恐惧的迷宫

  • 露西·多琳恩 阿尔方斯·弗里兰 马克斯·德弗里恩特
  • 120分钟
  • ThefilmsofMichaelCurtizhavecometosymbolizeWarnerBr… ThefilmsofMichaelCurtizhavecometosymbolizeWarnerBrothersStudiosofthe1930sand1940s.Curtizdirectedmanyfavoritesfromthatera,includingCaptainBlood,TheChargeoftheLightBrigade,TheSeaHawk,YankeeDoodleDandy,TwentyThousandYearsinSingSing,andMildredPierce.HehelpedguideBetteDavisasherpopularityroseinthe1930s,andhelpedestablishErrolFlynnasthesymboloftheswashbucklinghero.JamesCagney(YankeeDoodleDandy)andJoanCrawford(MildredPierce)bothwonOscarsunderCurtiz'sdirection.Hislongcareeranddirectorialstrengthsbenefittedfromtheconstantworkavailableinthestudiosofthe1930sand1940s.Mostobservers,however,noteaprecipitousdeclineinthequalityofCurtiz'sfilmsafterWorldWarII. SurelyCurtiz'smostfamouscreationfortoday'saudienceisCasablanca,theonlyfilmforwhichhereceivedanOscarforBestDirector.ThiscultfavoritenowhasachievedalifeofitsownandestablishedBogartandBergmanasmodernfolkheroes.Conversely,directorCurtizhasbeenlostintheshufflewiththepassageoftime.Theanti-auteuristargumentseemstobethatthisparticularfilmrepresentsahappy"accident"ofthestudiosystem,andthatitsenduringpopularityshouldnotbecreditedtoitsdirector.WhatislostinthisanalysisisthefactthatCasablancawasamajorhitof1943(finishingamongthetopgrossingfilmsoftheyear),wonthreeAcademyAwards(BestPicture,Director,andScreenplay),andearnedCurtizseveralawardsastheyear'sbestdirector.CriticsofthedayrecognizedCurtiz'sinput.Certainlytodayweshouldgivepropercredittothedirectorofafilmthatwaspopularuponrelease,continuestobepopulartoday,andhasinfluencedcountlessotherworks. Curtizhasbeendifficultforfilmhistorianstodealwithbecauseofthelengthandbreadthofhiscareer.UsuallyoverlookedisthetimehespentinEurope;CurtizdidnotbeginwithWarnerBrothersuntilhecametotheUnitedStatesattheageofthirty-eight.HiscareerbeganinHungary,whereheparticipatedinthebeginningoftheHungarianfilmindustry,usuallyreceivingcreditfordirectingthatcountry'sfirstfeaturefilm. CurtizremainedactiveuntiltheoutbreakoftheFirstWorldWar.AfterthewarhemovedtoViennawherehedirectedseveralimportantfilms,includingtheepicSodomandGomorrah.ScholarsknowlittleelseaboutthispartofCurtiz'scareer,however.Accountsofotheractivitiesleadonlytocontradictions;nowhollyreliablelistofcreditsexists.Sadly,historianshavewrittenoffthefirsttwodecadesofCurtiz'scareer.Weknowagreatdealoftheworkofotheremigrés,suchasFritzLangandF.W.Murnau,butvirtuallynothingofCurtiz. NotunexpectedlythereexistseveralversionsofwhyandhowWarnerBrotherscontactedCurtizandbroughthimtotheUnitedStates.Regardless,from1926CurtizbecameintertwinedwithalltheinnovationsoftheWarnerBrothersstudio.Inthemid-1920shewasthrustintoWarnerattemptstoinnovatesound.HisTenderloinandNoah'sArkweretwo-parttalkiesthatachievedconsiderablepopularityandgarneredmillionsinbox-officerevenues.Inakeytransitionalyear,1930,CurtizdirectednolessthansixWarnerBrotherstalkies.InthatsameyearWarnerBrotherstriedtointroducecolor,butwithnoneofthesuccessassociatedwiththestudio'seffortswithsound.Curtiz'sMammy,oneofJolson'sfollow-upstoTheJazzSingerandTheSingingFool,hadcolorsequences.In1933hedirectedthewell-regarded,all-colorhorrorfilm,TheMysteryoftheWaxMuseum.Curtiz'srecordduringthetransitiontosoundelevatedhimtothetopechelonofcontractdirectorsatWarnerBrothers.Unlikeothers,Curtizseemednottoutilizethissuccesstopushforgreaterfreedomandindependence.Instead,heseemedcontenttotakewhatwasassigned,executinghisworkinaclassicstyle.Heproducedcrispflowingnarratives,seekingefficiencyofmethod.Hewasaconservativedirector,adapting,borrowing,andultimatelyutilizingallthedominantcodesoftheHollywoodsystem.Stylisticinnovationswerelefttoothers.TodaycriticspraisethefilmnoirlookofMildredPierce,butthisfilmwasneverthoughtofasoneoftheforerunnersofthatstylewhenitwasinitiallyreleased.AfterMildredPierce,CurtizmovedontoNightandDay,thefictionalizedlifeofColePorterstarringCaryGrant,andLifewithFather,anostalgic,lightfamilyromancestarringWilliamPowellandIreneDunne.Bothoftheselatterfeaturestookinagreatdealofmoneyandearnedconsiderablecriticalpraise,onceagaindemonstratinghowwellCurtizcouldoperatewhencalleduponbyhisemployer. IfthereisawaytogetahandleontheenormousoutputofCurtiz'scareer,itisthroughgenreanalysis.Intheearly1930sCurtizstucktoformulamelodramas.HislimitedparticipationinWarnerBrothers'ssocialrealismcyclescamewithfilmslikeBlackFury,whichlookedatstrikebreaking.CurtizseemedtohithisstridewithWarnerBrothers'sErrolFlynnpiratecycleofthelate1930s.CaptainBloodandTheSeaHawkstandaslastingsymbolsofHollywood'sabilitytocapturethesweepofromanticadventure.WarnerBrothersalsosentdirectorCurtizandstarFlynntotheOldWestinDodgeCityandVirginiaCity.Intheearly1940stheWarnerstudioreturnedtothemusical,establishingitsnichewiththebiographicalfilm.Curtizparticipated,directingYankeeDoodleDandy(whichdepictedGeorgeM.Cohan'slife),ThisIstheArmy(IrvingBerlin),andtheaforementionedNightandDay(ColePorter).YankeeDoodleDandydemonstratedhowwellthisEuropeanemigréhadtakentotheUnitedStates.CurtizwouldcontinuetodealwithAmericanainhisfilmsduringthe1940s.Forexample,hetoucheddeepAmericanideologicalstrainswithCasablanca,whileMildredPierceexaminedthedarksideoftheAmericanfamily.FeministcriticshavenotedhowtheportraitofastrongwomaninthelatterfilmmirrorsthefreedomwomenachievedduringWorldWarII—afreedomwithdrawnafterthewarwhenthemenreturnedhome.ThefamilyinMildredPierceisconstructedinanodd,bitterway,contrastingwithCurtiz'saffectionateportraitinLifewithFather.Genreanalysisishelpful,butintheenditstilltellsustoolittleofwhatwewanttoknowaboutthisimportantdirector.AscriticsandhistorianscontinuetogothroughhisfilmsandutilizetherecordsnowavailableattheUniversityofWisconsin,UniversityofSouthernCalifornia,andPrinceton,moreinsightswillcometolightaboutCurtiz'sparticipationintheHollywoodstudiosystem.Inthemeantime,Curtiz'sfilmswillliveonforthefanswithcontinualre-screeningsofCasablanca,MildredPierce,andTheAdventuresofRobinHood.

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