Grand Canyon - In the heart of the city

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Movie
German title Grand Canyon - In the heart of the city
Original title Grand Canyon
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1991
length 134 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Lawrence Kasdan
script Lawrence Kasdan
Meg Kasdan
production Michael Grillo
Lawrence Kasdan
Charles Okun
music James Newton Howard
camera Owen Roizman
cut Carol Littleton
occupation

Grand Canyon - in the heart of the city is an American movie from the year 1991 with Kevin Kline , Danny Glover and Steve Martin . The Director led Lawrence Kasdan , the writer wrote Lawrence and Meg Kasdan.

The German premiere took place at the film festival in Berlin Berlinale takes 1,992th

action

It is an episode and ensemble film . All protagonists live in Los Angeles and are confronted in different ways with violence and the downside of urban life.

The central figure in Lawrence Kasdan's directorial work is Mack. He works as a lawyer and is well off, married and has one son. After a late-night Los Angeles Lakers basketball game , Mack tries to avoid the traffic jam by taking a shortcut. He ends up in a residential area marked by social unrest, with wrecked cars on the roadside. Here, of all places, his vehicle is on strike. After notifying a towing company, he waits in his car. A youthful gang appears. She threatens him with violence and intends to rob him. But before that happens, Simon appears in his tow truck. He asks the gang to let them go unmolested, thereby saving Mack.

Simon's sister Deborah lives in the immediate vicinity. She is a single mother of two children. Deborah worries about her son Otis, who always comes home late in the evening and seeks support in a corridor. Simon asks his nephew to get out. But Otis is initially stubborn. Without his gang he is nothing. Deborah's house comes under fire (probably by a competing gang) one evening.

While his car is being repaired, Mack and Simon get closer. They argue about the rapidly deteriorating social situation and the ever-present violence. The whole country is pretty run down. Simon talks about the Grand Canyon he once toured and how he felt he was insignificant in view of its size.

Mack's friend Davis, a film producer of extremely violent feature film productions, is shot in the leg by a robber on the street and robbed of his luxury watch. When he is later released from the hospital, he seems refined. He no longer wants to produce violent films, no longer glorify what was his undoing. He tells of a quasi-religious experience. In future he only wants to produce life-affirming works.

Claire, Mack's wife, finds an abandoned baby in the bushes while jogging in the morning and takes it home with her. Only in the evening does she hand it over to the authorities.

In pronounced dream sequences, Mack greets his new friend Simon and watches his pretty assistant Dee. Claire, on the other hand, dreams of her own family slipping away and that she also missed the baby. Both become active after these dreams.

Claire wants to adopt the baby. Mack visits Simon at his workplace. For him, Simon is something of a guardian angel who saved his life. Due to a similar earlier experience, he does not want to let his rescuer go unthanked again. He offers him a new apartment in a better area for his sister Deborah. He also sets him up with his colleague Jane. The two become a couple. When Deborah is cynically offered life insurance for her children, she agrees to move. Otis has the biggest problems with this move. Cut off from his gang and unsafe in the new area, he runs through the streets until he is stopped by the police. Shortly afterwards he shows up at Simon’s house, covered in tears, reporting that he has experienced terrible things.

Dee roams around in her car at night. She is frustrated with an unrequited love for Mack. She is attacked in the car at a street crossing. But the police are there immediately and prevent worse. Dee later quits her job with Mack.

Meanwhile, other types of violence and dangers have emerged. For example the force of nature in the form of a small earthquake. Or the recklessness that occurs when Mack gives his son Roberto driving lessons and comments briefly: 'It's already rough here'. Beggars and homeless people line the protagonists' path - as a sign of a growing gap between rich and poor. Helicopters are constantly circling the LA skies - a symbol of constant surveillance.

When Davis goes back to work, his new resolutions are gone. He thinks his films only reflect reality - including violence. In addition, cinema is always an outlet.

Simon and Mack have become friends. Simon pays back for all the positive changes that Mack initiated. He invites him and his family to go on a trip to the Grand Canyon. As they look at the canyon at a lookout point, Simon asks: 'So, what do you think?' and Mack replies: 'I think, it's not all bad.'

Reviews

The German feature section gave Kasdan's directorial work mixed views. In particular, the credibility of the social criticism was questioned.

Sabine Horst wrote in the epd film (4/1992): 'The impression that Lawrence Kasdan has put a soap opera on screen' is not entirely accidental. But she also admits that Kasdan is adept as a writer. She praises the acting performance of the ensemble ('cast iron cast', 'convincing'). The film is 'a small world theater', designed with a certain ironic nonchalance, not meant very seriously.

Film-Dienst critic Stefan Lux says that in "Grand Canyon" the banality and greatness of human existence were compressed into obvious metaphors. He considers the soundtrack of James Newton Howard to be 'unspeakable'.

The Fischer Film Almanach 1993 speaks of the great disappointment of the 1992 Berlinale, which was nevertheless rewarded with the golden bear. The film is talkative and listless and can only convince in a few scenes.

In its review of the film 'Kleine Wunder', Der Spiegel reported that the Berlinale award was met with boos and whistles. 'The big political attempt ... is only followed by a few small private hops'

Instead of honestly dealing with a world that has fallen apart: social kitsch. Wolf Donner, tip , 7/92

In the lexicon of international film , "Grand Canyon" is described as a quiet, unspectacular Hollywood author's film, despite the bombastic soundtrack, which summarizes basic existential questions in simple stories and metaphors.

CINEMA reviewer Harald Braun was thrilled. He saw Kasdan's film as a frighteningly authentic painting of morals that still manages to create a romantic, hopeful atmosphere (CINEMA 4/92).

In his book '1000 cult films on video', Jean Lüdeke describes Grand Canyon as a soap opera-like portrayal of morals, a serious comedy and at the same time a sobering portrait that is enlivened with romantic, optimistic set pieces.

The Filmbewertungsstelle (FBW) awarded “Grand Canyon” the title: Particularly valuable.

Awards

Golden Bear at the Berlinale 1992 PFS (Political Film Society, USA) Award (Category: Peace)

Nominated for Oscar : Best Original Screenplay, Golden Globe : Best Original Screenplay, Writers Guild of America: Best Original Screenplay

backgrounds

Not all storylines are told to the end. Kasdan wanted his film to be elliptical, he urged his audience to 'get involved in the viewing and to fill the holes themselves, to complete the story themselves' (Tip Filmjahrbuch 8/1992).

The Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated script prompted quotes from other artists. Phil Collins, for example, quotes in his song 'Both Sides Of The Story' a dialogue by the leader of the black gang (who molested Mack at the beginning) ('... No gun, no respect ...'):

... White man turns the corner, finds himself within a different world ghetto kid grabs his shoulder, throws him up against the wall he says "would you respect me if I didn't have this gun 'cos without it, I don't get it, and that's why I carry one "We always need to hear both sides of the story ... (Phil Collins, Both Sides Of The Story, 1993, album: Both Sides)

In Dieter Wedel 's 'Schattenmann', Maja Maranow quotes Davis's partner Vanessa and her plea for children almost word for word, but also her doubts about the meaningfulness of childbirth ('... with what I used to do ...').

The film grossed around $ 40 million. Lawrence Kasdan said in an interview with Frank Schnelle (Tip Filmjahrbuch 8/1992): "Grand Canyon is already so successful that I have now earned five more years in which I can do what I want".

In 1992 the film was ranked 89th in the FFA's Top 100 and was seen by 196,725 viewers in Germany.

In the US, the film grossed $ 33 million. It grossed $ 41 million at box offices worldwide.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on www.boxofficemojo.com , accessed on June 29, 2007