The Player

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The Player
Original title The Player
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1992
length 124 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Robert Altman
script Michael Tolkin
production David Brown ,
Michael Tolkin,
Nick Wechsler
music Thomas Newman
camera Jean Lépine
cut Maysie Hoy ,
Geraldine Peroni
occupation

The player is an American comedy film of Robert Altman from the year 1992 . The script comes as the novel by Michael Tolkin .

action

In the film, the reality of Hollywood and the film industry based there is mocked. The Player begins as a film in the film (one mouth falls) and ends like that.

Griffin Mill works for a Hollywood corporation. He is the man who listens to script drafts from authors and decides whether or not to turn them into a film. Since the company can only make twelve films a year and has to listen to thousands of drafts during this time, this means a rejection in most cases. Because of this, but also because of the arrogant way he treats the authors, he inevitably makes enemies. Mill is blackmailed and receives threatening postcards from an unknown author. He's investigating and his research points to a person who unsuccessfully presented a draft a few months ago: David Kahane.

Mill visits him, but learns from his partner June Gudmundsdottir that he is in the cinema. Mill drives to the cinema, meets Kahane and wants to suggest that after further editing, the story may be filmed after all. However, he is not serious about this offer; rather, he hopes that he can talk to Kahane and talk him out of the threats. However, the conversation is not going according to his ideas. Kahane insults Mill, leaves him standing and fights break out. Mill is furious and pushes Kahane under water in a cellar entrance - a little too long, because Kahane is dead. Mill now wants to fake a robbery by a third party; he throws in Kahane's car window and disappears.

But the stalking continues. So it wasn't Kahane. Investigations are now underway, and Mill is suspected of the act. He is summoned to Police Headquarters in Pasadena , where a bizarre interrogation is taking place. The Commissioner's questions and the behavior of the other investigators make him more and more nervous, increasing suspicions that he is the culprit. He is also unsettled professionally; there are rumors that he will lose his job. Larry Levy, who has been poached by another film company, is to take his place.

In the meantime, a passion has developed between Mill and June Gudmundsdottir. Accordingly, the intimate relationship with his teammate Bonnie has cooled down. Mill and June retreat to a luxury hotel in the desert and spend a weekend together. Meanwhile he received a summons for a confrontation. A witness claims to have seen Kahane's murderer. But she is extremely insecure and identifies a detective who is also one of the suspects to complete the group. Mill can hardly believe his luck and sways completely confused as a free man from the police station.

A few months pass. Mill is as successful in his job as before. A film project is to be realized whose extremely ambitious concept is: no stars, only talent. Stars shouldn't "water down" the topic. No happy ending , but a tragic ending "because something like that happens"; the reality knows no happy ending. Mill is interested, but doesn't believe in this idea and prefers to leave the project and the risk to Levy.

But the final version reverses the initial concept. The film is riddled with stars and the end is a happy ending that drifts into silly. The hero (Bruce Willis) saves the wrongly convicted death row inmate (Julia Roberts) from the gas chamber at the last second. When she asks him why he came so late, he replies: “I got stuck in a traffic jam”. These are also the last words in the film.

That way, the movie will make more money, and that's what it's about. Bonnie is horrified and insults those responsible in the executive suite with the result that she is fired. Completely relaxed, she seeks Mill, who leaves her freezing cold and drives home.

On the way home, Mill receives a call from the author in charge of the threatening postcards. The blackmailer, who has been quiet for a long time, suggests the following script: a film producer receives threatening postcards from an author and then murders an innocent man. The slick producer “gets out of it cleanly.” The film is to be called “The Player”. Mill is excited about the idea. The heavily pregnant June awaits him at home and asks him why it has taken so long. And The Player now ends with the same last line as the film in the previous happy ending screening.

Reviews

“An intelligent and entertaining satire on the decline of Hollywood and the American cultural scene. Full of references to cinematic role models and real people and circumstances that only connoisseurs will often fully decipher. Formally, Robert Altman is at the height of his ability; fascinating and appealing his trick of employing numerous Hollywood greats [...] in small and very small supporting roles. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

Robert Altman, screenwriter Michael Tolkin and Geraldine Peroni for editing were nominated for an Oscar in 1993. The film and Tim Robbins won a Golden Globe in 1993 in the category Best Picture - Comedy or Musical . Altman and Tolkin were also nominated for a Golden Globe.

The Player won an Independent Spirit Award in 1993 for best film . Robert Altman and Michael Tolkin won a BAFTA Award in 1993 ; Tim Robbins, Geraldine Peroni and the film as best film were also nominated for this award. Altman received a César nomination and a Directors Guild of America Award in 1993 . Tolkin received the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Writers Guild of America in 1993 .

The film as best film, Robert Altman and the cameraman Jean Lépine received the 1992 New York Film Critics Circle Award . Altman and Michael Tolkin were named Director / Screenwriter of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards in 1993. Altman received the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award and the Italian Nastro d'Argento Film Award in 1993 . The film won the 1993 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award.

background

Numerous sources show that frustration with the prevailing conditions in Hollywood has motivated many movie stars to join The Player for a symbolic payment . Most stars like Cher or Burt Reynolds played themselves ( cameo ).

The actors involved with short appearances include:

Trivia

  • In the offices of the film studio, numerous classic film posters can be seen, the titles of which indicate the state of the plot, including one from the American film M made in 1951 , a remake of the German film M - A City Seeks a Murderer from 1931.
  • Before Kahane is killed, Mill goes to a parking lot in a deserted, run-down area after going to the cinema. There are posters on one wall, partly in close-up, of the band Skid Row , whose band name means something like "bad area".
  • Actors Vincent D'Onofrio and Jeff Goldblum later appear together as police investigators in the crime series Criminal Intent .
  • In the cinema, Mill sees the end of the 1948 Italian film classic Bicycle Thieves .
  • The very long opening scene parodies the same settings from classic films such as those from In the Sign of Evil . Ironically, two studio employees talk about exactly such opening sequences.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Player. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 14, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used