The Cincinnati Kid

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Norman Jewison, Filmmaker

Norman Jewison, Filmmaker (1971) dir. Douglas Jackson
Documentary

***1/2

By Alan Bacchus

Fiddler on the Roof is now available on Blu-ray from MGM Home Entertainment. Of course, it looks fabulous. It was a high profile project back in the day. The production values were top notch and it was a slick Hollywood production made in the very un-Hollywood location of Yugoslavia for some Eastern European authenticity. Everyone should pick up the Blu-ray regardless of what else is included on the disc. But even if Fiddler doesn’t turn your crank, the inclusion of the National Film Board of Canada documentary Norman Jewison, Filmmaker is cause for celebration.

It’s certainly not highlighted to stand out in the requisite tiny font under the Special Feature section of the packaging. I’m not surprised. For most of these Special Edition Discs, the marketable element is the QUANTITY of extra goodies, as opposed to the quality. As such, it’s just one of a list of featurettes, commentaries, etc., but there’s something extra special about this feature.

As filmed by the NFB, Norman Jewison, Filmmaker feels like a template for what modern behind-the-scenes featurettes are today. It was extremely rare before the home video days for audiences to see how films were made. Hell, it was shot on real film (either 16mm or 35mm, it’s difficult to tell), thus it has a cinematic look of its own with all the grain and texture of the real film medium.

We get nearly unprecedented access to a great Hollywood artist at the top of his craft executing a very difficult film. Though Jewison has been known as one of the nice guys in Hollywood, he’s not immune to losing his temper, and we get a decent flavour of the pressures that face a producer/director such as Jewison while making an expensive Hollywood film.

Watching Jewison direct a scene is a treat. In the traditional fly-on-the-wall manner, doc director Douglas Jackson observes Jewison directing Topol and choreographing the large musical sequences with complete command and confidence in his craft.

Canadian filmmakers know Jewison as a staunchly patriotic ex-pat who started directing CBC television, made his fame and fortune in Hollywood and then gave back just as much to the domestic industry here in the form of the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) - the equivalent of the AFI in the United States and the BFI in Britain. Even in 1971, the documentary speaks to this maverick voice and passionate supporter of new talent. And his comment on the burgeoning independent film movement shows his hand at the pulse of new Hollywood.

Both Jewison and the National Film Board are Canadian treasures, and the combination of these two great ‘institutions’ of cinema in one place is one of the most joyous, accidental discoveries I’ve seen on any DVD/Blu-ray.

'Norman Jewison, Filmmaker' is available with 'Fiddler on the Roof' on Blu-ray from MGM Home Entertainment.

Moonstruck

Moonstruck (1987) dir. Norman Jewison
Starring: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, Vincent Gardenia, John Mahoney

***1/2

By Alan Bacchus

It’s hard to imagine this film, so fluffy and light as air Italian-American romcom being the 6th highest grossing film of it’s year 1987. It was a huge hit. Then again, back in 1987 Cher was hot, Julia Roberts hot.

Moonstruck hits some of the same cultural buttons as My Big Fat Greek Wedding. A film set exclusively in the culture of NYC Italian-Americans, yet is so familiar to other second generation immigrants in other cities and countries around the world.

For Loretta Castorini (Cher), she’s so identifiable and sympathetic as a hero. She’s in her mid 30’s, widowed early in her marriage, but years later still unable to find a guy, or at least have a decent guy propose to her. Along comes Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), who seems to have his head on straight, Italian, grounded, with a decent job. But there just seems to be a spark missing. Loretta doesn’t mind, she’s pragmatic enough to know being married is better than living at home with her nagging parents.

The rub here is Johnny’s mother, whom he is completely submissive and beholden to. He can only marry Loretta when mom is dead, presumably after a trip to Sicily to say goodbye at her death bed. While away Loretta, in planning the wedding, meets the real love in her life, Johnny’s loose cannon brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage), an emotional spark plug if there ever was one. While this torrid affairs blossoms, so does two others, involves Loretta’s mother and father, all three of whom seem to be appeasing their own urges toward martial impropriety but in search of a different kind love.

While John Patrick Shanley’s script sings delightfully, as directed by Norman Jewison and acted with aplumb by his perfectly cast actors, the film elevates to dramatic heights of an Italian opera. In the first act, Jewison plays the drama with realism, setting up Loretta’s predicament naturally. We can easily see these characters in our own kitchen, bickering and squabbling. In the second act, with the introduction of Ronny, Jewison cranks up the melodrama. The introduction of Ronny alone, is drawn out to the maximum. Ronny is first seen in a sweaty wife-beater, shovelling red hot coals into a iron furnace which bakes the bread for the family business.

His first meeting with Loretta is a hailstorm of conflict, and dramatic flare – a hyper-emotional performance from Nicolas Cage full of all the histrionics which would define his unique career. And even though they’ve just met, we can easily see how they could fall in love instantly.

Loretta’s no pushover though, and she represents as much the foil as the match for Ronny. This is the stuff of best romantic comedies. Their passion fuels the second act wherein Jewison executes a number of wonderfully romantic moments, including the central opera set piece as well as Cher’s famous morning stroll through the street kicking the can across the road like young teenager with her first crush.

The potential infidelities and temptations exercised by Loretta’s mother and father in the b-story serve as a perfect counterbalance to the whimsical romance in story-A. Specifically Rose, Loretta’s mom, played by Olympia Dukakis. In her meeting with John Mahoney’s character, she moves on a similar path to Loretta, but with the years of experience she is able to look at the relationship with a more objective viewpoint. Under Jewison’s direction of these two fine performances he brings forth a different kind of uncomsumated romance.

Moonstruck deservedly won Oscars for Cher, Dukakis, and Shanley and is now available on Blu-Ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof (1971) dir. Norman Jewison
Starring: Chaim Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, Paul Mann, Rosalind Harris
Michèle Marsh, Neva Small

***1/2

By Alan Bacchus

With his adaptation of 'Fiddler on the Roof' from the successful stage production to the screen director Norman Jewison executes at once, a thrilling and extravagant musical in the grand old ways of studio Hollywood, as well as, using the context of the impending Russian Revolution, a sombre reflection of how the march of time can quickly erase centuries-old traditions and history.

As proclaimed in the opening musical number, the film is about 'tradition'. The family traditions of Tevye’s people, Ukrainian Jews, who for centuries have done things a certain way, the duties of the family set out and adhered without question. Like the grass is green so are the traditions of the Tevye’s life. And so when his three daughters, all of whom have entered marrying age, one by one choose the modern version of courtship over the traditional arrangement, Tevye's life comes crashing down.

The narrative structure coincides with the romances of each of the three daughters. There’s the eldest daughter, Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris), who is set up with an older widower because he has money. But the young gal is clearly in love with the lowly tailor –a fact which everyone in the town knows except Tevye. Adding fuel to Tevye's fire is the second daughter Hodel who shacks up with the local Marxist Perchik. And much as Tevye is a man of principle and tradition, he can't help but give in to their demands. But the last straw is Chava (Neva Small) who elopes with his Russian Orthodox beau, which causes Tevye' to put his foot down on faith and disown his youngest daughter.

At three hours its long and indeed the two hours before the intermission fly by with lightning speed. Arguably the final third is a different film. As the parallel story of the Russian Revolution catches up to Tevye, the film turn serious with a very dark dose of new century reality. Not only are Tevye's traditions crashing down but his entire way of life will be instantly thrown upside down. As Jews, they will be thrown off their land, and presumably later in life, suffer even worse fates.

As the anchor, Topol is magnetic. The Irsaeli star appeared in the London production and in the film version was nominated for an Oscar. Topol exudes great strength as a father, as well as a vulnerable emotional side when his traditions are challenged by his daughters.

Jerome Robbins choreography, like his other great cinematic ventures, West Side Story, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the King and I, is rooted in the reality of the story. Unlike the fantasies say Gene Kelly, Robbins' sequences don't so much provide audiences with imaginative escapism but distinct expression of the emotion and action of its particular scene. For instance the great wedding scene at the end of the second act, features a number of precise dance numbers, all of which are organically tied to the traditions of the event.

One of the more ironic stories to emerge from the making of this film is contained in the introduction to Norman Jewison's book 'This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me". In it he describes the inadvertant error made by the studio in their decision to hire Jewison, based on his name. Well, despite his name Norman Jewison is not Jewish, yet he still delivered a great Jewish movie and a timeless classic.