Cutter's Way - No Mercy

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Movie
German title Cutter's Way - No Mercy
Original title Cutter's Way
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1981
length 106 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ivan Passer
script Jeffrey Alan Fiskin
production Paul R. Gurian ,
for United Artists
music Jack Nitzsche
camera Jordan Cronenweth
cut Caroline Biggerstaff
occupation

Cutter's Way is an American drama directed by Ivan Passer from 1981 , in which Jeff Bridges , John Heard and Lisa. Cutter's Way - No Mercy (Alternative title: Until the bitter end , Cutter & Bone - Until the bitter end ; Original title: Cutter's Way ) Eichhorn play the leading roles.

The screenplay by Jeffrey Alan Fiskin is based on the novel Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg .

action

His work in the Vietnam War left visible and invisible marks on the veterinarian Alex Cutter . The visible ones are the loss of his leg, arm and an eye. He tries to numb the invisible traces by drinking until nothing works. He also hides his deep injuries under a mountain of sarcasm.

His buddy and best friend Richard Bone, a gigolo and also busy selling expensive boats for his benefactor George Swanson from time to time, got into a bad story on a rainy evening in Santa Barbara , without knowing it. Alex forcibly leaves his car, which no longer starts, near a dumpster that a man is working on. The body of a young woman is later found in the container, whereupon Bone is suspected of murder. Now Cutter awakens from his lethargy and does everything in his power to find the real killer. Bone believes that he saw the oil tycoon JJ Cord at the garbage can in question, and can imagine that he had something to do with the hideous crime. Following up on the lead, Cutter is obsessed with the idea that the businessman is the young woman's killer, although Bone is increasingly unsure of what he actually saw. He's a man who doesn't like making decisions and prefers to stay out of everything. Maureen "Mo" Cutter is the woman between the two, who loves her physically crippled husband, but also feels drawn to the mentally crippled Bone.

Valerie Duran, the sister of the murdered, assists Cutter in his investigations, which Cutter takes as an opportunity to lead a crusade against those who, in his opinion, are guilty. It is becoming more and more clear that a conspiracy seems to be underway. Then Cutter's house burns down and his wife dies. Cutter's belief that Cord was the culprit leads to a tragic conclusion. Cutter deceives himself that convicting the oil tycoon could not only solve the murder case, but also eradicate the injustice of a world in which the underprivileged are harassed by the rich and powerful. For him, the ruling elite is responsible for his going to war while all of his rich friends stayed behind and got even richer. Cord, in his capacity as a symbol of this privileged class, is, in his opinion, responsible not only for the death of the girl, but for everything that went wrong and is going wrong in America. In the end, it remains to be seen whether Cutter's suspicions about Cord are true or just the fantasy of an alcoholized, paranoid war veteran.

Cutter manages to steal an invitation to a party at Cord's estate, where he tries to shoot him. Bone tries to prevent the murder. Just as Bone is talking to Cord about Cutter in his office, he enters the office through the window while sitting on a horse. Cutter dies in this action, which Cord acknowledges emotionlessly. He just puts on sunglasses. Suddenly, Bone grabs the gun in Custer's hand and shoots Cord. The film ends with this scene.

Note: The viewer should choose one from a multitude of interpretations, discard it and rethink it and remain eager to see and interpret the film again and again.

production

prehistory

Paul Gurian hired Alan Fiskin to write a screenplay for the novel Cutter and Bone , the rights of which he had acquired. Fiskin liked the characters from the book, but was of the opinion that the last half of the novel was blatantly based on the events of the road movie Easy Rider , and that you couldn't make a film out of it. Gurian agreed and asked Fiskin to write a script based on the book. Gurian then came to terms with Studio EMI . Robert Mulligan was to direct and Dustin Hoffman would play the Alex Cutter. However, a mistake in the planning forced Hoffman to cancel the project. Thereupon Mulligan withdrew as well as EMI. Gurian then presented his idea to United Artists , where he received an acceptance from Vice President David Field, who wanted to support him in making the film.

It was then decided that the Czech Ivan Passer was the right man to direct. Although Passer was already busy with another project, after reading the script, he chose Cutter & Bone .

A budget of $ 3.3 million was planned; United Artists only wanted to give a commitment if the budget was reduced to 3 million dollars and a so-called star actor could also be won, with Jeff Bridges in mind, who was ultimately also insisted on. Passer then campaigned for John Heard after seeing him in Shakespeare's play Othello . United Artists wanted another star, but Passer insisted Heard was the right one. Lisa Eichhorn got the main female role of Mo after test shoots with Bridges.

Production notes

The film, made by Gurian Entertainment Production, was shot in Santa Barbara , California . The film had an estimated budget of $ 3 million.

The film features the song We're Old Enough to Know , music and arrangement: Jack Nitzsche, text: John Byrum .

publication

The film premiered on March 20, 1981 in New York. On September 5, 1981, it was shown at the Venice International Film Festival and on September 12, 1981 at the Toronto International Film Festival . On September 16, 1981 he was first seen in Los Angeles. In 1982 it was published in France and Ireland, in 1983 in Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands. It was first performed in Hungary in October 1987, in the UK it was performed again in June 2011, and it was performed again in France in June 2014. In Greece it was presented on September 24, 2011 at a film festival in Athens. The film was also released in Bulgaria, Brazil, Spain, Finland, Israel, Italy, Poland, Portugal, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

In the Federal Republic of Germany it was not shown in the cinema, but released on video in April 1986. It appeared either under the titles Up to the bitter end and Cutter & Bone - Until the bitter end . When it was first broadcast on ZDF on January 9, 1987, the title was Until the bitter end , when it was broadcast later, Cutter's Way - No Mercy . On February 5, 2007 another DVD edition with a German soundtrack was released, published by Twentieth Century Fox under the title Bis zum bitteren Ende .

reception

effect

United Artists was skeptical of the film, which was compounded by the move of executives David Field and Claire Townsend to 20th Century Fox , who were previously the film's biggest proponents. Cutter and Bone fell victim to the studio's internal policy, it was not expected to be commercially successful and only a relatively small budget was invested in promotion before the film premiered in New York. Both the major New York newspapers and network critics rated the film negatively. The studio was so shocked by the unflattering reviews that it wanted to withdraw the film after a week. Without knowing it, Richard Schickel wrote in the Times and David Ansen in Newsweek and other New York newspapers, which made the film appear in a completely different light. Ansen said that under Passer's sensitive direction Heard had delivered his best performance in a film to date. He is funny, on the other hand caustic and crazy, but lets the self-confidence that he has hidden within himself shine through.

These positive reviews led United Artists to change the already badly suffered film title to Cutter's Way and to present the film at various film festivals, where it received numerous awards. In the summer of 1981, the film was then started again under the new title and with a new, more effective advertising campaign in various cities in the United States. Passer's comment on how the film had been handled was not without a certain bitterness. Basically, he said that you can murder produced films just as much as you murder people. He said United Artists murdered, or at least tried to, the film. Commercially, the film remained a failure at the US box office at $ 1.7 million.

criticism

Vincent Canby described the film in the New York Times on March 20, 1981 as "strangely uncoordinated." It is one of those films that would not reveal what it is about (“it's the sort of picture that never wants to concede what it's about”).

Robert Horton, film critic at The Herald , spoke of one of the most important American films of the 1980s, but not that many people have heard of, let alone seen. The film provides a prime example of how to direct, it implements a variety of ideas that can carry the film beyond the plot. Sound, mood, light, speed, the film is almost flawless. It is a film about ambiguity that already sets the mood in the opening scene. We could never be sure what we were seeing or how it would fit into the story. But something mysterious began when the white dress wiped away one picture and presented another, like a curtain that opened. Something is coming towards us - and that also applies to the devastating ending, which is like a shot.

The director John T. Patterson described the film in 2011 as "almost perfect", a film in which the word " masterpiece " is appropriate. Patterson praised the performance of the three main actors and said it was necessary to look from all sides to see the strengths of the film. The work was rightly described by the AFI as the most underrated performance of the 1980s.

Also Letterboxd described the film as "forgotten masterpiece of cinema" and advised the film who The Big Lebowski , may see a movie here, from the The Big Lebowski must have been influenced for whatever reason, but you should watch this movie , [...] it might be the last great American character film of that time. And to Jeff Bridges, he has never been better than an indecisive loser. However, it is John Heard who makes this film shine. It offers one of the most magical, cynical and desperate performances that has ever been seen in a film.

Film Noir wrote that until the bitter end was an "unjustifiably almost forgotten milestone of neo noir". It went on: “Fully skilled in narration, acting and atmosphere, Ivan Passer's multi-faceted drama went down without a sound. That was also because internal dealings at United Artists made it difficult for the film to start. Once it was completed, no one there was interested in bringing Ivan Passer's film to theaters after its proponents migrated to Twentieth Century Fox. When it unexpectedly received an award at US film festivals, Until the bitter end in the summer of 1981, the start was delayed. The Czech immigrant Passer complained at the time that UA had at least tried to 'murder' his film. ”The performance of John Heard, Jeff Bridges and Lisa Eichhorn was said to be“ excellent ”and“ extremely credible ”. The “sadness that the film exudes from the first to the last minute [is] film noir through and through. Typical elements: Traumatization through experience of war, existence on the edge of the social norm and plenty of conflict material ”.

The lexicon of international film said: “From the point of view of society, dark, pessimistic film that does not offer any easy means of identification; he renounces spectacular action scenes and refuses a clear development of the plot. The critical attitude is in places undermined by some clichéd drawings. "

The film magazine Cinema said: "A different kind of avenger story: Instead of firing, there is an intelligent, dark story here." Conclusion: "Character study that carries you away and touches."

Awards (selection)

Jeffrey Alan Fiskin received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1982 for Best Screenplay . He also received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award .

  • 1982: National Society of Film Critics
    • NSFC Award 3rd place Award for Lisa Eichhorn
  • 1983: Grand Prix (Belgian Film Critics Association)
    • Award Grand Prix de l'UCC to Ivan Passer and Cutter's Way

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ David Sanjek: Cutter's Way (1981/2001) review at popmatters.com
  2. ↑ a b c d Martin F. Norden: The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies ,
    chap. Richard T. Jameson: Passer's Way , rutgers university press, New Jersey, 1981 (English).
  3. ^ Filming locations for Cutter's Way , accessed June 24, 2007
  4. ^ Opening dates for Cutter's Way , accessed June 24, 2007
  5. ↑ Joe Leydon: Film Commentary July / August 1981 (English).
  6. ^ Cutter's Way. Retrieved January 10, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Vincent Canby , "Cutter and Bone," To Ivan Passer Mystery. In: The New York Times . March 20, 1981. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
  8. ↑ Jim Emerson: Opening Shots: "Cutters Way" at rogerebert.com, July 31, 2006 (English). Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  9. ↑ John Patterson: "Cutter's Way" is a cinematic masterpiece In: The Guardian . June 4, 2011 (English). Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  10. ↑ Cutter's Way (1981) at letterboxd.com (English)
  11. ^ Until the bitter end at der-film-noir.de
  12. ↑ Cutter's Way - No Mercy. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  13. ↑ Cutter's Way - No Gnade (1981) at cinema.de (with 10 film images), accessed on May 17, 2017.