Cotton Club (film)
Cotton Club is an American gangster and music film by director Francis Ford Coppola from 1984. The setting is the Cotton Club in the New York borough of Harlem during the US prohibition .
action
The black New York borough of Harlem in the roaring 1920s is marked by prohibition and the effects of the economic crisis . Small crooks , gangs and gangster groups , above all the mobster Dutch Schultz , profit from the illegal trade in alcoholic beverages and earn a fortune.
In 1928, the white, Irish-born jazz trumpeter Dixie Dwyer tried desperately to get an engagement. He succeeds in gaining the favor of Dutch Schultz because he accidentally saves his life in an explosive attack by his competitor Joe Flynn. Out of gratitude, Dutch gets him a job as a guardian for his lover Vera and Dixie's brother a job as a protection racket . Dixie isn't keen on being close to crime. At a party, he witnessed Dutch stabbing a competitor, who did not stop provoking him with words, in the presence of several party guests in an extremely brutal way at the cold buffet with a carving knife, so that the blood from a chandelier on the ceiling fell on Veras Face dripping. However, the handsome and smart Dixie needs the money. He falls in love with the attractive Vera, but initially leaves his hands off her for fear of Dutch. Especially since Dutch - to be absolutely sure that nothing happens to his lover - has instructed his bodyguard Sol Weinstein not to let the two of them out of sight.
Meanwhile, the Cotton Club owner Owney Madden has given Dixie Dwyer a Hollywood career thanks to his connections . In his films he copied the real role models as a “mob boss” and also appeared as a trumpeter in the Cotton Club.
At the same time, the Afro-American brothers Dalbert "Sandman" and Clay Williams, despite racial discrimination, managed to get hired as tap dancers in the Cotton Club. The light-skinned Black Lila Rose Oliver also dances there. Sandman falls in love with her and woos her, although she initially gives him no hope.
Two years later, Vera finally got her own nightclub on Broadway from Dutch , Vera's Club . Sandman, who, unlike his brother, has achieved something as a solo dancer, finally learns that Lila is performing there; but as a black man he is not allowed to enter the club and has to send a messenger to her. Lila is impressed with Sandman's love and tenacity, but she is still reluctant to answer him.
Dixie comes to Vera's Club as a celebrated film star from Hollywood and spontaneously accompanies the owner, who is herself on stage as a singer, on his cornet . Both of them are jealously watched by Dutch.
Dixie's brother Vincent, introduced to the gangster world by Dixie, collects protection money for Schultz from the local owners in Harlem. After getting Dutch to dominate the betting business in this part of town, he demands better pay for his services. To blackmail the gang boss, he kidnaps his confidante Frenchy Demange. Owney seems to have no choice but to trigger his faithful accomplice. Dixie delivers the ransom to his brother and takes Frenchy away. Shortly afterwards Vincent is shot in a phone booth.
In 1931 Owney sponsored the mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano and often goes to the Cotton Club with him. One evening they witness how Dutch's partner Frances Flegenheimer jealously storms in, sees Dutch sitting at one of the tables with Vera and verbally abuses him before she is thrown out.
Back from Hollywood, Dixie disappears backstage with Vera. When Dutch confronts his lover, she does not deny that she and Dixie have just kissed; rather, she provokes Dutch by confessing that she slept with Dixie and that she will do it again at every opportunity. Dutch angrily tries to snatch the jewelry from Vera that he bought from her. Dixie rushes through the bar and prevents him. Suddenly Dutch is holding a pistol and is aiming it at his rival; but Sandman kicks his hand so the shot goes wrong, and Owney lets him out.
After this incident, Lucky Luciano, who has been targeting Dutch's arms deals for some time, believes the time has come to eliminate his rival; his gang shoots Dutch and his men in a pub.
Owney has to go to jail and is almost happy to be able to withdraw from life-threatening businesses for a while. Lucky Luciano is the new king of the underworld.
Dixie, who wants to return to Hollywood, asks Vera to come with him. To his disappointment, however, she refuses because she thinks Dutch is still alive and says he would not let her go. When he comes to the platform, however, she is waiting for him with a packed suitcase.
Awards
- The film was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 for the best production design ( Richard Sylbert , Leslie Bloom and George P. Gaines) and for the best editing (Barry Malkin and Robert Q. Lovett) .
- He was nominated in 1984 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in the categories of Best Director ( Francis Ford Coppola ) and Best Picture.
- Francis Ford Coppola and the film were nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1985 for Best Motion Picture Drama .
- Milena Canonero won a BAFTA Award in 1986 for the costumes ; the film was also nominated for such an award for best sound.
- Maurice Schell was nominated in 1985 for a "Golden Reel Award" for sound editing.
- In 1986 the film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Award of the Japanese Academy.
- The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.
- Diane Lane was nominated for the negative Golden Raspberry Award in 1985 for her achievements in Cotton Club and Streets On Flames for Worst Female Supporting Actress .
background
Cotton Club is a mixture of gangster and music film with a complex and demanding plot. The film adapts the reality of the US alcohol prohibition from 1919 to 1933. The gangster greats Schultz, Luciano, Owney Madden - but also Berman , Madame St. Clair and Bumpy Rhodes (aka "Bumpy" Johnson ) - are people who make it real has given. The argument between Vincent and Schultz alludes to the conflict between Schultz and Vincent Coll . The Schultz assassination was actually decided by the National Crime Syndicate , which was dominated by Lucky Luciano.
The figure of the jazz trumpeter Dixie Dwyer was derived from Leon Beiderbecke , whose nickname was "Bix".
In the film, actress Lonette McKee sings the play Ill wind .
Tom Waits plays the conférencier Irving Starck in a small guest role .
After the rather experimental and failed film One with a Heart , Robert Evans worked again with Coppola after he had already produced The Godfather . The filming was way over budget and ended in the producer's bankruptcy. Legal disputes followed, in which the director and producer blamed each other for the enormous budget overrun.
criticism
Film critic Roger Ebert put Cotton Club on his list of the 10 best films of 1984.
“During the time of prohibition and the economic crisis of the 20s and 30s, the Cotton Club in Harlem became the setting for rousing jazz music, fantastic equipment and dance revues and relentless competition among gangsters. The combination of two original American genres - musicals and gangster films - results in an excellent entertainment film thanks to the confident leadership of the actors and the brilliantly captured atmosphere of the era. "
“With this project, Coppola fulfilled a long-cherished dream despite many complications. He created a successful combination of jazz film and gangster story with the themes of violence, family, loyalty and jazz in a brilliant set film. Brilliant actors, rousing dance scenes and excellent music, what more could you want? "
Web links
- Cotton Club in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Cotton Club at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Film review at areadvd.de
- freeze frame
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Cotton Club . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2009 (PDF; test number: 55 245 V / DVD / UMD).
- ↑ There's one shocking death that ranks, for me, among the grizzliest (in a good way) in all movies, a brutal bit of revenge involving a carving knife, some guy's neck, and blood splattering all over Diane Lane's face . on [1]
- ↑ There is one scene of particularly gruesome violence in “The Cotton Club” that is as upsetting as anything in “The Godfather” or “Apocalypse Now,” but even this is offset by the decision to have a drop of blood fall prettily onto the face of Vera Cicero (Lane) from a chandelier . on [2]
- ↑ http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/11102/The-Cotton-Club/awards
- ↑ Cotton Club by Francis Ford Coppola ( Memento of the original from November 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , at www.arte.de , accessed on November 2, 2015
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Cotton Club. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
