, my phone's acting up: https://books.google.com/books?id=2e8NAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT134 ...
posted by anshuman at 1:37 PM on April 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

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posted by Joey Michaels at 1:39 PM on April 26, 2017

Even if he's only worked for Corman.
Even if he'd only made Stop Making Sense.
Hell, even if he'd only made Married to the Mob.

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posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:44 PM on April 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

This is one of those instances where my first instinct is to think "73? He can't be that old," then, after calculating the 33 years between Stop Making Sense and now, grimly concede that he—and I—can be.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:47 PM on April 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

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for the man who managed to capture Robyn Hitchcock being awkward and tall in three films.
posted by scruss at 1:57 PM on April 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

As somebody pointed out on Facebook, Stop Making Sense, Something Wild, Swimming To Cambodia, Married To The Mob,and The Silence Of The Lambs. is a hell of a run of movies for one person to direct at all, let alone in a row over seven years.

And honestly, I'd add Philadelphia to it, a film that I had many issues with when it came out but that aged better than I expected when I saw it recently.

(And I would also add Swing Shift to the beginning of the list too even if I've only seen the version of it he didn't like.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:00 PM on April 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Stop Making Sense is the only concert film I enjoy watching repeatedly.

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posted by Aznable at 2:04 PM on April 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

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What is striking about Demme's filmography was the variety of films he directed [or assembled]: from Roger Corman-esque exploitation to quirky comedies to a great thriller, socially conscious dramas and documentaries and concert / music films. I'm still in the mindset wondering what he will direct next. Alas. Will have to revisit some of his films or catch the ones I missed.

Fandor / Keyframe has a good bunch of links.
posted by Rashomon at 2:04 PM on April 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

We recently watched Silence of the Lambs at our house and were appalled by the trans hate, which I had somehow managed to forget all about.

I am glad to be reminded of other movies of Demme's that I can remember with more affection.
posted by Orlop at 2:13 PM on April 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

David Byrne: Jonathan’s skill was to see the show almost as a theatrical ensemble piece, in which the characters and their quirks would be introduced to the audience, and you’d get to know the band as people, each with their distinct personalities. They became your friends, in a sense. I was too focused on the music, the staging and the lighting to see how important his focus on character was—it made the movies something different and special.

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posted by rewil at 2:13 PM on April 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

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posted by oneswellfoop at 2:14 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by vibrotronica at 2:16 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by SonInLawOfSam at 2:16 PM on April 26, 2017

You should dig up "Who Am I This Time?" an hour long adaptation of a Kurt Vonnegut short story that he did for American Playhouse. Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken star as amateur stage actors in a small town and it's just perfect.
posted by octothorpe at 2:17 PM on April 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

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posted by Cash4Lead at 2:27 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by Token Meme at 2:27 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by Ink-stained wretch at 2:31 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by dannyboybell at 2:36 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by crocomancer at 2:39 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by but no cigar at 2:46 PM on April 26, 2017

Damn.. I just learned about this from David Byrne's e-mail list and came here to see if anyone had posted it or whether I needed to start working on a post. Since that seems to be well covered already, I'll just say that Demme's films reliably rose above the ceiling level that lesser filmmakers would have butted up against and the results were sometimes extraordinary.

He was in no way a one-trick pony but the element of his films that I particularly noticed was excellent musical integration. Back in the day I got a lot of mileage out of the soundtracks for Something Wild and Married to the Mob and they introduced me to music which still informs my tastes today. He's rightly famous for Stop Making Sense but many of his other films managed to engage viewers more than you might expect because of terrific soundtrack choices and great placement within the film -- try imagining Buffalo Bill without Goodbye Horses and you'll know what I mean.

I've seen a lot of his films but I think I will not be alone in saying that Stop Making Sense is the one that I will most closely associate him with when I think of him. Back in the late 80s I was a college student in Ann Arbor and every fall the Michigan Theater would book the film for a run and every year we'd go and every year the crowd would dance in the wide aisles of the restored theater -- something I've never felt the impulse to do in any other film. A lot of that is owed to the Talking Heads and the magnificent group [Adrian Belew, Bernie Worrell (now also sadly passed), Alex Weir, Steve Scales, Edna Holt & Lynn Mabry] who joined them for those amazing performances but quite a bit of it is due to Demme as well. No other movie, however much I enjoyed the music, has ever made me want to move like that.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:56 PM on April 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

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posted by pjmoy at 3:09 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by Splunge at 3:11 PM on April 26, 2017

This is sad. I really love the movie 'Rachel Getting Married' and, for all its flaws, I have a real soft spot for 'Ricki and the Flash'. This is in addition to his classic earlier films. He was someone with a real voice and I'm sorry he's gone.
posted by h00py at 3:13 PM on April 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

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posted by gudrun at 3:15 PM on April 26, 2017

I was a Talking Heads fan for years but Stop Making Sense brought the kinetic joy of their music out for me in a completely unexpected way.
posted by praemunire at 4:05 PM on April 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

He has a house up in Nyack, about 25 miles north of NYC. His son came to a nearby bike shop where I worked, and his dad was alongside him on a couple of occasions. I would have never thought to have said anything, but I was always secretly wishing he would walk in when I was playing the full movie "Stop Making Sense" for shop music. Which I did quite frequently.

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posted by computech_apolloniajames at 4:22 PM on April 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

I had no idea until today, but Demme directed the quintessential New Order video. Somehow bleak and warm, alienating and intimate all at the same time.

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posted by vverse23 at 4:27 PM on April 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

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posted by Lyme Drop at 4:41 PM on April 26, 2017

many of his other films managed to engage viewers more than you might expect because of terrific soundtrack choices and great placement within the film -- try imagining Buffalo Bill without Goodbye Horses and you'll know what I mean.

There's also the scene where we're introduced to Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith) moments before she's kidnapped, as she's singing along to Tom Petty's "American Girl" on the car radio. It makes Catherine as a character much more relatable, which is so important when you consider the indignities she has to suffer in the rest of the film.
posted by jonp72 at 5:08 PM on April 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

There's also the scene where we're introduced to Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith) moments before she's kidnapped, as she's singing along to Tom Petty's "American Girl" on the car radio. It makes Catherine as a character much more relatable, which is so important when you consider the indignities she has to suffer in the rest of the film.

Yes, great example.

Something Wild has great use of music as well, though a lot of it didn't make the soundtrack album, particularly the Feelies' appearance as the band at the high school reunion but also the who-would-ever-have-expected-this-would-work Jean-Michel Jarre piece ("Ethnicolor", maybe?) in the aftermath of the climactic confrontation.

Anyway, I've put Stop Making Sense on as background (theoretically; it's capturing more of my attention than I meant it to) this afternoon and it's still just so full of joyful surprises. David Byrne is the unquestioned star of the film but this afternoon I'm really digging just how much of a delight every minute of screen time is that shows Edna Holt & Lynn Mabry. Everybody looks like they're having so much fun (with the possible exception of Bernie Worrell, who just looks completely spaced -- a different kind of fun, maybe) but Holt & Mabry are just completely infectious in their happiness..
posted by Nerd of the North at 5:27 PM on April 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

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posted by condour75 at 5:32 PM on April 26, 2017

What, no love for Melvin and Howard? I know it wasn't a huge hit and was a long time ago, but it's a wonderful movie—go watch it if you haven't seen it.

I'm very sorry to hear this news, but thanks for making such a good post of it.

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posted by languagehat at 5:39 PM on April 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

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posted by droplet at 5:41 PM on April 26, 2017

Oh yes, octothorpe, Who Am I This Time is a wonderful movie. I did not remember that it was one of Johnathan Demme's. I will definitely have to go dig it up. Thank you for reminding me of it!
posted by BoscosMom at 5:50 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by the Real Dan at 5:54 PM on April 26, 2017

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posted by nightrecordings at 6:28 PM on April 26, 2017

David Byrne: Jonathan’s skill was to see the show almost as a theatrical ensemble piece, in which the characters and their quirks would be introduced to the audience, and you’d get to know the band as people, each with their distinct personalities.

Definitely true of Demme's much more compact video for Suzanne Vega's Solitude Standing.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:34 PM on April 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

I nearly stopped him once on the street in Chelsea because at first glance he was just a random older guy wearing a TV on the Radio t-shirt and I'm a (huge) fan of the band. I realized who he was and did my NYC walk-on-by-the-famous-person-without-staring routine, but always kind of regretted not complementing him on his taste in shirts. When my (now) husband (a film critic) and I were first dating (20+ years ago) and I professed love for Silence of the Lambs he had me sit down and watch Stop Making Sense. Suddenly I understood concert films. I was looking forward to the next Demme project. Perpetually.
posted by palindromeisnotapalindrome at 6:35 PM on April 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

I really liked Demme's films. Something Wild, Melvin and Howard, Married to the Mob, Stop Making Sense and the recent Neil Young documentary. Neil does some of his old favorites at the end specifically for Demme. He dowesn't really have any clunkers of a movie, just ones you like better than others.

I was at Tarrytown to see a David Bromberg show a few years back and saw Demme, although I did not know it was him until after I got home and spent an hour trying to figure out who it was I saw. He was just talking to someone on the street. Sort of a random story, but I love so many of his movies I wish I had recognized him and thanked him.
posted by AugustWest at 6:56 PM on April 26, 2017

I was coming in to comment on Demme's video for The Perfect Kiss by New Order -- which I just saw for the first time EVER less than 30 minutes ago -- and I thought that this comment by Byrne (quoted above) is right on the mark: "Jonathan’s skill was to see the show almost as a theatrical ensemble piece, in which the characters and their quirks would be introduced to the audience, and you’d get to know the band as people, each with their distinct personalities. They became your friends, in a sense."

vverse23, you call it "Somehow bleak and warm, alienating and intimate all at the same time." I agree about the warm and the intimate, less so about the alienation or bleakness.

(Anyone here who hasn't seen the video, you may want to go watch it before you read this dissection).

It was almost like watching grade school children put on a play: a little awkward and diffident as they start, but as they get into the music, they start to flow and/or chop away. Demme shows just faces and hands for most of the video, sometimes when the hand or face is doing something "important", like singing a lyric or playing a key riff, but sometimes when they're just waiting around for their part, adjusting a stick or biting their lip. Look for the little smiles that show up near the end, too.

When the camera pulls back and shows the recording studio, and then other people -- and that Joy Division poster -- come into view, it's a little jarring after all the close-up intimacy, but it also places them into this warmer, slightly larger little group. When the credits finally fade in slowly and alphabetically, everyone down to the grip getting equal credit, it's almost like a group hug. By all accounts, Demme was a mensch, and this video shows it.

But what this video captures that I can't remember seeing in other performance films or videos -- with the exception of Stop Making Sense, of course -- is how a bunch of individuals in a group come together and break apart to make music, and how it feels to be a part of the whole. This video was less about the story in the song lyrics than about showing how it feels to produce music, no matter what your skill level is. There's moments of prep as you wait for your go, there's the feeling of pulling off the more difficult bit, and there's the joy and goofy expressions. It's a sweet little gift of a music video and I wish I had seen it sooner.
posted by maudlin at 8:03 PM on April 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Damn it, the Billboard article said it better. *sigh*
posted by maudlin at 8:09 PM on April 26, 2017

Paul Thomas Anderson is a huge fan of Melvin & Howard, who credits the film with inspiring his first movie, Hard Eight.
posted by jonp72 at 8:28 PM on April 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

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posted by Ickster at 9:19 PM on April 26, 2017

My wife screened his Justin Timberlake concert film to open her annual dance-film festival at Lincoln Center this year, and it's a shame that it didn't have a wider theatrical release, because on the big screen, with an enthusiastic audience, it's an astonishment. Catch it on Netflix, but sit close to your TV and crank the sound.
posted by nicwolff at 9:33 PM on April 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

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Dammit. What a great loss.
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posted by On the Corner at 12:59 AM on May 2, 2017