tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post8959349776999956124..comments2024-01-09T04:01:00.672+00:00Comments on Breakfast In The Ruins: Losey at the BFI, Part # 4: Figures in a Landscape (1970)Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14951955227326548340noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-21871388715233834562013-08-21T16:31:48.739+01:002013-08-21T16:31:48.739+01:00Hi Ben,
hope you are doing fine. -
Just want to ...Hi Ben,<br /><br />hope you are doing fine. -<br /><br />Just want to let you know that "Figures in a landscape" seems to be released in Germany on August 30th in what may be the best DVD so far: The distribution label announced that it will be a new transfer and the film will appear in its original theatrical anamorphic widescreen. The audio options will be English and German. An original theatrical trailer will be included and a booklet with some production notes (only in German). As good as this news is, if it is really a new transfer why don't they release it as a blu ray?? Completely incomprehensible to me. But you might be interested anyway:<br /><br />http://www.amazon.de/Im-Visier-Falken-Robert-Shaw/dp/B00COB777M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377098625&sr=8-1&keywords=im+visier+des+falken<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />JensAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-85490668021533244832012-06-25T14:12:09.509+01:002012-06-25T14:12:09.509+01:00Thanks for the offer - yes, would be an interestin...Thanks for the offer - yes, would be an interesting read if you don't mind sending a copy across.<br /><br />As I say, I've got a copy of 'The Sun Doctor' lined up to read at some point in the future, so maybe I could tackle it at the same time...<br /><br />Good luck putting the Shaw website together - remind me what the address is and I'll definitely give it a look.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14951955227326548340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-53098644131597327412012-06-22T09:45:35.660+01:002012-06-22T09:45:35.660+01:00Hi Ben,
you are welcome.
I took a lot of researc...Hi Ben,<br /><br />you are welcome.<br /><br />I took a lot of research into Shaw. I will soon continue to do the tribute webpage from which you got one of the pictures in your article.<br /><br />His books are excellent, too, yes. It's also sad that nobody seems to know that he was a very good writer (he always said that he wanted to be remembered much more as a writer rather than an actor). Sadly, his books are out-of-print. I loved the "Hiding Place" and "The Sun Doctor" while the most impressive work might actually be his most famous on , the play of "The Man in the Glass Booth". This is really extraordinary and very unique. If you are interested I could send a copy. I think it is in a class with Pinter. I strongly recommend to read it before watching the film version from which Shaw got his name removed. Those people who saw the film version not having read the play found the material compelling. This is different when you read the book before. And although Shaw could be difficult I think he was right on that one. First of all, the aesthetics of the film looks extremely poor. Production was by the Ely Landau corp. who did a lot theatre-on-films in the 70s. John Frankenheimer, who did "The Iceman Cometh" for him, had this to say about those productions: "Like all of Ely's stuff, the ideas were marvelous and the execution was terrible." Secondly, they decided to make it more emotional, more romantic. Bad choice. And I think they should have done it with Donald Pleasence in the lead who was in the original stage production. As much as I respect Maximilian Schell I think he has overdone this one and missed the point of the extremely complex character Goldman.<br /><br />So, if you like to read t I will write through the E-Mail adress which you posted here...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-57276008349923490082012-06-21T17:00:20.205+01:002012-06-21T17:00:20.205+01:00Wow, fantastic stuff. Yes, I've always really ...Wow, fantastic stuff. Yes, I've always really liked Shaw - pity he'll just be known forever as "that guy from Jaws". His books sound interesting too - I've got one lined up to read at the moment.<br /><br />Thanks again for all the additional info - I really appreciate it (and hope you didn't have to transcribe that whole Q&A extract just to post it here!)Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14951955227326548340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-34720459315994859122012-06-19T14:36:53.454+01:002012-06-19T14:36:53.454+01:00Yes, the film needs a much better treatment on Blu...Yes, the film needs a much better treatment on Blu-ray. But I'm afraid they will never do it. Paramount isn't even interested in a fine release of "Black Sunday" (1977, John Frankenheimer) which also a fantastic Robert Shaw-movie. <br /><br />Indeed, Shaw was something else. I think he was one of the best actors that ever lived but he was recklessly underrated. So sad that he died so early. Incredibly intense and those piercing steely blue eyes...He seemed to be a complex person and while many loved to work with him (Sean Connery, Nick Nolte, George Roy Hill) others found Shaw's competitive side very hard to cope with, like McDowell and Richard Dreyfuss.<br /><br />This may interest you, an excerpt from a Q&A with McDowell in 2004:<br /><br />Audience member: Would you care to comment on Figures in a Landscape [Joseph Losey, 1970]. <br />MM: That was hard, only from the point of view of the physical thing of running, running, there was me and Bob Shaw, and if you're tied to Robert Shaw for four months... [laughter] he is a great man, Robert was a wonderful man, but four months... it was tough, but Joe Losey was a remarkable director actually, and I'm very, very glad that I did this. It was my second film after If.... I was totally green. I had no idea what I was doing. I know that this was this Barry England book... Figures in a Landscape was the hot property of the year, and every actor, every young actor in England wanted to play this part. At first it was going to be Peter O'Toole for the other one, and then he pulled put. The director that cast me was a very fine Hungarian called Peter Medak, who's gone on to make some really wonderful films. What's the one he made with Peter... Ruling Class [1971]. <br />PR: Ruling Class, that's right, yes. <br />MM: Anyway, he's a fabulous director, and a very sweet man. He cast me in the movie and... because I was 'H-O-T,' as Lindsay would say, after If.... and I was the sort of flavour of the month. And we went off to Spain to do this film and it was quite extraordinary really, but it was one of those things that really... the script didn't really work, to be honest. Robert was rewriting the script and... it taught me much more, really, about film than - honestly - If.... because it taught me what not to do. And the pitfalls were very glaring. And I remember, I was great friends with Robert, we got on very well, until the producer called him in his suite in Granada in a hotel. And I was in the suite with him and I heard his conversation, which went something like 'oh yeah? Oh... yeah? So you've seem 'em... the dailies, eh? Oh... what do you mean, over-the-top? What do you mean? Ah fuck you, what do you know anyway? Eh? Oh yeah? Well who says we'll have to redo it? Oh. Well have you spoken to Joe? Eh? How was Malcolm? Oh was he?' [laughter] I saw this idiot after 25 years. His name was John Kohn. He's not with us any more, I'm afraid, but I said 'do you ever remember that call? I was sitting there, and from that moment on it was over.' He was very competitive... so he had it in his mind he wanted to do a Mifune performance - very large, maniacal, crazy. And so I literally took one step back and observed. And that was it. That was it. I didn't try and do anything else. I just watched him and listened to him and took a lot of shit on the way, but still... <br /><br />- cheers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-60301248527918521592012-06-17T12:50:57.348+01:002012-06-17T12:50:57.348+01:00Thanks for your comment, and for all the additiona...Thanks for your comment, and for all the additional info.<br /><br />I still really like this film, but yeah, if his performance is anything to go by, Shaw seems to been in a pretty 'extreme' state of mind at the time...<br /><br />Since writing this post I've located a pretty good bootleg copy of the film that I'm happy with, but it would be great to see a bigger/better official release one day... I still think it's very under-rated.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14951955227326548340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-54665585735886478842012-06-16T16:54:31.080+01:002012-06-16T16:54:31.080+01:00Very nice review. A film definitely to be (re-)dis...Very nice review. A film definitely to be (re-)discovered.<br />There is a Korean DVD which is at least anamorphic compared to the Durch Paramount DVD.<br />Beautiful Camera work by Henri Alekan (Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast")and two excellent actors.<br />The film was shot in Spain.<br />In the interview book with Losey by Michel Ciment the director says that he liked a lot of sequences in "Figures". <br />But the production was difficult because Losey had arguments with the financiers and McDowell said in later interviews that it was a very exhausting shoot. He also says that Robert Shaw extremely competitive and McDowell decided just to keep out of his way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-80380357822612090182012-05-14T12:58:19.439+01:002012-05-14T12:58:19.439+01:00"My best guess would be the Italian Alps, or ..."My best guess would be the Italian Alps, or Northern Spain," - that's exactly what I thought too.<br />I like what you wrote about the movie, there's not much information about it on the internetagathalynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09372928674346064767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3369610344911858466.post-91328839441808518802009-08-27T00:49:55.699+01:002009-08-27T00:49:55.699+01:00This blog is giving me so many intriguing films to...This blog is giving me so many intriguing films to hunt down. You want to drive me to the poorhouse!JRSMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430775461763521797noreply@blogger.com