Arthur Penn (1922-2010)
September 29, 2010 12:55 PM Subscribe
Arthur Penn, the director of Bonnie and Clyde, Little Big Man, The Miracle Worker, and Night Moves, has died of congestive heart failure one day after his 88th birthday.
.
posted by heatvision at 1:00 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by heatvision at 1:00 PM on September 29, 2010
RIP Mr Penn. And thank you for Bonnie and Clyde.
posted by dobbs at 1:04 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by dobbs at 1:04 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
I wasn't aware that Irving Penn was his brother. Quite a talented family.
posted by dhammond at 1:08 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by dhammond at 1:08 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Don't forget The Missouri Breaks.
Too bad he stopped making features films by the late 80's.
.
posted by Rashomon at 1:11 PM on September 29, 2010
Too bad he stopped making features films by the late 80's.
.
posted by Rashomon at 1:11 PM on September 29, 2010
Night Moves is one of my favorite films.
It's worth an FPP by itself. An excellent appreciation of it here.
posted by Joe Beese at 1:12 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's worth an FPP by itself. An excellent appreciation of it here.
posted by Joe Beese at 1:12 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
He was one of the giants of American film, a truly sad passing.
(and for shits and giggles, he directed Penn & Teller Get Killed)
.
posted by dbiedny at 1:19 PM on September 29, 2010
(and for shits and giggles, he directed Penn & Teller Get Killed)
.
posted by dbiedny at 1:19 PM on September 29, 2010
DB, I was just about to come in to mention that.
Otherwise:
.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 1:27 PM on September 29, 2010
Otherwise:
.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 1:27 PM on September 29, 2010
I was just about to post this. Thanks for including the Senses of Cinema link, it's good one.
.
posted by HumanComplex at 1:32 PM on September 29, 2010
.
posted by HumanComplex at 1:32 PM on September 29, 2010
Penn: "I just woke up one day and thought, gee, I can see the ending. Not the benign, lyrical thing I had thought, but something spastic and balletic. It has to do something extraordinary, something that makes them into a legend."
That ending sure did that, and more.
posted by blucevalo at 1:40 PM on September 29, 2010
That ending sure did that, and more.
posted by blucevalo at 1:40 PM on September 29, 2010
.
The Left-Handed Gun is worth taking 102 minutes out of your life to watch.
posted by marxchivist at 1:51 PM on September 29, 2010
The Left-Handed Gun is worth taking 102 minutes out of your life to watch.
posted by marxchivist at 1:51 PM on September 29, 2010
blucevalo, your link has been cropped. The actual footage is here.
I'd also like to recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of Bonnie and Clyde.
posted by dobbs at 2:42 PM on September 29, 2010
I'd also like to recommend this book to anyone who's a fan of Bonnie and Clyde.
posted by dobbs at 2:42 PM on September 29, 2010
.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 2:47 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 2:47 PM on September 29, 2010
Little Big Man blew me away when I was a teen. I haven't seen it since. I should. Mainly because I wonder if it will still blow me away.
.
posted by Decani at 2:47 PM on September 29, 2010
.
posted by Decani at 2:47 PM on September 29, 2010
Little Big Man is the greatest Sunday afternoon movie ever.
It didn't seem like it but I guess yesterday was a good day to die.
posted by vapidave at 4:17 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
It didn't seem like it but I guess yesterday was a good day to die.
posted by vapidave at 4:17 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
The LA Times obit/retrospective is quite nice, too, I think.
Among other achievements, he brought death to life.
.
posted by yiftach at 4:28 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Among other achievements, he brought death to life.
.
posted by yiftach at 4:28 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
The LA Times obit/retrospective is quite nice, too, I think
Thank you.
posted by Joe Beese at 4:38 PM on September 29, 2010
Thank you.
posted by Joe Beese at 4:38 PM on September 29, 2010
The NYTimes obit also notes his role as advisor to JFK in the 1960 debates (parts one and two), which may have had as much influence on the political landscape as Bonnie & Clyde did on the cinematic one.
posted by yiftach at 4:41 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by yiftach at 4:41 PM on September 29, 2010
Here's a better link to the 1960 debates, which we coincidentally marked the 50th anniversary of a couple of days ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrcRKqLSRw (58 min)
posted by yiftach at 4:46 PM on September 29, 2010
posted by yiftach at 4:46 PM on September 29, 2010
He now has a point all his own, sitting way up high.
.
posted by wemayfreeze at 5:43 PM on September 29, 2010
.
posted by wemayfreeze at 5:43 PM on September 29, 2010
Jean-Pierre Coursodon:
Although [Night Moves] approaches the crime thriller with at least as much originality as other Penn films did other genres, it does so in such an unobtrusive manner as to render the feat all but invisible. (Its aim, it seems, is not so much to "renew" the genre as to make us forget it existed.) ...
... Most of the time, the story line seems to meander aimlessly, taking in extraneous material, doubling back, going round in circles (the aimlessness is deceptive, a smoke screen obfuscating the complex, rigorous organization of an exceptionally well-structured script). The "mystery" aspect of the plot is dealt with in the most peculiar, topsy-turvy manner, withholding not the solution of the problem but the problem itself until the very end, when, in a dazzling visual tour de force, both are conjured up almost simultaneously. ...
Night Moves is a somber picture. ... characters who strike us as real people rather than just cogs in the machinery of a mystery plot makes the quality of despair in Penn's film particularly intense and affecting. ...
Yet the film does not leave one with a feeling of despondency. It is too full of creative energy, too swarming with sensory stimulation, too alive with a sense of anticipation and discovery.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:08 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Although [Night Moves] approaches the crime thriller with at least as much originality as other Penn films did other genres, it does so in such an unobtrusive manner as to render the feat all but invisible. (Its aim, it seems, is not so much to "renew" the genre as to make us forget it existed.) ...
... Most of the time, the story line seems to meander aimlessly, taking in extraneous material, doubling back, going round in circles (the aimlessness is deceptive, a smoke screen obfuscating the complex, rigorous organization of an exceptionally well-structured script). The "mystery" aspect of the plot is dealt with in the most peculiar, topsy-turvy manner, withholding not the solution of the problem but the problem itself until the very end, when, in a dazzling visual tour de force, both are conjured up almost simultaneously. ...
Night Moves is a somber picture. ... characters who strike us as real people rather than just cogs in the machinery of a mystery plot makes the quality of despair in Penn's film particularly intense and affecting. ...
Yet the film does not leave one with a feeling of despondency. It is too full of creative energy, too swarming with sensory stimulation, too alive with a sense of anticipation and discovery.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:08 PM on September 29, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dede Allen, Sally Menke and now this, 2010 is a very bad year...
.
posted by SageLeVoid at 4:31 AM on September 30, 2010
.
posted by SageLeVoid at 4:31 AM on September 30, 2010
always thought of him as one of those guys, like pollack, who made movies that were so good you couldn't tell how good they were. i.e., people didn't really appreciate the skill involved in his work, precisely because it was so clean.
posted by lodurr at 7:17 AM on September 30, 2010
posted by lodurr at 7:17 AM on September 30, 2010
... and congestive heart disease is not a good way to go. i hope there's some comfort for friends & family in it being over.
posted by lodurr at 7:19 AM on September 30, 2010
posted by lodurr at 7:19 AM on September 30, 2010
« Older Zomg ponies!!! | Lights Out! Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
.
posted by brundlefly at 12:56 PM on September 29, 2010