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Beyond the Law Remarks: Difference between revisions
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Beyond the Law'' Remarks}} | {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Beyond the Law'' Remarks}} | ||
{{byline|last=Mailer|first=Norman}} | |||
[[File:1967-Eddie-Bonetti-NM-in-Beyond-the-Law.jpg|thumb|Eddie Bonetti and NM in ''Beyond the Law'' (1967).]] | [[File:1967-Eddie-Bonetti-NM-in-Beyond-the-Law.jpg|thumb|Eddie Bonetti and NM in ''Beyond the Law'' (1967).]] | ||
Having been requested to make a few remarks about my movie ''Beyond The Law'' (alias ''Bust 80'') (alias ''Gibraltar'', ''Burke and Pope'') (alias ''Copping the Whip'') alias, alias — nothing more curious to find than a title for a movie. I would prefer instead to talk about what the film is not, or not yet. It is dangerous to talk about what a movie is, or give a synopsis of its plot because that tends to circumscribe an audience’s reactions and so would spoil the sense of anticipation at a premiere. I would therefore rather mention a few flaws, lacks, and omissions in the work. | Having been requested to make a few remarks about my movie ''Beyond The Law''<ref>From {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Beyond the Law |url= |work=Scholastic |location=Notre Dame |date=March 29, 1968 |access-date= }} Reprinted by Project Mailer with permission of the estate of Norman Mailer. ([[68.5]])</ref> (alias ''Bust 80'') (alias ''Gibraltar'', ''Burke and Pope'') (alias ''Copping the Whip'') alias, alias — nothing more curious to find than a title for a movie. I would prefer instead to talk about what the film is not, or not yet. It is dangerous to talk about what a movie is, or give a synopsis of its plot because that tends to circumscribe an audience’s reactions and so would spoil the sense of anticipation at a premiere. I would therefore rather mention a few flaws, lacks, and omissions in the work. | ||
When the date of April 2 was set for the premiere, some two months ago, we had every confidence the film would be finished artistically and technologically by that date. At a certain point, perhaps by March 1, we recognized that the time required for certain necessary technological processes had been miscalculated: by April 2 we could have a film which was ready either artistically, or technologically, but could not have a picture which was ready both ways. The final cutting and trimming would in that case have had to be rushed and as you will see, this picture depends even more than most on its editing. So we chose to present for the premiere a film which was artistically as good as we could make it. But technically, it is alas not finished. It will not be finished in that way for another month. There are at present no titles at the beginning, no credits at the end, and no accompanying music (this last, an artistic lack — although not too grievous we hope). There will be also, one confusing technical process present. The picture was cut with notations for the film laboratory to insert a great many specific old-fashioned Wipes — a process where part of the new scene slowly or quickly pushes or explodes the old scene off the screen. Since this process takes weeks to print in a lab, we are forced instead to show the picture at this point with Superimpositions (both scenes are seen for an instant in double exposure) for this is the preparation we must give the lab to make Wipes. In places the Superimpositions will happen to work well. In other places, they will prove distracting. | When the date of April 2 was set for the premiere, some two months ago, we had every confidence the film would be finished artistically and technologically by that date. At a certain point, perhaps by March 1, we recognized that the time required for certain necessary technological processes had been miscalculated: by April 2 we could have a film which was ready either artistically, or technologically, but could not have a picture which was ready both ways. The final cutting and trimming would in that case have had to be rushed and as you will see, this picture depends even more than most on its editing. So we chose to present for the premiere a film which was artistically as good as we could make it. But technically, it is alas not finished. It will not be finished in that way for another month. There are at present no titles at the beginning, no credits at the end, and no accompanying music (this last, an artistic lack — although not too grievous we hope). There will be also, one confusing technical process present. The picture was cut with notations for the film laboratory to insert a great many specific old-fashioned Wipes — a process where part of the new scene slowly or quickly pushes or explodes the old scene off the screen. Since this process takes weeks to print in a lab, we are forced instead to show the picture at this point with Superimpositions (both scenes are seen for an instant in double exposure) for this is the preparation we must give the lab to make Wipes. In places the Superimpositions will happen to work well. In other places, they will prove distracting. | ||