User:TPoole/sandbox: Difference between revisions

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For Mailer, the complicated interplay between documentary film aesthetics and fictional film narratives culminated in his third film, ''Maidstone''. Much as Oliver Stone’s work with fact and fiction (as in his use of mixed media and what he termed “vertical editing”) moved from ''JFK'' (1991) through ''Natural Born Killers'' (1994) to ''Nixon'' (1995), so too did Mailer’s interest in filming “fiction in documentary form” move from experimentation to mastery.

Using no written script, ''Maidstone'' tells the story of famous film director

Norman T. Kingsley (Mailer), who considers a run for the presidency even

while he begins production on a new movie set in a bordello. Various persons

plot against him, ranging from a number of “high officials” to the “Cashbox,” a group of Kingsley’s cronies headed by his half brother Raoul Rey O’Houlihan (Rip Torn).Kingsley’s assassination seems inevitable, but it never happens.

Once again,Mailer combined professional actors (Ultra Violet and Hervé Villechaize) and amateurs (including two of his ex-wives and his then current

wife, as well as the owner of the ''Maidstone'' estate where the film was

shot). He also drew upon cast members from his prior films, including Rip Torn, Buzz Farber, Mara Lynn (from ''Wild 90''), Peter Rosoff (from ''Beyond the

Law''), and Beverly Bentley (''Beyond the Law'' and ''Wild 90'').

For much of its running time, ''Maidstone'' relies upon direct cinema. A failed attempt on Kingsley’s life all too readily recalls the assassination of

Bobby Kennedy. At the same time, the film’s editing occasionally drifts into

experimentation. Some footage appears to be repeated, but under scrutiny, it becomes apparent that Mailer gives us more than one take of the same shot, placing pressure on us to consider whether or not any are “real.” Title

cards divide the film into sections, though they also place some strain on

our memory. Each is numbered, though curiously only one of them (''EIGHT: Return of an Old Love'') spells out the number.

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 For Mailer, the complicated interplay between documentary film aesthetics and fictional film narratives culminated in his third film, ''Maidstone''. Much as Oliver Stone’s work with fact and fiction (as in his use of mixed media and what he termed “vertical editing”) moved from ''JFK'' (1991) through ''Natural Born Killers'' (1994) to ''Nixon'' (1995), so too did Mailer’s interest in filming “fiction in documentary form” move from experimentation to mastery.
+Using no written script, ''Maidstone'' tells the story of famous film director
+Norman T. Kingsley (Mailer), who considers a run for the presidency even
+while he begins production on a new movie set in a bordello. Various persons
+plot against him, ranging from a number of “high officials” to the “Cashbox,” a group of Kingsley’s cronies headed by his half brother Raoul Rey O’Houlihan (Rip Torn).Kingsley’s assassination seems inevitable, but it never happens.
+Once again,Mailer combined professional actors (Ultra Violet and Hervé Villechaize) and amateurs (including two of his ex-wives and his then current
+wife, as well as the owner of the ''Maidstone'' estate where the film was
+shot). He also drew upon cast members from his prior films, including Rip Torn, Buzz Farber, Mara Lynn (from ''Wild 90''), Peter Rosoff (from ''Beyond the
+Law''), and Beverly Bentley (''Beyond the Law'' and ''Wild 90'').
+For much of its running time, ''Maidstone'' relies upon direct cinema. A failed attempt on Kingsley’s life all too readily recalls the assassination of
+Bobby Kennedy. At the same time, the film’s editing occasionally drifts into
+experimentation. Some footage appears to be repeated, but under scrutiny, it becomes apparent that Mailer gives us more than one take of the same shot, placing pressure on us to consider whether or not any are “real.” Title
+cards divide the film into sections, though they also place some strain on
+our memory. Each is numbered, though curiously only one of them (''EIGHT: Return of an Old Love'') spells out the number.