RIP Miloš Forman (1932-2018)
April 14, 2018 11:21 AM Subscribe
Miloš Forman, Oscar-Winning Director of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ dies at 86 (NYT).
A few more obituaries: LA Times, Hollywood Reporter, Variety.
A few more obituaries: LA Times, Hollywood Reporter, Variety.
Taking Off is one of my all time favorites. RIP.
posted by 2N2222 at 11:48 AM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by 2N2222 at 11:48 AM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
OLD SALIERI
Goodbye, Father. I'll speak for you.
I speak for all mediocrities in the
world. I am their champion. I am
their patron saint. On their behalf
I deny Him, your God of no mercy.
Your God who tortures men with
longings they can never fulfill. He
may forgive me: I shall never forgive
Him.
He signs to the attendant, who wheels him in his chair out
of the room. The priest stares after him.
INT. CORRIDOR OF THE HOSPITAL - MORNING
The corridor is filled with patients in white linen smocks,
all taking their morning exercise walk in the care of nurses
and nuns. They form a long, wretched, strange procession -
some of them are clearly very disturbed. As Old Salieri is
pushed through them in his wheelchair, he lifts his hands to
them in benediction.
OLD SALIERI
Mediocrities everywhere, now and to
come: I absolve you all! Amen! Amen!
Amen!
Finally, he turns full-face to the camera and blesses us the
audience, making the Sign of the Cross. Underneath we hear,
stealing in and growing louder, the tremendous Masonic Funeral
Music of Mozart.
On the last four chords, we
FADE OUT:
THE END
posted by gwint at 11:58 AM on April 14, 2018 [13 favorites] .
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:02 PM on April 14, 2018
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:02 PM on April 14, 2018
I like Valmont (1989) much better than Dangerous Liaisons (1988).
His characters as people were relatable and dimensional humans, all of them.
.
posted by monopas at 12:05 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
His characters as people were relatable and dimensional humans, all of them.
.
posted by monopas at 12:05 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by lumpenprole at 12:11 PM on April 14, 2018
posted by lumpenprole at 12:11 PM on April 14, 2018
We just rewatched Cuckoo's Nest on Wednesday with our son, who had just read the book in his high school English class. Not all of that movie has aged well, and it takes enough liberties with the story that Kesey rather infamously held it in contempt. Nonetheless, it's still a very powerful movie that tells Chief Bromden's and McMurphy's stories through Forman's own distinct direction. Our son remarked on how different and less hurried it was from contemporary movies. He felt this worked against it a little bit, but it mostly worked in its favor. Our son was impressed, which is some sort of praise in and of itself.
RIP.
.
posted by mosk at 12:46 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
RIP.
.
posted by mosk at 12:46 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by dannyboybell at 12:56 PM on April 14, 2018
posted by dannyboybell at 12:56 PM on April 14, 2018
Late night talk show, long ago, maybe Letterman, USA network has just ran HAIR. Guest Milos - "They cut 9 nine songs!!.... Is musical!!"
posted by Freedomboy at 1:16 PM on April 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Freedomboy at 1:16 PM on April 14, 2018 [4 favorites]
. Just saw Hair at a festival last year and weirdly enough it holds up pretty well.
Of all his work, I probably love Ragtime the most. It's a seemingly unfilmable novel and he managed to make a film that's as good in it's own way. The way that he balances all those plots and characters is pretty amazing and Randy Newman's score is my favorite of his.
posted by octothorpe at 1:38 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Of all his work, I probably love Ragtime the most. It's a seemingly unfilmable novel and he managed to make a film that's as good in it's own way. The way that he balances all those plots and characters is pretty amazing and Randy Newman's score is my favorite of his.
posted by octothorpe at 1:38 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by doctornemo at 2:26 PM on April 14, 2018
posted by doctornemo at 2:26 PM on April 14, 2018
I was just in the middle of watching Amadeus and had to pause it because someone needed to vacuum. Popped over here and saw this. I've loved every movie of his that I've watched. :-(
posted by Ickster at 2:32 PM on April 14, 2018
posted by Ickster at 2:32 PM on April 14, 2018
He has a minor role in Keeping the Faith, a schmaltzy film that I nonetheless have an odd softspot for, and I remember loving him in it. When I looked him up on IMDB I remember saying, "Wait, isn't that the dude who directed Amadeus?" And lo, 'twas.
Not sure what he was doing in there other than as a favor to Ed Norton (who directed the film), but he lit up the scenes he was in.
posted by offalark at 2:56 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
Not sure what he was doing in there other than as a favor to Ed Norton (who directed the film), but he lit up the scenes he was in.
posted by offalark at 2:56 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's pretty common for older directors to show up in small parts in younger director's films. Forman himself had Nicholas Ray appear as "The General" in Hair.
posted by octothorpe at 3:55 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 3:55 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
We just rewatched Cuckoo's Nest on Wednesday with our son, who had just read the book in his high school English class. Not all of that movie has aged well, and it takes enough liberties with the story that Kesey rather infamously held it in contempt.
it is worth noting that Cuckoo's Nest won what are considered the essential five Oscars:
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Screenplay (in this case adapted).
So certainly at the time (1975), it was considered a pretty much perfect movie.
posted by philip-random at 6:32 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
it is worth noting that Cuckoo's Nest won what are considered the essential five Oscars:
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Screenplay (in this case adapted).
So certainly at the time (1975), it was considered a pretty much perfect movie.
posted by philip-random at 6:32 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]
He also had the burden of coralling Jim Carrey when he refused to leave the Tony Clifton character.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:02 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:02 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
> So certainly at the time (1975), it was considered a pretty much perfect movie.
Yes, and duly noted: Cuckoo's Nest won all five of the major Oscars. I also agree that in 1975 it was considered a pretty much perfect movie.
I love the novel and used to teach it ~25 years ago when I taught high school English. I like the movie, too, FWIW. My comment was more about our son's reaction to watching the movie immediately after reading the novel. TBH, he was a bit underwhelmed.
His AP English class is finishing up a unit on the book, but his teacher isn't screening the movie for the class, which is why we watched it.
Our son was disappointed at some of the changes made between book and movie. The most significant of these was the decision to remove Chief Bromden as the narrator. This allowed the movie to tell its story in a more straightforward way, but in doing so lost the hallucinatory and socio-political elements that were ever-present in Bromden's thoughts as the novel's narrator (things like his inconsistency as a narrator; his paranoid references to the powers-that-be, aka "The Combine" and the way he sees everything shrouded in a Combine-produced fog; the repeated religious imagery Kesey uses; etc.). Losing these elements stripped layers of complexity from the story. The movie also softens McMurphy's character considerably - he comes across as a likable rogue instead of the harder-edged brawler and opportunist he was in the novel. He's a MUCH nicer guy in the movie. Those changes didn't make it a bad movie, but they did make it quite different from the novel.
TL;DR: Forman's abilities to straighten out messy works like Cuckoo's Nest and make it both filmable and enjoyable to watch undoubtedly contributed to his success as a director. That said, if you loved Kesey's novel as it was written, you may find Forman's movie somewhat disappointing.
posted by mosk at 9:17 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yes, and duly noted: Cuckoo's Nest won all five of the major Oscars. I also agree that in 1975 it was considered a pretty much perfect movie.
I love the novel and used to teach it ~25 years ago when I taught high school English. I like the movie, too, FWIW. My comment was more about our son's reaction to watching the movie immediately after reading the novel. TBH, he was a bit underwhelmed.
His AP English class is finishing up a unit on the book, but his teacher isn't screening the movie for the class, which is why we watched it.
Our son was disappointed at some of the changes made between book and movie. The most significant of these was the decision to remove Chief Bromden as the narrator. This allowed the movie to tell its story in a more straightforward way, but in doing so lost the hallucinatory and socio-political elements that were ever-present in Bromden's thoughts as the novel's narrator (things like his inconsistency as a narrator; his paranoid references to the powers-that-be, aka "The Combine" and the way he sees everything shrouded in a Combine-produced fog; the repeated religious imagery Kesey uses; etc.). Losing these elements stripped layers of complexity from the story. The movie also softens McMurphy's character considerably - he comes across as a likable rogue instead of the harder-edged brawler and opportunist he was in the novel. He's a MUCH nicer guy in the movie. Those changes didn't make it a bad movie, but they did make it quite different from the novel.
TL;DR: Forman's abilities to straighten out messy works like Cuckoo's Nest and make it both filmable and enjoyable to watch undoubtedly contributed to his success as a director. That said, if you loved Kesey's novel as it was written, you may find Forman's movie somewhat disappointing.
posted by mosk at 9:17 PM on April 14, 2018 [3 favorites]
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posted by heatvision at 4:10 AM on April 15, 2018
posted by heatvision at 4:10 AM on April 15, 2018
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posted by little mouth at 7:43 PM on April 15, 2018
posted by little mouth at 7:43 PM on April 15, 2018
Here's a scene from his 1971 movie "Taking Off" y'all might enjoy.
RIP
.
posted by dbiedny at 11:53 AM on April 16, 2018
RIP
.
posted by dbiedny at 11:53 AM on April 16, 2018
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posted by valkane at 11:24 AM on April 14, 2018