Larry Flynt - The Naked Truth

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Movie
German title Larry Flynt - The Naked Truth
Original title The People vs. Larry Flynt
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1996
length 130 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Miloš Forman
script Scott Alexander ,
Larry Karaszewski
production Oliver Stone ,
Janet Yang ,
Michael Hausman
music Thomas Newman
camera Philippe Rousselot
cut Christopher Tellefsen
occupation
synchronization

Larry Flynt is an American film from 1996 by director Miloš Forman about the rise and career of Hustler founder and publisher Larry Flynt , played by Woody Harrelson . Particular attention is paid to his wife Althea Flynt, who died in 1987, and his court hearings.

action

In the early 1970s, Larry Flynt and his brother Jimmy ran the Hustler Go Go Club, a strip club in Cincinnati , Ohio . To increase the scarce sales, Larry Flynt brings out the Hustler magazine. Since advertising in the sense of pure photo advertising is prohibited for strip bars, he garnished the very daring recordings with texts as a decorative accessory.

Althea Leasure started working as a dancer in the “Hustler Go Go Club” at the age of 20. For her and Larry Flynt, it is love at first sight that leads them to the altar, even though they both confess that they do not want to live monogamous under any circumstances .

The banker Charles Keating became the public spokesman against moral decline and eventually won an indictment against Larry Flynt of pornography and organized crime . At the trial, held in 1977 in Hamilton County Court in Cincinnati , Flynt was represented by lawyer Alan Isaacman , 27 . He pleads for acquittal, since no reference to organized crime can be proven and the civil right to freedom also includes the freedom to buy or refrain from consuming the "Hustler magazine". The jury found the defendant Flynt guilty and the court sentenced him to 25 years in prison for publishing pornographic material.

Five months after the trial, the verdict is overturned and Flynt is released from prison. As a publisher critical of the regime, he appears in public from now on and brings the question of obscenity into public interest:

“Politicians and demagogues like to claim that sexually permissive material spoils our country's youth. ... I think the real profanity is to raise our youth to believe that sex is bad and ugly and filthy. On the other hand, it is heroic to lose one's bowels and blood in the most terrible way in the name of humanity. ... What is really more obscene, sex or war? "

Ruth Carter Stapleton , sister of President Jimmy Carter , succeeds as a preacher in converting Larry Flynt to the Christian faith at a private dinner in 1977. Flynt was then baptized and even the "Hustler-Magazine" could not escape its Christian influences. The Georgia State District Attorney offers him a deal. She knocks Flynt out and goes to court again to fight for the legality of publishing pornographic material.

The trial was held in 1978 at the Gwinnett County Courthouse in Lawrenceville . Flynt and his lawyer Isaacman are shot while leaving the courthouse. While Isaacman recovers from his injuries, Flynt sits paralyzed from the waist down in a wheelchair. While still in bed, he turns away from his faith and explains to preacher Ruth Carter Stapleton: "There is no God."

In order to be able to endure the pain, he is prescribed morphine . Both Larry Flynt and Althea become addicted to drugs. They leave Cincinnati and move to Los Angeles .

In March 1983, Larry Flynt underwent another operation. The neurolysis , a targeted nerve obliteration by laser is made which takes away his pain, he that is no longer adequate to the morphine is dependent and gets away from drugs.

Still sitting in a wheelchair, he dedicates himself to the fight against organized drug trafficking. In the same year he played a video recording to a journalist that showed a drug deal with the American entrepreneur John DeLorean that the FBI had arranged . In court, however, Flynt is unwilling to testify where he obtained the video material. After various abuses vis-à-vis the court, the latter sentenced Flynt to 15 months in a federal psychiatric prison for disregarding the court.

While Flynt is serving his sentence, radio and television preacher Jerry Falwell is suing him for $ 45 million in damages for defamation and deliberate mental cruelty. It was triggered by a parody of the Campari series of ads "My First Time," in which Flynt had Hustler magazine published that the Reverend had sex with his mother in the outside toilet. Flynt is again represented by Alan Isaacman and goes on the offensive with a counterclaim. Falwell has made itself liable to prosecution by copying and distributing the advertisement in question. The trial takes place in 1984 in the federal district court in Roanoke , Virginia . Isaacman argues that no one could take the parody as a serious factual account. Only his client Flynt counteracts the acquittal, who testifies on the witness stand that he tried to ridicule Falwell. Instead of getting an acquittal, the amount payable is reduced to $ 100,000.

After Althea, suffering from AIDS and now severely weakened, drowned in the bathtub in 1987 and the preacher Falwell publicly railed on television against the "abnormal lifestyles" which he believed were responsible for the "AIDS epidemic", Flynt made the decision against Appeal the Roanoke Court ruling in the Supreme Court in Washington, DC . He is less interested in sue for the fine imposed on him than in having freedom of expression confirmed by the federal court. Contrary to expectations, the Supreme Court took on the case in the same year. Isaacman succeeds in convincing the judges so that they decide that freedom of expression is more important than protecting celebrities of the public interest from parodies and satirises .

background

The film was shot in Memphis , Beverly Hills , Los Angeles , Oxford , Senatobia and on the Mississippi River . Filming began on February 12, 1996 and ended on April 27, 1996. Production of the film began on December 13, 1995 and ended in September 1996. On October 13, 1996, the film celebrated its world premiere at the New York Film Festival . From December 25, 1996, the film was shown in US cinemas. The film opened in Germany on February 20, 1997. The film was released on July 28, 1998 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on DVD with FSK-12 rating. The budget of the film is 36 million dollars estimated. On the opening weekend, the film grossed a good 600,000 US dollars in American cinemas. Overall, US revenues came to just under $ 20.2 million.

Originally Tom Hanks and Bill Murray were in discussion for the role of Larry Flynt, but Murray did not answer any of his calls, according to director Miloš Forman. Flynt himself stated that he would like to be played by Michael Douglas . He also wished that Ashley Judd should take on the role of stripper Althea. In addition, were Patricia Arquette and Mira Sorvino talks for the role. Cameron Diaz applied for the role, as did Kimberly Williams-Paisley , who withdrew her application after learning of the planned nude scenes. Eventually the role was given to Courtney Love , who herself worked as a stripper before she was discovered as an actress. She was arrested several times during filming for wearing her revealing costumes in public. Courtney Love's insurance premiums were so high that the production studio was not ready to take on the payments, which is why Woody Harrelson, director Miloš Forman and producers Oliver Stone and Michael Hausmann took them over. The brothers Larry and Jimmy Flynt were played by the brothers Woody and Brett Harrelson . The real Larry Flynt could also be won for the cast and played the judge Morrissey. His bodyguard appeared in the film as Flynt's bodyguard Doug. Blaine Nashold , one of Flynt's doctors, appears in the film as Dr. To see bob. Flynt provided the gold necklace from his private collection for the filming, which Woody Harrelson wears in one of the scenes in the courtroom. Edward Norton took on the role of lawyer Alan Isaacman because he wanted to work with director Miloš Forman. Norton's legal closing argument literally corresponds to the actual closing argument in Flynt's trial, as Isaacman noted in a documentary accompanying the film. The mansion that served as the backdrop in the film is the residence that Larry Flynt actually lived in in the early 1980s. The two screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski can be seen in cameo appearances in the opening credits .

Although Flynt's life was made into a film, Flynt received no invitation to the 1997 Academy Awards . So Woody Harrelson took him to the film awards ceremony with him.

German dubbed version

actor German speaker role
Woody Harrelson Michael Schernthaner Larry Flynt
Edward Norton Andreas Fröhlich Alan Isaacman
Courtney Love Sabine Jaeger Althea Leasure
Brett Harrelson Charles Rettinghaus Jimmy Flynt
Donna Hanover Marianne Gross Ruth Carter Stapleton
Crispin Glover Uwe Büschken Arlo
David Dwyer Raimund Krone Federal Marshal
James Cromwell Christian Rode Charles Keating
Vincent Schiavelli Eberhard Prüter Chester
Blaine Nashold Werner Ehrlicher Dr. bob
Nancy Lea Owen Christel Merian Mother Flynt
Ken Kidd Tom Vogt police officer
Richard Paul Hans-Werner Bussinger Reverend Jerry Falwell
D'Army Bailey Hans-Jürgen Wolf Judge Mantke
Larry Flynt Gerd Holtenau Judge Morrissey
Rand Hopkins Lothar Hinze Judge Scalia
Charles M. Crump Karl Heinz Oppel Judge Stevens
James Carville Frank-Otto Schenk Simon Leis
Michelle Robinson Ulrike Lau TV reporter
John P. Ryan Reinhard Scheunemann Father Flynt
Aurelio Malfa Caller with Jackie Onassis photos

reception

Robert Cherkowski from Filmstarts is of the opinion that Miloš Forman is creating “a gripping monument” to Larry Flynt with the film . In the “pleasantly dry and ambivalent” performance “which does generate sympathy and understanding for the protagonist, but always maintains a healthy distance from what is shown” , the ensemble convinces “without looking too obviously at the Oscars” . "So especially Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love stands" first "as a confident spring chicken or later than dilapidated Junkie" out and "completely convincing" . But even Woody Harrelson “with nasty mini plugs and a wonderfully oily southern slang” knows how to convince as a “control- addicted lecher with boastful tendencies” . In addition to these two actors, "the rest of the cast pales a little" , with Edward Norton, who "has some great monologues in numerous court scenes [...]," and Crispin Glover "to stand out from the consistently good cast of actors" . With a “deliberately unspectacular set-up and a slightly“ disturbing ” - “ fast, but never hectic ” - “ cut that does not aim at the classic Hollywood moments ” , Forman manages to achieve a “ pleasantly unsentimental and detoxified impression ” and “ that usual pathos ” . Cherowski sums up that the “broad moral picture” , which “ gets to the point in two hours” , is “a prime example of classic, economic storytelling at a high level” . The film is thus a “modern classic that is always fun to watch again and again” , for which Cherowski awarded four and a half out of five possible points.

The editors of Blickpunkt: Film are of the opinion, “Miloš Forman's wild, intelligent and colossally entertaining satire about the endless skirmishes between the porn pope Larry Flynt and the American judiciary is a stroke of genius.” Furthermore, they judge Forman's work “in a daring mixture He manages comedy, political drama and love story at the same time, a successful outline of American history and a passionate plea for moral courage. "

"The film, directed by Miloš Forman, merges documentation, operaticism and irony into a brilliant portrait that, in an extreme case, aims to depict the fundamental importance of the right to freedom of expression" , summarizes the Filmdienst editorial team . "In doing so, however, he suppresses important aspects of the professional and private existence of the porn publisher and sometimes uses questionable satirical means so that the result does not do justice to reality."

The Cinema editorial team gave the best of five possible ratings. Her conclusion is: "Crazy: The King of Porn will save freedom!"

Awards

The film, its actors and the film crew have been nominated for various film prizes and given various awards.

Woody Harrelson (Best Actor) and Miloš Forman (Director) were nominated for an Oscar in 1997. The Golden Globe Award went to Miloš Forman (director) and Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (script). Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and the film for Best Motion Picture Drama have been nominated for a Golden Globe. In 1997, Miloš Forman won the Golden Bear as the best film of the festival at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Internet Movie Database : Filming Locations
  2. ↑ a b c d e Internet Movie Database : Budget and Box Office Results
  3. ↑ a b c Internet Movie Database : Start Dates
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Internet Movie Database : nominations and awards
  5. ^ Larry Flynt - The Naked Truth. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on September 29, 2013 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h Filmstarts : Film criticism , accessed on October 1, 2013
  7. ^ Filmdienst , also in: Lexikon des Internationale Films , CD-ROM edition, Systhema, Munich 1997
  8. ↑ a b Cinema : film review , accessed on October 1, 2013

Web links