ABOUT THAT ‘ANGEL HEART” SYMBOLISM
Yesterday, in the “Last Night’s Screening” section, I mentioned that after a dozen screenings I might have finally figured out what director Alan Parker was trying to tell us with the returning symbolism of that slow-turning fan.
WARNING: If you haven’t seen “Angel Heart” I’m about to spoil it completely — which, I promise you, would be a real shame.
In the story’s linear timeline, our first glimpse of the fan is seen in a shot outside a New York hotel room during the sacrifice of a sailor. If you remember, this was the ritual Johnny Favourite performed in the hopes of getting out of his contract for his soul with Satan. He ate the sailor’s heart and then stole his identity before becoming our intrepid P.I. Harry Angel. It’s also important to remember that Lisa Bone’s character informs us that Johnny (and therefore Harry) is/was the most truly evil person her mother had ever come across.
Unless I missed something, we only see the fan turn when Harry Angel is or is about to commit a murder off-screen. In other words, while Harry Angel suffers a blackout, evil Johnny Favourite returns to heinously murder those putting Harry on the trail of discovering who he really is.
Essentially, the fan tells us the evil in our protagonist is at work.
My two cents.
Man, I love talking movies!
RON HOWARD ASKS: WHAT IF YOU ONLY HAD SUPERPOWERS FOR ONE DAY?
Concept, concept, concept. When I was failing in Hollywood I would spend hours, days, weeks, trying to come up with a million dollar concept — something simple that would sell based only on the idea. And just when you think there aren’t any ideas left, someone comes up with:
“The film centers on a man who has superpowers only one day a year.”
Genius.
All that remains now is the harder part: executing the concept.
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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING
Watched Obama’s awful speech. You can read my thoughts and those of the other BIG editors here. Afterwards, it was the Packers season opener. I’m not a football but I love the Packers because they bring my wife so much pleasure (we’re going to next week’s Panther game) and I love the NFL because they really are the last true pop cultural institution practicing the all-important art of sincere patriotism.
The importance of the nation’s most popular league passing along these American traditions cannot be overstated. And there’s also something of a vicious circle at work here. Patriotism is one of the reasons the NFL is so popular and NFL helps to make patriotism popular.
God bless the NFL.
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QUICK HITS
YES, YOU’RE OLD: ‘STAR TREK’ CELEBRATES 45 YEARS
‘BEETLEJUICE’ BACK FROM THE DEAD?
CHRIS TUCKER RETURNS … QUITE POSSIBLY MAYBE.
LUCASFILM’S NEW SINGAPORE FACILITY LOOKS LIKE A SANDCRAWLER
“MONOPLY” MOVIE MOVES FORWARD. NO WORD ON “GO FISH”
STEVEN SODERBERGH FILMS FROM WORST TO BEST
“JEDI’ AND WHERE IT ALL STARTED TO GO WRONG…
…“PHANTOM MENACE” GETS OFF TO AWFUL START
...”CLONES” AN EXERCISE IN HOW NOT TO WRITE A LOVE STORY
WHY WE LOVE ABOUT FILM/TV ENGINEERS, TECHIES, AND GEEKS
INSIDE DAVID LYNCH’S PARIS NIGHTCLUB
LIVE IN LOS ANGELES? WANT TO SEE “1941” ON THE BIG SCREEN?
WHAT THE FILM INDUSTRY DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW
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CLASSIC PICK FOR SATURDAY, SEPT 9
FMC:
8pm EST: THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (1989) –Michelle Pfeiffer is the feisty sexy singer who joins a brother (Jeff & Beau Bridges) twin-piano act and sparks changes in the brothers’ act and relationship. Noted for Michelle Pfeiffer’s sultry rendition of “Making Whoopee” atop a piano. Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Bridges, Beau Bridges, Jennifer Tilly. Director: Steve Kloves
This was the beginning of a life-long love affair with Michelle Pfieffer that has thus far survived two decades and three restraining orders. It’s also when I started to sit up and take real notice of just how good of an actor Jeff Bridges is.
Engaging adult dramas are hard to come by these days, which is why the movie gods created home video. Far from a perfect film, but still well-acted and worth your time. The music’s better than you might expect (the stars do their own singing) and the story and characters have a surprisingly self-aware sense of humor about themselves.
And nobody smokes a cigarette like Jeff Bridges. Each puff is its own performance. Watch. You’ll see what I mean.
–Please send tips/suggestions/requests to jnolte@breitbart.com
–Please thank ScottDS for today’s awesome quick hits…
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