Today's remedy is a tribute to the great film director Sidney Lumet, who died last week at the age of 86. The New York Times has an interview with Lumet as part of their The Last Word series. It is well worth watching. Lumet directed some classics, some of which I have quoted on DOTE, including Network, The Verdict, Serpico, 12 Angry Men, The Pawnbroker, and Dog Day Afternoon. There aren't many (or any) directors like him anymore. He was the voice of a different era. I suppose I will be accused of Nostalgia, which is punishable by death or ridicule, if I say it was a far better era.
We'll start out with a clip from Dog Day Afternoon, followed by the crucial courtroom scene from The Verdict. We'll conclude our Lumet appreciation with Arthur Jensen's "Corporate Cosmology" from Network. Lumet never won an Oscar, but most film critics believe Network was one of the best 10 films ever made. There's no doubt about that.
Lumet started out in the 1950s directing live early TV dramas on shows like Playhouse 90. 12 Angry Men originated from a so-called "teleplay" made in 1954. There used to be jazz on TV all the time back then. It was the Era of Good Taste, long before there were hundreds of cable TV channels broadcasting drivel for imbeciles. Listening to Miles Davis and John Coltrane doing So What reminds me of that era. I'll finish up with that tune, although Davis and Coltrane are merely fossils, insignificant relics of the past, once you've heard the superlative stylings of Justin Bieber.
You failed to mention Lumet's "The Pawnbbroker", one of the best movies of the second half of the 20th century. Very compelling, and moreso for its starkness in black and white. The finest performance Rod Steiger ever gave.
Posted by: gardener1 | 04/16/2011 at 06:59 PM