Rumble Fish (Coppola, 1983): Prince Charles Cinema, 8,45pm
This film is screening as part of the Classic Films season at the Prince Charles. Full listings here.
Master of Cinema review:
'Rumble Fish was Francis Ford Coppola’s (Apocalypse Now; The Conversation)
second adaptation of one of author S.E. Hinton’s novels, coming right
off the heels of wrapping production on the previous adaptation for The Outsiders. Doing a complete 180 in tone, Coppola’s Rumble Fish
was a surreal examination of urban decay, misspent youth, and
brotherhood shot in black and white with occasional blips of color.
Laden with symbolic imagery of lost time, allusions to Greek mythology
and even the post-war philosophical ramblings of the Beat Generation
(“California’s like a beautiful wild girl on heroin who’s high as a kite
thinking she’s on top of the world, not knowin’ she’s dyin’ even if you
show her the marks”), the film is focused on the relationship between
the two brothers Rusty James (Matt Dillon; Crash; The Outsiders) and The Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke; Immortals; Passion Play; The Expendables; The Wrestler).
The younger Rusty dreams of being a gang leader like his brother while
the recently returned The Motorcycle Boy, a philosophizing hero amongst
the local gangs, seems world weary, tired of his former life. The acting
isn’t exactly the highlight of this 1980s peculiarity as much as the
dreamlike state evoked by the beautiful, angular camera shots, extreme
close-ups, time lapse photography and film noir inspired cinematography
of Stephen H. Burum. With that being said, the cast assembled by Coppola
is one of the great ones that perhaps only a director of his caliber
could assemble, consisting of those he previously worked with like
Dennis Hopper and Laurence Fishburne as well as numerous individuals who
would go on to become Hollywood staples, such as the aforementioned
Matt Dillon, Nicolas Cage, and Chris Penn. Also of note is former
drummer for The Police Stewart Copeland’s evocative film score that is
both eclectic and fittingly syncopated.'
Here is the trailer.
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