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120 pages

English

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The stories behind the other eight films, from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and The Twilight Zone: The Movie to Apocalypse Now and The Crow, are just as astounding and gripping--this is a book film fans will devour. These bizarre, often hilarious cinematic endeavors confirm that truth is stranger than fiction, reality more volatile than narratives, and fate more improbable than plots.

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Película fotográfica

Film

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Publié par	ABRAMS BOOKS
Date de parution	02 février 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781468300130
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0462€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Copyright
This edition first published in hardcover the United States and the U.K. in 2012 by Overlook Duckworth, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.
N EW Y ORK
141 Wooster Street
New York, NY 10012
www.overlookpress.com
For bulk and special sales, please contact sales@overlookny.com
L ONDON
90-93 Cowcross Street
London EC1M 6BF
inquiries@duckworth-publishers.co.uk
www.ducknet.co.uk
Copyright © 2012 by Ben Taylor
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.
ISBN 978-1-46830-013-0
for Holly
Contents
Copyright
I NTRODUCTION
1. The Last Shot of the Night
Twilight Zone: The Movie
2. Hollywood Be Thy Name
Heaven’s Gate
3. King of the Moon
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
4. “The Idiodyssey”
Apocalypse Now
5. Adventure Is Over
Fitzcarraldo
6. It’s Good to Be Kim
Pulgasari
7. Black and Blue
The Crow
8. Welcome to My Nightmare
The Abyss
9. Rough Waters
Waterworld
C ONCLUSION
N OTES
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I NDEX
Introduction
T HERE IS NOTHING EASY ABOUT MAKING A FILM.
When a production begins to unravel, the brutal rules of a zerosum game take hold. The ultimate accomplishment of completingthe picture reflects the reverse image of a relentless struggle. The memories of endured hardships are as lasting as the narrativeitself and become linked to a film’s director, cast, crew and studio.
Each of the films discussed in this book is distinguished by its disastrous production. These films were also chosen for thediverse circumstances of their production troubles, which provide insight into the incalculable combination of problems anddangers that take such a toll on the people involved in the process of filmmaking.
Many of the dark events that unfurled throughout the making of these films bear an uncanny resemblance to the equally bizarrestories woven into their scripts, accentuating the irregularities and uncertainties of real life in comparison to the balancedplots of fiction. I have endeavored to explore the making of these films and their interior narratives whenever this may providea deeper understanding of the craft of filmmaking. However, the information in each chapter adheres to published interviews,memoirs, magazine articles, newspaper articles, production footage, documentaries and other published materials.
This book is not meant to serve as a protracted tabloid exposé. It is my intention to contribute to an understanding of therigorous nature of creating a story on celluloid and the business of making movies. This is a business that combines art, money, egoand power into productions that are ephemeral and original in nature, thus presenting a unique set of problems. It is theseuncommon problems of filmmaking that are found at the intersection of art and money, where the inspiration of ideas and themesmust shoulder enormous financial burdens while striving to entertain —from the Latin tenere, to literally “hold” the audience.
Though all of these films put many people under incredible duress, they were all ultimately completed. Audience response washighly influenced by the sometimes heavily publicized strife of the filming process. The stories of the characters withinthe film were often secondary to the rumors of disaster and misfortune that enticed many to see these pictures. When applicable,this allure will be discussed more fully. A complete history of some of these films warrants an examination of the forcesacting outside the nucleus of the film’s production, specifically how problems unrelated to the film itself can interruptprogress. Often forces within the media, studio politics or tumultuous bad luck shadowed a project from beginning to end.
Additionally, the allure of many of these productions is not just due to the events that transpired during the making of thefilm. In many cases, the crisis behind the movie was one of conflicting personalities or a crisis of ego. Despite the multitudeof problems that can arise on a set, many of the most troublesome were the personal dynamics between cast, crew and studio.Very often incredible tensions existed between one man’s vision and the interests of the people who carried the burden ofrealizing that vision.
Each chapter will explore the variety of strange and unforeseen circumstances that affected the making of these films. Thenature of the struggle changes from one film to another, but there is a common fortitude among those who labored so tenaciouslyto see their projects through to the end.
The following nine chapters recount the plight of those caught within the storm of a deteriorating production. In the chapteron Pulgasari, a Korean filmmaker is held prisoner and forced to realize the brash visions of his dictatorial captor, Kim Jong II. The makingof The Abyss poses the unique problem of completing an entire film under water. The endless production of Apocalypse Now drags a determined director into the darkness and strain of a jungle odyssey. A budget spiraling out of control and holdinga studio hostage is the disaster that earned Heaven’s Gate its notoriety. Production is halted after the accidental death of the lead actor in The Crow. Filming abruptly shuts down on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie after a disastrous helicopter crash. The brutality of the lead actor in Fitzcarraldo leads a destitute director to threaten death. An unending array of catastrophes build from the first day of production on The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a movie shadowed by special effects problems and studio fury. Interminable expenses and forces of nature cripple a 166-dayshoot on the set of Waterworld.
When strung together, these chapters provide a kaleidoscopic exploration of the unique nature of the movie business. The eras,genres and people that make up each film highlight the common urge that embattled filmmakers increasingly feel to surrenderto the fatalistic circumstances of a film held captive by misfortune or outside influences. What remains inspiring is thateach of these movies reached completion under the tremendous inertia of despair. Though the motivation to finish the filmscame in large part from financial obligations, the persistence and bravery of those involved cannot be ignored.
Just as viewers of the final cut are invited to be captivated by the struggle of the protagonist, those who follow the misadventuresof these cinematic endeavors will discover that truth is stranger than fiction, reality more volatile than narratives, andfate more improbable than plots.
1
The Last Shot of the Night
Twilight Zone: The Movie

Brink of Eternity
F ILMMAKING is a pursuit often undertaken in a search for supremacy. Each movie must be greater than the last; it must be louder, more explosive and more daring than any other. If this bravado could be manifest in a physical form, it would undoubtedly look a lot like a man named Joe Bonomo, one of Hollywood’s earliest stuntmen. His father immigrated to the United States from Istanbul, Turkey, and Joe was born in Coney Island. Joe would later joke that when his father arrived in America he must have mistaken the torch of the Statue of Liberty for an ice cream cone, thus inspiring him to start Bonomo’s Ice Cream. While forging his business, his father fell in love with a French woman who operated a family candy store with her father. They eventually married, believing their life together to be as natural a union as the joining of their confectionary businesses.
Bonomo’s scrawny build as a child gave no indication of his parents’ sugary livelihood. Mercilessly teased for his thin frame, Joe aspired to become a perfect physical specimen from an early age. This aspiration was not at all uncommon in the family. His great uncle Yousiff, known to many as “The Terrible Turk,” was once a champion wrestler and had earned a respectable fortune. Yousiff never trusted banks, so he kept his winnings with him in the form of gold pieces secured within a pocketed belt that he wore at all times. However, Yousiff’s refusal to ever part with his winnings eventually brought about his demise. He was traveling aboard the S.S. La Bourgoyne when a fierce storm hit. The ship began to sink, and he leapt into the water, allowing others to take safety in the few lifeboats available. With his considerable strength, he certainly could have swum to safety, but only if he had released the hefty pouch from his waist. For Yousiff, the gold was far too dear to part with. He sank into the icy waters of the Atlantic with his shining coins still anchored to his waist. In his memoir, Joe reflected, “I think I learned a great lesson from that … the accumulation of money has always been a secondary consideration.” 1
After being shuffled from one high school to another, and earning varsity letters in football, basketball, track, wrestling, swimming and hockey, Joe finally decided to drop out. He continued his bodybuilding, and he soon became the prototypical image of virility. He appeared in one photo series wearing nothing but a leopard-skin loincloth, single-handedly hoisting a barbell into the air. In time, he discovered that his physical prowess could lead to a rewarding career, just like it had for his great uncle Yousiff. But he wasn’t interested in being a career prize fighter. Instead, he became entranced with the glamorous life of stuntmen. His cavalier attitude and kinesthetic intelligence led to numerous jobs leaping from buildings and jumping from speeding trains on Hollywood sets. These brave feats contributed to the mystique of his personality. As Bonomo himself put it, he