The China Syndrome

The China Syndrome (1979) dir. James Bridges
Starring: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas

***1/2

At heart a pointed political commentary but out of the procedural details emerges expertly executed razor sharp thriller. The hit film from James Bridges captures the tail of the 70’s paranoia genre - the story of a near nuclear melt down captured on tape by a news crew and the dramatic fight to uncover the big industry falsifications and spin control which ensued.

Jane Fonda plays Kimberly Wells a female TV news reporter, successful at fluffy puff pieces looking for that big break into serious journalism. She finds it when she’s asked to do a routine story on the local nuclear power plant. Her breakthough story seemingly falls in her lap when her tour of the facility is interrupted by a near nuclear meltdown. Trapped inside the glassed-in observation deck, camera operator Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) covertly catches the entire event on camera. Adams films the tense moments as shift supervisor Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon) watches powerlessly the water level lower and almost expose the nuclear core.

Wells and Adams think they’ve got an important news story on their hands, until it get kyboshed by the uncourageous media bosses. Fearing a law suit against the organization for filming illegally it will take the stamina of Wells and Adams to fight the good fight and win. Adams, the bleeding heart, is full speed ahead, but Wells is skeptical of risking her job and possibly her neck for the cause. Together they have to convince the workmanlike Godell who holds all the cards needed to expose the company’s nefarious culpability.

Bridges uses common sense intelligence and strict realism without cinematic embellishment to capture a mood of quiet suspense. The crucial accident scene is played without music, with little dialogue, instead using carefully chosen shots, the ambient noise and silence of the room to capture the tension. We never see the water level rising, or the nuclear core shaking or any other literal visuals of the accident, Bridges puts us in the point of view of Godell who only watches a dial slowly wind down to zero. And so it’s up to Jack Lemmon to sell us ungodly fear. Lemmon is a master thespian and his unspoken facial reactions are as full of life as any over the top chaotic action scene could have dramatized.

Very topical in its day the film was made at a time with nuclear power was becoming a popular substitute for coal, and oil. The title refers to the analogy of what could happen if that nuclear core were exposed – a meltdown of such extreme proportions that it could literally melt through the earth emerging on the other side of the world – in China. The description of this possibility puts into perspective the type of fire humanity constantly plays with. Eerily 12 days after the release of this film the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island occurred– the same geographical area as this fictional story.

“The China Syndrome” is one of only 8 films James Bridges (“The Paper Chase”, “Bright Lights Big City”) ever made. His sparse but selective body work shows a distinct integrity, truth and honesty. His faith in realism has consistently resulted in an ability to project all the cinematic emotions proper without traditional Hollywood embellishments. Sadly Bridges died early at age 57 of cancer.

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY

Bright Lights, Big City (1988) dir. James Bridges
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, Phoebe Cates, Tracy Pollan

***1/2

In 1988’s “Bright Lights, Big City” Michael J. Fox was cast against type as a coke-addled hack writer struggling to stay afloat after the break-up with his wife. His marvelous and truthful performance and James Bridges’ mature direction help make “Bright Lights, Big City” one of best films to bottle the late 1980’s cultural zeitgeist–a solemn introspective version of Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street”.

Jamie Conway (Fox), the alter-ego of the film’s novelist/screenwriter, Jay McInerney, is a writer whose career has plateaued with a mind-numbing job as a fact-checker for a second-rate magazine. He continually dreams about his recently separated wife Amanda (Phoebe Cates). The film joins Jamie midway through his depression drowning out these sorrows snorting lines of coke in bathroom stools of late night dance clubs.

But Jamie is a charmer and he manages to keep the appearance of control. Curiously he continually tries to avoid his younger brother’s attempts to make contact with him. Gradually as his job unravels and his dependence on drugs increases, through a few key flashbacks we get to know of Amanda’s betrayal and the dark memories of his family life in Kansas City – the sad circumstances which led to Jamie’s concerted attempt to escape from reality.

The great DOP Gordon “The Godfather” Willis lenses the film with colours of the day. Bright neon, clean lines, bold reds, pinks and greens popping out of the frame. Underneath the loud (and often obscene) music and stylish visuals Bridges keep his frames cold and undecorated emphasizing the emptiness of this lifestyle.

Jamie’s backstory is important to explaining the current state of his life. The key reveals in the film occur in Jamie’s flashbacks. But what we don’t see is his life in Kansas City. The allure of the Big City (hence the title) brought Jamie to gotham. The drug was the Manhattan lifestyle and once addicted the chemical substances clung to him easy.

Though much is made of the shocking site of the wholesome former teen idol, Michael J. Fox, doing lines, “Bright Lights, Big City” is not a drug film. We never see Jamie get hooked, we never see him do his first line, and we never see him kick the habit, nor do we see anyone reference his habit. Jamie’s dilemma is Amanda and his regret with his mother. Bridges is smart to leave out the clichéd scenes of over-the-top partying, excessive behaviour and cold turkey withdrawal and the closure of his recovery. Bridges lets the audience determine the state of his habit. Like Bridges’ other films, in particular “The Paper Chase”, the mood and tone are kept quiet – a minimalism which respects the audience’s ability to interpret cause and effect without the blunt hammer of exposition.

“Bright Lights, Big City” was the last film for James Bridges – an underrated writer/director with small but impressive body of work. Sadly Bridges died of Cancer in 1993 at age 57. His two other great films include 1973’s “The Paper Chase”, the marvelous inside look into the competitive world of Harvard Law School and 1979’s “The China Syndrome”, the Oscar-nominated political film about a nuclear accident cover-up. “Bright Lights, Big City” fits snuggly beside both these great films. Bridges brings the integrity of a journalist to the dramatic treatment of all three stories. Like a good journalist, throughout his career Bridges eschewed sensationalism for truth. Unfortunately it didn’t always make for popular cinema, but the maturity of his work has stood the test of time. Enjoy.

A 20th Anniversary of “Bright Lights, Big City” is available on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment