The long death of stuntman Cameron
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The long death of stuntman Cameron |
| Original title | The stunt man |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1980 |
| length | 129 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Rush |
| script |
Lawrence B. Marcus Richard Rush |
| production | Richard Rush |
| music | Dominic Frontiere |
| camera | Mario Tosi |
| cut |
Caroline Biggerstaff Jack Hofstra |
| occupation | |
| |
The Long Death of Stuntman Cameron is a 1980 American action comedy directed by Richard Rush , based on a novel by Paul Brodeur.
action
The Vietnam veteran Cameron is on the run from the police. He accidentally ends up in a film set on which director Eli Cross is making a war film. Cameron unintentionally causes a fatal stuntman accident. Cross agrees to hide the fugitive from the police if Cameron stands in for the dead stuntman.
Cameron soon suspects that the eccentric director is only using him for extremely dangerous scenes. During a conversation in a bar with a drunken employee from the film, he learns that Cross risked the life of a helicopter pilot during the stuntman's fatal accident just to be able to film the scene. Cameron meets the film's leading actress, Nina Franklin, and falls in love with her. To his dismay, he learns that she and Cross were having an affair before showing up.
Cross is becoming more and more eccentric and tyrannical. When Nina's parents visit the set, recordings of their daughter are to be shown to them. They get to see a sex scene. Cross waits for the next day when Nina has to shoot a mourning scene. He tells her about the incident, Nina bursts into tears, which is the desired emotion for the scene.
On the last day of shooting, a difficult stunt is to be filmed in which Cameron is supposed to overthrow a classic car from a bridge. Nina also has to shoot two scenes. Cameron believes that Cross will manipulate his stunt scene in such a way that he will die. He tries to get Nina to go away with him. But that is impossible because the police, having been notified by Cross, have sealed off the film set. Nevertheless, Nina Cameron promises to flee with him and hides in the trunk of the Duesenberg .
Cross explains that the oldtimer is the only model available, so the scene must not be interrupted under any circumstances. Cameron, scared and close to panic, starts the classic car too early so that the film crew is forced to start shooting immediately. When Cameron reaches the bridge, he believes his escape was successful and turns off the camera that is recording the inside of the car. But a film technician bursts one of the tires, making the car out of control. The car skids and falls from the bridge into the water. When the Duesenberg begins to sink, Cameron climbs into the back seat to free Nina from the trunk. However, the trunk is empty. Cameron realizes that Nina is standing next to Cross on the bridge, following the scene.
Cameron swims to the bank and is dragged out of the water by Cross, convincing him that his life has never been in danger. He demands the promised $ 1,000 he should get for his work, but Cross laughs at him and says the stunt was only worth $ 750. The angry Cameron scolds the director who is flying off in a helicopter.
Reviews
“A film that in a surprising way reflects the medium and entertains in the best sense of the word; at the same time it makes the production of a film a little transparent. "
"A nasty, sarcastic and action-packed pleasure."
"[...] Cult classic in which reality and fantasy remain provocatively ambiguous until the very last scene."
"[...] aggressively weird, existentialist action comedy."
“The best thing about the film is its courage to be presumptuous. This may be vague praise, but it is not. "The Stunt Man" is not so much bragging in its conclusion of false sophistication as it is refreshing: The film entertains with its ideas and its unexpected ability to play with them quickly, easily and funny. It's refreshing to see a film that provides ideas instead of constant car crashes. "
Awards
- Profit
- 1980: Grand Prix of the Americas at the World Film Festival in Montréal , Canada
- 1981: Golden Globe for Dominic Frontiere in the category of best film music
- 1981: NSFC Award for Peter O'Toole for Best Actor
- nomination
- 1981 : Oscar nominations for Best Director (Richard Rush), Best Actor (Peter O'Toole), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Richard Rush and Lawrence B. Marcus)
- 1981: Nominations for the Golden Globe in the categories of Best Film (Drama) , Best Director , Best Actor (Drama) , Best Screenplay and Best Newcomer (Steve Railsback)
- 1981: DGA Award from Directors Guild of America
- 1981: WGA Award from the Writers Guild of America
background
- The premiere took place on June 28, 1980 in Seattle . In Germany it first appeared in cinemas on July 23, 1981.
- Rush, who had secured the film rights, began filming as an independent producer as early as 1978. His search for a distribution company was difficult. Only after the successful premiere in Seattle and the award ceremony in Montréal did 20th Century Fox decide to take the film into distribution. The film started in a small number of cinemas in front of a small audience. After the Oscar nominations, the sales company promised to show the film in other cinemas. However, only three other cinemas received copies, so that the film quickly disappeared from the programs due to a lack of visitor interest.
- The stuntman Lucky, who died in the film, was played by Steve Railsback's brother Michael. James Avery , who was in front of the camera for the second time, played a small supporting role .
- Location : Most of the film was shot in and around the luxury hotel " Hotel del Coronado " (called The Del for short , on the Coronado Peninsula ( California ) on the Bay of San Diego ). The hotel had been mentioned several times used as a filming location, for example, for the Billy Wilder film " Some Like It Hot's " (AKA: Some Like It Hot).
Web links
- The Stunt Man in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Internet presence of the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ The long death of stuntman Cameron. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Critique of Cinema
- ↑ "[...] cult classic, wherein what's real and what's make-believe remain tantalizingly ambiguous up to the final frame." - Critique of the Nashville Scene (Eng.)
- ↑ "[...] aggressively quirky, existentialist action comedy" - criticism of the Philadelphia City Paper ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ^ "The best thing about this film is that it has the courage of its own pretentiousness. This may seem dim praise, but it is not. The Stunt Man is not so much sophomoric, with its implications of false sophistication, as it is freshmanic: the movie delights in the play of ideas and in its own unsuspected ability to play fast, loose and funny with them. It is refreshing to see a movie that sends ideas instead of autos crashing headon. "- Review by Time Magazine (English)
- ↑ Article at TCM (engl.)
